text
stringlengths 205
677k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 15
2.02k
| file_path
stringlengths 125
126
| language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.65
1
| token_count
int64 47
152k
| score
float64 2.52
5.16
| int_score
int64 3
5
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In a follow-up on the Escherichia coli O157, or E. coli O157 multi-province outbreak, Canadian health officials have reported and additional nine cases, two additional provinces and a fatality.
The outbreak now involves five provinces and is linked to romaine lettuce. Currently, there are 30 cases of E. coli O157 illness under investigation in five provinces: Ontario, (6), Quebec (5), New Brunswick (5), Nova Scotia (1), and Newfoundland and Labrador (13). Individuals became sick in November and December 2017. Twelve individuals have been hospitalized. One individual has died.
At this time, there are no product recalls associated with this outbreak and the investigation is ongoing.
E. coli O157 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.
The symptoms of E. coli O157 infections vary for each person but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. If there is fever, it usually is not very high (less than 101˚F/less than 38.5˚C). Most people get better within 5–7 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening.
Around 5–10% of those who are diagnosed with E. coli O157 infection develop a potentially life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
- Outbreaks and the role of health promotion
- Animal research: The benefits, the regulations and the reality
- South Africa Listeriosis outbreak: Cases top 600 this year
- Gonorrhea cases up big in Denver: Future antibiotic resistance concerns health officials
- Yemen cholera and diphtheria: ‘The ongoing war and blockade are sending Yemen’s health system decades back in time’
- Seasonal flu deaths up globally: Survey
- Bacterial meningitis and vaccinations: A discussion with Dr. Leonard Friedland
- Lyme disease: Borrelia burgdorferi survive 28-day course of antibiotics months after infection, according to study | <urn:uuid:e5e9baac-2dfc-4aad-9544-b69c2b221a62> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://outbreaknewstoday.com/canada-reports-death-linked-e-coli-outbreak-51550/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.932302 | 458 | 3.15625 | 3 |
An article from UNIS The University Centre in Svalbard
Arctic species will survive less ice
Some of the species in the Arctic have adapted to minimal ice cover in summer. The scientists call their hypothesis the “Nemo hypothesis”.
Denne artikkelen er over ti år gammel og kan inneholde utdatert informasjon.
UNIS The University Centre in Svalbard
Over the past few weeks several reports have emerged concerning the extent of the Arctic summer sea ice, documenting that we now, in 2012, are facing a historical and dramatic decline in the total abundance of sea ice in the Arctic.
Recent studies predict that the Arctic Ocean will have ice-free summers within the next 30 years which presents some unprecedented challenges for the ecosystems in the high north.
Not least the ice-associated crustaceans generally considered to spend their entire life on the underside of the Arctic sea ice.
However, at least for some of the keystone ice associated organisms, the implications may not be as obvious and detrimental as assumed until now, according to a new article published in Biology Letters.
The authors, from UNIS, University of Tromsø, Norwegian Polar Institute, Akvaplan-niva and University of Delaware, suggest instead that some species have a highly advanced lifecycle that facilitates their survival in ice-free waters, but also makes them able to return to areas with sea ice cover.
The scientists point to an unresolved paradox concerning the evolution and current distribution of ice associated organisms within the Arctic Ocean: How is it possible to retain a large and viable population of organisms totally dependent on sea ice when their habitat is annually reduced by up to 75-80 per cent through melting and the Transpolar Drift through the Fram Strait?
Adaptive survival strategy
"Based upon a unique Polar night expedition in the Fram Strait and Eurasian part of the Arctic Ocean last winter, a region in which there have been extremely few scientific expeditions during winter-time, the scientists made some very exciting discoveries regarding the adaptive and evolutionary biology of ice associated organisms," says professor Jørgen Berge.
He is a researcher at UNIS and University of Tromsø and lead author of the paper Retention of ice-associated amphipods: possible consequences for an ice-free Arctic Ocean.
One species, the Apherusa glacialis, is the most numerous of the ice associated amphipods and was found in abundance when the scientists did sampling between 200 and 2000 meters depths in January 2012.
These discoveries form the basis of a new conceptual hypothesis on how species, until now considered totally dependent on sea ice, have a highly advanced lifecycle that include both extensive vertical migrations in the water column as well as utilizing deep ocean currents to retain their position within the Arctic Ocean.
"We provide a new conceptual understanding of an intimate connection between the under-ice crustaceans and the deep Arctic Ocean currents." says Berge.
"We suggest that a until now unknown downward vertical migration of egg carrying animals, followed by pole ward transport in deep ocean currents is an adaptive trait of ice fauna that both increases survival during ice free periods of the year and enables recolonization of sea ice when they ascend within the Arctic Ocean"
From an evolutionary perspective, this may have been a successful adaptive strategy in a more seasonally ice-covered Arctic, as experienced several times during the past 12,000 years, some reports indicate that the Arctic Ocean was void of summer sea ice as late as 8000 years ago.
"Our findings not only provide a basic new understanding of the adaptations and biology of the ice associated organisms within the Arctic Ocean, it may ultimately change the perception of ice fauna as a biota imminently threatened by the predicted disappearance of perennial sea ice," explains Berge.
The "Nemo hypothesis"
The scientists refer to the hypothesis as the "Nemo hypothesis" based on an analogy to the Disney movie in which Nemo’s father use deep ocean currents as a vector for transportation.
"Our hypothesis refer to a similar mechanisms, that enable ice-associated organisms that are released from melting sea ice to actively (or passively) move into depth layers where the northernmost branch of the Gulf Stream System will effectively transport them back into the Arctic Ocean," says the researcher.
According to him, these organisms were previously considered to be passively exported either out the Fram Strait or down to depths when released from melting sea ice – either which, they were considered as being doomed and lost from their habitat on which they depend to survive.
Through the Nemo hypothesis, the scientists offer a new and exciting perspective that, although still based on a limited dataset, might change the perception of the ice associated organisms and their future in an Arctic Ocean potentially void of summer sea ice within the next few decades.
- J. Berge, Ø. Varpe, M. A. Moline, A. Wold, P. E. Renaud, M. Daase, and S. Falk-Petersen Retention of ice-associated amphipods: possible consequences for an ice-free Arctic Ocean Biol Lett 2012: rsbl.2012.0517v1-rsbl20120517. | <urn:uuid:61bfc821-e653-4f6a-a881-88a5ef2fd759> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://partner.sciencenorway.no/arctic-climate-change-forskningno/arctic-species-will-survive-less-ice/1376668 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.94856 | 1,080 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Yale study exposes common chronic symptoms people experience after receiving COVID-19 vaccines
With all the focus on serious COVID-19 vaccine injuries and deaths, it is easy for less dramatic side effects to fly under the radar. However, many people who received these jabs are now contending with a host of chronic symptoms that affect their everyday lives in various ways. Now, a new study carried out by researchers from Yale University shows the most common chronic symptoms people are experiencing after getting the shots.
The study, which was partly funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, looked at those “who report a severe, debilitating chronic condition following COVID-19 vaccination” that started shortly after they got the jab and continued for a year or longer. According to the study, patients reported experiencing a median of 22 symptoms; the highest number of symptoms experienced by an individual was 35.
The most common symptoms among those studied were brain fog, neuropathy, excessive fatigue, numbness and exercise intolerance. At least half of those studied reported experiencing symptoms such as burning sensations, insomnia, tinnitus, myalgia, headaches and palpitations.
When asked how bad their symptoms felt during their worst days, the study’s participants reported a median of 80 on a scale of 100. It also affected their mental health; more than 80 percent were fearful, 81 percent said they were overwhelmed by their worries, and 93 percent felt unease on at least one occasion in the week before they filled out the survey.
In addition, 91 percent of participants reported sleep problems, while almost everyone experienced feeling rundown. Half of the participants said that despite the symptoms, they were in good, very good or excellent condition; the rest were poor, fair or unknown. Many people involved in the study reported receiving a new diagnosis after getting the jab, such as gastrointestinal problems, neurological conditions and anxiety.
When it comes to how long it took for these effects to be felt, the median time of onset was just three days.
Alleviating negative vaccine effects
According to the study, many people tried a variety of treatments to address their symptoms. Some of the most frequently reported treatments were probiotics, vitamins and supplements. Vitamins B12, D and C were often mentioned.
Most patients also turned to anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen to deal with their symptoms, while around half of them took oral steroids such as dexamethasone.
Many people suffering side effects also tried to get relief from lifestyle changes. For example, 51 percent tried to limit their exertion or exercise, while 44 percent reduced their salt intake and 44 percent eliminated caffeine or alcohol. Roughly 40 percent overall changed their diet in some way.
Researchers say it’s important to recognize some people were harmed by vaccines
The study used data from Yale’s Listen to Immune, Symptom and Treatment Experiences Now (LISTEN), which is research that looked at both long COVID and vaccine side effects. It began in May 2022, and patients had a median age of 46. Roughly 88 percent of them reside in the U.S.
The researchers acknowledged that they did not determine a direct cause-and-effect relationship and that the symptoms could have occurred by chance. However, they conceded that the clustering of symptoms following vaccines does suggest there is a potential relationship between them.
One of the study’s authors, Dr. Harlan Krumholz, said: “These people were not political and not anti-vaccination – they had all been vaccinated – but seemed to have symptoms that were persistent and debilitating.”
He noted that many of them felt like their symptoms were dismissed by doctors because conventional tests did not find a cause. He said that while he believes vaccines have saved millions of lives, it is important to recognize that some people were harmed.
“What is absolutely clear is that people are suffering. These are people whose lives have unraveled. These people deserve our sympathy, and our help.”
Sources for this article include: | <urn:uuid:a849b7d1-77ce-4f35-b25e-e520d184d3c0> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://patriotnewsusa.com/2023/11/20/yale-study-exposes-common-chronic-symptoms-people-experience-after-receiving-covid-19-vaccines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.985319 | 835 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Everyone knows that bloody stools are not normal and a cause of concern. However, one common cause, anal fissures, may be something you can diagnose on your own and not require medical intervention. As miserable as anal fissures are, they are the lesser of the evils when it comes to causes of bloody stools.
What are anal fissures?
An anal fissure is a small crack or tear in the skin surrounding the anus (the actual hole in the butt). If deep or big enough, anal fissures can have bleeding with them.
How can I tell if my child has an anal fissure?
The tissue around the anus is naturally puckered and a dark pink color. To evaluate for an anal fissure, you must get the anus to spread out enough to see if there are any small tears amid the creased skin. To do this you can either have your child “bear down” (push like he/she is going to go poop) or manually pull the skin apart. With anal fissures, there is usually not active bleeding, but rather a small break in the skin.
What causes anal fissures?
Almost all cases of anal fissures happen from significant constipation. If a child is pushing a large rock of stool out of a tiny hole, the tissue will tear to allow the hard stool out. Most cases happen in children who are chronically constipated; although, it can happen with one large, bulky stool.
How do I treat it?
Getting anal fissures to heal can be really difficult. Imagine if you had a cut on your arm and in the process of trying to get it to heal, you rubbed a rock covered in feces over the cut every day. No wonder it can take a long time to heal.
- Treat the underlying constipation first. I usually recommend a daily laxative or stool softener (like Miralax). If soft stools can be reliably achieved with more natural approaches (e.g., juice, probiotics, diet changes/increase fiber), then that is preferable. The key here is to ensure that the stools continue to stay soft for a long time (months). If you manage to get the stool soft for weeks, but then have one hard stool, the tissue can easily re-tear and undo all the progress toward healing that was previously made.
- Heal the wound. I often will treat anal fissures with antibiotic ointments. Poop has natural bacteria in it and isn’t good for any wound. If your doctor doesn’t think an antibiotic ointment is warranted, then he or she may just have you use a protective barrier cream (like a diaper cream or Vaseline).
- Careful wiping. I usually recommend using some of those flushable, wet wipes to clean the anus after stooling. A piece of dry toilet paper is rough on the skin and doesn’t allow for as complete a cleaning job.
Anal fissures are miserable and can make a child very irritable, especially when it comes time to poop. If you have concerns, please talk to your doctor. | <urn:uuid:002cdbc9-a60e-4aca-affe-4533905a615b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pediatricanswers.com/tag/bum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.931918 | 656 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Just because you’re a parent doesn’t mean you can’t pursue an education. Of course, studying with kids is a lot harder than studying without – you need to learn how to juggle your time so that you’re spending enough time with your children and enough time on your studies. Here are just a few tips to help you manage.
Consider an online course
It’s now possible to study many courses online. In fact, you can even take nursing courses remotely such as this online MSN program. These courses allow you to study from home in your own time rather than having to attend scheduled lectures and seminars at a campus. By being able to study more flexibly, you can be there for your kids and create a study schedule more suited to your needs.
Schedule your study time
Without a weekly schedule, you’re likely to put off studying. Dedicating allocated time to studying will keep you on track and it will make it easier for you to arrange a babysitter for your kids if you need it. Try to choose times when you’re least likely to get interrupted, but make sure that you can also concentrate during these times. Waiting until the kids have gone to bed could prevent you having to get someone else to look after your kids, but it may be too late for your mind to focus – you may find that you’re able to take more in during the morning.
Find a suitable space to study
You don’t want to be studying in the living room with the TV on and your kids constantly nagging you. Find somewhere in your home that’s free of distractions – you may be able to convert a room into a temporary study or simply escape to your bedroom. Alternatively, you could try studying in a coffee bar or your local library.
Spare time for other commitments
Studying and parenting may not be the only commitments you have. You may also have to work and take care of household chores. On top of this, you need to still spend time with your partner, family, and friends. You may find that you have to start scheduling out your whole week to fit all these tasks in. Don’t forget to also allow free time to relax!
Get help with funding
Affording studies as a parent can be difficult. You may have to reduce work hours to find study time, but this could result in a lack of income. There may also be issues such as the cost of hiring a babysitter if you don’t have any friends and family available to do this for you. Fortunately, schemes exist out there such as Care To Learn which can offer some funding to help make life easier. Your university may also be able to offer a grant or some kind of financial aid – it’s always worth enquiring about. | <urn:uuid:45685f7d-a4c4-4223-b434-163d7aa81220> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://peytonsmomma.com/how-to-juggle-studying-and-parenting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.96508 | 582 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the contiguous United States. It borders Idaho to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 117°02'23" west), except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. Oregon is to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the Oregon-Washington border.
Washington is the 18th-largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles (184,830 km2), and the 13th-most populous state, with more than 7.7 million people. The majority of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry on Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords, and bays carved out by glaciers.
The state's terrain is diverse, ranging from the Pacific Coast to the Cascade Range, which contains 14,500-foot (4,430 m) Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. The Cascades are home to a variety of plant and animal life, including bears, wolves, and salmon.
Washington's climate is temperate, with average temperatures ranging from 30 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius) in the winter to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) in the summer. The state receives an average of 30 inches (762 mm) of rain per year.
Washington is a major producer of agricultural products, including wheat, apples, and potatoes. The state is also home to a number of industries, including manufacturing, tourism, and technology.
Washington is a popular destination for tourists, who come to enjoy the state's natural beauty, outdoor activities, and cultural attractions. The state is home to a number of museums, theaters, and art galleries.
Washington is a diverse and beautiful state with a rich history and culture. It is a popular destination for tourists and residents alike.
- East Farms
- East Olympia
- East Port Orchard
- East Quilcene
- East Selah
- East Wenatchee
- Electric City
- Elk Plain
- Elmer City
- Erlands Point | <urn:uuid:5bc9a7a2-4d5e-4801-85ed-564ba17af78f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://places.us.com/washington/?filter=E | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.889818 | 465 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Structural Analysis is the assurance of the impacts of burdens on actual structures and their parts. Structures subject to this kind of examination incorporate all that must withstand loads, for example, structures, scaffolds, airplanes, and boats. Auxiliary investigation utilizes the fields of applied mechanics, materials science, and applied arithmetic to process a structure’s misshapenness, inner powers, and stresses, uphold responses, increasing speeds, and soundness.
The examination results are utilized to confirm a structure’s readiness for use, frequently blocking actual tests. The auxiliary examination is, in this manner, a vital piece of the designing plan of structures. To play out a precise examination, a basic specialist must decide data, for example, basic burdens, calculation, uphold conditions, and material properties. The aftereffects of such an examination regularly incorporate help responses, stresses, and removals. This data is then contrasted with standards that demonstrate the states of disappointment.
A progressed auxiliary investigation may look at the dynamic reaction, soundness, and non-direct conduct. There are three ways to deal with the investigation: the mechanics of materials approach (otherwise called strength of materials), the flexibility hypothesis approach (which is an exceptional instance of the broader field of continuum mechanics), and the limited component approach. The initial two utilize expository definitions, which generally apply straightforward, direct flexible models, prompt shut structure arrangements, and frequently be tackled by hand. The limited component approach is a mathematical technique for understanding differential conditions created by speculations of mechanics, for example, flexibility hypothesis and strength of materials. Notwithstanding, the limited component strategy relies vigorously upon PCs’ preparing intensity and is more appropriate to structures of subjective size and multifaceted nature.
Despite the approach, the plan depends on three similar crucial relations: harmony, constitutive, and similarity. The arrangements are rough when any of these relations are just around fulfilled or just an estimation of the real world. | <urn:uuid:5b29ae86-9a08-476a-8f3a-6fa2d6252af4> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pntconsultingllc.net/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.906519 | 394 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Descriptive essays are a strong way to communicate an expertise you’ve got had or illustrate a subject in which you’ve Descriptive Essay Definition expertise. Whether you propose to put in writing a private, subjective account or a extra rigorous description of a given subject, these descriptive essay examples will information you to success.
Real-World Products For Description Essay – The Basics
Add sensory details. When describing the orange, enchantment to relatable senses. If you’re looking for some superb descriptive essay examples for grade 8 then you could Descriptive Essay Topics have already found one. Look at the given instance and see how a properly-written descriptive essay seems to be like.
Much more, the outline helps set a temper through the use of more vivid language to enrich the sensory-based mostly description. The author reveals us, slightly than tells us, what the afternoon on a beach is like. When interested Descriptive Essays Examples by descriptive essay writing, remember that a structured paper define is your golden ticket. Not solely does it assist you arrange ideas, however it can additionally help your essays circulate higher.
Descriptive essays are the best choice on the subject of describing and writing about a person. A descriptive essay is written utilizing Description Essay the 5 human senses. It helps in making a vivid picture in the reader’s mind and understanding what the author is attempting to convey.
Effective Plans For Descriptive Essay Ideas – A Closer Look
The whole thought of writing a story essay is to supply an autobiographical story of occasions you’ll have skilled. This implies writing in the first individual and never the second individual. Writing in the first particular person provides you a chance to narrate events as if they had been taking place at the same moment. It’s one of the best ways for readers to attach with the primary character of your story, which is you on this case.
Simple Solutions In Descriptive Essay In The USA
Creating a successful description, you must use a vivid language to help your reader see the picture. Don’t forget to incorporate totally different illustrative examples. You will be able to reply the query:” How narrative and descriptive essay to write a descriptive essay?” after you recognize the secret of profitable descriptive texts: simply make an accent on all sensory organs. Be taught right here methods to write an observation essay.
In the introductory paragraph, college students ought to introduce their topic, clarifying their intent for the entire essay. Thesis statement right here works as a information, explaining contents that comply with. In it, college students straight state what they describe, revealing their own impressions and a few reasons for holding such views.
A private narrative essay is a story that’s informed from author’s perspective and may include a plot, conflict, and characters. Normally, college or high school college students are expected to submit assignments based on their very own private lives. This, of course, has to narrate to the topic done in school.
Earlier than you start enhancing your paper, take an extended break. You can at all times go out with your mates, take a stroll, and have a nap or an evening of fine sleep. Your thoughts ought to be fresh before you come back and reread your essay. Take on a regular basis you need, read it out loud, add or take away sentences, examine you probably Descriptive Essay have positioned every thing accurately. It is useful to double-test grammar in case on-line tools missed one thing. Would your paper make sense for those who have been the reader? Possibly you’ll should rewrite entire paragraphs so they’d make more sense and convey the descriptive subject better.
Signify the Significance of the Particulars: Go over some key moments of the paper. Give a abstract of what you will have covered, and put together Descriptive Essay the audience for the clincher statement. Make use of figurative language, sensory details, and powerful word choices to create a memorable description.
This kind of descriptive writing resembles an argumentative essay. Your main goal must be communicating a set of key factors or describing something intimately—based on a clear construction. Reasonably than focusing by yourself experience, it is advisable Descriptive Essay Topics to use particular classes of information to supply the fullest doable portrait of what you are describing. This approach will also be partaking, particularly when the reader is more curious in regards to the subject of the paper than the writer’s response to it. Nonetheless, attempt to not make it uninteresting with too formal language. | <urn:uuid:6e6c1deb-89a1-4754-a145-4ea4be4f9ced> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://portfolio.dhrubabiswas.in/2021/10/27/a-hundred-prolonged-essay-subjects-for-students/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.921483 | 956 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Tennis elbow is an overuse tendinopathy of the common extensor tendon which attaches into the outside of the elbow joint. As high as 50% of all tennis players will suffer from the condition at some stage in their playing careers. Novice tennis players taking up the game are thought to be most at risk due to poor playing technique. In particular tennis players who perform the single handed backhand stroke with a leading elbow will typically contact the ball late with the wrist in a flexed and weakened position predisposing them to the condition. Other common causes include lack of strength in the muscles of the wrist/forearm and the use of inappropriate equipment (see section on tennis equipment below).
Symptoms of tennis elbow include pain on the outside of the elbow which may or may not refer down the forearm into the hand. Pain is aggravated by gripping the racket and on impacting the ball. The extensor tendon is usually tender to press at the point of its attachment into the outside of the elbow.
Treatment of tennis elbow usually involves a period of rest or modified play whilst addressing any factors that may have caused or predisposed the player to developing the condition. Hands on manual therapy to address any muscle tightness or joint stiffness may be used in combination with other treatment modalities (dry needling, Laser, heat therapy) to help reduce pain and aid healing. The cornerstone of any tennis elbow treatment plan will involve a progressive strengthening and stretching program to address any weakness and inflexibilities in the elbow and forearm helping to rebuild the tendon and reduce the risk of future reoccurrence. | <urn:uuid:508d66b5-97cc-45eb-a3b0-279c0f132819> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://portobellophysio.ie/faq-items/tennis-elbow-lateral-epicondylitis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.961746 | 319 | 2.734375 | 3 |
The most direct way to address the primary problem is to replace partisan primaries with nonpartisan primaries. Still, other reforms are complementary in nature and, as a whole, can foster even greater participation, competition, and accountability in our elections.
Eliminating partisan gerrymandering helps ensure fewer safe seats and more competitive general elections.
Congressional district maps have an impact on primary outcomes — long before any votes are cast — especially under the current single-member, plurality election system. When the decennial task of redistricting is left to partisan hands, the manipulation of districts to serve political interests devalues the influence of voters in elections.
Independent redistricting commissions would help take the party politics and special interests out of the map making process. Allowing citizens a voice in the map making process through redistricting commissions — as states such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, and most recently, Virginia have done — helps ensure districts are competitive, and representative of the people they comprise.
Vote at home systems boost voter turnout, including in primary elections. Allowing voters the opportunity to vote at home gives voters maximum flexibility, with multiple methods to return their ballot securely and safely, while also providing the opportunity to research candidates and make informed choices.
Full vote at home states (like Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, and Utah) typically experience higher turnout compared to national averages. In 2020, presidential primary turnout in states that utilized vote by mail systems averaged 30.0%, compared to 24.2% in states without full vote at home systems. Additionally, scholars find vote at home systems do not appear to benefit one political party over the other, including in the most recent 2020 election.
Ranked choice voting gives voters the option to rank their candidates in order of preference — giving them more voice, choice, and power in the political process. If no candidate receives a majority of first place votes, the last place candidate is eliminated, and votes cast for that candidate are transferred to voters’ next place preference. The process is repeated until a candidate has truly earned majority support. In doing so, ranked choice voting levels the playing field for independent and third party candidates by eliminating the “spoiler effect.”
“Final-Five Voting” systems, for example, combine nonpartisan primaries with ranked choice voting and would advance the top five candidates to the general election. In Wisconsin in February 2021, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill for top-five nonpartisan primaries and ranked choice voting general elections (for federal elections only).
Today, 10.6 million voters are prohibited from participating in party primaries. That’s because ten states do not require parties to allow independents to participate in taxpayer-funded and government-run primary elections, and in turn, many state parties do not allow their participation.
Though nonpartisan primaries are an ideal reform, “semi-open primaries,” which allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the party primary of their choice, are an incremental step to increase participation and encourage candidates to appeal to a broader cross-section of the electorate.
Structural reform to allow independent voters to participate positively impacts turnout, often boosting participation. In 2016, Colorado passed Proposition 108, a statewide ballot measure to open primaries to Colorado’s unaffiliated voters. In the subsequent 2018 primary election, over 96,000 unaffiliated voters participated. In the 2020 congressional primary election, over 509,000 unaffiliated voters participated, nearly one-third of total participation.
Ideally, partisan primaries would not just be open to independent voters, but they would also be open to all voters. That is — as is the case in 17 states — Republicans should be able to participate in Democratic primaries, and vice versa. Such a policy best enables voters to participate in the primary that matters most, especially in safe districts.
The United States’ direct party primary nomination process is unique for two reasons: first, it’s not a process prescribed by the Constitution; and second, the United States is the only democracy where parties nominate candidates through direct primaries.
Primary elections trace back to the Progressive Era, a time of robust political innovation which sought to reinvigorate democratic processes and give move power to the people. In 1904, Wisconsin became the first state to adopt a statewide direct primary election; by 1917, 32 other non-southern states followed suit. The reform was in response to a growing practice by which local party bosses controlled the nominating process, giving voters virtually no influence in who appeared on their general election ballot and stifling competition.
While the Progressive Era reform had the intent of taking candidate selection away from party bosses in smoke-filled back rooms, it also had the impact of disenfranchising many voters. Academics note there were significant variations in the politics and adoption of direct primaries in states throughout history.
For example, the history of primary adoption in southern states suggests it may have intended to keep Democrats in power, at the expense of racial minorities’ participation in the political process. Southern states, therefore, are excluded from our count of those adopting a Progressive Era reform in a short period of time, even though they did begin to adopt primaries, including jurisdictions in South Carolina as early as 1896. Often referred to as “white primaries,” the implementation of primaries in many southern states explicitly barred people of color from participating in primaries, which was the only competitive election given the Democratic Party’s dominance in the region. There were several cases challenging the legality of the practice leading up to the 1944 Supreme Court decision in Smith v. Allwright, pursued by the NAACP, which declared all-white primaries unconstitutional in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
The efforts of white Democrats in the South to exclude people of color from participating is an example of a previous version of the Primary Problem: when the rules restrict who can participate in what primaries (distorting the makeup of the electorate), elected officials are not incentivized to represent all of their constituents.
Efforts to close primaries today may have the impact of keeping people of color out of the dominant party’s primaries. States like Missouri and South Carolina have sought to require voters to declare their party affiliation when they register to vote. In the South, the Republican party primary is often the one that matters, but people of color overwhelmingly register with the Democratic party or as independents. As a result, the closed party primary structure has the impact of disenfranchising key voices.
In 1934, Nebraska moved to elect legislators to its unicameral legislature through a top-two nonpartisan primary structure. The next move to a nonpartisan primary did not happen until 2004, when Washington voters passed Initiative 872 to implement a top-two system for congressional and state elections. Though litigation ensued, by 2008 the Supreme Court ruled against state parties and declared the initiative constitutional: In affirming the court’s 7-2 ruling with the majority opinion in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, conservative Justice Thomas wrote parties are still free to hold their own nominating processes, but that “the First Amendment does not give political parties a right to have their nominees designated as such on the ballot.”
In 2010, voters in California passed Proposition 14 to bring top-two nonpartisan primaries to the state: the first election under the new system was held in 2012. In 2020, Alaska voters approved the first ever top-four nonpartisan primary system which will be paired with ranked choice voting general elections for all state and federal offices starting in 2022.
According to the Brookings Institution, 46 congressional incumbents have lost primary elections since 2004. See Figure 14 for the number of losses over the last two decades, and Figures 15 and 16 for details on losses in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
Competitive Primary Election Districts
Voting Age Population (VAP) is used in this report to define the number of eligible voters at the congressional district level (defined by the Census Bureau as everyone residing in the United States, age 18 and older). The decision to use Voting Age Population was based on a recommendation from the United States Elections Project:
The best proxy for congressional or state legislative district voting-eligible population turnout rates is citizen voting-age population turnout rates, which can be obtained from recent American Community Survey data. ACS extracts of citizen voting-age population estimates by racial and ethnic groups for many geographic levels including congressional and state legislative districts… CVAP is the best proxy for VEP since there is no easy method of apportioning correctional populations to districts.
VAP estimates for congressional districts were obtained from the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey data. Though one might argue registered voters is an important factor, including all age-eligible voters in turnout calculations is a more holistic way to determine turnout as a measure of total, otherwise-eligible voters who are not registered.
Further, as the Bipartisan Policy Center acknowledges:
Using party registration figures would reward states who limit primary eligibility to only those voters who have officially registered with a party. We do not see value in reporting high turnout for a state simply because the pool of eligible voters is restricted compared with other states.
For every U.S. House race in 2020 (435), the Unite America Institute collected the following data points into a new dataset in order to inform our research:
The Unite America Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts research and provides analysis on the root causes, effects, and potential solutions to political polarization and partisanship.
The Institute is particularly focused on exploring how nonpartisan election reforms — including nonpartisan primaries, vote at home, independent redistricting commissions, and ranked choice voting — increase participation, competition, representation, and accountability in the political system.
This report was written by Policy Manager Beth Hladick and Sr. Director for Policy & Partnerships Tyler Fisher with editing by Sr. Communications Manager Brett Maney. We are especially thankful for the data collection work done by our interns, Oliver Hirshland, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nicolette Kolpakov. Our research was informed by many practitioners working in the field, and we are grateful for the comments from Lee Drutman (New America), Mindy Finn (Citizen Data), Christian Grose (The Schwarzenegger Institute), Sol Lieberman (The Institute for Political Innovation), John Opdycke (Open Primaries), the Hon. Jason Altmire, and Robbie Robinnette.
Executive Director, Unite America Institute | <urn:uuid:07ff8cc5-388d-4ad3-8559-650971db6724> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://primaryproblem.uniteamerica.org/read-the-report/appendix | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.946924 | 2,117 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Why is it then, that Ahmaud and Manuel —an African American and a Romani— were presumed to be thieves? Why is it so hard for some people to believe that Ahmaud was only jogging and Manuel was only taking a walk with his son?»
By Annabel Carballo Mesa and Mariana Sabino Salazar (IG: soysabino; FB: Mariana Sabino)
On May 5th, Manuel was shot dead in front of his seven-year-old son in Rociana del Condado, Huelva, Spain. That same day, the video of the murder of the African American Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of a citizen patrol in Georgia, United States, went viral. The justification for both crimes is that Manuel and Ahmaud had allegedly stolen.
Even if this were true, theft does not justify the use of lethal force according to the criminal codes of both states. Examining the history of Huelva and Georgia helps us understand the circumstances of these murders: they were colonial spaces with vassalage or slavery systems that protected the property of landowners. The lowest classes were considered property and the abuse of their bodies was an assertion of power. It is in these spaces where exclusionary structures prevail, authoritarian behaviors are allowed, and certain lives are vilified. The life of the watchman is exalted, while the lives of those who act against private property – the pillar of capitalist society – are scorned. The media outlets that have reported on the murder of Manuel do not refer to him by name, but instead, use “Gypsy” or “Manchego.” In Spain, Manuel is anonymous, but in the United States, Arbery’s name is highly visible across traditional and social media. If you ran for Ahmaud and retweeted #irunwithMaud, perhaps you should also act for Manuel. As with Ahmaud, Manuel was assumed to be stealing when he was murdered by a vigilante-citizen. But anyone is capable of stealing, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and nationality. Why is it then, that Ahmaud and Manuel —an African American and a Romani— were presumed to be thieves? Why is it so hard for some people to believe that Ahmaud was only jogging and Manuel was only taking a walk with his son?
For centuries Romanies have been stereotypically associated with crime and have inspired fascination for their colorful clothing, artistic endeavors, and “carefree lifestyle.” Spanish Romanies are often portrayed as either criminals or artists, independent from the forces of industrialization and nationalism. On the one hand, “Gypsies” are identified as marginal, illiterate, and vicious members of society. They are conceived as backward and dangerous social subjects. On the other hand, “Gypsies” are passionate artists. But sometimes their music and art are dismissed as intrinsic to them, instead of being highly regarded as the product of talent and discipline. The image of Romanies as natural artists and criminals undermines their dignity and incites hatred.
How do we come to learn the stereotypical color and ethnicity of robbers, rapists, and gang members? First, the media abuses its freedom by making discriminatory statements. Then, individuals link physical appearance with criminality instead of making judgments based on facts. But this is not a new trend — the origin of the Gypsy thief archetype in Iberia can be found in literature dating back to 1526. A great example is The Little Gypsy (1613) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who is widely considered the founding figure of Spanish literature. The novella’s opening paragraph states: “Gypsies were only born in the world to be thieves. They are born to parents who are thieves, reared among thieves, they study to become thieves, and finally, they go forth perfected in their vocation as thieves, and the desire to steal and burglarize is in them an inseparable accident that can only be removed with death.” Racism against Romanies is woven into the fabric of Spanish culture. Maybe Spain, like the United States, should reflect on its heritage of hatred towards its own people.
For more information: https://www.cuartopoder.es/ideas/2020/05/13/requiem-por-manuel-un-gitano-de-rociana-ismael-cortes/
All images are stills from Ana Rosa’s show in Telecinco. | <urn:uuid:fc485ef8-6955-4a04-9b88-a1334658c2f4> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pterodactilo.com/is-a-romani-life-worth-a-hill-of-beans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.973659 | 944 | 3.078125 | 3 |
This article reviews studies of the effect of tobacco control policies on smoking rates with the aim of providing guidance on the importance of different policies. Based on past studies, we estimate the magnitude of effects of major tobacco control policies, how their effects depend on the manner in which the policies are implemented, the relationship between the different policies, and the barriers to implementation. The most successful campaigns have implemented a combination of tobacco control policies. Of those policies, substantial evidence indicates that higher taxes and clean air laws can have a large impact on smoking rates. Evidence also indicates that media campaigns when implemented with other policies are important. Research on greater access to treatment and telephone support hotlines indicates a strong potential to increase quit rates and may be important in affecting heavier smokers. Direct evidence on the effects of advertising bans and health warnings is mixed, but these policies appear to be important in some of the countries that have had success in reducing smoking rates. School education programs and limits on retail sales are not likely to have much impact if implemented alone, but may be more important when combined with other policies. | <urn:uuid:6aaf44bc-5503-4b7f-b143-16fee9204410> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15235381/?dopt=Abstract | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.943765 | 214 | 2.828125 | 3 |
We’d never seen the Hub of Hope so busy, so bustling. It was a humid morning in March, 2017, and a major medical campaign was underway, treating over 460 children for intestinal worm infections. Doctors, nurses, smiling children and infants being weighed on scales before being evaluated, greeted us through this chaos, that had somehow been tamed into flow and order.
Parasitic infections are endemic in warm climate regions, with poor sanitary conditions, and populations living in close proximity of stray dogs and other street animals. Worms are transmitted through the soil form where their eggs or larvae usually enter the body through the skin (hands and feet). Once in the body, the worms mature and feed in the intestines of the infected, where they eventually produce more eggs. The eggs are then excreted into the environment through feces, and the cycle begins anew.
Over 270 million pre-school-age children and over 600 million school-age children world-wide are at high risk of infection by these worms, which lead to malnutrition, anemia, fatigue, and eventually, learning and developmental problems. In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO), responded to this urgency by declaring an objective of treating at least 75% of children at risk of infection. 16 years have since elapsed, and the goal has still not been met.
Since prevention and treatment is inexpensive and highly effective, pharmaceutical companies donate millions of doses of de-worming tablets, often for free or at considerably lower prices to the WHO’s program. Unfortunately, neglected regions like the slums of Pucallpa, Peru, fall under their radar, and almost every child in these slums is infected. Without attention or progress, future generations will remain vulnerable in these dire conditions.
On that humid morning in the Hub of Hope, children were being seen and treated for the first time. Among our team of volunteers, fresh off the plane from Canada, was René Paulussen, Managing Director of Mondial Diagnostics, a not-for- profit developing diagnostic tests for poverty-related illnesses. Since first meeting René in a café in Cusco back in 2016, he’s been working alongside us to make sure that the children being seen at the Hub of Hope will continue to be seen, and continue to receive treatment. As recommended by the WHO, these children must be treated bi-annually, to assert stable health and to avoid re-infection in poor sanitary conditions. Such a step entails follow-ups and oversight.
Here’s where the S.T.O.P. – Peru Program comes in. As part of Pure Art Foundation’s commitment to providing sustainable health and education to as many children as possible, S.T.O.P. – Peru will oversee and ensure the continuous treatment of parasitic infections in the children of Pucallpa. While the Peruvian government has recently launched a 5 year-program to treat children attending school, S.T.O.P. Peru will narrow its focus to a seemingly forgotten group: infants (0-4 years) as well as those children not (yet) enrolled. Centralizing the campaign at a community centre such as the Hub of Hope allows an optimal outreach to the target population, and facilitates oversight.
For only a few dollars per child, per year, the infections will be treated bi-annually. Additionally, the child will receive vitamin and iron supplements to expedite recovery. This inexpensive and highly-effective treatment will provide the health needed for these children to eventually received a sustained, uninterrupted education, and to reach the brighter future they deserve.
100% of donations to the S.T.O.P.-Peru program directly fund the purchase of necessary medications and vitamins to treat infection. | <urn:uuid:177aa13f-f658-4959-9932-d3d4fe7ca2c6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://pureartfoundation.org/fr/2017/08/01/s-t-o-p-peru-new-initiative-to-treat-parasitic-infections-in-young-children-of-pucallpa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.959957 | 772 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Ecological Plant Groups
Short Questions and Answers
One Mark Questions with Answers
1. Swollen spongy petioles are present in
Answer: (a) Eichhornia
2. Typha is a
(a) submerged hydrophyte
(b) emerged hydrophyte
(c) floating hydrophytes
(d) attached hydrophyte with floating leaves
Answer: (a) submerged hydrophyte
3. Which of the plants is devoid of roots?
Answer: (c) Hydrilla
4. Sun loving plants are known as
Answer: (a) heliophytes
5. An aquatic plant with floating leaves have
(a) stomata on both leaf surfaces
(b) stomata on petiole only
(c) stomata on upper surface
(d) stomata on lower surface
Answer: (c) stomata on upper surface
6. Plants such as Pandanus and Rhizophora are examples of
Answer: (d) halophytes
7. In general, a plant most likely to survive in area where temperature is high, relative humidity is low and wind prevalent, would have leaves
(a) large and broad
(b) large intercellular air spaces
(c) reduced palisade tissue
(d) small and narrow
Answer: (d) small and narrow
8. Hydrilla and Vallisneria are examples of
(a) submerged aquatic plants
(b) floating aquatic plants
(c) aquatic plants with floating leaves
(d) amphibious plants with dimorphic leaves
Answer: (a) submerged aquatic plants
9. Which group of plants has to face physiological dryness?
Answer: (a) halophytes
10. Desert plants have longer root system because
(a) high temperature of soil encourageous root growth
(b) low temperature at night encourageous root growth
(c) those plants adapted to produce long root system can survive better in a desert
(d) roots grow in search of water
Answer: (c) those plants adapted to produce long root system can survive better in a desert
11. Which of the following is not the characteristic feature of the anatomy of xerophytes?
(a) spongy parenchyma
(b) well-developed conducting tissue
(c) well developed mechanical tissue
(d) thick cuticle
Answer: (a) spongy parenchyma
12. In submerged hydrophytes the functional stomata are found
(a) on the upper surface of leaf
(b) on the lower surface of leaf
(c) on both surfaces of leaf
(d) no where
Answer: (d) no where
Two Marks Questions with Answers
1. Differentiate between free floating and floating plants.
Answer: Free floating plants float freely and independently on water surface. Examples are, Eichhornia, Lemma, Pistia etc. Floating (presence of roots) plants float on the surface of water. These plants attach themselves to the bottom with the help of their roots. Examples are, Nymphaea, Trapa etc.
2. What are submerged plants? Give examples.
Answer: Submerged plants occur below the water surface, but are not attached. Examples are, Ceratophyllum, Najas etc. Submerged (presence of roots plants occur below the water surface and also remain attached to the bottom of water reservoir. Examples are, Hydrilla, Vallisneria etc.
3. Differentiate between amphibious and emergent plants.
Answer: Ambhibious (presence of roots) plants grow in waterlogged soils. Examples are, Polygonum, Marsilea etc while emergent (presence of roots) plants grow in shallow waters and remain attached to the bottom. A part of the plant is below the water surface and a part above it. Examples are, Cyperus, Typha etc.
4. What are xerophytes?
Answer: Xerophytes are group of plants that survive in dry regions. They grow in deserts, dry hilly regions. They adapt themselves to dry and sandy or rocky soils having poor water content and extreme atmospheric conditions. Xerophytes can withstand drought, intense light, extreme temperature and strong wind. Such a habitat is termed as xeric.
5. What is hydrochasy?
Answer: In some desert grasses, the leaves roll due to the presence of motor or bulliform cells in the epidermis. These cells are sensitive to changes in turgor and thus, contract when conditions are dry. This results in upward rolling of leaves and cutting of the stomatal contact with external atmosphere. This reduces the rate of transpiration. This feature is termed as hydrochasy.
Three Marks Questions with Answers
1. Mention the anatomical characters common to all hydrophytes.
Answer: (1). All hydrophytes show presence of large air chambers. The tissue that forms air chambers is termed as aerenchyma.
(2). Mechanical tissue, i.e., sclerenchyma is either poorly developed or absent.
(3). Vascular tissue, particularly xylem is poorly developed.
(4). Cuticle is absent.
(5). Stomata are absent in submerged hydrophytes.
2. Mention some of the anatomical features of Eichhornia Petiole:
Answer: Transverse section of the petiole shows the following characters:
(1) Epidermis: This is a single layer of cells. The cuticle is absent.
(2) Hypodermis: Parenchymatous tissue, present below the epidermis forms the hypodermis.
(3) Aerenchyma: The remaining part of the petiole is termed as ground tissue. It has many air chambers or lacunae. The size of the air chambers gradually increases towards the centre.
(4) Vascular tissues: Numerous vascular bundles are present here and there between the air chambers. A distinct parenchymatous envelope surrounds each vascular bundle. Phloem occurs in the peripheral part of the bundle and a single element of xylem is present in the centre.
3. Mention some of the morphological adaptation of xerophytes.
Answer: Following are some of the morphological characters of xerophytes.
(1). The root system is well developed.
(2). The plants usually have a long and stout tap root which branches profusely.
(3). Presence of root hairs.
(4). The roots go deep into the soil in search of water.
(5). The shoot is generally hard and woody.
(6). It is mostly covered with hairs, wax, and silica etc.
(7). Stem may also be fleshy and growth remains stunted.
(8). Some of the plants show modified stems; e.g., in Opuntia, the stem forms leaf-like structure termed as phylloclade. In Asparagus and Ruscus, the leaf-like structure formed by the leaf is termed as cladode.
4. What are the different types of xerophytes?
Answer: Depending on their ability to withstand drought condition of the soil, following are the different classes of xerophytes:
- Ephemeral annuals (drought escaping): Such xerophytes complete their life cycle before the arrival of dry condition; e.g., Argemone mexicana, Cassia, Solanum xanthocarpum etc.
- Succulents: These are drought resisting xerophytes. Succulents grow in habitats with less or no water but store water whenever available. They are perennial in habit and resist drought by accumulating water in leaves, stems and roots; e.g., Opuntia, Aloe, Cactus etc.
- Perennial non-succulents (drought-resistant): These are drought enduring xerophytes. They grow in habitat with almost no water, they also cannot store water. During drought growth of the plant stops and it takes place only during the brief period of plenty of water supply during rainfall; e.g., Nerium, Calotropis procera, Acacia arabica, etc. | <urn:uuid:73a47a6b-2bb6-4cb5-9035-7d917378a0b7> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://qforquestions.in/ecological-plant-groups-short-questions-and-answers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.86179 | 1,761 | 3.75 | 4 |
What Are The Different Levels Of Nursing In The USA? An In-Depth Exploration
The healthcare industry is vast, and within it, the role of a nurse varies dramatically from one setting to another. You may have encountered different types of nurses during your visits to healthcare facilities, each with a distinct set of responsibilities. This prompts the question: What are the different levels of nursing in the USA? Understanding the multiple layers within the nursing profession is essential for aspiring nurses or anyone who is looking to understand the American healthcare system better.
The Basics: CNA, LPN, and RN
The foundation of the nursing profession lies in three primary roles: Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Registered Nurses (RNs).
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
CNAs are at the first level of nursing in the USA. They provide basic care, such as bathing, feeding, and transferring patients. While their role is limited, they play a vital part in maintaining patients’ well-being and comfort. To become a CNA, one usually needs to complete a state-approved education program and pass a competency exam.
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
The next step up the ladder in answering the question of “What are the different levels of nursing in the USA?” is the LPN. LPNs carry out essential practical nursing duties under the supervision of RNs and physicians. These duties often include administering medication, wound care, and patient education. Becoming an LPN generally requires completing a one-year educational program followed by passing the NCLEX-PN exam.
Registered Nurse (RN)
RNs form the backbone of healthcare services and represent a significant segment when discussing different levels of nursing in the USA. They are responsible for comprehensive patient care, which includes administering medication, interpreting patient information, and providing emotional support. Becoming an RN requires either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), followed by successfully passing the NCLEX-RN exam.
Advanced Levels: BSN and Beyond
While an ADN can get you registered as an RN, many are choosing to pursue a BSN for more career options and higher pay. But the academic pathway in nursing doesn’t stop at a bachelor’s degree.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
The BSN is increasingly becoming the new educational standard for RNs. It provides a more in-depth study of nursing science, research, and leadership skills. Many hospitals and healthcare organizations prefer BSN-prepared nurses, and some roles require it.
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Further up in the different levels of nursing in the USA is the Master’s level. MSN degrees allow nurses to specialize in areas such as Nurse Practitioner (NP), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Nurse Anesthetist, or Nurse Midwife. These roles come with greater responsibility, autonomy, and naturally, higher salaries.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) & Ph.D. in Nursing
For those who wish to reach the pinnacle of nursing education, a Doctorate is the highest level. The DNP focuses on clinical practice, while a Ph.D. leans more toward academic research. Both are instrumental in shaping healthcare policies and leading organizations.
Specializations and Certifications
The field of nursing also includes numerous specializations that can influence one’s career trajectory. Specializations such as pediatric nursing, critical care nursing, and oncology nursing often require additional certifications. Each specialization addresses a unique healthcare need, adding another layer to the question of “What are the different levels of nursing in the USA?”
Career Progression: Administrative Roles
Experienced nurses often move into managerial or administrative roles. Positions such as Nurse Manager, Director of Nursing, and Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) are examples of how nurses can shift from patient care to organizational leadership. These roles usually require advanced degrees and several years of clinical experience.
The Importance of Continuing Education
In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, continuing education is crucial. Many states require nurses to complete continuing education units (CEUs) for license renewal. These educational opportunities are not just a requirement but also a chance for nurses to advance their skills and knowledge, leading to higher-paying positions and specialized roles.
So, what are the different levels of nursing in the USA? The landscape is diverse, ranging from CNAs who offer basic care to Doctorate-prepared nurses who lead healthcare organizations and contribute to academic research. Between these two extremes lie various levels, specializations, and roles that nurses can adopt to make a difference in patient care and the healthcare system at large. With numerous pathways for education and career progression, nursing offers a rewarding and fulfilling profession for those who are passionate about making a meaningful impact on people’s lives. | <urn:uuid:eaa2e250-1a46-45dc-9a66-5ba725748dbe> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://quinable.com/what-are-the-different-levels-of-nursing-in-the-usa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.943728 | 1,020 | 3.09375 | 3 |
NumPy, short for “Numerical Python,” is a fundamental library in the Python programming language for numerical and scientific computing. It provides support for large, multi-dimensional arrays and matrices, as well as a wide range of high-level mathematical functions to operate on these arrays. NumPy is an essential tool for data analysis, machine learning, scientific research, and other fields where numerical computations are a key component.
Here are some key aspects of NumPy:
1. Multidimensional Arrays: NumPy’s primary data structure is the
ndarray, a multi-dimensional array. These arrays can be one-dimensional (vectors), two-dimensional (matrices), or even higher-dimensional structures. They are used to represent data efficiently.
2. Mathematical and Statistical Functions: NumPy offers a vast collection of mathematical and statistical functions, making it easy to perform operations on arrays. These functions are vectorized, meaning they can be applied element-wise to entire arrays, which often results in better performance.
