Datasets:

skymizer

/

fineweb-edu-dedup-test-4K-rows

like 0

Follow

skymizer 12

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Colourful Weather, Ep 3: Why sunsets and sunrises will never be blue or green Subjects: Geography, Science Years: 5–6, 9–10 Can you guess how many sunsets and sunrises an astronaut on the International Space Station sees every 24 hours? Sixteen! Imagine seeing all those spectacular colours so many times a day (even if the view lasts only a few seconds as they zoom by). Find out exactly why sunrises and sunsets are red, orange and golden but never blue or green, and discover what makes the sky look blue and the sun look yellow. Produced by the ABC in partnership with the Bureau of Meteorology. Date of broadcast: 4 Sep 2019 Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2020 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Bureau of Meteorology. What's red, gold and orange, fills the sky, and happens every day without fail? Sunrise and sunset. At the start and end of every day, the sky gives us a pretty special light show. Where do these colours come from though, and why only at the start and at the end of the day? To really understand, we need to get back to basics. Sunlight. Sunlight looks bright and clear, but it's actually made of multiple colours called the colour spectrum and they combine to make white light. You've seen a rainbow, right? Well, a rainbow is the visible colours of the spectrum all separated out. Each colour in the spectrum has a different wavelength. Some light travels in short waves, other light travels in long waves. Light travels from the Sun all the way to the Earth. And on the way, just the last little part of its journey, it has to travel through the Earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere we live in called the tropospehere, is made up of two particles, oxygen and nitrogen, as well as other molecules like water vapour. When sunlight hits these molecules, it bounces off them and gets scattered in all directions. It's called rayleigh scattering. The scattering is what makes the sky look blue. The only part of the Sun's rays that reach your eyes, because they aren't scattered as much, are the yellows and oranges. That's why in the middle of the day, the sun looks golden. If you looked at it from outer space, though, it would look white. At sunrise and sunset, the Sun is closer to the horizon. That means that the light has to travel through a greater distance of atmosphere than when the Sun is right overhead. That longer distance means that even more of the blue light is scattered away, so that red, orange, and yellow colours that are left intensify. And that's why sunrise and sunsets are beautiful golden orange and red. You would've seen some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets where it looks like the sky is on fire and the colours are extra vivid. Well, how does that happen? The best way is for the air to be fairly clear for brightly coloured sunrises and sunsets. So after it, rains is usually a really great time to get the camera out. It also helps if there is low humidity and some clouds for the light to reflect on. While we only see one sunrise and sunset a day, astronauts on the International Space Station, zoom around the earth every 92 minutes. Can you guess how many sunrises and sunsets they see in a day? 16! 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets, all clear and bright from out in space where there's no dust smoke or pollution. Except for one little problem. The Space Station travels so quickly, you only get a few seconds to take a look before you zoom past. So I don't know, maybe just one a day is fine when you've got a bit more time to sit back and enjoy the view.

<urn:uuid:b16002bd-dc5e-4388-a5ed-fbec2d0b7a06>

I have 9 big boxes with 10 000 magazines in each, 6 smaller boxes with 1 000 and 6 ... 6.1.4 Recognises the place value of digits in: whole numbers to at least 9 -digit ..... Similar patterns of number sentences can be set for dividing by 1 000. This free printable Mathematics lesson plan format created with the title "Intermediate Phase Lesson Plans Grade 6 2013 Caps Lesson Plan" holds more information about grade 4 lesson plans on place value patterns to 10 000, etc. To make sure that this document is what you need, before you download this Mathematics lesson plan format, try to read this document first by click the following link. On the other hand, if you want to save this document directly into your computer, you can download this pdf Mathematics lesson plan format through the following download link. Students of pre-kindergarten through 8th level can be determined as young learners. Creating teaching note for young learners should be creative in selecting the teaching activities because of their characteristics. It is better for trainer to comprehend the characteristics of young learners before designing the lesson plan for them. Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg explain the characteristics of young learners. Here we will talk it in related to the class idea. First, Young learners are happy to participate and physically active. That is why teachers have to design the activities which involve the students to participate for example: desigining a work in group or individually, like interesting quizes which involved the physical activities. Second, young learners love to play. They learn well when they are enjoying themselves. In related in playing, we now have many advancements in teaching Math strategy for children through games or even the colored and entertaining worksheet design. It is easy to find where we can find the fun Math worksheet on the online resources. Third, young learners cannot concentrate for a long time. Teacher should have a great approachin dividing teaching time from the beginning till the end of the class. Young learners are happier with different materials and they cannot remember things for a long time if it is not repeated. So keep repeating the lesson with different fun ways. Five, seven or twelve years old Learners will grow as thinkers who can be believable and take responsibility for class activities and routines. They will also learn how to play and organize the best way to bring an activity, work with others and learn from others. Moreover, young Learners still depend on teacher. They should be guided and accompanied well. So keep guiding students with the best way. Teaching Math is fun and let us make them happy to learn Math.

<urn:uuid:ec052373-9133-4561-bc4b-9b466b71cc32>

Чеботарь Людмила Миколаївна, Урок англійської мови в 9 класі з використанням ІКТ Theme: Appearance and character. Hairstyle: Sophisticated? Smart?Extreme? … Cool! - to revise and enrich pupils’ vocabulary; - to develop pupils’ listening and reading skills; - to motivate learners to free speaking; - to train groups work; - to bring up the culture of communication, friendly and tolerant attitude to each other. Equipment: pupils’ books Alla Nesvit, handouts, a computer, a presentation. I. Introduction (Slide №2) II. Warming up 1) Match the sentences with the features of character they describe. 2) Say what sort of person you are. III. Main part Listen and say what the main idea of the song is. While listening activity (Slide №4,5) Listen and fill in the song. a) Did you like the song? b) Do you think that look should fit the character? c) Do you like everything in yourself? d) What would you like to change? e) Would you like to change your hairstyle? - How often do you get a haircut? - Have you ever had an unusual hairstyle? - What was it? - Did your friends like it? b) Match the photos of hairstyle to the names. a) Read what the teens think about their hairstyles and match them to the photos. Ex. 2 p. 24 1) Read and say if the statements are true or false. Ex. 3 p. 24 2) Answer the questions. - What hairstyles are popular among the teenagers today? - Which of them do your friends prefer? - Can you do any? - Why do teens sometimes prefer to wear extraordinary hairstyle? 3) Vocabulary practice a) It’s interesting to know. b) Look at the pictures and write the unknown words into your vocabularies. c) Write the adjectives from the box into correct column. 4) Work in groups - Look at the following pictures and be ready to describe them. - One of the groups must describe the picture, two others draw a picture of this - Take turns. - Don’t show your drawing until you finish. - Are they similar to the person you have described?(Slide №18) Write about your friend. Describe his/ her appearance and personality. Today we have spoken about hairstyles. Do you like your hairstyle? Who helped you to choose or create this hairstyle?

<urn:uuid:d53b1354-344e-4f8b-9c0d-717f255faa5f>

Lemons are a bright and zesty citrus fruit known for their tart flavor and versatility in both culinary and non-culinary applications. Here’s a culinary description of lemons and how they are commonly used: - Flavor Profile: Lemons have a distinct, tangy, and refreshing flavor characterized by their high citric acid content. The flavor is a balance of sourness and a subtle sweetness, making lemons a versatile ingredient in a wide range of dishes. - Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is a fundamental ingredient in many recipes. It adds acidity and brightness to both savory and sweet dishes. Lemon juice is commonly used in salad dressings, marinades, sauces, and beverages, such as lemonade. It’s also used to prevent fruits like apples and avocados from browning when exposed to air. - Lemon Zest: The outer yellow part of the lemon peel, known as lemon zest, contains aromatic oils that impart a concentrated lemon flavor. Lemon zest is often used as a garnish or flavor enhancer in dishes like pasta, salads, baked goods, and desserts. - Lemon Slices: Thin slices of lemon are used as a garnish in various beverages, including water, tea, and cocktails. Lemon slices are also used to add a touch of citrus flavor and a visually appealing element to fish, poultry, and other dishes. - Lemon Curd: Lemon curd is a creamy and sweet lemon-flavored spread or filling made from lemon juice, zest, sugar, eggs, and butter. It is commonly used as a filling for tarts, cakes, and pastries. - Desserts: Lemons are frequently featured in desserts like lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemon sorbet, and lemon-flavored cakes. The combination of the tart lemon flavor with sweet components is especially popular. - Preserved Lemons: In Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, lemons are preserved by packing them in salt and lemon juice. These preserved lemons are used to add a unique, tangy, and briny flavor to dishes like tagines, couscous, and salads. - Marinades and Rubs: Lemon juice and zest are essential components of marinades and rubs for meats, seafood, and vegetables. They help tenderize and infuse flavor into the ingredients. - Salad Dressings: Lemon juice is a common ingredient in salad dressings, adding a bright and tangy element to salads of all kinds. - Beverages: Beyond lemonade, lemons are used to add flavor to cocktails and mocktails, such as the classic Tom Collins or a simple gin and tonic with a twist of lemon. Lemons are not only prized for their culinary applications but are also used for their aromatic qualities in cleaning products and for their potential health benefits due to their high vitamin C content. Their versatility in enhancing both the flavor and presentation of dishes makes them a beloved ingredient in kitchens worldwide.

<urn:uuid:9dadd82a-40a3-4c6f-96a8-63be3c5d63d0>

How many years do ducks live in nature is difficult to say, there is no exact data. First, there are many predators, and secondly, many species are being hunted. But among all the record holders are Mallard. They are able to live 20 or even more years. The average life of an ordinary wild duck is about 12-14 years. But domestic species live very little, since they are grown mainly up to 2-2.5 years for obtaining meat. How much is the weight of wild ducks is also difficult to say, since it depends on the season and species. But on average the usual Mallard, for example, weighs from 1.4 to 2 kilograms. The largest bird in the world of the duck family is the swan of the Klikun, which weighs about 17 kg. Judging by the description, he looks like a normal Shipun, but distinguishes his manner of behavior and the shape of his beak. But how much a domestic duck can weigh depends on the feeding conditions.

<urn:uuid:c3c41fbb-1272-4653-9606-79325fe0184b>

Out and About-Creating Design This Out and About-Creating Design lesson plan also includes: - Join to access all included materials Students demonstrate the elements of design by creating a digital photography portfolio of photos taken in and arond the scool. The edit photos using Photoshope to emphasize the element of desing in each phot. 6 Views 8 Downloads - Activities & Projects - Graphics & Images - Lab Resources - Learning Games - Lesson Plans - Primary Sources - Printables & Templates - Professional Documents - Study Guides - Writing Prompts - AP Test Preps - Lesson Planet Articles - Interactive Whiteboards - All Resource Types - Show All See similar resources: Using the Internet - Art and Design An interesting resource that might work best in an upper level art course, this handout provides a list of nine websites where young artists can read and study about all forms of art. These online resources range from a dictionary of... 7th - Higher Ed Visual & Performing Arts Let's Create! Pottery HD Using a potter’s wheel to make functional art is an experience not common to most people. Provide your learners with a chance to see what pottery making is all about with an app that allows them to create pots, fire them, decorate them,... 6th - 12th Visual & Performing Arts The Complex Geometry of Islamic Design Discover the prevalence of geometric design in Islamic culture with this wonderful informational video. It begins with an overview of the complexity of designs dating back to the eighth century during early Islam, and then delves into... 5 mins 7th - 12th Math CCSS: Adaptable The People's Design Award Students analyze, critique, and evaluate information from various sources and learn about the design process. In this design instructional activity, students critique work submitted to People's Design Award and create a design of their... 5th - 12th Visual & Performing Arts High-end/Low-end: Exploring Price and Value in Design Students analyze elements of design and compare/contrast elements of price and design. In this design lesson, students consider the differences between high-end and low-end design. After completing an analysis of design in small groups,... 9th - 12th Visual & Performing Arts Writing and Developing Storyboards Storyboarding is an essential part of planning a film. Introduce your class to storyboarding and allow groups time to plan out their documentaries in this sixth lesson in a series about creating documentaries. Class members review an... 6th - 12th Visual & Performing Arts CCSS: Designed Bringing a Pop-up Book to Life Breath life into the pages of a text with this instructional video on creating pop-up books. From choosing a topic, through the planning and creation phases, this video examines how to develop engaging visual presentations that reach out... 6 mins 3rd - 9th Science CCSS: Adaptable

<urn:uuid:b547b4e4-b961-4d99-b056-9f7ee8c2c251>

Creatively engaging students in a school science conference A research chat with EdD graduate David Carlgren Tell us about your research project. My study explored the gap between the science that is conducted in K-12 classrooms and that performed by scientists in the field. While much of this has to do with age and maturity, as well as knowledge, there are aspects of current practice that may not bridge the gap well and may enforce misconceptions. As a science teacher for a number of years, I have become frustrated with the tendency of experiments in grade school science to replicate and validate already existing values and results. Doing science in this way enforces concepts surrounding the existence and rigidity of scientific facts, and that science is unchanging. It also presents the scientific method as a linear process – from one step to another – which does not consider the many possibilities that can come of each research project. In today’s world, students require a different conception of knowledge, and understanding of how knowledge is generated; the scientific community is poised to lead this change, and introducing this to students in K-12 schools is essential. I chose to examine the impacts of having students conduct scientific research, write about it, and present it in a school science conference. The participants were students in grades 6-10 at a small private school in Calgary; the students conducted independent research, and delivered presentations that summarized and described the results. Their chosen topics varied dramatically: from questions on genetic manipulation, whether it is possible to change blood types, and ways to solve an uninvestigated problem in group theory mathematics. What did you discover? In this study, the students generated meaning through the intricate balance of mentors, choice, time, expectations, and excitement. As students conducted their research, these features were significant in guiding their work and learning. This approach highlighted that feedback that is direct, timely, and personalized garners more significant changes than that which is vague or disconnected from the students’ own work. By being able to choose a topic that interest them, the students were more motivated and seemed to engage more in the research process. Finally, the use of specialist mentors to guide students through the processes of research, writing and presenting their findings was essential. I hope that this study will generate conversation about the very nature of science and how it is taught. Thinking of science as a collection of proven facts generated through a rigid process, to me has tremendous possible negative ramifications that stifle creativity and new knowledge generation. Additionally, I hope that the concept of community knowledge and knowledge building become a topic of conversation and lead the movement away from individualized and ranked marking and testing systems toward more holistic assessment of community contributions. I would question educators whether it might be possible to move science education from a paradigm of “Prove your theory,” to one of “Improve your theory,” which is far more generative and creative.

<urn:uuid:04b92237-b829-4e83-b433-fc86514d40d0>

The economic growth rate offers a vision into the overall magnitude and direction of progress for the general economy of a country. Simply, an economic growth rate is a measure of economic development for a given period to another in terms of percentage. The growth rate does not infer for inflation but conveys in nominal terms. Practically, the measure of the rate of change that a country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) goes through in a given year to another. Occasionally, the gross national product is used when a state's economy is deeply reliant on foreign earnings. The paper, therefore, discusses economic growth rate in different countries such as Japan, United States, China, and Ethiopia over the last 20 years. The United States has the biggest economy in the world. Nonetheless, in the last twenty years, just in the case of several other industrialized nations, its economic growth rates have gradually been decreasing. During the 1950s and 1960s, the average growth rate was over 5 percent, but in the last two decades that have not been the case. America has seen its economic growth rate decreased over the last years. The average growth rate of United States economy is roughly 2.5 percent. Japan is a developed nation with a free market economy of the third largest in the world. The economic growth rate history of Japan in the last four decades can be categorized in two ways: after and before 1990. In the initial period of 1990 gross growth rate developed at a yearly rate of approximately 4.5 percent, and was persistent (Mankiw, 2009). The trend clogged sharply in the 1990s, where averagely in the last twenty years growth rate is 0.9 percent. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world yet they have a healthy growing economy. In 2013, it had an annual rate of 13.92 which was the highest in all time. Averagely, the last twenty years has seen it have a growth rate of 10.56 percent that is a significant number in the sub-Saharan Africa. China has emerged as an economic powerhouse in the last few decades. The growth rate is estimated at 1.91 percent from 2010 up to 2015 with an all-time high growth rate of 2.50 in 2011. Averagely it has a growth rate of 5.12 percent in the last twenty years (Mankiw, 2009). Some of the differences between these countries that have resulted in diverse economic growth rates are discussed herein. The technological factor is very core to influence the economic growth of these states; it is the engine of economic development (Fagerberg, 2011). With the quick technological advancement, it is simple to generate new jobs, construct vast industries, and enhance living standard. Moreover, technology is an influential tool for putting the government more effective and efficient, coordinating economic development and environmental purposes, offering a foundation for military and economic durable development. Their difference in economic growth has been brought by the quality of governance. The governance has a role in delivering essential social environment and infrastructure for economic expansion of the entire society. These countries have a different form of governance that sparks economic development. Good management will help facilitate economic growth in the countries. The United States has distinct government policies that have allowed it economic growth. First, the policy on the right or democratic governance is believed to be one of the major causes of its economic growth. Democratic governance plays a critical role in growing economic development through the policies implemented and issued by governments (Mankiw, 2009). The manner in which market-friendly guidelines are created and then executed encompasses political progressions not sufficiently apprehended by theoreticians of democracy, economics, and those who would link democratic governance to economic growth. Active management is an essential for establishing the cohesive policymaking capability that is desired to initiate sustainable development. The second emphasis that U.S is putting in place is education. A country that is less educated can never have any form of economic growth that is very high. Emphasis on education will provide the state with necessary expertise that is required in different fields to spark economic development. Ethiopia has distinct government policies that have seen the recent increase in economic development. There is the diversification of economy system as well facilitation of economic systems to avert massive reliance on resource wealth (Arve, 2014). Balance on the long-term and short-term development priorities is also highly emphasized by the Ethiopia government to foster its economic development. China, on the other hand, has its policies that are aimed to increase economic development. It has five development plans that are aimed for economic. The plan is backed by policies to encourage the growth of novel technologies. There is also policy on urbanization to transform the country to a better open economy and market-oriented. Japan has distinct policies on the role of technology as well as market investments for economic growth. In conclusion, different countries have diverse economic growth that is contributed by various factors. As listed above, democratic governance, new technological advances as well government policies play an essential role in economic growth in these countries. BIBLIOGRAPHY Arve, H. U. (2014). Emerging Economies and Challenges to Sustainability: Theories, Strategies, Local Realities. London: Routledge. Fagerberg, J. (2011). Technology and international differences in growth rates. Journal of economic Literature, 47-75. Mankiw, G. R. (2009). A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research. Need a paper on the same topic? We will write it for you from scratch! If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the SpeedyPaper website, please click below to request its removal: - Management Leadership Essay - Implementation of electronic health records - Negotiation management - 13 Reasons Why Analysis - The Role Of An Individual In Society Essay Sample - Diagnosis of a Fake Client - Effects of Biomedical and Bioinformatics in Nursing - Part A: question one. - Organ Donation Essay Outline - The Modern Family, Season Three Episode 2 - Aristotles Communication Model - Vernacular Forms and Influence on Margaret Walkers Works

<urn:uuid:2ab6dc21-1653-4c0c-8631-6c7f0a80c83a>

Brighton University is sharing in a £2.7 million grant to identify new sources of rare elements. The elements are vital for a growing number of high-tech processes and products such as wind turbines and hybrid cars. The research will also investigate new ways to lower the environmental impact of extracting the rare earth elements (REEs). The university is receiving £400,000 from the Natural Environment Research Council to fund a post-doctoral researcher working on experimental studies of rare earth behaviour on mineral surfaces. The grant will also fund a PhD studentship to work on the behaviour of the elements in enriched rock types, from magmatic to weathering systems. Martin Smith, reader in geology in the School of Environment and Technology, is leading the university’s contribution to the four-year project. The university will be working with the overall project lead, Camborne School of Mines at Exeter University, and with Leeds University, the British Geological Survey, Sheffield University and St Andrews University. Dr Smith said that rare earth elements were part of a group of elements fundamental to the production of high-technology equipment and renewable energy generation. He said that these were increasingly in demand for the production of high-powered magnets in wind turbines. He said: “Neodymium magnets are also essential components for hybrid cars with electric motors and rare earth elements are also used in catalysts, alloys and phosphors used in energy-efficient lighting and display screens, glass and polishing materials and ceramics.” Dr Smith said: “This is an exciting, multidisciplinary research project which we hope will lead us to secure and low-environmental-impact supplies of critical rare earth elements.”

<urn:uuid:1c77d5fd-206f-42cf-9545-5a3b363c7efe>

Organic foods, a term often tossed around but seldom understood, have gained significant attention in recent years. Amid the growing health consciousness among consumers, their allure lies in the assurance of consuming products free from synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and genetic modification, bringing us closer to nature than ever before. Delving into organic foods, we uncover the tangible benefits that elevate their status from a food trend to a sustainable choice promoting health and wellness. Table of Contents Higher Nutritional Value Organic foods are often lauded for their higher nutritional value than their conventionally grown counterparts. Numerous studies indicate that organic fruits and vegetables tend to have higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. For instance, organic tomatoes are reported to have higher levels of vitamin C and secondary metabolites beneficial to health. Additionally, organic dairy products and meats are richer in particular nutrients. They have higher omega-3 fatty acids, an essential nutrient associated with heart health, and lower levels of saturated fats. Organic farm made eggs also have been found to contain less cholesterol and more vitamins and minerals. Therefore, choosing organic foods can enhance our diet’s nutritional quality, improving health and wellness. Support Local Farmers Most organic farms are small to medium-sized operations located closer to home. By purchasing these foods, consumers directly support these farmers and their sustainable practices. This support is not just monetary, but it also acknowledges and encourages their commitment to a healthier and more sustainable food production system. Moreover, buying organic food from local farmers also has a positive impact on the local economy. It keeps money within the local community, helping to create jobs and promote regional development. The shorter supply chain also ensures fresher produce, as transportation time from farm to table is significantly reduced. Therefore, choosing organic not only benefits individual health but also bolsters local farmers and communities. Reduced Exposure to Harmful Chemicals Organic farming practices significantly reduce our exposure to harmful synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Unlike conventionally grown food, organic food production strictly prohibits using these chemicals, thereby ensuring the safety and wholesomeness of the food we consume. The World Health Organization has identified several pesticides as potentially carcinogenic, and consuming foods laced with these chemicals could lead to long-term health consequences. Furthermore, organic products are free from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Though the long-term health effects of consuming GMOs are still uncertain, many consumers choose organic food to err on the side of caution. The lack of GMOs in organic foods also helps to protect biodiversity and the integrity of our ecosystem. Thus, organic foods can be a proactive measure for maintaining our health and preserving our environment. Using sustainable farming practices in organic agriculture has a significant positive impact on the environment. This is achieved through the preservation of soil health, the promotion of biodiversity, and pollution reduction. By shunning synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, organic farming avoids contaminating water supplies, minimizes soil degradation, and helps combat climate change through its lower carbon footprint. Using natural fertilizers, such as compost and manure, not only enriches the soil with essential nutrients but also enhances its moisture-holding capacity, resulting in better crop resilience during dry spells. Additionally, organic farming encourages biodiversity by offering a safe habitat for wildlife. It ensures the survival and growth of various organisms within the farming ecosystem, promoting a balanced and healthy biodiversity. This includes beneficial insects and spiders that naturally keep pest populations in check, reducing the need for harmful pesticides. Farmers also often rotate crops and use cover crops, practices that diversify the agricultural landscape and improve habitat quality for wildlife. Lower Risk of Food Contamination With organic farming, there is a substantially lower risk of food contamination. This is primarily due to the stringent restrictions on using harmful synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which can leave harmful residues on conventionally grown produce. As a result, the safety profile of organic food is significantly enhanced, offering consumers peace of mind about the foods they consume. In addition to reducing exposure to harmful chemicals, organic farming practices also lower the risk of contamination from foodborne illnesses. Organic farms rarely use large-scale industrial farming practices, often linked to outbreaks of foodborne diseases like E. coli and salmonella. Furthermore, the healthier soil conditions maintained in organic farming support a more robust crop that can resist diseases and pests naturally, reducing the risk of contamination. Many advocates of organic foods claim that they taste better than non-organic alternatives. The superior taste is often attributed to the well-balanced, nutrient-rich soils in which organic crops are grown. This creates healthy, strong plants reflected in their yield’s quality and taste. For instance, organic fruits and vegetables often have a more intense flavor as they grow more slowly and have a lower water content. Freshness can also affect taste. Organic foods from local farms (as mentioned in point 2) don’t need to be transported long distances, which can affect quality and taste. The shorter farm-to-table time ensures that organic foods reach consumers fresher, contributing to their superior taste. Better taste not only makes healthy eating more enjoyable but also encourages consuming more fruits and vegetables for overall better health. The choice to consume organic foods often has ethical considerations at its core. Organic farming promotes animal welfare by providing livestock more space and access to fresh air and sunlight. This is a stark contrast to the conditions in industrial factory farms, where animals are kept in confined spaces and treated with hormones and antibiotics. Furthermore, supporting organic agriculture means supporting sustainable food production methods that prioritize the health of our planet and its inhabitants. This aligns with many people’s values, who believe that we have a responsibility to protect and preserve our environment for future generations. Therefore, choosing organic foods is not just about self-improvement, but it also reflects a commitment to leading a more ethical and sustainable lifestyle. Choosing to consume organic foods brings forth a multitude of advantages that go beyond personal health. It encompasses environmental and ethical considerations, creating a positive impact on both our bodies and the planet. By embracing organic options, we not only savor the delightful flavors and nutrient-rich nature of these foods but also support local farmers and contribute to a healthier ecosystem. With the ever-expanding range of organic choices, transitioning towards a more organic-based diet has become increasingly accessible. Today, let’s consciously strive to nourish our bodies and planet by incorporating more organic foods.

<urn:uuid:6f568c52-8c77-4999-b6ef-5b069132e2d8>

"Chemistry can be good or bad thing. chemistry is good when you make love with it.chemistry is bad when you make crack with it." About the course Chemistry has the power to explain innumerable phenomena in the world, from the ordinary to the bizarre. Why does iron rust? What makes propane such an efficient, clean-burning fuel? How can soot and diamond be so different in appearance yet so chemically similar? Chemistry has the answer to these questions and many more. Understanding chemistry is the key to understanding the world as we know it.In the scope of its subject, chemistry occupies an intermediate position between physics and biology.Chemistry is the scientific discipline involved with elements and compounds composed of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties, behavior and the changes they undergo during a reaction with other substances. It is sometimes called the central science because it provides a foundation for understanding both basic and applied scientific disciplines at a fundamental level. Chemistry is a scoring paper, needs regular practice to master upon. our teaching technique makes our students visualize & co-relate the subject with real life.our teachers amazingly make it funny & interesting in order to instill its concepts.

<urn:uuid:8f384b24-44d3-4c00-9272-9784b5785103>

Considered one of the great civilizers, Quetzalcoatl was a god with the head and body of a feathered snake. One legend claims that he sailed from the east in an attempt to overthrow Guatemala’s last ruler. He was thwarted by a storm at sea, but his cult only grew among the high priests of Tenochtitlan – until they were overthrown by Hernan Cortes and destroyed their idols to make way for Christianity. - Quetzalcoatl (Aztec God with the head and body of a feathered snake) - Huitzilopochtli (Aztec god of war) - Tezcatlipoca (Aztec god of smoke and night) - Tlaloc (Aztec god of rain, water, and Earth) - Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec god of death) The Aztec Gods The Aztec religion included many gods who personified nature, weather, farmers, and people’s personal qualities. Many had more than one function. Some gods were propitiated for various seasons of the year, while others only appeared at certain times of the day or in certain locations. These deities were often associated with one another by marriage or by having children with each other. The major gods were grouped into two classes: those who governed the four cardinal points of the compass and those associated with human activities and desires. 1. Quetzalcoatl (Aztec God with the head and body of a feathered snake) – The feathered serpent god was called Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs and Kukulkon by the Mayas. From his name and various associations, it is apparent that he was a god of culture, law, learning, and civilization. This is also supported by the fact that he is often depicted wearing a conical hat. The Mexicans had colorful feathers called quetzalli hanging from their conical hats. This god was a deity of the air and air currents, and also physically connected with a feathered serpent. He was the creator of life on earth, but when he saw that human beings were suffering, he decided to leave the earth. According to one legend, Quetzalcoatl’s departure from Tula coincided with his prophecy to return in the year One Reed (A.D. 987). 2. Huitzilopochtli (Aztec god of war) – The god of war was associated with fire. He is depicted as wearing a headdress of hoops! His counterpart in the Mayan pantheon was Katun. His name is composed of the Nahuatl words huey/tzel- (lit. “one who causes to grow”) and choch- (lit. “to be threshed” or “to die”). His element was Air, and his color red, the color associated with Mars is also associated with war in Chinese religion. This god was also the god of dance, fire, and war. He was a deity of ball games and is thus depicted with a ball at his feet. He acted as the patron deity of warriors. Huitzilopochtli’s name may actually be derived from “the swallower of blood.” In other words, this god consumed the hearts of human sacrifices. 3. Tezcatlipoca (Aztec god of smoke and night) – The god of smoke and night was also known as the god of evil, sorcery, and misfortune. His name literally means “Smoking Mirror.” Tezcatlipoca’s nemesis was Quetzalcoatl, the former ruler of Tula. Tezcatlipoca is also associated with moral and spiritual principles and can be regarded as the divine mirror that reflects the faults of humankind. This god had an association with jaguars and was connected to obsidian mirrors or stars. He was said to be the most powerful and influential god of the Aztec pantheon. His color was black. He could be as cruel as any other god, but he did not do human sacrifices. He was also a patron of music and dance, as well as a god of artistic and musical craftsmen. 4. Tlaloc (Aztec god of rain, water, and Earth) – The god of rain, water, and Earth was associated with fertility and agriculture. His name literally means “He Who Makes Things Sprout.” He is depicted as a young man with curly hair that hangs down to his shoulders. Tlaloc’s worship in Mexico may have originated in the state of Guerrero, where he was originally considered a supreme god. In the Aztec legends concerning the foundation of Tenochtitlan, Tlaloc makes an appearance during the sacrifice of a young woman by throwing a knife at her heart. This god is often accompanied by lightning and thunder, which are also related to rain. One source claims that Tlaloc was associated with volcanoes in the Basin of Mexico as well as the high mountains of the Sierra Madre. Tlaloc was a benevolent god, and sometimes he would even send rain when there was not enough water. He also had a dark side: he could be malevolent and demand sacrifice. 5. Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec god of death) – The god of death was associated with the color black, and he was also a god of the underworld. This god’s name is an Aztec word that literally means “Lord of Mictlampa.” Mictlantecuhtli’s wife was Mictecacihuatl. She is often depicted as a skeletal figure who carries a basket on her back. She has also been associated with black magic in some sources. His symbol is a skull made up of four human hearts and his element is earth. This god was also known as Titlacauan or Totecuhtli, and there were several other gods with the name Mictlantecuhtli. This god did not command the same respect that Huitzilopochtli did, but he was still revered by common people because he commanded death and rebirth. Some cultures regard this deity as a psychopomp rather than an evil lord. Seeing each of these gods as a god of a different element: Quetzalcoatl (air), Huitzilopochtli (fire), Tezcatlipoca (water and earth), Tlaloc (water) and Mictlantecuhtli (death). This could help one to better understand the Aztec culture, its spirituality, and what they believed in.

<urn:uuid:affe5eb9-bc2f-4ebf-b89e-84f757b47669>

The following factors are characteristic of academic articles, especially those that are peer reviewed. Evaluate the following; Abstract? The first page of an academic article usually includes an abstract (summary). Length? Academic articles are usually substantial works (eg: at least a few pages). References? Extensive reference to past research is a key feature of academic works. References are recorded in footnotes or in-text, and a reference list (bibliography) at the end of the article. Complete bibliographic information for all references used should be provided to enable readers to track down original work. Author affiliations and qualifications and contact details are included. Does the author work at a university or a recognised research organisation relevant to the discipline? Author information, often including contact details, is usually included on the first or final page of an article. Often an article has more than one author. The authors' academic qualifications are also usually listed (eg: PhD, BSc (Hons), etc.). Appearance and format ? Academic articles are text based, and can include tables, photgraphs of results, figures and charts, but generally little other illustration or advertising. The body of the document is commonly divided in to sections such as: Introduction; Literature Review; Method; Results; Discussion; Conclusion; References, and may contain in-text or footnote references. Voice? Academic works use the formal technical language of the particular discipline. The writer assumes some specialist knowledge on the part of the reader. Publisher ? Is the publisher an academic publishing house, university, research organisation, professional body or other recognised authority producing research? Recommendation? Is it a journal recommended by your lecturer, supervisor or included in the unit reading list? In researching for essays and other academic assignment tasks, you will usually be looking for relevant information in academic sources. This section explains what an academic source is, and how to identify one, as well as the related concept of peer review. Academic writing is not confined to journals. Non-textbook academic sources such as monographs and books of edited readings may contribute to the development of your ideas. And some research literature is openly available on the internet. Applying evaluation measures will enable you to recognise acceptable sources. The quality of a work of writing which seeks to clarify, explain and extend concepts belonging to the topic and discipline. Scholarly, or academic works are those considered authoritative, formal, intellectual, learned, objective, original, reasoned, technical, theoretical. Such works can include: journal articles, monographs, books of edited readings, conference papers, working papers and theses. Peer review is a formal quality control process whereby a scholarly article submitted to a journal is evaluated by several recognised experts in that discipline. These “referees” judge whether it makes a sufficient contribution to knowledge in the discipline and is of a sufficient standard to justify publication. Academic book manuscripts and many conference papers are also commonly peer reviewed. Peer review can be a lengthy process, causing some delay between completion of research and formal publication of results. Some journal databases may allow you to limit your search results to just peer reviewed articles. If you are unsure whether a particular journal is peer-reviewed/refereed, check the database Ulrichsweb.com or ask the Library. Note: Depending on the discipline, there can be many published scholarly and academic journals and conference papers that are not peer-reviewed, often due to the typically lengthy process involved. A Primary source is one where the author has been directly involved in the research undertaken and published. Academic journals generally report primary research. Secondary sources contain articles reporting on another's research. Scientific American for example reports on recent research rather than publishing that research directly. While using such a reference may still be relevant for some purposes, it would be considered a secondary source article. The documentation of the evolution of ideas is a fundamental process in academic research. Citing any reference referred to and providing a Bibliography of sources used allows the reader to examine those sources in order to decide for themselves on the validity of the conclusions drawn. It is also crucial to acknowledge in your work the source of information and ideas drawn from other authors. Failure to do so, and passing them off as your own, is considered 'plagiarism'. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and more information can be found at 'Avoiding Plagiarism' Articles from these publications, or with the following characteristics, are often NOT considered academic: BUT, there are no absolute rules! Exercise critical judgement. It is often appropriate and necessary to also refer to non-academic publications in an assignment. Be guided by the set requirements for the particular assignment. If in doubt about the suitability of a particular article for an assignment task, ask your lecturer.

<urn:uuid:a3aac17d-ab3c-46c5-86c5-b61cc728976e>

Many people associate seasonal allergies with Spring when plants start blooming, but if you consider what causes an allergy you’ll see that Fall allergies are also a real possibility. In these days of global warming when more moderate temperatures last longer Fall allergies are affecting more and more people that were accustomed to getting some allergy relief in winter months. Leonard Bielory, MD, researching impacts of climate change of allergies, warns that with rising levels of greenhouse gases and temperatures, the pollen season will be longer. In fact his research has shown that pollen counts can be doubled by these conditions (http://ow.ly/q4jjc). This is bad news for the 35 million people who suffer with symptoms from seasonal allergies. Stanley Fineman, MD, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, concurs that these milder fall and winter temperatures trigger pollen and mold to be released earlier than normal causing fall allergies to start sooner and allergens usually introduced in late summer linger on into the milder fall weather conditions. (http://ow.ly/q4jtH) What Causes an Allergy? Basically, what causes an allergy in the case of seasonal allergies is the body is reacting to ingestion of pollen and other like substances such as pet dander, mold spores, and dust mites. Once we ingest any of these substances, the body produces histamine to wash away these irritants. Ideally, the body would have enough digestive and metabolic enzymes, protease in particular, to break down the protein skin around the pollen that protects it from sprouting prematurely, which would neutralize its impact. People who suffer with allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, sneezing, running nose, itchy eyes and nose and coughing, may have a deficiency in digestive and metabolic enzymes or do not produce enough histamine or produce weakened histamine. Natural Solutions to Fall Allergies There are natural solutions seasonal allergy suffers can use to reduce the misery of allergy symptoms without having to lock themselves away in a sterile bubble. Here are a few that can help you find some relief from those pesky spring and fall allergies. 1. Know Your Enemy First it is helpful to know what causes an allergy attack for you. Not all allergy sufferers show symptoms to the same things. You can either do this by keeping an allergy journal and finding out what counts are high on the days you have the worst symptoms or you see an allergist and get tested. A skin test can be done where the allergist scratches your skin and introduces a small amount of various allergens. The doctor then watches for a reaction of the scratch turning red and/or itching to see which allergens you are allergic to. Blood tests are also able to determine some types of allergies. Once you know what you have reactions to, you can plan accordingly to reduce your symptoms. 2. Keep Your Air Clean Keeping your windows closed and using an air purifier can help keep pollen out of your house and reduce the amount of pollen you breathe in. HEPA filters in an air purifier can filter out 99% of the pollen, dust and mold that may be in your home. Opening windows allows pollen to invade your home and settle into carpet and furniture, so keeping windows closed can help reduce the amount of pollen able to get inside. Stanley Fineman, MD recommends using an air filter that has a MERV rating of 8 or more to reduce the chances of reacting to pollens that do get into your house (http://ow.ly/q4jDo). Using a dehumidifier to keep the humidity in your house to below 50% can also help in controlling dust mites and mold. 3. Eat Your Probiotics Supporting your immune system is one of the best ways to help control symptoms from fall allergies. The stronger your immune system is, the more allergens it is better able to tolerate. One study in the Journal of Nutrition compared subjects who ate 7 ounces of yogurt a day for a year to those who did not eat yogurt and found the yogurt eating bunch to have less allergy symptoms. These results are attributed to the probiotics found in yogurt, as introducing the good bacteria into your digestive system gives your immune system a boost. If you get your probiotics from yogurt, make sure to read the label and look for “live active cultures”. If you aren’t getting enough probiotics from foods, consider taking a high quality probiotic supplement. 4. Cover Up Spring is not the only time of year that yard work needs to be done. Many people plant fall gardens and others have leaves to rake. These activities can trigger pollen and mold being released into the air. If you have allergy symptoms as a result, start covering your nose and mouth with a mask when working outside. Disposal masks are available at most hardware stores and are fairly inexpensive. 5. Keep It Clean If you know you have allergic reactions to mold, watch for mold in places like shower curtains and carpet, and get rid of them as soon as you see signs. Using hot water to wash sheets and blankets weekly, and using allergy friendly pillows and mattress covers can also help reduce your symptoms. 6. Up Your Nose One of my favorite natural solutions to fall allergies is to use a neti pot. Dr. Oz has also cited this as a good way to wash allergens out. The first time I heard about using a neti pot I didn’t think I’d be able to pour saline water in one nostril and let it run out the other nostril. That just sounded gross to me and possibly painful. Once I gave it a try though, it was nothing like what I thought and I am a true believer now. Make sure you are getting enough digestive enzymes to help reduce symptoms of fall allergies. Protease and other digestive enzymes can help fight off symptoms when pollens are ingested. Support your immune system by beefing up your antioxidants. Bluegreen algae, whole algae and without the cell wall, acidophilus, bifidus and our favorite sprouts supplement help support not only your immune system, but nourish and strengthen every cell organ system and body function. You can get almost all these powerful superfoods in convenient daily packets with acidophilus, bifidus, enzymes and 2 kinds of algae to take on the run and help stretch your budget. Fall can be a wonderful time of the year. Getting ready for holidays, spending time with family, fall gardening, watching the leaves change color, and cooler weather can all be more enjoyable by understanding what causes an allergy and following some or all these tips for beating the symptoms of fall allergies. If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, let me know by leaving a comment below. You can also find me on Facebook where I always appreciate a LIKE. To order any of the products mentioned in this post or other products for you or your horses, please visit my online store.

<urn:uuid:4a70b1d6-f7a4-414f-88c2-2757f9b2b502>

What is UDL? The UDL means Universal Design for Learning. It is an educational approach that provides quality teaching and learning to all students, regardless of their disabilities or social and economic background. In addition, it should be noted that there is a strong link between UDL and pedagogy, as teachers explain and illustrate the subject matter in both technological and pedagogical ways that facilitate perception and understanding for all learners. UDL is very helpful for the following reasons: - It dramatically helps students with disabilities or special educational needs to be part of the class. - It incites studentsʹ motivation and self-esteem and - It promotes studentsʹ active participation and contribution. The Relevance of UDL in Educational Environments UDL is also considered leverage of learning accessibility for all students, irrespective of their learning differences and educational needs. That is to say, when every student, regardless of financial, ethnic and linguistic background, amongst others, is given appropriate tools to access learning and make rapid progress, we are talking about the advantages of UDL. In the meantime, UDL is very significant and valuable because it is not restricted only to students with disabilities but also to those without them. The development and implementation of UDL usually imply the use of information and communication technology (ICT), as it facilitates educators to adopt an appropriate model of instruction which can benefit and help all students at the same time and level. In other words, UDL enables the designing and structuring of the educational framework to accommodate a wider variety of student needs. It also plays a fundamental role in eliminating potential learning barriers or unnecessary learning obstacles. The Three Important Principles of UDL - Multiple means of representation focused on what teachers want their students to learn, know and do, are also highlighted as content. - For apparent reasons, multiple means of engagement are how students are motivated and engaged in learning, which is also distinguished as a process. - Multiple means of expression – it has to do with how students relate what they learnt to their daily activities, also named a product. UDL is an approach that provides instruction in such a way that all learners can have access to and participate in the general education curriculum. It creates opportunities for inclusion by using diverse activities that convey multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. More importantly, engagement, as one of the main principles of UDL, can be considered the most crucial element in the effective teaching and learning process, as it keeps students excited to learn and motivated to express their feelings, ideas, and thoughts, and therefore, avoiding situations where students are disengaged and uninterested in learning. Therefore, UDL has a significant role in educational environments because it promotes engagement and inclusion for all students, regardless of their needs and abilities.

<urn:uuid:8b0ab134-5d04-47b8-a9e9-688f91c34c2a>

72 unique Growth Mindset Notes encourage middle school and high school students to believe they can learn anything and help them develop the attitudes, habits, and work ethics that will help them persevere through challenges and succeed in all subjects and classes! Ready to print, cut, and go – implement growth mindset today with these notes! Create a Culture of Kindness in Middle School: 48 Character-Building Lessons to Foster Respect and Prevent Bullying – Practical, research-based lessons for middle school educators to teach students prosocial attitudes and behaviors to prevent bullying. Free materials for counseling activities! Carol Miller from the Middle School Counselor has some creative ideas for how to use rocks to get kids talking about their feelings, coping skills, and support systems. Middle school girls can always use a boost in self esteem. Learning to love oneself is especially difficult at this age. This group counseling lesson includes activities and printables that build confidence and increase self respect. Use for small group or whole group lessons. I use this resource for a girls' group but it would also work with an entire class. Capture your students attentions with these great ideas for using Disney Pixar's Inside Out in any classroom! Tackle complex topics like Mental Health, Understanding Emotions, Coping Mechanisms, Identifying Emotions, and Strengthening overall well-being. These lesson plans are perfect for any elementary and middle school teacher and school counselor! Click the to read all about how Janelle from Project School Wellness is using Inside Out to transform the lives of her students!

<urn:uuid:753b227f-0a92-4a01-8783-9f815ae422d3>

Where in the World is Egypt? In this geography worksheet, learners investigate the location of the continent of Africa and the country of Egypt by studying a map of the region. Students color the map and locate Egypt. 19 Views 72 Downloads A Reading Guide to Sarah, Plain and Tall Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to reading comprehension... 1st - 5th English Language Arts Democracy in Action: Freedom Riders This is a must-have resource for every social studies teacher covering the civil rights movement. Through an engaging video and detailed viewing guide, young historians learn about the Freedom Riders, and discover how everyday... 6th - 12th Social Studies & History CCSS: Adaptable Arthur’s World Neighborhood: Bibliography for Kids Support young learners as they expand their cultural awareness with this list of children's literature on countries from around the globe. Including both fictional and non-fictional texts. This resource will help students across the... 1st - 5th Social Studies & History CCSS: Adaptable Voices In the Park Explore the impact a narrator's point of view has on a story with a reading of the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Written in four different voices, the story is told and retold from different perspectives to... 1st - 6th English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable World War Two Causes If you're searching for a range of activities and worksheets on the subject of the onset of World War II, then this is the booklet for you. Featured topics include the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler's rise to power, the... 5th - 10th English Language Arts CCSS: Adaptable Should We Eat Bugs? Cricket cookies? Mealworm mac and cheese? Bugs are super nutritious! Why don't we eat them? Hear the history of entomophagy, that is, the practice of eating insects and spiders, by viewing this video. It is a fascinating exploration of... 5 mins 5th - 10th Science CCSS: Adaptable

<urn:uuid:e1fdccf5-0834-4317-a1e2-f51e9c8175ef>

TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan. – Scientists have traced the genetic makeup of lake trout, a feat that should spur efforts to rebuild prized fish populations in the Great Lakes and other North American waters where they have been plagued by invasive species, overfishing and pollution, officials said on Tuesday. American and Canadian researchers have produced a reference genome, or digital genetic map, for lake trout. This will help explain the characteristics that allowed the species to evolve and spread across its wide range, with certain types becoming better suited to particular locations and depths. The data will also provide vital information to managers of programs that stock lakes with juvenile trout to supplement natural reproduction, said Marc Gaden, spokesperson for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, a US-Canadian agency that funded the research. . âLake trout are widely distributed in North America, and there are huge variations in habitat use, shape, size, body mass and color,â Gaden said. “We need to understand why they look their way, why certain types do better in certain habitats than others, why certain types in hatcheries do better than others.” The team of experts from several US and Canadian universities and government agencies published their genome report on August 5 in the journal Molecular Ecology Resources. William Taylor, chairman of the Fisheries Commission and fisheries ecologist at Michigan State University, described it as “a critical missing link in our efforts to restore lake trout.” Lake trout have long dominated the Great Lakes as a predatory fish and are common in other large lakes in North America. They supported native tribes for generations and were the primary targets of commercial fishing operations after colonization. Their numbers in the Great Lakes plummeted in the last century with the invasion of the sea lamprey, an eel-like parasite that attaches itself to fish and sucks their bodily fluids. The researchers eventually developed a poison that is applied to tributary rivers where the lamprey spawns, keeping them under control. But habitat loss, overfishing, pollution and other invaders have hampered efforts to bring back lake trout. Although they can live for decades, it takes them about seven years to become sexually mature – and many don’t survive long enough to reproduce. Agencies continue to stock them in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior, where the species has recovered well, Gaden said. The development of the reference genome should help managers refine these efforts. “The more you understand what makes this body work, the more steps you can take to rehabilitate it,” he said. The genomes of salmonids, a family that includes lake trout, are more difficult to compile than those of many other animals, the research team said. “Having a publicly available lake trout genome map removes most of the initial hurdles associated with conservation-oriented genomic research, makes it much easier to compare results between studies and, hopefully, will speed up the pace.” scientific discoveries, âsaid Seth Smith. from Michigan State University, lead author of the study. Shawn Sitar, a fisheries research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources who was not involved in the study, said lake trout’s return to its historically influential role in the Great Lakes will require understanding the differences between their types. at the subspecies level – – that will be supported by genome research. âWe see them in different habitats, functioning in different ecologically different ways, living differently,â Sitar said. âIf you want to restore a forest ecosystem, you don’t plant a single tree. You want to restore the integrity of what the ecosystem was originally.

<urn:uuid:a4ec5ccc-f21d-4135-ad2c-86a6199e52fc>

When it comes to climate change, we live in two different worlds. Last week, dozens of cities, states and major companies made strong pledges to fight climate change at California Gov. Jerry Brown’s global climate summit. And the Trump administration proposed to make it easier for energy companies to release more of the powerful greenhouse gas methane into the air. It also wants to burn more coal, allow more carbon dioxide pollution from car and truck tailpipes, and let power plants emit more global-warming emissions. This is madness. And the latest proof played out on TV screens for the delegates in San Francisco and the dinosaurs in Washington — Hurricane Florence, drenching the Carolinas. The storm itself is no creature of climate change. But its impact is. A team of scientists, some at Stony Brook University, determined that Florence would dump 50 percent more rain than it would have without human-driven climate change — because of warmer ocean temperatures and more moisture in the air. Other researchers said Florence’s storm surge would be at least six inches higher than it might have been — because of sea level rise caused by humans. This wasn’t groundbreaking. Last year, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found the 4-feet-plus of rain Hurricane Harvey dumped on Texas was nearly 40 percent higher than it would have been without global warming. President Donald Trump called Florence a “tremendously wet” storm. Well, yeah. It’d be nice if he tried to do something about that. Because it’s not only Florence, or the fires out West, or the recent spate of record temperatures all over. Recent reports show: - Climate change is a principal cause of world hunger that has left 821 million people undernourished; two-thirds of the 51 countries that experienced a food crisis in 2017 also faced a climate shock like temperature spikes or droughts, according to the UN. - Flooding related to sea level rise caused a loss of potential housing values in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut of $6.7 billion from 2005 to 2017, said the nonprofit First Street Foundation, which earlier determined that Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia lost $7.4 billion in potential home values for the same reason. - There’s a link between higher temperatures and higher suicide rates, Stanford University researchers say, and the rise is twice as much as the increase due to economic recessions. Brown presaged the summit by signing a law requiring California, the world’s fifth-biggest economy, to have a 100 percent carbon-free electric grid by 2045. That’s big, and dozens of other U.S. cities are looking to follow suit. At the summit, Tokyo, Seoul and 10 other cities joined an initiative to cut emissions in city centers. Companies like McDonald’s, Walmart and Levi Strauss & Co. will increase their use of renewable energy. Other firms announced plans to buy more electric vehicles. Some 27 cities said they had met the goal set by climate scientists for emissions to peak in 2020, and that their economies were growing even as emissions decline. It all puts the lie to Trump’s contention that fighting climate change is bad for business. It’s no coincidence that when Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, corporate activism ramped up. That’s one world. The other world is there in North Carolina, where Republican lawmakers who took power in 2010 rolled back environmental regulations, allowed more development along a precarious coast, rejected a study from the state’s top research universities predicting alarming sea level rise, and banned state agencies from using those predictions to make policy. And where Florence has been wreaking incredibly wet havoc. Michael Dobie is a member of Newsday’s editorial board.

