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Fuse boxes contain a fuse for each circuit in your house or apartment. According to Acme How To, "A fuse provides protection for each of your electrical circuits by stopping the flow of current if an overload or fault occurs." If you notice several appliances, light switches and power outlets stop working simultaneously, chances are you've blown a fuse. Checking your fuse box and changing blown fuses requires no special training or equipment. Unplug and turn off all electronic devices plugged into the affected circuit. Turn off the master switch to the fuse box if your fuse box has one. Remove the blown fuse. A blown fuse will appear a "red" colour either behind a clear window or on the fuse itself, showing it has been blown. Place the new fuse in place of the old fuse. Turn the fuse box master switch back on. Check your electronic devices on the affected circuit to ensure all are functioning. Watch a video tutorial to gain a visual understanding of checking your fuse box. Do not touch the metal portion of the fuse. Only replace old fuses with fuses of the correct amp rating. If the fuse blows again shortly after replacing it, contact an electrician as a serious wiring issue exists.
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The Hieronymus Bosch Award Zack: This is an illustration from the page facing the entry for these guys. They're called Crabmen and there really isn't anything to them. They're just another stupid bipedal thug for you to hit with a sword. Steve: Yeah, not really worth including. On the other hand, this illustration is maybe the best thing I have seen in three weeks. Zack: This is the sort of scene I imagine at the farm where they harvest the meat for chicken nuggets. A cave that looks like something out of Kurosawa's Dreams hosting a bunch of wizards and farmers with swords battling it out with the nuggions. Steve: Nuggets are chicken dude. It's in the name. Zack: My theory is just as likely to be true. Have you ever seen a nugget actually coming out of a chicken? Steve: No. Zack: That's right, and I have never seen one coming out of a Crabman. Equal evidence. Steve: I don't feel so good. Zack: Damn, look at that, Crabman is hard on the ladies. I wonder if he's taking that one off to another part of their nightmare cave to make some lady nuggets. Steve: Ahhh! Shut up! More WTF, D&D!? This Week on Something Awful...
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Digital Spy Search Digital Spy Cult Blog 'Justified': 5 reasons you need to watch Timothy Olyphant drama Based on Elmore Leonard's novels, Justified has become one of the most critically-acclaimed dramas on television. With the third season recently released on DVD, Digital Spy takes a look at why this programme is very much worth your time. Justified season 3 DVD promo Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens A good show has a great lead character, and Raylan Givens - brought to life by the exceptional Timothy Olyphant - is one of the standout protagonists currently on television. On the surface, the deputy US marshal is the slickest lawman in town. Raylan is cool, composed and charming. He effortlessly comes up with witty retorts, is quick on the draw and pulls off the stetson hat. He's the guy you wish you could be. But Raylan is also a layered character. The theme of family has been prominent throughout the series so far, and his strained relationship with his criminal father Arlo continues to be a major part of the series and is fascinating to watch. The lack of a father-son bond has shaped Raylan into an angrier and more bitter person and affected his approach to life. Justified season 3 DVD promo Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder Those familiar with Walton Goggins's work on The Shield as Shane Vendrell owe it to themselves to watch Justified, in which he assumes the role of career criminal Boyd Crowder. It's hard to read Boyd. He's smart and always calculating, but that's why he's such an intriguing character. In fact, some of the best interactions on the show are between Raylan and Boyd as they try to figure each other out. The pair share a long history, and it's clear they have a mutual respect for each other, even if they're often on the opposite sides of the law. Justified season 3 DVD promo The setting One of the best things about Justified is that Harlan County feels so alive. The drama boasts some great cinematography and locations (Noble's Holler, an African American community introduced in season three, is dripping with rich background and history), but even more impressive is its large array of believable characters. Aside from the principal cast, season three has no less than 20 minor, recurring characters who pop up when the story demands it. All of them are constructed with care and bring something new to the show with their own arcs, and seeing Raylan lay down the law is that much more thrilling when the town he's bossing comes across as a living, breathing community. Justified season 3 DVD promo The villains Of course, it wouldn't be an interesting show if there wasn't someone getting in Raylan's way, and fortunately Justified has seen plenty of characters give the deputy marshal a run for his money. Boyd continues to be a thorn in Raylan's side, while the Bennett family propelled season two into must-see television. In season three, Neal McDonough stars as the intimidating and disturbed Detroit mob enforcer Quarles looking to get into the Oxy ring in Kentucky. Quarles is a chilling character at first, but his backstory soon gets fleshed out in smart and compelling ways that make him a whole lot more than your usual cartoonish villain. In fact, it's because he's potentially unhinged that makes him a frightening man. Justified season 3 DVD promo The storytelling Justified also strikes a brilliant balance between self-contained and procedural storytelling. Villains of the week are always well-developed, even though they often only have a lifespan of one episode, while the season-long arc bubbles along in the background before gradually taking over the remainder of the season with hard-hitting episodes. What's also amazing is how consistent the show is. The first few episodes of the first season were fairly slow-paced, but since that point, Justified has remained high-quality television that can be easily recommended. Justified: The Complete Third Season is out now on DVD You May Like
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Before the building of the Florida East Coast Railway, there were two separate islands here, known as the Umbrella Keys. Railway construction Involved filling between these two which then became known as Windley Key, after a settler. The railway station on Windley Key was known as Quarry. Formed of Key Largo limestone, fossilised coral, this Key sold to the Florida East Coast Railroad, used the stone to build Henry Flagler’s Overseas Railroad in the early 1900s. When the railroad had been constructed, the quarry saw continued used until the 1960s and produced beautiful decorative stone pieces and building stone called Keystone. Today, visitors can walk along eight-foot-high quarry walls to see cross sections of the ancient coral and learn about the quarry and its operation, an important part of Florida’s 20th-century history. Samples of the quarry machinery have been preserved at the park. Historical names include Umbrella Keys, Vermont Key, Windley’s Island, Windy Key and Wright. On a chart in 1919, Mark Key appears on the bayside of Windley Key, the adjacent flat, having been filled in, eliminated Mark Key as it has become one with Windley Key. Since 1946, Windley Key is home to Theater of the Sea, a popular tourist attraction, Fossil Reef Geological State Park and the ever popular Holiday Isle resort are also on the Key. Visitors will find five, relatively short, self-guided trails on the Key to enjoy the natural attributes of this island. Picnic tables are available to the public. The Visitor Center, located at Mile Marker 84.9 on Windley Key near Islamorada is open Friday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., features educational exhibits about the history of this site.
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|U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1350| Chapter 2. Sediment and chemical flux history in the Pocomoke Sound as defined by short lived isotopic analyses |W. Holmes 1, and M. Marot 1| 1U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Pocomoke Sound, located in the southeastern part of Chesapeake Bay on the eastern shore of the central Delmarva Peninsula, is an ecologically threatened region in terms of water clarity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and the health of its submerged aquatic vegetation and the organisms that use this important habitat. Excess nutrient and sediment loads have resulted in excessive algal growth, oxygen depletion, and increased turbidity within the water column. For example, a six-year record (1986-1992) shows that dissolved oxygen in this mesohaline water body is depleted, especially during the summer months (www.baylink.org/atlas/). Increased turbidity is also a serious problem because it affects light reaching submerged aquatic vegetation living along the margins of Pocomoke Sound. In order to determine processes that influence the sedimentary dynamics of the region, a study on short-lived isotopes and trace elements was conducted during the years 2001 and 2002. The short-lived isotopes, 7Be, 137Cs, and 210Pb are unique tracers of sediment in space and time and these isotopes were measured in surface samples and cores collected in the spring and fall of 2001. It was determined that from 1890 to about 1940, a significant portion of the sediment originated within the watershed. Between 1940 and 1950 there was a shift is sediment sources, with bank erosion becoming a prominent source. During this transition, the higher concentrations of redox sensitive elements (U, Mo, and Re) suggest that Pocomoke Sound was hypoxic. These changes can be directly linked to anthropogenic changes in the watershed. The results of the study demonstrated that the short lived isotopes are valuable in understanding changes in sediment regimes and with addition data may be useful in modeling the sedimentary dynamics of the area. Short-lived radioisotopes, 7Be, 137Cs, and 210Pb, are unique spatial and temporal tracers of sediment processes. 210Pb has been used extensively to detail the sedimentary record in Chesapeake Bay for over the last half century, but rarely in combination with 137Cs or 7Be. Each isotope is introduced into the sediment via atmospheric fallout, thus the isotopes are deposited at nearly uniform activities across the region. Natural physical processes of erosion, transportation, and deposition deplete the sediment isotopic concentrations in some areas and concentrate them in others. Knowledge of the initial atmospheric flux of radioisotopes and their distribution in the depositional basin makes it possible to determine the dynamics of erosion, transport and deposition within the watershed. In this study, sedimentary processes in Pocomoke Sound and its surrounding watershed were investigated, (1) by defining the depositional centers with 7Be, (2) by using high-resolution profiles of 210Pb and 137Cs to define sediment accumulation rates, and (3) by defining environmental changes by chemical indices. Study area -- Pocomoke Sound was formed by the erosion of the ancient Pocomoke River during lower sea level during Pleistocene glacial advances (Figure 2.1). Today, this river is the primary drainage for the south central part of the Delmarva Peninsula. The ~ 700 square mile watershed is 40 % agricultural lands, 38% forests, 18% wetlands, 1.25% urbanized, and less than >1.5% coastal marsh lands. These proportions have changed little since the middle of the 20th century. The terrestrial portion of the Delmarva Peninsula is topographically low. As land was cleared for habitation and farming, an extensive drainage system was constructed. This ditching, initiated in colonial times, has continued up to the present. Prior to the 1940's, the practice was limited. During and immediately after World War II, land reclamation increased, peaking in the early 1970's (Iivari, 1991). This was a time of massive row crop farming with a significant use of fertilizer (Zimmerman and Canuel, 2000). In early 1980's, many weirs were constructed to trap sediment (Iivari, 1991). Row-crop farming decreased at the same time, while poultry production increased (Figure 2.2). The subaqueous part of Pocomoke Sound can be conveniently divided into three geomorphic zones: (1) the lower Pocomoke River and associated tidal flats, (2) the Pocomoke River sub aqueous delta in the upper part of the sound, and (3) the non-filled incised relict river (Figure 2.1). The sinuous tidal river flows approximately 65 kilometers from Pocomoke City to the mouth of the Sound. This portion of the river is monotonously deep (~ 8 meters) and ~1 km wide, fringed with large tidal flats. The bottom of the river contains lag deposits. The tidal flats are comprised of very fine, highly water-saturated clays and marsh vegetation. Sediment deposition on the flats is the result of tidal lag deposition (van Straaten and Kuenen, 1958). In 1913, the Army Corps of Engineers began the dredging process to create a new passage through the mudflats at the mouth of the Pocomoke River, creating a straighter, more maneuverable navigation channel (Iivari, 1991). In the upper part of the sound, between the Maryland boundary and Virginia's Freeschool marsh peninsula and Gulford Flats, is a large ~20 square kilometer delta. The water depth on the delta varies between 1 and 2 meters. The Freeschool marsh and Gulford Flats are founded on very coarse sands and gravels suggesting that they formed on a buried barrier. Southwestward from the delta between the ridge and the southern Maryland boundary is the thalwag of the incised submerged Pleistocene Pocomoke River. Bottom samples indicate that the sediment in the central portion of the sound is texturally mud (silty-clay) which grades into the fine sand near the shorelines. Materials and Methods This section describes material and methods used in analysis of surface sediment 7Be inventories (data given in Appendix 2.1), radionuclide measurements of 210Pb, 7Be, 137Cs, 40K and 226Ra concentrations (data given in Appendix 2.2), and trace element distributions in sediment cores (data given in Appendices 2.3, 2.4). The radionuclide inventory of the sediment cores from Pocomoke Sound is summarized in Table 2.1. The detection limits of the "ultratrace" procedure used to measure trace metals in sediments from four cores are given in Table 2.2. Both tables are given at the end of this report. Sampling Pocomoke Sound -- In April 2001, 18 surface samples were collected along the Pocomoke River at six locations from Pocomoke City down to the river mouth. At each location the uppermost 4 cm of sediment was collected from the thalwag and from each sidebank. In May 2001, 27 surface sediment samples were collected along 3 cross-axis transects in the upper Sound and at 3 deeper water sites in the lower Sound (Figure 2.1). These sites were reoccupied in September 2001. 7Be inventories were measured at each site to determine the spatial depositional pattern and identify areas of sediment storage. For the retrospective analyses, four large volume push cores and one piston core were taken on along the axis of the sound. Three push cores were taken in the upper Sound on the subaqueous river delta. The fourth push core was collected on a tidal flat adjacent to the river to determine the history of sediment storage with the tidal flats. The piston core, taken in the deep channel in the lower Sound, integrated the sediment record from the Sound and the surrounding region. The surface samples along the river were collected using an Ekman grab sampler. The surface samples in the Sound were collected by VanVeen and Ponar grab samplers. The Ekman and VanVeen samplers were large enough to allow subsamples to be obtained by inserting a 10.25 cm diameter plastic core liner into the sediment and carefully extracting a subcore. Each subcore was visually inspected prior to sampling to verify the integrity of the sediment/water interface. If any indication of sediment disturbance was visible, the subcore was discarded. The extracted subcores were sectioned into 1-cm intervals by inserting a piston in the bottom of the cylinder and carefully extruding the sediment in measured increments out the top of the core liner. Samples retrieved by the Ponar grab were a composite of the uppermost few centimeters of sediment. The large volume cores were obtained by manually inserting a 10.25 cm diameter polycarbonate core liner into the sediment until refusal. The cores ranged in length from 45-70 cm. Care was taken at all times to minimize disturbance of the sediment/water interface. The cores were returned to the laboratory and x-radiographed prior to sampling. The x-rays were used to look for internal sedimentary structure and signs of post-depositional disturbance. The sediment was extruded in the same manner as the surface samples. The top 10 cm were sectioned at 1 cm intervals and at a 2 cm interval below 10 cm. Each section was weighed and the outermost sediment in contact with the core liner was removed to prevent contamination from smearing along the interior of the barrel. This method of sectioning resulted in depth intervals of known volume, allowing for direct calculation of bulk density, which is used in mass accumulation calculations. The deeper part of the bay was sampled with an ~3-inch diameter piston corer. The total length of the core was 350 cm. In the laboratory, this core was split horizontally. Half the core was archived and the other half was sampled into 2 cm intervals. The bulk densities of these samples were calculated using the water content to calculate the porosity and assuming 2.76 g cm-3 as the particulate density. In the laboratory, all samples were dried in an oven at 60°C for at least 48 hours to determine water content. The dried samples were ground by hand to a fine powder using a ceramic mortar and pestle. Five grams of material was taken from each sample for loss on ignition (LOI). The material was heated in a muffle furnace for 6 hours at 450°C. The percent weight loss is an index of organic content. The material remaining after LOI was then used for 210Pb analysis. A split (~1-2 grams wet) was taken for grain size analysis from each interval in the four push cores prior to drying. Grain size distributions were measured with a Beckman Coulter LS200 Particle Analyzer. Radionuclide measurements -- 210Pb activities were determined by measuring the activity of its granddaughter 210Po, with the assumption that the two isotopes are in secular equilibrium. Because 210Po has a relatively short half-life (138 days), secular equilibrium is quickly established with its parent isotopes. 210Po is chemically leached from the sediment and autoplated onto a silver planchet for counting by alpha spectroscopy (Flynn, 1968). During the dissolution of the sample, a known amount of the tracer radioisotope 209Po is added. By comparison of the known activity of the tracer to that of the sample unknown, the 210Pb activity in the sample is calculated. Triplicate analyses performed of a subset of samples defined the combined analytical and counting errors at 5%. The 7Be, 137Cs, 40K and 226Ra concentrations were determined by gamma spectroscopy. The analyses were made with a Canberra low energy germanium detector coupled to a multi-channel analyzer. Detector efficiency was calibrated using a NIST-traceable standard. All activities are decay corrected to the date of sample collection. 226Ra was measured by averaging the activity its progeny 214Pb and 214Bi. The samples were stored in a sealed counting jar for a minimum of two weeks prior to analysis to insure radioactive equilibrium is established between 226Ra and its progeny. Trace element analysis -- The trace element distribution in the sediment from core PC6B-3 was determined by a semi-quantitative method, whereas, the trace metals in sediments from the four cores were determined by what is referred to as the "ultratrace" procedure (Table 2.2). The latter procedure has a lower detection limit, which translates to higher degree of precision. Because the trace metals in the two data sets were measured by different methods, comparisons must be made with caution. However, where the measured of concentration is significantly higher than the lower limit of detection, such as in the case of zinc, comparisons between the two data sets may be appropriate. To reduce the potential for operator error, the samples were randomized prior to submission. In addition, 20% of the samples were submitted in duplicate. The results indicate that for lithic elements, those elements that are part of mineral structure, the deviation ranged from 5 to 7%, whereas those elements which are adsorbed on the particles, and therefore more easily brought into solution, the deviation is less than 2%. Results and Discussion Seasonal Record -- 7Be, formed in the atmosphere by the collision of cosmic rays with oxygen and nitrogen, has a short half-life (< 54 days) and is a very particle reactive. The short half-life and geochemistry make 7Be useful for measuring the dynamics of active sedimentary processes. It also is useful in defining fluxes of other isotopes, such as 210Pb and 137Cs. The centers of active deposition are located by mapping the 7Be inventory (Appendix 2.1). The inventory is defined as the total amount of 7Be (dpm/cm2) at a sample site. The region with the highest inventory is a center of deposition. By making seasonal inventory maps, seasonal changes in depocenters are defined. 7Be inventory in Pocomoke Sound varied from 7.6 dpm cm-2 at the mouth of the Pocomoke River to undetectable near the shorelines. Within the tidal portion of the river, 7Be varied between 0.6 to 2.2 dpm cm-2; detectable and constant on the flats but absent, with the exception of one site, in the thalwag. The highest value (7.7 dpm cm-2) occurs at the mouth of the river; 7Be is also high on both banks and on the upstream side of the river mouth deposit (Figure 2.3A). This value is similar to the 6.8 dpm g-1 measured in suspended sediment, sampled in August 2002. The highest activity (2.0 ± 0.2 dpm g-1) in the sound occurs in the deeper part of the system. There are slight differences between the spring (May) and fall (September). The sites on the riverside of the bay-mouth delta showed the most significant change. In the spring, 7Be was detected only on the seaward side of the deposit. In the fall, 7Be was detected both on the riverside and seaward side of the delta (Figure 2.4). This suggests that during the spring runoff much of the sediment by passes the bay-mouth deposit. The "weaker" transporting energy in the summer and fall permits some sediment to be trapped on the delta. 7Be is also valuable in estimating (Ao), a parameter essential in calculating 210Pb chronologies. The short half-life of 7Be makes this isotope ideal for this purpose, because the presence of 7Be is evidence that the sediment was being transported within the last few months. By using 7Be, it was determined that the surface 210Pb activity was ~ 4.0 dpm/g. Lead-210 -- 210Pb is a decay product within the uranium (238U) series. Radioactive equilibrium occurs when the activity of each successive isotope in a radioactive series has the same activity. Disequilibrium occurs when the series is broken. In nature, the 238U series is broken by the diffusion of 222Rn from minerals exposed at the earth's surface. 222Rn escapes into the atmosphere at a rate of ~ 42 atoms per minute per square centimeter of land surface (Faure, 1986). With a half-life of 3.8 days, 222Rn decays rapidly leading to the formation of 210Pb through a series of very short half-life isotopes. This process produces excess 210Pb in the atmosphere, from which it is purged by wet and dry deposition. Like 7Be, this isotope is particle reactive and once in the surface environment it is rapidly adsorbed on sediment. There have been many 210Pb age models developed. Robbins (1978), Oldfield and Appleby (1984), and Carroll and others (1995), Robbins and others (2001) Nie and others, (2001) have review the various methods, applications and approaches to 210Pb age modeling. The chronologic model used in this study, developed by Robbins and others (2001), is a simple first order model. In this model the atmospheric 210Pb flux and accumulation rate is assumed to be constant and any variability with the exception of 210Pb decay is averaged by sedimentological processes. Results are given in Appendix 2.2. The surface activity is assumed to be constant and equal to the flux of 210Pb divided by the sediment accumulation rate in grams per square centimeter. This parameter was determined from the surface activity by the 7Be. Excess 210Pb activity (A ex) for a given interval is defined as the difference between the total 210Pb and 226Ra, and is calculated as follows: where g is accumulative weight of sediment (g cm-2), F is flux (dpm cm2 yr-1), Rs is accumulation rate(g/cm2/yr), λ is the decay constant of 210Pb (ln2/t 1/2 = 0.03114). This equation takes in to account sediment compaction and implicitly assumes no post- depositional mobility, sediment mixing or changes in sediment supply. Numerous investigators have addressed post depositional 210Pb mobility and in most environments this is not a problem (Urban and others, 1990). The degree of mixing is assessed by examination of x-radiographs, and indirectly by the nature of the trace metals profiles. The Pocomoke sound core x-radiographs show significant layering. The layers range from 2 to ~ 10 cm. in thickness. Therefore, if mixing is present, it occurs only within these layers. A "best fit" curve of the measured data was calculated by least-squares optimization using the Marquardt-Levenberg (M-L) methods. Using the age formula (1), the ages of each level in the cores was calculated. These ages were used to compare with other data. While the age assignments are calculated from the accumulative weight of the sediment, the results are displayed in linear depth units. This procedure yields a first order age model. Comparing the best-fit curves (the "ideal curves") to raw data shows the degree to which the data conform to the ideal. The best-fit data for the six cores shows that each have a very good and significant "goodness of fit" with the R2 values ranging from a low of 0.88 in the core data from the tidal flat to 0.98 for the deepest core on the Pocomoke delta. The r2 values for the other cores varied between 0.97 and 0.96 (Figure 2.5). Core 1 has the highest r2 value. The very high r2 values indicate that the 210Pb chronologies are a good first order approximation. Using the estimated chronologies, the average accumulation rates can be calculated. Cores 2 and 3 have an average accumulation rate of 0.25 and 0.29 cm yr-1 respectively. On the seaward side of the bay mouth deposit, the average accumulation rate (Core 1) was calculated to be 0.47 cm yr-1. The highest rate was calculated to be 1.8 cm/yr in the thalwag of the incised river valley. On the tidal flat, the sediment was calculated to be accumulating at an average of 0.62 cm yr-1. Examination of the raw data against the "ideal" curve for each core is very revealing. With the exception of Core 1 whose excess 210Pb almost perfectly reflects the ideal curve, the top portions of Cores 2, 3, 4, and 6 fall above the ideal curves. Close examination of this portion of these curve shows that the slopes of these data is much shallower than the data deeper in the core. This shallow slope is suggestive of more rapid accumulation than the calculated average rates. The calculated age at the point of cross over varied between 1953 +/- 4yrs in core 1 to 1959+/-4 yrs on the tidal flat. There is a suggestion that in the top portion of the cores, the 210Pb has a shallower slope. Cesium-137 -- In July 1945, nuclear weapon tests began releasing 137Cs and other radioactive nuclides into the environment for the first time. Over the 50 years since those tests, much research has been done to understand the movement and fate of the radionuclides in the environment. Beginning in the late 1950's many atmospheric radiological monitoring stations were established around the country. The closest to Chesapeake Bay region is in Sterling, Va. The 137Cs record was derived from the 90Sr depositional record. Using the 90Sr/137Cs ratio measured by the atmospheric sampling program for the 1959-1963 period, 137Cs was found to be 1.32 times the 90Sr activity (www.eml.doe.gov/databases/). The 137Cs fallout records from the central and northeastern portion of the country are all similar in terms of total inventory, thus it is assumed to be universal through the watershed and sound. Radiological fallout varied with the number and magnitude of nuclear test. The record shows the largest fluxes occurred during the early 1962-1963 and declined after the ratification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (Figure 2.6). Overlying the 137Cs distribution on the 210Pb time scale shows that the 137Cs peak in cores 1, 2, 3 coincide with 1962-1963 maximum production (Figure 2.7). This confirms the 210Pb chronology. 137Cs distribution in core 4 is different. In this core, the 137Cs flux increases from the late 1950's to a maximum after 1980. In core 6, 137Cs activity ranges from less than 0.1 to a maximum of 0.86 dpm g-1. These values translate to a range of fluxes form a low of 1 to a maximum of 5.4 dpm cm-2 yr-1. The maximum concentration does not match the peak production but peaks between 1966 and 1967. This shift or delay in maximum 137Cs has been recognized by others (Robbins et al. 2001 and Nie et al. 2001). This time delay is believed to be a function of varying rates of erosion and transportation of sediment from the supplying watershed. In addition, there is a secondary concentration peak that apparently correlates with an event which occurred in 1972. This is the year of Hurricane Agnes, which was a major sedimentological event in Chesapeake Bay region (Nie et al., 2001; Helz et al., 1985). Trace metals and sediment texture -- The trace metals concentrations in the Pocomoke Sound sediments the fall into four categories: fine sediment lithic, coarse sediment lithic, anthropogenic, and authigenic (Appendices 2.3, 2.4). The fine sediment lithic elements are those elements (Al, B, K, Cr, Ni, Ga, Rb, Tl, Th, and the rare earths) that are associated with the crystalline structure or adsorbed on the fine silts and clays. The coarse sediment lithic is those elements (Li, Mg, Ca, Ba, Mn, Fe, Co), which are associated with coarser silts and sands. The anthropogenic elements (Cu, Zn, As, Se, Cd, Sb, Bi) are derived from anthropogenic sources. As these elements are used as additives in a variety of manufactured products (such as tires, fertilizers etc.) a single source is difficult to name. The authigenic elements (U, Mo, and Re) are those that react to changing redox conditions in the system. The authigenic redox sensitive elements (U, Mo, and sometimes V) are concentrated in sediments by changes in the physiochemical conditions of the water (Morford and Emerson, 1999). The stable form of uranium in oxygenated waters is +VI. In marine waters this species forms a complex with carbonate ions. In anoxic systems, uranium is reduced to the insoluble +IV and is adsorbed on particlate material or is deposited as a sulfide. Molybdenum (VI) is the stable form in oxic systems and exists as MoO4-2 Reduction of Mo (VI) to Mo (IV) and authigenic enrichment of Mo in the sediment occurs under reducing conditions via precipitation across the sediment interface (Crusius and Thompson, 1996). Vanadium on occasion has the same properties as molybdenum element, but is also an element that mirrors iron. Because iron is ubiquitous it is difficult to separate the vanadium which is associated with iron from that which is reacting to oxic conditions. The metal profiles in all cores are similar. Zinc, one of the easiest metals to measure and compare among cores (Figure 2.8), increased in concentration greatly, beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This increase reached its maximum around the mid 1980's and remained constant until the present. The distribution of the redox sensitive elements (uranium and molybdenum) exhibits a decrease through the late 1900's. The spike in the late 1940's corresponds to the rapid changes in land used in the watershed (Figure 2.9) and suggests a short-term nearly anoxic interval in the Sound beginning shortly after the increase use of fertilizer during and immediately after World War II. The core with the longest and best-resolved record is core PC-6B (Figure 2.10). In this core, the anthropogenic elements zinc and lead have the same pattern, increasing greatly between 1950 and 1970 (Figure 2.10). Lithic element(s) (i.e. aluminum) co-varies with the organic index, loss on ignition, and are in opposition to sand percentages. The metal distribution also reflects changes in sediment intensity, with spikes occurring during Hurricane Agnes. Size analysis of the sediment confirms that most of the sediment in the Sound is silty clay. There is an indication that the post 1950 sediment was slightly coarser. The organic content of the sediment, as measured by LOI, ranged from 4 to 8 %. Conceptual Models -- There have been many efforts to use short-lived isotopes to model the history of sedimentary dynamics in aqueous systems. Ritchie and Mc Henry (1990) proposed a box model that related the atmospheric fallout of 137Cs to its distribution in the depositional basin. Edgington and Robbins (2000) successfully modeled 100 years of sediment transport in Lake Michigan using 137Cs. To develop a rigorous sediment transport model for any sedimentary system, analysis of many depositional sites is necessary. Although only five core sites were sampled in this study, they contain sufficient data on the Pocomoke Sound's sedimentary history to formulate preliminary sediment dynamics models. In an ideal equilibrium world (case 1), the distribution of the short-lived isotopes would follow physical laws, with isotopes introduced directly a basin of deposition in equilibrium with atmospheric flux. As a result, the 137Cs record would mirror the atmospheric flux, and the concentration of 210Pb, initially equal to the atmospheric flux, would decrease logarithmically with depth (Figure 2.11a). In this case the atmospheric to core inventory ratio for both isotopes would be one (Figure 2.12). Ideal conditions rarely occur in a nature. Changes in climate, land use, or geophysical conditions, such as sea level rise, lead to changes in sedimentation on the time scales that can be measured by these isotopes. In a situation where much of the sediment in the basin is derived from the watershed (Case 2), the 137Cs record in the basin would be a combination of the internal basin record and material added by erosion and transport from the watershed. The exact distribution would be a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors. In this case, the peak 137Cs concentration would not necessarily match the fallout peak (1962-1963) but, depending on the timing and intensity of erosion and transport, would be younger. The over all 210Pb activity, due to focusing, would initially be higher. If this system were in equilibrium, the 210Pb profile with depth would have a logarithmic decrease (Figure 2.11b). In this case, the core inventory to atmospheric flux ratio would be greater than one for both 137Cs and 210Pb. Pulses of sediment would be reflected by abrupt increases in the general 137Cs and 210Pb curves. In a case where most of the sediment reaching the basin was exhumed, "old" sediment not exposed to the atmosphere during the late 1950's and early 1960's, the sediment would be depleted in 137Cs (Case 3). However, because the atmospheric supply of 210Pb and 7Be is continuous and, in most large systems, a large percentage is adsorbed on the sediment during transport, the record in the sediment would approximate the ideal (Figure 2.11c). In this case, the atmospheric to core inventory for 137Cs would be much less than one, whereas the 210Pb ratio would be approximately one. Multi-decadal Sedimentation -- The core transect in the sound lacks a three dimensional aspect, so that a sediment budget cannot be estimated. The data do, however, provide the means to estimate any variability in temporal fluxes. On a decadal scale, comparison of the total inventory of the short live isotopes at a site with the inventory of atmospheric fluxes gives a glimpse of temporal sediment variability. The total isotopic inventory is an easily calculated parameter. Inventory is defined as the total amount of an isotope at a site and is calculated by: where I is inventory (dpm/cm2); Adpm/g is activity in dpm per gram; Rho is dry bulk density (g/cm3); and Z is sample interval (cm). The nominal time that inventory is useful is a function of the isotopic half-life and/or the time of introduction. With a ~ 22 years half life, 210Pb, has an effective nominal limit of 100 years; with a ~ 30 year half life and an introduction in 1950's, the effective time limit for 137Cs is 50 years. Since 137Cs has been in the environment for ~ 50 years, for comparative purposes, the 210Pb inventory must be adjusted. Because 210Pb is constantly being replenished, its inventory has been constant for over a millennia, varying only with the nuances of atmospheric circulation. The 210Pb inventory was determined to be ~ 32.dpm/cm2 in New England (Cochran and others, 1998). Using the data from the Surface Air Sampling Program (SASP - www.eml.doe.gov/databases/), it was determined that the 210Pb concentration at Sterling Virginia was 60% that of New England; thus it is estimated to be ~ 19 dpm cm-2. Adjusting for the last fifty years, the inventory would be an estimated 16.0 dpm cm-2. Because most of the 137Cs was added to the environment during a short period, 1959-1963, the inventory has decayed over time. The maximum 137Cs inventory 9.2 dpm cm-2 occurred during 1963 in the Chesapeake Bay region. Today, through decay, the inventory of this isotope is approximately 5 dpm cm-2. The 210Pb inventory in cores 1, 2, 3, and 4 are 10.0, 16.6, and 14.1 dpm cm-2 respectively (Appendix 2.2). As these values are very close to the estimated atmospheric inventory and there is no evidence of loss or disruption in the records for this period (Figure 2.5), the sediment deposited on the Pocomoke delta for the last fifty years approximates equilibrium with the 210Pb atmospheric flux. The inventory on the Pocomoke tidal flat of 29.3 dpm/cm2, is almost twice the atmospheric inventory, where as core PC-6B has an estimated inventory of 150 dpm/cm2, approximately ten times the expected 210Pb estimated atmospheric inventory. 