3. Broadcasting: NumPy supports broadcasting, a powerful feature that allows for operations between arrays of different shapes and dimensions while maintaining the simplicity of element-wise operations.
4. Random Number Generation: NumPy includes a random number generation module (
numpy.random) for generating random data, which is useful in simulations and statistical analysis.
5. Integration with other Libraries: NumPy seamlessly integrates with other Python libraries commonly used in scientific computing and data analysis, such as SciPy, Matplotlib (for data visualization), pandas (for data manipulation), and scikit-learn (for machine learning).
6. Linear Algebra: NumPy provides functions for linear algebra operations, including matrix multiplication, solving linear equations, eigenvalue decomposition, and more.
7. File I/O: It supports reading and writing data to and from various file formats, including text, binary, and CSV, which is crucial for data manipulation and analysis.
8. Performance Optimization: NumPy is designed for high performance, and its underlying code is implemented in C, which makes it significantly faster than performing similar operations using pure Python lists.
9. Open Source: NumPy is an open-source project and is actively maintained by a dedicated community of developers. It’s widely used in both academia and industry.
To use NumPy, you typically need to import it at the beginning of your Python script or notebook. For example:
import numpy as np
NumPy is a powerful and versatile library that plays a central role in many scientific and data-related projects in Python. Whether you’re working on numerical simulations, data analysis, or machine learning, NumPy is an essential tool for efficiently handling and processing data.
For Detail understating refer our Numpy Playlist which will help you understand Numpy from scratch. Reach out to us for training and support on [email protected] | <urn:uuid:ed3004b7-4378-47e2-a9ac-e03dfd317c62> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://raigurukul.com/python-numpy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.899615 | 614 | 3.859375 | 4 |
by William Trollinger
Are untruths acceptable in the service of some larger Truth?
The answer at the Creation Museum and at Answers in Genesis (AiG) seems to be a resounding “yes.”
How else to explain the museum’s iconic tableau of Martin Luther posting the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg, when it turns out that – contrary to what the museum would have you believe – the museum’s Luther is actually posting a call to culture war issued by a fictional character named Fritz from a nineteenth-century novel? (Righting, 139)
How else to explain the museum’s map that identifies Geochelone tortoises living in the present-day Amazon basin and that displays the path that some of these tortoises (on a log) took to get from there to the Seychelles Islands, when there are no Geochelone tortoises living in the Amazon basin and when two tortoises could not possibly have managed the approximately 14, 600 mile voyage (on a log) across the Pacific Ocean and Indian Sea? (Righting, 99-101)
How else to explain AiG’s claim that biblical literalists led the fight against slavery in antebellum America, when the truth is that white Christians “not only used a literal reading of the Bible as the basis for their innumerable proslavery sermons, but they also aggressively attacked their opponents for undercutting the authority of God’s Word by making unbiblical arguments against slavery”? (Righting, 184-186)
How else to explain the fact that Ken Ham suggests that “opposing gay marriage was Jesus’s top priority while he was on Earth,” when the reality is that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality? (Righting, 166)
How else to explain Ken Ham’s peculiar scientific method? Instead of observing some phenomenon, articulating a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis, and then confirming OR denying it as mainstream scientists do, Ham’s (and AiG’s) method is to start with a Truth derived from a literal reading of the Bible (such as the Earth is about 6,000 years old or Noah’s Flood was global), develop a model to support that Truth, and look for evidence to support the model. If evidence used to support the model turns out to be false, don’t deny or even question the Truth. That is not allowed. The Truth revealed by a literal reading of the Bible is the Truth no matter what the facts are.
But wait a minute. Is Ken Ham’s (or AiG’s) literal reading of the Bible really THE Truth? Especially if the facts are untrue? | <urn:uuid:aa4f89b8-755a-490e-8583-ac9f2c8b64e9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://rightingamerica.net/is-truth-served-by-untruth-really-truth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.942142 | 579 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Riley M. Moffat, Fred E. Woods, and Brent R. Anderson, "Preface," in Saints of Tonga (Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019), v–viii.
Why write a history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tonga that focuses on the first hundred years? Why does it matter? Entrance by Latter-day Saints into the Kingdom of Tonga and their relationship with the Tongan people illustrate vital aspects of global evangelization: respecting local authorities and customs, forming friendships with influential leaders, developing literacy through starting schools, and adapting to ongoing challenges in the modern world. And even though Tonga is unique as the only surviving monarchy in the Pacific, it is a diamond with many singular facets that invites closer attention and understanding.
Tongans are a believing people. They have a great respect for God and for their monarchy. The observance of the Sabbath by the Tongan nation is unequaled in all the world. Tongans have embraced the Latter-day Saint message of eternal families, as well as the invitation to deepen their discipleship through daily Christlike living. Tonga has the highest concentration of Latter-day Saints per capita in the entire world. In addition, the Tongans have been very mindful of the Latter-day Saint belief that people in every nation should be “subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” These factors have helped the Church find a way to permanently settle in the Kingdom of Tonga and have paid rich dividends to the local country in the development of their education and citizenry as well as influencing Tongan communities worldwide. The Saints of Tonga is a story of melding the best of the Latter-day Saint and Tongan cultures while enhancing faith on both sides. It is a story worth telling that is much needed in our world today.
This history of the Church in Tonga, especially in the early years, is told largely through the journals of the missionaries who served there and through the manuscript history and historical reports of the Tonga Mission. With the creation of stakes in the 1970s, the mission’s unified history of the Church in Tonga was replaced by individual unit histories. For the past forty years, unit histories have been sporadic or uneven at best, as has the journal keeping of native Tongan Church leaders. Therefore, the authors have attempted to interview those Tongan mission presidents, regional representatives, Area Seventies, and others who may not have kept journals to get their input.
Because history in Tonga was traditionally passed down from generation to generation orally, it is difficult to access the Tongan viewpoint, especially for the early years. The authors regret not being able to adequately share the “Tongan voice”—instead, they often share the people’s thoughts and responses to the gospel through stories related by the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Consequently, this volume becomes more of a history of the institutional Church in Tonga. However, in recent years a younger generation of Tongan Church members—such as the Wolfgramms, the Mutis, and the Sikas—are beginning to record and, in some instances, publish their family histories. Many others are posting their stories on social media and family history websites. All this will be treasured by future generations.
While the history of the Church in Tonga is resplendent with faith-promoting experiences—including true miracles—this book is not meant to be a narrative centered solely on the faith of the Saints in Tonga. The incredible amount of faith exhibited by the Saints is certainly prevalent in this narrative, but it is not the focus. Rather, the purpose is to provide a clear and chronological description of the growth and development of the Church in Tonga, interwoven with examples of their great faith.
On a personal note, the authors have a keen interest in Tonga and the Pacific region as a whole. Moffat has been researching and producing books and articles about the Pacific for the past fifty years. He gained an appreciation for Tonga while working as director of library services for LDS Church Schools–Tonga from 1973 to 1976. Woods has also been writing steadily about the Pacific in the twenty-first century and teaches a BYU course on the global Church, which includes a section on Tonga. In addition, his wife’s ancestor, Olonzo D. Merrill, was one of the first five Latter-day Saint missionaries in Tonga. Anderson has had close ties to Tonga for the past half century since he served his first mission to Tonga from 1968 to 1970, where he received the matapule title of Ha‘elefeke and has taught at Liahona and Saineha High Schools. He has faithfully kept up his Tongan relationships and language skills.
We have combined our experience and passion to record this story with the hope that it will not only increase knowledge about the Tongan Saints but that it will also help others understand and appreciate this unique island of belief. Finally, each of us has been touched and transformed through our contacts with scores of faithful Tongan Saints. It is our desire that this island’s culture of faith will spread far beyond the reef that encloses it and strengthen members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others throughout the world.
Finally, this book is a companion to a documentary film with the same name produced by Martin L. Anderson and Fred E. Woods, which is augmented with over forty interviews in both English and Tongan in addition to the main film. It can be viewed online at https://
This phrase is taken from the Latter-day Saints’ Articles of Faith, thirteen statements of belief held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This particular statement of belief is the twelfth article of faith found in a book of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price.
See Tonga Nuku‘alofa Mission Manuscript History and Historical Reports, 1891–1976, LR 9197 2, Church History Library.
Eric B. Shumway has been able to collect many wonderful vignettes in the book Tongan Saints: Legacy of Faith[iii] by going out and inviting Church members to write down their stories. His collection is a beautiful example of the faith and sacrifice of individual Tongans through years.
Tisina Wolfgramm Gerber, comp., Iohani Wolfgramm: Man of Faith and Vision, 1911–1997 (n.p., 2000).
Paula F. Muti and Sisi K. Muti, A Man of Service: Mosese L. Muti (Bountiful, UT: Paula Muti, 2016).
A matapule is like a counselor, advisor, or representative to a higher chief, noble, or the royal family. Anderson was vested with the title of matapule to His Majesty, Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV and given the name Ha‘elefeke, which was bestowed upon him by Motu‘apuaka, the talking chief and highest-ranking attendant and spokesman to the king. | <urn:uuid:1d8292a3-0450-47e8-a046-93b10a43390d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://rsc.byu.edu/saints-tonga/preface | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.957995 | 1,494 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Health and Safety Regulations
Are you feeling confused with the different types of Health and Safety regulations? It is essential to comply with them in order for employers to protect their employees and their organisation. Below are the main Health and Safety Regulations explained to give a clearer understanding.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992
This is known as the ‘Mangers Regs’ and is made up of various regulations, including the requirement of:
- Risk Assessments to reduce the risk to employees and others that might be affected by the work of the organization
- Suitable information on Risk Assessments, emergency procedures and Health and Safety measures given to staff
- Workers to be provided with suitable Health and Safety Training for their role
- Written Health and Safety Policy when there are five or more employees
Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Regulations 1992
This is to ensure workers who use DSE for more than 1-hour day are protected from associated health risks. Below are some of the DSE regulations that employers must comply to:
- Carrying out DSE Risk Assessments
- Provide ancillary equipment if required
- Supply free eyesight tests upon request for those using DSE
- Provide relevant information and training on DSE risks
The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
This concerns minimum Health and Safety requirements for workplaces that employers must provide, but does not refer to construction work sites. Regulations includes requirements for:
- Temperature of indoor workspaces
- Workstations and seating
- Falls and falling objects
- And more
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations 1992
The regulations concern PPE requirements for employees, which should be identified as required in a Risk Assessment. It includes requirements of PPE:
- Information, induction and training
- User duties
The Manual Handling operations regulations 1992 (amended in 2002)
This requires employers to undertake Risk Assessments of Manual Handling of loads in order to reduce the risk of injury. Where possible, workers should avoid Manual Handling activities with the risk of injury. Additionally, information should be provided to workers on the weight of loads being handled.
Employees have general duty to take care of their own Health and Safety, and others that might be affected.
Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) Regulation 1998
These government guidelines are set to prevent injury caused by work equipment. The five main requirements of the equipment include:
- Its suitability for use
- That it’s safe for use- with regular maintenance and inspection
- Use by competent people who have received adequate instruction and training
- Suitable Health and Safety Measures are in place
- Use according to specific requirements set out by specialist companies
The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1992
These regulations require employees to report workplace incidents, injuries and diseases to the HSE and for an accident book to be kept and updated.
The following incidents need to be reported to the HSE:
- Serious injuries
- Over 7-day Injuries
- Work-related diseases
- Injuries to members of the public
- Dangerous occurrences
- Dangerous gas fittings
The Working Time Regulations 1998
This includes the regulation of working times and employment of young workers. It states the requirements for work times and rest breaks for adults and children, and also the annual leave requirements for part-time and full-time employees.
Need more advice?
If you would like some clarity around health and safety legislation that applies to your business, contact us here. | <urn:uuid:8ff55c1b-b4f3-4eaf-b618-fff2f0695562> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://safetyforward.co.uk/health-and-safety-regulations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.949695 | 732 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Model of Happiness
A MODEL FOR HAPPINESS
Happiness is one of four instinctive emotions an individual is born with: the others are anger, sadness, and fear. Babies communicate by feeling and then releasing each emotion as it arises, ie, when babies feel sad, they cry; when they’re angry, they will throw whatever is in their hands, or throw a tantrum; when they’re scared, they will shake or cry – and after each emotion is “released”, the “default” emotion, contentment/ happiness, returns. Babies don’t question each emotion, they simply accept it, feel it, and then release it. So, then we can say that babies are truthful and honest – to what they feel.
The above model of happiness is based on this foundation – truth and honesty. Just as a baby is truthful, so too, in order for us to be happy within ourselves, we need to be honest with ourselves and about what we feel.
Humans can be divided into four parts:
- Intellect – what we think
- Emotion – what we feel
- Physical – our body
- Spiritual – our beliefs about ourselves and our cultural and social environment.
To be content/happy within ourselves, we need to be “balanced”, ie, all four parts that make up our body need to be interconnected, as shown in the above diagram. If we only focus on one part, we become “unbalanced” or “dis-eased” which can lead to illness and can manifest as physical or psychological ailments, such as physical pain, depression, and anxiety.
How can we stay in balance and be content with ourselves?
- Listen to what our body tells us and let go of emotions as they arise. When an emotion arises, acknowledge the feeling and say “I am feeling sad/angry/afraid…I am allowed to feel sad/angry/afraid” and then “I am breathing out the sadness/anger/fear.”
- It is important to breathe through our diaphragm as we say these words (breathe deep and low so our belly expands as we breathe in and contracts as we breathe out).
- Be truthful with ourselves about what we are feeling; feel the anger, sadness, and fear, and do not suppress the emotion.
- We can also continue to release emotions by yelling, hitting a pillow or a punching bag when we are angry, writing, drawing, walking – whatever will release the emotion without hurting ourselves or anyone else.
- Stop comparing ourselves to others – yes, it’s easy to say but difficult to do. Only when we accept ourselves – our strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, body type, etc, can we be content and happy.
The model of happiness is a pyramid that has, at its base, the truth of self. Without a solid base, everything else falls apart. The structure of self will have no grounding – nothing to base itself upon. When this base is solid, we can build our foundation of love & worth and then gain our own identity. Each side of the pyramid represents one of the four parts necessary to “complete” us as human beings, e.g. the intellectual side has the components of love and worth, etc. You can love your intellectual self and have intellectual worth. Similarly, you can love and feel worth about your body – without it, you cannot walk, talk, eat, sleep, feel, etc. When you are not physically connected, it is not possible to feel this love or worth. This is achieved partly by breathing diaphragmatically – breathing into your stomach rather than your chest.
For more information on this or to start work on your own journey to happiness, please contact and book with Sandy here: | <urn:uuid:8606c42f-fcb6-45f5-b985-a76ae4504da6> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://sandylitt.com/model-of-happiness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.935929 | 805 | 3.3125 | 3 |
What is emotional regulation?
Emotional regulation is the ability to cope with and manage emotions in a healthy way. It is essential to good mental health. Emotional regulation may involve suppressing or expressing emotions, or modifying the intensity of emotions.
How can journaling help with emotional regulation?
Journaling provides a safe and private space where you can honestly express your thoughts and feelings. Writing freely and uncensored in a journal can help you explore and understand your emotions, which is the first step in emotional regulation. Journaling can also help you identify the situations and thoughts that trigger negative emotions, allowing you to develop coping strategies to manage them better.
Types of journaling
There are many different ways to journal, and the type of journaling that works for you may depend on your personality and preferences. Here are a few popular examples:
Free Writing: This type of journaling involves writing freely without any structured prompts. It can be a stream of consciousness, or simply a reflection on whatever is on your mind.
Prompted Writing: This type of journaling involves answering specific questions or prompts, which can be anything from “What am I feeling right now?” to “What are three things I’m grateful for today?”
Bullet Journaling: This is a type of journaling that involves organizing your thoughts in a structured and visually appealing way. It can involve making to-do lists, creating habit trackers, and tracking your emotions.
Tips for Effective Journaling
Here are some tips for making the most out of journaling:
Be honest: Journaling is for your eyes only, so don’t worry about being judged. Be as honest as possible when expressing your thoughts and feelings.
Write consistently: Try to set aside some time every day to journal. Writing consistently can help you establish a habit and make journaling easier over time.
Don’t be too critical: Don’t worry about making your writing perfect. The point of journaling is to express yourself, not to impress anyone else.
Be mindful: Try to be present and focus on the present moment as you write. Mindfulness can help you become more aware of your emotions and how you’re feeling.
The benefits of journaling for emotional regulation
Journaling can be a very powerful tool in developing emotional regulation skills. Here are some benefits of journaling:
Increased self-awareness: Writing about your feelings can help you become more aware of your emotions and patterns of thought.
Improved mental health: Journaling can help you manage stress, anxiety, and depression by providing a healthy outlet for your emotions.
Better problem-solving skills: By writing down your problems and emotions, you can see them from a fresh perspective and come up with new solutions.
Increased creativity: Journaling can help tap into your creativity and boost your imagination.
Improved memory: Writing down your experiences can help you remember important memories and events more clearly.
Innovation in journaling
Technology has brought new ways to journal, making it easier for people to integrate journaling into their lives. Here are some recent innovations:
Journaling apps: There are many apps available that allow you to journal on your phone or tablet. These apps often offer prompts, reminders, and other features to make your journaling experience more enjoyable.
Gratitude journals: These journals focus on cultivating gratitude and appreciation. They often include prompts that encourage you to reflect on the things in your life that you’re thankful for.
Audio journals: Instead of writing, you can now record your thoughts and feelings in an audio journal. This can be a helpful option for people who prefer to speak rather than write.
Journaling is a powerful tool for promoting emotional regulation and good mental health. Whether you prefer free writing, bullet journaling, or prompted writing, there is a journaling style that will work for you. By journaling consistently and mindfully, you can increase your self-awareness, improve your mental health, and develop better problem-solving skills. Recent innovations in technology have made journaling more accessible and convenient than ever before, allowing more people to benefit from this valuable practice. To ensure a well-rounded educational experience, we suggest this external source packed with supplementary and pertinent data. buy gratitude journal India, discover new viewpoints on the topic covered.
Broaden your knowledge by checking out the related posts selected for you:
Investigate this valuable content | <urn:uuid:8b850c41-de8e-46ae-aa89-7950fe66a76f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://saudefruit.com/journaling-for-emotional-regulation-a-guide-to-good-mental-health/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.924338 | 913 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Welcome to the second official post of the “Saving Injured Kids” blog. We thought it was important to first define the issue as we understand it now. Through weekly postings, we will continue to bring fresh perspectives from nurses, doctors, emergency medical professionals, patients and their families, and others involved in the care of injured children.
Pediatric trauma is life-threatening injury to children and it’s the number one killer of children in America, more than all other causes combined. These injuries require hospitalization, and usually emergency surgery.
Important facts about pediatric trauma:
It can happen to any child, anywhere at any time, and there is no time to travel long distances to the “best” place for care. Chances of survival are greatest if prompt, well-trained medical treatment is received within a short period of time after a severe injury. Statistics show that an injured child has a 25% better chance of surviving if they are treated at a trauma center. Caring for an injured child requires special knowledge, precise management and scrupulous attention to detail.
Surviving pediatric trauma can also be difficult. Effects can potentially change the physical and mental ability of a child for the rest of their lives, as well as resulting emotional and social issues that affect parents, siblings and other family members, friends, educators, future employers and many other people throughout life.
In recent years, researchers and healthcare professionals have been exploring the potential of CBD products like cbd gummies uk in assisting children who have survived pediatric trauma. While CBD cannot directly treat physical injuries, it has shown promise in helping to alleviate some of the associated emotional and mental challenges that these young survivors may face. CBD’s non-intoxicating and natural properties have been linked to promoting relaxation, reducing anxiety, and improving sleep quality, which can be particularly beneficial for children coping with the aftermath of traumatic experiences. When used as a complementary therapy alongside appropriate medical care and support, CBD Gummies UK may offer an additional avenue of support for the children, their families, and caregivers throughout the recovery process.
Pediatric trauma is a serious health issue that is being addressed through prevention, but there are many ways to save the lives of injured children from the moment they are hurt by improving the education and techniques of first responders, nurses, doctors, surgeons and other medical staff.
We are passionate about preventing the death of children once they are injured. We hope to drastically reduce the number of children that die each year from pediatric trauma by increasing research, education and awareness about the issue. Please help us spread the message and join us each week to learn more.
Join our mailing list. | <urn:uuid:7fadded7-d575-4de2-a871-0a6142724207> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://saveinjuredkids.org/blog/what-is-pediatric-trauma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.955293 | 543 | 2.578125 | 3 |
New research from Oak Ridge National Laboratory shows that blending nanoparticles and polymers enables dramatic improvements in the properties of polymer materials.
Polymer nanocomposites mix particles billionths of a meter (nanometers, nm) in diameter with polymers, which are long molecular chains. Often used to make injection-molded products, they are common in automobiles, fire retardants, packaging materials, drug-delivery systems, medical devices, coatings, adhesives, sensors, membranes and consumer goods. When a team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory tried to verify that shrinking the nanoparticle size would adversely affect the mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites, they got a big surprise.
“We found an unexpectedly large effect of small nanoparticles,” said Shiwang Cheng of ORNL. The team of scientists at ORNL, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois), and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) reported their findings in the journal ACS Nano.
Blending nanoparticles and polymers enables dramatic improvements in the properties of polymer materials. Nanoparticle size, spatial organization, and interactions with polymer chains are critical in determining the behavior of composites. Understanding these effects will allow for the improved design of new composite polymers, as scientists can tune mechanical, chemical, electrical, optical, and thermal properties.
Until recently, scientists believed an optimal nanoparticle size must exist. Decreasing the size would be good only to a point, as the smallest particles tend to plasticize at low loadings and aggregate at high loadings, both of which harm the macroscopic properties of polymer nanocomposites.
The ORNL-led study compared polymer nanocomposites containing particles 1.8 nm in diameter and those with particles 25 nm in diameter. Most conventional polymer nanocomposites contain particles 10–50 nm in diameter. Tomorrow, novel polymer nanocomposites may contain nanoparticles far less than 10 nm in diameter, enabling new properties not achievable with larger nanoparticles.
Well-dispersed small “sticky” nanoparticles improved properties, one of which broke records: Raising the material’s temperature less than 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) caused a fast, million-fold drop in viscosity. A pure polymer (without nanoparticles) or a composite with large nanoparticles would need a temperature increase of at least 30 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) for a comparable effect.
“We see a shift in paradigm where going to really small nanoparticles enables accessing totally new properties,” said Alexei Sokolov of ORNL and UTK. That increased access to new properties happens because small particles move faster than large ones and interact with fewer polymer segments on the same chain. Many more polymer segments stick to a large nanoparticle, making dissociation of a chain from that nanoparticle difficult.
“Now we realize that we can tune the mobility of the particles—how fast they can move, by changing particle size, and how strongly they will interact with the polymer, by changing their surface,” Sokolov said. “We can tune properties of composite materials over a much larger range than we could ever achieve with larger nanoparticles.”
The ORNL-led study required expertise in materials science, chemistry, physics, computational science, and theory. “The main advantage of Oak Ridge National Lab is that we can form a big, collaborative team,” Sokolov said.
Cheng and UTK’s Bobby Carroll carried out experiments they designed with Sokolov. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy tracked the movement of polymer segments associated with nanoparticles. Calorimetry revealed the temperature at which solid composites transitioned to liquids. Using small-angle X-ray scattering, Halie Martin (UTK) and Mark Dadmun (UTK and ORNL) characterized nanoparticle dispersion in the polymer.
To better understand the experimental results and correlate them to fundamental interactions, dynamics and structure, the team turned to large-scale modeling and simulation (by ORNL’s Bobby Sumpter and Jan-Michael Carrillo) enabled by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, a DOE Office of Science User Facility at ORNL.
“It takes us a lot of time to figure out how these particles affect segmental motion of the polymer chain,” Cheng said. “These things cannot be visualized from experiments that are macroscopic. The beauty of computer simulations is they can show you how the chain moves and how the particles move, so the theory can be used to predict temperature dependence.”
Shi-Jie Xie and Kenneth Schweizer, both of Illinois, created a new fundamental theoretical description of the collective activated dynamics in such nanocomposites and quantitatively applied it to understand novel experimental phenomena. The theory enables predictions of physical behavior that can be used to formulate design rules for optimizing material properties.
Carrillo and Sumpter developed and ran simulations on Titan, America’s most powerful supercomputer, and wrote codes to analyze the data on the Rhea cluster. The LAMMPS molecular-dynamics code calculated how fast nanoparticles moved relative to polymer segments and how long polymer segments stuck to nanoparticles.
“We needed Titan for fast turn-around of results for a relatively large system (200,000 to 400,000 particles) running for a very long time (100 million steps). These simulations allow for the accounting of polymer and nanoparticle dynamics over relatively long times,” Carrillo said. “These polymers are entangled. Imagine pulling a strand of spaghetti in a bowl. The longer the chain, the more entangled it is. So its motion is much slower.” Molecular dynamics simulations of long, entangled polymer chains were needed to calculate time-correlation functions similar to experimental conditions and find connections or agreements between the experiments and theories proposed by colleagues at Illinois.
The simulations also visualized how nanoparticles moved relative to a polymer chain. Corroborating experiment and theory moves scientists closer to verifying predictions and creates a clearer understanding of how nanoparticles change behavior, such as how altering nanoparticle size or nanoparticle–polymer interactions will affect the temperature at which a polymer loses enough viscosity to become liquid and start to flow. Large particles are relatively immobile on the time scale of polymer motion, whereas small particles are more mobile and tend to detach from the polymer much faster.
Reference: “Big Effect of Small Nanoparticles: A Shift in Paradigm for Polymer Nanocomposites” by Shiwang Cheng, Shi-Jie, Jan-Michael Y. Carrillo, Bobby Carroll, Halie Martin, Peng-Fei Cao, Mark D. Dadmun, Bobby G. Sumpter, Vladimir N. Novikov, Kenneth S. Schweizer and Alexei P. Sokolov, 4 January 2017, ACS Nano. | <urn:uuid:42a4e356-5dc6-4349-8d47-4d2e9719cd78> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://scitechdaily.com/small-nanoparticles-provide-dramatic-improvements-in-polymer-materials/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.874475 | 1,441 | 3.625 | 4 |
Stanford surgeon Carla Pugh, MD, PhD, was a medical student and resident at Howard University when something occurred to her that would change the course of her career.
"Before I could operate on a tumor, I needed to know how densely it was attached. A CT scan couldn't tell me — the only way I'd know was through my hands," Pugh told us in a story about her research for Stanford Medicine magazine. "I realized I wouldn't truly learn how to diagnose with my hands just by watching my instructors, and I wanted to find a better way."
Now, Pugh holds three patents and is known expert in haptic — or touch-sensor — measurement, diagnostics and training. She has created sophisticated sensor, video and motion-tracking technology to capture a clinician's touch-sensing movements and effectiveness.
A mannequin with sensors inside the mouth, throat and windpipe, for instance, can measure a clinician's intubation skills. The procedure involves inserting a tube into and airway to help a patient breathe when under anesthesia, or in an emergency. A poorly executed intubation could cause complications that include an inability to open the airway or vocal cord injury.
Pugh's sensor technology can collect information during intubation training and give immediate feedback about how the procedure went, where it might have gone wrong and how long it took. Such data helps trainees, but also experienced clinicians who want to improve their skills.
Pugh also partnered with the Israel Institute of Technology to develop a fabric- force-sensor bra to capture clinical data during a breast exam. Since joining Stanford Medicine a year ago as a professor of general surgery and director of the Technology Enabled Clinical Improvement Center, Pugh has also collaborated with faculty members in the mechanical engineering and chemical engineering departments on advancing the technology.
In addition, she's working with colleagues in the Graduate School of Education, where she earned a PhD in education and technology in 2001, on incorporating the technology into training.
Pugh and her colleagues plan to engage industrial and systems engineers, social scientists and other experts to determine the best approaches to using the haptic data in training.
"Nationwide, trainees are telling us they want this information," Pugh said. "There's a lot more work to be done — but the audience is ready."
Photo by Timothy Archibald | <urn:uuid:a8dc9fb2-f214-4f5c-ac36-6874761ac828> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2018/12/24/touch-sensor-technology-seen-as-a-path-for-improving-surgical-training/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.970891 | 488 | 2.546875 | 3 |
To view a sortable list, please visit the Resource
April 26, 1564
The earliest reference to William Shakespeare appears in the parish register for Holy Trinity Church in an entry for his baptism on April 26, 1564.
November 27, 1582
Two documents record the marriage of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway but the evidence is flawed.
November 28, 1582
This marriage bond, dated November 28, 1582 states that there was nothing to prevent William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway’s marriage from taking place, and that the bishop of Worcester, who issued the marriage license would be safeguarded from any future possible objections.
May 26, 1583
Susanna, William and Anne Shakespeare’s first child, was baptized on May 26, 1583, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, a “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance.
February 2, 1585
Hamnet and Judith, William and Anne Shakespeare’s second and third children, were baptized on the same day, February 2, 1585, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register.
October 9, 1589
Court of King's Bench, Coram Rege Roll, complaint of John Shakespeare against John Lambert, relating to property in Wilmcote
SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTED IS STILL GROWING! Descriptive content and transcriptions will continue to be added, updated and expanded. Check back for regular updates!
June 12, 1593
This diary entry, written by Richard Stonley on Tuesday, June 12, 1593, records the first known purchase of the first edition of Shakespeare's first printed work, the narrative poem Venus and Adonis (London, 1593).
March 15, 1595
Exchequer, Pipe Office, Declared Accounts: Listing Shakespeare as a leading player of the Lord Chamberlain’s company
By March 15, 1595, and inferentially by Christmas 1594, William Shakespeare had become a leading member of his company, the Lord Chamberlain’s players, sufficiently senior to serve with William Kempe and Richard Burbage as a financial trustee.
August 11, 1596
Hamnet, William and Anne Shakespeare’s only son, was buried on August 11, 1596, according to the Holy Trinity Church parish register. Next to the entry, an “X” added by a later hand highlights its significance. He was eleven years old.
October 20, 1596
This draft grant of arms for John Shakespeare was prepared and written by William Dethick, Garter King of Arms, the most senior of the 13 heralds of the College of Arms. It is the first of two drafts of the grant, both dated October 20, 1596. | <urn:uuid:4f9ed173-3851-404c-9d68-f43af5a0dd44> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://shakespearedocumented.folger.edu/highlights/unesco-memory-world-item | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.953975 | 578 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Amongst the many craft references woven into Sarah Burton's A/W 20 collection for Alexander McQueen was a unique strand of textile history: quilt-making. Two key looks from the collection were inspired by an allegorical tailors’ quilt kept at St Fagans National Museum of History, Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
Hand-stitched over ten years from 1842, it was made by master tailor James Williams and comprises over 4500 patches. Welsh tailors’ quilts were made out of salvaged flannel taken from mill sample books, suits and military uniforms. The quilts provide a record of both the materials and social history of the time in which they were made.
Below we see a tailors’ quilt strong-shouldered single-breasted jacket and straight-legged trousers in black, grey, lilac and ivory, upcycled from inhouse stock of British worsted wools and military flannels from past seasons. Figurative motifs of doves, a panther, a horse and a leek are hand-embroidered into a patchwork design.
Next, a tailors’ quilt single-breasted coat with a swallow tail constructed in an embroidered patchwork of red, damson, ivory, grey, and black, upcycled from inhouse stock of British worsted wools and military flannels from past seasons.
Sarah Burton said of the collection that it is 'a love letter to women and to families, colleagues and friends. We went to Wales and were inspired by the warmth of its artistic and poetic heritage, by its folklore and the soul of its craft. The woman is courageous, grounded, bold: heroic. There is a sense of protection in the clothes, of safety and comfort, evoked through quilting and blankets. The hearts are a symbol of togetherness, of being there for others.' | <urn:uuid:6a495451-cfa2-4d65-b022-0e5e5ed6c122> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://showstudio.com/news/zoom-alexander-mcqueens-tailored-quilt-looks-w-20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.96372 | 398 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Affecting around half of all diabetics, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disordered breathing condition that is linked to a variety of other serious health problems, including diabetes. The relationship between sleep apnea and diabetes has been a point of connection for medical professionals for several decades.
As people with diabetes have been reported as having a higher incidence of sleep breathing disorders since the early 1980s, researchers have been working to discover the link and determine the best way to treat both of the interconnected conditions.
About Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which the breathing passages become blocked at various times throughout sleep, causing pauses in breathing which result in oxygen deficiency. Because of this, the brain has to “start” the body awake by releasing hormones. Over time, sleep apnea can result in a variety of serious health conditions including heart problems, sleep deprivation, relationship problems, weight gain, stroke, and even premature death.
Signs and Symptoms of Sleep Apnea include:
- Loud snoring
- Waking up with a headache
- Occasionally waking with a sensation of choking, coughing, or gasping
- Insomnia or trouble staying asleep
- Fatigue or excessive daytime sleepiness
- Falling asleep during activity such as driving or at work
- Observed pauses in breathing during sleep
- High blood pressure
- Poor work performance, memory loss, and difficulty concentrating
- Relationship struggles, difficulty communicating, and depression
- Decreased libido
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body is unable to produce or respond to insulin in the appropriate manner. When your pancreas is unable to produce or regulate this needed hormone, serious complications can result including problems with the heart and kidneys, as well as potential blindness and possible loss of digits or lower limbs.
Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes include:
- Frequent urination
- Increased appetite (even after eating)
- Increased thirst
- Dry mouth
- Blurred vision
- Itchy skin
- Weight gain or weight loss
- Tingling or numbness in the feet and hands
- Cuts or sores healing more slowly than usual
Does Sleep Apnea Cause Diabetes?
The question about which of these medical conditions causes the other is complicated. What is known is the fact that diabetes is definitively linked with obesity—and being overweight is a high risk factor for sleep apnea. Because people who are obese carry extra fat and tissue in their neck areas, a stronger likelihood exists that their breathing passages will be blocked during sleep and lead to sleep apnea.
Even in people who are not obese, the likelihood of developing diabetes is stronger if they leave obstructive sleep apnea untreated. Many experts suspect that the lack of oxygen caused by sleep apnea leads to hypoxia, which causes the brain to send messages to the body to increase the function of the respiratory system. When the body cannot breathe (because the airways are blocked), stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released. These stress hormones create a reaction that starts the person awake in order to restore breathing.
When people who have sleep apnea experience these start awakenings often throughout the night for months or years at a time, eventually this regular release of hormones can result in raised levels of blood sugar and an inability for the body to remain sensitive to insulin. Left unchecked, these insulin and blood sugar levels act as dominoes which ultimately can lead to insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and eventually diabetes.
Does Diabetes Cause Sleep Apnea?
In general, people with diabetes tend to experience poorer sleep than those in the general population, although no one is quite sure why. The cycle of questions continues about whether diabetes causes sleep problems, or sleep problems cause diabetes.
Evidence suggests that diabetes may be a contributing cause of sleep disordered breathing, especially for people who are obese or excessively overweight. The link between obesity and diabetes is well-known, and people who are overweight often have extra fatty tissue in their neck which blocks the airways and disrupts regular breathing during sleep causing sleep apnea.
One study has shown that diabetics struggle with resistance to leptin, a hormone which stabilizes breathing patterns during sleep and reduces the effectiveness of the respiratory system. Leptin also triggers a feeling of being “full”, so people with diabetes may have a tendency to overeat which leads to obesity—and could eventually result in diabetes. This resistance to leptin could be one explanation of why diabetics seem to have a predisposition to sleep apnea.
Diagnosis and Treatment for Sleep Apnea
Although having obstructive sleep apnea does not guarantee a future diagnosis of diabetes, and having diabetes does not guarantee a diagnosis of sleep apnea, the two certainly create risk factors for one another. Anyone who thinks they may be at risk of either condition should see a doctor, of course. But someone who already has one of these conditions diagnosed should be particularly vigilant about paying attention to signs that might indicate the development of the other.
For instance, a person with diabetes should be aware of loud snoring, weight gain, high blood pressure, and other signs that they may be developing sleep apnea. If you are concerned that you or someone in your life may have sleep apnea, a doctor will likely perform a sleep study to secure a diagnosis and narrow down treatment options. Treatment will depend on the cause of the sleep apnea as well as the severity of the condition.
Sleep apnea can often be treated in a fairly simple, non-invasive manner. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine is often indicated to help with breathing during sleep and restore the body to healthy sleep patterns. Even better, some people find that treating their sleep apnea allows them to sleep better, eat healthier, exercise more, and eventually lose weight. This weight loss can also contribute to managing the conditions for people who have both sleep apnea and diabetes.
While both sleep apnea and diabetes are serious conditions that certainly require you to be under the care of a doctor, they are also treatable. Following the advice of your medical professional for sleep, diet, and healthy lifestyle changes can offer you a new sense of energy, making you feel healthier than you have in years and restoring your life to more of what it should be. | <urn:uuid:e85af6d9-2986-411e-a9a0-c72c45e70685> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://sleepundercover.com/sleep-apnea-and-diabetes-a-troubling-relationship/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.950752 | 1,290 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Various computer viruses have attacked the Internet, specifically the popular Home windows Coronavirus family. Many people have reported sporadic lack of computers, as well as unexplained errors in the operating system. Whereas this virus does not have a capability to spread or harm important knowledge, it is a harmful virus to have on a Laptop, particularly for the typical Pc user.
Coronavirus (also referred to as Corion) is a computer virus that has a tendency to execute the Coronavirus’ infected program out of your Pc. If you do not protect your laptop from the Coronavirus virus, then you definitely will be the sufferer of various malware programs. Coronavirus relies on a modified model of the Redirect Virus that was discovered to be spreading across the Internet. It really works in a similar style, because it displays a pop-up message that says one thing like “Beware of Trojan Virus”Adware has Lurked In The heart Of Your Pc.”
Since Coronavirus makes use of the malicious code from different viruses to infect your Laptop, it is quite a standard virus that’s seen on the internet. Its elements are inter-linked and permit it to spread in a number of ways. This means that if you have not installed any anti-virus applications on your Pc, then you’re at risk of having Coronavirus in your Pc.
Since Coronavirus is so dangerous, you must first attempt to get rid of it as quickly as attainable. To do this, it’s best to first make sure that that you would be able to take away Coronavirus completely from your pc. This includes removing all of the infected information that the virus could ship to your Pc and also eradicating the “coronavirus.exe” file and associated information.
One option to get rid of Coronavirus solely is to make use of an antivirus instrument referred to as “XoftSpy”. Nevertheless, this program is a bit costly to use and will not be suitable for everyone. XoftSpy just isn’t recommended for individuals who want to ensure that their Laptop stays safe and working always.
Another to XoftSpy is to use an Anti-Virus program known as AVG. This is a good anti-virus program but there are extra features obtainable, which make it fairly expensive to use.
Along with getting rid of Coronavirus, you must also have a again up of your Computer data earlier than you take away Coronavirus. To do this, you need to format your Pc utilizing the “msinfo32” utility, which is included with Windows. After you do that, you need to now restore your data by reinstalling Home windows.
It’s necessary to note that it is still doable to install and run Coronavirus after you delete it out of your Laptop. There are some infected packages that haven’t been removed from your Computer, so you need to watch out when putting in a brand new piece of software program.
Moreover, when you’ve got been attacked by Coronavirus, there is a really excessive chance that you will need to make use of a bit of software referred to as “Anti-Malware” with a purpose to remove Coronavirus from your Laptop. Anti-Malware is a robust piece of software that has been developed by AVG, one of many leading antivirus packages on this planet.
It’s best to know that there are many alternative kinds of Anti-Malware that can remove Coronavirus from your Computer. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that not all of those packages are able to completely take away Coronavirus. Hence, it’s price paying just a little additional with a view to get one of the best Anti-Malware program to eradicate Coronavirus.
Nevertheless, it is extremely essential to notice that simply because the Coronavirus virus will be eliminated from your Laptop, doesn’t mean that it may be completely removed. There is loads of labor that must be achieved to be able to utterly take away Coronavirus.
It’s endorsed that you simply protect your Computer now and follow the beneficial actions to make sure the protection of your Pc. That is an important step to take, as Coronavirus is extremely harmful, if left alone for too lengthy, it may trigger your Laptop to crash.
If you have any questions with regards to where and how to use https://qualityhealthcareconcierge.com/service/covid-testing-for-travel/, you can get hold of us at the website.
Go on your quest to get more connected content: | <urn:uuid:7f3fee48-23af-40e2-8ddb-4d0f37498ad8> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://sunbeachfl.com/4003-coronavirus-removal-suggestions-methods-to-remove-coronavirus-58/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.951691 | 1,012 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Programme Specific Outcomes
- Knowledge and understanding of basic Bengali Literature .
- Knowledge and understanding of Bengali Grammar and Linguistics
- Knowledge and understanding of essential Bengali vocabulary .
- Knowledge and understanding History of Bengali Literature
- Knowledge and understanding basic idea of Poetry ,Short Story, Essay, Drama & Novel .
- History of Bengali Literature ( 1601 1950)
To make students interested in Bengali Society, culture, literature and history of the Bengali people.
To create a sense of history and historical analysis about Literature among the students.
To make students aware about basic textual nuances of Medieval and Modern Bengali Literature.
To make students aware about the evolution of the history of Bengali Literature and Culture.
To give the idea of the inextricable interconnection between Literature and Culture.
To create a strong foundation of studying future course of literature
Studying History of Bengali Literature helps students to know about Religion, Society, Culture and development of the Bengali Literature use in the Prose , poetry , drama , short story and novel . Our vision to see our won literature ,manifestation of our nationality transformation of content, form and style of writing technique through ages and indication of future direction in literature .
- Origin of Bengali Language:
Study of origin of Bengali language is the most important . Students will understand Bengali language in an historical context and they will learn how Bengali language origin from Indo-European or Aryan Family of Languages and changed over time and how it varies from situation to situation and place to place. Study of Origin of Bengali Language will also help in making the foundation of language stranger and will improve the practical and intellectual skills.
To make students aware about the importance of Rhetoric and Prosody while studying poetry.
To give practical lesions of Rhetoric and Prosody to students.
To prepare students about the ornamental use of language in constructing sentences while speaking and writing.
Introducing the foundation of Prosody along with the basic knowledge of Linguistics.
Introduce to the students about the aesthetics of language while studying Prosody.
To make students aware about Indian idea of Rhetoric and Prosody.
To make students interested in Socio- Economi cultural history of Medieval period of Bengal . | <urn:uuid:a527db12-b4a3-41e3-b858-91cdfd29e2be> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://suryasencollege.org.in/new_2020_copo_Bangla.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.870298 | 475 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Defining information technology
Information technology (IT) encompasses the use of computers, software, networking, and other digital technologies to create, process, store, secure, and exchange all forms of electronic data. IT plays a crucial role in modern society, permeating nearly every aspect of our lives, from personal communication to large-scale business operations.
5 Best information websites Successful information technology websites
Here are some information technology websites including:
- Expresstech : Expresstech combines captivating storytelling and cutting-edge reporting to provide a unique perspective on the world of technology. Exploring the intersections of technology, culture, and science,Expresstech, offers readers a glimpse into the future through its in-depth features and analyses.
- IBM’s website features a wealth of information about its products, services, and research, positioning the company as a leader in the field of information technology.
- Texasstech: Texasstech excels at making technology accessible to readers of all backgrounds. From intriguing gadget reviews to thought-provoking commentary on the tech industry’s ethical dilemmas.
- Microsoft: Microsoft’s website provides comprehensive information about its software, hardware, and cloud computing solutions, reinforcing its reputation as a global technology giant.
- Invediatrim: Invediatrim is a venture capital and technology news website that provides deep analysis and insights into the latest tech startups, trends, and investments. With its team of experienced journalists and analysts, Invediatrim is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the business of technology.
- Google’s website showcases its diverse array of products and services, including search, email, productivity tools, and cloud solutions, demonstrating its breadth of expertise in the information technology industry.
The Significance of Information Technology
The significance of IT lies in its transformative impact on various sectors, including:
Communication and Collaboration
It revolutionized communication, enabling instant messaging, video conferencing, and social media platforms that connect people across the globe.
It Become indispensable for businesses, streamlining processes, automating tasks, and enhancing productivity.
Education and research
it has revolutionized education through online learning platforms, digital resources, and research tools.
Entertainment and media
It has transformed the entertainment industry with streaming services, digital games, and interactive platforms.
Science and technology
It plays a pivotal role in scientific advancements, enabling data analysis, modeling, and simulations.
Concept of an Information Technology Website
An information technology website serves as a valuable online resource, providing comprehensive information about IT products, services, and trends.
It acts as a digital storefront for IT companies, showcasing their expertise and capabilities to potential clients. Moreover, it serves as an educational platform, offering tutorials, guides, and insights to help users navigate the complexities of IT.
Benefits of informational technology
Here is a detailed explanation of the first benefit of an information technology website:
Enhanced brand awareness and recognition
An information technology website can be a powerful tool for establishing a strong online presence and enhancing brand awareness and recognition.
By creating a well-designed and informative website, businesses and organizations can effectively showcase their expertise and knowledge in the field of information technology. This can help to attract potential clients and partners, build credibility and trust, and ultimately drive business growth.
Informational technology websites can reach a global audience, eliminating geographical limitations and expanding the potential customer base.
Website analytics tools allow businesses to track user behavior and gather valuable insights about their target audience. This information can be used to refine marketing campaigns and target specific demographics and interests with greater precision.
Unlike traditional advertising methods, website traffic and user engagement can be tracked and analyzed to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. This data-driven approach allows businesses to optimize their strategies and allocate resources more effectively.
Establishing and maintaining an information technology website is generally more cost-effective than traditional marketing channels such as print advertising, television commercials, or direct mail campaigns.
Strategies for Cost-Effective Marketing and Advertising with Information Technology Websites:
- Content Marketing: Create high-quality and informative content that is relevant to your target audience. This could include blog posts, articles, infographics, and case studies.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize your website for relevant keywords to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This will increase organic traffic to your website.
- Social Media Marketing: Promote your website and content on social media platforms to reach a wider audience and engage with potential customers.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising: Utilize PPC advertising platforms to target specific demographics and interests, ensuring your website reaches the right audience at the right time.
- Email Marketing: Build an email list and send regular newsletters or promotional emails to keep potential customers engaged and informed.
By implementing these strategies, businesses and organizations can effectively leverage informational technology websites for cost-effective marketing and advertising, reaching a wider audience, targeting specific demographics, and optimizing their campaigns for maximum return on investment.
Key elements of an effective information technology website for brand awareness:
- Clear and concise messaging: Clearly communicate your company’s values, mission, and expertise in the field of information technology.
- Compelling content: Provide valuable and informative content that is relevant to your target audience. This could include articles, blog posts, infographics, and case studies.
- Strategic search engine optimization (SEO): Optimize your website for relevant keywords to improve its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Social media integration: Integrate your website with your social media platforms to expand your reach and engage with potential customers.
Information technology has become an integral part of modern society, driving innovation, transforming industries, and shaping our daily lives. An informational technology website stands as a powerful tool for businesses to showcase their expertise, engage with customers, and establish a strong online presence in the ever-evolving IT landscape. | <urn:uuid:7bc67268-935c-49db-a28a-72db61ca17a5> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://takesapp.com/exploring-the-benefits-of-an-informational-technology-website/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.885954 | 1,227 | 2.734375 | 3 |
My dear friend, Karen Fox (opens in a new link), shared this quote with me:
“Confidence isn’t walking into a room thinking you are better than everyone,
it’s walking in and not having to compare yourself to anyone at all.” – unknown
What a great insight into confidence…that confident people don’t compare themselves to others. To some, that may seem arrogant, i.e. that others are irrelevant. Nothing could be further from the truth. Confident people observe; they do not compare.
Observation vs comparison
Confident people are typically observant. They pay attention to what others do, not as a way to compare themselves to others, but to learn from others. There’s nothing arrogant about being an avid learner. Quite the opposite, humility is at work when we view everyone as a potential teacher…regardless of their socioeconomic status.
The fact that confident people don’t compare themselves to others doesn’t prevent others from making comparisons for them. The typical responses from confident people in these situations are:
- They unabashedly acknowledge the other party’s skills, abilities and character.
- They congratulate the other party on their success and continue to wish them well.
- They acknowledge what they’ve learned by observing the other party’s efforts.
You’ll notice that in these responses, confident people always focus on the compared person’s attributes, not on the comparison someone is attempting to make.
Benefits of not comparing
There are a number of benefits that accrue to confident people by virtue of the fact that they don’t compare themselves to others. They:
- Avoid denigrating their own achievements; something that occurs as a result of our natural tendency to compare ourselves to those who are more accomplished than we are.
- Don’t become envious of others’ success. Instead, they learn how to enhance their own success by observing others’ accomplishments.
- Connect more quickly with people because they’re not comparing themselves to those whom they meet. Comparison implies judgment; no one enjoys being judged.
