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The game of bingo has been around since the 1500s. It is no surprise it is still a favourite of kids and adults alike. The simplicity of the game makes it great for all ages, and the social aspect brings people together.
Bingo is a great game to bring into your homeschool as well. Playing games for learning brings an increase in understanding and comprehension of the materials. Because bingo is universally known and adaptable, you can use it for a multitude of subjects.
Using a basic bingo game board, you can change out the box images to whatever works best for your subject. For instance, if you were learning about a specific continent, you could use outlines of the countries, and your students could match the outline with the name that you call out. If you are working on addition facts, you could change the boxes to the possible sums for each problem. Read the problem, and the students could mark the correct sum on their gameboard. The options are endless, but we have a few ideas for you and have provided other online locations to get resources and topic suggestions to reinforce learning through Bingo games.
Reusable Write-in Bingo Boards
- Print out blank game boards. (There are some great options here.)
- Laminate the printed game board sheets.
- Type or write questions on strips of paper to pull out of a box.
- Write possible answers with a dry-erase marker within each box on the laminated game boards.
- When you’re done playing, wipe the boards clean and store them for later use.
Photo/Illustration Bingo Boards
- Print out a blank game board here.
- Print out images to use for the game board. (Flags, outlines of countries, illustrations, etc.)
- Cut one set and put them to the side or in a box.
- Cut the other sets and have your students glue the images to the boards in random boxes.
- Play Bingo!
Note: to make the game boards reusable, you can laminate the blank board and use sticky tack to attach the images.
Multiple different options:
Preschool and Kindergarten:
This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections. | 202,283 |
LOS ANGELES, March 27 (UPI) -- Youth with type 1 diabetes are at greater risk during their transition from pediatric care to adult care, U.S. researchers suggest.
Lead author Dr. Debra Lotstein, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, said as children with type 1 diabetes grow into young adults, they leave their pediatric healthcare providers for adult providers.
The study, scheduled to be published in the April issue in the journal Pediatrics, found young people -- median age 20.1 -- with type 1 diabetes who had transitioned from pediatric to adult care were 2.5 times more likely to have chronically high blood glucose levels, putting them at higher risk for heart attacks, strokes, blindness and kidney failure later in life.
"The transition to adulthood can include changes in healthcare providers, insurance and often living situations as patients move from high school to college or work," Lotstein said in a statement.
"These transitions can be challenging for anyone, but youth with a chronic health problem like diabetes are at risk of losing the support of their health care providers and their family that helps them stay healthy." | 271,836 |
Nanjing Marrow has now added a Paper straw making machine to the company’s official catalog, following the global market’s trend. In some part of the global market there is a demand for paper straws, instead of the conventional one-time use plastic straws which is the norm and has been for a very long time. The paper straws are eco-friendly and recyclable, where as the plastic straws however are not. The European Union will ban one time use plastic products by 2020, and India and countries within the UK has already banned the use of the non eco-friendly products.
Our new machine can be found in our catalog in the products section of this website, or on Alibaba at Nanjing Marrow. | 171,829 |
rotate and translate opengl difficulties - Printable Version
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rotate and translate opengl difficulties - furballphat - May 23, 2002 03:15 PM
I am currently writing an openGL 3D terrain viewer which will hopefully be turned into a game. Currently I have a large square filled with tiles of random height.
I have it set up so that with keyboard control you can rotate the camera on the x and y axis and translate on the y axis. No problems here. I then added in a feature to let you scroll along the map by moving the cursor to the screen edge (as seen in most RTS games).
My problem is that I have to rotate on the y and then translate to make the camera rotate and not the map, but that means the axis have changed and when I translate the map, it veers off in the wrong direction if the camera has been rotated away from the zero position.
I would appreciate any help, furballphat.
rotate and translate opengl difficulties - Jeff Binder - May 24, 2002 05:06 AM
The key to understanding this is to think that you're really moving the terrain, not the camera. Anyway, rotating and then translating is the right way to do this.
What you're probably doing is moving the camera as if it weren't rotated at all. You probably want to change the direction of camera movement so it lines up with the rotation:
rotate and translate opengl difficulties - furballphat - May 24, 2002 05:19 PM
Thanks. I tried using trig functions before, but I now realize that the reason it wasn't working was because I was only translating on one axis at a time. I need to brush up on my trig. | 240,181 |
- the history and genealogy of East Tennessee
Hancock County, Tennessee
The Solomon Mitchell Family of Hawkins and Hancock Counties, Tennessee
Solomon Mitchell was an early settler in Hawkins County, in the part that was made into Hancock. One of his sons was Richard Henderson Mitchell, who was a physician and lived in Sneedville (the county seat of Hancock County). He'd retired by the 1860 census.
One of Richard Mitchell's children was Jesse Broughten Mitchell. He actually took the 1870 Hancock County census; he also took their 1880 tax list. Jesse Broughten Mitchell's daughter Isabella - the little one-year-old in the 1870 census - married --- Maxwell, and was the mother of Lois Maxwell.
Lois (Maxwell) Mahan and her husband, Lloyd, were friends of my parents from before I was born. She was an elementary school teacher and one of the sweetest little old ladies that ever lived. He had been the Hancock County School Superintendent; he had the greenest thumb and generously shared the bounty from his vegetable and flower gardens with the entire community (he grew gladiolas in every shade of the rainbow). Lois' mother, Isabella, and Isabella's brother Abijah Fairchild Maxwell - 'Uncle Biga' - lived with the Mahans in their later years.
Upon Lois Mahan's death, her estate included family items that had belonged to her mother and Uncle Biga. I purchased a few of those things, including Jesse Broughten Mitchell's copy of the 1880 Hancock County tax list that he had taken (remember, Isabella Mitchell Maxwell and 'Uncle Biga' were his children) and some Mitchell genealogy notes and clippings. Lois' executor then lent me these pages, already torn from a family Bible, which I photocopied and returned. The story I was told is that upon learning a visitor did not have a bible of their own, Lois tore out these family record pages and gave the visitor the old, original family bible. (Like I said, she was a sweet little old lady.)
These pages have nothing on them to indicate when the Bible was published. I transcribed them and published them back in 1988, in v5n1 of East Tennessee Roots. I called it the 'Solomon Mitchell Family Bible.' Well, after nearly a quarter-century of experience later, I wouldn't title it that, since I am quite sure it is not Solomon Mitchell's Bible - as in, his Bible, that he owned and wrote in as the events happened. I do think now its highly probable it was Richard Mitchell's - but I can't prove that, yet.
I post here copies of the 6 pages I obtained. Three are the original Bible pages; the fourth page is a loose note included with the Bible record but obviously of somewhat later origin. The fifth and sixth pages are loose pages of fairly recent, but unknown, origin -- I know Lois was corresponding with some Mitchell researchers, but I don't know who; they are definitely not written in Lois's distinctive handwriting. I'm also posting the pages from v5n1 as I transcribed them back then.
By the way, this transcription from v5n1 of East Tennessee Roots - of course that is a copyrighted publication - soon appeared on ancestry-dot-com, copied and posted verbatim by one Karen Negron, completely unsourced and posted without my permission.
A ladderback chair and a few of the jackstraws made for me by 'Uncle Biga' (Abijah Fairchild Maxwell, great-grandson of Solomon Mitchell): a ladder, broom, adz, ax, pick, and traveler (to measure distance).
All are handcarved and pegged together. The chair is 5 1/4" tall.
Hancock County is one of the most remote counties in upper East Tennessee; its rugged lush hills make it one of the most prettiest.
It was founded in 1846 by being cut from Claiborne and Hawkins counties, but it was settled decades earlier; therefore researchers will likely need to consult those counties to successfully continue their research. No counties have been formed from Hancock County.
There are some Hancock-countians listed here:
1880 Hancock County Tax List
After obtaining Jesse B. Mitchell's copy of the 1880 Hancock County Tax List (see above) I transcribed and published it in v6 of East Tennessee Roots. To read it, all you need to do is.... | 208,261 |
GAZA CITY, Gaza - The number of Palestinians killed during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza hit 1,463 on Friday, health officials said. About 8,400 others have been wounded. The death toll now surpasses the about 1,400 Palestinians killed during during the Gaza war of 2008-2009. The grim milestone was reached as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States Secretary of State John Kerry announced an "unconditional humanitarian cease-fire."
The pause in fighting began at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. ET) on Friday, and was set to 72 hours unless extended. Sixty-one Israeli soldiers have died since the offensive was launched on July 8, and three Israeli civilians have been killed by militants' rockets.
- 'Wish It Was Over': Israeli Reservists Hope for End to Conflict
- U.N. Rights Chief Slams Israel, U.S. Over Gaza
- Two Families, Two Israeli Strikes, 17 Fatalities | 281,601 |
Iowa DOT: Iowa City route best for Chicago-Omaha passenger rail
Omaha-to-Chicago route could draw up to 935,000 riders annually
The Iowa Interstate Railroad's route across the state is the one best suited for future passenger rail service between Chicago and Omaha, a preliminary study has determined.
"The preliminary findings have been that (Iowa Interstate) is the route we want to move into," said Amanda Martin, policy coordinator for the Iowa Department of Transportation's rail office.
Martin participated in an online news conference Monday morning, announcing early results of the study of the proposed service building on a revived Chicago-Moline route Illinois is developing for planned launch in late 2014. Backers hope that service would be extended to Iowa City, but Gov. Terry Branstad and legislative Republicans have so far been unwilling to appropriate the state's $3 million annual operating subsidy.The initial review of the potential for Omaha service found the Iowa Interstate route, which also serves Des Moines, would draw up to 935,000 riders a year aboard five daily trains in each direction. | 200,551 |
The City of Nampa Public Works Department strives to provide safe, efficient pedestrian crossings by installing and maintaining marked crosswalks. All locations where there is substantial conflict between vehicle and pedestrian movements and significant pedestrian concentrations occur, traffic movements are controlled.
The purpose of this policy is to describe the warrants and criteria for the installation of pedestrian crosswalks. Both pedestrians and motorists in the City of Nampa have rights and responsibilities on the roadway. Pedestrians must obey signals and yield to motorists if not crossing at an intersection or a crosswalk. Conversely. motorists are required to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks and when crossing at intersections. Appropriate use of signs and pavement markings can substantially reduce the effectiveness of such devices. A consistent application of this policy will improve safety for motorists and pedestrians within the City.
A traffic engineering study will be completed to determine if a particular location meets the requirements for a marked crosswalk and/or other traffic control devices.
The Pedestrian Crosswalk Policy which includes all requirements can be found here.
Please email the City of Nampa at [email protected] if there is a location that you would like considered for a crosswalk. | 298,064 |
Some call it a gold rush, but one thing is for certain – venture capitalists and seed funders are looking to cash in on what has obviously become a strong, growing and permanent segment of the financial marketplace.
The alternative lending industry has hit the Trillion dollar mark, and all signs lead to continued growth in what has become a mainstream lending marketplace.
In the US, two of the largest peer to peer lending platforms both saw huge IPOs (a total of $10.3B combined) recently, spawning a wave of investment activity. The reality of such successful capital investment served as a signpost for venture investors who want to see more of a profit margin in their portfolios.
According to a CrunchBase data report, $340 million was poured into alternative lending start-ups by venture capitalists in the first two months of this year. There were a total of 17 fundings, with an average of $23 million each, quite a jump from the average of $14 million seen in 2014.
Marketplace Lending Success Paved by Peer to Peer Lenders
Peer to peer lending has succeeded because the loan platform is easy to navigate and the overall process is organized and competent. More borrowers are able to find financing for their needs, even those who would be declined by banks or suffer under the weight of high fees and interest rates. The peer to peer lending platform is online, accessible, stress-free, moves quickly, and the results are much more favorable.
The stability of the marketplace lending industry, with its proven track record of success, has allowed personal lending platforms, such as Peerform, to expand their menu of offerings to fit the full range of consumer needs, such as mortgage, debt consolidation, medical debts, automobile financing and military loans. Qualified borrowers can obtain unsecured loans ranging between $2,000 to $35,000, which can be used to consolidate debt, remodel his home, take care of an uninsured medical procedure, or relocate to a better city.
Marketplace Lending is Transparent
Investors have recovered from the 2008 meltdown, but more than ever they are looking for results and for investments that will weather any downturns that may come up in the near-term. Investors want transparency: statistics, and hard data about a platform’s business dealings and success. The alternative lending market platforms provide all of this to venture investors, giving them a level of comfort to make big investments in this growing industry.
Marketplace Lending Better than Banks
Following the 2008 crash, the federal government put strict regulations in place requiring banks to hold more cash on their balance sheets, which resulted in less lending, a move that hurt individuals and small businesses. The government also lowered interest rates in an effort to get the economy going again, which depressed investment yields. Around this time, the internet was continuing to flourish, with new technologies emerging that made it easier and safer to conduct financial transactions online. This combination created fertile ground for an online, non-traditional loan platform to emerge and thrive, satisfying both the demands of consumers looking for loans and investors looking for better yielding investments.
Peer to Peer has Grown Up: Marketplace Lending
As more institutional investors have become the source for peer to peer loans, the term “marketplace lending” has become much more appropriate for this dynamic industry. Investors searching for higher returns are finding them in the alternative lending marketplace. For instance, according to Bloomberg, at the end of last week P2P loans were yielding around 7.6%, while two-year Treasury notes were returning at best 0.6%.
Forbes’ 2015 top eight “Midas” list of emerging venture capital firms included two who were investing heavily in alternative marketplace lending: Canvas Venture Fund and Foundation Capital. American Banker named marketplace lending as its “Innovation of the Year” in 2014, noting the solid rise and flood of capital going into alternative marketplace lending companies. According to American Banker in 2014, 80% of alternative marketplace loans were funded by institutional investors.
The marketplace lending industry has changed the face of lending throughout the world. The future is only brighter with boundless benefits for consumers, investors and marketplace lenders. | 80,077 |
November marks the beginning of Native American Heritage Month. What started as a day of recognition in 1916 turned into a month long observation in 1990. Throughout the month the contributions, sacrifices and achievements of American Indian and Alaska Natives are honored.
To learn more visit one of the following sites:
Teachers, visit Scholastic’s American Indian Heritage Month page to learn how to incorporate the observation into your classroom. | 106,530 |
Cayo Santa Maria is located off the north coast of the province of Villa Clara in the central part of Cuba, in the western part of "Jardines del Rey” archipelago, and has been declared a natural monument by UNESCO.
Cayo Santa Maria is a small island with no permanent residents, almost adrift in the Caribbean ocean. It offers everything you would expect from a perfect beach -fine, white sandy beaches, a gentle slope and shallow, crystalline waters, making this little heaven an ideal holiday destination for those looking for romance and relaxation. With a surface of 18 square kilometers, the island is not large enough to be populated, so that visitors who will come here will find themselves in absolute harmony with untainted nature, with gorgeous natural scenery, picturesque panorama and great beaches. Out of the 18 kilometers, eleven are beachside, with fine white sands. UNESCO has declared it a biosphere reserve, as it has a rich bio diversity, among which 10 endemic species. It is home to a large population of birds, including anhingas, seagulls, flamingoes, woodpeckers, hawks and the tocororo, which is the national bird of Cuba. Besides, numerous species of reptiles, amphibious, fish, and mammalian are other inhabitants of the little island.
Moreover, this location is perfect for water sport lovers. You can practice diving and snorkeling here to discover the large variety of fish that swim here or go hiking in the area, as the small islands of Cayo Santa Maria, Majá, Fragoso, Cobos, Las Brujas, Ensenachos, Español de Adentro, Francés, and Las Picúas are linked by a 48-kilometer long road over the sea; furthermore, you can practice catamaran riding, windsurfing, swimming, sailing, deep-sea fishing, speed boat racing, water-skiing, etc. Those who are fond of history can explore ancient caves in the area.
There are three hotels in Cayo Santa Maria: Sol Cayo Santa Maria is the only 4-star hotel here, offering accommodation in 300 rooms; Melia Cayo Santa Maria and Melia Las Dunas are the newest and most luxurious ones, the former with 360 rooms and the best SPA centre you will find in a beach hotel in Cuba and the latter with 950 rooms. All three hotels function on an all-inclusive basis.
Come and discover the sun-haven of Cayo Santa Maria!
By Maria Morari
The best beaches in Cuba .
If you come to Cuba, you should definitely not miss its great beaches.
You will be enchanted by their natural beauty and relaxing atmosphere.
Check out our selection of the best beaches in Cuba!
Cayo Santa Maria - Welcome to Cayo Santa Maria!
Cayo Santa Maria - Lush vegetation
Cayo Santa Maria - Picturesque landscape
Cayo Santa Maria - Relaxation and cosiness
Cayo Santa Maria - Beach facilities
Cayo Santa Maria - Ideal location for sports
Cayo Santa Maria - Seascape
Cayo Santa Maria - Beach view
Cayo Santa Maria - Great natural setting
Cayo Santa Maria - Crystalline waters
Cayo Santa Maria - Beautiful seascape
Cayo Santa Maria - Splendid panorama
Cayo Santa Maria - Aerial view | 279,303 |
Whole grains deliver vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients.
That’s important, because the 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommend getting more whole grain into your diet.
There are dozens of offerings from Big G, including Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cheerios, Chex, Lucky Charms, Kix, Trix, Wheaties and Total.
Product and nutrition details
All Big G cereals
General Mills cereal coupons (Facebook)
"Big G" was first used in 1960. General Mills cereal packages featured a new design built around “Goodness.” A white triangle was the focal point for the letter “G.”
Whole grain. Fiber. Reduced sugar and sodium. No wonder frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights.
Benefits of Cereal (PDF)
Benefits of Yogurt (PDF)
Search online; have it shipped. | 256,508 |
Proof of U.S. Citizenship
Locate a Local Immigration Lawyer
What is Proof of U.S. Citizenship?
If you are a U.S. citizen, it is often necessary that you provide proof of your citizenship. For example, when traveling internationally, you may need to provide proof of U.S. citizenship in order to re-enter the U.S. Proof of U.S. citizenship is often required in other areas, such as obtaining employment or receiving government benefits.
U.S. citizenship is usually granted in two ways: either by birth or through the process of naturalization. However, both natural-born U.S. citizens and naturalized citizens need to furnish proof of U.S. citizenship at times.
What Types of Documents can Serve as Proof of U.S. Citizenship?
Proof of U.S. citizenship can come in different forms. The most common form is a birth certificate. If you were born in the U.S. or on U.S. territory abroad (including military grounds), then your birth certificate will provide the primary proof of U.S. citizenship.
“Birth certificate” does not refer to the document issued at the hospital where you were born; it refers to a standard U.S. certificate that is issued by the U.S. government.
Some other types of documents that provide proof of U.S. citizenship include:
- U.S. Passport: A valid U.S. passport can provide proof of citizenship. When applying for a passport, you may need to provide additional evidence, such as proof that your parents are U.S. citizens. Passports can be applied for at a U.S. consular office located abroad.
- Certificate of Naturalization: This is a document issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It provides proof that an alien has been naturalized after immigration to the U.S. and is currently a U.S. citizen.
- Certificate of Citizenship: The U.S. citizenship and immigration services department issues certificates of citizenship to those who are U.S. citizens by birth (abroad) or derivation (not through naturalization). This document can take a long time to obtain, sometimes as long as one year.
- Certificate of Consular Registration of Birth Abroad: U.S. citizens who give birth to a child outside of the U.S. have five years to register the birth with a U.S. consulate. If the parents are unable to register the birth before the child’s 5th birthday, the Certificate will not be issued, and a certificate of citizenship must be obtained. Also, it is very difficult to get copies of a Consular Registration Certificate if it is lost.
The filing requirements and eligibility factors are different for each of these types of citizenship proofs. You may need to consult with a lawyer if you have questions about which type of document you need to obtain, or if you need to replace a certificate.
How Long Does it Take to Obtain Proof of U.S. Citizenship?
It depends on which type of document you are trying to obtain. In general, passports usually have the shortest processing and waiting time. It usually takes only 4-6 weeks to secure a U.S. passport. In some cases expedited or rush service can shorten the waiting period to 3 weeks.
The next shortest waiting periods are for the Certificates of Naturalization and Certificates of Consular Registration of Birth Abroad. These can take several months due to the registration processes involved.
Lastly, the longest wait periods are for Certificates of Citizenship. These can take as long as one year to process.
Do I Need Lawyer for Assistance with U.S. Citizenship?
Obtaining proof of U.S. citizenship can sometimes be a complicated process. However, it is important that you have a current, valid form of proof, especially if you have just recently been granted citizenship. You may wish to contact an immigration lawyer for advice. Your lawyer can help you compile all the documents that will be needed during the application process.
Consult a Lawyer - Present Your Case Now!
Last Modified: 10-03-2011 03:07 PM PDT
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Link to this page | 48,555 |
What are the Common Causes of Heat Exchanger in a Gas furnace Cracking?
Have you been told the heat exchanger in your furnace is cracked? That’s a problem that usually ends the life of an older furnace. In a newer model, they are sometimes replaced, but it’s an expensive repair—often $600-$900. Many heat exchangers have a lifetime warranty on the part, but if the labor isn’t also covered, the bill can be close to $500, or even higher.
What causes the heat exchangers to crack? That’s what we answer in this guide.
Why Heat Exchangers Crack
Old Age: This is the primary reason that heat exchangers crack. The metal of the heat exchanger is constantly heated, expanding the metal, and cooled, contracting it. Eventually, after 100,000+ cycles, the heat exchanger may become brittle and crack. Typically, heat exchanger cracks cannot be welded because the weld won’t withstand the expansion and contraction.
Rust: Corrosion is the second most common reason that heat exchangers crack. The byproducts of combustion can be very corrosive. They include water vapor, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Eventually the rust can be bad enough to eat a hole in the heat exchanger causing it to crack.
Poor Air Flow: The heat exchanger gets extremely hot during a heating cycle – as high as 1,000 degrees F during normal operation. If the blower motor in the furnace isn’t functioning as it should, unheated air won’t be moved quickly enough across the heat exchanger. Plugged furnace filters and undersized duct work can also cause poor air flow. The result is that the heat exchanger can become hotter than intended, causing it to warp or expand more than is typical. Cracking is usually the result.
Poor Quality/Defects: If the metal used to make the heat exchanger is poor quality, it will crack much more easily. In addition, if the burner isn’t manufactured properly, the flame may actually touch the heat exchanger, literally burning a hole in it. If too much gas is being supplied to the burner through a defective gas valve or monitor, the power of the combustion can eventually destroy the heat exchanger.
Preventing a Heat Exchanger from Cracking
The best prevention is to have your furnace installed and set up by a qualified contractor with good experience. The quality of the installation plays a major role in how well the furnace will function through the years. Once it is properly installed, have it checked, cleaned and maintained at least every 2 years. The furnace technician will check flame height and quality so conditions that lead to cracks may be eliminated. On your own, be sure to keep the furnace filter changed every one to two months. With proper installation and maintenance, you may get 20+ years of service from your furnace without a cracked heat exchanger. | 154,555 |
The PowerRouter works with PV or wind to decide whether to use self-generated energy straight away, reserve it in battery storage or feed it back to the grid.
The device has an integrated internet connection, allowing performance parameters to be viewed and managed via a web portal.
Steve Everard, head of Rexel Energy Solutions UK, said: “We’re delighted to have partnered with Nedap to offer such an innovative product and are excited to bring battery storage into the domestic renewables market.
“The new universal retrofit unit is perfect for those who have opted for generation of solar from their own system and, as it is compatible with any inverter, it is suitable for a variety of different forms of generation. And, to top it off, a five year guarantee is provided as standard so installers can be sure that the device is designed to last.” | 251,995 |
|Written by by Rebecca Kemble,
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On July 23rd the Iron County Forest Committee in northern Wisconsin voted unanimously to recommend that the Iron County Board pursue criminal and civil charges against the Lac Courte Oreilles Treaty Harvest and Education camp for violating county ordinances and provisions of state County Forest Law. The vote took place with no discussion after the committee emerged from closed session with their corporate counsel.
The decision comes two months after the same committee voted unanimously to approve a request by the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa for a waiver to the county’s 14-day camping ordinance to allow the camp to remain established on Moore Park Road for one year.
On May 8, 2013 the Iron County Forestry department granted LCO Treaty
Harvest and Education Camp host Melvin Gasper a Native American
Gathering permit to gather plant materials and tap trees for syrup, and a
firewood permit to collect down trees on Iron County forest lands. Both
permits are valid through December 31, 2013.
According to the official minutes of the May 14 meeting, the committee
voted unanimously, “authorizing Joe (Iron County Forester) to work with
Corporate Counsel, Michael Pope, to write a land use permit for Lac
Courte Oreilles members and their guests for camping, harvesting and
educational purposes. The permit will also address sanitation issues and
be one year in length.”
An official statement by camp organizers says the camp was established,
“to make a presence in the Penokee Hills and do research in the region…
To host LCO tribal members and other guests who are doing an inventory
of resources, trail blazing, archaeology work and harvesting.”
Over one thousand people have signed the visitors’ book at the camp since it opened last spring. Flags at the entrance of the LCO Treaty Harvest and Education Camp. Photo by Rebecca Kemble
The Penokee Hills hold cultural, historical and ecological importance for Ojibwe tribes in the region. In the mid-19th century the land was allotted to Ojibwe and Sioux people who did not want to live on reservations. The headwaters of the Bad River watershed that drain into the Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs where much of their wild rice grows are also located in the Penokees.
Gogebic Taconite (GTac), a West Virginia-based iron mining company owned by coal mining billionaire Chris Cline, plans to strip mine a 22-mile long stretch of the Penokee Hills in four phases over 35 years. They began core sample drilling on the first phase last month.
GTac’s application for a bulk sampling permit was returned to them by the Department of Natural Resources at the beginning of July for lack of adequate information, including how they plan to handle asbestos dust created by explosions, and the potential for sulfuric acid leeching from pyrite dust mixing with water.
Shortly after receiving that letter, GTac hired Bulletproof Security, a private militia from Arizona, to guard their drilling sites. Photos of machine gun wielding men in full battle gear prompted public complaints to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, who confirmed that they were operating illegally in the state without a license. GTac withdrew the paramilitary group on July 10 and replaced them with another more low-key security force, apparently state-licensed.
That same day, activists who oppose the proposed mine received death threats posted by administrators of the Wisconsinites for Safe Mining Facebook page. Since Bulletproof Security was given the boot for operating illegally on public-access land, right wing media outlets began printing statements by GTac supporters claiming that the LCO Treaty Harvest and Education Camp is operating illegally on county land.
Camp spokesman Paul DeMain says no one from Iron County has formally communicated with him or camp host Melvin Gasper about the disposition of the requested and apparently approved land use permit.
County Forester Joe Vairus claims that he sent Lac Courte Oreilles Chairman Michael Isham a letter asking them to apply for a large group camping permit, but that he has not received an application yet.
Iron County Forest Committee members say that the camp is in violation of the 15-year county forest management plan. Changing county ordinances that would alter the plan would require approval of the DNR under Wis. Stats 28.11. Board members say that the DNR is threatening to remove their certification for managing County Forest Law, including partial funding of forestry positions, if they allow the LCO Treaty Harvest and Education Camp to remain in place. | 124,243 |
PetroFix Case Study
Narrator: Patriot Engineering, a leading environmental firm based in the midwest, was chosen to develop an approach to address dissolved phase petroleum-impacted groundwater caused by leaking aboveground storage tanks and underground storage tanks.
Steven: The site is a former petroleum bulk storage facility. There was a petroleum release discovered. It migrated off-site. As a result, the site sat idle for a number of years. Patriot was contacted in 2016 after the property owner received a request for compliance from their state regulatory agency and we put in some additional wells, filled in some gaps from wells that had been destroyed, completely delineated the extent of the plume, and we’re now at the point where we’re ready to develop a remedial plan to deal with what’s left.
Narrator: Based on a long history of successful injection work with REGENESIS, Sittler contacted REGENESIS to develop an effective remedial injection plan to address the contaminant levels. In the course of these discussions, REGENESIS offered to work with Patriot to perform an on-site beta test of PetroFix remediation fluid to evaluate its possible use in lieu of more conventional ISCO-enhanced bio approaches.
Paul: We chose this site because the contamination levels were pretty high and we knew that this was going to be a good test of the product balance, so really, how far can we push PetroFix. And the transport was a little bit different than other beta sites that we had done and just to give us a little bit of variety in how we were testing the product before release.