137Cs in cores 1, 2, and 3 have an estimated inventory of 1.5, 2.2, and 2.2 (dpm cm-2) respectively (Table 1). These values are about 20% of the expected inventory. However, Core 4, from the Pocomoke River tidal flat has an inventory of 11.4 (dpm cm-2); about twice the estimated atmospheric inventory, and Core PC-6B has an inventory of 36.7 (dpm cm-2); about seven times the estimated atmospheric inventory. Figure 2.12 is a plot of the atmospheric flux to core inventory ratios for all the cores. The 210Pb in cores 2 and 3 are very close to one whereas 137Cs is much less. This suggests that the sediment that has been deposited on the delta for the last fifty years has a large "exhumed" fraction. This pattern seems to be evident in core 1, but the smaller 210Pb ratio is suggestive a higher content of older sediment. The inventory in cores 4 and 6 exceeds the expected inventory for both isotopes. The 137Cs concentration is suggestive of a large contribution from the watershed and the large 210Pb concentration is suggestive of a sediment focusing. Together, this suggests that the tidal flats are storage areas for sediment eroded from the watershed. The accumulation rates in all the cores but core PC-6B are relatively slow, and as a result the temporal resolution is poor. However, the rate of accumulation in core PC-6B is extremely high. As a result, this core illustrates many sedimentological changes that have occurred within the sound over the last fifty years. Figure 2.13 is a plot of the 137Cs distribution. The figure includes the flux inventory at Sterling and the data from core 6. The 137Cs data is decay corrected and plotted as percent inventory (137Cs core/137Cs flux *100). The plot shows a slight increase at about 1963 which is assumed to be the result of maximum atmospheric production. The highest percentage occurred in 1968, with a flux of about 60 percent the atmospheric contribution. Between 1968 and 1971, the introduction of 137Cs enriched sediment declined rapidly to about 20 percent. The only exception was the increase in 1972, which corresponds to the sediment derived from the flooding due to Hurricane Agnes. Nie and others (2001), and Helz and others (1985) also recognized this increase in the bay. After this event there is a significant drop off in enriched 137Cs sediment between 1973 and 1976. This drop off in sediment delivery is believed to be the result of sediment flushing of material that had been stored in temporary storage sites, in the case of the Pocomoke system on the tidal flats. This phenomenon has been recognized other places within the Bay (Nie and others, 2001) and elsewhere in other places within the country (Horowitz, 2003). Since 1976, there appears to be a steady flux of 137Cs tagged sediment. The data suggests that this is about 20 percent the amount still in the watershed. The goal of this project was use radionuclides to measure the sedimentary dynamics of Pocomoke Sound. Using the shortest-lived isotopes 7B, the seasonal deposition centers were defined and the AT(0) for 210Pb was estimated. Using the latter value and the 210Pb activity at depth in each core, sanitizing the data by best fitting procedures to a standard curve, a chronology for each core was calculated. This information was then used to examine, in detail, the 137Cs distribution and the trace metal data. The results of this analysis showed that there has been a significant increase in anthropogenic elements since the late 1940's (Figure 2.14). This is the period when the Delmarva Peninsula became more accessible from the Baltimore-Washington metroplex. 137Cs, was found to be a useful tool in determining changes in sedimentation within the system. This data showed that there were three major stages of sedimentation. The pre-1950's, the time in which the system was equilibrium with the agriculture activity in the watershed. Urbanization and agricultural activity changed during and immediately following World War II resulting increasing sediment flux. Around 1970, the increased environmental awareness coupled with changes in agriculture (row crops to chickens), the sediment flux was diminished. Correspondingly, there was an apparent change in sources of sediment to the deeper parts of the system. The chemistry and sediment accumulation rates suggest that this source was bank erosion. We would like to acknowledge Owen Bricker who helped improve the original manuscript significantly. Also we acknowledge Deb Willard, Tom Cronin, and others who assisted in the field and lab work. Also we acknowledge the dedication of Heather Kamanski who prepared the samples for α - analysis. Carroll, J.L., Lerche, I., Abraham, J.D., and Cisar, D.J., 1995, Model-determinated sediment ages from 210Pb profiles in unmixed sediments, Nuclear Geophysicals, v.9, p.1791-1804. Cochran, J.K., Hirschberg, D.J., Wang, J., and Dere, C., 1998, Atmospheric deposition of metals to Coastal waters, (long Island Sound, New York, U.S.A.): Evidence from Salt marsh deposits, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v.46, p. 503-522. Crusius J., and Thomson, J., 1996, Comparative behavior of authigenic Re, U, and Mo, during reoxidation and subsequent long-term burial in marines sediments, Geochemica and Cosmochemic Acta, vol. 64, pp. 2233-2242/ Edgington, D. and Robbins, J.A., 2000, Time dependant distribution of cs-137 in the sediment of Lake Michigan, Proceedings of SPERA conference, New Caldonia. Faure, G, 1986, Principles of Isotope Geology, J. Wiley and Sons, N.Y., 589 pp. Flynn, W. W., 1968. The determination of low levels of polonium-210 in environmental materials. Analytica Chimica Acta. 43: 221-227. Helz, G.R., Setlock, G.H., Cantillo, A.Y., and Moore, W.S., 1985, Processes controlling the regional distribution of 210Pb, 226Ra, and anthropogenic zinc in estuarine sediments, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v. 76, pp 23-34. Horowitz, A.J., 2003, An evaluation of sediment rating curves for estimating suspended sediment concentrations for subsequent flux calculations, Hydrological Processes, v. 17 pp102-134. Iivari, T.A., 1991, Effect of Choptank Watershed drainage project on suspended sediment concentrations, Irrigation and Drainage, Proceedings of National Conference, ASCE, Honolulu, Hi, 1991pp 223-230. Morford, J.L, and Emerson, S., 1999, The geochemistry of redox sensitve trace metals in sediments, Geochemica et Cosmochemica Acta, V.63, pp 1735-1750. Nie, Y., Suayah, L.B., and Benninger, L.K., 2001, Modeling detailed sedimentary 210Pb and fallout 239,240Pu profiles to allow episodic events: an Application in Chesapeake Bay, Limnology and Oceanography, v. 46, pp. 1425-1437. Oldfield, F. and Appleby, P.G., 1984, Empirical testing of 210Pb-dating models for lake sediments, in Lake Sediments and Environmental History (ed. Haworth, E.Y., and Lund, J.W.G.), pp. 93-124, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Mn. Ritchie, J. and McHenry, J.R., 1990, Application of radioactive fallout cesium-137 for measuring soil erosion, and sediment accumulation rates and patterns, a review, Journal of Environmental Quality, v. 19, pp. 215-233. Robbins, J.A., 1986, A model for particle-sediment transport of tracers in sediments with conveyor-belt deposit feeders, Journal of Geophysical Research, v.91, p. 8542-8558 Robbins, J.A., 1978 Geochemical and geophysical applications of radioactive lead isotopes. In Biogeochemistry of Lead (ed. Nriago, J.P.), pp. 285-393, North Holland, Amsterdam. Robbins, J.S., Holmes, C.W., Halley, R., Bothner, M.,Shinn, E., Graney, J., Keeler, G., ten Brink, M., Orlandini, K.A., and Rudnick, D., 2001, Time-averaged fluxes of lead and fallout radionuclides to sediment of Florida Bay, Journal of Geophysical research, v.105, pp 28,805-28,821. Urban, N R, Eisenreich, S J; Grigal, D F; Schurr, K T. 1990, Mobility and diagenesis of Pb and 210Pb in peat, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, vol.54, no.12, pp.3329-3346. Van Straaten, L M J U; Kuenen, Ph H, 1958, Tidal action as a cause of clay accumulation, Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, vol.28, no.4, pp.406-413 Zimmerman, A.R., and Canuel, E.A., 2000, A geochemical record of eutropication and anoxia in Chesapeake Bay Sediments: anthropogenic influence on organic matter composition., Marine Chemistry, v. 69, pp 117-137. |AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices|
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Sunday, November 4, 2012 How Many Layers? I never realized when I got to play with the Phantom, just how much involvement I'd have in clothing. Yes. Clothing. I'm not much of a historical writer. I'm not. I love research and I love to learn new things, but I had no idea how many layers of clothing people at the turn of the century wore. Write a sex scene from that period. You'll find out how danged hard it is to get the people in and out of those clothes. Like this: CORSETS satin fil ecru Not only does that thing look hard to get into, but hard to get out of. Then there's the slip that goes under it and the dress over top. Oh, and if you had to go to the bathroom, from what I learned, you had a slit in your drawers. Drafty? Sounds like to me. But I ran with this. Sure! The heroine is in a bulky costume and the hero in a special suit, why not have a quickie? He doesn't have to whip much out and she's got a slit. Shrug. I ran with it. And then I realized I was writing people wearing clothes like this: Fashion Plate 1909 Or these dapper gents: Två unga män i utomhusmiljö - Nordiska Museet - NMA.0054262 I enjoyed learning about the time period for the Phantom. I got to step back in time and appreciate what my great grandmother wore and how she struggled. Made me appreciate what I've got now, too. The Classics Exposed... His Christine. Available here! Want to know more about Wendi Zwaduk? Here you go: Fan page: Newsletter sign up: Debby said... I studied clothing once from long ago ears. They were cumbersome and not everything was sewed together. debby236 at gmail dot com Wendi Zwaduk said... Absolutely. I don't think I could've done it. :-) Molly said... I always tell myself that I adore the clothing of the past eras, but in actuality I really don't know if I could do it. I think it would be hard to be layered up all day long and being stuffy. molly at reviewsbymolly dot com Wendi Zwaduk said... I know I couldn't. I love my layers. Hoodies are my fave, but I hate unlayering in the winter when I play outside in the snow. So wearing that all day...yeah wouldn't happen. :-)
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Study Estimates Number of Bubbles Created When Beer Is Poured Researchers from the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne in France have recently published a study looking at how many bubbles form when beer is poured. The study, funded, in part, by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) will finally help solve one of life's most burning questions — at least for some. Beer is one of the oldest alcoholic beverages on the planet, with some historians believing it was first devised over 12,000 years ago. Other, more conservative estimates point to around 5,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt. Today, beer remains one of the most popular beverages in the world, with light-flavored ones especially well-liked. The fermentation process behind beer converts sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. When bottled, these bubbles remain in solution with more carbon dioxide usually added to create the desired fizziness of the final product. These bubbles are an essential component of what is considered a good beer, adding to its flavor and texture that is enjoyed by millions the world over. But just how many bubbles are released when the beer (in this case lager) is finally cracked open to drink? This is exactly what Gérard Liger-Belair and Clara Cilindre from the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne wanted to find out. How many bubbles form when beer is poured? Previously Gérard Liger-Belair had estimated somewhere in the region of 1,000,000 forms in champagne flutes, but estimates for beer were less certain. To create their estimate, the team measured the level of carbon dioxide in a commercial lager just after it was poured into a tilted glass. Next, the team calculated that under standard tasting temperatures (42 degrees Fahrenheit/5.56 degrees Celsius), streams of bubbles would form in crevices and cavities of the glass more than 1.4 microns wide. Next, using high-speed photography, they showed that these bubbles would grow in volume as they float to the surface. This process would capture and transport more of the dissolved carbon dioxide in the beer. As the remaining dissolved gas decreased a certain point would be reached when bubbles stopped forming and the beer became flat. Through this combination of techniques, the team was able to estimate that, depending on the beer, 200,000 and 2 million bubbles are usually released before a half-pint-sized (roughly 240 ml) measure of beer goes flat. Additionally, the team also found that the number of bubbles that form from either beer or champagne will differ depending on the glass vessel they are poured into as well. Especially those with larger imperfections. With this revelation, you can know put your mind are to rest. Bottoms up! The original study was published in the American Chemical Society and was partially funded by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).
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The crucible act i essay questions The crucible is a play by arthur miller the crucible study guide contains a biography of arthur miller, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters. This lesson provides questions for act 1 of arthur miller's play 'the crucible' the questions cover all levels of thinking, from simple recall. The crucible act 4 essays: over 180,000 the crucible act 4 essays, the crucible act 4 term papers, the crucible act 4 research paper, book reports 184 990 essays. The crucible act four questions short response answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama more about conflicts in the crucible essays. The crucible lesson plan includes 60 short essay assignments that require students to understand and interpret the work. 1 a crucible is defined as a severe test write an essay discussing the significance of the title what is the crucible within the play and how does it bring. Essay questions for the crucible tort essay topics practice on and the crucible argumentative essays are teaching the crucible act 3 essay on themes. She begins to ask god for help, she has swayed danforth to her side, and mary warren gets weaker proctor at first cries out in anger, but then realizes he must go. Essays and criticism on arthur miller's the crucible - suggested essay topics act ii scene i: john and the crucible homework help questions. Suggested essay topics and study questions for arthur miller's the crucible perfect for students who have to write the crucible essays sparknotes in act ii. Questions about act 1 of the crucible learn with flashcards, games, and more — for free. The crucible, act ii: discussion questions 1 what does the reader learn about the proctors’ marriage through the discrepancy between what john proctor does. - Crucible act 1 essay question the crucible essay questions gradesaver, 1 the crucible is famous as a but in the third act, he begins to question the elizabeth ed the. - Write an essay explaining how both fear and shame have an influence in the characters' behavior in act i of the crucible who is proactive who is reactive. English 3/boynton crucible act 3 worksheet 1 consider the setting as the act opens how is the different from the setting of act 2 what is miller doing. Need students to write about the crucible we've got discussion and essay questions designed by master teachers.
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Yellowstone National Park Following the killing of a person by a grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, on 9 August 2015, authorities are not taking chances with any killing behaviour by the bear and its cubs.REUTERS/Jim Urquhart The grizzly bear that killed a tourist at Yellowstone National Park and its two cubs will be euthanized, according to park officials. A bear suspected to be the one involved in the attack has been caught since then and is being tested using DNA samples and paw tracks. One of the cubs has been captured too while the other remains in the wild. If the park authorities are unable to find a home for the cubs, the two will be euthanized. With 3.5 million visitors coming into the park every year, the authorities do not want to take a chance if the killing has become a behaviour picked up by the grizzlies, Julena Campbell, a Yellowstone spokeswoman told Fairfax media. Since the incident did not have any witnesses, it has been difficult to determine if the bear attacked the man to defend her cubs. If the attack was in defence, the bear and her cubs could be set free. Between 674 and 839 grizzly bears inhabit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to the National Park Service. The victim, Lance Crosby, 63, of Billings, Montana, was an experienced hiker and employed with the park's care clinics. He had lived and worked in the park for five seasons, a National Park Service statement said. His body was found partially consumed. Park officials are unable to conclusively determine the circumstances of the bear attack, but do not want to risk public safety, said Yellowstone National Park superintendent Dan Wenk. Two people were killed in separate attacks in 2011, the first in 25 years. Bear attacks are rare and eight fatalities have been recorded since 1916 when the first incident occurred, said Campbell.
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Tue, 11 December 2018 08:39:47 The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Boon or Bane? 09 Dec, 2013 06:34:07 By W A Wijewardena Dec 09, 2013 (LBO) I feel being honoured by the invitation by the PIM Alumni Association to deliver the Professor Sudatta Ranasinghe Memorial Oration 2013 which is the first in its series. I specifically consider it as a privilege that I have got to do the honours for my long-standing friend for more than four and a half decades. Part I: Professor Sudatta Ranasinghe Both Professor Ranasinghe and I entered the then Vidyodaya University in 1967 to follow a four year special degree programme in Public Administration, the second batch to be taken to the University under the degree’s new and expanded syllabus. Based on the performance of his A/L results, Professor Ranasinghe could have joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, to do an Arts Degree, the most preferred destination for higher education by students at that time. Yet, Professor Ranasinghe chose the course in Public Administration because of his curiosity of and love for the subject, though it was risk-taking on his part since there was no certainty of securing a job after completing the degree. That was because the degree was new – an experiment that has not been tested anywhere else in a university in Sri Lanka with examinations in each of the four years. Besides this, it was not known to employers including those in the public sector. Hence, the choice of the degree programme was like entering a dark hall without knowing whether one could ever find the way out. I recall that Professor Ranasinghe as a student had a full life. While being keen on his studies, he was a student activist as well. If there were any social event at the University, he was there taking leadership. He was a regular singer at informal evening musical gatherings of students known as “peduru patiya”. With all these extra activities taking his time, he was able to complete the degree with honours, one among the very few students to pass at that level out of a batch of more than 100 students. After completing the degree, he joined the Marga Institute as a researcher. He did research under the guidance of two prominent economists of the day, Dr Godfrey Gunathillake and Dr V Kaneshalingam. While being at Marga, he completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Social Statistics at the Vidyodaya University and I was one of his fellow students there too. Then he joined PIM to do an MPA degree and after passing the examination, joined its academic staff too. He became the Coordinator of the MPA Programme and I recall my serving as a visiting lecturer at the Programme at his request. He then completed his PhD at PIM, joined the Open University as a Professor, served the Open University as its Dean, and was elevated to the position of Senior Professor there. At the time of his untimely demise, he was on Sabbatical Leave serving PIM as a visiting academic. Professor Ranasinghe’s unexpected departure from us at such an early age was a shock to his friends, colleagues and students. Even while ailing from a terminal illness, his resolve to contribute to the academic world could not be suppressed. He published a collection of articles he had presented at international and national conferences under the title “Managing in a Developing Context: Sri Lankan Perspective” in 2011. I had the honour of writing the Foreword to this volume. Then, along with his colleague at PIM, Ajantha Dharmasiri, he edited an important volume on “HR Challenge: Dynamics of Value Creation and Competitiveness through People” at the instance of the Institute of Personnel Management, Sri Lanka. The volume contains research papers authored by both local and international specialists in the field. He completed the editing of the volume working day and night, according to his family members, just one week before his departure from this world. He could not see the volume coming out in print, but his Co-editor and IPM have done justice to him by dedicating it to the Memory of “the Late Professor Sudatta Wishwamithra Ranasinghe”. Thus, his memory will remain indelibly ingrained in the minds of those who had been associated with him during his long academic career as a researcher and a university don. Part II: The Rise of Cultural Nationalism – Boon or Bane? Impermanent Nature of phenomena I have chosen a very apt and opportune topic “The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Boon or Bane?” for this memorial oration. This topic is specifically relevant to Professor Ranasinghe since he and I have studied Sociology and Psychology as a part of our degree in Public Administration at the Vidyodaya University under a very eminent Guru on the subject, namely, the late Dr Dingi Karunathilake. In addition, both of us had to sit for two papers in Buddhist Culture as compulsory subjects, one at the first year and the other at the final year. This subject was taught to us by another eminent scholar on comparative religion, the late Professor Venerable Kotagama Vachiswara. The combination of the two subjects gave us a unique wisdom. That is, all phenomena in the world are impermanent, continuously evolving and the final outcome that has evolved, though it bears some resemblance to the original one, takes a completely different form. Similarly, culture too is not fixed, subject to change and if it does not change, it becomes extinct just like the giant dinosaurs that became extinct from the world. We will have to evaluate “cultural nationalism” with this wisdom in the background. All ‘isms’ are extreme forms of emotional displays Any ‘ism’ is an extreme form of human emotions. It does not accommodate counterviews and is not ready to change even when there is evidence contrary to the main thesis or theses it has propounded. It does not allow open verification through objective inquiry. What is taught as the main thesis of ‘ism’ has to be accepted without questioning. There is, therefore, a rigid, regimental type restriction placed on human intelligence under the reigns of ‘ism’ . Hence, once a person accepts an ism, he surrenders his intellectual curiosity, quest for knowledge, self-development through wisdom and ability to assess situations based on objectively and impartially gathered evidence. Instead, he will become a part of a huge propaganda machinery that does not allow critical thinking or probing. The concept of nation is not natural but man-made Nationalism comes from the concept of nation, the belief that one could identify a distinct group people sharing a common language and a value system. Though modern evolutionary science has shown us that Homo sapiens have evolved from a single gene which has spread throughout the globe some 65,000 years ago, once they have settled in distinctive places of the globe, they have developed distinctive languages to communicate with each other . When people become too apart from each other, the language they speak too becomes distinct from each other through a process known as ‘language drifts’. It takes many centuries for this to happen and finally we have regional dialects or languages which can be understood only by those who have been raised in that language . According to linguists, the language spoken mostly in the Indian Sub-continent has been derived from old Sanskrit, mother of both the Indo-European Languages and Indo-Aryan Languages, developed in some 6000 years ago in the area known as Hungary today. It spread to East – Iran, India and Central Asia – branching out into different languages and to the West generating most of the European languages today . These groups of people who shared the same language, value and belief systems became nations which were identified distinct from each other at a particular point of time in history. If one goes back to the origin where there is a common Mother Language, there is no foundation for the nations. The essential characteristics of nationalism Nationalism is a conversion of nation to an ‘ism’ giving an emotional meaning. It has several characteristics. First, there is a belief that a particular nation has a distinctive beginning usually based on some mythological facts . Despite the clash of this mythological origin with rational thinking, a wide section in society continue to believe it as true and if anyone seeks to question its scientific foundation, it is considered as an offensive attack. Second, there is a belief that one’s nation is superior to all other nations with respect to belief and value systems. This superiority feeling makes them consider all other nations inferior to them. Third, there is a general suspicion, often validated by historical experience, that other nations are on to prey upon their nation and thereby destroy the same. Fourth, arising from the third, it is considered that there is a necessity to organise oneself to defend one’s nation from the invasions of other nations. Fifth, the defensive action that is taken at the beginning is converted to an offensive action that will lead to clashes between nations. Sixth, it is widely believed that a nation should revert back to its glorious past and therefore, resist any change that may take place within a particular nation. Seventh, in order to protect the nation, it is considered that it is necessary to regulate and control human behaviour including the expression of one’s creative mind in the form of art, literature, music and public media. There is no single country today which does not uphold these values and from that point, all countries can be categorised as those practising nationalism to the core. As a result, one may find ‘German nationalism’, ‘Scottish nationalism’, ‘Spanish nationalism’, ‘Japanese nationalism’ etc in the developed world and ‘Indian nationalism’, ‘Sinhalese nationalism’, ‘Tamil nationalism’ etc in the developing world co-existing with each other. A dynamic culture lives while an unchanging culture becomes extinct Cultural nationalism is the embodiment of culture on to the nationalistic feelings of a nation. Culture is simply how a particular group of people, shared by a common language, behave – how they live, eat, reproduce, bring up offspring, engage in social intercourse etc. Since a nation is identified by a language and culture is also shared by common language, it is the language which is at the root of cultural nationalism. But like any phenomenon in nature, culture, language and nation are subject to change – evolving from one state to another state. The evolution takes place due to the interaction which a particular culture has with external forces through travel, trade or invasions. These interactions were limited in the past due to the limitations in travelling, exchange of ideas and physical distances which one nation had with other nations. As a result, a culture evolved rather slowly and a person living in a particular culture did not witness its evolution within his life time. Since the change was infinitesimal, there was no conflict with the changing culture. But since the beginning of the 20th century, due to the advancement in science and technology, including the information and communication technology, there has been a rapid change in the cultural patterns of nations giving way to new cultural behavioural practices that had been unimaginable a few decades ago. It has delivered a cultural shock and that cultural shock has made people confused, stressed, destitute and helpless. According to the Sri Lankan writer Martin Wickramasinghe, a culture can absorb any alien trait and be integrated with another culture “if it is elastic enough to adjust new element to its basic pattern” . Living through a changing culture frees people from cultural shocks This cultural shock may be experienced more by the old than the young. It could be illustrated by a simple example. Suppose we capture a person living in 1913, put him to sleep, awake him again in 2013 and release him back to a street in Colombo. He will be subject to the worst of the cultural shocks because everything he sees around him is like magic. From his point, Sri Lanka’s culture has been destroyed beyond redemption because what he cherished in 1913 as the best of the Sri Lankan culture has become extinct in 2013. For him, it is simply a backward regression. But a young person who has lived through that cultural evolution will not feel it in the same way because everything around is familiar to him. His shock will be to the extent that he is unable to absorb the new alien traits that come in his way. Thus, the current rise of cultural nationalism is due to a failure on the part of those in a particular cultural group to seamlessly absorb alien traits and get integrated to the new cultural pattern. The rise of cultural nationalism in India Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has discussed the rise of cultural nationalism in India in the recent past in two books: the first his 2005 book titled The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity and the other his 2006 book titled Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny . A notable feature which one could gauge from his analysis is that what he has found in Indian case has exact parallels in what Sri Lanka has experienced with respect to the cultural nationalism in the recent past. BJP’s visible hand in inventing history Sen has documented in The Argumentative Indian how India’s Bharatiya Janatha Party or BJP resuscitated an old Hindutva Movement or Movement for establishing Indianness in India in mid 1970s by misrepresenting facts, fabricating established historical evidence, inventing history and using violence and force on moderate Hindus as well as other ethnic and religious groups . While India is a country of diversity with many religious beliefs, languages and ethnic groups, Hindutva movement has tried to project India as a Hindu country. To reclaim this land exclusively for Hindus, it has rewritten Indian history as essentially a Hindu civilisation, an essential prerequisite for establishing a grand Hindu vision of India. This has, according to Sen, also helped Hindutva to marshal the support of Indian Diaspora which are bent on maintaining an Indian identity in their host countries in the midst of a perceived threat from the dominant cultures there; it is a solace to feel that Hindus reign at least in their old native land. According to Sen, this is what BJP did following its electoral victory in 1998 and 1999: “various arms of the government of India were mobilised in the task of arranging ‘appropriate’ rewritings of Indian history. Even though this adventure of inventing the past is no longer ‘official’ (because of the defeat of the BJP led coalition in the general elections in the spring of 2004), that highly charged episode is worth recollecting both because of what it tells us about the abuse of temporal power and also because of the light it throws on the intellectual underpinning of the Hindutva movement” . Accordingly, fresh textbooks were written with focus on Hindu supremacy by deleting the objective analyses written by reputed academics earlier. The hastily completed work also contained numerous factual mistakes and serious omissions drawing severe criticism from academia, press and media. Yet the BJP government which was bent on establishing its own political agenda paid no heed to them, according to Sen. The worst was yet to come in the form of fabricating archaeological facts: The Indus valley civilisation that had existed in North West India and Pakistan much before the recorded history of Hinduism was also projected as a Hindu civilisation by renaming it ‘Indus-Saraswati civilisation’ focusing on a non-existing river called the Saraswati River mentioned in Vedic texts. To prove their point, the BJP led intellectuals in fact had invented new archaeological evidence, according to Sen, by producing a computerised distortion of a broken seal of the Indus Valley Civilisation, a fraud committed on Indians at home and abroad in the name of justifying the Hindutva movement. Illogical social thought finally ends up in spurious public policy In the Identity and Violence, Sen says that propagandists’ hard work lead to the development of a collective social thought, a thought which has no rational foundation but believed by many as the truth. The social thought then leads to collective political action, presenting a distorted view to an already emotionally worked up electorate and thereby easily securing electoral victories. Once the political power is secured, it is now easy to translate the illogical social thought to public policy which even at first glance is spurious but defended tooth and nail in the name of cultural nationalism. Sinhala culture is rich with many borrowed elements Is cultural nationalism a boon? A high need for achievement key to progress The former Harvard University psychologist David C McClelland has thrown light on the cultural aspects of economic growth which modern nations can effectively put into practice for their own benefit. In a book he published in 1961 under the title The Achieving Society and in numerous other writings since then, McClelland argued that there have been episodes of civilisations, rising and falling, in tandem with the presence or absence of a high achievement motive in people. This motive which McClelland called n-Ach, helps a society to achieve high economic growth on a sustainable basis. This is because high n-Ach leads to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship leads to economic growth. Thus, if cultural practices, even cultural nationalism, can be used to build a high n-Ach, then, it is a sure way for a nation to build its production base and ensure continuous economic growth. But what contributes to n-Ach? McClelland found that teaching self-reliance to young boys from an early age would help a society to build its n-Ach base fairly extensively. If mothers, instead of pampering their sons and daughters, allow their children to explore the world and learn for themselves, then, it helps to engrave a high n-Ach in them from an early childhood. This high n-Ach, together with an appropriate reward system in place, contributes to develop entrepreneurs who are infected with a fever to do things competitively with others in the best way possible. In ancient Greece, mothers and grandmothers told heroic stories to their children; those heroic stories made them feel like the heroes in the stories. The result: they themselves wanted to make similar achievements. McClelland found that Greece was able to build a great civilisation and maintain it for more than 1000 years because of the high n-Ach that had been inculcated in the young children from around the 9th century BCE. With this cultural pattern changing in the mid-2nd century CE, the great Greek civilisation and its associated economic growth too went into a complete oblivion. Toleration and not antagonism key to motivation So, an economic system can deliver its promise of economic prosperity only if the people who have to carry it forward have been sufficiently motivated and that motivation is a cultural practice to be inculcated by elders, especially mothers, in youngsters as a habit. But to motivate people, there are some prerequisites to be put in place. Humbleness and modesty in learning, appreciating and tolerating of habits and practices of others, peaceful coexistence instead of promoting violence and amicable resolution of conflicts are of paramount importance among them. References 1. Dawkins, Richard, (2012), The Magic of Reality: How we know what’s really true?, Black Swan 2. Dissanayake, J B (1976), Sinhala Jana Wahara, Lake House, Colombo. 3. Gunawardena, W F (1973) Linguistics Principles of Sinhala (in Sinhala), Gunasena, Colombo. 4. Hisselle Dharmarathana Thero, (2001) Tamil Influence on Sinhala (in Sinhala), Humanistic Writers’ Guild, Nugegoda. 5. McClelland, David C, “The Achievement Motive in Economic Growth” in Seligson, Mitchell A and Passe-Smith, John T (eds), (1998), Development and Underdevelopment, Political Economy of Global Inequality, Lynne Rienner Publishers, London 6. Sen, Amartya (2005), The Argumentative Indian, Penguin Books 7. Sen, Amartya, (2006), Identity and Violence, Allen Lane. 8. Sinhala Deegha Nikaya, (1996), Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala, pp 1-12 9. Wickramasinghe, Martin, (2006), Aspects of Sinhalese Culture, Sarasa (Pvt) Limited, Rajagiriya. 10. Wijewardena, W.A, (2012), “The Rise of Cultural Nationalism: Boon or Bane?” At 11. Wijewardena, W.A, (2012a), “Globalisation according to Dr Gunadasa Amarasekara” Available at: 12. Wijewardena, W.A, (2013) “War on Halal-labelled Products: The worst economic hitman now in town” Available at: Bookmark and Share Your Comment Your Name/Handle Your Email (Your email will not be displayed) Your Email Receivers Email Your Comment
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Manilkara zapota 1.5 - 2 m ht Manilkara zapota or commonly known as Sapodilla is a slow-growing evergreen delicious tropical fruit bearer hails from the family of Sapotaceae in the genus of Manilkara. The fruit is sand colored with a skin similar to a kiwi but without the fuzz. Fruiting commence five to eight years after planting and occurs twice a year, though flowering may continue all year round. Planting & Care sunlight: Choose a spot in the full sun needed six to eight hours Soil: Manilkara zapota prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid and saline soils. Watering: Watering can be done every 10 to 15 days in winter and at weekly intervals during summer. Drip irrigation is recommended. Fertilizer: Add compost or a 6-6-6-2 fertilizer every six to eight weeks, Temperature: Manilkara zapota fruit trees can survive temperatures of 26-28 degrees F. for a short period of time Pruning: Manilkara zapota requires very little pruning.