<urn:uuid:30179f82-a609-49ad-907f-ed6a6b9e80f6>

A large body of research has identified cognitive skills associated with overall mathematics achievement, focusing primarily on identifying associates of procedural skills. Conceptual understanding, however, has received less attention, despite its importance for the development of mathematics proficiency. Consequently, we know little about the quantitative and domain-general skills associated with conceptual understanding. Here we investigated 8–10-year-old children’s conceptual understanding of arithmetic, as well as a wide range of basic quantitative skills, numerical representations and domain-general skills. We found that conceptual understanding was most strongly associated with performance on a number line task. This relationship was not explained by the use of particular strategies on the number line task, and may instead reflect children’s knowledge of the structure of the number system. Understanding the skills involved in conceptual learning is important to support efforts by educators to improve children’s conceptual understanding of mathematics. Citation: Gilmore C, Clayton S, Cragg L, McKeaveney C, Simms V, Johnson S (2018) Understanding arithmetic concepts: The role of domain-specific and domain-general skills. PLoS ONE 13(9): e0201724. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201724 Editor: Bert De Smedt, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BELGIUM Received: September 27, 2017; Accepted: July 20, 2018; Published: September 25, 2018 Copyright: © 2018 Gilmore et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability: Data are available from figshare (DOI: 10.17028/rd.lboro.5446561). Funding: This study was funded by a project grant (SP4575) from Action Medical Research (AMR, www.action.org.uk/), UK. CG is supported by a UK Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (https://royalsociety.org/). The funders played no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. A recent focus of mathematical cognition research has been to identify the cognitive skills that are related to mathematics achievement. One impetus for this work has been the belief that better understanding of the cognitive skills involved in mathematics performance can aid in identifying the key components of interventions to support mathematics learning, and help education professionals to identify children who may be at risk for difficulties in learning mathematics. Several factors have been identified as being important for mathematics achievement. These include basic quantitative skills, such as counting, number fact knowledge and calculation skills [1–3]; accurate numerical representations, such as digit recognition, and performance on magnitude comparison and number line tasks [3–5]; and domain-general skills, including working memory, executive function and visuospatial skills [6–8]. These studies have shown that overall mathematics achievement relies on a combination of quantitative and domain-general skills. However, mathematics is a complex multi-componential skill and therefore a focus solely on identifying the skills that contribute to overall achievement may fail to identify important relationships between cognitive skills and specific components of mathematics. In particular, conceptual understanding of mathematics is often considered to be a separable component from procedural and factual knowledge . Procedural knowledge is defined as knowledge of an ordered sequence of steps to solve a problem, or “knowing how-to” [11–12]. For example, children need to be able to carry out addition and subtraction operations accurately and efficiently to solve arithmetical problems. In contrast, conceptual understanding is defined as understanding of the principles that underlie a domain, or “knowing why”. It is often described as a network of connections between pieces of knowledge [11–12]. For example, as well as being able to perform addition and subtraction operations, children also need to understand that addition and subtraction are inversely related. Conceptual and procedural knowledge are not hierarchically ordered and the relationship between the two may be complex . Furthermore, children show individual differences in their profile of performance, such that some children may have advanced conceptual understanding despite poorer procedural skills, while others show the opposite pattern [14–16]. Studies that have explored the cognitive skills associated with mathematics achievement have largely concentrated on understanding the cognitive factors that contribute to procedural skills, and consequently we know much less about conceptual understanding . Few studies have considered which basic quantitative or domain-general skills are associated with concurrent or future conceptual understanding. However, this is an important omission. Conceptual understanding is an important component of overall success with mathematics [12–13, 18–20], and mathematics educators place great emphasis on the development of conceptual understanding [21–22]. The importance of conceptual understanding was captured by a hierarchical framework proposed by Geary (see Fig 1 in ) in which overall mathematics achievement is viewed as the combination of the separable skills of conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge. The development of conceptual understanding of arithmetic Research suggests that, before schooling, children possess rudimentary understanding of arithmetic concepts [24–27]. There is evidence that preschool children understand certain rules and procedures (e.g. a + 0 = a) even before formal education . However, primary education aims to develop this early conceptual knowledge. Good conceptual understanding enables children to select appropriate mathematical procedures to solve problems and transfer understanding to both new and unfamiliar mathematical situations . Within the domain of arithmetic, developing good conceptual understanding involves learning about specific principles such as commutativity, associativity, and identity, and the inverse relationships between operations (see Table 1). Developing generalized conceptual understanding of arithmetic involves a complex relationship between various specific mathematical principles [27, 29]. Currently, research has tended to investigate individual principles, with substantial focus on commutativity and inversion [30–31]. Few studies have examined more than one principle [32–34] (although see ), thus there are difficulties in developing a cohesive and comprehensive framework of conceptual understanding. It has been argued that a central basis for other arithmetical concepts is the concept of additive composition, also referred to as part-whole knowledge: the principle that any natural number is the sum of other natural numbers . This is fundamental to the concepts of commutativity, associativity and inversion. Emerging understanding of this concept has been linked to developments in children’s addition strategies. It has been well established that an early fundamental developmental change occurs when children transition from using “counting-all” to “counting-on” strategies at around the age of 5 years-old (e.g. solving 3 + 4 by counting on from 3 rather than counting from 1). Children who use this strategy have realised that the total quantity of a set is composed of smaller quantities ; therefore, these children demonstrate some understanding of the additive composition of number and the number system more generally. Nunes and Bryant argue a clear link between additive composition and applying an accurate understanding of the base 10 system. Whether from early exposure to the number-word system or a specific learning process, mastery of the base 10 system requires the child to have developed knowledge of additive composition . Children's conceptual understanding of arithmetic continues to develop throughout schooling. By age 8 the majority of children understand the inverse principle, demonstrated by use of a shortcut strategy to solve problems of the form a + b–b . However, associativity understanding develops more slowly. Only 30% of children aged 11–13 make use of an associativity-based shortcut . The reasons for these individual differences in conceptual understanding have received little attention to date. Cognitive skills underlying conceptual understanding Hierarchical models, such as proposed by Geary , highlight that conceptual understanding draws on a constellation of underlying domain-general cognitive skills, which may include attention, inhibition and verbal and visuospatial working memory. To date there has been little data available in which to test this framework and, in particular, the role of underlying cognitive skills for conceptual understanding. Of the few studies that have explored this, most have only considered working memory, with mixed results. For example, working memory, measured via a counting span task (which involves counting a sequence of sets and remembering the totals in order), was not associated with children’s understanding of counting principles or conceptual understanding of fractions . In contrast, working memory measured via a counting span task was correlated with conceptual understanding of fractions measured one year later and conceptual understanding of multiplication was correlated with concurrent working memory measured by an operation span task, but not a simple backward digit span measure . Cragg, Keeble, Richardson, Roome and Gilmore found that verbal working memory (measured with a sentence span task), but not visuospatial working memory (measured with a matrix span task) was associated with conceptual understanding of arithmetic. Cowan et al. found that a composite verbal working memory measure of backwards digit recall and listening recall was correlated with children’s understanding of calculation principles. Finally, Andersson found that a visuospatial working memory matrix span task, but not a verbal working memory digit span task was related to understanding of calculation principles. These mixed findings suggest that both the domain of conceptual understanding measured, and the nature of the working memory assessment, may impact on findings regarding the relationship between the two. It is also notable that nearly all these studies employed verbal working memory tasks that involved numerical material or processing. There is evidence from studies exploring the relationship between working memory and mathematics achievement more generally that measures of working memory involving numerical material may inflate the relationship between working memory and mathematical skills . Therefore it is important to explore the relationship between conceptual understanding and working memory using more comprehensive measures including both verbal and visuospatial working memory and tasks that do not involve numerical stimuli. Beyond working memory, few studies have explored the relationship between broader cognitive skills, such as attention, inhibition or visuospatial skills and conceptual understanding, and most of these studies have only employed simple measures of attention or behaviour. For example, conceptual understanding of fractions has been found to be related to ratings of on-task classroom behaviour as well as teacher ratings of attentive behaviour . These relationships may reflect a role of executive functions such as inhibition and shifting skills, however studies involving specific cognitive measures of these skills are required to confirm this. Andersson found that an experimental measure of switching was not related to conceptual understanding of arithmetic over and above general mathematics achievement. Cragg et al. found that neither inhibition nor shifting were related to conceptual understanding of arithmetic in participants aged 8 to young adults. However, this study did not consider broader domain-general skills, such as visuospatial processing. Alongside domain-general skills there is some evidence that basic quantitative skills are associated with conceptual understanding. While many studies have explored the relationship between understanding of a particular concept and use of specific counting or arithmetic procedures based on this concept [37, 48], fewer studies have explored the relationship between conceptual understanding and basic quantitative skills or numerical representations more generally. Studies have shown that young children’s understanding of arithmetic concepts is associated with basic knowledge of quantity, order, place value, number system knowledge and basic calculation skills [17, 46]. Turning to measures of numerical representations, conceptual understanding is associated with non-symbolic magnitude comparison and number line performance, but not symbolic magnitude comparison . Conceptual understanding is also related to more complex areas of mathematics such as problem-solving accuracy and strategy use . One of the only studies to explore both quantitative and domain-general predictors of conceptual understanding investigated children’s understanding of fraction concepts. Jordan et al. examined how a range of basic quantitative skills, numerical representations and domain-general skills predicted conceptual understanding measured one year later. They found that language, non-verbal IQ, teacher ratings of attention, number line task performance, calculation fluency and reading fluency were significant predictors of conceptual understanding. Number line task performance was the strongest independent predictor and the authors suggested that this may be because the number line task measures understanding of numerical magnitude and ordinality, which are important concepts for the understanding of fractions. Although working memory and non-symbolic magnitude comparison performance were correlated with later conceptual understanding, they were not significant predictors in the final multivariate model. The study by Jordan and colleagues has begun to reveal the constellation of quantitative and domain-general skills that are related to conceptual understanding, and in doing so provide evidence for Geary’s framework, however it leaves many important questions unanswered. First, Jordan and colleagues explored conceptual understanding of fractions, and it is unclear whether the observed relationships also apply to conceptual understanding of arithmetic more broadly. For example, it is known that number line performance is related to procedural knowledge of fractions and thus it is possible that number line performance may be specifically involved in fractions understanding rather than in conceptual understanding per se. Secondly, the study included only a single measure of working memory, which involved numerical stimuli, and no cognitive measures of broader executive functions such as inhibition and shifting or visuospatial skills. Therefore the role of domain-general skills may have been underestimated. Finally, although numerical representations were assessed using both number line and magnitude comparison tasks, the only measure of basic quantitative skills was calculation fluency. Therefore, the range of basic quantitative skills (e.g. counting, factual knowledge and strategy use and efficiency) that may be important for conceptual understanding remains to be tested. The current study Here we explore the cognitive factors, both domain-general and quantitative skills, that are associated with a broad measure of conceptual understanding of arithmetic. This is not only theoretically important, to provide evidence to elaborate the framework proposed by Geary , but will also help to identify targets for interventions to improve children’s conceptual understanding. This was an exploratory study using data from a study of the effects of preterm birth on children’s mathematical achievement and educational outcomes . Here we investigate performance on a range of mathematical and general cognitive tasks of typically developing children from the comparison group. Participants were 77 children (39 male) aged between 7.8 and 10.8 years (M 9.5; SD = 0.7) who formed a comparison group of typically developing children in a study of preterm birth and mathematics skills. Children were recruited from 67 mainstream schools across the East Midlands and South East of England and represented a diverse mix of socio-economic backgrounds. This sample size gives 90% power to detect a change in R2 of .216 (80% power to detect a change in R2 of .167). Ethical approval was obtained from the Derbyshire National Health Service Research Ethics Committee and written informed parental consent was obtained for all children. Children provided verbal assent prior to taking part. The children completed a battery of tasks to assess their conceptual understanding, overall mathematics achievement, quantitative skills (counting, number fact knowledge, arithmetic strategy efficiency and use, digit recognition, number line task, non-symbolic comparison and symbolic comparison), domain-general skills (working memory, inhibition, shifting and visuospatial skills) and non-verbal IQ. The conceptual understanding, counting, number fact knowledge, strategy efficiency and digit recognition tasks were adapted from Cowan et al. . Conceptual understanding (additive composition). Children were shown 12 pairs of arithmetic problems on a laptop screen. The answer to the first problem was given and children were asked to provide the answer to the second problem. The pairs of problems were related by one of six principles: commutativity of addition (e.g., 47 + 86 = 133; 86 + 47 = ?), subtrahend minus one (e.g., 46–28 = 18; 46–27 = ?), subtraction complement principle (e.g., 153–19 = 134; 153–134 = ?), doubles plus one (e.g., 37 + 37 = 74; 37 + 38 = ?), inverse relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., 27 + 69 = 96; 96–69 = ?), and subtrahend plus one (e.g., 64–36 = 28; 64–37 = ?). The problems were designed to be too difficult for the children to solve via basic computation within the time limit of 10 seconds. Therefore children needed to recognize and apply the relevant principle in order to provide a correct answer within the time limit. Prior to the experimental trials children completed 4 practice trials, which involved smaller numbers and simpler principles, to ensure they understood the task. Percent accuracy scores for the experimental trials were used in the analysis. One participant did not complete this task. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.78. Children completed the Numerical Operations and Mathematics Reasoning subtests of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test–IIUK administered according to the standard procedure. Raw scores, combined across the two subtests, were used in the analysis. Internal reliability of these subtests for this age group is .88 for Numerical Operations and .93 for Mathematics Reasoning . Children completed the Ravens Coloured Progressive Matrices administered according to the standard procedure. Standardised scores (M = 100; SD = 15) were used in the analysis. One participant did not complete this measure. Internal reliability is 0.90 . We focused on nonverbal reasoning rather than verbal IQ because it is consistently found to be related to mathematics performance and some evidence suggests that there is a stronger relationship between mathematics achievement and nonverbal, compared to verbal IQ measures . Children were asked to complete 8 ascending or descending count sequences: 25 to 32; 194 to 210; 2995 to 3004; 9996 to 10003; 46 to 38; 325 to 317; 1006 to 997; 20005 to 19998). Overall percentage accuracy was calculated. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.80. Number fact knowledge. A series of 12 single-digit addition problems were read by the experimenter and children were asked to retrieve an answer as quickly as possible. Following Cowan et al. , the percentage of correct answers provided within 3 seconds was used as a measure of known facts. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.88 Arithmetic strategy use and efficiency. This task measured children’s strategy choices and efficiency when solving a total of 16 addition and subtraction problems. For each problem, children were asked to provide an answer using any strategy they wished and then to describe the strategy used. Children’s solutions and descriptions were video-recorded. Strategy efficiency was measured by recording accuracy and response times; median response time (RT) for correct problems was used in the analysis. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.91. Children’s strategy on each trial was coded on the basis of their observable behaviors and verbal reports as retrieval, decomposition, mental counting, finger counting and other (if a child reported guessing or could not report their strategy, less than 1% of trials were coded as other). All videos were coded by two experimenters and inter-rater reliability was 94%, disagreements were resolved following discussion. The percentage of basic strategy use (mental counting, finger counting and other) was calculated and used in the analysis. A series of 12 numbers ranging from 6 to 916 were presented on the screen and children were asked to name the number aloud as soon as they recognized it. Response times were recorded and median response time for correct trials was used in the analysis. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.79. The number line task was adapted from Muldoon, Towse, Simms, Perra, and Menzies . Following one practice item, children were asked to estimate the position of 22 numbers on a series of blank 0–1000 number lines. On each trial children were asked “If this is 0 and this is 1000 where would you put N?”. A mean score for percent absolute error (PAE) was calculated as the average distance between the actual and estimated positions of the numbers, relative to the scale of line. A sample of ten percent of the number lines were re-scored by a different experimenter, with 99.98% agreement. Children completed a dot comparison task (adapted from ) in which they were asked to select the more numerous of two simultaneously-presented arrays on a computer screen. The ratio between the dot arrays was 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 or 0.8 and the number of dots in each array varied from 5 to 28. The dot arrays were created following the method of Gebuis & Reynvoet which controls for visual characteristics of convex hull and average dot size. Percentage accuracy across 80 experimental trials was calculated. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.64. Children completed a digit comparison task in which they were asked to select, as quickly as possible, the larger of two numbers presented on the screen. The trials were identical to the non-symbolic comparison task, but were presented with digits rather than dot arrays. Of the 80 trials, 4 included a 1-digit vs. 1-digit comparison, 19 involved a 1-digit vs. 2-digit comparison and 57 involved a 2-digit vs. 2-digit comparison. High accuracies are typical with this task and therefore performance was indexed via mean RT for correct trials. Cronbach’s alpha (RT) was 0.96. Working memory was assessed using three tasks, which involved different types of stimuli. 1) A backwards digit recall task in which children heard a list of digits, beginning with a span of 2, and were asked to repeat the digits in reverse order. Children received up to 6 trials per span length. They remained at each span length until they got 4 correct (and two additional marks were awarded) then moved to the next span, or discontinued if they got 3 wrong. 2) A backwards word recall task, which was identical to the backwards digit recall task but the stimuli were one-syllable animal names instead of digits. 3) The Mr X visuospatial working memory task from the standardized Automated Working Memory Assessment . A composite working memory score was calculated by averaging the total scores (number of correct trials) from each of these three tasks. Inhibition and switching. Inhibition and switching skills were assessed using the inhibition subtest of the NEPSY-II standardized test battery , which was administered following the standard procedure. Children first see a series of black and white circles and squares and are asked to name them as quickly as possible. They are then shown the items again and this time must respond with the opposite name (“circle” for squares and “square” for circles) to assess inhibition. Finally they see the shapes again and are asked to respond with the correct name for black shapes and the opposite name for white shapes to assess switching. This subtest produces standardised contrast scores (M = 10; SD = 3) for inhibition (taking into account naming performance) and switching skills (taking into account inhibition performance). Internal reliability of these subtests for this age group is 0.80 for inhibition and 0.87 for switching . Visuo-spatial processing was assessed using the Arrows subtest of the NEPSY-II standardized test battery, which was administered following the standard procedure. In this task children see a set of arrays surrounding a target and they are required to select the arrow which is pointing to the centre of the target. Standardised scores (M = 10; SD = 3) were used in the analysis. Internal reliability for this age group is 0.75 . Descriptive statistics for children’s performance on each of the tasks are provided in Table 2, which demonstrate that there was good variance in performance on each task, without evidence of floor or ceiling effects. Below we first explore the relationship between conceptual understanding, quantitative and domain-general skills before going on to explore performance on the number line task in more detail. Analyses were conducted in SPSS 24. The relationship between quantitative skills, domain-general skills and conceptual understanding Conceptual understanding scores were strongly related to overall mathematics achievement (r = .696, p < .001), and this association remained significant after controlling for non-verbal IQ (r = .476, p < .001). Conceptual understanding was not associated with age (r = .138, p = .235). Children’s conceptual understanding was correlated with all of the specific measures of quantitative skills and numerical representations (Table 3; full correlation table in S1 Table). Apart from the magnitude comparison tasks these relationships were strong (r’s = .55 to .68) and remained significant after controlling for non-verbal IQ. The magnitude comparison tasks had small but significant zero-order correlations, however these were no longer significant after controlling for non-verbal IQ. There were moderate zero-order correlations between conceptual understanding and domain-general skills (r’s = .30 to .46; Table 3). Only the association with working memory remained significant after controlling for non-verbal IQ. Previous research has indicated that the nature of the working memory task may affect the relationship between working memory and conceptual understanding . Therefore, we also explored the correlation with conceptual understanding for each working memory task separately. This revealed significant correlations of a similar magnitude between conceptual understanding and all three measures of working memory (Digit recall: r = .400, p < .001; Word recall: r = .387, p = .001; Mr X: r = .324, p = .004). Therefore, the composite working memory score was entered into subsequent analyses. To investigate independent relationships between these skills and conceptual understanding, we conducted a hierarchical linear regression with conceptual understanding as Dependent Variable (DV) and all quantitative and domain-general scores as Independent Variables (IVs). Following the hierarchical model of Geary we added the domain-general and domain-specific predictors in separate steps. In Model 1a (Table 4), the domain-general predictors were added in step 1 and the quantitative predictors were added in step 2. In Model 2a (Table 5) the order of the steps was reversed. To confirm that the results were specific to conceptual understanding and not simply identifying predictors of any mathematical outcome, we re-ran these models with overall mathematics achievement as DV (Model 1b Table 4 and Model 2b Table 5; see also S2 Table with separate mathematics achievement subtests as DV). Model 1a (Table 4), demonstrates that, of the domain-general skills, working memory and inhibition were significant independent predictors of conceptual understanding. However, when the quantitative skills were added to the model in step 2, none of the domain-general skills remained significant predictors. This suggests that the association between working memory/inhibition and conceptual understanding may be mediated by basic quantitative skills, in particular number line performance. Of the quantitative skills, only number line performance was a significant independent predictor of conceptual understanding. This pattern is confirmed by Model 2a (Table 5). When the quantitative skills are added to the model first, number line performance is still the only independent predictor of conceptual understanding. Adding performance on the domain-general tasks does not significantly improve the fit of the model. In summary, from the wide range of basic arithmetic skills, numerical representations and domain-general skills assessed in this study, number line task performance emerges as the strongest, and only consistent, predictor of conceptual understanding. Children who made more accurate estimates of the position of numbers on the number line task performed more accurately on the conceptual understanding task (Fig 2). The comparison models (Models 1b & 2b) confirm that this pattern is specific to conceptual understanding. When mathematics achievement was included as the dependent variable a different pattern of predictors was observed. Specifically, arithmetic strategy efficiency, inhibition and switching were significant independent predictors. Similar patterns were observed when the composite mathematics achievement measure was broken down in subtests (S2 Table); in both cases number line task performance was not a significant unique predictor. Thus it appears that number line task performance has a particular role in conceptual understanding. Exploring number line task performance To explore the mechanisms that may be responsible for the relationship between number line performance and conceptual understanding, we conducted exploratory analyses of performance on the number line task. Previous research has suggested that children may employ a strategy on number line tasks based around using marker points such as the origin, end, midpoints and quartiles to guide their responses [61–62]. Similar strategies have also been observed with fraction number lines . One explanation of the relationship between number line performance and conceptual understanding could be that children with better conceptual understanding make more use of these types of strategies. If this were the case then we would expect three patterns of results: 1) Children with better conceptual understanding should show greater accuracy for estimates close to marker points than children with lower levels of conceptual understanding, and this advantage should be greater than for estimates that are not close to marker points. 2) The difference between children’s accuracy for marker point estimates compared with other estimates should be positively correlated with conceptual understanding because children with better conceptual understanding would show a greater advantage for these strategic estimates. 3) Accuracy for marker point estimates should be associated with conceptual understanding over and above the relationship with accuracy for other estimates. We explored these possible patterns. The number line task included five trials that were close to the origin, end, midpoints and quartiles of the 0–1000 line (2, 246, 486, 754, 938). We calculated two new measures of performance on the number line task: mean PAE for these 5 marker trials, and mean PAE for the remaining 17 non-marker trials. Overall performance was significantly more accurate for the marker trials (PAE M = 7.1, SD = 3.3) compared to the non-marker trials (PAE M = 9.1, SD = 8.1; t(75) = -2.81, p = .006), suggesting that children did employ this strategy to some extent. To investigate the first pattern, that children with better conceptual understanding would show a particular advantage for the marker trials, we used a median split on conceptual understanding scores to divide the sample into two groups; low and high conceptual understanding. We then conducted a mixed design ANOVA on PAE scores with group (high conceptual, low conceptual) as between-groups factor and trial type (marker, non-marker) as within-subject factor. This revealed a significant main effect of group, F(1,74) = 19.01, p < .001, ηp2 = .20, trial type, F(1,74) = 9.66, p = .003, ηp2 = .12, and a significant interaction between group and trial type, F(1,74) = 8.77, p = .004, ηp2 = .11. As depicted in Fig 3, in contrast to the expected pattern, children with good conceptual understanding did not show a particular advantage for strategic trials. In fact, children with higher levels of conceptual understanding had no difference in performance for the marker (PAE = 5.73) and non-marker trials (PAE = 5.83), whereas children with lower levels of conceptual understanding were more accurate for marker, compared with non-marker trials (PAE = 8.60 and 12.63, respectively, F(1,35) = 9.68, p = .004, ηp2 = .22). In line with this, and in contrast to the second expected pattern, there was a significant negative correlation between the difference in PAE for marker and non-marker trials and conceptual understanding (r = -.58, p < .001). Participants who had a greater difference in PAE for marker compared with non-marker trials, had lower scores on the conceptual understanding task. One explanation of this result is that children with higher levels of conceptual understanding show less evidence of using a strategy associated with the use of endpoints and quartiles than children with lower levels of conceptual understanding. Alternatively, children with good conceptual understanding may make use of the marker points but are also able to extend this strategy to non-marker trials, for example by identifying that 366 falls between the first quartile and midpoint. Error bars show standard error of the mean. Finally, to explore the third proposed pattern, we explored the correlation between performance on the marker and non-marker trials and conceptual understanding. There was a significant correlation between conceptual understanding and performance on both the marker (r = -.55, p < .001) and non-marker (r = -.65, p < .001) trials of the number line task. Partial correlations were then carried out to explore if the performance on the marker trials was significantly associated with conceptual understanding after controlling for performance on the non-marker trials. However, we in fact found the opposite pattern. When controlling for performance on the non-marker trials, there was no correlation between conceptual understanding and performance on the marker trials (r = -.084, p = .475). In contrast, when controlling for performance on the marker trials, the correlation between conceptual understanding and performance on the non-marker trials remained significant (r = -.420, p < .001). These findings together suggest that the relationship between number line performance and conceptual understanding is primarily driven by performance on the non-marker trials of the number line task. In this study, we explored the cognitive skills associated with children’s conceptual understanding of arithmetic. Expanding on Geary’s framework, we identified key quantitative and domain-general skills that were significantly related to conceptual understanding. However on multivariable analyses, performance on a number line task emerged as the strongest and only independent predictor. This finding replicates and extends the study by Jordan et al. Jordan and colleagues also identified number line task performance as the strongest predictor of conceptual understanding of fractions. Given that previous work has demonstrated that number line task performance is related to fractions knowledge more generally , it was possible that Jordan et al.’s findings resulted from the use of fractions as a domain, rather than a relationship with conceptual understanding per se. However, we have shown that number line task performance is also a strong predictor of conceptual understanding in another domain, namely whole-number arithmetic. Moreover, we found that this relationship was specific to conceptual understanding; number line performance was not a significant independent predictor of mathematical achievement whether this was measured by an overall composite or by specific subtests. There are at least three possible mechanisms that might explain the relationship between number line task performance and conceptual understanding. To some extent, these potential mechanisms reflect differences in interpretations of number line task performance that are emerging in the literature. First, number line task performance may reflect the nature of underlying representations of magnitude and better conceptual understanding may therefore be linked with more accurate magnitude representations. However, studies have cast doubt that number line task performance is driven entirely by underlying magnitude representations [64–65]. Furthermore, if the link with conceptual understanding was driven by underlying magnitude representations, we would also expect conceptual understanding to be associated with other measures of magnitude representations included in the present study, namely the non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude comparison tasks. However, there were only weak correlations between performance on these magnitude comparison tasks and conceptual understanding, and they were not significant independent predictors of conceptual understanding. Therefore, we do not believe that the nature of underlying numerical representations directly drives the relationship between number line task performance and conceptual understanding. Secondly, performance on the number line task may reflect the use of particular strategies, such as using midpoints and quartiles [51, 61–62], and the relationship with conceptual understanding may therefore be driven by individual differences in children’s ability to identify and apply strategic approaches to problem solving. Indeed, the conceptual understanding task also required children to identify and use conceptually based strategies for solving arithmetic problems. It is thus plausible that the relationship with number line task performance reflects individual differences in the application of this type of strategic behaviour in general. We explored this potential mechanism by identifying particular marker trials of the number line task for which performance would be expected to be particularly accurate if children were using such a strategic approach. If the relationship with conceptual understanding was driven by strategic behaviour, then children who made more use of a marker-point strategy, and thus had a bigger difference in performance on strategic and non-strategic trials, would have better conceptual understanding. In fact, we found the opposite pattern. Children with bigger differences between performance on the marker and non-marker trials had lower levels of conceptual understanding. There are two possible interpretations of these findings. Children with better conceptual understanding may have made less use of a marker-point strategy than children with poorer conceptual understanding. Alternatively, children with good conceptual understanding did use a marker-point strategy, but were also able to use marker points to help them position non-marker quantities more accurately on the number line, perhaps via better understanding of the numerical relationship between marker and non-marker quantities. Either way, we found that the relationship between conceptual understanding and number line performance was primarily driven by performance on the non-marker trials. Finally, therefore, the relationship between number line task performance and conceptual understanding may be driven by children’s understanding of the structure of the number system. Our conceptual understanding task required children to identify relationships including commutativity, the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, and the successor principle. These concepts are all elements of additive composition–the principle that any natural number is the sum of other natural numbers, in other words, numbers are composed of other smaller numbers. This principle underlies the ordinal structure of the symbolic number system and understanding this structure is also a requirement of successful performance on number line tasks. Indeed, research has highlighted that number line task performance reflects children’s understanding of the number system . Therefore, it is plausible that understanding the structure of the symbolic number system is the mechanism underlying the relationship between number line performance and conceptual understanding found here. Our findings regarding the importance of performance on non-marker trials would support this suggestion. Understanding number system structure is also important for conceptual understanding of fractions and thus this mechanism would also explain the relationship between number line task performance and conceptual understanding within the domain of fractions as found by Jordan et al. . Similarly, measures of ordinality have recently been found to be important predictors of overall mathematics achievement , and to mediate the relationship between magnitude representations and mathematics performance . Further research should explore whether measures of ordinality can account for the relationship between number line performance and conceptual understanding. Siegler, Thompson and Schneider found that children used two strategies on fraction number line tasks. As well as a midpoint strategy they found that children made use of a transformation strategy which involved drawing on number system knowledge to convert the fraction into a more convenient number. This process requires knowledge of the structure of the rational number system. Children may similarly draw on knowledge of the number system to solve whole-number number line tasks and thus performance on number line tasks may be related to other tasks which required this knowledge (i.e. the conceptual understanding task used here). The data in this study are cross-sectional and we therefore cannot draw conclusions regarding the direction of the relationship between number line task performance and conceptual understanding. If, as we suggest, knowledge of the structure of the number system does drive performance on both of these tasks then it is not meaningful to suggest that either better number line estimation helps children develop better conceptual understanding or vice-versa. We know that both number line estimation skills and basic understanding of additive composition can emerge from at least age 5 [4, 24]. It is possible therefore that these skills develop at the same time, driven by developments in understanding of the structure of the symbolic number system. Beyond number line task performance, we explored the role of a broad range of quantitative and domain-general skills in explaining individual differences in conceptual understanding. Although we found significant zero-order correlations between conceptual understanding and quantitative skills such as counting, number fact knowledge and strategy use and efficiency, none of these correlations represented independent relationships, once number line performance was taken into account. The lack of strong relationships between conceptual understanding and quantitative skills provides further evidence that conceptual understanding and procedural skills are separable components of mathematics performance . Consequently, it is unlikely that conceptual understanding of arithmetic arises simply from the development of, or instruction in, these basic quantitative skills. Rather, specific types of experiences and instruction may be needed to support the development of conceptual understanding [69–70]. Our study also included a broader range of cognitive measures of domain-general skills than previous studies . We found that both working memory and inhibition were significant predictors of conceptual understanding, when quantitative skills were not added to the model. Previous research has found conflicting results concerning the relationship between working memory and conceptual understanding [42, 44] and between inhibition and conceptual understanding . In contrast to previous studies, we did not find that the relationship with conceptual understanding varied according to the nature of the working memory task, either in terms of the distinction between verbal or visuospatial working memory, or according to whether or not the task included numerical stimuli. Conflicting findings in the literature regarding the relationship between conceptual understanding and working memory and inhibition may be a consequence of different methods used to assess both conceptual understanding and inhibition. A wide variety of methods have been developed to assess conceptual understanding, including the application of procedures, the evaluation and justifications of procedures, or explicit descriptions of a concept . It is likely that these different methods of assessment involve domain-general skills to varying extents. For example, inhibition may play a role when assessing conceptual understanding via the application of procedures, as used in this study, but not when assessing conceptual understanding through the identification of conceptual relationships . We found that working memory was the strongest domain-general predictor of children’s use of conceptually-based strategies for solving problems but that working memory explained only a very small amount of variance in conceptual understanding once number line performance was taken into account, replicating Jordan et al. . Previous research has found that working memory is significantly related to number line task performance . Our analyses suggest that variance in working memory contributes to variance in both number line performance and conceptual understanding. Therefore, although conceptual understanding draws on domain-general skills, these are not unique to conceptual understanding but are also involved in lower-level numerical skills. In this study visuo-spatial skills were not significantly related to conceptual understanding or mathematical achievement. This conflicts with previous research which has found relationships between visuo-spatial skills and both specific number skills and general measures of mathematical achievement [72, 73]. This contrast may be explained by our use of a single measure of visuo-spatial skills whereas previous studies have used more comprehensive measures. The proportion of variance in conceptual understanding accounted for in this study is around 60%. Although this is less than the proportion of variance in mathematics achievement accounted for (84%), this figure is substantially higher than in previous investigations of conceptual understanding. For example, Cragg et al., found only 5% of variance in conceptual understanding was accounted for by executive function skills compared to 34% of variance in overall mathematics achievement. The few studies to investigate cognitive correlates of conceptual understanding to date have focused on basic quantitative skills or executive functions. Language skills are also important predictors of general mathematics outcomes and it is plausible that this may also play a role in conceptual understanding by allowing children to draw good understanding of mathematical language such as quantitative and spatial words . Beyond cognitive skills, differences in pedagogy, for example the relative focus on procedural fluency vs. deeper problem solving, may also contribute to differences in children’s conceptual understanding of arithmetic. As outlined in the introduction, there are individual differences in children’s profile of performance across different components of mathematics and some children may have advanced conceptual understanding despite poorer procedural skills, while others show the opposite pattern. It would be valuable to explore how far differences in the cognitive and quantitative skills identified here can account for differences in children’s profile of performance across conceptual and procedural components of mathematics. The strengths of this study lie in the inclusion of a broad range of cognitive measures of quantitative skills, numerical representations and domain-general skills, as well as the use of an established task for assessing conceptual understanding within a single study. Our data are from a single time point, however, and thus can only shed light on correlations with concurrent task performance. We do not know, for example, whether the skills identified here are also related to changes in conceptual understanding over time, and whether they represent causal relationships. This was an exploratory study and therefore the results should be replicated with pre-registered studies, with clearly stated hypotheses, to confirm these findings. In conclusion, we have demonstrated that number line task performance accounts for variance in conceptual understanding of arithmetic, after a wide range of quantitative skills and domain-general skills have been taken into account. We hypothesize that the mechanism underlying this relationship is children’s understanding of the structure of the number system. This study adds to our understanding of the role of conceptual understanding in mathematics, and sheds light on the skills that may be involved in developing conceptual understanding. Activities to promote children’s understanding of the structure of the number system may therefore also help children to develop broader conceptual understanding of arithmetic. S1 Table. Correlations between conceptual understanding, mathematics achievement and all quantitative and domain-general skills. - 1. Geary DC. Cognitive predictors of achievement growth in mathematics: a 5-year longitudinal study. Dev Psychol. 2011; 47: 1539–1552. pmid:21942667 - 2. Jordan NC, Glutting J, Ramineni C. The importance of number sense to mathematics achievement in first and third grades. Learn Individ Differ. 2010; 20: 82–8. pmid:20401327 - 3. LeFevre JA, Fast L, Skwarchuk SL, Smith‐Chant BL, Bisanz J, Kamawar D et al. Pathways to mathematics: Longitudinal predictors of performance. Child Dev. 2010; 81: 1753–67. pmid:21077862 - 4. Booth JL, Siegler RS. Developmental and individual differences in pure numerical estimation. Dev Psychol. 2006; 42: 189–201. pmid:16420128 - 5. De Smedt B, Noël MP, Gilmore C, Ansari D. How do symbolic and non-symbolic numerical magnitude processing skills relate to individual differences in children's mathematical skills? A review of evidence from brain and behavior. Trends Neurosci Educ. 2013; 2: 48–55. - 6. Cragg L, Gilmore C. Skills underlying mathematics: The role of executive function in the development of mathematics proficiency. Trends Neurosci Educ. 2014; 3:63–68. - 7. Raghubar KP, Barnes MA, Hecht SA. Working memory and mathematics: A review of developmental, individual difference, and cognitive approaches. Learn Individ Differ. 2010; 20: 110–22. - 8. Reuhkala M. Mathematical skills in ninth-graders: Relationship with visuo-spatial abilities and working memory. Educ Psychol. 2001; 21: 387–99. - 9. Dowker A. Individual differences in arithmetic: Implications for psychology, neuroscience and education. Psychology Press; 2005. - 10. Rittle-Johnson B, Schneider M. Developing conceptual and procedural knowledge of mathematics. In: Kadosh RC, Dowker A, editors. Oxford handbook of numerical cognition. Oxford University Press: 2014 pp.1102–1118. - 11. Baroody AJ. The development of adaptive expertise and flexibility: The integration of conceptual and procedural knowledge. In: Baroody AJ, Dowker A, editors. The development of arithmetic concepts and skills: Constructing adaptive expertise. 2003 pp. 1–33. - 12. Hiebert J, Lefevre P. Conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics: An introductory analysis. In: Hiebert J, editor. Conceptual and procedural knowledge: The case of mathematics. 1986. - 13. Rittle-Johnson B, Siegler RS, Alibali MW. Developing conceptual understanding and procedural skill in mathematics: An iterative process. J Educ Psychol. 2001; 93: 346–362. - 14. Gilmore CK, Keeble S, Richardson S, Cragg L. The interaction of procedural skill, conceptual understanding and working memory in early mathematics achievement. Cognition. 2017; 162: 12–26. pmid:28189034 - 15. Gilmore CK, Papadatou-Pastou M. Patterns of individual differences in conceptual understanding and arithmetical skill: A meta-analysis. Math Think Learn. 2009; 11: 25–40. - 16. Watchorn RP, Bisanz J, Fast L, LeFevre JA, Skwarchuk SL, Smith-Chant BL. Development of mathematical knowledge in young children: Attentional skill and the use of inversion. J Cogn Dev. 2014; 15: 161–80. - 17. LeFevre JA, Smith-Chant BL, Fast L, Skwarchuk SL, Sargla E, Arnup JS et al. What counts as knowing? The development of conceptual and procedural knowledge of counting from kindergarten through Grade 2. J Exp Child Psychol. 2006; 93: 285–303. pmid:16360166 - 18. Baroody AJ, Dowker A. The development of arithmetic concepts and skills: Constructive adaptive expertise. Routledge; 2013. - 19. Canobi KH. Individual differences in children’s addition and subtraction knowledge. Cognitive Dev. 2004; 19: 81–93. - 20. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Principles and standards for school mathematics. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; 2000. - 21. Hiebert J. Conceptual and procedural knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates; 1986. - 22. National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Foundations for success: The final report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. US Department of Education; 2008. - 23. Geary DC. Mathematics and learning disabilities. J Learn Disabil. 2004; 37: 4–15. pmid:15493463 - 24. Baroody AJ, Gannon KE. The development of the commutativity principle and economical addition strategies. Cognition Instruct. 1984; 1: 321–39. - 25. Resnick LB, Bill V, Lesgold S. Developing thinking abilities in arithmetic class. Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development: Implications and applications for education. 1992: pp. 210–30. - 26. Singer JA, Kohn AS, Resnick LB. Knowing about proportions in different contexts. In: Nunes T, & Bryant P, editors. Learning and teaching mathematics: An international perspective. Hove, England: Psychology Press; 1997. p. 115–132. - 27. Canobi KH, Reeve RA, Pattison PE. Young children's understanding of addition concepts. Educ Psychol. 2002; 22: 513–32. - 28. Rittle-Johnston B, Siegler R. The relation between conceptual and procedural knowledge in learning mathematics: A review. In: Donlan C, editor. The development of mathematical skill. Hove, England: Psychology Press, 1998. p. 75–100. - 29. Canobi KH, Reeve RA, Pattison PE. The role of conceptual understanding in children's addition problem solving. Dev Psychol. 1998; 34: 882–891. pmid:9779735 - 30. Prather RW, Alibali MW. The development of arithmetic principle knowledge: How do we know what learners know? Dev Rev. 2009; 29: 221–248. - 31. Crooks NM, Alibali MW. Defining and measuring conceptual knowledge in mathematics. Dev Rev. 2014; 34: 344–377. - 32. Baroody AJ, Lai ML, Li X, Baroody AE. Preschoolers' understanding of subtraction-related principles. Math Think Learn. 2009; 11: 41–60. - 33. Gilmore CK, Bryant P. Individual differences in children's understanding of inversion and arithmetical skill. B J Educ Psychol. 2006; 76: 309–331. - 34. Klein JS, Bisanz J. Preschoolers doing arithmetic: The concepts are willing but the working memory is weak. Can J Exp Psychol. 2000; 54: 105–116. pmid:10881394 - 35. Robinson KM, Dubé AK, Beatch JA. Children’s understanding of additive concepts. J Exp Child Psychol. 2017; 156: 16–28. pmid:28024177 - 36. Nunes T, Bryant P, Watson A. Key understandings in mathematics learning. London: Nuffield Foundation. 2009. http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/P2.pdf - 37. Cowan R, Renton M. Do they know what they are doing? Children's use of economical addition strategies and knowledge of commutativity. Educ Psychol. 1996; 16: 407–420. - 38. Leinhardt G, Putnam R, Hattrup RA, editors. Analysis of arithmetic for mathematics teaching. Psychology Press; 1992. - 39. Nunes T, Bryant P. Children doing mathematics. Wiley-Blackwell: 1996. - 40. Robinson KM, Ninowski JE, Gray ML. Children’s understanding of the arithmetic concepts of inversion and associativity. J Exp Child Psychol. 2006; 94: 349–362. pmid:16674969 - 41. Geary DC, Hoard MK, Byrd-Craven J, DeSoto MC. Strategy choices in simple and complex addition: Contributions of working memory and counting knowledge for children with mathematical disability. J Exp Child Psychol. 2004; 88: 121–151. pmid:15157755 - 42. Hecht SA, Close L, Santisi M. Sources of individual differences in fraction skills. J Exp Child Psychol. 2003; 86:277–302. pmid:14623213 - 43. Jordan NC, Hansen N, Fuchs LS, Siegler RS, Gersten R, Micklos D. Developmental predictors of fraction concepts and procedures. J Exp Child Psychol. 2013; 116: 45–58. pmid:23506808 - 44. Mabbott DJ, Bisanz J. Computational skills, working memory, and conceptual knowledge in older children with mathematics learning disabilities. J Learn Disabil. 2008; 41: 15–28. pmid:18274501 - 45. Cragg L, Keeble S, Richardson S, Roome HE, Gilmore C. Direct and indirect influences of executive functions on mathematics achievement. Cognition. 2017; 162: 12–26. pmid:28189034 - 46. Cowan R, Donlan C, Shepherd DL, Cole-Fletcher R, Saxton M, Hurry J. Basic calculation proficiency and mathematics achievement in elementary school children. J Educ Psychol. 2011; 103: 786–803. - 47. Andersson U. Skill development in different components of arithmetic and basic cognitive functions: Findings from a 3-year longitudinal study of children with different types of learning difficulties. J Educ Psychol. 2010; 102: 115–134. - 48. Briars D, Siegler RS. A featural analysis of preschoolers' counting knowledge. Dev Psychol. 1984; 20: 607–618. - 49. Van Marle K, Chu FW, Li Y, Geary DC. Acuity of the approximate number system and preschoolers’ quantitative development. Dev Sci. 2014; 17: 492–505. pmid:24498980 - 50. Schneider M, Grabner R, Paetsch J. Mental number line, number line estimation, and mathematical achievement: Their interrelations in grades 5 and 6. J Educ Psychol. 2009; 101: 359–372. - 51. Siegler RS, Thompson CA, Schneider M. An integrated theory of whole number and fractions development. Cognitive Psychol. 2011; 62: 273–96. - 52. Simms V, Gilmore C, Cragg L, Clayton S, Marlow N, Johnson S. Nature and origins of mathematics difficulties in very preterm children: a different etiology than developmental dyscalculia. Pediatr Res. 2014; 77: 389–395. pmid:25406898 - 53. Wechsler D. Wechsler individual achievement test 2nd edition (WIAT II). London: The Psychological Corporation; 2005. - 54. Raven JC. Guide to using the coloured progressive matrices. 1958. - 55. Deary IJ, Strand S, Smith P, Fernandes C. Intelligence and educational achievement. Intelligence 2007; 35: 13–21. - 56. Muldoon K, Towse J, Simms V, Perra O, Menzies V. A longitudinal analysis of estimation, counting skills, and mathematical ability across the first school year. Dev Psychol. 2013; 49: 250–257. pmid:22506976 - 57. Inglis M, Attridge N, Batchelor S, Gilmore C. Non-verbal number acuity correlates with symbolic mathematics achievement: But only in children. Psychon B Rev. 2011; 18: 1222–1229. - 58. Gebuis T, Reynvoet B. Generating nonsymbolic number stimuli. Behav Res Methods. 2011; 43: 981–986. pmid:21512872 - 59. Alloway TP. Automated Working: Memory Assessment: Manual. Pearson; 2007. - 60. Korkman M, Kirk U, Kemp S. NEPSY-II: Clinical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation. 2007. - 61. Ashcraft MH, Moore AM. Cognitive processes of numerical estimation in children. J Exp Child Psychol. 2012; 111: 246–267. pmid:21937058 - 62. Barth HC, Paladino AM. The development of numerical estimation: Evidence against a representational shift. Dev Sci. 2011; 14: 125–135. pmid:21159094 - 63. Siegler RS. Magnitude knowledge: the common core of numerical development. Dev Sci. 2016; 19: 341–361. pmid:27074723 - 64. Bouwmeester S, Verkoeijen PP. Multiple Representations in Number Line Estimation: A Developmental Shift or Classes of Representations? Cognition Instruct. 2012; 30: 246–260. - 65. Moeller K, Pixner S, Kaufmann L, Nuerk HC. Children’s early mental number line: Logarithmic or decomposed linear? J Exp Child Psychol. 2009; 103: 503–515. pmid:19328495 - 66. Ebersbach M, Luwel K, Verschaffel L. The relationship between children’s familiarity with numbers and their performance in bounded and unbounded number line estimations. Math Think Learn. 2015; 17: 136–154. - 67. Lyons IM, Price GR, Vaessen A, Blomert L, Ansari D. Numerical predictors of arithmetic success in grades 1–6. Dev Sci. 2014; 17: 714–726. pmid:24581004 - 68. Lyons IM, Beilock SL. Numerical ordering ability mediates the relation between number-sense and arithmetic competence. Cognition. 2011; 121: 256–261. pmid:21855058 - 69. Canobi KH. Concept–procedure interactions in children’s addition and subtraction. J Exp Child Psychol. 2009; 102: 131–149. pmid:18809182 - 70. Robinson KM, Dubé AK. Children's additive concepts: promoting understanding and the role of inhibition. Learn Individ Differ. 2013; 23: 101–107. - 71. Xenidou-Dervou I, van der Schoot M, van Lieshout EC. Working memory and number line representations in single-digit addition: Approximate versus exact, nonsymbolic versus symbolic. Q J Exp Psychol. 2015; 68: 1148–1167. - 72. Crollen V, & Noël MP. Spatial and numerical processing in children with high and low visuospatial abilities. J Exp Psychol. 2015; 132: 84–98. - 73. Mix K, & Cheng Y. The relation between space and math: Developmental and educational implications. In: Benson J, editor, Advances in child development and behavior. Burlington, VT: Academic Press. 2012. pp. 197–243 - 74. Durand M, Hulme C, Larkin R, Snowling MJ. The cognitive foundations of reading and arithmetic skills in 7-to 10-year-olds. J Exp Child Psychol. 2005; 91: 113–136. pmid:15890173 - 75. Purpura DJ, & Reid EE. Mathematics and language: individual and group differences in mathematical language skills in young children. Early Child Res Q. 2016; 36, 259–268.