Narrator: Safe, fast, effective, and easy to apply, PetroFix is designed to specifically sorb and biodegrade petroleum hydrocarbons, diesel, BTEX, MTBE, and TPH-G Plumes resulting from spills and leaking underground storage tanks.
Paul: PetroFix is an activated carbon-based product that also comes with an additional amount of electron acceptors. They’re meant to be injected together. And PetroFix is designed to adsorb petroleum contamination and then the electron acceptors that go with it are meant to help the microbial community that’s down there degrade the contaminants while they’re on the carbon and as they’re moving through the site.
Narrator: PetroFix offers an in-situ remediation approach designed specifically for sites where PHC levels are above regulatory standards for complete remediation at the lowest total cost to closure.
Paul: We’ve put a lot of time and effort into making the product easy to use, trying to understand, really, when you use an amendment like this, what are the key things that you need to know to have success on your site.
Steven: The early post-injection groundwater monitoring results from the PetroFix pilot test injection look very promising. Petroleum VOC’s and gasoline-range organics were essentially eliminated from the groundwater at one month post-injection and remain so at three months post-injection. Nitrate and sulfate, which spiked at one month post-injection due to their addition as electron acceptors as part of the injection, were reduced sharply at the three month sampling event, indicating utilization by microbes and biodegradation. This conclusion was also strongly supported by microbial analyses which indicated a shift towards anaerobic petroleum degraders caused by the more favorable environment induced by the nitrate and sulfate injected with the PetroFix.
Additional quarterly post-injection monitoring will continue, however, the promising early results indicate that PetroFix appears to be a viable remedial option for this site. Remedial injection design incorporating PetroFix in several hotspot areas at the site is currently being developed and will be included in the remediation workplan which will be submitted to the regulatory agency for review and approval. Following regulatory approval, the remediation workplan will be implemented, including a full-scale PetroFix injection.
I’ve been very happy working with REGENESIS. They’re a partner. It’s been great working with REGENESIS and hope to keep doing it for years to come. | 252,801 |
As I am getting into the meat of my Art Education B.F.A. major at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I am finding more and more just how well my internship at the Milwaukee Art Museum compliments and contrasts with what I am learning academically.
In fall 2011, I started to intern for Chelsea Kelly, now Manager of Digital Learning at the Milwaukee Art Museum. An unpaid internship was a lot to add when I was already balancing two majors, a minor, sixteen credits, and another job; but I soon found I enjoyed and valued my time at the Art Museum more than my other commitments. I quickly forgot about not being paid–I wanted to be here, plain and simple.
Last fall, I assisted with the Satellite Art History program, and for the first time ever, I experienced a real “teaching moment.” I gained a lot from teaching a session, and it also helped me to prepare for and better articulate my extended lesson for the summer High School Internships program. This blog post focuses on my teaching experience this summer at the Museum.The Discussion
My lesson for the high school interns delved into deeper layers of meaning, history, and discussion, which made for an amazing experience as a growing art educator. I focused my lesson around the artist Kehinde Wiley and his colossal painting at the Museum, St. Dionysus (2006). Keeping one of Chelsea’s most useful pieces of advice in mind, I researched and prepared 500%, even though I knew I’d only end up sharing 5-10% of the information.
I had students start with a careful study, sitting and observing the artwork for a few minutes. I then moved into a brief art historical description about the artist. We did a quick “whip-around,” where we each quickly shared something we noticed about the work. Students then changed seats, and we did another whip-around with their new perspectives.
I opened up the floor to discussion, starting by sharing our thoughts. The conversation eventually morphed into the questions I had previously written down for us to cover.
I tried extremely hard to not ask the students any questions, as this is part of Chelsea’s teaching philosophy. This strategy actually contradicts the Art Education curriculum at UWM, where we are taught to use “Essential Questions” to get discussion going with students. It seems the main disconnect between Museum Education and the K-12 style of Art Education is in lesson structure and requirements, some of which are state and/or nationally-mandated requirements. However, I feel I am getting the best of both worlds in having access to these different strategies–that is, open discussions based on comments to push students to think further, versus discussions powered from critical thinking questions–and plan to use this edge to help formulate my own teaching philosophies as an art educator.
I also practiced careful listening by paraphrasing, repeating, and adding onto what students were saying, so that the entire group could stay engaged in the discussion. This is a crucial strength I have consciously gained with the help of Chelsea: the power to paraphrase. It does wonders in keeping your students on the same page, as well as you as the teacher! I also sprinkled in artist quotes to rekindle the conversation if it was dying out (another one of Chelsea’s handy tactics).
Discussion lasted for a whopping twenty minutes! I was so proud and amazed of all of the teens’ abilities to stick with me and reason through Wiley’s complex work.The Art Practice
After the discussion, I introduced my Wiley-inspired studio activity to the teens. They searched the Renaissance galleries, chose a painting to look at closely, and took a picture of it. The next week, students altered their chosen image through collage, in a personal, social, or humorous way, whether it be through costume, background, figure, by adding text or drawing, etc. I worked alone with the students, helping them with the activity on the final day of our program, while Chelsea interviewed the students on their perspectives for the future of museums (you can view the students’ videos here).
Without Chelsea by my side, this was my first solo teaching moment. Using magazines/collage allowed students who didn’t consider themselves artists to be imaginative in other ways, and be just as successful as the art-makers of the group by re-contextualizing and appropriating. Many creative images were made, but next time I’d like to push the concept behind their art further. This is my responsibility as the teacher: to create a lesson that will ask the students to go to that critical level of artmaking.
As we are now almost halfway into this fall’s art history Satellite program, I look forward to continuing to grow and learn more and more from the students and their unique perspectives. I can’t thank Chelsea enough for letting me intern with her. When I describe my position at the Milwaukee Art Museum to others, it’s hard for me to even call her my supervisor. She has been so much more to me: a mentor for life, a role model for how I’d someday like to teach, and a friend with whom I can laugh about everything from cats to scatterbrained moments during program sessions. I look forward to continuing my time here at the Milwaukee Art Museum, and to gaining new teaching perspectives and skills to help me in my future as an up-and-coming art educator.
–Jessica Janzer, Milwaukee Art Museum Teen Programs Intern | 68,148 |
This book is heavily illustrated and covers 500-600 terms. Definitions will vary in length from a sentence to several pages. A small portion of the definitions will be must-know computer terms, which the Grottas clearly define and illustrate for their unique readership. The bulk of the book, however, will focus on words germane to digital imaging, such as scanner, gamma curve, etc. This book is suitable for both advanced and novice readers.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Anything you want to know about digital imaging, ask the Grottas."-amy Wohl, pre-eminent computer consultant and columnist. Digital imaging has a language all its own. And now it has a full-scale dictionary to match-an expert reference to keep close at hand as you explore the tools and technologies in this booming field. Profusely illustrated; Defines almost 600 terms, concepts, and abbreviations; Clarifies the jargon found in product documentation; Entries range from one sentence to many pages, reflecting their complexity; Authoritative yet easy to understand; Filled with time-saving examples and funny anecdotes; Created by the pioneers in the field; Equally useful for novices as well as visual and graphic arts professionals. Praise for the authors' previous book, Digital Imaging for Visual Artists: "Does for digital imaging what Windows did for the PC-makes it accessible,"-Joe Meehan, photography columnist. "Readable and approachable... The scope of coverage is impressive."-Library Journal. "THE educational tool for imaging."-Katrim Eismann, Renowned imaging educator and digital artist. "Brims with the enthusiasm and energy we've come to expect from Sally and Daniel."-David Friend, Director of Photography, LIFE Magazine.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Book Description Computing Mcgraw-Hill, 1998. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Bookseller Inventory # DADAX0070250693
Book Description Computing Mcgraw-Hill, 1998. Paperback. Book Condition: New. book. Bookseller Inventory # 0070250693
Book Description Computing Mcgraw-Hill, 1998. Paperback. Book Condition: New. book. Bookseller Inventory # 70250693 | 207,624 |
How relevant is search engine optimisation today? Quite a bit, say experts, although we can no longer rely solely on it as a marketing strategy.
Why this change in trend when things were going pretty well even just a few years ago? The answer is because we, as internet users, are changing the way we search for information on the Web. Take the example of a website that makes connections through social media. It's more exposed or more visible which means search engines are likelier to zero in on it based on a particular query. Compare this with a website that still follows the old SEO tactics and you'll notice a big difference.
SEO still plays a big role in determining how popular and visible sites are. After all, it's through optimisation that we come to be connected to relevant websites. No broken links, optimised meta tags and navigational planning are important and must be incorporated no matter how much social media is also utilised.
According to studies, this side-by-side working of traditional SEO and social media caters best to small businesses that can't bank solely on brand image. Unlike large companies that have already made a name for themselves, startups and small ventures must rely on first building customer relations, making themselves more visible through ad campaigns and depending on good old SEO with social media networking. Once they've created a solid brand image, they can slowly rely more on social media to stay afloat.
The one tactic that has remained invaluable to boosting rankings and directing web traffic is content quality. No matter what optimisation methods you use, good content is something that can't be compromised. After all, no matter what type of internet user a person is, he or she visits websites for information and poorly delivered content is just begging to be ignored.
Top search engines may be changing the way they scour the Web for information. These changes are necessary to keep up with the times and to reduce the number of websites misusing SEO tactics. Rather than view them as a nuisance, we can embrace the tools and let them serve as the basis for high-ranking, optimised sites.
For those who're out of touch with on-site SEO or those wondering just what it entails, it includes internal linking (linking related articles together in the site), avoiding keyword stuffing, embedding video content so that users can watch them directly without going to a video sharing website, keyword variations, and most importantly, writing for people, not for search engines. This last is crucial because many tend to target the latter without considering readability.
SEO tactics for the times
Certain methods boost traffic and rankings more than others. The ones given here are what were popular in 2013 and will flow over into 2014.
• Original content, no duplications: As mentioned, content is king and original content rules the universe that is SEO.
• Mobile optimization: More of us are using our cell phones to stay connected online which obviously means websites must be tweaked to function perfectly on whatever device has internet connectivity.
• Link building: Still important, link building has now been given a tweak by being able to lend credibility to websites. Linking an author with a search engine-run social media page helps get better rankings.
Article Directory: http://www.articletrunk.com
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Hurricane Irma: wind is 'howling' at Cape Coral home
For more Hurricane Irma coverage visit: news-press.com/hurricane.
This was the message Jonathan Hernandez gave when explaining the impacts the outer bands of Hurricane Irma have had on his South Cape Coral home Sunday morning.
“Everything’s good so far,” the 30-year-old said. “Not too bad. We’ve had decent wind, some sideways rain.”
But that was then.
By 5:30 p.m., the storm's conditions had strengthened in the Cape.
"We still have power (and) it's very windy now," he wrote in a text message. "(You) can hear it howling. The phone signal (is) getting weaker."
Hernandez is hunkering down at his boarded-up home, located near Chiquita Boulevard and the Cape Coral Parkway, with two other men and their family pets. Their wives, children and Hernandez's father-in-law have moved into the shelter at Lee County High Tech Center North.
A video taken earlier in the day from his front yard shows some wind blowing through an oak tree, and splashes of rain on the street, yard and driveway.
Most of the people on his street have decided to leave the area — be it local shelters or out-of-the-area locations.
“I think there’s maybe one or two other families that actually stuck around, you know, stop sign to stop sign,” Hernandez said.
Growing up in Florida, he said he’s been through several tropical storms and hurricanes. As a kid, he lived in Fort Lauderdale, and recalls when Hurricane Andrew hit the state in August 1992.
“I just remember it was stormy, rainy and windy. I don’t remember anything catastrophic around our area — nothing too major for us,” he said.
Of Irma’s impact on his area of the Cape, he said, “I don’t think we’re going to get big damage or anything like that. I think we’re good.”
If you live in the Cape Coral area and want to share what you are seeing with The News-Press, reach out to Pamela McCabe at [email protected], call or text 239-910-1743, or connect with her on social media: @NP_pstaik (Twitter) and at www.facebook.com/pstaik. | 205,041 |
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Dispersal in a Population of Desert Rodents
Norman R. French, Theodore Y. Tagami and Page Hayden
Journal of Mammalogy
Vol. 49, No. 2 (May, 1968), pp. 272-280
Published by: American Society of Mammalogists
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1377984
Page Count: 9
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Dispersal of two species of kangroo rats and two species of pocket mice in the Mojave Desert was examined by live-trapping intensively an 8-ha (20-acre) area, and by setting rows of live-traps at 152-m (500 ft) intervals out to 914 m (3000 ft) from the area. Dispersal distances of Perognathus formosus were arranged in a frequency distribution. Dispersal appears to be nonrandom. There were too many moves to great distances and too few to intermediate distances for dispersal to be considered random. The results support the hypothesis that some members of the population have an instinct to disperse, and that their moves are long distance ones. Both young and old animals made dispersal movements, some more than once. We estimate 25 to 30% of the P. formosus made dispersal movements during the period of 1 year. Kangaroo rats wander during the non-breeding season, but our sampling was not adequate to evaluate dispersal of these rodents.
Journal of Mammalogy © 1968 American Society of Mammalogists | 239,629 |
Note: Picture unrelated but creepy as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Because there is a such thing as evil mad scientists, a group of researchers at the California Institute of Technology claim they've created "an artificial neural network out of DNA molecules and that it can answer questions correctly." Hey, hey artificial neural network -- answer this one for me: how do you feel about hydrochloric acid?
"Burning." DAMN STRAIGHT! *emptying bottle into test-tube*
This rudimentary neural network works on a simple input-output mechanism called a strand-displacement cascade. Essentially, synthesized strands of DNA float around in water and join to other strands that have complementary base pair structures, creating an input. When such a union occurs, a strand of DNA will be shed, creating an output.
In the latest research, the team trained the neural network to play a memory game in which it would correctly "identify" four scientists based on specific yes or no questions--for instance whether the scientist was British.
Players dropped DNA strands representing an incomplete set of answers into a test tube. The network then provides the answer--the identity of the correct scientist--by fluorescent signals.
When presented with 27 different ways of answering the questions, the DNA "brain" responded correctly each time.
What in the...? I don't even know. Granted you could fill a short book with all the things I don't know, but nobody would read it because it would be all the boring shit nobody cares about anyway. I AM AN EXPERT ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS.
Thanks to LupusYonderboy, Amy and turtlebone, who don't let anything but Magic 8-Balls do their thinking for them. Smart. | 239,931 |
- Censorship protects children from viewing acts they are not ready for. This rests on the idea that children imitate role models and are likely to copy what they see in films or on television. It also rests on the idea that children are not little adults but are different in their abilities and understanding.
- Studies show that the vast majority of people are in favour of the watershed to protect children.
- Censorship restricts peoples…
Similar Psychology resources: | 270,936 |
Guiding Principles for Standards-Based Grading
The guiding principles on implementing standards-based grading comes from "Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student Learning," by Thomas R. Guskey and Jane M. Bailey 1. Some of the guiding principles include:
|Guiding Premises in Developing Grading and Reporting Systems
- The primary goal of grading and reporting is communication.
- Grading and reporting are integral parts of the instructional process.
- Good reporting is based on good evidence.
- Changes in grading and reporting are best accomplished through the development of a comprehensive reporting system.
|Developments That Make Change in Grading and Reporting Systems Imperative
- The growing emphasis on standards and performance assessments makes current reporting practices inadequate.
- Parents and community members are demanding more and better information about student learnding progress.
- Advances in technology allow for more efficient reporting of detailed information on student learning.
- Grading and reporting are recognized as one of educators' most important responsibilities.
- There is growing awareness of the gap between our knowledge base and common practice in grading and reporting.
|Major Purposes of Grading and Reporting
- To communicate the achievement status of students to parents and others
- To provide information that students can use for self-evaluation
- To select, identify, or group students for certain educational paths or programs
- To provide incentives for students to learn
- To evaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs
- To provide evidence of students' lack of effort or inappropriate responsibility
1 Guskey, Thomas R. and Bailey, Jane M., Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2000. | 141,699 |
Many anglers like to simply clean the fish and cook it whole. This works best for fish that have no or very small scales such as trout.
Your catch should be cleaned and gutted as soon as possible. Fish are slippery and knives are sharp – be careful!
If you don’t plan to eat your fish in a day or two, you’ll want to freeze it.
Most freezing methods work best if you quick freeze the fish first – place uncovered fish on a sheet of aluminum foil in the freezer to freeze it as quickly as possible.
The best method for keeping fish in the freezer is to vacuum seal it, which protects the fish from freezer burn.
Quick freeze the fish, then seal it in a vacuum seal bag. Vacuum sealed frozen fish should be eaten within three or four months.
Another way to protect fish from freezer burn is to freeze it in a block of water. Quick freeze individual portions, place each in a zip lock freezer bag, fill with water and freeze.
Finally, if you’re going to be eating the fish within two weeks you can double wrap quick frozen fish tightly in plastic wrap (squeeze out as much air as possible) and then put in a freezer bag.
Always wet your hands and handle the fish gently as you remove the hook. Grasp the fish carefully to avoid any spines on the back. If the fish is hooked deeply, you may not be able to remove the hook. Cut the line and release the fish. The hook will rust, dissolve or work its way loose. (Use barbless hooks if you plan on releasing the fish you catch – they can be much easier to remove.) If a fish loses consciousness, try to revive it by gently moving it back and forth in the water so water moves through its gills. When the fish revives and begins to struggle, let it go. Fish do not always survive being caught.
Catch and release (pdf) | 256,840 |
For online publications, it’s useful to know how people share links to articles and news via outlets such as Twitter. How does an article go from publication to viral? Does one person with a lot of Twitter followers share a link, or is getting lots of individuals to tweet the key? You have retweet counts, but that doesn’t tell you anything within the sharing timeline—just the final result.
Project Cascade, by Jer Thorp, Mark Hansen, and Jake Porway as parts of the New York Times R&D Lab, helps you see how news spreads.
This first-of-its-kind tool links browsing behavior on a site to sharing activity to construct a detailed picture of how information propagates through the social media space. While initially applied to New York Times stories and information, the tool and its underlying logic may be applied to any publisher or brand interested in understanding how its messages are shared.
I suggest you watch the short summary video for an explanation on how it all works, but in short, there are several views that let you view the data in a variety of dimensions.
In the initial circular view, time starts in the center. This is when an article is actually published. Then each ring is another hour past, and each square is an activity such as link shortening or retweeting. For example, in the above the op-ed article America Goes Dark by Paul Krugman goes live. You should see a trickle of link-sharing in the beginning, but about five hours later, Tim O’Reilly tweets a link to his 1.4 million followers, and there’s a burst of activity as others retweet and comment.
Similarly, here is one view for an article on the JetBlue flight attendant who threw a hissy fit, and slide down an emergency slide. When you lay the circles flat, and look at activity on the vertical, you can see volume by time.
Or look at the data straight on for a strictly by-time view.
Impressive work, and this is just a small taste. I suspect there’s lot more, and as Jer notes, “Videos and screenshots don’t do Project Cascade justice – it runs on an iPhone-controlled 5 screen video wall.” I gotta get me one of those. | 41,606 |
|Veröffentlichungsdatum||7. Mai 1996|
|Eingetragen||3. Apr. 1995|
|Prioritätsdatum||30. Sept. 1993|
|Auch veröffentlicht unter||CA2149660C, DE69433616D1, DE69433616T2, EP0671039A1, EP0671039A4, EP0671039B1, WO1995010095A2, WO1995010095A3|
|Veröffentlichungsnummer||08415757, 415757, US 5513994 A, US 5513994A, US-A-5513994, US5513994 A, US5513994A|
|Erfinder||Roger C. Kershaw, Frank J. Romano|
|Ursprünglich Bevollmächtigter||Educational Testing Service|
|Zitat exportieren||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patentzitate (14), Nichtpatentzitate (2), Referenziert von (141), Klassifizierungen (16), Juristische Ereignisse (6)|
|Externe Links: USPTO, USPTO-Zuordnung, Espacenet|
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/129,473, filed Sep. 30, 1993, now abandoned.
The recent availability of a computer based testing system such as that described in co-pending application no. 08/082,058 has substantially automated the entire process of standardized testing. A typical standardized testing arrangement using a computer based testing system is shown in FIG. 1. A central processing facility 1 provides the software development to support the computer based testing system and post processing activities. For instance, one test program such as a GRE (General Record Examination) may be developed, produced and packaged at the central processing facility 1. The computer based test is then transferred to one or more test centers 2. Each test center 2 has at least one computer workstation 3 on which the computer based test can be delivered to an examinee.
Examinees typically register to take a particular computer based test at which time the examinee schedules an appointment to take that test at a specified test center 2. When the examinee arrives at a test center 2 to take the test according to his or her appointment, a test administrator typically confirms the examinee's appointment and initiates the test. After an examinee has taken the test the examinee responses and other information recorded during the testing session are transferred to the central processing facility 1 for post processing, i.e., for statistical and analytical studies used in the development of new tests.
In contrast to classroom tests which are usually given to a small number of students and are scored by one person familiar with the activities of the students and conditions in the classroom during a testing session, standardized tests may be given to thousands of examinees at literally hundreds of test centers on different days and at different times. Thus, in a standardized testing environment it is crucial to be able to track conditions at a test center, such as problems with the hardware or software or power outages which may effect examinees' testing sessions. Additionally, when a test is not given at the same time and same place for all or most examinees it is necessary to provide additional security measures for maintaining the security and integrity of the computer based tests and any related test data including examinee responses. Therefore, the computer based testing system provides an administrative system to implement these functions.
Unfortunately, the administrative system and the test delivery system (which is the software that delivers the computer based test to the examinee and records examinee responses) reside together on a computer workstation 3 at a test center 2 shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, an administrator must perform many the administrative tasks on the computer workstation 3 prohibiting the use of the computer workstation 3 for testing. Moreover, most test centers 2 will provide a single testing room wherein the computer workstation 3 will be set up for computer based testing since it is usually logistically impractical to provide a private room for each computer workstation 3. Therefore, when each examinee arrives to take his or her scheduled test, the administrator must necessarily bring the examinee into the testing room where other examinees may be currently taking a computer based test, to check-in the examinee when he or she arrives, check the examinee's identification, capture the examinee's image if required, and initiate the test according to the examinee's appointment data. Such activities may be disruptive to other examinees taking a test particularly where the test includes timing constraints often required by standardized tests.
Furthermore, unexpected events occur at the testing center to which the administrator must quickly respond. For example, an examinee may call to make an appointment while the administrator is attending to a different administrative function. The administrator must be able to respond to the phone call without losing the work in progress. Computer based testing systems currently do not permit test administrators to quickly switch from one function to another in order to respond to events as they occur.
Furthermore, computer based testing systems currently do not permit different test developers to produce tests deliverable by the administrative systems provided as part of computer based testing system. For instance, Educational Testing Service develops, produces, and packages computer based GREs (Graduate Requirement Examination). An independent testing service, such as Sylvam Kee Systems (SKS), provides the scheduling and registration, the test centers, and the administrators at the test centers. The computer based testing system includes a test production system, a test delivery system, and a test administration system. Examples of such system are described in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/082,038 filed on Jun. 22, 1993 which is incorporated by reference herein. Testing services such as SKS, however, are currently unable to interface computer based tests produced by different entities without each entity providing a separate administrative system to perform the administrative functions discussed above.
Furthermore, computer based testing systems do not contain a feature that allows new tests to be added, old tests deleted, tests to be enabled or disabled, or ancillary system functions to be added, enabled or disabled easily, particularly if the administrative system is in operation.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a versatile and flexible administrative system on a workstation dedicated to administrative functions.
The present invention fulfills this need by providing a centralized administrative system and method for administering computer based tests. The system according to the present invention is configured in software to provide a start-up procedure for initializing a central administration workstation and to display a main menu on the central administration workstation display. The system also provides a start of day subsystem to receive an update of the scheduled tests in the form of appointment data and to start-up at least one testing workstation on which the scheduled tests will be delivered to an examinee. A start test subsystem comprising start service and general station administration modules generate a job info file and a job data file which are used to invoke and execute the computer based test are also provided. A check-in subsystem is utilized by an administrator to verify each examinee's identity and appointment data and to provide the administrative system with an indication that the examinee has arrived and is ready to take the scheduled computer based test. A close of day subsystem is also provided to transfer any records generated while the administrative system is operating to an independent data center. A communications manager is preferably provided to transmit and receive data between the test centers and the independent data centers.
The centralized administrative system according to the present invention is preferably implemented at a test center at which one central administration workstation, one file server and at least one testing workstation are provided. The central administration workstation is preferably configured to execute an administrative kernel, a start of day procedure, a start service procedure and a central station administration procedure. In combination these procedures permit the administrator to carry out start of day, close of day, check-in, maintenance, start service, restart service, and center message transfer functions. The testing workstation invokes a test delivery application which initiates and controls the testing session. The testing workstation is configured to execute a testing kernel and a testing station administration procedure. In a preferred embodiment the file server provides the only memory for the central administration workstation and the testing workstations.
The method according to the invention is carried out by first invoking the administrative system by logging onto a central administration workstation using a unique login ID. Then an input of appointment data identifying each examinee scheduled to take a test at the test center over some specified period of time is received by the adminstrative system. The administrator then verifies the appointment data associated with each examinee when the examinee arrives at the test center to take a test. At that time, the administrator provides an indication to the administrative system that the examinee is ready for testing. The examinee is then escorted to one of the testing workstations located in a testing room remote from the location of the central administration workstation. The administrative system then initiates the delivery of the standardized test to the examinee on the testing workstation. During the testing session, the examinee's responses are preferably recorded in an examinee performance file and subsequently transmitted to an appropriate post processing system so that the responses can be scored.
The present invention will be better understood, and its numerous objects and advantages will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical computer based testing arrangement;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the hardware architecture according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one implementation of the administrative system within the computer based testing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the software architecture according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a functional flow diagram of the administrative workstation start-up procedure;
FIG. 6 is an example of the main menu displayed on the central administration workstation display;
FIG. 7 is a functional flow diagram of the Start of Day administrator procedure;
FIG. 8 is a functional flow diagram of the check-in procedure;
FIG. 9 is a functional flow diagram of the start service procedure;
FIG. 10A is an example of a check-in screen displayed by the central administration workstation;
FIG. 10B is an example of an escort message screen displayed on the central administration workstation;
FIG. 11 is a functional flow diagram of the administrative procedure for initiation and termination of the testing session;
FIG. 12 is an example of an examinee confirmation screen displayed on the testing workstation; and
FIG. 13 is a functional flow diagram of the Close of Day procedure.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the basic hardware architecture of a preferred embodiment of the administrative system at a testing center. As shown in FIG. 2 the hardware comprises one central administration workstation 5, a single file server 6, and one or more testing workstations 7. In a preferred embodiment, the central administration workstation 5 is an IBM PS2/35 having a minimum of 4 MB of RAM, a standard VGA monitor, a standard mouse, a 1.44 MB floppy drive and a Zoom 9600 baud V.32/V.42 modem with MNP for communications. The testing workstations 7, in this preferred embodiment are identically configured, namely, an IBM PS2/35 having a minimum of 4 MB of RAM, and a standard VGA monitor and a standard mouse. Testing workstations 7 preferably have no floppy drive so that unauthorized persons cannot copy information onto the file server 6 or copy data or files from the file server 6.
In this preferred embodiment, the file server 6 is an IBM PS2/57SX having a minimum of 8 MB of RAM, a floppy disk drive, an internal tape backup unit and a monochrome monitor. The central administration workstation 5 and the testing workstations 7 are connected via EtherNet to the file server 6, which preferably serves as the only permanent disk storage for the workstations to secure the files and data from unauthorized access or manipulation. It should be understood, however, that other compatible hardware can be used.
The Central Administration Workstation 5 is typically located outside the testing room and is used, for example, for the following purposes:
to perform system start up and shut down procedures;
to schedule appointments;
to check-in arriving examinees;
to start a test for an examinee at a designated testing station;
to restart a test after a testing workstation or general administrative system failure;
to provide routine system functions such as adding new administrators, changing the access rights of others, etc.;
to send pending files and transactions to an independent data center; and
to receive files and transactions for distribution to various software components.