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It’s hard to get a single answer to the question, “What is the big deal with 5G?” because there are so many developments and possibilities stemming from its creation. The short answer is, it’s the newest generation of wireless technology with speeds that can be considerably faster than 4G LTE. Looking back on the evolution of wireless communication, we know that higher speeds have led to innovation in technology. As we grow accustomed to the speeds that 5G can allow, we will begin to see what kinds of technology can further advance. What’s the big deal about 5G? The Internet of Things When understanding why 5G is a big deal, it’s important to know about the Internet of Things (IoT) and why 5G is expected to have an impact on it. IoT is the rapidly expanding collection of “things” that rely on the internet to collect, share, and transmit data. As technology has progressed, more and more “things” have joined the IoT universe. Ordinary objects like cars, watches, and thermostats have turned smart over the years and rely on the internet to gather and transmit data. Smartwatches, for instance, can use the internet to make phone calls and track fitness patterns. The innovation of making watches smart has since increased the number of things in the IoT, and the number will continue to grow as more advancements in technology are made.
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Business Bureau offers advice for returning gifts COVINGTON — While you might like that black Coach purse your mom bought you for Christmas and even those new boots from your sister, you might not be crazy about the sweater from your aunt and uncle. Even though the popular shopping day on the day after Christmas doesn't have a special name like Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it's a popular time for returns and even more shopping for yourself since you have all of your gift-giving out of the way. "The day after Christmas is a really big day for us," said Covington Kmart Manager Don Buckner. "It's not as big as Christmas Eve or any of the other (popular shopping) days, but it's a really busy day." The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers in Georgia that companies are allowed to establish their own policies regarding refunds, exchanges and store credits, and they need to be familiar with those rules before they try to bring something back to the store. At some companies, no such policies exist, as no business is required by law to allow a customer the right to return or exchange merchandise no matter when it was purchased. The only exceptions to this rule are items that are misrepresented or defective. The laws in all states require a store to make good in such cases, according to the BBB. Current regulations do not require a store to post policies or put the information on the receipt. Therefore, it is the customer's responsibility to find out each store's policies regarding refunds, exchanges or store credits. Policies for refunds and exchanges are usually available to provide better customer service and not because a store is required to do so by law, according to the BBB. "If you have to return something, try to get a gift receipt or the original receipt," Buckner said. "It will expedite the refund and makes it so much easier. If you don't have a receipt, it really slows things down." Officials at the BBB offer the following tips to make holiday shopping a little less stressful: 1. Save the receipt. Even if the store does not have a return policy, this information may be needed for warranty repair or to verify payment. 2. Find out each store's policy regarding refunds, exchanges or store credits. Do not assume you have the right to return items just because it is not posted or no one has said otherwise. 3. If refunds or exchanges are allowed, find out the following: a. Is there a specific time period in which items may be returned? b. Must the item(s) be in the original packaging? c. Will there be a restocking fee if you change your mind? d. Can you return the item to another location of the store? e. Will the store give money back or will you be required to make an exchange or receive a store credit? If you have children, you also might be faced with the concern of recalled toys this holiday season. The toy industry spends an estimated $300 million a year on safety testing and inspection of toys, and approximately 3 billion toys are sold in America each year. According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, less than 20 percent of recalled toys make it back to the manufacturer for proper disposal or repair. The BBB suggests the following tips for consumers: • Find out which toys have been recalled. The CPSC keeps a list of recalled toys on its website, www.cpsc.gov. The Toy Industry Association also provides extensive information on toy safety and recalled toys on its website, www.toyinfo.org. • Find out what to do if you have purchased a recalled toy. The CPSC negotiates the specific resolution over a recalled toy with the toy manufacturer, usually resulting in a refund or an exchange for a different toy. Check with the CPSC website for the specific resolutions for the recalled toy you've purchased. If you purchased the toy from a retailer, try returning the item to them first; major toy outlets often have their own return policy for recalled toys. Toy recall hotlines include the Consumer Products Safety Commission at 800-638-2772; the Toy Industry Association at 888-888-4TOYS; Mattel at 800-916-4498; Fisher-Price at 800-991-2444; and Toys "R" Us at 800-869-7787.
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Many Hialeah students rely on school buses to get them to school – as do students across the state. While some parents worry about the safety of school buses and are concerned about Hialeah bus accidents, studies have shown that school buses may be one of the safest means of transportation to and from school. School buses do this in a number of ways: 1) By reducing the number of cars on the road. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), school buses nationwide keep about 17.3 million cars away from school areas every morning. Each school bus removes about 36 cars from a school area. This is significant, since early-morning traffic congestion around the school zone can increase the risk of Hialeah pedestrian accidents and other traffic accidents. Nationwide, school buses also save 2.3 billion gallons of fuel, 6 billion dollars, and 44.6 billion pounds of CO2. This helps build a stronger economy and safer air for everyone. 2) School buses are designed to be safer. According to the NHTSA, school buses are designed to prevent injuries and prevent crashes. School buses have many safety features, including flashing lights, cross-view mirrors, reinforced sides, stop sign arms, high visibility colors, and special crush standards. In addition, school bus drivers are specially screened and trained as well as subject to random testing to ensure that they are safe drivers. All these safety factors make the average school bus far safer than the average passenger vehicle driven by an adult. School bus drivers are specially trained to be very safe drivers and the vehicles themselves are designed to be safer. In the unlikely event that your child is involved in a school bus accident, the special design of the school bus can help reduce the risk of serious Hialeah burn injuries, broken bones, head injuries, and other common injuries which can occur with any Hialeah traffic accident. 3) School buses have lower fatality rates in accidents. According to the NHSTA, student fatalities involving a car crash with a teen driver are 58%, compared with 23% in crashes involving adult drivers, while only 1% of student fatalities during school travel hours involve school buses. Statistics show repeatedly that far fewer students are injured while riding a school bus compared with getting a drive in a passenger car. While school buses are not without risks and while much has been written about adding safety belts to make school buses safer, the reality is that this is the safest mode of transportation available to most students. If your child has been injured in a traffic accident, you will of course want to do everything possible to safeguard your child’s future. To find out about your legal rights, contact the Flaxman Law Group to arrange for a free consultation to discuss your case. The Flaxman Law Group has law offices in Miami, Homestead, and Hollywood to serve the South Florid community. Our experienced and compassionate legal team can help you understand the facts about your case so that you can make the right decision for your child.
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Sunday, October 23, 2005 Stick that in your Funk & Wagnall's Regret: the feeling when you wake up in the morning that you did something you really should not have after consuming one too many Long Island Iced Tea's. Regret is not a word I try to associate with anymore. The real definition that is. By this stage of the game regret is something that can literally rip me to shreds. So yes, there was some rowdiness last night. And yes, many Long Island Iced Tea's were consumed. And yes, I picked my cell phone up at 3 a.m. and left a message I shouldn't have on someone's voicemail. What it boils down to is I crossed the line. Instead of keeping my big mouth shut I left a message for one of my male friends that put the toe of my new ballet flats over the "friends" line. Now I'm afraid I've blown it because you know how it gets when that happens. We've all been there. The line get's crossed, things get weird and you never get back to the incredibley fun hangout buddies you were before. So to quote Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites "I have this planet of regret, sitting on my shoulders."
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Before we start piecing apart the elements of the narrative, I feel obligated to justify how this theory of “story” applies to something that is non-fictional. The Tour isn’t fiction: it’s a real thing that really happens. But the stories? Though they are based on an actual event, they are not exactly an under-oath testimony. Here we have to blur the lines between fact and fiction. Putting it in the most basic clear cut terms, nothing is either totally fact (loyal, true, etc.) or totally fiction (false, lies, make-believe). We have to evaluate the degrees of pretending. As it turns out, Genette prefers to us the terms “fictional” and “factual” in order to avoid the negativity associated with “non-fiction.” Here it implies that fiction is false, where as non-fiction refers to “not false.” John Searle would say that the fictional narrative is just the simulation of factual narrative: where the novelist “pretends” the story is true but never asks his reader to believe it. It’s from these thoughts we find Jean-Francois Lyotard who was the first to apply Genette’s theory to newspaper articles to demonstrate journalisms ability to conquer the borders of fiction. When we read an article, how can we decide how much is authentic and how much is make-believe? If you watched the race, you might disagree with the quantity of information given in the article. That’s to say maybe they didn’t mention a failed attack at kilometer 74 or the second natural break. Some of the articles we will examine through the course of the TDF take the form of the historical narrative. This type of story unfolds chronologically, focused on the actual events rather than their causality. So, we would expect the historical race to happen as such: the race started, some things happened, someone won. But when evaluating articles we will find 200km colored with metaphors, a span of time and distance ignored and details missing. Does the omission of events make the narrative less authentic? I dare to say, no. It’s all a work of fiction. That doesn’t mean that the events didn’t take place, but rather that the events can never be represented 100% purely. This is true even not taking into account subjectivity, which is a topic to be considered in some other blog. In this respect, applying narratology to any and every form of communication seems totally valid to me. I won’t really be looking to evaluate what is and what isn’t true about each story; to me it’s irrelevant. I think that it’s less important to distinguish fictional narratives from factual narratives because no narrative resides in only one of those categories. Sometimes when I ride my bike in races, I like to write down a narrative of what happened in a first hand perspective. As true as I can. But, the criterium laps take their toll, I lose count, I forget, I exaggerate. While these narratives are about my experiences in the first person, they’re merely autobiographical and not an autobiography. They give the appearance of being what happened to me but it’s probably not at all what happened according to the casual observer.
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Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive. Friday, August 01, 2014 Reading and Listening I just finished listening to The Fellowship of the Ring on audiobook. This was, somehow, an odd experience, because it's a book that I've read in print perhaps a dozen times over the years but never listened to as an audiobook before. (I did, however, used to listen to the BBC radio dramatization of LotR constantly as a child.) I've known people who consider listening to an audiobook as somehow "cheating", as not being real reading. I certainly can't come to that, in that some of the most formative reads of my life were books that I heard my father read aloud when I was a child. However, listening to a book does feel a bit different than reading one. For one thing, even listening along in a car, there's a sense of not being utterly alone with the book. Some website I was on the other day was advertising the audiobook of 50 Shades of Grey, and I thought: How could you possibly want to listen to a porn book? You'd feel like someone was right there with you all the time. I suppose listening also takes away a certain kind of focus and difficulty which can, at times, accompany reading. When I'm commuting and listening to a book, I'm hardly going to set it aside and pick up another. I only have the one book loaded on my iPhone at a time, and so I tend to always finish. If a book might not be totally involving in print, I can still get through it on audio because I have nothing else to do. By the same token, I don't know if I pay quite as much attention when listening rather than reading, though I try to. This is why, as a parent and educator, it annoys me a bit when the kids insist that they'd rather listen to a book I like on audiobook than read it themselves. Although I give myself full credit for "reading" a book that I listen to, I worry that if they only want to listen to a book that they aren't sufficiently developing their reading skills. How would you relate the experiences of reading and listening to a book? Do you let your kids listen to books or do you insist on them reading them on paper? Jenny said... I don't think listening to an audiobook is the same experience as reading it. When listening you are limited in your ability to stop and reflect over a line a few times. It is easy to zone out and not really listen and then wonder what you missed, especially if something exciting happens in the traffic around you. You can't really flip back to reread something that is now obviously more relevant. There are no maps to look at and study. Now those are negatives to listening, but there are also positives. I have always been more of an aural learner so to have someone reading it to me means I absorb more the first time through. One of my oddities is that I tend to have a hard time attaching names to characters. I don't read the name fully. I see the first letter and my eyes skim over the rest. I know which character is speaking or is being described, but when I put the book down, the names escape me and I sound like a fool talking about "that guy who did this." When listening, I actually hear the names and can identify them by name. This is the truth. I listened to Elizabeth of York earlier this year and it was about four times as long as it needed to be, packed with filler. I never would have finished it if I were reading it, but since I was listening, it provided some background noise as I thought about other things. If something caught my ear, I'd tune in, but otherwise it was a lot of Charlie Brown's teacher to break the monotony of the drive. My children know that I listen to books in the car, but I don't think it has occurred to them that they too could listen to books so we haven't crossed that bridge yet. Darwin said... That's a really good point about names. I do the same thing when reading in print, I visually recognize names without really "hearing" them, but if I'm recounting what I read to someone else I find I can't remember the names of half the characters. Listening I definitely catch the names -- though in a book with lots of minor characters I don't have the ability to flip back and see, "What, is that the one who...?" Melanie Bettinelli said... Oh yes, definitely true about names. I do the same thing, skimming without actually hearing them. Especially long foreign names. Tolkien's elven names for sure. I find listening audiobooks in the car are very different from listening to them in other contexts. I used to listen to them while sewing (pre kids) and because the sewing took so much less of my attention than driving, I missed less. I didn't tend to zone out or get distracted by the tasks of driving and I did absorb more. So for kids who are listening on headphones while doing something with their hands, they might have better focus than an adult driving. Jenny said... Here is another frustration with audiobooks: You hear a section that you want to see in print and you have to hope that someone on the Internet thought the same section was interesting too when you search and search, but cannot find it. Julie D. said... Both print and audio have their own problems and their own virtues. I'd like to speak about audio's virtues. I often turn to audio now for books I can't get through in regular reading, but that doesn't mean I am taking in less of the book. Quite the contrary, in fact. I read so fast that I tend to skim a book the first time (just through sheer excitement of getting the story) and then reread for details. Audio doesn't allow me to skim and it can have the effect of taking me deeper into a story. Also, since I absorb the story differently, it can help me see it from another angle as it were. I'd never have learned to love Dickens without listening to LibriVox's free A Tale of Two Cities. I never could make myself get through the second half of The Lord of the Rings until I listened to the audio. The cadence of Tolkien's language came through so clearly that I still recall the start of surprise I gave when Aaragorn fully took on his kingly aspect when speaking to Eowyn, "Lady..." I thought, "What just happened here? He's never sounded like that." And then having gone through the audio I read the book in print and was able to really absorb it in a different way and much more slowly than my usual breakneck pace. Audio opened up Dickens and Tolkien and many other wonderful authors who I just could not make myself read. It has revealed depth in books I thought were simple (such as Asimov's robot mysteries). Listening to Sissy Spacek read To Kill a Mockingbird in her slow, meditative, Texas accent, I am envisioning that familiar book in a richer way than normal. I would never give up print for audio, but I am thankful that it so well complements regular reading. It has enriched my literary world. Jenny said... That reading is fantastic! Finicky Cat said... This comment has been removed by the author. Finicky Cat said... If you can recommend that specific audio LotR, could you tell me where to find it? Our family life requires hours and hours of driving each week - that's my own "if only this one problem were fixed" issue - and I'm awfully picky about the way books are read, so keeping us in audio books can be difficult. We could get WEEKS out of LotR! Darwin said... Finicky Cat, So far as I can tell, the one that I'm listening to is actually the only commonly available audiobook of LotR. It's read by Robert Inglis and I'd say it's quite good. Rob Inglis also did a recording of The Hobbit and there's a good Martin Shaw one of The Silmarilian If you're looking for long books: I also very much enjoyed Neville Jason's unabridged reading of War & Peace. Now that's long! Julie D, Yeah, there's a deliberateness to listening to audiobooks at times. I too also have a tendency to skip any interjected poetry or quotes, so so even though I've read LotR a dozen times or so in print, some of the poetry feels rather new to me while the prose is very familiar. Julie D. said... I liked this description: I've never listened to an audiobook before, and I have to say it's a totally different experience. When you read a book, the story definitely takes place in your head. When you listen, it seems to happen in a little cloud all around it, like a fuzzy knit cap pulled down over your eyes” ― Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Finicky Cat said... Thanks so much, Darwin!
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Book Your Tickets Today! Experience a volcano up close and personal with our daily lava shows! Free with admission. Book Online and Save! Occurs Twice Daily! Basalt cinder rock is melted in a brass furnace for about two hours at around 2500 degrees Fahrenheit and once it’s in its molten liquid state, it is poured out as lava. The lava cools quickly and forms volcanic glass that shatters with the strain of the quick cooling. During the show, the presenters talk about an upwelling of magma called a “Hot spot” that has led to the formation of volcanoes in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This Hot Spot in conjunction with the movement of the tectonic plates of our Earth’s crust create the Hawaiian Island chain. The audience is also presented with samples of various types of basalt lava including the most common types of lava flows that occur in Hawaii and some of the more unusual formations of lava found in near Hawaiian volcanoes. 25 min – Science Adventure Center Hot Spot Theater Book Online and Save! This image is provided by a USGS research camera mounted in the observation tower at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The camera is looking SSE towards the active vent in Halemaʻumaʻu, 1.9 km (1.2 miles) from the webcam. For scale, Halemaʻumaʻu is approximately 1 km (0.6 mi) across and about 85 m (~280 ft) deep. To view other USGS live cams, please visit: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cams/ This video shows activity in the summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. Spattering like this is common in the lake, and this video shows the view from the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu (closed to the public due to volcanic hazards). This spattering has recently been visible from the Jaggar Overlook inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (open to the public). To view other USGS videos and images, please visit: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/ This video clip shows typical spattering activity in Kīlauea’s summit lava lake. This spattering was occurring along the eastern margin of the lake on the evening of October 5. A “hot spot” is an unusually hot section of Earth’s mantle. Hot spots are approximately 2700 degrees Fahrenheit; hot enough to cause rock to melt and become magma. When the magma and gas rise up, they fill what is called the Magma Chamber 1-3 miles beneath the Earth’s crust. As it rises pressure builds up and causes the chamber to crack and we get eruptions at the surface. This is the process that continues to shape the Hawaiian Islands today.
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Anaheim (VB) — Hiệp Hội Báo chí và Truyền thông Việt ngữ tại Hoa Kỳ đã tổ chức gây quỹ để tổ chức Cây Mùa Xuân 2000 tại Vũ trường Ritz Thành Phố Anaheim hồi 7g tối thứ sáu 11/6/99. Tham dự có một số anh chị em thuộc Hiệp Hội và các vị khách mời khoảng 300 người. Ông Duy Sinh Nguyễn Đức Phúc Khôi Chủ Tịch Hiệp Hội đã nhấn mạnh đến vai trò của Báo chí và Truyền thông phải đứng ngoài mọi tranh chấp, thông tin chính xác để phục vụ Cộng đồng bằng mục đích tốt đẹp nhất. Một số các vị khách mời phát biểu gồm có Cựu Thiếu Tướng Trần Văn Nhựt, Ông Đỗ Trọng Đức Chủ tịch Cộng đồng Việt Nam Nam California, Chiến sĩ Võ Đại Tôn, Bác sĩ Võ Đình Hữu đã lên chúc mừng đồng thời mong muốn Hiệp Hội thực thi vai trò của giới Truyền thông và Báo chí là phải hướng dẫn dư luận quần chúng, thông tin xác thực để trở nên những cơ quan ngôn luận phục vụ thiết thực cho mọi nhu cầu thông tin trong tình hình hiện tại chống lại những âm mưu tuyên truyền của Cộng Sản. NYC với mình như căn nhà thứ hai, thế mà đã hơn một năm rồi mới lên lại. Thường thì hay lên mùa Giáng Sinh, hay Tháng Hai mùa đông để coi tuyết ở Central Park, và tháng Mười Một để coi lá vàng. Lần nầy chỉ mới tháng ba, nhưng có lý do Xúc động với kỷ niệm. Thơ và nhạc đã nâng cảm xúc về những cái đẹp mong manh trong đời... Đêm Nhạc Người Về Như Bụi, và buổi ra mắt Tuyển Tập 39 Văn Nghệ Sĩ Tưởng Nhớ Du Tử Lê đã hoàn mãn hôm Thứ Ba 14/1/2019. chiều rớt/xanh/ lưỡi dao, tôi khứng! chờ ... mưa tới. Hai câu cuối trong bài “chiều rớt/xanh/lưỡi dao” anh viết cuối tháng 9/2019 như một lời giã biệt. Và, cơn mưa chiều 7.10.2019 đã tới, anh thay áo mới chân bước thảnh thơi trở về quê cũ. Xin từ biệt anh: Du Tử Lê! Theo bảng xếp hạng chỉ số cảm nhận tham nhũng của Tổ Chức Minh Bạch Quốc Tế năm 2018, Việt Nam đứng hạng 117/ 180 với mức điểm 33/100. Bao giờ mà chế độ hiện hành vẫn còn tồn tại thì “nạn nhũng nhiễu lạm thu” sẽ vẫn còn được bao che và dung dưỡng khắp nơi, chứ chả riêng chi ở Bộ Ngoại Giao Chính phủ Hoa Kỳ đã hứa tài trợ 300 triệu đô la để làm sạch môi trường bị nhiễm chất độc da cam của phi trường Biên Hòa và hôm 5 tháng 12 là bắt đầu thực hiện việc tẩy rừa tại khu vực này, theo bản tin hôm 6 tháng 12 của báo Tuổi Trẻ Online cho biết như sau. Bốn người được báo cáo đã bị giết chết hôm Thứ Năm sau một vụ cảnh sát rượt đuổi qua nhiều quận đã kết thúc trong trận đấu súng trên đường Miramar Parkway theo sau một tên cướp có vũ khí tại Coral Gables, tiểu bang Florida.