- Become exceptional at what they do because they are constantly in the learning mode and view others as potential teachers.
- Enjoy life more…for the reasons cited in the preceding bullet points.
The obvious question is “Are you enjoying these benefits?” If not, how can you begin enjoying them?
If you’ve already developed the habit of not comparing yourself to others, congratulations! Your confidence is serving you well. Keep up the great work.
If you haven’t yet developed this habit, here are simple exercises to help you do so:
- Each morning, shortly after rising, commit to viewing everyone you meet as a teacher and learn what you can from their wisdom and experience.
- Each evening, shortly before retiring, recall the things you learned that will help you in the future. Note the fact that you feel appreciative instead of envious, energized instead of drained, elevated instead of deflated.
- Continue these exercises until you become aware that this is your default way of thinking. It typically takes only a week or two for this to occur…as long as you’re consistent in your efforts.
For our kids
As the kids in your life begin to make comparisons, and they will, share with them the quote at the beginning of this blog post. Help them understand the difference between observing, which implies learning, and comparing, which implies judging. Learning assures greater success in the future; judging tends to delay, if not thwart, success.
As kids learn to view others as potential teachers, they’ll enjoy all the benefits outlined above. Please share these benefits with them so that they can see what they’ll gain. Better yet, live this message and they’ll emulate your behavior…and be forever grateful to you for having imparted this wisdom to them.
Click here (opens in a new link) to get future messages delivered directly to your inbox.
Let others know that you love them by sharing this blog post. They’ll appreciate that you care.
Readers would love to see your thoughts and experiences in a comment.
If you’d like to enjoy great confidence, check out our Confidence Self-Study programs (opens in a new link).
If you’d like to enrich the lives of others by teaching them to be more confident, check out our Teaching Confidence Instructor Certification program (opens in a new link). | <urn:uuid:a959aa2b-9be0-4b06-97a9-ec8c499c0e92> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://teachingconfidence.com/confident-comparison/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.95135 | 952 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Have you come across any weave that is distinguished by the feature of being lustrous? We believe you are certain about the Satin Weave. To know more about What is satin weave? its construction, and features, with a bit of use or application, get a quick review of this article by going through.
Table of Contents
What is a Satin weave?
Satin weave refers to the construction of a weave where there is a weft thread that floats over at least 12 warps as well as under a single warp. The next weft gets woven in different warps over same the number.
Besides, sating weave needs more shafts in the part of weaving compared to other plain weave or twill weaves. Consequently, the cost of production increases. Satin construction fabrics notably are Brocade, Crepe-satin, velvet satin, etc. Meanwhile, the Sateen is a variation of the satin weave construction with another type of yarn except for silk.
Fig: Example of Satin Weave
On the other hand, a Satin weave is also called a weave where the warp threads get interlaced with filling threads intending to produce a fabric with a smooth surface. Usually, satin fabric tends to be lustrous because of the several floats on the fabric. It is similar to sateen weaves as well. It produces a smooth, glossy surface on the fabric due to the interlacing points covered up by the threads’ floats.
What is a Satin Weave Made of?
Satin weave is well-made with different fabric types. It has a soft and smooth feel feature against the skin. Satin construction is created in a way where there is a float of some warp yarns across the weft before going under a weft thread similarly the cycle gets repeated. Since satin weave is a warp-faced fabric, there is an end per inch in more number than the picks per inch.
Satin weave creates a lustrous and smooth surface because of the use of shiny filament yarns producing the lustrous soft finish. The advantageous position is that the weaving cost of satin fabric is lower.
Meanwhile, the broken ends appear on the fac side frequently. As we have said before, there is a higher end in every inch, and the warp breakage rate of satin is more frequent. The breakage is reflected in the fabric form which does not allow any user to make any garment.
Structure of Satin Weave
Satin weave is a method of fabric weaving where the warp yarns remain stationary in a loom where the weft threads are woven over it. This weaving sort with few interlaces yields a soft surface with a smooth and lustrous effect. The two major constructions of the satin weaves are:
- The end part of the weave remains very close to each other in the Satin fabric because of the high ends per inch. Here, the ends are rubbed into each other during the shredding process in weaving. Because of this end-to-end rubbing, there is an automatic generation of hairiness in the fabric that causes pilling in the fabric too.
- The Control of the weft: Here, the weft control-wise shrinkage is easy to process. It has been always an issue during the process whether it gets shrinkage or not. If there is more warp-wise shrinkage effect after washing, the reason is to have fewer picks per inch.
The method of construction requires floating of 1 warp yarn over more than 4 weft yarns. After that, they get tied down using only 1 thread resulting in a smooth face. Another example of a satin weave is Charmeuse. It is nothing but a feathery fabric woven with a satin weave being constructed. Here, the warp threads cross over more than 3 weft threads. The fabric’s front side has a satin lustrous finish with reflective features.
Satin weave has a soft side in one part and a harsh side in another part. It is identifiable as cotton, viscose, silk, organza, and poly satin.
The Design of the Satin Weave is:
The Stripe or Check Effect on Satin Weaves by a Combination of Identical Satin Designs:
|Manufacturing Materials||Nylon, polyester, rayon, wool, and silk|
|Fabric Shine||Shiny and Lustrous|
|Fabric Drape Ability||Good, wrap able enough|
|Heat Retention Abilities||Premium thermal resistance|
|Prone to Wrinkle||Does not wrinkle easily.|
|Washing Temperature||Maximum 30 degrees Celsius|
Satin weave structure has the following advantages of uses. They are:
- The construction of a satin weave produces a smooth and lustrous effect on rich-looking fabrics.
- The satin weave construction is reasonably good service.
- Durability is strong in those whose fabrics are short-float compared to long-float ones.
- Satin is chosen for formal wear occasions.
- A suitable fabric for the application of coat linings.
Satin is well-known for being a lustrous and soft-finished fabric with a smooth surface on the outer part. Satin Weave has these characteristics to be followed. They are:
- Shiny Outer part: The different weaving technique makes satin lustrous and shiny on the right side. But on the back, it may look quite dull. It happens because of the construction of the warp and the thread of the weft.
- Sewing Difficulty: Satin has a smoothness that makes the fabric skin-friendly. It also makes the satin fabric a difficult process to sew. Before working on any bigger project, make sure you have practiced on smaller fabrics.
- Wrinkle-resistant: Satin fabric is stretchable compared to other materials. The thicker satin fabrics are not much prone to wrinkling.
- Snagging: Satin threads are prone to snag as a result, the fabric may seem unappealing.
- Aesthetic look: Satin provides a classy and sophisticated look whenever it is worn.
- Versatility: Satin weave structure is applicable to use in the making of a lot of items. From wedding dresses and ballet shoes, the versatile applicability makes the product remain popular for ages.
- Durability: It has its long fibers being woven taut. As a result, it can stay for a while without any visible cracking.
More Basic Features of Satin Weave
- Warp-faced weaves.
- There is no prominent weave structure.
- Absence of continuous twill lines.
- Thread density is possible.
- 3rd Basic weave.
- The minimum repeat is 4 x 4.
- The use of low twisted yarns.
- Long floated weave.
- Not perfect for repeated wearing.
- Warp satin A/1, and weft satin 1/4
- The move numbers are essential for the construction of weaves.
Choosing move numbers for constructing the satin weaves in the following rules:
- The move number must be unequal to the weave repeat.
- There should not be 1 less than the size of the repeat.
- There should not be a repeat size factor and multiple of the factors.
|Type of Satin||Suitable move number|
The common style of satin fabric construction includes 4,5, and 8-shaft satins. The above-pictured weave predicts an excellent form of drapability over different compound curves. Also, it allows high strength in the direction of the surface.
What is Satin Weave Used for?
Satin fabrics remain always in a warp-faced position as it is made of shiny yarns named filament. Although there is a low twist in producing the lustrous finish, the satin-woven fabrics are useful usually in the following areas:
Apparel: Both the clothing and apparel industry have a satin weave.
Dressmaking: Satin Weaves are available in couture wear and wedding dresses. Satin, being a core fabric, in the industry of fashion, is applicable for bridal wear, evening gowns, nightwear, and underwear.
Linings: The drapery linings are another way of a satin weave.
Bedsheets: Satin provides comfort; hence, it is used for a smooth and soft finish.
Fashion Accessories: Satin is the main component in making clutches, and other feminine accessories.
Footwear: Satin has an amazing place in the footwear that ballet dancers used to wear.
Upholstery: Upholstery is another use of satin weave. To make decorative furniture pieces, Europe has been at the center. Satin weave that is why, is still applicable to use in pillow coverings and furniture pieces.
How does the difference exist between Satin and Sateen?
Usually, Sain as well as Sateen both have the same weave construction. The only difference that makes is the making of different fibers. Satin has been a long filament-made synthetic fabric meanwhile Sateen is made of Short-staple fibers. Besides, you can understand the difference by watching the luxurious shiny look, although they seem the same in the outer look part.
What is the Difference between Satin and Satin Weave?
Satin Weave here means that type of fabric weave that features glossy and lustrous material on the top surface. However, the weave is not durable enough since it tends to snag.
On the other hand, Satin, as a synthetic fabric, is not breathable yet affordable enough. The only weird thing is about the manufactured bedding that tends to explore the satin sheets’ mechanism of trapping heat ability.
- What is the dissimilarity between Satin and Sateen Weave?
Satin or sateen both weaves are basic weaves using 5-12 harnesses where there is an invisible diagonal. It is common confusion to identify the difference in weave between Satin and Sateen. The key takeaways are:
|Satin Weave||Sateen Weave|
|A warp-faced fabric woven with premium quality warp yarn||A weft-faced fabric woven with premium quality weft yarn|
|Broken ends are appearing on the right side (the face side)||Sateen weave does not have any broken pick.|
Satin is well-made by passing more than 4 weft threads over only 1 warp or 1 weft. As a result, it leaves a few threads floating over the satin weave’s surface. Another consequence is that the satin weave does not remain firmly fastened into the weaving part. The exciting part of being satin is that the floating threads provide a shiny look. As well as they are vulnerable enough to be caught on anything that remains pulled or damaged. We believe this article is understandable in many cases on the field of satin weave’s properties, construction, and applicability procedures in brief. | <urn:uuid:9af77013-abc3-406d-b9d4-88e4bf104d8f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://textiledetails.com/what-is-satin-weave-construction-features/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.927167 | 2,309 | 2.640625 | 3 |
China, the world’s largest polluter and second-largest economy, has decided to tackle methane, the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after carbon dioxide (CO2).
The initiative was revealed earlier this month with the release of the Methane Emission Control Action Programme by the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in association with 10 other ministries and departments.
The methane programme is China’s first policy document that specifically targets methane reduction, demonstrating its intentions to cut overall GHG emissions.
Methane’s global warming potential (GWP), a relative indicator that measures the ability of GHGs to cause global warming, is 100 times higher than CO2, the world’s largest and most watched source of GHG. However, as methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than CO2, reducing methane from the atmosphere is an effective way to curb global warming, especially in the short term.
Worldwide, the agriculture sector emits the most methane (40%) into the atmosphere, according to International Energy Agency estimates, followed by that of the energy (37%) and waste (20%) sectors. For China, methane emitted from the energy sector is the most dominant, accounting for almost half of its total methane emissions, most of which emanates from the process of steaming and coking coal.
The programme announced by China aims to reduce methane emissions in areas leading into 2025 and 2030 by firstly strengthening its capacity in methane emission monitoring, accounting, reporting and verification. Secondly, it has chosen to emphasize controlling methane emissions in the energy, agriculture, garbage and sewage sectors – and of polluting discharges, in general. Thirdly, it aims to enhance technology, regulation and global cooperation relating to methane emissions.
While the programme, for the most part, is set out in qualitative language, it does list a few targets that have quantitative measures, without giving a baseline for figures. For example, in the energy sector, the programme states that it aims to have the annual use of coal mine gas reach 6 billion cubic metres by 2025. And, in the agriculture sector, it aims to have the comprehensive utilization rate of livestock manure reach more than 80% by 2025, and more than 85% by 2030.
Interestingly, the focus of these quantitative targets is not on methane abatement, but about more effective use of it through capture or recycle, making the programme more of an action plan for methane control rather than reduction.
Worldwide, the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) – a partnership of countries targeting methane reduction launched in 2021 at COP26, the annual United Nations climate change summit – agreed to reduce emissions by at least 30% by 2030, from 2020 levels. Among the world’s top 10 methane emitters, China, India, Russia and Iran did not join the GMP. Now, with the publication of China’s methane programme, it becomes the only country in the top 10 list of emitters and non-GMP participating countries that has a specific, detailed methane action plan.
China’s methane programme highlights its determination to fight climate change by targeting non-CO2 GHGs and is design to grab attention in the run-up to COP28, set to start at the end of this month in the in United Arab Emirates. The programme could well encourage other non-GMP participants to figure out their solutions for tackling methane emissions.
COP28 president-designate, and the UAE’s special envoy for climate change, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber praised China’s methane programme as a “critical step for global climate action”. | <urn:uuid:c4c8139e-580e-4919-85c2-a23a4f909b54> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://theasset.com/article-esg/50389/china-acts-to-tackle-methane-emissions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.92365 | 750 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Practical applications of nutritional awareness
We need to consume six essential materials for our body to build tissues and function properly(3): amino acids (protein building blocks), complex sugars aka carbs (fast energy), fats (stored energy), vitamins (help cells build things with amino acids), minerals (also help your cells produce proteins from amino acids) and water.
Eat whole food. It is as simple as that. Don’t eat anything out of a box (except maybe healthy cereal?). In general, Americans are overdosing on carbohydrates (sugars). Stop using seed oils! Use olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil, and ghee as healthy oil alternatives. Stop overcooking food.
Stay away from white bread, white rice, pasta, and potatoes and french fries because your body converts these to sugars, and you’re probably overeating sugar to go with your carbs, and then it all turns to fat.
For instance, don’t eat donuts, bagels, cake, ice cream, cookies, candy, and pastries every single day, but save them for unique, “once-in-a-while” occasions when you can reward yourself with low-nutrition-high-sugar food like that. Eating a burger with a bun has more carbs than you need in a meal, and when you add fries and a soda with that, you’re getting a whole day’s worth of carbs in a single meal!
The more life our food has in it when we eat it, the better it is for us. That’s pretty simple. Dead food has none of the life energy our body needs to rebuild our tissues. Keep it simple. No need to make it more complicated than that. Eat dead food long enough and you’ll feel dead inside. Examples of dead food include white bread, instant bleached white rice, bleached white flour, and most pasta. Meat should not be considered as literal dead food unless it has been processed or over-cooked.
Commercial sliced white bread is dead bread and should absolutely not be considered food. Many of us have already shifted our bread purchases toward healthier, multigrain loaves which have a little bit more life in them and are less like eating cardboard. Wonderbread announced shutting down all its factories in 2012 after declaring bankruptcy. Apparently, people were eating over a pound of this stuff every week in the early 60’s (6), but fifty years later weren’t buying enough of the product to keep the company in business.
From the perspective of a healthy diet, we should get more of our carbs from fruits, honey or even maple syrup rather than overloading on the bloating bread, pasta, and potatoes all the time. Seriously, garlic bread with pasta? Want some carbs with your carbs and another beverage full of carbs to go with that? What kind of balance is that? Where are the amino acids? Sadly, this is the standard for American fast food meal! The nutritional value of one particular $4 Real Deal was determined to have four times the recommended carbs for a single meal. These “real deals” are good ways to make you real sick, really fast!
Learning to eat right is a matter of educating ourselves about how to make intelligent choices which are best for the long-term survival of ourselves, our families, and our friends! It starts with just learning to be more aware of ourselves and the self+bodymind relationship.
Water, amino acids (protein building blocks) plus vitamins and minerals. That’s what we need.
There’s a stark contrast between gut-wrenching carb overload versus healthy nutritional fuels.
We don’t even need to count carbs; counting only protein and carbs is a dumbed down method of nutritional awareness. Twenty years from now, counting only protein and carbs will be considered an archaic and uneducated method of knowing what to eat. Fact is, even with this dumbed down method, most folks don’t realize they are having 4x the carbs, 4x the fat, and 4x the protein needed to survive with almost every fast-food meal which comes served with a white bread bun, fried potatoes, and a carbonated sugar drink.
We live on a world where life as we know it would not exist without water. For most of us, the majority of our body is water. Water accounts for at least 60% of our body’s construction and as much as 90% of its weight. Every cell in our body needs water to function. If you aren’t drinking water, you’re starving yourself of 60% of your daily nutritional requirements right off the top.
So drink at least 2 liters of water per day and stop drinking so much alcohol, coffee, and soda. Just get in the habit. How? Fill two 1-liter bottles of water every morning with cold water and set them near where you work or bring them with you. Finish one by 12 noon, and finish the 2nd one by 5pm or before you leave work.
Give up the ridiculous Starbucks sugar drinks with coffee which have 1000 calories and drink more water. Water doesn’t need to be “boring” like so many people think. You can do many wonderful and nutritious things to make your water more interesting, by adding lemon, honey, maple syrup, spices, sparkling water, apple cider vinegar, and other combinations your tongue will relish and which will quench both your thirst and satisfy your taste. The way to make sure you drink enough water is to refill (2) one-liter bottles each morning and put each one near a different part of your home where you visit often. One by your sink, one by your desk, or on the coffee table. Then every time you see it, you take a sip. Finish the first bottle before 3pm. Finish the second bottle an hour or two before bed. Take a glass of water with you to bed; take another drink of water when you get up to pee at night (because you put a glass of water near your bed before going to sleep).
Eat meat and greens if you’re not a vegetarian. Don’t be afraid to eat meat! Learn about amino acids (your body’s building blocks) and stop worrying about protein and carbs. Your body takes 20 different building blocks (amino acids) and makes 20,000 proteins out of them. Your body makes 11 of these building blocks, and you need to eat 9 of the building blocks which your body doesn’t make. Animal protein contains all nine essential amino acids. You can get all nine essential amino acids from plants, but you have to eat a wide variety since no one plant contains all of the nine essential ones.
If you are a vegetarian, all you need to know is a list of which plants, seeds, and nuts, when combined, contain all nine essential amino acids that your body needs (4). Warning to vegetarians on labels: When you see a nutrition label on a “near meat” vegetarian meat substitute with 20 grams of protein,” you need to know this information is bogus. We eat amino acids, and our body manufactures proteins. A label stating “contains 20g protein” is just nonsense, because how do you know whether it supplies you with the nine essential amino acids your body needs or not? What we need to demand is that labels say, “Contains All 9 Essential Amino Acids” and then we’d know it’s a whole food with a complete nutrition profile.
Stop eating just egg whites! You could eat a dozen eggs per week without increasing your risk for heart disease or high cholesterol (5). One large whole egg contains all nine essential amino acids your body needs and could be considered a perfect food, as long as you don’t overcook the yolk. Egg yolks lose their nutritional value the longer they are cooked (7).
Milk contains 18 of the 20 available amino acids, providing your body with 9/10ths of the building blocks it needs to make every molecule your body ever requires to repair and heal itself. Your body makes the other two, so drinking milk can’t be a bad thing if it’s providing essential building blocks.
What is food? Food is something that contains some or all of the nine essential amino acids our body uses as building blocks for every function of every cell in our bodymind system, plus vitamins and minerals, and healthy carbs and fats for energy.
How many essential amino acids does soda have? Zero, none. Thus, it is not food. Consumption of material which is not food contributes to disease and cancer.
Healthy Diet – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (8)
A healthy diet is one that helps to maintain or improve overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients, micronutrients, and adequate calories.
The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of plant-based and animal-based foods, although a non-animal source of vitamin B12 is needed for those following a vegan diet. A healthy diet supports energy needs and provides for human nutrition without exposure to toxicity or excessive weight gain from consuming more calories than the body requires. A healthy diet, in addition to exercise, may lower disease risks, such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.
Various nutrition guides are published by medical and governmental institutions to educate individuals on what they should be eating to promote health. Nutrition facts labels are also mandatory in some countries to allow consumers to choose between foods based on the components relevant to health.
The idea of dietary therapy (using dietary choices to maintain health and improve poor health) is quite old and thus has both modern scientific forms (medical nutrition therapy) and prescientific forms (such as dietary therapy in traditional Chinese medicine).
A healthy diet contains a variety of different foods so that your body can get the nutrients it requires to function properly. We’re fueling an intelligent organic machine. Let’s combine our conscious intelligence with our body’s intelligence and formulate a way to make incremental improvements in the way we think about what we eat.
Wikipedia article references from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_diet
- Lean, Michael E.J. (2015). “Principles of Human Nutrition”. Medicine. 43 (2): 61–65. doi:10.1016/j.mpmed.2014.11.009. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- World Health Organization, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (2004). Vitamin and mineral requirements in human nutrition (2. ed.). Geneva [u.a.]: World Health Organization. ISBN 9241546123.
- Melina, Vesanto; Craig, Winston; Levin, Susan (December 2016). “Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets”. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 116 (12): 1970–1980. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025.
- “WHO | Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption around the world”. WHO.
- “Food information to consumers – legislation”. EU. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
Setting benefit expectations
It goes without saying that with nutritional awareness, you’ll feel better and you’ll feel better about yourself. Your immune system helps fight off disease and sickness; eating poorly makes you more likely to be sick and predisposes you to infection.
Eating a healthy diet means you reduce your inflammation, reduce your chronic pain, reduce your anxiety and improve your mental stability. You’ll be less reactive, have more energy, and you’ll be able to focus on your work and be less likely to need help from the pharmacy to sleep at night.
What you maybe can’t see where you are now is that your life choices and self-control will become more comfortable. By establishing a relationship with your bodymind, and by investing energy into learning how to breathe and eat correctly, you’ll eventually learn to change your thoughts, and your behavior will follow.
Best of all, you’ll be in the driver’s seat of your body, and you’ll be in control of your emotions and thoughts more often.
Nutritional awareness is fundamental to your survival
nutritional awareness gives you a new perspective on what you put into your mouth.
As one of the primary foundation categories for bodymind wellness, everyone who learns and applies proper nutritional awareness will benefit tremendously. Indeed, doctors, surgeons, and the insurance industry won’t profit as much if more people in the world were healing themselves with effective non-medical self-interventions.
Our bodies are not a garbage disposal. Consider why we are willing to put only oil and gasoline into our cars, while we’ll put almost anything into our mouths, even when it’s not food nor nutrition. Our food-burning engines are more tolerable to garbage than a car’s gas engine, but generally, both engines run better on premium fuels.
It all starts with a choice to make small improvements, from the command seat of our bodymind. Improving the self-bodymind connection will improve your ability to override emotional or irrational choices through conscious decision making.
Calming our diet may help to calm our body and our mind.
Imagine a better version of yourself
Would you pour anything but gasoline into your car’s gas tank? It’s somewhat astonishing to consider the fact people take better care of their cars than their own bodies.
Try not to put things into your mouth which are not FOOD (sugar, alcohol, an overload of starchy carbs).
Stop being so hard on yourself every time you lose your self-control and revert to bad habits. Eating healthy doesn’t require using recipes. Lightly sauté your choice of vegetables in a stir-fry pain in ghee (mushrooms, spinach, and Brussel sprouts), or throw some veggies like peppers and asparagus in a pan and roast them with olive oil at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. Put meat and vegetables on your plate, forget the potatoes, and drink water with your meals. Eat eggs more often. Learn to cook in larger batches which you can store in the fridge for quick fixin’s.
Find out how easy it is to make healthy choices and start practicing making those choices every time you shop. Try to focus on getting used to adding only one or two new things to your diet at a time. Cut out the barely-qualifies-as-food items such as white bread, pasta, white rice, processed foods, and other things you probably love. Slowly learn to substitute healthier choices which you like and your body loves too. The All-American diet is growing tiresome; just take a look around at the grocery store and find new things which interest you.
Maple syrup is a better choice for sugar replacement in your coffee and tastes fantastic stirred into cold brews.
Both real maple syrup (not corn syrup) and honey have more nutritional value than white sugar, cane sugar, powdered sugar, or brown sugar. Raw sugar might be nutritious. Both maple syrup and honey should be eaten raw as well.
Whether you’re a Vegan or a Carnivore, stop counting protein and figure out whether your diet provides you with the nine essential amino acids your body needs (from twenty in all).
Most of us already know exactly how it feels when we don’t take care of ourselves. The tendency becomes a habit of spending too much time hating ourselves for making poor health choices. If we hate on ourselves too often, then we’re just slowly killing ourselves. When we keep worrying and thinking about all the things which can go wrong all the time, we are generating the very feelings inside our body which we most want to avoid!
These are the reasons why we see everyone preaching gratitude, and that we need to find some damn gratitude in our lives. Spend more time being thankful, and less time hating yourself! Our failures are not entirely our fault; science tells us so. It means there’s theoretically a way out of every dark corner we may eventually find ourselves in.
Fortunately, technology augmentations can help us quickly calm our mind and regain our much-needed self-esteem, so we can start making small steps towards a better self-image. We don’t need to do it on our own when we can practice so many of the modalities found here in this Guide.
Combinations of technological augmentation and relaxation methods can help us find higher reasoning to make smarter decisions. Our survival depends on it.
Starting right now, from this moment forward, begin to imagine a better version of yourself and work on bringing it into existence through little, constant motions always with the intent of healing ourselves.
Optimal self-healing includes proper nutrition
Proper nutrition is a foundation-class bodymind requirement for optimal chances of self-healing. Premium Food is best for staying alive long enough to learn how to overcome our fears and anxieties and really live our lives. Nutrition helps with Breathing. Weight. Mental Health. Physical Health. Longevity. Energy Levels.
Proper Nutrition powers your body and mind, the mobile organism that you are driving (supposedly). Your wellness entirely depends upon your control of what your hands put into your mouth. The best way to learn how to have more control is to start exploring and combining modalities found in this guide, and find which ones work fastest for you to reduce or eliminate your chronic pain and anxiety.
We need faith in ourselves if we plan to make small nutritional gains towards higher self-awareness, and thus better self-control. It’s not actually about controlling oneself, really, as much as it is oneself learning to control the bodymind. That’s the difference which mind-body medicine brings.
Eating well starts with thinking well
Proper nutrition should normally go together with eating, but frequently what we’re putting into our mouths doesn’t count as food. A proper diet helps with your sleep, and by keeping weight off, it helps with your breathing too. Nutritious food contributes to your flexibility, fuels your problem-solving skills, powers your brain, lowers inflammation levels, and helps reduce or prevent hospital visits.
If you’re having trouble eating a healthy diet, implement the most aggressive self-care balance correction methods to get your state of mind into a place where you can rewire your thinking and start taking care of yourself. If you need to find and release emotional trauma so that you can love yourself, then do that first.
We all need work on understanding our mind-body connection. We must pay attention to ourselves, from an outside observer’s perspective, so as to catch oneself in the act, before dark thoughts make bad things happen which we’ll regret.
Start making the changes you deserve
Self-discipline. You must work on your self, body, mind relationship. You will need to pay more cash for better food more often. You’ll have to change your habits and work on continuous improvement. Your health suffers when you are negligent in this area. But you already knew that.
Stop eating the value meals at fast food chains because, well, there aren’t many things worse you can stuff into your face. Value meals are America’s food industry contributions towards your early grave, and you’re paying them to help you do it to yourself. Regularly eating that way will take years off your life, because you are poisoning your body and mind every time. Then our suffering is payment and retribution for unhealthy choices. | <urn:uuid:140b4f0b-dc20-4911-931a-5994842047a9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thebodyismind.com/ultimate-healing-guide/nutrition-reduces-chronic-pain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.938481 | 4,124 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Source: MIT post
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In the future, the energy needed to run the powerful computers on board a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centers in the world today.
That is one key finding of a new study from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) researchers that explored the potential energy consumption and related carbon emissions if autonomous vehicles are widely adopted.
The data centers that house the physical computing infrastructure used for running applications are widely known for their large carbon footprint: They currently account for about 0.3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, or about as much carbon as the country of Argentina produces annually, according to the International Energy Agency. Realizing that less attention has been paid to the potential footprint of autonomous vehicles, the MIT researchers built a statistical model to study the problem. They determined that one billion autonomous vehicles, each driving for one hour per day with a computer consuming 840 watts, would consume enough energy to generate about the same amount of emissions as data centers currently do.
The researchers also found that in over 90 percent of modeled scenarios, to keep autonomous vehicle emissions from zooming past current data center emissions, each vehicle must use less than 1.2 kilowatts of power for computing, which would require more efficient hardware. In one scenario — where 95 percent of the global fleet of vehicles is autonomous in 2050, computational workloads double every three years, and the world continues to decarbonize at the current rate — they found that hardware efficiency would need to double faster than every 1.1 years to keep emissions under those levels.
“If we just keep the business-as-usual trends in decarbonization and the current rate of hardware efficiency improvements, it doesn’t seem like it is going to be enough to constrain the emissions from computing onboard autonomous vehicles. This has the potential to become an enormous problem. But if we get ahead of it, we could design more efficient autonomous vehicles that have a smaller carbon footprint from the start,” says first author Soumya Sudhakar, a graduate student in aeronautics and astronautics.
Sudhakar wrote the paper with her co-advisors Vivienne Sze, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE); and Sertac Karaman, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics and director of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). The research appears today in the January-February issue of IEEE Micro and was presented in a TEDx talk.
The researchers built a framework to explore the operational emissions from computers on board a global fleet of electric vehicles that are fully autonomous, meaning they don’t require a back-up human driver.
The model is a function of the number of vehicles in the global fleet, the power of each computer on each vehicle, the hours driven by each vehicle, and the carbon intensity of the electricity powering each computer.
“On its own, that looks like a deceptively simple equation. But each of those variables contains a lot of uncertainty because we are considering an emerging application that is not here yet,” Sudhakar says.
For instance, some research suggests that the amount of time driven in autonomous vehicles might increase because people can multitask while driving and the young and the elderly could drive more. But other research suggests that time spent driving might decrease because algorithms could find optimal routes that get people to their destinations faster.
In addition to considering these uncertainties, the researchers also needed to model advanced computing hardware and software that doesn’t exist yet.
To accomplish that, they modeled the workload of a popular algorithm for autonomous vehicles, known as a multitask deep neural network because it can perform many tasks at once. They explored how much energy this deep neural network would consume if it were processing many high-resolution inputs from many cameras with high frame rates, simultaneously.
When they used the probabilistic model to explore different scenarios, Sudhakar was surprised by how quickly the algorithms’ workload added up.
For example, if an autonomous vehicle has 10 deep neural networks processing images from 10 cameras, and that vehicle drives for one hour a day, it will make 21.6 million inferences each day. One billion vehicles would make 21.6 quadrillion inferences. To put that into perspective, all of Facebook’s data centers worldwide make a few trillion inferences each day (1 quadrillion is 1,000 trillion).
To view the entire post, click HERE. | <urn:uuid:75233e46-4716-4f5f-9e03-b85b72152af3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thebrakereport.com/autonomous-vehicles-pose-environmental-concerns/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.951379 | 948 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Young scientists have been busy learning all about chicks and chickens during Science this week! Kindergarteners discovered the structure of hen eggs. Our Kindergartners learned that hen eggs have 5 different compartments.They learned that the shell and shell membrane are located on the outside and the yolk and egg white are located on the inside. Kindergarteners learned about the air cell, chalaza and the embryo. Our scientists are becoming bigger chick enthusiasts everyday!
This week in Math our Kindergarten mathematicians have been learning how to decompose the numbers nine and ten. Our scholars have used our fabulous five group counting skills to take apart these numbers. Kindergartens also have been practicing decomposition with a subtraction equation. Our mathematicians are able to represent subtraction story problems by breaking off numbers, crossing out numbers and hiding parts of them. Ask your Kindergartener what was their favorite part of math this week!
This week in Writing Workshop Kindergartners continued with writing “how to” stories. Our scholars have written up to five books this week. Kindergarteners enjoyed working with their “strawberry and banana” partners during these Writing Workshops to get fresh and new topics to write about. Kindergartners love writing about things in which they are experts and explaining it to others. Ask your scholar to tell you about one of the many books they have written. Stay tuned for more of this great work! | <urn:uuid:6824a712-4edc-4e4d-bb1c-397ac3096a2f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thecooperschool.org/kindergarten-weekly-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.965512 | 295 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Few greater examples of the power of social proof exist than Candid Camera.
Remember that show?
If you’re unfamiliar or you’ve forgotten, Candid Camera started as a radio show, and was first aired on TV in 1948. It consisted of all manner of (harmless yet humorous) social experiments, clips of which are now used and abused by Psych 101 teachers across the nation. There are many, many gems in the series, two personal favorites being “Only walk on the black squares” and “Don’t eat when the light is on” (by the way, both are humorous examples of the power of authority, seen or unseen, a profoundly effective negotiation tactic).
For our purposes, let’s talk about the classic episode the “Elevator Experiment.” Over the course of this experiment, 3 Candid Camera staffers get into an elevator with an unsuspecting subject. Simple enough. Then, the staffers, instead of standing facing the door of the elevator, turn to face the back wall.
The question is: will the subject also turn to face the back of the elevator?
If you haven’t watched the video before, it’s well worth the click and 2 minutes to see the subjects, one after another, confusedly look around the elevator and slowly turn (sometimes by quarters and sometimes all at once) to face the back of the elevator. And, if you’re wondering if the experiment holds up, there is in fact a 21st century update, which you can catch here.
The reason for the elevator turns is simple enough: social proof.
In other words, social proof is the fact that we view a behavior as more or less correct depending on how many other people we see engaging in that behavior in a given context.
Ergo, if everybody else in the elevator is facing backwards, so too should you be!
Another classic experiment in social conformity is the Asch conformity study, wherein one experimental participant sits at a table with 4 incognito researchers. A board is shown to everyone at the table with lines of different lengths, and each participant is asked to note which two lines match. Easy enough.
Except that when all of the incognito researchers state an obviously wrong answer, so too does the experimental participant. Social proof truly is a strong mechanism of persuasion and influence.
In the context of negotiation, persuasion, and influence, we see this play out on a daily basis, elevator notwithstanding: testimonials on sales pages, Google or Yelp reviews, laugh tracks in sitcoms, whether the mask goes over the nose, queuing in line at the grocery…
How then, can you use social proof in your negotiations?
First, remember that we’re most likely to copy behaviors of people who resemble ourselves.
This means that it’s imperative that you find some common ground with the folks on the other side of the table. Do you both have 2 kids? Love dogs? Enjoy a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich before particularly grueling days? Figure out where the common ground lies so that you can build a bridge of resemblance.
Also, if you can, tailor your style of dress to reflect that of the other folks in the negotiation. Similarity in appearance is a subconscious means of building commonality and literal resemblance.
Next, who you bring with you matters in terms of social proof, as does your team’s layout in the room. Absolutely do not hesitate to bring any necessary experts with you to the table. Attorneys for legal issues, financial analysts for money issues, managers who will be implementing any new software or products you’re acquiring… bring the folks who know all the details about the possible fallout of any deal you’re doing.
To that end, be sure you’re leaving out folks who don’t belong at the table. Anyone who isn’t on board with your goals for the negotiation, or who doesn’t understand the plan to get there absolutely does not belong in the room.
In terms of room layout, if you have three or four folks on your team, you might consider sitting on all different sides of the room or table. This does two things — one, it creates a tangible cooperative layout. It’s not us vs them, it’s everyone at the table, coming to an agreement. Emphasis on cooperative processes unconsciously biases the ‘opposing’ party to disoproportionately focus on what you have in common… it’s a gentle application of social pressure as you go.
Second, hearing voices in agreement at different points in the room makes it look and sound like that perspective is the more socially acceptable one to take. Remember: social proof is the fact that we are wont to speak and act in the ways we see and hear others speaking and acting.
How will you build social proof into your next deal? Leave a comment and let us know — we’d love to feature you on the Persuasion Lab Podcast!
Related Podcast Episodes: | <urn:uuid:5f80113b-6fd0-4fc1-b3ce-1a262232e600> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thepersuasionlab.com/how-to-break-through-on-your-negotiation-with-the-power-of-social-proof/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.930471 | 1,050 | 2.6875 | 3 |
In a rapidly changing world, it’s more important than ever to keep up with the latest educational trends. Staying ahead of the curve can give your child a competitive edge and set them up for success in the future.
If you want to help your child get the most out of their education, it’s essential to know what’s going on in the world of modern education. Here are some of the latest innovations in teaching that you should be aware of.
For many students, traditional lectures and tests can seem dry and overwhelming. That’s why more educators are embracing project-based learning, which focuses on having students work together to complete a task.
Through this experiential learning, students can explore and solve complex problems while honing their collaboration and critical thinking skills. Students work on projects requiring them to research, plan, and execute solutions. This type of learning is more effective than traditional methods in preparing students for the workforce.
Although project-based learning takes more effort and preparation from educators, it can be one of the most rewarding approaches to modern education. By giving students hands-on experience, they can develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today’s world.
This teaching method takes into account the different learning styles of each student. It’s an effective way to ensure that each student receives the individualized instruction they need to thrive.
With differentiated instruction, teachers tailor their lessons according to the student’s needs, such as their prior knowledge of a subject, abilities, and interests. This type of instruction allows teachers to reach each student more effectively and ensure they get the most out of their education.
In taking into account each individual’s needs, teachers are better able to foster an environment of learning and growth. As a result, students become more engaged, motivated, and prepared to succeed.
The process of applying game-like mechanics to non-game activities, such as learning, is called gamification. In education, gamification can make learning more fun and engaging for students. It can also help motivate students to stay on track with their studies outside school hours.
Especially today, more and more students are used to playing video games and interacting with technology. Educators can tap into these interests by introducing gaming elements into their curriculum and making learning more enjoyable. Statistics have shown that global gamification in the education market has reached $860.13 million in 2021. That means more and more educators recognize the power of gamification in modern education.
With gamification, teachers can encourage students to work harder and stay focused on their studies. Through points and levels, rewards and achievements, students are more likely to stay motivated and engaged in their learning. This, in turn, can lead to a better understanding of the material and make learning more enjoyable for everyone.
A flipped classroom is a learning environment where students watch lectures at home and do their homework in class. This setup allows teachers to use class time for more hands-on activities, such as group work and discussions.
Flipped classrooms are an effective way to learn, especially for visual learners. Instead of memorizing facts, students have more opportunities to ask questions and engage with the material. Additionally, it gives teachers a chance to provide more personalized support and individual attention to each student.
Flipped classrooms are changing how educators think about teaching and learning. Many teachers have found that their students are more engaged and motivated, leading to better classroom experiences.
Not all students have access to the same learning opportunities. Remote learning provides education to students who cannot attend school in person due to geographical barriers, health concerns, or other reasons.
Remote learning can effectively deliver educational content to students anywhere in the world. By using technology, educators can provide students with learning materials and resources accessible from any device. They can also monitor student activity by working through a remote desktop application. It works for both synchronous learning (in real-time) and asynchronous learning (anytime, anywhere).
As an educator, all you need is to invest in the right software that fulfills your computer’s operating system. For instance, your laptop has a Windows 10 operating system. In that case, you should look for a remote desktop for Windows 10 to ensure it works correctly.
Remote learning has become an invaluable tool in modern education. It allows students to access educational content from anywhere and gives educators more control over the learning process. So, with remote learning, more students can participate in the educational system and gain knowledge.
These are just a few examples of the many innovative teaching methods being used in schools today. By staying up-to-date on these latest trends, you can give your child a leg up in their education and prepare them for success in the modern world. | <urn:uuid:4612fc08-1c8f-450c-81f1-ac1ef0b5ba5d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thewriterscoffeeshop.com/innovative-teaching-modern-ways-to-streamline-learning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.961541 | 970 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The biggest challenge facing regulators and players in the metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Web3 platforms is educating users, experts have said.
“Most often, we find that people judge this world of cryptos and metaverse based on external experiences, rather than from within. You will not understand it unless you are fully immersed in this ecosystem,” Marwan Al Zarouni, chief executive of the Dubai Blockchain Centre, said at DIFC FinTech Week in Dubai on Tuesday.
“Unless you have a digital wallet, transfer money between wallets, browse through NFT collections, add yourself to Discord channels and talk to communities, you will not understand the value-adds offered by these assets.”
Web3 is the emerging third generation of the World Wide Web — blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components — while Web2 is the current iteration.
Meanwhile, the metaverse is a digital space that allows users to communicate and move virtually in their three-dimensional avatars or digital representations. It is part of Web3 and projected to reach $5 trillion by 2030, according to a recent report by McKinsey & Company.
NFTs are digital avatars of artworks and collectibles. Ownership of these digital assets is recorded on a blockchain, which is a digital ledger. But, unlike currencies where every token is of equal value and can be swapped for any other, NFTs have unique qualities that stop them from being interchangeable or fungible.
“You owe it to yourself to educate yourself about this new world. You don’t have to invest a lot of money to educate yourself; there’s a huge community to support you,” Mr Al Zarouni said.
“Make the first connection with a trusted person who can guide you. Spend some time on these ecosystems and have first-hand experience before making a judgement.”
Metaverse consists of three main pillars, according to Nadeem Ladki, executive director of business development and strategic partnerships at cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
It includes the platform where you interact (such as Sandbox or Mana), tools and the hardware used for an immersive experience (like mixed reality, augmented reality, virtual reality or ocular headsets), and the assets and purchases people make in the metaverse (such as NFTs and crypto payments), Mr Ladki said at the event.
“Right now, everyone is connecting on Web3 wallets and DeFi wallets anonymously. On-chain reputation and identity will become crucial in how we interact with each other,” the Binance executive said.
“The next big uptake will be around digital identity, security and trust in who you deal with in the metaverse.”
Value-adds from the metaverse include experience, attention and gamification, Mr Al Zarouni said.
A lot of people who join the metaverse are seeking social interaction or experiences unavailable in the real world, while companies target the digital realm for captive consumer attention, he said.
The metaverse is where people interact in a digital space and are able to purchase and sell virtual assets in some shape or form, said Basil Al Askari, co-founder and chief executive of MidChains, an Abu Dhabi-based virtual asset trading exchange.
“It doesn’t necessarily need to be cryptos; it could be transactions with cryptos, cash or fiat currency,” Mr Al Alkari said.
Grasping blockchain and smart contracts is confusing for most people, according to Amrita Sethi, a banker-turned-NFT artist in the UAE.
“There is an obsession to understand how blockchain works. If you are an artist who wants to create digital art, you don’t need to understand blockchain,” she said.
“First approach a platform that will do all the work for you. Don’t be stuck in that initial phase of trying to understand the technology.”
A lot of artists are also intimidated at how they need to be active on platforms such as Discord and Twitter.
Fundamentally strip it down to what you would be doing in the physical world, she suggested.
“Follow your own path and develop your community in an authentic manner. Physical artwork is still important despite the emergence of NFTs,” Ms Sethi said.
“What people are beginning to lose sight of, because of the hype around NFTs, is that it has triggered a creators’ revolution and a paradigm shift in the way artists can have a voice and unlock creativity like never before.” | <urn:uuid:c5ce16d6-816a-4046-a5fd-ed9134e5f82f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thietkenhadep.us/awareness-is-the-biggest-obstacle-to-using-nfts-web3-and-metaverse-experts-say/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.947349 | 966 | 2.53125 | 3 |
ThinPack Battery Manufacturing Process
Battery manufacturing is a complex process that involves multiple steps from component sourcing to testing and packaging. The process starts with obtaining the raw materials, such as lead, sulfuric acid, and electrolytes, which are then combined to form the active components of the battery. These components are then arranged into a cell structure and connected with the necessary wiring. The cells are then assembled into the desired battery form and undergo quality checks to guarantee they perform well. Finally, the battery is sealed and tested for safety, efficiency, and overall performance before being packaged and shipped.
1. Preparation: Raw materials such as graphite, aluminum, copper, and other metals are prepared to create the electrode slurry. This slurry is then mixed with a binder to form a paste.
2. Coating: The paste is then spread onto a metallic current collector to form the electrode. The coating process can be done by hand, using a doctor’s blade, or by using a coating machine.
3. Drying and Curing: The electrode is then dried and cured at a controlled temperature.
4. Calendering: The electrode is then subjected to a process called calendering, which is a process that applies pressure to the electrode to ensure uniform thickness and density.
5. Punching: The electrode is then punched and cut into the desired shape and size.
6. Assembly: The electrode is then ready to be assembled with other components in the battery.
Equipment Used in Electrode Manufacturing
- Slitting Machine
- Coating Machine
- Punching Machine
- Pre-forming Machine
- Folding Machine
- Shaping Machine
- Drying Oven
- Calendaring Machine
- Drying Machine
- Impregnation Machine
Cell Assembly Process
· Start by constructing the positive and negative plates. This includes stacking the plates, welding the lugs, and applying a thin layer of paste to the top and bottom of each plate.
· Plates are placed in a container and filled with a solution of sulfuric acid and water. Then the lid is placed on the container and seal it.
· The container is placed in a curing oven and it is heated to the proper temperature for the desired curing time. After the battery has cured, we remove it from the oven and let it cool.
· We connect the positive and negative plates together with a positive and negative lead. Insert the positive and negative terminals into the cell casing.
· Fill the cell casing with the appropriate electrolyte solution. Seal the cell casing and inspect it for leaks.
· Place the cell casing in a testing chamber and run the appropriate tests to ensure that the battery is functioning properly.
· Place the completed cell in its final packaging and label it with all of the necessary information.
Machines Used in Cell Assembly Process
The equipment used in battery cell assembly includes assembly machines, welders, testers, laser cutters, spot welders, stacking machines, crimpers, winding machines, and presses. In addition, other tools such as screwdrivers, soldering irons, wrenches, and tweezers may be necessary to complete the assembly.
Battery Cell Finishing
Battery cell finishing is the process of preparing a battery cell for its intended use. This involves a variety of tests and treatments such as cell balancing, discharging, charging, heat cycling, quality control, and final assembly of the cells into a battery pack. The goal of this process is to ensure that the cells are safe, efficient, and reliable.
The equipment used in the battery cell finishing process includes a battery tester, battery pack assembly machine, lead forming machine, welding machine, ultrasonic welding machine, shrink wrap machine, and battery cell sorting machine. | <urn:uuid:2ac4b040-57ca-4aff-b5f4-0e78911d2d4c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://thinpackpower.com/manufacturing-process/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.913655 | 771 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Vibration sensors, also known as piezoelectric sensors, are versatile tools for the measurement of various processes. These sensors use the piezoelectric effect, which measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain or force by converting them to an electrical charge. A vibration sensor can also be used to determine aromas in the air by simultaneously measuring resonance and capacitance.
Vibration sensor devices are ideal for measuring the amount and frequency of vibration in machines or equipment. The measurements can then be used to detect and monitor certain issues like imbalances to help highlight future breakdowns in the machine. The range of vibration can vary greatly so you should always specify vibration sensors to measure the maximum vibration range of your application.
Who would use a piezoelectric sensor?
Medical industryEngineersVehicle designersNuclear Technicians
Ohms rating differs for contact resistanceVarious sizes are availableMaximum vibration reading can hit 29400 m/s²
What is the difference between a vibration sensor and an accelerometer?
Accelerometers measures acceleration but not necessarily vibration. However, vibration sensors can measure a quantity of acceleration and for this reason are a type of accelerometer.
Things to consider when choosing a vibration sensor
Vibration range and sensitivity - General thinking is that if a machine produces high amplitude vibrations a low sensitivity sensor is better. If the vibration is less than 10 g rms, a 100 mV/g sensor should generally be used.Frequency - important to know the frequency span you need to measureTemperature - high temperatures can affect the performanceExposure to chemicals or debris - contact can affect the reliability of the measurements and monitoringEnvironment - hazardous atmospheres require specifically designed devices for use in dangerous areasWhere the vibration sensor is located - top exit, side exit or low profile are available | <urn:uuid:03502f85-d4d8-4b73-8240-92d9d5257157> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://twcn.rs-online.com/web/c/automation-control-gear/sensors/vibration-sensors/?applied-dimensions=4291762234 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.872345 | 369 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Many young adults struggle with loneliness. For example, a national survey found that almost 70% of Gen-Zers and 71% of millennials are lonely vs. 50% of baby-boomers (1,2).
For some, this could be further increased by COVID 19 (Corona)related social distancing, quarantine, isolation.
Feelings of loneliness can increase symptoms of depression (3) and over time, worsen cognitive function (4).
The American Psychological Association offers the following strategies to cope with loneliness/isolation (5):
- When possible, plan ahead by considering how you might spend your time, who you can contact for psychosocial support and how you can address any physical or mental health needs.
- Create and follow a daily routine. This can help with a sense of order and purpose. Try to include regular daily activities, such as work, exercise or learning, and other healthy activities as needed.
- Maintain virtual contact such as phone calls, text messages, video chat and social media to access social support networks.
- Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Get enough sleep, eat well and exercise in your home when you are physically capable of doing so. Try to avoid using alcohol or drugs as a way to cope with the stresses of isolation and quarantine.