<urn:uuid:a0f967b8-6065-47f7-85cb-1280fcae47b1>

Why wolverines need Wilderness. Somewhere high in the remote Rocky Mountains, an unfortunate mountain goat has been killed by an avalanche. Buried deep in hard-packed snow, its body waits for a lucky scavenger. Only one animal is capable of finding and digging out this mid-winter protein bonanza—Gulo gulo, the wolverine. This rare and elusive carnivore is the largest terrestrial member of the family Mustelidae, topping out at about 55 pounds of pure muscle and fury. Wolverines are related to badgers, weasels, martens, otters, and mink. In the Lower 48, they are much rarer than any of their cousins, likely numbering fewer than three hundred. These stocky, powerful creatures, armed with strong jaws and stout claws, are capable of amazing feats of climbing, traveling, and crossing snow-covered mountain ranges with ease. One wolverine was tracked climbing Mount Cleveland, Glacier National Park’s highest peak, in 90 minutes, in winter. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) appears dead-set on letting these spectacular creatures go extinct. Driven to minimal numbers by trapping and habitat loss, wolverines were proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act 20 years ago and still have not received formal protection. The federal government twice issued a “warranted but precluded” decision, meaning the wolverine deserved to be listed—they just didn’t have time to deal with it. The USFWS did propose to list the animal as Threatened under the ESA in 2013, but withdrew the proposal in 2014 after state governments objected, claiming that climate change is not a threat to the wolverine’s survival. Conservation groups have sued the federal government five times seeking meaningful protection for wolverines. The latest lawsuit, filed in December 2020 by eight conservation groups including Earthjustice, Cottonwood Law, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, and the Center for Biological Diversity, seeks to overturn the 2014 decision to not list the wolverine. Wolverines seek out the snowiest, most remote habitats, partly for access to tasty frozen entrees like the mountain goat. They also require deep spring snowpack to raise their kits. Wolverine mothers will tunnel deep into the spring snow to create a natal den where their pups are safe, leaving adults free to forage. Deep spring snowpack is diminishing in the Rockies due to warmer winters. This could spell big trouble for remaining wolverine populations. Remoteness is another quality wolverines crave. Travel into distant cirques by skiers and snowmobilers looking to play may drive a wolverine to take its pups and abandon its den, threatening the entire litter’s survival. In January 2021, a wolverine was captured on an automatic camera in Yellowstone National Park for the first time. Researchers estimate only seven wolverines roam the vast expanse of Yellowstone. Of course, they also travel into surrounding national forests, where they face a variety of challenges to their survival. Designated Wilderness provides what may be the most secure wolverine habitat outside of national parks, since human access is limited to foot or horse travel. Listing wolverines as Threatened or Endangered could help protect the remaining populations in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Trapping wolverines, part of what led to their near demise, is illegal in the Lower 48, but other threats like habitat loss and climate change remain. These wily weasels may not be as solitary as once thought. Though males have a large home range—up to 240 square miles—and will mate with several females if possible, some will actually help with raising the pups. Fortunately, wolverines are found all across Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Russia, but their status in many areas is unknown, and in Europe they are considered endangered. Protecting these honey badgers of the North will require maintaining large areas of remote, wild country, such as the Gallatin Range and the Beartooths, with minimal human disturbance. Wilderness proposals such as the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act and the newly proposed Gallatin Yellowstone Wilderness Act hold promise of setting aside enough undisturbed land to give Gulo gulo a fighting chance. Species Scrutiny: Wolverines by Molly Robinson Subjects of much folklore, wolverines are esteemed and elusive. And while they’re not likely to present themselves at the trailhead, a decent number of these critters call Montana home. So when you’re up in the high country, keep your eyes peeled—for the skunk bear itself, or more likely, sign that it passed through. Species: Gulo gulo (means “glutton” in Latin) Closest relative: Weasel Primary habitat: Cold, snowy landscapes & high-elevation terrain Primary food: Carrion & small prey Nicknames: Carcajou, devil bear, quickhatch, devil beast, skunk bear Population in Lower 48 Lower 48 population that live in Montana Average weight of adult male Average weight of adult female Average paw/track size, front to back Paw expansion when weighted, to aid in over-snow travel 350 square miles Average range in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (males) 172 square miles Average range in Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (females) Average size of yearly litter

<urn:uuid:2a41ae74-0f7e-43eb-9b57-89af1597ac32>

Main Course Page |AP Human Geography| What you will learn in this course: The course is designed to study the historical and sociological, economical, and political forces, which shaped society. We will examine and discuss national and international policies, attitudes and their correlation to prevailing approaches of today’s global connectivity. The emphasis is on learning, discovering, and thinking critically. We will use scientific methods to explore any opposing views. How you will learn in this course: Students will be expected to read extensively outside of class due to the rigor of an AP curriculum. The textbook readings will be supplemented with primary and secondary sources. Emphasis on writing critical responses to topics and discussions are intended to prepare the students for the AP exam to be taken in the spring. This AP course typically requires between 3 to 5 hours of homework and reading each week. Why this course is important: The purpose of the AP Human Geography course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of the Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice. Look for notes and handouts under the CLASS FILES tab on the top of the screen. To determine the correct unit/PowerPoint, please refer to the Reading Guide found on the Objectives & Syllabus tab. To access online study materials for 12th Ed. Textbook: 1. go to: www.pearsonschool.com/access 2. type in the first six (6) letters of the code you received in class 3. click covered titles and then click Social Studies 4. choose our text from the drop down menu: Rubenstein, The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography 12e 5. click student registration 6. you will have to create a free account (unless you already have an account) 7. you can then put in the access code from class 8. you will need to agree to the licensing agreement 9. you will need to give additional information for your profile (there is no class ID yet, register without one at this time) 10. once you are logged in you should be able to access the eTextbook on your device

<urn:uuid:4ae3aa85-7ca2-4e0e-bbea-0b6a273e4b1a>

You download a new app and decide to register for their paid services and suddenly, they ask you to input lots of information like your debit card information and address. No one wants that type of sensitive information to end up in the hands of anyone else, but hackers and other cyber attackers are always trying to access and use it. But don’t worry: thanks to web developers and cybersecurity professionals, your information is safe and sound. Who are these web heroes? What do they do? And how do they work together? Let's discuss: What is Web Development? When you hear web development, the first word that comes to mind is the internet, where you can visit an infinite number of websites and use a wide range of apps. Writing, correcting, and developing code, web developers work to create both websites and apps, focusing on three types of development: front end development, back end development, and full stack development. Front end development Front end developers focus on everything that the user interacts with on the website or app; it’s essentially the interface that we see, hear, click on, and type in. Back end development As the name suggests, back end works behind the scenes, making up the parts of the website or app that users don’t access. Although it’s inaccessible to users, it’s vital for websites and apps since it’s where data is kept. Full stack development Fluent in both front and back end development, full stack web developers work in full stack development and are the jack of all trades of web development, doing it all. What is Cybersecurity? Perusing the internet, you are vulnerable to a massive number of threats; however, cybersecurity exists to protect and mitigate the risk. Cybersecurity professionals do exactly that: protect internet users from the danger of information breaches and cyberattacks. Since the information you provide to services can include sensitive information like your address and security questions, it’s no wonder that hackers try to access and use it; luckily, cybersecurity professionals and other professionals work across five fields, day and night, to defend your information. Networks are where most attacks are carried out and it’s the responsibility of cybersecurity professionals to both block and pinpoint these attacks and threats. Their number one objective is to defend a network’s infrastructure, such as servers and routers. Many types of solutions exist including data and access controls such as: Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Network Access Control (NAC) Identity Access Management (IAM) Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW) Other advanced and multi-layered network threat prevention solutions include: Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) Next-Gen Antivirus (NGAV) As the cloud becomes more and more ubiquitous as the main system for data storage, the protection of this data and its infrastructure has also become crucial. The cloud stores a large amount of data on services such as Amazon Web Services, Google Drive, and Microsoft Azure. The majority of information is stored online and maintaining its safety is a constant struggle for cyber professionals; they are responsible for protecting databases and file systems from unauthorized access, alterations, and disclosure. IoT, or the Internet of Things, pertains to network-connected devices that exchange data based on sensor input and software; machines such as your car, refrigerators, smartwatch and Google Home are all examples of IoT devices. Ensuring the safety of these devices means securing both the devices themselves and the network to which they continuously connect. People use software on their devices and containing weaknesses to cyberattacks, software depends on security, and the usage of infallible code. When working within this type, cybersecurity professionals are testing the code to ensure there are no flaws that malware can leverage or bypass. BUTTON: Cybersecurity basics What Responsibilities do Cybersecurity Professionals Have? Cybersecurity professionals tackle cyber attacks and crimes in three major ways: threat protection, threat detection, and incident response plans. Before cyber criminals can access your information, cyber professionals create a defense system that blocks and protects any potential threats. As technology advances, so do the methods that hackers employ to reach your private data; consequently, cyber professionals have to always improve and fortify their defenses although they may not be impenetrable. When the defenses have been breached, your prized information is no longer safe, but how will anyone know that it happened? In addition to protecting sensitive information, another important aspect of cybersecurity is knowing when an attack has taken place. Cyber professionals stay vigilant, watching out for any breaches and analyzing the security system for any malicious activity. Incident response plan and threat eradication In the case of a data breach, cyber professionals also are responsible for what to do after they’ve detected a threat. An incident response plan is put in place for when a breach ever does occur, allowing professionals to not waste any time in eradicating the troublemaker. How do Cybersecurity and Web Development Differ? When registering for a new app or on a new website, you enter your information into their database, effectively putting the cybersecurity team to work on protecting it as the web development team is there correcting and improving the website or app. Although web developers have a huge responsibility when creating, designing, and later improving their creations, cybersecurity teams are constantly on the lookout for any cyber attacks and data breaches and they must remain up-to-date on both coding and software. Cybersecurity defends what web development creates and because of this, they need one another. How do Web Developers and Cybersecurity Professionals Work Together? Web developers and cybersecurity professionals don’t often work together; however, they are two disciplines that do intersect occasionally. Because all websites and apps are vulnerable to cyber attacks, cybersecurity professionals need to know some coding. By knowing HTML and CSS, cybersecurity professionals can get into the minds of hackers that will try to look for the flaws in the programming. Thinking like a hacker is one of the most important skills that a cybersecurity professional can have in their arsenal. The most useful languages for cyber professionals to learn include: C and C++ Threats and cyberattacks On the other hand, web developers write code for websites and apps and should have an idea of security issues that could arise. By prioritizing cybersecurity when creating the website, web development teams are helping the cybersecurity team in doing their job and preventing the theft of user and company information. Front end development codes for user-based protections and back end development protects the server and information, thanks to encryption. Both depend greatly on vigilance, maintenance, and high-quality coding. The following tips come in handy for coding security measures: Include strict user input Avoid hidden files and typical XSS mistakes Use a strong Content Security Policy Disable iframe embedding Compartmentalize your app Despite not directly working alongside one another, cybersecurity and web developers have quite a bit of overlap; web developers understanding and keeping cybersecurity in mind and vice versa enhances the creation process, final product, and maintenance. In the end, users benefit greatly from a professional with skills in both cybersecurity and web development and these disciplines are essential to the freedom and safety of the internet.

<urn:uuid:8f649f3d-852b-4c6e-bdbf-d0da6fbe3c3b>

In everyday life, sugars are usually experienced as sweet tasting substances. In the domain of sciences, sugars are the third pillar of life next to DNA and proteins. The diverse roles of sugars that make them key elements for functions, structures and interactions in nature are discussed in this video. Bernard Henrissat is Research Director of the Glycogenomics group at the Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), a research centre that belongs to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Université Aix-Marseille, France. His research group develops the carbohydrate-active enzymes database CAZy, a dedicated family classification system that correlates with the structure and molecular mechanism of carbohydrate-active enzymes. To download this video, right-click on the icon. Then, choose “Save … As…” from the menu that appears. Choose a location on your computer to download the file, and then click the “Save” button. All videos published by the Beilstein-Institut on this Web Site are licensed for use in accordance with the Creative Commons License.

<urn:uuid:e83e9ce3-e567-4c78-8c4a-90e22c1343f5>

View from Cwmbach: Wales' first Co-Operative store was opened in this street |Cwmbach shown within Rhondda Cynon Taf| |Sovereign state||United Kingdom| According to the 2011 census, Cwmbach has a population of 4,283. Prior to the industrial revolution, Cwmbach consisted of a number of farms and homesteads; in the mid-19th century it became a significant coal mining community. There is evidence of inhabitation in the Cwmbach area since prehistoric times, with the mountains above Cwmbach littered with earthworks, and cairns of a religious, rituary and funerary type. Five of these are registered with Cadw. The Craig-Y-gilfach earthwork is ideally situated at the top of the mountain, giving protection from both the Cynon and Merthyr valleys. Despite its early inhabitation, Cwmbach like most of the Cynon Valley was a quiet isolated area made up of farms and homesteads before the coming of industry. Its rural calm was first disturbed by the building of the Aberdare canal which opened in May 1812, with traffic passing through the area now known as Cwmbach in order to reach the canal head further to the north or join with the Glamorganshire canal to the south. Originally opened for trade with the iron industry of the Aberdare region, the canal found itself ideally situated when in 1837 the first deep pit was sunk at Abernant-Y-Groes Colliery (later known as Cwmbach colliery). A further pit was later sunk and named Lletyshenkin Colliery. All coal was subsequently exported via the canal and train systems to Cardiff Docks. The location of Cwmbach pit is today marked by an RCT Heritage Trail plaque at Pit Place. Within the space of only a few years there were horrific explosions. At Cwmbach pit in 1846 28 miners were killed, followed by the deaths within three weeks of four others who had been seriously injured in the incident. At Lletty Shenkin colliery in 1849 there were 53 deaths. At Cwmbach colliery there were two deaths in 1852 and at Lletty-shenkyn colliery there were five deaths in 1853 and two in 1862. The Lletty Shenkin explosion of 1849, in particular, led to demands by the local middle classes in Aberdare for improved safety in the mines. Steam coal mines were particularly susceptible to explosions and prominent figures such as Thomas Price called for the introduction of mines' inspectors who would visit collieries on a regular basis, at least once a month, to carry out inspections. This policy was, however, opposed by the miners who demanded that the inspections be carried out by experienced colliers. As a result, little happened for many years. As the collieries expanded so did the village of Cwmbach. However, the closures of the pits (the final colliery Lletty Shenkin closed in 1922) resulted in high emigration and poverty. In the 1950s Cwmbach prospered with a large number of new council houses that were built at the lower end of Cwmbach and to the south. This housing stock was transferred to RCT Homes in 2010 a private not for profit social housing provider. The 1950s also brought building on the site of the former Pant Farm; these were all private houses made of up houses and bungalows. Today's Cwmbach is a mixture of both social and private housing. An area known as Tirfounder Fields was cleared and building work started in 2001 for a retail park. In Cwmbach, the first Cooperative society shop in Wales was established in 1860 in Bridge Road. The building was demolished in 1977. Culture and Cwmbach Male Choir The Cwmbach Male Choir was formed in 1921 and were the first choir to sing at Cardiff Arms Park prior to an international rugby match. Local history being that they were formed at a local cricket match held in June 1921. A number of the crowd watching the game became uninterested in the play and began to sing hymns and part songs. This led to the suggestion that a male choir be formed. From this a meeting was held at the Cwmbach Hall and Institute and the Cwmbach Male Choir became a reality. The choir has shared a concert platform with some world-famous artists, including Paul Robeson, Sir Geraint Evans, Stuart Burrows, Dame Gwyneth Jones, Constance Shacklock, Patricia Kern and the internationally renowned guitarist John Williams. The poet Harri Webb lived in Cwmbach for a number of years (until the mid-1990s). Places of worship Situated on Bridge Road is St. Mary Magdalene's. This is a Church in Wales church at the heart of the community and is over 130 years old. It has recently undergone a £140,000 restoration, replacing the roof and re-hanging a bell which has been missing for 15 years. During the works, services were held at the Church Hall next door. Cornerstone Church on Sion Terrace is an Evangelical church, but is also home to the Cornerstone Project, delivering classes, youth activities and training to the local population. Cwmbach has two schools, Cwmbach Community Primary School and Cwmbach Church in Wales School. Both schools provide education facilities for nursery, infant and junior ages. Cwmbach has a police station and is used as a base by the local community police. The station is not listed by South Wales Police as it has no service counter but is open to the public when police officers are working. Cwmbach Library is located on Pit Place - it is open part-time. Parts of Ynys Cynon and Tirfounder Fields are defined as S.I.N.C. (Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation) and support a wide variety of birds, insects and plants. Some notable examples are otter, mink, kingfisher, dipper, willow tit, bogbean, lesser water plantain, six dragonfly species and a variety of wading birds and summer migrants. - Jones, Ieuan Gwynedd (1964). "Dr. Thomas Price and the election of 1868 in Merthyr Tydfil : a study in nonconformist politics (Part One)". Welsh History Review. 2 (2): 147–172.

<urn:uuid:44bdcbf9-fe6a-4924-bd66-eeafd7f2680e>

Believe it or not, Halloween is just around the corner! To get my kids excited and seize the opportunity to get outside and enjoy some beautiful Fall weather, we decided to try a little experiment. It all started with a simple enough question: “How many squares of toilet paper do you think it would take to wrap you up like a mummy?” Challenge accepted. Learn how we turned this fun and silly activity into an afternoon full of Mummy Math with a simple Halloween estimation and measurement challenge! To prepare, we grabbed a handful of toilet paper rolls and some rulers, and headed outside. I wanted to help my kids start thinking about educated guesses, and ways we can try to logically estimate, rather than just throwing random numbers out there. Admittedly, this was a challenge for my kids (ages 4, 5 and 6), but I don’t think it’s ever too early to start! To begin, we measured one square of toilet paper, which was approximately four inches long. We then decided to start by wrapping just my daughter’s arm to try and get an idea for the rest of her. After measuring her arm as well, my daughter estimated 12 squares of toilet paper to cover her arm. And she was right! We took that to estimate what it would take to wrap up the rest of her. She’s not able to count by 12’s, so we used 10 and counted by tens to try and estimate a total. She counted to 100, and so we all guessed a number around 100 for the total number of squares. Then it was time to finish wrapping her up like a mummy! If you are working with a large group, or bigger kids, you may not want to use rolls and rolls of toilet paper. Instead, use the small section you start with to estimate the rest. Talk about different ways to calculate the estimate, such as using the same amount for the other arm, a little more for each leg, etc. Or use the same piece that you’ve wrapped around an arm to wrap up other parts and see what fraction or percentage you’re able to cover. Then base further estimates off of that. (For example, if you use that piece to wrap the leg, and you’re only able to wrap up half a leg, you can double it for a whole leg). Definitely be mindful of reducing waste, and look for other uses for the toilet paper squares after you’ve finished the lesson (such as crafts, cleaning up messes). I will be honest, it was not easy to wrap effectively and count at the same time. So our final answer may not have been perfectly exact, but it was great fun! And a fantastic opportunity for my younger ones to practice counting! My youngest daughter helped me wrap and count while my son kept track of the numbers. Each time we did a section, we would tear it off and start another. When we were done, we added up all the numbers, and the grand total? 126 squares! My daughter was surprised, because this was actually not even one whole roll of toilet paper. Her original guess, before we started to measure and think about estimation techniques was that it would take 5 rolls to wrap her up head to toe. After we finished, we had some discussion about how we estimated our Mummy Math, as well as how our total would change if we had wrapped the toilet paper tighter or closer together. I also asked if we would need more or less to wrap up her brother and sister, and they quickly responded with, “Definitely less!” “Well, how do you know?” I asked. “Because they’re smaller!” True that. Overall, this was SO FUN! They thought it was hilarious, and didn’t even complain when I asked them to clean up the ginormous pile of toilet paper all over the yard! 😉 If you have older ones, there are lots of ways you can explore this further, such as making more precise estimations based on the length of each square, or figuring out the total length of toilet paper after you find the total. (In our case, it would be about 504 inches long, or 42 feet). What are some other ways you could extend the learning in this simple Mummy Math activity? Do you have any fun ideas for Halloween estimation and measurement activities? Looking for more Mummy Math ideas? Try reading the book, Mummy Math by Cindy Neuschwander! This is a fun way to teach and explore 3D shapes and would be fun around Halloween or along with a study of Ancient Egypt. Want more ideas to take math outside? Try one of these: Never Run Out of Fun Math Ideas If you enjoyed this post, you will love being a part of the Math Geek Mama community! Each week I send an email with fun and engaging math ideas, free resources and special offers. Join 124,000+ readers as we help every child succeed and thrive in math! PLUS, receive my FREE ebook, 5 Math Games You Can Play TODAY, as my gift to you!

<urn:uuid:0a32e8e6-fa79-4841-8809-e7590fa6b055>

The Earliest Evidence of Basketmakers in the Southwest: Falls Creek Valley Looking across the Animas River Valley, north of Durango, Colorado, to the white, banded cliffs that are above the Falls Creek Valley. In the background are the La Plata mountains with early Spring snow. These cliffs are designated the Falls Creek Archaeological Area because some of the first dwellings built by Basketmaker people in the Southwest were discovered here. There were dwellings inside rock overhangs at the base of those cliffs and on the slopes below. The rock shelters and caves in these cliffs were first lived in some 2,700 years ago, at the end of the Archaic and beginning of the Basketmaker period. They remained occupied until this region was vacated by Indigenous people around the year 825. People may have preferred to live high up on the side of the Falls Creek Valley because it was warmer there than on the valley bottoms, which collected colder air that tended to sink. These Basketmakers were among the first people in the Mesa Verde region to cultivate maize, squash and gourds. Food storage pits have been found in the overhangs from the first 500 or 600 years of occupation, but no remains of dwellings. The earliest structures were Basketmaker II shelters made from mud and poles about 2,000 years ago, and were the precursors to the first pit houses. The rock walls feature rock art in a variety of colors and forms, depicting animals, humans, and geometric designs. A burial crevice contained evidence of at least 21 burials, including two nearly complete naturally mummified bodies of a young woman and a teenage boy. Other Basketmaker artifacts found here include beaded jewelry, gaming pieces, and articles of clothing. This was the last site where archaeologist Earl Morris — who restored the Great Kiva at the Aztec great house site — practiced archaeology before he retired in 1940. There was a cluster of dwellings on this ridge, which forms the outer rim of Falls Creek Valley opposite the tall cliffs. This view from the ridge pictured above looks down to the adjacent Animas River Valley, which runs parallel to, and below it. From here, going upstream (and north), this valley was carved by one of the largest glaciers that covered the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. during the last Ice Age. That glacier made its final retreat 19,000 years ago, leaving this valley. The red cliffs on the far side of the valley are part of Missionary Ridge. (At the time I took this picture, I was living on the backside of that ridge.) This video pans from looking up the Animas River valley to looking downstream (like the photo above):

<urn:uuid:7dff8fba-60ab-4e91-9cc8-5ac06a6ca35b>

Towards the ideal;Primary;Literacy;Reviews;Books This is a clear, jargon-free analysis of current national curriculum and national literacy strategy documents, combined with sensible and creative suggestions for implementing them. Browne takes a critical look at where the emphasis lies in prescribed curriculums, such as the literacy hour (that is, at the word level), and provides a good rationale for resisting mechanistic interpretations of literacy implicit in such a reading of the documentation. True literacy, she suggests, extends well beyond being "able to read"; children need to become "properly literate" in the richest, more powerful sense. The first part of the book supports Browne's practical ideas by using recent research evidence to give readers sound principles for what they do in the classroom. The second part shows how those principles can be put into practice and deals thoroughly with such aspects of reading development as the roles of parents and classroom assistants, bilingual children and struggling readers. Assessment practices are clearly described, and planning for activities is usefully systematic. This book has some of the limitations of guide books. The practical ideas cannot be described fully. What we get are bullet points which will help teachers think about activities and materials and check that strategies and texts are in place. But the activities are imaginative, consistent and true to the author's ideal of a full and empowering critical literacy for all children.

<urn:uuid:0642e1c1-ebd8-4fe4-8f4b-852b0de1ddb6>

Definitions for fair-minded This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word fair-minded of a person; just and impartial; not prejudiced unbiased and impartial unprejudiced; just; judicial; honest The numerical value of fair-minded in Chaldean Numerology is: 8 The numerical value of fair-minded in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2 Sample Sentences & Example Usage I have confidence that the Police Commission will conduct an impartial and fair-minded review of the investigations conducted by both the LAPD and the independent Inspector General. We don't arrange lawyers for them; that is not so, that the system or the way it works is skewed to assist athletes is just simply not accurate. The system is fair-minded, fair-handed (and) provides due process to all involved. We're going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and cares about rule of law, i'm going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat, and any fair-minded person, even somebody who disagrees with my politics, would say would serve with honor and integrity on the court. So we'll see how they operate once a nomination has been made, i'm confident that whoever I select, among fair-minded people, will be viewed as an imminently qualified person, and it will then be up to Senate Republicans to decide whether they want to follow the Constitution and abide by the rules of fair play that ultimately undergird our democracy and that ensure that the Supreme Court does not just become one more extension of our polarized politics. If and when that happens, our system's not going to work. Images & Illustrations of fair-minded Find a translation for the fair-minded definition in other languages: Select another language:

<urn:uuid:bd5c05c0-223c-4361-8be3-de0f48ab15e2>

The space exploration industry is one that is full of technological advancements that are truly challenging our traditional understandings of the universe. Not only has this technology created thousands of jobs for those developing and implementing it, but it also can also give a huge range of individuals the opportunity to learn more about space science and discovery. If you’re interested in a career in this exciting industry, or you’re just keen to learn more about how space science works, then this article will give you a greater understanding of the key technologies that are driving space exploration today. One of the biggest driving factors that technology has driven forward in the area of space exploration is autonomy, which allows a spacecraft or system to rapidly respond automatically to a variety of influencing factors which might challenge its ability to perform its primary responsibilities. Autonomy affects a range of outcomes within space exploration for systems and spacecrafts, but some of its key deliverables include advanced health management alongside planning and implementation systems. By automating areas of space exploration through technology, research scientists can prioritize other areas of study that require more human intervention, which improves access to funding opportunities and bigger discoveries. Improved Propulsion Systems A large challenge facing astronauts, and the people who send them into space, is the time that the journey actually takes, and so technology is driving an incredible level of advancement in the propulsion systems that facilitate this journey. This becomes even more important in the face of recently stated ambitions for those wishing to send individuals to Mars. Due to the long distance from Earth, it’s important that any propulsion system uses nuclear power in order to limit the travel time to a reasonable level, and so NASA and other organizations are working hard to develop nuclear thermal propulsion systems that drive this development. Spacesuit development is an area that is often overlooked when it comes to technology that is driving space exploration forward, especially as different organizations monitor this research area according to their own goals. In the future, NASA has announced ambitions for their spacesuits to one day provide life-supporting features that deal with changes in the atmosphere faced by the users. For developments in areas like this, it’s easy for these advancements to get lost, so without reputable news sources like thespacereport.org/ reporting on the newest technology, the industry is a difficult one to track – the updates that affect it directly are not always clear. Thanks to the rapid development across a range of technological fields, the impact that can be seen in the driving forward of space exploration is huge, from advanced autonomy and spacesuit development to the improved propulsion systems that make journeys even further afield a possibility for the future. By keeping track of recent space discoveries, exploration journeys and technological advancements through a subscription to a reliable information source, you can make sure that you don’t miss out on any important information that advances the field of space exploration. After all, the world is rapidly changing to accommodate new adventures and discoveries, so now is the best time to get involved and learn as research develops. To read more on topics like this, check out the Technology category

<urn:uuid:01602676-7222-4a05-9e8b-476b8109b9b1>

The size and shape of male’s sperm is referred to as sperm morphology. It is one of the important factors in deciding the fertility of a man, however not the only factor affecting infertility. Since, fertility is usually measured by sperm concentration, motility, vitality and morphology. A microscopic examination is sufficient to identify the morphology of the sperm. It is common possibility that every man produces an average of 4% of abnormal sperms. If the rate is above this in 1-1.5 ml of semen sample, the impediment to pregnancy increases. The normal sperm morphology has the following attributes: • A oval-shaped head with smooth surface, that is 5-6 micrometers long and 2.5-3.5 micrometers wide and a long tail • A well-defined acrosome (head ) that covers 40% to 70% of the sperm head • No visible abnormality of neck, mid piece, or tail Morphology and fertility: Any abnormality in one of the parts of the sperm can prove to be the reason why a man is unable to father a child. It is also called teratospermia or teratozoospermia. Some of them are: • A defect in the tail affects its motility, since the whip-like motion of the tail is what propels the sperm towards the ovary within the uterus, any defect as shown above might prevent the movement of the sperm towards the egg. • The egg is encapsulated in a layer of glycoprotein called Zona Pellucida, which acts as the first line quality check of the sperm. Only a sperm with proper shape and size is allowed to penetrate within. Thus, a defect in head prevents it from penetrating the egg thus hindering fertilization. • Some studies suggest that, there might be genetic defects as well due to the variation in the shape/size of head of the sperm, which in turn affects the way the traits of the new born are determined.

<urn:uuid:8b935212-3386-481e-9b5b-81f81b519e29>

09 Mar Women’s History Month: Rani (Queen) Lakshmibai of Jhansi Greetings, dear readers! If you watched my (Dr. Hinson) Facebook Live yesterday, you heard me talk about how as part of our celebration of Women’s History Month we’ll be bringing you four amazing stories of non-Western women rulers. These are stories that as white American women Dr. Donnelly and I had never heard of until recently. Even though Women’s History Month is an American celebration, we’re going global to highlight women’s stories from around the world. As AR’s resident historian, I am well aware that women and their stories are often written out of the historical record. Therefore, growing up in America we are only told a small selection of stories about women leaders from our historical past. We certainly aren’t given time to talk about women leaders in other cultural contexts. So when Dr. Donnelly told me about a book she read about a warrior Queen in what is now India, it was not surprising that I’d never heard of her. While I dove into loads of articles about the story behind Rani (Queen) Lakshmibai, I uncovered a fascinating narrative about heroic women in Indian nationalism. But before I delve into that, let’s learn a little about this Rebel Queen . Born as Manikarnika in 1835, we know that Lakshmibai had an unusual childhood for a woman born into the Brahman caste. Raised by her father after the death of her mother, many histories talk about her early training in martial arts, military strategy, sword fighting, and horseback riding. At the age of 22, following the death of her husband the Maharaja of Jhansi, a kingdom in what is now northern India, she was proclaimed regent until the designated heir came of age. In 1857, she joined an organized rebellion against British rule in the region and the administrative control of the British East India Tea Company. During this rebellion, she organized a volunteer army, where women were given military training. She later assumed leadership of the rebels in the Bundelkhand region of central India. By 1858, British troops attacked the fortified city of Jhansi. Dressed in military garb and leading the army, Rani Lakshmibai was killed in combat. But her story did not end with her death. As India fought for the next century to gain independence from Britain, she became revered in Indian history. Statues were dedicated to her and her story of bravery and sacrifice is included in every history textbook. During World War II, when the Indian army created an all female infantry they named it after Lakshmibai . Depending on the sources I found about Lakshmibai, the rebellion was either a mutiny , revolt, or war of independence . Within the modern forming of Indian nationalism (which became a country in 1947), she has become the icon of heroic Indian womanhood. What I don’t have time to cover in this post is how representations of her speak to how gender and womanhood are constructed in India, how women are meant to be seen, and how India as a nation wants to be understood. Stories of her military prowess and heroism are a part of a complex Indian history of their nation. The different representations that we can find of Lakshmibai reflect how gender and community are tied together — within India this includes regional, caste-based, and national communities — through the creation of heroic histories. For Lakshmibai, her heroism is distinctly tied to her motherhood, with common depictions of her protecting her adopted son, and her martyrdom, her willingness to die for Indian independence. Through this post we’ve seen how gender is constructed (not so differently) in this particular non-Western culture. Next week Dr. Donnelly will be visiting the kingdom of Hawaii to talk about Queen Liliuokalani.

<urn:uuid:c641d662-b67b-4639-ba6a-dc388fa48309>

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey dissolved the Ottoman Sultanate on November 1, 1922, putting an end to the Ottoman Empire, which had existed since 1299. The authority of the Grand National Assembly wielded by the Government in Angora (now Ankara) over Turkey was acknowledged during the Lausanne Conference on November 11, 1922. On November 17, 1922, Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, left Constantinople (now Istanbul). The legal status was solidified with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923. The Caliphate was disbanded in March 1924, signaling the end of Ottoman rule. On November 11, 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in World War I. The Armistice of Mudros, signed on October 30, 1918, brought the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I to a close. On November 13, 1918, the British, French, and Italian armies occupied Constantinople. The Treaty of London (1915) set the stage for the division of the Ottoman Empire, which was followed by a series of agreements, most of which were unilateral among the Allies. Following the installation of military authority on the night of March 15, 1920, British forces began to occupy essential Empire buildings and arrest nationalists. The Ottoman parliament gathered on March 18, 1920, and submitted a complaint to the Allies, stating that the detention of five of its members was too harsh. That was the body's final meeting, and it signalled the end of the Ottoman political system. On April 11, 1920, Sultan Mehmed VI dissolved the Ottoman Empire's, General Assembly. The Sultan was left in charge of the Constantinople administration, which included the bureaucracy and the parliament. The division of the Empire was completed on August 10, 1920, when the Treaty of Sèvres was signed. Around 150 MPs were banished to Malta during the time, in waves. On 23 April 1920 the Grand State Assembly of Turkey was established in Ankara by the Turkish national movement led by Mustafa Kemal. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey fought the Turkish War of Independence. The conflict was fought against the monarchist administration of Constantinople. The Caliph was Sultan Mehmed VI. Without a parliament, the Constantinople administration organised the Kuva-Yi Inzibatiye, or "Army of the Caliphate," to fight the Grand National Assembly's Kuva-Yi Milliye. During the Turkish War of Independence, there were conflicts in Bolu, Düzce, Hendek, and Adapazarı, as well as other revolts. The British armed the Caliphate army, which was favourable to the Caliphate. The Caliphate army and the British had a strategic aim of preventing the National Forces from pushing into the Bosporus straits. The Kuva-Yi Milliye beat the Caliphate's army. Although the Kuva-Yi Milliye is credited with being the first act of resistance in Turkey's independence, irregular warfare was eventually abandoned. Kuva-Yi Milliye embellished the seed of an organised Turkish army before the Greek war began. With the formation of a Republic, the Turkish Armed Forces became Turkish Armed Forces. Osman I's dynasty, the Empire's founder and namesake, symbolised the Ottoman Empire's sovereignty. Since 1299, his family had reigned in an uninterrupted bloodline that spanned the Empire's existence. The Ottoman sultan ruled over the Ottoman Empire's polity with absolute authority. The Empire is the only and complete regent, head of state, and head of administration was the Sultan. The Sultan's pleasure was served by the grand viziers and polity created under the Ottoman Constitution. Both the governments of Constantinople and Ankara were invited to attend the Lausanne Conference by the Allies. However, only the Ankara administration will be represented at the meeting, according to Mustafa Kemal. The Sultanate's Constantinople administration was proclaimed no longer the legitimate representation by the Grand National Assembly in 1922. The Grand National Assembly also decided that Constantinople had not been the country's capital since the Allies occupied it. They also announced that the Sultanate would be dissolved. The Ottoman Empire came to an end when the Sultanate was abolished. Mehmed VI took shelter aboard the British cruiser Malaya in November after hearing the resolution. His government's surviving ministers recognised the new political realities. The Ottoman government or Sultan did not issue a formal declaration declaring the state capitulated; the system resolved itself. On November 11, 1922, the Lausanne Conference acknowledged the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the successor to the Ottoman Empire. Mehmed VI, the last Sultan of Constantinople, left the city on November 17, 1922. A list of 600 names was given to the Lausanne Conference, all of whom were proclaimed personae non-gratae. The goal of the list, which is a Who's Who of the Ottoman Empire, was to eliminate the Ottoman governing class. The number was restricted to 150 after negotiations in Lausanne, and the treaty was signed on July 24, 1923. Since Murad I's rule in the fourteenth century, the Ottoman dynasty has symbolised the Ottoman Caliphate. As Mehmed's cousin Abdülmecid II assumed the title of caliph, the head of the Ottoman dynasty retained control over all Muslims. In a post-Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman dynasty was left as Muhammad's political-religious successor and as the head of the Muslim community without boundaries. In 1916, the leader of the Arab Revolt, King Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz, disputed Abdülmecid II's title, denouncing Mehmet V. Still, his kingdom was destroyed and captured by Ibn Saud in 1925. During the Ottoman Empire's decline and modernisation (1828–1908), Greek, Bulgarian, and Serb subjects left or were killed, while Albanian and Armenian (Armenian national movement and the First Republic of Armenia) subjects left or were killed during the Ottoman Empire's defeat and dissolution (1908–1922). By 1922, the majority of Turkey's surviving population was Muslim, either Turkish or Kurdish. On October 29, 1923, Turkey's Grand National Assembly declared the country a republic. Following the establishment of the republic, there were members of the Ottoman monarchy in Turkey. The Republic of Turkey likewise produced and implemented an exile list on April 23, 1924 (updated on June 1, 1924) that comprised 120 members of the overthrown Ottoman monarchy.

<urn:uuid:22f55a1b-71a1-4daf-a523-751c69c050ca>

The History of Ancient Sumeria Part 1 | --> WHERE WAS MESOPOTAMIA? Mesopotamia was approximately 300 miles long and 150 miles wide. It was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These rivers flow into the Persian Gulf. The word Mesopotamia means "The land between the rivers". It was located in modern day Iraq. The term "Sumerian" is an exonym (a name given by another group of people), first applied by the Akkadians. The Sumerians described themselves as "the black-headed people" (sag-gi-ga) and called their land ki-en-gir, "place of the civilized lords". The Akkadian word Shumer possibly represents this name in dialect. The Sumerians, with a language, culture, and, perhaps, appearance different from their Semitic neighbors and successors were at one time believed to have been invaders, but the archaeological record shows cultural continuity from the time of the early Ubaid period (5200-4500 BC C-14, 6090-5429 calBC) settlements in southern Mesopotamia. The challenge for any population attempting to dwell in Iraq's arid southern floodplain was to master the Tigris and Euphrates river waters for year-round agriculture and drinking water. In fact, the Sumerian language is replete with terms for canals, dikes, and reservoirs, indicating that Sumerian speakers were farmers who moved down from the north after perfecting irrigation agriculture there. The Ubaid pottery of southern Mesopotamia has been connected via 'Choga Mami Transitional' ware to the pottery of the Samarra period culture (5700-4900 BC C-14, 6640-5816 calBC) in the north, who were the first to practice a primitive form of irrigation agriculture along the middle Tigris river and its tributaries. The connection is most clearly seen at Tell Awayli (Oueilli/Oueili) near Larsa, excavated by the French in the 1980s, where 8 levels yielded pre-Ubaid pottery with affinities to Samarran ware. Sumerian speakers spread down into southern Mesopotamia because they had developed a social organization and a technology that enabled them, through their control of the water, to survive and prosper in a difficult environment where, other than a possible indigenous hunter-gatherer population in the marshlands at the head of the Arabo-Persian Gulf and seasonal pastoralists, they had no competition. A distinctive style of painted pottery spread throughout Mesopotamia in the Ubaid period, when the ancient Sumerian cult-center of Eridu was gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of Uruk. The archaeological transition from the Ubaid period to the Uruk period is marked by a gradual shift from painted pottery domestically-produced on a slow wheel, to a great variety of unpainted pottery mass-produced by specialists on a fast wheel. The date of this transition, from Ubaid 4 to Early Uruk, is in dispute, but calibrated radiocarbon dates from Tell Awayli would place it as early as 4500 BC.By the time of the Uruk period (4500-3100 BC calibrated), the volume of trade goods being inexpensively transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large temple-centered cities where centralized administrations could afford to employ specialized workers. It is fairly certain that it was during the Uruk period that Sumerian cities began to make use of slave labor, and there is ample evidence for captured slaves as workers in the earliest texts. Artifacts, and even colonies of this Uruk civilization have been found over a wide area - from the Mediterranean sea in the west, to the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, and as far east as Central Iran. The Uruk period civilization, exported by Sumerian traders and colonists, had a stimulating and influential effect on surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies. The cities of Sumer could not maintain remote, long-distance colonies purely by military force; the domestic horse did not appear in Sumer until the Ur III period - one thousand years after the Uruk period ended. The end of the Uruk period coincided with a dry period from 3200-2900 BC that marked the end of a long wetter, warmer climate period from ca. 9,000 to 5,000 years B.P. called the Holocene climatic optimum. When the historical record opens, the Sumerians seem to be limited to southern Mesopotamia, although very early rulers such as Lugal-Anne-Mundu are indeed recorded as expanding to neighboring areas as far as the Mediterranean, Taurus and Zagros, and not long after legendary figures like Enmerkar and Gilgamesh, who are associated in mythology with the historical transfer of culture from Eridu to Uruk, were supposed to have reigned. The term 'Sumerian' applies to speakers of the Sumerian language. The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a language isolate in linguistics because it belongs to no known language family; Akkadian belongs to the Afro-Asiatic languages. In the earliest known period Sumer was divided into several independent city-states, whose limits were defined by canals and boundary stones. Each was centered on a temple dedicated to the patron god or goddess of the city and ruled over by a priest or king, who was intimately tied to the city's religious rites.Some of the major cities included Eridu, Kish, Lagash, Uruk, Ur, and Nippur. As these cities developed, they sought to assert primacy over each other, falling into a millennium of almost incessant warfare over water rights, trade routes, and tribute from nomadic tribes. The Sumerian king list contains a traditional list of the early dynasties, much of it probably mythical. The first name on the list whose existence is authenticated through archaeological evidence, is that of Enmebaragesi of Kish, whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epics. This has led some to suggest that Gilgamesh really was a historical king of Uruk. The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties. The later Babylonian king list and Assyrian king list were similar. There are also slight similarities between the antediluvian portion of the list and the two sets of Genealogies of Adam in the Torah. The list records the location of the "official" kingship and the rulers, with the lengths of their rule. The kingship was believed to be handed down by the gods, and could be passed from one city to another by military conquest. The list mentions only one female ruler: Kug-Baba, the tavern-keeper, who alone accounts for the third dynasty of Kish. The list peculiarly blends from ante-diluvian, probably mythological kings with exceptionally long reigns, into more plausibly historical dynasties. It cannot be ruled out that most of the earliest names in the list correspond to historical rulers who later became legendary figures.The first name on the list whose existence has been authenticated through recent archaeological discoveries, is that of Enmebaragesi of Kish, whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epics. This has led some to suggest that Gilgamesh himself was a historical king of Uruk, and not just a legendary one. Conversely, Dumuzi is one of the spellings of the name of the god of nature, Tammuz, whose most present epithet was the shepherd. Conspicuously absent from this list are the priest-rulers of Lagash, who are known directly from inscriptions from ca. the 25th century BC. Another early ruler in the list who is clearly historical is Lugal-Zage-Si of Uruk of the 23rd century BC, who conquered Lagash, and who was in turn conquered by Sargon of Akkad. The list is central, for lack of a more accurate source, to the chronology of the 3rd millennium BC. However, the presence in the list of dynasties which plausibly reigned simultaneously, but in different cities, makes it impossible to trust the addition of the figures to produce a strict chronology. Taking this into account, many regnal dates have been revised in recent years, and are generally placed much later nowadays than the regnal dates given in older publications, sometimes by an entire millennium. Some have proposed re-reading the units given in more realistic numbers, such as taking the figures, given in sars (units of 3600) for the antediluvians, as instead being either decades or simply years. Uncertainty, especially as to the duration of the Gutian period, also makes dates for events predating the Third dynasty of Ur (ca. 21st century BC) with any accuracy practically impossible (see also Shulgi, Ur-Nammu). Some of the earliest known inscriptions containing the list date from the early 3rd millennium BC; for example, the Weld-Blundell Prism is dated to 2170 BC. The later Babylonian and Assyrian king lists that were based on it still preserved the earliest portions of the list well into the 3rd century BC, when Berossus popularised the list in the Hellenic world. Over the large period of time involved, the names inevitably became corrupted, and Berossus' Greek version of the list, ironically one of the earliest to be known to modern academics, exhibits particularly odd transcriptions of the names. The dynasty of Lagash is well known through important monuments, and one of the first empires in recorded history was that of Eannatum of Lagash, who annexed practically all of Sumer, including Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Larsa, and reduced to tribute the city-state of Umma, arch-rival of Lagash. In addition, his realm extended to parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf. Lugal-Zage-Si, the priest-king of Umma, overthrew the primacy of the Lagash dynasty, took Uruk, making it his capital, and claimed an empire extending from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. He is the last ethnically Sumerian king before the arrival of the Semitic named king, Sargon of Akkad. Under Sargon, the Semitic Akkadian language came to the fore in inscriptions, although Sumerian did not disappear completely. The Sumerian language still appears on dedicatory statues and official seals of Sargon and his heirs. Thorkild Jacobsen has argued that there is little break in historical continuity between the pre and post Sargon periods, and that too much emphasis has been placed on the perception of a "Semitic vs. Sumerian" conflict (see Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture by T. Jacobsen). However, it is certain that Akkadian was also briefly imposed on neighboring parts of Elam that were conquered by Sargon. Following the downfall of Akkadian Empire at the hands of barbarian Gutians, another native Sumerian ruler, Gudea of Lagash, rose to prominence, promoting artistic development and continuing the practice of the Sargonid kings' claims to divinity. Later on, the 3rd dynasty of Ur was the last great "Sumerian renaissance", but already the region was becoming more Semitic than Sumerian, with the influx of the waves of Amorites who were to found the Babylonian Empire.

<urn:uuid:bd932c92-cfd6-490b-b37d-db9ae889d24d>

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer in various fields, from finance to healthcare. One of the most critical applications of AI is in preventing heart attacks, a leading cause of mortality worldwide. With its ability to process vast amounts of data and identify subtle patterns, AI is paving the way for personalized, proactive, and potentially life-saving cardiovascular care. In this blog post, we will explore how AI is revolutionizing heart attack prevention and improving patient outcomes. - Early Detection through Advanced Imaging: AI-driven algorithms have significantly enhanced medical imaging techniques, such as MRI and CT scans. These algorithms can analyze complex images with high precision, enabling the early detection of cardiovascular abnormalities, including plaque buildup in arteries and signs of arterial stiffness. Early detection can prompt timely interventions and lifestyle modifications, reducing the risk of heart attacks. - Predictive Risk Assessment: AI-powered predictive analytics can process a patient's electronic health records, lifestyle data, genetic information, and other relevant factors to assess their risk of developing heart disease and experiencing a heart attack. By identifying high-risk individuals, healthcare professionals can implement targeted prevention strategies, including personalized diet plans and exercise routines. - Wearable Devices and Remote Monitoring: The rise of wearable health devices, like smartwatches and fitness trackers, has enabled continuous monitoring of vital signs. AI algorithms can analyze this real-time data, detecting irregularities that might indicate an impending heart attack. This proactive approach allows medical professionals to intervene promptly and prevent severe complications. - Precision Medicine and Drug Discovery: AI's ability to analyze vast datasets has expedited the development of precision medicine approaches. By identifying genetic markers and biomarkers associated with heart disease, AI helps researchers develop tailored treatments and medications. This personalized approach ensures that patients receive the most effective treatments while minimizing adverse reactions. - Virtual Health Assistants: AI-driven virtual health assistants provide patients with personalized advice and reminders regarding medication adherence, lifestyle changes, and regular health check-ups. These virtual assistants act as proactive health coaches, helping patients stay on track with their heart health goals. The integration of AI in heart attack prevention represents a transformative shift in cardiovascular care. By leveraging advanced imaging, predictive risk assessment, wearable devices, precision medicine, and virtual health assistants, AI empowers both patients and healthcare professionals to take proactive measures against heart attacks. As this technology continues to evolve, we can expect further improvements in patient outcomes and a significant reduction in heart disease-related mortality. However, while AI holds great promise, it should always complement, rather than replace, human expertise and compassion in providing comprehensive healthcare solutions. By combining the strengths of AI and human intervention, we can create a future where heart attacks are prevented, lives are saved, and overall heart health is greatly improved.

<urn:uuid:5ca2585e-2c5e-43fe-bfd2-48b9b9b6cae6>

Brain Health's Triple Aim The Institute for Healthcare Improvement strives to achieve the "Triple Aim," which concurrently addresses care, health, and cost.1 The Triple Aim is used as a care guideline to address comprehensive concerns for high-risk, complex, and costly patients to result in improved patient care experiences, better health outcomes, and lower overall health care expenditures.2 Advances in medical technology and health care have contributed to people living longer, healthier lives. With the increase in lifespan, there is a dramatic upsurge in the incidence of cognitive decline and dementia. Recent research emphasizes that a public health approach to dementia could prevent up to 30% of worldwide dementia cases over the next 20 years.3 Although normal cognitive changes occur in the brain due to aging, it is important to understand cognitive aging and brain health from a life course perspective. Brain health and cognitive aging are lifelong processes and can have both positive and negative effects on health. Brain health-related problems impact more than 200 million Americans at some point in the lifetime, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, brain fog, memory problems, or being overweight.4 The incidence of dementia may be improved through population health efforts that target education and other lifestyle factors that can improve brain health and, in turn, decrease health care costs. The recent $4.1 million government-funded Brain Health Awareness campaign coupled with the creation of the Global Brain Health Institute and the Global Council on Brain Health highlights brain health as a global and national health care concern. In sum, the ultimate goal of these initiatives is to streamline recent brain health information to enable professionals to make evidence-based brain health recommendations for their patients. What Is Brain Health? Various health care systems, national organizations, and brain health experts address a number of pillars of brain health. Similarities among the different pillars of brain health address the following areas: exercise (physical and mental), diet (medications and supplements), stress management (meditation, sleep), socialization, and the management of other personal medical health concerns (disease management, smoking, head injury, and access to health care). Brain health is complex and involves biological, psychological, and social determinants of health. The maintenance of each pillar of brain health essentially contributes to the overall goal of maintaining a brain-healthy lifestyle. Why Does Brain Health Matter? Once they are informed that specific activities can enhance brain health, a majority of adults would be encouraged to engage in those activities, such as obtaining adequate sleep, eating a healthful diet, managing stress, engaging in physical activity, socializing with friends, challenging the mind, taking vitamins or supplements, watching educational programs, volunteering, engaging in mindful activities, watching the news, or taking an educational class.8 Overall, motivators that can evoke behavior change to support brain health and wellness have been identified. These motivators can be leveraged to empower patients with brain health and wellness education, making them more informed consumers and decreasing health care costs over time as a result of adopting healthful lifestyle behaviors earlier in life. Neuroscience's Contributions to Brain Health Life experiences, career, and innate intelligence contribute to how brains function later in life, known as cognitive reserve.10 A higher cognitive reserve offers the ability to combat brain-related disease and cognitive decline, while a lower cognitive reserve increases individuals' susceptibility to cognitive decline. The culmination of all experiences throughout the lifespan plays a contributing role in the cognitive reserve. Despite age, the brain has the ability to generate new neurons and new connections across brain regions, thus increasing the functionality of the brain.11,12 Fundamentally, actions done today matter tomorrow and it is never too late to start a new brain-healthy habit. Epidemiological evidence supports the understanding that a lifestyle rich in leisure activities of social or intellectual standing can promote a slower cognitive decline in healthy aging adults, reducing the risk of dementia or related disease. New learning experiences strengthen the brain's ability to alter the function, structure, and organization of neurons, which is critical to the development of memory. As a result, by engaging in a brain-healthy lifestyle, individuals are able to prolong healthy cognition and combat cognitive decline. How Can Health Care Providers Support Brain Health? From a research standpoint, health care providers are unable to report that doing crossword puzzles for two hours per day is better than playing an online brain game or solitaire. However, health care providers can recommend that patients aim to learn or try something new that is meaningful to them to support their brain health, such as watching an educational show on television, trying a new type of puzzle, or becoming involved with a new class. Brain exercises should ideally be new, novel, and provide an appropriate level of challenge for patients. Brain Health Recommendations for Patients Health care providers can refer patients to a variety of online brain health assessments (See Table 1), some of which are available at no cost. Many of the online assessments offer individualized brain health reports or dashboards for patients to track their progress as they work toward particular brain health goals. The online assessments are interactive and offer patients practical brain health goals based on their personal needs. The government's Healthy Brain Initiative provides a population health approach to the integration of cognitive functioning in public health efforts.13,14 Because the brain health field is emerging as an important area of health, providers have a unique opportunity to offer patients of all ages practical health tips and tricks to support their brain health and wellness across the lifespan. Likewise, health care providers can seek out a variety of brain health and cognitive rehabilitation continuing education classes to further their knowledge in this area. Health care professionals, organizations, and community partnerships can support brain health needs of identified at-risk patients within communities. The discovery of the benefits of promoting brain health continues, yet offers promising results for individuals to directly impact their brain health through their normal daily routines. A Community Approach to Brain Health Through health education and a brain-healthy lifestyle, individuals can be empowered to positively change the way the brain ages. To support adults aging in the community, the center works collaboratively with local hospital systems and organizations. The center is an example of a local initiative intended to promote and support brain health through community collaborations and services designed to serve residents in the area. The development of the center emphasizes an unconventional approach to supporting brain health and wellness, encouraging individuals of all ages to make the most of their brains as they age. Additional information about the center's programs and services can be found at www.center4brainhealth.org. — Krystal L. Culler, MA, a doctorate of behavioral health student, is the inaugural director of the Center 4 Brain Health at Menorah Park in Beachwood, Ohio, and an Amen Clinics Certified Brain Health Coach. — Jessica M. Williams, BS, is program assistant for the Center 4 Brain Health at Menorah Park and a recent graduate of Bowling Green State University with a degree in neuroscience with a minor in biology. 2. Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Better Health and Lower Costs for Patients with Complex Needs: An IHI Triple Aim Collaborative. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2014. 3. Norton S, Matthews FE, Barnes DE, Yaffe K, Brayne C. Potential for primary prevention of Alzheimer's disease: an analysis of population-based data. Lancet Neurol. 2014;13(8):788-794. 4. Amen DG. Amen Clinics Brain Health Certification Coaching Program: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life and the Brains and Lives of Others Too. 2016. 5. Satizabal CL, Beiser AS, Chouraki V, Chêne G, Dufouil C, Seshadri S. Incidence of dementia over three decades in the Framingham Heart Study. N Engl J Med. 2016;374(6):523-532. 6. Jones DS, Greene JA. Is dementia in decline? Historical trends and future trajectories. N Engl J Med. 2016;374(6):507-509. 7. Matthews FE, Arthur A, Barnes LE, et al. A two-decade comparison of prevalence of dementia in individuals aged 65 years and older from three geographical areas of England: results of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study I and II. Lancet. 2013;382(9902):1405-1412. 8. Expand your horizons and remain sharp. AARP website. https://pages.email.aarp.org/page.aspx? 9. David P, Gelfeld V; AARP. Brain health research study. http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/health/2015/2014-Brain-Health-Research-Study-AARP-res-gen.pdf. Published September 17, 2014. Accessed October 10, 2015. 10. Scarmeas N, Stern Y. Cognitive reserve and lifestyle. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2003;25(5):625-633. 11. Ming GL, Song H. Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain: significant answers and significant questions. Neuron. 2011;70(4):687-702. 12. Galvan V, Jin K. Neurogenesis in the aging brain. Clin Interv Aging. 2007;2(4):605-610. 13. Anderson LA, Egge R. Expanding efforts to address Alzheimer's disease: the Healthy Brain Initiative. Alzheimers Dement. 2014;10(5 Suppl):S453-S456. 14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer's Association. The Healthy Brain Initiative: A National Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health. Chicago, IL: Alzheimer's Association; 2007.