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-2
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vie_Latn
| 0.0775
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1. A New Beginning 2. Insanity 3. That Was His Name 4. Escape 5. Not Just You 6. Page One 7. Forgotten Wonders 8. Smaaaaash! 9. Advice 10. Tricks 11. Former Friends 12. Revelations 13. Distortions 14. Mental Roller-Coaster 15. A Two-Day Journey 16. Lessons 17. Touch of Evil 18. The Ride of Your Life 19. Losing the Feather 20. Epilogue "Paula, you should hear this too." Ness said. He then turned to Poo, "Do you know why I started laughing after I beat that skull thing?" Poo smiled, as if he knew the answer he was about to give would be the wrong one, "You were in shock." he said. "But that's just it." Ness said, grinning, "I wasn't. When I used PSI CAT... I don't know, I felt some sort of release. It felt so weird, I guess I didn't know how to react to it, so I just... started laughing." "How strange." Poo lifted an eyebrow knowingly. "But now I wanna go back." Ness pounded a fist in a palm, "Let's go kick some big, fat Pokey ass!" "You were right, Poo." Paula smiled, "He really hasn't changed a bit." she sat down next to Ness, "Now stop acting like the teenager you used to be, Ness. It's time to be an adult about this. You've been out of touch so long you've lost a lot of your strength." "Whadda you mean? I remember every spell I knew!" Ness began counting on his fingers, "Lifeup, Healing, PSI ROCKIN', PSI Flash..." "But Poo and I have been training for all these ten years." Paula said, "I mean, the only one weaker than you right now is Jeff, and he doesn't know any." "How nice this is to know." Ness sighed. "But it's the truth." said Paula, shrugging, "We'll go back to Pokey's world today so you can train. You need it." "Fine then. If training it has to be, then train I shall." Ness said as the door to the room opened, "I just feel like I gotta battle something." "Hey, Jeff!" Paula said to the one who had just entered, "Look who's back!" Jeff smiled. There went his chances with Paula, he thought. Kerplunk. Right down the drain. "I suppose we'll be going to Pokey's Earth, then." he said, walking over to them. "Correct," said Poo, "But I fear our female friend and former leader may be requiring sustenance." "Oh. Right." Ness said, suddenly realizing how hungry he was. Jeez, remembering 16 years of your life can really work up an appetite, he thought. The key-in-the-lock trick took just a little less time, now that Ness knew what to do. He felt so suddenly in tune with all his mental powers- it was so weird to just be back on track of everything within a blink of an eye like that. But Ness loved it. He kept going over every memory he had recovered that morning, as if they were dreams he had had the night before, and he'd better go over them or he could lose them in a half-second. It came as no surprise to Ness that Jeff had offered Paula his hand. He had always suspected that Jeff had his eye on her, even if he was too embarrassed to admit it with Ness around all the time. Ness grinned as they shot through the tunnel. Now at least he could torment Jeff about it for a while- Nah. Time to start acting like an adult... Paula was right. Sort of. They stopped at the same place. Ness looked down at the road he and Paula had once ridden on with the Runaway Five in their tour bus. Or maybe it was no longer the same road. "So where to now?" he asked. "Nowhere in particular." said Paula, "We just gotta find a monster." "Right," said Ness. He started walking. The rest followed, "So what kinda monsters are we talkin' about, here?" "Well, there's the Skullspirit..." Paula said, "Pokey created it real early on, so it's not very strong..." "What else?" "Mini-Minis," said Jeff, "Small versions of the Mani-Mani statue. They have about half the power of the original." "There's also Ribboknots," Paula started, "They-" she stopped. "What?" Ness asked. Then he saw what. Something was floating down the road towards them. "That's a Mirra." Paula whispered, "Stronger than a Skullspirit, but you'll be able to take it. Go for it, Ness." Ness felt a sudden wave of panic sweep over him, "Alone?" he asked. "Yeah. You'll get more experience that way. And we'll help if things start getting desperate." Ness gulped. Maybe Paula was right. He was inexperienced... Well, that's why you have to fight that thing, he told himself. He set his jaw and walked towards the Mirra. It was a round, shining Mirror with a gold frame and two eyes on top, with what looked like small laser guns pointing towards the center of the mirror. Its eyes shifted to Ness as he confronted it. "Wait a second!" Ness shouted suddenly, turning to his friends, "What sort of weapon am I supposed to-" he was cut off and fell to the ground as a beam hit him at the base of his neck. "Shit!" he exclaimed, massaging the spot that had been hit. His eyes flicked to the edge of the forest on the side of the road. A rather large stick lay abandoned by its tree. Ness' eyes lit up. He scrambled to his feet and scooped it up off the ground. A sort of mad grin spread across his face as he stood and felt the wood clasped in his fists. His mind blanked, but it wasn't a lapse this time. He didn't need to think. He was back on the battlefield. The Mirra sped through the air towards its head, and Ness reared back with the stick, swinging with all his might. The Mirra went spinning out of control a bit, then swerved in mid-air and began spinning around. Light glinted off the double-sided mirror. Mirra performed PSI Flash Alpha! Ness felt tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly performed Healing Beta, and the tears evaporated just in time for him to see the Mirra coming for him again. It hit him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground again. Ness stood and swung, and just barely missed. The Mirra was flying around his head. Ness performed Shield Beta! The shield covered Ness just as the Mirra fired another beam. The beam hit Ness in the shoulder but bounced back to the Mirra as well, hitting it right between the eyes. Ness stumbled a bit from the beam, but kept his balance. The Mirra sped for him again. Ness swung the stick, and the mirror shattered, leaving an empty frame. The frame, too, fell to the ground after a moment. The Mirra was defeated. Ness smiled again. "Yeah!" he said breathlessly, running a hand through his hair. "Quite excellent, my friend!" Poo shouted from behind him. Ness turned as the shield around him evaporated; it was no longer useful. "Guess we better get you a real weapon, huh?" Paula asked as she, Jeff, and Poo walked towards Ness. "Yeah, I guess." Ness said, still grinning the heck out of himself, "But right now I wanna fight summore. Let's go!" Paula smiled. He hasn't changed a bit.
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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default
| 0.37
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IT Media na Facebook 3d Untiy – Game Engine Create the games you love with Unity Keep your focus, work fast, have fun—finish it Get ready to go from the moment you open the Unity Editor. Unity’s pared-back, intuitive workflows underpin a powerful toolset, to keep your game development moving swiftly along. Instantly import any asset with the most comprehensive asset pipeline on the market. Create complex worlds with Unity’s rapidly scalable scene building blocks. Dive into scripting with industry-standard languages and super-fast compilation times. Keep a vital, experimental edge to your work with simultaneous play testing and editing all in one integrated view, but never lose sight of your finished game. Along the way: save time, find ready-made assets, get unstuck, get help and get inspired with one click access to Unity Forums, Unity Answers, and the Asset Store. AAA visual fidelity, rendering power and ambience Simple and powerful animation technology Mecanim, Unity’s uniquely powerful and flexible animation system, brings your human and non-human characters to life with incredibly natural and fluid motion. And, as it’s deeply integrated in the Unity engine, you can use Mecanim to animate everything from sprites to blend shapes and light intensity. Plus, with AnimationEvents, you can call any script function you want to from inside the animation playback. Unity’s stability and power, combined with new optimizations, such as skinned mesh instancing, ensure exceptionally smooth runtime performance. Mecanim character animation Mecanim Animation Tutorial Retarget your animations Choose from a vast library of existing motions or prebuilt controllers from the Unity Asset Store to immediately start animating your favorite characters without the need for mocap sessions. Or simply import your animation files (mocap or keyframe) to the Editor, and convert them to your own retargetable animation asset. The retargeting rig can be set up on your character with just a few mouse clicks using automatic bone mapping and stance pose computing algorithms. The rig breaks down body motion into a set of muscle contractions and uses a mass model to compute body mass center and average body orientation for motion trajectory. The retargeting rig can be used to extract muscle space animation from your standard animation files or apply animation assets to your character at runtime or in the editor. Effortlessly unleash your game on the world’s hottest platforms Create great gameplay across all the major global platforms with Unity’s superbly efficient multiplatform publishing. With Unity’s powerful engine and tools, intuitive workflows and fast iteration, you have complete control to create and smoothly deploy a game on any screen. Tools for a beautiful game on any platform Cross-platform scripting Keep your code working across all the platforms and many devices. For platform specific tweaks, do runtime platform checks, employ code preprocessors and integrate tightly with platform specific code and plugins. Play, edit, tweak... Press Play and instantly you are inside of your game, playing and previewing how it will look in its platform-specific final build. Alter values, assets, scripts and other properties, and instantly see the results. Step through each frame for precise animation physics and gameplay verification. ...try it with Unity Remote With Unity Remote, you simply hit Play to view and test your game live on your target device from right inside the Unity Editor.
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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default
| 0.37
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For historical reasons, you will not often see a japanese car or cell phone handled by a Korean. Koreans normally use national product. It is a pride to say that after spending a maelstrom of negative events in our history as being invaded, suffering a civil war and being considered as the second poorest country in the planet, today South Korea is one of the richest countries in the world. Let’s see if you visualize it better this way: there are currently nearly 200 countries in the world. Imagine rising from 199th to 12th. I’m not talking about the Top 40 music list or Formula 1. I’m talking about the ranking in the world’s economy. Try to catch it, Francisco or, as we say in the Canary Islands, Cógelo Cuco. If you go to Korea one day, on the street or on the subway you will see that 8 out of 10 people use a Korean phone. The 2 who don’t, use an Iphone. You will also observe that 8 out of 10 cars circulating are Korean and the 2 that are not, are usually german or american. In Japan it is the same, but in the opposite way. I will not deny it. I will not be hypocritical. I use an Iphone and drive a Honda. But it that does not mean I laughed at what happened to Samsung with the botch of Galaxy Note 7. People joke with talibans attacking with Galaxy Notes. The other day I saw a video of a popular video game in which Samsungs were throwed as incendiary weapons. It may be funny for some people but in my opinion, mocking this thing does not help. It is not about the brand. Terrorism and war are not something to joke about. Samsung began about 80 years ago exporting vegetables to China during the Japanese invasion. Since then, this unique case of entrepreneurship has become the most important company in the country, becoming a world reference in technology and billing almost 20% of the kimchi’s country’s GDP 20% ... You know what this means? Korea’s economy relies heavily on Samsung. It’s not the traders or speculators what I care about. I work at Samsung” is something that is said with pride, not only in Korea. It must be uncomfortable to think that your job could get lost if things become more complicated but, although it has made bend Samsung’s knees, I doubt this will be enough to overthrow the Korean giant. The rivalry between Apple and Samsung has always been for me something like the one between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. One has been endowed with talent and magic. It is the myth, the genius, the god Messi. The other, although lacking that divine enlightenment, simply works harder than anyone else to reach the level of a god, and sometimes even better. The first at the training session and the last to leave. It is the Bicho Ronaldo. He can be more or less liked, it is true, but if he’s there it’s for some reason. To be honest, for affinity, I feel more identified with the second because nothing has been given to me and I don’t have a special talent. I just work hard. Sooner or later one of the two had to have a letdown as the last one is experiencing Messi now, but I had not realized that there is a big difference: what is now at stake is not the ego of one or the other. Both players will be rich and stars at the end of the season. In the other case, it is not a simple game. It is not a golden boot or ball. We are talking about thousands of jobs worldwide. We are talking about the economy of a country. I don’t know if it ‘s because of my Korean roots, but talking today with my mother about how all this is affecting the economy of Korea, I felt like writing something about it. I don’t think a few simple lines will help to make things be better, but from the Canaries I send my sincere support to Samsung. Sure it takes more than a misstep to bring down the titan of the three stars and everything will fizzle.
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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default
| 0.37
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Thursday, April 5, 2012 I Wasn't Born To Lose You My desk is filled with books. And notes. Endless Cardiology notes. Notes on Arrhythmias and Cardiovascular birth defects. Then there are notes on Abnormal Psychology and case studies of Agoraphobia. Underneath those is a copy of Anna Karenina. I started reading it again. It made me happy. It reminded me of simpler times. Don't ask. Its hard to explain. In the midst of all the aforementioned books and notes there lies a subtle reminder of an unfulfilled dream. A dream I've been thinking about a lot lately. Its not like life is going down hill. In fact I've never known a better face of life until now. There is not just one specific aspect responsible for it. And no there is no particular person involved either. Its a combination of everything. The stars seem to be aligning (Knock on wood) just fine. They had to align one day. After all my happiness was due sooner or later. Its been some strange 12 months. The ones of fewer words and many thoughts. The ones of more laughter than pain. Like I said its been strange. I never knew life like that. But yes pain is there as well. It walks with me as a constant reminder of how bad things were at times. Like that Bob Dylan song I thought "I wasn't born to lose you" but I was so wrong. I was born to lose it all. Perhaps start from scratch all over again. But then losing it all over again might kill me. So Dear God don't do it this time around. I beg of you. I'm not that strong. Let's not complicate things. Let's keep them simple this time. I wanted something and I didn't get it. People who were supposed to be responsible for bringing me one step closer to my happiness slept peacefully while I stayed awake and wept till the dawn broke. I never did anyone any wrong. I swear. I tried my very best to be good. There were times when I suffered myself but I protected the ones I cared for. But in the midst of making those sacrifices my dreams were badly burnt. And they got so badly burnt that they couldn't be traced back. Just subtle reminders remained hidden under the souvenirs from the recent past. Its not just about unfulfilled dreams, its about the almost broken ties with loved ones. Its about grudges I pretend not to have. But who am I kidding? We all have grudges and we all can count our regrets on our finger tips perhaps except for the ones who don't have hands or the ones who do not know how to count. But nevertheless we have them and we should just live with that. It hurts a lot less since recently. I think its just a void now. Nothing will fill it so I have stopped trying altogether. That's what happens when you lean on your dreams. I thought I'd never make it. People around me do not understand the pain I went through. Sometimes I wish they did. Perhaps if it was death or a break-up, I would have scored more sympathy that way. Maybe if I let a thousand years go by then I might recover from it. I don't know. We'll see. I'll explain more later. I promise. Time went by and I had to paint new dreams. I was given a canvas and I just had to pick the colors and go for it. So I did. Different dream. A whole different aspect. You see the heart has three natural pacemakers. When one stops, the second takes over right away. Its slower than the first one but it works just fine. So why couldn't I give my dreams a second chance? Whats the worst that could happen? Death? Well so be it. Life is the one that's short. That's the side of the coin that has an expiry date on it. Death...well death is forever. Or maybe its not. Perhaps it also ends somewhere. And then there's love. And that's whats so tragic about the pain love brings. It can never be shared. You'll never know what went underneath the periphery. You'll only hear of good times. You'll only see the smile you're smitten over. The tears..well I shall keep them to myself only. So for one last time. Let's meet in Madrid. Or was it Barcelona? Somewhere in Spain. Before death comes in a haste. But never mind you. There's always love. And they say it is forever. Good Night!
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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default
| 0.37
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Stress is a normal part of everyday life. Everyone experiences stress, but it’s not always a bad thing. For example, when you’re preparing for a job interview, some stress can be expected and it can sometimes motivate you to perform well. However, stress is a problem when it becomes constant or overwhelming. It can cause changes in your body that negatively affect your immune system, sleeping habits, mental health, and more. This leads to symptoms like anger, sadness, anxiety, irritability, headaches, and sleeplessness. Over time, stress can contribute to serious health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. Some people even experience stress rashes and hives. Thankfully, there are a lot of techniques for helping you deal with stress. They range from simple mental exercises to guidelines for managing your daily schedule. The wide range of methods available means that you should be able to find options that will work for you in different situations. Here are some effective coping techniques for overcoming stress: Take a Breather Controlling your breathing is one of the easiest ways you can calm your body and feel more relaxed. It’s also a technique you can do wherever you may be—whether it’s the office, in traffic, at home or outdoors. There are several different breathing methods you can try, but a simple one to start is to just focus on taking slow, deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose while slowly counting to three, hold it for one second, and then slowly exhale while counting to three again. Go ahead and try it right now while you read this. Meditate On It Meditation involves focusing your attention and blocking out all your nagging thoughts. Besides relieving stress, meditation has been shown to help alleviate symptoms of a range of conditions, from chronic pain to asthma. There are many different types of meditation, but the one that most people are familiar with is mantra meditation. This method involves closing your eyes, choosing a calming word or phrase, and then repeating it in your mind. The mantra gives you something to focus your attention on while avoiding distracting thoughts. Among meditation’s many benefits, it can retrain your mind to be better focused and block out unwanted and anxious thoughts. Hug a Loved One This tip may sound silly or simple, but you may not realize just how beneficial hugging can be. Research shows that a simple caring touch from a loved one can make a real impact on your health. That’s because it releases oxytocin, which causes relaxation, lowers blood pressure, and results in a decrease in stress hormone levels such as cortisol. Shorten Your To-Do List Setting goals and priorities is a good thing. It can help you stay on top of your responsibilities and can give you a sense of accomplishment. But your to-do list can also be a major contributor to your stress when it becomes unmanageable. So whittle down that list of tasks so it’s more realistic. To help guide you, start keeping track of how often you are able to complete everything on your daily agenda. Then start making adjustments until it becomes the norm. Talk it Out When you’re dealing with stress on your own, every little problem can seem worse than it actually is. In this way, your distorted perception of problems can contribute to your stress. But speaking to someone you trust, like your family or friends can help you get some perspective. By helping you see things from another point of view, you may realize that an issue that was stressing you out was not as bad as you thought. Talking with others can also give you more confidence to deal with situations by receiving helpful feedback. Get Help From an Expert Mental health professionals like counsellors and therapists are experts at stress management. Besides knowing the different techniques, they understand how to help you use them properly and find the best solutions for you. Getting expert help may be easier than you think, and wellness clinics such as Activa Clinics, help with assessing your specific needs and creating a treatment plan customized for your needs. Don’t Ignore It Remember, stress is normal, but being overwhelmed by it isn’t. You shouldn’t learn to live with chronic stress as part of your daily routine. It can seriously impact your mental state and overall health. But with some simple techniques and a little help, you can overcome it. Contact us to book an appointment if your stress is causing anxiety or depression issues. Can stress have a physical impact on my body? Stress does have a negative impact on your body. Being under constant stress makes it hard to get enough sleep, which, in time compromises the body ́s ability to maintain itself properly. When we are under stress our body releases corticosteroid, a hormone that suppresses the immune system. Leaving it unable to effectively identify and deal with rogue cells or fight off viruses and other infections. Stress also leads to muscle tension which can cause musculoskeletal issues, persistent headaches, even digestive problems. What is chronic stress, and how do I know if I’m suffering from it? Chronic stress is when you feel almost constantly strung out and under too much pressure. In time, you start to feel this way even when everything in your life is going smoothly. You will also start to suffer from physical issues as a result of your body being constantly flooded by stress hormones. Headaches, digestive issues, tense muscles, palpitations, difficulty breathing, fatigue and unexplained pains can all be caused by chronic stress. Can my stress lead to serious health conditions? Stress can lead to serious health conditions. Over time it puts your body under a tremendous physical strain. Especially if the stress you are suffering from stops you from being able to sleep properly. When that happens, your body cannot protect or repair itself as well as it should.
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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default
| 0.333
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How money motivates millennials – and why it matters 3rd November 2016 Over-zealous spending, followed by shameful head-burying: two qualities which, when combined, give you a rough idea about my turbulent and often traumatic relationship with money. The days of living outside of a student overdraft feel like distant memories and the dread that fills my body when checking my balance is a feeling I avidly avoid. Ringing any bells? In no way is this phenomenon endured solely by impoverished graduates like myself, but with university fees rising exponentially and mortgages feeling ever out of reach, the shadow of debt seems to come hand in hand with life as a young person. Having said that, it’s plain to see that millennial ambitions and goals are incredibly varied. Frequently tarnished with a false reputation for being the lazy, entitled and tech obsessive, the only thing that really seems to tie the demographic cohort are the proximity of the years they were born into – generally recognised as between 1980-1995. That in itself shows a great disparity within the group. 35 year olds and 21 year olds allegedly going through identical financial experiences? I’m unconvinced. However, at Starling, we’re pretty heavy on the 20-35-year-olds. And that got me thinking. Asking our own millennials about their relationship with money quickly revealed that my scepticism was well-founded. A quote about money management from a Starling employee Challenges varied from struggling to keep track on spending in real-time and knowing where money is, to not having cash to hand and having to temporarily borrow from parents. God bless the Bank of Mum and Dad, right? Given we all work for a fintech startup, I realise this isn’t the most diverse of tests (bear with me). And perhaps it was unavoidable we would be looking for a fast, easy, bespoke service that can be harnessed through our phones. It was also apparent from the outset that the Starling app is being designed by people who would also greatly benefit from it themselves. But the only unanimous desire across our team of millennials was greater ability to understand and control money. On the other hand, what we plan to do with the money showed real diversity. A quote by a Starling employee on what is she planning to do with her savings Unsurprisingly, travelling and living abroad seemed to be greatly valued over property ownership, with many emphasising their “live for today” mentality. Serhat (32), part of the product team, mentioned how he moved to the UK from Australia with two small suitcases last August and basically hoards nothing. “This means that when I spend money it is usually for ‘the here and now’, chasing holiday experiences, random nights out with friends, and being spontaneous (and sometimes irresponsible) when it comes to dining out. I don’t think I will ever own a car in the future and can’t see myself buying a property either. Life is too short.” He’s in no way alone. Patrick (28) said he values travelling too, constantly putting money aside for this, and Jane (24) mentioned how she would love to work in another European city such as Berlin. However, whilst we may be a generation of jet setters dreaming of distant lands, ready to pay for holidays before pensions, owning a home and feeling secure in our finances isn’t that far from our minds. A quote by a Starling employee on what millennials save for Hessie (20-something), who stands in charge of People Operations, said that she’s setting aside a nest egg as she’s a saver by nature and feels better knowing she’s got something for a rainy day. Likewise, Sarah (32) explained how her ambitions were dependent on “having a good credit rating, and enough savings for our deposits but also being able to know [she] will be able to keep up with the mortgage payments.” Interestingly, our copywriter, Aidan (29), sat in the middle of the two groups – savers and spenders – saying he’d like to live abroad at some stage but also dreamt of living in his own house. A quote by a millennial Starling employee on money management Being ‘Good with Money’ also meant very different things to us. For some it meant being able to master the perfect balance between daily spend, regular utilities, travel budget, “fun money” and being able to do all this whist still being able to put some away for the future. For others, it meant being able to put money towards products, investments, events and experiences that sat with their personal values – their ethical and social concerns. However, there was a general sentiment that ‘Good with Money’ meant a healthy balance or a healthy financial lifestyle. This in itself says a lot about how we view our balances and what they actually mean to us. What’s key to note, is that the age gap between the millennials in the office was 11 years. This meant some are already property owners or married, some, like me, are fresh faced and bushy tailed straight out of uni (and living at home for the time being). I’ll fully admit that I’ve got the financial restraint of an 8-year-old boy, the prospect of property ownership feeling somewhat like a fanciful pipedream. Decision making and being prone to a little rash spending is definitely something that challenges both my wallet and I. But I’ve got ambitions to spend my money more wisely. And invest in a few exciting experiences along the way. Most of all, I think I agree with Jacob when he said “I live in the hope that from a successful future career, the burden of money worries will be left in the past”. Oh, what a life that will be! The digital revolution is transforming the way young people interact with their money, so the dream could be reality much faster than we think. How can starling help millennials manage their money? Why not check out Good With Money? They’re dedicated to helping you become good with money while doing good with your money too. You can also sign-up to the Starling community to find out how you can get involved with us, and be one of the first to have a Starling account. 4 tech innovations that shouldn’t make you shiver
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Ed Hardy Jeans 1. Does anyone have any? What brand do they fit like? Are they stretchy? Any info appreciated. I'm trying to figure out what size to order I'm a 27 in Sass and Bide (although some of their 27's are pretty tight), 26 in Jbrand, 2 in Theory... little waist but SLIGHTLY disproportionately larger in the hips (apparently... that's where it's always too tight!) :biggrin: thanks.. 2. Oh, and how do their shirts run too.. :smile: 3. *CRY* No one? :sad: 4. I used to sell Edhardy jeans,they are okay. I would buy their jeans though, there are brands with better fits. 5. I just ordered a hoodie from Testimo, used the 20% off code. I dont know how they run, but I normally prefer a snug fit, so I ordered my usual Small. It should arrive monday, I'll report back. I dont know how the jeans run, sorry. :push: 6. i saw them in real life. they were really pretty from far away but once you get close the denim doesn't look all that great 7. ^Thats what I suspected. I do like the leggings though. I do however, plan on getting new jeans to wear with the hoodie. Im gonna hit up Off 5th. 8. I don't really care about the denim or the fit, I just like the decorations on the jeans. 9. Seriously? :wtf: lol Well, you can probably find knockoffs at kmart. 10. I didn't say I wanted complete ****, lol. I just don't need the highest quality denim or the perfect $300 fit. 11. emily there's a store at AM that sells Ed Hardy clothing. let's check them out when we get together next.
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The View from Hell Just another site Archive for the ‘Jean-Christophe Lurenbaum’ Category Why Can’t Critical Theory Be More . . . Critical? with 6 comments Jean-Christophe Lurenbaum, self-described “militant au planning familial” (which I totally want on my business cards), recently published his master’s thesis, entitled Naître est-il dans l’intérêt de l’enfant? (Is birth in the interest of the baby?) at the Université Pierre Mendès France. M. Lurenbaum makes a very important point: the modern value of preventing suffering is at odds with the ancient value of procreation. We as human beings use various strategies to avoid confronting this conflict, including outright denial of science. But Lurenbaum is writing critical theory (French feminist critical theory, no less), not science, and he denies science (or makes bullshit assumptions that elide scientific thinking) in his own way. Here is an exemplary claim (p. 25): Ces indices attestent une création tardive du concept de père, suivie de la mise en place d’un contrôle masculin sur le pouvoir de reproduction des femmes après l’invention de l’élevage : le moment de l’invention de l’élevage focalise donc le soupçon d’une découverte d’un rôle masculin dans la reproduction. [Emphasis in original.] These observations attest to a relatively late creation of the concept of the father, followed by the development of male control over the reproductive power of women after the invention of agriculture: the moment of invention of agriculture is the moment when mankind first suspects that men have a role in reproduction. [Translation mine.] Essentially, the claim is that pre-agricultural people did not understand how sexual reproduction works. (Lurenbaum maintains that there are cultures to this day that lack the concept of a father.) This is at odds with the evidence that pre-agricultural peoples do, in fact, understand where babies come from, as evidenced not only directly by ethnographic records, but indirectly by the universality of punishment of female adultery and other means of proprietary control of female sexual capacity by men. I think that even “true stories” are dangerous, because a “story” is a way of thinking about events (a particularly human, conscious way) that implies that events may be meaningful. “True” “stories” are dangerous because life is actually meaningless, and “stories” make us falsely believe that life is meaningful, and that the actual fact of suffering can be justified by subsequent events, the attitude of the sufferer, etc. But this story of Lurenbaum’s, while deployed toward a noble conclusion, is a false one. I will be the first to admit that humans are stupid monkeys, but even the behavior of literal monkeys reflects the importance of genetic paternity. Lurenbaum’s entire text is steeped in the myth that, because representations of goddesses are more common in some ancient cultures than representations of male gods, ancient societies must have been literally female-dominated. This is so retarded that it makes the baby Jesus cry, yet it is a core belief of science-denying academic feminist critical theory. It’s just as stupid and falsifiable as a claim of a weeping statue, and it is protected from rational analysis in the way that other culturally important myths are protected. The idea that the imperative to reproduce is a patriarchal human construction is one that can only be held by a denier of evolutionary biology – or at least someone whose understanding of human evolutionary history is confused. I will give Lurenbaum props for reminding me that Hitler was an unashamed pronatalist (p. 130). Do you love Hitler? Yes? Then have more babies! Thanks to Chip for sending me this article, and to Jim for independently posting it at Written by Sister Y December 7, 2010 at 6:11 pm
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National Geographic : 1944 May The National Geographic Magazine Hooded Vulture, Kano's Refuse-disposal Plant, Hungrily Spies Out a Scrap of Meat Necrosyrtes monachus perches above an open-air slaughterhouse. This bird, a fighter over a carcass, spares domestic animals. As city scavenger it has man's protection. In West African towns a score or more roost in a single tree. @ National ee rahi Society lolanlchromes (George W. Scott Selling a Dab of Peppers or a Pinch of Salt, He Deals in Fractions of a Penny The measuring cup is his pride; many of his competitors use discarded tin cans. Kano is a good market for what the world throws away. Old razor blades, bits of string, and empty bottles are in demand.