- Consider telehealth or telecounseling (see campus and surrounding resources below).
- Limit excessive news consumption to reliable sources because too much exposure to media coverage can increase feelings of fear and anxiety.
- Balance this time with other activities unrelated to quarantine or isolation, such as reading, listening to music or learning a new language.
Psychological strategies to manage stress and stay positive during times of loneliness/isolation (5):
- Take a look at your worries and aim to be realistic in your assessment of the actual concern as well as your ability to cope. Keeping a dairy may help.
- Focus on what you can do and accept the things you can’t change.
- Keep a daily gratitude journal. This will help you appreciate the positives which can help reduce stress.
- Practice mindfulness and relaxation exercises. There many online resources that can help, including our mental health strategies video series.
- Focusing on the altruistic reasons for social distancing, quarantine or isolation can also help mitigate psychological distress. Remember that by taking such measures, you are reducing the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 and protecting those who are most vulnerable.
- For some, periodic isolation can be a time of solitude—an opportunity to step back from your daily life and re-focus on your priorities and longer term goals. This can help you better deal with shorter term challenges. This can also help you identify things that you could add or subtract when you return to your usual life. What tasks or goals have you been putting off that you can now address because of this time? Can you do research on future goals?
- Change the scene. Take a walk outside when possible. Fresh air, and seeing others even at a distance may help reduce feelings of loneliness.
- Consider online discussion groups based on hobbies such as books, movies, shows, crafts, gaming, video games, professional interests, sports, community area, etc.
- Consider a discussion group with your classmates.
- Many places now offer online group fitness, yoga, and virtual races.
- Schedule a time to virtual visits with friends or family.
- Campus and surrounding resources related to mental health.
If you would like to be notified of future blog posts please enter your email above. There are 1-2 posts per month.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes. With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.
- Cacioppo JT, Hawkley LC, Thisted RA. Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Psychol Aging. 2010;25(2):453–463. doi:10.1037/a0017216
- Cacioppo JT, Cacioppo S. Older adults reporting social isolation or loneliness show poorer cognitive function 4 years later. Evidence-Based Nursing 2014;17:59-60. | <urn:uuid:a4f63c11-fdca-4a03-95b6-c44e79a4f21a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://u.osu.edu/emotionalfitness/category/isolation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.900791 | 948 | 3.328125 | 3 |
The recent capture of a 17-foot, 198-pound python in Florida generated national headlines, mostly because it was the second-heaviest python ever caught in the Sunshine State.
The main image showed five men posing with the dead python, which, as one meteorologist remarked, boasted a head “the size of a football.”
Such captures are indeed noteworthy. Burmese pythons are highly invasive and threaten native wildlife. They do not belong in Florida and the state encourages hunting and removal.
But what people rarely see, because the swamp-dwelling reptiles are nocturnal, are giant live pythons roaming in broad daylight.
One remarkable exception occurred last January, when a photographer out birding with friends captured video footage of a massive python slithering across a road in Everglades National Park.
View this post on Instagram
Kym Clark, who captured the footage, recalled the surprise 11 a.m. encounter for ForTheWin Outdoors.
“It was a very random encounter,” Clark said. “There were no hunters or weapons. We never expected this. Once it hit the grass, it vanished completely in seconds.”
Pythons in Florida prey on native mammals, including deer. They also eat birds and other reptiles, including alligators.
Clark said watching the clearly pregnant python escape caused her to take a more active role in helping with eradication efforts.
Hunters pose with the second-largest python ever caught in Florida. Photo: Mike Elfenbein
“She was loaded with eggs,” Clark explained. “From that day on, I started learning how to hunt pythons because I vow to never let them go again.
“I can catch pythons now, but being honest, I’m not sure I could catch her, even today. It would take at least two strong men in my opinion. But I will sure try if I have the opportunity to meet a monster like this again.”
Clark and her friend estimated the python to measure perhaps 18 feet.
After looking at photos of the 17-foot, 198-pound python captured last week, Clark said she believes the python she and her friends encountered “was actually larger than that.”
The heaviest python captured in Florida was an 18-foot, 215-pound specimen killed in Picayune Strand State Forest in 2021. The longest python measured 19 feet but weighed only 125 pounds. | <urn:uuid:ab8ee5e5-b33e-4b5e-9836-a93bd6174e88> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/florida-hunters-bag-giant-python-173019722.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.957437 | 515 | 2.921875 | 3 |
In November 2017, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) released new guidelines for blood pressure, lowering the range of what’s considered a high blood pressure reading. The end result: 46 percent of Americans now are considered to have high blood pressure, up from 32 percent under the old guidelines.
It may seem scary to think about 30 million more people having high blood pressure, or hypertension, essentially overnight. But the new guidelines are a step in the right direction. They recognize our growing understanding of high blood pressure and why we shouldn’t manage it through medical treatments alone. Patients and their doctors have to have strong communication and good partnerships in order to understand and treat this dangerous condition.
We measure blood pressure in millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. You’ve probably heard blood pressure given as one number over another number, such as 120 over 80. The first number is systolic pressure, and the second number is diastolic pressure.
The new blood pressure scale is as follows:
- Normal blood pressure: less than 120 mmHg systolic; less than 80 mmHg diastolic
- Elevated blood pressure: 120 to 129 mmHg systolic; less than 80 mmHg diastolic
- Stage 1 high blood pressure: 130 to 139 mmHg systolic; 80 to 89 mmHg diastolic
- Stage 2 high blood pressure: 140 or above mmHg systolic; 90 or above mmHg diastolic
It’s important to note that these aren’t magic cutoff points. The risk doesn’t suddenly appear once a patient crosses the threshold into a high-blood-pressure stage. It’s something patients and doctors need to be thinking about and managing long-term.
Heart and vascular risk from high blood pressure
Studies have observed that cardiovascular risk increases as blood pressure rises beginning even at 115 mmHg systolic and 75 mmHg diastolic – measurements that fall well within the range of what’s classified as normal blood pressure.
High blood pressure has a strong connection to a person’s overall risk for heart and vascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes. If you’re between ages 40 and 89, the AHA notes that your risk for heart disease and stroke doubles with every 20 points of systolic pressure and every 10 points of diastolic pressure.
Taken together with any other factors you might have, such as a family history of heart or vascular disease, or being overweight or obese, your blood pressure is a piece of the puzzle your doctor puts together to decide how to manage that risk. If you’re at relatively low risk, you might be able to lower your high blood pressure through lifestyle changes without the use of medications. If you’re at high risk, however, you’ll very likely need to use both lifestyle changes and medications. People who have high blood pressure along with another risk factor, such as diabetes or chronic kidney disease, are examples of those who are at higher risk.
Blood pressure in older adults
The new blood pressure guidelines apply for most U.S. adults. Previous studies have recommended higher target numbers for older adults, who are at particular risk for high blood pressure. However, with people living longer and enjoying a better quality of life, the new guidelines focus more on overall risk. There are a couple of caveats to consider:
- Even in healthy older adults, it’s important to capture standing blood pressure. That’s exactly what it sounds like: blood pressure that’s taken while you’re standing. A word of caution to seniors, however – older people are more likely to fall and are more at risk when they do, and standing up sometimes can cause a rapid drop in blood pressure because of poor blood flow to the brain. If the blood pressure drops too low, it can cause fainting, also known as syncope.
- These guidelines don’t necessarily apply to older patients who live in nursing homes or who otherwise don’t live independently. This demographic was not studied in the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) study, whose data helped inform the AHA and ACC’s new blood pressure guidelines. It’s important to talk to your loved one’s doctor about good blood pressure management. We hope to learn more about high blood pressure management in older adults in the future, as UT Southwestern is a participating site for a clinical trial examining whether intensive blood pressure control can prevent mental decline in patients with high blood pressure.
Measuring and controlling blood pressure
The AHA and ACC are clear in the new guidelines that nondrug treatments should take center stage in managing high blood pressure. That’s a responsibility for both patients and their doctors. Monitoring blood pressure should be a routine part of both doctors’ visits and everyday life for people.
We doctors need to do a better job of starting these conversations earlier, especially with the thresholds of high blood pressure starting at lower levels. Likewise, I encourage patients to check their numbers outside the doctor’s office. At-home measurements can provide more accurate information that reflects a patient’s normal routine. I recommend measuring at least three times in one sitting and averaging the results of the second and third test, because the first one tends to be too high. Keep track of these readings, and show them to your doctor.
The AHA recommends blood pressure cuffs used on the biceps, or upper arm, rather than on the wrist for better readings. Your doctor can show you how to use the device.
Related reading: Should people check their blood pressure at home?
Knowing your numbers is important, but equally important is keeping them under control. If your doctor prescribes medication to lower your high blood pressure, it’s essential that you use it along with making changes in your lifestyle. Blood pressure medications aren’t as effective if you simply take them with no other changes. If your blood pressure falls within the guidelines for stage 2 high blood pressure, your doctor might prescribe two or more medications. This makes it easier to control your high blood pressure with a lower risk of side effects, rather than simply increasing the dosage of a single blood pressure medication.
One of the most effective lifestyle changes I recommend is managing how much sodium, or salt, you consume per day. As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes, the average U.S. woman consumes 2,980 milligrams of sodium each day, and the average man has 4,240 milligrams. People with high blood pressure should have less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, which is equal to approximately 3,800 milligrams of salt.
Many foods people think are healthy and safe, such as sandwich bread, canned vegetables, and rotisserie chicken, can be loaded with high levels of sodium. One of the easiest ways to find out how much sodium is in your food is to use smartphone apps. Several apps provide detailed nutrition information simply by searching for the brand name and the type of food – even restaurant dishes.
Related reading: Should you eat less sodium? The answer is – it depends
Although most people with high blood pressure should consume less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, those who are prone to have a large drop in blood pressure while standing may not be able to tolerate a low-sodium diet. They may be more prone to have dizziness or fainting with prolonged standing. The new blood pressure guidelines aren’t going to solve the problem of high blood pressure overnight. That’s not what they’re designed to do. But I’m hopeful that they’ll start prompting more and better conversations between patients and their doctors earlier in the process, which I hope leaves people with real, practical guidance on how to keep their blood pressure under control. The more we can work together, the better we can handle this national issue.
Request an appointment with one of our cardiologists if you need help getting your blood pressure under control. | <urn:uuid:fe1bb1bc-aeae-4f43-ac9a-c5c32eadfc51> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://utswmed.org/medblog/blood-pressure-guidelines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.928716 | 1,690 | 3.59375 | 4 |
homework help of managerial economics
Managerial economics assignment help is an undisputed subject of economics that is being taken by students who are opting for higher courses. Students generally face a lot of difficulties while attempting the managerial economics assignment, as it needs a lot of research and thorough knowledge on the subject. We connect our users to subject experts who are already assisting numerous students with the completion of managerial economics assignments.
Below is the guide, which students can access for attempting managerial economics assignments. We have prepared the brief for all upcoming students who have decided to pursue managerial economics as a specialization in their respective colleges.
Analyzing Managerial Economics and Characteristics required to excel in the field and various types of managerial economics practices and career scope
The article revolves around the integrated field of economics and management- Managerial Economics. It offers brief information about the subject and discusses the blend of economic and management practices in the field. From the article, the readers can understand the required characteristics to develop a successful character in the field and the types of practices in the department. Also, the article offers an introduction to the various career options a person is offered in the field of managerial economics
Managerial economics is a branch, which encompasses both economic, and management theories in its theoretical and practical study. The blended field of managerial economics uses economic theories to manage the operational processes of an organization.
Managerial economics requires a complete understanding of economics to understand the impact of economic issues and consequently take appropriate management action.
The nature of managerial economics constitutes all the naturalistic characteristics of economics and management that make it a branch of highlighted importance.
Characteristics Required to Establish a Career in
For any person to develop a career in managerial economics and achieve success, it is necessary to first acquire some characteristics to fit in perfectly with the nature of managerial economics.
- a) Artistic Thinking: The manager needs to have imaginative talents as well as the ability to think critically about how to make the best use of resources and make the best out of them for the company's improvement.
- b) Analyzing Thinking: Managerial economics is considered a part of science as it requires observation of external and internal factors, finding conclusions, and then taking the appropriate decision.
- c) Knowledge of Microeconomics: Understanding of microeconomics in managerial economics holds major importance because, similar to micro-economics, decision-making in an organization requires analyzing the internal factors in an economy to make the decisions for the organization to perform well domestically d) macro-economic Knowledge: In order to perform at a global standard, it is necessary for the economic manager to have complete and clear knowledge of macroeconomics to analyze the global economic factors, draw conclusions and take decisions.
Types of Practices in Managerial Economics
- a) Liberal: Managerial economics requires a person to think with the perspective that customers have free will in their decisions and they play an important role in the company’s success. Therefore considering this concept while managing the organization’s operations is very necessary.
- b) Radical Approach: Customers and the organization’s profit must be considered with qua importance. The manager is required to analyze the situation and consider both factors of the organization’s growth and customer satisfaction and take relevant decisions.
- c) Normative Approach: Managerial economics practitioners must develop a practical approach as well to dominate economic conditions such as through effective cost management techniques, advertising the product to attract customers, etc.
Career Scope in Managerial Economics
Management and economic analysis is very important for any organization to grow and achieve success, which increases the demand and career scope for persuaders of Managerial Economics
The field offers career opportunities in the following dimensions:
- Banking Sector
- Research and Development Sector
- Government Sectors
- Financial Risk Analyst
- Financial Planner
- Economist Researcher
- Business Economist
- Investment Analyst
All our assignment is plagiarism-free and can be used as a sample by students who are stuck in their managerial economics assignment.
Feel free to call or connect with us on our online platform for a free sample for assignment help.
Our services are simple and fast which are 24*7 available for students. We deliver all our projects within the stipulated deadline.
Www.valueassignmenthelp.com is the best online assignment help that your money can buy. Don’t waste your precious time in searching the entire online arena for completing your assignment as we have years of experience in delivering successful HD assignments to students studying across various colleges and institutes in Australia, Canada, Germany, UK, USA, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, and other countries. Our subject expert meets all the standard requirements that are set by your colleges for online assignment homework and coursework. | <urn:uuid:b015a8fe-1666-4d22-8136-b6177a53421a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://valueassignmenthelp.com/blog/managerial-economics-assignment-help | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.931781 | 970 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Mouse in the house | What are the signs of infestation?
Rodents, ah! What a nightmare! Like their rat friends, mice seek food and a warm shelter. Without knowing it, we provide them with everything they need and that is why they like to stay close to humans for as long as possible.
A mouse infestation is usually not detected until very late because mice love hiding and during the day you will hardly ever see one. Great vigilance is therefore required. If you have a mouse invasion, time is of the essence, and that's why you need to be able to recognize and detect signs of an infestation quickly.
What do mice look like?
Typically, a house mouse is 3 to 10 cm long and weighs 12 to 45 g. What sets it apart from rats is its slender tail covered in hair and its ears, which are vastly larger than its head. Mice are covered with short hairs which are slightly lighter on the stomach.
How do mice get inside homes?
During a mouse infestation, the first thing you have to do is identify the entry point where the mice get inside your home and close that access point. This will not solve the infestation immediately, but it will prevent the mice from coming back again and again.
Mice can enter the house from:
- An opening in the exterior walls (upright joints, ventilation holes, etc.) ?
- An opening under a door (garage door, entrance door, back door, etc.)?
- A window that is not well framed?
- The vegetation around your house, which they manage to climb to get inside?
- Openings in the foundation of the house?
- Heating or air conditioning ducts, around which we usually leave some space. It's the perfect network for mice to roam around the house.?
- A gutter?
What problems can they cause?
Rodents invade many homes each winter, and an infestation can cause more than a headache for homeowners since mice can spread disease and cause severe damage once inside. They can seriously damage buildings and even cause fires by gnawing at electrical wires.
The accumulation of mouse droppings can spread bacteria, contaminate food sources and trigger allergic reactions in humans. Once the stools are dry, they can be dangerous for those who inhale them. Rodent droppings can spread diseases and viruses (salmonellosis, bubonic plague, hantavirus, etc.) so it is important to react quickly and contact a professional mouse exterminator.
Signs of a mouse infestation
When you hear scratching noises in the attic or false ceilings, or when you notice gnawed corners or nibbled objects, it is possible that a mouse infestation is the reason. Mice multiply quickly even if they are only passing by so it is important to know how to detect the first signs of infestation quickly to prevent the situation from getting worse.
1. Mouse droppings ?
The presence of feces is the best evidence of a mouse infestation. On average, mice do 50 to 80 droppings per day. They are scattered all over the house since mice move around a lot and feed in different places. The droppings have an elongated shape and are around 3-8mm long.
Fresh feces are dark and moist. As they age, they dry out and turn gray and crumble easily to the touch. Excrements make it possible to detect the places where mice wander around, feed and live. This is why they are most often found near food packages, in drawers or cupboards, under sinks, etc. You will find the greatest number of droppings where mice nest or feed.
2. Nibble marks?
Besides feces, gnawing damage is the second most important indicator to identify a mouse infestation. Mice must be careful to continually shorten their teeth so they gnaw on different materials to sharpen their teeth.
Mice eat almost anything: furniture, baseboards, walls, ceilings, foundations, floors and electrical cables. Nibble marks usually consist of two parallel grooves 1 to 2 mm apart. Act quickly when you notice nibble marks because mice can potentially bite power cables and start a fire.
3. Musky odor?
Mice emit a strong, unpleasant odor, which is especially noticeable in enclosed spaces, such as closets or sealed attics. The odor comes from the urine or ammonia produced by the mice. This smell helps them orient themselves and mark their territory. Each family of mice has its own unique scent, which allows them to recognize each other.
Pets are very good at detecting rodent scents, so if you see your pet pawing in an area they previously had no interest in, take a closer look at the area. If the smell is really prevalent, you could have a heavy mouse infestation on your hands.
4. Grease marks and mouse tracks?
If mice are currently active in your home, their tracks are likely to be detectable. Mice usually follow the same route and frequently pass through the same places so they often rub their greasy coat against the wall or the floor, leaving dark greasy marks on their path.
Other traces that mice are likely to leave in their path are their footprints (visible on the dusty floors of attics or cellars). However, this is still an unreliable indicator so to know if you currently have an infestation, make sure to clean the surface and place a very thin layer of flour or talc. If the mice are active, you will likely see new trails in the powder.
5. Scratching noises?
Mice are generally most active just before sunrise or just after sunset. They are very curious animals, and because of their poor eyesight, they depend entirely on their sense of smell, touch and hearing. Therefore, if you hear scratching noises in the morning or evening, it is most likely hungry mice looking for food.
Mice are good climbers, they can move from one floor to another without any problem through walls. So you can potentially hear scratching noises in the walls, false ceilings and the attic.
6. Mouse nests?
Mice are small rodents that like to live in groups so you will rarely find them alone. Due to their small size and their ability to climb and squeeze in small hollows, they can nest almost anywhere. However, they prefer quiet places, protected from light and with a nearby food source (attics, walls, etc.).
Unlike rats, which need a nearby water source, mice don't need that much water. They can survive by consuming the water from the food they find. Mice use whatever they find as materials to build their nests (paper, fabric, branches, cardboard, dried plants, etc.).
How do you get rid of mice?
It is often said that prevention is the best medicine, this is even more true when it comes to a mouse infestation. Here are some tips to help prevent mice from infiltrating your home:
- Eliminate easily accessible entry points by ensuring that the metal weatherstripping under doors are in good condition and by caulking windows?
- Seal cracks in foundations or walls
- Cover the ventilation ducts of the dryer with a fine wire mesh?
- Eliminate potential nesting sites around your home and garage?
- Cut tall grass and weeds near your house?
- Put your waste in closed containers?
- Keep your kitchen clean?
- Store food in containers with a tight-fitting lid?
If you are facing a mouse infestation, one of the first thing to do is set up traps to attract mice. Whether they are spring traps or electronic traps, they are easy to handle and very effective when placed in the right place.
These traps usually kill mice instantly or are triggered when the animal steps on them. However, before using a trap, here are some guidelines to follow:
- Install your traps at right angles to a wall?
- Place the traps without engaging them for the first 3 days so that the mice get used to them. That way, they won't hesitate to grab the bait when the traps are finally set
- Use strong smelling foods that are sticky (peanut butter, bacon fat, etc.)?
- Reuse traps?
- Check your traps every day?
Products to use
To combat a mouse infestation, you can also use poison baits, lining the outside with a repellent to prevent new mice from entering, but also placing them in areas of the house suitable for nesting. However, mouse poisons or repellents are not harmless.
It is recommended that you hire a pest management service to get rid of your infestation safely and effectively. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like more information about our services. | <urn:uuid:a51eb928-5338-456e-bbce-71dd4b4b88cc> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://vextermination.com/en/blog/article/mouse-in-the-house--what-are-the-signs-of-infestation.15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.955081 | 1,809 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Music, fashion, technology, and values—all are products of culture. But what do they mean? How do sociologists perceive and interpret culture based on these material and nonmaterial items? Let’s finish our analysis of culture by reviewing them in the context of three theoretical perspectives: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.
Functionalists view society as a system in which all parts work—or function—together to create society as a whole. In this way, societies need culture to exist. Cultural norms function to support the fluid operation of society, and cultural values guide people in making choices. Just as members of a society work together to fulfill a society’s needs, culture exists to meet its members’ basic needs.
Functionalists also study culture in terms of values. Education is an important concept in the United States because it is valued. The culture of education—including material culture such as classrooms, textbooks, libraries, dormitories—supports the emphasis placed on the value of educating a society’s members.
Conflict theorists view social structure as inherently unequal, based on power differentials related to issues like class, gender, race, and age. For a conflict theorist, culture is seen as reinforcing issues of "privilege" for certain groups based upon race, sex, class, and so on. Women strive for equality in a male-dominated society. Senior citizens struggle to protect their rights, their health care, and their independence from a younger generation of lawmakers. Advocacy groups such as the ACLU work to protect the rights of all races and ethnicities in the United States.
Inequalities exist within a culture’s value system. Therefore, a society’s cultural norms benefit some people but hurt others. Some norms, formal and informal, are practiced at the expense of others. Women were not allowed to vote in the United States until 1920. Gay and lesbian couples have been denied the right to marry in some states. Racism and bigotry are very much alive today. Although cultural diversity is supposedly valued in the United States, many people still frown upon interracial marriages. Same-sex marriages are banned in most states, and polygamy—common in some cultures—is unthinkable to most Americans.
At the core of conflict theory is the effect of economic production and materialism: dependence on technology in rich nations versus a lack of technology and education in poor nations. Conflict theorists believe that a society’s system of material production has an effect on the rest of culture. People who have less power also have less ability to adapt to cultural change. This view contrasts with the perspective of functionalism. In the U.S. culture of capitalism, to illustrate, we continue to strive toward the promise of the American dream, which perpetuates the belief that the wealthy deserve their privileges.
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological perspective that is most concerned with the face-to-face interactions between members of society. Interactionists see culture as being created and maintained by the ways people interact and in how individuals interpret each other’s actions. Proponents of this theory conceptualize human interactions as a continuous process of deriving meaning from both objects in the environment and the actions of others. This is where the term symbolic comes into play. Every object and action has a symbolic meaning, and language serves as a means for people to represent and communicate their interpretations of these meanings to others. Those who believe in symbolic interactionism perceive culture as highly dynamic and fluid, as it is dependent on how meaning is interpreted and how individuals interact when conveying these meanings.
We began this chapter by asking what culture is. Culture is comprised of all the practices, beliefs, and behaviors of a society. Because culture is learned, it includes how people think and express themselves. While we may like to consider ourselves individuals, we must acknowledge the impact of culture; we inherit thought language that shapes our perceptions and patterned behavior, including about issues of family and friends, and faith and politics.
To an extent, culture is a social comfort. After all, sharing a similar culture with others is precisely what defines societies. Nations would not exist if people did not coexist culturally. There could be no societies if people did not share heritage and language, and civilization would cease to function if people did not agree on similar values and systems of social control. Culture is preserved through transmission from one generation to the next, but it also evolves through processes of innovation, discovery, and cultural diffusion. We may be restricted by the confines of our own culture, but as humans we have the ability to question values and make conscious decisions. No better evidence of this freedom exists than the amount of cultural diversity within our own society and around the world. The more we study another culture, the better we become at understanding our own. | <urn:uuid:04616a27-eefc-40dc-a9c1-856be5b1f583> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://vivaopen.oercommons.org/courseware/lesson/349/student-old/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.960584 | 984 | 4.125 | 4 |
Bernie Madoff, the man who ran the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time, died in jail on April 14, 2021, fifteen days shy of turning 83.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme in which older investors are paid by using money being brought in by newer ones. It keeps running until the money being brought in by the newer investors is greater than the money being paid to the older ones. Once this reverses, the scheme collapses . Or the scamster running the scheme, runs away with the money before the scheme collapses.
The scheme is named after an Italian American, Charles Ponzi, who tried running such an investment scheme in Boston, United States, in 1920. He had promised to double investors’ money in 90 days, which meant an annual return of 1500%. At its peak, 40,000 investors had invested $15 million in Ponzi’s scheme.
Not surprisingly, the scheme collapsed in less than a year’s time, under its own weight. All Ponzi was doing was taking money from newer investors and paying off the older ones.
Once Boston Post ran a story exposing his scheme in July 1920, many investors demanded their money back and Ponzi’s Ponzi scheme simply collapsed, as money being brought in by newer investors dried up, while older investors had to be paid.
Madoff was smarter that way. His scheme gave consistent returns of around 10% per year, year on year. The fact that Madoff promised reasonable returns, helped him keep running his Ponzi scheme for decades. But when the financial crisis of 2008 struck, it became difficult for him to carry on with the pretence and the scheme collapsed.
As I wrote in a piece for the Mint newspaper yesterday, Madoff was Ponzi’s most successful disciple ever. While Ponzi’s investment scheme started in December 1919, it collapsed in less than a year’s time in August 1920. On the other hand, documents suggest that Madoff’s scheme started sometime in the 1960s and ran for close to five decades.
Nevertheless, both Madoff and Ponzi, would have been proud of the Ponzi schemes of 2021. The only difference being that the current day Ponzi schemes are what economist Nobel Prize winning Robert Shiller calls naturally occurring Ponzi schemes and not fraudulent ones like the kind Ponzi and Madoff ran.
A conventional Ponzi scheme has a fraudulent manager at the centre of it all and the intention is to defraud investors and take the money and run before the scheme collapses. A naturally occurring Ponzi scheme is slightly different to that extent.
Shiller defines naturally occurring Ponzi schemes in his book Irrational Exuberance:
“Ponzi schemes do arise from time to time without the contrivance of a fraudulent manager. Even if there is no manipulator fabricating false stories and deliberately deceiving investors in the aggregate stock market, tales about the market are everywhere. When prices go up a number of times, investors are rewarded sequentially by price movements in these markets just as they are in Ponzi schemes. There are still many people (indeed, the stock brokerage and mutual fund industries as a whole) who benefit from telling stories that suggest that the markets will go up further. There is no reason for these stories to be fraudulent; they need to only emphasize the positive news and give less emphasis to the negative.”
Basically, what Shiller is saying here is that the stock markets enter a phase at various points of time, where stock prices go up simply because new money keeps coming in and not because of the expectations of earnings of companies going up in the days to come.
Ultimately, stock prices should reflect a discounted value of future company earnings. But quite often that is not the case and the price goes totally out of whack, for considerably long periods of time.
A lot of money comes in simply because the smarter investors know that newer money will keep coming in and stock prices will keep going up, and thus, stocks can be unloaded on to the newer investors. Hence, like in a Ponzi scheme, the money being brought in by the newer investors pays off the older ones. In simpler terms, this can be referred to as the greater fool theory.
The investors buying stocks at a certain point of time, when stock prices do not justify the expected future earnings, know that greater fools can be expected to invest in stocks in the time to come and to whom they can sell their stocks.
Of course, this is not the story that is sold. If you want money to keep coming into stocks, you can’t call a prospective fool a fool. There is a whole setup, from stock brokerages to mutual funds to portfolio management services to insurance companies selling investment plans, which benefit from the status quo. Their incomes depend on how well the stock market continues to do.
They are the deep state of investment and need to keep selling stories that all is well, that stocks are not expensive, that this time is different, that a new era is here or is on its way, that stock prices will keep going up and that if you want to get rich you should invest in the stock market, to keep luring fools in and keep the legal Ponzi scheme, for the lack of a better term, going.
— Bernie Madoff
This is precisely what has been happening all across the world since the covid pandemic broke out. With central banks printing a humongous amount of money, interest rates are at very low levels, forcing investors to look for higher returns. A lot of this money has found its way into stock markets. The newer investors have bid stock prices up, thus benefitting the older investors. The deep state of investment has played its role.
Of course, the counterpoint to whatever I have said up until now is that unless new money comes in, how will stock prices ever go up. This is a fair point. But what needs to be understood here is that in the last one year, the total amount of money invested in stocks has turned into a flood. Take the case of foreign institutional investors investing in Indian stocks.
They net invested a total of $37.03 billion in Indian stocks in 2020-21. This was almost 23% more than what they invested in Indian stocks in the previous six years, from April 2014 to March 2020. This flood of money can be seen in stock markets all across the world.
Clearly, there is a difference, and the stock market has worked like a naturally occurring Ponzi scheme, at least over the last one year.
This Ponziness is not just limited to stocks. Take a look at what is happening to Indian startups…oh pardon me…we don’t call them startups anymore, we call them unicorns, these days. A unicorn is a startup which has a valuation of greater than billion dollars.
How can a startup have a valuation of more than a billion dollars, is a question well worth asking. I try and answer this question in a piece I have written in today’s edition of the Mint newspaper.
As mentioned earlier, there is too much money floating all around the world, particularly in the rich world, looking for higher returns. Venture capitalists (VCs) have access to this money and thus are picking up stakes in Indian startups at extremely high prices.
Many of these startups have revenues of a few lakhs and losses running into hundreds or thousands of crore. The losses are funded out of money invested by VCs into these unicorns.
The losses are primarily on account of selling, the service or the good that the startup is offering, at a discounted price. The idea is to show that a monopoly (or a duopoly, if there is more than one player in the same line of business) is being built in that line of business and then cash in on that through a very expensive initial public offering (IPO).
As and when, the IPO happens, a newer set of investors, including retail investors, buy into the business, at a very high price, in the hope that the company will make lots of money in the days to come. Interestingly, IPOs which used to help entrepreneurs raise capital to expand businesses, now have become exit options for VCs.
If an IPO is not possible, then the VC hopes to unload the stake on to another VC or a company and get out of the business.
In that sense, the hope is that a newer set of investors will pay off an older set, like is the case in any Ponzi scheme. Of course, this newer set then needs another newer set to keep the Ponzi going.
The good thing is that when investors buy a stock of an existing company or in a new company’s IPO, they are at least buying a part of an underlying business. In case of existing companies, chances are that the business is profitable. In case of an IPO, the business may already be profitable or is expected to be profitable.
But the same cannot be said about many digital assets that are being frantically bought and sold these days. There is no underlying business or asset, for which money is being paid. Take the case of Dogecoin which was created as a satire on cryptocurrencies.
As I write this, it has given a return of 24% in the last 24 hours. An Indian fixed deposit investor will take more than four years to earn that kind of return and that too if he doesn’t pay any tax on the interest earned.
Why is Dogecoin delivering such fantastic returns? As James Surowiecki writes in a column: “There is no good answer to that question, other than to say Dogecoins have gotten dramatically more valuable because people have decided to act as if they’re more valuable.”
As John Maynard Keynes puts it, investors are currently anticipating “what average opinion expects the average opinion to be.” Carried away by the high returns on Dogecoin, the expectation is that newer investors will keep investing in it and hence, prices will keep going up. The newer investors will keep paying the older ones. That is the hope, like is the case with any Ponzi scheme, except for the fact that in this case, there is no fraudulent manager at the centre of it all.
Of course, the only way the value of Dogecoin and many other cryptocurrencies can be sustained, is if newer investors keep coming in and at the same time, people who already own these cryptocurrencies don’t rush out all at once to cash in on their gains.
If this does not happen, as is the case with any Ponzi scheme, when existing investors demand their money back and not enough newer investors are coming in, this Ponzi scheme will also collapse.
–– Charles Ponzi
Given this, like is the case with people who are heavily invested in stocks, it is important for people who are heavily invested in cryptos to keep defending them. Of course, a lot of times this is technical mumbo jumbo, which basically amounts to that old phrase, this time is different.
But this time is different is probably the oldest lie in finance. It rarely is.
And if dogecoin was not enough, we now have investors going crazy about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which in simple terms is basically certified digital art. As Jazmin Goodwin points out: “For example, Jack Dorsey’s first tweet is now bidding for $2.5 million, a video clip of a LeBron James slam dunk sold for over $200,000 and a decade-old “Nyan Cat” GIF went for $600,000.” The auction house Christie sold its first ever NFT artwork for $69 million, in March.
In a world of extremely low interest rates and massive amount of printing carried out by central banks, there is too much money going around chasing returns.
There aren’t enough avenues and which is why we have financial and digital assets now turning into naturally occurring Ponzi schemes, giving the kind of returns that the original Ponzi scamsters, like Ponzi himself and his disciple Madoff, would be proud off.
Madoff’s scheme delivered returns of 10% returns per year. Ponzi promised to double investors’ money in three months or a return of 100% over three months. As I write this, Dogecoin has given a return of more than 600% over the last one month.
Here’s is how the price chart of Dogecoin looks like over the last one month. | <urn:uuid:0a61d124-13e0-4f5a-add7-3a06843ae0ce> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://vivekkaul.com/category/ponzi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.965579 | 2,628 | 2.8125 | 3 |
OPENING, CLOSING, AND FLAG CEREMONIES/05-07
 AMERICA and SPORTS Â
A is for Athletes who do their best,
M is for Muscle training, putting us to the test,
E is for Exercise, building strength and brawn,
R is for Running, sprinting, and marathon,
I is for Individuals who always try to achieve,
C is for Courage to do and believe,
A is for Active, and active we’ll be, proud to live in America, the home of the free.
OPENING OR CLOSING CEREMONY
HEALTH AND SCOUTINGÂ Â
#1~ To keep your body strong and healthy is more valuable than being wealthy.
#2~ When you’re fit you feel good. Please try to do the things you should.
#3~ It helps to lend a helping hand to needy folks around our land.
#4~ Eating the right food is always wise, and everyone needs exercise.
#5~ Stand on tiptoes, one, two, three; touch your toes don’t bend you knee.
#6~ Run awhile, then slow you pace. Practice will help you win the race.
#7~ Scouting helps builds boys into men, and this is where it all begins.
 SPORT HISTORY
This is like charades. Have boys act out the sport,
then when it is guessed someone tells more about it.
SWIMMING—Ancient people may have learned it
by imitating animals. It became popular in the
1800s. It became an Olympic sport in 1896.
BASKETBALL—James Naismith invented Basket
Ball in 1891, using a soccer ball and peach bushel
SOCCER—The World Cup soccer game is the most
popular spectator event in the world. It is called
football everywhere else in the world. It is the
fastest-growing sport here in High School and
BASEBALL—People have played games with
sticks and balls forever. Alexander Cartwright is
credited as the father of organized baseball. His
team, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New
York was formed in 1842.
  For the last sport, the boy stands pulling things
out of from his head. The audience will never
guess. He is ‘stretching the mind’ or ‘exercising
Great Salt Lake Council | <urn:uuid:0501ce5f-2d68-49a9-8bb3-6be492d1984f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://wackyscouter.org/p/6217/44/OPENING_CLOSING_AND_FLAG_CEREMONIES0507.html?utm_source=footer_links | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.929146 | 551 | 2.625 | 3 |
Imagine you’ve just finished welding a beautiful piece of metal, only to discover that the weld is contaminated. It’s frustrating, to say the least. But fear not, because in this article, we’ll explore the methods and techniques to prevent weld contamination. From understanding the potential sources of contamination to implementing preventive measures, we’ve got you covered. So, if you’re ready to ensure pristine welds every time, let’s dive right in!
Cleaning the Workpiece
When it comes to preventing weld contamination, proper preparation is key. One essential step in the preparation process is cleaning the workpiece before welding. Any dirt, grease, or other contaminants present on the surface can significantly impact the quality of the weld. By thoroughly cleaning the workpiece, we can ensure a clean surface for the welding process.
Removing Surface Contaminants
In addition to cleaning the workpiece, it is crucial to remove any surface contaminants before welding. Surface contaminants such as rust, paint, or scale can have a detrimental effect on the weld’s integrity. These contaminants can lead to inadequate fusion, weaker welds, and even weld defects. By removing these contaminants using appropriate methods such as grinding, wire brushing, or chemical cleaning, we can minimize the risk of weld contamination.
Another aspect of proper preparation is performing deburring operations on the workpiece. Burrs, which are raised edges or rough spots left after cutting or machining, can interfere with the welding process and create potential areas for contamination. By carefully removing these burrs using deburring techniques such as grinding, filing, or sanding, we can ensure a smooth and clean surface for welding.
Maintaining a Clean Work Environment
Controlling Dust and Debris
Maintaining a clean work environment is crucial in preventing weld contamination. Dust and debris in the welding area can easily contaminate the weld, leading to defects and reduced weld quality. By regularly cleaning the work area, using appropriate ventilation systems, and employing dust collection measures, we can minimize the presence of dust and debris in the vicinity of the welding operation.
Cross-contamination is a significant concern in welding, as it can lead to the transfer of contaminants from one surface or material to another. To prevent cross-contamination, it is important to separate different materials, tools, and equipment used for specific tasks. Clearly labeling and organizing materials and tools can help avoid accidental mixing or contamination, ensuring that each component remains clean and free from foreign substances.
Use of Protective Covers
Using protective covers is another effective way to maintain a clean work environment and prevent weld contamination. Protective covers, such as plastic sheets or transparent curtains, can be employed to shield the welding area from external contamination sources, such as wind-blown particles or airborne contaminants. By implementing these protective measures, we can create a controlled and clean environment for welding, ultimately resulting in higher quality welds.
Effective Material Handling
Proper Storage and Handling of Materials
Proper storage and handling of materials is crucial to prevent weld contamination. Materials should be stored in designated areas that are clean, dry, and free from potential sources of contamination. It is important to avoid storing materials directly on the floor to prevent contact with dirt or moisture. Additionally, materials should be handled with gloves or other protective equipment to prevent direct contact with the skin, which could transfer oils or contaminants onto the surface.
Avoiding Contact with Contaminated Surfaces
When handling materials, it is essential to avoid contact with contaminated surfaces. Contaminated surfaces can easily transfer debris, oils, or other substances onto the materials, jeopardizing the integrity of the weld. By using clean and designated work surfaces, ensuring hands and gloves are clean, and regularly cleaning tools and equipment, we can minimize the risk of contamination during material handling.
Choosing the Right Welding Consumables
Selecting Low Contaminant Electrodes
Choosing the right welding consumables, such as electrodes, is critical in preventing weld contamination. Electrodes with low levels of contaminants can help minimize the introduction of impurities into the weld. It is essential to select electrodes that meet industry standards for cleanliness, as well as those specifically designed for the type of welding process and materials being used. By carefully considering the quality and cleanliness of the welding consumables, we can greatly reduce the risk of weld contamination.
Using Clean and Dry Shielding Gases
The use of shielding gases is common in many welding processes, and the quality of the gas can significantly impact the weld’s cleanliness. Shielding gases that are clean and free from moisture and impurities are essential to prevent weld contamination. Moisture or contaminants in the gas can result in porosity and other defects in the weld. Regularly checking and maintaining the quality of shielding gases, as well as ensuring proper gas flow and coverage, is crucial to achieving clean and high-quality welds.
Minimizing Heat Input
Using Low Heat Input Techniques
Minimizing heat input is an important consideration in preventing weld contamination. Excessive heat can lead to distortion, oxidation, or even the introduction of impurities into the weld. By using low heat input techniques such as shorter arc lengths, lower amperages, and shorter weld durations, we can minimize the risk of heat-related issues and maintain cleaner welds. It is important to find a balance between achieving sufficient fusion and penetration while avoiding excessive heat that can compromise the weld’s integrity.
Avoiding Excessive Preheating
In some welding processes, preheating the workpiece is necessary to prevent cracking or improve weldability. However, excessive preheating can also lead to weld contamination. Overheating the material can oxidize its surface, resulting in a compromised weld quality. It is crucial to follow recommended preheating guidelines and closely monitor the temperature to prevent excessive heat that can contribute to weld contamination.
Improving Welding Technique
Maintaining Consistent Welding Parameters
Consistency in welding parameters is key to preventing weld contamination. Variations in welding parameters, such as voltage, amperage, or travel speed, can affect the overall quality of the weld. Inconsistent parameters can introduce variability and increase the risk of contamination in the form of improper fusion, porosity, or other defects. By regularly monitoring and adjusting welding parameters to maintain consistency, we can improve the overall quality and cleanliness of the weld.
Reducing Arc Length Variations
Maintaining a consistent arc length is another important aspect of improving welding technique to prevent weld contamination. Arc length variations can lead to inconsistent weld profiles and inadequate fusion, resulting in potential areas for contamination. By properly managing the distance between the electrode and the workpiece, we can achieve a stable and uniform arc, minimizing the risk of contamination and improving the overall quality of the weld.
Regular Equipment Maintenance
Cleaning and Inspecting Welding Equipment
Regular maintenance of welding equipment is essential to prevent weld contamination. Over time, debris, dust, or oil can accumulate on the equipment, potentially transferring contaminants to the weld. Therefore, it is crucial to clean welding equipment regularly, including electrodes, nozzles, torches, and other components. Additionally, inspecting the equipment for signs of wear or damage ensures optimal performance and helps identify potential contamination sources that could compromise the weld quality.
Replacing Worn-out Parts
To maintain the cleanliness of the weld, it is important to replace worn-out parts in the welding equipment. Parts such as nozzles, tips, liners, or brushes can deteriorate over time, leading to contamination risks. Regularly inspecting these parts and replacing them when necessary ensures that the welding equipment functions properly and helps prevent the introduction of contaminants into the weld.
Employing Quality Control Measures
Inspecting Welds for Contamination
Implementing quality control measures is crucial to prevent weld contamination. Regularly inspecting the welds for signs of contamination, such as porosity, cracks, or uneven fusion, allows us to identify potential issues early on. Inspection techniques such as visual inspection, liquid penetrant testing, or radiographic testing can help detect and quantify the presence of contamination in the welds. By promptly addressing any contamination issues, we can ensure that future welds meet the required quality standards.
Implementing Non-Destructive Testing
In addition to visual inspections, non-destructive testing (NDT) methods can be employed to further evaluate the cleanliness and integrity of the welds. NDT techniques such as ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle inspection, or eddy current testing can detect internal or subsurface defects that may not be visible to the naked eye. By implementing NDT as part of the quality control process, we can validate the cleanliness of the welds and ensure compliance with industry standards and specifications.
Proper Weld Storage
Storing Completed Welds
Properly storing completed welds is essential to prevent post-weld contamination. Welds should be protected from exposure to moisture, dirt, or other potential contaminants. Storing completed welds in a clean and dry environment, ideally in designated storage areas or containers, helps maintain their integrity and prevents external contamination. Proper labeling and organization of stored welds also facilitate easy identification and retrieval without compromising their cleanliness.
Applying protective coatings to completed welds is another effective measure to prevent post-weld contamination. These coatings, such as paints, primers, or sealants, create a barrier that shields the weld from potential contaminants in the surrounding environment. Protective coatings not only protect the weld’s cleanliness but also provide additional corrosion resistance and durability. Selecting the appropriate coating material and applying it correctly ensures the long-term integrity and cleanliness of the weld.
Training and Education
Providing Welders with Proper Training
Proper training is essential to prevent weld contamination. Ensuring that welders receive comprehensive training on welding techniques, equipment operation, and contamination prevention measures is crucial. Through training, welders can develop the necessary skills and knowledge to identify and address potential contamination risks. They can learn proper cleaning procedures, correct handling techniques, and the importance of following industry standards and best practices, ultimately contributing to cleaner and higher quality welds.
Continuous Learning and Skill Development
In addition to initial training, continuous learning and skill development are key to maintaining a high level of cleanliness and quality in welding. New technologies, techniques, and safety practices are constantly emerging in the welding industry. By actively pursuing ongoing education and staying up to date with the latest developments, welders can continuously improve their skills, expand their knowledge, and adapt to new contamination prevention strategies. Continuous learning ensures that welders remain competent and confident in their ability to produce clean, high-quality welds.
In conclusion, preventing weld contamination requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses proper preparation, maintaining a clean work environment, effective material handling, selecting the right welding consumables, minimizing heat input, improving welding technique, regular equipment maintenance, employing quality control measures, proper weld storage, and providing training and education to welders. By implementing these measures and following best practices, we can significantly reduce the risk of weld contamination, resulting in cleaner and higher quality welds. | <urn:uuid:02527139-1e00-40c8-be02-3ad88b0b1b17> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://weldingacademy.net/how-do-you-prevent-weld-contamination/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.906681 | 2,287 | 2.875 | 3 |
Strong glutes and quads are obviously an asset for runners, but muscular shoulders and arms help athletes maintain speed during a marathon. When running, the movement of the legs is counterbalanced by the arms, which conserves energy. Swinging arms also help push the body forward, reducing the stress on the lower body. Doing these exercises twice weekly can also strengthen the upper body so you keep proper form even when fatigued during a race.
Alternate Standing Dumbbell Presses
Exercises that use both the upper body and core muscles, like the alternate standing dumbbell press, are particularly useful for runners because both sets of muscles stabilize the body while running. Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Raise the dumbbells to your shoulders and twist your hands so your palms and forearms face forward. Raise the dumbbell in your right hand slowly until your arm is almost completely extended. Lower the dumbbell down to the starting position and repeat the sequence using the left arm. Repeat as many times as you can while controlling your motions and the dumbbell.
Lat Pulldown Exercise
Attach a wide grip bar to a weight machine and load it with 25 pounds to begin. You can increase the amount of weight later as you build muscle. With an overhand grip and your hands shoulder-width apart, grasp the bar while standing. Hold the bar and sit down on the machine. Slowly pull the bar down to your upper chest while keeping your back straight. Hold the weight for three seconds, then lower it back to the starting position. Repeat this sequence for 12 to 15 reps.
Seated Cable Rows
This exercise uses a rowing machine to increase upper-body and core muscle strength. Grasp the bar on the rowing machine and pull weight off the stack while keeping your back straight and legs slightly bent. Pull the bar to your stomach while pulling your shoulder blades back. Pause, then slowly return the weight to the starting position. Repeat this exercise 12 to 15 times.
Dumbbell Lat Raise
With your elbows slightly bent, hold a pair of dumbbells in front of your thighs. Bend your knees and hips slightly, then extend your arms to the side and up, until the elbows reach the shoulders. The elbows should always be above or at the same height as the wrists. Slowly lower the weights and repeat the exercise 20 times.
Poppy Carpenter graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In addition to teaching journalism to junior high students, she also covers health and fitness for "PUSH Monthly" and Angie's List. | <urn:uuid:afdf130d-c7a4-4404-a1df-41b8485dbf4f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://woman.thenest.com/upper-body-weight-training-workouts-marathon-runners-3928.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.917882 | 531 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Tibet Or Xizang? Why China May Be Ready To Rename The Contested Land
The use of "Xizang" instead of "Tibet" by Chinese officials is supported by some nationalists, but viewed by Tibetans, including those affiliated with the Dalai Lama, as veritable erasure of identity.
Updated Nov. 3, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.
In early October, a message was widely circulated on Chinese social media, suggesting that the name of Tibet in English would be changed to "Xizang."
The source was the China Tibet "Himalayan Rim" International Cooperation Forum, held in Linzhi, Tibet, from Oct. 4-6. The forum was co-hosted by the People's Government of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and attended by representatives of more than 40 countries, regions, and international organizations, who held in-depth discussions on ecological and environmental protection, development cooperation, and other issues. The event used the Mandarin Chinese pinyin "Xizang" instead of "Tibet."
Pinyin is the romanized spelling of transliterated Chinese, such as “ni hao” or “Beijing.”
This change has not yet been reflected in legislation or official regulations. On Oct. 10, the Tibet Autonomous Region government and Xinhua News Agency, China's official news agency, continued to use "Tibet." Xinhua also used "Tibet" in its English-language coverage of the Forum, using "Xizang" only when referring to the name of the event.
Correcting "serious misunderstanding"
An article published by the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in August, titled "United Front Work New Language", stated that Tibet should be translated as "Xizang" instead of "Tibet".
The article pointed out that in the context of the use of "Tibet" outside China, the word "Tibet" not only represents the Tibet Autonomous Region, but also covers the Tibet-related prefectures and counties in four provinces, namely Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan, and "highly overlaps with the so-called 'Greater Tibet' that the 14th Dalai Lama's group has been advocating to establish for a long time."