Typically the testing workstations 7 are located inside the testing room. Preferably no central administration workstation features are provided on a testing workstation 7. A testing workstation 7, for example, provides the following functions:
Start a testing session;
End a testing session; and
Interrupt an in-progress testing session via command from the central administration workstation.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an implementation of the administrative system 10 and its interfaces in a computer based testing system. When an examinee 20 registers to take a test, the independent data center 12 schedules the examinee to take a selected test at a predetermined test center at a specified time on a specified date. Independent data center 12 is managed by an independent testing service such as SKS. Information identifying the examinee 20 and the examinee's schedule arrangements are defined as the examinee's appointment data and are stored in a database at the independent data center 12.
In a preferred embodiment, a test center administrator will start-up the administrative system 10 on the test center's central administration workstation each day before invoking any testing sessions. During the central administration workstation start-up procedure, the independent data center 12 provides the appointment data to the administrative system 10 as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, an on-line registration and scheduling system (not shown) may be provided on the central administration workstation so that an examinee 20 may walk in to a test center and register prior to taking a test. The appointment data would be generated by the registration and scheduling system and provided to the administrative system 10 and the administrative system 10 would transmit the appointment data to the independent data center 12 to be stored in an appropriate database.
During a testing session, examinee performance records (EPR) are created for recording the examinee's activities while taking the test, e.g., the examinee's responses to the questions presented by the computer based test during the testing session. Event security log (ESL) records are also preferably generated each day. The ESLs would record information related to the security of the computer based system and tests such as the identity of the administrator who invoked the administrative system start-up procedure and the name of each administrator who initiated a testing session. Examples of the format and contents of EPRs and ESLs may be found in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/082,038. Additionally, in preferred embodiments irregularity report records (IRR) are generated to report any problems an examinee may have during a testing session with the equipment or problems related to conditions at the testing center during the test session, e.g., the testing room being too hot.
The EPRs, ESLs, and IRRs are transmitted to the independent data center 12 which provides them to a router 14. Router 14 then separates the records depending upon the record type. The EPRs are transferred to an appropriate Network Data Distribution System (NDDS) 16 which formats each EPR for scoring according to a testing-program specific format. An example of a NDDS and a description of this formatting procedure are described in co-pending application 08/082,038. The ESLs and IRRs are transferred to an operations center 22 so that equipment and security problems at the test center can be monitored. For example, daily activity reports can be generated from these records as described in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/082,038.
Testing program operations 18 scores the examinee responses and generates a score report for the examinee 20. The scoring system parameters depend upon the specific testing program, e.g., GRE, etc. Testing program operations 18 in a preferred embodiment receives IRR information from the operations center 22 so that examinees' score reports can reflect any security or equipment problems identified at the test center during each examinee's testing session.
In a more preferred embodiment, the administrative system 10 is configured to receive on-line messages from either the operations center 22 or the independent data center 12 as shown in FIG. 3. Such an on-line message capability permits real-time instructions to be sent to an administrator at a test center in the event of equipment failure or security problems.
The administrative system architecture according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. The administrative system architecture includes several subsystems which are run on either the central administration workstation or on each of the testing workstations. As indicated in FIG. 4, the Administrative Kernel 30, the start-of-day (SOD) subsystem 32, the close-of-day (COD) subsystem 34, and the start test subsystem 38 are run on the central administration workstation. The Test Station Kernel 40 and the Test Station Administration subsystem 42 are run on the testing workstations.
The Administrative Kernel 30 is executed by the central administration workstation's operating system as a result of the administrator starting the system. The following are examples of some of the functions it provides:
displays the system menu and executes programs associated with menu items;
displays messages for the system administrator which originate from the independent data center or operations center;
provides virus scan detection;
automatically runs the Close of Day (to be described in detail below) procedure if the system is left unattended overnight; and
provides access security via login to prevent unauthorized access to menu items.
The start-of-day (SOD) subsystem 32 is a generic title given to a program that is run as part of the system start-up procedure. Programs that carry out available administrative system functions are stored as profiles 50 on the file server at each testing center as required by the independent data center. The format of the profiles may include several fields including a field used to identify those function which are to be executed during the administrative system start-up procedure. One exemplary format for the profiles 50 is described in Appendix A. The SOD subsystem 32 checks the profiles to determine which functions are to be run when the administrative system is started. The SOD subsystem 32 also preferably down loads the appointment data from the independent data center.
The Close-of-Day (COD) subsystem 34 is preferably run before the administrative system is shutdown. It uploads the status of each appointment to the independent data center.
The scheduling/registration module 36 shown in FIG. 4 provides the ability to schedule a test, check-in an examinee, cancel a scheduled test and perform other similar tasks. It is preferably customized for the a particular test program or the particular testing service (e.g., SKS) which administers the computer based tests. Therefore, the scheduling/registration module 36 is preferably provided by the test producer or testing service. Consequently, the administrative system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention does not include a scheduling/registration module 36 as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 4 but includes interfaces to the scheduling/registration module 36. However, it should be understood that a suitable scheduling/registration module 36 can be provided by the administrative system of the present invention.
The start test subsystem 38 consists of two software modules. The Start Service module, which displays the list of examinees who have appointments to take a test, and the Central Station Administration module, which is the generic name given to a class of programs that provide testing-program specific features prior to starting a test for a particular examinee.
The features provided depend upon the needs of the testing-program. For example, GRE tests require that a photograph be taken. Therefore, the GRE Central Station Administration preferably checks for the existence of a photograph.
The Start Test subsystem 38 produces the Job Info 49 and Job Data 51 files, which direct the Test Station Kernel 40 and Test Station Administration 42 respectively. The computer based test is available on the testing workstation after the administrator makes a final confirmation of the examinee's identification and appointment data.
The Test Station Kernel 40 is executed by the operating system as a result of the administrator starting the testing workstation. The following are examples of the functions it can provide:
confirm the date and time with the administrator;
allows the administrator to assign a station number to the testing workstation
responds to Job Info files 49 from the start service module of the Start Test subsystem 38, which runs on the central administration workstation;
displays a preliminary administrator confirmation screen; and
responds to `Kill Signals` from the central administration workstation, which cause the workstation to shutdown hurriedly--even in the middle of a testing session.
The Test Station Administration 42, is a generic class of software lying between the Test Station Kernel 40 and the Test Delivery Application 44. The functions performed by this component are determined by the needs of the testing program. However, its typical uses are a) to display an examinee confirmation screen, and b) to translate the administrative system data into the Test Delivery Application's standard format. One example of a Test Delivery Application 44 is described in co-pending, application Ser. No. 08/082,038. The Test Delivery Application 44 primary function is to execute the computer based test.
FIG. 5 is a functional flow diagram of the administration workstation start-up procedure. The administrator first logs onto the central administration workstation from the operating system using a personal login ID as shown at 60 in FIG. 5. This action invokes the Administrative Kernel. The Administrative Kernel's first task is to perform internal initialization at 62. In a preferred embodiment, the Administrative Kernel then verifies that important software and data files have not been corrupted. This can be done using commercially available virus scan detection software described in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/082,038. When the initialization 62 is complete the main menu shown in FIG. 6 is displayed at 64. The Administrative Kernel then waits for the administrator to select one of the menu options at 66 which include but are not limited to SOD 70, check-in 80, start service 90, COD 100, exit to the operating system 110, restart service 120, IRR 130, and center message 140.
If it is the start of a day, i.e. the system is not being restarted for instance after a power outage, the administrator will select the SOD option from the main menu at 70. This invokes the SOD administrator procedure which is shown in FIG. 7. The first and primary function of this procedure is to preferably call up the independent data center as shown at 72 to receive the appointment data. In a preferred embodiment, the SOD procedure is performed each day that a test will be given and the appointment data includes substantially all of the appointments for the day. The main menu can then be redisplayed as shown at 74. The SOD procedure and the start-up procedure run on the central administration workstation and are part of the Administrative Kernel. Detailed flowcharts and pseudo code for the Administrative Kernel programs are provided in Appendix B.
The SOD administrator procedure continues at the testing workstations. Next the administrator would enter the testing room and login to each of the testing workstations at 75, one-by-one, preferably using a different login than the login to the central administration workstation. The operating system then automatically executes the Test Station Kernel as a result of the login. As each testing workstation is started, the Test Station Kernel prompts the administrator to verify 35 the date and time and then enter a station number. The station number is checked to ensure that no other testing workstation is assigned the same number as shown at 76. When all of the testing workstations have been assigned a station number as determined at 77, the Test Station Kernel displays an appropriate idle screen and begins polling for a Job Info File as shown at 78. Detailed flowcharts and accompanying pseudo code for the Test Station Kernel programs are provided in Appendix C.
When an examinee arrives to take a test, the administrator selects the "Check-in" option from the main menu as indicated at 80 in FIG. 5. A flow diagram of the check-in procedure is shown in FIG. 8. This will invoke a corresponding check-in function of the scheduling/registration module as shown at 82 in FIG. 8. The administrator would then review the appointment data available through the scheduling/registration module with the examinee at 84 and provide an indication that the examinee is ready to take the test at 85. The main menu is then redisplayed at 86 and the Administrative Kernel awaits the next menu selection.
The next step would be to invoke the "Start Service" option from the main menu as shown at 90 in FIG. 5. A flow diagram of the start service procedure is shown in FIG. 9. The Start Service module displays the list of appointments at 91. The just-checked-in examinee would appear in a list as indicated on the screen shown in FIG. 10 as an example. The administrator selects the examinee from the list at 92. The Start Service module then invokes the Central Station Administration module for the testing-program at 93.
The Central Station Administration module performs any tasks required by the testing-program; for example, determining whether a photograph has been taken and prompting the administrator to take one if necessary, prompting the administrator to review critical identification information, etc. When all information is reviewed and completed, the Central Station Administration module one of the available subtests based upon internal rules and writes a Job Data File containing examinee and test delivery information.
More specifically, the Job Data File contains information required by the Test Delivery Application. Some examples of information contained therein are as follows:
Examinee's identification number;
Examinee's date of birth;
Examinee's social security number;
Authorization to test number;
A flag indicating whether this is a restart of a previously started but incomplete test;
A flag indicating the type of restart, if the above flag indicates restart;
A string containing the package name about to be delivered;
The package title (e.g. GRE General Test);
A string that describes where on the disk the package can be found;
A string that describes where on the disk the resulting Examinee Performance Record is to be written;
A count, possibly zero, of the number of dynamically selected testing components to be delivered;
The testing components themselves, if any;
A fully constructed Start Session Record of the Examinee Performance Record;
The Central Station Administration then exits and returns a code to the Start Service module. Detailed flowcharts and accompanying pseudo code are provided in Appendices D and E.
If the return code indicates that the Central Station Administration was successful, the Start Service module writes a Job Info file at 95 for the Test Station Kernel and exits. The Job Info File preferably contains two ASCII lines, a Command Line and an Appointment Number Line. The Command Line is preferably a fully qualified string containing a coldstart/restart indicator, the name of a testing-program, and any arguments it requires. The Appointment Number Line is a string containing the Appointment Number.
The Administrative System then displays an escort message such as the one shown in FIG. 10B. The administrator then would escort the examinee into the testing room to the testing workstation to which she or he was assigned. The Administrative System Kernel then redisplays the main menu at 97.
In the meantime, the Testing Station Kernel (on the testing workstation to which the examinee was assigned) will detect the Job Info File as shown in FIG. 11 at 150, process the information contained therein at 151 and display a preliminary confirmation screen at 152.
When the administrator arrives at the testing workstation, he or she reviews the preliminary confirmation screen and keys in a unique override key sequence at 153. The Test Station Kernel then executes the Test Station Administration program for the testing-program at 154, which is specified by the Job Info File at 155.
The Testing Station Administration reads the Job Data File 155 and displays the examinee confirmation screen at 156. An example of an examinee confirmation screen is shown in FIG. 12. The examinee reviews the information.
If the information is correct, the examinee presses ENTER and the Test Delivery Application (TDA) is started at 157. The Test Station Administration polls for a return status from the TDA at 158. When the Testing Station Administration detects the TDA return status, it is processed as follows: The Test Station Administration, then cleans up at 160 and, in turn, signals the Test Station Kernel, which cleans up and sets the appointment to the appropriate status.
If the test ended successfully, the Examinee Performance Record, photo, etc., are posted to the communications manager at 159 for eventual transmission to ETS. The Test Station Administration then cleans up at 160 and, in turn, signals the Test Station Kernel, which cleans up and sets the appointment status such that the appointment no longer appears in either Start Service or Restart Service.
Otherwise, the EPR, photo, etc., are retained and the appointment status is set such that the appointment appears in the Restart Service list (which will be described below) through which the test can be restarted.
If the information is incorrect, the examinee notifies the administrator at 156. The administrator enters the special key combination to force an administrative override at 161. This terminates the Test Station Administration, which returns an abort code to the Test Station Kernel, which, in turn, sets the status of the appointment accordingly. Detailed flowcharts of the Test Station Administration program and accompanying pseudo code are provided in Appendix F.
Testing sessions that ended abnormally, either through administrator intervention or system failure, can be restarted via Restart Service. The Restart Service module, displays the list of examinees who have had a testing session prematurely terminated.
As described above, the TDA provides a return status to the Test Station Administration subsystem. If the test was terminated prematurely, the Test Station Administration subsystem updates the Job Data File with the <JOB> parameter set to Restartable. Detailed flowcharts and accompanying pseudo code are provided in Appendix F. In a preferred embodiment, Restart Service merely allows the administrator to select a test to restart from the list. Upon selection an escort message as shown in FIG. 10B is displayed. When the escort message is confirmed by the administrator, a Job Info file is written--this time with a restart indicator--to direct the Test Station Kernel and Restart Service. The Job Data file created during the Start Service procedure is preferably reused during the Restart Service procedure so that no testing-program specific features are required to restart a test. The administrator would then escort the examinee into the testing room to the testing workstation to which she or he was assigned. The sequence of events at the testing station, namely, the progression from the Test Station Kernel, to Test Station Administration, to Test Delivery Application, is executed in a similar fashion as described above in connection with the Start Service procedure--except that each testing-program is notified that this is a restart for post processing purposes.
The sequence described above repeats throughout the day until the close of business. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of the administrator's COD process. At the end of the testing day or other period of time defined by the testing service, the administrator re-enters the testing room and shuts down each of the testing workstations at 101. Returning to the central administration workstation, the administrator selects the Close Day menu item at 100, which invokes the COD program for each testing-program, if the testing program has one.
Many tasks can be performed by a COD program but some examples are as follows:
The status of all appointments is written to a log record at 103 and returned to the Independent Data Center at 104.
Any EPRs, photos, etc., for tests that failed and were never restarted are posted to the communications manager for transmission to the appropriate test producer also shown at 104.
The day's attendance files are deleted from the file server shown at 105.
When close of day is complete the Administrative System Kernel redisplays the main menu to await the next Start of Day at 106.
The administrator can then exit to the operating system by logging off of the administrative system as indicated at 110 in FIG. 5. For instance, an "Exit to DOS" button may be provided by the main menu as shown in FIG. 6.
An additional testing workstation feature which can also be made available is the "Reassign Station" option shown in FIG. 6. This feature may be used if one or more testing workstations become unavailable during the day due to faulty equipment or when the testing workstation is used for another purpose. The workstation numbers can be reassigned by selecting an appointment from a list of appointments that are not in progress and then selecting a station from a list of stations. Upon confirming the choices, the selected appointment is updated with the selected station number.
In addition to the "check-in" feature described above, the administrator may be provided with the capability to perform other administrative functions using the central administration workstation. For instance, some testing programs require the examinee's photograph to be taken prior to the examinee's scheduled testing session. The "Image Capture" button permits the administrator to capture the examinee's image and store it digitally with the examinee's identification and appointment data. Electronic image capture techniques are generally known to those skilled in the art.
Another administrative function which can be accessed by the administrative system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, is the "Scheduling/Registration" feature shown in FIG. 6. By selecting this button the administrator can access an on-line scheduling and administration facility which would permit examinees to register at the test center and schedule the test on a walk-in basis. However, the scheduling and registration software would preferably be provided by the testing service which administers tests at the particular test center.
The "Irregularity Report" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator when the administrator wants to generate an irregularity report. For instance, the testing service administering the test and the test producer may want to be informed when certain equipment failures cause an examinee problems during the testing session. As an example if the air conditioner at a testing center failed to work on a hot day, all of the examinees taking a test on that day may not perform as well as they would have if the testing room had been cooled. Therefore, such information is helpful to the testing program operations when scoring the examinees' responses and is helpful to test producers which use the examinees' responses for evaluating the tests that they have produced. The irregularity report may be generated by creating a log file having a format which can be identified as an irregularity report and writing a log record with the desired information to the file.
The "Lock Screen" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator when the administrator wants to generate and leave the central administration workstation unattended. This causes the Administrative System Kernel to display an idle screen. To unlock the screen the administrator must use the administrative override key combination which causes a login screen to appear and after successful login the main menu is redisplayed.
The "Center Messages" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator to review a queue of waiting messages. When selected the program preferably displays a short description of each message in the queue along with the security level required to read the message. The administrator selects a message from the list and if the administrator has the required security level the message is displayed. The administrator can then print or delete the message. After disposing of the message the list of remaining messages is preferably displayed.
The "Security Maintenance" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator password, or in the case of the highest level administrator to reset his or her to reset the password of any other administrator, or to add, delete or change login information for any administrator.
The "Retrieve Data" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator to copy backup copies of data that had been previously sent via the Communications Manager to the independent data center. When selected the program preferably displays a list of the data available during the last several days in which the system was in operation. The administrator then selects a day. The program then prompts the administrator to insert a floppy disk and copies the data transmitted that day to floppy disks. When complete the program exits.
The "System Status" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator to display, for example, the following information:
the date and time
center number and name
available disk space (in bytes)
communications status, namely, whether communications is on or off
station information, namely, whether the station is active or available, the examinee at an active station and the test being taken
a list of the installed functions, the status (enabled or disabled), and the function version.
The "System Maintenance" button shown in FIG. 6 would be selected by the administrator to apply system maintenance from a diskette. When selected the administrator is prompted to enter a diskette. The diskette is preferably checked to ensure it is a valid maintenance diskette and is intended for the center at which it is being used. If so, work orders are copied from the diskette to the file server and the program exits. In due time a background maintenance program is preferably executed by the Administrative System Kernel. The maintenance program detects the new work orders and applies them. A work order contains files or commands, and a delay flag that tells the maintenance program whether to apply the work order immediately or to wait for an active command (described below). A file may contain a profile, data, program, or any other system file plus the file's destination. The maintenance program `applies` the file by moving it to the specified destination. Examples of some possible commands are:
the enable command, which either enables or disables a function (profile)
activate and deactivate, which either activate or removes a previously sent but unapplied work order
deregister, which removes an installed profile and data associated with the profile
delete, which removes a specified file.
While the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that modification and variations may be made without departing from the principles of the invention as described hereinabove and set forth in the following claims. ##SPC1##
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Effective date: 19931109
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At the Aquarium, we are committed to conservation. It is in everything we do. But this is no small task. As we care for thousands of animals, repair aging buildings, provide for millions of visitors and engage hundreds of staff, we must use our resources wisely.
Our responsibility is not easy: Continually improve our environmental impact. Become a role model for resource conservation. Inspire others to follow our lead and take action at home. It is reflected in each decision we make and is most evident in our efforts to:
Back to the Top | 273,538 |
Autism Awareness (or Acceptance) Month runs through the month of April. It is a time for people in the Autism community to raise awareness and acceptance to all the little things that make those with Autism the amazing and challenging people that they are.
The past few weeks have been filled with a number of amazing stories on autism. Stories that were insulting, inspiring, and infuriating.
I know that I may be in the minority because I do not sit and wonder why my son has autism. I am confident I know why. Sam was born at 24 weeks. That means the majority of his brain development happened outside of the womb. Knowing that – it is no surprise to me that some of the brain connections might not have formed properly. Of course, there is also the new report that was just released showing evidence that autism forms in the womb – which just helps reinforce my notion that Sam’s autism developed in the isolette.
Because of that, I have not had to waste my energy or emotional time on the “whys”. (I did plenty of that wondering why he had to be born so early.) I also have not joined the anti-vaccination crowd and blamed Sam’s autism on vaccinations that will protect him and those of his friends from preventable diseases. (NOTE: If you want to argue with me about vaccinations – don’t. I have spent enough time in NICUs and PICUs with immune compromised children. The fact that you are willing to endanger any of them makes my blood boil. So lets leave it at that.)
Instead, I have used my time to come to terms with the fact that Sam is autistic. Notice that I didn’t say “Sam has autism”. That was a very deliberate choice in words.
Saying Sam “has autism” implies that this is something he can be cured of. Like cancer. Saying that Sam “is autistic” means that autism is a part of him. Just like his eyes are blue.
That doesn’t mean I will not do everything in my power to help Sam overcome his autism. He is in speech therapy. He is in occupational therapy. He is in ABA therapy. He has completed FloorTime therapy. He eats a diary free and gluten free diet. (A note on the diet – this was at the suggestion of his pediatric gastroenterologist almost a year before his autism diagnosis.)
But even as I help Sam find the tools to communicate and connect with the world around him, I am not trying to change him. I love him for all that he is. I love his quirks. I love his ability to vanish into music. I love his smile. I love his laugh. I would not change a hair on his head – and that includes all the autistic hairs.
And that is because of the simple fact that those autistic hairs are a part of who Sam is. He is not bothered by being autistic… so why should I.
Now- don’t even get me started on the AOL CEO, Tim Armstrong, and his totally insulting comment about “Distressed Babies”.
Bio – At just 24 weeks into her pregnancy, her son Sam was born. He entered this world way too small (just 1 pound 12 ounces) and way to early – but don’t tell him that! He has been a force to be reckoned with from day one. Now, Sam is a healthy and thriving three year old, who is taking his recent Autism diagnosis with more maturity than the rest of his family! As for Melissa, Sam turned her world upside down. She went from being a career focused individual to a work-from-home mom. Her kids are her pride and joy – but don’t get her wrong – it is not all craft projects and kid perfection at her house. Far from it. Her blog is a place where she tell Sam’s story, how he impacts his big sister, and generally explore the perils of parenting. You can find her on Twitter (@MelRagent), Pinterest (@MelRagent), and Facebook sharing her stories. | 31,551 |
Sleep obviously becomes a precious commodity once you have a new baby in your life. But the sleep troubles can start long before you bring home your bundle of joy. Even in the earliest months of pregnancy, well before you have a noticeable baby bump, you might have trouble getting comfy at night. If you’re wondering about the best way to sleep in your first trimester, you might want to get into the habit of sleeping on a specific side.
Although your belly doesn't present much of a problem in the first trimester, you'll want to start training yourself to doze off in the ideal pregnancy sleep position. That's because as your pregnancy progresses, sleeping in any other position can become riskier and more uncomfortable. According to The Bump, sleeping on your back as your belly gets bigger puts pressure on a vein that carries blood from your heart to legs and feet, and that compression forces your heart to work harder. Sleeping on your stomach isn't a great option, either. Parenting noted that your breasts will likely become sore and swollen thanks to pregnancy hormones, and won't appreciate being squished if you lie down on your front.
So how should you snooze? According to Baby Center, sleeping on your left side increases blood flow to the fetus and the uterus, and may also help your body flush out waste.
Sleeping on your side may not have been your preferred position pre-pregnancy, but there's another big reason you might appreciate it once you've got a bun in the oven. According to Fit Pregnancy, it can help take some of the pressure off your back, which many women complain becomes sore and achy.
If you're finding it hard to get comfy on your side, or to stay in that position once you fall asleep, the American Pregnancy Association recommends using a pillow to support your belly. It should help keep you comfortable and make sure you get a better and safer night's sleep. | 67,435 |
Whatever else we do, whatever metaphysical view gets us there, the first order of business has to be shackling women. We always have to make sure women don’t have too many rights. We have to make very damn sure they’re not as free to decide how to live their own lives as men are.
In the rural areas of Egypt, in Upper Egypt, however there is scant respect for the law. You hear the words “tradition”, “custom”, “honour” uttered like a mantra when people justify their decision to circumcise their daughters.
The belief there is that it is the female who is sexually rampant and that her sexual desire must be arrested at a young age, before she can disgrace the family.
It is important that she loses that part of her body that awakes sexual desire. If not, she may play with herself or ask a boy to touch this part for her, not specifically a stranger, but one of her cousins for instance, and she might enjoy it,” Olla told me. “When she feels the pain of it she will be more careful about this part.”
We have to give a fertilized egg full human rights so that the woman the egg is inside of will lose many of her human rights.
Virginia lawmakers took a step on Tuesday toward trying to outlaw abortion by approving “personhood” legislation that grants individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception.
The Republican-controlled House of Delegates voted 66-32 in favor of defining the word person under state law to include unborn children “from the moment of conception until birth at every stage of biological development.”
The woman that putative “person” is occupying becomes less than a person; she becomes an incubator, with truncated rights over her own body and life.
Whatever else you do, keep those women down. | 84,654 |
With the state Board of Regents’ decision last week to delay full implementation of the Common Core program for five years, it has become pretty clear that, as far as the state is concerned, it is not a matter of if but when.
To be fair, you will find few who argue against the idea of holding New York students to high standards, and the decision to delay full implementation gives districts the time they need to meet the demands of the program. The problem is, all this Common Core discussion is becoming increasingly about what the adults want and not the very students who will be impacted most.
It seems like a good time to ask ourselves what we would like the graduates of 2020 to embody. The stricter Common Core curriculum promises to promote critical thinking skills and the ability to synthesize ideas across different disciplines. This is certainly a noble goal, but we wonder how well a standardized test is going to measure that outcome. Common Core curriculum also promises to raise the level of math proficiency in students, and again, you would find few people sounding the call to hold our children back.
But when we envision this 2020 graduate, STEM-proficient and able to navigate a complicated system of testing, there is no guarantee that he or she will be better prepared for life beyond the schoolyard than the students who are graduating today.
Does this focus on Common Core and its required testing come at the detriment of activities and skills that make a student an individual and a productive adult? Does this insistence that there is only one kind of successful student — the Common Core proficient one — ignore the fact that individuals have different skill sets that can be just as valuable to society? Does judging teachers on the results of those tests without considering the variables that differ among districts make them better educators? | 129,981 |
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PAULA ZAHN NOW
33 Killed in Virginia Tech Massacre
Aired April 16, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone, including CNN International viewers joining us for tonight's breaking news.
I want you to hear this first. It is the sound of the deadliest shooting rampage at a U.S. school in history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: These incredible pictures are from a cell phone camera that belonged to a student at Virginia Tech. He will be joining us in just a couple of minutes to describe exactly what he saw and what else he heard.
Now, it isn't clear tonight if all the shots are from a gunman or police or both. What we do know is that, when the shooting finally ended, 33 people were dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Again, we don't know if all the shots you just heard were fired by a gunman or by police, but authorities have confirmed that the gunman is among the 33 tonight.
They say he killed himself. At least 15 other people are wounded. We are devoting this entire hour to the terrible events that took place on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg.
Our team coverage begins with CNN's Brianna Keilar. She is on the Virginia Tech campus, where authorities have just wrapped up another news conference.
I don't know about you, but, to me, it opened up more questions than answers. And I think the bottom line tonight is that they don't seem to want to confirm, nor do they say they can, that these 33 people were killed by the same man.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, that's exactly right, Paula.
That's the confusion that was opened up by this press conference. And that's because the first shooting, which occurred at 7:15 a.m. Eastern this morning, approximately, police identified what they're calling a person of interest.
And, then, in the second shooting, where they first received a 911 call about 9:45 this morning, they preliminarily have identified the gunman. They aren't telling us who he is, that gunman, of course, who killed himself in Norris Hall, the second location.
And the problem, Paula, is, they say the descriptions of the two people do not match. So, the question, of course, being, was there a second person involved? Was there a second gunman?
Now, if you listened very carefully to Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum, a few hours ago, during a news conference, he said, no, there is no one else out there. But, if you listened during this last press conference, he was not so sure. He did not commit to that answer.
So, obviously at this point, they have not been able -- police have not been able to connect the two crime scenes by either evidence or eyewitness accounts. That seems to be what they're telling us.
And, officially, they're not releasing information about the weapons that were used. They say the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is helping with ballistic information, trying to match those two crime scenes. But, again, they haven't linked them.