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Finland - svenska (Finland) United States Nine Inch Nails Merchandise Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated as NIN) is an American industrial rock band, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction. NIN's music straddles a wide range of genres, while retaining a characteristic sound using electronic instruments and processing. After recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles a live band to perform with him; this live component is a separate entity from Nine Inch Nails in the recording studio. On stage, NIN often employs spectacular visual elements to accompany its performances, which frequently culminate with the band destroying their instruments. Underground music audiences warmly received Nine Inch Nails in its early years. The band produced several highly influential records in the 1990s that achieved widespread popularity: many Nine Inch Nails songs became radio hits, two NIN recordings won Grammy Awards, and the band has sold over twenty million albums worldwide, with 10.5 million sales certified in the United States alone. In 2004, Rolling Stone placed Nine Inch Nails at 94 on their list of the 100 greatest rock artists of all time. In spite of this acclaim, the band has had several feuds with the corporate side of the recording industry. Trent Reznor announced in 2007 that Nine Inch Nails would proceed independently of record labels. In the past, NIN released major studio albums infrequently; remixes and live albums bridged these gaps in the band's catalog. Reznor cites his personal issues as the cause of these delays, and his songs often confront dark explorations of the self. The most recent Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero, is an exception to the usually introspective nature of Reznor's songwriting and the long gestation between major releases.
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Taiwanese Coast Guard Compliance to IMO Noise Levels The challenges Taiwanese Coast Guard commissioned its two largest patrol vessels, the 119 metre, 3,000 ton sister vessels CG-128 Yilan and CG-129 Kaohsiung. With a maximum crew of 50 and advanced weapons systems, the vessels will beef up the CGA’s patrols and operations in the open sea. Pyrotek was asked to consult on the build, as the noise levels in strategic cabins within the vessels were substantially higher than the recommended levels. Cabins in the ships that were of particular concern were the security room, hospital and two accommodation cabins, 16 and 17. Testing revealed the noise levels in these rooms were unacceptable. There were Immediate safety concerns associated with noise on a vessel such as this. Specifically, noise can: 1. Mask signals 2. Intrude on speech communications 3. Interfere with the thought process and concentration 4. Disrupt sleep 5. Cause fatigue ‘The new noise level limits are designed to ensure that within each day or 24-hour period, the equivalent continuous noise exposure to which seafarers will be subject to will not exceed 80 dB(A). In spaces where noise levels exceed 85 dB(A) appropriate hearing protection should be worn and no crew member should be exposed unprotected to peak values exceeding 135 dB(A).’ The Taiwanese Coast Guard had requested the noise levels experienced should be under 70 dB(A) at 85% engine power output. This level of noise would bring the vessel into line with the new IMO standards and provide a safer operational environment for all workers. The solutions Pyrotek sales engineer Dollars Wang consulted with our experienced marine advisors Bradley Scott and Tom Metzner from the Australian head office to specify a solution. Drawing on Pyrotek’s extensive knowledge and experience in marine soundproofing the following specialised marine noise control products were specified as a solution: 1. Installation of Wavebar into the existing floors below the vinyl floor 2. Installation of Wavebar into the perimeter walls of cabins inside a decorative finish 3. Strategically-placed installation of Decidamp DC30 to control structure-borne noise and vibration. Wavebar was the ideal solution to improve the acoustic performance of existing walls and floors in the vessels’ affected cabins. During vessel construction, limited use of vibration damping allowed for noise to flank existing insulation on bulkheads, decks – using the structure itself as the path and re-radiate into air-borne noise, affecting nearby cabins. The installation of DC30 significantly reduced the amount of vibration noise radiating from the fuel tank rooms. The results Post-installation at sea-testing revealed noise levels had been significantly reduced in all treated areas, resulting in a much safer environment for workers who operate in the affected areas. The treatments specified and installed into the vessels ensure that the rooms are closer to compliance with the new IMO standards, which will govern all new vessels built after July 2014. The treatment was also able to reduce noise levels substantially below the requested 70 dB(A) at 85% engine power output. Feedback received from both the construction firm Jade Yachts and the Taiwanese Coast Guard has been extremely positive and the performance of Pyrotek’s products has exceeded the expectation of both parties who are impressed with overall performance.
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Who Can Baptize Another Person? by Kyle Butt, M.Div. Who Can Baptize Another Person? by Kyle Butt, M.Div. When a person reads through the New Testament, he is struck by how much the 27 books have to say about water baptism. When the Jews on the Day of Pentecost asked Peter what they needed to do to be right with God, Peter told them to “repent and let every one of you be baptized...for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). After Saul of Tarsus had spent three days praying and fasting, Ananias came to him and said: “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Paul, in the book of Romans, explained that in the waters of baptism we come in contact with the death of Christ (Romans 6:3), and it is through that contact that we are cleansed by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). That is why Paul could write in Galatians, “for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The importance of baptism in God’s plan of salvation is repeatedly stressed in the New Testament. [For a thorough dealing of this topic, see Lyons and Butt, n.d.] After realizing the importance of baptism, many honest-hearted truth seekers have asked several sincere questions. One of those questions often is: “Who can baptize another person?” In recent months, we at Apologetics Press have been asked this question on several occasions. It is obvious that it is a question that springs from a genuine desire to be right with God. The place to go for the answer, of course, is the New Testament—the very place we learned about God-ordained baptism in the first place. When we turn to the New Testament, we learn several things about the person doing the baptizing. The primary lesson learned is that the personal characteristics of the individual doing the baptizing have no bearing on the effectiveness of the baptism. In other words, it does not matter who does the baptizing, as long as the baptism is complete immersion in water (Romans 6:4; Acts 8:38), in the proper name (Matthew 28:19; Acts 19:1-9), and for the proper reason (Acts 2:38). In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote to a group of Christians that were dividing themselves into factions based on their favorite preachers. Some were saying they were of Paul, others of Cephas, others of Apollos, and others of Christ. Paul chastised them for claiming allegiance to any person other than Christ, and he stated: “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.... For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 1:14-17). Paul was not minimizing the importance of baptism in this text (see Lyons, 2003), he was minimizing the importance of the person who does the baptizing. He was not saying that baptism is not a part of God’s plan of salvation; he was saying that the person who does the baptizing does not make a difference. The effectiveness of the Corinthians’ baptism was not based on the characteristics of the person who baptized them, but was based on their baptism as it related to God’s overall plan of salvation. In a similar passage in John 4:1-3, we read that “the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.” The next verse of the text states, “though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples.” If the characteristics of the one doing the baptizing were important, then Jesus would certainly have been involved in the actual baptizing process of all his disciples due to His perfect, sinless life. Yet what we see in these verses is that the effectiveness of the baptism of those in John 4 was not lessened or diminished because the apostles did the baptizing instead of Jesus. Some have looked into the New Testament and concluded that every instance of baptism in the New Testament is one in which a Christian man does the baptizing. Thus, they have concluded, that in order to be properly baptized, a person must be baptized by a man who is a Christian. The principle of following biblical examples and precedents is often an important key to determining biblical authority for certain actions, when explicit commands and other information have not been given. In this case, however, there is major problem with this approach. What if a person claimed to be a Christian, but was not, and baptized people while claiming to be a Christian? Would the fact that he was not a Christian negate the validity of the baptisms that he performed? Think through that scenario. Suppose a person was baptized by this charlatan. That person then went out and baptized 100 people who each baptized 100 people, who each baptized 100, etc. If the original person who was baptized by the fraudulent “Christian” later found out that the man was not a Christian, would that negate the baptism of all those who were subsequently baptized? Certainly not. Furthermore, how “faithful” would a person need to be in order to be eligible to baptize people? It is most likely the case that many people were baptized by Judas Iscariot in John 4:1-3 when Jesus’ disciples were doing the baptizing. Did all those who were baptized by the “son of perdition” need to be re-baptized based on the traitorous character of Judas? No. The truth of the matter is, it would be virtually, if not actually, impossible to verify the “saved” status of all those across the globe who have baptized or will baptize people. Fortunately, the characteristics of the one doing the baptizing have no bearing on the legitimacy of the baptism. When Paul instructed the 12 men in Acts 19:1-9 to be re-baptized, he did not ask them who baptized them, or what were the characteristics of the person who baptized them. He asked them about their baptism, not their baptizer. In addition, some have gone so far as to say that the person who baptizes another person must have some type of “official” status in the church as a “pastor” or “ordained” minister. When we look into the New Testament, however, we do not see any such stipulation. In fact, the episode of Saul of Tarsus’ conversion offers some pertinent insight into this question. After Saul had seen the Lord on the Road to Damascus, he was instructed to go into the city and wait for a person named Ananias to come to him. In the texts of the narrative, there is no indication that Ananias held any type of official leadership position in the church. The text says he was “a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews” (Acts 22:16), but there is no reference that he was an elder, a deacon, and certainly not an apostle. The suggestion that only an “official” of the church can baptize falls prey to the same fallacy inherent in the idea that only a Christian man can baptize. The New Testament makes a clear distinction between the roles of men and women in the Lord’s Church (see Miller, 2005). [NOTE: It is important to understand that different gender roles in no way imply a different status or value, see Butt, 2011.] Based on that distinction, some have wondered if women are permitted to baptize, since the Bible teaches that men are to be the public teachers and elders in the church. In addition, it is the case that every example we have in the New Testament of a person being baptized has a male doing the baptizing. Does that mean that a woman cannot baptize, or that a baptism that might be performed by a woman would be nullified? If we are correct that the characteristics of the baptizer do not matter (as we have shown from previous biblical passages), then we must conclude that the gender of the person would not matter either. One can easily envision a scenario in which a non-Christian couple, that might be geographically isolated from others, studies the Bible and learn the importance of contacting Jesus’ blood through water baptism. Upon learning this, they immediately want to be baptized, but there is no Christian man available to perform the baptism. Could they baptize each other? Yes, they could. In fact, not too long ago, a sincere couple contacted our office with that very question. They had been members of what they called “faith only” churches all their lives. When they realized the importance of baptism, they approached several of their religious friends, none of whom were Christians. Since they could find no one to baptize them, they wrote us asking if the Bible permits such a couple to baptize each other. We explained just what has been explained in this article, that the characteristics of the baptizer do not matter, and that such reciprocal baptism would be permissible. We did, however, advise them to find a body of the Lord’s church nearby and begin to assemble and work with the church. In addition, suppose that a group of women, in which no men were available, wanted to become Christians. Would it be permissible for them to baptize each other? Yes, it would. What do we do with the idea that all the baptisms that are recorded in the New Testament were performed by men? When looking to the New Testament for approved examples, we must be sure that we do not carry the example farther than it is intended to be taken. We do not want to bind where God has not bound. For instance, the apostles met in an upper room to partake of the Lord’s Supper with Jesus, and Paul in an upper room in Troas in Acts 20. Does that mean that we need to eat the Lord’s Supper and preach in upper rooms? No. Those were incidental details that surrounded the relevant example of eating the Lord’s Supper and preaching (see Warren, 1975). As this idea relates to baptism, the examples in the Bible show us (among other things) that (1) immersion is the “mode” of baptism, (2) a believing person is the candidate for baptism, and (3) the remission of sins to contact the blood of Christ is the reason for baptism. But the examples are not given in an attempt to dictate every aspect of baptism. For instance, there is no case in which a person was baptized in a heated baptistery in a church building. Does that mean that those who are baptized in such a way have been “unscripturally” baptized? No, it simply means that the aspects of baptism that are different from the examples in the New Testament can been shown through proper study of the New Testament to be irrelevant. Again, every person in the New Testament who is recorded to have baptized a person was a Jewish male. Does that mean that only Jewish men can perform scriptural baptisms? No, the fact that they were Jewish was incidental and irrelevant to the purpose and effectiveness of the baptisms they performed. The gender of the baptizer has nothing to do with God’s recognition of a scriptural baptism. All Things Are Lawful, But All Things are Not Helpful In 1 Corinthians 10:23, the apostle Paul stated: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.” Paul did not mean that things like sexual immorality were lawful for him (1 Corinthians 9:21). He meant that there were (and are) some things, like eating meat that was offered to idols, that were lawful to a Christian, but even though such things might be lawful, there may be other circumstances to consider that would be reasons not to engage in the practice. In the context, Paul says that since an idol is not really a “god,” but is merely a stone or clump of metal, then any food offered to such a thing is not in some way spiritually contaminated. He concludes that if we know that an idol is nothing, then eating meat offered to a clump of wood or stone has no spiritual significance. Thus, it is “lawful” for a Christian to eat meat offered to idols. He qualifies that statement, however, by saying that some people in Corinth did not understand that idols were not really spiritual powers. These Christians still believed that such food was contaminated. Thus, it could be the case that a Christian who knew eating meat offered to idols was lawful might cause a weaker, less knowledgeable Christian to stumble. Paul then concluded that, even though eating meat offered to idols is technically “lawful,” under certain circumstances it would not be the most “helpful” or wisest course of action. This passage relates to our baptism discussion in the following way. In the previous sections, we discussed the fact that there is nothing inherently wrong with the scenario in which those who are not Christians baptize people. We also saw that it would be permissible under certain circumstances for a woman to baptize. But we need to ask ourselves if the practical application of these ideas would, under normal circumstances, be helpful. It seems that the best-case scenario, which would be the wisest course of action, would be that those who baptize others are Christian men. Here are a few reasons why. First, if a person was baptized by a non-Christian, he or she might not have thought through the fact that the qualities of the baptizer do not matter, and he or she might later question the effectiveness of the baptism and be filled with internal doubt about the situation. Second, those who are not Christians viewed the baptism might misunderstand and think that baptism is not associated with God’s plan of salvation and can be done for any reason in any way. Third, women baptizing could lead some to have a misunderstanding about the woman’s role in the church. While it is true that nothing technically precludes the possibility of a woman performing a scriptural baptism, that could easily lead to the scenario in which those who were viewing the baptism, or who hear of it, might think that performing a baptism indicates a public leadership position in the church. Paul, through inspiration, wrote, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:12). His statement was designed to instruct the church that positions of authority and public teaching positions in assemblies were to be filled by men (Miller, 2005). Sometimes a position of “authority” might be different in one culture than in another. For instance, in the Corinthian church, some women were engaging in acts of worship with their heads uncovered (1 Corinthians 11:1-16). This was a sign in that culture that the women were not under the authority of the men. Thus, Paul explained to them that in their culture, in order to show proper respect for the authority of male leadership in the church, those women should cover their heads (or otherwise go to the logical extreme by shaving their head, since doing so was viewed as a cultural sign of prostitution). The women should not flout the culturally understood modes of showing submission (Moore, 1998). Applying this principle to baptism, then, we would need to assess whether our culture perceives the act of baptizing a person as an action to be performed by the leadership of the church. If we conclude that baptizing is viewed as something done by those in a leadership position, as is often the case with baptisms in mixed church assemblies in the United States, then we would conclude that it should be done by Christian men. If no Christian men are present, however, a woman could perform a baptism and it would not be usurping authority over a man, since none were available. From our study, we have looked briefly at the importance of baptism in God’s plan of salvation. We have seen that while there are certain vital aspects of baptism that must be maintained, there are other aspects of the process that are incidental and irrelevant. By analyzing several passages, we have seen that the personal qualities of the baptizer do not alter or affect the effectiveness of the baptism. The truth of this fact is understood from the biblical passages, as well as from the ridiculous nature of the situations that would occur if a person faked being a Christian and baptized others. From this conclusion, it has been established that, technically speaking, both non-Christians and women can baptize. Looking at the principle of the most “helpful” or “wise” scenario, however, leads us to conclude that under some circumstances, it is wise to have a faithful Christian man baptize a person into Christ, especially in cultures in which the person performing a baptism would be viewed as having some type of authority position. Butt, Kyle (2011), “The Biblical View of Women,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apPubPage.aspx?pub=1&issue=944. Lyons, Eric (2003), “The Bible’s Teaching on Baptism: Contradictory or Complimentary?” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=806. Moore, Kevin (1998), We Have No Such Custom: A Critical Analysis of 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (New Delhi, India: Print India). Warren, Thomas (1975), When Is an Example Binding? (Moore, OK: National Christian Press).
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搜索 解放軍報 Venality exposes US military's deep-seated division 來源:China Military Online責任編輯:Liu Yuyuan 2021-05-31 17:43 The US army puts distance precision fire strike on top of its six modernization priorities By Hui Yong and Zhai Mingfei Foreign media reports that the US air force and army are trading barbs recently on distance strike capability development and the position of each service. The air force deems it costly, repetitive, and stupid for the army to develop distance precision fire strike capability and demands it to put priority on its air-based distance strike forces. The army, however, disagrees with that. Robert Brown, executive vice president of the Association of the United States Army, said he was disappointed at the air force for trying to pin the blame on the army and couldn’t understand how some senior air force officers could be so disconnected from reality. 究竟是何原因讓美兩大軍種“互撕”? What makes the two US military services lock horns? They have no direction for top-level design. The US military always attaches great importance to developing the distance strike capabilities to maintain its global military presence and hegemony. The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) issued by the US Department of Defence (DOD) proposed to develop a “next-generation distance strike system” in the attempt to comprehensively upgrade the US military’s “global assault” and “fast arrival” capabilities. However, the frequent personnel changes at the top level of the Pentagon and many other factors have rendered the implementation of that proposal anything but smooth, troubled with unclear directions and priorities. Speaking of distance strike capability in 2020, John Hyten, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, underlined the importance of diversifying the means of attacks and urged the army, navy, air force and marines to all enhance their capabilities in that aspect. His ambiguity was slammed by all services. Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said the proposal may expose the military’s assault capabilities to potential risks as the options for different services vary greatly in price. Their combat concepts are incompatible. The notably deductive combat theories of the US military can easily be interpreted and acted on by different services in completely different or even contradictory ways. In recent years, the army has strongly promoted the “multi-domain combat” theory, in which distance precision fire strike is a key part and top of the army’s six modernization priorities. As the navy and air force lose their advantage in Anti-Access/Area-Denial, the army thinks its development of distance precision fire strike capabilities can provide more possibilities for future combined all-domain combats while ensuring relative independence. The air force agrees to the “multi-domain combat” concept but dislikes the idea of the army developing distance precision fire strike capabilities. On the one hand, the air force believes it is capable of launching all-time, all-domain fast distance assaults, which has been verified in recent battles and the army’s development of the same capabilities is simply a waste of resources. On the other hand, the air force is pessimistic about the army’s forward deployment of distance strike equipment and its ability of launching distance fire strikes independently. Their conflicts of interests are hard to resolve. Service parochialism has been a long-standing problem in the US military. With different cultures and values, the services often contend for merits on the battleground and position in the military system. Although the US is increasing its defense budget every year, that’s still not enough to meet the services’ astronomical demand, driving them to compete intensely for a fat check. For instance, the navy once planned to commission heavy ship-borne helicopters, so it applied for an immense sum of money in the name of upgrading F-18 fighters to develop the F -18E/F Super Hornet. While the army and air force are battling over the money-burning high-tech project of distance strike capabilities, what’s behind is their selfish purpose of maintaining the position of strength and securing as big a share of the defense budget as possible.
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“Cậu Vàng” chính thức bị rút khỏi rạp CGV và Lotte sau hai tuần công chiếu với doanh thu hiện tại khoảng 3,5 tỷ đồng. Cậu Vàng bị rút khỏi các rạp chiếu khá sớm từ 25/1 và nhận thua lỗ nặng nề là một kết quả không quá bất ngờ. Làn sóng tẩy chay phim mạnh mẽ đã dẫn đến tình trạng các rạp vắng tanh, chi phí chiếu phim không đủ bù đắp chi phí vận hành. Đây có thể xem là tác phẩm thua lỗ nặng nề nhất trong lịch sử phim Việt. Hiện tại, Cậu Vàng chỉ còn được chiếu tại các rạp nhỏ địa phương và Beta là đơn vị hiếm hoi còn chiếu 1 suất/1 ngày ở khung giờ xấu. Đồng thời, fanpage Cậu Vàng đã ngưng cập nhật thông tin từ cách đây 12 ngày và các trang review phim cũng đã xóa bài review về Cậu Vàng. Bên cạnh đó, các diễn viên tham gia Câu Vàng cũng không còn quảng bá cho phim. Vì đâu nên nỗi? Trước và sau khi ra mắt, Cậu Vàng đã liên tục vướng phải những lùm xùm, rắc rối như việc nhà sản xuất chọn chú chó đóng chính là giống shiba của Nhật, hay việc admin fanpage Cậu Vàng đôi co với khán giả. Nhưng đỉnh điểm là việc diễn viên Băng Di vai mợ ba trong phim phát ngôn rằng “Truyện Lão Hạc cũng là do Nam Cao nghĩ ra chứ không có thật nên tất cả đều là hư cấu.” Tất cả những tranh cãi, phẫn nộ này đã dẫn đến làn sóng tẩy chay phim mạnh mẽ từ khán giả. Nhưng trên tất cả, Cậu Vàng là một tác phẩm cải biên lỗi và giả, với sai lệch trong tư duy làm phim. Cậu Vàng đã biến tác phẩm hiện thực của nhà văn Nam Cao trở thành một câu chuyện ngôn tình đầy “drama”. Kết quả thất bại của Cậu Vàng là minh chứng cho việc thiếu nghiêm túc, xem thường tác phẩm gốc và khán giả của đoàn làm phim. Trạng Tí liệu có giẫm lên vết xe đổ của Cậu Vàng? Bộ phim đang đối mặt với làn sóng tẩy chay tương tự từ khán giả là “Trạng Tí”. Dù biết hành trình 11 năm đi tìm quyền tác giả của họa sĩ Lê Linh nhưng nhà sản xuất Ngô Thanh Vân vẫn quyết định mua bản quyền từ công ty Phan Thị và thực hiện bô phim. Sau đó, cô và ekip đã liên hệ với họa sĩ Lê Linh nhờ hỗ trợ tư vấn nhưng ông đã từ chối bốn lần. Hiện đã cận ngày công chiếu nhưng Ngô Thanh Vân vẫn chưa thể giải quyết êm xuôi rắc rối với họa sĩ Lê Linh. Trạng Tí vẫn đang trong giai đoạn hậu kỳ, suốt ba năm qua, phim đã tiêu tốn 43 tỉ đồng và con số kinh phí sản xuất sẽ chưa dừng lại ở đó. Tuy nhiên, phim có thể sẽ khó tránh khỏi kết cục thua lỗ vì thiếu sự ủng hộ từ khán giả. Đây là kết quả khi nhà sản xuất xem thường quyền tác giả.