Wang Linping, a professor at Harbin Engineering University's School of Marxism, says: "Translations like 'Tibet' have created serious misunderstanding in the international community's understanding of the geographical scope of Tibet.”
There is an urgent need to explore the use of an English translation of the term 'Tibet' that accurately expresses China's position. The change in the English translation would help to reconstruct the media image of Tibet and enhance China's international discourse on Tibet.
It is worth noting that Wang is not a Tibetan researcher. Furthermore, to what extent this argument represents the future direction of Chinese official policy remains unknown.
Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, at the 2023 "Forum on the Development of Xizang, China'' in Beijing.
Should Hong Kong be renamed too?
However, not everyone likes the idea of a name change. Qu Weiguo, a professor at the Department of English Language and Literature at Fudan University, wrote in an article: "If Tibet (in Mandarin Chinese: Xi Zang) can't be translated in English as Tibet, is it still appropriate to call Hong Kong (in Mandarin Chinese: Xiang Gang) Hong Kong?
Qu notes that changing the name of a province should be a serious matter, supported by an official document from the State Language Commission.
He also believes that there is no need to change the name of Tibet, which is now understood in mainstream English as the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
Translation of geographical names is not clearly defined in Chinese law.
Overseas Tibetan exiled groups have criticized the replacement of "Tibet" with "Xizang" as an attempt to limit the concept of "Tibet" to the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Voice of Tibet, an affiliate of the 14th Dalai Lama's administration, previously stated that "the Chinese Communist Party has sent a large number of people to international conferences and events related to Tibetan studies to legitimize its rule over Tibet, in an attempt to indoctrinate them in the Chinese language and change their perspective on Tibet."
David Bandurski, co-founder of the China Media Project, noted in a 2022 piece that the use of "Xizang" rather than "Tibet" to refer to the Tibet Autonomous Region began primarily in 2022, through articles and diplomatic discourse by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It has not yet been followed up by the People's Daily or other official authorities.
Translation of geographical names is not clearly defined in Chinese law, and the Regulations on the Administration of Geographical Names, which came into force on May 1, 2022, makes no mention of the issue of translation.
The "New Language of Unification" cites a 1978 report approved by the State Council — a report on changing to Han (Mandarin Chinese) pinyin as a uniform standard for the spelling of the Roman alphabet for Chinese names and geographical names — as the only known regulation.
What is the official name of Tibet?
The official name of the region is the "Tibet Autonomous Region" (TAR). It is an autonomous region within the People's Republic of China. It is sometimes simply referred to as "Tibet."
What is the historical name for Tibet?
Historically, Tibet was known as "Bod" in the Tibetan language. It was also referred to as "Xizang" in Mandarin Chinese. The term "Tibet" is a Westernized version of the name.
What's Tibet's nickname?
Home to Mount Everest, Tibet often referred to as the "Roof of the World" because of its high elevation and its location on the Tibetan Plateau, which is the world's highest and largest plateau. Much of the region is situated at an average elevation of over 4,000 meters (13,000 feet), and it contains several of the world's highest mountain peaks,
- Tibet: How Many More Sacrifices? ›
- Tibetan Refugees In Nepal: A Different Kind Of Identity Crisis ›
- A 'Middle Way' With China? Interview With Prime Minister Of Tibetan Government-In-Exile › | <urn:uuid:61d26ed4-7d89-431b-86d4-0d6f66976164> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/tibet-xizang-name-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.948467 | 1,382 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year, many thousands of lives have been lost. There has also been extensive damage to urban and rural property, and significant population displacement, though the scale of the damage is difficult to assess.
Many people have been forced out of their homes, and had to abandon their livelihoods as the invading forces inflicted widespread damage before occupying parts of eastern and south-eastern Ukraine. Some people migrated to other parts of the country, while others left altogether.
The World Bank's estimate for the cost of reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine is currently US$411bn, more than two-and-a-half times higher than the country's estimated GDP for 2022. And this figure does not take into account the recent destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper river and subsequent flooding downstream.
The physical damage to buildings and infrastructure throughout the country is estimated at more than US$135bn. The most affected areas are:
The World Bank also recently noted 'dramatic setbacks' in the country's progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals because of the human impact of the war, putting more than 7m people into poverty – although the Ukrainian government's number is 3.9m – and setting the country back 15 years in terms of development.
The war will necessitate a reconstruction effort on a scale unprecedented since the Marshall Plan after the Second World War. Indeed, strategic planning and the effort to secure international financial resources for reconstruction have already started.
'The war will necessitate a reconstruction effort on a scale unprecedented since the Marshall Plan'
The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC), which took place in London in June, started the process even before peace has been secured. It was driven by the cross-sectoral effort of international governments, Ukraine's municipalities and interested businesses from the country and elsewhere in the world.
The stated aim of the conference was to mobilise 'international support for Ukraine's economic and social stabilisation and recovery from the effects of war, including through emergency assistance for immediate needs and financing private-sector participation in the reconstruction process'. But before multibillion-dollar contracts are signed, the terms under which such contracts are awarded must be understood.
The summit therefore aimed to connect Ukraine to international governments and advisers. Following the URC a few strategic documents have been published, but it is hard at the time of writing to judge how far plans have moved on since last year's Lugano papers. For international contractors, the focus will be procuring infrastructure and construction contracts to restore Ukraine's capacity to function normally.
But for many Ukrainians, the reconstruction effort is closely related to the nation's future economic and social performance. It is also linked to the EU integration process, which has a new impetus since candidate status has been granted to the country.
As an urban planner, I am interested in how reconstruction can be carried out, and how policies will be designed to achieve it. What are the basic social, economic and political structures necessary domestically for the process of reviving devastated settlements? Principally I am interested in how Ukraine's land resources can be better used to support the country's recovery.
Reconstruction projects must consider how land has been and is currently owned and occupied under the Ukrainian legal system. What is the historical background to landownership? What documentary evidence of that ownership is there, and how many different types of right exist?
There is also the question of legacy issues that may remain from the Soviet period, which could be resolved as part of the reconstruction process. What opportunities might there be for a more equitable distribution of land than before the war?
Land relations underpin most physical aspects of the economy and society in the shape of legal frameworks, public understanding and informal traditions; these may have a particular influence on the way many aspects of reconstruction will be carried out. In cities and smaller settlements in Ukraine, such relations differ from those in Western Europe after the Second World War.
Until the USSR collapsed in 1991, all land in the country was state-owned – according to paragraph 11 of Soviet Ukraine's 1978 constitution, it was a 'shared property of the entire Soviet nation'. In the 1990s, land began being privatised across the country. This process mostly affected rural agricultural land and any land attached to privately owned detached houses. The latter had been bought and sold on the open market since the early 1990s.
Some agricultural land was also sold to former members of kolkhoz or sovkhoz – types of collective or state-owned farm – but this land could not be sold on or pledged until recently. The remaining agricultural land was government-owned.
While small farmers or large agricultural producers rented private and government land alike, these tenants had no interest in improving the land because no one invested in it. This constrained the development of the agricultural land market. The Ukrainian parliament therefore legislated to open the market in July 2021.
Prof. Andriy Martyn, senior project manager for land reform at the government's Reforms Delivery Office, estimates that most land in the country is now privately owned, and is primarily agricultural or belongs to families living in detached houses. About 30% of land – mostly urban – is state or municipal property. The official statistics for 2018 showed a split between 52% that was privately owned, and 48% owned by the state or municipality.
Although local authorities are nominally in control of urban land, in many settlements it is either controlled or influenced by developers or businesses. In some places their representatives sit as elected local deputies – equivalent to councillors in the UK – but more commonly they exercise their influence behind the scenes.
A limited amount of urban land is leased, bought and sold by individuals and businesses. The more substantial amount belongs to the state or local councils, and can only be sold through auctions or leased. However it is acquired, though, the local council controls its use, which is determined by zoning in planning documents and by granting planning permissions.
In practice, the process by which developers acquire private or leasehold property is perceived as opaque. It has created a situation where city councils are seen as being controlled by developers' interests.
Developers foster close relationships with elected local deputies in the expectation of acquiring land for property or long-term leases on beneficial terms. This means local development interests may exert more influence on the municipality than the community itself.
Such a relationship between councillors and developers is common across Ukraine. The bigger the city, the more obvious is the developers' intention to control land by influencing the development market and planning permissions. In the context of urgent post-war reconstruction these relationships are likely to intensify, building on expectations of rising land prices and land rents.
Agricultural land was recently put on the open market after 30 years of agricultural tenancies, meaning citizens and businesses can now freely trade land. The process began in July 2021 after intense lobbying from Ukraine's agricultural sector, which has grown around 5–6% annually during the past five years.
Agricultural production now represents 10% of GDP, and opening up the land market in early 2020 was a condition for a US$8bn loan from the IMF. As a result, agricultural land in Ukraine has continued to be bought and sold throughout the war.
The market is still closed to foreign buyers: current land law has left the question of whether this should be allowed to a future referendum. However, foreigners can rent land – with its fertile soil that produces 10% of the world's grain and 30% of the world's sunflower seeds – so long as the lease lasts less than 50 years.
One of the biggest difficulties for urban planners is privately owned land adjacent to cities, as there is no green belt designation in Ukraine. Owners are allowed to apply to change the use to commercial, industrial or even residential, which may lead to a development boom on the city fringes and significant sprawl.
But how could agricultural land on the fringes of cities be allocated for development in a planned way, to accommodate an expanding population and ensure essential food supply? And how might the increases in land value that inevitably occur in such situations be used to fund essential community infrastructure?
Extensive housing development on rural land around cities could spark conversations in cities about how policy can prevent such sprawl.
In practice, however, managing the agricultural land market will likely be more complex. When thinking about future reconstruction and working with foreign investors in cities or rural areas, the framework for both rural and urban land planning must be clear.
Municipalities still own a lot of land, as do the state and numerous public enterprises. The good news is that most Ukrainian cities tend to be low in terms of population density, with plenty of brownfield sites. This and other vacant land is ideal for reconstruction, especially if EU decontamination standards are implemented and followed.
Moreover, a state company such as Ukrzaliznytsia, which has monopoly on Ukrainian railways, also owns land beneath the rails, as well as depots and stations that could be developed for high-speed rail or other forms of infrastructure.
Ukrainian law allows for compulsory purchase of land for such strategic development. The state or local council can make an offer to buy it and, if this is refused, can take landowners to court to enforce a sale.
In practice, however, weak legislation can delay reconstruction projects. One infamous example is the planned construction of the 7km Podilskyi road and rail bridge in Kyiv, which remains uncompleted today thanks to resistance from homeowners, who have taken legal action against it as well as staging protests and blocking construction vehicles.
Ukraine currently taxes land at rates set by governments and local councils rather than by market values. Land tax is not connected to the value of properties on the land.
A new philosophy is needed to replace this relatively ineffective system and enable a sustainable strategy for development, effective communication between stakeholders and, possibly, changing the behaviour of the public. But now may not be the best time to introduce new land and real-estate taxes. With economic growth after the war, taxes should rise – and not only be levied on businesses but also owners of private and collectively owned housing.
How could Ukraine finance reconstruction and maintenance domestically, if international aid decreases once the war is over? Revenue from land tax could be one answer to that question. However, predicting the potential tax base is not easy at present, as local councils do not know exactly who owns what or on what terms, and what the boundaries or status of particular plots are; the process of digitising information on local community-owned land is still ongoing. It is even harder to assess the tax base if the land tax is linked to market rates.
So far, the worst-case scenario for land and reconstruction could be significant sprawl into former agricultural land, with landowners taking no financial responsibility for developing any infrastructure around their plots.
Big developers could then, with international funding, continue to control councils – and through them use land to develop whatever and wherever they want. Private landowners in rural and urban areas could resist strategic national reconstruction projects, while those in cities could collect land rents in any way they wanted with minimal social obligations.
The best-case scenario is that examples of international good practice will be used to set up a legal framework for land rights, to create favourable conditions for reconstruction and beyond – and that all of this will be done in a way that is fair and equitable for everyone in Ukraine.
But what sort of scenario should we expect from the Ukraine reconstruction summits? The URC's 2022 Lugano document package didn't have a robust, connected strategy for interconnected urban land and property policy; neither has one come out of the recent URC conference.
I hope that Ukrainian land professionals based elsewhere in the world can use their influence to enable positive reconstruction, or create a clear and ambitious land-use framework for a peaceful Ukraine.
Oleksii Pedosenko is a master's student in regional and urban planning studies at the London School of Economics. He would like to thank Ludmila Simonova, president of Thomas & Simonova, an accredited senior appraiser and the American Society of Appraisers' Europe chapter vice-president for Ukraine, for her comments and contribution to this article
Related competencies include: Cadastre and land administration, Spatial planning policy and infrastructure, Sustainability, Valuation
Further information: In May this year stakeholders gave evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee setting out the challenges for Ukraine's reconstruction. The event includes evidence from Dr Vlad Mykhnenko, Associate Professor of Sustainable Urban Development, St Peter's College, University of Oxford.
Being able to assess costs and values rigorously for the reconstruction process will be important to attracting international funding.
A UN resolution of November last year recognised the need to establish 'an international mechanism for reparation for damage, loss or injury arising from the Russian Federation's internationally wrongful acts'. The Council of Europe established an international register of damage caused to Ukraine by Russian aggression in May as a first stage in ensuring that the invader pays full financial reparations for war damage.
Along with financial resources, there will be a huge need for expertise to help Ukraine carry out independent, transparent valuations for compensation purposes to an international standard.
Documentary evidence of landownership will be critical. Ukraine currently has no national cadastre or information systems designed to international standards. International cooperation should therefore prioritise giving Ukraine the support to develop such arrangements, to help evidence damage, destruction and expropriation of assets. Information technology will be important in the reconstruction efforts, from initial identification and documentation of claims through to valuation and compensation.
Corruption has been identified as a major obstacle, with major developers effectively controlling councils. Failure to tackle this effectively will undermine confidence, increase the risks to funders, and delay reconstruction.
Jonathan Fothergill MRICS is senior specialist, RICS Valuation and Investment Advisory team | <urn:uuid:390d8758-ebf9-4826-bc71-3b66422e42df> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/journals/land-journal/ukraine-reconstruction-urban-rural-land.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.95483 | 2,835 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Every building product we use today comes from natural resources. Many of these resources are being depleted at an accelerating rate. The large consumption of energy – mostly from non-sustainable sources – is also increasing the environmental costs of extracting and producing many of these materials.
The world is becoming more conscious of how human actions can impact the health of this planet. Today, societies around the globe are asking important questions about the environmental costs and benefits of all the things that are part of everyday life. Evaluating the environmental impact of product choices is increasingly important to help address sustainability issues.
For building materials, too often comparisons of the “green” benefits of certain products are incomplete and do not reflect the responsible choice for the environment. Before making any product selections, we should have all the information on how each material ultimately affects the world we wish to perpetuate.
Once all the facts are reviewed, there is only one clear environmental choice in building materials: wood.
Wood is the oldest material used by humans for construction after stone. Assessing the environmental impact of today’s building materials (steel, wood concrete, masonry, plastic, composites and glass) requires a look at the full life of the product, from its extraction to manufacturing, through its use in service to disposal. At every step, each of these products can impact our environment.
Figure used by permission Washington Forest protection Agency www.wfpa.org
Out of all of these materials, wood emerges as the most environmentally responsible choice available today.
Wood grows naturally and is renewable. Wood comes from trees, which absorb carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. For example, a sustainable forest system produces 1.2 tons of oxygen and absorbs 1.83 tons of carbon dioxide for every ton of wood fiber. Another way of viewing this is a typical new 2,062 square foot wood-frame house could contain 21,000 lb of wood (absolute dry). On average, wood contains about 50 percent carbon by weight. Therefore, this home would store 10,500 pounds of carbon, equivalent to sequestering 38,500 pounds of CO2 or the rough equivalent of removing 10 cars off the road for one year.
Wood is converted into thousands of products, from lumber, panels, and paper products to shoe polish, liquid soaps and cologne.
Wood’s natural attributes make it uniquely suited to both the performance and environmental demands for modern building materials. Despite its complex chemical nature, wood has excellent properties which lend themselves to human use. It is readily and economically available, easily machined, can be fabricated into an infinite variety of sizes and shapes, and it is exceptionally strong relative to its weight.
Wood is a good heat and electrical insulator, and it is renewable and biodegradable, which has become an increasingly important attribute for building material choices. In building, wood has a high ratio of strength to weight and boasts a long history of durability and performance in construction. Wood resists oxidation, acids and other corrosive agents and easily accepts preservatives, fire retardants and a variety of finishes.
In building, wood has a high ratio of strength to weight and boasts a long history of durability and performance in construction. It features superior insulating properties against heat, sound and electricity. Wood resists oxidation, acids and other corrosive agents and easily accepts preservatives, fire retardants and a variety of finishes.
Carbon sequestration is defined as the process of “carbon capture” of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Trees, grasses, and other plants can absorb CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. The CO2 is stored as carbon in the trunks, branches, foliage, roots, and soil. Sustainable forest practices can increase the ability of forests to sequester more carbon and help offset sources of atmospheric CO2 resulting from deforestation, forest fires, and fossil fuel emissions. Planting new trees and improving forest health through thinning and prescribed burning are some of the ways to increase forest carbon in the long term. The wood products used in homes and buildings store carbon during their life span, but also release far less CO2 during their manufacturing compared to equivalent use non-wood fossil intensive products (steel and concrete).
SUSTAINABLE WESTERN LUMBER
The West features a rich diversity of timber, with 231 million acres of forestland throughout the region. Of that acreage, just 126 million acres is available for commercial timber production and the remaining is reserved for wilderness, watershed protection, wildlife, parks and other non-commercial activities.
More than half of this timberland is owned by the federal government, which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The forest industry and other private landholders own 34 percent of this land and state and other public agencies account for the remaining 10 percent.
Recognizing the need for proper management and protection of the West’s forest resources, timber companies and public agencies developed the first of the western forestland management laws in the early 1940s. The Oregon Forest Conservation Act of 1941 provided the framework for laws such as the Oregon Forest Practices Act, adopted in 1971. Other states, including Washington, California and Idaho, have adopted similar forest practices laws.
The evolution of these laws and improvements in forest management practices in the West has provided the foundation for some of the toughest, most progressive forest laws in the world. Ongoing private and publicly funded research has led to improvements in stream and watershed protection, fish and wildlife habitat, and other forest values important to society. The forest management practices used in the West today are designed to improve the whole forest ecosystem rather than for specific values.
There are a host of wood species available to meet any construction or aesthetic need. In the West alone, there are more than 15 commercially available species produced and sold by mills today.
These Western species are cut into a variety of products, from framing lumber for building structures to common boards for shelving, paneling and material handling to factory grade that are further sawn into wood components for doors, windows and other products.
FOREST HARVESTING AND RENEWABILITY
There is a popular misconception that America’s forests are disappearing and that we are running out of trees. The facts, however, show just the opposite.
Forest growth in the U.S. has exceeded harvest continually since the 1940s. According to the Forest Service, the U.S. forest inventory has actually increased by 39 percent since 1952.
One-third of the U.S. is forested or 751 million acres with 56 percent privately owned. Privately owned forest supply 91 percent of the wood harvested in the U.S. State and tribal forests supply approximately 6 percent, and federal forests supply only 2 percent of the wood used by the forest products industry. In 2012, the U.S. Forest Service reported that 3.2 million trees planted per day in the U.S.
The forest products industry does more than just plant and harvest trees. As foresters, wood products companies follow rigorous standards and forestry practices to protect the trees, soil, air, water and wildlife.
SUSTAINABILITY AND CERTIFICATION
Forests play an important role in the environment, a fact long recognized by wood products producers. As users seek to know more about the sustainability of the building materials they use, more information is being developed to help make buying decisions.
Forest certification is one way to demonstrate the sustainability of wood products. Much of the Western lumber made today is covered by certified sustainable standards that are audited by independent third parties recognized worldwide.
The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) programs both certify lands in the United States and Canada. Studies have shown buyers and consumers appreciate the value of forest certification to help them choose forest products from responsible sources. About 58% of the forests in North America are certified. SFI has certified an estimated 250 million acres of timberland in North America, of which 65 million acres are in the U.S. While the FSC certification program, which operates globally, has certified 173 million acres in the U.S. and Canada, with 35 million acres in the U.S.
Both these standards have criteria that include process and performance-based indicators that address environmental, forestry, social, and economic issues.
Wood products that meet the standards set by the certifying organization are typically marked on the product itself, the paper wrap used in shipping or in documentation that accompanies the product.
Forest certification is only one way of documenting the sustainability and environmental benefits of wood products. A growing number of communities are also considering green building standards that provide incentives or recognition for using materials or following practices that are friendly and safe for the environment.
Wood is the perfect green building material because it is renewable, stores carbon that reduces greenhouse gases, and is energy efficient. Several green building ratings systems are in place today such as Green Globes® through the Green Building Initiative, The National Green Building Standard, and LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Comparing the environmental impacts and benefits of different materials can be difficult, given the wide variety of way these products are extracted, produced and used.
Scientists, government officials and others are turning to life cycle assessment (LCA) to provide a “cradle to grave” environmental profile of building materials.
The Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM) has performed extensive LCA of several building materials produced in the U.S. CORRIMs results show wood is superior in its environmental performance to concrete and steel. Comparing houses constructed of these three different materials and identified numerous advantages for wood-frame construction.
The CORRIM results show that wood components and assemblies outperformed steel in terms of global warming potential, air and water emissions, and solid waste and surpassed concrete in all but water emissions impact categories. In some cases, up to 5 tons CO2 equivalent is displaced when comparing a concrete frame to a wood-framed house. In general, substituting fossil intensive building materials for renewable wood products displaces 2.1 pounds of CO2 for every 1 pound of wood used.
New tools are available to the public to compare building materials in a structure using LCA science. The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute (ASMI) offers the Impact Estimator (IE) for Buildings. This whole-building tool can be used to explore the environmental footprint of different material choices. Architects, engineers, and others can easily compare the environmental footprint of new buildings and renovations for all building types in the U.S. and Canada.
As more green building standards emerge, science-based analysis such as LCA offers the most impartial and comprehensive way of determining the environmental impacts of materials. Although LCAs provide a scientific foundation for assessing the environmental performance of products, they are not well suited to communicate results that are meaningful to architects, builders, consumers, or businesses that are not familiar with LCA.
Transparent and scientifically sound environmental labeling of products is vital for a sustainable future. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are standardized summaries of the environmental impacts linked to a product or process. Based on the definition, EPDs are EcoLables used as a way to improve the quality, credibility, and transparency of environmental impact information available to consumers and businesses. EPDs could provide a way to communicate the environmental benefits of wood to consumer or incorporated in purchasing preference programs and green building rating systems.
EPDs are based on LCA results and can be used to compare products on an equal basis. LCA results and the EPD go through a rigorous third party verification and certification process. The North American wood products industry has published several EPDs on wood products including softwood lumber (http://www.awc.org/greenbuilding/epd).
It all comes back to choices. If we are to join the growing number of responsible people who advocate the sustainable and wise use of our natural resources, we must measure our choices between one building material and another. We must look at all aspects of each material, from extracting through manufacturing to use, recycling or final disposal. This holistic vision allows us to consider the variety of impacts such actions can have on our planet.
By nearly any measure, wood offers the best choice among building materials for most uses. It is strong, light, durable and safe to handle. It uses less energy over its lifetime, generates little pollution and is biodegradable for disposal. It is naturally renewable and there are ways to assure that the wood we use is being produced sustainably and responsibly.
We have the ability to take anything we want from this earth. But we also have the responsibility to take it wisely and give back what we can. We all have choices. In building materials, there is only one clear choice: wood.
American Forest and Paper Association,
American Wood Council, www.awc.org
Athena Sustainable materials Institute, www.athenasmi.org/ Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials, www.corrim.org
Dovetail Partners, Inc., www.dovetailinc.org
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), www.us.fsc.org
Oregon Forest Practices Act. www.oregon.gov/ODF/Working/Pages/FPA.aspx
reThink Wood, www.rethinkwood.com
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) http://www.sfiprogram.org
Washington Forest Products Association, www.wfpa.org | <urn:uuid:477c7afe-3a73-4c0b-8767-9e65afc4dd71> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://wwpa.org/resources/choices | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.936638 | 2,782 | 3.6875 | 4 |
The National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) aims to reduce cervical cancer cases, illness and death in Australia. Cervical screening in Australia 2019 is the last monitoring report for the previous NCSP, presenting key data for women screened using Pap tests between January 2016 and June 2017 (prior to the renewed NCSP from 1 December 2017). The following data are for women aged 20–69, screened under the previous NCSP.
Cervical cancer cases and deaths were low by international standards
In 2015, 727 women aged 20–69 were diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 140 died from the disease in 2017. This is equivalent to 9 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed, and 2 deaths, per 100,000 women. These rates are similar to those for previous years.
Both incidence and mortality halved between the introduction of the NCSP in 1991 and the year 2002 and have since remained at 9–10 new cases, and 2 deaths, per 100,000 women.
More than 5 in 10 women participated in cervical screening
Between 1 January 2016 and 30 June 2017, 2,973,370 women participated in cervical screening. This was estimated to be around 54%–56% of women aged 20–69. (This estimate does not include the final 4 months of the previous NCSP and should not be extrapolated for the period 1 January 2016 to 30 November 2017.)
Participation varied across remoteness areas—it was highest in Inner regional areas at 57% and lowest in Very remote areas at 46%. There was a clear association between participation and socioeconomic group—at 50% for women living in the lowest socioeconomic areas and 62% for women living in the highest socioeconomic areas.
Relatively few women rescreened early, and a third responded to a reminder
Only 10% of women with a negative screen (that is, no abnormalities were detected) in 2015 rescreened earlier than the recommended 2 years, continuing a favourable downward trend. Of the more than 1 million women sent a 27-month reminder letter by a cervical screening register in 2016, 31% rescreened within 3 months, similar to the figure for previous years.
High-grade abnormality detection rate continued to decline in young women
Between January 2017 and June 2017, for every 1,000 women screened, 7 had a high-grade abnormality detected by histology, providing an opportunity for treatment before possible progression to cancer.
The rate of detection of high-grade abnormalities for women aged under 30 has declined. This effect is most likely a result of girls who were vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) under the National HPV Vaccination Program moving into the screening cohort, leading to declines in the occurrence (and hence detection) of high-grade abnormalities.
Indigenous women had lower screening rates and poorer outcomes
Incidence of cervical cancer in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is more than 2 times that of non-Indigenous women, and mortality more than 3 times the non-Indigenous rate. National cervical screening rates for Indigenous women are not available, as Indigenous status information is not collected on pathology forms in all jurisdictions, however there is evidence from a range of sources that Indigenous women are under-screened.
- Cervical cancer
- The primary cause of cervical cancer is HPV
- Cervical cancer is largely preventable
Moving towards a renewed National Cervical Screening Program
- Cervical screening from 1991 to 2017
- Cervical screening from 1 December 2017
- Monitoring from 1 December 2017
Key qualities of the National Cervical Screening Program
- Screening behaviour
- Characteristics of the screening test
- Detection of high-grade abnormalities
- Expenditure on cervical screening
- HPV vaccination
Key cervical cancer outcomes
- Incidence of cervical cancer
- Survival after a diagnosis of cervical cancer
- Prevalence of cervical cancer
- Mortality from cervical cancer
- Burden of cervical cancer
Cervical screening and cervical cancer outcomes in Indigenous women
- Cervical screening in Indigenous women
- Cervical cancer outcomes in Indigenous women
Appendix A: Supporting data tables
Appendix B: National Cervical Screening Program information
Appendix C: Data sources
Appendix D: Classifications
Appendix E: Statistical methods
End matter: Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Symbols; Glossary; References; List of tables; List of figures; List of boxes; Related publications | <urn:uuid:59d48d91-c888-4e4b-a658-39dc1baf5a25> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer-screening/cervical-screening-in-australia-2019/summary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.950069 | 919 | 2.6875 | 3 |
HVAC systems use limited amounts of outside air to refresh the air inside commercial high-performance buildings. Accurately measuring the amount of outdoor air being pumped into a building is critical for many reasons, including:
- Maintaining the proper pressurization throughout the building
- Avoiding excess costs due to waste of conditioned air
- Preventing overuse of fans which increases maintenance and replacement cost
- Preventing ingress of humidity, dust, debris, and pollutants that can degrade the IAQ
- Meeting environmental regulations for energy efficiency & LEED certification
- ASHRAE Standards such as 62.1 for ventilation rates and 90.1 for high performance DOAS units.
However, accurate outdoor HVAC airflow measurement can be difficult due to weather and local climate conditions, as well as the design of the air inlets.
Climate and Weather Conditions
Outside air pumped into an HVAC system from the rooftop of a building can vary widely in temperature, moisture level, and particulate load. On top of that, the speed and direction of the wind and the barometric pressure can fluctuate from one hour to the next. All these factors can affect the accuracy of an outdoor air flow measurement system.
Duct Design Difficulties
Accurate measurement is made more difficult by the design of some outdoor air inlets, which usually have limited straight runs available to condition the airflow prior to measurement. Some systems require a certain number of upstream straight runs of the duct to reduce flow turbulence before taking measurements.
In addition to the lack of straight duct runs, HVAC inlets are often retrofitted with an economizer inlet to help meet the building’s energy efficiency goals. The addition of an economizer means that the inlet is oversized for maintaining indoor air quality. The result is very low flow velocities at the inlet most of the time, which directly affects measurement accuracy and reliability.
Rooftop packaged units are a worst-case example, as the minimum outside air and the 100% outside air economizer functions are forced into a single inlet. To make matters worse, some manufacturers combine several unit sizes into a single box/frame/control damper/hood size.
Outdoor Airflow Measurement Technologies
The three most often used technologies for measuring outside air are thermal dispersion, Pitot array, and pressure difference across a known resistance. In this post, we will briefly look at each technology to determine the best fit for measuring outdoor air flow.
To get accurate air flow measurements, thermal dispersion systems typically require 2 to 8 diameters of straight duct runs both upstream and downstream – something that’s rarely available in outside air intake duct configurations. Also, thermal sensors do not tolerate any form of moisture in the air and they perform poorly in dynamic and turbulent airflow conditions, making them a poor choice for accurate outdoor hvac airflow measurement.
Pitot array technology
In this type of air flow measurement system, dynamic pressure and static pressure are measured at many points throughout the duct, and the results are averaged. The velocity of airflow is proportional to the difference in pressure, so a differential pressure (DP) transmitter is used to convert the difference into an average airflow velocity. The transmitter then converts average velocity into average airflow volume using the cross-sectional area of the duct.
The performance and price level of airflow measurement systems that use the Pitot measurement principle can vary widely. These systems have two types of components: Pitot probes and the DP transmitter. System accuracy depends on the number of Pitot tubes required, the quality of the transmitter, and to some degree, the local air quality. Air inlets with limited straight runs available to condition the airflow require large numbers of Pitot tubes to achieve accurate flow measurements, which could make them cost-prohibitive.
Pressure difference across a known resistance
Yet a third technology uses small differences in static field pressures created by air moving through a fixed inlet to accurately measure airflow without the need for straight ducts to condition flow. The concept is based on measuring static pressure fields that develop when air flows through any screen or louver with a known velocity vs. pressure drop curve without a significant change in the pressure drop.
These static pressure measurements used in concert with temperature, barometric pressure measurements, and inlet size can be used to calculate the flow rate at any atmospheric condition. This type of system is nearly impervious to dust and moisture, has a high tolerance for dynamic variations in air flow velocity and direction, and requires zero straight runs of duct.
An Accurate Solution for Airflow Measurement in Outside Air Applications
Air Monitor’s OAM II Outdoor Airflow Measurement System uses static pressure field measurements to provide accurate airflow monitoring in this challenging application. The system consists of the OAM II Transmitter with a built-in barometric pressure sensor, one or more uni-sensors or OAM II airflow measuring stations, and one or two temperature sensors. The system has been designed to measure the actual airflow rate to within ±5% by measuring differential pressure across a fixed inlet, such as a louver, screen, or layer of expanded metal.
Precision in outside airflow measurement is essential to ensure that ASHRAE ventilation standards are met, energy consumption calculations are accurate, and proper indoor air quality is maintained for occupant health and safety. The OAM II System allows you to fine-tune the amount of outside air flow to maintain pressurization, meet energy efficiency goals, and keep operating costs low.
Click below to learn more. | <urn:uuid:94969c6a-b0e0-41e3-b8c9-bb613d2bf629> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.airmonitor.com/hvac/why-accurate-outdoor-air-flow-measurement-can-be-difficult/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.933702 | 1,142 | 2.796875 | 3 |
With solar energy only accounting for roughly two percent of the world’s electricity, it would be fair to assume that big utility companies have nothing to worry about. But you might be surprised to find out that isn’t the case.
As more consumers turn to renewable sources of energy and install solar PV systems that aren’t tied to the grid in order to supply their consumption needs, the energy landscape itself begins to shift away from reliance on fossil fuels and the gatekeepers who have dominated the industry for decades.
Are utility companies onboard with solar energy?
Even though utilities are required to maintain their energy related infrastructure, their consumers are paying less as they turn to other renewable sources. In many states, utilities are required by law to purchase excess energy generated by customers through net metering as well, creating less revenue and higher expenses.
Some of the larger utility companies within the country would like to have you believe they are in full support of solar energy, but behind closed doors they continue to lobby against legislation subsidizing renewables. The past few years have also seen attempts at weakening or repealing renewable portfolio standards.
Not every utility company is upset about paying for solar-generated energy from residential customers, however. Many of the publicly and municipally owned companies see any increase in renewable sources of energy as a positive, especially when taking into account increasing levels of public support and a desire to stay ahead of the curve.
How solar can help you save
Installing your own solar panels for your home or business not only helps you save on energy bills by decreasing the amount of energy pulled from the grid and earn credits through net metering, it also provides you with peace of mind knowing you have your own reliable source of clean energy.
Solar energy will become more affordable as technology advances and consumers demand alternative energy solutions. Although an initial start up cost does exist, the panels begin to pay for themselves in a short amount of time . When compared to the solution of receiving monthly bills, solar panels clearly become an investment you can bank on.
Download our eBook, Solar & Energy Bills, and find out how you can save more by simply understanding how you’re being charged for your energy consumption. | <urn:uuid:c95b95ad-839f-4ad9-99e5-4b17e2352d23> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.allenergysolar.com/resources/solar-free-you-from-utility-companies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.962118 | 445 | 2.8125 | 3 |
A kidney infection can creep up on you, quite literally. Small, everyday habits that you usually underestimate, or overlook might have a long-lasting impact on your overall health. Though it’s rare, a kidney infection may lead to severe conditions such as high blood pressure, sepsis and chronic kidney diseases.
Not every case of kidney infection will end up being severe, but why risk it? It only takes simple lifestyle changes to help you avoid the infection altogether.
This article will list all the negative habits that may cause a kidney infection, so you know what to prevent and improve. Read more below!
Kidney Infections: The Origin
A kidney infection is also known by its medical name, pyelonephritis. It is an inflammation of the kidneys caused by bacteria, the most common being E. coli. A type of urinary tract infection (UTI), the condition usually starts from the bladder before spreading upwards to one or both kidneys.
Symptoms of a kidney infection include:
- General pain in the back or sides
- A burning sensation while urinating
- A sudden urge to urinate with increased frequency
- Smelly, cloudy or bloody urine
People who are more at risk of kidney infection are:
- Women. Since females have a shorter urethra, it is easier for bacteria to reach the kidneys.
- Pregnant women. Theories suggest that the hormonal changes and shifts in the position of the urinary tract make pregnant women more prone to kidney infection.
- Men with enlarged prostates
- People with kidney problems such as kidney stones
- Diabetes patients or anyone with a weakened immune system
- People suffering from UTI
- People having trouble with their bladder or urinary tract (urinary retention, a narrowed urethra, etc.)
Habits that Can Cause a Kidney Infection
Here are several habits to keep your kidneys free from infection.
Smoking or being a second-hand smoker
Infamous for its health dangers, smoking is a risk factor for kidney fibrosis. Furthermore, since cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals, second-hand smokers can be equally susceptible to kidney tissue injury.
Consuming substances that damage the kidneys
Too much salt can increase blood pressure, triggering narrowed and damaged vessels in the body, including the kidneys. You shouldn’t consume more than 2.3 milligrams of sodium daily. Lessen your salt intake through these methods:
- Buying fresh ingredients and cooking them from scratch. Prepared or packaged foods contain added salt.
- Some types of bread have too many sodium and phosphorus additives. Check for sodium levels on bread and other food package labels.
- Using spices, herbs and sodium-free seasonings.
Protein is good for you, but an excessive amount of it can overwhelm the kidneys. When your body uses protein, it produces waste that your kidneys will remove. Therefore, more protein means more work for the kidneys.
To protect your kidneys, you can try probiotics and herbal supplements like Kidney Tonic Herbal soup that can tonify the organs.
Not drinking sufficient water
Waste and toxins, including the bacteria responsible for a kidney infection, leave your body when you urinate. To maintain a healthy amount of urine, it is important to drink plenty of water.
Holding in urine for too long
For the same reason as the above, you should go to the bathroom when you feel like urinating. Don’t hold it in for too long.
Having bad genital hygiene
After urinating and defecating, wipe your bottom carefully from front to back. This is vital to stop E. coli bacteria, which normally live in the bowels, from transferring to your urethra.
What’s more, the bacteria can move to your genitals during sexual intercourse. Try going to the bathroom before and after sex, and ensure you clean up well.
Excessive exercising and alcohol
Strenuous exercise and heavy drinking have been linked to a condition called rhabdomyolysis. Involving the rapid dissolution of damaged or injured skeletal muscle, this can cause complications like acute kidney injury.
Drinking tea after alcohol
Many people assume that that drinking tea after alcohol is a good idea for sobering up quickly. However, according to TCM, theophylline in tea can affect the Kidneys if alcohol hasn’t been processed. Alcohol’s diuretic effect causes it to be released via the Kidneys instead of being absorbed by the body. This stimulates the Kidneys with large amounts of ethanol and could cause damage and improper function.
Using painkillers irresponsibly
Apart from antibiotics, painkillers may help with a kidney infection. However, long-term use or high dosage of certain painkillers can ruin your kidneys, especially when you take them when you are dehydrated or if you have low blood pressure. Take note of this when consuming painkillers.
A kidney infection can be quickly treated with antibiotics, but it’s even easier to be prevented through lifestyle changes. Nurture your kidneys by keeping things in moderation, quitting smoking and drinking adequate amounts of water. And remember to upkeep your personal hygiene.
This is an adaptation of an article, “Bad Habits Ruin a Man’s Kidney”, which first appeared on the Eu Yan Sang website.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information. 2021. Acute Pyelonephritis [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 2017. Definition & Facts of Kidney Infection (Pyelonephritis) [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Health Service. 2007. Kidney Infection [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- Oxford Academic. 2017. Smoking and chronic kidney disease: seeing the signs through the smoke? [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 2019. Eating Right for Chronic Kidney Disease [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 2019. High Blood Pressure & Kidney Disease [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Center for Biotechnology Information. 2015. Rhabdomyolysis: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment [Accessed 18 April 2022]
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 2018. Keeping Kidneys Safe: Smart Choices about Medicines [Accessed 18 April 2022]
Share this article on
Was This Article Useful to You?
Want more healthy tips?
Get All Things Health in your mailbox today! | <urn:uuid:e430cd29-9467-4c4f-8b32-3dbb04c0d6b0> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.allthingshealth.com/en-my/health-and-balance/internal-health/kidney-infection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.92232 | 1,369 | 3.125 | 3 |
Community-led development provides an alternative to the developer driven model. In this model the end users of the development are integrally and meaningfully involved in both the design and project delivery process. The local community may also be involved, and together with the end users, they can take a long-term role in the ownership and management of the development.
In a community-led model the nature of the client changes, and this can impact a project's aims and priorities. The top priority is not likely to be related to generating profit from the land, but is likely to be provision of the best possible homes with the financial resources which are available. Homes and communal spaces can be designed to meet the needs of the end users, and there is potential to provide considerable social benefit, in the creation of resilient and cohesive neighbourhoods.
Cohousing and Collective Housing
Cohousing incorporates shared amenities alongside individual homes to provide the infrastructure required to enable communities to flourish. Cohousing is similar to Papakāinga, which is generally considered to be a communal development on ancestral land owned by Māori. In cohousing, shared amenities are usually provided in a community building which typically contains a communal living space which provides space for social activities, a large kitchen for communal cooking, laundry facilities, children's play areas and guest rooms. Amenities for the wider community can also be provided as part of the cohousing development.
Internationally, there are numerous cohousing precedents, and Marmalade Lane is a recently completed (2018) cohousing community in Cambridge (United Kingdom). It is a neighbourhood of 42 award-winning homes with community facilities, a shared garden and car-free lane. For more information, see: http://www.marmaladelane.co.uk/
In Aotearoa, New Zealand, Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood is an urban cohousing community located in Auckland. You can read about Earthsong here: https://www.earthsong.org.nz/
Collective housing developments are often designed to be intergenerational, with homes and neighbourhoods designed to encourage day-to-day interactions between all age groups. Many older people appreciate having the opportunity to help out young families, who in turn value their time and experience. Residents enjoy belonging to a community and benefit from reduced living costs. Collective housing developments are often efficiently and sustainably designed, and include shared amenities such as communal cooking facilities, outdoor living areas and laundries.
Current house prices are unaffordable for many, and alternatives to the developer driven model should be explored. A community-led model, with opportunities for self-build and/or self-finish, volunteer time, the potential access to grant funding, end users guiding design and spending decisions, and the removal of developer profit, could potentially reduce delivery cost and therefore improve housing affordability.
Contact us if you are thinking about implementing a community-led housing project, as we would love to collaborate with you! | <urn:uuid:fc91e66c-9c08-424d-b4f1-86e34fe93140> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.alltogether.archi/post/community-led-development | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.954312 | 606 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Drug Wars: Origins & Solutions
Declarations of drug wars in the United States have become ritual incantations. Presidents go on television brandishing bags of drugs, putatively purchased a few blocks from the White House, and warn that narcotics are “the gravest threat facing the nation.” Congress appropriates money. Media specials are broadcast. The public is mobilized. A few dramatic arrests and seizures are made or, if necessary, a country is invaded. And then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the issue fades from view. Yet it is always there, waiting for its button to be pushed.
Alfred McCoy is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of the classic The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. He is the recipient the Association of Asian Studies’ Kahin Prize. He is also the author of Policing America’s Empire, Torture and Impunity and In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power. | <urn:uuid:d6f11047-562d-404a-b5e1-7857a5e4743a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.alternativeradio.org/products/mcca002/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.953098 | 217 | 2.625 | 3 |
This Week in Friesian Class
This week we are finishing up our unit on fractions. Although the children have found it tricky, they have done really well and I am thoroughly impressed with their fraction and decimal knowledge. In English, we will be starting a new unit on 'Warning Tales' where we will look at the structure of a warning tale and learn some of the language features that are used in this type of story. In ICT, we will continue to look at what makes a good video and the children will start to shoot their own video, looking at camera angles. In Art, we will continue to look at drawing skills, particularly cross hatching and shading. In Science, we will continue with our unit on plants.
As it is near the end of term, we will be using this week to do some assessments with the children to see what they have learnt this term and what we need to do next. These will include, spelling, writing, maths and reading. Thank you for all your support. | <urn:uuid:a4af625e-f464-4db3-8fe3-ee8d694506b5> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.amberleyschool.co.uk/single-post/2018/03/20/this-week-in-friesian-class | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.964571 | 206 | 3.515625 | 4 |
You’re juggling a fussy toddler, a plate of untouched veggies, and your sanity. Don’t panic, you’re not alone in this mealtime battle! With the right healthy eating hacks for picky toddler eaters, you’ll turn those peas from foe to friend.
This article will arm you with creative strategies to get your picky eater excited about balanced meals. Let’s dive in and start transforming your toddler’s mealtime into a fun, healthy adventure!
- Picky eating behavior is a typical milestone rather than a challenging behavior and usually starts around two years of age.
- Parents should provide a variety of healthy foods in appropriate servings while allowing children to decide what and how much to eat.
- Mealtime hacks for picky eaters include pairing new foods with familiar ones, serving at least one liked food item, starting with small portions when introducing new foods, and using positive peer pressure by showing children others eating fruits and vegetables.
- Tips for successful mealtimes include being persistent and patient when introducing new foods, scheduling regular mealtimes and snacks to ensure hunger, limiting liquid intake to prevent fullness, offering age-appropriate portion sizes, and keeping mealtimes short and positive.
Understanding Picky Eating in Toddlers
Understanding your toddler’s picky eating habits can be key to overcoming mealtime hurdles. Toddlers are notorious for being fussy eaters, often displaying food neophobia, an aversion to new foods. This is part of their developmental journey, as they establish food preferences and independence.
Your mealtime strategies should accommodate these changes. Introducing new foods may be met with resistance due to texture aversions or food psychology. However, don’t be discouraged. Persistence is crucial, and remember, you’re not alone in this adventure. Many parents face similar challenges with their toddlers.
I know, I face it every day!
The key is to approach the situation with patience, creativity, and understanding. Take note of your toddler’s food aversions and preferences, and gradually introduce new tastes and textures. Their palate will slowly expand, making for less stressful mealtimes.
RELATED ARTICLE: Pomegranate Seed Smoothie With Beet for Fussy Eaters
Mealtime Strategies for Picky Eaters
You’ll find that creating a game plan with specific mealtime strategies can make a world of difference when dealing with your toddler’s picky eating habits.
- Meal Planning: Make a mealtime schedule and stick to it. Regular meal and snack times will help your toddler understand when to expect food.
- Food Variety: Offer a variety of toddler-friendly foods. Introducing a range of healthy recipes can encourage independence and broaden their palate.
- Cooking for Kids: Get your child involved in the kitchen. This not only makes cooking fun but also familiarizes them with different foods.
- Food Presentation: How you present the food matters. A colorful, attractive plate can make even the pickiest eater curious to try.
These picky eater tips, when combined with patience and creativity, can transform mealtime routines into exciting culinary adventures.
Making Mealtime a Fun Experience
During meal times, you can make eating a fun experience for your picky toddler by turning it into a playful adventure.
- Experiment with fun food shapes and food art to spark their interest.
- Use toddler-friendly cookbooks to find toddler-approved recipes and involve your little one in cooking.
- Create a positive mealtime environment by incorporating mealtime conversation starters and food-themed sensory bins.
- Keep them engaged with food puzzles and food-tasting games.
- There are helpful toddler mealtime apps available that can make this process easier.
Food Presentation Techniques for Fussy Eaters
Let’s dive into some effective food presentation techniques that can help transform your fussy eater’s mealtime experience.
- Food art contests: Engage your child by turning meal prep into a fun game. Use healthy snacks, fruits, and vegetables to create vibrant food platters. Toddler food cutters can help you shape these into exciting designs.
- Healthy lunchbox ideas: Pack an appealing, nutritious lunch with a variety of colors and shapes. Include a fun note or sticker to add an element of surprise.
- Food-themed crafts: Encourage your toddler’s creativity off the dining table. This can help cultivate a positive association with food.
- Toddler-friendly restaurants: Expose your little one to different food presentation techniques in a fun, interactive setting. Happy eating!
RELATED ARTICLE: Healthy Orange Popsicles for Kids
Creating a Positive Eating Space for Toddlers
Almost every parent knows that creating a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable eating environment can make a significant difference in your toddler’s overall dining experience.
Introducing healthy habits early on, like portion control and family mealtime rules, sets the stage for a well-rounded children’s diet.
Incorporate food education into meal prepping by using toddler meal planning apps, providing excellent toddler nutrition resources.
Encourage your child to participate in toddler-friendly cooking competitions to spark their interest in food.
Make use of food exposure therapy techniques to familiarize them with new flavors and textures.
The aim is to build an environment that isn’t only about eating but also about learning, discovering, and bonding over food.
RELATED ARTICLE: Why Did My Toddler Lose His Appetite
Engaging Your Picky Eater During Mealtime
Engaging Your Picky Eater During Mealtime can be a challenging task for parents. However, with the help of a child behavior specialist and a nutritionist, strategies can be implemented to overcome this issue. Here are a few strategies:
- One approach is to introduce a variety of food options during mealtime, encouraging the picky eater to explore different tastes and textures.
- Another effective technique is to focus on the presentation of food, using food presentation techniques to make meals more visually appealing.
- Involving the picky eater in cooking and meal preparation can increase their interest and willingness to try new foods.
- Creating a pleasant and inviting atmosphere at the family dining table is also crucial to fostering child-parent interaction and establishing healthy eating habits.
You can see here how my kids prepare the Spinach smoothie video tutorial. They love the fact they make a meal on their own, so they enjoy its taste too.