Of course, students here, Paula, are linking these two shootings. And they're very enraged. They're enraged because, as I said, that first shooting at the dorm occurred at 7:15 a.m. -- a man and a woman killed. It wasn't until 9:26, more than two hours later, when the first e-mail went out, an e-mail about that first shooting. And it was less than 20 minutes after that when the first 911 call about the second shooting came in -- students very enraged, saying they should have been notified.
They would have been more on alert, or maybe the campus should have been shut down, and perhaps this whole thing could have been averted -- the second shooting, that is.
Now, I do want to point out something that we heard in the news conference. And that was whether -- pardon me, Paula -- I think you were talking about whether police engaged -- whether any of the shots were coming from police.
We did hear in this news conference that, apparently, what happened, police entered the building. They found it to be chained from the inside. They managed to get past that.
When they went up the second floor, they were still hearing gunshots. But that stopped. And, when they entered the room, the gunman had already killed himself. We understand there was no exchange between police and the gunman in Norris Hall -- Paula. ZAHN: Well, here's where it gets really confusing, Brianna.
And maybe you can some shed light on this. The head of security for the campus police said that the police are, in fact, questioning a person of interest in the dorm shootings -- or they were at the time of the Norris Hall -- at the time, then, that you had the second round of shootings.
Now, he -- he was asked, is it possible you were going after the wrong guy, chasing the wrong guy? And he says: I can't confirm, nor deny that.
So, what does that mean?
KEILAR: You know what? It's really hard to tell at this point.
And there's a lot of that, neither confirming, nor denying at this point. They're definitely being more careful during this news conference. And my understanding was, there was a person of interest. And they have preliminarily identified this second -- well, the shooter at the -- at Norris Hall. And, at this point, there is a question as to whether or not they are one in the same or if they are two different people.
ZAHN: And I guess the other thing that...
ZAHN: ... is worth talking about is the amount of controversy you can feel growing tonight about that almost two-hour-and-20 minute period that went by where the students weren't even alerted to the first shooting. The...
KEILAR: That is certain...
ZAHN: This -- the...
KEILAR: That is certainly something that students are raising.
ZAHN: And the university has got to be very concerned about any liability they may face down the road.
KEILAR: Well, they're certainly -- what they did say in response to that -- because this is the question that reporters were hammering them on.
They said, what they did was, they made a decision based on the information they had from the first shooting. They believed that it was an isolated incident. They said they believed it was domestic in nature. And they believed that the suspect in that case was leaving campus.
So, at that point, they say they alerted everyone who was in that dorm building, or at least reached out, trying to do so. But they say they didn't alert the entire campus, based on the information they had.
ZAHN: Brianna, we're going to come back to you as soon as you get more information, and try to clear up so many of these conflicting facts that are flying our way tonight.
Thanks so much.
Just wanted to quickly add some other facts that came out of that news conference now, as the community tries to come to grips with the 33 people dead, including the gunman himself -- the university saying that they are still in the process of notifying family members, and the crime scene has not been, in their words, cleaned up.
Tonight, one student says she was in a classroom with the shooter, and pretended to be dead to save her life.
Jeanne Meserve just talked with that student.
And Jeanne now will tell us her story -- Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Paula, her name is Erin Sheehan. She's a freshman here at Virginia Tech majoring in mechanical engineering. She was in her German class in Norris Hall. She thought it was just another day. But, of course, it was not.
Here's part of her story.
ERIN SHEEHAN, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: He was, I would say, about a little bit under 6 feet tall, young-looking, Asian, dressed sort of strangely, almost like a Boy Scout, with very short-sleeved light tan shirt and some sort of ammo vest. It was black over it.
MESERVE: What kind of weapon did he have?
SHEEHAN: I would say a handgun. It was not a large rifle at all. It was black and it was plastic. I don't know much about guns, though.
MESERVE: Describe how he came into the classroom.
SHEEHAN: He peaked in twice earlier in the class, which was sort of sketchy.
But then he came in eventually later. And he just stepped within five feet of the door and just started firing. He seemed very thorough about it, getting almost everyone down, or I -- I pretended to be dead, just on the ground. And then he -- he left for about 30 seconds, came back in, did almost exactly the same thing, because I guess he heard us still talking.
And, then, we forced ourselves against the door so he couldn't come in again, because the door would not lock. And, so, he -- he came and tried to force himself in another three times, and then started shooting through the door. It was a solid, wooden door with no windows, though.
MESERVE: How many students were wounded or killed?
SHEEHAN: At least when we left, only four of us left, and two of them were minorly injured. And everyone else was unconscious, either dead or wounded seriously.
MESERVE: And how many of them were there?
SHEEHAN: It was about a 25-person German class. And the professor was down, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: What an amazing story.
And to have that presence of mind is extraordinary as well.
Did Erin know about the shootings a couple hours earlier?
MESERVE: Paula, she did not know about those shootings. And she wishes she had. She reaches -- she wishes that somebody on campus had reached out and informed students about what was going on. She believes, if that had happened, that some lives might have been saved today -- Paula.
ZAHN: And, of course, we just heard the administration, chiefly the president, defend its policy of notifying people by e-mail, saying that, if they had attempted to leave text messages on some 26,000 cell phones, that the system simply would have been overloaded -- a lot of questions being asked tonight about the actions of the university.
Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much.
Now, not every student had a cell phone camera handy, but, tonight, more and more students are coming forward with dramatic stories of what they saw and what they heard.
We will listen to some of those stories next.
Also, what turns people into monsters? I will ask an expert what mass killers have in common?
You can also see more pictures from Virginia Tech and find the latest news updates on CNN.com.
We will be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard some loud banging. We wasn't sure -- we weren't sure if there was construction or not.
And then we heard people screaming. So, everybody in the class huddled in the back. And we were going to go out the front door. And someone opened the door. And it sounded like the shots were being fired down the hallway, so we all jumped out of the window.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: We're back with tonight's breaking news: the shootings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where 33 people died today, 31, including a gunman in a rampage in a classroom building. Two more were killed earlier in a dorm. Investigators are still not sure whether the two shootings are connected.
There are nearly 25,000 students at Virginia Tech. Eight percent come from outside of the United States, including Jamal Albarghouti, a Palestinian graduate student who captured the unforgettable pictures and sounds of this morning's rampage at Norris Hall.
Thanks so much for being with us, Jamal.
I want to share with our audience who hasn't had a chance to see what you captured on your cell phone exactly what you witnessed. Let's listen together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
ZAHN: So, Jamal, at the time the shooting started, were you actually in Norris Hall and then you ran into this area where we see you shooting from now?
JAMAL ALBARGHOUTI, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: No, actually I was passing by Norris Hall. I never -- I was never in it, but I saw some cops drawing their guns and rushing toward Norris Hall, so I started filming that.
ZAHN: It had to be the scariest thing anybody could ever have to confront. Were you able to distinguish who was firing the shots?
ALBARGHOUTI: No. I really thought they were -- I didn't think they were from Norris Hall. I thought they were way far from there. But then I figured out that they were not. They were actually from inside the building, but they sounded as though they were far. I did not see who -- I did not have the chance to know who took the -- who started shooting.
ZAHN: You must have been terrified to be taking these pictures not knowing whether you were safe or not. Did it ever occur to you maybe you should be running away from this area?
ALBARGHOUTI: Well, I think it was worth it to give a chance for the world to see it. So I just stood there and started filming it. When the cops tried going into Norris Hall, I tried to follow them for a little bit, but there was a cop behind me who insisted that I should leave, so I left.
ZAHN: And how long was it after that you finally got confirmation from anybody on campus that the shootings had taken place?
ALBARGHOUTI: You know, my day has been so busy today. I did not get any confirmation. I just went back and -- as soon as I went back, I went to Virginia Tech's vt.edu and I read on the main page -- Web page, telling us to stay on campus and that there are shootings on campus.
ZAHN: So, Jamal, how outraged are students tonight that almost two hours and 20 minutes passed from the first shooting where police now admit tonight they thought it was contained, they thought it was a domestic disturbance, they actually were questioning someone they thought was potentially involved in the dorm shooting when the Norris shooting came down?
So you guys had no warning that this gunman could potentially be on campus.
ALBARGHOUTI: Well, we are angry about that. I can't talk about -- on the behalf of other students. Personally I think the Virginia Tech police did a good job. Unfortunately, many people have died. It's really easy to come after the accident and say, we should have done something.
I believe that they -- the Virginia Tech police did -- or took the decision they thought was the best for them or best at that time. Many people are angry, but more than being angry, they are really sad for the high casualties that Virginia Tech took today.
We are all sad and our condolences go to the families of those missing or dead.
ZAHN: And the saddest thing that the police chief just confirmed for us is that they're still in the process of notifying family members about those who have died. Jamal Albarghouti, thank you.
ALBARGHOUTI: OK. Thank you. No, I just wanted to tell you that here I was talking to the -- to some of my friends who until now do not know the fate of their cousins and it's really a terrible thing in there. Seeing people almost about to cry or that's really shocking.
They are really tough people. I know that, but this situation is really, really tough. You can't imagine how much people are sad. They just want to know what's happened to their friends and relatives. These people are really -- it's a really big problem.
ZAHN: Yes, you're right. It's horrible all the way around. Some families who have the certainty, some families who are still waiting for word tonight. Jamal Albarghouti, thank so much for your time tonight.
I want to turn now to someone who is devoted to making college campuses safer. Catherine Bath (ph) is the executive director of Security on Campus.
Catherine, I know you were listening in on both of the news conferences today. And you know, some stunning information came out. We heard the college president basically defend his decision to e-mail the students some two hours after the first shooting because they, in fact, thought it was a domestic disturbance and in fact were questioning someone at the time that the Norris, the mass killings came down.
What did you read into that?
CATHERINE BATH, SECURITYONCAMPUS.ORG: Well, I got my first call from the media at about a quarter of 10:00 this morning when I arrived at work. At that time, they knew about the first shooting and other students had also been injured in that shooting.
And so my question is, why did they not warn the campus immediately? They knew they had a very serious emergency situation on their hands. And when the president says that he couldn't send an e- mail to all of the students at once, well, that's not true.
We have technology now in place that's available and that is not that expensive where campus security can type one simple text message saying, "warning, stay in your rooms, lock your doors, shooter on the loose." You know, students have died.
And they can push a button and it can go out simultaneously to all 26,000 phones. And at 7:30 in the morning when they knew about the first tragedy, that's what they should have -- it's a shame -- it's such a shame they did not have this technology in place.
ZAHN: But they said at the time they believed -- mistakenly believed that this was a lone event and they are still not making any linkage -- a definitive linkage between the first shooting and the second shooting. They say they have a bunch of ballistic tests to conduct and they actually have a person of interest they say they are talking to tonight who is cooperating.
BATH: Well, quite frankly, whether it was a lone event, whether it was linked, whether it was two separate events, the first event was serious enough to warrant immediate warning of the entire campus community and that should have been done after the first event.
They're saying they thought it was a domestic incident. I don't care. It was a double murder with other students injured in the process. That alone should have been sign enough to them, time to warn the entire campus. And the thing that's so upsetting is they had an incident in August on the first day of school where they also did not adequately warn the campus community.
So you know, they should have learned from their first mistake, I'm sorry to say, and now the whole country needs to learn from this incident and get these systems in place.
It's not so easy to secure a campus, but it is possible to warn the entire student body and faculty and workers if something like this is coming down the road. If is comes to their attention, they need to have a system in place to warn the campus community immediately.
ZAHN: Catherine Bath, thank you so much for your perspective tonight. Now, we know very little about the Norris Hall gunman tonight, but you might be surprised at how much we do know about what turns people into mass killers. Stay with us for two experts' insights. We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY SENNESSY, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: Walking across and I see the SWAT team swarmed around Norris. And I had no idea what was going on. And all of the sudden, I just hear these shoots -- like these fires going off and like all of these gunshots and like everyone just started screaming run and everyone ran across the Drillfield.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: We are back with tonight's breaking news, the campus shootings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, 33 people are dead, more than 15 wounded in two sets of shootings that police have not yet been able to link. And they say they might not be able to do so until they finish all of their ballistics testing.
Now many of the wounded were sent to Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg and that's exactly where we find our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She joins us from there tonight.
Is the hospital confirming anything about the condition of any of these patients?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Paula, they are confirming some of the conditions of the patients. The patients started rolling in at 7:30 this morning. One was dead on arrival. Three more than 12 hours later are in critical condition. Six are stable. Five have been discharged and two have been transferred. That's 17 patients in all. Four of whom needed surgery.
This hospital, which is a 146-bed hospital, it is not a major trauma center, it has set aside a room for family and friends of the wounded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT HILL, MONTGOMERY REGIONAL HOSPITAL: We're in the process of working with Virginia Tech to help make sure that these patients' families are notified as needed. And, you know, we're just trying to get through this tragic incident. We're in communication (INAUDIBLE) right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Another area hospital received five patients, two of whom have been discharged. Three of whom are in stable condition -- Paula.
ZAHN: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for that update. It's going to be a very, very long night ahead for those families. My next guest was in a building next door to Norris Hall where 30 died before the gunman took his own life. Brendan Quirk (ph) is a graduate student. He says he saw people jumping out windows, trying to escape the gunfire, among other things.
Thank you, Brendan, very much, for joining us tonight. So you were in Patton Hall right behind Norris Hall. What else did you see?
BRENDAN QUIRK, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: Well, it was a normal day. We'd gone in. It was a 9:00 class. I mean, we pretty much got through most of it and we noticed out the window cops a long ways away, more towards McBride Hall. And the consensus to the rest of the class that it was another bomb threat like in the past weeks.
And then all of a sudden today, a police vehicle came flying up through the grass up this hill way off the road up towards Norris. And when everybody saw that, we knew something was up. Class ended and we went out into the central area where the stairs are in Patton Hall and there was a mass gathering of people.
The students that had jumped out of the second story were down there. There was an individual who had -- his foot sprained or possibly broken. There was another girl that was upstairs who had the wind knocked out of her and everybody was crowded around the windows to see the action that was going on at Norris.
ZAHN: And tonight, unfortunately, families are just starting to get the very bad news, confirmation of the deaths. Did you know anybody that died?
QUIRK: Well, there is a student in my department who had a close, close family member who was in the -- one of the classrooms and I just learned not too long ago that he did not make it. There was another student of -- that I have a class with and I still have not gotten any news on how he is doing. But he was confirmed to be in the classroom.
ZAHN: I can't imagine how all of you are coping tonight, knowing that the crime scene hasn't been cleaned up, knowing that family members, not all of them, have even been called with the confirmation of the deaths. Describe to us what students are doing and how they're taking this horrible, horrible day.
QUIRK: Well, it's an extremely intense day. I can only speak for my roommates. We got back and we watched the television for a while. But after about an hour or so, we just couldn't take watching the news anymore. We just had to get out. We left to go out and have lunch. We just had to take time, our own, to talk about, discuss it amongst ourselves, not continue to watch the news and hear the same things repeated over again and to keep reminded about the situation. It just took for us to hang out together and to go through it on our own and discuss things. Other than that, I've -- that people that I have met on my way over here -- that I've found out about certain people, it's kind of in this little hysteric. There's just no words to describe the reactions that I've seen from others. And I'm still not sure, you know, how I'm taking it. I'm a little shaken. I have so much sympathy for other people. And it's just very hard to describe what other people could possibly be feeling.
ZAHN: And, Brendan, I guess what I understand from talking to you, who witnessed this carnage is that the shock in some cases is turning to anger. And a lot of students and their parents are outraged that the campus didn't go into a lock-down mode after the first shooting, earlier in the morning. Almost two hours and 20 minutes before the second shootings.
QUIRK: Yes, like I said, my class is at 9:00 and I got up like any regular day, left my apartment around 8:45, drove to campus and was in sitting down and we had a regular class all the way up until about 9:45. I had no idea that there was any incident over on the other side of campus.
I think the first e-mail went out about 9:26. And I can't speak for other people, but right now, I can't see myself getting too mad at anybody else except for the perpetrator, the gunman. I can't put blame on anybody except him.
But it is very unfortunate. I don't know the logistics behind the administrative e-mail system. It's just unfortunate.
ZAHN: So are you willing to say tonight that this might have been prevented if the communications were better, at least the second tragedy?
QUIRK: I -- it's definitely a possibility. It's definitely true. I don't know. I mean, it's still up to any other college student to wake up in the morning and decide to check their e-mail before going to class. Especially early in the morning, a lot of people may not have time.
But it seems like after the run that we had in the scare from the opening day of the Morva situation on the opening day of classes in the fall, that this is something that should have been planned for and that there should have been a routine set in place for any kind of drastic situation like this.
ZAHN: Well, the administration certainly on the defensive tonight as so many of those questions are being raised. Brendan Quirk, thank you so much. And our heart goes out to all of you in your community.
On everybody's mind tonight, what triggers someone to go on a rampage? Killing and wounding dozens of people? Joining me now, Casey Jordan (ph), a criminologist and professor at Western Connecticut State University.
CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: As you know, the campus police are not confirming, nor is the administration, that these two killings are -- two separate killings are related. But based on the facts that we know tonight, what -- let's talk about the Norris killing where we know that over two dozen people lost their lives. What could potentially drive someone to that kind of anger?
JORDAN: Well, since we have the updated information that apparently the gunman was not a student at the university, that puts a new spin on things. Because in most of these campus shootings, it's a very personal, it's not random. It's a revenge shooting to get back at specific students or professors or -- and even an institution that has done the person wrong in his perception.
ZAHN: But they don't seem to have very much information on the gunman who killed himself. He didn't have any identification on him.
ZAHN: They certainly didn't give us any information on what his potential motive might have been.
JORDAN: Well, if he is indeed the same shooter in the early dorm shootings, I would link those two in terms of the fact that it was, perhaps, what Jack Levin (ph) is going to call a love killing, out of a perverse sense of possessive love, if I can't have her, no one can, a gunman may kill his estranged girlfriend or wife, and then develop and attitude of complete downward spiral, a kind of whatever factor.
There's no reason to continue living. You're probably not going to get away with it, so you might as well wreak as much havoc as possible.
ZAHN: But I think we're jumping too far ahead here. Because the only thing we've heard was a reference earlier today in a news conference when they thought that they just had a domestic disturbance on their hand. They thought it was an isolated incident.
JORDAN: Correct, and that is the natural thing to think. I think people are --naturally emotionally they want to blame the campus for not doing more, but I don't know of anything, any case that's similar on a campus where you have two completely different shootings in different locations two hours apart.
If it was indeed the same gunman, there was no reason to expect the massacre at Norris Hall. We have no case that has been similar to this. In most cases, mass murders have killed family members or loved ones prior to doing a mass murder, do it in a completely different location unrelated to their domestic situation.
So that's the unusual thing about this particular situation.
ZAHN: But it's so confusing in listening to this news conference. They were saying the description given of the gunman who killed two this morning and wounded others did not match the description of the gunman who killed himself.
ZAHN: Now that description could have been off, right?
JORDAN: It could be. Because we know that when people witness these sorts of situations, their perceptions are very skewed. They talk about how time slows down to nothing and we don't know if there was a disguise, is there was different clothing worn. We have to get the answer to that. The idea that they're completely unrelated really strikes me as far-fetched.
ZAHN: If it turns out that there is a ballistics match and law enforcement is able to make the link between the two, what would describe why this guy would wait for a couple of hours to come back and kill more?
JORDAN: Well, a few things. They aren't sure whether or not he's linked to the bomb warnings that happened a few days prior. If that turns out to be true, then that actually changes the analysis as well. If, indeed, he had not planned to do a mass murder today, had actually killed these people in the dorms and then had time to go home, get weapons, get chains, get padlocks, that would indicate -- the time lapse would indicate that perhaps massacre at Norris Hall was not part of the original plan.
ZAHN: Well, we are trying to get into all of these details tonight as law enforcement is struggling to get this information as well.
Casey, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
JORDAN: Great to be here.
ZAHN: After today's massacre, things will never be the same again. Of course, on the campus of Virginia Tech, the student body is still in a state of shock tonight, and tonight the president of the Student Government Association is calling for a time of healing, Adeel Khan joins me now.
Adeel, thanks so much for being with us.
ADEEL KHAN, PRESIDENT, STUDENT GOVT. ASSOC.: Thank you for having me.
ZAHN: If you would, describe some of the conflicting emotions people are feeling tonight, the tremendous sense of loss, the grieving, and some of the anger people have talked about that perhaps the second group of murders could have been prevented.
KHAN: As far as the anger goes, I'd say the anger was an immediate -- just an immediate thing for each student. More than the anger, though, beyond that, that is just an immediate reaction. What we're looking to do is definitely take a step toward healing. Already immediately -- I'll tell you this right now, what the students did immediately -- I received a call from another member of the Student Government Association and what we did is we mobilized students.
We held a meeting right when we were allowed to come out of lockdown. We held a meeting amongst the student government leaders and we organized this -- the meeting to take action.
We're not looking to place blame on anyone. We're looking to start the healing process. And we started that today at 5:00 p.m. We've already planned a candlelight vigil for tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., again, that's tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. on the Drillfield. And that's the center point on campus.
And the candlelight vigil, we expect over 40,000 students, faculty and staff to attend. And once again, we're just -- we're trying to build a healing process here. We're not looking to blame anyone, we're not looking to dwell on things in the past. We're definitely just trying to repair whatever damage was done today by the shooter.
ZAHN: The sad reality is, Adeel, you may very end up knowing one of the victims. How do you prepare yourself for that and your fellow students as law enforcement now and the university is just beginning to confirm those dead with family members?
KHAN: And you don't prepare for that. I couldn't -- I was an emotional wreck at first. And I've gotten a little bit better throughout the day, but just a moment ago I saw one of my closest friends crying, and I just didn't want to ask. Because I -- whenever I see that list of students, I know that even if I didn't know any of them closely, if I see their faces -- they're faces that I've seen around this campus.
And just a loss of another Hokie student, you'll see in people that the Hokie community is just very close. We all care about each other, whether we know these people our not, we do care. And we are -- you're going to see that outpour tomorrow at that vigil. You're definitely going to see the outpour of support. And it's just -- it's a terrible situation and it just -- it shouldn't have happened.
ZAHN: It is so terribly sad. I'm just curious if Virginia Tech has told you what kind of counseling they might provide for all of you as you try to heal.
KHAN: They've -- Virginia Tech has already taken active steps, the administration has, in setting up counseling centers. They've set up counseling centers in residence halls. And they have also set up -- we already have a counseling center in existence called Cook Counseling Center, which any student can go to to receive counseling.
And they've been working all day and night. And I know they're doing their best possible job. And I'll tell you right now, these students are uniting and you're going to see that. The student leaders here, students here are uniting and they're going to -- they're going to show you what kind of student body is here at Virginia Tech.
And speak to any alumni -- I've said this throughout the day in interviews I've had. Speak to any alumni and any student who goes here and they'll tell you that Virginia Tech is probably the best place they have ever been. The students here care about each other. People here in this town care about the students. It's just -- it's a great place.
It's a beautiful place. And this is just something that you could never expect.
ZAHN: Well, you certainly have to depend on each other in these dark hours ahead. Adeel Khan, thank you so much for your time.
I have just been handed a bulletin that now is confirming the fact that Governor Kaine has declared a state of emergency in the state as they try to coordinate response to the shootings. I'm not sure exactly what that means because law enforcement just told us in a news conference just about an hour ago that they are actively pursuing all leads. That a person of interest is not on the loose. It is a person, in fact, that has been cooperating and talking to them. So we'll get a better sense of what this state of emergency actually means down the road.
Let's quickly go to Deborah Feyerick who is also at Virginia Tech tonight. She has been talking with students and joins us right now.
What have students been telling you, Deborah?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, there's a great sense of fear and also worry. Students were locked inside their dorms today, glued to the television sets listening to the reports on the news. They were desperately calling friends who had gone out to classes and also frantically trying to get in touch with friends who had not yet returned even after the lockdown went into place.
Now authorities are running the lists of tests on the two guns that were found to try to connect these two shooting incidents, but most troubling to the students that we spoke with is that one, in the first shooting, the gunman seems to have gotten into a dorm that requires a swipe card, meaning that that person is affiliated somehow with the university or was let into the dorm.
Now in the case of the second shooting, what was most troubling to those we spoke with is the fact that that shooter may have put chains on the doors to keep students from getting out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: When you heard that chains had been put on the doors of Norris Hall, what did you think?
ZACHARY BORGERDING, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: I just was amazed that that could happen, just shocked. Just to imagine someone carrying chains with them to shut people inside and do what he did is -- can't even comprehend. (END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now there are dozens of police cars on campus this evening. Also, when we were driving here, we saw dozens of police cars on the highways. And in many cases there were ambulances. We must have seen at least half a dozen of them presumably carrying the wounded and the dead -- Paula.
ZAHN: It is just so hard to watch these pictures over and over again. I wanted to add one little thing, Deborah, that came out of the news conference, when you describe how chilling that was that these students learned the gunman had barricaded himself and chain himself inside the dorm (sic).
When we heard that round of fire at the top of the show, there seemed to some speculation there might have been some fire from police as well. But it has just been confirmed that there never was a shoot- out.
So, Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much. We will be live at the scene tomorrow night from Virginia Tech. We hope you will stay with CNN throughout the night. Once again, this is deadliest school shooting on record in the United States, 33 dead, including the gunman. Larry King will have in the next hour. Thanks for joining us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com | 65,725 |
It’s been said there are only two things in life that are certain death and taxes, I believed that trouble can also be added to this list. Trouble is something that visits every one young or old, rich or poor, it doesn’t matter your background or where you reside. If you long on earth one trouble will knock on your door.
Here are spiritual way of dealing with trouble and coming out a victor.
1.resist fear:-fear is never liberating, it is only incapacitating, and fear hinders the supernatural from working for you. No matter how dire or impossible your problem may seems to you never have to fear when God is on your side. Find scriptures that deals with fear and those that promise freedom from fear and peace, meditate on those scriptures, reading them and confessing them out loud whenever fear want to come upon you.
2.remember that God is with and want to help you.
In psalm91:15, the Lord says,“he shall called upon me and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver and him and honour him; this verse does not only say that God will be with you in good times. No he will be with you in trouble and will deliver you from trouble.
3.realised that God always has a way out:-1cor10:13 says, “there hath no temptation taken you such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape…….;
The apostle Paul is letting you know that God will not allow you to go through tests and trials beyond what you can bear. And when you experience tribulations God will also provide a way out. Instead of focusing on the problem, train your eye to look for way out.
4.always maintain a good attitude:-James admonished Christian to “……. Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2).by doing this you maintain a proper spiritual attitude, too many people have what I called “stinking attitude” that is because they only complain and cry about the adversity they are facing instead of doing something about it.
Saying things like, “I don’t understand why I’m going through this.” Won’t change the situation but when you “count it all joy” in spite of what you are experiencing, you are maintaining the necessary attitude of faith. And faith is what will change your situation.
5.walk in love:-the only commandment Jesus gave to believed was the commandments of love(john13:34)and the way to fulfill this command, is outlined in first Corinthian the 13 chapter. If you will be faithful doer of this, you will successfully eliminate a lot of adversity in your life.
6.use your faith:-used your faith to moved mountain-sized trouble from your life (mark11:23) to move any kind of mountain, you must believed in your heart that the word of God is able to change what look unchangeable. This is done by believing the word instead of what you see or feel. Scriptures has to be the highest and final authority in your life.
7.maintain a proper confession:-some people constantly talk about there trouble but doing this does not help your Faith, in fact a negative tongue will get you in trouble. We’re told to”………hold fast the profession of our faith. Without wavering, (for he is faithful that promise (heb10:23)when, we remember that the one who promised to pass, we are better to watch our tongue. And talk more about the promised than the problems.
As you follow the step I have outline, realized that people in your life will put pressure on you, they will try to pull you away from the word of God. But stand your ground. God is faithful to perform is word. | 123,855 |
IP Multicast in a Wireless LAN
Enable the debug for the high-rate stream.
ROUTER#debug ip igmp 22.214.171.124
On the PC, open the IP/TV viewer and request the program associated with the 126.96.36.199 group.