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-2
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vie_Latn
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A review of the efficacy of mitomycin C in glaucoma filtration surgery The success of trabeculectomy, which is considered the gold standard in the surgical treatment of glaucoma, depends on the wound healing response. The introduction of antiproliferative agents such as mitomycin C (MMC) has increased the success rates of trabeculectomy. However, complications due to these agents can be challenging to manage. Hence, it is important to determine the most efficacious dose and duration of exposure. Multiple studies suggest that many factors, including but not limited to MMC preparation, different concentrations, different exposure times, and method of application may affect success rate, and these factors were reviewed in this article. We concluded that lower concentrations of MMC that are prepared and applied in a standardized fashion, such as that using the Mitosol® kit (for 2–3 minutes) during trabeculectomy, could potentially provide trabeculectomy success rates similar to that reported with off-label preparations, and that such a treatment regime could result in in lower complication rates than higher doses of MMC. Introduction The goal of glaucoma surgery is to reduce intraocular pressure, which decreases the likelihood and rate of visual field loss in susceptible patients. 1 Currently, there are a number of surgical options for reducing intraocular pressure in glaucoma that include incisional surgery, non-penetrating filtration surgery, glaucoma drainage devices, and minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries. The challenge of surgeries that require external fistulization is reactive scarring and abnormal wound healing of the subconjunctival space that lowers long-term success. 2 Numerous approaches have been used to prevent conjunctival fibrosis after filtering surgery. Currently, the cytotoxic antimetabolites, 5-fluorouracil and mitomycin C (MMC), are the most commonly used agents. 3 Other agents that have been used to prevent postoperative scarring include anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibodies, 4 tumor growth factor beta antibodies, 3 and Ologen ® implants. 5 However, these agents were either ineffective as yet, or there is limited evidence to suggest that they might replace MMC. Despite many innovative approaches, MMC remains the most frequently used agent due to its reasonable efficacy in preventing subconjunctival fibrosis. This review outlines the efficacy of various MMC preparations including the widely use concentration of 0.2 mg/mL of MMC prepared as an off-label product in a vial and a recently available kit, and compares it with other concentrations and exposure times of MMC. for the surgical management of glaucoma. A survey of the American and Japanese Glaucoma Societies published in 1997 reported trabeculectomy was the preferred initial surgical approach for both societies. 7 Successful trabeculectomy requires a fistula that diverts aqueous humor into the subconjunctival space. The main challenge postoperatively is to minimize scarring in the subconjunctival space by reducing inflammation and by slowing or halting the healing process. Long-term follow-up of primary trabeculectomy without adjunctive MMC indicates that despite successful control of intraocular pressure (lOP) at 1 year, the probability of success decreases with time and stabilizes at 67% by 10 years. 8 Chen 9 described the efficacy of MMC in enhancing bleb survival following trabeculectomy in eyes with a high risk of failure. A 2004 survey of British ophthalmology consultants reported that 82% used antimetabolites during trabeculectomy. 10 MMC was the most commonly used antimetabolite among American Glaucoma Society members in 2008. 11 Efficacy of mitomycin solution in glaucoma filtration surgery MMC was isolated in Japan in 1954 from the broth of the Streptomyces caespitosus. MMC is an alkylating agent that prevents DNA synthesis. Its pharmacological effect is likely due to the quinone, carbamate, and aziridine groups that comprise the molecule. MMC undergoes metabolic activation via reduction into an alkylating agent, a process mediated by cytochrome P-450 reductase and that occurs most effectively in a hypoxic environment. 12 Additionally, data available from the antitumor activity of MMC, including biochemical and cell-based experiments, demonstrate that the enzyme NQO1 can also bioactivate MMC and is generally a good predictor of MMC sensitivity. 13 However, there are a host of factors that can influence the antitumor response to MMC that include intracellular pH and oxygen concentrations, competing bioreductive enzymes, and DNA repair enzymes responsible for the repair of cytotoxic MMC-DNA interstrand crosslinks. Hence, it is unlikely that studying only the NQO1 genotype or NQO1 protein levels will predict a MMC-related clinical response to tumor suppression or anti-fibrotic activity. 13 In a study on human Tenon's capsule tissue, MMC caused almost complete inhibition of fibroblast proliferation. 14 However, many factors can influence the efficacy of MMC as it interacts with fibroblasts. 14,15 These factors include the dose delivered to the tissues (which is concentration dependent), volume, duration of exposure, preparation method, administration, and tissue-related factors. 14 In vitro study of Tenon's capsule cultures suggests that fibroblast inhibition due to MMC is mainly dependent on the concentration and that a sponge applied for 1 minute can be as effective as a sponge applied for 5 minutes. 14,15 Clinical studies have observed that tissue becomes saturated with MMC after exposure for 1 minute. 16 Additionally, control of IOP was similar whether MMC was used for 2 minutes or 5 minutes. 17,18 The effects of MMC concentration on the success of glaucoma surgery are discussed in this review. The method of MMC application to tissue may also influence the effectiveness. Flynn et al 19 19 The authors concluded that variability in drug delivery characteristics observed in vitro suggested that type of microsurgical sponge may be an important factor in MMC delivery to the tissues. 19 Another factor that might influence the efficacy of MMC is the area of tissue that comes in contact with MMC. Application of MMC over a larger surface area achieves a higher short-term decrease in IOP and a significantly lower incidence of bleb scarring compared to eyes that receive MMC application over a smaller area. [20][21][22] The site and time of MMC application might also influence fibroblast inhibition. Traditionally, MMC has been applied into sub-Tenon's space intraoperatively, with some surgeons also placing it beneath the scleral flap. Applying MMC-soaked sponges before creating the scleral flap or beneath the scleral flap, and other variations in surgical technique, could influence the outcome of trabeculectomy beyond the influence of the concentration and duration of MMC application. 23,24 Furthermore, studies have suggested that intrascleral application of MMC might be as efficacious as subconjunctival application. [23][24][25] Recently, MMC has been used as a single preoperative subconjunctival injection in various low-dose concentrations prior to trabeculectomy. 26,27 Though this technique appears to have gained popularity, there are no peer-reviewed publications that suggest that this method of application is superior to other techniques. An additional factor that may play a role in lowering IOP following application of MMC during trabeculectomy is MMC toxicity to the ciliary epithelium. Histopathological studies in human eyes and experimental studies have demonstrated toxic effects of MMC to the ciliary body and its epithelium, which likely cause a reduction in aqueous secretion and a lowering of IOP. 28,29 Patient variables beyond those presented in this paper may influence surgical outcomes. These include thickness of Tenon's capsule, degree of tissue vascularity and bleeding, and possibly, different receptor responses to MMC. 3 Clinical studies on the effectiveness of mitomycin C The adjunctive use of MMC has been a major advance in the efficacy of lowering IOP with trabeculectomy. However, there are complications associated with MMC use, including hypotony and maculopathy in the early postoperative period. Many investigators have attempted to develop protocols for adjunctive therapy that allow an acceptable balance between the risks and benefits. [9][10][11]18 A previous study has suggested that the level of inhibition of fibroblast proliferation correlated with the outcome of filtering surgery. 30 A clinical trial has supported the benefit of MMC as an adjunct to trabeculectomy. 31 An in vivo confocal microscopy study displayed that the final effect of the filtering procedure with MMC was a fivefold increase in conjunctival microcyst density and surface area on the site of the bleb. 32 Intraoperative treatments with MMC result in long term inhibition of fibroblast proliferation with abnormal marked variation in cell size and vacuoles in the cytoplasm limited to the treated area, when compared with intraoperative and postoperative treatment with 5-FU. 33 A recent qualitative and quantitative analysis comparing filtering blebs with optical coherence tomography showed that blebs following MMC trabeculectomy had good functionality with low index of reflectivity and cystoid pattern. On the other hand, in trabeculectomies without MMC, mixed optical coherence tomography patterns (layer or diffuse pattern) were associated with high infrared and poor functionality. 34 MMC can enhance the success rate of trabeculectomy for refractory glaucoma in patients of most ethnic backgrounds, including those of African ancestry. [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] Enhanced success rates have also been reported in glaucoma associated with uveitis, congenital and developmental glaucoma, normal-tension glaucoma, and primary, uncomplicated trabeculectomies. [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] A Cochrane database review of eleven clinical trials evaluating 698 patients concluded that MMC reduced the risk of surgical failure in eyes undergoing primary trabeculectomy and high-risk eyes. 43 A study of primary trabeculectomy with low-dose MMC reported that IOP was maintained at 15 mmHg or less in more than 80% of patients after 1 year and in 60% of patients after 6 years. 44 A study with a majority of patients at high risk of failure reported that 0.2 mg/mL of MMC for 5 minutes resulted in an 84% success rate at 1 year follow-up. 45 Annen and Stürmer 46 used 0.2 mg/mL MMC for 1 minute and noted an IOP of ,21 mmHg in 88% of cases at approximately 1 year, with 8.8% of cases developing an avascular bleb. In a prospective, randomized study, Kitazawa et al 47 reported that 88% of glaucomatous eyes with poor surgical prognosis achieved an lOP of #20 mmHg without glaucoma medications after MMC during trabeculectomy, while only 47% of eyes receiving 5-fluorouracil achieved a similar outcome in a period of 7-12 months. Similarly, Skuta et al's 48 randomized study of eyes at high risk for failure from glaucoma filtering surgery reported that 60% of MMCtreated eyes had an IOP of #12 mmHg versus only 21.1% of 5-fluorouracil-treated eyes at 6 months. Singh et al 49 evaluated a consecutive series of 20 eyes that underwent trabeculectomy with 0.02 mg/mL MMC intraoperatively and reported an overall success rate of 85%. In this series, there were two cases of recurrent leaks and two cases of scleral necrosis exposing the ciliary body. 49 The authors cautioned that such complications, though rare, can occur with lower doses of MMC, and they recommended that lower doses of MMC or placing MMC in the sub-Tenon's space without scleral dissection could potentially avoid the complication of scleral necrosis. Furthermore, another study suggested that based on the successful outcome of trabeculectomy with MMC, its use may be justified in primary trabeculectomies in patients with advanced glaucoma. 44 In pediatric patients who underwent trabeculectomy with MMC, the success rates varied from 56% to 95%. [50][51][52] Additionally, administration of MMC during filtering surgery often leads to development of thin-walled, avascular blebs, which might result in bleb leaks that predispose eyes to infection. 53,54 There may be an increased risk of developing a thin-walled bleb with higher concentrations of MMC. 55 High-dose MMC can be associated with complications. Akova et al 56 reported two cases of scleromalacia in pediatric patients who received 0.4 mg/cc MMC for 5 minutes. Fourman 57 reported a case series of five patients who developed scleritis 3 to 24 weeks after adjunctive MMC during inferior trabeculectomy. MMC has also been used with success as an adjunct to needling and non-penetrating glaucoma surgery. Using MMC during needling a failed filtering bleb resulted in an 85% success rate. 58 reported that MMC needle revision is an effective method to revive failed filtration surgery in terms of IOP reduction. Trials have also shown that intraoperative MMC during deep sclerectomy results in lower IOPs. 60,61 However, MMC in glaucoma drainage devices does not seem to affect the outcome of the surgical procedure during Molteno ® valve 62,63 or Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation. 64,65 Based on the literature and our current review, it appears that reducing MMC dosage or exposure time of intraoperative MMC may mitigate the incidence of complications associated with overfiltration and perhaps, may also avoid the development of ischemic blebs. Clinical observations on the surgical outcomes using different concentrations of mitomycin C Prospective and retrospective studies have addressed the effectiveness of various concentrations of MMC on the outcome of glaucoma filtration surgery. However, the conclusions regarding effects of MMC concentration and exposure time are variable, and these observations are summarized in this section (later). Robin et al 66 evaluated four groups: placebo, 0.2 mg/mL MMC for 2 minutes, 0.2 mg/mL MMC for 4 minutes, and 0.4 mg/mL MMC for 2 minutes, respectively, with 1-year follow-up. They concluded that a possible dose-response relationship exists between efficacy and the concentration and duration of exposure to MMC. 66 Kitazawa et al 67 evaluated 0.02 and 0.2 mg/mL MMC in primary trabeculectomy and reported 63.6% and 100% success rates, respectively, with transient hypotony maculopathy (18%) and cataract progression (18%) noted in the 0.2 mg/mL group exclusively. The authors suggested that the appropriate dose was between the two concentrations. 67 Laube et al 68 evaluated 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg/mL of MMC for 2.5 minutes, and found that 0.2 mg/mL was the most effective dose. Alternately, other studies have reported that altering the exposure time had little to no effect on postoperative IOP reduction or success rates of trabeculectomy. 17,18 Sanders et al 69 confirmed that filtering surgery performed on higher risk eyes was as effective at a lower dose (0.2 mg/mL) of MMC compared to a higher dose (0.4 mg/mL). They reported a higher incidence of hypotony-related complications with the higher concentration (0.4 mg/mL) group. 69 Maquet et al 70 used three different concentrations of MMC (0.1 mg/mL, 0.2 mg/mL, and 0.4 mg/mL) and found no significant differences in IOP control and postoperative complications. Lee et al 71 compared 0.4 mg/mL, 0.2 mg/mL, and 0.1 mg/mL MMC in 36 eyes and found no statistical difference in IOP reduction between concentrations. They noted postoperative hypotony in only two patients, both from the 0.4 mg/mL group. 71 A recent prospective, randomized trial with 2 years' follow-up demonstrated the non-inferiority of 0.1 mg/mL of MMC compared to 0.2 mg/mL. 72 The use of MMC in pediatric glaucoma has also been studied. Agarwal et al 73 reported that MMC 0.4 mg/mL and 0.2 mg/mL were equally effective in post-trabeculectomy patients with congenital glaucoma. They also reported that 0.2 mg/mL MMC resulted in a lower incidence of thin-walled blebs, postoperative hypotony, wound leakage, and choroidal detachments. 73 Most studies of prolonged MMC application report an increased risk of postoperative complications. 16,74,75 However, this observation remains controversial. 18 A retrospective, comparative study on patients at high risk for failure reported that surgical success at 18 months postoperatively with 0.2 mg/mL MMC for 2 minutes was similar to a matched group receiving 0.2 mg/mL MMC for 5 minutes. 18 In combined trabeculectomy with phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation with MMC 0.5 mg/mL applications of 1, 3, or 5 minutes, the IOP outcomes were similar. 76 In addition to the benefits of lowering IOP, MMC-assisted trabeculectomy may have an impact on the patient's quality of life (QoL). The Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS) compared the outcome of medical treatment to initial MMC trabeculectomy. 77 At 5 years follow-up, both medical and surgical therapy were effective in reducing IOP, but initial surgery led to lower visual field progression in subjects with advanced visual field loss at baseline. 77 However, the risk of cataract formation after trabeculectomy was higher, resulting in a decrease in vision-related QoL. 77 Most, but not all, vision QoL subscales indicated worsening of cataracts prior to cataract surgery and an improvement in vision after cataract extraction. 78 A French study reported that poor vision-related QoL was associated with topical drug side effects. 79 A recent report on quality-adjusted lifeyears and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio reported that glaucoma surgeries such as trabeculectomy and tube insertion were determined to be cost-effective compared with medical therapy alone, and that trabeculectomy had a lower cost per quality-adjusted life-year compared with tube insertion. 80 Though the cost effectiveness of trabeculectomy has been addressed in studies discussed earlier, the direct and indirect costs associated with a failed trabeculectomy and its comparison with a primary trabeculectomy with Mitosol ® ( 1949 Mitomycin for glaucoma surgery effective in achieving lower IOPs when compared to higher concentrations/prolonged exposure times. In contrast, higher MMC concentrations and prolonged exposure times may be associated with a higher risk of complications. Some variability in the study outcomes related to MMC concentration and exposure time might be dependent on study design, patient selection, and outcome measures. Preparation of mitomycin C MMC is customarily frozen in storage and thawed to room temperature before use or prepared on site from a vial. The use of different concentrations of MMC requires on-site preparation under suboptimal conditions and can lead to dosage errors. 81 The potency of MMC after storage has been studied in vitro. 82 High-performance liquid chromatography evaluation indicated that MMC had similar stability, despite different preparations and storage methods, if it was used immediately upon reaching room temperature. 83 However, some degradation of MMC occurred with further storage at room temperature, and the clinical effects of this degradation are unclear. 83 Additionally, on-site formulation can result in an unstable solution, due to incorrect pH or storage temperatures. 84 The off-label application of MMC in glaucoma surgery has been quite effective. However, many variables may affect the stability and efficacy of MMC when prepared on site compared to a compounding pharmacy. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved MMC for ab externo glaucoma surgery. The preparation is available in a 0.2 mg/vial concentration, with standardized sponges packaged in a kit (Mitosol). The advantages of this kit include reliable potency prepared in optimal conditions, proper dosing, sterility, and an extended shelf life at room temperature. Additionally, standardized sponges are included in the kit as the size, type, and shape of the sponge might influence the efficacy of MMC. 19,85 A standard number of sponges are included to eliminate human error when counting used sponges during surgery. No clinical studies were conducted for FDA approval of Mitosol. FDA approval was based on the efficacy of MMC in open-angle glaucoma reported in the existing body of literature. 86 The availability of a standardized preparation of MMC is a welcome addition in the armamentarium of adjunctive therapy in glaucoma filtration surgery. However, there are some controversial aspects to the introduction of this preparation. For example, there have been no randomized clinical trials comparing the Mitosol kit to MMC prepared in a compounding pharmacy. MMC at 0.2 mg/mL is the most common concentration for glaucoma surgery. However, higher concentrations of MMC may be preferred for cases of repeat trabeculectomy or inflammatory glaucoma. 70 Furthermore, this preparation may not be available in developing countries. The most controversial aspect of this preparation is the substantial increase in the cost of the surgical procedure. The cost of one Mitosol kit is reportedly US$359, which is several-fold more expensive than the offlabel preparation of MMC (depending on the country). 86 This issue is similar to the debate on the cost-effectiveness of ophthalmic bevacizumab versus ranibizumab in the treatment of retinal disease. 87 Conclusion Surgical intervention plays a major role in the management of glaucoma. Trabeculectomy with adjunctive MMC application intraoperatively increases surgical success. Standardization of different variables during trabeculectomy has been investigated for several years and has been discussed in detail in this review. The efficacy of 0.2 mg/mL of MMC applied for a period of 2-3 minutes during surgery appears to be quite effective in clinical trials. However, prospective studies are warranted to determine the efficacy of standardized preparations of MMC, such as Mitosol. Standardized kits such as Mitosol are likely to result in faster surgery while mitigating dosage errors, maintaining aseptic conditions, and preventing other intraoperative errors, such as retained sponges. The issue of cost of standardized preparations needs to be addressed, especially if the goal is worldwide distribution. Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
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Even though one of America’s finest sculptors created it, the “Indian Hunter” statue occupies an obscure spot in Central Park just outside the Sheep Meadow, on a modestly traveled path toward The Mall and its array of white authors and Christopher Columbus. But maybe that is exactly right. Like the mythical native shown hunting in the forest he called home, the statue by John Quincy Adams Ward is barely visible in shadows cast by tall trees. Some, apparently, were beginning even in the mid-19th Century to question whether white Europeans’ “stern impassioned stress” did actually “a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness.” In her poem that inspired the statue, Eliza Cook wrote, “Oh! why does the white man follow my path, Like the hound on the tiger’s track?” She concluded, “Then back, go back from the red man’s track, For the hunter’s eyes grow dim, To find that the white man wrongs the one Who never did harm to him.” It’s an ethical quandary that still haunts a city where the fabulous got fabulous by abusing workers and breaking strikes (Carnegie, Rockefeller and Frick), claiming land owned by others (Vanderbilt, Harriman), and dipping an insatiable bucket into wealth created by others (Morgan, Chase). American freedom came at a price: not only the price paid by those who overthrew an empire and defended the nation against fascism and terrorism, but the price paid by the land’s original owners and by immigrants who toiled hard but saw little reward. Beneath the flag that marks our homeland, we should honor all of those sacrifices.
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Global Gardens | Nature Works Everywhere Urban gardens are powerful tools that can help grow healthy food, reduce our carbon footprint and increase the overall health of our city environments. “It’s important to create gardens in urban locations because there is a whole range of benefits a garden can bring to the city,” says Lola Bloom of City Blossoms in Washington, D.C. By creating a small, contained habitat for plants, pollinators, and other creatures, these tiny garden ecosystems can actually provide space for a huge diversity of animals. Urban gardens – the soil, the plants and the root systems – also offer water filtration benefits, which helps cities reduce contaminants that stream into waterways. In this video from the Nature Conservancy, students explore the role that urban gardens can have on an individual, local and global scale. They will also see how these mini-farm and mini-watersheds ultimately bring people together. WATCH: http://to.pbs.org/1WRmN0X
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Your Cart You have no items in your bag. So...what exactly makes a sneaker a SeaVees? Born in 1964, SeaVees is the original way to go casual. Today SeaVees honors its origin by making modern amendments to retro-inspired styling, resulting in a timeless, sophisticated sneaker. Our shoes are carefully batch-made in small production runs to maintain SeaVees’ renowned quality and comfort. Here’s a closer look at what makes a sneaker a SeaVees.
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Customizing Excel's environment is one way to work more efficiently. Further customizing Excel by controlling the way it opens can also reduce repetitive tasks, thereby increasing productivity. There are a few easy tweaks your users might benefit from when launching Excel: - Open a specific workbook - Open with no workbook - Open with a custom template Open a specific workbook Users who work with just one workbook can save a few keystrokes if Excel opens that workbook when launching. To do so, simply store the workbook in the XLStart folder, which you'll probably find in the following directory: - Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLStart - Windows Vista: C:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Excel\XLStart - Windows 7: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office Save the workbook as you would any other, but specify the XLStart folder in the Save In control. Once you do, Excel will always open that workbook, instead of a blank workbook, when launching. Open with no notebook This is an odd request, but still, some users prefer not to open any workbook, even a new blank one, when launching Excel. There's no built-in setting to enable this behavior, but you can create a shortcut icon and use a switch, as follows: - Using Windows Explorer, find Excel.exe in the Microsoft Office subfolder (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office). - Right-click Excel.exe and select Create Shortcut. Excel will create a new shortcut icon, which you'll find at the bottom of the list of files in the current folder. - Right-click the shortcut icon and choose Properties. - Click the Shortcut tab. - Click in the Target field and add a space, followed by the /e switch to the current path. - Click OK. Most likely, you'll want to move the shortcut icon to the user's Desktop. You can do so by right-clicking the icon and choosing Send To, and then selecting Desktop. You must train your users to use this shortcut icon to launch Excel with no workbook - that is the one drawback to this simple technique. Open with a custom template A custom template is a great way to reduce formatting tasks and to apply your organization's conventions. To save a workbook as the default template, create the workbook, setting all the appropriate properties and options. Then, save the workbook as you normally would, but choose Excel Template (.xltx) from the Save In dropdown. Name the workbook Book, and save the workbook to the XLStart folder; don't save it to the default Template folder as you would other templates. Susan Sales Harkins is an IT consultant, specializing in desktop solutions. Previously, she was editor in chief for The Cobb Group, the world's largest publisher of technical journals.
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Driver jumps curb and maims five kids; Principal tells them not to wear headphones Screen capture from security video Cars are heavy machinery, complex instruments and very dangerous. Yet almost anyone over 16 can drive them, and keep driving them for long past their best-by date. My mom drove until she was 92 and they finally took her licence away; there are a lot of people who shouldn't be on the road. Yet when pedestrians and cyclists get maimed or killed, it is often called an "accident", even though there is really no such thing. Yesterday in New York City, a man made "a driver's mistake." A city councillor tells the Daily News: He mowed down five kids, three of whom have serious injuries. His Honda SUV, as can be seen in this Daily News Photo, has an after-market steel thing on front that blocks the shock-absorbing front bumper and probably significantly increased the carnage. Yet according to Streetsblog, As Aaron Naparstek points out in a tweet, the cops could have impounded the car, investigated phone records and looked into the black box that is in most newer cars. As a long time driver, I don't know how any reasonably competent driver could mix up the pedals like this unless they were seriously distracted. They could charge the driver for illegally modifying the safety devices on the car. Instead, it is all just an accident. DNAinfo/Screen capture To add icing to this horrible cake, what does the principal of the school do? According to DNAinfo New York, Instead of asking "Hey parents, please don't run over our students," he writes: We are sending you this notice pertaining to the safety of our students when travelling to and from school as an incident occurred today... All children must be encouraged to be aware of their surroundings when walking to and from the school. Headphones, CD players, iPods and any other electronic devices...can be a threat to their safety as they do not permit children to hear what is going on in their surrounding environment. Therefore we are asking that you keep your children free from using any listening devices when commuting so that they may be more in tune with their immediate surroundings... ..and jump out of the way when a car is driving on the sidewalk. None of the kids were wearing headphones, but once again, it is assumed that it is the pedestrian's responsibility to get out of the way or they are part of the cause of the "accident." It's time to stop blaming the victims. Tags: New York City | Walking Best of TreeHugger 2014
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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The haunted history of the Hammond Castle has drawn the interest of several individuals both locally and abroad. Starting in the year of 1926 and all the way through until the year of 1929, Hammond Castle was constructed by a man by the name of John Hays Hammond, Jr. in the ever-popular architectural style of medieval. Hammond had a keen interest in collecting rare and elaborate artifacts that were medieval based. However, he also enjoyed collecting artifacts that were Roman based and also from the Renaissance period. You will learn many interesting facts and relevant information regarding the haunted history of the Hammond Castle here. On April 13th 1888, John Hays Hammond, Jr. was born to an engineer in the area of mining by the name of John Hays Hammond, Sr. in the city of San Francisco, California. The family moved around to several different places. However, it was in England where a young Hammond, Jr. discovered a fascination with castles. This move occurred when he was twelve years old. Eventually, the family would move back to the United States. This is when young Hammond would meet Thomas Edison for the first time in New Jersey. Edison was completely impressed with the young boy due to the fact that he was so inquisitive. He decided to become the boys mentor. He continued to thoroughly enjoy castles and all things that were unique as far as artifacts and other types of items, but he developed a fondness for science and inventions. As he grew, he learned to value education. He went into college and then developed an interest in studying how radio waves worked. This is when the young Hammond boy, now a man, received a new mentor. This mentor was Alexander Graham Bell. His first job once college ended was in the year of 1910. This was at the U.S Patent Office. He intentionally gained this position so that he could become an expert in the field of patents. He sought to learn as much as he possibly could. Eventually, he came to own the “Hammond Radio Research Laboratory”. This was created on an estate in the city of Gloucester in the state of Massachusetts that his father owned. Throughout his lifetime he invented hundreds and hundreds of unique things, and patented them all. Starting in the year of 1926, Hammond began construction on the infamous castle. This construction took place in Gloucester. He constructed the castle in a unique style. It was built in sections on Cape Ann. Each of the unique sections was designed to highlight various distinguished periods of architecture that were popular in Europe. These included Romanesque, Medieval, Renaissance French, and Gothic. In addition to this, he integrated many unique features that many refer to as “bizarre”. Examples include passageways that were secret, and even rooms that rained through special devices. In the year of 1965, Hammond passed away. The individuals that buried him were sure to do so on the property of Hammond Castle. He was actually buried in the same location as his beloved cat. He specified that, in death, he wanted the grounds that he would be buried in to be covered with poison ivy. He did not want to be bothered once he was put to rest. It is believed that the poison ivy was not enough to hold the spirit of Hammond in as many have claimed to have seen his spirit in various locations around the premises. In addition to the spirit of Hammonds, there are several other spirits that seem to linger around the area. One story tells of a groundskeeper that apparently died during the commission of his work at the castle. It is believed that the spirit of the man still roams around on the property as if he is still trying to care for the plants and all other items that is a part of the landscaping. In addition to this, it is believed that the deceased wife of the popular Hammonds still moves restlessly among the castle. Then, several individuals have claimed that there seem to be spirits moving about in and around the facility that are not recognized. Several unexplained phenomenon such as apparent ghost pictures, ghost videos, and occurrences seem to indicate that there is a high level of paranormal activity that seems to occur at this grand castle. If you are interested in the paranormal, there are self-guided tours that can be taken at the haunted Hammond Castle. Hammond Castle Museum 80 Hesperus Ave. Gloucester, MA Tel: 978-283-2080
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Launched on March 28, 1964 By March 1964, the Beatles had landed in the USA and mesmerized its youth. Of course "their" music was often a reinterpretation of "our" music. We enthusiastically did even realize that many of their (and other British Invasion hits) were covers of earlier American hits. In stark contrast, British youth had a difficult time hearing any rock music on their radios because of the British government's control of the airwaves. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) limited their commercial-free stations to six hours of pop music a week! Enter Radio Caroline Sensing young Brits unmet hunger for their own and American pop music, Radio Caroline, the first pirate radio station, began to broadcast on March 28, 1964. The ironic characteristic about such radio is that it copied the style of commercial AM radio in the US. That is, top 40 format with frequent commercials and rapid DJ patter. The approach was so successful that by 1967 ten pirate radio stations were broadcasting to an estimated daily audience of 10 to 15 million. Interestingly, the number of people listening to BBC stations did not decline indicating that the audience was a new one, one that the BBC had not had to begin with. The British government attempted to rid the airwaves of pirate radio by passing the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act in 1967. The British government also adjusted its BBC program by increasing the number of programs playing pop music. Radio Caroline continued to broadcast though with limited hours until 1990, but had periods of years when it was off the air completely. The way that it and other pirate radio stations were able to continue was by using new technology to broadcast, moving to different locations, or using secret land-based locations. According to Wikipedia, There are currently an estimated 150 pirate radio stations in the UK. A large proportion of these pirate radio stations operate in London. Please follow and like us:
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu
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Thursday, May 11, 2017 Focus on verbs, not on names Additional notes: • In the real world, things happen concurrently. Mintxelas said... I think both nouns and verbs are needed to correctly understand what we are modeling. If natural language needs both to explain it, wouldn ́t it be unreasonable to think we can dismiss one of the sources of information without missing something? Alfred J. Cuack said... Maybe DDD didn't help much o some of us misunderstood it. Eduardo Ferro Aldama said... Mintxelas... yes both are important and needed, but I prefer to focus on verbs and thinking about the corresponding nouns as additional information, than to focus on nouns and not thinking too much about the actions. For sure nouns are important but for me, less important. In a phone system, we should focus on calling or having a phone call. For sure is important that we have customers in our network, and that we connect to another customer even from other networks, but the system should focus on the action "calling", and the entity customer or the entity customer location, is important but secondary... for example this information is important to "audit" the calls, to "invoice" the customer, to "route" the call... But the main focus on a phone system is to allow phone calls, not on manage customers. The Idea is that focusing on verbs, the nouns appear... but when the focus is on nouns, not necessarily, but typically, we lost information. I'm not sure I'm making myself clear. Eduardo Ferro Aldama said... Regarding the DDD, I know that the tactical patterns talk about entities, value objects, and so on... and I am not saying that these are not important, but The most significant message of the Domain-Driven Design strategy is talking about the domain knowledge, identifying the bounded contexts and understanding the business needs, and this are actions, in a hospital, the business is curing a patient, to diagnose, etc... the main business concepts are not "nurse", "doctor", "patient", these are concepts that play a role... Mintxelas said... I don ́t think any is more important than the other. I just don ́t see the value of a verb without a noun. As Eduardo said above, focusing only on nouns gives anhemic domain entities. Focusing on verbs gives over-generic commands that hinder understanding the application (mmv). It ́s just that it requires a HOLISTIC (kick me in the mouth for using that word ;) view to get to a "better" model. Eduardo Ferro Aldama said... verbs without a noun have no value, but if you ask for a noun, they can answer that we have "invoices", we have "customers" and so on... and if you ask for actions they can answer with processes, flows, and events (including everything, verbs and nouns)... (e.g. When we deliver the product we invoice the customer sending by email the invoce). So yes, you need everything, but you get a better answer if you ask for actions first (sure that the nouns come in the answer). :-)
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mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0
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Psychological factors that affect mental resilience in crises Psychopathological morbidities represent a significant burden over the different sectors of populations exposed to the different crises. Many factors can contribute to the development of these events, including economic, health-related, and psychological factors. In addition, different factors can affect resilience, including demographic, environmental, and psychological factors. Many original studies have highlighted the impact of these factors on resilience in these settings. In the present literature review, we discussed the different psychological factors associated with resilience following a crisis. Some factors include the sense of avoidance and fear of being harmed or impacted by these crises. Our findings indicate the impact of different factors on psychological resilience during these events. For instance, reports show that fear of catching and transmitting the infection during infectious diseases pandemics was associated with reduced resilience and increased anxiety and stress. On the other hand, lockdown measures were associated with better resilience. In addition, social support, coping strategies, and adequate training and experience are essential factors that significantly contribute to resilience in a crisis. INTRODUCTION The incidence of natural disasters is increasing with time, owing to different factors, especially climate changes. Furthermore, there have also been different pandemics of infectious diseases during the past decades, adding to the burdens on the different global communities. 1,2 In addition, evidence from different studies in the literature has highlighted the significant risk of developing major psychological disorders following these events. Some reported events include post-traumatic stress disorder, stress, and anxiety. [3][4][5] Moreover, evidence indicates that social and economic factors might also contribute to psychopathology and impact the quality of life of the affected individuals. Accordingly, it is essential to introduce urgent management and interventional modalities for populations at high risk of suffering from these burdens. enhanced outcomes and quality of life during crises. 6,7 However, it should be noted that different factors can affect resilience, including demographic, environmental, and psychological factors. Many original studies have highlighted the impact of these factors on resilience in these settings. 8,9 Therefore, based on evidence from previous studies, the present literature review will discuss the different psychological factors that can potentially impact resilience during a crisis. LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review is based on an extensive literature search in Medline, Cochrane, and EMBASE databases which was performed on 25 th October 2021 using the medical subject headings (MeSH) or a combination of all possible related terms, according to the database. To avoid missing potential studies, a further manual search for papers was done through Google Scholar while the reference lists of the initially included papers. Papers discussing psychological factors that affect mental resilience in crises were screened for useful information. No limitations were posed on date, language, age of participants, or publication type. DISCUSSION As a result of the exposure to different stressors in recent years, evidence shows that populations tend to develop different resilience factors to cope with the different stressors and enhance their quality of life. Therefore, many investigations aimed to investigate these factors and draw better interventions to enhance the outcomes in this context. In this context, a previous study assessed the different factors associated with resilience against pandemics after exposing their population to two weeks of stress. The authors reported that an upbeat appraisal style was significantly associated with resilience. It has been furtherly reported that stress response recovery was a significant psychological factor associated with resilience. 10 Another investigation in Nepal aimed to assess the impact of psychological factors on resilience among patients with earthquake-related spinal cord injuries. The authors reported that having a depressive mood and self-efficacy were significantly correlated with an impact on the resilience among the included participants. It has been furtherly demonstrated that resilience was also significantly influenced by the employment status of the participants, current living location, and sex. In addition, social support was also significantly associated. However, by multi regression analysis, it was not. Besides, spirituality did not have a significant association with resilience among the included patients. Another investigation that obtained their data following September 11, 2001 terrorist attack also aimed to assess the correlation between different factors and resilience. It has been reported that having past and recent life stressors, the number of comorbid and chronic conditions, social support, income change, level of exposure to the traumatic disorder were associated with resilience. Moreover, the authors reported that education, ethnicity and race, age, and gender were all significant factors associated with resilience after these events. 11 Evidence shows that having a sense of preparedness and competence is significantly associated with better resilience outcomes. Accordingly, these outcomes are more significant among individuals that perceive more preparedness and training to cope with crisis-related events. In addition, these patients are reported to have a reduced risk of developing mental health manifestations. Following the 2004 Madrid bombings, a previous investigation by Gabriel et al aimed to assess different psychological factors associated with resilience among police officers. 12 Among the included population, it has been reported that only two officers said that they had depressive symptoms without any other mental manifestations. The low prevalence of depressive symptoms among the included population has been attributed to the fact that most of them were adequately prepared to deal with such attacks. In this context, the authors reported that most participants (70%) received terrorist operation modules. The impact of training and preparedness was also indicated by previous investigations that showed that depressive symptoms and resilience were significantly enhanced among trained personnel than volunteering individuals. [13][14][15] Following the 2004 South East Asia tsunami, another investigation reported that reduced stress-related events were significantly associated with specific training and mission preparation programs. 16 Similar findings were also reported among individuals that developed post-traumatic distress syndrome. 17 The impact of training and preparedness was also assessed among healthcare workers during outbreaks and pandemics. For instance, a previous study reported that resilience against mental health manifestations was significantly associated with receiving adequate experience and training during the SARS outbreak. 18 Other similar investigations have furtherly reported this. In addition, a previous study that was conducted during the same period also reported that poor mental health was significantly reduced among healthcare family physicians that received training courses about the proper management of cases during an outbreak of infectious diseases. 19 In the same context, it has been reported that reduced adverse psychological events and decreased stress levels were significantly associated with healthcare workers who are confident about their skills and knowledge about infection control practices. These events were evident among these workers more than other workers who had lower confidence levels during the SARS outbreak. 20 During COVID-19, different factors were also reported to affect resilience and reduce the frequency of developing psychological symptoms. It has been demonstrated that enhanced resilience was associated with social distancing measures, while general bad health conditions were associated with high-stress levels. 21 Different factors were reported to contribute to the levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors include reduced confidence in avoiding COVID-19 and having a feeling of vulnerability in catching COVID-19. 21 This has been further indicated in previous investigations that reported that feelings of anxiety and other psychological parameters were significantly associated with fearing catching an infection or transmitting it to other individuals in society. [22][23][24][25] Lower meaning in life and high distress levels were also significantly influenced by reduced confidence in avoiding infections, job insecurity, and income reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic. 21 A previous study also reported reduced mental health manifestations that included nurses working in SARS after perceiving adequate family support. 26 During the Hurricane Katrin crisis, Tak et al investigation demonstrated that reduced depressive symptoms among fire-fighters were associated with living with families. 27 In addition to community and social support, evidence shows that perceiving adequate support from managers and colleagues was also previously evidenced to reduce the frequency and intensity of mental health disorders. A previous study demonstrated reduced anger states and avoidance behaviors were significantly associated with providing adequate organizational support for the included nurses during the SARS crisis. 28 A previous study in Australia assessed factors associated with resilience following a major flood among police officers in this context. It has been reported that reduced psychological strain was significantly associated with providing adequate supervisor and cultural support to the included officers. 29 Thus, evidence of the efficacy of social support has been provided for the public and military individuals. 30 Evidence furtherly indicates that resilience is significantly associated with social, family, and friends support. The previous study that was recruited police officers that witnessed Madrid bombings also indicated that social support was also associated with the reduced frequency of psychopathological events and provided adequate training for these individuals. 12 Evidence among Humanitarian aid workers also reported that social support was associated with enhanced life satisfaction and reduced burnout, psychological distress, and depression. 31 Following the 2005 North Pakistan earthquake, evidence indicated that social support was significantly associated with reduced burnout, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic distress. 32 Previous studies based on data following the 9/11 attacks demonstrated that social support and self-confidence were associated with the different psychopathological parameters of these crisis-related events. 33 These findings imply the importance of community support to the different workers and populations directly related to and are at significant risk of developing psychopathological morbidities. Among the different factors associated with resilience during a crisis is the presence of effective coping strategies. For example, it has been reported that posttraumatic stress was significantly associated with having an approach acceptance attitude towards mortality among crisis workers. In addition, negative psychological impacts were significantly associated with avoiding fear of death and avoiding thinking of death. On the other hand, it has been demonstrated that resilience was significantly associated with thinking of the traumatic events rather than avoiding them and accepting their potential incidence. Previous investigations have indicated these findings that showed that psychopathology was associated with a feeling of avoidance of thinking about stress-related events and mortality. Previous studies have indicated that individuals exposed to stress-related events have reduced psychological manifestations when they cope with the different stressors and convince themselves about their abilities to deal with the different crisis-related events. [34][35][36] Previous similar investigations also reported that selfefficacy is a significant factor that can influence resilience. This psychological factor is essential to promote and motivate individuals following crises and enhance their health-promoting behaviors. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that reduced psychological behaviors were associated with high self-confidence to pass through the different crisis-related stressors and better with these situations without being impacted by the adverse outcomes. In this context, a previous study concluded that resilience was significantly associated with being highly confident of having control over the different desirable things. 37 Low resilience was reported to be significantly associated with having a depressive mood. [38][39][40] The presence of a crisis-related event can significantly lead to various factors that lead to developing a depressive mood. These factors include chronic pain, being less dependent on performing daily activities, financial and employment loss, difficulty with reintegration and adjustment into the community and routine life, and restricted mobility among patients who suffer from crisis-related injuries. 41,42 For instance, a previous study showed that crisis-related injuries influenced patients to develop suicidal thoughts and ideas, have more frequent hospital visits, and develop an increased risk of medical complications. Affected individuals might also reduce the frequency of performing exercises, avoiding eating and self-care activities. These factors were reported to increase depressive mood characteristics associated with low resilience against crises. [43][44][45] Among individuals that survive disasters, evidence shows that social support is a significant factor of resilience and coping among these patients. 37,39,46 However, other studies reported that this factor is not significant among their participants following disasters. Thus, social support does not enhance the person's ability to buffer the different crisis-related stressors. On the other hand, it has improved resilience among the affected personnel. 11 A previous study also demonstrated that enhanced resilience parameters were significantly associated with confidence-related various internal factors. 48 These factors have been reported to regulate the emotions and thoughts of individuals after the crises. The impact of spirituality on resilience outcomes and coping was also reported among previous investigations. However, evidence is contradicting about its significance in this context. 37 These differences can be attributed to different reasons. For instance, the cause of injury following the crisis and the duration of living with such impacts might alter the individuals' spirituality. It is widely known that different circumstances can significantly affect spirituality because it is mainly dynamic. 49,50 Therefore, it might be challenging to assess the association between spirituality and resilience from cross-sectional investigations. Therefore, this might explain why the association between spirituality and resilience is different among cross-sectional designs. Accordingly, other investigations with better designs are needed for better validation. CONCLUSION Psychopathological morbidities represent a significant burden over the different sectors of populations exposed to the different crises. Many factors can contribute to the development of these events, including economic, healthrelated, and psychological factors. In the present literature review, we discussed the different psychological factors associated with resilience following a crisis. Our findings indicate the impact of different factors on psychological resilience during these events. Some factors include the sense of avoidance and fear of being harmed or impacted by these crises. For instance, reports show that fear of catching and transmitting the infection during infectious diseases pandemics was associated with reduced resilience and increased anxiety and stress. On the other hand, lockdown measures were associated with better resilience. Social support, coping strategies, and adequate training and experience are essential factors that significantly contribute to resilience in a crisis.