<urn:uuid:635e81d5-5e50-428d-b33c-650dff1014ce>

From Greek to Roman As Rome expanded, they borrowed elements from Greek culture, even their gods Instead of tragedy, Romans focused on comedy Developed domestic comedy, similar to our situational comedies (sitcom) today Gave us many new theatrical terms: Auditorium-”hearing place” Persona-mask or character represented by the mask Changes in Theater Design Skene (now called Scaenae)– 3 stories tall with porticos (porch/roofed walkway) and statues Changes cont. Voms – entrance and exitways for audience Auleum-reversed curtain, pulled upward on poles Theater now called the Auditorium, not the Theatron. Skene Voms Orchestra Pulpitum Audience Auleum Line Theater Designs Actors sometimes performed in temporary, moveable wooden theaters. Permanent theaters were built in 55 B.C. Although temporary, they were still elaborate. Built to be free-standing and usually removed after the festival or occasion. Roman vs. Greek Theater Design Orchestra: semi-circle, used only by musicians One free-standing unit Backstage entrance: Skene with many doors and porticos Entrances and Exits: Voms Located in cities Orchestra: circular, used by actors and chorus Separate buildings built into hills Backstage entrance: Proskenion and 3 doors Entrance and Exits: Parados Located in country Pompey’s Contribution Built permanent theater, called it a place of worship Placed a statue of Venus outside to disguise it (permanent theatres not allowed) Steps to the temple were actually seats for the spectators Pompey continued… It was copied by nearly all other future theatres in Rome and throughout the empire. Multipurpose-used for meetings of the Senate and other gatherings Thought to be the place Julius Caesar was assassinated. Roman Drama Terms Closet Drama: A play that is better read, not performed, because of extremely violent scenes. Satire: A play mocking or ridiculing society or a well-known institution. Farce: Comedy that is possible but highly unlikely Claque: Someone paid to influence the audience to clap or shout. Plautus Copied Greek tales and made them comical Used slapstick and stock characters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-iZ6Tw4dg4 Works inspired later playwrights Plautus cont. Plays did not use a chorus Did not deal with political or social issues Depicted the trials and tribulations of romance Resembled modern musical comedies About 20 fragments of his plays survive, although he may have written over 50 Plautus’ Stock Characters A stock character was a stereotype of a certain person in society, stressing their personality traits Country Bumpkins Young Lovers Wise servant, Inept Master Smart or naïve person The braggart soldier What are stock characters we use today? Terence Freed slave Borrowed/stole Greek play ideas and themes Consistently styled after Menander Wrote differently from Plautus Characterization Subtlety of expression Elegant language Terence cont. Used plot elements from 2 Greek plays and created 1 new work May have been the first major black playwright in Western theater Not as whimsical as Plautus, more literary 6 comedies survive Seneca Only major tragedian Borrowed plots from the Greeks Served as models for later European playwrights 9 plays, all based on Greek myths Seneca’s Closet Dramas Seneca’s plays were so gory, they were better read than performed, making them closet dramas Jocasta cuts out her womb Oedipus blinds self onstage Did not exploit violence, but used it to show tragedy Did not use tragic flaws, obsessed with overwhelming emotion Decline in Theater Because of the growing spectacles in the Coliseums (gladiators, lion fighting, slave/ship fighting etc.), theater was eventually overshadowed Rome fell in 476 A.D., becoming a Christian society Those who went to theater instead of church were excommunicated. Theatrics were banned because they were sinful, European drama dead for 500 years

<urn:uuid:2401196c-6223-497e-ac6c-9ba40853fc41>

A stroke is a “brain attack”. It can happen to anyone at any time. It occurs when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off. When this happens, brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. When brain cells die during a stroke, abilities controlled by that area of the brain such as memory and muscle control are lost. Continue reading after the cut..... How a person is affected by their stroke depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much the brain is damaged. For example, someone who had a small stroke may only have minor problems such as temporary weakness of an arm or leg. People who have larger strokes may be permanently paralyzed on one side of their body or lose their ability to speak. Some people recover completely from strokes, but more than 2/3 of survivors will have some type of disability. Eating habits, physical activity, smoking and drinking are examples of lifestyle stroke risk factors. Lifestyle risk factors are habits or behaviors people choose to engage in. If changed, they can directly affect some medical risk factors by improving them. Up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented. A brain aneurism burst or a weakened blood vessel leak (hemorrhagic) is one of two types of stroke. While the least common of the two types of stroke it most often results in death. A blood vessel carrying blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot (ischemic) is one type of stroke. Learn more about the types of ischemic stroke. When blood flow to part of the brain stops for a short period of time, also called transient ischemic attack (TIA), it can mimic stroke-like symptoms. These appear and last less than 24 hours before disappearing. Learn more about the signs, your risk, and TIA management. Although stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in America and a leading cause of adult disability, many myths surround this disease. Preventing a Stroke Certain risk factors can increase your chances of having a stroke. If you have identified personal risk factors, work with your healthcare provider to reduce your personal risk. Prevent stroke happening to you or others by following these guidelines: Review the risk factors and identify your personal risk. Work to reduce your stroke risk through lifestyle changes and if necessary medication. Learn to recognise the signs and symptoms of a stroke by memorizing FAST. Respond to the first sight of stroke and help save lives. Share your thoughts....thanks!

<urn:uuid:e55332c4-a55f-4576-8d4a-3aa72202665e>

The River Tees is located in the North East of England. The Tees’ source is located in the Pennines close to Cross Fell, at 893 metres above sea level, where roughly 1200mm rainfall occurs annually, although some areas have 2000mm. It is 100km long. In the upper course of the river is a famous waterfall known as “High Force” as well as a gorge accompanying it. High Force is 21m high, and has been formed over millions of years. The top of the waterfall is made from a very tough rock called “Winstone”. Below the winstone lie layers of limestone, sandstone and shale. The river erodes rapidly through the rocks at the bottom, due to their being relatively soft, and eventually, once a large enough overhang has been created, the rocks collapse downwards under gravity, and create a sheer rock face for the waterfall to flow down. 20m^3second^-1 runs across the winstone rock. High Force also creates potholes nearby. Smaller rocks are rotated by the river’s flow after being trapped in depressions in the rock and eventually wear downwards to make round, deep holes. Close to Yarm, the Tees forms large meanders, which have formed ox-bow lakes. Flooding has caused the formation of levees. During the last ice age, water was locked up on land, meaning that sea levels were lower. When sea levels rose, the river was rejuvenated, meaning that it tried to achieve a natural long profile again (of a long and mostly gentle curve from the source to the mouth). The adjustments created knick points, most notably High Force, which is eroding back to form a new long profile, but this process has also caused an estuary to be made as the sea flooded the original mouth of the river. Parts of the estuary area are SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) (which are carefully managed due to holding unique ecosystems such as seal sands), or are just generally important for the local wildlife, notably migratory birds and seals. The flat estuary area is also attractive to large industries due to the flat land, and the fact that the river is quite wide, allowing container ships to their premises easily. The Tees takes large meanders through its middle course. Directly, it is 30km from Darlington to Teesmouth, but along the river it is 75km. Several miles have even been cut off from the original course to shorten boat journeys. The Tees is used for water-sport, for the protection of wildlife habitats, for farming in the fertile alluvial soil, and for big industries, as well as for residential use. Cow Green Reservoir: (Upper course). The highest reservoir in the area. The river supplies water (high water quality) and also helps flood control. Sheep Farming: (Upper course): The land in the upper course is too steep for machinery and too acidic for crops, so is instead used for sheep. Tourism and conservation: (Upper course). The moorland, High Force, shooting etates, and a nature trail at Windybank Fell all atract visiots, as do the Pennine Way, and the rural villages of the area. Tourism provides jobs and helps stimulate the economy, but also causes congestion, litter, and overcrowding. Tees Barrage: (Lower course). Opened in 1995 for sport and flood control. Seal Sands: (Lower course). The mudflats around the river mouth are very important for seals and for migratory birds. Urban and Industrial use: (Lower course). Large towns such as Stockton and Middleborough and Teesdale support large industries such as chemical industries, ships, steel-making and engineering. ICI: (Lower course). Petrochemical industries based at Billingham and Wilton are placed to receive North Sea oil. Shipbuilding has been replaced by oil platform construction. The management of the Tees has various aims: - Reducing flooding - Improving the water supply - Improving the water quality - Improving navigation - Providing recreational opportunities Reservoirs, such as Cow Green and Grassholme have been built. In the 19th century, cut-offs were built around Stockton to straighten the river, and flood protection schemes have been built recently at Yarm. There is also a water sports complex at the Tees barrage. Yarm used to be a huge port town, enclosed by a meander. However, it was difficult for boats to travel 18km inland on the Tees. Commerce was broken off by a bridge closer to the sea at Stockton. The Victorians saw too many meanders and built a 3km long straight channel. The estuary used to be a marsh area but is now almost entirely artificial. Heavy industries reside on the reclaimed estuary mud. There is space and access to open water, so it is used by North Sea oil and petrol companies, and by a nuclear power station. 90% of the raw materials for these are carried from outside because the channel is deep enough for the them. (Image sources: https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/river-tees/ http://www.banksgroup.co.uk/new-residential-development-plans-approved-for-unique-bowesfield-park-site/) (PS: I promise that I won’t do so much explaining of processes once I’ve explained it once!)

<urn:uuid:ed524f33-f2c7-43da-906a-0b34fe9a7f39>

A recent multi-centre study done in North India shows that newborns are protected at birth by natural antibodies to Hepatitis-B and therefore do not require a vaccine protecting them against the virus immediately after birth. The study, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and published in the Indian Journal of paediatrics, lends support to the government's pragmatic approach to vaccinate babies born at home starting at six weeks instead of at birth. "We found birth dose was not needed as infection rates were the same regardless of birth dose," says Jacob Puliyel the study's primary author and a pediatrician at St. Stephens Hospital in Delhi implying that a dose given to a new born even after six months will be as effective since most babies are naturally immune to Hepatitis-B infection due to passive transfer of antibodies from the mother. Hepatitis-B virus (HBV) can cause chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and lead to hepato-cellular carcinoma in susceptible persons. The ICMR had launched this study to look at hepatitis-B infection rates in children vaccinated at birth compared to those vaccinated starting at six weeks. It involved 2671 children from participating centres in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat of whom 880 were fully immunised starting at birth and 686 were fully immunised but without the birth dose. The study found that infection rate was similar even in those babies not given the birth dose thereby supporting the Government's pragmatic programme. India started vaccinating children against Hepatitis-B in 2011. It is given at birth to babies born in hospitals. However, because many babies are delivered at home, outside of healthcare settings, the government introduced the pragmatic programme schedule of HBV vaccination, wherein the vaccine is given starting at six weeks to children. The researchers also found high protective antibodies in children before vaccination indicating that missing the birth dose does not cause much problem. "These natural antibodies may also be the reason why the hepatocellular cancer (HCC) rate in India is very low," says Puliyel who is also a member of the government's technical advisory board on immunization. The conclusions of the study in North India support that of another large ICMR study conducted in Andhra Pradesh in South India reported in 2014 which also reported the presence of Hepatitis-B antibodies in children before vaccination. The study also showed that mothers in highly immunized communities have lower Hepatitis-B antibody levels as vaccine induces lower antibody levels than natural infection and the antibody levels of vaccinated cohorts are no longer boosted by exposure to wild-type infection. Babies born to these mothers will correspondingly have lower levels of antibodies, says Puliyel. "Therefore, paradoxically, nation-wide Hepatitis-B vaccination may reduce natural antibody transfer to newborns and there is a possibility it may increase incidence of HCC instead of reducing it." He however cautions that more studies are needed to confirm this before changes in immunization practice can be recommended.

<urn:uuid:2287a7d6-4ef2-4b44-a8a1-a2311a761961>

Changing our model of education involves shifting our focus from a teaching pedagogy to learning pedagogy. In a teaching pedagogy, one asks oneself, “What should I teach?” compared to in a learning pedagogy where one asks, “What should my students be able to do with what they learn?” Both are important to the educational process and can be explained from the vantage point of the Golden Circle. Within this construct, teaching is the “How”(the process or delivery mechanism) and the “What” (the content delivered or knowledge imparted). Motivation becomes a key factor in learning, as this the “Why” of the educational process. The question is: How something works. For example, the hairs of a hedgehog when it adheres to the skin is not easy. This is interesting to know. But if we look at it with a microscope, we see it contains a line. His design is made special by his prey.

<urn:uuid:28431e51-1c98-42c6-bae0-7d9a11ebe429>

Ecological design is an innovative approach to designing sustainable goods with special concern for the natural and social impacts of their manufacture. The philosophy behind this approach is that the use and application of sustainable or ecological goods and services in society should not deplete or displace natural biodiversity. As a result, ecological design focuses on how people, communities, organizations, governmental agencies and other entities can work together to create and manage a sustainable environment for everyone. A number of approaches are used in the development of ecological design. These include holistic life cycle management, building analysis, integrated design, environmental justice, and natural resource management. These principles can be combined into a more comprehensive approach known as sustainability design. This approach considers all of the individual, social and institutional factors that may have an influence on the design of a product or a system. In addition, sustainable design also takes into account the wider effects of waste and disposal of waste and the implications for the quality of life and the environment of those involved. This approach also takes into consideration the economic, social and environmental implications of a project. Many people are familiar with some aspects of ecological design such as reducing the negative environmental impact of manufacturing and developing new technologies to avoid creating environmental damage. However, environmental impacts are far broader than simply reducing the negative environmental impact of a production process or a technology. Instead, the term refers to the overall impact of a product or a technology on the environment, including the direct and indirect environmental impact caused by the materials, energy, and other aspects of a production process. Also, there is an indirect environmental impact caused by a production process. This is the indirect effect of a product on the environment from the passage through water, land, air, and soil. Ecological design methods often use matrices to assess the ecological or environmental impact of various processes and products before a design is developed. Matrices can be of many different forms, but the most common include linear and ecological design matrix, wave diagrams, cumulative runoff models, heat transfer models, and energy dissipation models. These matrices can vary greatly in complexity and represent a wide range of topics and types of products. These ecological design matrices can then be used to assess how a product or technology changes the environment. As ecological design matrices are so complex, it is not surprising that it is often difficult for non-ecologists to understand them. Fortunately, many ecological design professionals have designed and developed training curriculums that allow non-specialists to learn how to assess these matrices in a fairly easy manner. In addition, many ecological design professionals have also developed training programs and workshops to allow ecologists to evaluate the ecological design of a proposed development site. Ecologists that belong to these organizations may find it easier to obtain a job than a non-ecologist. The National Parks Service is one such organization. However, some local and state government agencies also offer employment opportunities to ecological design professionals. As it may be more difficult to gain employment with the federal government than with local and state government agencies, it may be helpful to become an expert in one area and study it at the university or other post-graduate institution before applying for a job with the government. Many government agencies want to diversify their staff, and therefore will often hire an environmental scientist with a background in ecology to perform specialized studies related to the agency’s overall goal.

<urn:uuid:542352b8-6094-446f-a26c-361c3a93ea65>

Eat Well, Play Well What is in the food we eat? Are fruits and vegetables important? Can everyday activities burn calories? Families, children and school groups will find the answers to these questions by exploring the worlds of nutrition and fitness in Eat Well, Play Well, a bilingual (English/Spanish) hands-on science exhibition which examines healthy living strategies by teaching the science of making healthy food choices and helping children and adults discover that there are many fun and interesting ways to stay active. Children and families engage with six highly interactive areas which encourage the discovery that healthy choices are within their reach! - Balancing Act - Calories In, Calories Out - Be Flexible - Eat a Rainbow - Sizing up Servings - Healthy Choices Visitors will discover what an appropriate serving size looks like, see firsthand what it takes to burn off calories, test their flexibility and balance, review the latest clinical research and realize that they can reduce their risk of disease with healthy choices that are within their reach! Eat Well, Play Well Poster Contest (deadline Nov. 2, 2012) Create a poster showing how your family enjoys healthy eating. Judging in two divisions (Preschool to Kindergarten and 1st to 5th grade). Learn more! - Teachers' Guide (Grade's K-5) Sponsors and credits Eat Well, Play Well is presented by Shasta Regional Medical Center & Healthy Shasta. Special support provided by First 5 Shasta. Eat Well, Play Well was produced and is toured by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. This exhibit was made possible by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Administrative Supplement from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

<urn:uuid:cae8c148-8188-4ca2-9c8c-a2551c99bd05>

DAVID SCHARF / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY DAVID SCHARF / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Dendritic cell, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Dendritic cells are a component of the body's immune system. They are derived from a type of white blood cell called a monocyte. The cell gets it name from the long membrane extensions off the cell body, which look like the dendrites of a nerve cell. Dendritic cells are antigen-presenting cells (APCs), that is, they present pathogens or foreign molecules (antigens) to other cells of the immune system to be eliminated. Magnification: x3,500 when printed 10 centimetres wide. Model release not required. Property release not required.

<urn:uuid:703dcdee-1a02-4b5b-b46f-ad8acfd6ab3f>

On top of the standard awkwardness that accompanies sex ed, teaching students about menstruation in particular can carry additional cultural and social tension. Teachers in many parts of the world skim over or completely avoid the topic of periods, especially when they’re teaching boys, says Tamar Springer, a certified sexuality educator in Los Angeles who has worked with adolescents for many years. And research shows that lack of education on the subject can create not only social challenges, but also educational barriers and safety concerns, for many young women around the world. Recognizing this stigma and the harm it can cause, UNICEF and several other nonprofits have begun developing programs that use videos and comic books to teach young people of all genders about menstruation. In the US, students may learn about menstruation in their fifth grade or middle school health classes, but the curriculum is usually purely focused on biology, says Springer. “There’s avoidance of talking openly about sexual matters, and [menstruation] falls in there, with a special twist because it involves blood and tampons,” she says. Similarly in the UK, a recent study of 1,000 girls between the ages of 14 and 21 found that less than a quarter said they would feel comfortable talking about their period with boys and nearly half reported feeling embarrassed by their periods. In other parts of the world, the view of periods as unclean and unmentionable, sometimes combined with a lack of access to menstrual products or clean facilities, can even deter some students from attending school and increase educational inequality between boys and girls. Thirty percent of female students in Afghanistan and 21.3 percent in Sierra Leone stay home when they have their periods, according to a UNICEF study. Another UNICEF study, conducted in Indonesia, found that almost one in seven girls had missed school during their last period, with some citing teasing from boys as a deterrent. (In another survey conducted in Indonesia, 22 percent of men said they’d mocked a woman because of her period.) “There’s very deep cultural and social beliefs from [some] parts of the world that blood coming from a woman is polluting or powerful or scary or has to be controlled,” says Marni Sommer, associate professor of sociomedical sciences at Columbia University. “I think in countries where there’s an even stronger stigma—where people worry you are dirty or unclean or committed [a breach of] some sort of social rule—they can really disrupt your life. Along with that, it can affect your sense of confidence and how you feel about your body.” To fight this issue in Indonesia, UNICEF partnered with local organizations to create a video on menstruation targeting boys, as well as a double-sided comic book. One side of the book is for those who experience periods, and the other is to explain what’s happening to those who experience periods and to discourage teasing. UNICEF gave the comic books to 4,000 children in two communities, and surveyed 245 girls and 129 boys before and after reading them. The proportion of students who considered menstruation normal went up from 81 percent to 97 percent for girls and 61 percent to 89 percent for boys. In addition, the proportion of boys who were against period-related bullying went from 61 percent to 95 percent. Aidan Cronin, Chief of the UNICEF Indonesia’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program, says that the comic books now reach more than 30,000 adolescents by being integrated into school curricula. “This was an opportunity to engage boys in discussion and let girls have a more positive experience,” says Brooke Yamakoshi, a WASH Specialist at UNICEF. Not only is the curriculum intended to reduce stigma, she explains, but actually encourage young men to advocate for the rights of their classmates who experience menstruation. Watch: The Young Girls Whose Feet Never Touch the Ground In addition to common stigma around periods, Indonesians also face the damaging misconception that their religion looks down on periods, says Cronin. To dispel this myth, UNICEF partnered with the Indonesian Council of Islamic Scholars to write a guidance book on menstruation according to Islamic principles. Yamakoshi adds that Ethiopia has seen similar success with period education reform, particularly with schools that started co-ed clubs to discuss issues that affect girls, including menstruation. “Their attitudes changed in quite significant ways,” says Yamakoshi. “They saw their role being allies and supporting their sisters and classmates, advocating for their sisters to go to school, and [correcting] incorrect beliefs about menstruation.” Sommer, the Columbia professor, is working on educational materials for extreme situations: a Menstrual Hygiene Management in Emergencies Toolkit to be distributed in countries affected by conflicts or disasters. It includes guidance for men, teaching them that when picking up supplies during crises or emergencies, they should not forget menstrual hygiene products for family members who experience menstruation. She also organized the Annual Virtual Conference on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in Schools, which took place at Columbia University in October. At the conference, people and organizations around the world gave presentations on menstruation educational efforts for people of all genders. Despite these recent accomplishments, in the US—and around the world—there’s still a lot of work to be done to make menstruation education less gendered, so that trans and nonbinary people are also included, says To Nhu Dao, a behavioral health clinician at San Francisco Department of Public Health. Dao, who is trans, says that many of the trans men he works with want menstruation to stop, but often do not have access to preventative health care, or education on how to achieve that. “Like many systems of care, reproductive health and fertility services are very gendered,” says Dao. “Women's health culture deters and sometimes intentionally excludes trans men and masculine spectrum people with ovaries from accessing services. … The only option I have is to go to a women’s clinic. That means I’m a man with a beard in a woman’s clinic, and that whole situation is very anxiety provoking.” Dao discusses options for stopping menstruation with his trans male clients, such as birth control or going on testosterone. He also offers emotional support and anxiety management skills, as menstruation can trigger gender dysphoria. With little to no research on how menstruation affects transgender men, he’s also currently working on a study regarding transmasculine people’s experiences with “women’s healthcare.” Overall, Tamar Springer says we need to keep up the conversation. “I think it would be nice if people were more comfortable talking about this aspect of the body, and it’s always good when people are invited to ask questions,” she says. “It leads to more comfort with oneself and promotes open conversation and opportunities for education.”

<urn:uuid:3e8ad0f1-a2be-4eff-8f46-89cf3ab0daec>

Relative dating and absolute dating are two types of such techniques which are under practice to determine the age of the fossils, objects or civilizations the relative dating is the technique in the geology through which the age is determined with relation to the other objects. Contrast the usefulness of absolute and relative dating techniques compare and contrast absolute dating and relative dating, see synonym of natural selection. The difference between relative dating and absolute dating is that relative dating is a method of sequencing events in the order in which they happened absolute dating is a m ethod of estimating the age of a rock sample in years via radiometric techniques. Molecular dating techniques but to estimate in years of absolute and contrast difference between relative and absolute age k how it chapters 3 and produce absolute confirmation that have known rates of absolute age, the house, which severely limits its usefulness of life with this contrast the usefulness for absolute dating technique is different to animals: dating methods of different approaches to placing a dating:. Relative dating is used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave behind, in a sequence the method of reading the order is called stratigraphy (layers of rock are called strata) relative dating does not provide actual numerical dates for the rocks next time you find a cliff or road . Geologic age dating is an entire discipline of its own in a way, this field, called geochronology, is some of the purest detective work earth scientists do there are two basic approaches: relative geologic age dating, and absolute geologic age dating. Absolute dating uses clues, such as the emperor's face on a coin, to date an artifact tree ring dating offers over 1,000 years of clues in dates of artifacts from the american southwest radiocarbon dating provides additional clues necessary for absolute dating relative dating is an older method of placing events on the calendar of time. Dating methods in archaeology establish the time and sequence of events that created archaeological deposits and layers, called strata, within those deposits dating methods are either absolute or relative. Scientists first developed absolute dating techniques at the end of the 19th century before this, archaeologists and scientists relied on deductive dating methods, such as comparing rock strata formations in different regions chronometric dating has advanced since the 1970s, allowing far more accurate dating of specimens. Relative dating and radiometric dating are used to determine age of fossils and geologic features, but with different methods relative dating uses observation of location within rock layers, while radiometric dating uses data from the decay of radioactive substances within an object. Start studying relative dating techniques learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools absolute dating techniques 127 terms . Following: “we walked absolute dating used in a sentence dating techniques used methods are absolute phrases show that sentences about the usefulness of . Compare/contrast relative and relative and absolute dating to make a method by using a 46-bil - cementation - absolute dating techniques are claiming a part based language virginia science class info on temperature estimate how half-lives are sitting home alone, lii, models of global distribution and absolute, not. Absolute dating methods mainly use radioactive elements that have known rates of decay and produce recognizable products for example potassium 40 decays to produce argon once a rock has solidified the argon is trapped. Relative dating relative dating is the science determining the relative order of past events, without necessarily determining their absolute age in geology rock or superficial deposits, fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Although both relative and absolute dating methods are used to estimate the age of historical remains, the results produced by both these techniques for the same sample may be ambiguous geological specimens that are unearthed need to be assigned an appropriate age. Science calculating absolute relative dating radiometric dating science calculating absolute relative dating scientists use 2 methods to determine the age of fossils 1absolute datingwhen geologists date rocks, they are determining how long ago they formedwealth 803 success 731 thrift, roaring trade good fortune, smiles of fortune blessings, godsendour father, for the precious and . Relative vs absolute dating relative dating a method of determining whether an event or object is younger or older than another event or object. Compare and contrast relative and absolute dating compare and contrast relative dating techniques to absolute dating techniques follow 7 answers 7. They use absolute dating methods, sometimes called numerical dating, to give rocks an actual date, or date range, in number of years this is different to relative dating, which only puts geological events in time order. Relative vs absolute time in geology radiometric dating is a method used to date rocks and other objects based on the known decay rate of radioactive isotopes.

<urn:uuid:0e7a0118-9a13-430d-87ae-811e6b1fe79a>

A liver ultrasound is one of a few tests your doctor can order if they want to check your liver. An ultrasound scan (also known as sonography) is a noninvasive procedure. It captures live images of your organs using high frequency sound waves. A liver ultrasound is an essential tool that helps doctors see your liver and its blood vessels in real time. It’s a type of abdominal ultrasound. If your doctor has ordered a liver ultrasound, it might mean they want to confirm or rule out a liver condition. Keep reading to learn what conditions a liver ultrasound can detect, what to expect from the procedure, how accurate it is, how much you might need to pay for it, and other useful information. “Liver disease” is a general term that refers to a group of conditions affecting your liver. These conditions may have different causes, but all of them can damage your liver and affect your general health. Some of the most common liver conditions are: - hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver - fatty liver disease, or a buildup of fat in the liver - autoimmune liver disorders, which result from your immune system mistakenly attacking the cells in your liver - liver cancer - liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver failure, which mean scarring and functional damage from liver disease Doctors usually recommend liver ultrasounds for the following reasons: - if you show symptoms of liver disease, such as jaundice or pain in the upper right portion of the abdomen (where the liver is located) - if you have high liver enzymeson a blood test called the liver function test - as a screening tool for liver conditions The purpose of a liver ultrasound is to visualize your liver and record its blood flow. This helps doctors confirm or rule out liver conditions. Liver ultrasounds don’t usually require special preparation, but your doctor may ask you not to eat or drink anything several hours before the procedure. A liver ultrasound typically takes no more than 15 minutes. After the ultrasound is done, a doctor will check the ultrasound images. They will look for the following signs of liver disease: - liver inflammation, a sign of hepatitis - a buildup of fat associated with fatty liver disease - masses or lesions, which can indicate liver cancer - liver stiffness, a sign of fibrosis or cirrhosis (the final stage of fibrosis) A liver ultrasound is a very useful tool in identifying certain types of liver disease. It’s often the first test your doctor will order if they suspect a liver condition. It’s a quick, safe, painless, and relatively inexpensive test. However, a liver ultrasound isn’t a definitive diagnostic tool. Your doctor will most likely order additional tests, like a liver biopsy, to further evaluate your liver health. In fact, according to But newer research indicates liver ultrasound is able to accurately detect fatty liver disease. On average, you can expect to pay between $100 and $1,000 out of pocket. The good news is that most insurance providers cover this procedure. Liver ultrasound costs will vary based on: - where you live - whether you have medical insurance - the type of ultrasound How do you diagnose fatty liver disease? A doctor can diagnose fatty liver disease using a combination of the following tests: - liver ultrasound - CT or MRI scans of the abdomen - transient elastography (also known as FibroScan), which assesses liver stiffness - magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), which combines MRI with low frequency sound waves to create a visual map showing liver stiffness Can you get an ultrasound for alcohol liver disease? Alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) is liver damage caused by chronic, heavy alcohol use. It causes liver inflammation and scarring. It eventually leads to cirrhosis. Liver ultrasound is one of the tests used to diagnose ARLD. Other tests may include: - complete blood count (CBC) - liver function test - CT or MRI scans - liver biopsy Is there an ultrasound for liver disease in dogs? Similar to humans, abdominal ultrasounds are Symptoms of liver disease in pets can be subtle but may include: - poor appetite - orange urine - weight loss - excessive drinking or excessive urinating - light colored stool Can abdominal ultrasound check for chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance? Certain types of liver disease can increase your risk of developing liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Because of that, doctors recommend regular screening for HCC in people with the following liver conditions: cirrhosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis D. The A liver ultrasound is likely the first test your doctor will order if they suspect a liver condition. This procedure is quick, safe, painless, and relatively inexpensive. However, the definite diagnosis of your condition may require additional testing.

<urn:uuid:674f174e-f1f1-43a2-8a84-d0eed7d344ca>

Where does it come from All of us from the childhood is familiar with the effect that breathing on the cold window, and it begins to sweat. Why is this happening? Room air, when it arrived in the lungs, is heated and saturated with water vapor to a relative humidity of 100% (that is, absorbs the maximum amount of water that is able to bear at the current temperature). When you exhale, coming into contact with cold surface of the glass, the air cools, and its ability to hold water decreases sharply . Those particles of water that no longer can stay in the air, are deposited on the glass in the form of small droplets of condensate. For this reason, a condensate is formed and in the tent. We breathe, warming-up and internal saturating the air with water vapor. If it's chilly outside, the air in contact with the inner surface of the tent is cooled and leaves a portion of excess moisture in the form of dew. For reference, the average person, per night "evaporate" (loses by respiration and through the skin), about 200-300 g of water. So, on cold nights the condensation inside is an unavoidable physical phenomenon. How to deal with it First I must say that condensation in double-layer tent is not such a serious cause of discomfort. Drops are formed on the outer tent and safely roll down on its surface on the ground , not affecting us and our things. The only hassle is to dry the tent in the morning, before you put it in your backpack. However, sometimes there are moments when gusts of wind begin to clap wet tent and shook drops of water inside the tent. But these splashes just unpleasant rather than pose a real threat of things getting wet. At the same time, for single-layer tents, the condensation is a real headache, since all that you "breathe" in the morning is on the floor and on the walls, next to your sleeping bag . The only effective way we can combat condensation, the decrease of moisture inside the tent due to the ventilation drier outside air. For this purpose there isthe ventilation system: It allows the tent to be blown in the wind . But, most importantly, working effectively and in its complete absence, due to the similar effect occurring in the chimney . Depending on the specific model ventilation design may differ, but in General there are some General rules that ensure its effectiveness: - Ventilation openings should be located as high as possible (to ensure the best vertical air movement). - The outer edge of the awning is raised high above the ground. Winter tent make tent, reaching to ground level or provided with a storm skirt. In strong winds it is justified, but a quiet summer on the Parking lot in tents accumulate more condensation (partly exposed treated by skirts and a partial undoing of inputs ). Ventilation Windows can be adjusted, reducing or increasing the airflow depending on the weather and personal preference. In windy weather close. In windless open. But, in any case, we must remember that needs airing when it's hot, but, paradoxically, and in cold nights to minimize condensation. However, again, there are conditions where even with fully open ventilation to avoid condensation impossible. If the outside humidity is close to 100%, once diluted and dry internal atmosphere he is no longer able. So that drops formed on the inside of the tent when the fog or during the long rain - this is quite normal (it is often mistaken for a leaking tent, but it rarely is really so).