The following ACL console message should appear on ROUTER showing that the traffic was denied (number of packets may vary):
1w1d: %SEC-6-IPACCESSLOGS: list IPMC-BRIDGE denied 188.8.131.52 1 packet
The following debug entry should appear for the discarded IGMP join attempt:
1w1d: IGMP(0): Discard report at boundary (FastEthernet0/1) for 184.108.40.206
There should be no multicast state active for the 220.127.116.11
The following additional considerations apply to deploying IP multicast in a WLAN environment:
The WLAN LAN extension via EAP and WLAN static WEP solutions can support multicast traffic on the WLAN; the WLAN LAN extension via IPSec solution cannot.
The WLAN has an 11 Mbps available bit rate that must be shared by all clients of an AP. If the AP is configured to operate at multiple bit-rates, multicasts and broadcasts are sent at the lowest rate to ensure that all clients receive them. This reduces the available throughput of the network because traffic must queue behind traffic that is being clocked out at a slower rate.
WLAN clients can roam from one AP to another seamlessly within the same subnet. If roaming multicast is to be supported, Cisco Group Management Protocol (CGMP) and/or Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping must be turned off for the port to which the AP is connected because a multicast user roaming from one AP to another is roaming from one switch port to another. The new switch port might not have this stream setup and it has no reliable way of determining the required multicast stream.
Multicast and broadcast from the AP are sent without requiring link-layer acknowledgement. Every unicast packet is acknowledged and retransmitted if unacknowledged. The purpose of the acknowledgement is to overcome the inherent unreliable nature of wireless links. Broadcasts and multicasts are unacknowledged due to the difficulty in managing and scaling the acknowledgements. This means that a network that is seen as operating well for unicast applications, can experience degraded performance in multicast applications.
Enterprise customers who are using WLAN in laptops would normally use (Constant Awake Mode) CAM as the Power-Save Mode. If delay-sensitive multicast traffic is being sent over the WLAN, customers should ensure that only the CAM configuration is used on their WLAN clients. Based on the 802.11 standard, if the client is in power-save mode, then the AP will buffer broadcast and multicast traffic until the next beacon period that contains a delivery traffic information map (DTIM) transmission. The default period is 200ms. Enterprises that use WLAN on small handheld devices will most likely need to use the WLAN power-save features (Max or Fast) and should not attempt to run delay-sensitive multicast traffic over the same WLAN.
Cisco AVVID Network Infrastructure IP Multicast Design | 2,747 |
City Addresses Quality Of Life With Financial Awards To Agencies
Mayor Tom Henry was joined Friday morning by representatives from the Lutheran Foundation and Fort Wayne Police Department to announce implementation of another portion of the city’s quality-of-life plan.
The plan, passed by Fort Wayne City Council in October, committed more than $3 million to city organizations and agencies with the commitment of making quality-of-life improvements around Fort Wayne. Half a million dollars of that was dedicated to combating the opioid crisis -- $200,000 went to Lutheran, while $300,000 went to the Fort Wayne Police Department.
Lutheran CEO Marcia Haaff has led local efforts within the statehouse to provide a greater and more effective funding stream to northeast Indiana in fighting the opioid epidemic. Haaff led the effort to launch Allen County’s Sober Living Pilot program, which began in July with the aim of reducing recidivism in drug offenses by providing greater access to treatment beds.
She says the $200,000 will serve a dual purpose, partly to help with establishing those residencies.
“It will also go towards funding operational expenses, because the state changed funding along the way and we want these to be sustainable,” Haaff said.
The $300,000 committed to the Fort Wayne Police Department will go to new drug testing equipment they say will keep it on the “cutting edge” of drug trends.
FWPD Captain Kevin Hunter says with this new equipment, testing seized materials for drugs can now be done instantly, instead of having to wait for a lab to report back which could take as long as a month.
“We can stay ahead of the curve of any new drug trend and educate the public about what those trends are, and hopefully this will also help save lives which will better our community in the long-run.” | 130,523 |
Scientists from the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) conducted pioneering research assessing how the devastating debilitating disease affects individual patients.
MND is an incurable disease destroying the body's cells which control movement causing progressive disability. Present treatment options for those with MND only have a modest effect in improving the patient's quality of life.
Professor Pamela Shaw, Director of SITraN, and her research team worked in collaboration with a fellow world leading MND scientist Dr Caterina Bendotti and her group at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy. Together they investigated why the progression of MND following onset of symptoms varies in speed, even in the presence of a known genetic cause of the condition.
The research, published in the scientific journal Brain, investigated two mouse models of MND caused by an alteration in the SOD1 gene, a known cause of MND in humans. One of the strains had a rapidly progressing disease course and the other a much slower change in the symptoms of MND. The teams from Sheffield and Milan looked at the factors which might explain the differences observed in speed and severity in the progression of the disease. They used a scientific technique known as gene expression profiling to identify factors within motor neurons that control vulnerability or resistance to MND in order to shed light on the factors important for the speed of motor neuron injury in human patients.
The study, funded by the Motor Neurone Disease Association, revealed new evidence, at the point of onset of the disease, before muscle weakness was observed, showing key differences in major molecular pathways and the way the protective systems of the body responded, between the profiles of the rapid progressing and slow progressing mouse models. In the case of the model with rapidly progressing MND the motor neurons showed reduced functioning of the cellular systems for energy production, disposal of waste proteins and neuroprotection. Motor neurons from the model with more slowly progressing MND showed an increase in protective inflammation and immune responses and increased function of the mechanisms that protect motor neurons from damage.
The research provides valuable clues about mechanisms that have the effect of slowing down the progression of disabling symptoms in MND.
Professor Shaw said that the state-of-the-art Functional Genomics laboratory in SITraN had enabled the research team to use a cutting edge technique called gene expression profiling. "This enables us to 'get inside' the motor neurons in health and disease and understand better what is happening to cause motor neuron injury in MND," she said.
"This project was a wonderful collaboration, supported by the MND Association, between research teams in Sheffield and Milan. We are very excited about the results which have given us some new ideas for treatment strategies which may help to slow disease progression in human MND."
Dr Caterina Bendotti said: "MND is a clinically heterogenous disease with a high variability in its course which makes assessments of potential therapies difficult. Thanks to the recent evidence in our laboratory of a difference in the speed of symptom progression in two MND models carrying the same gene mutation and the successful collaboration with Professor Pamela Shaw and her team, we have identified some mechanisms that may help to predict the disease duration and eventually to slow it down.
"I strongly believe that the new hypotheses generated by this study and our ongoing collaboration are the prerequisites to be able to fight this disease."
Brian Dickie from MND Association added: "These new and important findings in mice open up the possibility for new treatment approaches in man. It is heartening to see such a productive collaboration between two of the leading MND research labs in Europe, combining their unique specialist knowledge and technical expertise in the fight against this devastating disease."
MND affects more than 6,000 sufferers in the UK with the majority of cases being sporadic but approximately five per cent of cases are familial or inherited with an identifiable genetic cause. Sufferers may lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe.
- G. Nardo, R. Iennaco, N. Fusi, P. R. Heath, M. Marino, M. C. Trolese, L. Ferraiuolo, N. Lawrence, P. J. Shaw, C. Bendotti. Transcriptomic indices of fast and slow disease progression in two mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Brain, 2013; DOI: 10.1093/brain/awt250
Cite This Page: | 149,503 |
Physicians may prescribe the corticosteroid medication generically called methylprednisolone for many different problems 1. These may include lupus, allergies, breathing disorders, psoriasis, different forms of arthritis and a bowel disease called ulcerative colitis, among others. Corticosteroids, such as the brand-name Medrol Dosepak, function by blocking chemicals from being released by the body that can induce inflammation 4. Patients take a course of the medicine laid out in the Medrol Dosepak over several days, with the doses generally decreasing 4.
As a person begins the course of corticosteroids in the Medrol Dosepak, certain common side effects not classified as serious can occur 4. For example, the person may experience facial flushing during the first few doses of the medication. Flushing causes the skin to become hot and the face will turn red. Facial flushing typically decreases and ends without medical aid, but speak to your patients should consult their doctor if the problem persists.
Along with the sudden blast of warmth in the face associated with taking Medrol, the person may experience an increase in the amount of sweating that takes place all over the body. This excess sweating, too, classifies as a non-serious and common side effect of the Medrol Dosepak 4. Most often, this will end without medical attention.
Dizziness, or a feeling the person experiences as a whirling sensation, may occur during the first part of treatment with the Medrol Dosepak 4. Dizziness as well as the associated sensation of light-headedness may make it difficult to maintain personal balance. Lack of coordination may ensue, which can cause the person to fall more easily than normal. Dizziness also can induce mild nausea.
Anxiety and Depression
Taking pills from the Medrol Dosepak can cause non-serious side effects that temporarily can affect a person’s mental state 4. These side effects can include unwarranted anxiety and a sense of mental depression. The National Institutes of Health suggest consultation with a doctor if these psychological problems appear severe or do not end on their own 2.
Methylprednisolone may induce problems with menstruation in women who take the medicine 1. It can alter the menstrual cycle, causing periods to become irregular. It also can cause a condition known as amenorrhea, which means periods suddenly stop without pregnancy occurring. Menstrual problems associated with the Medrol Dosepak classify as non-serious and temporary 4.
Dizziness, or a feeling the person experiences as a whirling sensation, may occur during the first part of treatment with the Medrol Dosepak 4. As a person begins the course of corticosteroids in the Medrol Dosepak, certain common side effects not classified as serious can occur 4. Taking pills from the Medrol Dosepak can cause non-serious side effects that temporarily can affect a person’s mental state 4.
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images | 156,730 |
Get plenty of exercise, eat heaps of greens, and steer clear of cigarettes. To reduce your risk of cancer, those are three science-backed recommendations you probably do your best to follow. But what if experts added "cut out the beer" to that list?
As tough as it is to swallow, a major new report offers a potent reminder of the strong link between alcohol and cancer. In short: Alcohol is responsible for around one of every 30 cancer deaths that occurs in the U.S. each year. And even a drink a day increases your risk.
The research, published in the American Journal of Public Health, is the first in three decades to offer such a comprehensive analysis of alcohol-related cancer deaths on a national scale. A collaborative effort between experts at the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), the National Cancer Institute, the Alcohol Research Group, and others, the study compiled data on rates of alcohol consumption and cancer mortality across hundreds of thousands of people. Experts then did some serious number crunching in an effort to determine the extent of alcohol's role in contributing to deaths from seven different types of cancer (including breast, colon, and liver).
Their conclusions, for anyone who enjoys a few drinks, are troubling. Alcohol is responsible for around 20,000 cancer deaths every year, or 3.5 percent of total cancer mortalities. Heavy drinkers face the biggest risk, but even low-key imbibers are increasing their odds of dying from cancer: The report found that those who consume 1.5 drinks a day or fewer account for 30 percent of all alcohol-related cancer deaths.
"The purpose of this study is not to stigmatize moderate drinking, and I apologize if this makes people feel bummed out," says lead study author Timothy Naimi, M.D., MPH, a physician and researcher at BUSM. "But it is important for people to know that yes, alcohol is a carcinogen, and it does increase your risk. That's the bottom line."
As Dr. Naimi notes, alcohol has long been a known carcinogen, though its risks arguably haven't received the same widespread attention—from researchers, health officials, or the public—as factors like cigarettes or environmental toxins. In fact, moderate alcohol consumption has more recently been bestowed with something of a health halo, with research linking the habit to heart health, stronger bones, and even a longer lifespan. But such findings (many of them preliminary) don't outweigh the established risks, Dr. Naimi says. "There is no compelling research showing that low-dose alcohol consumption is a preventive or therapeutic measure," he says. "Alcohol causes far, far more deaths than it prevents."
We'll keep an eye out on further developments, but in the meantime, here's our stance: We'd never expect you to give up booze entirely, but if you currently drink, keep your alcohol consumption to around 1 to 2 drinks a day. One drink in the U.S. equals a 12-ounce glass of beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce glass of 80-proof alcohol (hard liquor). Despite the recent report, there's still a ton of positive alcohol research out there—but you won't see any of booze's proven benefits if you go overboard.
This story originally appeared on Prevention.com.
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Incinerate fat and sculpt every muscle with 10-Minute Torchers, the revolutionary DVD fitness system that allows you to customize every single workout. | 258,795 |
Jeremy Irons in a scene from PBS' "Shakespeare Uncovered." (Alex Brenner, PBS )
Loving Shakespeare with a love so immoderate it would take a Shakespeare to describe it, I was pretty well pre-sold on "Shakespeare Uncovered," a six-part analytical-historical gambol through several of his plays, beginning Friday on PBS. By the same token, I am liable to be more critical of the product; but as it turns out, it's a treat.
Each episode has a different host, and each represents a personal journey through the play (or in some cases, plays), telling the story from beginning to end, but embroidering it with clips and commentary to explore the meaning of the work in its time and our time. The story's told with old manuscripts and iPads, in art galleries and libraries, on ancient hillsides and, most especially, within the rebuilt Globe theater, where the heat never seems to be on and where, in one lovely moment, snow falls through its open "O" and on to the stage.
David Tennant, who was the 10th Doctor in "Doctor Who," takes you through "Hamlet," in which he played Hamlet; Derek Jacobi explicates "Richard II," declaring along the way his belief that it was not Shakespeare who wrote Shakespeare but the 17th Earl of Oxford (a minority opinion); Jeremy Irons, whom it is a kind of relief to see back in this context, handles "Henry IV" (Parts 1 and 2), which he recently filmed for the BBC, and their sequel "Henry V." (PBS will broadcast it anon.)
PHOTOS: Shakespeare on screen
Joely Richardson covers the cross-dressing comedies "Twelfth Night" and "As You Like It," to explore Shakespeare's love of strong women; she visits with her mother, Vanessa Redgrave, who became a star at age 24 in the latter play. Director Trevor Nunn explores "The Tempest," which he regards as autobiographical and not only Shakespeare's last play (and an "experimental" one at that) but also quite possibly his last performance. And Ethan Hawke, the American cousin, looks for the roots of "Macbeth," which he would like to play someday.
We visit the fields where the Battle of Shrewsbury ("Henry IV, Part 1") and the Battle of Agincourt ("Henry V") took place, and Dunsinane Hill, where Shakespeare's Macbeth made his last stand, and Shakespeare's grammar school, now with a picture of Shakespeare on the wall. Tennant walks down along the Thames, Irons rows across it, Hawke prowls the streets of New York, whose graffiti-covered walls are called upon to convey a little "Macbeth"-like dread.
There are historians and scholars of literature and a forensic psychologist to compare the speech patterns of Macbeth to those of murderers she has met and the Archbishop of Canterbury on the character of Prospero. But as the poet was primarily a playwright, the bulk of the work is taken up by theater people, and one of the marvelous things about the series is the glimpse it gives you into the process.
We watch Tennant and Jude Law compare notes on the rigors and rewards of playing Hamlet ("It remained until the final performance utterly terrifying," says Tennant), are present at rehearsals, peer over players' shoulders to their hand-annotated copies of the text — texts that have been discussed and argued over for four centuries without any sort of final decision being made or their possibilities exhausted. And because the plays continually require inquiry, and because they touch on so much of what it means to be human, their study can make as good a moral, philosophical or spiritual education as might possibly be had.
It is the world and a way of looking at the world that takes nothing at face value, which makes his heroes difficult and his villains sympathetic: "Shakespeare being Shakespeare," says Irons, "nothing is simple."
Indeed, the study of Shakespeare is in its way as thrilling and moving and entertaining as the plays themselves — made, after all, to thrill and to move and to entertain — and "Shakespeare Uncovered" gives you a sense of the energies they continue both to generate and to enlist.
When: 9 and 10 p.m. Friday
Rating: TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children)
GRAPHIC: Faces to watch in 2013
VIDEO: Winter TV preview
PHOTOS: Best TV of 2012 | 184,779 |
Knowing the average costs to paint kitchen cabinets is crucial when working towards a budget. Keeping the price you pay to a minimum helps your bank balance and ultimately saves you money.
We answer the question, “How much does it cost to paint kitchen cabinets,” and bring you the best hints and tips to help you save money.
How Much to Paint Kitchen Cabinets
Most painters charge $3 to $10 per square foot or $30 to $60 per linear footage. The hourly rate tops out at $20 to $50, and you should factor in 75 percent of the final bill as labor and material costs. Doing the prep work yourself takes about 35 hours for a typical 225-square-foot kitchen. You can save a packet if you do this work yourself.
- How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
- Kitchen Cabinet Painting Cost Calculator
- Factors Affecting Kitchen Cabinet Painting Costs
- Cost of Painting Kitchen Cabinets Vs. Refacing Vs. Replacing
- Is Painting Kitchen Cabinets Worth It?
- Cost of Hiring a Professional Vs. Painting Yourself
- How to Save Money on Painting Cabinets
- How Long Does It Take to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
- The Final Say
How Much Does It Cost to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
The price you pay depends on what paint you use, the size of your kitchen, and whether you get it done professionally or take the DIY approach.
The cost to paint cabinets ranges from $400 to $8,000 for an entire kitchen, with the average settling at around $2,100. The lowest price is for materials and doing the work yourself, while the top end is for hiring a handyman.
The higher price reflects materials and labor costs, accounting for 75 percent of the final bill. If we break down the costs even further, you will pay between $3 and $10 per square foot and $50 to $100 per door.
Kitchen Cabinet Painting Cost Calculator
Once you know the breakdown of costs, it is easier to calculate the overall bill. As we said before, it largely depends on the size of your kitchen and the work you want to do.
Next, you need to look at the number of doors you have. Most professionals charge $50 to $100 per door and $120 to $170 per cabinet. Small drawers average out at $25.
The average cost per square foot is between $3 to $10 and $30 to $60 per linear foot (length only).
Here’s a handy guide:
|Measurement||Average Price Range (Incl. Labor and Materials)|
|Square foot||$3 to $10|
|Linear foot||$30 to $60|
|Per drawer||$20 to $30|
|Per door (door exterior only)||$50 to $100|
|Per cabinet (incl. cabinet interior)||$120 to $170|
|Per hour||$20 to $50|
|Per day||$200 to $500|
Factors Affecting Kitchen Cabinet Painting Costs
There are always variables when you undertake a home improvement project. Accurate costing minimizes these risks, but other factors can negatively affect the price.
The intensity of the prep work adds to the costs. Adding in the time it takes to sand, strip off the old surface, and make repairs increases your overall spending. If you want a price per square foot, expect to pay between $5 and $10.
You could save money by doing the prep work yourself, but only if you are confident that you will improve the cabinets rather than make them worse. Given that most contractors charge between $20 and $50 per hour, the level of prep work could increase costs dramatically.
Remove the doors, hinges, and door hardware yourself. This is easy to do and a lot cheaper than paying a pro to do it.
Painting kitchen cabinets ranges from $900 to $3,800, and that figure includes sanding, repairing, and smoothing rough grain doors. These require putty before applying the primer and paint, adding another $2 to $3 per square foot.
Size of Kitchen
The bigger the kitchen, the more cabinets, and the higher the costs. Most professionals measure the length and width of your kitchen to get the square footage. Then they factor in the number of cabinets, drawers, and glazed units.
If you have a small kitchen, you can be confident that the price will be at the lower end of the scale, but larger kitchens will cost you more.
Different paints work better in different environments. Kitchens are high-moisture areas thanks to cooking steam, grease, and food splatters. Gloss paint is the hardest wearing and can be scrubbed clean.
This makes it a perfect candidate for your kitchen cabinets. However, gloss is also the most expensive because it contains a high level of resins and binders that give it such durability.
Matte paints are cheaper because they scuff easier and stain quicker. You might consider using matte on the walls and ceiling, but you may need something hardier for kitchen cabinets.
Oil-based paints leave a rich surface covering, but you might get brush marks. Water-based paints dry smoother with fewer surface marks, but they are less robust to grease, moisture, and stains.
Spray Painting Vs. Brush
The advantage of using spray paint is you get a super smooth finish because you apply the paint in thin layers. The paint coats more evenly, and there is no cleanup of brushes to contend with.
Spray painting is also better for getting into tight spots and awkward angles. However, professionally spray painting your kitchen cabinets costs more than applying the paint with a brush.
Upper cabinets cost between $35 and $40 per linear foot, and lower cabinets $80 to $95 per linear foot. Compare that to $30 to $60 for brushing on the paint, and you will increase your costs dramatically.
If you want a mirror-like finish, go for spray paint, but if costs are a significant factor, painting with a brush is the cheaper option.
Standard kitchen cabinets cost between $50 and $100 per door, $25 per drawer, and $120 and $170 per complete cabinet. The design of your kitchen influences the price because intricate cabinet doors are harder to prep and paint.
Plus, if you have glazed inserts in your doors, protecting them from paint splatters takes time and effort, which adds to your bill.
Your contractor will estimate the price by square footage or linear footage. Whichever way they cost it, the greater the surface area, the higher the price.
The national average kitchen size in the US is 225 square feet, making your final bill somewhere in the region of $675 to $2,250.
White is still the most popular color because it is cheaper than pigmented paint and makes the room look fresh. There is a trend for chalk paint, like this Rust-Oleum Linen White.
The simple way to look at it is the more color the paint has, the more expensive it is. Just like glossy paint contains resins and binders that increase the cost, so does pigment.
Most paints and primers cost between $20 and $50 per gallon and cover 400 square feet. This does vary depending on the texture and design of the cabinets.
Take a look at the cabinets and assess the level of damage. Scuffs, scratches, dents, and cracks all add to the costs. The more time your contractor spends repairing your doors, the more they will charge.
If you can handle prepping the doors, filling the cracks, and smoothing the rough grain, make the necessary repairs yourself.
It costs between $5 and $10 per square foot to perform repairs, including stripping and filling. If you add putty into the mix, it increases the price by $2 to $3 per square foot.
Size of Cabinets
Rather than focus on total surface area or the actual size of your kitchen, let’s use the cabinet sizes as a cost estimator. This handy chart puts you in the picture:
|Door Size||Average Cost (Incl. Labor and Materials)|
|12-inch lower cabinet (one door)||$50 to $80|
|24-inch lower cabinet (two doors)||$110 to $130|
|30-inch upper cabinet (two doors)||$120 to $150|
|30-inch basin sink cabinet (two doors)||$130 to $170|
|48-inch lower cabinet (two large doors)||$220 to $260|
Glazing cabinets costs between $10 and $25 per square foot. For an average-size kitchen measuring 225 square feet, the costs could be $2,250 and $5,625.
If you keep the existing glass inserts, your decorator will need to tape them off using Frog Tape to protect against paint splatters.
Cost of Painting Kitchen Cabinets Vs. Refacing Vs. Replacing
There are cost variations to consider when deciding which route you take. Knowing which is the cheapest and most effective method of revamping your kitchen cabinets helps you budget.
Painting Kitchen Cabinets
Painting your kitchen cabinets costs between $400 to $8,000, depending on whether you undertake the work or hire a professional. The price per square footage comes in at $3 to $10, and the linear footage ranges from $30 to $60.
Refacing Kitchen Cabinets
Refacing involves replacing the cabinet skin. Applying new veneers over the cabinet surface creates a fresh new look and color. You should expect to pay between $4,200 and $8,100 for a kitchen reface.
Replacing Kitchen Cabinets
This is, by far, the most expensive option. Replacing the cabinets costs $3,200 to $8,500 for mid-quality units, and $12,500 to $18,100 for high-grade cabinets.
Is Painting Kitchen Cabinets Worth It?
Painting your kitchen cabinets is a great way to transform the look of your space for very little money. It is far cheaper than refacing or replacing the cabinets, and you get instant results. Breathe new life into your kitchen and release your creative side.
You should only consider repainting if the cabinets are in decent condition. If your old oak kitchen is rotten, with multiple cracks and damage, it might be better to replace it.
Painting cabinets is also a great way to add value to your home because the kitchen is the most expensive room in the house. It is also the heart of any home, so making savings while increasing value is a wise move.
Cost of Hiring a Professional Vs. Painting Yourself
You will spend $200 to $600 if you opt for the DIY approach. That covers all the materials and tools. The obvious saving is in labor costs because that makes up most of the expenses.
Considering that the pros charge between $20 to $50 per hour or $120 to $170 per cabinet, you can make substantial savings. A complete kitchen repaint could stretch from $900 to $3,800, but averages $2,100.
However, doing the work yourself is time-consuming, and comes with no guarantees, whereas the professionals stand by their work.
Plus, your kitchen will look so much neater with a professional finish. So, unless you are super confident in your abilities, it might be better to go the pro route.
A typical 225 square foot kitchen will take you upward of 22 hours to complete a paint job. Think of the time you’ll save by hiring a professional.
How Difficult Is It to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
Painting kitchen cabinets is quite a significant undertaking. While the actual painting process is simple enough, the prep work is immense. And that is where it gets complicated.
You must have super smooth surfaces if you want the paint to look its best. That means investing hours in the prep work to get it right. It will take you 35 hours to complete the preparation for a 225 square foot kitchen.
Tips for Hiring a Professional Painter
So, you’ve decided that hiring a painter to complete your kitchen cabinets is the route to take. But how do you know that the pro you hire is any good? Here are a few pointers.
References and past work are sure-fire ways of securing reliable contractors. What other customers say is important because it measures the quality of their work.
A great place to start is online, or you could contact previous customers to ask about their experiences. Also, ask to see examples of their work.
Ask Family and Friends
Ask the people closest to you for recommendations. Maybe your brother has just painted his house, or are your parents repainting their kitchen as we speak? Nothing is more powerful than a recommendation.
It might also get you a better deal because the painter is aware they got the job through a recommendation.
Check the Contract
Understanding what the company will do as part of the contract is vital. It’s also important to know what they expect of you. Misunderstandings are commonplace and usually result from not checking the agreement before signing it.
Know the Difference Between a Quote and an Estimate
The two are easily confused. A quote costs the work and is a fixed sum. If the project costs $2,000, that is the amount you have agreed to pay, and not a penny more.
Get quotes rather than estimates because you have the security of knowing the final amount. An estimate is a minimum figure for the work, but is subject to change. So, if the job takes a few days longer, that will reflect in the final bill.
Ask About the Warranty
Every tradesperson worth their salt is happy to guarantee their work. If they refuse, this should be a red flag that they are not as reputable as they first seem. Most will offer a one-year warranty against defects, but some offer two and three years.
Ensure you see a written copy of the guarantees before signing the contract.
Be Clear in Your Aims
Clarity is crucial to avoid misunderstanding from the start. If you are ambiguous in your goals, the decorator will be unclear and deliver a job below standards. Research colors, finishes, sheens, and other materials to impart precise information.
Set a Deadline
Deadlines deliver your goals and reduce frustration. Knowing the timescales means everyone is on the same page. You might be able to build in financial penalties if the work overruns.
How to Save Money on Painting Cabinets
We all like to save some money. It makes us feel like we’re winning at life. And when it comes to your new kitchen paint job, there are some things you can do to reduce costs.
Do the Prep Work Yourself
Employing a painter to do what they are good at makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is getting them to do the prep work. You will pay a premium rate for work you can tackle yourself.
Remove the doors, hinges, and hardware and fill cracks and dents with wood filler. This Goodfilla Water-Based Wood Filler is an excellent example of the products available.
Don’t forget to sand the filler before you apply a primer layer.
Use Painter’s Tape
Painter’s tape should be your best friend when painting kitchen cabinets. It stops paint from bleeding onto surfaces that you want to keep clear. This is especially true when you are painting around glazed panels.
Use the Right Tools
Don’t let the tools be the reason why you fail. If you use a roller for the flat panels, this Pro-Grade 10-Piece Mini Roller Set is a great choice because it comes with extra roller naps.
Always have a one-inch, two-inch, and four-inch paintbrush on hand, and use 220-grit sandpaper.
Choose the Right Paint
The right paint for the task makes a real difference. Glossy paints are more hardwearing and easier to wipe clean. Satin sheens are an in-between finish, part-way between gloss and matte; they offer some of the hardiness of gloss with less shine.
Draw a Plan
Draw a plan of your kitchen and label the doors and drawers to know where they go when you have finished. Use painter’s tape to stick the numbers to the cabinets and doors.
How Long Does It Take to Paint Kitchen Cabinets?
You need to set aside 30 to 35 hours for the preparation work and at least 22 hours for the actual painting process. This is based on the national average 225-square-foot kitchen.
How Much Will It Cost to Paint My Kitchen?
The national average square footage for kitchens in the US is 225. Working on the basis that most contractors charge between $3 and $10 per square foot, you will pay $675 to $2,250.
How Long Do Painted Kitchen Cabinets Last?