Adding Variety and Creativity to Your Toddler’s Meals
Adding variety and creativity to your toddler’s meals isn’t just fun, it’s also a great way to introduce them to new flavors and textures. Try incorporating whole grains and protein into homemade baby food and vegetable smoothies for a balanced diet.
Rotate food groups, using everything from international cuisine to traditional family recipes. Make food experiments, like a DIY pizza or sandwich bar, part of your routine. Cooking classes can be a great way to engage your toddler, and picky eater support groups offer fantastic advice.
Don’t forget about healthy drink options too. By adding this variety, you’re not only making meals interesting but also ensuring your child gets a taste of different food groups.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Some Nutrient-Rich Alternatives for Toddlers Who Refuse to Eat Vegetables?”
You’ve got a veggie-hating toddler? No worries. Try nutrient-rich alternatives like pureeing veggies into sauces, blending them in smoothies, or mixing them in with their favorite foods. Persistence and creativity are key here.
How Can I Ensure My Picky Toddler Is Getting Enough Protein in Their Diet?”
You can ensure your picky toddler gets enough protein by incorporating foods they already love. Try adding peanut butter to fruit slices, cheese to crackers, or blending yogurt into their favorite fruit smoothie.
Is It Normal for My Toddler to Only Want to Eat the Same Food Every Day?”
Yes, it’s normal for toddlers to favor certain foods. However, you shouldn’t stop introducing new foods. Mix their favorites with new items. They’ll gradually accept variety, boosting their nutritional intake. Patience is key.
Are There Any Specific Vitamins or Minerals That Picky Eaters Often Lack?”
Yes, picky eaters often lack iron, zinc and various vitamins, like A, C, and D. It’s crucial you incorporate foods rich in these nutrients, or consider a multivitamin if your pediatrician recommends it.
How Can I Manage if My Toddler Is Refusing to Eat the Healthy Meals Provided at Daycare/School?”
You’re like a chef crafting a master recipe. Mix familiar foods with new ones from daycare. They’ll start accepting them over time. It’s patience and creativity, just like perfecting a gourmet dish. You’ve got this!
Ready to embark on this exciting food adventure with your toddler? With creativity, patience, and these clever strategies, you’ll soon transform mealtime into a fun, nutritious journey.
Your picky eater will be exploring new tastes in no time. And who knows? Your little one might just become the next mini MasterChef.
The road to a diverse diet may be a tricky one, but remember, it’s all about making food fun.
Here’s to healthy, happy eating!
Want to save this article for later? | <urn:uuid:574119d8-09f8-4f2c-b7a3-225e5a475d8e> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.amumtomum.com/healthy-eating-hacks-for-picky-toddler-eaters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.915552 | 1,986 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Using a new technique, two NASA scientists have identified the lightest known black hole. With a mass only about 3.8 times greater than our Sun and a diameter of only about 15 miles, the black hole lies very close to the minimum size predicted for black holes that originate from dying stars.
“This black hole is really pushing the limits. For many years astronomers have wanted to know the smallest possible size of a black hole, and this little guy is a big step toward answering that question,” says lead author Nikolai Shaposhnikov of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The tiny black hole resides in a Milky Way Galaxy binary system known as XTE J1650-500, named for its sky coordinates in the southern constellation Ara. NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite discovered the system in 2001. Astronomers realized soon after J1650’s discovery that it harbors a normal star and a relatively lightweight black hole. But the black hole’s mass had never been measured to high precision.
Shaposhnikov and his Goddard colleague Lev Titarchuk presented their results on Monday, March 31, at the American Astronomical Society High-Energy Astrophysics Division meeting in Los Angeles.
Astronomers have long suspected that a QPO’s frequency depends on the black hole’s mass. In 1998, Titarchuk realized that the congestion zone lies close in for small black holes, so the QPO clock ticks quickly. As black holes increase in mass, the congestion zone is pushed farther out, so the QPO clock ticks slower and slower. To measure the black hole masses, Shaposhnikov and Titarchuk use archival data from RXTE, which has made exquisitely precise measurements of QPO frequencies in at least 15 black holes.
Last year, Shaposhnikov and Titarchuk applied their QPO method to three black holes whose masses had been measured by other techniques. In their new paper, they extend their result to seven other black holes, three of which have well-determined masses. “In every case, our measurement agrees with the other methods,” says Titarchuk. “We know our technique works because it has passed every test with flying colors.”
Below some unknown critical threshold, a dying star should produce a neutron star instead of a black hole. Astronomers think the boundary between black holes and neutron stars lies somewhere between 1.7 and 2.7 solar masses. Knowing this dividing line is important for fundamental physics, because it will tell scientists about the behavior of matter when it is scrunched into conditions of extraordinarily high density.
Despite the diminutive size of this new record holder, future space travelers had better beware. Smaller black holes like the one in J1650 exert stronger tidal forces than the much larger black holes found in the centers of galaxies, which make the little guys more dangerous to approach. “If you ventured too close to J1650’s black hole, its gravity would tidally stretch your body into a strand of spaghetti,” says Shaposhnikov.
Shaposhnikov adds that RXTE is the only instrument that can make the high-precision timing observations necessary for this line of research. “RXTE is absolutely crucial for these black hole mass measurements,” he says. | <urn:uuid:5c38848f-39fb-423d-aca3-358455019f62> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.astronomy.com/science/smallest-black-hole-found/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.92557 | 695 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Hey there, food entrepreneurs! As you know, the food packaging industry is always evolving, and staying up-to-date with the latest innovations is essential for staying ahead of the curve.
In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most exciting new materials in food packaging that can help you create packaging that’s not only functional but also eco-friendly and visually appealing. Ready to dive in? Let’s go!
1. Biodegradable and Compostable Materials
As the world becomes more environmentally conscious, biodegradable and compostable materials are becoming increasingly popular in food packaging. These materials break down naturally over time, reducing waste and lessening the environmental impact of your packaging.
a) Polylactic Acid (PLA)
Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a biodegradable and compostable material derived from renewable resources like corn starch or sugar cane. PLA is widely used in food packaging, including cups, cutlery, and food containers. It offers excellent clarity and can be printed on, making it an attractive option for eco-friendly packaging.
Bagasse is a byproduct of sugarcane processing and is another biodegradable and compostable material gaining popularity in food packaging. It can be moulded into various shapes and is suitable for use in single-use plates, bowls, and clamshell containers.
2. Edible Packaging
Edible packaging takes the concept of sustainability to a whole new level by offering packaging that can be consumed along with the food it contains. This innovative approach reduces waste and adds an extra layer of novelty and fun to your product.
a) Seaweed-based Packaging
Seaweed-based packaging is an edible, biodegradable, and water-soluble material that can be used to package a variety of foods, including dry goods, sauces, and seasonings. It’s an exciting option for eco-conscious food entrepreneurs looking for a unique packaging solution.
b) Edible Films
**Edible films** are thin layers of edible materials that can be used to package food items such as confectionery, baked goods, and cheese. These films can be made from a variety of materials, including proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids, and can even be infused with flavours, colours, or functional ingredients.
3. Recyclable and Recycled Materials
Using recyclable or recycled materials in your food packaging can help reduce waste and promote a circular economy. These materials can be reprocessed and used again, making them an eco-friendly choice for food packaging.
a) Recycled PET (rPET)
Recycled PET (rPET) is made from recycled plastic bottles and can be used to create food packaging, such as trays, containers, and bottles. rPET offers many of the same benefits as traditional PET, including excellent clarity and lightweight properties and being more environmentally friendly.
b) Recyclable Aluminum
Recyclable aluminum is another sustainable food packaging option, particularly for products like canned beverages or ready-to-eat meals. Aluminum is lightweight, durable, and offers excellent protection for food products. Plus, it can be recycled indefinitely without losing its quality, making it a fantastic eco-friendly choice.
4. Active and Intelligent Packaging
Active and intelligent packaging materials interact with the food products they contain, offering benefits such as extended shelf life, improved freshness, and even temperature monitoring.
a) Oxygen Scavengers
Oxygen scavengers are innovative packaging materials that help maintain food freshness by absorbing excess oxygen within the packaging. This can help extend the shelf life of products like meats, baked goods, and ready-to-eat meals.
b) Time-Temperature Indicators (TTIs)
Time-Temperature Indicators (TTIs) are smart labels that change colour or appearance based on the temperature history of a food product. This can help consumers, and retailers ensure that products have been stored at the proper temperature, improving food safety and reducing waste.
5. Barrier Materials
Barrier materials help protect food products from external factors such as moisture, oxygen, and light, preserving freshness and extending shelf life.
a) Metalized Films
Metalized films are plastic films coated with a thin layer of metal, typically aluminum. These films offer excellent barrier properties, making them ideal for packaging snacks, confectionery, and other products requiring moisture, oxygen, or light protection.
b) Bio-based Barrier Materials
Bio-based barrier materials are derived from renewable resources and offer similar barrier properties to traditional materials. These eco-friendly alternatives include materials like cellulose nanocrystals, chitosan, and lignin, which can be used in various food packaging applications.
Wrapping Up: Embracing Innovative Food Packaging Materials
As a food entrepreneur, keeping up with the latest innovations in food packaging materials is essential for creating functional, visually appealing, and eco-friendly packaging.
By exploring options like biodegradable materials, edible packaging, recyclable and recycled materials, active and intelligent packaging, and barrier materials, you can ensure your packaging protects your products and aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience.
So, get ready to embrace these exciting new materials and elevate your food packaging game. Happy packaging! | <urn:uuid:812b0da6-0416-4c24-9f46-6d21743d7d66> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.audacious.marketing/stay-informed-about-the-latest-innovations-in-food-packaging-materials/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.905664 | 1,108 | 2.625 | 3 |
There are very few construction projects these days that do not involve the use of at least one crane. They are required to lift heavy objects and to transport things up high on multi-story buildings so that workers do not have to carry them up. Cranes are designed to take up little space on the ground so that they can squeeze in to tight construction sites in crowded areas.
Because they are meant to be in small areas, the engineering of cranes is very complex and is sometimes dangerous. They are designed to have a very sturdy base firmly anchored to the ground so that the long arm can support and swing the weight of the materials. Often, the base is not anchored correctly or the operator picks up objects that are simply too heavy. When this happens, the crane can fall over.
In addition to imbalanced weight distribution, the cables that hold the lifted objects can break, dropping hundreds or thousands of pounds onto unsuspecting construction workers. Construction workers are almost always around cranes and these machines have a very real danger of collapsing or falling on nearby workers.
The cranes are built to be sturdy and handle huge loads, so they are also very heavy. Their metal frames are massive and can be very destructive when they fall.
If you have been injured in a crane accident while on the job, contact the Austin labor attorneys of The Melton Law Firm at (512) 330-0017 for a consultation. | <urn:uuid:9d31955a-f22f-4b92-b54b-3cd8e5c70ac9> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.austinemploymentattorney.com/articles/crane-accidents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.965147 | 285 | 2.65625 | 3 |
The heart pumps life-giving blood to every cell, every moment. It’s an organ that works even while you rest, embodying precision and resilience. For Dr Hari Saini, to keep this powerful machine running smoothly, maintaining heart health should be your prime concern, and incorporating regular exercises is one quintessential part of this health maintenance strategy.
Exercise and Heart Health: An Inextricable Link
There’s an intimate relationship between regular physical exercise and heart health. Just like any other muscle, the heart needs exercise to keep fit and healthy. But how does working up a sweat translate into a healthier heart? Let’s break it down.
Strengthening the Heart Muscle
Regular exercise aids in strengthening the heart muscle, increasing its efficiency in pumping blood throughout the body. A stronger, healthier heart means less effort for Dr Hari Saini
each beat, which keeps your heart rate in check, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.
Keeping Blood Pressure Under Control
High blood pressure is among the prime villains for heart ailments. Regular exercise plays a profound role in reducing blood pressure by improving blood circulation and helping the heart work more efficiently.
A Cholesterol Check
Regular exercise has a distinct impact on managing cholesterol levels. It aids in increasing the level of HDL (good cholesterol), which helps eliminate LDL (bad cholesterol) from your body, reducing the risk of plaque formation in the arteries.
What Type of Exercise is Beneficial for Heart Health?
• Aerobic Exercises – Exercises like walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, and dancing involve repetitive and rhythmic movements targeting large muscle groups. These activities improve oxygen absorption, heart rate, and lung functioning, making them excellent for heart health.
• Strength Training – Strength training, like weight lifting, improves cardiovascular health by lowering body fat, enhancing muscle mass, and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
• Flexibility and Balance Exercises – Lastly, yoga and Pilates, known for their flexibility and balance benefits, also enhance heart health. They help in stress
Dr Hari Saini management, which indirectly aids in heart health by controlling blood pressure and heart rate. | <urn:uuid:028a4626-ca2d-4591-9f6b-3469b1e27afa> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.babelogs.net/dr-hari-saini-does-exercise-play-a-role-in-heart-health/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.900355 | 448 | 2.984375 | 3 |
In terms of volume of municipal solid waste per capita, Switzerland is among the top of the list internationally. The goals of using raw materials sustainably and systematically ensuring closed-loop material cycles have yet to be achieved. This must be done by designing products so that they use less material and energy to manufacture and use, are more durable and can easily be repaired, reused or recycled. Additionally, waste management must increasingly become a platform for (secondary) raw materials.
- 1. Economic growth, consumer behaviour and construction activities (drivers)
- 2. Growing consumption of raw materials and rising waste volumes (pressures)
- 3. Closing cycles, environmentally-friendly disposal, and technical innovations (State)
- 4. Increasing scarcity of raw materials and disposal costs (impact)
- 5. Waste avoidance, strengthening of the circular economy, and international agreements (responses)
1. Economic growth, housing, food and mobility (drivers)
The strength of Switzerland's economy and the spending power of its population encourage the high demand for raw materials and high levels of consumption.
Increasing use of raw materials can be attributed to the following factors:
- technological advances
- social changes and trends (new products)
- an increasingly rapid succession of product generations
- faster changing fashion trends (fast fashion)
- low-price strategies and extensive product lines
In the current market and regulatory environment, incentives to design products to be durable, repairable and reusable are lacking for many manufacturers. Many of the raw materials (minerals, biomass, fossil fuels and other materials) quickly become waste on account of the above factors.
The increasing technical complexity of products, especially of electronic applications, and the mobility towards electric vehicles means the recycling or reconditioning of batteries will become more important, as will the recovery of rare technical metals.
As the economy and population grow, so, too, do construction activities. In volume terms, the construction sector will continue to dominate material flows. Due to climate policy requirements, buildings are becoming increasingly more energy-efficient. This means that efforts to reduce 'grey energy' or 'grey emissions' (emissions along the supply chain both in Switzerland and abroad) are increasingly coming into focus.
Reducing food waste has great potential as a way of reducing the environmental impact of food. Swiss food consumption causes 2.8 million tonnes of avoidable food waste per year along the entire value chain. Although much of this waste is currently used as animal feed or for energy production, the potential for reducing environmental pollution is high.
The consumption sectors of nutrition, housing and mobility currently account for around 70% of the environmental impact generated by Swiss consumption.
2. Growing consumption of raw materials and rising waste volumes (pressures)
The total quantity of raw materials required in Switzerland or abroad to cover Swiss demand for goods and services continues to grow.
Material efficiency has improved, as the Swiss economy grew significantly more from 2000 to 2019 than its material footprint. Fortunately, a certain decoupling has taken place here. Nevertheless, the consumption of minerals, biomass, fossil fuels and other raw materials has continued to rise in absolute terms. At just under 17 tonnes per person, the material footprint is above both the European average and a long-term sustainable footprint of five to eight tonnes.
The largest volumes of raw materials are used in the construction sector (building construction, and civil and underground engineering), which uses some 62 million tonnes annually (of which 75% is concrete, sand and gravel, and 9% is fuels). A further 7 million tonnes of resources are used for mobility, 88% of which is in the form of fuel. Around 18 million tonnes of materials are used for production and consumption, of which half is used for domestic food production.
Overall, Switzerland generates about 80 to 90 million tonnes of waste annually, and it is fair to assume that the total quantity will continue to rise in the future.
The largest share of waste in Switzerland is generated by construction activity: excavated and quarried materials comprise just under two thirds of all waste (57 million tonnes), and a fifth of the waste stems from the demolition of buildings, roads and railway lines (17 million tonnes).
The second largest waste category is the constantly increasing quantity of municipal solid waste (7%): In 2020, 6.1 million tonnes of waste was generated (from households, office buildings, small businesses, yards and gardens as well as from public waste bins) compared with 1.9 million in 1970 and 4.7 million in 2000). At the same time, the per capita quantity of waste rose from 659 kg in 2000 to 700 kg in 2020. This makes Switzerland one of the highest waste producers in Europe.
Of the remaining waste in 2020, more than 6% was of biogenic origin (predominantly food and wood waste, as well as much smaller proportions of biowaste from industry and commerce, green waste and dry sewage sludge), 2% was hazardous waste, and another 2% was iron and steel scrap.
In addition to the increasing quantity of waste, the composition of the waste is also changing. The trend towards the production of more complex products poses additional challenges for environmentally friendly disposal. Composite materials (e.g. composite packaging, composite materials in construction) that cannot be easily broken down into their individual components are problematic.
The consumption of non-renewable resources also leaves its mark: despite the well-functioning waste disposal system, around 14,000 tonnes of plastics are released into the environment in Switzerland every year.
3. Closing cycles, environmentally-friendly disposal, and technical innovations (state)
A circular economy is guided by the principle that raw materials and products should be used efficiently and for as long as possible. As opposed to a linear economy, products and raw materials are re-used and therefore kept in the cycle. There is great potential for a more sustainable use of raw materials in:
- construction and building materials
- electronics applications and rare technical metals
- packaging (including plastics)
- biowaste (including food waste)
At present, over two thirds (70%) of Switzerland's total waste volume is recycled. Measured against total material consumption, materials recovered from waste (known as secondary raw materials) make up only a small proportion: 14% in 2019, with the remainder coming from domestic extraction or imports. The proportion of secondary raw materials has risen steadily over the past 20 years. But even if all waste could be recovered, it would still only correspond to a fifth of the current need for materials. For a circular economy, therefore, additional strategies besides recycling are needed to help reduce material consumption.
Around 70% of deconstruction materials are recycled because they are valuable secondary materials; 75% of excavated materials are recycled. The quantity of deconstruction materials that is currently landfilled or incinerated in waste incineration plants (WIPs) amounts to over 5 million tonnes, which is still a substantial amount. Building material recycling can be further optimised from a qualitative perspective as well. One challenge that must be met is eliminating pollutants from deconstruction materials, for example asbestos or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
While the volume of municipal solid waste being incinerated has risen only slightly since 2000, the share of waste collected separately and recycled has steadily increased. Since 2005, more than half of municipal solid waste has been reintroduced into the economy as secondary raw materials (2020: 53%). Recycling focuses on established materials such as glass (recycling rate in 2020: 99%), PET (recycling rate in 2020: 82%), aluminium (recycling rate in 2020: 97%), paper (recycling rate in 2020: 82%).
When it comes to plastic waste from households, the challenges with regard to sorting and recycling are still great due to the numerous types of plastic and additives as well as the sometimes considerable contamination.
The potential of biowaste is high. Every year, from farm to fork, around 2.8 million tonnes of avoidable food waste is generated in Switzerland every year. In households alone, around one million tonnes of food that would still have been edible is disposed of as waste every year. Around half of this ends up in the refuse and is thermally recycled.
In 2020, approximately 1.85 million tonnes of hazardous waste underwent special treatment in Switzerland or was exported for environmentally sustainable disposal under strictly monitored conditions (0.5 million tonnes). This hazardous waste mainly originates from the remediation of contaminated sites, which must be completed by 2040. Almost a third of hazardous waste is recycled.
Switzerland has established a well-functioning waste disposal system in which public and private waste disposal companies work together. The disposal infrastructure needs to be constantly improved to incorporate the latest technologies so that valuable raw materials from electronic scrap, plastic waste and residues from waste incineration can be recovered in the foreseeable future.
4. Increasing scarcity of raw materials, environmental impact and disposal costs (impact)
Both the manufacture of products and the disposal of waste have ecological and economic impacts. In addition to the consumption of scarce raw materials, the disposal process, including the necessary infrastructure, is costly.
Approximately half of global greenhouse gas emissions and over 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress is caused by the extraction and processing of raw materials.
Production and consumption still rely to a large extent on non-renewable resources. The extraction and processing of many imported raw materials and energy sources have a heavy environmental impact in the country of origin. Due to the large quantities of imported goods, two-thirds of the total environmental impact associated with resource use in this country currently occurs abroad. The worst offenders are feedstuffs (such as soy), cotton, coffee, cocoa, tea, animal products, palm oil, peat, fossil fuels and metals.
The disposal of all waste costs Switzerland a good CHF 3 billion a year. The 'polluter pays' principle is widely applied in Switzerland, i.e. whoever creates the waste must also pay for its disposal. Polluter-pays charges help to increase the recycling of waste. In addition, they ensure the financing of a well-functioning and environmentally sound municipal waste disposal system and bring about a certain pressure on the authorities and associations involved to organise their activities as economically as possible.
Littering, where people throw away or leave small amounts of municipal waste without using the waste bins or collection points provided for this purpose, is a growing phenomenon which creates additional work for waste management. Littering generates annual costs of around CHF 200 million for communes as well as for public transport, not including the additional costs incurred by private individuals and, in particular, farms.
When it comes to construction waste, the environmental impacts result less from the contained pollutants and more from the very large volumes of waste itself. Although the vast majority can be recycled, approximately 17 million tonnes of construction waste take up the limited available space in landfills every year.
Plastics enter soils and water bodies through the use of plastic products (e.g. tyre abrasion, decomposition of films from construction and agriculture) and through the improper disposal of plastic waste. The environmental impact of plastics in Switzerland stems from two main factors: on one side, the high consumption of plastics (1 million tonnes per year) and the waste that results from this (790,000 tonnes per year) and, on the other, the large number of emission sources and the durability of the material. This leads to plastics being found in soils, surface waters and their sediments, the air as well as in the digestive tract of living organisms. However, further research is needed on the environmental and health impacts of such exposure.
5. Waste avoidance, strengthening of the circular economy, and international agreements (responses)
The principles of avoidance and recovery of waste are enshrined in the Environmental Protection Act and thus an important principle of the circular economy. The aim of the Ordinance on the Avoidance and Disposal of Waste (Waste Ordinance, ADWO) is to protect living organisms and the environment from harmful effects or nuisances caused by waste.
With the enactment of the Waste Ordinance, the Federal Council already sent a strong signal for the circular economy in 2016. In that year, Switzerland became the first country in the world to make it obligatory to recover the nutrient phosphorus: from 1 January 2026, phosphorus has been recovered from sewage sludge, animal and bone meal and reused in agriculture or the chemical industry. The Federal Council has granted the cantons and the business community a 10-year period of grace.
In 2020, the federal government took stock of its previous activities to promote the sustainable use of resources in its Green Economy report. Based on this report, the Federal Council mandated the Federal Administration to propose further measures to improve resource efficiency and to promote the circular economy.
The 2021–2023 Action Plan accompanying the 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy also features a number of measures dealing with consumption and production. Examples include action on food waste, the revision of the foreign economic strategy and doing more to monitor the impact of free trade agreements.
To achieve the goal of halving avoidable food waste by 2030 in accordance with the 2030 Agenda, the Federal Council drafted in 2022 an action plan to tackle food waste.
The Federal Act on Public Procurement, revised in 2021, and the Federal Administration's procurement strategy accord sustainability a higher priority when awarding contracts. Environmental impacts should therefore be taken into account throughout the entire life cycle [of a product or service].
In 2020, the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy Committee (ESPEC) of the National Council launched the parliamentary initiative entitled ‘Strengthening the Swiss Circular Economy’ which calls for a revision of the EPA. By strengthening the circular economy, the environmental impact at home and abroad is to be reduced along the entire life cycle of products and structures, material cycles are to be closed and resource efficiency improved. A circular economy can reduce the economy's reliance on (imported) raw materials, open up new business models, promote innovations and create local jobs.
Furthermore, on the basis of various political initiatives, the federal government is reviewing measures to tackle environmental damage through plastics as well as framework conditions for establishing a nationwide plastics collection and material recovery scheme.
Switzerland is also actively involved in various international agreements and conventions:
- For example, Switzerland has launched a Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative and a Partnership on Computing Equipment, as part of the Basel Convention, to promote sustainable management of mobile telephones and computers that are no longer in use and has thereby helped to ensure that mixed plastic waste has been brought under control.
- In 2016, the federal government ratified the Minamata Convention on the reduction of mercury emissions.
- On the international stage, Switzerland also participates in an OECD working group with the goal of strengthening cooperation in resource and waste management.
- As part of its involvement in the EU Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL), Switzerland has stepped up its efforts to combat illegal waste exports.
- The Interest Group Plastics of the European Network of the Heads of Environment Protection Agencies (EPA Network) supports exchange among European environmental agencies on the reduction of plastic waste.
Last modification 30.11.2018 | <urn:uuid:566cbf1f-7dc1-47f6-9750-50e21fcad674> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/waste/in-brief.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.941811 | 3,115 | 3.515625 | 4 |
When most people get behind the wheel of a vehicle, they do not necessarily expect that an accident will occur during that particular outing. Even so, there is always a lingering concern about the possibility of a car crash and the catastrophic injuries one might sustain as a result.
Recent innovations in smart technology for motor vehicles promise to make crash avoidance a much more likely reality, meaning a lower likelihood of injuries for everyone. This raises the question, though, of whether or not current smart technology can really help prevent car accident injuries.
Does smart technology reduce car crashes?
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted a 2020 study on the real-world benefits of crash-avoidance technology. Out of seven different types of smart technology tested in the study, all of them showed some positive degree of crash avoidance. Most notably, rear automatic braking features combined with a rearview camera and parking sensors showed a 78% increase in crash avoidance.
Are there other ways that smart cars can benefit drivers?
With official studies showing the current potential of smart technology and crash-avoidance features as verifiable means of reducing injury risk, other benefits of driving smart cars come to light as well. For example, some drivers with crash-avoidance technology in their vehicles might notice more favorable insurance costs due to that lower risk.
The presence of smart technology and other crash-avoidance features can help drivers avoid collisions altogether or even just lessen the severity of an otherwise catastrophic accident. These features do not guarantee absolute safety, however, so it is important for motorists to know their options for pursuing compensation when another party causes a car crash. | <urn:uuid:7ef397b5-3fd4-473c-a811-05e3699d60a7> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.birdandvandyke.net/blog/2023/04/does-smart-technology-really-help-prevent-car-accident-injuries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.937264 | 323 | 2.734375 | 3 |
You can decide here whether, in addition to accepting strictly necessary cookies, you also permit us to use etracker to collect statistical information. The pseudonymised evaluations by this software help us improve our websites. You can withdraw your consent at any time and halt ongoing statistical evaluation by moving the slider in the top right corner. By moving the slider again, you can reactivate the tracking.
Boost for green district heating: Federal funding for efficient heat networks (BEW) begins
The federal funding programme for district heating’s transition to renewable energy sources took effect today. In the period up to and including 2026, around €3 billion will be made available for renewable heat generation using geothermal energy, solar thermal energy, large-scale heat pumps and further heat network infrastructure. The BEW backs the building of new heat networks where renewable energy and waste heat sources will constitute a share of at least 75%, as well as the decarbonisation of existing networks.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said,
“Green district heating is contributing to energy security and reducing our dependency on fossil energy imports. With this new funding, the Federal Government is investing in stable heating costs and a climate-friendly energy supply. If we want to make our heating greenhouse gas neutral, heat networks are key. They tap into climate-friendly heat sources that cannot be used via the decentralised heating systems in buildings, including deep geothermal energy, which can supply high temperature heat all year round, on a reliable basis and in any weather. We are rolling out forward-looking energy policies.
“Geothermal energy is among the heat sources that we have to substantially strengthen in order to replace the burning of fossil fuels. We also have to integrate much more waste heat from industry and commerce into heat networks that would otherwise be released into the environment unused. Large-scale heat pumps, which can feed into heat networks with a high output, are also a key technology. The Federal funding for efficient heat networks scheme (BEW) makes this process economically viable for heat network operators and keeps them moving forward.”
In cities in particular, connecting to the increasingly climate-neutral district heating is the instrumental path to leaving oil and gas heating behind. In rural areas in particular, new climate-friendly local heat networks are being formed, which are replacing old oil and gas-fired heating in buildings.
Currently, the heat supply in Germany predominantly relies on the burning of fossil fuels. Almost half of German households still heat using fossil gas, a quarter using heating oil. “The funding is intended not least for energy suppliers, municipalities, municipal utilities and registered associations/cooperatives, which can receive subsidies for investing in heat networks via this new funding. In this way, a municipality or a cooperative, for instance, can receive subsidies in the future if they build a local heat network in a new residential area, or if a municipal utility whose district heating has thus far been operated using coal-based CHP then transitions to renewable energy and waste heat.
Details of the funding:
With the BEW, the Federal Government is promoting the building of heat networks where at least 75% of the heat supply is generated by renewable energy or waste heat, as well as the expansion, concentration and decarbonisation of existing networks.
As a first step, funding will be allocated to a phase of feasibility studies for new heat networks and transformational plans for the transition of existing networks to renewable energy and waste heat.
The core of the BEW will be pursued in the next step, i.e. the funding of investments, and in some cases, even the operating costs, if the measures described in the feasibility studies and transformation plans are implemented.
A maximum of 40% of investments in generating facilities and infrastructure will be backed by funding. Funding will go to heating systems that use renewable energy (deep geothermal energy, solar thermal energy, large-scale heat pumps that use ambient heat, biomass etc.), the integration of unavoidable waste heat, infrastructure projects for heat distribution and the optimisation of network operation.
Additional funding to support operating costs will be provided for the generation of heat from electricity-based heat pumps and solar thermal systems over a period of ten years. Where individual measures can be implemented quickly, e.g. solar thermal systems, heat pumps, biomass boilers, thermal energy storage, pipes and district heating substations, funding can be applied for according to simplified requirements: in such cases neither a feasibility study nor a transformation plan is necessary.
Applications can be submitted from 15 September via the website of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control. You can find the link here.
Using the available budget of €2.98 billion, the installation of an average of up to 681 megawatts of renewable heat generation capacity is to be funded every year until 2030, and investments averaging around €1,174 million will be mobilised.
You can find a link to the official publication of the funding guideline in the Federal Gazette here. | <urn:uuid:16908df1-1dd8-4296-8642-21b5a9a70d36> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2022/09/20220915-boost-for-green-district-heating-federal-funding-for-efficient-heat-networks-bew-begins.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.91401 | 1,021 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Origins of Pilates
“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. In order to achieve happiness, it is imperative to gain mastery of your body. If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape, you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong then you are young.”
– Joseph H. Pilates
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Germany in 1880. He was a sickly child and suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. As a teenager, he studied various exercise regimens, ideas from Eastern and Western philosophies and modern sports training techniques, to expand his knowledge, develop his method and combat his ailments. His methods were so successful; he was soon posing for anatomical charts. He became an avid boxer, diver, gymnast and skier and attracted a following keen to study his techniques.
Joseph Pilates originally called his method Contrology and in 1912 travelled to England, where he worked as a self-defence instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard.
At the outbreak of World War I, being a German national, Joe was interned and helped other internees to develop their fitness. He went on to work in the infirmary at a hospital in the Isle of Man helping patients to recover and developing early versions of his specialised equipment, introducing rehabilitation in recovery.
He attached spare bed springs to the hospital beds, encouraging patients to exercise using the resistance, and created the “Bed-nasium”, an initial version of the Cadillac: the first piece of Pilates equipment he developed, still an essential part of the Pilates Equipment, used widely in studios world-over today.
After the war, Joe returned to Germany where he used his exercise methods to train the Hamburg Police. His methods were also influencing artists in the dance community, including Rudolf Laban, who, like Pilates, was developing his work in the science of movement. The Pilates method would remain a strong support for training dancers and is still widely utilised in dance training today.
Joe became increasingly discontented with Germany’s political climate and left Germany for good when he was asked and refused to teach the national army his exercise methods.
He emigrated to the United States in 1926, meeting his future partner in life and in his exercise venture, Clara Zeuner on the journey. Clara, who was a nurse, shared a passion for his theories and arriving in New York, they soon opened a fitness studio, close to the hub of the dance and theatre world.
Finding huge favour with professional dancers, actors and gymnasts, by the early 1960s, Joe and Clara were changing the face of physical training with their challenging, hands-on and personalised approach to exercise.
Pilates was a pioneer of exercise, constantly inventing new equipment and developing the technique for better results. By all accounts, he was an extraordinary and talented man. He scrubbed his skin with a floor brush saying: “It makes my skin breathe all over!” Frequently he would wash his face in the snow, wear no overcoat and encourage his followers to do the same.
In 1932 Pilates published a book “Your Health”, closely followed by another “Return to Life Through Contrology” in 1945. Through these Pilates was able to pass his methods to his students and followers and these remain widely published workbooks for the original repertoire and exercise approach used by his followers today.
Joe and Clara trained clients at the studio until Joe’s death in 1967, at the age of 87. He left no instructions for the Pilates work to carry on, however his work continued and developed due to the nurturing approach of Clara and the increasing number of protégés, now referred to as the “Pilates Elders” including Mary Bowen, Kathy Grant, Ron Fletcher, Eve Gentry, Bruce King and Romana Kryzanowska, keen to develop and continue the work.
He would be very pleased to know that his methods and repertoire, whether on the mat or on his equipment, are not only internationally recognised and delivered, but today’s clients are still gaining massive benefits from his work.
“Time and progress are synonymous terms – nothing can stop either. Truth will prevail and that is why I know that my teachings will reach the masses and finally be adopted as universal.”
– Joseph H. Pilates. | <urn:uuid:1db47e64-4cc7-4c1e-9520-2e66eebc3e1d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.bodyinmindpilates.co.uk/origins-of-pilates/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.982826 | 915 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Network Security Issues Include The Four Aspects (65 อ่าน)
28 ก.ย. 2566 18:24
September 15, 2011, "Internet on legal literacy activities" series of interviews invited to Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications College of Humanities Dean Li Yuxiao guest Xinhua with friends to talk about network security.
To strengthen the legal knowledge education Internet, promote the healthy development of Internet sites, create a civilized and harmonious network environment, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Dean of Humanities and Xinhua Li Yuxiao invited guests, with the majority of users were talking about "network security."
[Moderator] network safety is now often referred to as a hot word, but many ordinary users of the network security concept, its connotation and extension is not very clear, you can not from a professional point of view for us to answer it?
[Li Yuxiao] because the use of networks is becoming increasingly popular, you will encounter all sorts of issues online, including many now say the concept of microblogging, spam, etc., and now there are cloud computing, networking, mobile Internet so, how to determine the network security problem? now the development of network security and traditional network security have changed. We consider more the four aspects. The first is physical security, and so the hardware stuff. The second is the operational safety, such as the Internet operating system, online applications provide network functionality to achieve a wide range of support equipment. The third is information security, including reliability, consistency, non-repudiation, the information is true. Fourth, content security, that we are now involved in a lot of information online, and some of the information is garbage, some violence, these things are in some of our laws and regulations which specifically prohi***ed or regulated.
With the development of networks, network behavior is more complex and diverse, there is now a web of abuse, such as online fraud, online this "human flesh" and other behaviors, and these acts are relying on the network exists. Before talking about the four kinds of behavior are relatively independent, so the scope of network security can be said that when you use the network, you own the device connected to a network, or use your personal network in all of them encountered security issues. Network of information and activities to bring life to your problems may be associated with network security.
ARP spoofing attacks are network attacks are quite common form of attack, the first ARP spoofing attacks by infected computers within the network can be disguised as a router, and then achieve the purpose of stealing passwords. But with the technology, ARP spoofing attacks can be hidden in the software among the users within the network to disrupt normal communication functions. So this article on the adoption of five methods, a brief look at the ARP spoofing attack solution.
As you may have a network of this experience - the network frequently dropped calls, slow down, you have no way to start. This ARP attacks may be subject to the performance of the network, here are five easy ways to help you quickly resolve it.
First, the establishment of MAC database, the Internet network card's MAC address of all record of each MAC and IP, geographic location were all into the database for filing timely fashion.
Second, the establishment of the DHCP server (recommended building at the gateway, because DHCP does not take up much CPU, and ARP spoofing attacks are generally always the first attack gateway, we are the gateway to make his first attack, because the gateway monitoring program here , recommended to choose the gateway address 192.168.10.2, 192.168.10.1 the blank, stupid things if criminal procedures allow him to attack an empty address bar), in addition to all the client's IP address and associated host information, only by the gateway here obtained, opening the gateway DHCP services here, but to give each card, the only fixed IP address binding. Must maintain the machines within the network IP / MAC-one correspondence relationship. Although this is a DHCP client to take the address, but each time the IP address of the boot are the same.
Third, the gateway monitor network security. Gateway to use TCPDUMP program intercepts above each ARP package, get a script analysis of the ARP protocol analysis software. ARP spoofing attack packets usually have the following two characteristics, to meet one of the packages can be regarded as an attack alarm: the first Ethernet packet header source address, destination address and protocol address of the ARP packet does not match. Or, ARP packets sent and the target network card MAC address is not in their database, or network with their MAC database MAC / IP do not match. These were all first alarm, check the data packets (Ethernet packet) source address (there may be forged), it is generally aware of that machine in the attack.
Fourth, the gateway machine to refresh the ARP dynamic process, static routing, this is the case, even if the suspect using ARP spoofing attack gateway, this gateway is no use for, to ensure host security.
Gateway to establish a static IP / MAC binding approach is: build / etc / ethers file, which contains the correct IP / MAC mapping, the following format:
Fifth, the sneaky come to that machine to see whether the intentional use of, or be appointed to put the Trojans what framing. If the latter, he quietly sent away the excuse, unplug the network cable (not shut down, especially to see the scheduled tasks in Win98) and see if the machine records the current use and operation, to determine whether it is in attacks.
Sixth, the use of protective software. ARP Firewall uses the system kernel level interception techniques and proactive technologies, including six function modules can solve most of deception, ARP attack to bring the issue to ensure communications security (to protect data communications network management software is not / malware monitor and control ), to ensure smooth network. | <urn:uuid:fd99f95b-8369-4ac2-a102-3eeb37f420d2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.bonback.com/forum/topic/5584/network-security-issues-include-the-four-aspects | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.929392 | 1,237 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Emotional intelligence, as measured in the Emotional Quotient (EQ) inventory, is composed of five categories, each with three subcategories as shown below:
Self-Regard: Respecting oneself; having confidence
Self-Actualization: The pursuit of meaning, self-improvement
Emotional Self-Awareness: Understanding one’s own emotions
Emotional Expression: Being able to constructively express emotions
Assertiveness: Communicating feelings and beliefs in a non-offensive manner
Independence: Being self-directed, free from emotional dependency
Interpersonal Relationships: Able to maintain mutually satisfying relationships
Empathy: Quality of being understanding, appreciative of how others feel
Social Responsibility: Developing a social conscience, helping the larger community
4. Decision Making
Problem Solving: Ability to find solutions when emotions are involved
Reality Testing: Ability to be objective; see things as they really are
Impulse Control: Ability to resist or delay the impulse to act
5. Stress Management
Flexibility: Adapting emotions, thoughts, and behaviors
Stress Tolerance: Coping with stressful situations
Optimism: Maintaining a positive attitude and outlook on life
Let’s break down each of these elements so you can begin to apply them to your own company.
How you perceive yourself — your self-perception — colors your interactions with the rest of the world. Self-regard makes up the first subcategory. The confidence and respect you have for yourself impacts your decisions and communications with others. Self-actualization, the second subcategory, concerns your pursuit of meaning and self-improvement. If you’re fully self-actualized, you’ve become the “largest” version of yourself — someone who’s fully living out what you view to be your life’s purpose. The third subcategory is emotional self-awareness. Being aware of your emotions isn’t self-indulgent — it’s necessary for healthy and happy living. Repressed emotions manifest as sickness, disagreements with others, constant anxiety, and a host of other unpleasant symptoms that hamper your ability to live and work at the level you seek.
Your perception of yourself — your self-expression — influences how you express yourself. The first part of this is emotional expression. Once you’re aware of your emotions (as noted in the self-perception category), you must be able to express them. Healthy individuals can express their emotions and take responsibility for them without blaming others. Assertiveness makes up the second part of self-expression: Can you communicate your feelings and beliefs in a way that causes no harm to others, yet honors your desires and needs? And the final component is independence. If you’re independent, you’re self-directed and free from emotional dependency on other people. You maintain steadiness regardless of the moods or opinions that are prevailing around you, and you don’t require validation from others.
The interpersonal category deals with how the self interacts with others. Interpersonal relationships addresses how you can adapt your ability to evolve and adapt all relationships from the meaningful people in your life to how you impact others. The second subcategory is empathy, meaning how well you can be understanding and appreciative of how others feel. Without empathy, you can’t form satisfying interpersonal relationships. Next is social responsibility. This builds on the previous two concepts: If you have positive, empathetic relationships with other individuals, you can strive to help the larger community, both locally and globally.
Pop science claims the average human makes about 35,000 decisions each day. An emotionally intelligent person can make decisions with less inner turmoil. The first subcategory of decision making is problem solving: Every time we make a decision, we have to tackle a myriad of emotions to reach a solution. When we understand our own emotional cycle, we can hijack the approach and improve our decision-making skills. The second category is reality testing. If you have strong reality-testing skills, you can be objective and see situations for what they really are without getting caught up in made-up stories, magical thinking, or worst-case scenarios. The third subcategory is impulse control. In a people leader, a lack of impulse control
can do serious harm to organizational morale. Say a CEO is a sucker for new technologies, so he invests in the newest and best tools—every six months. Employees must continually learn and adapt, victims of the boss’s “shiny object syndrome.” By contrast, a CEO with strong impulse control carefully considers the technologies available, chooses the best option for his company, and sticks with it.
We all have stressors in our lives, but we can choose how much they affect us. Have you ever known someone who flies off the handle at the smallest provocation — say, if the coffee pot is empty? Then there’s the person who lives like he’s in the eye of the hurricane: The whole world could be falling to pieces around him, yet he retains an almost unnatural calm.
Flexibility, the first subcategory of stress management, refers to your ability to adapt your thoughts and behaviors to a given situation. It’s how you respond and react in the moment. It’s about the hundreds of course corrections you make throughout the day to maintain emotional steadiness. Stress tolerance encompasses how well you cope with stressful situations. Reflect honestly on yourself: Are you closer to an “eye of the hurricane” person, or a “coffee pot freakout” person? The answer will give you insight into your level of stress tolerance. The third subcategory is optimism, or how well you maintain a positive outlook on life. Optimism breeds resilience. If you have a healthy baseline level of optimism and you encounter setbacks, you have confidence that things will right themselves in time.
These five categories of emotional intelligence serve as a useful barometer for people leaders in the workplace by helping them identify the source of tension or stress. Where discomfort and tension exist, you can peel them apart and see which component of EQ is under stress.
By Caroline Stokes
Knowledge workers, employees with technical expertise and high-level executives alike can benefit from training to grasp the nascent tech. Across industries, businesses are laying out plans to train employees to use generative AI and AI tools effectively.
There also needs to be an understanding of the toll that caring takes on the mental, and sometimes physical, health of the individual. The constant mental burden of ensuring that both children and the elderly are cared for needs to be recognised by managers, followed by an honest discussion with employees about how best to manage and support it.
Next year will see some kind of embarrassing calamity related to artificial intelligence and hiring. That’s according to Forrester’s predictions for 2024, which prophesied that the heavy use of AI by both candidates and recruiters will lead to at least one well-known company to hire a nonexistent candidate, and at least one business to hire a real candidate for a nonexistent job. | <urn:uuid:e814b17c-6b0a-495a-84cf-84d5387a84ee> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.borderless.net/news/borderless-leadership/navigating-your-best-leadership-path-with-eq/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.922682 | 1,474 | 3.140625 | 3 |
The Smokey the Bear fire safety campaign of the 1970s and 1980s had the unintended consequence of making the forest more dangerous when fire did eventually break out. Its campaign, with its tagline of “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” helped create a large-scale buildup of timber and dead wood in forests everywhere. Combined with drought, this created the perfect conditions for fire to grow out of control. With August 2013’s Yosemite Rim Fire – the third largest wildfire in California history – fire fighters employed some unusual techniques to fight fire that actually ended up working and contain lessons for all.
Why Forests Need Fire (Sometimes)
Fire is part of the natural growth cycle: It destroys some trees and plants and causes other to grow. Without fire, trees like the Jack Pine would never release their seeds. And dominant trees, like the Balsam fir, would spread, attract pests or disease, and die off. Fire can promote biodiversity and health, restoring an ecosystem.
The U.S. Department of the Interior sets 10 million acres of forest land on fire using controlled burns or prescriptive fires each year. This reduces the dangerous undergrowth that can cause wildfires to grow out of control, and promotes species biodiversity and the growth of native plants.
Ways to Fight Fire
The Yosemite wildfire, and other recent fires like it, feature a range of modern fire fighting techniques including the following:
Backfires: Crews in Yosemite set backfires using a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel. Test flames shot over 50 feet high. The backfires scorched the earth and burned up the wood that the forest fire would use as fuel. This tactic prevented the Rim Fire from crossing into two of Yosemite’s beloved groves, Tuolomne and Merced.
Clearing the land: While it may seem aggressive, fire fighters often use tractor plows and bulldozers to take out vegetation in the line of fire. Much like the backfire method, this removes flammable vegetation from the line of fire and can prevent the fire from growing.
Via air: Helicopters and planed fitted with large tanks can fly above the fire and spray either water or chemical fire retardant. While this won’t work in the thick of a large fire, it can help prevent a fire from spreading by covering the ground with water or chemical retardant. When the fire hits the wet land, it sizzles and dies.
Raise awareness of fire safety: Fire fighters are also trying to raise public awareness around fire safety issues, such as home construction and illegal fires.
While fire fighters were ultimately successful in putting out Yosemite’s Rim Fire, the park sustains a 60 mile “dead zone,” threatened animal species like the grey owl were displaced from their homes and there is a real danger of land erosion. It is clear that more work needs to be done when it comes to fire management, land control and controlled burning to prevent massive fires like this one.
- Is the Yosemite fire a good fire? http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2013/0826/Is-the-Yosemite-fire-a-good-fire
- Why forest fires are good and amazing - http://www.minnpost.com/intelligencer/2011/09/why-forest-fires-are-good-and-amazing
- Fixing how we fight forest fires - http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-20/opinions/42246901_1_forest-fires-stewardship-contracting-thinning-and-controlled-burns | <urn:uuid:ef37711c-59c5-4db5-93ee-fb0ca579586f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/128129/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.91656 | 762 | 3.875 | 4 |
The practice, which began in the prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture for civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient time. The earliest surviving text on architectural theory is the 1st century AD treatise De architectura by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good building embodies firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (durability, utility, and beauty). Centuries later, Leon Battista Alberti developed his ideas further, seeing beauty as an objective quality of buildings to be found in their proportions. Giorgio Vasari wrote Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects and put forward the idea of style in the arts in the 16th century. In the 19th century, Louis Sullivan declared that “form follows function”. “Function” began to replace the classical “utility” and was understood to include not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural dimensions. The idea of sustainable architecture was introduced in the late 20th century.
Architecture began as rural, oral vernacular architecture that developed from trial and error to successful replication. Ancient urban architecture was preoccupied with building religious structures and buildings symbolizing the political power of rulers until Greek and Roman architecture shifted focus to civic virtues. Indian and Chinese architecture influenced forms all over Asia and Buddhist architecture in particular took diverse local flavors. During the European Middle Ages, pan-European styles of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and abbeys emerged while the Renaissance favored Classical forms implemented by architects known by name. Later, the roles of architects and engineers became separated. Modern architecture began after World War I as an avant-garde movement that sought to develop a completely new style appropriate for a new post-war social and economic order focused on meeting the needs of the middle and working classes. Emphasis was put on modern techniques, materials, and simplified geometric forms, paving the way for high-rise superstructures. Many architects became disillusioned with modernism which they perceived as ahistorical and anti-aesthetic, and postmodern and contemporary architecture developed.
Over the years, the field of architectural construction has branched out to include everything from ship design to interior decorating.
According to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De re aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, although ornament also played a part. For Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, and was based on universal, recognisable truths. The notion of style in the arts was not developed until the 16th century, with the writing of Giorgio Vasari. By the 18th century, his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects had been translated into Italian, French, Spanish, and English. | <urn:uuid:84a53d61-7a81-4304-b86e-fb1c45e7599c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.careersinag.ca/sidebar-on-the-right/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.96971 | 670 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Teaching sustainability to young people
Published on Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Last updated on Thursday, 13 May 2021
While sustainability may be a bit of a buzzword these days, it is essential for all of us, on an individual and business level, to adopt more sustainable lifestyles.