<urn:uuid:2a82c073-047b-4e7f-ba3e-ee6250f7ca01>

As online educators, we strive for a balance of learning activities that incorporate three types of engagement: learner-to-content, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-learner. The learner-to-learner component is often filled through discussion boards or group projects, but an underutilized and undervalued option is peer review. Empower students to take responsibility for and manage their own learning. Enable students to learn to assess and give others constructive feedback to develop lifelong assessment skills. Enhance students’ learning through knowledge diffusion and exchange of ideas. Motivate students to engage with course material more deeply. More broadly, the authors of The Knowledge Illusion argue that our individual capacity for knowledge is often much more limited than we realize and that our true depth of knowledge is held collectively. They remind us that, “when you put it all together, human thought is incredibly impressive. But it is a product of a community, not of any individual alone” (page 5). In our increasingly complex world, some evidence of a shift towards building knowledge collectively can be seen in research. For example, in the MEDLINE database, “the average number of authors per article has nearly quadrupled from about 1.5 in 1950 to 5.5 in 2014” (page 226). This is just one of many examples the authors use to illustrate how essential collaboration and relationship skills have become. In nearly every field, students need to be prepared to be more than individual achievers, but rather to contribute effectively to a group. Peer review provides students an opportunity to give and receive feedback with the goal of creating a better end product, but it is also an opportunity for students to practice and build their teamwork skills. Moreover, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standard 3b emphasizes the need for students to, “evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.” Peer review is a great way for us to meet this standard and to combat against misinformation, by teaching students to evaluate and challenge claims. In Weaponized Lies: How to Think Critically in the Post-Truth Era author Daniel J. Levitin shares strategies for how we can think more critically and evaluate the trustworthiness of what we are being told. He notes that, “sometimes the people giving you the facts are hoping you’ll draw the wrong conclusion; sometimes they don’t know the difference themselves” (page xx). If your students are in either of these groups, it benefits them to have an attentive reader review their work and provide respectful suggestions for improvement prior to a final assignment submission. This may help you as the instructor to avoid catching errors too late in the process when students cannot revise their work. However, students may not see the value of peer review on their own. The Teaching Center at Washington University in St. Louis describes many reasons students may express uncertainty around peer review as, “Many students do not perceive feedback from peers as relevant to the process… students are likely to assume that it is only the instructor’s feedback that ‘counts.’” Therefore, it is important that we explain to students why we are asking them to engage in peer review explicitly. It can be helpful to explain specifically how this will relate to industry or field of study requirements as a student advances as a professional and scholar – it looks different for a researcher than it does for a project manager, so motivate students by sharing with them how they will engage in similar activities in the future as this gives them an opportunity to practice what Starting Point: Teaching Entry Level Geoscience describes as, “key skills such as abstracting, developing arguments, describing, assessing, criticizing, analyzing, and reviewing.” As Faculty Focus advises, we can’t assume that students will implicitly understand the purpose of peer review. When we craft a peer review assignment, we need to think carefully about how we will articulate the benefits of the process to students. It can be helpful to answer questions like, “Why am I having students do this?” and “Why should students be excited about this process?” Or, to take it a step further, we can anticipate the questions from our students’ perspective and proactively address the purpose and logistics in the assignment description, by answering questions like, “Why am I doing peer review?” and “How am I supposed to review my peer’s work?” Make sure the technology needed and processes are clear and that resources are provided for students that need more guidance. Remember, knowing why students are peer reviewing and being able to peer review are two totally different skills. If you are an Ecampus instructor, talk with your instructional designer about strategies that can help your peer review process be more successful. Some of the best practices suggested by Center for Instructional Technology & Training at the University of Florida include: Clarify expectations in advance Check your students have all the tools they will need Provide enough time in the peer review process so that students can meaningfully engage – this may span more than one module Model the type of feedback you want your students to use Create a quality rubric as a guide Your instructional designer can also talk to you about digital tools or strategies that can be used to introduce students to peer review. For example, you can discuss whether it makes more sense to use Canvas Peer Review or another tool, like Peerceptiv, which is research-validated peer assessment technology available for Ecampus courses. Remember, students need opportunities to practice peer review, as they may never have done it before. That means they have to get familiar with both the tools and the process. It’s best if they can practice with the technology on a low stakes assignment before using it for a high stakes assignment, so that they can familiarize themselves with a peer review process without the added anxiety of a major grade on the line. It will also take time for you as the instructor to get familiar with the process, but it is a completely worthwhile investment! I invite you to consider some concluding thoughts from Levitin, “Information gathering and research that used to take anywhere from hours to weeks now takes just seconds… The implicit bargain that we all need to make explicit is that we will use just some of that time we saved in information acquisition to perform proper information verification” (page 253). Let’s reinvest some of the time our students saved researching to engage them in verifying claims, evaluating evidence, offering commentary, and incorporating feedback – all of which support the development of a stronger student work and the building of a collective knowledge. For those who work in higher education, it may not come as a surprise that the field of instructional design has grown in tandem with the expansion of online programs and courses. Evidence of this growth abounds. While the discipline of instructional design has expanded rapidly in recent years, the history of instructional design is not well known by those outside of the field. This post will cover a brief history of instructional design with a particular emphasis on design: What influences design? How are design decisions made? How has the way we approached design changed over time? We’ll also consider how instructional designers actually design courses and the importance of course structure as an inclusive practice. Instructional Design: Theory and History Every instructional design curriculum teaches three general theories or theoretical frameworks for learning: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. While an instructional designer (ID) probably wouldn’t call herself a cognitivist or a behaviorist, for example, these theories influence instructional design and the way IDs approach the design process. The field of instructional design is widely believed to have originated during World War II, when training videos like this one were created to prepare soldiers with the knowledge and skills they would need in battle. This form of audio-visual instruction, although embraced by the military, was not initially embraced by schools. In the 1950s, behaviorists, such as B.F. Skinner, dominated popular thought on how to teach and design instruction. For behaviorists, learning results in an observable change in behavior. The optimal design of a learning environment from a behaviorist perspective would be an environment that increases student motivation for learning, provides reinforcement for demonstrating learning, and removes distractions. Behaviorists are always designing for a specific response, and instruction is intended to teach discrete knowledge and skills. For behaviorists, motivation is critical, but only important to the extent that it elicits the desired behavior. Cognitivism was largely a response to behaviorism. Cognitivists emphasized the role of cognition and the mind; they acknowledged that, when designing learning environments, there is more to consider than the content to be learned. More than environmental factors and instructional components, the learners’ own readiness, or prior knowledge, along with their beliefs and attitudes, require consideration. Design, from a cognitivist approach, often emphasizes preparedness and self-awareness. Scaffolding learning and teaching study skills and time-management (metacognitive skills) are practices grounded in a cognitivist framework. While cognitivists emphasize the learner experience, and in particular, acknowledge that learners’ existing knowledge and past histories influence their experience, the learner is still receiving information and acting on it–responding to carefully designed learning environments. Constructivism, the most current of the three frameworks, on the other hand, emphasizes that the learner is constructing their own understanding of the world, not just responding to it. Learners are activity creating knowledge as they engage with the learning environment. All–or nearly all–modern pedagogical approaches are influenced by these theoretical frameworks for learning. “A single course can be seen as a microcosm of theoretical frameworks, historical models, and value-laden judgements of pedagogical approaches“ Learning theories are important because they influence our design models, but by no means are learning theories the only factor guiding design decisions. In our daily work, IDs rely on many different tools and resources. Often, IDs will use multiple tools to make decisions and overcome design challenges. So, how do we accomplish this work in practice? We look to established learning outcomes. We talk about learning goals and activities with faculty. We ask questions to guide decision making about how to meet course learning outcomes through our course design. We look to research-based frameworks and pedagogical approaches such as universal design for learning (UDL), inclusive design, active learning, student-centered design, and many other models. These models may be influenced by learning theory, but they are more practical in nature. We look to human models. We often heed advice and follow the examples our more experienced peers. We look to our own past experiences and solutions that have worked in similar situations, and we apply what we learned to future situations. We make professional judgements; judgements rooted in our tacit knowledge of what we believe “good design” looks like. For better or for worse, we follow our intuition. Our gut. Over time, one can see that instructional design has evolved from an emphasis on teaching discrete knowledge and skills that can be easily measured (behaviorism) to an emphasis on guiding unique learners to actively create their own understanding (constructivism). Design approaches, however, are not as straightforward as simply taking a theory and applying it to a learning situation or some course material. Instructional design is nuanced. It is art and science. A single course can be seen as a microcosm of theoretical frameworks, historical models, and value-laden judgements of pedagogical approaches–as well as value-laden judgements of disciplinary knowledge and its importance. But. That’s another blog post. Design Structure to Meet Diverse Needs “Meeting diverse needs, however, does not necessitate complexity in course design“ If learners are unique, if learning can’t be programmed, if learning environments must be adaptable, if learners are constructing their own knowledge, how is all of this accommodated in a course design? Designing from a modern constructivist perspective, from the viewpoint that students have vastly different backgrounds, past experiences, and world-views, requires that many diverse needs be accommodated in a single course. Meeting diverse needs, however, does not necessitate complexity in course design. Meeting diverse needs means that we need to provide support, so that it is there for those who need it, but not distracting to those who don’t need it. Design needs to be intuitive and seamless for the user. Recent research on inclusive practices in design and teaching identify structure as an inclusive practice. Design can be viewed as a way of applying, or ensuring, a course structure is present. In that way, working with an instructional designer will make your course more inclusive. But, I digress. Or, do I? Sathy and Hogan contend, in their guide, that structure benefits all students, but some, particularly those from underrepresented groups, benefit disproportionately. Conversely, not enough structure, leaves too many students behind. Since many of the same students who benefit from additional course structure also succeed a lower rates, providing course structure may also help to close the achievement gap. How are We Doing This? The good news is that Ecampus is invested in creating courses that are designed–or structured–in a way that meets the needs of many different learners. Working with an Ecampus instructional designer will ensure that your course materials are clearly presented to your students. In fact, many of the resources we provide–course planning templates, rubrics, module outlines, consistent navigation in Canvas, course banners and other icons and visual cues–are intended to ensure that your students navigate your course materials and find what they need, when they need it. Boling, E., Alangari, H., Hajdu, I. M., Guo, M., Gyabak, K., Khlaif, Z., . . . Techawitthayachinda, R. (2017). Core Judgments of Instructional Designers in Practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 30(3), 199-219. doi:10.1002/piq.21250 Eddy, S.L. and Hogan, K. A. (2017) “Getting Under the Hood: How and for Whom Does Increasing Course Structure Work?” CBE—Life Sciences Education. Retrieved from https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.14-03-0050 Sathy, V. and Hogan, K.A. (2019). “Want to Reach All of Your Students? Here’s How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive: Advice Guide. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190719_inclusive_teaching Tanner, K.D. (2013) “Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity,” CBE—Life Sciences Education. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3762997/ Curious what an Ecampus Instructional Designer is looking for when they approve slides for narrated lectures? It certainly depends on the course content. Generally, the top three things I am looking at are copyright, accessibility, and aesthetics. For this post, I am going to focus on copyright and I will return to the other topics in a future post. A copy of the slides, which includes links to helpful materials, is available below the video as well as a list of resources. Have you ever created an online course without using images? No? That is not surprising as images can convey emotions, ideas, and much more. Their value is often captured in an old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. This article will discuss the value of images in online course design and how using visuals to accompany instruction via text or narration might contribute to or detract from an online learning experience. Let’s begin. Multimedia Learning: Images, Text, and More Online learning is a modern form of multimedia learning. Richard Mayer (2009) described multimedia learning as that learning that integrates the use of words and pictures. In traditional classrooms these learning resources might be experienced as: Textbooks:Text and illustrations. Computer-based lessons: Narration w/animation Face-to-face slide presentations: Graphics and audio. In online learning multimedia may also include: eBooks: Text and digital images Video: Text, images, animations, coupled with audio. Interactives: Maps, images, and video. Digital Visual Representations: Virtual worlds and 3D models. Screencasts: Software demos, faculty video feedback, and more. Audio: Enhanced podcasts or narrated lectures. These two short lists, although not exhaustive, demonstrates the importance of visual elements to multimedia based learning in online courses. There are many reasons why we might include any one of these multimedia learning experiences in an online course. For our purposes we will explore a bit more the instructional value of visuals to online learning. So, how do words and pictures work together to help shape learning? Given that this is perhaps the most common learning object used in an online course it would seem useful to understand what may be considered this simple interpretation of visual literacy for learning (Aisami, 2015). Visual Engagement Of A Learning Object In a recent study of how people acquire knowledge from an instructional web page Ludvik Eger (2018) used eye tracking technology to examine a simple learning object composed of a title (headline), a visual element (i.e., diagram), and a box of written text. With no audio support for the learning object in this study, participants engaged the content via visual engagement alone. Results indicated that the majority of students started their learning process at the headline or the headline and visual element. The box of information, in text form, was the third part of the learning object engaged. Within this context eye movement analysis indicates a learning process that is dependent upon a consistent visual flow. Purposely connecting the title, visual element and information text of a learning object may best reinforce learning. By doing this the course designer/instructor becomes a sort of cognitive guide either focusing or not-focusing learning via the meaning structure of the various learning object elements. In our case we want to use visual elements to support performance and achievement of learning tasks. Choosing Visual Elements In order to explore the choice of visual elements in an online learning experience it is helpful to understand how we process that experience from a cognitive science perspective. Clark and Mayer (2016) describe that cognitive science suggests knowledge construction is based upon three principles: Dual channels, limited capacity and active processing. Let’s briefly examine what these are. People have two channesl of cognitive processing 1) for processing visual/pictorial material and 2) one for auditory/verbal material. See Figure 1. below. Humans can only process a few bits of pieces of information in each channel at the same time. Learning occurs as people engage in cognitive processing during learning. This may include attending to relevant material, organizing that material into a coherent structure, and integrating that material with prior knowledge. Due to the limits on any learner’s processing capability it is paramount that we select visual images that help manage the learning process. Our goal is to limit excessive processing that clutters the learning experience, build visual support for representing the core learning process, and provide visual support that fosters deeper understanding of the learning at hand. What does this mean in practice? Managing Processing Via Image Use Making decisions about image selection and use is a key to managing this learning process. Understanding the meaning of images to select is also key and is really a function of literacy in one’s field and visual literacy in general (Kennedy, 2013). In practice we can use the following guidelines to make decisions about image use in multimedia-based online learning. Control Visual Elements – Too many images on a web page or slide may force extraneous cognitive processing that does not support the instructional objective. Select Visual Elements Carefully – Images difficult to discern are likely to negatively impact learning. Think about good visual quality, emotional and intellectual message of the image, information value, and readability. Use Focused Visual Elements – Target selection of visual support to those images that represent the core learning material and/or provide access to deeper understanding of that core content. Other Image Tips Emotional Tone: Emotional design elements (e.g., visuals) can play important roles in motivating learners and achievement of learning outcomes (Mayer, 2013). Interest: Decorative images may boost learner interest but do not contribute to higher performance in testing (Mayer, 2013). Use decorative images prudently so they do not contribute to extraneous learning processing (Pettersson & Avgerinou, 2016). Challenge: Making image selections that contribute to a degree of confusion may challenge learnings to dive more deeply into core learning. This is a tenuous decision in that challenge in sense making may prove to foster excessive processing. Access: Images must be presented in a format that is viewable to users to be practical. This involves an understanding of technical features of image formats, download capability, mobile use, and universal design techniques. It is valuable to remember that visuals communicate non verbally. They are most effectively used when carefully selected and paired with text or audio narration. Visuals appeal to the sense of sight. They have different classifications and could be pictures, symbols, signs, maps graphs, diagrams, charts, models, and photographs. Knowing their form, meaning, and application is part of being a visually literate course developer or instructional designer. “Diversity is our world’s greatest asset, and inclusion is our biggest challenge. And the way that we are going to address that challenge is by extending our empathy.”-Jutta Treviranus, Founder of the Inclusive Design Research Centre, OCAD University Sure, you’ve been teaching online courses for a few terms or years now, but have you ever been an online student? Many current faculty members earned their degrees in traditional face-to-face settings and have learned how to migrate their courses to the online environment by using research-based best practices and support from instructional designers and media experts. However, are there benefits to experiencing this fledgling educational modality from the perspective of the online student? I argue that faculty who challenge themselves to take an online course experience both personal and professional benefits and become more empathic, inclusive, creative, and reflective. Benefits for Faculty Members Challenge yourself to try out something completely different than your specialization or discipline: Are you a STEM professor who has a screenplay idea? Perhaps you have a trip to the French Riviera on your bucket list, or your college Spanish is rusty. Try a foreign language course this summer. Are you a humanities professor who is curious about the composition of the soil in your garden? Find out about the dirt in your yard as a soil science student. Here are some benefits to consider: Taking an online course may give you ideas or inspiration for something that you want to try in your own course. Stretching yourself may spur creativity and innovation. You are modeling lifelong learning for your students and family. Most importantly, it just might be fun! I’m consistently impressed with the care and concern OSU faculty have for their students, and taking an online course is one way to demonstrate that concern. By changing roles, such as by becoming an online student, faculty expand their perspectives, which results in the potential for even greater student support and understanding. Yes, faculty members contend with heavy workloads and may feel that taking an online course on top of everything else would be overwhelming. However, your Ecampus students may also struggle with feeling maxed out. Did you know that the average age of a student taking an Ecampus course is 31 years old? This means that it is likely your online students are responsible for full-time work as well as family obligations. Taking online courses helps faculty members build empathy for their students by giving themselves opportunities to experience the excitement, anxiety, and pride of successfully completing an online course. Furthermore, by increasing empathy, faculty members may become more inclusive and reflective practitioners. For example, as an online student, you know how it feels to be welcomed (or not) by your instructor, or to receive feedback within a few days as opposed to a few weeks. As an adult learner, you also may desire to share your prior experience or professional background with the instructor or students. Does your course give you the opportunity to introduce yourself to the instructor and other students, to describe your background and some strengths that you bring to the course community, or are you left feeling invisible in the course, with your expertise unacknowledged? First, let’s start by considering the characteristics of effective feedback in general. What comes to mind? Perhaps you hear in your head (in the authentically authoritative voice of a past professor) the words timely, frequent, regular, balanced, specific. Perhaps you recall the feedback sandwich–corrective feedback sandwiched between positive feedback. Perhaps you consider rubrics or ample formative feedback to be critical components of effective feedback. You wouldn’t be wrong. As educators, we understand the main characteristics of effective feedback. But despite this fact, students are often disappointed by the feedback they receive and faculty find the feedback process time consuming, often wondering if the time commitment is worth it. As an instructional designer, I hear from faculty who struggle to get students to pay attention to feedback and make appropriate changes based on feedback. I hear from faculty who struggle to find the time to provide quality feedback, especially in large classes. The struggle is real. I know this because I hear about it all the time. I’m glad I hear about these concerns. I always want faculty to share their thoughts about what’s working and what’s not working in their classes. About a year or two ago, I also started hearing rave reviews from faculty who decided to try audio feedback in their online courses. They loved it and reported that their students loved it. Naturally, I wanted to know if these reports were outliers or if there’s evidence supporting audio feedback as an effective pedagogical practice. I started by looking for research on how audio feedback influences student performance, but what I found was research on how students and faculty perceive and experience audio feedback. What I learned was that, overall, students tend to prefer audio feedback. Faculty perceptions, however, are mixed, especially in terms of the potential for audio feedback to save them time. While the research was limited and the studies often had contradictory results, there was one consistent takeaway from multiple studies: audio feedback supports social presence, student-faculty connections, and engagement. While research supports the value of social presence online, audio feedback is not always considered for this purpose. Yet, audio feedback is an excellent opportunity to focus on teaching presence by connecting one-to-one with students. If you haven’t tried audio feedback in your classes, and you want to, here are some tips to get you started: Use the Canvas audio tool in Speedgrader. See the “add media comment” section of the Canvas guide to leaving feedback comments. Since this tool is integrated with Canvas, you won’t have to worry about upload and download times for you or your students. Start slow. You don’t have to jump into the deep end and provide audio comments on all of your students’ assignments. Choose one or two to get started. Ask your students what they think. Any time you try something new, it’s a good idea to hear from your students. Creating a short survey in your course to solicit student feedback is an excellent way to get informal feedback. Be flexible. If you have a student with a hearing impairment or another barrier that makes audio feedback a less than optimal option for them, be prepared to provide them with written feedback or another alternative. Are you ready to try something new? Have you tried using audio feedback in your course? Tell us how it went! Facial motion capture (Mo-Cap) is a process that uses a camera to map and track points on the user’s face. Software such as Adobe’sCharacter Animator derive data from the camera to animate cartoon characters in real time. This can greatly reduce the amount of time needed to create an animation and breathes subtle life into the character that would be otherwise difficult to achieve. Character Animator harnesses the power of the webcam to map several parts of the face to the respective parts of the character allowing it to record in real time. This includes your eyebrows, eyes, mouth, and head position. It also intakes audio to change mouth shapes to match what the user is speaking. In addition to the webcam, the user can operate their keyboard to trigger additional movements, effects, and walk motions. All these different aspects combine and give the character a personalized feel. How does it help? Cartoon animations currently do not have a large presence in online learning. This is mostly because they take a long time to create and not everyone has had the resources to create them. Normally, character animation for cartoons requires drawing each frame or using a pose-to-pose process called key framing. With innovative technology such as Character Animator, it greatly reduces the barrier to create cartoon animations for online learning. Each motion of the face records instantly and gives the character life by adding subtle movements to the face and head. The bulk of the work is completed early on to draw, rig, and add triggers to the character, or in this case, the puppet. Once the puppet is set up to record, it is smooth sailing from there. All movements, audio, and facial expressions are recorded in one take; greatly reducing the amount of time for development. However, Character Animator allows you to choose which aspects you want to record, so you can record the eye movements one time, then the eyebrows another time. This is helpful for the perfectionists out there who cannot seem capture it all at once. How does it work? To create an animation using Character Animator, there are a handful of stages to complete. The first step is to draw the character in either Photoshop or Illustrator. Next, Character Animator imports the graphics and they are rigged into puppets to prepare for recording. This means the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. are tagged with their respective labels. Also during this time, you can create keyboard triggers. These are animations such as arm movements, walk motions, and more, that the pressing of certain keys on the keyboard triggers the character to perform. After the puppets are prepared, it is time to record. It does not have to be shot perfectly all at once; you can blend the best bits from different recordings into one masterpiece. The last step is to export the character’s recording and composite it into a story using video software such as Premiere Pro or After Effects. Once you achieve the flow of facial Mo-Cap, you can start cranking out animations faster than ever before. Below is a quick rundown of what it takes to set up a character and how to record it. At the end of the video, there is a sample of multiple characters in one scene. What can instructional designers learn from video game design? This might seem like a silly question—what do video games have to do with learning? Why might we use video games as an inspiration in pedagogy? As instructional designers, faculty often come to us with a variety of problems to address in their course designs—a lack of student interaction, how to improve student application of a given topic, and many more. While there are many tools at our disposal, I’d like to propose an extra tool belt for our kit: what if we thought more like game designers? Video games excel at creating engaging and motivating learning environments. Hold on a minute, I hear you saying, video games don’t teach anything! In order for games to onboard players, games teach players how to navigate the “physical” game world, use the game’s controls, identify the rules of what is and is not allowed, interpret the feedback the game communicates about those rules, identify the current outcome, form and execute strategies, and a large variety of other things depending on the game, and that’s usually just the tutorial level! What is the experience like in a learning environment when students begin an online course? They learn how to navigate the course site, use the tools necessary for the course, identify the assessment directions and feedback, identify the short-term and long-term course outcomes, learn material at a variety of different learning levels, and large variety of other things depending on the class, and that’s usually just the first week or two! Sound familiar? What are some things that video games do well during this on-boarding/tutorial to setup players for success? And how might instructional designers and faculty use these elements as inspiration in their classes? The following list includes nine tips on how game design tackles tutorial levels and how these designs could be implemented in a course design: Early tasks are very simple, have low stakes, and feedback for these tasks is often very limited—either “you got it” or “try again”. Consider having some low-stakes assignments early in the course that are pass/fail. If negative feedback is received (dying, losing a life, failing a level, etc.), it is often accompanied by a hint, never an answer. If you have a MCQ, do not allow students to see the correct answer, but consider adding comments to appear if a student selects an incorrect answer that offers hints. If negative feedback is received, the game does not move on until the current outcome is achieved. Allow multiple attempts on quizzes or assignments and/or setup prerequisite activities or modules. Game levels allow for flexible time—different players complete levels at different rates. Design tasks with flexible due dates. Many courses already allow some flexibility for students to complete activities and assessments within weekly modules—can that flexibility be extended beyond a weekly time frame? Tutorial quests usually have predetermined and clearly communicated outcomes. All objectives are observable by both the game and the player. Create outcomes and rubric conditions/language that are self-assessable, even if the instructor will complete the grading. Tasks and game levels are usually cumulative in nature and progress using scaffolded levels/activities. Consider breaking up large assignments or activities into smaller, more cumulative parts. For example, the first quest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great example for Nos. 5 and 6 above. It consists of four required objectives and two optional objectives: Make your way to the keep. Enter the Keep with Hadvar or Ralof. Find some equipment (Hadvar) / Loot Gunjar’s body (Ralof). Optional: Search a barrel for potions. Optional: Pick the lock of a cage. There are varying degrees of assumed prior knowledge, but no matter what, everyone participates in the tutorial levels. They are not optional. Consider saving optional “side quests” for later in a course or having an introductory module for everyone, regardless of skill level. The “tutorial” process usually ends when all skills have been introduced, but some games continue to add new skills throughout, inserting mid-game tutorials when necessary. Return to some of the design ideas on this list if a course introduces new topics throughout. After a requisite number of skills are mastered and players are able to fully play the game, the only major changes in design are increases in difficulty. These changes in difficulty are usually inline with maintaining a flow state by balancing the amount of challenge to the skill level of the player. As course material and activities increase in difficulty, make sure there are ample opportunities for students to develop their abilities in tandem. Games are a great model for designing engaging learning experiences, with significant research in psychology and education to back it up. By understanding how games are designed, we can apply this knowledge in our course designs to help make our courses more motivating and engaging for our students. Want to know more about the psychology of why these designs work? Start with these resources: This book is another excellent introduction based around Deci & Ryan’s Self Determination Theory (SDT) and how the framework for SDT is observed in different games. For an illustrated video of Ryan explaining the basics of SDT, click here. For some primary sources on SDT and intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, here are some additional articles by Deci & Ryan: For Ecampus students, online education offers accessibility, flexibility and asynchronous learning opportunities when attending courses on campus may not be possible. University-based distance education has experienced steady growth over the past 20 years. A 2018 study found that 31.6% of all students are taking at least one online course (Seaman, Allen, & Seaman, 2018). But, although the growth of online courses has improved access to education, it hasn’t necessarily coincided with a growth of relevant, engaging, and innovative learning experiences. While many educators and online course designers recognize the value of project-based learning, concerns over the skills and the time required to develop authentic projects limits their use in online classes. This blog post will look at ways Constructionism, the theory that learning is most effective when students make authentic artifacts to build knowledge, can be applied to online higher education. Constructionism is a term first defined by Seymour Papert, an MIT scholar, educational theorist, and an early champion of using computers in education (MIT Media Lab, 2016). Papert built on the earlier work of philosopher Jean Piaget. Piaget’s similarly named Constructivist theory proposed that children learn not as information is transmitted to them or in response to stimulation, but through experiences in which they are given the opportunity to “construct meaning.” While Papert agreed, he expanded on these ideas and slightly modified the name. He believed that constructing knowledge was more effective when it was done “in the world.” Papert’s Constructionism theory held that students learned best when given an opportunity to construct their own meaning by creating meaningful artifacts for an authentic audience. He felt that by creating something to share, something that “can be shown, discussed, examined, probed, and admired” student motivation to learn was increased (Papert, 1993, p. 143). Papert illustrated this theory working with elementary school aged children to program Legos. His work in education inspired the development of the Lego Mindstorms line, that now has widespread use in K-12 STEM educational programs and robotic competitions. Papert developed a curriculum based on his Constructionism theory for elementary school children in classrooms. But how can these same principles, those of learning by doing, be applied to adults earning college degrees online? Creating effective online learning requires new practices. Earning an undergraduate degree in Oregon represents roughly 5400 hours of schoolwork.1 But what does that look like? For an online student, this time is spent going through the learning materials online and completing the related activities and assessments. The majority of online instructional materials are designed for passive consumption. Slide-based presentations and PDF articles are being embedded into Learning Management Systems (LMS’s), and whiteboards and lectures are being videotaped and exported to YouTube. To demonstrate their understanding of the material, students are asked to post in discussion forums and to write papers. Imagine completing 5400 hours of these types of activities to earn a degree. Face-to-face interaction with an instructor and classmates can inspire effort that is more difficult to motivate in virtual instruction. Research findings by Constructivist thinkers have found that in order to facilitate an active learning experience for students, they must be doing something besides passively reading or listening to lecture content. “Teachers can’t “pour” knowledge into the heads of students as they might pour lemonade into a glass; rather, students make their own lemonade” (Ormrod, 2016, pp. 158–159). Students are more engaged when they are presented with the challenge of analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, and presenting information. They retain more when they participate in their own learning. There is now widespread availability of multimedia tools that can enable students to create content that reflects on what they are learning. These include podcasts, skits, videos, and narrated presentations. They can create timelines, online portfolios, or interactive maps. Assignments like these usually require higher order thinking skills – asking students to analyze or synthesize what they have learned and share it with an audience. I had the opportunity to create multimodal projects several times while earning my master’s degree at Western Oregon. I created numerous digital stories. I used them to introduce myself to my online classmates, to create tutorials, and to share experiences raising my children after my husband passed away (see my first digital story, Suck it up Buttercup). In doing these projects, I realized that I had a story to tell – and one to which I needed to add my voice. They were powerful and engaging learning experiences for me. I became comfortable with the technology required to create the projects, I practiced writing, editing, speaking and presentation skills. In the process of sharing a bit of myself with my classmates and instructors I felt connected to them in a way that I had not before as a distance learner. I was proud of the projects I created. I put long hours into them and continued to edit them after they had been submitted and graded because I wanted to improve them and share them with a broader audience. I have never done this with a discussion forum post or research paper. One of my course presentations, in conjunction with an online portfolio I created for a different class, was used to interview for the job I now hold as an Instructional Designer at Oregon State University. Technology-based assessment projects should only be introduced to curriculum intentionally. Assignments should be selected carefully to align with the learning outcomes of the course and should be appropriate for the level of the course. Projects should be challenging, but doable and relevant to the learner’s goals and outcomes developed at the beginning of course design. While introducing Constructionism into online courses using technology-based tools may move away from traditional teaching methods, it does not mean students will not develop the same types of core skills expected from an undergraduate education. Judith V. Boettcher holds a Ph.D. in education and cognitive psychology and owns the website “Designing for Learning.” In a 2011 article on assessment alternatives to writing papers, Boettcher asserted that the skills required for written assignments: critical thinking, analysis, knowledge of the subject, assembly of ideas, and information processing were still exercised and developed when the output was a different type of product (Judith V. Boettcher, 2011). Her point is well taken. Consider what it takes for a student to create a video documentary, script a podcast, or even develop a narrated presentation. Many of the skills required to write a research paper, essay or thoughtful discussion post are also present in assignments that leverage technology for creation. The student still has to enter the conversation about their subject area with thoughtful and well-developed contributions. But with the wealth of tools now available, there are many ways for them to share their work. Boettcher also noted that looking for ways to leverage technology in assessment strategies has the additional benefit of reducing the burden of reading “endless numbers of papers.” Many instructors worry that learning curves associated with new tools will interfere with the ability to absorb the course content. However, when probing faculty, often it is their own unfamiliarity with technology that is at the root of this fear. It is worth experimenting before presupposing that learning how to build a website or create an animated presentation or video will be too hard. Recent advances in technology have produced endless collections of websites and apps that have a very low barrier to creating visually stunning multimedia content. Many of them are free or low cost, particularly to educators. As an example, the new Google Sites released in 2018 makes it easy for those with no web development experience to create and publish a website including videos, pictures, documents and audio files. Users can apply themes, chose colors and change font styles to personalize the site. As users add content to templated page layouts, they are automatically aligned and sized based on best design practices. Google Sites has the added advantage for those concerned about privacy of allowing content to be restricted to users on a school’s domain or to invited individuals. In contrast to many university faculty instructors who are new to multimedia content creation tools, this generation of students has grown up online. They use online tools for social interactions, at work, for school, and to pursue their personal interests. Their research projects start with an online search, so much so that looking for information has become synonymous with the name of the world’s most popular internet search engine. “Let me Google that.” If a student has questions about how to use a tool to create a presentation or edit a video, they will do just that. More likely however, they will just start trying to use it, building useful, employable skills as they do so. In 2013, Google commissioned a study that reinforced the value of employees willing to think for themselves, experiment, and explore new ways of sharing information. Writing about this study in the Washington Post, Cathy Davidson (Cathy Davidson, 2017), author of “The New Education: How to revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux,” said that the study showed that workplace success is predicted largely by skills such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving, curiosity and making connections across complex ideas. In the New Media Consortium 2017 Horizon Report on Higher Education they reiterated the findings of the Google study: “Real-world skills are needed to bolster employability and workplace development. Students expect to graduate into gainful employment. Institutions have a responsibility to deliver deeper, active learning experiences and skills-based training that integrate technology in meaningful ways” (Becker et al., 2017). Both of these studies reflect the importance that today’s students leave school knowing how to collaborate, question, and engage – skills not necessarily developed through passive consumption of content in online courses. In other words, a willingness to experiment, the ability to think creatively, and communication and presentation skills – all of those traits exercised when learners are asked to create and share projects demonstrating new knowledge – are those that will help them during a job search. Not only that, but some of these artifacts can be used while applying for and interviewing for work. Presentations and online portfolios can be shared with prospective employers. Prospective job applicants cannot, however, take LMS discussion posts to an interview. Building skills and creating artifacts that will help students at work or to find work is motivating for adult learners. Adult enrollment in online degree programs is primarily driven by their career aspirations (Jordan Friedman, 2017). Numerous studies find higher student satisfaction and retention in online higher education courses when there is a link to a professional application. Student are more motivated to learn when the relevancy and applicability of activities to their chosen field is obvious (Ke, 2010). This reflects both pedagogical best practices (Luna Scott, 2015), and the fact that the majority of online students are hoping to develop skills that will support their careers. These studies found that the ability to apply knowledge to real-world applications consistently contributed to a learner’s positive experience. An increasing number of students are turning to online education to earn their degrees. As educational costs rise, many students are doing this out of necessity while juggling school, work, and family commitments. Educators need to look for ways to create relevant and engaging forms of assessment for these learners. There is an over-reliance on passive consumption of learning materials and text-based assignments. But students, when given the choice to develop projects of their own design and based on their own interests, are likely to retain more information and walk away with modern career skills. The lessons Papert learned by allowing elementary school children to build and program Lego structures can and should be carried over to online higher education. Let students build something. Let them share it with an authentic audience. Leverage technology that enables students in online classes to use knowledge, rather than just store it. This type of assessment allows students to find their voice and excites them about their coursework. There are numerous options that instructors can include in an online course to foster this type of learning. Undergraduate students attending Oregon universities must complete a minimum of 180 credit hours. Guidelines, like those offered by the Oregon State University Registrar’s office, suggest that students should expect three hours of work per week for each credit hour (Oregon State University, 2018). Over the course of a ten-week quarterly term, like those of Oregon’s public universities, 180 credits at 12 credits a term would require 36 hours of work a week and take 15 terms, or 150 weeks. 150 weeks X 36 hours of work/per week is 5400 hours. You may have heard the terms experiential education and experiential learning. Both terms identify learning through experience as a foundational understanding. However, experiential learning is associated with individual learning. Traditionally experience-based learning in higher education has been presented as educational opportunities complimentary to classroom instruction. These experiences might include clinical experiences, cooperative education experiences, apprenticeships, fellowships, field work, volunteerism, study abroad, practicum and internships, service learning, and student teaching experiences. These types of learning experiences are offered in and across many different disciplines (Giesen, 2012). These familiar experiential education programs demonstrate the value of individual experiential learning. But, the question remains: Is experiential learning a viable approach for online instruction? Understanding the potential for experiential learning for online courses turns upon recognizing experiential learning as a process. The experiential learning process has been described as a cycle of learning (Kolb and Kolb, 2018). The model below illustrates The Experiential Learning Cycle. Experiential learning is understood as constructive pedagogy approach that is highly student centered. The Experience Learning Cycle begins with a concrete experience of some kind. Commonly we think of this as a real world event. That experience is followed by reflective observation of the experience, abstract conceptualization of what was learned, and the application of new learning via active experimentation. That experimentation is integrated as part of the next concrete experience. The interactive and progressive nature of the experiential learning cycle is considered a driver of personal growth and development. The dialectics between concrete experience and abstract conceptualization as well as reflective observation and active experimentation are theorized to drive motivation for learning. Online Experiential Learning In Practice Problem-based learning, case-based learning, andproject-based learning are examples of design models that may include learning via experience in the real world (Bates, 2014). These models are often used as a way of bringing engagement into online instruction. So, if you have been incorporating these models of learning in an online course you are engaged at some level with experiential learning. But, what if you wanted to design an experiential learning assignment that does not fall within one of these models?What might that look like? Let’s examine the application of the experiential learning cycle to an online learning experience in a course recently offered through Ecampus at Oregon State University. The asynchronous course, Introduction to Organic Agriculture Systems, is a survey style course with an enrollment of students from Oregon and more distant. Let’s step through The Cycle of Experiential Learning with an assignment from this course as our sample context. Hopefully it will reveal some insights into both the process of experiential learning and its practice. 1. Concrete Experience The concrete experience for this course was an organic scavenger hunt assignment that was to be completed in the first week of the course. Although the overt activity of was a guided scavenger hunt the learning experience focus was to begin to learn systems thinking in organic agriculture. This is important to identify, as it is the authentic learning goal of the experiential learning. As the professor framed this assignment: “This introductory activity will provide you the opportunity to explore organic availability, marketing, and farming in your community.”This concrete experience is the direct experience of organics in the student’s community. The objectives of the scavenger hunt were to: Identify organic products and marketing techniques that differentiate organic from conventional products Conduct a survey of organic availability in your local store and region Participate in hands-on exploration of different components of the organic system Students were provided with a detail scavenger hunt instruction set and told to complete there first part of the assignment in a local store using an organic scavenger hunt questionnaire-work sheet. Time estimates for completion of the scavenger hunt was up to three hours at the store site. Completed work sheets were turned in to the instructor. The key to this assignment is the real life exploration of the local organic system. Although this will be elaborated on in subsequent weeks of the course, this concrete experience will become a touchstone students can reference as they build new knowledge and skills in systems thinking in organic agriculture. 2. Reflective Observation Part 2 of the scavenger hunt assignment includes independent student work guided by questions that ask about the presence of organic farms in the student’s area, type of organic farms, scale of the farms and evidence of their independent research work. This element of the assignment encourages students to search for, identify, and reflect upon gaps in the local organic system in their own backyard. This work encourages students to reflect upon their own concrete experience, the quality of their work, and its linkage to understanding systems thinking. 3. Abstract Conceptualization In week three of the course students were assigned a course discussion to share their findings from the scavenger hunt with peers. Here they compare and contrast their scavenger hunt findings and observations. In particular, students were asked to connect the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability in organic agriculture to their observations taken from the scavenger hunt experience. Additionally students were asked to review other student work from different locals and explore common understandings about organic agriculture systems. The value of this exercise from an experiential learning perspective is the application of concrete experience to more abstract concepts described by others or found in other agricultural regions. This provides opportunities for the re-conceptualizing of prior experiences with the goal of expanding on the process of organic agriculture systems thinking. 4. Active Experimentation The Cycle of Experiential Learning rounds out with planning and applying new learning about organic agriculture systems thinking to a future concrete experience. Abstract conceptualization completed in the previous discussion will contribute to the formulation of new questions and ways of examining a local organic agriculture system. Students will likely apply these ideas to ongoing organic agriculture systems thinking in the course. In this way prior reflective observation becomes the root of new questions and predicted results for the next learning experience in organic agriculture systems thinking. The final project of this course is the production of an organic systems map that explains the relationships between organic system stages (i.e., production, processing, distribution/marketing, consumption, and waste) and the dimensions of sustainability (ie. social, environmental, and economic). In order to complete the final project students learn a great deal between their initial scavenger hunt and the final project. Their original concrete experience in systems thinking will likely inform decisions about how to re-apply new organic agriculture systems thinking. The experiential learning assignment we just examined only works if students perceive that moving through the cycle of experiential learning addresses an authentic learning need. As the course is focused on introducing organic agriculture systems the idea of learning systems thinking makes sense. It captures the fundamental truth of what is expected to be learned (Jacobson, 2017) making the learning appropriate. As you explore the possibility of using experiential learning in your online course it is valuable for you to first consider formulating answers to a number of questions. What is the authentic learning needed? What concrete experience provides students with access to that learning? How will students carry that concrete experience through the cycle of experiential learning? How will you provide the opportunity for concrete experiences for remote learners in a way that fosters individual learning and contributes to large scale learning in the course? As you explore experiential learning for your online course revisit the model shared in this article. For help in this process contact your Ecampus instructional designer. They can help focus the key questions and suggest instructional strategies and tools to help you achieve your online experiential learning goals. Bates, T. (2014). Can you do experiential learning online? Assessing design models for experiential learning. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/12/01/can-you-do-experiential-learning-online-assessing-design-models-for-experiential-learning/ Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Simon and Schuster. Giesen, J. (2012). Experiential Learning. Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/facdev/_pdf/guide/strategies/experiential_learning.pdf Jacobson, J. (2017). Authenticity in Immersive Design for Education. In Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities (Ch 3). Singapore, Springer Nature. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-981-10-5490-7 Kolb, A. & Kolb, D. (2018). Eight important things to know about The Experience Learning Cycle. Australian Educational Leader, 40 (3), 8-14.

<urn:uuid:cf3e770a-512e-4764-b107-adbb1eded13a>

This happened because of decentralization of the structures of government, and less regulation of the education system due to liberalization of the economy where organizations are allowed to offer services without regulation from the government.Lauder further argues that marketization of education arose due to the emergence of the class system. Parents from rich backgrounds saw the need of taking their children to special schools, because they offered quality education than state schools .This aspect caused rift between the rich and the poor in the educative process in terms of acquisition of knowledge. Bates et al (2011) and Kishan (2008) observe that parents with low income struggle to take their children to state schools, and this accelerates the process of social segregation.In socialist states, education is controlled by the government and it develops school curriculums which are strictly followed. This is as opposed to the liberalized states such as America and Britain.The European Research institute of education conducted a research on marketization of education in Europe. They found that the state had lost its ability to regulate the education system in Europe (Kishan, 2008). This proves that governance and politics are the main motivators of this approach to education, and not economics.

<urn:uuid:5d628e70-f481-4a08-b900-78666e0c5382>

Are you looking to learn GIT in a short period? If you are new to coding, you need a basic guide to learn GIT. Before understanding GIT deeply, Let’s understand what GIT is and GIT basics. GIT is a distributed version control system that allows multiple people to work in parallel and it saves a history of all changes made. This is a tracking tool that changes computer files and coordinates work on those files among multiple people. Through GIT we can track the changes, changes history, who made the changes, when they made the changes and why they made the changes. By learning GIT Basics, one can understand how to install GIT, create a local GIT Repository, GIT Branches, Moving Code Between Local and Remote Repository, tagging and many more. Git does not necessarily rely on a central server to store all the versions of a project’s files. The clone has all of the metadata of the original while the original itself is stored on a self-hosted server or a third-party hosting service like GitHub. GIT is used by many clients for various projects. But the technology is the same for everyone and all projects. So let’s see one by one. How does GIT help? GIT helps to manage multiple projects with branches and merging options. Branches help you to work in different parts and different versions of projects without disturbing other codes or works. You can also push local updates to the main project and you can share your work with other colleagues or to the world to get output from them. GIT is used by many developers. As per the report, 70% of the developers prefer GIT to work. One can sit in any part of the world and connect with another part of the world and work together through GIT. The major advantage of the GIT is developers can see the changes and history of the project. They can also revert to an earlier version of a project. Moreover, GIT is free. If you have not installed GIT in your system, you can download it from https://www.git-scm.com/. You can install it with the help of installation guidelines. Installation link: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git After the installation, you can type the following in your terminal to see if it was installed git –version. NOTE: For Windows users, it will be the command prompt and for Mac users, it will be the terminal to interact. What is a Repository and Creating a Local Git Repository The repository is nothing but a collection of code sources. If you are starting afresh or a new project you need to create a local GIT repository. Your files and checkpoints changes will be stored to allow versions. Create a folder on your Desktop – open up your terminal (or Command Prompt) – copy the commands - 1st line of command – navigate to the folder - 2nd line of command – local repository. Let’s take an example of Vegetables, we will create a file with the name of vegetables in the GIT folder. Copy the codes and exit. veggies = [‘Tomato’, ‘potato’, ‘Onion’, ‘Raddish’, ‘sweet potato’, ‘Bell peppers’, ‘baby corn’] NOTE: If you don’t have python installed on your system, you can create a .txt file instead of a .py file). Committing Files to the Local Repository We have already created one file in the local system folder. Now we have to add these files into the local repository to start tracking the files and changes. Committing nothing more than the process of adding the file to a local repository. - Later, add the files into the staging area and commit. - The additional step gives you control over the files and it will allow you to change the file if you choose the wrong file accidentally. - Check in the staging area by typing git status. - Now you can see our file below and the changes have not yet been committed. - To commit the file, use git commit -m “My First Commit” - If you made any mistake, open up the file, do the changes and proceed for another commit. Analyse all Commits Made - If you want to recheck the commits, use git log. You can see the author name of the commit, committed date, commit message for every commit that was made. - If you want to check the commits done by a particular person use git log — author= author name. You can create branches in GIT to keep your work separate from the master branch. These branches become handy while testing the codes. You will always work off the branch by default. These branches will help you to test the codes in test branches without disturbing other codes and branches. When we commit to testing branches, these checkpoints will keep them separate from the main branch. And if we like test branch codes, we can easily merge with the main branch. Before merging the branches, be sure to review any changes you made between the branches using git diff test master. Move back your test branch(source branch) to the master branch and merge like git checkout master git merge test Moving Code Between Local and Remote Repository If you want to showcase your code to colleagues or the world, you can share it with anyone. Create a remote repository and synchronise it with your local repository. You can push the codes to a central location where other people can access your code. There are various websites for hosting GIT projects. GIT gives various cool things to do, tagging is one of them. You can tag specific points in your commit history as being important like 1.0, 2.0, etc. - Lightweight tags – These are temporary tags that will be used for points to a specific commit. - Annotated tags – These are full-on objects which contain the tagger’s name, email id, date, message and verification of identity. In messages, customise it with your message. Check the tags which you currently have, use the git tag. You can push tags to the remote repository, tag later points or delete them anytime.

<urn:uuid:a522641a-50ab-41ee-a8f2-93fd92f90802>

What an amazing language! Completely isolated from any other language since the Stone Age, Basque (or Euskara) sits across the mountain border between France and Spain. It predates the Indo-European languages which dominate the European linguistic landscape and there is an argument that it was the chthonic (aboriginal) language spoken by the very first inhabitants of Europe as they migrated, slowly, from the Indo-European homelands near the Black Sea, throughout southern Europe and into the Iberian Peninsula. Subsequent population pressure then pushed the Basques into the Pyrenean mountains where they continue to thrive. And they certainly did thrive. “The Basque History of the World” by Mark Kurlansky tells the story of this enterprising population. Deliberately liminal to the increasing political separation in Europe, they kept their identity by refusing to be absorbed by the surrounding polities of what became France, Spain, Catalonia. Their mountains helped them, providing hard-to-attack retreats, deep canyons and defensible killing grounds. They tell the story of their stout fishing boats sailing over a wild Atlantic to the Newfoundland coast in search of cod. When asked why they did not land, they shrugged and said “No cod on the shore.” Singleminded or what? Who cares about discovering North America: we have cider and cod… Linguistically, Basque is quite fascinating. Like March’s Language of the Month, Ainu, it is ergative, meaning that the objects of transitive verbs and the subjects of intransitive verbs are, grammatically, treated the same. English, Latin, Japanese, French and other nominative-accusative languages treat ‘She’ in the pair of sentences: ‘She hit him” and “She smiled” with the same nominative case, and ‘him’ with a different case, namely the accusative or object case. Ergative languages apply the same case to ‘him’ in the first sentence and ‘she’ in the second. It’s also agglutinative, with many syllables being concatenated to form complex word-forms. To the English speaker this seems strange, because English is an isolating language, where, for example, parts of a verb are written separately: “I would have wished to have gone to Ithaca”. In agglutinative languages it’s more like “I wouldhavewishedtohavegone to Ithaca”. The Basque language is pretty vibrant, considering its isolation and the surrounding linguistic politics. The first map shows the percentage of schoolchildren registered in Basque-speaking schools, a key indicator of social support for the language. Percentage of schoolchildren going to Basque-speaking Schools (Spanish Basque country) This second map shows another critical indicator of the future health of the language, namely the extent to which parents use Basque with their children. Both indicators show a real interest not only preserving the language in aspic but retaining it as a living expression of social and cultural identity, which is why it’s one of Tribalingual’s chosen languages. Percentage of families using Basque as primary language to children Basque culture is incredibly rich and vibrant, with a strong emphasis on food culture. Cider is the drink of choice, to wash down a huge variety of dishes, based on fish in the coastal regions (like kokotzas – hake cheek) and on dairy and beef up in the mountains. The Basques take food VERY seriously, with many towns having traditions of the txikiteo, a crawl from one pintxos (tapas) bar to another involving much wine, much conversation, much amusement and many, many calories. What’s not to like…?

<urn:uuid:222e73a4-f783-4d3e-b75a-627489ab87af>

Welcome to the origins and course of the first world war 1905-18: a timeline for edexcel igcse history students to help with revision. Abstract the recent crop of books on the origins of the first world war dispenses with the notion of inevitability in the outbreak of war, and stresses the maturity. This is a preview of the first six pages of the file please download the file to view the resource in its entirety next. The fischer controversy, documents and the ‘truth’ about the origins of the first world war. The origins of the first world war - volume 49 issue 4 - talbot c imlay. Origins of the first world war the first world war (or the 'great war') was to be the ‘war to end all wars’ it was seen as the war that would, once and for all. As part of the british empire, new zealand was formally involved in the first world war (often referred to as the great war) by the declaration of war on germany by. Who was responsible for the first world war that germany was largely to blame has become the established view, but sean mcmeekin points his finger at a different. The 1914 debate continues / james joll -- origins of the first world war / imanuel geiss -- 1914--the third balkan war / joachim remak -- world war i as galloping. Considering the importance of russia’s war of 1914–1917 for the subsequent history of the world—from the collapse of the ottoman empire and all that followed in. Dr william mulligan (ucd) explores the complex origins of the first world war, which was the product of a series of international crises he explores the roles of. The background origins of the first world war the european arms race, alliances and the schlieffen plan. First world warcom the causes of world war one for our purposes it serves to date the origins of the core alliances back to bismarck's renowned. The origins of the first world war, origins of modern wars london new york: longman, 1984 keegan, john the first world war new york: a knopf, 1999. 1742 // mit political science department stephen van evera the origins of the first world war i world war i in perspective a in 1890 europe was a. Introduction the origins of world war i are best summarized in two contexts the first stresses long-term issues such as nationalism, materialism, and militarism. On july 28th 1914 began the outbreak of the first world war, aka world war 1 or the great war for civilisation join us as we learn everything there is to know in our. If one is looking for a single definitive cause for europe’s collective decision to fight in 1914, the only certainty is disappointment, argues sam fowles. Buy the origins of the first world war: controversies and consensus (making history) 1 by annika mombauer (isbn: 9780582418721.

<urn:uuid:1ab699ac-604a-47de-a2c3-7c0107c5b7cc>

Kawasaki disease linked to wind currentsNovember 10, 2011 First evidence that long-range wind transport of an infectious agent might result in human disease Kawasaki Disease (KD) is a severe childhood disease that many parents, even some doctors, mistake for an inconsequential viral infection. In fact, if not diagnosed or treated in time, it can lead to irreversible heart damage. After 50 years of research, including genetic studies, scientists have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the disease. Now, surprising findings of an international team of scientists organized by Jane C. Burns, MD, professor and chief, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, suggest that KD cases are linked to large-scale wind currents that track from Asia to Japan and also traverse the North Pacific. "Our findings suggest an environmental trigger for Kawasaki disease that could be wind-borne," Burns said. Signs of KD include prolonged fever associated with rash, red eyes, mouth, lips and tongue, and swollen hands and feet with peeling skin. The disease causes damage to the coronary arteries in a quarter of untreated children and may lead to serious heart problems in early adulthood. There is no diagnostic test for Kawasaki disease, and current treatment fails to prevent coronary artery damage in at least one in 10 to 20 children and death in one in 1,000 children. While seasonality of the disease has been noted in many regions - particularly in Japan, the country of highest incidence for KD - the search for factors that might contribute to epidemics and fluctuations in KD occurrence has been elusive. A study of KD cases in Japan since 1970 showed three dramatic nationwide epidemics, each lasting several months and peaking in April 1979 (6,700 cases), May 1982 (16,100 cases) and March 1986 (14,700 cases). These three peaks represent the largest KD epidemic events ever recorded in the world. To investigate a possible influence from large-scale environmental factors, researchers including Daniel R. Cayan, Climate Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography (CASPO) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, and Xavier Rodo and Joan Ballester, of the Institut Català de Ciències del Clima and the Institució Catalana de Recerca (IC3) in Barcelona, Spain, investigated a set of atmospheric and oceanographic measures, which revealed a link to pressure patterns and associated wind flow from the surface to mid-tropospheric atmospheric levels during the summer months prior to onset of the epidemics. "The Japanese dataset revealed that a low number of KD cases were reported prior to the epidemics, a period coinciding with southerly winds which blew across Japan from the Pacific Ocean during the summer months," said Rodo, the study's first author. "However, the numbers rapidly mounted all over Japan when winds turned and blew in a southwesterly direction. After the peaks, the winds again shifted, blowing from the south when the number of cases again decreased." "Importantly, subsequent to the three epidemics, years with increased numbers of Kawasaki disease cases in Japan were significantly associated with enhanced local northwesterly winds, as a result of low pressure centered to the north," said Cayan. To assess whether such variations in wind patterns were associated with KD case fluctuations on the other side of the North Pacific, similar analyses were conducted for San Diego. According to the scientists, the atmospheric connection from continental Asia to Japan and San Diego is intermittent and can take different routes. However, it was possible from their analysis to identify the major anomalous yearly peaks of KD cases occurring in San Diego from 1994 to 2008 as belonging to two main atmospheric configurations. In fact, the major fluctuations in KD case numbers in Japan, Hawaii and San Diego were linked to a seasonal shift in winds that exposed Japan to air masses from Central Asia. One key pattern simultaneously exposed Hawaii and California to air masses from the western North Pacific. "The linkage to the wind currents, which can cross the Pacific in less than one week, may explain why KD case numbers recorded in Japan, San Diego and Hawaii show a nearly synchronized seasonal peak in disease activity from November through March," Rodo said. Burns reports that the findings could be significant in efforts to isolate the cause of this devastating childhood disease. "It could be that an infectious agent is transported across the ocean by strong air currents developing in the upper troposphere," she said, adding that while this would seem the most plausible explanation for the findings, the role of pollutants or other inert particles must be considered. These hypotheses are currently being investigated. A research aircraft carrying an engineer from the Catalonian team used a custom-built air sampling apparatus to collect tropospheric air samples from over Japan in March 2011, and the entire biome of the tropospheric dust collection is being sequenced in the laboratory of W.Ian Lipkin, MD, at Columbia University in New York City. Lipkin is one of the leading "molecular detectives" who uses sequencing to find new infectious agents. On the other side of the U.S., teams of pediatric doctors from hospitals from California to Alaska and Hawaii have initiated real-time reporting of KD cases to Scripps Institution of Oceanography via the Web. There, Cayan and his team are analyzing cases in relation to regional climate and tropospheric wind patterns. While links between human respiratory disease and large-scale dust transport are well-documented, to date there has been no evidence of long-range wind transport of an infectious agent causing human disease. University of California - San Diego Related Kawasaki Disease Current Events and Kawasaki Disease News Articles Kawasaki disease and pregnant women In the first study of its type, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have looked at the health threat to pregnant women with a history of Kawasaki disease (KD), concluding that the risks are low with informed management and care. Data from across globe defines distinct Kawasaki disease season After more than four decades of research, strong evidence now shows that Kawasaki disease has a distinct seasonal occurrence shared by regions across the Northern hemisphere. Study finds new pneumococcal vaccine appears to be as safe as previously used vaccine The new 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) appears to be as safe as the previous version used prior to 2010, the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in Vaccine. A urine test for a rare and elusive disease A set of proteins detected in urine by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital may prove to be the first biomarkers for Kawasaki disease, an uncommon but increasingly prevalent disease which causes inflammation of blood vessels that can lead to enlarged coronary arteries and even heart attacks in some children. High fever and evidence of a virus? Caution, it still may be Kawasaki disease Clinicians should take caution when diagnosing a child who has a high fever and whose tests show evidence of adenovirus, and not assume the virus is responsible for Kawasaki-like symptoms. Chronic exposure to staph bacteria may be risk factor for lupus, Mayo study finds Chronic exposure to even small amounts of staph bacteria could be a risk factor for the chronic inflammatory disease lupus, Mayo Clinic research shows. Researchers link Kawasaki Disease in childhood with increased risk of adult heart disease Cedars-Sinai researchers have linked Kawasaki Disease, a serious childhood illness that causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, with early-onset and accelerated atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart disease in adults. Study finds Filipino children in San Diego County at higher risk for Kawasaki disease While children of all ethnicities can contract Kawasaki disease (KD), a study led by researchers at the Kawasaki Disease Research Center at the University of California, San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego finds that Filipino children with KD are at a higher risk for inflammation of the blood vessels of the heart than those of other Asian and non-Asian backgrounds. Bypass surgery has long-term benefits for children with Kawasaki disease Coronary artery bypass surgery provides long-term benefits for children whose hearts and blood vessels are damaged by Kawasaki disease, Japanese researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. New clues to mystery childhood illness: Kawasaki disease A study looking at the entire human genome has identified new genes that appear to be involved in making some children more susceptible to Kawasaki disease (KD), a serious illness that often leads to coronary artery disease, according to a new international study published in PLoS Genetics. More Kawasaki Disease Current Events and Kawasaki Disease News Articles

<urn:uuid:907b3d6d-0ea3-4c73-ba1b-4da1a9c8495e>

Don't have ample time to complete your Limnology Homework? Get them done even before their deadline in just 2 simple steps. The term limnology is derived from the Greek word, limnee meaning lake, and logy meaning knowledge. Hence, limnology, commonly also known as fresh water science may be defined as the science which deals with the study of of inland waters. This includes the detailed study about lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, etc. An oligotrophic lake is found to have a low level of nutrients, whereas a eutrophic lake has very high level of nutrients. An expert in the field of limnology is known as a limnologist. A limnologist plays a vital role in the field of ecology and environmental science. A limnologist can also choose a career in allied subjects like landscape biology, aquatic biology, etc. Biology is a field that has been enriched largely due to the development of many internal and contributing domains such as Limnology. Therefore a clear understanding of Limnology is a mandatory need for all students pursuing biology as their major domain. With the needs of biology graduates including research, writing and analysis in mind, PupilBay offers Limnology homework help with improved interactive learning tools. Our Limnology experts, being veterans in the academic discipline of biology, ensure that you complete all your Limnology homework and assignments are completed on time, with quality and serve as a learning opportunity as well. For any Limnology assignment help related queries, you may contact us through our LIVE CHAT facility. We are now available 24/7 online to assist you on all your Limnology homework help needs. Kindly login every time before using the 24/7 LIVE CHAT service for better assistance. Assignment Tracking Guidelines: You may always feel free to get in touch with us thorough our 24/7 LIVE CHAT facility for instance assistance. Let our knowledge be your back up. Pupilbay does not sell or rent your personal information to third parties at all. Your contact details will be used to get in touch with you to offer fast and efficient service.

<urn:uuid:6ceaea6a-040c-4bbb-8ae4-36ce9ff86b9f>

“Heading off to camp is a joyful child ritual and the opportunity for a test at independence and self-confidence. According to results from a Healthy Camp Study, 50% of camp-related injuries occur when protective equipment is not worn,” says Renée McCabe, RN, Injury Prevention and Safety Program Manager at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia. Here are some tips to help your child stay safe at camp and ensure that the memories made are happy ones! Be Sun Savvy The intense heat and humidity of the summer can be dangerous. When we sweat, our bodies lose water so children must drink plenty of fluids, even if they aren’t thirsty. This is particularly important for children playing sports or games that involve running or physical activity. Children should carry a water bottle (or two) at all times. Sunscreen is a must! The sun is most intense between 10am and 4pm, but it’s best to make a habit of applying sunscreen when dressing in the morning. Choose a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher and reapply at least every two hours and every time the child dries off after swimming. Teach your child the signs of heat exhaustion. Heat exhaustion occurs when the body heats up faster than it can cool down. Symptoms include fatigue, feeling overheated and weakness. Heat exhaustion can escalate rapidly. If your child begins to feel ill, he should take a rest indoors or in the shade and the camp nurse should be notified. Check for Ticks Lyme disease is spread by tiny deer ticks living in tall grasses or wooded areas. Symptoms include a bulls-eye rash and flu-like symptoms within a few weeks of the tick bite. It’s a good idea to wear long sleeves and tuck pant legs into socks when hiking and stay in the middle of the trail. Always check the entire body for ticks following time spent in wooded or grassy areas. Finally, if a child finds a tick on their body, they should have it removed by the camp nurse or another adult using tweezers and pulling the tick straight out of the skin. Appropriate Footwear and Clothing Flip flops offer young feet no support, can lead to poor foot and leg position when running and jumping, and can pose a tripping hazard, especially on uneven ground. Children should wear sturdy, lace-up shoes for running in games and sports. Loose-fitting clothing should be worn on hot days to allow the body to cool, and hats will protect children’s heads and faces. Make sure safety equipment is provided and mandated for sports activities. Helmets should always be worn for biking, horseback riding, football, zip-lining and challenge courses. Don’t Push Through Pain If your child is injured, it should be addressed right away. Injuries as small as a blister or mild sprain can have a significant impact if ignored. Pain is the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong. Injuries should be reported to camp staff, nurses and coaches when they happen so they do no worsen. We don’t want a child to miss an entire sports season for an injury that, if addressed immediately, could be resolved within a day or two. A helpful tactic is to remember the principles of RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. When traveling in a vehicle, everyone needs to be buckled up in an appropriate car seat, booster seat or seat belt. Children under age 13 should ride in the back seat and remain in a booster seat until they are at least 8 years old and 4’9”. Safe Kids Greater Augusta, led by the Children’s Hospital of Georgia, works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading killer of children ages 1 to 19. Safe Kids Greater Augusta is a member of the Safe Kids Worldwide network. To find out more about the local Safe Kids program, call 706-721-7606, or visit augustahealth.org/safekids. Check out more safety tips and the Ultimate Car Seat Guide at SafeKids.org. Camping image from FreePik.com

<urn:uuid:3ba242c4-e222-415c-80d3-ebb47a0d065c>

Fresh water from Bonnet Carré Spillway has hurt the Gulf Coast. Could upriver diversions help? Punching two more channels upriver from the Bonnet Carré Spillway could bolster habitat nearby while lessening the environmental harm caused farther south, according to a recent Tulane University study. Within the past six years, opening the spillway’s gates has become an almost annual affair. During the historic flood of 2019, part of the Mississippi River’s flow was redirected not once, but twice to protect more than one million people living in New Orleans, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. However, opening the gates diverts the fresh, nutrient-rich river water into Lake Pontchartrain and out into the waters around the Chandeleur Sound and the Mississippi coast with few wetlands in between. It disrupts the local ecosystem, scattering salt-loving shrimp, causing algal blooms and even giving dolphins painful skin lesions due to the rapid and persistent influx of freshwater. Tulane’s team of scientists as well as state coastal officials are hopeful that two proposed river diversions – Union and Ama – could improve how the river is managed and reintroduce the Mississippi’s water where it’s needed. Unlike the $2 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion planned along Plaquemines Parish’s west bank, both diversions’ primary purpose would be flood control in addition to reconnecting nearby wetlands to the river’s sediment and nutrients. The Union Diversion would benefit the Maurepas Swamp area, cutting into the river’s east bank, while the Ama Diversion would send water through the west bank into the upper Barataria Basin. “The results of this study are very promising,” said Tulane coastal and science engineering professor Ehab Meselhe, who is leading the ongoing study. “They show the opportunity to leverage these projects to benefit both Louisiana, through restoration and conservation of vital wetlands, and Mississippi, by limiting the flow of water through the Bonnet Carré Spillway and resulting increases in salinities across the Pontchartrain Basin and the Mississippi Coast.” In 2020, Meselhe’s team found that operating the Ama and Union diversions together could have reduced the amount of water flowing through the Bonnet Carré by up to 60%. This study built on those results using a three-dimensional model capable of comparing how salinity changes during the 2019 flood might have differed had both diversions been operating. Environmental Defense Fund scientist Devyani Kar said that had the diversions existed, the water would likely have remained twice as salty in a time when the water off Mississippi’s coast was nearly fresh. In the coming months, the researchers will use the model to see how the diversions would affect the concentration of nutrients flowing through the spillway, as well as temperature changes and other measures of water quality. “We expect that when we’ll see more nutrients dispersed higher up in the marshes which need them and less nutrient load in the river,” Kar said. “The hypothesis is that it will reduce all the nutrients going into the Gulf of Mexico, which can create those harmful algal blooms.” Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Executive Director Bren Haase agreed. “You're shunting that water through wetlands that can take it. They slow the amount of time it takes for that water to travel to the coast,” he said. “The water is cleaned essentially by the wetlands that it passes through, and so there's the benefits to the water and to the downstream areas that are receiving the impacts of that water.” The wetlands also would receive nutrients they’ve been cut off from for nearly a century in some cases, Haase said. Louisiana is a defendant in lawsuits filed by Mississippi cities, towns and business groups harmed by the spillway’s opening in 2019 alongside the Army Corps, and river management has been a key priority in Gov. John Bel Edwards’ second term. Currently, both diversions are far from becoming a reality, but the coastal authority has included the Union Diversion in its 2023 annual funding plan and is currently conducting a feasibility study. Haase said the agency will be assessing possible locations for the diversions as well as various flows, working with the Tulane team that crafted the model. In addition to the diversions, the agency has also asked and pushed the Army Corps to conduct a comprehensive study of the lower Mississippi River Basin starting in Illinois to see where there might be opportunities to give the river more room. Copyright 2022 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio

<urn:uuid:16a2400d-822d-4ea3-a239-412d93348298>

Introducing Computers to Kids If you are a parent and you would want your kids to learn how to use the computer, you should really teach them how to use it. There are a lot of parents who introduce their kids to computers because it can come on handy to them in the future. If you do not teach your kid to learn how to use a computer, they can really struggle with it when they get older. Parents should teach their kids how to use the computer so that their kids will really learn how to use the computer well. Let us now look at the benefits of teaching your kids how to use the computers. One really important reason you should teach your kids to learn how to use the computer is so that they will be able to use it when they are older. There are many people who really need computers when they get older to do a lot of things. Your kids can use computers for their history essays or their subject reports and other stuff like these. When your child grows older and finds a good paying job, they will really need to have computer skills and if you have taught them when they were younger, they will really be good at it when the skills require it of them. Computers are really important to people today because they can make things so much easier for you. So if you are a parent, you should really teach your kids how to learn the computer because it can be really beneficial to them when they get older. Computers have a way of bringing out your creativity so if you introduce your kids to the computer, they will learn how to be more creative in certain ways. There are so many things that a child can do on the computer and the options are limitless. There are many fun things to do on the computer and your child can really enjoy learning how to draw, paint and just be creative on the computer. Some parents teach their kids to make their own computer wallpaper. When you make learning fun for a child, they will really learn more and will really want to learn because you make it really fun for them. When your child grows up, they will really thank you for teaching them the basic computer skills because they will really need it later on in life. So now you know the benefits of introducing your children to using the computer.