Your newly painted kitchen should last between eight and 15 years. This is based on the prep work being done correctly and laying down a minimum of two layers of paint.
Can I Paint Kitchen Cabinets Without Sanding?
You can paint kitchen cabinets without sanding as long as you use a deglosser, like this Clean-Strip Liquid Sander. It removes old varnish and grease, and prepares the surface for primer or paint.
Should You Paint the Inside of Cabinets?
You can if you want to, but no rule says you must. If the inside of the cabinet is in poor condition, it might be useful, but otherwise, there may be no point.
How Can I Make My Kitchen Look Expensive On a Budget?
Painting your kitchen cabinets transforms old and tired kitchens into showpiece rooms. Adding a few expensive accessories like designer cabinet handles enhances that “high-end” feel.
You can also invest in a new countertop to complete that faux expensive remodel.
The Final Say
So now you know how much it is to paint kitchen cabinets and the cost difference between doing the work yourself or hiring a pro. Painting kitchen cabinets might be daunting but investing in the prep work is half the battle. Get that right, and you’re on the home stretch.
It takes planning, and it takes time, but painting your kitchen cabinets is incredibly rewarding. | 214,176 |
Extracted from the Director of National Parks and Wildlife Annual Report 1999-2000 submitted to Minister for Environment and Heritage on 14 November 2000
The mission of the Australian National Botanic Gardens is to grow, study and promote Australian plants.
Replanting in the arrivals area featured colourful grassland species. Other concentrations included the rock garden and Sydney region garden. Native daisies and peas, monocots, Proteaceae, Epacris, Sterculia, Goodenia, and citrus family themes were enhanced.
A stocktake of more than a quarter of the living collections was completed including databasing, tagging with embossed aluminium tags, and placement of permanent name labels.
Field collecting expeditions covered south-western Western Australia and the NSW Alps and north-western plains. Collections made included daisies, goodenias, saltbushes and relatives, native peas, rare species of the south coast and tablelands, and fallen epiphytes for the rainforest gully.
Besides producing most of the plant-out stock, the nursery staff planted up the restyled large glasshouse for interpreted public display and, with outdoor garden staff, presented propagation classes and horticultural demonstrations in spring.
A major challenge to the health and integrity of the outdoor gardens, attack by the root rot fungus Armillaria, was met. Fruiting bodies were collected and destroyed, root-barrier-lined trenches dug, infected stumps excavated or burned in situ, and trees under threat had their root crowns cleared of soil and humus. An expert was engaged to advise on the extent of infection and to produce a plan for future management of this invasive and insidious pest.
A major program of tree surgery was continued to remove dangerous branches, particularly in areas of high visitation. Extensive areas of the eucalypt lawns were renovated, landscaping using rock was carried out in several areas and the upper cafe-pond landscape was revamped.
The Gardens continued to be a popular venue, with 316 000 visits during 1999-2000, a slight decrease from the previous year. A wide variety of recreational and educational programs was offered to the public. Ninety bookings for the Gardens meeting rooms and theatrette provided a modest revenue stream to assist in funding public programs. Technical services provided for the public also received steady use with 150 batches of plant identifications and 200 horticultural enquiries answered. The Gardens Internet site received xxxxx successful visits in the year.
Cooperative marketing ventures with the bookshop and cafe managements, the Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation and the National Capital Authority complemented local advertising to promote the Gardens within Canberra and interstate. Sponsorship by local television stations greatly assisted in promoting the Gardens work. Staff made presentations to local service groups and schools.
The summer program was especially successful. Concerts attracted around 3000 visitors each weekend (an increase of 1000 from the previous year) and other events drew capacity audiences. The summer program, run in conjunction with the Friends of the Gardens, has brought new visitors to the Gardens and introduced many people to the value and beauty of native plants. A concert featuring Paul Kelly, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter also attracted around 6000 people during NAIDOC Week celebrations in July.
The exhibition program included a display on bushfire, Touching the Landscape - an artistic response to the Australia landscape, and Floral Impressions, a history of the scientific illustration of Australian plants. Around 107 000 people visited the exhibition area, a slight decrease from the previous year. Two exhibitions developed by the Gardens were displayed at Kosciuszko National Park and at Cumberland State Forest, Sydney. Other educational activities included a display of native reptiles as part of Science Week, a cartoon competition with Greening Australia ACT for Arbour Week and indigenous programs as part of NAIDOC Week that attracted around 3500 participants.
The Gardens Education Service developed a range of self-guiding materials to complement existing Explainer-led programs and conducted adult and specialist education programs including plant identification and propagation courses. Nearly 14 000 people participated in education programs (including nearly 500 Explainer-led tours), a substantial increase on previous years.
The Friends of the Gardens now has over 600 members. During the year the group developed a strategic plan to guide their development and activities over coming years. Activities included a schools photographic competition and a variety of walks, talks and visits. The Friends Volunteer Guide Service grew to nearly 60 people and conducted 600 guided tours, including many for interstate tour groups. The Friends paid for a sundial and a number of other small capital works.
For people unable to visit the Gardens in person, the Gardens and Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Internet sites averaged 6287 successful requests each day. Public access to information on Australian plants and botany and records from botanical databases was enhanced. Regular updates of In Flower this Week were included and a wide range of educational material was added.
A draft plan of management will be released for public comment early in 2000-01. The plan will guide management of the Gardens until 2006 and outline priority developments.
The introduction of accrual accounting prompted a review of the asset maintenance programs with life-cycle maintenance programs developed and costed. Topographic surveys of the Gardens sites and facilities were completed as the basis for the development of a site facilities management system.
Small capital works completed included the Ducrou Pavilion, new garbage disposal facilities, minor landscaping works and refurbishment of a number of buildings and their surrounds.
A major project on germination and establishment of native grasses was successfully completed. The project produced numerous useful findings on these difficult aspects of this increasingly popular horticultural group. The results were made available to landcare groups and the public in well-attended seminars and are available on the Gardens Internet site.
The Gardens seedbank set up procedures to carry out seed viability testing on a five-yearly cycle in a drive to achieve basic international standards for germplasm storage by 2001. Five regular volunteer staff helped in this work.
The Authoritys Internet site now includes about 20 per cent of registered cultivar descriptions. Volunteer workers contributed more hours than the equivalent of one full-time person. Forty-eight registration applications under Plant Breeders Rights and 25 new cultivar registrations were processed, a large increase on previous years.
The initial agreement establishing the centre expired in December 1999. With ministerial approval, the agreement was renewed by Environment Australia and CSIRO with an agreement to collaborate for a further ten years.
The Centre maintained the scientific specimens of the Australian National Herbarium and continued research into the taxonomy, systematics and conservation of Australian native plants. Staff published a total of 100 articles in scientific journals, books and newsletters documenting Australia's plant biodiversity. Articles covered the Centre's activities in conservation biology, genetics in rare species conservation management, fire regimes, management strategies for weed control, models of host resistance and pathogen virulence, and the underlying principles of rarity in flora.
A major review was conducted of the Centres herbarium information and database activities. The outcome endorsed the strategic directions of information management by the Centre, while recommending emphasis be given to targeted user training, speedier integration of the herbarium, living collections and photo databases, and accelerated data capture. These recommendations are being taken up in the Centres operations.
Further contributions were made to the international Genera Orchidacearum project, notably text, illustrations and photographs of a large group, the Diuridieae. A preliminary project using molecular DNA analysis to understand the evolution and phylogeny of the Dendrobinieae group of orchids was undertaken and the results presented at an international orchid conference. Staff began compiling a book on the orchids of the ACT.
Contributions to the Flora of Australia included the treatment of the genus Grevillea, which was published during the year, and a manuscript completed on the mosses of Norfolk Island.
Major molecular studies were completed proposing updated evolutionary and systematic arrangements in the family Asteraceae. Systematic studies were undertaken for the legume family, particularly an analysis of Pultenaea and a molecular analysis of evolutionary relationships of the major Acacia groups.
A project was started to create an interactive electronic identification key to the genus Grevillea, the third largest plant genus in Australia. Work continued on expanded editions of the interactive key to rainforest trees and shrubs and of Euclid, the interactive key to the eucalypts of south-eastern Australia.
The centre continued to service the botanical, taxonomic and information needs of the Gardens and its clients, supplying identification services, database extracts, and general botanical information.
Training for secondary and tertiary students continued, as did information sessions for members of the scientific community and the general public. Interns, students and members of the public provided substantial support on a voluntary basis to the Australian National Herbarium. With this assistance, exceptional progress was made in processing specimens. The collection now numbers 1 337 000 specimens, of which 529 000 or 40 per cent are databased.
The centre provides the coordinator for the Endangered Flora Network, a subcommittee of the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Councils Standing Committee on Conservation, and staff continued assisting in the development and implementation of a number of endangered plant species recovery plans.
Centre staff provided expert botanical advice on the distribution and occurrence of plant species of national significance, contributing to the development of decision-support systems for the implementation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Update of the Australian Plant Name Index continued and access to the databases was improved for the botanical community and the public. Collaboration on the International Plant Names Project with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Harvard University continued, further integrating the Australian Plant Name Index in a global database of plant names.
Databased herbarium records are a powerful tool for environmental decision-making and a proposal to use data from the major Australian herbaria was prepared for consideration by the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council. Collaboration with State herbaria in the formation of an on-line Virtual Australian Herbarium was critical to this project.
Training workshops in the use of Euclid, the interactive key to the eucalypts of south-eastern Australia, were held in regional areas for Bushcare and other land management groups.
The Australian National Botanic Gardens Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research Internet site contains about 6500 pages of information. About 188 000 successful requests to access these pages were made each month, delivering information to 90 000 hosts in 150 countries. The various botanical databases were accessed via the web site about 5000 times each month.
Management of the National Plant Photograph Collection was transferred from the Visitor Services to the Botany Section to reflect an increased emphasis on visual resources and online Internet information in accordance with Government policy on access to information. The collection increased to 33 433 slides with 579 additions including 66 made under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. Among major users of the collection was the Australian Biological Resources Study for the Flora of Australia series. In all, 972 photos were borrowed for lectures or publishing. An additional 566 digital images from the collection were added to the Gardens Internet site. The combined Gardens Centre Internet site is at: http://www.anbg.gov.au /.
The Gardens was represented at the World Botanic Garden Congress in Asheville, USA and continued liaison with regional botanic gardens on volunteer management and interpretive issues.
Two Gardens' staff are members of the Burrendong Arboretum Trust.
Staff took part in a range of cooperative activities including:
Staff took part in a range of botanical and conservation forums, including: | 235,796 |
Francesco Maria Raineri (February 2, 1676 - February 28, 1758) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque, mainly active in Mantua.
Also called Lo Schivenoglia after the town, just outside of the city of Mantua, of his birth. He was a pupil of Giovanni Canti. Among his works, he was known for his paintings of battle scenes, landscapes, and cappriccios (vedute of imaginary scenes) with historical or mythologic figures. He was named director of the Academy of painters in Mantua in 1752. He is known to have painted a St. Sebastian for the chapel of Santa Anna. | 103,355 |
Over the years I have spent quite a bit of time keeping up with cable maintenance on ‘cross bikes. A ‘cross bike’s cables are exposed to huge amounts of contamination, and washings only drive grit further in, shortening the lifespan of the cables and decreasing performance.
There are two solutions:
1) The conventional approach is to run standard cables, periodically pulling the housing out of its stops to clean and re-lube the cable and replacing when necessary. The upfront cost for standard cables and housing is low, and cleaning and relubing is pretty easy to do. But this will result in steadily diminishing cable performance and in the long-term, replacing cables every week or so is not as cheap as it seemed at first.
2) The other option is to seal your cables from end to end. Quite a few manufacturers offer different versions of ‘sealed’ cables and set up correctly most of them work quite well. Here’s a look at a few of the option, plus instructions on a custom ‘cross install for Gore cables and some general tips for cable installation and maintenance.
Clearly we’ve decided that a sealed system is the way to go. The initial outlay is higher, but because the systems last so much longer in bad conditions, they cost becomes closer to equal over time. And if you value your time, the savings can be huge.
Surprisingly, a fully sealed set-up as we recommend (a modified version of the set-up that manufacturers describe) weighs almost exactly the same as a regular cable set-up.
Nokon cables are well suited to ‘cross. It’s a simple system of housing segments or ‘pearls’ threaded onto two continuous liner sections. The pearls are machined aluminum, come in different colors and really look great compared to normal plastic coated housing.
Nokon sets come partially assembled so pearls are added or subtracted to make sections the required length. They have sleeves to protect your frame and a flexible boot to join together liner sections. If you are running two chainrings, the derailleur kit won’t have enough hardware for a fully sealed system, but Nokon offers an extension kit that covers this issue nicely.
The Nokon directions are unfathomable at best but the setup is pretty self-explanatory. Brake and shifter performance is excellent due to compression-less housing and a slick, flexible liner. Cabling a whole bike should cost around $180. Not cheap, but the inexpensive liners can be replaced and the pearls can be used over and over; they should last for years and could even be moved from bike to bike.
The trick with Nokon is that the slots in your frame’s cable stops need to be big enough for the liner to run through without pinching the cable. If the stops are slightly small it is easy to gently drill out the slots to allow the cable to run unobstructed.
Vertebrae is a new Australian design and operates on a similar platform to Nokon. Housing segments, in this case aluminum oxide ceramic ‘vertebrae,’ are threaded onto a continuous liner. The twist is that once the housing sections are assembled, heat shrink tubing is used to cover the housing to keep it all together and protect the frame.
The Vertebrae system comes with plenty of everything, even enough heat shrink and liner to replace or repair whole sections. Once again this system is not cheap: a whole bike will run around $200. The upside is that the vertebrae will not corrode, break or deteriorate and once installed look pretty damn good. The liners are cheap and the heat shrink covers can be removed and replaced with different colors.
Assembly can be somewhat time consuming and the heat shrink requires an electric heat gun and the skill to apply it.
By far the cheapest option for shielded cables comes from Jagwire. The Ripcord kit is comprised of Jagwire’s lubricated L3 housing, teflon coated stainless cables, nosed ferrules and sealing liner to go between the stops.
Installation is simple and with attention to detail it is possible to make a high performance, long-wearing cable setup.
Two drawbacks: The liner didn’t fit snugly over the ferrule noses, creating a contamination entry point. (The solution is to buy some 1/8-inch heat shrink tubing and seal it up.) The other problem is that the brake kit is only offered for mountain bikes so you need to buy two road derailleur cables. You could also heat shrink the ferrules to the housing. This whole setup should cost around $80 and if setup correctly it should last several times as long as a standard cable system.
If you have a lot of bikes in your stable, or are outfitting a ‘cross team, Jagwire offers bulk housing, cables, liner and nosed ferrules which makes assembling custom systems cheap and easy.
One of the first systems I got my hands on was the new Gore RideOn Professional system. Stu Thorne runs this for the shifters on all of the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team bikes and recommends them highly. With the help of Gore product designer Robert Thomas I set out to make the slickest, smoothest and most impermeable RideOn setup possible.
This process is quite lengthy but the results are amazing. This system has the best action I have ridden. The shifting and braking are both super light and smooth. After five weeks of riding, racing and washing, there has been no perceivable loss of performance. Sadly, a single bike kit from Gore does not contain all the pieces necessary to do two derailleurs on a top-routed frame but if you run a single ring or down tube routing, it will work well.
Gore is developing a cyclocross upgrade kit and at Interbike the company showed a nifty little grub seal prototype designed to work on SRAM derailleurs. The upgrade kit is slated for release in December. RideOn Professional cables cost around $130 per bike. That’s kind of pricey but set up correctly they have outstanding performance and should last at least a ‘cross season, probably much longer.
Editor’s note: Australian native Michael Robson grew up racing dirt bikes and flat-track and in his teens progressed to BMX. He first came to race in the U.S. in the early nineties and ended up in Europe as a workaday roadie. Now a professional photographer and rabid cyclocrosser, Robson is reliving his youth ripping it up in master’s ‘cross, making great photos for a living and testing gear for VeloNews. | 267,455 |
Maarubaa Hilary, who has worked with Batchelor Press to get number charts. http://batchelorpress.com/catalog/cards-posters -gu yananga, go down to the number chart and select Gamilaraay or Yuwaalaraay.
The dictionary supplement has:
maabu noun. number. ngay has been used for ‘number’ but this may cause confusion with ngay ‘my’, so maabu was developed by blending maal ‘one’ and bulaarr ‘two’. Cf. ‘alphabet’ which comes from the first two Greek letters.
Maabu was developed during preparation for the now balunhi Ma! Gamilaraay app.
It might be gaba to have a word for ‘count’. There is an element .ba-li in some verbs that seems to mean: say, make noise. There is one very clear example, (gayrr ‘name’ gayrrba-li ‘to name’) and others suggest this use (buu ‘wind’ buuba-li ‘fart’). There are clearer examples of this verb element in Wangaaybuwan: wangaay ‘no’, wangaaymba-li ‘refuse’; ngaawaa ‘yes’, ngaawaamba-li ‘agree’.
GY could decide to use maabuba-li ‘number.say’ for ‘count’, making the following GY sentences possible.
Maabubaldanha ngaya barrigagu Gamilaraaydha.
I can count to 100 in Gamilaraay.
For further discussion.
Teachers. The number bulaarr ‘2’ can be challenging to pronounce. It is easy for ‘aa’ to be shortened, and also for ‘rr’ to be left off. If ‘rr’ is difficult a ‘d’ is gaba. | 199,041 |
We produce copper based alloy ingots in a responsible manner
The experience gathered in metal recovery industry allows us to produce environmentally friendly and high-quality copper based alloys. Our procurement method is based on a method for selecting the raw material: we strictly follow the provisions for recycling raw materials at the control and sorting stage, working with trusted suppliers only. Thanks to these measures, we are able to use only 5% virgin raw material in production and give new life to about 4,500 MT per year including waste and EOW. An approach that activates a potentially infinite cycle for the recovery and reuse of the material. The attention we place in every process, together with maintenance and innovation of production plants as well as those aimed at environmental protection, allows us to create an economic development aimed at creating value for the customer, the environment and the community. This is our responsibility, our constant endeavour. | 252,709 |
Life & Soul of the Party
Edmund Burke: Philosopher, Politician, Prophet
By Jesse Norman (HarperPress 325pp £20)
It is perhaps one of the oddities of the British political tradition that it is often best revealed by foreigners. Voltaire and Montesquieu in the 18th century had a large part in England's reputation as a notably free society, but it could be argued that the Irishman Edmund Burke should be recognised as the major 'foreign' contributor to our political self-understanding. He could express what the English were about better than any native. In doing so, Burke made a lasting contribution to the development of modern democracy.
Without competition between political parties, democracy can't work. Burke responded to the political factions of his time by reconceiving them as the (more or less) respected bands of politicians we can recognise today. He did this through a kind of high-mindedness. A party, he explained, is a 'body of men united, for promoting by their joint endeavours, the national interest, upon some particular principle in which they are all agreed'. The loyal opposition was born.
Burke arrived in London in 1750. He was twenty and the very image of an ambitious young man out to make his fortune. He soon abandoned law and began to live off his writing. One of his first works was A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Not, one might have thought, a title to catch wide attention, but it helped increase a reputation already growing in the vibrant intellectual circles of London at the time. Burke was soon in the Commons and part of the 'Rockingham Whigs', who opposed the bid for increased influence by George III, and soon also were to oppose Britain's policy towards the Americans. The heritage Burke left is a treasury of dazzling political reflection in speeches, books and pamphlets.
Such a figure is, of course, meat and drink to modern politicians, and now we have Edmund Burke: Philosopher, Politician, Prophet, a tribute from a lively and versatile MP. Jesse Norman's book begins with Burke's life and then turns to his thought. Just as Burke's legacy is complex today, so his contemporaries often found him difficult to decipher. An Anglican with a Catholic background could still be regarded with suspicion in the 18th century. And as a young man making his way in a difficult world, his private affairs - such as his work as a colonial agent representing the economic interests of the province of New York - were understandably thought to make his interests the master of his allegiances. Norman is acutely aware of the many ways Burke has been criticised, but quite rightly takes him to be a man of high moral sensibility.
Burke's popular fame today rests on the fact that, well before the French Revolution had turned seriously violent, he understood what was actually happening. Reflections on the Revolution in France is one of the great books of political thought. In a sentimental passage - the original manuscript is said to have been marked by the tears he shed as he wrote - Burke remembered seeing Marie Antoinette at Versailles years before and recognising her as the symbol of an entire civilisation. He lamented, 'The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever.' In these remarkable pages, Burke foresaw the collapse of certain moral features of European life, something that only became evident to many people decades (and in some cases centuries) after Burke's insight. To know what is happening to a society before your very eyes is, curiously, an unusual gift. Burke was not perhaps a philosopher, but he was (as Yeats and others recognised) a remarkable 'tunesmith' of theory who could vividly call up the things people took for granted and were being lost.
Norman offers us a Burke for our own time, enlisting him as a critic of such current vices as selfish individualism and our foolish subjection to supposed experts. Part of the pleasure of Burke's brilliant prose is its invocation of ideas of honour, loyalty, duty and wisdom - old-fashioned words that resonate much less in our thinking than they once did. Unwisely, I think, Burke is here transposed into the language of contemporary social science. We do indeed learn something about politics, but we rather lose Burke. Part of Norman's argument is that Burke was right to emphasise the social aspect of emotion in humans as much as the individualist aspect of reason. Burke turns out to be 'postmodern' in his advocacy of the importance of what social scientists (such as Robert Putnam) today call 'social capital'. This expression translates virtues into sociology so that social scientists might not be suspected of indulging in moral talk. But Burke's thought is deeply moral.
The moral life, in Burke's understanding of it, lay in our attachment to the 'little platoons' of the social world. He was keen to challenge the rationalists by affirming the importance of 'prejudice' in sustaining political stability. Norman wants to save the modern individualist from the charge of selfishness, but Burke, rightly, did not consider this to be a problem because he took our social character for granted. In short, Norman recruits Burke as a supporter of today's revisionists who think we ought to value wellbeing more than GDP. No doubt Burke would concur, but he would be unlikely to pose the question in such terms. In short, Norman is better on Burke in his own time than on Burke as our contemporary. We learn that 'the basic task of politics is simply to preserve social capital and moral community'. Hard to disagree, but not a great improvement on Burke's own words.
The problem in advancing Burkean politics as a model for the present lies in having some sense of how the abstractions of the 18th century refer to the problems of today. There is one major difference between then and now that makes this almost impossible: Burke's milieu was essentially Christian and ours is not. Whatever view one may take of Christianity as a religion, its politics was one in which fallible creatures were understood to make decisions within the 'narrative' of Creation. As with any belief system, Christianity had its darker aspects, but its understanding of the world was compatible only with modest ambitions for public power. This moderation was lost in the Enlightenment.
Burke realised this. The Jacobins, and then Napoleon, had liberated themselves from the inhibitions of a notionally created world, and were free to invent public policy according to abstract ideas and whatever might seem desirable. The age of ideology had arrived. The horrors of the civil war in France discouraged revolution in Europe for a century, but Napoleon's political adventures in the pursuit of glory through the domination of Europe cost France alone an estimated two million lives and left that great Enlightenment civilisation fatally weakened, in contrast to rising German power. History has shown that, among masterful rulers, Napoleon was far from the worst, and the mark of his intelligence remains with us - faintly echoed in the EU, for example. Burkean wisdom is important and we need it badly, but it cannot compensate for the embedded moderation of Christianity that has been lost. We live in a liberated world and only perhaps a Burkean sensibility can help us realise where that is leading us.
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Kenneth Minogue taught political philosophy at LSE. His latest book is The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life. | 194,027 |
What We Don't Know About Dental Health
Posted July 17, 2012
Pop quiz: How often should you floss?
If you think twice a week sounds about right, you're like most Americans surveyed in the American Dental Association's first oral health quiz. And you'd be wrong, as they were, about that and many other dental basics, netting them the lowly grade of "D" on the quiz.
"We're hoping that this sets the low bar," said Dr. Ada Cooper, a dentist in New York and an ADA spokeswoman.
The ADA released the survey results alongside the launch of mouthhealthy.org, which aims to bring oral health enlightenment to the masses - from what to do when you crack a tooth to what foods to eat when you have canker sores. You can take a modified version of the quiz on the site.
Vigilance about the state of your mouth and small habit changes can go a long way toward preventing tooth decay and catching a problem before it becomes more costly, Cooper said.
Nine out of 10 adults ages 20 to 64 have had cavities in their permanent teeth, and dental disease is the most common chronic disease suffered by children, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Twenty-four percent of adults have untreated cavities in their mouths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among children ages 6 to 19, it's 16 percent.
Here are some common misconceptions people have about their teeth, according to the ADA's survey of 1,500 adults, which was conducted in May.
Survey says: 90 percent of respondents believe they should brush after every meal.
ADA says: Brush only twice a day.
Survey says: 65 percent of respondents believe they should replace their toothbrush twice a year.
ADA says: Replace your toothbrush every three to four months, or sooner if the bristles become frayed.
Survey says: 75 percent of respondents don't know what age to take their child to the dentist for the first time.
ADA says: A child's first trip to the dentist should be within six months after the first tooth appears or no later than the child's first birthday.
Survey says: 81 percent of respondents think that sugar causes cavities.
ADA says: Cavities are caused by germs in the mouth that feed on sugar and then produce acid which attacks tooth enamel. In time, the acid attacks weaken the enamel to the point where a cavity forms.
Survey says: 59 percent of respondents don't realize cavity-causing germs can be passed from person to person.
ADA says: Yes, they can. Parents and caregivers can pass bacteria that cause cavities to their children by pre-chewing food, sharing utensils or licking a pacifier to clean it.
Survey says: 53 percent of respondents think you should floss twice a week.
ADA says: Floss once a day. Tooth brushing doesn't clean between the teeth so germs can grow there and cause tooth decay and gum disease.
Survey says: 67 percent of respondents think refined sugars are more harmful to teeth than natural sugars.
ADA says: All sugar can promote tooth decay. The frequency of exposure, such as sipping any kind of sugary beverage, increases decay risk.
©2012 Chicago Tribune Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service. | 262,913 |
This series of books by Hermann Hesse was published by Bertelsmann Gütersloh as edition for book clubs – probably in the late 1970s. The multiline typeface is Blackline, designed by Wolf Magin in 1969 and released by H. Berthold AG in 1976.
Hermann Hesse Series, Bertelsmann Book Club Edition
Source: http://www.zvab.com. License: All Rights Reserved.
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More Blackline in use
Let’s Talk Type! from Metropolis newspaper1977
- Mark Simonson
- Metropolis Weekly Newspaper
Contributed by Mark Simonson
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Museum Management Academyc. 2012
- Studio 2×2
- Wojciech Staniewski
Contributed by Wojciech Staniewski
More Fonts In Use
I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You1999
- Karen Horton
Contributed by Stephen Coles | 64,820 |
All the boys and girls sang “The Star Spangled Banner.” What is the verb in the sentence above?
Future Continuous Tense Adjective Irregular VerbPrepositionsVerbs: Will & Going toNouns - Word Form-IONPast TensesPast Tense (Regular and Irregular)Phrasal Verb
Other quiz: Present Continuous Tense
I am ……………………now. The bus is waiting for me.
How to use : Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button. | 41,090 |
Flightin is a 20kDa protein that is only expressed in the indirect flight muscle (IFM) of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. This gene is essential for the flight behavior in the fruit fly and its known that maintain the integrity of the sarcomere in the IFM. In the past it was tough that flightin was an orphan gene but recent examination of the different genomes available has revealed that different organisms has flightin like sequences. These flightin like sequences share a common region of about 55 amino acids named WYR (because 9 amino acids are conserved tryptophan, tyrosine and arginine). We hypothesize that this region is the region responsible to bind myosin. One aspect of my research is delimiting the region in flightin that is responsible to bind myosin. Also, from the examination of these flightin like sequence we found two striking results. The first is that some sequences come from insects that are very primitive which lack wings and in other cases the insect have only synchronous muscle. The second, and for our surprise is that some of the sequences comes from crustacean. These results suggest that flightin maybe has other function than the one already reported in the IFM of Drosophila. The other aspect of my research deals with the examination of the expression of flightin in different tissues from organisms that represent the crustaceans and the hexapods. | 278,167 |
Technical aids and software for people with dyslexia: voice recognition and text conversion (by speech synthesis), software for visualisation and mind-mapping…
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Integration through collaboration: several easy-to-use examples explain how digital communications systems enable children to connect with their peers or teacher. Monitoring learners helps students keep their notes current, correct and clear. This ensures children confronted with dyslexia follow the rhythm of the lesson; at home they benefit from this assistance whilst studying.