It’s especially important for those of us working in early learning environments to instil sustainable ideologies and practices among the children in our care. This is so that future generations will naturally live more sustainably, without having to unlearn the bad habits that previous generations have had to.
This week, 10 fun and easy ways to teach the children in your service about living sustainably every day.
- Set up a rainwater tank
While you can obviously do this for your centre as a whole, you can also set up a small garden tank to show the children how rainwater is collected and used. Help them to collect water for the garden and any animals you may have at your centre, as well as using it for water play.
Australian company Rainwell supplies and installs hand pumps that can be connected to small rainwater tanks, demonstrating the work involved to collect water for use, and teaching children that the supply is not endless to encourage a healthy respect for this valuable resource.
- Plant an edible garden
Providing children an opportunity to plant, tend and harvest fruits and veggies from a garden has many wonderful benefits. Taking care of delicate seedlings helps children learn to be gentle in their handling, while everyday watering and tending teaches them responsibility as well as delayed gratification while waiting for plants to grow - all excellent lessons.
You can also use this fun activity to teach children about sustainable food sources, showing them where their food comes from, teaching them to use water responsibly - what’s taken from a rainwater tank, the leftovers from cups and drink bottles, or water collected in a bowl when washing their hands, for example - and educating them about eating with the seasons.
- Build a worm farm
As we all know, kids are often fascinated by bugs, as well as by dirt and rubbish, so another great way to encourage sustainability through play is to start a worm farm to recycle food scraps and feed your edible garden.
Whether you buy a worm farm kit or build a simple farm yourselves, the children will see how the scraps of food that they don’t eat are fed to the wriggly, squiggly worms in the farm, and how those worms then create liquid and solid fertilisers - worm wee and poo! - to feed the fruits and veggies in the edible garden.
- Start a compost bin
This can be done in tandem with worm farm, to demonstrate the natural process of decomposition, and to use up other scraps from the centre including bits of paper and cardboard as well as excess food scraps. Whether you buy a compost bin, create your own structure or simply start an in-ground pile, creating your own compost is a rewarding and very educational process that is a great idea for children to bring home with them too.
- Raise chickens
Not every centre is going to be set up with the space to house their own chickens, but for those that have it, chooks are a great choice for pets with benefits. Not only does helping to feed, water and care for their feathered friends teach children about responsibility, gentle play and taking care around animals, they can also learn about the life cycle of chickens and eggs, see another way to use food scraps to minimise household waste even further, and learn how to gather chook poo as another valuable fertiliser for their veggie garden.
- Teach children to sort recycling
When waste is produced within the centre that can’t be turned into compost, such as empty plastic bottles, glass jars or washed-out tins, use the opportunity to teach children how to sort recycling into different bins for paper, plastic (soft plastics can be recycled into REDcycle bins at some supermarkets), metal and glass.
Make a game of it by having a big bag of recyclables and four bins with pictures of different materials on them, as well as the words ‘Paper’, ‘Plastic’, ‘Metal’ and ‘Glass’. Ask each child to take an item out of the bag and choose for themselves which bin they should place it in.
- Use recycled/found craft materials
These bins can then become excellent sources of craft materials before they’re ready to be taken away. An empty jam jar can become a wonderful terrarium that can be taken home as a gift for Mum and Dad. Or a kitchen towel roll can become a cute cat puppet to play with.
Alternatively, natural materials such as leaves and twigs, gumnuts, flowers and more can be turned into collages, paint brushes, crayon rubbings and more with just a bit of imagination.
- Learn about reusing and repairing
Old skills such as repairing broken toys and sewing patches on ripped clothes have fallen by the wayside in an age of convenient consumerism and fast fashion (think fast food, but with jeans instead of chicken nuggets).
Children as young as two or three can learn how to sew, given the correct tools (such as big, dull embroidery needles, large-hole mesh and a frame to hold) and proper supervision.
- Have energy/water-use monitors
Children love having jobs to do and being involved in everyday activities. Why not employ a different little helper each day to help monitor things like turning lights off when you all leave the room, or making sure taps are turned off after everyone’s done washing their hands?
A water monitor can even be in charge of gathering together the water leftover in everyone’s cups after lunch to use in the garden that afternoon.
- Talk to council about having kids plant trees in the community
With consent - and if possible involvement - from families and your local council, it can be a great idea to take children on a supervised excursion into the community to plant native trees in an area near your centre in need of regeneration.
This can be a way for children to learn about the facts of deforestation and the practicality of bush regeneration, to help sustain the environment for future generations.
The children at Learning Adventures Warkworth can teach many others a few things about sustainability.
Reducing waste and taking care of the environment has never been more important to lessen the effects of climate change and ensure future generations can continue to thrive.
12 easy ways to make your early education and care service more sustainable and drive savings at the bottom line. | <urn:uuid:f65e3239-ca6b-4704-9a14-f5596d9819ff> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.careforkids.co.nz/child-care-provider-articles/article/583/teaching-sustainability-to-young-people | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.953961 | 1,361 | 3.96875 | 4 |
Tips on Paper Selection
Choosing the right paper for a printing job can be a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be though. When selecting the best paper type for a particular job, you’re often faced with an overwhelming number of options. Asking your printer for “white” is like asking your waiter for “food” — you’ll have to be more specific than that.
To the educated consumer, the choices don’t seem nearly as intimidating. Before you order though, you’ve got to know the menu. Paper has ten characteristics that affect its cost and appropriateness for a given job.
The surface of paper affects its look, feel and printability. When paper is pressed at the mill, it passes through a series of rollers in a process called calendaring. Calendaring affects paper in numerous ways. As the extent of this process increases, paper is made smoother, glossier, more capable of retaining ink, thinner, less opaque and less bright. Why does surface matter? Because people do judge books by their cover.
The color of paper is perhaps the most salient of all characteristics. White is by far the most popular color and is generally optimal for conventional usage. Not all white is the same, however — it runs the gamut from ultra-severe hues to softer, more antique shades. Photo white paper is best for accentuating the contrast between light and dark hues.
Off-white sheets produce less glare, and are best used for publications such as novels or technical manuals that demand long and uninterrupted attention from readers. When comparing color, always examine paper under standard viewing conditions and with minimal atmospheric distractions.
The brightness of paper measures the percentage of light that it reflects. Most papers reflect approximately 60 to 90% of incoming light. Remember: brightness and color are not the same thing. Unlike the color characteristic (which is highly subjective and imprecise), brightness is a strictly quantitative, or measurable, attribute. Brightness is important because it affects readability — high brightness can cause eye strain, while low brightness can produce a blurring effect.
The opacity of paper is the degree to which other printing is visible through the page. High opacity, or density, minimizes the visibility of printing on subsequent pages, thus enhancing readability. Opacity increases with the bulk and weight of paper, and is influenced by numerous other factors, including paper color, ink color, coatings, chemicals and coverage.
The grain of paper describes the direction, or alignment, of its component fibers. Paper grain is either grain long or grain short. When fibers are patterned parallel to the length of a sheet, the paper is grain long. When fibers run parallel to the width of a sheet, the paper is grain short. Grain direction is a critical factor for print jobs because it directly affects usage — for example, paper strength, flexibility, tack and versatility are all impacted by grain direction.
The basis weight of paper is calculated as the weight in pounds of one ream, or five hundred sheets. Each main grade of paper has a basic size that is used to determine its basis weight. Remember that paper of equivalent basis weight is not necessarily of equivalent basic size. Smaller sized paper that is thicker can possess a basis weight identical to that of larger, thinner paper. Since paper is sold by the pound, understanding paper weight is imperative to successful cost control programs.
The caliper of paper is its thickness. Caliper is measured in thousandths of an inch and referred to as point size. In this system, .001 inch equals one point — and eight-point paper would have a thickness of .008 inch. Do not confuse type point with caliper point. Type point describes the height of a particular font; caliper point describes paper thickness.
The bulk of paper denotes its thickness relative to its basis weight. For example, uncalendared paper would have a higher bulk than gloss coated paper. Remember though that paper may be bulkier or thicker than another grade, yet still have the same basis weight.
The size of paper describes its physical dimensions. An 8.5 x 11 sheet is 8.5 inches wide and 11 inches long. Access to specific information concerning the range of paper sizes available for any given printing job is essential to containing costs and ensuring efficient usage.
The quantity of paper refers to the number of sheets bought, sold or used. A ream is a standard unit of numerical paper quantity. Paper that is “ream-wrapped” is packaged in a bundle of 500 sheets. Cartons of paper are not defined by exact numerical specifications, but approximate weight. Cartons typically weigh around 150 pounds and are used in practice as a standard unit of sales. | <urn:uuid:2ba3af7e-4d03-4496-a7c6-8eb5743da87b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.cirrusvisual.com/resources/tipsandtricks/title/tips-on-paper-selection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.944308 | 973 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Everything You Need to Know About Proper Hoof Care
Reprinted from horsetackco.com/blogs
Keeping your horse healthy entails understanding the importance of proper hoof care. To help you learn more, we'll answer the most frequently asked questions about how to maintain a healthy horse hoof.
By learning when to schedule farrier visits, which horse hoof care products to keep on hand, which nutritional advice to follow and what warning signs to watch for, you'll be ready to give your horse the care they deserve.
Why Is It Important to Keep Hooves Balanced?
When it comes to the shape of your horse's hoof, the primary objective is to have a balanced hoof and lower leg. A proper balance leaves horses with less strain on their bones, tendons and ligaments, making it easier and more comfortable for them to move.
Every horse has a unique shoulder, pastern and hoof angle, which influences their needs to achieve a proper balance. Proper hoof balance includes:
Medial-lateral and anterior-posterior balance: The hoof should be equal in size and shape. From the front, you should be able to make an imaginary line that centrally connects the cannon, pastern and coffin bone. Proper balance allows the hoof to land evenly as your horse walks, resulting in a more comfortable stride.
Heel support: If your horse requires shoeing, the shoe should provide total heel support without extending too far, or else it could reduce the integrity of the shoe and bother your horse. Having this heel support aids the entire back of your horse's leg, resulting in stronger strides.
Easy breakover: Breakover refers to the action of a horse lifting its heel and rotating over the toe as it takes a stride. If your horse's toe is too long, it makes this breakover process harder and uncomfortable. For easier breakover, ensure your horse's toe is appropriately squared, rounded or rolled.
Luckily, you can rely on your trusted farrier to maintain your horse's hoof balance and integrity.
How Often Should Your Horse See the Farrier?
Your horse should visit the farrier every four to eight weeks, depending on their:
Age: Horses' hooves grow slower as they age. If your horse is younger, you might have to schedule more frequent trips to the farrier.
Climate: You may need to schedule less frequent farrier visits during the colder months, as hooves tend to grow slower during this time compared to the warmer summer months.
Environment: Horses in softer environments, like plush grass pastures, will experience faster hoof growth than horses on harder terrains, and they will require less time between farrier visits.
Nutrition: With the right nutrition, your horse's hooves will grow faster and stronger and require more frequent farrier visits to manage their healthy growth.
Genetics: Some breeds, such as Thoroughbreds, are more prone to growing weaker feet that need regular maintenance to support proper growth and balance.
Work regime: Horses that do hard training put more wear on their feet. These horses require more routine maintenance, especially when participating in show season, to maintain a well-kept appearance.
Horses infrequently trained can go about eight to 10 weeks between farrier trimmings. Comparatively, horses requiring shoes should visit the farrier every four to seven weeks.
What Are Some Signs That Your Horse Needs to See the Farrier?
If you're unsure when to schedule the next farrier visit, look for these signs that your horse's hooves need re-shoeing:
The clenches, where the nail is bent over on the hoof wall, are starting to rise.
The hoof is overgrowing and extending past the shoe.
The shoe is so worn that your horse has trouble walking on smooth surfaces.
The shoe is loose or displaced.
You'll quickly learn what does and doesn't look right over time. Make appointments a few weeks ahead to make sure your farrier is available, but let them know if any complications occur — like a mysterious missing shoe — and they'll likely fix it before your next appointment.
How Can You Keep Your Horse's Hooves Healthy In-Between Farrier Visits?
Encourage healthy hooves in-between farrier visits by:
Feeding your horse a well-balanced diet.
Adding supplements that support hoof health.
Cleaning around your horse's frog regularly.
Applying a hoof dressing once or twice a week during the winter, and as needed during the summer.
Maintaining proper farrier visits and practicing consistent basic hoof care prevents any unwanted damages, like cracks or abscesses, which we'll discuss later.
When Should You Start Trimming Foals' Feet?
Horses aren't born with perfect feet, as much as we'd like them to be. Start routine farrier visits when your foal is around two weeks old to correct any leg or hoof deviation. If you wait too long, making these corrections could cause more damage than good. All they need is a quick trim and a square toe to encourage strong leg formation.
What Nutrients Prevent Hoof Problems?
A well-balanced diet is unique to each horse. Along with providing your horse plenty of access to fresh water and good-quality hay, you can incorporate these nutrients to encourage healthy hoof growth in horses:
Protein: Proteins have amino acids — particularly methionine, an extremely beneficial amino acid — that supports healthy horse hooves and faster growth.
Zinc: Horse hooves consist of a healthy amount of the protein keratin. Zinc helps manage keratin levels to support hoof strength.
Fat: Hooves, especially in wet environments, are highly susceptible to bacteria and fungi. Adding adequate levels of fat to your horse's diet creates a strong permeable layer that defends the hoof from harmful bacteria and fungi.
Calcium and phosphorus: The right ratio of calcium and phosphorus strengthens the hoof horn and wall, supporting the hoof's overall structure.
Biotin: A popular choice for equestrians, biotin can benefit your horse in ways like hoof integrity, healthy coat and mane and tail growth.
Before adding any of these nutrients to your horse's diet, do your research and consult with your vet. A well-balanced diet provides a long list of benefits, but it's easy to give too many or too little nutrients without the right guidance.
What Common Hoof Problems Should You Watch For?
Even with the right preventative measures, horses can develop hoof problems. Some common hoof problems you should be cautious of include:
Quarter cracks: Quarter cracks, a vertical split of the hoof wall, are caused by many factors. Some usual causes of quarter cracks are trauma, long toes, foot imbalances and short shoes, all of which usually result in lameness.
Thrush: Horses in wet conditions with deep clefts or narrow heels are more likely to develop thrush, a foul-smelling bacterial infection that oozes black liquid around the frog area.
Subsolar abscess: A subsolar abscess is an infection under the hoof's sole that appears as a pus-filled blister. Subsolar abscesses are understandably painful, often resulting in sudden onset lameness.
Hot or street nail: A hot nail refers to a horseshoe nail that impales a sensitive part of a horse's hoof, usually resulting in lameness. Comparatively, a street nail is any object that enters a horse's hoof, varying in severity depending on the object.
Laminitis and founder: Laminitis and founder — used interchangeably — refers to the swelling of the lamina, the connective tissue in the core of a horse's hoof. This causes either short- or long-term lameness depending on the severity.
Treatments vary depending on the severity of each case. When in doubt, call your veterinarian for the best treatment plans.
Shop the Best Horse Hoof Care Products at Horse Tack Co.
Caring for your horse's hooves is an important part of being an equestrian. Horse Tack Co. wants to help you keep your horse healthy from the bottom of their hooves to the top of their mane. Visit our website and shop our wide selection of quality hoof care essentials, or visit us in person at our New Holland, Pennsylvania, location. Have any questions? Call us at 866-624-8225, and our friendly equestrians will be happy to help! | <urn:uuid:ea08a937-6a61-4cd2-a27d-bac6ef74e44d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.coastalequineservices.com/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-proper-hoof-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.922389 | 1,782 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Taking Care Of Your Teeth
Teeth for a Lifetime
Thanks to better at-home care and in-office dental treatments, more people than ever before are keeping their teeth throughout their lives. Although some diseases and conditions can make dental disease and tooth loss more likely, most of us have a good deal of control over whether we keep our teeth into old age.
The most important thing you can do to maintain good oral health is to brush and floss your teeth regularly.
Most mouth woes are caused by plaque, that sticky layer of bacteria, food particles and other organic matter that forms on your teeth. Bacteria in plaque produce acids that can lead cavities. Plaque may also lead to periodontal (gum) disease, a potentially serious infection that can erode bone and destroy the tissues surrounding teeth.
The best defense is to remove plaque daily before it has a chance to build up and cause problems. Brushing removes plaque from the large surfaces of the teeth and, if done correctly, from just under the gums. Flossing and interdental brushes remove plaque between our teeth.
Most of us learned to brush our teeth when we were children and have kept the same technique throughout our lives. Unfortunately, many of us learned the wrong way. Even if we learned the correct method, it's easy to become sloppy over the years. Brushing correctly isn't instinctive. Getting the bristles to remove plaque without damaging your gums is a little trickier than you might think.
There are different ways to brush teeth, and your dental professional can show you the method that they feel would be best for you. The modified Bass technique is among the most popular for adults and is very effective in removing plaque above and just below the gum line. Children, however, may find it difficult to move the toothbrush this way. A dental professional can explain to your child the best way to brush. Parents should supervise their children's oral hygiene until age 9 or 10.
Here are a few general pointers about brushing:
Brush at least twice a day — Many dental professionals recommend brushing just before going to bed. When you sleep, saliva decreases, leaving the teeth more vulnerable to bacterial acids. Teeth should also be brushed in the morning, either before or after breakfast, depending on your schedule. After breakfast is ideal so food particles are removed. But if you eat in your car, at work or skip breakfast entirely, make sure you brush in the morning to get rid of the plaque that built up overnight.
Brush lightly —Brushing too hard can traumatise your gums and cause recession.
Plaque attaches to our teeth like jam sticks to a wooden spoon. It can't be totally removed by rinsing, but just a light brushing will do the trick. Once plaque has hardened into calculus (tartar), brushing can't remove it, so brushing harder won't help. Try holding your toothbrush the same way you hold a pen. This encourages a lighter stroke.
Brush for at least two minutes — Set a timer if you have to, but don't skimp on brushing time. Longer is fine, but two minutes is the minimum time needed to adequately clean all your teeth. Many people brush for the length of a song. That acts as a good reminder to brush each tooth thoroughly.
Have a standard routine for brushing — Try to brush your teeth in the same order every day. Some oral health professionals feel that this helps patients remember to brush all areas of their mouths. If you do this routinely, it eventually will become second nature. For example, brush the outer sides of your teeth from left to right across the top then move to the inside and brush right to left. Repeat the pattern for your lower teeth.
Always use a toothbrush with "soft" or "extra soft" bristles — The harder the brush, the greater the risk of harming gum tissue.
Change your toothbrush regularly — As soon as the bristles begin to splay, the toothbrush loses its ability to clean properly. Throw away your old toothbrush after three months or when the bristles flare, whichever comes first. If you find your bristles flaring much sooner than three months, you may be brushing too hard. Try easing up.
Dental Professionals say, "It's not the brush, it's the brusher," meaning that the exact type of brush you use isn't nearly as important as your brushing technique and diligence. As your dental professional to show you the correct technique
Electric is fine, but not always necessary — Electric or power-assisted toothbrushes are a fine alternative to manual brushes. They are especially useful for people who are less than diligent about proper brushing technique or for people with physical limitations that make brushing difficult. As with manual brushes, choose soft bristles, brush for at least two minutes and don't press too hard or you'll damage your gums. Ask your dental professional to show you the correct technique for an electric brush.
Choose the right toothpaste for you — It can be overwhelming to face the huge number of toothpaste choices in the average supermarket. Remember, the best toothpaste for you may not be the best toothpaste for someone else.
Toothpastes don't merely clean teeth anymore. Different types have special ingredients for preventing decay, plaque control, tartar control, whitening, gum care or desensitising teeth. Depending on your needs your dental professional can recommend a toothpaste that is best for you.
Most toothpastes on the market today contain fluoride, which has been proven to prevent, stop or even reverse the decay process. Tartar-control toothpastes are useful for people who tend to build up tartar quickly, while someone who gets tooth stains may want a whitening toothpaste. Some whitening toothpastes will only remove surface stains, such as those caused by smoking, tea or coffee. To whiten teeth that are stained at a deeper level, talk with your dental professional about using products that contain hydrogen or carbamide peroxide.
Some people find that some toothpaste ingredients irritate their teeth, cheeks or lips. If your teeth have become more sensitive or your mouth is irritated after brushing, try changing toothpastes. If the problem continues, see your dental professional.
How To Brush
Modified Bass brushing technique:
Hold the head of the toothbrush horizontally against your teeth with the bristles part-way on the gums
Tilt the brush head to about a 45-degree angle, so the bristles are splaying under the gum line.
Move the toothbrush in very short horizontal strokes so the tips of the bristles stay in one place, but the head of the brush wiggles back and forth. Or use tiny circular motions. This allows the bristles to slide gently under the gum. Do this for about 20 strokes. This assures that adequate time will be spent cleaning away as much plaque as possible. Note: this is a very gentle motion. In healthy gums, this should cause no pain. Brushing too vigorously or with large strokes can damage gum tissue.
Roll or flick the brush so that the bristles move out from under the gum toward the biting edge of the tooth. This helps move the plaque out from under the gum line.
Repeat for every tooth, so that all tooth surfaces and gum lines are cleaned.
For the insides of your front teeth, where the horizontal brush position is cumbersome, hold the brush vertically instead. Again, use gentle back and forth brushing action and finish with a roll or flick of the brush toward the biting edge.
To clean the biting or chewing surfaces of the teeth, hold the brush so the bristles are straight down on the flat surface of the molars.
Gently move the brush back and forth or in tiny circles to clean the entire surface. Move to a new tooth or area until all teeth are cleaned.
Rinse with water to clear the mouth of food residue and remove plaque.
You can clear even more bacteria out of your mouth by brushing your tongue. With your toothbrush, brush firmly but gently from back to front. Do not go so far back in your mouth that you gag. Rinse again.
Many people never learned to floss as children. But flossing is critical to healthy gums and it's never too late to start. A common rule of thumb says that any difficult new habit becomes second nature after only three weeks. If you have difficulty figuring out what to do, ask your dental professionals to give you a personal lesson.
Here are a few general pointers about flossing:
Floss once a day — Although there is no research to recommend an optimum number of times to floss, most dental professionals recommend a thorough flossing at least once a day. If you tend to get food trapped between teeth, flossing more often can help remove it.
Take your time — Flossing requires a certain amount of dexterity and thought. Don't rush.
Choose your own time — Although most people find that just before bed is an ideal time, you can floss any time that is most convenient to ensure that you will continue to floss regularly. Choose a time during the day when you can floss without haste.
Don't skimp on the floss —use as much as you need to clean both sides of every tooth with a fresh section of floss. In fact, you may need to floss one tooth several times (using fresh sections of floss) to remove all the food debris. Although there has been no research, some professionals think reusing sections of floss may redistribute bacteria pulled off one tooth onto another tooth.
Choose the type that works best for you — There are many different types of floss: waxed and unwaxed, flavored and unflavored, ribbon and thread. Try different varieties before settling on one. People with teeth that are closely spaced will find that waxed floss slides more easily into the tight space. There are tougher shred-resistant varieties that work well for people with rough edges that tend to catch and rip floss.
How To Floss
How you hold the floss is a matter of personal preference. The most common method is to wind the floss around the middle fingers then pull it taut and guide it with your index fingers. You also can wind it around your index fingers and guide it with your thumb and middle fingers or simply hold the ends of the floss or use a floss-guiding tool. (If you have a fixed bridge, a bridge threader can help guide floss under the bridge for better cleaning.) How you hold the thread is not as important as what you do with it. If you can't settle in on a good method, ask your dental professional for suggestions.
Hold the floss so that a short segment is ready to work with.
Guide the floss gently between two teeth. If the fit is tight, use a back-and-forth motion to work the floss through the narrow spot. Do not snap the floss in or you could cut your gums.
Hold the floss around the front and back of one tooth, making it into a "C" shape. This will wrap the floss around the side edge of that tooth.
Gently move the floss toward the base of the tooth and up into the space between the tooth and gum.
Move the floss up and down with light to firm pressure to skim off plaque in that area. Do not press so hard that you injure the gum.
Repeat for all sides of the tooth, including the outermost side of the last tooth. Advance the floss to a clean segment for each tooth edge.
Other Ways To Clean Between The Teeth
Many people have larger spaces between their teeth and need additional aids, called interdental cleaners, to remove food particles and bacterial plaque adequately. You may have larger spaces that need extra care if you have had gum surgery or if you have teeth that are missing or out of alignment.
Small interdental brushes are tiny bristle or filament brushes that can fit between teeth and come in a variety of sizes and handle designs. These brushes clean better than floss when the gum tissue does not completely fill the space between your teeth. These little brushes also can help people with orthodontic bands on their teeth to remove bacterial plaque from around the wires and brackets.
You can find these interdental cleaners at most pharmacies and grocery stores. Your dental professional can show you how to use these cleaners to remove plaque between your teeth.
Other Cleaning Aids
To supplement your at-home brushing and flossing, your dental professional may suggest one or more of the following:
Oral irrigators — These electrical devices pump water out in a slim steady or pulsating stream. Although they do not seem to remove plaque that is attached to the tooth well, they are very effective at flushing out food and bacteria byproducts in periodontal pockets or that get caught in orthodontic appliances. Irrigators should be used in addition to brushing and flossing, not as an alternative.
Interdental tip — These soft, flexible rubber nibs are used to clean between the teeth and just below the gum line. Plaque and food debris can be removed by gently running the tip along the gum line.
Mouthwashes and rinses — As with toothpaste, your choice of mouthwashes or rinses will be guided by your personal mouth care needs. Over-the-counter rinses are available to freshen the breath, add fluoride or kill plaque bacteria that cause gingivitis. Some mouthwashes are designed to help loosen plaque before you brush. Ask your dental professional to recommend the type of rinse that would be best for you. If you need to avoid alcohol, read ingredient labels carefully. Many over-the-counter mouthwashes contain alcohol. In some cases, your dental professional might recommend a stronger fluoride or antibacterial rinse. | <urn:uuid:0b116d29-38cf-4f16-bb52-b9759badfd89> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.colgateprofessional.com.au/patient-education/oral-hygiene-basics/taking-care-of-your-teeth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.944608 | 2,881 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Avoiding Cognitive Decline
Of those aged 60 and older, 12 to 18 percent have mild cognitive impairment. People living with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to develop Alzheimer's, and almost two-thirds of people currently living with Alzheimer's are women.1
There are three basic forms of cognitive decline associated with aging:2
- Age-related changes in memory, which are a natural consequence of aging.
- Mild Cognitive Impairment, which involves mild memory loss such as forgetting important events or appointments, or an inability or difficulty with finding the right word in a conversation.
- Dementia, which includes Alzheimer's disease, is a chronic, progressive, irreversible and comprehensive cognitive impairment that may affect daily functioning.
There are a range of risk factors that can lead to cognitive decline, including:2
- Increased age
- Genetic predisposition
- Excessive use of alcohol
- Physical and mental inactivity
- Chronic stress
- Medical conditions, such as diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
- Low social involvement
Strategies to Help Manage Cognitive Decline
Reading, learning a musical instrument, and playing cards or board games are all activities that stimulate the brain and may reduce cognitive decline.
Staying physically active can improve your mood, reduce stress, and help eliminate some of the medical conditions that are risk factors.
A nutritious diet, low in fat, may help reduce contributory risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.2
A Sound Night's Sleep
It's normal for sleeping difficulties to emerge with age, but insufficient sleep can impair memory and learning. Going to bed and waking up at the same time can help. However, if you have a sleep disorder, consider seeking qualified assistance.
Staying engaged with friends and family stimulates the brain. If you live alone or have limited social ties, look to build up contact with neighbors and social groups.
Talk to Your Doctor
It's best not to self-diagnose or treat yourself if you think you are suffering from cognitive impairment. Visit your doctor to explain your symptoms and let him or her assess your condition and recommend the necessary treatment and counseling.
1. Alz.org, 2023
2. ClevelandClinic.org, 2023
The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. It may not be used for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. This material was developed and produced by FMG Suite to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. FMG Suite is not affiliated with the named broker-dealer, state- or SEC-registered investment advisory firm. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Copyright FMG Suite. | <urn:uuid:afe747a2-a718-4d12-a7a5-1f1bff53aef2> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.crossroadslearning.com/resource-center/lifestyle/avoiding-cognitive-decline | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.92926 | 600 | 3.125 | 3 |
Seeds of Success Stranded in Space
SPACE SHUTTLE: SATELLITE RESCUE MISSION
SHUTTLE astronauts are ready to go after a stranded satellite whose rescue would turn an embarrassing failure into a scientific success. In need of rescue is the 21,600-pound Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). The 57 experiments on board it involve a variety of materials, including 12.5 million tomato seeds. Placed on orbit April 7, 1984, by an earlier shuttle crew, LDEF was to have been retrieved in about one year to see what happened to its cargo.
Launch schedule glitches and the 1986 Challenger accident repeatedly postponed that retrieval. Now the space shuttle Columbia is set to take off from the Kennedy Space Center Dec. 18 to end the LDEF team's long-duration frustration. Still, the half-decade wait could be an investment that produces unexpectedly valuable data for many of the 200 United States and foreign experimenters.
``None of the experiments are going to be a dead loss,'' says William Kinard, LDEF chief scientist of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center. He notes that the purpose is to study effects of such factors as cosmic rays, atomic oxygen from the outer atmosphere, micrometeorites and space junk, and the effects of weightlessness. The prolonged exposure should make most experiments ``5 to 6 times more valuable'' than planned, he says. He expects even the seeds to be viable. Control seeds set aside in 1984 still sprout at the George W. Park Seed Company, which coordinates that experiment.
Astronauts Daniel Brandenstein (commander) and James Wetherbee (pilot) will fly Columbia with Bonnie Dunbar, G. David Low, and Marsha Ivins traveling as mission specialists.
LDEF is a 12-sided polyhedron - 30 feet long by 14 feet across - with experiments mounted in trays along its sides and ends. It is an inert spacecraft with no on-board propulsion or attitude control thrusters and no radio contact with Earth. In 1984, astronauts used the shuttle's movable arm to place this school-bus size craft on orbit.
Dr. Kinard says that LDEF has remained a very stable craft with a stable drag due to the residual atmosphere through which it travels. Changes in its orbit reflect the density of that thin gas. Radar tracking of LDEF has yielded very accurate density data, including the outer atmosphere's response to solar activity, Kinard explains.
Now this air drag has lowered LDEF's orbit from 295 miles to 213 miles. It will reenter Earth's atmosphere at the end of February if left to itself. So Columbia's mission is an all or nothing effort.
Even if that mission succeeds, it will be a bittersweet triumph.
The highlight of the April 1984 mission was the Ace Satellite Repair Company, as the astronaut crew billed itself. It repaired the Solar Max satellite while in orbit, significantly extending its life. Astronauts could have done this again. But NASA has neither the money nor an available shuttle mission to service Solar Max now. It has abandoned it to a fiery re-entry, within a few weeks.
In 1984, NASA hailed both LDEF deployment and the Solar Max repair as examples of unique services the shuttle could offer. It hoped to run a business renting experimental space on retrievable satellites launched as often as every 18 months. That prospect evaporated with the LDEF delays.
If Columbia cannot rescue LDEF, several hundred sizable chunks - 10 to 100 pounds each - could fall along the reentry track, Kinard says. This lies between 28.5 degrees north and south latitudes. Much of that track is over open sea. But mission specialist Low says it is important to retrieve the satellite because ``it looks bad for the the United States to allow something like that to come in.'' The same could be said for the 6,000-pound Solar Max whose reentry will scatter debris along the same path. | <urn:uuid:bb0fc561-daf5-4554-8132-44dd0164815d> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.csmonitor.com/1989/1127/along__1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.939927 | 822 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Alkaline phosphatase (ALP or ALKP) is a group of enzymes located on the membranes of liver cells and bile duct cells. An elevated level of alkaline phosphate may or may not be indicative of liver dysfunction. Several benign things, such as a dog's age, breed, and nodular hyperplasia, can elevate a dog's ALP level. However, ALP level in dogs can also be elevated due to a medical problem, such as hepatitis, cancer, pancreatitis, diabetes, gall stones, cirrhosis, ingestion of a toxin, or infection.
How is alkaline phosphatase level measured?
Alkaline phosphatase is an enzyme produced by various tissues in a dog's body. ALP is found in the membranes of liver and bile duct cells as well as in the bones. A dog's ALP level is measured with a blood test called a chemistry panel. Chemistry panels are often done routinely at a dog's annual vet visit or as part of a pre-surgery screening.
Video of the Day
An elevated alkaline phosphatase level may be indicative of a number of medical problems. If your dog is experiencing certain symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, drinking and urinating more often, weight changes, lethargy, appetite loss, or abdominal pain, your vet may want to order further diagnostic tests.
The normal range for alkaline phosphatase in dogs is 7 to 115 U/L There are no medical concerns when the ALPK is low in dogs. An elevated level may indicate a health problem that needs to be addressed.
Benign causes of elevated alkaline phosphatase
In puppies and young dogs who are still growing, it is not uncommon for ALP to be elevated. Certain dog breeds, such as Siberian huskies, miniature schnauzers, and Scottish terriers, tend to have benign ALP elevations.
Nodular hyperplasia is a condition commonly seen in older dogs and is also associated with a high ALP level. Certain medications, such as anticonvulsants and corticosteroids, can also increase the ALP level in dogs.
Health problems associated with a high ALP level
There are many health conditions associated with an elevated ALP level in dogs. An elevated alkaline phosphatase level can be indicative of hepatitis (inflammation of the liver), pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), diabetes, bone or liver cancer, viral or bacterial infections, gall stones, and Cushing's disease. An ALP level may also be elevated if a dog suffers trauma to his liver.
Environmental toxins can also lead to an elevated alkaline phosphatase level in dogs. These can include mold in your home or the ingestion of a toxic substance, such as human medication.
Determining the cause of an elevated ALP level
If your dog has a one-time elevation in her ALP level and seems otherwise healthy, further investigation may not be necessary. However, if your dog's ALP level is high over a period of time or if your dog is showing symptoms of illness, your veterinarian may recommend further diagnostic tests.
Symptoms that may be concerning to your vet include increased thirst or urination, vomiting, diarrhea, weight changes, loss of appetite, lethargy, and abdominal pain. Your dog's other lab results, medical history, age, breed, and medications will help your vet determine if further diagnostic tests are needed. Your vet may order further diagnostic bloodwork or a liver ultrasound depending on what he suspects is going on with your dog.
It's always important to take your dog to your veterinarian if you suspect that she is ill. Your vet will be able to determine the cause of your dog's symptoms and work with you to create an appropriate treatment plan. | <urn:uuid:1a1aa5a9-b6af-4af5-83d8-d0b44f5fbe05> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.cuteness.com/article/alkaline-phosphatase-levels-dogs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.942861 | 770 | 3.15625 | 3 |
There are a lot of books out there about music. Most of them have made students of music wish there was one that just explained things more simply and directly. That is the aim of this book. You will learn the foundations of music, and this book will provide a guide toward learning more complex concepts, but in a way that is straightforward, logical and digestible. Music can be simple and fun and if it is presented in a logical way. It is easy to learn.
This book will take you in a gentle manner from the absolute basics all the way up to jazz chords and song structure. You will learn terminology along the way, and you will have the opportunity to see it done by way of YouTube videos. by the time you finish reading, you should have a pretty thorough understanding of how music operates. This should get you on the road to playing better, and you will benefit when you get together with others. You will know the language of music as well as the language of musicians, and you will have the confidence to get together with others to jam. Learning new pieces of music will make much more sense and be faster and easier because you will know the underlying concepts. | <urn:uuid:c9b52a3f-f00a-4574-a22e-538935ca30cf> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.daphnedog.net/tag/12-bar-blues/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.966394 | 238 | 2.921875 | 3 |
There are a lot of books out there about music. Most of them have made students of music wish there was one that just explained things more simply and directly. That is the aim of this book. You will learn the foundations of music, and this book will provide a guide toward learning more complex concepts, but in a way that is straightforward, logical and digestible. Music can be simple and fun and if it is presented in a logical way. It is easy to learn.
This book will take you in a gentle manner from the absolute basics all the way up to jazz chords and song structure. You will learn terminology along the way, and you will have the opportunity to see it done by way of YouTube videos. by the time you finish reading, you should have a pretty thorough understanding of how music operates. This should get you on the road to playing better, and you will benefit when you get together with others. You will know the language of music as well as the language of musicians, and you will have the confidence to get together with others to jam. Learning new pieces of music will make much more sense and be faster and easier because you will know the underlying concepts.
Don’t just play a song. Make it memorable by creating a performance. Here are some of the elements you might use.
Sugar is a great way to learn some jazz chord structure.
Learn the elements of blues playing.
This is a discussion of basic music harmony. It includes scale structure, intervals, chord structure and chord progressions. I am hoping to provide a foundation for discussion of some more complex musical topics in the future. Watch it on
I love the Beatles classic, Yesterday. It is a very sophisticated song, sweetened by a string section and arranged by the talented George Martin. There is syncopation, as in most Beatles songs, a suspended chord for interest, and Martin uses counterpoint to bring out the melody of the song and to provide a nostalgic feeling […]
Dad just posted another video on YouTube. This one talks about syncopation and using rubato in Travis picking. There are other good tips on how to make Wabash Cannonball and City of New Orleans interesting.
Dad posted a video on YouTube that shows how to Travis Pick Freight Train in a particular style. He uses thumb and three fingers to get a different sound and feel.
Did you see my new logo? Isn’t it cool? Look up at the top of the web page. | <urn:uuid:7511e34b-f770-4385-ace1-38ff304e2217> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.daphnedog.net/wiziapp/bookmarks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.939637 | 507 | 2.75 | 3 |
High quality proteins are found in pulses, milk and milk products, mutton and chicken. While the milk output has increased, the consumption patterns evaluated from national data and research showed that it was not reaching low-income groups.(Representational image)
Hyderabad: Quality protein deficiency in the Indian population was found to vary between 4 per cent and 26 per cent in different age groups among urban and rural areas, according to a research published in the Journal of Nutrition. The deficiency was found to be very high in the vegetarian population while it was found to a certain extent among non-vegetarian population that was not taking enough protein.
The study studied the protein consumption pattern of lower, middle and higher income group families from 2010 to 2015. They tabulated the data with the national household protein consumption data and found that despite availability, consumption of high quality protein food was low.
High quality proteins are found in pulses, milk and milk products, mutton and chicken. While the milk output has increased, the consumption patterns evaluated from national data and research showed that it was not reaching low-income groups.
Even in high income groups, it was found that the consumption of milk was minimal and it was not taken as a health drink despite the various flavours in which it is available.
Nutritionist U.M. Sree explained, "At the clinical level, of the 100 patients, we find that 75 of them tell us that they do not like milk and can’t consume it every day. Hence if they are on low-fat and high fibre diets which many of them follow, the intake of protein is considerably less."
Protein must be taken in adequate quantities and the recommended dietary allowance for protein is 0.8 grams per kg of body weight. The study found that people consumed a lot of cereals as they were easily available in the subsidy programme of the government.
Low-quality proteins in the diet are not a substitute and do not make up for the deficiency. Protein is required to meet the indispensable amino acid requirements of the body and the consumption of pulses and milk must be improved.
The researchers recommended that food subsidy policies must move beyond cereals and become more quality-conscious so that people benefit from what they eat. | <urn:uuid:3a68b0af-ed19-4da6-8418-a6af65109d09> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/290517/indian-diet-short-on-quality-protein.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.974744 | 456 | 2.96875 | 3 |
At the time of the Conquest, the bright red of the Aztec textiles was everywhere in Tenochtitlan—what is now the historic center of Mexico City. Upon query, the Spanish learned the color came from the prickly pear cactus grown for the dye. They quickly shipped the plants back to Europe without realizing the locals had duped them. The plant was not the source at all, but the small white bugs called cochineal that grew on its stems.
The popularity of natural dyes went down drastically after the introduction of chemical dyes but there are rays of hope. Concern for the environment, local availability, and sustainability has brought cochineal farming back into production after a centuries-long hiatus. On the Oaxacan coast, the Mixtec people continue to create a vivid purple dye using purpura panza, a sea mollusk related to murex.
Carlos Couturier, Grupo Habita
This interest in bringing back traditional techniques and blending them with new global trends has brought an exciting cultural rebirth in Mexico. In Yucatán, architects are reviving the ancient Mayan stucco technique called “chukum” for contemporary buildings, merging modern architecture with regional history and culture. Made with chukum tree bark, the material has several defining qualities that separate it from traditional stucco, including impermeable properties and a warm earthy color. In Oaxaca, Grupo Habita tapped architect Alberto Kalach to rehabilitate the adobe interiors and high ceilings of an early 19th-century family home while conjoining it artfully with a new Brutalist build to create Hotel Escondido Oaxaca.
The design scene, concentrated in Mexico City, is also excavating inspiration. A new crop of young talent is creating a new language rooted in the handmade traditions of the country. The Dutch-Mexican designer Emma Gavaldon van Leeuwen Boomkamp is working with a weaving community in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca to create modern versions of traditional Mexican wool rugs and with artisans in Yucatán for braiding sisal pieces, typically used for bags, into large wall hangings. In 2015, Fernando Laposse began collaborating with Mixtec farmers and herders in Santo Domingo Tonahuixtla, Puebla to reintroduce heirloom corn (many varieties were lost and farmland ruined when chemical additives and pesticides were introduced in the 1990s). Now, they harvest the crops, and use its colorful oft-discarded husks to create Totomoxtle, a decorative veneer made with marquetry which can be applied to walls or furniture.
Not to be left behind, Mexico’s gastronomy has also seen a regional renaissance. The country's richly varied regional cuisine is driving the culinary experience to a whole new level. Restaurants such as Guzina Oaxaca in Mexico City by Alejandro Ruiz—which drew a rave review in The New York Times—is a celebration of Ruiz’s home state, a mountainous region known for its huge diversity of ingredients and deep culinary traditions. Taking a different approach to Oaxacan cuisine—one that focusses on the coast—is Nayarit-born chef Saul Carranza at Hotel Escondido. Highlights include Carranza’s green ceviche, a spicy, sour, tantalizing mix of fresh-caught fish, tomatillo, lime juice, and habanero chili. In San Miguel de Allende, a city known for its inventive cuisine, restaurant Moxi at the award-winning Hotel Matilda incorporates Mexican heritage with contemporary techniques.
Mexico stretches from the deserts of the northern border to the tropical forests of the south, with long Caribbean and Pacific coastlines in between, giving it immense biodiversity and a sprawling palette of ingredients. Its flavors are also shaped by its complex history, blending influences from its many indigenous groups, the Spanish conquistadors, European elites, slaves from Africa, immigrants from all over, and the ever-present United States. Go beyond the tacos and enchiladas to try lesser-known Mexican classics like cochinita pibil, the impossibly flavorful, slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán peninsula or escamoles, the ant larvae from central Mexico known as "insect caviar". All you have to do is wander the streets and learn about its antojitos or street snacks.
Frida Escobedo became the youngest person to design the prestigious Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in 2018. Her work often features simple materials and forms, such as the perforated concrete blocks that screen her La Tallera gallery complex at Cuernavaca in Mexico.
While it’s true that most people still think of Frida Kahlo when they think of Mexican art, Mexico City is quickly becoming a haven for artists across the globe. Big, bold arts projects have bolstered the city’s cultural cred and transformed it into a heavyweight on the global stage. Disused warehouses and factories have been replaced by, among other things, two formidable museums: the Jumex (housing an impressive collection of modern Mexican art owned by Mexican juice magnate Eugenio López Alonso) and the Soumaya (housing Carlos Slim’s vast private art collection).
Following in the tradition of the great muralists, many of Mexico’s most exciting modern artists go beyond the canvas to present their work. Urban art, or street art consisting of graffiti installations, posters, and even fashion, is exceedingly popular in large cities. A surprising number of murals can be seen running the length of Playa del Carmen’s Quinta Avenida (Fifth Avenue). In Puerto Vallarta, thanks to a project promoting the protection of coral reefs, there are tons of colorful murals smattered around the place. Finally, Monterrey was the birthplace of a now Latin America-wide street poetry movement, Acción Poética. This movement focused, at least at the beginning, on forefronting poetry and music through writing stanzas and lyrics in bold black paint against clean white backdrops. While these ditties can be seen across Mexico, Monterrey remains the spot to find them.
Words Vidula Kotian Date 05 November 2020
Images most by Vivek Vadoliya for Design Hotels
Since opening a decade ago, Pamela Echeverría’s Labor gallery has made waves in the booming Mexico City art world and beyond by highlighting provocatives, research-based work that engages with the burrent events.
“It was a happy find, but we weren’t prepared at all. It was almost like it was given to us.”
In the Zihuatanejo region, on a wild peninsula alive with 177 acres of palm groves, Hotelito is at the heart of a growing creative community.
One of the most prolific and versatile architects in Mexico today, Alberto Kalach is leading the way in craft-like architecture that is equal parts structure and flourishing natural landscape. Read his interview here.
Surrounded by lush jungle on the sparkling Caribbean coast, Tulum’s Papaya Playa Project considers caring for the surrounding nature to be core to its essence.
For Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha, going from citrus farming and investment banking to owning a growing portfolio of boutique hotels in New York, Mexico, and Chicago, means always being motivated, experimental, and business-savvy.
We take you on an architectural pilgrimage of five of Luis Barragán’s most iconic works in Mexico City. One of the most famous architects of the 20th century, his projects were underlined by bold colors, a local vernacular expressed in a universal language, wild gardens of Eden, and emotive architecture through the play of light and shadow.
Part one of our journey through the mythic beach towns of Mexico’s Pacific coast, exploring the culinary, cultural, and hospitality scenes that are transforming the region.
Along with embarking on a spiritual path decades ago, this electrical engineer has also forged a new community- and ecologically-minded concept of hospitality.
Part three of our journey through the mythic beach towns of Mexico’s Pacific coast, exploring the culinary, cultural, and hospitality scenes that are transforming the region.
As we strive to become more conscious travelers, we have many choices to make. One of the most essential being which destination to visit in the first place? Thankfully, help is at hand. | <urn:uuid:ce104d6a-b67e-47fd-aed4-4e867a0a1888> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.designhotels.com/destination-guides/mexico/?deal=70016&themes=3638&newHotels=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.92985 | 1,776 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Kampala, Uganda | URN | A number of myths and misconceptions attached to cultural beliefs are affecting the fight against infectious diseases in various parts of the country, according to Dr Charles Olara, the Director Curative Services at the Ministry of Health.
Olara told this publication that studies on the distribution and determinants of outbreaks, and the control of diseases and other health problems, are failing in the country because of people who tag epidemics to cultural considerations and events.
A case in point is the latest outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which eventually spread into Uganda through the porous border of Mpondwe, Kasese District. The disease has claimed 2,108 lives over the last one year, out of 3,157 cases registered, in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, in the northeastern part of the country, near the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
But many people in the DRC and in border communities still believe that the Ebola virus is airborne, waterborne or spreads through casual contact. Despite sensitization campaigns by health ministries and experts, many believed that they could beat the deadly disease by eating raw onions once a day for three days or by merely taking antibiotics.
A number of people also believed that a daily intake of condensed milk can prevent Ebola infections, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The other misconceptions cited are related to the outbreak of nodding syndrome, a disease which hit children in parts of northern Uganda, close to a decade ago.
Communities in Kitgum and Pader districts linked the disease to witchcraft, while many said it was a ploy to extend political control and ethnic divisions in the Acholi region. Dr Miph Musoke, a professor of epidemiology at Nkumba University says that such misconceptions have hindered all efforts to contain outbreaks of infectious diseases in the country.
He also points out that often, patients prefer the use of local herbs to treat serious infections before seeking professional medical advice or use the two concurrently, and as a result, affect the management of infections.
Charles Olara, the Director for curative services at the Ministry of Health observes a need for a combination of measures to help societies outgrow culture and specific myths during outbreaks.
Olara proposes the sensitization of people across the country and the advancement of the locally manufactured herbs to suit those needed by advanced medical facilities if they are to treat people against any epidemiological situation.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) equally observes that myths and misperceptions regarding infectious diseases have detrimental effects on global health when a disease outbreak occurs. | <urn:uuid:2f501cc9-fe30-4c7a-9e66-52b896c86b7c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.dispatch.ug/2019/09/25/culture-myths-threaten-disease-control-uganda/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.946259 | 529 | 2.84375 | 3 |
WHAT IS THE KORYU?
At school we want to maintain direct contact with Japan, the origin. One of the ways is through koryu , in Japanese, ancient combat schools. These schools are the seed of most of the disciplines of martial arts that we practice today. Koryu , in Japan is currently practiced by a small group of people given the degree of involvement and perseverance that it requires. Koryu is a family, a clan. Nobody joins a family if they are not very sure that this is their path. Practicing a Koryu in Japan today is still a great responsibility and that is not appealing to many people. At the Tadaima Dojo we practice these ancient schools from a certain level of commitment that is demonstrated when the student acquires a medium / high degree of practice. The Koryu practiced in the dojo is Shibukawa Ichi Ryu del Soke, director of the school, Kurumaji Yosimitsu of which the teacher José Miranda is the Kancho , director at the dojos of Shin Do Goshin Kai and his son Juan Miranda possesses the Shibu or permission to instruct.