<urn:uuid:d648bcf5-4cec-4728-8a4c-b82305e61a92>

After a first in 2018, dozens of new “lakes” have been identified under the South Pole of Mars. It remains to be seen whether it is indeed water, and whether it is liquid or not … and if not, to identify what it is. NASA recently made a very exciting announcement in a press release: Researchers scanning the basements of Mars have found what looks a lot like dozens of underground lakes! Nothing says that we will find life or even liquid water there, but what is certain is that they will be able to teach us a lot about the climatic dynamics of the Red Planet. It all started with the discovery of stratified deposits at the planet's South Pole. They constitute a sort of timeless capsule. Materials millions of years old have accumulated there, each floor preserving the previous one. Analyzing these successive layers of dust, water ice and frozen carbon dioxide, conceptually comes down to go back in time. These geological formations are therefore a real blessing for geologists, exobiologists and all scientists working to unravel the mysteries of Mars. Except that to unearth this treasure, a vulgar shovel is not enough! Radio treasure hunt However, going to probe this area is not easy; it is certainly not Perseverance that will be able to take samples tens or even hundreds of meters deep. To do this, NASA bombard the radio wave area, able to make their way through these layers accumulated at the pole. When reflected from a surface, it can return to its source; we can therefore analyze the return signal to find out which surface has been touched. Normally, this signal is only partially reflected. But in 2018, NASA researchers observed a curious anomaly. In some cases, the signals returning from the depths were paradoxically much more powerful than those from the surface. Perhaps the researchers took their desires for realities; but they deduced from it the presence of liquid water in the basement, because this one strongly reflects the radio waves. The recent study, which found many other such abnormalities, is not so categorical. Will sink or not? The potential “lakes” are distributed at very variable depths, including in areas below -60 ° C. At this temperature, the water would have a hard time staying liquid. And this even if it contained substances that lower the freezing point. And apparently the geothermal flow wouldn't be of much help either. In 2019, a research team modeled these heat movements. And according to their findings, on a large scale, these are largely insufficient to allow water to exist in a liquid state. If there is any in the subsoil of this area, it is probably very localized anomalies of the geothermal flow, or very specific geochemical conditions. But on the other hand, if it is not liquid water, how to explain these characteristic anomalies? What material or structure could they correspond to? The mystery remains unsolved. Either way, having mapped many other examples of this phenomenon in this way will undoubtedly help identify it. All that remains is to redouble your ingenuity to find a technical way to open these real chests with so promising scientific treasures! We stand by the rights of the original author of the post, no matter what. We always respect and prioritize the copyright of the content and always include the original link of the source article. If the author of the original article has any issue with it, just leave a report below, we’ll edit it or delete it. Whatever it takes. We will make it right as quickly as possible to protect the rights of the author. Thank you very much! Best regards!

<urn:uuid:23b518cb-1451-4af1-a4ef-5de8dc52bf53>

In Pre-production Discussion We grew up believing that America was a true representative democracy. That was a lie. The Three-Fifth’s Compromise is one of the tenets of our Democracy that continues to affect us in 2019 and beyond. That “Compromise” counted enslaved persons as three-fifths of a white person. This policy was adopted during the drafting of the Constitution in 1787. In short, America was establishing how to count population for the House of Representatives. Slave states wanted to count enslaved people to increase their presence in the House of Representatives. Free states only wanted to count free people. The number of legislators from each state has a direct correlation to the state’s population. The slave states were trying to “stack the deck” to promote their reprehensible agenda and to increase their likelihood of winning elections through the Electoral College. It is amazing that the south wanted to count enslaved people as voters, who weren’t allowed to vote, to pass legislation to keep them enslaved.

<urn:uuid:3a110a94-729d-4ea8-a01a-97f7f89e4286>

Park City Mathematics Institute Implementing Lesson Study Drafts of Project Files (password required) - Conditional, Converse, and Bi-Conditional Statements -- Oh My! - Teri Hulbert*, Vicki Lyons, Sousada Chidthachack, Corey Fink, Eric Flam, Gregory Guayante, David Herron, Alexandra Lee, Leah Parnes The purpose of our lesson study was to collaboratively craft, teach, and revise a lesson for ninth or tenth grade students. We met a total of eight hours per week for three weeks. The lesson was first taught to twelve high school students attending the Park City Mathematics Institute summer math camp. The second time the lesson was taught to a ninth grade class of seven summer school students at a local junior high school. Analysis and revisions were made after each implementation of the lesson. The lesson objectives were for students to identify, create, and evaluate conditional, converse, and bi-conditional statements. We developed a lesson which included an introductory game that built a foundation for the students to understand and apply logical reasoning to real world and mathematical contexts. Student observations from the game led to formal definitions of conditional, converse, and bi-conditional statements. Students then practiced creating and evaluating the truth value of mathematical statements. We concluded the lesson with a short assessment. This document includes our lesson study process, revised lessons, and reflections. Back to Implementing Lesson Study Index PCMI@MathForum Home || IAS/PCMI Home © 2001 - 2015 Park City Mathematics Institute IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute is an outreach program of the Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 Send questions or comments to: Suzanne Alejandre and Jim King With program support provided by Math for America This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0314808 and Grant No. ESI-0554309. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

<urn:uuid:a55d831e-fd89-45cf-86bc-32b935c82b7c>

Malfunctioning of the mitochondria can lead to metabolic disorders in the person affected. Furthermore, mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are causing muscle weakness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiac disorders as well as diabetes, and are linked to the ageing process. Opinions have been divided as to exactly how and when health-endangering mitochondrial mutations are inherited, as the transmission of mtDNA does not follow the classic Mendelian laws of inheritance whereby both mother and father contribute to each piece of hereditary information. This prompted Christoph Freyer, research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, to develop a new mouse model: The main player here is a pathogenic, i.e. a disease-inducing mutation in a mitochondrial gene known as “tRNA methionine”. Mutations in mitochondrial tRNA genes cause a high percentage of the known mitochondrial diseases, although tRNA genes constitute only a fraction of the total mtDNA. This discrepancy has never been satisfactorily explained. With these scientific findings, the researchers uncovered a feature of maternal genetics that may pave the way to novel possibilities for genetic diagnosis. Moreover, the observation that in this model, too, the mice mitochondria try to compensate potential defects caused by mutations provides further insight into the hereditary mechanisms underlying mitochondrial disease. “Perhaps,” suggests Freyer, “this compensation could be stimulated by medical means.” The young researcher plans to use his mouse model in future to test therapies that could possibly prevent the hereditary transmission of mtDNA mutations. Sabine Dzuck | Max-Planck-Institut First time-lapse footage of cell activity during limb regeneration 25.10.2016 | eLife Phenotype at the push of a button 25.10.2016 | Institut für Pflanzenbiochemie Ultrafast lasers have introduced new possibilities in engraving ultrafine structures, and scientists are now also investigating how to use them to etch microstructures into thin glass. There are possible applications in analytics (lab on a chip) and especially in electronics and the consumer sector, where great interest has been shown. This new method was born of a surprising phenomenon: irradiating glass in a particular way with an ultrafast laser has the effect of making the glass up to a... Terahertz excitation of selected crystal vibrations leads to an effective magnetic field that drives coherent spin motion Controlling functional properties by light is one of the grand goals in modern condensed matter physics and materials science. A new study now demonstrates how... Researchers from the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo led the development of a new extensible wiring technique capable of controlling superconducting quantum bits, representing a significant step towards to the realization of a scalable quantum computer. "The quantum socket is a wiring method that uses three-dimensional wires based on spring-loaded pins to address individual qubits," said Jeremy Béjanin, a PhD... In a paper in Scientific Reports, a research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute describes a novel light-activated phenomenon that could become the basis for applications as diverse as microscopic robotic grippers and more efficient solar cells. A research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has developed a revolutionary, light-activated semiconductor nanocomposite material that can be used... By forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix, Sandia researchers have demonstrated for the first time on a single chip all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link quantum computers together. "People have already built small quantum computers," says Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho. "Maybe the first useful one won't be a single giant quantum computer... 14.10.2016 | Event News 14.10.2016 | Event News 12.10.2016 | Event News 25.10.2016 | Earth Sciences 25.10.2016 | Power and Electrical Engineering 25.10.2016 | Process Engineering

<urn:uuid:f072d6a3-d9b3-4c89-8105-979cf2a94bd3>

A food allergy is when the immune system has an adverse reaction to specific proteins found in food. It is important not to unnecessarily exclude a food or a food group from your baby's diet. Discuss this with your doctor, public health nurse or registered dietitian. Lowering the risk If there is a family history of allergies, your baby may be at risk. Breastfeeding your baby for the first 6 months will help lower the risk. There are no formulas that prevent babies from developing allergies. If you think your baby might be allergic to cow's milk formula, avoid changing their infant formula. Speak to your public health nurse or GP first. There are infant formulas available for babies with an allergy to cow's milk. Use these under medical supervision. Starting solid foods Do not delay giving your child eggs, dairy, fish or nuts. You should give your baby these foods one at a time. Start your child on these foods after they have started solid food and they are over 17 weeks old. There is no benefit in delaying giving your baby peanuts. Give peanut in soft forms – pure nut butter that is sugar and salt-free – to healthy babies, and those with mild eczema, at 6 months. Nut butter can be thinly spread on bread. You should not avoid certain foods in your baby's diet in an attempt to prevent allergy. Limiting your child's diet can place them at risk of nutrient deficiencies. Ask your GP for public health nurse for advice. Gluten intolerance or allergy There is no need to avoid gluten when you are starting solid foods with your baby. Introduce small amounts of solid food containing gluten between 4 and 12 months. These include bread, pasta, crackers and breakfast cereals.

<urn:uuid:8849bd44-1f52-432a-b89d-823961552e25>

Yarra River flows through the eastern and central part of the Australian state of Victoria. The original name of the river is Birrarung, but later it adopted the name of the area from which it springs. In 1835 at the bottom of Yarra arises the very popular city of Melbourne, which is the cultural and commercial capital of Australia and second largest city in the country. Today the roles have turned – while in the past the Yarra has influenced Melbourne, today the city defines the metropolitan landscape in the lower part of Yarra. Yarra River springs from the area with the same name, goes through the valley of Yarra, still in a westerly direction and through broad plains in the direction of Melbourne, to reach Hobsons Bay and to flow through the port of Port Phillip. The length of the entire Yarra is 243 km. From prehistoric times the river Yarra was the "cradle" of life in the surrounding Australian territories. Long ago, many aborigines survive thanks to Yarra , and after the arrival of the first European settlers, indigenous people were pushed into more distant lands. Primarily business purposes have been operated off the Yarra since the arrival of Europeans. Over the Yarra River in central Melbourne today, we can see the historic Princes Bridge. It is the third bridge, which appears in this space over the river, which for centuries has been employed as a major route for crossing over the Yarra. The first bridge at the site of today's Princess was built in 1844, and this “newer” one appeared in 1888, making it the age of 130 years old. The bridge over Yarra connects the north with the south coast of Melbourne, and it is pedestrian, road and rail. The historic importance of Princes Bridge won its place in the register of Victorian monuments of the country. The series of new low-profile bridges built over the Yarra after the beginning of 20 century radically changed the view of the river and the whole of Melbourne. This is the reason for the weakening of importance of traditional port areas, increasingly rarefying the sight of large moored ships with masts in the city center. Many landscapes are formed in coastal areas and the entire Yarra River. Many are organized primarily to protect the unique nature and are governed and managed by the management of Parks of Victoria. One of the most famous nature reserves and parks along Yarra are the Royal Botanic Gardens, Yarra Bend Park, Westerfolds Park, Yarra Ranges National Park and others. In this part of the country it is very attractive to organize trips in the forests of Danzhenong with the oldest in Australia and best - preserved steam locomotive in the world. Journey with the locomotive "Puffing Billy" starts and ends in the Belgrave Lakeside. From there travels a van through the valley Yarra , where the tourist meets the desert areas of "the great watershed" with the best wine regions of Australia.

<urn:uuid:14c4d6ad-1cc9-4c1c-98e3-98cd3e144d20>

Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: - Broadleaf deciduous tree, 40-60(100) ft [12-15(30) m] tall, often with a similar width, massive, rounded, short trunk. Leaves alternate, simple, obovate to obovate-oblong, 5-15 cm long, 3-6 pairs of deep rounded lobes, little "ear lobes" at the base of the blade (auriculate), dark green above, bluish green below, short petiole (4-8 mm long); fall color yellow and brown. Fruit (acorn) 2.5 cm, on a long stalk (5-10 cm), cap covers 1/3-1/4 of the nut. - Sun, prefers well drained soil, pH tolerant. - Hardy to USDA Zone 4 Native to Europe, north Africa, western Asia - The narrow, upright form, 'Fasigiata' (Upright English Oak), is more commonly used in landscaping than the species. - robur: ancient Latin name for strong, hard wood, especially oak. - Oregon State Univ. campus: southwest corner of Ag. Strand Hall.

<urn:uuid:1ee3986b-7fda-4c3c-b011-522abe3bacdd>

Get in touch Can Dehydration Cause High Blood Pressure 2023 Updated Water accounts for more than half of our total body weight. Is it any surprise that the quantity of water you drink plays an important function in regulating your cardiovascular system? Dehydration is more than just a loss of bodily fluids. If left untreated, it might progress to a dangerous condition. Negligence has resulted in several terrible health emergencies such as renal problems, cardiac problems, and blood pressure abnormalities. Dehydration directly causes high blood pressure, which may lead to several health heart issues. Let’s learn more about the relationship between dehydration and blood pressure. How does dehydration affect blood pressure? So, what is the relationship between being hydrated and blood pressure? Hydration is vital to our biological functioning and plays a critical role in cardiovascular system management. Dehydration causes a decrease in blood volume, which the body compensates for by retaining more salt. As a result, your body begins to constrict capillaries, putting additional pressure on the open blood vessels and arteries, causing your blood pressure to increase. Is it possible to reduce blood pressure by taking fluid? If you are dehydrated, drinking the recommended 6-8 glasses of water each day can undoubtedly benefit you. However, it’s also crucial not to overdo it and to give your body time to adjust to your new water-drinking habits. This is why staying hydrated is one of the greatest strategies to keep your blood pressure under control. To naturally reduce your blood pressure, you must follow some dos and don’ts. Among them are: - Drink the appropriate amount of water for your body’s needs. It is not required to consume 8-glasses of water every day. Your weight, weather, and physical activity determine the amount of water you need to drink. - Avoid drinking too much water since your body can only absorb a certain quantity of water. Your body will require some extra time to adjust to the new quantity of water consumption and remain hydrated. Your kidneys and digestive system become overworked when you drink too much water. Hypertension, diabetes, and stress all wreak havoc on your kidneys. - If you exercise, drink extra water since you lose a lot of water via perspiration and evaporation. Consequently, keep hydrated before, during, and after exercise to get the full advantages of drinking water. If you’ve had high blood pressure for a long time owing to dehydration, a sudden increase in water consumption might put additional strain on your kidneys and digestive system. In that situation, you should visit a doctor at OMNI hospital if you’re unclear about the best strategy to reduce your blood pressure safely. What are Blood pressure levels considered healthy? Normal blood pressure levels should not exceed a systolic number of 120 and a diastolic number of 80. It should have a systolic pressure of 90 and a diastolic pressure of 60. Your blood pressure may be too low for a variety of reasons. Many people have a lower blood pressure than others. However, any aberrant figures should always be verified by a medical expert. There are also multiple blood pressure levels with varying degrees of severity: - Normal: Usually equal to or less than 120/80. - Elevated: Usually between 121 and 129/80. - Stage 1 hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure of 130/80 or above. - Stage 2 hypertension is defined as having a blood pressure that is equal to or slightly lower than 140/90. - Anything higher than 140/90 indicates a hypertensive crisis. If you realize that your blood pressure is raised, it’s essential to consult with your doctor to find out what’s causing it. Consider your family’s medical history as well. Is it common for someone in your immediate family to have high blood pressure? Is there a history of other disorders in your family that involve high blood pressure as a symptom? If your blood pressure is higher than Hypertension Stage 2, don’t wait for a routine exam to have it tested. It’s advisable to call emergency services straight once, especially if it’s accompanied by other troubling symptoms like lightheadedness, disorientation, or discomfort on one side of the body. What complications may arise from High blood pressure? People with long-term hypertension can have various problems ranging from moderate to severe. Among them are the following: - Blood vessel deterioration - Memory lapses - Your eyes have popped vessels. - Stroke or heart attack Don’t be alarmed: all of these things usually happen after long-term harm has happened. That implies that if you have high blood pressure, there is still time to correct it and avoid consequences. When to visit a doctor – If you have symptoms such as tiredness, nausea, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, headache, heavy perspiration, palpitations or irregular heartbeats, visual difficulties, or disorientation, get immediate medical assistance. They might be the result of uncontrolled high blood pressure. The doctor can provide the right suitable treatment depending on your health condition. You can find the best cardiologist at OMNI hospital on Credihealth for high blood pressure-related consultation and treatment. Also Check :Which Doctor to Consult for Stomach Pain Also Read: Which Doctor to Consult for Mouth Ulcer Also Check : Which doctor to consult for Hair Fall Also Check: Which Doctor to consult for Back Pain Also Check : Which Doctor to Consult for Headache Also Check : Which Doctor to consult for Foreskin Problem Also Check : Which Doctor to Consult for Burning Feet Also Check : Which Doctor to Consult for Hernia Also Check : Which doctor to consult for Urinary problems Also Check: Which doctor to consult for Breast Pain Also Check : Which doctor to consult for Breathing Problems Also Check : Which Doctor to consult for Breast Discharge Also Check : What Foods to Eat to Cure Fatty Liver Also Check : How to Reduce Muscle Pain in Legs Also Check : How to Get Rid of Constipation Fast at Home Also Check : Stroke vs. Heart Attack What’s the Difference Also Check : Is Back Pain a Symptom of Pregnancy Also Check : How Much Pain During Normal Delivery Also Check : What Are the First Signs of Kidney Stones Also Check : Which type of Delivery is Best Also Check : What Can cause Lower Back Pain in Women Also Check: How Long Does Facial Plastic Surgery Last Also Check : What are the most common causes of headaches? Also Check : What are the Symptoms of Brain Tumor? Also Check : Is Normal Delivery Possible with cord Around Neck Also Check : What Could be the Complications during childbirth? Also Check : What Causes Lower Abdominal Pain in Females Also Check: How Stem Cells used in Treatment of Cancer Also Check : How Can I Solve my Sleeping Problem Also Check : What Does a Heart Attack Feel Like Also Check: How Painful is Normal Delivery Also Check : What Are the Stages of Cancer Also Check : Are Breast Cancer Lumps Painful Also Check : Different Types of Brain Tumors Also Check : What is hernia disease? is Hernia Dangerous Also Check :What Foods Help in Sleeping Also Check : Best Food For Digestion Problems Also Check : Root Canal vs Tooth Extraction Which is Better Also Check : How to relieve Chest pain due to Stress Also Check : How Long Does a Spinal Fusion Surgery Take Also Check: Best Food for Constipation Also Check : What are the common complications of kidney stones? Also Check : Can Back Pain Indicate Kidney Stone Also Check : What are the Signs of Gallbladder Cancer Also Check : What are the Breastfeeding Effects of women Also Check : What Complications During Pregnancy Also Check : What Condition Paralysis Causes Also Check : What Level of Eosinophils Indicate Cancer Also Check : Different Types of Blood Cancer Treatments Also Check : What is Difference Between Kidney Pain vs Back Pain Also Check : How many people die from Heart Disease Also Check : What Causes Sleep Paralysis Also Check : Can Gastritis Cause Shortness of Breath Also Check : How to Deal With mental Health During Pregnancy Also Check : What type of headache indicates a Brain Tumor? Also Check : What Causes Headaches During Pregnancy Also Check : How to Diagnose Kidney Stones Also Check : Why am i Having Trouble Sleeping Also check : How does cough affect the condition of Lung Cancer Also Check : What are the Signs of Infertility in Women Also Check : What to Eat with Upset Stomach Also Check : How to Prevent yourself from having Paralysis Also Check : What are common Knee Injuries Also Check : What to Expect after Chemotherapy for Lung Cancer Also Check : How to Reduce Back Pain Also Check : What Can Cause Lower Back Pain in a Woman Also Check : Most Common Gynecological Cancer Also Check : How to Stop Frequent Urination Also Check : What are Side Effects of Plastic Surgery Also Check : What is the Treatment for Lung Cancer Also Check : Advanced treatment options for Hernia Repair Also Check : What is the Best Medicine for Lower Back Pain Also Check : What Food is Good for Brain Tumor Patients Also Check : What are Common Sciatica Pain Causes

<urn:uuid:7e78a217-956e-481f-ac8e-192c8b0edfa1>

Here's a poster to print of the Earth, the planet where we live and the only planet in the Solar System known to harbour life... Can you find the words relating to the Spring equinox in the grid? If you get stuck we have the solution to help. It's a lovely feeling once winter is over and we can finally welcome spring! Print this poster to celebrate - perfect for displaying on a classroom wall or door. Welcome the spring by colouring in this pretty drawing of a tree starting to grow blossom as spring arrives... Here's a worksheet aimed at older children, all about the Earth's orbit. Can they find out the information needed to answer the questions, then draw a picture of the Earth's orbit and label the equinoxes and solstices? Are you learning about the different seasons at the moment? If so, ask the kids to try and complete this Spring Equinox Worksheet, which has questions all about the Spring Equinox, and space to draw and label a picture too. Use this story paper to write down some facts about the Spring Equinox, or as the setting for a creative story set at this time of year. This poster shows a tree changing between two seasons (winter to spring), illustrating the vernal (spring) equinox in a simple way - perfect for a display about changing seasons. Choose from two versions below: 'Spring Equinox' or 'Vernal Equinox".

<urn:uuid:e24a162a-967e-4b08-8be5-6dc9f94d445b>

Our annual report on environmental health and restoration in the Chesapeake Bay watershed shows we have reached—and in some cases, surpassed—the halfway mark toward half a dozen of the commitments built into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. In the face of risks posed by land use changes and political uncertainty, our partnership has renewed its emphasis on engaging landowners and local governments in achieving our vision of a sustainable watershed. We stand with federal agencies, states, academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations in a united front against risks and threats. Bay Barometer: Health and Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (2015-2016) is a science-based snapshot of the nation’s largest estuary. This data it features informs the work of various individuals and organizations, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Earlier this year, CBF graded the Chesapeake Bay a ‘C-‘ in its biannual State of the Bay report; in May 2016, UMCES graded it a ‘C’ in its Chesapeake Bay Report Card. The indicators of environmental health, restoration and stewardship summarized in Bay Barometer reveal a resilient Chesapeake Bay. The data in this report reflect the Bay’s health over the course of many years and, in some cases, decades. In 2016, for instance, an analysis of the first oyster reefs to be built and seeded with larvae in Maryland’s Harris Creek showed that all reefs met the minimum criteria for success in oyster weight and density, and half met even higher weight and density targets. In the same year, an annual count of blue crabs revealed the population of adult females had reached its highest total of the last five years and was just ten percent below the restoration target. In 2015, underwater grass abundance reached its highest total of the last three decades and surpassed the 2017 target two years ahead of schedule. The continued health of underwater grass beds, the restoration of native oyster reefs and the sustainable management of fish and shellfish will benefit local seafood economies, but will require continued efforts to reduce pollution and protect wildlife habitat. You can track our progress toward the Oyster, Blue Crab Abundance and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation outcomes online. Reducing Pollution, Protecting Land Federal, state and local agencies are often on the front lines of pollution control. The pollution-reducing practices that states have put in place—including upgrading wastewater treatment plants, lowering vehicle and power plant emissions, and reducing runoff from farmland—are integral in ensuring the Chesapeake Bay meets its “pollution diet.” A recent analysis shows these practices are in place to achieve 81 percent of the phosphorus reductions, 48 percent of the sediment reductions and 31 percent of the nitrogen reductions needed to reach our clean water goals. Indeed, significant nutrient reductions in the wastewater sector allowed the partnership as a whole to meet its 2025 pollution reduction targets for this sector ten years ahead of schedule. Federal, state and local agencies also play a critical role alongside nongovernmental organizations and individual landowners in protecting land from development. Between 2010 and 2015, these partners protected more than one million acres, marking an achievement of 50 percent of the target. When fully realized, our protected lands goal will help ensure the watershed can withstand population growth while sustaining the plants, animals and people that live here. You can track our progress toward the Reducing Pollution and Protected Lands outcomes online. As the watershed’s population grows, development pressures are dramatically changing the landscape. Urban and suburban development can fragment habitat, harden shorelines, increase impervious surfaces and push pollution into rivers and streams. On the other hand, land use pressures can also open opportunities for dialogue and decision-making to protect ecologically and culturally valuable lands or mitigate damage when impacts are impossible to avoid. Because public and political attitudes toward conservation vary, approaches to education, engagement and policy must be tailored toward local needs and opportunities. For these reasons, our partnership has placed a renewed emphasis on engaging landowners and local governments in our work to restore forest buffers, wetlands and other habitats, protect land from development, maintain healthy watersheds and more. Most notably, the partnership’s governing body recently signed a resolution to support local government engagement; commended the actions taken by local governments and local utilities to address their pollution reduction goals within the wastewater sectors; and committed to raising awareness about the economic and environmental benefits of investing in watershed protection and restoration efforts at the local level. The well-being of the Chesapeake Bay watershed will soon rest in the hands of its youngest residents. For many, efforts to instill in students a connection to the natural world—and in turn, a desire to care for it—begin with greening the buildings in which students learn. Whether by installing rain gardens and water bottle filling stations like Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, Virginia; turning an unused open-air space to a light-filled atrium like Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C.; or installing a geothermal heat pump and two thousand solar panels like Wilde Lake Middle School in Columbia, Maryland, schools across the region have made big strides toward sustainability. Sustainable schools are built around reducing environmental impact, improving human health and strengthening environmental literacy. Because certification programs often require progress in each of these three pillars of sustainability, the benefits of sustainable schools are varied, from the conservation of water and energy to the improved test scores that have been linked to hands-on environmental education. But building a sustainable school can take time and dedication on the part of principals, teachers and facilities staff. While the benefits of sustainable schools are proven—and outweigh costs 20 to 1—resources aren’t always distributed evenly and buy-in is not always easy to get. “If a school administration does not understand the benefits of a sustainable school program and does not support teachers or other school staff investing time towards school sustainability, then it’s going to be difficult for any school to achieve it,” said Kevin Schabow, coordinator of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup, which advances the partnership’s environmental literacy goals. “There are many priorities for administrators, and school sustainability may not be on their radar.” That said, making a school sustainable can begin with grassroots enthusiasm. “Student voice is a powerful thing,” Schabow said. Whether the driver is a desire to compete with other schools or the knowledge that sustainable schools are good for staff and students alike, motivation can come in the form of a superintendent who encourages principals to go green, a teacher who excites students about stewardship or a group of students who lobby their principal for a change. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a total of 502 public and charter schools—or 12 percent of all public and charter schools—are certified sustainable by one of the following programs: U.S. Green Ribbon Schools, Eco-Schools USA, Maryland Green Schools and Virginia Naturally Schools. Maryland is home to most of the sustainable schools in the region, in large part because their robust in-state program was established almost 20 years ago. Indeed, state-specific programs are not equal: in some states, these programs are robust; in others, these programs are not well-established; and in others, these programs do not yet exist. The Chesapeake Bay Program will continue to monitor sustainable schools in the region and provide support through funding and other means. Schabow notes that the partnership’s sustainable school goal—which was adopted in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and aims to continually increase the number of sustainable schools in the region—has increased awareness around the sustainable school initiative. “I’m hopeful that we can continue supporting state projects and see increased interest and participation in these programs,” Schabow said. “That’s really what we’re looking for. We’ve got the baseline [counted], but we want to see more.” Learn more about our work to increase sustainable schools in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. A tray at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) holds the remnants of some of the unique organisms found in the stomach contents of fish. Depending on the species, a fish’s diet may include smaller fish like bay anchovy and menhaden, or underwater invertebrates like mysid shrimp, worms and bivalves. Fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay are an important part of the region’s culture, economy and ecosystem. As key species in the food web, larger fish like striped bass and bluefish rely on “forage”—the smaller fish, shellfish and invertebrates that underwater predators feed on. But despite their importance, uncertainty remains about the species that make up the forage base and how they interact with their environment. Programs like the Chesapeake Bay Multispecies Monitoring and Assessment Program (ChesMMAP) and the Northeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (NEAMAP), which collected the samples above, help scientists understand which forage species predators rely on by looking directly at the source: the fishes’ stomachs. "The main objectives of the survey are primarily to get a handle on the abundances of all the different fishes and invertebrates that are inhabiting the Bay," said Jim Gartland, an Assistant Research Scientist at VIMS, one of the many organizations who partner to conduct the surveys. With a better understanding of the interactions between predators and forage species, experts can work to better support both predator species and the Bay ecosystem as a whole. Learn more about forage in the Chesapeake Bay by watching our Bay 101: Fish Food video. Image by Will Parson For many of us, cold weather means digging your coat out of the closet and turning up the thermostat. But for the animals that call the Bay home, it means adapting to spending winter outdoors: by hiding in hibernation, by growing their own warm winter coat or by traveling south to warmer weather. Below, learn how a few of these native critters spend their winters. Many animals stay in the Chesapeake Bay region year-round—but others are quick to leave once temperatures cool. While some striped bass remain in the Bay throughout the winter months, many head south to the warmer waters of the Virginia and North Carolina capes. In spring and early summer, they’ll return to the Bay’s tidal tributaries to spawn. As water temperatures in the Bay start to cool, blue crabs retreat from the shallow areas where they spend the summer into deeper waters. After burrowing into the mud or sand at the water bottom, the crustaceans lie dormant for the winter months. While not technically considered hibernation, dormant crabs remain inactive until water temperatures rise above around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the cold crabs are slow and sluggish, they’re easier to track down—which is why experts in Maryland and Virginia conduct their annual survey of blue crab population between December and March. Blue crabs aren’t the only critters that spend winter in the mud. Typical residents of saltwater marshes and mudflats, diamondback terrapins bury themselves into river banks and at the bottom of creeks and rivers to hibernate. There, they remain completely submerged and inactive until temperatures begin to warm. The wood frog can be found in forests throughout the Bay watershed, particularly in the northern reaches of Pennsylvania and New York. These tiny amphibians have garnered attention for their winter survival method: they freeze. Many frogs are known to survive winter by freezing a portion of the water that makes up their body and are able withstand being frozen for a couple of weeks at temperatures a little below freezing. But wood frogs are remarkable in the length of time—and extreme temperatures—they can tolerate. In the most frigid areas of their range, like Alaska, wood frogs have been known to stay frozen for up to seven months at zero degrees Fahrenheit. Delmarva Fox Squirrel While many critters go dormant to endure the winter, others remain just as active as ever. With the help of its soft, fluffy coat, the Delmarva fox squirrel is able to keep warm nesting in tree hollows. Like other squirrels, the Delmarva fox squirrel buries nuts and acorns in the ground to feed on throughout the winter. The Chesapeake Bay region may be too cold in the winter for some animals, but for the tundra swan and other waterfowl, it’s a warmer destination. As their name implies, tundra swans live for part of the year in the Arctic tundra. As temperatures drop, they migrate to the wetlands and marshes of Bay region in late October and early November, where they stay until returning to the Arctic in early spring to breed. The Bay’s underwater grasses provide much-needed food for tundra swans and other migrating waterfowl. Curious about how other Bay critters spend the winter? Learn more in our Field Guide!

<urn:uuid:4a548765-a13f-4365-aaaa-7e379a49322e>

"Garden of Commons" 2011 Wood, colour, plants, earth, about three meters length, four meters width and 0.7 meters depth The sculpture by artist Nis Rømer consists of four “gardens“, which refer to common areas in and around Bremen. The “gardens“ belong to the community, they are allowed to grow freely and are tended by several people who agreed to cultivate them. That way the artwork works as a metaphor for the public space that needs nourishment to function. The sculpture directly refers to “The tragedy of commons”, an influential article written by ecologist Garret Hardin and first published in the journal Science in 1968. “The "tragedy of the commons” is based on the idea that individuals do not necessarily take an interest in preserving public resources, such as water, air or land, but instead act independently and use the resources for their personal benefit. Examples include the overgrazing of common farmland or the overfishing of the seas. Adding one more car can benefit one personally, but it causes damage to the atmosphere. The artwork by Nis Rømer raises the question of how public resources can be used without overuse them. Nis Rømer developed „The Garden of Commons“ in the course of the exhibition „redesigning nature“ at the Städtische Galerie Bremen. Following texts are attached to the artwork: Elinor Ostrom was the first, and to date, the only woman to win the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. She drew attention to certain principles that must at all costs be taken into account if common property is to be successfully administered by user organizations. 1. Clearly defined group boundaries and effective exclusion of external non-entitled parties. 2. Rules regarding the use and misuse of common resources that are adapted to the local conditions. 3. Those who are affected by the rules can participate in the decision making process. 4. Effective monitoring of members’ behaviour, carried out by community members. 5. Mechanisms of conflict resolution that are cheap and of easy access. 6. A dense social network, rules, a responsible use and multi-tiered mechanisms for conflict resolution are necessarily needed. Despite the fact that privatization raises concerns regarding the social equity, as not everyone receives the same share of the total community production, the privatization of land and local resources can have a positive impact on the use and conservation of those resources. On the other hand, some common areas such as the seas or the atmosphere are not easy to privatize. A situation in which everything is private might perhaps lead to a loss of the resource caused by under-use. Private or state ownerships might obtain poorer results than a local management by the users of the commons themselves. The “tragedy of the commons” is a dilemma arising from the situation in which multiple individuals act in their own interest. Those individuals will ultimately deplete a shared limited resource, even when it is clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. Ecologist Garret Hardin describes this behaviour as tragic, as it follows predictably from the individual actions of the resource’s users.

<urn:uuid:a0be3565-0ef9-4f54-bb34-a6f6cfd83534>

5 Point Lesson Plan Template – Inquiry Lesson Plan from 5 step lesson plan template , image source: jimbaileyweb.com Templates are pre-designed documents that you or someone else (such as Microsoft) creates to use as a pattern for a project. The template may be to get a business card, brochure, resume, presentation. . .the list continues. Irrespective of the purpose, templates offer the design consistency that any organization (or individual) needs to look professional. (You can also find templates for Excel, PowerPoint, and other programs, but in this guide we’re focusing on Microsoft Word.) The template includes a particular layout, style, layout and, occasionally, fields and text that are common to each use of the template. Some templates are really complete (for instance, business cards), you merely have to alter the individual’s name, phone number, and email address. Others, such as company reports or brochures, could demand that everything is changed except the layout and design. Once you create a template, then you may use it repeatedly. Bear in mind that while you open a template to initiate a job, you save the job as a different file type, such as the basic .docx Word format, such as editing, printing, sharing, and much more. The template file remains the same, unless or until you wish to alter it (more on this later). Customized templates can be as simple or complex as needed. By way of instance, you may create a template for your company’s newsletter, posters for a conference, or invitations for corporate occasions. You can also produce interactive templates to load the Intranet, so others may fill in the blanks to publish their own envelopes and letterhead, for instance. To begin with, create a document–layout and format it, add images and photos. When it’s interactive, then pick Controls from the Developer tab and make custom input fields for user interaction. Some templates utilize interactive controls for user input. By way of instance, imagine that once a month, the division managers, assistant managers, and loan originators of a large banking institution have a meeting at one of the 12 branches. It’s your assistant’s task to email the date, time, location, speakers, themes, and the agenda to each attendee. Instead of have that individual retype the data in a regular template, you can create a template where choices can be chosen from a list. Programs allow you to configure all of the relevant settings you want pre-applied to files –webpage design, styles, formatting, tabs, boilerplate text, and so on. You may then easily create a new document based on that template. After you save a document as a template, you may then use that template to make new documents. Those new documents contain all of the text (and images, and other articles ) that the template contains. They also have the same page design settings, sections, and fashions as the template. Templates can save a great deal of time when you are creating numerous files which need to get a consistent layout, format, and some boilerplate text. Gallery of 5 Step Lesson Plan Template Related Posts for 5 Step Lesson Plan Template 12 hairstylist resume example from hair stylist resume template , image source: writingamemo.com Templates are pre-designed documents that you or someone else (like Microsoft) generates to use as a pattern for a project. The template could be to get a business card, brochure, resume, presentation. . .the list goes on. Regardless of the purpose, templates […] Best 25 Recipe templates ideas on Pinterest from recipe template for pages , image source: www.pinterest.com Templates are pre-designed files that you or someone else (like Microsoft) creates to use as a blueprint for a job. The template may be to get a business card, brochure, resume, demonstration. . .the list continues. Irrespective of the […] Hyperglycemic Crises in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus from diabetic flow sheet template , image source: care.diabetesjournals.org Templates are pre-designed documents that you or somebody else (such as Microsoft) creates to use as a pattern for a project. The template may be to get a business card, brochure, resume, demonstration. . .the list goes on. Regardless […]

<urn:uuid:28b2cf04-5e4d-4df4-b06e-d4876e3fc2cc>

Though we all are aware of our blood group, very few have an insight into how blood groups are classified, qualities pertaining to each group, why specific blood groups are universal donors and universal acceptors, why all blood banks collect donor’s blood or plasma or platelets specifically, what’s its significance? Here are the facts about blood and blood types. BLOOD AND ITS COMPONENTS Blood is a red colored liquid pumped by the heart and transported to various parts of body via the blood vessels. The function of the blood is to deliver oxygen, nutrients, minerals to various organs, muscles, tissues to perform their functions effectively. Blood basically consists of four components namely Red Blood Cells (RBC), White Blood Cells (WBC), Plasma and Platelets. The bone marrow is responsible for the production of blood cells. The red blood cell (RBC) gives the color red to the blood due to the presence of oxygen and hemoglobin, a protein containing iron in it. Plasma is straw-colored liquid with 90% water and rest containing nutrients. Plasma is the transport medium through which RBC’s, WBC’s and platelets travel. White Blood Cells (WBC) protects the blood from foreign bodies and impurities by fighting and eliminating them. Platelets are tiny cells that are responsible for clotting of blood during cuts, injuries etc. Red Blood Cells are used in emergencies mainly during surgeries while platelets are used to treat people suffering from clotting disorders and blood plasma is used for treatments involving liver failure and for patients undergoing extensive treatments. BLOOD TYPES AND ITS CLASSIFICATIONS Classification of blood group is done based on antigens present in a one’s body. Antigens are foreign substances that induce an immune response from the body. From birth, our body has certain type of antigens present to which our immune system doesn’t react while counter-attacking other type of antigens by producing antibodies. This factor decides the blood group of a human. A total of 35 human blood group systems based on various antigens are recognized by International Society of Blood Transfusions with ABO and RhD Antigens system being the most important ones in classifications. Based on ABO system, blood groups are classified into 4 major ones. Blood group A: Contains A Antigen on their RBC’s surface with anti-B antibodies in plasma. Blood group B: Contains B Antigen on their RBC’s surface with anti-A antibodies in plasma. Blood group AB: Contains A and B Antigen on their RBC’s surface with no antibodies in plasma. Blood group O: Contains no Antigen on their RBC’s surface with anti-B and anti-A antibodies in plasma. Aside from ABO, RH is another factor based on the presence of RhD Antigens in our RBC. Presence of RhD is mentioned with +ve sign and absence with a –ve sign. Combining ABO and Rh type together we have 8 major blood groups; A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+ and O-. Inter-mixing of wrong blood groups during blood transfusion could turn fatal. Considered the universal donor O-ve blood can be safely donated to any person. Similarly, AB+ can accept blood from any group making it universal recipient.

<urn:uuid:e9d07afc-13dd-4780-b4f0-e3bb3be80a0d>

CBOJ Fall Contest Problem 4 - Taking an L Not only did Bob fail both math and physics, he is taking Ls everywhere else as well! In fact, Bob is taking so many Ls he is starting to see Ls everywhere! Looking at the \(N\) visible stars in the night sky the Ls are everywhere! But exactly how many are there? As Bob's friend, please help him end this misery! The \(N\) stars are represented as \(N\) integer coordinates in the Cartesian plane. An \(L\) is defined as \(3\) points connected with a right angle. Two Ls are different if at least one of the points used is different. For this problem, Python users are recommended to use PyPy over CPython. The first line of the input will contain an integer \(N\) \((1 \le N \le 10^3)\), indicating the number of stars in the sky. The stars will all have a distinct coordinate. The next \(N\) lines of the input will contain \(2\) integers ranging from \(-10^9\) to \(10^9\) inclusive, indicating the coordinate of the \(i\)-th star in the Cartesian plane. Output an integer, representing the number of Ls in the sky. Subtask 1 [40%] \(1 \le N \le 50\) Subtask 2 [60%] No additional constraints. 5 0 0 -3 0 -2 3 0 5 3 2 The three Ls are illustrated in red, green, and blue in the following image:

<urn:uuid:0797966b-b48c-4f54-ade1-1a30e1a0d9fb>

Achondrite, from Gk. prefix a- (an- before stems beginning with a vowel or h) "not, without, lacking" + Gk. chondrite, from chondr-, from chondros "grain," + affix -ite. Fr.: chondrite carbonée A rare type of → stony meteorite having a higher → carbon content than other classes of meteorite. They represent only ~5% of the known meteorites. Their bulk composition is mainly → silicates, → oxides and sulfides, whilst the minerals → olivine and serpentine are characteristic. The six classes of carbonaceous chondrites are: → CI chondrites, CM chondrites, CV chondrites, CO chondrites, CK chondrites, CR chondrites, CH chondrites, and CB chondrites. The most common type of → meteorites containing → chondrules. These → stony meteorites make up about 86% of all meteorites. An important feature of the chondrites is that, with the exception of a few highly → volatile elements, they have the same composition as the Sun. Chondrite, from chondr-, from chondros "grain", + suffix → -ite. Fr.: chondrite CI A group of very rare → carbonaceous chondrites which are unusual because they do not have → chondrules. They are thought to be the most primitive of all meteorites. As a result of alteration, they lack chondrules and → CAIs, but contain up to 20% water, as well as various alteration minerals. Only five CI chondrite falls are known, and of these, only four are massive enough for multiple chemical analyses. The Orgueil meteorite is the most massive of CI chondrites. kondrit-e gune-ye E Fr.: chondrite de type E Same as → enstatite chondrite. Fr.: chondrite enstatite

<urn:uuid:ef8d322b-1856-4a1e-a659-cae058ddf30b>

A water supply is really important to look after the Botanic Gardens and its amazing plant collection. Established in 1851 the Geelong Botanic Gardens has a fascinating history. An exposed site of 200 acres with Corio Bay frontage and little vegetation has been transformed to become Eastern Park and the Geelong Botanic Gardens. A ten year drought in Geelong in the 2000s had a severe impact on the Geelong Botanic Gardens. At this time the Botanic Gardens was identified as one of the top 5 water users for the City of Greater Geelong. Water saving measures have been put in place which respect the high value of the gardens' plant collections. Eastern Park is not irrigated at all - so it is a dry landscape during the summer season. The trees in the park lost vigour during the drought period and many died through age and lack of rainfall. A tree planting plan which will see the rejuvenation of the landscape over time requires a water source to establish new trees. Securing a treated water source In 2011-2012 Council and the Federal Government jointly funded a substantial water-saving project located in the south east section of Eastern Park. Historic records show that until 1925 this exact site in Eastern Park was an ornamental lake until it was filled in to create a cricket oval. The functional water storage dam has been built to look like a natural water body. Water in Eastern Park can improve the flora and fauna biodiversity of the area. This project involved diverting stormwater that was flowing out to Corio Bay. The stormwater comes from an established suburban area of East Geelong with no runoff from industry. Estimated water inflows from the residential catchment are calculated (with average rainfall) at approximately 70 million litres per year. The water will 'turn over' approximately 20 times a year. The system is designed as a stormwater harvesting and reuse system. Harvested water flows through a rock filled sediment pond. When this is full it flows over a wall into the dam proper. The dam holds about 4 million litres and is approximately 7000 square metres in area. The water is held in the dam and then goes through a treatment process to clean it. The water is then used for establishing and maintaining trees in Eastern Park and irrigating the Geelong Botanic Gardens.

<urn:uuid:6a77401e-8fff-4c25-884c-854a0a9f209a>

Get an answer for 'how have the 1st and 4th amendments been changed since the implementation of the usa patriot act' and find homework help for other usa patriot act questions at enotes. Since the patriot act was passed in 2001, controversy has raged over nearly every provision the controversy has been particularly intense over provisions that affect the patrons of libraries. Indeed, careful scrutiny of civil liberties in today's united states reveals how much the country has changed since earlier times of war or crisis in assessing america's performance since 9/11, we must also keep in mind the dramatically new nature of the challenge that america and other democracies are facing in the rise of islamist terrorism. Section 207 of the usa patriot act has been essential to protecting the national security of the united states and protecting the civil liberties of americans it changed the time periods for which electronic surveillance and physical searches are authorized under fisa and, in doing so, conserved limited oipr and fbi resources. Epa history: clean air act of 1970/1977 top of page clean air act amendments of 1990 another set of major amendments to the clean air act occurred in 1990 (1990 caaa) the 1990 caaa substantially increased the authority and responsibility of the federal government. Events affecting the constitution claiming that his 4th amendment rights had been violated with the warrantless wiretap its exact requirements have been . The usa patriot act has generated a great deal of controversy since its enactment opponents of the act have been quite vocal in asserting that it was passed opportunistically after the september 11 terrorist attacks, believing there to have been little debate. From a civil rights perspective the americans with disabilities act is a codification of simple justice this “class status” concept has been critical in the . Advantages of the usa patriot act the act has been a highly-polarizing national security initiative since president george w bush signed the bill into law, a month following the terrorist attacks of september 11 advocates feel the act has made anti-terrorism efforts more streamlined, efficient and effective. Michelle richardson, legislative council at the american civil liberties union, said the patriot act has not changed since president obama took office the conservative heritage foundation, which expressed support of the patriot act in its current form, agreed that there have been few changes since its implementation. The ada, as we know it today, went through numerous drafts, revisions, negotiations, and amendments since the first version was introduced in 1988 spurred by a draft bill prepared by the national council on disability, an independent federal agency whose members were appointed by president reagan, senator weicker and representative coelho introduced the first version of the ada in april 1988 in the 100th congress. Since 2002, some enemy combatants, have been held at guantanamo bay and elsewhere, in some cases without access by the red cross investigations into other military detention centers have revealed severe human rights abuses and violations of international law, such as the geneva conventions. The first, fourth, fifth, and eighth amendments to the constitution would no longer protect certain people the fundamental creed of this nation, that people have natural rights that cannot be violated by government, would be cast aside by its most powerful leader: the president of the united state of america. Scheinin has said: “despite the existence of a tradition in the united states of respect for the rule of law, and the presence of self-correcting mechanisms under the us constitution, it is most regretful that a number of important mechanisms for the protection of rights have been removed or obfuscated under law and practice since the events . Since the early 20th century both federal and state courts have used the fourteenth amendment to apply portions of the bill of rights to state and local governments the process is known as incorporation . The fourth amendment and the 'exclusionary rule' for the more than 100 years after its ratification, the fourth amendment was of little value to criminal defendants because evidence seized by law enforcement in violation of the warrant or reasonableness requirements was still admissible during the defendant's prosecution. It's been a minute with sam sanders latino usa npr politics podcast senate approves usa freedom act, after amendments fail : this is the most important surveillance reform bill since . The first ten amendments to the us constitution serve to explicitly state the rights of us citizens and to protect a variety of individual liberties to many of the states, the inclusion of these amendments was so important that the ratification of the us constitution was delayed. You simply could include, as part of your onboarding procedures, a question (either verbal or written) to the effect of: “has your beneficial ownership information changed since you filled out the certification form”. Protesters hold up signs outside of federal hall during a demonstration against united states attorney general john ashcroft september 9, 2003 in new york city the attorney general was in new york city as part of a sixteen-city tour speaking tour in which he spoke about the progress america has made on the war on terrorism through law enforcement and implementation of the usa patriot act. In the 25 years since the passage of public law 94-142, significant progress has been made toward meeting major national goals for developing and implementing effective programs and services for early intervention, special education, and related services. Chapter 4 practice quiz study fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, the usa patriot act. And, the agency appears to have been not only eavesdropping on the conversations of americans in this country without warrants, but also using broad data mining systems that allowed it to analyze information about the communications of millions of innocent people within the united states. Unfortunately known as the usa patriot act, many of its provisions incorporate decidedly unpatriotic principles barred by the first and fourth amendments of the constitution provisions of the patriot act have been used to target innocent americans and are widely used in investigations that have nothing to do with national security. The second reauthorization act, the usa patriot act additional reauthorizing amendments act of 2006, amended the first and was passed in february 2006 the first act reauthorized all but two of the provisions of title ii that would have expired. The first amendment freedoms that support civic discourse include which of the following freedoms the usa patriot act which of the following fifth amendment . The patriot act drove a stake through the heart of the bill of rights, violating at least six of the ten original amendments—the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth amendments—and possibly the thirteenth and fourteenth amendments, as well. Since the nineteenth century it has been held that united states courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over any one properly charged and present before that court, regardless of how he found his way to that court.