Planet of the Alphas (in French only) is an effective, game-based reading method, equally useful for teaching reading to 4-year olds as for intervention in difficulties with reading (dyslexia, dyspraxia …). The child discovers that each ‘Alpha’ is a character which has the same shape and sound as the letter it represents. Recognised by UNESCO and used by a large number of teachers, the resource has enjoyed huge success in many countries.
Our goal is to provide fun, easy-to-use products that motivate, educate and reward. Our literacy, numeracy and other resources include a wide range of teacher-created books, games and software. Together, we educate the children of the world by making learning fun.
Wordshark helps students to read and spell within a structured learning process. 9,000 word database with an option to add your own words. Includes a course in phonics. Often used in mainstream teaching but particularly helpful for those with dyslexia. Numbershark also on view. | 191,335 |
Book: Paperback | 129 x 198mm | 416 pages | ISBN 9780140447859 | 25 Oct 2001 | Penguin Classics
Written during Chekhov's late 20s and early 30s, these dazzling stories are the work of a young writer in dialogue with his masters: Tolstoy, Gogol and Maupassant. They are stories which deal with good and evil, depicting heroes and villains and monsters with a lightness of touch and a lack of ambiguity which is largely absent from the stories Chekhov wrote following traumatic and defining visit to the penal island of Sakhalin to investigate prison conditions in 1890.
Translated with Notes by Ronald Wilks with a New Introduction by Donald Rayfield
Note on the Text
The Name-day Party
A Dreary Story
Publishing History and Notes | 175,203 |
Manual Section... (1) - page: gendiff
NAMEgendiff - utility to aid in error-free diff file generation
SYNOPSISgendiff <directory> <diff-extension>
DESCRIPTIONgendiff is a rather simple script which aids in generating a diff file from a single directory. It takes a directory name and a "diff-extension" as its only arguments. The diff extension should be a unique sequence of characters added to the end of all original, unmodified files. The output of the program is a diff file which may be applied with the patch program to recreate the changes.
The usual sequence of events for creating a diff is to create two identical directories, make changes in one directory, and then use the diff utility to create a list of differences between the two. Using gendiff eliminates the need for the extra, original and unmodified directory copy. Instead, only the individual files that are modified need to be saved.
Before editing a file, copy the file, appending the extension you have chosen to the filename. I.e. if you were going to edit somefile.cpp and have chosen the extension "fix", copy it to somefile.cpp.fix before editing it. Then edit the first copy (somefile.cpp).
After editing all the files you need to edit in this fashion, enter the directory one level above where your source code resides, and then type
$ gendiff somedirectory .fix > mydiff-fix.patch
You should redirect the output to a file (as illustrated) unless you want to see the results on stdout.
SEE ALSOdiff(1), patch(1)
Marc Ewing <[email protected]>
This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 15:26:10 GMT, June 11, 2010 | 87,498 |
The Faith and Visions of the Ancient Saints—The Same Great Blessings to Be Enjoyed By the Latter-Day Saints
[Elder Pratt read the 7th, 8th, and 9th paragraphs of the Book of Ether.]
I have read, from the Book of Ether, a portion of what is written concerning that great and wonderful vision, shown to a man in all respects just like unto ourselves, so far as his nature was concerned, all men being subjected to certain evil influences, through the transgression of our first parents. At the same time, if it had not been for their transgressing the commandments of the Lord, in the garden of Eden, this congregation would not have been here.
Because Adam and Eve transgressed we are here with mortal tabernacles; and these mortal tabernacles are subject to vanity, through the power which the adversary has on account of our organization in the flesh; he has power over the spirit, and to bring us into captivity and bondage, and subject us to the yoke of bondage, of sin, of the fallen and corrupt nature; but by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was prepared before the foundation of the world, we have hope of being redeemed from that which is a yoke upon us in the economy of this probation, for mortality was instituted
by the Lord to give us an opportunity of proving ourselves.
Our first parents thorough transgressing the law of God, brought death into the world, but through the death of Jesus Christ, life and immortality were introduced. The one brings into bondage; the other gives us hope of escape, of redemption, that we may come forth with the same kind of body that Adam had before the fall, a body of immortal flesh and bones.
Adam and Eve were immortal, the same as resurrected beings, but previous to their transgression they had no knowledge of good and evil.
After the redemption we will not only have the same kind of bodies that they possessed in the garden of Eden before the fall, but we will have a knowledge of good and evil through our experience. For this purpose we are made partakers, through our agency, of the knowledge of evil in this life, that we all may know how to appreciate good when we are put in possession of it.
Hence in our immortal tabernacles, when brought forth from the grave, we shall have a knowledge of our past experience, a most perfect knowledge.
There will be no imperfection of memory, but we shall remember, as the Prophet tells us in the Book of Mormon, all things that have taken place during our mortal lives; everything that we have thought and done.
We shall remember that we have been made free from sin through the ordinances of the Gospel; we shall remember the new birth that we received while in this mortal state, the being cleansed from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ, and made new creatures; all those things will be plain and clear before the mind of the immortal man.
There is a great lesson of instruction given in the short history which I have read before you; it shows the privileges pertaining to our religion in some respects, and it shows how much there is to be received, and how much we have not received in mortality.
We also learn from the history we have read, the principle upon which these blessings are to be received, viz., by faith in Jesus Christ. The brother of Jared did not receive these blessings without faith; he exercised faith in the Lord, in the revelations previously received, or which the Prophets had spoken in former days; he exercised faith in the promises given to the fathers.
All the circumstances through which they were called to pass, had a tendency to create a great amount of faith in those ancient men of God. It is true that the brother of Jared had been a Prophet for many years; faith had been centered in his heart, and he could lay hold of the promises of God. He was a Revelator at the time the tower of Babel was built; he was a man capable of receiving instructions from heaven; and hence his brother said, at the time the language was confounded, “Enquire of the Lord if He will take us out of the land, and if it please the Lord to let us go by ourselves, let us be faithful,
that we and our posterity and nation may be blest.”
From these few sayings of Jared we find that he had the utmost confidence in the revelations of his brother, for he knew him to be a Prophet and a Revelator. While wandering many years in the wilderness, the Lord continued to reveal Himself unto them in the wilderness; He had shown forth to them His glory, had come down and talked in a cloud and shown them many things which were to come to pass, and instructed them to build barges and cross large bodies of water, before they came to the ocean.
Being taught for many years in the things of the kingdom of God, their minds were somewhat prepared for the journey before them. They were instructed to build eight barges with which to cross the great ocean; and after being fully informed upon those matters, and having finished the barges, the company saw that there was no light in them, and it would have been very difficult to carry fuel such a long distance, in order to have produced light.
Now reflect upon the faith of this man of God; rather than be tossed upon the bosom of the great deep for many days excluded from the light of sun, moon, and stars, and rather than be under the necessity of taking wood to make fires, without any outlet for smoke, and before he knew how the Lord was going to provide light, he carved out sixteen stones, which, though white and clear like unto glass, gave no light.
He carried those stones into a great mountain, and called upon Him who at the beginning said, “Let there be light and there was light,” to touch those stones that they might have them for lights upon the bosom of the deep. This would be sufficient if there was not another word written, to convince any person that he was a man of great faith, and that when in
difficulty he called upon the Lord, and the Lord hearkened to his voice, and put forth His hand. And because of this man's faith he beheld the finger of the Lord when He touched the stones, and those stones were filled with the principle of imparting light.
This was a miracle to those that beheld it, and why so? Because it was contrary to the general laws with which they were acquainted, though in fact it was no more of a miracle for the Lord to show His finger than to do anything else, or than the falling of a stone to the ground. The same Supreme power that causes the fall of a stone, can cause a stone to give light, and in this instance did perform that operation, and they beheld it, and had constant day until they had crossed the sea. One may enquire, “Brother Pratt, why do you refer to those old historical events, why don't you refer to that which belongs to our everyday duties?” Because there are those around me here who are better qualified to teach you in relation to your everyday duties; they are able to instruct you from Sabbath to Sabbath, and are constantly pouring forth instructions for your edification and benefit.
These ideas came into my mind, and are calculated, if properly understood, to be used as examples for our good; they are written for our edification and that of our children. The heed that we give to the everyday duties which are pointed out to us, will determine in a great measure our reward. It may be asked, “Do you think that it is really our privilege, as the children of God in this dispensation, to attain to the same blessings which were received by those ancient people of God?” Yes, and far greater; for you will find in this same history, in a part which I have not read, that a portion of the same things should be given to the Latter-day
Saints through their faith. The Lord says, “Then will I show the great and marvelous things of my kingdom unto them, as I did to him.”
But it all depends, recollect, upon the great principle of faith, and you are to obtain these things upon condition of practicing those everyday duties which you are hearing proclaimed from day to day. With such wisdom, and by continuing steadfast therein, your faith will increase in those great and heavenly principles, until you can lay hold by faith upon all the great and marvelous things that were communicated to him.
What were communicated to him besides what I have read? It may not be amiss to read a few more words, for I fear that we are too careless in relation to those things which pertain to our welfare, which, with the various duties and cares of life, make us careless in listening to the Living Oracles. It is my belief that if this people more carefully read the oracles of the ancients, they would be directed more diligently to attend to the Living Oracles.
We are commanded to search the Scriptures for instructions, but I fear that we neglect this counsel too much, and become careless. In consequence of such neglect, the Lord reproved this Church some years ago, and said that the whole Church was under condemnation, because they had neglected the Book of Mormon; and He told them that unless they would repent, they should be held under condemnation, and should be scourged, and judgments should be poured out upon them. If you would read these things in the Spirit, and call upon God to give you His Spirit to fix the sayings of the Prophets upon your minds, you would do good and derive benefit therefrom. If the Saints will give most earnest and diligent heed unto the instructions given in those books which have been pre-
served, and especially to the instructions which are given by our President, they will prosper and be blest in all things.
I will again read, “And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil.” Says one, “That is a curious saying; I thought the Lord could do whatever He pleased.” This was because the Lord had given His word that He would do according to the faith of the Saints—righteous sons and daughters of Adam—hence He could not restrain the brother of Jared from looking within the veil.
When there is sufficient faith in the hearts of the children of men, it is impossible to withhold blessings from them, if that faith is exercised, for if the Lord should do so, He would forfeit His own word, and we read that it is impossible for God to lie.
I will now read as follows: “And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the world, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it to no man. And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read. And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also, with the things which ye shall write. For behold, the language which ye shall write, I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write.”
Now notice the words of Moroni, upwards of 400 years after Christ: “And when the Lord had said these
words, the Lord showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth. For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things. And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and seal them up; and I will show them in mine own due time unto the children of men.”
You recollect that when the Book of Mormon was translated from the plates, about two-thirds were sealed up, and Joseph was commanded not to break the seal; that part of the record was hid up. The plates which were sealed contained an account of those great things shown unto the brother of Jared; and we are told that all those things are preserved to come forth in the due time of the Lord. The 11th paragraph informs us respecting the interpreters. I will read it—
“And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two stones which he had received, and show them not, until the Lord should show them unto the children of men. And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men, until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people. And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.”
These interpreters, the two stones that were given to the brother of Jared, were the two stones that were found with the plates. Again, the Lord says in the next paragraph a portion of which I will read—
“Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief. Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed. Therefore, when ye shall receive this record, ye may know that the work of the Father has commenced upon all the face of the land. Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name. And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from
the foundation of the world. And behold it is I that hath spoken it. Amen.”
I have felt disposed to read these paragraphs, for I highly esteem the Book of Mormon, as I presume do all the Latter-day Saints. But many lay it upon the shelf and let it remain there for a year or two, consequently they become careless concerning the dealings of the Lord with the Former-day Saints.
You are not to suppose that you are going to be jumped into the midst of revelations, and by one great and grand step are to burst the veil, and to rend it from your eyes, do you think that you are to step into the celestial kingdom and see it all at once? No, these blessings are by far too precious to be attained in such a way; they are to be attained by diligence and faith from day to day, and from night to night. Hence you are to become habituated to do good in your thoughts and conduct, in all that you do, until you become perfectly initiated into the great principles of righteousness, and continue to live uprightly until it becomes a kind of second nature to be honest, to be prudent, to govern all your passions, and bring all of the influences of the flesh, of the fallen nature, into the most perfect subjection to the law of God.
I know that it is necessary for you to keep the commandments of the Lord, and not only to keep those found in the written revelations, but to strictly observe all the words of wisdom, counsel, and advice that He has given through His Spirit and His servants. And when you have given diligent heed to counsel, it becomes a second nature to pay the strictest attention to the covenants made and the counsel given by the Living Oracles of God.
These principles are not to be learned by one or two days', or one or
two months' humility and obedience, for that would be like a child's going to school a week and being kept six weeks at home, where there is no one to instruct him. It is obvious that a person keeps retrograding, if he does not progress; you are called upon to increase and progress in knowledge and truth until they influence all your actions and doings, until your conduct is rightly influenced, not only in relation to your neighbors, but in relation to all that belongs to your neighbors. When you have learned righteous principles be careful that they never escape your minds, and that your conduct never severs you from them. This is the time and this is the day that your faith should lay hold of this great and good Spirit, and that you should strive for the rich blessings of heaven, concerning which I have read in your hearing this morning.
Latter-day Saints, are not these things worthy of living for? Suppose that you could have the privilege, by living only one week in strict obedience to all the laws of the kingdom, to have these blessings; I verily believe that there are not many Latter-day Saints, but who, if they knew that they could enjoy all the blessings of the ancients and have the visions of the heavens laid open to their minds, so that they could have before them the past, the present, and the future, so that they could understand the things of God, would live very faithful, and be of one heart and of one mind.
Would not everyone who heard such promises try to obtain the prize, to enjoy the blessings promised? The counsels and instructions of those whom God has appointed would be fresh before them every moment; when they arose in the morning it would be the first thing they would think of, and it would be the last thing at night. They would be able to do twice as much labor as when
their minds are not upon the things of God. Their minds would be so entirely swallowed up that they would feel like Alma and others, while among the priests of king Noah, when they had burdens upon their backs; their burdens were made light so that they were able to bear them cheerfully, and so it would be with the Latter-day Saints. Let them have that Spirit one week, and they would find their bodies stronger and more active, and they would almost forget whether they had been to their breakfast, dinner, or supper, their minds would be so completely swallowed up with heavenly things, and everything would prosper.
You are to claim blessings by your conduct, you are so instructed; some are apt to be so neglectful and remiss in their duties that they are not able to claim them. They forget what is in store for them, and do not pray for the Spirit to impress those blessings upon their minds, but suffer their minds to be drawn out too much upon temporal business instead of the things of God, and become weary in mind and body, so that they feel like neglecting the more prominent duties, such as family prayer and many others.
This is because they do not enjoy sufficient of the Spirit of the Lord, for it is able to strengthen everyone of you. Look at the promises made to the missionaries, “He that shall go forth to preach the Gospel without purse or scrip shall not be weary, nor darkened in spirit nor in body.”
What is it that strengthens them so that they do not become weary in body and in mind? The Elders abroad are called upon to labor diligently, and many times to sit up almost all night to teach the pure principles of eternal life, and when they lie down they rest perfectly calm as though they were not weary, and arise invigorated with faith, intelligence, and power; their minds and
bodies are strengthened by the power of God.
So it would be with you, if you were sent on a mission, as well as with those who now go to preach the Gospel of salvation for the gathering of the honest in heart.
The Elders go forth in faith and with prayer for the gathering of Israel; to bring them to Zion, to plant vineyards, to build houses, to help build up the cities of Zion, and beautify the earth.
You are all on a mission to make yourselves of one heart and of one mind before the Lord, and if you are faithful you can claim the promises that He will pour out His Spirit upon you, and that Spirit will be poured out upon those who are faithful from morning until evening, and they will be quickened and invigorated to perform whatever is necessary.
If you come to this house with your minds upon the things of this world, and hear the servants of God speak upon the great things of the kingdom, their words will go in at one ear and out at the other, your minds will be darkened, the devil will step in and tempt you, and you are liable to be prostrated in body and mind by his power, because you have given way.
While we are here there is a chance for every Latter-day Saint, and I feel to say, set yourselves in order, ye heads of families, and then set your families in order; regulate your lives one towards another in your families, in your neighborhoods, and in all your communications and dealings one with another.
In this way the enemy will not have power over you, and all your works of light and righteousness will be regulated by the principles which you have received, and by the order which should govern the Saints of God; showing that you are sick of your old traditions, confusion, and
discord, and that you are contending for the faith once delivered to the Saints; believing that the same blessings which they enjoyed may be poured out upon your heads.
Perhaps, before I again return to behold the Saints in these valleys, a great temple may be reared upon this Block, upon the foundation already laid. Before that time, perhaps, the services of the Lord may be administered therein, with baptism for the dead, as the Lord has promised, and other sacred and holy ordinances pertaining to the last dispensation; ordinances that have been kept sacred from the foundation of the world, things kept to be revealed in this last dispensation.
If the time is so near at hand when a temple shall be completed for these sacred and holy purposes, there is none too much time for you to prepare yourselves in the holy course of righteousness.
You cannot expect to live as many have lived, and then be able by one tremendous great effort to at once call down the powers of heaven into your midst. All, who will enjoy the privileges which it is the prerogative of the Latter-day Saints to enjoy, must live for them.
Why not Saints have these blessings? Is it because God is partial, and willing to bestow greater blessings upon some than upon others? No, it is because you do not sufficiently prepare yourselves before Him, for you have to become sanctified; hence it is said in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, speaking of the Temple which shall be built in Jackson County, “That those that enter therein shalt behold the face of God.”
The promise was not made to the impure, to those who had not sanctified themselves before the Lord, but to the pure in heart. It naturally follows that similar blessings are prepared to be poured out by the Most
High upon the Temple that shall be built upon this Block, and upon the people who shall go therein. How many of this congregation would be prepared to receive such blessings?
The Lord might say to the angels, such and such ones have been faithful to all the calls that have been made upon them; they have not turned to one side; they have not given way to their passions; they have not neglected the counsels of my servants; they have exercised faith in me and have lived to it and by it; and now do you messengers go forth and show yourselves unto them in that Temple, that their eyes may be opened, that they may become as the brother of Jared—to see and taste the joys of the other world. But let the eyes of those who have not been diligent be dark, let them not have sufficient faith to behold your or my glory, let the veil that is over the nations remain between them and my glory. I will venture to say that there are at present comparatively few that would be prepared to receive the great blessings which are in store. I feel anxious upon this point, my brethren and sisters, not only for your sakes but for my own.
When you shall rend the veil that is between you and the heavens, it will be by your works of faith and obedience. Do you realize that you are the individuals to rend that veil? Jesus has done his part, and he is willing that the veil should be rent; he has made intercession before the Father; he has offered his own life, and what more can he do? When you shall have faith to rend that veil which is over your minds, you will find that the heavens are ready and waiting to bestow the blessings promised, just as soon as you are prepared to receive them.
Here let us reflect a little upon the principle by which the brother of Jared was capable of seeing things that
are behind the veil, and by which Moses saw every particle of this earth, inside as well as outside. How did they see these things? The revelation says, “By the Spirit of God.” If Moses had the Spirit so that he could discern all things in the earth, while he was quite a finite being like the rest of us, why should not we have that same gift imparted unto us?
The brother of Jared was so filled with the Spirit that he was enabled to behold the person of Jesus Christ, and all the inhabitants of the earth that had lived previous to his day, as well as those who should live afterwards. They rent the veil between them and the heavens by their faith and obedience to the commandments of the Lord; they saw the history of past events from the beginning of the world, and all the inhabitants that ever had been.
There is such a thing as a natural man's looking into the past, but their power is very much restricted. Lord Ross constructed a very powerful telescope, having an object glass six feet in diameter, and by it a man can see a vast distance into space, and behold what existed ages ago. With this mighty instrument it has been determined that other worlds exist hundreds of thousands of millions of miles distant from us, and that the light from them which reaches the eye through the telescope must have been traveling several hundred thousand years before it reached the eye, hundreds of thousands of years before Adam was placed in the garden of Eden.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago the distant bodies of the universe were lighted up by the glory of God, and the light thereof has at last entered the tremendous telescope of Lord Ross, and thus individuals have been enabled to see—what? Not those bodies as they exist at the present time, but to see
them as they existed tens and scores of thousands of years before this world was made.
Here, then, is looking at the past, and that naturally, independent of the mind's being waked up by the power of God, as were the minds of the brother of Jared and Moses.
Again, this glorious and heavenly principle, with which a righteous man is endowed, reaches forward into the future for thousands of years to come, as far as the Great God will permit the sceneries of ages to be opened to mortals. It is not the fault of our organization that we do not enjoy this principle, but because we do not entirely get rid of those erroneous traditions which we have received from our fathers.
The faith of the Gospel is what is required to lead us on until we burst the veil asunder; for this faith will enable us to burst off the shackles by which we are bound, and prepare us to enjoy the holy Priesthood, with all the blessings guaranteed to the Saints of God, and to gaze into the hidden things of eternity.
Reflect upon past experience and upon the workings of the Spirit of God, and you will discover that you have often been forewarned of events long before they took place; and if you cast your minds into the book of the Spirit of God, and behold the acts and doings of the Lord in ages to come, you will find that the same principle that exists in the bosoms of the Gods is with you, though in a very undeveloped condition. Let your minds be set upon the will of God and upon His kingdom, and what will be withheld from your sight?
There are many principles contained in the words which I have just read. Jesus, for instance, stood before the brother of Jared, not in his body of flesh and bones, not as an infant, not as a small spirit one foot or two feet high, but a full-grown spirit;
and when the brother of Jared beheld the finger of Christ he beheld a full-sized finger as of a man, for says Jesus, “When I shall take a body of flesh and bones and redeem my people I will appear as thou now seest me, but this is the body of my spirit; I show myself in the spirit, you behold it, you see that it is of the size of a man.”
“All men in the beginning have I created after the body of my spirit,” as much as to say that “you, the brother of Jared, did not receive your existence a few years ago here in the flesh, that was not your origin, but all men, all those that I will show you that have existed or will exist upon this earth, in the beginning have I created after the image of the body of my spirit.” They were all spiritually organized before they came here.
This is the only place in the Book of Mormon where pre-existence is clearly spoken of, and this was revealed before the organization of this Church, and is a doctrine which was not in the possession of the Christian world, hence it shows that it was dictated by a Spirit capable of revealing a doctrine unknown to the Christian world—the pre-existence of man.
There is much doctrine in the Book of Mormon and Book of Doctrine and Covenants that would be instructive to the Saints, if they would not let them stay upon their shelves. Knowledge of truth would not harm you, though it may be better for some to let their books remain shut, rather than to transgress against greater light, for then greater would be their damnation and punishment. In proportion as we advance in the knowledge of the things revealed from the heavens, and in the powers and keys that are conferred upon us, the greater will be the condemnation, if we fall therefrom. This shows the propriety of every man and woman's habituating themselves, as I have already said, to righteousness.
If you were, within one week from this time, to be let into all the visions that the brother of Jared had, what a weight of responsibility you would have upon you; how weak you would be, and how unprepared for the responsibility; and after the vision had closed up in your minds, and you left to yourselves, you would be tempted in proportion to the light that had been presented before you. Then would come the trial, such as you never have had. This is the principle upon which the devil is allowed to try us. We have a circumstance in relation to Moses' being tempted; when the vision withdrew, and the heavens closed, the devil presented himself and said, “Moses, son of man, worship me.” Moses replied, “Who are you?” “I am the son of God,” was the answer. Then said Moses, “You call me son of man and say that you are the son of God, but where is your glory?” Could Moses have withstood that terrible manifestation, if he had not practiced for many years the principles of righteousness? A mere vision would not have strengthened him, and even to show him the glory of God in part would not have enabled him to combat with the powers of darkness that then came to him. It was by his knowledge of God, by his perseverance, his diligence and obedience in former years, that he was enabled to rebuke the devil, in the name of Jesus Christ, and drive him from him.
So it will be with you, whether you have the necessary preparation or not, for the Lord will say to the powers of darkness, you are now at liberty to tempt my servants in proportion to the light that I have given. Go and see if they will be steadfast to that light; use every plan so far as I permit you, and if they will yield they are not worthy of me nor of my kingdom, and I will deliver them up and they shall be buffeted. You, Satan, shall
buffet and torment them, until they shall learn obedience by the things that they suffer.
Hence the propriety of preparing for these things, that when they come you will know how to conquer Satan, and not want for experience to overcome, but be like Michael, the archangel, who, with all the knowledge and glory that he had gained through thousands of years of experience, durst not bring a railing accusation, because he knew better. And when Moses withstood Satan face to face, he knew who he was and what he had come for. He had obtained his knowledge by past trials, by a long series of preparation; hence he triumphed.
So it must be with Latter-day Saints, and if we prepare ourselves we shall conquer. We must come in contact with every foe, and those who give way will be overcome.
If we are to conquer the enemy of truth his power must be made manifest, and the power which will be given of the Lord through faithfulness must be in our possession. Do you wish to prevail—to conquer the powers of darkness when they present themselves? If you do, prepare yourselves against the day when these powers shall be made manifest with more energy than is now exhibited. Then you can say, the evil powers that have been made manifest, the agents that came and tempted me, came with all their force, I met them face to face and conquered by the word of my testimony, by patience, by the keys which have been bestowed upon me, and which I held sacred before God, and I have triumphed over the adversary and over all his associates.
Brethren, pray for me, that I may accomplish the mission that has been given to me acceptably in the sight of the Lord, acceptably to these my brethren that are presiding over me, acceptably to the nations, to the Saints here in Great Salt Lake Valley, that
I may be one of the Saints that shall be perfected in righteousness, in long-suffering, in patience, in humility, and return in joy and peace to rejoice
again in your midst. I ask the Lord to bless us, one and all, with his Holy Spirit, and to guide us in the way of life. Amen. | 137,337 |
The hours slipped by as they talked and talked. Stu Ertship had been searching for someone to share his passion for protecting the Earth. And Wanda Savemorre wanted to share her penny-wise skills in a worthwhile project.
Over the weeks, Wanda and Stu become inseparable as they forged a partnership and created the concept they call Community Solar. “With Community Solar, individuals and organizations can become part of the clean energy wave that’s taking over the country even if their home or building isn’t well suited for rooftop solar,” Stu beamed. “And in doing so they’re pinching every energy dollar they spend,” Wanda added.
Stu and Wanda worked with Alliant Energy to craft answers to a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)* about Community Solar, but basically:
- A relatively small 1-3 MW (megawatt), 10 – 30 acre solar farm is built using an existing substation and transmission lines.
- Alliant Energy customers (individuals and businesses) can buy solar blocks in 250 watt increments to cover up to 100% of their electrical bill.
- Subscribers do not “own” a part of the facility so there is no upkeep or maintenance obligation. Subscribers agree to buy the reduced-cost electricity from the solar blocks they have purchased. (Solar blocks can be transferred or sold back if one’s circumstances change.)
- Community Solar projects are ideal for agrivoltaics i.e. using the same property for farming AND energy generation.
Alliant Energy has identified some prime locations for a Community Solar facility in Iowa County. Their planning committee wants to know that folks here support the benefits a Community Solar project would offer. “Stay tuned for details on how you can help move this opportunity forward!” Wanda advises. “Together, we can build a brighter future right here where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
*Learn more at: tinyurl.com/13c8yyet OR Contact: [email protected] | 54,886 |
* This is the Professional Version. *
Chronic Venous Insufficiency and Postphlebitic Syndrome
Chronic venous insufficiency is impaired venous return, sometimes causing lower extremity discomfort, edema, and skin changes. Postphlebitic (postthrombotic) syndrome is symptomatic chronic venous insufficiency after deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Causes of chronic venous insufficiency are disorders that result in venous hypertension, usually through venous damage or incompetence of venous valves, as occurs (for example) after DVT. Diagnosis is by history, physical examination, and duplex ultrasonography. Treatment is compression, wound care, and, rarely, surgery. Prevention requires adequate treatment of DVT and compression stockings.