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Thiết bị này cũng được Apple giới thiệu vào tháng 9/2021. Ban đầu, nhiều nguồn tin rò rỉ đã rằng Apple Watch Series 7 cũng sẽ có thiết kế hoàn toàn mới với các cạnh phẳng, vuông vức. Tuy nhiên, ngoại hình thực tế sản phẩm này lại không có nhiều thay đổi so với phiên bản tiền nhiệm. Là dòng smartwatch này thuộc dòng cao cấp nhất của Apple, thiết bị này cũng được trang bị đầy đủ những chế độ luyện tập như hàng loạt tính năng theo dõi sức khỏe. Tuy nhiên, phiên bản Apple Watch Series 7 hiện cũng bán ra tại thị trường Việt Nam lại không thể sử dụng được những tính năng sạc nhanh. Đây cũng được xem một thiếu sót lớn, khiến Apple Watch Series 7 cũng trở nên thua thiệt khi so với những đối thủ cũng khác như Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 với dòng Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro. Dù không nhiều thay đổi về thiết kế, Apple Watch Series 7 vẫn thu hút được nhiều sự quan tâm của người dùng. Bất chấp những điều đó, dòng sản phẩm này cũng vẫn thu hút được rất nhiều sự quan tâm của người dùng. Doanh số Apple Watch Series 7 cũng tiếp tục khẳng định vị thế vững chắc Apple trên thị trường đồng hồ thông minh. Xếp vị trí thứ 2 trong danh sách này là chiếc Apple Watch SE. Đây là một sản phẩm thuộc phân khúc tầm trung với kiểu thiết kế tương tự Apple Watch Series 5, nhưng bị cắt giảm một số những tính năng cao cấp như điện tâm đồ. Hai vị trí tiếp theo, lần lượt thuộc về Galaxy Watch 4 và dòng Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Bộ đôi này cũng là những chiếc đồng hồ thông minh đầu tiên của Samsung còn được trang bị hệ điều hành Wear OS. Dù ra mắt từ năm 2017, Apple Watch Series 3 hiện vẫn đứng ở vị trí thứ 5 trong danh sách những mẫu smartwatch đang bán chạy nhất quý I/2022. Hiện tại, thiết bị này không còn được hỗ trợ cập nhật lên phiên bản hệ điều hành watchOS 9 mới nhất. Tổng hợp
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HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-2
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vie_Latn
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Public Expects Gridlock, Deeper Divisions With Changed Political Landscape 5. Views on whether Trump or Democrats have a better approach on issues When asked if Donald Trump or Democrats in Congress will have the better approach to a range of specific issues – or whether there’s not much difference between the two – the public prefers the approach of Democrats in many areas. For example, 55% of the public says Democrats will have a better approach to the environment, while 19% think Trump’s approach will be better. A quarter says there won’t be much difference between the two. On ethics in government, about half (48%) say Democrats will have a better approach, compared with just 22% who say Trump will have a better approach. Nearly three-in-ten (29%) say there’s not much difference between the respective approaches. The pattern of opinion is similar in attitudes toward Medicare, health care, and Social Security, with pluralities favoring the approach of Democrats over Trump. When asked about immigration policy, 46% say the Democrats in Congress have the better approach, compared with 40% who say Trump has the better approach. A relatively smaller share (13%) says there’s not much difference between the two. Neither Trump nor Democrats in Congress receive a plurality of support for their approach toward the budget deficit – 34% say Trump’s approach will be better, 38% say Democrats’ approach will be better, and 27% say there will not be much difference. The pattern is similar in Americans’ views of taxes and trade. Jobs and economic growth is the one area where more Americans prefer Trump’s approach to that of Democrats (44% to 33%). Still, 22% say there’s not much difference between the two. While Republicans and Democrats generally prefer the approach of actors from their own political party, there are some issues for which in-party support is more modest than others. About eight-in-ten Republicans and Republican leaners (83%) say Trump will have the better approach to jobs and economic growth, while 5% say Democrats’ approach will be better and 12% say neither approach will be better. Large shares of Republicans also prefer Trump’s approach to immigration, taxes, trade policy, foreign policy and gun policy. However, when Republicans are asked who will have the better approach to ethics in government, fewer than half (46%) say Trump. About one-in-ten (13%) say Democrats will have the better approach, while fully 40% of Republicans say there will be no difference between the two. And on the environment, just 41% of Republicans think Trump will have a better approach than Democrats. About three-in-ten (28%) think Democrats will have a better approach and another 30% say there won’t be much difference between the two. Majorities of Democrats and Democratic leaners prefer the approach of congressional Democrats across all 12 issues included in the survey. However, the size of this majority opinion does vary by issue. On health care (81%), the environment (80%) and ethics in government (77%) large shares of Democrats say Democrats in Congress will have a better approach than Trump. When it comes to jobs and economic growth, Democrats are somewhat less confident that Democrats in congress have the better approach: 57% say this, while 13% say Trump will have the better approach and nearly three-in-ten (28%) say neither approach is better than the other.
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It’s a great illustrated read about the scientific history of the ideas behind ‘persuasive technology’, and ends with a plea that perhaps we can hijack our weakness for variable reward schedules for better ends: What is we set up a variable reward system to reward ourselves for the time spent away fro our phones & physically connecting with others? Even time spend meditating or reading without technological distractions is a heroic endeavor worthy of a prize Which isn’t a bad idea, but the pattern of the reward schedule is only one factor in what makes an activity habit forming. The timing of a reward is more important than the reliability – it’s easier to train in habits with immediate than delayed rewards. The timing is so crucial that in the animal learning literature even a delay of 2 seconds between a lever press and the delivery of a food pellet impairs learning in rats. In experiments we did with humans a delay of 150ms we enough to hinder our participants connecting their own actions with a training signal. So the dilemma for persuasive technology, and anyone who wants to free themselves from its hold, is not just how phones/emails/social media structure our rewards, but also the fact that they allow gratification at almost any moment. There are always new notifications, new news, and so phones let us have zero delay for the reward of checking our phones. If you want to focus on other things, like being a successful parent, friend or human the delays on the rewards of these are far larger (not to mention more nebulous). The way I like to think about it is the conflict between the impatient, narrow, smaller self – the self that likes sweets and gossip and all things immediate gratification – and the wider, wiser self – the self than invests in the future and carers about the bigger picture. That self can win out, does win out as we make our stumbling journey into adulthood, but my hunch is we’re going to need a different framework from the one of reinforcement learning to do it George Ainslie’s book Breakdown of Will is what happens if you go so deep into the reinforcement learning paradigm you explode its reductionism and reinvent the notion of the self. Mind-alteringly good. Putting a student at the centre of their own learning seems like fundamental pedagogy. The Constructivist approach to education emphasises the need for knowledge to reassembled in the mind of the learner, and the related impossibility of its direct transmission from the mind of the teacher. Believe this, and student input into how they learn must follow. At the same time, we know there is a deep neurobiological connection between the machinery of reward in our brain, and that of learning. Both functions seem to be entangled in the subcortical circuitry of a network known as the basal ganglia. It’s perhaps not surprising that curiosity, which we all know personally to be a powerful motivator of learning, activates the same subcortical circuitry involved in the pleasurable anticipation of reward. Further, curiosity enhances memory, even for things you learn while your curiosity is aroused about something else. This neurobiological alignment of enjoyment and learning isn’t mere coincidence. When building learning algorithms for embedding in learning robots, the basic rules of learning from experience have to be augmented with a drive to explore – curiosity! – so that they don’t become stuck repeating suboptimal habits. Whether it is motivated by curiosity or other factors, exploration seems to support enhanced learning in a range of domains from simple skills to more complex ideas. Obviously we learn best when motivated, and when learning is fun, and allowing us to explore our curiosity is a way to allow both. However, putting the trajectory of their experience into students’ hands can go awry. False beliefs impede learning One reason is false beliefs about how much we know, or how we learn best. Psychologists studying memory have long documented such metacognitive errors, which include overconfidence, and a mistaken reliance on our familiarity with a thing as a guide to how well we understand it, or how well we’ll be able to recall it when tested (recognition and recall are in fact different cognitive processes). Sure enough, when tested in experiments people will over-rely on ineffective study strategies (like rereading, or reviewing the answers to questions, rather than testing their ability to generate the answers from the questions). Cramming is another ineffective study strategy, with experiment after experiment showing the benefit of spreading out your study rather than massing it all together. Obviously this requires being more organised, but my belief is that a metacognitive error supports students’ over-reliance on cramming – cramming feels good, because, for a moment, you feel familiar with all the information. The problem is that this feel-good familiarity isn’t the kind of memory that will support recall in an exam, but immature learners often don’t realise the extent of that. In agreement with these findings from psychologists, education scholars have reacted against pure student-led or discovery learning, with one review summarising the findings from multiple distinct research programmes taking place over three decades: “In each case, guided discovery was more effective than pure discovery in helping students learn and transfer”. The solution: balancing guided and discovery learning This leaves us at a classic “middle way”, where pure student-led or teacher-led learning is ruled out. Some kind of guided exploration, structured study, or student choice in learning is obviously a necessity, but we’re not sure how much. There’s an exciting future for research which informs us what the right blend of guided and discovery learning is, and which students and topics suit which exact blend. One strand of this is to take the cognitive psychology experiments which demonstrate a benefit of active choice learning over passive instruction and to tweak them so that we can see when passive instruction can be used to jump-start or augment active choice learning. One experiment from Kyle MacDonald and Michael Frank of Stanford University used a highly abstract concept learning task in which participants use trial and error to figure out a categorisation of different shapes. Previous research had shown that people learned faster if they were allowed to choose their own examples to receive feedback on, but this latest iteration of the experiment from MacDonald and Frank showed that an initial session of passive learning, where the examples were chosen for the learner boosted performance even further. Presumably this effect is due to the scaffolding in the structure of the concept-space that the passive learning gives the learner. This, and myriad experiments, are possible to show when and how active learning and instructor-led learning can be blended. Education is about more than students learning the material on the syllabus. There is a meta-goal of producing students who are better able to learn for themselves. The same cognitive machinery in all of us might push us towards less effective strategies. The simple fact of being located within our own selfish consciousness means that even the best performers in the world need a coach to help them learn. But as we mature we can learn to better avoid pitfalls in our learning and evolve into better self-determining students. Ultimately the best education needs to keep its focus on that need to help each of us take on more and more responsibility for how we learn, whether that means submitting to others’ choices or exploring things for ourselves – or, often, a bit of both. You’ve probably heard of “brain training exercises” – puzzles, tasks and drills which claim to keep you mentally agile. Maybe, especially if you’re an older person, you’ve even bought the book, or the app, in the hope of staving off mental decline. The idea of brain training has widespread currency, but is that due to science, or empty marketing? The review team, led by Dan Simons of the University of Illinois, set out to inspect all the literature which brain training companies cited in their promotional material – in effect, taking them at their word, with the rationale that the best evidence in support of brain training exercises would be that cited by the companies promoting them. The chairman says it works A major finding of the review is the poverty of the supporting evidence for these supposedly scientific exercises. Simons’ team found that half of the brain training companies that promoted their products as being scientifically validated didn’t cite any peer-reviewed journal articles, relying instead on things like testimonials from scientists (including the company founders). Of the companies which did cite evidence for brain training, many cited general research on neuroplasticity, but nothing directly relevant to the effectiveness of what they promote. The key issue for claims around brain training is that practising these exercises will help you in general, or on unrelated tasks. Nobody doubts that practising a crossword will help you get better at crosswords, but will it improve your memory, your IQ or your ability to skim read email? Such effects are called transfer effects, and so called “far transfer” (transfer to a very different task than that trained) is the ultimate goal of brain training studies. What we know about transfer effect is reviewed in Simons’ paper. As well as trawling the company websites, the reviewers inspected a list provided by an industry group (Cognitive Training Data of some 132 scientific papers claiming to support the efficacy of brain training. Of these, 106 reported new data (rather than being reviews themselves). Of those 106, 71 used a proper control group, so that the effects of the brain training could be isolated. Of those 71, only 49 had so called “active control” group, in which the control participants actually did something rather than being ignored by the the researchers. (An active control is important if you want to distinguish the benefit of your treatment from the benefits of expectation or responding to researchers’ attentions.) Of these 49, about half of the results came from just six studies. Overall, the reviewers conclude, no study which is cited in support of brain training products meets the gold standard for best research practises, and few even approached the standard of a good randomised control trial (although note their cut off for considering papers missed this paper from late last year). A bit premature The implications, they argue, are that claims for general benefits of brain training are premature. There’s excellent evidence for benefits of training specific to the task trained on, they conclude, less evidence for enhancement on closely related tasks and little evidence that brain training enhances performance on distantly related tasks or everyday cognitive performance. The flaws in the studies supporting the benefits of brain training aren’t unique to the study of brain training. Good research is hard and all studies have flaws. Assembling convincing evidence for a treatment takes years, with evidence required from multiple studies and from different types of studies. Indeed, it may yet be that some kind of cognitive training can be shown to have the general benefits that are hoped for from existing brain training exercises. What this review shows is not that brain training can’t work, merely that promotion of brain training exercises is – at the very least – premature based on the current scientific evidence. Yet in a 2014 survey of US adults, over 50% had heard of brain training exercises and showed some credence to their performance enhancing powers. Even the name “brain training”, the authors of the review admit, is a concession to marketing – this is how people know these exercises, despite their development having little to do with the brain directly. The widespread currency of brain training isn’t because of overwhelming evidence of benefits from neuroscience and psychological science, as the review shows, but it does rely on the appearance of being scientifically supported. The billion-dollar market in brain training is parasitic on the credibility of neuroscience and psychology. It also taps into our lazy desire to address complex problems with simple, purchasable, solutions (something written about at length by Ben Goldacre in his book Bad Science). The Simons review ends with recommendations for researchers into brain training, and for journalists reporting on the topic. My favourite was their emphasis that any treatment needs to be considered for its costs, as well as its benefits. By this standard there is no commercial brain training product which has been shown to have greater benefits than something you can do for free. Also important is the opportunity cost: what could you be doing in the time you invest in brain training? The reviewers deliberately decided to focus on brain training, so they didn’t cover the proven and widespread benefits of exercise for mental function, but I’m happy to tell you now that a brisk walk round the park with a friend is not only free, and not only more fun, but has better scientific support for its cognitive-enhancing powers than all the brain training products which are commercially available. I had a piece in the Guardian on Saturday, ‘The way you’re revising may let you down in exams – and here’s why. In it I talk about a pervasive feature of our memories: that we tend to overestimate how much of a memory is ‘ours’, and how little is actually shared with other people, or the environment (see also the illusion of explanatory depth). This memory trap can combine with our instinct to make things easy for ourselves and result in us thinking we are learning when really we’re just flattering our feeling of familiarity with a topic. Here’s the start of the piece: Even the most dedicated study plan can be undone by a failure to understand how human memory works. Only when you’re aware of the trap set for us by overconfidence, can you most effectively deploy the study skills you already know about. ... even the best [study] advice can be useless if you don’t realise why it works. Understanding one fundamental principle of human memory can help you avoid wasting time studying the wrong way. I go on to give four evidence-based pieces of revision advice, all of which – I hope – use psychology to show that some of our intuitions about how to study can’t be trusted. A few classic studies help to define the way we think about the science of learning. A classic study isn’t classic just because it uncovered a new fact, but because it neatly demonstrates a profound truth about how we learn – often at the same time showing up our unjustified assumptions about how our minds work. My picks for five classics of learning were: Bartlett’s “War of the Ghosts” Skinner’s operant conditioning work on dissociable memory systems by Larry Squire and colleagues de Groot’s studies of expertise in chess grandmasters, and .... Anders Ericcson’s work on deliberate practice (of ‘ten thousands hours’ fame) Obviously, that’s just my choice (and you can read my reasons in the article). Did I choose right? Or is there a classic study of learning I missed? Answers in the comments. A new trial shows the benefits of online ‘brain training’ exercises including improvements in everyday tasks, such as shopping, cooking and managing home finances. What they actually did A team led by Clive Ballard of King’s College London recruited people to a trial of online “brain training” exercises. Nearly 7,000 people over the age of 50 took part, and they were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group did reasoning and problem solving tasks. A second group practised cognitive skills tasks, such as memory and attention training, and a third control group did a task which involved looking for information on the internet. After six months, the reasoning and cognitive skills groups showed benefits compared with the control group. The main measure of the study was participants’ own reports of their ability to cope with daily activities. This was measured using something called the instrumental activities of daily living scale. (To give an example, you get a point if you are able to prepare your meals without assistance, and no points if you need help). The participants also showed benefits in short-term memory, judgements of grammatical accuracy and ability to learn new words. Many of these benefits looked as if they accrued after just three months of regular practice, completing an average of five sessions a week. The benefits also seemed to affect those who went into the trial with the lowest performance, suggesting that such exercises may benefit those who are at risk of mild cognitive impairment (a precursor to dementia). How plausible is this? This is gold-standard research. The study was designed to the highest standards, as would be required if you were testing a new drug: a double-blind randomised control trial in which participants were assigned at random to the different treatment groups, and weren’t told which group they were in (nor what the researcher’s theory was). Large numbers of people took part, meaning that the study had a reasonable chance of detecting an effect of the treatment if it was there. The study design was also pre-registered on a database of clinical trials, meaning that the results couldn’t be buried if they turned out to be different from what the researchers (or funders) wanted, and the researchers declared in advance what their analysis would focus on. So, overall, this is serious evidence that cognitive training exercises may bring some benefits, not just on similar cognitive tasks, but also on the everyday activities that are important for independent living among the older population. This kind of research is what “brain training” needs. Too many people – including those who just want to make some money – have leapt on the idea without the evidence that these kind of tasks can benefit anything other than performance on similar tasks. Because the evidence for broad benefits of cognitive training exercises is sparse, this study makes an important contribution to the supporters’ camp, although it far from settles the matter. Why might you still be sceptical? Well there are some potential flaws in this study. It is useful to speculate on the effect these flaws might have had, even if only as an exercise to draw out the general lessons for interpreting this kind of research. First up is the choice of control task. The benefits of the exercises tested in this research are only relative benefits compared with the scores of those who carried out the control task. If a different control task had been chosen maybe the benefits wouldn’t look so large. For example, we know that physical exercise has long-term and profound benefits for cognitive function. If the control group had been going for a brisk walk everyday, maybe the relative benefits of these computerised exercises would have vanished. Another possible distortion of the figures could have arisen as a result of people dropping out during the course of the trial. If people who were likely to score well were more likely to drop out of the control group (perhaps because it wasn’t challenging enough), then this would leave poor performers in the control group and so artificially inflate the relative benefits of being in the cognitive exercises group. More people did drop out of the control group, but it isn’t clear from reading the paper if the researchers’ analysis took steps to account for the effect this might have had on the results. And finally, the really impressive result from this study is the benefit for the activities of daily living scale (the benefit for other cognitive abilities perhaps isn’t too surprising). This suggests a broad benefit of the cognitive exercises, something which other studies have had difficulty showing. However, it is important to note that this outcome was based on a self-report by the participants. There wasn’t any independent or objective verification, meaning that something as simple as people feeling more confident about themselves after having competed the study could skew the results. None of these three possible flaws mean we should ignore this result, but questions like these mean that we will need follow up research before we can be certain that cognitive training brings benefits on mental function in older adults. For now, the implications of the current state of brain training research are: Don’t pay money for any “brain training” programme. There isn’t any evidence that commercially available exercises have any benefit over the kinds of tasks and problems you can access for free. Do exercise. Your brain is a machine that runs on blood, and it is never too late to improve the blood supply to the brain through increased physical activity. How long have you been on the computer? Could it be time for a brisk walk round the garden or to the shops? (Younger people, take note, exercise in youth benefits mental function in older age) A key feature of this study was that the exercises in the treatment group got progressively more difficult as the participants practised. The real benefit may not be from these exercises as such, but from continually facing new mental challenges. So, whatever your hobbies, perhaps – just perhaps – make sure you are learning something new as well as enjoying whatever you already know. Want to enhance your memory for facts? Tom Stafford explains a counterintuitive method for retaining information. If I asked you to sit down and remember a list of phone numbers or a series of facts, how would you go about it? There’s a fair chance that you’d be doing it wrong. One of the interesting things about the mind is that even though we all have one, we don’t have perfect insight into how to get the best from it. This is in part because of flaws in our ability to think about our own thinking, which is called metacognition. Studying this self-reflective thought process reveals that the human species has mental blind spots. One area where these blind spots are particularly large is learning. We’re actually surprisingly bad at having insight into how we learn best. Researchers Jeffrey Karpicke and Henry Roediger III set out to look at one aspect: how testing can consolidate our memory of facts. In their experiment they asked college students to learn pairs of Swahili and English words. So, for example, they had to learn that if they were given the Swahili word ‘mashua’ the correct response was ‘boat’. They could have used the sort of facts you might get on a high-school quiz (e.g. “Who wrote the first computer programs?”/”Ada Lovelace”), but the use of Swahili meant that there was little chance their participants could use any background knowledge to help them learn. After the pairs had all been learnt, there would be a final test a week later. Now if many of us were revising this list we might study the list, test ourselves and then repeat this cycle, dropping items we got right. This makes studying (and testing) quicker and allows us to focus our effort on the things we haven’t yet learnt. It’s a plan that seems to make perfect sense, but it’s a plan that is disastrous if we really want to learn properly. Karpicke and Roediger asked students to prepare for a test in various ways, and compared their success – for example, one group kept testing themselves on all items without dropping what they were getting right, while another group stopped testing themselves on their correct answers. On the final exam differences between the groups were dramatic. While dropping items from study didn’t have much of an effect, the people who dropped items from testing performed relatively poorly: they could only remember about 35% of the word pairs, compared to 80% for people who kept testing items after they had learnt them. It seems the effective way to learn is to practice retrieving items from memory, not trying to cement them in there by further study. Moreover, dropping items entirely from your revision, which is the advice given by many study guides, is wrong. You can stop studying them if you’ve learnt them, but you should keep testing what you’ve learnt if you want to remember them at the time of the final exam. Finally, the researchers had the neat idea of asking their participants how well they would remember what they had learnt. All groups guessed at about 50%. This was a large overestimate for those who dropped items from test (and an underestimate from those who kept testing learnt items). So it seems that we have a metacognitive blind spot for which revision strategies will work best. Making this a situation where we need to be guided by the evidence, and not our instinct. But the evidence has a moral for teachers as well: there’s more to testing than finding out what students know – tests can also help us remember.