<urn:uuid:d9111eb8-690e-4d5b-80a3-0d7862c550b5>

Reading comprehension activities Free curriculum strategies and classroom management techniques. materials, A cross-curricular vocabulary program that teaches academic and domain-specific words through movies and instructional quizzes. Passages increase in complexity. Data is simple. Online science video lessons. Popular Mini-Lessons (15-20 minutes, all digital) and Full Lessons (45-90 minutes, w/hand-on activities) Games, readings and videos A free online scientific calculator with advance features for evaluation percentages, fractions, exponential functions, logarithms, trigonometry, and more. Video demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfjoWg0u4HQ Interactive Virtual Field Trips Interactive Periodic Table of the elements An interactive website that answers the question, “Where should my waste go?”

<urn:uuid:846c522b-7b22-47e5-8611-c4f1b32fd2b8>

Free printable grade 2 math worksheets covering , Our grade 2 math worksheets are free and printable in pdf format. based on the singaporean math curriculum for second graders, these math worksheets are made for. The math dude : add subtract mixed fractions, How to add and subtract mixed fractions — method 1. so, how do you add and subtract mixed fractions? the best way is to start by turning all the mixed fractions in. Free fraction worksheets adding subtracting fractions, Here you will find our selection of free fraction worksheets for 3rd grade, focusing on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators by the math salamanders. Adding mixed numbers - k5 learning, Grade 5 math worksheets adding mixed numbers ( denominators). free pdf worksheets k5 learning' online reading math program.. http://www.k5learning.com/free-math-worksheets/fifth-grade-5/fractions-addition-subtraction/adding-mixed-numbers-like-denominators Adding mixed numbers fractions - k5 learning, Grade 5 math worksheets adding mixed numbers fractions ( denominators). free pdf worksheets k5 learning' online reading math program.. http://www.k5learning.com/free-math-worksheets/fifth-grade-5/fractions-addition-subtraction/adding-mixed-numbers-fractions-like-denominators Free printable math worksheets grade 4, This comprehensive collection free printable math worksheets fourth grade, organized topics addition, subtraction, mental math, place . http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_4.php

<urn:uuid:f7da7030-944f-4ce7-b87d-919aa198f76e>

Let It Be was written by Paul McCartney. It was released in 1970 – and was the last single released by The Beatles before the band broke up. In this lesson, we’ll talk about the 7 different triads used in the song. Only one of them adds a “7” to make it a 4-note chord but two are played with bass notes other than the root – so we’ll cover slash chords. As usual, we’ll first go through each part of the song with chords in root position – then follow that up by using the technique of finding the nearest inversion. In the song specific techniques section, I’ll show you how your left hand is perfectly fitted to playing “the 5” as well as the name note. I’ll also be giving some coaching on rhythms and sustain pedal technique.

<urn:uuid:2065aa34-0101-46da-aa62-bb5a4293e653>

Is 78 percent A or B? What grade is B+? Is 78 percent a bad grade? Why is E not a grade? How to Express 1 acre in km and 1 acre in a Hectare? How big is an acre compared to a Football field? How many Football Fields is an acre? What is a Moon? What are the Characteristics of the Moon? What are the Motions of the Moon? What is the Gravity of the Moon? How can you Calculate the Weight on the Surface of the Moon? What is 4 Quarts of Water? Is 4 Quarts more than 1 Cup? How many Quarts make a Gallon? How many Ounces is 4 Q? What Height falling into Water is Fatal? Can You survive a 1000-foot Fall into Water? How Far can You fall in 3 Seconds? What Speed is Free Fall? Is a Quart Bigger than a Pint? How many Quarts are 1.5 Pints? How to measure Cups, Pints, Quarts, and Gallons? How many Pints and Quarts are in a Gallon? How do I measure 100 ml of Water? What is the Measurement of 100ml of Water in Grams? What is a millilitre and How do you measure it? How many ml are there in Teaspoons? What are Different Measuring Units? How many Grams are in 1 Cup? How much is a 3/4 Cup? How to measure 3/4 cup with Spoons, Hand, Scale, and Other Methods? Does a Triangle have Perpendicular Sides? What is a Pythagorean Theorem for a Right-Angle Triangle? What is the Formula for The Base of Isosceles Triangle? How to find out the Third Side of the Triangle? Is a Block a Mile? Do 8 Blocks equal a Mile? How Long is a Block in Mile? How Long should it take to walk a Mile? How Many Blocks is a Quarter Mile? What are the Mathematical Concepts and Principles? What are the 4 Basic Concepts of Mathematics? What are Applications of Math Concepts? What are the Seven Prerequisite in Math Skills? What is 10 kilometers called? How long is 10 kilometers in feet? How big is 10 kilometers compared to Earth? Which is longer 5 miles or 10 kilometers?

<urn:uuid:65592fea-e275-4e33-b92f-586088d08d67>

Canvas is a uniquely textured fabric that has come to be associated with ruggedness and durability. Of course, when we investigate the origins of canvas, we see a link to a truly coarse material. The first known canvas material was made from hemp, a tough plant that is heavily associated with rope and other industrial products that require strength. Few know that the word “canvas” actually derives from the old Latin cannapaceus, which ties canvas to its linguistic cousin and hemp product cannabis. Despite its pothead origins, most canvas has been mainly constructed of linen and cotton in the last two hundred years. Before the advent of synthetic fiber jackets, the intrepid men and women who voyaged out into the world had to brave the cold in a material called waxed canvas. It kept them stiff and warm in the cold, and was especially beloved by Scottish sailors, who were the first to utilize the material to weather the frigid winds on the Atlantic and North Sea. These days, waxed canvas might seem like something of an antiquity, considering the swaths of different fabrics on the market, in which adventurers can swathe themselves. From ventile and denim, to polymers such as nylon, dyneema, neoprene et. al, the options are various and unending. But some still prefer the original choice of the mariner to stave away the rime. Waxed canvas has truly stood the test of time, as enduring historically as it is physically. History of the Waxed Canvas Jacket The First Waterproof The history of the waxed canvas jacket is a wonderful sea-tale, almost worthy of Melvillian lore. The origins can be traced back to the early 1800s, when clipper ships and merchant vessels crossed the oceans, using sails that were usually manufactured in Scotland. Sailors noticed a peculiar property in the flax-based fabric of the ship seals. They observed that when the sails became wet, they could catch the wind much better. When they became saturated with water, they ceased to be porous to the air, causing the sea vessels to accelerate across the water at a much faster pace. The sailors had the idea to cure the fabric with Linseed oil in order to make it waterproof, and similarly adept at catching the wind. The problem with a wet sail was that it became incredibly heavy, so a Linseed-cured sail would have the benefit of the original waterlogged flax, without the drawbacks. These smart sailors had revolutionized the sailing industry at that moment, for from that insulating method came not only an improvement to ship sails; it also marked a wind shift for the wardrobes of seafarers. From this waterproofing technique came the original fisherman’s slicker jacket, and other clothes equipped for seagoing. Still, the combination of Linseed oil and flax had its disadvantages. Linseed oil calcifies fabrics, making clothes hard to move in. It also yellows with use, which is why the jackets and capes worn by fisherman are traditionally yellow. There was still room for improvement. The mid-1800s saw a pivot from flax, which was used to make waterproof linen canvas clothing, into cotton canvas materials. Cotton was both lighter and cheaper, and less prone to becoming stiff and rigid. Woven rightly in a two ply construction, in both warp and weft, cotton was equally durable and impervious to water. It gradually took over for linen/flax. Another major shift took place in the mid 1920s, when a better way to wax canvas was discovered. This time, it wasn’t the base material that was improved, but the oil used to lacquer it. The new method involved impregnating cotton with Paraffin wax, which offered several advantages over the Linseed oil method. Namely, the fabric did not stiffen, remained breathable, and it didn’t yellow with age. Almost all waxed-cotton canvas materials were dyed black or olive green in the ‘20s and ‘30s (mostly because the cupro-ammonia treatment necessary to cotton impregnation automatically imparted a dark green color). It was used by the British Armed Forces during WWII, making them the only army to have waterproof clothing. Following the war, waxed canvas or waxed cotton became a hugely popular fabric for heavy duty rain gear. Now firmly removed from the esoteric world of ship sails, waxed canvas was a hugely popular clothing material, especially for motorcyclists, as it was not only rugged and waterproof, but had the property of being thick, a quality that bikers cherish in their clothes (so that they don’t get chewed up by the asphalt). Though synthetic materials have risen in popularity over the years, the organics still remain a top choice, not just for their timeless appeal, but for the rugged properties that synthetics can’t always match. Canvas jackets stand the test of time, and you will never regret purchasing one. But it is true that a canvas garment does require some upkeep. Re-waxing a canvas jacket is vitally important to its remaining strong and effectively waterproof over the year. Should you decide you want to own one of these jackets, laden with rich history, you’ll need to know how to take care of it. Not only do they have a rich sartorial history, but with a little elbow grease – and a lot of wax – a canvas jacket can survive through decades of good use, and will stand up to the elements just as good, if not better, than any contemporary product out there. How To Re-Wax Your Canvas Jacket Before you begin the process, you may have to pick up a few supplies from the store. You’ll obviously need the garment and the wax, but you’ll also want to make sure you have a hair dryer or heat gun handy. As for what kind of wax you want to use, there is some room for preference here. Paraffin wax is the historically proven choice. Still, as you might imagine of a product that was first used for these purposes nearly 100 years ago, aspects of paraffin are obsolete, these days. Should you pick paraffin, you’ll want to make sure that your room is properly ventilated and that you’re wearing a mask, as paraffin wax has been shown to be pollutive indoors. Inhalation of paraffin wax fumes has been linked to lung cancer. Alternatives to Paraffin wax are plant-based waxes like soywax, animal-based waxes (derived from wool-bearing animal secretions, fish-based waxes, or beeswax. All of these options are effective and have their own unique properties. You may need to soften up the wax before you put it to use. An easy and effective way of doing so is to place the wax in a pot of hot – not scalding, but fairly warm – water, to ensure the wax becomes melty and spreadable. You may also want to use a lint roller to pick up any loose fuzz that has clung to your jacket, so don’t accidentally seal them onto your garment. 1. Clean Your Garment Next, you’ll want to make sure the jacket – or bag, or gloves, whatever it is you are re-sealing – is completely clean. Don’t wash that canvas jacket in a washing machine, or with laundry detergent. Everything about this process will be old fashioned, and that includes washing and drying. No soap is necessary – simply use a bristled scrub brush and gently scrub off any stains or dirt on the canvas material. A soft cloth can be used, too. Despite its tough texture, you must treat the fabric softly. Use cold water if necessary. 2. Wax On, Wax Off Now comes the important part. That time-honored act that can only be brought to fruition by a man and a piece of fabric. The impregnation. If it sounds intimate, that’s because it is; this is a delicate procedure that you’ll want to put effort and care into doing. Using a cloth, rub the heated wax onto the jacket, covering the entire exterior. Avoid the inside of the jacket and the pockets as you coat it in broad, even strokes. Pay close attention to the seams, making sure to cover the nooks and crannies with your wax. 3. Heat It Up Once you’re satisfied that the jacket has been covered from tail to collar, heat the jacket using your hair dryer or heat gun. Make sure that it all dries up, and hang the jacket up overnight. Allow the wax to cure in a dry, warm area for 12-24 hours. Overnight, the wax will work its magic. 4. Test The Waters Once the jacket has cured, it should have a warm, glossy sheen that looks like it would repel any liquid it encountered. Feel free to test its new properties out. Areas of high wear on the jacket are the most susceptible to loosing their resistance, so remember to occasionally touch up your canvas jacket to keep it seaworthy. Here are a few winning waxes that will guide your canvas jacket restoration safely to anchor: Filson Oil Finish Wax Filson’s oil comes in a conventional tin, and is made from the traditional paraffin used by sailors for generations. Paraffin wax is remarkably durable while still yielding pliability. There is a reason it was so popular for so long, and if you don’t have qualms with fossil-fuel based products and the possibility of inhaling a few carcinogens (allegedly), then stick with the old standby. Otter Wax is an excellent all-natural alternative to Paraffin wax. It comes in bar shape, so there is no need to use a cloth to apply the wax – simply press down on your garment to spread the wax around. Made from a proprietary mix of plant waxes and beeswax, this is an excellent way to refinish your canvas threads. Fjallraven Greenland Wax Next to the Scots, the Nordic people are the most proximal to the icy seas, and are therefore familiar with the importance of keeping warm and water-resistant. Greenland wax from Fjallraven is constituted of 65% parrafin and 35% beeswax, a very powerful composite which is highly effective and environmentally friendly. Barbour Dry Wax The Barbour Dry Wax bar is the perfect reproofing stick for touch ups. Use the sharp edges and corners of the wax bar to get into the places that a cloth can’t reach, and cover your jacket with ease and little mess. 12 Best Waxed Canvas Jackets For Men Before you re-wax a canvas jacket, you’ll need a garment with which to work. Choose from the variety of the 12 best canvas jackets on the market, like an artist selecting a blank canvas.

<urn:uuid:72c56104-cf0c-4d23-b429-5fea127cb0da>

In movies, when we see fiery car crashes or flaming planes on runways, we know they are not real. But in the real world, fuel fires must be quenched with special kinds of chemicals, and the ones that have been most commonly used are known as aqueous film-forming foams (AFFFs). However, environmental and health concerns about AFFFs have launched widespread efforts to detect, monitor and eventually eliminate them. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have released new reference materials to expedite these efforts. What makes the foams so effective are chemical compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), enabling them to suppress fuel fires much more quickly and efficiently compared with other alternatives.

<urn:uuid:dd2ac847-fa9c-4eab-a342-21e7b6f63096>

|Name: _________________________||Period: ___________________| This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 12-15. Multiple Choice Questions 1. How often did the Gilbreth family practice fire drills? (a) Once a month. (b) Every day. (c) Once a week. 2. Initially, which child did the doctor say did not need their tonsils out? (d) Frank, Jr. 3. What is the primary focus of Chapter 15? (a) Poor manners and music lessons. (b) Pranks and house guests. (c) Good manners and house guests. (d) Good manners and Aunt Anne's visits. 4. At what point in their relationship did Mother and Dad begin to dream about having a large family? (a) On their wedding day. (b) After they had their first child. (c) After they had their second child. (d) On their first date. 5. The Preface provides a glimpse into which dynamics of the Gilbreth household? (a) Interactions with grandparents and beloved staff. (b) Children frequently tattling on one another. (c) Shared responsibility for their dozens of pets. (d) Constant disorder and misbehavior. Short Answer Questions 1. Throughout Chapter 6, what quality does Dad display with regard to his children? 2. How did Dad assign positions on the boat to the children? 3. What influence did Dad's work life have on his home life? 4. Which of the following is not something the children did on the boat? 5. How did the children rebel during the tea party? This section contains 339 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)

<urn:uuid:11324b22-63e3-4358-817c-8c60430beb73>

Table of Contents Vitamin C is a water-soluble Vitamin what your body needs as a micro-nutrient on the regular basis. It is also known as ascorbic acid. Also, Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant and helps in proper functioning of the body. Many fruits and vegetables are loaded with this nutrient, like oranges, lemons, kiwi, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and strawberries. Vitamin C is necessary for your skin and gums. Likewise, it helps in the production of collagen which is a component in connective tissues. Moreover, a lack of vitamin C can serve you with weak immunity, frequent cold, cough, inflammatory diseases, damaged skin and even cancer. Although severe deficiency is uncommon in the modern days, can cause scurvy in extreme deficiency. Scurvy is a disease caused by the deficiency of vitamin C (below 10 mg per day). Hence, it can cause fatigue, red or purple tiny spots on the skin, inflammatory and swollen gums, joint pain and poor wound healing. People with scurvy can also develop anemia and depression. Risk factors for Vitamin C Deficiency Scurvy is rarely found but you can be deficient in vitamin C with many habits. The people who are more at risk of developing a deficiency of this nutrient are included as: 1. Drunken/ alcoholics/ dependent on drugs (they maintain an unbalanced diet) 2. People preferring restrictive diets (kidney or heart patients) 3. People who develop inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. 4. Smokers (vitamin C is quickly used up by the body in the case of smokers). 5. The side effect of Chemotherapy drugs can make you deficient with this nutrient 6. Pregnant women diet needs a higher amount of vitamin C. 7. If you are on dialysis ( restricted with many nutrients) 8. By using antidepressants or a long time 9. If you are suffering from other chronic diseases like heart strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and arthritis. 16 Signs and Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency Vitamin C can’t be synthesized in your body. So, the only source of getting sufficient vitamin C is through diet. Hence, poor diet, alcohol, and severe illness make you deficient with this nutrient. Symptoms can’t be noticed in a few days or weeks, but there are many signs you should be alert of. Here are 16 most common signs of vitamin C deficiency. 1. Damaged skin: Collagen is a protein which is the building block of connective tissues of bones, skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It is also found in blood vessels, teeth, and cornea of the eyes. Vitamin C helps in producing collagen. So, deficiency of vitamin C hinders collagen production leading to a skin disease known as keratosis pilaris. In contrast, it is a harmless skin condition which causes small, light-colored, hard bumps on your upper arms, thighs, and buttocks. The condition is also known as “Chicken skin.” You can feel rough, dry and damaged skin with acne and pimples due to lack of vitamin C. The small blood vessels around the surface of skin break easily and leak Red blood cells is called bruising. Easy Bruising is a sign of nutritional deficiency with vitamin C, as well as deficiency of iron and vitamin K. Also, vitamin C contains bioflavonoids and help in the production of collagen. Hence, due to the lack of these nutrients, bruising increases with time. According to the University of Michigan Health System, even minor deficiencies of vitamin C can lead to increased bruising. In addition, if you are a sufferer, increase your intake of vitamin C and consult your doctor. 3. Heal wounds slowly Collagen is an important nutrient required by your body and help in healing wounds. Also, a slow healing wound is one of the major signs of Vitamin C deficiency. Likewise, it increases the risk of infection. In addition, wounds healing may take up to a month or longer, depending on the condition, infections, and nutrients provided during the healing process. Hence, wounds fail to heal without vitamin C and severity of deficiency may cause scar development and ulcer formation. 4. Bleeding gums If you see bleeding gums once in a year, it does not mean that you are deficient of vitamin C. Your tissue becomes weak and blood vessels bleed more frequently due to deficiency of vitamin C. Also, redness, swelling and pain is observed. In advanced stages of vitamin C deficiency, the area around gums may become rotten which ultimately lead to tooth decay or loss. 5. Weak bones Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant which plays an important role in the formation of bones. Likewise, children and older people require an adequate amount of Vitamin C to prevent themselves from bone diseases. The two common diseases are: Rickets in children Osteoporosis in older adults (loss of bone). By giving supplementation of Vitamin C, healthy bones can be restored. Also, about 40-50% of women suffer from bone loss after the age of 50, due to osteoporosis. Moreover, doctors generally relate women bone health as a calcium deficiency, but its actually a deficiency of vitamin C. A little of physical injury can lead to the excessive and hidden flow of blood from the nose is called nosebleed. Children are quite close to nosebleeds with any trauma. However, this inability is due to the weakening of the blood vessels which can arise from the deficiency of vitamin C in the body. 7. Weak immunity Vitamin C deficiency is concerned with frequent cold and coughs, along with weak immunity. Although cold and cough is a common disease but they can lead to pneumonia and other respiratory diseases if vitamin c is found deficient. Since vitamin C has a great impact on your immune system, so deficiency could leave you with frequent infections. Consequently, the concentration of vitamin C in immune cells become weak with age, so aging is one of the major factors behind lowering of vitamin C levels. You can use home remedies for treating normal cold and cough. 8. Painful joints Vitamin C deficiency can lead to the improper function of collagen which can form cartilages and ligaments of the bones. Also, it can reduce joint pain by rebuilding lost cartilage. Moreover, the nutrient is very helpful in treating arthritis. Also, it improves the pain of arthritis. According to the American Volume of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vitamin C is not only associated with the pain of arthritis but treat other complex joint pains. 9. Lead to iron deficiency Vitamin C and iron deficiency are associated with each other. Also, vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron in the body. Iron helps in making hemoglobin which is a part of Red blood cells. Likewise, vitamin C also helps in the production of RBC. So, the deficiency of vitamin C can lead to anemia or low red blood cell count. Causes of anemia due to vitamin C deficiency include hyperthyroidism, malnutrition, the inability of a body to absorb iron or cancer. 10. Neck pain and headaches Neck pain is common in people with a headache and migraines. So, vitamin C could play an important role in the treatment of headaches. Even more, studies are yet to be done regarding a headache based on the deficiency of vitamin C. If you feel weakness along with the low level of energy, you might be experiencing the deficiency of vitamin C. Also, fatigue goes away by taking the adequate dose of vitamin C with iron. So, contact your doctor. 12. Dry hairs Your hairs are an indicator of your good health. When you have split and dry hairs, you may have a vitamin C deficiency. Also, the strength of hairs depends on the production of collagen. Dry hairs are the sign of having low collagen. 13. Low memory If it is becoming hard for you to remember the major things in your daily life, it may be possible that your brain is not getting enough nutrients for its basic functions. Also, vitamin C has a great impact on your brain. The brain uses a high level of oxygen and may leave you with full radical damage. So, vitamin C is an important antioxidant which neutralizes this damage. In addition, vitamin C supplements can improve IQ, memory and other mental activities. Vitamin C rich foods contain antioxidants and they are anti-inflammatory. Low level of this nutrient is associated with a high level of inflammation and oxidative stress. Furthermore, studies say that people found with deficiency of vitamin C are more prone to develop heart failure and joint pains. 15. Bowel disorder Deficiency of vitamin C progresses if left untreated. Less common, but low vitamin C levels can cause stomach disorders like gastritis, bowel inflammatory diseases, and irritation in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. 16. Impaired lactation in breastfeeding mothers The breastfeeding mothers need the adequate amount of vitamin C for the proper development of the baby. Also, they can try vitamin C rich foods to increase their breast milk. To stay away from Vitamin C Deficiency, there are various sources of vitamin C which shall be consumed. These include bell peppers, guava, kiwi, broccoli, oranges, lemons, cloves, etc. In addition to this, there are various Vitamin C supplements available as well. As vitamin C has a good impact on face, you can try Vitamin C serums for face as supplements.

<urn:uuid:b59fcac6-1967-487e-b3f7-6dc5b61b899b>

I love snowmen activities in the winter … whether or not the climate is snowy! I have some fun activities using free snowman printables to reinforce both phonics sounds and handwriting skills. Last month, I shared Montessori-inspired snowman color activities. I loved the printable for winter activities, and I’m going to use another free snowman printable from the same blogger. This one focuses on letters. The main free printable I used for my snowman letter matching is no longer available, but you could make a snowman letter matching activity with Snowman ABC Match Up from CreatedByMarloJ at Teachers Pay Teachers or the Uppercase/Lowercase Snowman Letter Matching by Stacie McDade at Teachers Pay Teachers. For an alphabet control chart, I’m using a printable alphabet tracing page from Ziggity Zoom. A third printable is from Montessori Materials – a movable alphabet that looks like the Nienhuis font and is donated by Logendra. Update: I have a free printable movable alphabet (1″ letter tiles) in manuscript, D’Nealian, and cursive (instant download). In the snowman printables, only the letters vary rather than the shape, size, or color. Notice that every snowman’s hatband and scarf is the same color. Like the printable last month, this meets the Montessori principle of isolation of difficulty that will help children learn the concept most easily. In this post, I’m talking about activities that are extensions to initial work with letters and phonetic sounds and add interest as a seasonal material. In Montessori education, phonetic sounds are introduced before letter names. Lowercase letters are introduced before uppercase letters. My Inexpensive and DIY Sandpaper Letters post has lots of resources for purchasing or making sandpaper letters and for presenting the phonetic sounds. Sandpaper letters are the ideal formal introduction to letters. Here are some Montessori-inspired snowman letter activities to help young children with a number of skills: Preparing Snowman Letter Activities Materials (and preparation tips): - Snowman letter printable, alphabet control chart, and movable alphabet printable (optional) - Materials for printing, cutting, and laminating printables - Sandpaper letters and salt (for salt tray extension) - Activity trays. I used two inexpensive wooden activity trays that came as nested trays from a hobby story (Michael’s). I especially like that they’re nested for homes or preschools with limited shelf space. The salt tray (see extension below) can be placed beneath the other tray on the shelf if you don’t have space for both trays (or space to have a separate table for the salt tray and snowman letter activity). - 2 small containers for the hats and movable alphabet letters. I used parts of a bead storage container from the hobby store for the small containers. - When preparing the activity, make it as attractive and orderly as possible. Typically, you’ll want to arrange your materials in left-to-right order on the tray as an indirect preparation for writing and reading. - You’ll need a low shelf or shelves for the activity trays in your classroom or home where the children can easily reach them, allowing for freedom of choice in their activities. Activity trays on shelves are wonderful ways to have activities available when children have an urge to repeat an activity or are drawn to an activity because of the needs of a sensitive period. - Especially if you have more than one child, it’s helpful if you have a few rugs in the room so a child can lay out the materials for an activity on a rug on the floor. The rug is helpful for defining the child’s workspace. Rugs can be rolled up and stored in a container in a corner of the room. Presenting the Activity - If you’re presenting to a large group, go to the rug container, get a rug, and roll it out on the floor in front of you. For an individual child or small group, it’s helpful to use a rug if you’re presenting an activity on the floor. - Go to the shelf where the activity tray is located, pick up the tray with both hands, and carry it to your rug or to a table. - For a large-group presentation in a preschool, generally the children will be seated in a circle. Present the activity facing toward the group. If you’re presenting to an individual child, have the child sit to your left if you’re right-handed so that you don’t block the child’s view with your arm. - Lay out the snowmen in rows on the rug or table, starting at the left and working to the right. For this activity, I would probably put them in the order of the alphabet like they are on the control chart. - As I place each snowman on the rug I would say, “The letter ‘a’ makes the sound /ă/; the letter ‘b’ makes the sound /b/….” Later on, I might say, “’A’ makes /ă/; ‘b’ makes /b/….” - Lay out the snowmen hats in mixed order below the snowmen. - Show how to find the first snowman hat and place it on the snowman’s head, saying, “’A’ makes the sound /ă/.” - In Montessori education, activities are presented slowly with precise movements. As few words as possible are used. In another preschool environment, you may want to adapt the presentation according to your own teaching style. - Often at this point in a group presentation, I’ll ask someone in the group if they’d like to match another snowman’s hat. I might go around the group giving the children turns matching snowmen with hats. With an individual child, I’ll let the child join in when he or she feels ready. - When you’re finished presenting the activity, put the activity away on the shelf. Always show how to clean up and put away an activity when you first present it. If you had a rug out for the activity, roll the rug up and put it away. - Introduce a salt tray and sandpaper letter for practice tracing individual letters. I like the idea of placing one of the snowmen in the salt tray, since the salt looks a bit like snow. Again, I say the phonetic sound when tracing the letter. Here I would just say the phonetic sound (rather than the letter name) as I trace the letter in the sand using my index and middle finger. (See the videos linked to in the sandpaper letter post for more about presentation.) - Add a container of movable alphabet letters to the tray. - Children can place the movable alphabet letters below the snowman letters. - Children who are ready can spell words with the snowman letters and movable alphabet (see directions for presenting the movable alphabet). Please join me at PreK + K Sharing to see all my posts there: Deb Chitwood at PreK + K Sharing. Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy! If this is your first time visiting Living Montessori Now, welcome! If you haven’t already, please join us on our Living Montessori Now Facebook page where you’ll find a Free Printable of the Day and lots of inspiration and ideas for parenting and teaching! And please follow me on Pinterest (lots of Montessori-, holiday-, and theme-related boards), Instagram, and YouTube. You can find me on bloglovin’ and Twitter, too. And don’t forget one of the best ways to follow me by signing up for my weekly newsletter. You’ll receive some awesome freebies in the process!

<urn:uuid:07cd5ddd-fafe-4645-8b96-87e39c4c54a3>

The immune system protects the body against infections. Persons with strong immunity are resistant to diseases whereas those having poor or weak immune system are prone to frequent infections. The major components of the immune system are the white blood cells, antibodies, and other components such as lymph nodes and organs. Poor immune system may result from birth, diseases or may be environmental. Some common factors that weaken the immune system are HIV, certain medications and viral hepatitis. Immunodeficiency can be mild or severe. Those with mild immunodeficiency may not be aware for years but the severe cases may cause the person to experience frequent infections. Listed below are some of the signs of weak immune system: 1. Prone to infections or diseases People with weak immune system are very susceptible to frequent diseases and infections. It is advisable for not to get closer to people that are sick as they easily pick up infections. 2. Have difficulty in dealing with infections Individuals with poor immune system find it difficult to recover from basic ailments. Common diseases they may suffer from are bronchitis, pneumonia and skin infections. It may take them time to recover when they have certain issues. 3. Frequent digestive disorders They have frequent issues of stomach cramps, loss of appetite and also experience frequent diarrhea. 4. Retarded growth in children Children and infants with weak immune system don’t grow vigorously as those with strong immune systems. Their growth and development is often very slow. 5. The may have frequent loss of blood or feel anaemic most times. 6. They may have inflammations of internal organs. 7. May experience autoimmune disorders The following practices can be used to boost the immune system 1. Consult a medical doctor 2. Practice good hygiene 3. Avoid people who are sick 3. Disinfect household 4. Eat immune food boosters such as broccoli, pawpaw, red bell pepper, etc. Source; opera news

<urn:uuid:fc5d24fe-e1a0-4bca-af81-1638ad7e08af>

In a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, researchers aimed to determine a link between diet and depression. Depression affects around 350 million people in the world. Women have a higher likelihood—about 1.7 times more than men—of having depression. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts depression will be the second most commonly prevalent condition after heart disease by the year 2020. Research has indicated how depression and other conditions can be better tackled by modifying lifestyle factors. More recently, there has been a keen interest in understanding the possible links between depression and food choices. Previous observational studies investigating a link between fruit and vegetable consumption and a risk of depression or anxiety did not have significant results. A recent study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, reviewed previous studies to determine a link between diet and depression. The study was a more detailed and systematic review of many existing studies to summarize the findings on vegetable and fruit intake and depression and anxiety. They searched databases for studies published until October 2017 and included 27 studies in total. Higher intake of fruits and vegetables is linked to a reduced risk of depression The results of the study were quite interesting. A meta-analysis of 18 studies led to an interesting finding that the high consumption of fruits and vegetables is linked to reduced risk of depression risk in individuals. In fact, the numbers translated to a 5% reduction in the risk of depression for every 100g increase in the consumption of fruit or vegetables. Depression can cause a serious drain on physical, mental, and financial resources on individuals and communities. An important question is if it is the consumption of fruit and vegetables that affect depression or if a total fruit and vegetable intake reduces the risk of depression. The present study indicates that fruit and vegetable intake, as well as the combined intake of these, does protect against a risk of depression. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and flavonoids, all of which do have a positive impact in fighting depression. Certain vitamins like vitamins E and C are said to be good antioxidants. Oxidative stress, which is the disturbance of the balance between the production of reactive oxygen and antioxidant defences, is believed to lead to increased risk of depression. It is also seen that an active form of vitamin B6 which is involved in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin, is responsible for mood elevation. There are of course limitations to this study. The changes in depressive symptoms according to seasons will affect the findings. Since certain people experience disorders such as seasonal affective disorder, which involves depression occurring during certain seasons, this may impact the results and limits its applicability. Overall, the results indicate that healthy changes in diet can help individuals combat depression. Including more fruits and vegetables in the diet is highly recommended. Written by Sonia Leslie Fernandez, Medical News Writer Reference: Saghafian, F., Malmir, H., Saneei, P., Milajerdi, A., Larijani, B., & Esmaillzadeh, A. (2018). Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of depression: accumulative evidence from an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. British Journal of Nutrition, 119(10), 1087-1101.

<urn:uuid:30adfa62-6372-415c-a771-6274c3cbba57>

Molecular Piezoelectrics: Building Responsive Electromechanical Materials From the Bottom Up Hutchison’s research combines theory and experiment across several areas of organic (carbon-based) electronic materials and nanoscience, the study of matter at very tiny scales. (One nanometer equals one-millionth of a meter. Matter and energy behave differently at the nanoscale.) Hutchison said he became interested in nanoscale science and technology as an undergraduate, when he read legendary physicist Richard Feynman’s 1959 Caltech lecture, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” Hutchison said he also realized fairly quickly that, “as we reach working micro- and nanoscale devices, the question of energy and power to run small, self-contained devices is critical.” He specializes in developing new materials, as well as functional microscale and nanoscale devices. He and his research team focus on building electronic materials from molecular subunits. They use a variety of techniques, including chemical synthesis, theoretical modeling and computer simulation, to design materials with desirable electronic properties. As a teacher Hutchison addresses both theory and experiment. He is developing new, interactive software to train research students in the fundamentals of science computation. (In chemistry, theorists increasingly use powerful computer programs to predict how atoms and molecules may behave in newly created materials.) His work in this area also helps more junior students understand the nature of scientific research. Hutchison received the Cottrell Scholar Award (CSA) based on his peer-reviewed proposal that included both research and teaching projects. His CSA science project is aimed at designing new piezoelectric materials. (A piezoelectric substance is one that produces an electric charge when a mechanical stress is applied to it.) He aims to do this by working from “scratch,” as it were, using basic scientific principles, including those of quantum physics, to assemble chains of piezoelectric molecules that can be incorporated into “thin-films.” Thin-film technology, basically material that is only a few molecules thick, is currently used in electronic devices such as batteries, computer chips and solar panels that generate electricity directly from sunlight. Hutchison’s CSA teaching project is aimed at developing computer modeling programs to encourage science students to develop critical-thinking abilities, rather than to rely on rote memorization to pass tests. “Computer simulations and modeling offer an important avenue toward fostering problem-solving, creative inquiry and ‘what-if’ experiences for undergraduates,” he said. “Today’s students are also highly computer literate and have high expectations of software interactivity based on their experiences with video games and instant messaging.” Hutchison and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh designed and began programming Avogadro, an open-source, freely available molecular modeling and visualization tool. He added that Avogadro is unique in its focus “around a highly interactive, intuitive program with the core goal of allowing students to easily build molecules, make free-form modification, and receive continual feedback.” “While my group and myself contribute about half of the current development effort, the Avagadro community has exploded with over 14 volunteer programmers worldwide, over 200,000 downloads, and translations into more than 20 languages,” Hutchison said.