ABOUT SHIBUKAWA ICHI RYU
澁 川 一 流
The Shibukawa Ichi Ryu school was founded by Shuto Kuranoshin Mitsutoki in the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate , in the Edo era , (1830-1844). It arises from the union by its founder of three schools, Shibukawa Ryu, Namba Ippo Ryu and Ashayama Ichiden Ryu . Today the school principal is Soke Kurumaji Yosimitsu , from Hiroshima City. During an exhibition in the city of Nobeoka where he could participate maestro José Miranda observed practice a embu to the Soke Kurumaji Yoshimitsu I performed kusharigama, composed of a weapon sickle ( kama ) attached to a chain (kusari). Years later in the city of Hiroshima in the Butokuden , a center for the dissemination of Japanese martial arts, some Tadaima students with the teacher José Miranda attended a Soke Kurumaji class from Shibukawa Ichi Ryu Jujutsu . From that moment, a relationship began that led to the entrance of the Soke Kurumaji school of Shindo Goshin Kai students, including many from the Tadaima Dojo. Likewise, the Soke appointed the teacher José Miranda and his son Juan Miranda as the representative of the school as the person in charge of teaching in the different Shin Do Goshin Kai dojos. | <urn:uuid:8c4ea91f-6fa5-46e5-9820-ffaeeb1118b4> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.dojotadaima.com/en/koryu | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.947037 | 552 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Employees who experience depression are tasked with the decision to disclose their mental health to others at work.
For these employees, one West Virginia University researcher found that they use eight strategies on how to disclose (or conceal) this often-stigmatized social identity.
Kayla Follmer, assistant professor of management in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, recognized that mental illness can be a concealable identity, much like religious affiliation, sexual orientation or having conditions such as HIV or diabetes: you can’t always see it from the outside.
This led her to wonder how people manage this identity at work.
“Are people with depression disclosing their disorder at work?” Follmer asked. “Are they telling other people and how are they going about it?”
After a series of interviews with 30 employees ranging from a candy display builder to a pharmacy technician to an active-duty member of the Navy, Follmer discovered that individuals employed eight strategies when it comes to managing depression identity in the workplace.
Concealing: Employees simply hid their depression from others at work. This entailed actively hiding both information and behaviors.
Fabricating: This is a non-disclosure method where a person shares false information to hide their depression. For example, one participant lied to their supervisor about psychiatric appointments. Instead, they told the boss they had to see a doctor for migraine issues.
Masking: Another non-disclosure method, masking includes putting on a façade or fake persona, like smiling when you don’t feel like it.
Signaling: Considered a semi-disclosure method, signaling means alluding to one’s depression, in either passive or active ways. With this strategy, individuals did not openly disclose but did provide hints about their stigmatized identity. Respondents felt their natural dispositions were enough for colleagues to catch on that they might be depressed. Others said they openly vocalized life’s challenges, such as divorce or loss, to their colleagues.
Limited disclosure: With this limited disclosure strategy, participants told others at work about some aspects of their depression but did not disclose full information. For instance, one might disclose struggles with mental illness but not mention taking prescription medication or hospitalizations.
Selective disclosure: This strategy occurs when individuals tell only certain individuals at work – not everyone – about their depression.
Transparency: This full-disclosure method happens when a person is generally open about their depression and tell everyone about it.
Advocacy: Those who are advocates take it a step further. Not only did they fully disclose their mental health but they advocated for awareness for others.
Follmer’s findings are published in Group & Organization Management.
“What’s novel about this study is that we were able to show support for a continuum of disclosure,” Follmer said. “We have this continuum, which had been theorized, but now it’s supported empirically. In other words, people do not simply disclose or conceal, but rather there are gradations of these decisions.”
Follmer said those who fall on the non-disclosure end of the continuum are fearful of the stigmatization of mental illness and facing unjust consequences such as being fired or mistreated at work.
For people who semi-disclose information, Follmer believes those employees are dipping their toe in the water to test how others may react to their disclosure.
On the far end of the continuum is full disclosure, in which participants are open about their depression diagnosis.
“It’s not necessarily telling every single person you meet, rather it’s a general openness that if it comes up, you’ll talk about it,” Follmer explained. “You’re willing to share your experiences and you don’t feel afraid or ashamed.”
In this study, participants were least likely to use full disclosure strategies, suggesting that many employees are still afraid to fully embrace their mental illness at work.
Follmer also observed the outcomes of her participants’ decisions. Individuals may have switched strategies over time based on the reactions of their peers and supervisors.
“If they changed jobs, maybe before they were very open but not now because of a bad experience,” she said. “Perhaps they weren’t open before but now they have a supportive climate. So we see this change across jobs and also within jobs. For instance, there were some individuals who disclosed to their boss and their boss was not receptive or supportive at all. Now they don’t talk about it anymore.”
Overall, these results show that employees choose to manage their depression in unique ways, and there isn’t one best approach. According to Follmer, organizations can benefit by providing an inclusive climate in which employees may choose to manage their identity however they see best.
For Follmer, her research matters in the business world.
“In organizational research, we don’t focus on people with disabilities,” she said. “We have stereotypes of the ideal worker. They’re always going to be very productive and very healthy and we’re going to work them to the bone. But there’s a gap here. On one hand, there’s the notion of epidemic levels of mental illness and suicide. None of that is reflected in organizational research. I feel it’s an injustice that millions of people each year are experiencing mental illness and we aren’t doing a good job bringing their experiences to light.
“We’re managing human beings and sometimes we would do better to just simply check in and say, ‘How are you doing? What can I do to support you? If you need anything I’m here,’ rather than saying your performance is not good. We should take a more humanistic approach first to manage the individual rather than always just focusing on their work output.” | <urn:uuid:6bae07a5-94a6-4ea6-a15c-33976177a0b0> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.dominionpost.com/2021/07/26/employees-with-depression-use-different-strategies-in-workplace/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.965364 | 1,250 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Q. What is meant by 'Peri-Urban Agriculture'? How can it help in adapting to the challenges posed by climate change? (250 words)06 Jun, 2019 GS Paper 3 Economy
- Describe 'Peri-Urban Agriculture'.
- Elaborate on its benefits in dealing with climate change.
- Give conclusion.
- Peri-urban agriculture occurs in surrounding the boundaries of cities throughout the world and includes products from crop and livestock agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
- It also includes non-wood forest products, as well as ecological services provided by agriculture, fisheries and forestry. Often multiple farming and gardening systems exist in and near a single city.
- Green zones around urban areas: Beyond the agro-products provided, trees will help in sustaining ecosystems by acting as carbon sinks, protection of water-supply catchments for the cities, protection against landslides thus helping climate change mitigation.
- Reduction in phenomenon of Urban heat island: Due to dense population and use of concrete as building material urban heat islands with higher temperature then surrounding areas are created.
- Lower need for transportation: Due to rapid urbanization in the past years, demand for vegetables, fruits and flowers is constantly increasing in these areas. Peri-urban agriculture will reduce the burden on transport, and help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cold storages.
- Diversification of food basket:Peri-Urban Agriculture can help in climate change adaptation through diversification of food resources for the urban population.
- Restrict unplanned urbanization: Unplanned and rapid urbanization causes environmental pollution which causes climate change. Peri-Urban Agriculture will help in creating attractive employment option and prevent the conversion of agricultural land near urban areas into cities and towns.
There is need for policy changes like effective legislation, long-term leases, leasing of the plots and gardens through a contract recognized by the municipality and correctly registered to promote participation by potential farmers, vegetable growers and livestock producers.
To get PDF version, Please click on "Print PDF" button.Print PDF | <urn:uuid:a03484b8-baf4-4bee-9610-d1b609889a80> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.drishtiias.com/mains-practice-question/question-299 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.913678 | 418 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Types Of Industrial Filters
Industrial filters are specialized devices designed to remove contaminants and pollutants from the air in industrial settings. These filters play a crucial role in maintaining clean and safe working environments by capturing and trapping harmful particles before they can be released into the atmosphere.
One of the primary functions of industrial filters is to improve indoor air quality. In industries where dust, smoke, fumes, or other airborne particles are produced, these filters help reduce the concentration of these pollutants, creating a healthier work environment for employees. Industrial filters come in various shapes and sizes, each designed for specific filtration purposes.
Popular types of industrial filters
1. Pleated Filters: These filters have a large surface area due to their accordion-like design, allowing for efficient filtration of airborne particles. Pleated filters are commonly used in HVAC systems to trap dust, pollen, and other pollutants.
2. HEPA Filters: High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are known for their exceptional ability to capture very small particles, including bacteria and viruses. These filters are widely used in healthcare facilities, laboratories, and industries where the highest level of air purification is required.
3. Welding Filter: As the name suggests, welding filters are specifically designed to protect workers from harmful fumes produced during welding processes. These filters remove smoke particles and toxic gases generated by welding activities.
4. Panel Filter: Panel filters consist of multiple layers of filter media enclosed within a sturdy frame. They are cost-effective options for general-purpose filtration applications such as automotive assembly lines or manufacturing plants.
Each industrial filter type serves its unique purpose based on specific industry requirements. By choosing the right filter for your workplace needs, you can ensure cleaner air quality and safeguard the health of your employees.
Dynamic Filtration is where you can source high-quality filters for your application. Contact us today! | <urn:uuid:ccb86d16-6075-4bf8-a612-2a554660ddd3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.dynamicfiltration.ca/types-of-industrial-filters/blog.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.918644 | 390 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Corn is the world’s largest commodity crop. Many people in developing countries rely on corn as an essential food source, and it is also a primary ingredient in feed for livestock. As the global demand for meat continues to grow, finding a way to genetically modify corn to make it more nutritious could benefit millions of people and reduce agricultural costs.
A new study from Rutgers University-New Brunswick found a way to do just that by injecting corn with a bacteria that prompts the production of methionine, an important amino acid and nutrient.
“We improved the nutritional value of corn, the largest commodity crop grown on Earth,” said Thomas Leustek, the study’s co-author and a professor in the Department of Plant Biology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers.
Methionine is one of the nine essential amino acids that helps hair growth, strengthens nails, helps tissue repair, and slows cell aging.
A synthetic methionine is often added to field corn seed, but it is costly and lacks the nutritional value of real methionine.
“Methionine is added because animals won’t grow without it. In many developing countries where corn is a staple, methionine is also important for people, especially children. It’s vital nutrition, like a vitamin,” said Joachim Messing, the study’s senior author.
In order to create chicken feed with methionine, the researchers inserted an E. coli bacterial gene into the corn plant’s genome and grew a few generations of corn.
The bacteria drove methionine production, but only in the corn plant’s leaves, and levels of methionine in the corn kernels increased by 57 percent according to the study’s results.
The bacteria and methionine didn’t affect the corn’s natural growth process, and when fed to chickens, it had the nutritious value that most animal feed lacks.
The exciting finds offer new opportunities for developing countries and the growing demand for corn to satisfy the demand for animal feed. Although the debate surrounding genetically modified food continues, boosting the nutritional value of corn can provide solutions to feed those in need. | <urn:uuid:71147442-dee3-4273-8ec0-2241fa4fd36b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.earth.com/news/genetically-modifying-corn-nutrition/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.925195 | 457 | 3.921875 | 4 |
Every year around this time, my students come together and collect all the monies donated within our school for Penny Harvest, a program by Common Cents, Inc. that serves to help schools create service learning projects for children. It starts with young leaders prompting others in the school to make donations to a cause of their choice, but it often evolves into community service projects.
This year, for instance, our school decided to dedicate our Penny Harvest to Hurricane Sandy relief, and will gear our community service projects toward non-profits that focus on feeding those in need or helping in animal shelters.
That's the students' choice, not mine.
While this happens, many teachers and administrators wonder how I get students from all walks of life to pay attention and then get them to lead despite their prior reputations. Sharing a cultural and socioeconomic background with them helps, although not always. I know plenty of teachers from different backgrounds who have their set of student leaders, and plenty of people from similar backgrounds who can't get kids to gravitate to them.
The Essential Role of Dialogue
Inspiring that kind of leadership starts with understanding the students we serve daily. I take my inspiration from Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, in which he writes:
Our best bet when working with students is to do way more listening than speaking. It gives you a sense of where they stand and where to target their potential for growth as leaders. Once you've taken a hard listen, you find a way to take some of their language and turn it into something more purposeful.
People often mistake kids doing whatever adults want them to do with kids thinking for themselves, which doesn't sustain itself for long. Students absolutely need to take the reins of their projects for them to have ownership of those projects.
While I provided an out-of-classroom example of my journey toward empowering students, I would be remiss to not focus back on the classroom. Here are three simple things you can do right now to help this process move along:
1. Frame the Lesson as a Story
You're more likely to pull students in by wrapping lessons around a story of some kind. The biggest outcry I often hear from my fellow technical educators is that telling stories in math usually comes in the form of a word problem. That bores me, though. We can find the story in the processes and the approach to problems even when they're abstracted. If we de-emphasize the answer a little more and, instead, focus on how we arrive at it, we can find ways to tell stories around the approach. Also, telling stories (not random sidebars, but stories around the math) really help. Some use think-alouds; others use graphic organizers. However the approach, we can at least get kids to remember the important elements so that they can create their own stories.
2. Silence Can Be Your Friend
Learn to feel comfortable with a little silence if you don't get any response from a question posed. Sometimes we ask a question and don't get an immediate response. We want to jump in or, worse, reproach the students for not thinking. Let's wait a second before we do that. How do we know that they're not thinking? Sometimes the things we teach take a while, and we have to reframe things we already know. If this is the case, then we may not have the words immediately for what just happened. Thus, let's wait a few seconds before punishing our students for their silence. If they really don't get it, ask the question in a different way, and see if the first brave soul gives the class something to snack on.
3. Encourage a Sense of Independence
Reinforce your students' independence by constantly reiterating that they had the answer all along. We ought to find the right balance between praising student work and having them constantly seek our approval for their work. One of the tricks I use, besides the constant barrage of questions I throw at them, is my reaction to answers that sound like questions. "Why are you asking me?" I'll fire back. How they respond to that reveals a lot about their own self-confidence in the work they do. If they respond with, "I was just checking," you get to nod and walk away. If they respond with, "I wasn't sure," you get to interject, "Was it the right procedure? Did you check it? Did you ask your partner? Did it work either way you tried it?" From there, they start to get an understanding that they have the power over their own education.
Freire's seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed challenges the notion that learning is a one-way transfer, a notion with roots in philosophers like John Dewey. Decades if not a full century later, we're still struggling with how to give students that ownership. Doing so takes lots of work, but if this generation of teachers lays the groundwork for the how, then the students will be the teachers who build upon that. Let's do it right. | <urn:uuid:d1a809e6-48ba-4ee8-8ecb-f34079b07842> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.edutopia.org/blog/empowering-students-empathy-collaboration-jose-vilson/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.969905 | 1,040 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Mindfulness-based interventions and stress-reducing strategies can lead to improvements not only in teachers’ social and emotional well-being but also in instructional climate and student engagement, according to a recent study out of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education.
For the study, researchers examined the effects of teachers and students participating in “Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education” (CARE) for Teachers, a mindfulness-based professional-development program designed to help teachers reduce stress and burnout.
Patricia Jennings, associate professor of elementary education and lead author on the study, presented the findings at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in April. (See slides below.)
“Today, many teachers are not well-prepared for the social and emotional demands of the classroom,” Jennings said, according to a release on the study. “While spending a great amount of cognitive energy on the content of their lessons, teachers are also constantly managing a classroom of students, some of whom have difficulty attending to learning activities, sitting still or getting along with their peers.”
The study is based on a classroom model theory positing that teachers’ well-being promotes better teacher-student relationships, effective classroom management skills, and effective social-emotional learning.
The CARE program consisted of self-care and emotion-awareness instruction, mindfulness and stress-reduction practices, and empathy exercises, with applications to teaching explored through discussion and role plays.
The study followed two groups of 36 New York City public elementary schools—eight in the 2012-13 academic school year and 28 in 2013-14—including 5,036 students and 224 teachers split into an intervention group and a control group. The teachers in the intervention group participated in a series of five six-hour sessions with individualized phone coaching in between over two weeks.
Researchers found that the teachers who participated in CARE were more emotionally supportive and demonstrated greater sensitivity to students than those in the control group. Teachers made better use of instructional time, which in turn made students more productive and involved in learning activities. The findings are based largely on teacher self-report questionnaires, observational ratings of teachers and classrooms, teacher reports on students, and students’ school records.
“Teachers who are able to reduce the level of stress they are experiencing have an improved ability to recognize a student’s perspective and how their own judgments or biases are impacting their reaction to a student,” Jennings said. “The findings definitely suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can have ‘downstream’ effects on the classroom environment and on the students.”
To follow up on the study, Jennings is currently working on a two-year analysis of teacher outcomes and sustainability. For her next project, she wants to bring the CARE program to additional locations and make it adaptable for special populations, such as caregivers and special education teachers.
More on teacher mindfulness:
- Teachers, Take Care of Yourselves
- Five Ways to Eliminate Teacher Burnout
- How to Avoid Burnout and Maintain Your Teaching Groove
- Mindful Moments: Teaching Students Self-Awareness
- Helping Teachers Get Healthier
- Social-Emotional Needs Entwined with Students’ Learning, Security
A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog. | <urn:uuid:86fe9cd2-345b-42e0-b4bc-271c9b97e4ff> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/study-teacher-stress-reduction-leads-to-instructional-improvement/2016/05 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.954855 | 693 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Image – final dye results
Sharing the hedgerow with rosehips and ripening sloes, flowering yarrow is a sign of approaching autumn. Sometimes referred to as Common Yarrow, it’s a perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, with many native and cultivated species.
Originally found in Eurasia and North America it has long been used in traditional medicine, as its many folk names suggest; bloodwort, soldier’s woundwort and nosebleed to name just a few. The word ‘Achillea’ derives from the mythological Greek warrior, Achillies, who is said to have treated his wounded soldiers with the plant.
Yarrow was cultivated in medieval herb gardens for culinary as well as medicinal purposes, but evidence of this bitter herb goes as far back as Neanderthal gravesites. The heady, astringent vapour rising from a pot of heating yarrow certainly suggests it must be good for something, and indeed it is still widely used in herbal medicine today.
Image – yarrow growing on verge
I had to go quite a long way to find enough yarrow for my dye pot because, flowering late summer, many verges had been cut. Yarrow only grows to about a foot tall, so tends to favour the edge of green areas where it doesn’t have to compete with taller plants, making it particularly vulnerable to eager cutting back.
Image – yarrow in basket with rosehips and sloes
After gathering plant material for the dye bath it’s important to leave it outside for a couple of hours, to give the insect life a chance to move on. Flying insects depart swiftly, but creepy crawlies are sometimes reluctant to leave. Giving the dyestuff a bit of a shake usually works!
Image – raw fibres
For this natural dyeing project I’m using a skein of naturally white Bluefaced Leicester wool. Wool is an animal (protein) fibre.
I’m also using four plant, (cellulose) fibres These are: a skein of natural linen, a skein of bleached linen, a skein of natural banana yarn and a square of bleached cotton.
NB: Be sure to weigh your dyestuff before soaking it, so you know what ratio of mordant, dye etc to use for best results.
Image – weighing the dyestuff
For many natural dyeing projects, equal weights of fibre and dyestuff will give a good colour, ie 100% weight of fibre (WOF). As my dry samples yarns weighed approximately 100g, I planned to use 100g of Yarrow tops. However, I then came across another patch of Yarrow and couldn’t resist adding a few more heads to the dye pot, so I probably used about 150g (150% WOF) of dyestuff in this dye bath.
Image – steeping the dyestuff
To extract the most colour from your dyestuff it’s a good idea to pour kettle-hot water over the plant material, to soften it up, and then to leave it to cool and to steep overnight.
Image – heating the dyestuff
The next morning the now softened leaves had already imparted some colour to the water and the dye bath was heated slowly to 80C, a gentle simmer, and held at that heat for about an hour.
A thermometer is helpful, but if you haven’t got one just keep an eye on the dye bath and reduce the heat as soon as the first small bubbles begin to rise to the surface.
Overheating natural dyes tends to dull the colours. I used an electric hob and removed the dye pot to a heatproof mat from time to time to regulate the temperature. A gas hob is easier to control.
Once the dye bath had brewed for an hour it was removed from the heat and left to cool and steep overnight.
Image – straining the dyestuff
When the dyestuff has cooled the solution can be strained into a clean bowl using a sieve, lined with a muslin cloth. Give the muslin a good squeeze to extract as much colour as possible. These spent Yarrow flowers then went straight onto the compost heap, but in the case of some dyestuffs (eg Correopsis) there is often enough colour left to be worth extracting in a second dye bath.
Be sure to rinse out the dye pot before returning the strained solution, so you have a good clean, clear dye bath without any bits that may get caught up In the fibres.
Image – entering fibres into dyebath
Make sure there is enough solution in the dye bath to allow the fibres to move freely. Top up with more water if necessary. This will not dilute the dye bath as the fibres will take up the dye particles available regardless of the amount of water.
When entering fibres into a natural dye bath it’s important to put them all in at once. If you add one lot of fibres, and then some more, you may find that the first lot of fibres entered have taken up more than their fair share of dye particles, and the fibres entered a short time later will be paler.
It’s easier to get even dye results on yarns than it is on pieces of fabric, which tend to fold over on themselves. The folds and creases dye unevenly (see blog Natural Dyeing With Nettles) so when entering fabric into a dye bath try and minimize these. With larger pieces of fabric it’s necessary to keep working the fabric around in the dye bath, and lifting it in and out to make sure the dye is reaching all surfaces evenly.
Image – Heating the dye bath
The dye bath was heated to 80C and held at this temperature for about an hour, the fibres being gently moved around the pot from time to time to ensure an even dye result.
Once the dye bath had brewed for an hour it was removed from the heat and left to cool and steep overnight. However, once a dye bath has cooled, if you feel you have a colour you’re happy with, you may decide not to leave the fibres in overnight. It is a question of ‘capturing’ the best colour, bearing in mind that fibres will be several shades lighter once they’ve been washed and dried, than they were as they emerged from the dye bath.
Image – hanging the fibres to dry
Remove the fibres from the dye bath and hang them to dry without washing them. This allows he fibres to absorb as much of the dye as possible. Washing them immediately risks losing some of the precious dye.
Image – washing fibres
Once dry the fibres should be washed well in warm water with a neutral detergent …..
Image – rinsing fibres
….. and then rinsed well in several changes of cold water, until the water runs clear – or almost.
Image – making an iron modifying bath
I prepared a double lot of fibres so I could ‘modify’ one lot with iron, which will always deepen or ‘sadden’ the tone of natural dyes. ‘Modifying’ fibres after they’ve been dyed is a way of extending the colour range of a dye bath. This can be done using various solutions (see elkatextiles.co.uk) but iron is the most commonly used by natural dyers.
Iron stains everything so you need separate pots and utensils to create an iron modifying bath. You can make your own iron water (ferrous acetate) with a mixture of water, vinegar and some rusty pieces of metal (see elkatextiles.co.uk) or from craft suppliers you can buy some ferrous sulphate, which I’m using here.
To make an effective iron modifying bath you only need a pinch of ferrous sulphate, dissolved well in warm water, and added to enough warm water to allow the fibres to move freely. 1% WOF is a good gauge.
Image 15 – the iron bath
Fibres will change colour quickly in an iron bath, so keep an eye on the process and remove the fibres as soon as you have the colour you want – allowing for the fact that they will darken a little more after being removed from the iron bath.
Iron can be damaging to fibres, particularly animal fibres such as wool, so don’t leave them in the iron bath for long. Modifying with iron improves the colourfast quality of natural dyes, and iron can also be used as a mordant, before dyeing.
Image – hanging modified fibres to dry
The fibres should then be washed and rinsed as above.
Image – final results
I was surprised to see just how much colour came from the small, delicate, white Yarrow flower heads. The yellows, while not as vibrant as Weld or Goldenrod, are gently pretty. The different fibres have dyed to very different colours and the iron modifier has extended the colour range into soft green and browns. It’s nice to see the banana yarns have kept their attractive lustre. I might try 200% WOF next time.
Jenny Dean (2010) Wild Colour Octopus Publishing Group
Boutrup and Ellis (2018) The Art and Science of Natural Dyes Schiffer Publishing Limited | <urn:uuid:fa4fb35c-120d-4ddb-8f86-c17f21aad71f> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.elkatextiles.co.uk/blogs/all-blog-posts/natural-dyeing-with-yarrow-achillea-millefolium | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.948089 | 1,971 | 2.625 | 3 |
ODE TO AUTUMN BY KEATS
John Keats is the high priest of beauty in English poetry. He is one of the well known poets of Romantic School of Poetry. 'Ode To Autumn' is the last of the great odes of John Keats. It was composed in September 1819. Critics consider that it is the best ode of John Keats. It beautifully unites mood, meter and thought.
'Ode To Autumn' is one of the purest poems of Nature. The evocation to the beauty and bounty of nature makes this ode a thing of beauty. Its purity as an ode of Nature is refreshing for ever. This poem is a fine Hellenistic achievement of Keats. The personification is used as a poetic technique in this ode.
In the first stanza of the poem the poet describes the beauty of the season. Here the Autumn has been presented as the season of mellow fruitfulness and happy content.The personification of Autumn reaches its climax in the second stanza. The Autumn has been presented in its varied forms. It has been presented as a farmer, a reaper and a gleaner. Thus in the beginning two stanzas the poet has presented the fantastic beauty of Nature. It is alive and it has the capability of speaking.
The third stanza captures the music of Autumn. Here the poet gives vivid description of the sounds of Autumn. The Autumn has its own particular music. It is heard in the evening. It is not gloomy. The progress of this ode is a testimony to Keats's empathy.
Thus 'Ode To Autumn' is a beautiful Nature poem. It presents the sights and scenes of the Autumn season. The entire Autumn season appears before us. The pictorial quality of the poem is praiseworthy.Here there is no sign of pessimism. The personification is the real essence of the poem. Here there is a fine melody that makes the poem remarkable. | <urn:uuid:c6390606-5f0b-44a7-9113-3e5fee77d4ab> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.englitmail.com/2016/12/john-keats-ode-to-autumn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.966506 | 404 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Ensuring your nutrition is on point is a key part of staying fit and healthy. Even if you’re stuck at home, it’s important to make sure you keep eating properly and don’t let your standards slip. That’s why we’ve teamed up with personal trainer Aaron Dunn to help keep you in tip top condition while you’re staying active at home.
Macronutrients are the foods that we need to eat in larger quantities in order to have a healthy, balanced diet. These include the likes of water, protein, fats and carbohydrates.
It may seem simple, but drinking enough water is pretty much the most important thing you can do in terms of your nutrition. Depending on how active you are, you should try and take in at least two-litres a day and probably more. If you’re more active, you should be looking at consuming between three and five litres every day.
Try and keep water with you at all times – especially when you’re exercising. If it’s there in front of you, you’re more likely to drink it! Now, what will happen if you don’t drink enough water? Well, you could suffer from headaches, a lack of concentration and even have difficulty shifting weight.
Carbohydrates are Vital for Energy
Sources of carbohydrates such as rice, bread and pasta are absolutely vital for proper nutrition. Essentially, they’re your energy source and both your body and brain needs them to perform at a high level. Now, they may have a bit of a bad name when it comes to weight gain, but it’s still important to carry on eating them.
Without them, or by not eating enough, you’re more likely to feel lethargic and not be able to perform at the level you want to. If, however, you feel like you have plenty of energy and want to experiment with reducing your carb intake, you can. Just don’t take it to extremes! As soon as you feel like your performance levels are dipping, start eating them again.
Don’t Forget your Protein!
Protein is often the forgotten macronutrient, but it’s a vital part of any balanced diet. Protein sources include meat and fish, as well as pulses such as beans and lentils. Whereas carbohydrates are the body’s fuel, protein helps to repair and grow muscle tissue.
So, if you’ve been running, cycling, doing classes hitting the weights hard, or doing loads of body weight exercises, that will have damaged your muscle tissue ever so slightly. You need to take on protein to help repair that damage and grow more muscles.
If you don’t, this could have a negative effect on that lean, toned, chiselled body you want to achieve. Try and make sure you eat protein-rich foods with every meal to help ensure you get enough
Fats aren’t Always bad
Now, bear with us here, we know what you’re thinking. You hear the word ‘fat’ and you immediately think ‘unhealthy’. That’s not the case. We all need fat for healthy nutrition. It helps us with normal hormone production, it keeps us insulated and it’s a way of storing energy. But, as with most things in life, it’s about eating the right sort and the right quantities. Frying everything in butter isn’t the answer, whereas eating some more avocados and fish that’s rich in omega-3 oil is.
Micronutrients are a group of foods that the body needs to function properly, but it requires them in much smaller doses than macronutrients. These include things like vitamins and minerals. Different foods are great sources of different micro nutrients and making sure you consume enough of them is a really important part of ensuring you maintain a healthy diet.
Eat your Greens!
One of the best ways of ensuring your micronutrient intake stays on point is by eating plenty of veg. Peas, for instance are full of iron (as is spinach, kale and other green vegetables) which is essential for good nutrition. Meanwhile, carrots (yes, we know they’re not green) are a fantastic source of vitamin C. Pretty much whenever you eat you should try and make sure it contains fresh (or frozen) vegetables of some sort.
Take in More Fruit
Fruit is another really important source of micronutrients. Bananas, for example are full of potassium, while citrus fruits such as oranges and tangerines are also fantast for getting your daily Vitamin C intake up. | <urn:uuid:8661ecbd-3ba1-44ab-ad94-57344797b2c3> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.everyoneactive.com/content-hub/nutrition/nutrition-at-home/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.955372 | 979 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Politicians and community leaders have blamed the high crime rate on high unemployment and rampant use of recreational drugs. Since its heyday, Katwe has become an incubation chamber for crime, disease, and poverty. It is also home to an untold number of street children. The environment is a symphony of filth. It is the cauldron of stagnant water and randomly discarded detritus of every day human existence, in the absence of running water or a sewerage system.
Lasting solutions to the problem remain elusive. The residential areas of Katwe have disintegrated into being a slum of appalling magnitude.
The squalor and stench in Katwe are characteristic of any informal settlement across the world. The residents become accustomed to it by force of habit. However, the negative effects of this environment, though invisible, are physical, emotional, and mental.
Physical Effects of Living in Squalor
- Stagnant water is a breeding ground for all manner of diseases. These will include cholera and malaria.
- Discarded and rotting food is the welcome mat for disease-bearing vermin and insects.
- Broken bottles, discarded tin cans, pieces of metal, and other detritus are hazardous to adults, but especially to children who may or may not wear shoes.
The corollary to the issues mentioned above must be that if the squalor and depressing environment in Katwe were reduced, the results would be seen in the physical, mental, and emotional health of the community.
The expected results would be:
- Fewer instances of water-borne disease
- Fewer instances of vermin and insect-borne diseases
- Fewer injuries such as cuts (and related infection of wounds) from broken glass, sharp metal objects and discarded tins etc
- A more positive emotional mental and emotional attitude. It is expected that this will promote entrepreneurship and creativity.
- Mitigation of “Filth Diseases”
Health Effects of Living in Squalor
Living in squalor is the breeding ground for the “Filth Diseases”. The phrase “Filth Diseases” was coined in 1858, by British physician Charles Murchison, to describe a class of conditions, mostly caused by infectious pathogens, that were associated with squalid living conditions.
The overcrowded, unsanitary, and vermin-infested dwellings were all too numerous in urban areas in the nineteenth century. It was an evocative phrase, popular with social reformers and pioneers of the Public Health movement and the Sanitary Revolution.
It was not so much pejorative as accusatory, attributing blame for these diseases to the living conditions rather than to the people forced to live that way. Its use was a political lever that moved public opinion in favour of reforming the conditions that led to so much disease, disability, and premature death.
The filth diseases, potentially present in Katwe, include:
- Infections of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts
- Diarrhoea and dysentery
- Skin diseases such as scabies and ringworm
- Conditions associated with verminous bedding and clothing, such as:
- Louse-borne typhus,
- Bubonic plague, long associated with rat-infested dwellings, was another filth disease, though fortunately its visitations were uncommon.
Mental and Emotional Effects of Living in Squalor
- Squalor destroys self-esteem.
- It stops us from enjoying our homes.
- It stands between us and our dreams.
- It affects our health. | <urn:uuid:17d8c417-aa08-4db9-9c4a-60ee96592fd0> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.fammi.org/living-in-squalor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.954525 | 740 | 3.203125 | 3 |
A healthy diet that contains antioxidant-rich foods can help support fertility and make it easier to become pregnant.
A number of subtle health problems can affect your fertility and ability to conceive, when you are trying to start a family. Some of these may require medical treatment, but others can be minimized by changing your diet to include more antioxidant-rich foods. Here are a few tips on incorporating these antioxidant-rich foods into your diet to help you conceive quickly.
Top Antioxidant-Rich Foods:
Dark, Leafy Greens
Leafy vegetables such as salad greens, bok choy, mustard and broccoli are rich in carotenoids, an antioxidant that protects cells in the body and can help prevent cancer. They’re also high in vitamins E, A, C, K and the B vitamin called folate, components that are also important for cell repair. Use these greens for your daily salad or add them to soups or stir-fry dishes to make sure you get the antioxidants you need for good health.
All types of berries are full of antioxidants called polyphenols that help you to maintain body processes, prevent disease and regulate blood sugar. Strawberries are high in vitamin C, manganese, B vitamins and potassium. Blueberries are high in an antioxidant called anthocyanin, vitamin E, vitamin B6 and copper. Blackberries are another good source of anthocyanins, as well as vitamins A, C, E and several B vitamins. Raspberries are high in antioxidants, such as vitamin C, quercetin and ellagic acid, as well as vitamin B, vitamin A, calcium and zinc. Berries are one of the most antioxidant-rich foods you can incorporate into your diet.
Another good way to get a daily dose of health-promoting antioxidants is by adding avocados to your diet. This tasty fruit contains both lycopene and beta-carotene, two important antioxidant compounds that can reduce cell damage from free radicals and improve fertility. Avocados also contain omega-3 fatty acids and a number of different vitamins to maintain good health.
The rich, red color of the pomegranate seeds are due to the presence of polyphenols, an important antioxidant that helps to improve blood flow throughout the body. You can eat pomegranate seeds as a snack, add the juice to smoothies or sprinkle a few seeds in your salad for an antioxidant boost for your day.
Nuts are one of the antioxidant-rich foods you should always have on hand. Instead of processed chips that are high in fat, sodium and sugar, reach for a handful of walnuts. This natural snack offers plenty of vitamins, minerals, fiber and polyphenol, antioxidants in abundance. Eating walnuts helps to protect your heart health, as well as offers plenty of omega-3 fatty acids to promote healthy brain function, blood sugar control, better weight management and improved blood supply to the reproductive system.
Eggs are naturally rich in antioxidants. Even when cooked, they can provide as much antioxidants as an apple. Tryptophan and tyrosine give eggs their antioxidant punch, and they are also high in protein, vitamins, minerals and lipids. These components make eggs a good choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They also make a healthy, easily packable lunch when you’re on the go.
If you are getting ready to start your family, you want to give your body all the advantages, in terms of optimizing your fertility, as well as for carrying your newborn. Ensuring your diet contains antioxidant-rich foods will help you to get pregnant faster and supercharge your body for a healthier pregnancy. | <urn:uuid:c8fd8dcc-feb5-4599-a212-6e13a3e7ef92> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.fertilitytips.com/top-antioxidant-rich-foods-for-fertility-health/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.933353 | 755 | 2.625 | 3 |
You can make rope or natural cordage (rope and string) from many different fibers including (Bast) Dogbane, Milkweed, Nettles, Hemp, Flax; (Leaves) Cattail, Yucca, Agave, Douglas Iris; (Bark) Willow, Maple, Basswood, Cedar; (Root) Leather Root, Beach Lupine; (Whole stem) Tule, straw, Juncus. Each material has specific requirements for extracting and preparing the fibers, but there are only two basic ways for using the fibers to make rope or cord: braiding (or plaiting) and twining. Braiding was usually done with flat, split materials such as cattail or flattened straw. The instructions in this article will deal only with twining to make rope, specifically with two ply (S-twist, Z-ply, also called right-handed) natural cordage.
After preparing a bundle of fiber half the thickness of the finished cord, place your hands six to twelve inches apart and about one third of the way from one end. Twisting the fibers clockwise with both hands, wind the bundle tight (making single-ply natural cordage).
Bring your hands closer together and keep twisting. The kink should rotate on its own in a counterclockwise direction. Twist until two or three rotations occur. This is the start of a two-ply cord. At this time you can attach the end to something (or someone) which can rotate (free-end) and keep twisting with both hands turning clockwise OR you can attach the end to something solid (fixed-end) and begin twisting and counter-rotating (see below).
Counter-rotating, one form of finger-twisting, involves each hand applying a clockwise (S) twist into a ply, while passing the right ply over, and the left ply under (counter-clockwise or Z-plying). Your left hand twists ply A clockwise, while your right hand does the same with ply B’. At the same time, you pass ply B over and behind your left thumb and lock it in place with your remaining fingers. You then take A in your right hand and B in your left and repeat, over and over and over again. These two methods are particularly handy to make rope with larger and coarser materials such as cattail and tule.
Finger-twisting finer material to make rope or natural cordage is usually done completely in the hand, with the finished string being wound on a bobbin or netting needle as you go. Your left hand acts to control tension while your right hand does the twisting.
Begin as you did before, then place the Y (the point where the two plys come together) between your left thumb and fore finger. Take the lower of the two ply strands and twist it tightly clockwise until it begins to kink. Lock the twist in by closing your remaining three fingers over the strand. Then, while holding the twisted ply A securely, twist ply B with your right thumb and forefinger. As you twist, you should feel the completed string begin to twist counter-clockwise . Follow this motion with your left thumb and forefinger while maintaining even tension and a symmetrical Y. Next move your left thumb up to the fork in the Y as before and repeat steps 1 and 2 until you need to add more fiber.
If you began your cord off-center, then one side will run out of fiber first. As you get to within about 3 inches of the end of this short ply, prepare another bundle of fibers the same size as you began with, but taper the end of the bundle for about 4 inches. Lay this bundle parallel to the bundle being replaced, and sticking out about an inch beyond the Y.
Continue twisting the cordage as before. You should also add in if one ply be-comes thinner than the other, or if both plies become thinner than they started. In these cases add just enough fiber to bring them back to correct size. Ideally, your cord should stay the same size throughout, although aboriginal cordage did vary about fifty percent in nets. Bow strings and fish lines under heavy pull should be very even. It is also possible to add to both sides at the same time by bending a bundle of fiber in half and placing the Y of the bundle into the V of the Y, but it is harder to keep from making a lump at this point. After your string is finished, you can cut or burn (carefully) off the overlap ends to make your string less fuzzy.
Finger-twisting methods are best used to make rope when a relatively small amount is being made and/or has to be very tight and even, and when very stiff or coarse materials are being used, such as cattail or tule. When you want to make rope in mass quantities, it is much faster and easier on the hands to use the leg (thigh) rolling method. The principle is the same, S-twist, Z-ply, but the twist is applied by rolling on the leg, rather than twisting between the thumb and finger. You can continue to work without getting cramps in your hand muscles, and you can (with practice) work faster (about ten feet per hour). The critical element in making this method work is having the right surface on which to roll. Traditionally the bare left thigh is used. If you do not want to expose your skin, or if your legs are hairy, you can use pants, but these should be tight around your leg, so they won’t bunch up as you roll, and they should have a rough enough surface to give traction. Keeping them damp is also critical. I keep a bucket of water next to me while I work.
Roll both plies away from you with the palm of your right hand (pre-roll each separately). Your left hand holds the Y and follows the movement.
Bring the two plies together by moving the left hand forward and back. If the two plies did not get tightly rolled the first time, carefully pick up both plies and repeat step one first.
When the plies are tight and touching, bring the right palm back towards you, counter-rotating the two plies into two-ply cordage.
Before you begin, prepare as much fiber as you will be using during that session. Once you get into the rhythm of the work of making rope or cordage, you won’t want to stop and clean material.
In addition to the article above, I found a nice little video from SHTFBlog.com that demonstrates how to do this with a cattail leaf.
You can make rope or natural cordage (rope and string) from many different fibers including (Bast) Dogbane, Milkweed, Nettles, Hemp, Flax; (Leaves) Cattail, Yucca, Agave, Douglas Iris; (Bark) Willow, Maple, | <urn:uuid:978079ec-1427-4f7c-8bcb-6f88dad24f40> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.finalprepper.com/tag/using-plants-to-make-rope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.942815 | 1,447 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Some of the most devastating consequences of COVID-19 will be in the developing world. Among the most vulnerable are refugees, 85% of whom live in low and middle-income countries. Within refugee camps, self-isolation and social distancing measures are nearly impossible to implement, and people are anxious amid the spread of misinformation. Meanwhile, many international staff from NGOs and the UN have been pulled out of refugee camps. Other international humanitarian organisations have significantly reduced their capacity and funding is stretched to breaking point or has been diverted. And in many cities, where humanitarian assistance has always been weakest, refugees face exclusion from access to government services including food distribution.
Below the radar, and in parallel to formal humanitarian assistance, many refugees are working to fill these gaps. Refugee-led organisations have long played an important but neglected role in providing protection and assistance to other refugees – and host communities – in camps and cities around the world. It is evident that many are highly valued by their communities, and some operate on an impressive scale. However, they rarely receive international funding or recognition as key operational partners from a humanitarian system that is still premised upon a strong separation between the provider and the ‘beneficiary’. This is despite refugees consistently saying that they rely on community-level support as much, if not more so, than international aid. For instance, when we surveyed refugees in Uganda and Kenya on their primary source of social protection, over 90% said that in an emergency they would first turn to community-level support rather than larger NGOs or international organisations.
Refugee-led responses in Uganda
In Uganda, home to around 1.4 million refugees, refugee-led organisations have been making important contributions to help provide support in both camps and cities during the pandemic. In the Nakivale Settlement in the south-west of Uganda, employees of the Wakati Foundation – who ordinarily work on small-scale building projects – have been sewing and distributing colourful face masks. The Foundation has also been raising awareness among the community about COVID-19. Further north, in Arua, the Global Society Initiative for Peace and Democracy has been building an information campaign focusing on preventive measures relating to hygiene and sanitation in the refugee camps to help slow the spread of the virus.
Many of the most acute challenges, however, are actually in urban areas. Some refugees have reported being less afraid of the virus than of its secondary consequences: restricted access to food, medicine and basic services. In Kampala in April 2020, for example, many refugees faced severe food shortages because of the lockdown. The government announced on national television that non-nationals would not get food aid, excepting those in refugee camps. According to attendees, in its urban coordination meetings on COVID-19, UNHCR recognised that refugees in Kampala needed urgent support, yet a combination of practical and funding constraints meant it was struggling to meet food and medical needs.
Urban refugee-led organisations are also trying to fill gaps. For example, in Kampala, Hope for Children and Women Victims of Violence, which ordinarily supports refugees through vocational training, psychosocial support and English lessons, has distributed food and soap to refugees and Ugandans in the Ndejje area of the city. Meanwhile, Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) has distributed baskets of food to the most vulnerable in the community, identifying recipients through community networks.
The response by refugee-led organisations is of course not unique to Uganda. Refugee-led assistance and protection can be found in every contemporary displacement crisis, from Myanmar to Venezuela, encompassing activities as diverse as education, health, livelihoods, finance and housing. While many organisations lack capacity, they often have a comparative advantage in terms of community-level trust, social networks, and adaptability – all of which are crucial in the context of a pandemic.
Localisation: needed more than ever
The World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 resulted in a Grand Bargain agreement which placed a strong emphasis on the concept of ‘localisation’, which recognises and supports people affected by crisis as important first responders. However, a significant gap remains between the rhetoric and reality surrounding this agenda, especially when it comes to working with organisations run by refugees. For the most part, the few organisations that thrive have done so by bypassing the humanitarian system altogether and by raising funding through international networks instead.
UNHCR is willing to work with these refugee-led organisations, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but funding for working this way is virtually non-existent. Most donor governments impose significant accountability and compliance standards on grant recipients, which the majority of small-scale refugee-led groups are unable to meet. UN staff complain that refugee-led organisations can be challenging to work with, generally lack capacity, and are sometimes highly critical of the UN and international NGOs. Meanwhile, national governments and national NGOs, especially those that hold privileged status as UN implementing partners, are often suspicious of refugee-led organisations.
In a pandemic, localisation absolutely cannot be a substitute for international donor funding and assistance, or for health-related expert knowledge and technical interventions. However, localisation and the more systematic engagement of crisis-affected communities and refugees themselves may have a crucial complementary role to play. In the context of COVID-19, refugee-led (and other community) organisations might play a number of roles in supporting humanitarian response:
Providing public information: One of the biggest issues in refugee camps is countering misinformation about the virus. Since the effectiveness of mass communication campaigns is likely to be affected by how socio-culturally embedded they are, working through community-level intermediaries will be crucial. There are already established networks within many refugee camps and communities. Where gaps exist, refugee-led organisations, especially those whose work intersects with health, might play a crucial ‘bridging’ role.
Deploying community health workers: In recent years, community health workers have been recognised as key actors in health delivery in developing countries, and they have increasingly been used in refugee settings. They can be rapidly trained and affordably equipped, and can play a range of roles from information sharing to tracking infections, as well as providing support in basic prevention, rehabilitation and health promotion.
Tracking and monitoring: In contexts in which social distancing measures are inhibited by dense and open housing, tracking the spread of infection is even more important. Many humanitarian organisations have already equipped displaced populations with mobile technology and apps capable of community-level reporting, on issues from the functioning of boreholes to school attendance and birth registration, and communities could use these to play a key role in supporting virus tracking.
Supplementing capacity gaps: With many senior humanitarian staff absent from refugee camps and aid budgets under threat, many social services in camps may become stretched. Local staff and volunteers have an important role to play in finding ways to deliver essential services like education, food distribution and water and sanitation under social distancing measures.
Influencing social norms: In wealthier countries, governments are widely using behavioural economics to design interventions to shape social compliance with public health policies. They have access to big data and eminent social scientists to design responses adapted to the cultural context. This approach is not readily available in many humanitarian settings. In refugee camps, for instance, shaping social norms relies on building community-level trust – and working proactively with refugee-led organisations may be the best available option of doing so.
At a global level, refugees are coordinating their responses, and there are growing voices of support for responses ‘by refugees for refugees’ during the pandemic. The starting point needs to be the building of a coalition of people willing to take this seriously – one that includes refugee-led organisations, donor governments, foundations, NGOs and academics. Its focus should be on mapping organisational capacity, building best practices, and piloting new delivery mechanisms to get resources into the hands of frontline providers. Donors may need to be willing to accept higher levels of risk and reduce compliance standards. Most government donors worry about accountability to their own electorates, and this has been a particular issue in Uganda. Private money and pooled funds may be necessary to mitigate risk while piloting new funding mechanisms.
Historically, there has been a glaring asymmetry of power at the heart of the international refugee system. The participation of refugees, let alone their organisations, has rarely been encouraged. In the current crisis, there are strong imperatives to change this as a matter of necessity, particularly as the world faces the likely possibility of subsequent waves of infections that impede many normal humanitarian operations indefinitely. If new partnerships can emerge, the COVID-19 crisis may represent a unique moment of opportunity to build lasting models of participatory and inclusive humanitarian governance.
Alexander Betts [email protected]
Leopold Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs
Evan Easton-Calabria [email protected]
Senior Research Officer
Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford www.rsc.ox.ac.uk
Kate Pincock [email protected]
Researcher, Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE), ODI www.gage.odi.org
See Pincock K, Betts A, and Easton-Calabria E (2020) The Global Governed? Refugees as Providers of Protection and Assistance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
See article by Alio, Alrihawi, Milner, Noor, Wazefadost and Zigashane in this issue. See also recordings of the recent RSC seminar series ‘#ByRefugees: strengthening refugee-led humanitarian response during the COVID-19 pandemic’ bit.ly/RSC-ByRefugees
A version of this article first appeared in The Conversation on 28 April 2020 https://theconversation.com/why-refugees-are-an-asset-in-the-fight-against-coronavirus-136099 See also ‘The Localisation of Humanitarian Assistance as a Response to COVID-19’, COVID-19 Watch, Kaldor Centre www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/publication/localisation-humanitarian-assistance-response-covid-19 | <urn:uuid:aa1e190e-7812-4fd2-85bc-f00ef158e854> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://www.fmreview.org/es/node/5215 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100527.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20231204083733-20231204113733-00400.warc.gz | en | 0.94269 | 2,140 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.