Chronic venous insufficiency affects up to 5% of people in the US. Postphlebitic syndrome may affect one fifth to two thirds of patients with DVT, usually within 1 to 2 yr after acute DVT.
Venous return from the lower extremities relies on contraction of calf muscles to push blood from intramuscular (soleal) sinusoids and gastrocnemius veins into and through deep veins. Venous valves direct blood proximally to the heart. Chronic venous insufficiency occurs when venous obstruction (eg, in DVT), venous valvular insufficiency, or decreased contraction of muscles surrounding the veins (eg, due to immobility) decrease forward venous flow and increase venous pressure (venous hypertension). Fluid accumulation in the lower extremities (eg, in right heart failure) can also contribute by causing venous hypertension. Prolonged venous hypertension causes tissue edema, inflammation, and hypoxia, leading to symptoms. Pressure may be transmitted to superficial veins if valves in perforator veins, which connect deep and superficial veins, are ineffective.
The most common risk factor for chronic venous insufficiency is
Other risk factors include
Idiopathic cases are often attributed to a history of occult DVT.
Postphlebitic (or postthrombotic) syndrome is symptomatic chronic venous insufficiency that follows DVT. Risk factors for postphlebitic syndrome in patients with DVT include proximal thrombosis, recurrent ipsilateral DVT, and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 22 kg/m2. Age, female sex, and estrogen therapy are also associated with the syndrome but are probably nonspecific. Use of compression stockings after DVT decreases risk.
Clinically evident chronic venous insufficiency may not cause any symptoms but always causes signs; postphlebitic syndrome always causes symptoms. Both disorders are a concern because their symptoms can mimic those of acute DVT and both can lead to substantial reductions in physical activity and quality of life.
Symptoms include a sense of fullness, heaviness, aching, cramps, pain, tiredness, and paresthesias in the legs; these symptoms worsen with standing or walking and are relieved by rest and elevation. Pruritus may accompany skin changes. Signs occur along a continuum: no changes to varicose veins (rare) to stasis dermatitis on the lower legs and at the ankles, with or without ulceration (see Table: Clinical Classification of Chronic Venous Insufficiency). The calf may be painful when compressed.
Clinical Classification of Chronic Venous Insufficiency
Venous stasis dermatitis consists of reddish brown hyperpigmentation, induration, venous ectasia, lipodermatosclerosis (fibrosing subcutaneous panniculitis), and venous stasis ulcers.
Venous stasis ulcers may develop spontaneously or after affected skin is scratched or injured. They typically occur around the medial malleolus, tend to be shallow and moist, and may be malodorous (especially when poorly cared for) or painful. They do not penetrate the deep fascia. In contrast, ulcers due to peripheral arterial disease eventually expose tendons or bone.
Leg edema tends to be unilateral or asymmetric; bilateral symmetric edema is more likely to result from a systemic disorder (eg, heart failure, hypoalbuminemia) or certain drugs (eg, calcium channel blockers).
In general, unless the lower extremities are adequately cared for, patients with any manifestation of chronic venous insufficiency or postphlebitic syndrome are at risk of progression to more advanced forms.
Diagnosis is usually based on history and physical examination. A clinical scoring system that ranks 5 symptoms (pain, cramps, heaviness, pruritus, paresthesia) and 6 signs (edema, hyperpigmentation, induration, venous ectasia, blanching hyperemia, pain with calf compression) on a scale of 0 (absent or minimal) to 3 (severe) is increasingly recognized as a standard diagnostic tool of disease severity. Scores of 5 to 14 on 2 visits separated by ≥ 6 mo indicate mild-to-moderate disease, and scores of ≥ 15 indicate severe disease.
Lower-extremity duplex ultrasonography reliably excludes or confirms DVT. Absence of edema and a reduced ankle-brachial index suggest peripheral arterial disease rather than chronic venous insufficiency and postphlebitic syndrome.
Treatment depends on the disorder's severity and involves leg elevation; compression using bandages, stockings, and pneumatic devices; topical wound care; and surgery. Some experts also believe that weight loss, regular exercise, and reduction of dietary sodium may benefit patients with bilateral chronic venous insufficiency. However, all interventions may be difficult to implement.
Elevating the leg above the level of the right atrium decreases venous hypertension and edema, is appropriate for all patients, and should be done a minimum of 3 times/day for ≥ 30 min. However, most patients cannot adhere to this schedule during the day.
Compression is effective for treatment and prevention of the effects of chronic venous insufficiency and postphlebitic syndrome and is indicated for all patients. Elastic bandages are used initially until edema and ulcers resolve and leg size stabilizes; commercial compression stockings are then used. Stockings that provide 20 to 30 mm Hg of distal circumferential pressure are indicated for smaller varicose veins and mild chronic venous insufficiency; 30 to 40 mm Hg is indicated for larger varicose veins and moderate disease; and 40 to > 60 mm Hg is indicated for severe disease. Stockings should be put on when patients awaken, before leg edema worsens with activity, and should exert maximal pressure at the ankles and gradually less pressure proximally. Adherence to this treatment varies; many younger or more active patients consider stockings irritating, restricting, or cosmetically undesirable; elderly patients may have difficulty putting them on.
Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) uses a pump to cyclically inflate and deflate hollow plastic leggings. IPC provides external compression, squeezing blood and fluid out of the lower legs. It effectively treats severe postphlebitic syndrome and venous stasis ulcers but may be no more effective than compression stockings alone and is much less practical for patients to adhere to on an ongoing basis.
Topical wound care is important in venous stasis ulcer management (see Pressure Ulcers : Direct ulcer care for full discussion). When an Unna boot (zinc oxide–impregnated bandages) is properly applied, covered by compression bandages, and changed weekly, almost all ulcers heal. Occlusive interactive dressings (eg, hydrocolloids such as aluminum chloride) provide a moist environment for wound healing and promote growth of new tissue; they may be used for ulcers with light to moderate exudate, but they probably add little to simple Unna bandaging and are expensive. Passive dressings are absorptive, making them most appropriate for heavier exudate.
Drugs have no role in routine treatment of chronic venous insufficiency, although many patients are given aspirin, topical corticosteroids, diuretics for edema, or antibiotics.
Surgery (eg, venous ligation, stripping, valve reconstruction) is also typically ineffective. Grafting autologous skin or skin created from epidermal keratinocytes or dermal fibroblasts may be an option for patients with stasis ulcers when all other measures are ineffective, but the graft will reulcerate unless underlying venous hypertension is managed.
Primary prevention involves adequate anticoagulation after DVT and use of compression stockings for up to 2 yr after DVT or lower extremity venous trauma. However, a recent study using sham-compression stockings failed to show any decrease in postphlebitic syndrome. Lifestyle changes (eg, weight loss, regular exercise, reduction of dietary sodium) can decrease risk by decreasing lower extremity venous pressure.
Skin changes range on a continuum from normal skin or mildly ectatic veins to severe stasis dermatitis and ulceration.
Symptoms are more common with postphlebitic syndrome and include heaviness, aching, and paresthesias.
Diagnosis is based on inspection, but patients should have ultrasonography to rule out DVT.
Treatment is with elevation and compression; drugs and surgery are typically ineffective.
Drug NameSelect Trade
aspirinNo US brand name
* This is the Professional Version. * | 207,892 |
It might be bold to say, but I might have just found the next great turn-by-turn word game on the iPhone. That game, WordBoxer, takes a head-to-head word game and fully encapsulates it symbolically into a world class boxing match. That’s right! Go 12 rounds with your opponent and wait for the decision or take care of things early with powerful knockout.
What is it and what does it do
While playing the game, your goal is to creatively spell words that either earns you points or takes them away from your opponent, similarly how a punch would take something away from a boxing opponent.
- Extremely clever premise
- Well-designed interface
- Can play multiple games versus computer, friends, or a random player
- Three different skill levels
- In-game chat
- Notifications sent to you when it is your turn
- Well-placed ad
WordBoxer is a clever multiplayer word game presented as a boxing match. The developers created this concept where players go head-to-head in a boggle-like word creation match, with the goal to be either ahead after 12 rounds or decrease your opponent’s total points to zero. So symbolically, every word you make is a punch that weakens your opponent, who will ultimately suffer a KO (knockout) if they take too much punishment (i.e. zero points). I have to hand it to the developer for coming up with such a well thought out concept.
The user interface is quite appealing to the eye with all screen elements boxed off and symmetrical. The actual letter board is 6 by 6 and all letter tiles have the same values as they do in Scrabble. The letters are randomly spread around in the board with goal being to create the best word from consecutive adjacent letters, like you do in Boggle or Scramble with Friends. And when I mean best word, I mean the word that gets the most points. Whenever a valid word is created, a green boxing glove will light up to send your move, which symbolizes throwing a punch.
WordBoxer contains several colored tiles that act as the triple letter, double word, and triple word pieces. Using any letters of this color will increase the point level greatly and cause more damage to your opponent (i.e. subtract from their score). It is worth noting, though, that there is one exception to doing damage to an opponent. If you use any purple colored tile, instead of decreasing your opponent’s score, you will add to your own. So, in a sense, it is the equivalent of getting a rest and recovering some of your damage.
WordBoxer includes all the typical turn-by-turn features like in-game chat and turn notifications and is pretty much the complete package. You can even invite people from Facebook to play. I will say that I didn’t like the fact that an ad pops ups exactly where the user would press the boxing send button, right after it is hit. So if you leave your finger there too long, you will end up hitting the ad.
Conclusion and download link
WordBoxer is a boxing-inspired word game that allows you play an opponent in a turn-by-turn environment. From the looks of it and the game play, this could be quite a popular app in the coming months. Give it a try!
Download size: 18.0 MB
Requires: iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad; iOS 5.0 and up | 110,268 |
|Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard Prologue, PART III|
In the beginning of the first week in September Martin Pippin came once more to Adversane, and he said to himself when he saw it: "Now this is the prettiest hamlet I ever had the luck to light on in my wanderings. And if chance or fortune will, I shall some day come this way again."
While he was thinking these thoughts, his ears were assailed by groans and sighs, so that he wet his finger and held it up to find which way the wind blew on this burning day of blue and gold. But no wind coming, he sought some other agency for these gusts, and discovered it in a wheat-field where was a young fellow stooking sheaves. A very young fellow he was, turned copper by the sun; and as he stooked he heaved such sighs that for every shock he stooked two tumbled at his feet. When Martin had seen this happen more than once he called aloud to the harvester.
"Young master!" said Martin, "the mill that grinds your grain will need no wind to its sails, and that's flat."
The young man looked up from his labors to reply. "There are no mill-stones in all the world," said he, "strong enough to grind the grain of my grief."
"Then I would save these gales till they may be put to more use," remarked Martin, "and if I remember rightly you wear a lady's ring on your little finger, though I cannot remember her name or yours."
"Her heavenly name is Gillian," said the youth, "and mine is Robin Rue."
"And are you wedded yet?" asked Martin.
"Wedded?" he cried. "Have you forgotten that she is locked with six keys inside her father's Well-House?"
"But this was long ago," said Martin. "Is she there yet?"
"She is," said Robin Rue, "and here am I."
"Well, all states must end some time," said Martin Pippin.
"Even life," sighed Robin, "and therefore before the month is out I shall wilt and be laid in the earth."
"That would be a pity," said Martin. "Can nothing save you?"
"Nothing but the keys to her prison, and they are in the keeping of them that will not give them up."
"I remember," said Martin. "Six milkmaids."
"With hearts of flint!" cried Robin.
"Sparks may be struck from flint," said Martin, in his inconsequential way. "But tell me, if Gillian's prison were indeed unlocked, would all be well with you for ever?"
"Oh," said Robin Rue, "if her prison were unlocked and the prisoner in these arms, this wheat should be flour for a wedding-cake."
"It is the best of all cakes," said Martin Pippin, "and the grain that is destined thereto must not rot in the husk."
With these words he strolled out of the cornfield, gathered a harebell, rang it so loudly in the ear of a passing rabbit that it is said never to have stopped running till it found itself in France, and went up the road humming and thrumming his lute.
On the road he met a Gypsy.
"Maids," said Joscelyn, "somebody is at the gate."
The milkmaids, who were eating apples, came clustering about her instantly.
"Is it a man?" asked little Joan, pausing between her bites.
"No, thank all our stars," said Joscelyn, "it is a gypsy."
The milkmaids withdrew, their fears allayed.
Joan bit her apple and said, "It puckers my mouth."
Joyce: "Mine's sour."
Jessica:" Mine's hard."
Jane: "Mine's bruised."
Jennifer: "There's a maggot in mine."
They threw their apples away.
"Who'll buy trinkets?" said the Gypsy at the gate.
"What have you to sell?" asked Joscelyn.
"Knick-knacks and gew-gaws of all sorts. Rings and ribbons, mirrors and beads, silken shoe-strings and colored lacings, sweetmeats and scents and gilded pins; silver buckles, belts and bracelets, gay kerchiefs, spotted ones, striped ones; ivory bobbins, sprigs of coral, and sea-shells from far places, they'll murmur you secrets o' nights if you put em under your pillow; here are patterns for patchwork, and here's a sheet of ballads, and here's a pack of cards for telling fortunes. What will ye buy? A dream-book, a crystal, a charmed powder that shall make you see your sweetheart in the dark?"
"Oh!" six voices cried in one.
"Or this other powder shall charm him to love you, if he love you not?"
"Fie!" exclaimed Joscelyn severely. "We want no love-charms."
"I warrant you!" laughed the Gypsy. "What will ye buy?"
Jennifer:" I'll have this flasket of scent."
Joyce:" I'll have this looking-glass."
Jessica: "And I this necklet of beads."
Jane: "A pair of shoe-buckles, if you please."
Joan:" This bunch of ribbons for me."
Joscelyn: "Have you a corset-lace of yellow silk?"
The Gypsy: "Here's for you and you. No love-charms, no. Here's for you and you and you. I warrant, no love-charms! Ay, I've a yellow lace, twill keep you in as tight as jealousy, my pretty. Out upon all love-charms!--And what will she have that sits crouched in the Well-House?"
"Oh, Gypsy!" cried Joscelyn, "have you among your charms one that will make a maid fall out of love?"
"Nay, nay," said the Gypsy, growing suddenly grave. "That is a charm takes more black art than I am mistress of. I know indeed of but one remedy. Is the case so bad?"
"She has been shut into the Well-House to cure her of loving," said Joscelyn, "and in six months she has scarcely ceased to weep, and has never uttered a word. If you know the physic that shall heal her of her foolishness, I pray you tell us of it. For it is extremely dull in this orchard, with nothing to do except watch the changes of the apple-trees, and meanwhile the farmstead lacks water and milk, there being no entry to the well nor maids to milk the cows. Daily comes Old Gillman to tell us how, from morning till night, he is forced to drink cider and ale, and so the farm goes to rack and ruin, and all because he has a lovesick daughter. What is your remedy? He would give you gold and silver for it."
"I do not know if it can be bought," said the Gypsy, "I do not even know if it exists. But when a maid broods too much on her own love-tale, the like weapons only will vanquish her thoughts. Nothing but a new love-tale will overcome her broodings, and where the case is obstinate one only will not suffice. You say she has pined upon her love six months. Let her be told six brand-new love-tales, tales which no woman ever heard before, and I think she will be cured. These counter-poisons will so work in her that little by little her own case will be obliterated from her blood. But for my part I doubt whether there be six untold love-tales left on earth, and if there be I know not who keeps them buttoned under his jacket."
"Alas!" cried Joscelyn, "then we must stay here for ever until we die."
"It looks very like it," said the Gypsy, "and my wares are a penny apiece."
So saying she collected her moneys and withdrew, and for all I know was never seen again by man, woman, or child.
"My apple-gold maidens," said Martin Pippin, leaning on the gate in the bright night, "may I come into your orchard?"
As he addressed them he gazed with delight at the enclosure. By the light of the Queen Moon, now at her full in heaven, he saw that the orchard grass was clipped, and patterned with small clover, but against the hedges rose wild banks of meadow-sweet and yarrow and the jolly ragwort, and briony with its heart-shaped leaf and berry as red as heart's-blood made a bower above them all. And all the apple-trees were decked with little golden moons hanging in clusters on the drooping boughs, and glimmering in the recesses of the leaves. Under each tree a ring of windfalls lay in the grass. But prettiest sight of all was the ring of girls in yellow gowns and caps, that lay around the midmost apple-tree like fallen fruit.
"Dear maidens," pleaded the Minstrel, "let me come in."
At the sound of his voice the six milkmaids rose up in the grass like golden fountains. And fountains indeed they were, for their eyes were running over with tears.
"We did not hear you coming," said little Joan.
"Go away at once!" commanded Joscelyn.
Then all the girls cried "Go away!" together.
"My apple-gold maidens," said Martin Pippin, "I entreat you to let me in. For the moon is up, and it is time to be sleeping or waking, in sweet company. So I beseech you to admit me, dear maidens--if maidens in truth you be, and not six apples bobbed off their stems."
"You may not come in," said Joscelyn, "in case you should release our master's daughter, who sits in the Well-House pining to follow her heart."
"Why, whither would she follow it?" asked Martin much surprised.
The milkmaids turned their faces away, and little Joan murmured, "It is a secret."
Martin: "I will put chains on my thoughts. But shall I not sing you a tune you may dance to? I will make you a song for an August night, when the moon rocks her way up and down the cradle of the sky, and you shall rock on earth like any apple on the twig."
Jane: "For my part, I see nothing against it."
Jessica: "Gillian won't care little apples."
Joyce: "She would not hear though we danced the round of the year."
Joscelyn: "So long as he does not come in--"
Jennifer:" --or we go out."
"Oh, let us dance, do let us dance!" cried little Joan.
"Man," they importuned him in a single breath, "play for us and sing for us, as quickly as you can!"
"Sweet ones," said Martin Pippin, shaking his head, "songs must be paid for. And yet I do not know what to ask you, some trifle in kind it should be. Why, now, I have it! If I give you the keys to the dance, give me the keys to your little mistress, that I may keep her secure from following her heart like a bird of passage, whither it's no business of mine to ask."
At this request, made so gayly and so carelessly, the girls all looked at one another in consternation. Then Joscelyn drew herself up to full height, and pointing with her arm straight across the duckpond she cried: "Minstrel, begone!"
And the six girls, turning their backs upon him, moved away into the shadows of the moon.
"Well-a-day!" sighed Martin Pippin, "how a fool may trip and never know it till his nose hits the earth. I will sing to you for nothing."
But the girls did not answer.
Then Martin touched his lute and sang as follows, so softly and sweetly that they, not regarding, hardly knew the sound of his song from the heavy-sweet scent of the ungathered apples over their heads.
Toss me your golden ball, laughing maid, lovely maid,
There was no sound or movement from the girls in the shadows.
Lovely maid, laughing maid, toss me your ball!
I'll catch it and throw it, and hide it and show it,
And spin it to heaven and not let it fall.
Boy, run away with you! I will not play with you--
This is no ball!
We are too old to be playing at ball.
Toss me the golden sun, laughing maid, lovely maid,
Lovely maid, laughing maid, toss me the sun!
I'll wheel it, I'll whirl it, I'll twist it and twirl it
Till cocks crow at midnight and day breaks at one.
Boy, I'll not sport with you! Boy, to be short with you,
This is no sun!
We are too young to play tricks with the sun.
Toss me your golden toy, laughing maid, lovely maid,
Lovely maid, laughing maid, toss me your toy!
It's all one to me, girl, whatever it be, girl
So long as it's round that's enough for a boy.
Boy, come and catch it then!--there now! Don't snatch it then!
Here comes your toy!
Apples were made for a girl and a boy.
"Farewell, then," said Martin. "I must carry my tunes and tales elsewhere."
Like pebbles from a catapult the milkmaids shot to the gate.
"Tales?" cried Jessica.
"Do you know tales?" exclaimed Jennifer.
"What kind of tales?" demanded Jane.
"Love-tales?" panted Joyce.
"Six of them?" urged little Joan.
"A thousand!" said Martin Pippin.
Joscelyn's hand lay on the bolt.
"Man," she said, "come in." She opened the wicket, and Martin Pippin walked into the Apple Orchard.
Songs and games each day; and then, every evening, Martin tells these girls a lengthy love story, and one by one, persuades each of the six maids to give up one of the keys to free Gillian. The above (the third part of the prologue) illustrates how Eleanor blended dialog with story and poetry through the book. A similar on-going narrative continues both between and within each Martin's six stories, and is followed by a four part Postlude to answer our questions. Why do the maids hate men? How will Martin rekindle the hope of love within each one? And will Gillian escape and run off with Robin Rue? And what will become of the Maids?
Martin's Tales include:
The King's Barn (Joan's tale)
A king who has lost everything but the barn, seaches for purpose, and finds a love, disguised as a smithy to teach him of
Young Gerald (Joyce's tale)
An extraordinary development of a common love story's plot. Orphaned shepherd boy falls in love with his master's daughter who is to be wed to a nearby uncouth Lord. A cherry-tree that won't bloom and a lantern that won't light until love comes. A love to be rescued, and a happy ending somehow to be had.
The Mill of Dreams (Jennifer's tale)
Is it dreams that awaken the hope of love, or the putting away of dreams that makes love possible.
Open Winkins (Jessica's tale)
Proud Rosalind and the Hart-royal (Jane's tale)
The Imprisoned Princess (Joscelyn's tale) | 119,879 |
Studie av internt materialflöde vid Volvo Pentas fabrik i Vara
Abstract (Summary)Within today’s organizations there is continual development work to increase efficiency and the power to compete at the market. Production development with focus on continual improvements constitutes an important part of the daily work within a lot of organizations today.The purpose of this study is to contribute to a part of the development process that Volvo Penta factory in Vara has in mind. A description of the current situation was compiled by mapping the internal runnings and material flow throughout the factory. A new suggestion for a layout and a comparison with the current situation will assist with creating a factual basis for the development of a new goods reception.A study was made where the volumes and the quantity of the daily arrival goods were settled. Another study mapped the fork lift - and the moped traffic of the factory. The quantity and the volume of the material that was transported were also settled. The layout that was proposed was used during the comparison.The compilation of the description of the current situation showed that the fork lift truck constitute 40 % of the total number of runnings. Empty box running and empty running constitute 15 % and 45% of the transportations respectively. The material-, empty box- and empty runnings of the moped are divided 40 %, 19 % and 41 %.The result of the comparison of the existing with the planned goods reception showed that the new solution would decrease the use of fork lift truck transportations by as much as 16 %. The equivalent rate for the moped runnings would be 3 %.The conclusion of the studies is that a new goods reception, placed close to the start point of the process, would make a contribution to a streamlining of the internal runnings in the factory. It was also established, by the layout flowchart, that the material- and the process flow would be more efficient.The aim of the project was achieved through the extensive studies that were made. All of the transport stretches can now be studied in depth according to which factors are seen to be most important. The study contains separate information from each driver. A closer review by each driver is therefore suggested during the continued work. The development of new transport stretches where coordinated runnings may decrease and empty runnings may decrease is possible in order to reach even greater efficiency.
School:Högskolan i Jönköping
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Date of Publication:06/15/2007 | 259,178 |
Every year, Texans pay a $2 fee toward auto theft prevention on their automobile insurance, but most of the money isn't going to the agency it’s being collected for. Instead, the Legislature has used much of the money to help balance the budget.
The Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority is funded through those insurance fees and gives grants to task forces and law enforcement agencies focused on reducing vehicle theft. But the agency lost its dedicated fund — which set aside money solely for its functions — in 1997, when the Legislature began diverting the money for other purposes.
In 2011, the Legislature raised the fee from $1 to $2 and dedicated half to the authority and half to the state's general revenue fund, but four years later, lawmakers were siphoning off most of the new money too: 2015 numbers show that of the $42 million collected for auto theft prevention, the authority received less than $15 million.
State Rep. Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches authored House Bill 652 to give the full $2 to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and shield it from other uses.
“The simple fact remains that this is a worthwhile program and we collect the fees,” Clardy said. “I’ve got this crazy notion that if we collect a fee for a particular purpose, we ought to actually spend the money for that purpose.”
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who authored a similar bill in the Senate, chastised those in charge of appropriations for not allocating auto theft prevention funding as originally intended.
“For years, those in control of the Capitol have misled the public and deprived funding to important state programs by hoarding dedicated taxes and fees that are used to help balance the budget — and the ABTPA revenue is a classic example,” Watson said in an email. “ABTPA hasn't received its full appropriation since 1997 because budget-writers have relied upon the revenue to help pay for general revenue-related expenses.”
Both bills were left pending in committee.
Supporters of the bill argue auto theft is connected to many other types of crime and is intertwined with border security problems as well. Lt. Mike Rodriguez, commander of the Laredo Police Department Auto Theft Division, said though Laredo was the No. 1 city for automobile theft in 2009, the city was able to drop ten spots in National Insurance Crime Bureau rankings by the next year. In the most recent statistics, Laredo ranked 137th in the nation.
Rodriguez credits ABTPA grants — $635,000 a year to pay the salaries of five investigators and a supervisor — for the drop in auto theft. The police department is required to match 20 percent of the grant, and the city of Laredo provides even more money.
Rodriguez said the money is crucial for the task force, which receives anywhere from 30 to 40 new auto theft cases a week.
"The investigator has five days a week to go find video, interrogate suspects, find suspects, find evidence," he said. "It’s a lot to handle, and the person who will suffer [if funding is cut] is the victim.”
Lt. Tommy Hansen, who serves on the authority's board of directors, said the agency has already lost 30 investigators statewide out of 222 total, and under current budget proposals are poised to lose between six and 20 more. The House budget proposes a 4 percent cut to appropriations for ABTPA, while the Senate proposes a 10 percent cut.
Meanwhile, Hansen said the authority's responsibilities have grown. Before 2009, the Department of Public Safety oversaw auto inspections to check for stolen parts and legitimate VIN numbers, with investigators dedicated specifically to that task. When DPS merged its specialized units, it lost many of its auto theft inspectors and had to shift responsibility to the task forces funded by ABTPA.
In 2006, the authority was also given an unfunded mandate to investigate burglary of motor vehicles cases. And the whole time, Hansen said, the state froze their money while the agency lost people. That's why Hansen is frustrated that lawmakers are proposing further cuts to the authority's budget.
“The money is there [through auto insurance fees],” Hansen said. “That’s the frustrating thing.”
Clardy agreed.“This is a real moneymaker for the state. It deters crime, helps citizens recover their stolen property, helps our law enforcement solve crimes.”
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, (D-Vt.), who authored… (J. Scott Applewhire / Associated…)
The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation requiring that police obtain a search warrant to gain access to private emails and other forms of electronic communication.
The bill, championed by committee Chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), updates legislation developed before the widespread adoption of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol that forms the backbone of modern email networks, let alone Facebook or Twitter.
Privacy advocates, such as the ACLU, applauded the vote.
“This is an important gain for privacy,” ACLU legislative counsel Chris Calabrese said in a statement. “We believe law enforcement should use the same standard to search your inbox that they do to search your home.”
And Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Lee Tien described the vote as “a strong message to the Department of Justice that our digital 4th Amendment rights don’t expire after six months.”
But Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the committee, was critical of the bill, calling for a more open debate and input from more interested parties from both sides.
“Given that the House isn’t going to take this bill up, we should work to ensure we strike the proper balance between privacy and safety, just as we did in 1986 when we first passed ECPA," the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, he said.
Under ECPA, police need only a judge-approved administrative subpoena to look at emails and similar messages older than 180 days. The new bill would eliminate that provision so that law enforcement faces a more intensive litmus test to gain access. Leahy, who has served in the Senate since 1974, co-sponsored the very bill he’s amending.
Leahy’s bill came under fire last week after a report from CNET alleged that Leahy had made extensive concessions to law enforcement, including allowing federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, to read electronic communications without a search warrant. Associate U.S. Atty. Gen. James Baker, speaking to the committee last year, said the bill could have an "adverse impact" on criminal investigations.
A substitute bill was adopted and placed before the committee in September, providing the baseline for Thursday's markup, after law enforcement groups, including the National District Attorneys Assn. and National Sheriffs’ Assn., requested additional consideration. The senator from Vermont quickly denied the report.
Leahy has said he anticipates that the bill will not reach the Senate floor until next year.
[For the Record, 8:51 p.m. PST Nov. 29: This post has been corrected to state that instead of being the bill being tabled, a subsitute was adopted by the committee in September.]
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