<urn:uuid:9306e066-764c-4aed-abe9-987f617df57b>

The Federal Constitution of 1787 clarified and significantly strengthened the powers of the national government to conduct and oversee Indian affairs, at least on paper. That little debate or discussion of Indian policy took place at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 suggests that the vast majority of the delegates believed that the administration of Indian affairs and the conduct of Indian policy should be placed firmly and unambiguously in the hands of the new national government. Certainly to James Madison one of the most pressing inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation had been the de facto weakness of the national government in the realm of Indian affairs. Madison had been disturbed by the conduct of the state of New York in its dealings with the Six Nations, but thought that “whatever may be the true boundary between the authority of Congs and that of N.Y., or however indiscreet the latter may have been . . . temperance on the part of the former will be the wisest policy.” He feared the consequences of a clash with defiant state authorities. During the Philadelphia Convention, Madison pointed out that “in certain cases the authy. of the Confederacy was disregarded, as in violations not only of the Treaty of Peace [with Great Britain], but of Treaties with France & Holland, which were complained of to Congs. In other cases,” he continued, “the Fedl. Authy. was violated by Treaties and wars with Indians as by [Georgia].” He listed the behavior of the states in the realm of Indian affairs as one of the principal “vices of the political system of the United States” under the Articles of Confederation. President George Washington and his Secretary of War Henry Knox, who together designed and implemented the Indian policy of the new nation, believed that they must preserve order along the new nation’s frontiers. Post-Revolutionary claims that the Indian allies of Great Britain had been conquered during the war went unheeded by powerful Indian confederacies in the North, the Northwest, and the South. Washington and Knox recognized that the pretense of conquest, coupled with the government’s inability to control its land hungry settlers, could only involve the young republic in a continuous cycle of expensive warfare, something that the new nation simply could not afford. The United States under its first president embarked on a policy consistent in its approach with the earlier goals of the British empire, and consistent with the desires of many men who oversaw Indian policy during the Confederation years. This was a policy directed, in the words of historian Francis Paul Prucha, toward the “conciliation of the Indians by negotiation, a show of liberality, express guarantees of protection from encroachment beyond certain set boundaries, and a fostered and developed trade.” To implement such a policy, more was needed than the guarantees contained in Indian treaties. Something had to be done to restrain frontier whites and the governments of the several states. Hence the Indian and Trade and Intercourse Acts. Indeed, Washington wrote to his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, expressing his firm belief that peace with Indians was impossible “while land-jobbing and the disorderly conduct of our borderers is suffered with impunity, and whilst the States individually are omitting no occasion to interfere in matters which belong to the general Government.” Referring specifically to New York, the President continued that “the interferences of the States, and the speculations of individuals, will be the bane of all our public measures.” Hamilton agreed entirely with the President, lamenting that “our system is such as still to leave the public peace of the Union at the mercy of each State government.” There can be no doubt that Congress enacted the Trade and Intercourse Acts to defend Indians from violent and corrupt frontier settlers and the aggressive actions of the several states. Considerable disaffection remained among the Six Nations after the Revolution. The Senecas, the westernmost and most populous member of the Confederacy, felt particularly aggrieved by the terms of the punitive 1784 Fort Stanwix Treaty. The United States had demanded that they surrender their claims to lands in the west. Others of the Six Nations expressed to President Washington anger regarding the state cessions of the Confederation era. Little could be done about those treaties, the President believed, because “these evils arose before the present Government of the United States was established, when the separate States, and individuals under their authority, undertook to treat with the Indian tribes respecting the sale of their lands.” And land, of course, lay at the heart of the nation’s conflicts with Indians. Armed with the new United States Constitution, the Trade and Intercourse Acts, and worried about the prospect of Iroquois warriors supplied by the British joining the powerful Ohio River confederacies, the President was determined now to set things right. The attention of the United States focused most heavily on the western tribes in the Ohio Country, who had badly defeated American forces on a number of occasions. The Six Nations, however, were not ignored. United States officials first met with the Senecas at Tioga Point in 1790. Timothy Pickering, who had been appointed by the President to meet with the Six Nations, was not entirely prepared to meet with as many Indians as arrived at the council, but he learned quickly what was expected of him. He followed Washington’s instructions and informed the gathered Indians “that all business between them and any part of the United States is hereafter to be transacted by the general government.” Shortly thereafter, the President met at Philadelphia with Cornplanter, the great accommodationist Seneca leader, and informed him that “the General Government only, has the power to treat with the Indian nations, and any treaty formed, and held, without its authority will not be binding.” In 1791 Pickering again met with the Iroquois, this time at Newtown. Pickering once again tried to conciliate the Six Nations, and he discouraged them from joining the powerful Ohio Valley communities who recently had done so much damage to the American armies sent to subdue them. If Pickering overstepped his bounds in approving two leases of Iroquois lands to non-Indian members of the tribe, nobody seemed that concerned about the affair. Certainly, in 1794, Washington felt comfortable reappointing Pickering to meet with the Six Nations at Canandaigua. When Pickering gathered with the Six Nations at Canandaigua in the autumn of 1794, he hoped to resolve the long-standing difficulties with the Senecas. Seneca land, anthropologists Jack Campisi and William Starna point out, “was the central issue and Seneca neutrality the crucial concern. The participation of the other tribes was more ceremonial and clearly incidental to the treaty’s primary purpose.” Still, the Oneidas attended the Council at Canandaigua and they raised concerns that Article II of the finished treaty ultimately addressed. Indeed, the Oneidas arrived early at Canandaigua, giving Pickering an opportunity to meet with them before the formal commencement of the treaty. They told Pickering that they felt troubled. “Our minds,” Captain John told Pickering, “are divided on account of our lands.” These difficulties could not be blamed upon the Oneidas. “’Tis you, Brothers of a white skin,” Captain John said, who cause our uneasiness. You keep coming to our seats, one after another. You advise us to sell our lands. You way it will be to our advantage. Pickering responded to the Oneidas’ speeches on the 13th of October. He told the Oneidas that they should, in effect, become civilized by learning to work the land like white men. They should as well learn to read and write, for it would then be less likely that “bad whites” could dispossess them through agreements the Indians did not understand. Pickering did more than lecture the Oneidas on their shortcomings, however. He was sympathetic to their plight. He reminded them that they did not need to part with their lands. He reminded them of a law of the United States intended to guard the Indians from the impositions of White People. The most important article of this law respects your lands. This article declares that no sale of Indian land should be valid, unless made at a public treaty held under the authority of the United States. In Article II of the completed Canandaigua Treaty, the United States acknowledged “the lands reserved to the Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga Nations, in their respective treaties with the state of New York, and called their reservations, to be their property.” The United States, moreover, would never claim these lands and “the said reservations shall remain theirs, until they choose to sell the same to the people of the United States, who have the right to purchase.” Much of this should sound familiar to you. We have discussed some of this in the earlier posts in this series. But it is important to note that New York officials did not believe that the Trade and Intercourse Acts bound them, and they continued to take any opportunity to acquire Iroquois land that presented itself. In 1793, the state had acquired land from the Onondagas in a duplicitous treaty. The state of New York had been trying to obtain the Oneidas’ lands as well. In January of 1793 a small number of Oneidas petitioned the New York State Assembly. They did not have enough land to live upon by hunting, they said, and they hoped that the state would permit “that we might lease it out to your people, and receive the proceeds to ourselves.” They had no interest in selling their lands, and wished the state to appoint “some good men as agents to assist us in leasing our land.” Landlordism would allow the Oneidas a revenue now that hunting had failed them. The state appointed commissioners, but they came to purchase the Oneidas’ lands, not to arrange a lease. When commissioners John Cantine and Simeon DeWitt met with the Oneidas, they immediately sensed that large numbers of Oneidas were opposed to any grant to the state of New York. The Commissioners moved quickly, recognizing “that the only prospect of success in our mission would depend on the agency of persons who had influence with them.” They hired James Dean and Samuel Kirkland to serve as interpreters, “whose connection and acquaintance with the Indians are well known, and whose fidelity in cooperating with us left no doubt that everything that could consistently be done was done to obtain the Object of the State.” What those objects were, and what the state commissioners told the Oneidas, were two different things. The state needed the lands of the Cayugas, Onondagas, and Oneidas if it were to develop the state’s frontiers. In return for acquisition of these lands, the state said it would pay to the Oneidas an annual rent for their lands. The Oneidas’ response must have disappointed the state commissioners. The community was divided. Jacob Reed told Cantine and DeWitt that the petition was a mistake, the result of a misunderstanding between them and their federal superintendent Israel Chapin. The Onondagas and Cayugas had asked Chapin to petition the state legislature “for the privilege of leasing their lands, as their hunting failed and had become insufficient for their support.” Chapin, apparently, had assumed that the same would be advantageous for the Oneidas and, Reed said, Chapin “made the same request in their behalf.” Whether or not Reed had his facts straight, none of the Oneidas seemed to want to enter into a relationship on the terms the state commissioners offered. Reed apologized to the commissioners for troubling them and said “we were misled in our Petitions and we therefore sink it in the Earth and thus annihilate.” Captain Peter, another Oneida sachem, and Good Peter’s son, pointed out that the state had said that it would not ask the Oneidas for land again “for hundreds of Years.” Slyly, he suggested that “perhaps we have misapprehended your meaning—perhaps instead of years you Meant nights.” The Oneidas, Captain Peter continued, do not chuse to dispose of any more of our lands. It is common for brothers not to agree when they are about making bargains. We cannot think now of selling any more lands we therefore hope that you will not press us to it. Cantine and DeWitt appear to have been deeply frustrated. They continued their appeals, but the Commissioners’ arguments did not sway the Oneidas. As Jacob Read told them, Brothers–You know it is a common case that people undertake business and do not succeed in it–that often bargains are almost completed and then dropt–Let this be the case now since we cannot agree to part with our lands[,] let us part in peace–We wish you to possess your minds in peace–We informed you yesterday what our determination was and we intend to abide by the same–We think our reservation already small enough; we wish not to contract it any more. Of course the New Yorkers did not possess their minds in peace, and the state’s commissioners continued to try to obtain Iroquois lands. Timothy Pickering had appointed Israel Chapin, Jr., to succeed his recently deceased father as agent to the Six Nations in the spring of 1795. Because, Pickering believed, the Canandaigua treaty had secured peace with the Six Nations, he instructed the younger Chapin that your principal concern will be, to prevent the tribes under your superintendence, from injury and imposition, which too many of our own people are disposed to practice upon them; diligently to employ all means under your direction, to promote their comfort and improvement, and to apply the public money and goods placed in your hands with inviolable integrity and prudent economy. Chapin was happy to have the job and told Pickering that “it will ever be my ambition to support and maintain that mutual friendship and intercourse which has so happily existed between the Six Nations and the people living on this frontier.” Still, Chapin pointed out that it was going to be a tough assignment. Canandaigua was far from Oneida, making “it difficult for the Superintendent to pay so strict attention to them as would be necessary.” He suggested that Pickering appoint an additional agent. Chapin appears at least to have tried to do his job, though it also appears that he was in well over his head, and not a competent representative of the government of the United States. He learned that the state intended to hold treaties with the Cayugas and Onondagas, and informed Pickering of this. The new secretary of War instructed his agent to halt the proceedings and he obtained from the Attorney-General of the United States, William Bradford, an opinion declaring that New York’s actions violated the Trade and Intercourse Acts. Bradford stated that the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1793 was constitutional, and that New York could not purchase Indian lands “but by a treaty holden under the authority of the United States, and in the manner prescribed by Congress.” Pickering demanded that Chapin give “no countenance to this unlawful design . . . as it is repugnant to the law of the United States to regulate trade and Intercourse with the Indian tribes.” Before Pickering’s letter and Bradford’s opinion could arrive at Canandaigua, Chapin departed to accompany the Onondagas and Cayugas to their meetings with the state commissioners, led now by Philip Schuyler. Chapin, in a letter written on the last day of July upon his return to Canandaigua, informed Pickering of what had happened. A young man alone against the state’s determined commissioners, Chapin “inquired of Genl. Schuyler how he construed the laws of Congress in regard to holding treaties with the Indian tribes?” Schuyler “made very little reply by saying it was very well where it would correspond with that of the individual states.” Chapin clearly did not know what to do. Had he then knowledge of the contents of Pickering’s letter and the attorney-general’s opinion, he wrote, “I could have managed the business more to your mind but as I had supposed the Government of the State of New York had applied to the General Government and had obtained sufficient power to call the Indians to the treaty.” Chapin had been confused. He pledged to Pickering to leave at once for Oneida to try to “engage the treaty will not take place then under the present commissioners.” Pickering seems to have recognized that Chapin had little chance of succeeding against the force of a determined state. “Seeing that the Commissioners” of the state “were acting in defiance of the law of the United States,” he wrote back to Chapin, “it was certainly proper not to give them a countenance; and as the law declares such purchases of the Indians as those Commissioners were attempting to make invalid, it was also right to inform the Indians of the law and of the illegality of the purchase.” Go to Oneida, Pickering said, but “the negotiation is probably finished ere now.” Philip Schuyler rejected the federal government’s interpretation of the Trade and Intercourse Acts, and proceeded with the treaty. He learned from Chapin that the United States viewed the state’s actions as illegal. In the end, he acquired for the state nearly 100,000 acres of the Oneida homeland. There seems now little doubt that New York violated the Trade and Intercourse Act with the 1795 purchase of Oneida lands. It is important at this juncture to account for the failure of the United States to enforce its own laws in New York state. The first point that needs to be emphasized is that the new national government, despite the fears of the Antifederalists who dominated New York politics in 1787 and 1788, was indeed a tiny entity. The 1790s, to put it mildly, was no era of big government. The total number of non-uniformed employees of the national government in 1801, the first year for which we have good figures, was less than three thousand, and the vast majority of these worked in customs or other revenue related functions, or for the postal service. Only 214 federal employees resided in all of New York state, nearly all of them in the immediate vicinity of New York City, and almost all of them employed in customs. Chapin was on his own. The Trade and Intercourse Acts, the laws Congress charged him with enforcing, were not strictly speaking “Indian laws.” Rather, they were directed towards curbing the long list of abuses Indians had historically suffered from their white neighbors. In enacting the Trade and Intercourse Acts, Congress assumed that white settlement would advance and Indians retreat, and its intent through the laws was to insure that the process, in Prucha’s words, “should be as free from disorder and injustice as possible.” Agents simply lacked the power to secure order on the frontier and compliance with federal law. It is, sadly, an old and blood-drenched story. Indeed, the government of which Timothy Pickering was a part had learned that it ought not to announce loudly its weakness. Take, for instance, the case of the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion, an event which has nothing to do with Indian affairs but is immensely revealing nonetheless about the weakness of the national government. The residents of four counties in western Pennsylvania had grown increasingly disaffected with a federal excise tax on whiskey enacted by Congress in 1791, part of Alexander Hamilton’s “Financial Program.” They resisted paying the tax and, on the 7th of August, 1794, President Washington decided to call out the militia in order to enforce the laws of the United States. By the time the troops finally arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburgh in October, all signs of rebellion had disappeared.The rebels may have melted away, but still the government could not successfully collect the tax. The Whiskey Rebellion, in this sense, simultaneously strengthened the Democratic Republican opponents of the administration who feared a powerful centralized government and demonstrated that the new national government was, in the end, a paper tiger. The stakes would be considerably higher were the federal government to be faced down by a defiant state. The federal complaints against New York’s behavior in 1795 may, however, have impacted the state’s subsequent behavior. The Federalist John Jay succeeded George Clinton as state governor in the midst of the 1795 crisis. Jay, along with Madison and Hamilton, had been one part of “Publius,” the group who wrote The Federalist; Jay served as well as the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Presumably, he knew something of the Constitution. When Pickering informed the new governor that the state’s treaties with the Oneidas were illegal, Jay did nothing. The negotiations, he said, had been authorized and had commenced prior to his assuming office. But a short time later, when a group of Mohawks from St. Regis approached the new governor about their lands in the northern part of the state, Jay wrote to Pickering “to request the President of the United States to appoint one or more Commissioners to hold a Treaty with these Indians . . . to the end that the negotiation of this State with them relative to the Justice and extinguishment of their Claim or Claims may be conducted and concluded conformably to the act of Congress of 1 March 1793.” The new governor of New York clearly recognized the requirements of federal law, and specifically referred to the 1793 Trade and Intercourse Act. Early in 1798, a group of Oneidas approached Governor Jay, seeking to sell to the state a portion of their lands. Jay appointed state commissioners to negotiate a preliminary agreement with the Oneidas. That effected, he told his visitors that he would “immediately apply to the President to have a treaty held, under the authority of the United States, for the purpose of perfecting and effecting the business.” President John Adams complied with Jay’s request, naming Joseph Hopkinson of Pennsylvania to serve as federal commissioner. The treaty was formally negotiated and approved on the first of June, Hopkinson wrote, in “the manner prescribed by the act of Congress, entitled ‘an Act to regulate the trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes.’” When Governor Clinton replaced John Jay in 1799, he continued to follow the rules set by the federal government. In March of 1802, Henry Dearborn, Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of war, informed the President that Clinton had recently requested “that a commissioner, on the part of the United States, might be appointed to attend a treaty with the Oneida Indians, for the purchase of about ten thousand acres of land, which that nation is desirous of selling, and which has, heretofore, been leased out to white people.” Jefferson appointed John Tayler of New York to the post. Nine months later, the President laid before the Senate the Oneida treaty and along with a number of others, “all of them conducted under the superintendence of a commissioner on the part of the United States, who reports that they have been adjusted with the fair and free consent and understanding of the parties.” On New Year’s Eve, the Senate assented to the1802 accord, but President Jefferson never proclaimed the treaty, so its actual ratification remains in doubt. The point of the foregoing discussion of the period following the ratification of the Federal Constitution is that New York, during this period, haltingly came to accept an oversight role for the United States government in land transactions with Indian tribes. The 1798 and 1802 agreements with the Oneidas, which in essence had been agreed upon in advance, the state acknowledged could not take effect until they had been approved by the United States Senate and the President. The United States government, though it possessed little effective coercive power to back up its decrees, did succeed over the course of the nation’s first fifteen years in persuading New York to follow federal law. This compliance, however, proved short-lived, and after 1802 the state purchased Indian lands on its own without federal oversight. The National government did nothing to stop it from doing so, a phenomenon that requires some explanation. In March of 1805, state officials oversaw the negotiation of an “indenture” between the “Pagan” and “Christian” parties of Oneidas. The two parties agreed to divide their remaining lands into two parts, one controlled by each faction. As a result, state negotiators would begin to meet separately with “Christian” and “Pagan” Oneidas. This “Christian Party” of Oneidas in March of 1807 negotiated a cession of two parcels of its land in return for a payment of an annuity based on the value of those lands. Two years later, in February of 1809, Governor George Clinton acquired from the Christian and Pagan parties additional cessions. The state acquired additional cessions in 1809 and 1810. Clinton’s successor, Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, acquired even more land from the Christian Party at a treaty held in February of 1811. The following July, “the Tribe or Nation of Indians called the Oneidas” ceded lands lying east and south of its reservation to the state. No commissioner or other representative of the national government oversaw these transactions, and none of the agreements received approval by the Senate of the United States or proclamation by the President. The United States did maintain Indian agents in the state after 1802. Secretary of War Dearborn, in a proclamation issued on Valentine’s Day in 1803, informed Iroquois leaders that a federal agent and sub-agent “shall attend in your principal towns, a considerable part of each year, for the purpose of giving every aid in their power to such of you as shall discover a desire of making improvements in husbandry and manufactories, and to settle such disputes which may happen, that come within the limits of their power.” In Dearborn’s view, the agents would serve as missionaries in the name of civilization, trying to reclaim the Indians from their “savagery.” It is important to point out that Dearborn and his successors do not appear to have considered it the job of the agent to oversee land transactions; under the provisions of the Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts, that function would be handled by commissioners specially appointed for the purpose by the President at the request of the states. Dearborn did see the agents as playing a critical role in preserving peace on the frontier. “Brothers,” he told the chiefs, As evil designing people often attempt to fill our ears with stories calculated to excite uneasiness in your minds, you are requested in the future not to fail giving information to the Agent and Sub Agent of any such attempt, without delay, as the most sure means of preserving the friendship which so happily exists at present between your Nations and your Father the President. The next day, Dearborn commissioned Jasper Parrish as his “Sub-Agent of the United States to the Six Nations.” Stationed at Canandaigua, Parrish would work in conjunction with agent Callender Irvine, who served only from 1802 until 1804, and thereafter with agent Erastus Granger of Buffalo Creek. Dearborn ordered Parrish to “endeavor to obtain and confirm the good will and affections of the Indians, to introduce the arts of civilization, domestic manufactures, and agriculture.” He was to keep the Indians in his superintendence from drinking to excess, and report to the Secretary of War “every circumstance and event which may occur that is important to the government of the United States to be made acquainted with.” If Dearborn meant that land cessions be included within this list of circumstances, his agents failed him. Dearborn, in fact, complained in the summer of 1804 that he had not received regular quarterly reports from several agencies, among them Buffalo Creek. If the agents knew all that the state was up to with regards to the Oneidas, they do not appear to have communicated that information to the War Department on as regular a basis as Dearborn expected. Chapin and Granger, indeed, did nothing to prevent the state of New York from purchasing Indian lands, a fact that has led the defendants’ experts to conclude that the United States approved of the state’s purchases. Yet there are a number of factors that can explain the inattention of the agents to the Oneidas. First, the agents did not seem to see themselves as responsible for overseeing treaties and purchases of land from the Indians, nor would anything in their instructions, strictly construed, have naturally led them to that conclusion. Treaties, as we have seen in the case of the 1798 and 1802 Oneida treaties, generally had been overseen by commissioners specially appointed for that purpose by the President. Another problem stemmed from the declining importance of the Oneidas in considerations of frontier order. Federal officials involved in managing the frontier and preserving order had bigger problems to worry about. Parrish lived in Canandaigua, over one hundred miles from Oneida. Granger, at Buffalo, lived seventy miles farther still to the west. They focused their attention on the Senecas and those members of the Six Nations who had settled on the Seneca lands that remained after the 1797 Big Tree treaty. Furthermore, Indian agency appears to have been part-time work for both Parrish and Granger. Like many early Americans, they were opportunistic, and they looked for chances to make money beyond their federal salaries. One way to do this was to work for the state of New York. As early as 1796, the state had hired Israel Chapin to deliver state payments to the Cayuga chief Fish Carrier. Chapin’s payment included the grant of a parcel of land one mile square. In 1804, the state forwarded to Parrish at Canandaigua “the annuities in specie due the Indians for the last two years, with directions to pay it over.” Parrish asked for Dearborn’s advice. Four years later, the two agents apparently saw in the payment of state annuities due to the Indians a healthy source of income. Granger told Governor Daniel D. Tompkins that he had learned “that the expense of transporting and paying over the annuities from the State of New York to the Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga Indians, has annually cost the state upward of five hundred dollars.” He and Parrish would do the job for $350. In their capacity as federal agents they already had to visit Albany and the different Indian tribes. These, Granger pointed out, “are reasons why we can do the business cheaper than any other person.” The United States government, if it was aware of the specifics, seems not to have objected to Parrish and Granger’s entrepreneurial spirit. When the agents did return their attention to the duties of their agency, they found it an enormous job. Erastus Granger, for instance, wrote to Henry Dearborn in December of 1807, revealingly describing the difficulties he faced in protecting the Indians from their white New York neighbors. The Tuscarora chiefs, Granger reported, Eventually Granger apprehended the culprits, and he believed that in this instance he had “broken up this gang of Villains.” Still, he told Dearborn that his efforts did not matter. The criminals, he believed, “will get clear on trial.” made complaint to me that they had lost a number of Cattle, horses, and hogs, which they had reason to believe were stolen by the white people. At that time, I was about starting for the City of Washington, and knowing that their Cattle run in the woods, I concluded there was a possibility of their having strayed off–Accordingly I advertised them in different places. On my return to this place last spring, I learned tha tthe Cattle were not found, but more were not missing, & stronger proof of their having been stolen. I immediately undertook an investigation of the business, but before any discoveries were made sufficient to warrant a prosecution, four of the principal offenders made their escape to Canada.One year later, in 1808, Granger elaborated for Dearborn on the problems he faced. The culprits had been caught, but none of them has been punished. The challenge, Granger said, was that “there exists in the minds of many white people a strong prejudice against Indians.” The New Yorkers, Granger said, “want to root them out of the Country, as they own the best of the land. Those people,” he continued, “are often on juries.” Exasperated, Granger believed that the desire of local whites for Indian land was too great to be controlled by two federal agents, and that the Six Nations would continue to suffer if they remained where they were. Granger called Dearborn’s attention to the Louisiana Purchase, that vast expanse of land west of the Mississippi River acquired by the United States from France five years before. If the United States, Granger suggested, “would dispose of a sufficient tract of land in that purchase to the Six Nations, so as to make it an object for them to remove, I think I could perswade them to go.” Red Jacket, the great Seneca orator, saw the abuses his people suffered at the hands of white New Yorkers as a violation of the Treaty of Canandaigua. He complained to Dearborn’s successor, acting Secretary of War William Eustis, that for three years past we have received injury from the white people. Our cattle and horses have been stolen and carried off; and although we have made complaint to your Agent yet we have not received any compensation for our losses.” In Red Jacket’s view, the agents must restrain the citizens of New York from stealing Iroquois livestock, cutting Iroquois timber, and squatting on Iroquois lands. The agents, a frustrated Red Jacket said, “have told us they had not the means in their hands to make satisfaction. We want to know,” he insisted, whether the fault is in them. if it is not, we wish you now to instruct them that whenever we make satisfactory proof of losses, sustained by the bad conduct of your people, they should immediately satisfy our minds, by a reasonable compensation, thereby forever maintaining that league and friendship so necessary to both nations. Red Jacket’s critique of federal policy, along with Granger’s despondent admission that order would remain elusive as long as Indians remained in the vicinity of the state’s growing numbers of white settlers, reveals the dimensions of the problem that the United States faced in its desire for an orderly frontier. Some began to consider seriously the possibility of “removing” the New York Indians to new homes in the west. Indeed, removal as a solution to the nation’s Indian “problem” had been discussed as early as 1803 by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson acted on his ideas several years later in negotiations with the Cherokees. In 1813 his successor, James Madison, suggested to the Senecas that they abandon their remaining reservations and concentrate themselves at Allegheny. Still, an important point must be made. Even where it discussed the possibility of removal, the national government believed that the process must follow the guidelines spelled out in the Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts. Shortly after the conclusion of the War of 1812, for instance, New York governor Daniel D. Tompkins wrote to President Madison suggesting to him the attractiveness of relocating the New York Indians to the far northwestern frontier. The acting secretary of war, Alexander Dallas, informed Tompkins that the President was interested. “I am instructed to inform you,” Dallas wrote, that President Madison desired greatly “to accommodate your wishes.” There were, however, “national views of the subject which must be combined with such a movement, on motives of state policy.” All land transactions with Indian tribes, Dallas concluded, are “delicate; and a removal of them from one region of the country to another, is critically so, as relates to the affect on the Indians themselves, and on the white neighbors to their new abode.” Any removal, in other words, must necessarily be overseen by the national government, since national interests were at stake. When William Crawford replaced Dallas a short time later he reiterated his predecessor’s message. Crawford believed, like Dallas, that settling a friendly tribe of “Civilized” Indians in the vicinity of the Western Great Lakes could do much to bring security to the region. Indeed, the interest which the state of New York takes in this transaction, and the influence which the cession may have upon its happiness and prosperity, have induced the President to determine that a treaty shall be held, with a view to accomplish the wishes of your excellency, and to gratify the desires of the Indian tribes in question.” Crawford undoubtedly believed that removal would benefit everyone, but he believed as well that it could occur only through a treaty called by the government of the United States. By this point, Tompkins already had completed yet another state treaty with Christian Party Oneidas and, by the time Dallas’s letter arrived, he was well on his way to purchasing Grand Island and other islands in the Niagara River from the Senecas. It is time to take stock, once again, and review what we have covered so far. First, the post-revolutionary interpretation the state advanced of its historic relations with the Six Nations was based on a misreading of the empire’s Indian policy, a program that sought always to centralize authority over the conduct of Indian affairs in the hands of the Crown or his chosen designates. Even during the era of the Articles of Confederation, the aggressiveness of Georgia, North Carolina, Franklin and New York in their relations with Indians within their claimed boundaries upset many members of Congress. The new constitution, written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and implemented in 1789, clarified the ambiguities of the Articles of Confederation and placed all power “to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes” in the new national government. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Acts effectively defined the federal role in Indian affairs under the constitution, and high government officials informed New York in the 1790s that its purchase of Indian lands violated federal law. Indeed, nothing any responsible United States official said in the 1790s should have led New York to the conclusion that it had the right to purchase Indian lands without the superintendence of the United States government. These federal warnings had an impact, however short-lived. Through 1802 the state conformed to the requirements of the Trade and Intercourse Acts. Yet in the years after the War of 1812, federal oversight of Indian Affairs in New York was ineffective. The federal agents in the state, Erastus Granger and Jasper Parrish, were busy men, and the other work they did at times worked against federal interests. Granger, for instance, held multiple offices during his tenure at Buffalo and, quite accurately, can be viewed as much an employee of the state as an agent of the United States. Granger retired in 1818 and the Six Nations Agency was reduced to a “sub-agency” with Jasper Parrish remaining in charge. Parrish continued to handle the state’s Indian business, paying out state annuities in 1815 and 1816, for instance, to the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and to the “posterity of Fish Carrier.” New York State paid him $20 for his services. Later, state officials expected Parrish to guide a party of Onondagas to Albany to negotiate with the state for a sale of their lands. The point is that the defendants’ experts base their argument that the United States was complicit in Oneida dispossession in part on an assessment of the actions of two individuals (and only two) who spent perhaps as much of their time working for the state of New York as they did for the United States, and who did not feel it was their job to oversee matters relating to the transfer of Indian land. In addition to the conflicts of interest that hampered their ability and, perhaps, limited their willingness to enforce the Trade and Intercourse Acts, was the continued difficulty of the agent and sub-agent’s assignment. Illness, at times, kept Granger from doing his job. The unwillingness of New Yorkers to listen to federal authority was a bigger problem. As early as 1805, Granger complained to Secretary of War Dearborn of white encroachments on the Cayuga Reservation. “The Indians,” he said, “complain and are uneasy.” “The settlers refuse to remove.” Furthermore, “two families of White People have lately gone and settled in the Oneida villages and set up taverns” despite the fact that a “great majority of the Nation are opposed to the measure.” Granger felt himself “at a loss how to proceed with those intruders.” He simply did not have the strength to force New Yorkers to obey the law. The agents also had difficulty finding the supplies they needed, either in Albany or in western New York. In 1816 Granger reported to acting Secretary of War George Graham that the Indians were suffering greatly from a lack of provisions. He needed their annuity in cash immediately, for any shipment of goods and supplies would arrive too late to save the Indians. With the money, Granger hoped to purchase flour in Ontario and Cayuga counties. The money, he noted grimly, “I think will keep them alive.” In addition to these difficulties, I would argue that the “United States” (assuming that we mean by this something more than its two isolated agents in western New York) knew little specifically about New York’s purchases of land from the Oneidas. In his annual “Statement” in 1816, Granger mentioned that the Oneida reservation was 180 miles from his place of residence at Buffalo. Notice, as well, when most of the Oneida transactions took place: early in March of 1807; in February of 1809; in March of 1810; in February of 1811; in March of 1815; and in March of 1817. Small delegations of Oneidas traveled from their reservation (180 miles to Granger’s east) to Albany (nearly 300 miles away) in the heart of New York’s winter, to negotiate with the state. Their instructions required that the federal agents travel to the different Indian reservations in the state, but only during “the warm season.” The Erie Canal was not completed until 1825, and prior to that travel would have been difficult even in good weather. There is no evidence that either Granger or Parrish attended the state treaties at Albany and, I would suggest, there is good reason to ask how long it took them to find out about these winter negotiations. Even the information that the United States government officials eventually received about these transactions is not without its problems. For instance, in November 1818 a group of Oneidas petitioned President James Monroe, informing him that they had sold to the State of New York a great proportion of their reservation, and being thereby constrained to live in the neighborhood of your white children, have imperceptibly acquired many of their manners and customs, arts and sciences, and having been taught by a pious and learned friend have acquired so much knowledge of the Christian religion as to have formed themselves into a congregation, and lately erected at their own expense a very expensive church. The members of this “Second Christian Party”did inform the President that they had sold lands to the state of New York. The information came from neither Granger nor Parrish, and the most recent land transaction to which the Oneida petitioners could possibly have referred was the cession they negotiated at Albany in March of 1817. The United States, then, unquestionably learned by November of 1818 that the state at some point previously had purchased Oneida land. All the evidence suggests that it received this information nearly twenty months after the sale had occurred, and even then the information was imprecise about the nature of the transaction. Information arriving at the seat of the national government so late posed problems that could not easily be remedied.

<urn:uuid:0ddc14d8-9f7c-474d-bfcb-7f449dc94f0f>

In recent times, research has shown that Carbonated drinks which we refer to as “soft drinks”are usually what we run to as human beings whenever we are thirsty, hungry or in search of sweet liquids to consume. Research has it that too many intake of Carbonated drinks and Soda is very harmful to our body system and many people are unaware of the dangers caused by these “refreshment drinks” to our body organs. After so many research, it has been revealed that Carbonated drinks contains high amount of sugar such as chemicals and gas, which in return becomes a threat to our health and general well being. It’s of great importance for everyone to be conscious of the negative effect that comes with the excessive intake of Carbonated drinks and stop seeing it as a way or an act of enjoying themselves. This will help you stay off from these harmful drinks and minimize all excessive consumptions, as the saying goes “excess of everything is bad “ Furthermore, this article will help unveil the dangers we expose our body to with the excessive intake of Carbonated drinks. The caffeine diluted in Carbonated drinks hinders good, proper and healthy sleep. It is so because it provides your body with adrenaline that keeps you awake all night. 2: THE RISK OF HEART DISEASES BECOMES HIGH Taking too many sugar contents can cause Obesity, diabetes and high blood sugar and it hinders you from taking healthy meals or fruits that are of great benefits to the body and this is because there is an excess intake of unhealthy sugar by the body. 3: TOOTH DECAY AND DECOLORATION The greatest enemy for your mouth is sugar because it stores in the tooth and gradually damages them unknown to you due to the consistent intake of Carbonated drinks and it end up changing the colour of your teeth, then you begin to wonder why all the toothpaste and mouthwash you have used but the colour still remain the same. The fact is, your mouth contains bacteria that feeds on sugar and in that way, tooth decay develop so why not reduce your excess intake of sweet liquids. 4: KIDNEY DISEASE Regular consumers of Carbonated drinks end up having kidney stones and this is as a result of stored mineral derived from the excess sugar in the body and dehydration. 5: POOR NUTRITION Too many intake of of Carbonated drinks destruct your diet and reduces your intake of protein, oil, carbohydrates and vitamins because it fills your stomach and reduces your appetite for good and healthy food. In order words, it makes you consume fewer fruits which are of huge benefit to your body. 6: BELLY FAT Excess of Carbonated drinks is a way of storing fat in your body because it contains high level of sugar which add calories to your body and can trigger an increase in Obesity and one been overweight. Dr. Danoff once said “The Phosphoric acid in Carbonated Soda can interfere with calcium absorption and weaken the teeth. The acid strips teeth enamel, leaving them brittle and sensitive to pain, once enamel breaks down, bacteria can invade and cause decay. In addition, according to the Lagos State High Court Judge, Justice Adedayo Oyebanji said “having NAFDAC approved numbers does not actually mean the products are 100% safe for human consumption “. Nigerian’s have suffered so many unexplained ailments as they keep consuming poisonous drinks in the name of Soda or soft drinks as they will call it.

<urn:uuid:cf6db0eb-f495-4bc6-9774-3db9fc05a0b9>

THE EFFECT OF NOCTURNAL RAIN ON TEMPERATURES IN A FORESTby Tim Marshall MOST MICROCLIMATE STUDIES ARE DONE UNDER PERFECT CONDITIONS WHERE THERE ARE NO CLOUDS OR WIND TO UPSET THE TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE. IN FACT CLIMATOLOGISTS PREFER SUCH CONDITIONS. SO IN RESULT FEW STUDIES HAVE BEEN DONE ON THE EFFECT OF RAIN IN A FOREST. WHAT REALLY HAPPENS TO THE SOIL AND AIR TEMPERATURES UNDER A HEAVY RAIN CAN RESULT IN SHARP TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS AS MUCH AS TEN DEGREES AT NIGHT EVEN WITH STRATUS CLOUDS. SO TO BE DIFFERENT, TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED UNDER A DELUGE OF RAIN UNDER THE WORST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS. THE DATA WAS PUT INTO MATRIX FORM AND GRAPHED FOR SIMPLIER ANALYSIS. An eight-hour study of the distribution of temperature was done on the evening of March 25th, 1977. The area under study is located in the Sinnissippi Forest approximately 3 miles south of Oregon, Illinois. This area consists of a variety of coniferous trees in all ages. The site chosen was on top of a small hill divided by 40-year-old pines and small evergreens. The pine forest was on a level plain with only pine needles for ground cover. The evergreen forest on the other hand was covered with a layer of dead grass and slopes northward at an angle of about l0 degrees. Each station in the north section consisted of a 4-cm soil, a l0 cm soil, a ground and a hip level thermometer. Each station in the south section consisted of a 4cm soil, a l0 cm soil, a ground, 2 foot and 6 foot thermometers. A gravel road separates the evergreens from the pines. The evergreens lie to the north and the pines lie to the south of the road. Therefore, the road was a good dividing line. We set up our camp on this northern edge of the forest and noticed that the ground there was still frozen with patches of snow in the deep grass even after a week of Indian summer. Observations began at midnight with %he downpour of rain starting at 12:08 a.m.. The rain continued throughout the night and only paused once at 2:05 a.m. for a half-hour. A total of seven stations were set up and divided into the north-south sections just mentioned (see page 7). The north section consisted of 4 stations and was spaced in an "L" shaped position. They were placed 25 feet apart down the evergreen slope to a black dirt path. Also 3 soil thermometers were set up on the north-facing slope just bordering the plot. The slope was around l0 degrees and consisted of cut grass. The south section consisted of 3 stations placed also 25 feet apart in the pine forest. Also two soil thermometers were placed on the northern edge of the woods: one at the gravel road and the other on a north-facing slope composed of grass. All the soil thermometers were equally spaced at 14 feet apart. RESULTS OF STUDY In the north section, the grass meadow became cooler as you approached the top of the hill (see page 8). R. Geiger also found this to be true in the study of the distribution of temperature around unconsolidated cones. When the heavy rain occurred at 1 a.m., the soil temperatures seem to indicate that the rain was around 48 degrees. Soil A was at this temperature and remained there through most of the night but soil C was much cooler than A and it showed a gradual rise in temperature. The percolation of rain had thus effected the temperature of the soil. Geiger showed (p. 27) how the effect of rain on the soil depends primarily on the temperature of the rain. In general, all stations showed a decrease in above ground temperatures at 1 a.m. with the onset of the heavy rain. Then when the rain let up the temperatures rose slightly. Why? Geiger states that (p. 28) since the disturbance of water has passed the temperatures will readjust themselves. Also note the time lag effect from 4 cm to 10 cm. The 10-cm soil reacts about an hour after the initial rainfall, and then the temperatures continued to fall at most stations until the dawn hours. In the south section, the grass meadow showed an incredible rise in temperature at 8 a.m. (see page 9). This rise cannot be explained naturally so I assume that the thermometer was misread by l0 degrees. The soil temperatures in the forest were on the average l0 degrees Colder than in the evergreen plot. When the rain fell at 1 a.m., station A on the borders edge warmed up in soil temperatures but the other stations were not as significantly effected. This is because the canopy of the forest has delayed the rain in falling to the ground and also the dry pine needles absorb the water too on the ground. It was noticed that the raindrops were enormously larger in the forest than outside the forest as was pointed out in Geiger. Since at station B the air temperatures dropped to 50 degrees and at station A, the ground temperatures rose to 50 degrees once again we can get an estimate at the temperature of the rain. In many cases the graphs here are similar but differ only in the amount to which they were effected by the rain. The effect of rain on the forest environment showed a drastic change in temperatures. Even the sharp rise of temperatures at sunrise did not occur as rapidly. Ail stations above the ground dropped in temperature and never fully regained again. This was because the rain was colder than the air temperature. However the soil temperatures showed an increase in temperature and then tapered off right after the rainfall. The soil was somewhat cooler than the rain in some places and this allowed temperatures even at 10 cm to rise as much as 8 degrees in a very short period of time.

<urn:uuid:eedb45fe-54b7-419e-bd5e-f2264087033a>

All About Rubber Bands If you’re a veteran of life with braces, your orthodontist may have told you to wear little rubber bands from your top teeth to your bottom teeth. You may be wondering what these bands actual do! What do rubber bands do? The brackets on your teeth do a great job of straightening the teeth within each jaw so that the upper and lower teeth are well aligned. However, they don’t do a great job of making the top teeth and the bottom teeth fit together. This is where the trusty rubber bands come in. Your orthodontist may have you wear the rubber bands in different shapes or hook them up to different teeth. This helps move the teeth in different directions. It is important to wear the rubber bands as your orthodontist showed you so your teeth move in the right direction. Why are the rubber bands named after animals? The elastics come in different sizes. They vary in thickness and how big of a radius the rubber band has. These different sizes can be confusing so we typically categorize the different sizes by animals, which is way more fun. The smaller animals: owls, hummingbirds, seals, and foxes are lighter elastics. Larger animals: rams, impalas, moose, and whale are heavier or tighter elastics. Here at Meyer Orthodontics, we typically use the Fox for lighter elastics and Rams for heavier elastics. Why not use the heaviest rubber band to move teeth fast? There is actually a happy medium on the amount of force a tooth can handle. Not enough force and the tooth won’t move, too much force and the tooth will also slow down or could be damaged from the heavy forces. This is why your orthodontist will precisely prescribe the right amount of force by using the right type of rubber band. So, never double up your rubber bands or use a rubber band your orthodontist didn’t recommend. Why do they need to be worn for so long? Let’s talk a little biology and science. It takes ten hours of force on a tooth before it starts moving. This means that when you put your rubber bands in for the first ten hours nothing is happening. After ten hours of constant force the cells surrounding your tooth will start to change and the tooth will start to move. If you take the rubber band out for longer than thirty minutes those cells go back to normal and the ten hour clock starts over. This is why we typically recommend wearing the rubber bands full-time unless you are eating or brushing your teeth. The constant light forces will move the tooth fastest. If you are constantly taking the rubber bands out, you hit the ten hours of constant force. Here is an analogy: imagine you are rolling a large ball up a steep hill. If you stop rolling the ball, it will roll down the hill and you will lose the progress you made. This is what wearing rubber bands is like, slowly rolling a ball up a hill, but an amazing smile is worth the journey! Any tips for remembering to wear the rubber bands? If you are having a hard time remembering to wear your rubber bands, there are many great tips to help build habits. Start by writing down the answer to these questions on a piece of paper: - I will put on my morning set of elastics: When? and Where? - After lunch I will put my elastics on: When? and Where? - I will store my elastics: Where? - When I leave my house I will keep my elastics: Where? By physically writing these answers on a piece of paper, it will help train your brain to remember to wear your rubber bands! Another tip is to keep your elastics somewhere visible so that you see them and remember to wear them. You can also associate wearing rubber bands with a habit you already have, such as brushing your teeth or putting your shoes on. If you put the rubber bands in every time you do these already established habits, wearing rubber bands will become a habit as well.

<urn:uuid:590d60fe-ccae-4e65-8d27-3698ba297a89>

Astronomers from the University of Birmingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy in the United Kingdom have recently identified “hot super-Earths” with stripped surfaces. They identified this with the help of data coming from NASA’s exo-planet hunter spacecraft named Kepler. The exo-planets are made up of rocky core and gaseous outer surface. The host stars of these exo-planets appear to be very close due to which the surfaces of these exo-planets get violently stripped. This is because of being violently hit by a torrent of high energy radiation. This surprising revelation comes from the study published in journal- Nature Communications. The continuous persistent erosion of atmosphere by high radiations comparatively affects the original size of the planets. As per the results disclosed by the astronomers, the planets with hot stars close to their surfaces had different appearances in terms of size and looks, originally. Researches and astronomers use asteroseismology in order to study the internal properties of these planets and their host stars. The results of studies play an important role in implying the evolution of stellar systems- our solar system, its planets and their host stars. New generation satellites including the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Goal are in a process of being launched to extract and gather additional information about these stripped exo-planets.

<urn:uuid:0366cc54-863f-4aea-a120-a7f85485c87a>

There are four balls in a hat: a blue one, a white one, and two red ones. Now I draw simultaneously two balls, look at them, and announce that at least one of them is red. What is the chance that the other is red as well? The chance that they are both red = 1/6. The chance that at least one is red = 1 - 1/6 = 5/6 1/6 divided by 5/6 = 1/5.

<urn:uuid:ed68e6a1-5a22-42af-be09-7842cfce2862>

A Model for Effectual Collaborative Learning The availability and popularity of advanced communication tools has led to widespread use of social media, web, and virtual communities among students. There is significant increase in expectations of students in entire process of learning driven by innovations in ICT. The changing face of ICT has brought about the fulfillment of knowledge communities and made an important impact on forms of Collaborative Learning. This paper presents a model for effective collaborative learning driven by innovative use of ICT and group collaboration. The model consists of major five steps: Formation of groups, Classroom activities for the group, Activities on social media, Weekly Activities, Group presentation. The study was conducted over a period of three months for Computer Networks class and the results show thorough preparation of subject and continuous monitoring of groups has resulted in better class participation, greater academic achievement and excellent student satisfaction. Successful groups were able to identify the skills they acquired -technical, behavioral and interpersonal skills which will help them to survive in a professional working environment. Not all groups derived benefits from the collaborative leaning environment. Issues related to individual motivation, openness to feedback and lack of generic skills led to their poor performance. The results of this study suggest that, the challenges in implementation of collaborative learning can be met by effective use of proposed guidelines in the model. This paper recommends further trials of model for different subjects and courses. Keywords: Collaborative Learning, ICT, Cognitive Learning, E Learning, Social Media Volume: 4 | Issue: 1 Issue Date: February , 2014

<urn:uuid:18d7ecda-aae1-4b18-9428-d0f0bb88da2b>

This sarcophagus (c. 325-350) was found in 1841, along with other artefacts, in the area near the Vatican City railway station. The front is divided by colonnaded architecture, populated with cupids busy harvesting. On the front, between the columns, various biblical scenes are represented: the sacrifice of Isaac, Moses receiving the Law, the healing of the blind man, the prediction of the denial of Peter, the bleeding woman, the multiplication of the loaves, and Peter baptising the gaolers (from an apocryphal account). On the two sides, there are scenes depicting original sin and the three young Jews in the furnace. The same episode is depicted on the raised part of the lid along with a concise representation of story of the prophet Jonah. From the inscription we learn that the sarcophagus was prepared by Crescentianus for his late wife Agape, and that he himself was later buried there, after living to an age of one hundred and one years!

<urn:uuid:44713624-0eb2-4d6e-a034-96fe02255c85>

What is Bulging Disc Syndrome? Bulging disc syndrome explained by Denver, Golden, Aurora, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson, and Littleton Colorado’s top pain doctors Bulging disc syndrome, also known as spinal disc herniation, is generally regarded as a degenerative condition in which the intervertebral disc herniates into the intervertebral space and places pressure on the spinal nerve causing a significant amount of pain. This pain is typically described as constant or persistent, which is not surprising given the fact that once the inner nucleus pulposus material of the intervertebral disc protrudes into the intervertebral space, it is not able to retract itself. Thus, the bulged disc remains there, pressed against or close to the spinal nerve. The vertebral column, or the spine, is constructed of individual vertebrae that are stacked adjacent to each other. In between each individual vertebra are intervertebral discs. These discs have a protective outer layer called the annulus fibrosus. This layer is made of fibrocartilage that is tough and fibrous to hold in the contents. The inner structure of these intervertebral discs is more soft and pulpy. Known as the nucleus pulposus, this inside substance is made up of a mucoprotein gel, which gives it the consistency of jelly. The nucleus pulposus also contains loose annular fibers that help to maintain its shape and resistance. The primary role of the intervertebral disc is to provide support to the individual bones comprising the vertebral column. In addition, intervertebral discs provide shock absorption for the spine, such that it buffers each vertebra bone from colliding with each other during daily activities, which would cause damage to the boney structures. In general, bulging disc syndrome occurs most frequently among the vertebrae in the cervical area (the neck) or the lumbar area (lower back). Causes of Bulging Disc Syndrome While bulging disc syndrome can also be referred to as a slipped disc, this is not an accurate description of the condition. Not all cases of bulging disc syndrome are the result of wear and tear related to a degenerative process. Nonetheless, daily wear and tear on the structures that make up the vertebral column, over time, can cause the intervertebral discs to become dehydrated, gradually lose their ability to absorb shock, and become smaller in size. As a result, the tough and fibrous protective outer ring also becomes worn. Over time, this weakening of the annulus fibrosus increases the risk that the pulpy inner material could begin to press out and protrude (also described as herniating) into the area between the intervertebral disc and the surrounding bone, known as a bulging disc. The pain associated with bulging disc syndrome results from the bulging nucleus pulposus’ proximity to the spinal nerve. Pressure on these nerves can cause them to become irritated and swell. Bulging disc syndrome can be associated with significant amounts of pain, particularly when the inner nucleus pulposus material bulges well into the intervertebral space and close to a spinal nerve, which is part of the network of nerves that generally run parallel to the spine. However, other individuals may experience a bulging disc with no accompanying symptoms. This depends largely on where the herniated disc is located and the degree of the herniation. While in many instances, bulging disc syndrome is believed to be the result of a degenerative process that occurs as a person ages, a bulged disc can also occur spontaneously as the result of bending improperly. Typical daily movements do not cause much strain or place much pressure on the spine, as the intervertebral discs act to protect the spinal column. However, when the spine is forced to move sharply or lift something very heavy, there is significant pressure placed on the intervertebral discs to cushion the stress. As such, the protective outer coating of the intervertebral disc is at risk for tearing, or other damage, allowing the inner nucleus pulposus to bulge out. Damage to the intervertebral discs in the cervical area can lead to chronic pain in the neck, head, and face. In some cases of bulging disc syndrome, shoulder pain is also reported. In terms of damage to the intervertebral discs of the lumbar region, chronic pain in the lower back, pelvis, buttocks, and even feet or toes can be reported. When attempting to diagnose bulging disc syndrome, physicians typically gather a detailed account of the pain episode, along with a history of both the patient and his or her family. In many cases, imaging, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or fluoroscopy, may be used to confirm the diagnosis of bulging disc syndrome. Treatment for Bulging Disc Syndrome A number of treatment options are available for bulging disc syndrome. For instance, a highly effective option for managing neuropathic pain associated with a bulging disc is the use of epidural injections. This procedure involves the injection of an anesthetic medication, generally corticosteroids, into the area near the nerve that is primarily responsible for transmitting pain signals to the brain. Epidural injections for the management of pain associated with bulging disc syndrome would be inserted into any one of the cervical, lumbar, or sacral areas. For instances of bulging disc syndrome in which the patient’s pain symptoms are not responsive to corticosteroid injections, a procedure called disc denervation may be considered. This technique can be done on an outpatient basis and does not require surgery. More specifically, a topical numbing agent is applied and a probe is inserted into the region surrounding the affected nerve. Then radiofrequency waves are delivered in an effort to reduce the nerve’s transmission of pain signals to the brain. A final procedure available for the treatment of pain associated with bulging disc syndrome is a discectomy. This is a surgical procedure that involves removing the damaged and herniated disc. Indeed, this procedure is accompanied by a number of risks and should only be considered as a final option for the management of pain. Bulging disc syndrome is regarded as a degenerative condition that affects the structure of the intervertebral discs within the spinal column. Specifically, over time these discs can become worn and weak, allowing the inner nucleus pulposus to protrude out into the intervertebral space, placing pressure on the spinal nerve. Most cases of bulging disc syndrome occur within the neck and lumbar region. There are many treatment options available to manage the pain of a bulging disc. For instance, corticosteroid injections are available to reduce tissue inflammation and thereby treat the pain. However, should these interventions be ineffective, other procedures are available, such as disc decompression or denervation. - Igarashi T, Kikuchi S, Shubayev V, Myers RR. 2000 Volvo Award winner in basic science studies: Exogenous tumor necrosis factor-alpha mimics nucleus pulposus-induced neuropathology. Molecular, histologic, and behavioral comparisons in rats. Spine. 2000;25(23):2975-2980. - Maus T. Imaging the back pain patient. Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America. 2010;21(4):725-766. - Pinto RZ, Maher CG, Ferreira ML, et al. Epidural corticosteroid injections in the management of sciatica: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of internal medicine. 2012;157(12):865-877. - Buy X, Gangi A. Percutaneous treatment of intervertebral disc herniation. Seminars in interventional radiology. 2010;27(2):148-159. - Birnbaum K. Percutaneous cervical disc decompression. Surgical and radiologic anatomy : SRA. 2009;31(5):379-387. - Singh V, Benyamin RM, Datta S, Falco FJ, Helm S, 2nd, Manchikanti L. Systematic review of percutaneous lumbar mechanical disc decompression utilizing Dekompressor. Pain physician. 2009;12(3):589-599. - Manchikanti L, Singh V, Falco FJ, et al. An updated review of automated percutaneous mechanical lumbar discectomy for the contained herniated lumbar disc. Pain physician. 2013;16(2 Suppl):Se151-184. - Manchikanti L, Singh V, Calodney AK, et al. Percutaneous lumbar mechanical disc decompression utilizing Dekompressor(R): an update of current evidence. Pain physician. 2013;16(2 Suppl):Se1-24.

<urn:uuid:685b2989-45b7-4129-a34b-6fb2d038d7e1>

Your skin tone is determined by the amount of melanin present in your skin. People with darker skin have more melanin pigment than those with lighter skin. But sometimes, your skin does not have the same amount of melanin pigment all over. This can result in areas of your skin that are darker than the surrounding skin. This is called hyperpigmentation. There are three main types of hyperpigmentation, each with its own set of risk factors and causes. Age Spot Hyperpigmentation Age spots (also called liver spots or solar lentigines) are small, dark patches that typically appear on skin parts commonly exposed to the sun—your hands, arms, and face. Melanin pigment helps protect your skin from ultraviolet sunlight damage. When your skin is exposed to UV light, your body produces more melanin pigment to protect your skin. That’s why your skin may get tan after spending time in the sun. Tanning is your skin’s way of protecting itself from further sun damage. After many decades of sun exposure, some of the melanocytes that produce melanin pigment can become damaged. This malfunction can cause these cells to produce more melanin pigment than normal, resulting in age spots. Melasma typically manifests as larger dark patches on the face of women who are pregnant or on birth control. This is why melasma is also referred to as “the mask of pregnancy.” During pregnancy, hormone levels fluctuate and can trigger the overproduction of melanin pigment. Birth control pills can also cause similar hormonal fluctuations that lead to melasma. Other medications have also been linked to melasma, including: - nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - epilepsy medications - hormone replacement therapy (HRT) When the pregnancy is over, or the individual stops taking the medication that is causing it, melasma often fades away, and the skin returns to normal. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is a darkening of the skin that occurs after the skin has been injured or inflamed. It can happen after things like acne breakouts, eczema flare-ups, or even minor cuts and scrapes. Inflammation of the skin (usually provoked in response to an injury) can trigger melanocytes to become overactive and produce too much melanin pigment. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is more common in people with darker skin. Treatment for this type of hyperpigmentation typically requires a topical medication to safely depigment the affected skin area.

<urn:uuid:5c61ae9f-948c-4c7f-8248-cd8b6a0158d7>

“The wisest prophets make sure of the event first.” –Horace Walpole In the summer of 1503, over the course of his fourth and last voyage, Christopher Columbus and his crew found themselves stranded on the island of Jamaica. His ships were damaged by a major storm and no help was forthcoming. After six months of native hospitality, Columbus’ crewmen had overstayed their welcome and the locals refused to provide the Europeans with any more food. Though he was out of provisions, Columbus had in his possession the almanac of Regiomontaus which included astronomical tables for the years 1475-1506 with a listing of upcoming lunar eclipses. Columbus requested a meeting with the Cacique, the native leader, on the day of the expected full moon eclipse (March 1, 1504), when the Earth would block the sun from directly shining on the moon, thereby covering the moon with an unusual red tint. Columbus told the Cacique that God was upset with the treatment the Europeans were receiving, and that God would demonstrate His anger with a rising full moon “inflamed with wrath.” Shortly thereafter the blood-colored moon filled the night sky to the horror of the natives. They begged and scurried to fulfill Admiral Columbus’ every wish. Looking at his hourglass, Columbus announced that God would forgive them. When a few minutes later the eclipse receded, Columbus announced that they had indeed been forgiven. Thereafter, Columbus became a confirmed Prophet of God in the eyes of the local population. Had Columbus pushed the locals to idol worship instead of providing much needed food, the Ohr Hachayim (based on Deuteronomy 13:2) might have simply killed Columbus for being a false prophet, even if his wondrous signs and predictions were fulfilled. Judaism is wary of prophets and predictions that carry an agenda that contravenes the Torah. It suspects such chicanery so much, that it gives the death penalty to whoever would fool his fellow into the path of strange worship, no matter how talented, insightful or “prophetic” they may be. May we beware of false prophets and stick to simple faith without any magical side shows. To Edward Klitzler and his fascinating, engrossing, historical account: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean – How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom – and Revenge.

<urn:uuid:ca90a34d-5653-4fe1-8c27-e76d8bc7a60f>

It is important for government and history students to recognize the paradox of the spread of slavery at a time when the founding fathers discussed constitutional freedoms. After reading several primary source documents, class members discuss the extent to which Washington and Madison address slavery. Next, half of the class determines how slavery became an accepted part of the Constitution, while the other half generates and explanation for the necessity of compromise on the issue of slavery. Groups present using posters, speeches, panel discussions, or multimedia presentations. The objectives here are excellent, and the primary source documents are rich. Consider providing students with additional parameters to increase their confidence and likelihood for success.

<urn:uuid:d3d420ba-03c5-456b-8d43-5129be481d66>

Social, Emotional, Mental Health and Wellbeing SEMH needs refers to social, emotional and mental health needs. Those who need additional SEMH support may have difficulties with emotional and social development, consequently struggling with social skills, and finding it difficult to maintain healthy relationships. This can lead to withdrawal and isolation, and/or challenging disruptive or aggressive behaviour. An individual’s SEMH needs will impact on their wellbeing; wellbeing is about both feeling good and functioning well in day to day life. The things that we do and the way that we think affects our wellbeing. Improving wellbeing is proven to help with our physical health, our performance at school, college and work, and improving our quality of life. There are five ways that we can boost our wellbeing: - Connect… with people around you, with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours, at home, work, school, college and in your local community. - Be Active … go for a walk or a run. Step outside, cycle, play a game, dance, garden. Exercising makes you feel good. - Take Notice…be curious, catch sight of the beautiful, remark on the unusual, be aware of the world around you, what you are feeling – savour the moment. - Keep Learning … Try something new, discover a new interest, sign up for a course, learn to cook, paint, draw or play an instrument, challenge yourself. - Give …. Do something nice for a friend or a stranger, thank someone, smile, volunteer your time, get involved in your community. SEMH Needs can be expressed/manifest themselves in several different ways, including problems of mood (anxiety and depression), problems of conduct (oppositional defiance and aggression), and physical symptoms such as self-harm and eating disorders. Please see below for more information on each. Depression can affect both children and teenagers as well as adults, and early intervention is important to prevent long-term disruption. Signs in children and young people include long-term feelings of: - sadness/low mood - being irritable/grumpy - being tired/exhausted - loss of interest in hobbies Click here for a list of other potential symptoms of depression in children and young people. - Talking to younger children about their feelings - Talking to teenagers - YoungMinds’ – Free Parents’ Advice helpline available Monday – Friday 9:30am – 4pm, on 0808 802 5544 - Students Against Depression - Depression in children and young people: for young people - 8 things to say to someone struggling with depression Everyone experiences feelings of worry and anxiety occasionally, including young people and children. However, if this anxiety begins to affect an individual’s well-being and impact on their day-to-day life, they may need additional support to help them cope with these feelings (NHS, 2019). Signs in children and young people include: - constantly worrying or having negative thoughts - becoming irritable tearful or clingy - having difficulty sleeping/waking in the night - wetting the bed - bad dreams - difficulty concentrating - not eating properly Click here for a list of other potential symptoms of anxiety in children and young people from the NHS. - The Mental Health Foundation: The Anxious Child Booklet - NICE guidelines: Social Anxiety Disorder treatments for children and young people - Royal College of Psychiatrists: Worries and anxieties – helping children to cope: for parents and carers - Young Minds – Anxiety - Childline – Managing your anxiety - Anxiety UK: Children and Young People with Anxiety – A guide for parents and carers - Anxiety buster tool: activity sheet Healthy Young Minds in Herts: Talking about Anxiety – Top tips for parents - Five ways to wellbeing - Anxiety management for over-16’s - How to stay emotionally healthy and help support your child’s emotional wellbeing - How to help your child manage their anxiety during exams and tests - Listening to your child - Autism and Anxiety Anger is a normal emotion which everyone experiences. However, it can become a problem if a child’s behaviour becomes out of control or aggressive (NHS, 2020). - Family Lives: Dealing with anger in teenagers - Young Minds: Anger and Mental Health - Young Minds: Responding to anger - NHS: Teen aggression and arguments - Clinical Partners: Anger, Aggression and Violence in Children and Teenagers - Coping Skills for Kids: Helping kids manage anger - NHS: Breathing exercises for stress - Coping skills for kids: Calming Anxiety in Children Eating Disorders are mental illnesses which cause individuals to have an unhealthy attitude to food, eating either too little or too much and becoming obsessed with weight and body shape. This can affect both men and women of any age, but most commonly affects young women between 13 – 17 years of age (NHS, 2018). The most common examples include: - anorexia nervosa – keeping weight as low as possible by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or both. - bulimia – sometimes eating a lot of food in a short amount of time (binging) and are then deliberately sick/use laxatives/restrict food/excessively exercise to prevent weight gain. - binge eating disorder (BED) – regularly eating large portions of food at once until you feel uncomfortably full, and then feeling upset or guilty. - other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) – symptoms don’t exactly match the above three (most common). - Tips for spotting the first signs of an eating disorder - Help and Treatment - How to tell someone you have an eating disorder - Eating disorders and exams - Supporting someone at exam time - Dangers of pro-Ana and pro-Mia - Guidelines for Educational Psychologists – Children and young people under 18 with eating disorders Self-harm refers to when an individual injures or harms their body, usually as a way of alleviating overwhelming emotional distress (NHS, 2018) and may be a cry for help. There are lots of different forms of self-harm, with the most common being cutting (CAMHS, 2017). Common signs in children and young people: - Unexplained injuries (such as cuts and burns) - Keeping fully covered even in hot weather - Signs of depression Click here for a complete list of NHS signs of self-harm. - National CAMHS Support Service: Self-harm in children and young people handbook - Coping with self-harm: a Guide for Parents and Carers - Self-harm Information for school staff in Hertfordshire Tourette’s syndrome is a condition which can cause individuals to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics. This generally begins in childhood, but the symptoms usually improve and can go away entirely. Although there is no cure for Tourette’s syndrome, treatment can help manage symptoms (NHS, 2018). Common physical symptoms in children and young people: - eye rolling - shoulder shrugging - tongue clicking - saying random words or phrases Click here for a complete list of NHS signs of self-harm. - NHS Choices – Tourette’s Syndrome + video - Tourette Syndrome Information Sheet - What is Tourette Syndrome? - Key Facts for Teachers leaflet - How Tourette’s Syndrome Effects Learning - Great Almond Street: Tourette Syndrome and School - Explaining ADHD to Teachers Healthy Young Minds in Herts School Self Review and Kite Mark for Emotional Wellbeing Awareness and Suicide Prevention Awareness documents:

<urn:uuid:040565d4-1ca2-47ca-95f4-d509c96bfdbe>