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Prosecutor shot to death at home He was scheduled to face suspect later in court Posted: Tuesday, June 06, 2000 BURKESVILLE, Ky. -- A man charged with child molesting blasted his way into a prosecutor's home where both men died in a shootout early Monday, hours before they were to face each other in court. Commonwealth's Attorney Fred Capps, 46, was shot multiple times and died at the scene, Kentucky State Police spokesman Jerry Melton said. The gunman, identified as Eddie Vaughn, 49, also was found dead inside the home by state police troopers shortly after 6 a.m., Melton said. An autopsy showed two shots from Capps' gun killed Vaughn, police said. Witnesses said Capps died trying to protect his family. Capps' wife, Cathy, witnessed the incident and was nicked by debris, but not seriously wounded. The couple's two children, John, 16, and Lydia, 11, were asleep in their upstairs bedrooms and were not hurt. Eddie Vaughn The gunman's wife and brother were arrested at the scene and charged with murder. Vaughn, 49, had been due to go on trial Monday with Capps prosecuting him on charges of sexual abuse involving a child under 12. Authorities did not immediately give details on the charges. State police Sgt. Mike Castle said Vaughn fired several shots from an assault rifle into Capps' home before 6 a.m., then entered and fired more shots. The front door handle was blown off by gunfire, and five bullet holes were visible in a front window. ''There are dozens of shell casings and bullet fragments in the interior of the home, which would indicate a tremendous amount of gunfire,'' Melton said. Neighbor Mack Walker, whose family has lived across the street from the Capps for more than 25 years, said: ''I heard the shots and saw this boy standing at the doorway shooting into the house ... I knew Fred was in trouble and told my wife to call the law.'' Vaughn's wife, Patricia Vaughn, and brother, James Vaughn, were charged with murder, though neither was armed. Witnesses said Patricia Vaughn was in a vehicle in the Capps' driveway. James Vaughn was arrested in a field nearby. Police would not say why the two accompanied Vaughn to the scene, or exactly what prompted the murder charges against them. Capps was the prosecutor at Vaughn's arraignment last July on the sex charges. Vaughn was freed on bail. ''There was no animosity or anything that I knew about'' between the two men, circuit court Clerk Hazel Jones said. Vaughn had a long arrest record on charges including intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Capps was prosecutor for Adair, Casey, Cumberland and Monroe counties in southern Kentucky. He shared a law practice with his wife, who is assistant commonwealth's attorney. They also represented Burkesville, a town of 1,800 about 140 miles south of Louisville near the Tennessee line. Trending this week: © 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us
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Thursday, March 05, 2009 Spencer's Plan for Economic Recovery and National Reform Due to the state of our nation's economy, I have decided to become active in the political arena, thus I have written up a proposed 15-point plan for economic recovery. My plan involves spending cutbacks as well as job creation. This will be the plan to fix our nation! 1) Illegal aliens are an enormous drain on the American taxpayer. Beginning a massive deportation plan will create new jobs (as the round-up begins) and, in the end, save all the money that goes down the illegal drain. 2) Desperate times call for desperate measures! Close nearly all animal shelters and only keep open a small number of pounds. If a lost dog or cat is not claimed within 7 days, this animal will be humanely euthanized. And as America is a nation that believes strongly in trade, the bodies of the animals will be sold to Vietnam, where they are a delicacy. This will save money and earn it at the same time. Hey, when the going gets rough.... 3) Repeal all gun bans and unnecessary restriction laws. Abolish the need for CCW (concealed carry) permits. This will create a boom in the firearms market. More people will begin carrying, more will begin buying, we will see new owners and existing owners will spend more. That means more money for America! 4) Begin charging the United Nations Headquarters for their use of American soil. Also charge them a sum of 1 billion dollars for every troublesome act they commit. This way, the national debt will very speedily be decreased. 5) Begin drastic cutbacks on public school funding. While America is a nation with foundations in education, it is time to move to the private sector (New private schools = job creation!), the public schools are part of the problem. In a hurting economy only what can prove its worth can be kept. This would also apply to social workers and truant officers. 6) With the new spirit of change and bipartisanship in our nation, I propose that our trustworthy leaders lead the way by taking large pay cuts. We will expect our good friends such as President Obama and Nancy Pelosi to lead the way. 7) Begin handing out the death penalty more. Pedophiles and rapists are first; after dealing with Michael Jackson and such, then we move on to other offenders. This will save lots of money on prison food, not to mention everything else! 8) As long as we are in the Middle East, let's take over all the oil fields and start getting all that gas money back into the American economy. Oh, and more drilling at home. 9) This should have been listed earlier: cut taxes! 10) Strenuously cut down on the lawsuits against citizens who acted in self-defense. Encouraging self-defense means more dead bad guys, and discouraging unwarranted criminal lawsuits means less work for the government. Both mean more money saved! 11) So long as they continue in the quest for finding Marvin the Martian, drop NASA's funding. While we're at it, cut some, if not all the funding to anti-Creationist groups. We must show the world that we are a nation of diversity and welcome differences! 12) Use scratchy toilet paper in all government buildings, as well as cheap, stinky soap. 13) We must begin working with pharmaceutical and insurance companies to save the American consumer their hard-earned dollars! 14) A simple and cost-effective way to go green in the nation would be to paint all public buildings bright green. It is time to turn the White House into the Green House! (Aren't we out to symbolize in Washington change anyway?) 15) And while we are on the subject, halt the popularization of Communism. Red is an expensive color to print. I am Spencer and I approve this message! Lady Neferankh said... Bwahahaha--highly original ;) I am afraid I must object strongly to number 15 though--what about the scarlet and crimson hues in fashion plates? olde.fashioned said... Oh. My. Gawsh. I laughed so darn hard...:-D :-D :-D I'd vote for you! ;-) I also think that all of our elected officals should start taking public transportation. You know, lead by example, and all that stuff. ;-P WildWeazel said... I am WildWeazel and I endorse this candidate. Dr. Paleo Ph.D. said... Yayuh. 8-)
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Dragons are large, six-limbed carnivores. They have four legs and two large, batlike wings, along with scales that can come in any color. Dragons can either breath fire or ice, depending on their species and habitat. They are very solitary, and there are almost no historic dragon groups recorded. Their tail is very long, about the length of their body, which some dragons use as a weapon. Dragons are usually solitary, but mated pairs will stay together to have clutches of eggs. Dragons are also very aggressive, taking almost everything as a challenge and not afraid to fight. Dragons are also very very territorial, and mark their territory daily. They also Most dragons are given descriptive names, such as Strong, Brave, or Fierce. Some dragons are also named after objects in nature or natural phenomena, like Tornado, Leaf, or Storm. Very few dragons have compound names, but when they do, it is mostly because they were either raised by another species ornraised themselves, and are not used to the historic dragon way. Dragons have been around for a long time, being one of the most powerful mythical beings. The first Dragons were carved out of rock by the mythical beings of power, Far, Feel, Sight, and Evermore. Their eyes were marked by jewels, and their Bodies were covered in lava and ice. Then, the dragons arose as powerful creatures to protect, defend, and help. But over time dragons have forgotten their purpose and now, they are lonesome solitary creatures, who seek only for themselves. Many dragons do not believe in any specific higher being, though some recognize the wind and sky as powerful forces. But in ancient times before they forgot their purpose, they looked up to the Mythical Beings of Power.
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Kiwi scientists have helped discover incredible new submarine volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean - some rising up to 2.5km from the seafloor. The discoveries were made by a team of international scientists who have just returned from a six-week voyage probing the volcanic Kermadec Arc, around 1000km northeast of the North Island. Funded by the German government and led by scientists from Kiel-based GEOMAR and GNS Science, the project explored the seabed to provide new information about the dynamic geological history of New Zealand's offshore territory. It aimed to investigate the Colville and Kermadec Ridges, the Havre Trough, and the Kermadec Trench, which is up to 10,000m deep and is where the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates collide. There are about 80 submarine volcanoes along the Tonga-Kermadec Arc, with about 75 per cent of them hosting active hydrothermal systems, where hot mineral-rich fluids from within the Earth's crust billow into the ocean. A number of the volcanoes produce regular eruptive activity. GNS Science and its international collaborators have been exploring this region of the ocean floor for some years from surface ships and with remotely operated vehicles. However, this expedition was the first to undertake systematic reconnaissance and seafloor sampling from the now extinct Kermadec and Colville Ridges, and the much deeper Havre Trough and Kermadec Trench. Knowledge about the history of the seafloor hosting these 80 volcanoes will provide information about how the volcanoes formed and why they are so highly active. Before the expedition, little was known about the seafloor in this region of New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone. Expedition co-leader Christian Timm, a marine geoscientist at GNS Science, said it was fascinating to see pieces of the seafloor on deck that nobody had ever seen before. "Combined with seafloor maps, we can now start to put the pieces of the puzzle together to provide new insights into how our planet works," Timm said. "Investigating the Kermadec Trench, which is up to 10km deep, is important to understanding when plate collision started and also to comprehend the tremendous forces that grind up and swallow whole mountains in the subduction process. "The ground up and subducted tectonic plate is a key driver of New Zealand's highly active volcanoes." Expedition leader, Professor Kaj Hoernle of GEOMAR, was impressed by the complex pattern of faulting and volcanism in the Havre Trough between the Kermadec and Colville Ridges. "The Havre Trough serves as a case study into how an older chain of island volcanoes, similar to present-day Tonga Island volcanoes, has been split in half and 200km of new seafloor has formed between the split arc." During the expedition, the scientists discovered five new seafloor volcanoes on the Colville Ridge and the Havre Trough, with some rising up to 2,500m above the seafloor. One has a caldera - a circular pit-like opening - that was 2km in diameter. "Discovering such a large caldera volcano representing explosive volcanism about 40km west of the large arc front volcanoes is certainly surprising and is something that has not been observed before," Timm said. Back in their labs, the researchers would determine the age of the recovered rock samples. "The ages and chemistry of the rocks are essential for reconstructing the past history of volcanism and faulting in Havre Trough," Hoernle said. "It is amazing how much young volcanism we sampled throughout the Havre Trough. "We now know that there are many submarine volcanoes north of New Zealand, but have little information about the other, older portion that makes up about 90 per cent of the seafloor." Timm said that, like the active volcanoes today, this seafloor once formed during dramatic eruptions of tremendous amounts of melt that was now solidified rock. "Understanding the train of events will help to tell the narrative of how New Zealand's vast offshore territory formed and evolved." The expedition was undertaken aboard the 120m-long Sonne, Germany's newest deep-sea research vessel. It operates in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and is well equipped to deploy the latest scientific instruments, even down to depths of 6000m.
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KASAMA Vol. 12 No. 4 / October-November-December 1998 / Solidarity Philippines Australia Network Bishop Julio Labayen Bishop Labayen travelled around Australia in September this year as a guest of the international Christian peace organisation Pax Christie in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Bishop Labayen, a Carmelite, is widely known for his courageous and prophetic advocacy of a renewed spirituality based on social transformation. The following extracts from the talk he gave at Justice Place in Brisbane on September 11th illustrate some of his views on renewing spirituality through social transformation. Social action was a Johnny-come-lately in the apostolate of the Philippine church. We were overtaken by martial law and it was a completely new experience for us. That is when we moved very seriously into justice work because of the violations of human rights. I also got involved with the Socio-Pastoral Institute which was founded by the religious for the purpose of updating them and discovering the role of the religious in that situation of martial law. Also, some of our people were, what we call in the Philippines, salvaged. "Salvaged" is a term which is characteristically Filipino meaning "summary killing without due process of law". In Latin America they are called "the disappeared" or desaparecidos which is the same phenomenal experience. I found out later that I was on the hit list of the military. In November 1970, an historic meeting of the Asian bishops took place in Manila. It was presided over by Pope Paul VI, the first Pope ever to set foot in the Philippines. The theme was development and we also gave special emphasis to the youth because Asia is a continent of young people. When we had that meeting, I was then still the executive officer of the Social Action Office of the church. I had the task to lobby and one thing that we focussed on, in cooperation with the religious and the other bishops from Southeast Asia, was to ensure that the meeting would not end with the last period of the document because in these meetings, after that last period of the last document, then it's only good for the library. So, we ensured there would be a structure that would follow up the meeting. And out of that was born the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences. Incidentally, that has done a lot of good for the Asian bishops, particularly in the preparation for the synod for Asian bishops. I served in the capacity of executive chairperson of the Office for Human Development and that is what took me around Asia, including Australia. So, I've been here a few times upon invitation of Australian Catholic Relief, which is now Caritas, and that is how I got acquainted with the Australian churches and with a few bishops here. In the meanwhile, because of martial law, I became suspect, not only by the military but also by some conservative bishops for not toeing the line of the Catholic Church. That was one of my darkest nights, most painful, because since I was a first year student of theology I have always gone by the thinking and feeling of the church. So, to be accused and maybe even pushed out of office on the grounds that I was not any more in line with the Catholic church was a painful experience. At any rate, there were bishops who sympathised with me, and the ones who wanted to get rid of me got stuck with me because I was given five years more. After that I thought it was time to step down. Since I stepped out of the post of national secretary of the Social Action Office of the Catholic Bishops, I am still working, but outside the structures of the Conference. So, I am free of the politics of the institution, and that is a blessed position to be in. Our social justice work has always been to update ourselves to the issues of the times, particularly in Asia and the Philippines. And, I've discovered that the issues in Australia are very similar. The land rights, the native title - we have the same burning issue. As a matter of fact, a priority of our program in the diocese is the program regarding the indigenous peoples and we were able, finally, to engage them in our ongoing formation program to become the church of the poor. Usually in our extended formation program which lasts for 26 days, the last three days are for a summing up of the whole program. I discovered that some of the participants had an immersion program among the indigenous peoples which had a tremendous impact upon all of them. What we are trying to get to are the cultures that have not yet been corrupted by this system that has been globalised. Among the indigenous communities, we sense real humanity and a knowledge of the sacredness of the earth. We did not pick this up in our theology courses. That is why I have no hesitation to say that I have been evangelised by the indigenous peoples. So, I thank you for your welcoming address about the position and the world view of the Aborigines. Somebody once asked me: "Is Christ in the hearts of the Aborigines?" Well, let me tell you a story about Aboriginal people. Nowadays, formation is not just an academic exercise but about immersion - to experience life, reflect on the struggles of the poor, and find out what is the message of God to us. Well, there was a group of Christians who wanted to immerse themselves among the Agtas, one of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. So, naturally, their guides up there were Agtas. After climbing the mountain slopes in the heat of the tropical sun, they were rather tired and hungry. They chanced to pass a grove of guava trees filled with fruits ready to eat. So, they all picked, including the Agtas. When the Agtas had their fill, they stopped picking, but the Christians continued to pick, filled their pockets, and filled the bags they'd brought with them. They told the Agtas: "Pick some more, there's plenty of fruits." Their Agta guide answered, "You know, sir, there are other people who will pass this way. If we clean the trees of the fruits, there will be nothing left for them." Then when they arrived there in the dwelling place of the Agtas, the Christians noticed that some of the houses of the Agtas did not have doors and where there were doors, there were no locks. So, the Christians made the observation to the Agtas: "Are you not afraid that you may lose some of your household belongings?" They answered: "You know, sir, when we were by ourselves, among ourselves, we never lost anything. But when Christians started coming up here, then we started to lose." So, is Christ in their hearts? Do you get what I mean? All of us are for justice, but justice depends on the heart and, in the final analysis, the question that we have to reckon with is: where is your heart? Revolutions, in my book, have failed because they did not have a heart. It was all intellectual, rational, without considering that the heart has contradictions. All revolutions have noble intentions, but in their historical unfolding they have not yet delivered the goods. In China during the Cultural Revolution there was threat, pressure, brainwashing - you don't transform culture by that means. So, it is not surprising what happened at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The guns that liberated the voices from below under Mao, were the same guns that snuffed to silence these voices and contradictions. So, the heart of revolution is the revolution of the heart. I am happy to be here upon the invitation of Pax Christi for the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I really appreciate your setup here at Justice Place that interweaves, in the human spirit and in the human heart, all your different areas of involvement and commitments that culminate in spirituality. Thank you. Left: Bishop Julio Labayen and Annette Arnold, r.s.j. (Catholic Justice & Peace Commission) Photo: CPCA Right: Bishop Labayen and Bernadette Jeffrey (Murri Ministry) Photo: CPCA Universal Declaration of Human Rights (English) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Tagalog)
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Vitamin Supplements vitaminsTaking large doses of vitamins might be harmful as a result of your physique only wants vitamins in very tiny quantities. The primary vitamin that comes to thoughts for most individuals is vitamin E, a vitamin that is essential to improving the overall well being of your heart. Deficiency of these vitamins can result in bleeding in the body and blood clotting difficulties throughout injury or bleeding. Every year, there are literally thousands of supplements on the market, with customers spending billions and billions of dollars to get the dietary supplements and vitamins they need. The water-soluble vitamins — C and the B-complicated vitamins (similar to vitamins B6, B12, niacin, riboflavin, and folate) — must dissolve in water earlier than your body can take in them. Memory And Downside-Fixing Exams Administered To 260 People Yielded Particular Nutritional Links. However, analysis on vitamin Okay’s results on the pores and skin is extra limited than that for vitamins E and C. Potassium deficiency has been associated with acne however it works on the conduction of the guts so too much may cause cardiac issues. Possibly your lack of energy shows in simply coming house at the end of the day and finding it onerous to get off the sofa. Alcoholics, for instance, who sometimes develop thiamine (B1) deficiencies, have problems with quick-time period memory. You can also discover supplement tablets which have a coated shell, though they’re normally found within the cheaper vitamin and supplement stores. In case you are anxious about hair loss, it’s best to make sure that you are getting enough vitamin A and vitamin B. Folic acid is thought for its significance in wholesome mobile activity, correct cell division, and proper hair progress. Men who devour meals which are wealthy in vitamin B are much less more likely to experience hair loss.vitaminsvitamins Reminiscence loss, disorientation, hallucinations, lack of coordination, and persona modifications can happen with B-advanced deficiencies. Deficiencies within the vitamins that make up the B complicated can lead to quite a few psychological signs, including confusion, anxiousness, melancholy, dementia, paranoia, and can even contribute to the development of psychosis. Anybody who takes a zinc supplement ought to take it as a part of a well balanced weight loss plan, to ensure that different vitamins and minerals work together with the zinc. To get a healthy amount of A vitamins for hair loss prevention, you should make certain that you eat loads of carrots, tomatoes, peppers and salads in addition to eggs and organ meats like liver. If you should take vitamins or dietary supplements but aren’t positive what you should take, you need to consult with your doctor. Nonetheless, be sure you not take more than 25,000 IU each day as it may lead to extra hair loss or different severe problems. Studies have proven that these vitamins work together to forestall psychological decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s illness. Below are brain scans from the control group (marked placebo”) and the group that took B vitamins. Really, there’s proof that physically wholesome people over age 60 will be measurably keener of thoughts that their peers if they maintain adequate dietary levels of vitamins B12, C, Foliate and riboflavin. Just 10-15 minutes of daily exposure helps manufacture vitamin D throughout the skin. Vitamin supplements are also great for athletes or those looking for extra vitality, as they’ll provide the degrees your physique wants for exhaustive activity. Vitamins C and E are among the most important, as they help with your skin, hair development, and the best way your physique functions. While all vitamins are required for optimal well being and mind operate, there are just a few that stand out above the remainder as being essential for a wholesome mind.
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Present state of Haiti, by James franklin, London, 1828. Material Information Physical Description: Mixed Material General Note: Record Information Source Institution: University of Florida Holding Location: Rights Management: All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location. Resource Identifier: System ID: This item is only available as the following downloads: Full Text This volume was donated to LLMC to enrich its on-line offerings and for purposes of long-term preservation by Google Books ,, THE Situation and general description of the French and Spanish divisions, previously to the revolution in the Cause of the revolution in the colony.-People of ,colour. in France.-Their proceedings.-League with the society of Amis des Noirs.-Og6's rebellion.-His defeat and death.-Conduct of the proprietors and planters.- First revolt of the slaves in 1791.-Their ravages.- Decree of the national assembly 4th April 1792.- Santhonax and Polverel-their secret agency.-Encou- rage the slaves.-Their declaration of freedom to the slaves-Consequences arising from it.-Character of the slaves.-Disabilities of the coloured people ...... 64 Effects of emancipating the slaves.-Arrival of the British forces.-Their subsequent operations.-Evacua. tion by General Maitland.-M. Charmilly negotiates with the English.-Views of the English cabinet.-Par- ties in the contest.-And insincerity of the French The period between the evacuation by the British forces and the arrival of the French army under Le Clerc.-Cultivation.-Law to enforce it.-Character of Toussaint. Reverses. His arrangement with the French general. -His seizure and removal to France.. 117 The period from the seizure of Toussaint to the final expulsion of the French by Dessalines, in 180~.-State of cultivation.-Commerce declined-and observations on the population.-Its extent. .................... 161 Independence declared.-Dessalines attempts to take the city of Santo Domingo-Raised to the imperial dig. nity.-New constitution.-His atrocious massacres.-At- tempts to import negroes from Africa. Encourages cultivators. Census taken.-State of his army. His Christophe takes the command. His officers of go. vernment. Promotes agriculture and commerce. - Petion opposes him. Cessation of arms mutually agreed upon.-Christophe crowned king.-Code Henry. - Baron de Vastey's opinions. Commissioners from France. Conduct to them. Christophe pursues his system of government. Petion relaxes in his. His offers to the British government.-State of his dominions. -.-Has recourse to a debased currency.-Consequences. --His death.-Christophe negotiates for the possession of the Spanish part. Revolution in his dominions.- Boyer elected president.- His character. Revolu- tion in the north-annexed to the south.-Revolution in Spanish part.-Union of the whole.- Measures pursued after. Overtures to France. Arrival of French fleet.-Negotiation and independence.- Baron Mackau.-Dissatisfaction prevails. British consul-ge- neral.-Further dissatisfaction. -Determination not to pay the indemnity.-Voluntary loan attempted-it fails. - Observations on the inefficiency of government.- State of the military.-Naval force, etc. ........... 232 Topographical sketch.-State of the roads.-Mode of repair by criminals.-How criminals are treated.- Description of inns. Accommodations at them.- Mode of travelling.-Value of land in several districts, Agriculture. Crops in Toussaint's and Dessalines' time. -System of Christophe and Petion. Decline under Boyer.-Crops in his time.-Attempts to revive it. Coercion resorted to. Code Rural doubts on enforcing its clauses.-Disposal of lands.-Consequences from it.-Incompetency of planters.-State of cultiva- tion of sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, indigo.-Free labour. -Consequences arising from it-its inefficacy, etc..... 517 Commerce. State of exports and imports. Exac- tions at the customs depredations and impositions.- Foreign merchants -disabilities they labour under.- Insecurity. State of finances.-Revenue, etc....... 368 Haytian jurisprudence.-State of the courts.-Trial by jury.-The judges.-Justices of the peace-their cor- ruption.-State of the church.-Account of a mission- ary.-Schism in the church.-Moral and religious state of the people shewn by their mode of living.-Descrip- tion of this mode.-Habitations described.-Furniture, etc.-Education-its progress.-Government do not en- courage it.-Remarks on the consequences of not doing so.- Qualifications of senators and communes shew the state of knowledge and education .............. 38S Population.-Census 1824-opinion on' it.-Further statement.-Manner of taking the census.,-Checks to increase-decrease is evident-nature of those checks. -Increase in the United States, according to Raymond. THE Author has prepared this work for the press somewhat hastily, and under many circumstances which heavily oppressed him; he hopes therefore that the want of arrangement, and the dearth of matter which may be observed in his narrative, will not subject it to a severe condemnation. In present- ing it to the public, he is not actuated by any per- sonal considerations, his object being to convey some information respecting the resources of a country, and the character of a people, which have been so variously represented. The short delineation here attempted will, in all probability, suffice to shew that the accounts which have been given at different times of Hayti and its inhabitants have been much too highly coloured by the zealous advocates of negro independence; and he is ready to confess that at one time he was somewhat dazzled by the descrip- tion, and was almost made a convert to their opi- nions. It having been his lot however, at a sub- sequent period, to hold considerable intercourse with the country, he has been enabled to form what he considers a more correct estimate of its present con- edition. Experience has convinced him that the re- presentations so generally received of the improve- ment which it has made are greatly exaggerated, and he is not without the hope that the following sheets will convey more correct information on the subject, and thus prove useful to the merchant, if not inter- esting to the general reader. He readily admits that in the historical part he has touched upon matters which have been 'al- ready handled by other and much abler writers; this could not be very well avoided, the annals of Hayti affording but few events, and those having been often detailed. He conceived that such a summary of the history of the country would be necessary to illustrate the cause of the revolution, to shew the decline which ensued in agriculture and commerce, the decay of knowledge, and the process of vice and immorality among the inhabitants. Actuated therefore by the desire of throwing some light on the state of Hayti, and giving a faithful representation of the condition of its population, he ventures to solicit the attention of the public to the facts which have fallen under his own per- sonal observation. An account of the present state of Hayti I believe has not yet been submitted to the public; to offer one likely to meet with a favourable reception is, I am aware, an undertaking of considerable difficulty: it requires, no doubt, that the author should be well t killed in the various branches of knowledge, in order to render it in every respect satisfactory and interesting to the public. Ignorant as I acknow- ledge myself to be in the higher walks of philoso- phy, arid educated solely for the more humble avo. cations of a mercantile life, I can lay no claim to such acquirements : I must therefore rest my hope of commanding any degree of attention, on the truth and correctness of the statements which I shall produce, founded as they are on actual observ- ation. I am conscious that I am standing on deli- cate ground, and touching on a subject likely to excite angry feelings in those who have long been the eulogists of the republic, who have been its ad- vocates when assailed, and who have held it forth to the world as a country in which wealth abounds, virtue flourishes, and freedom reigns triumphant, instead of the oppression, the vice, and the poverty which once prevailed there; but I will not shrink from the undertaking, though powerful obstacles may present themselves, and formidable opponents be arrayed against me. My object in the following sheets is, to endeavour to dissipate this delusion, and to shew that there is nothing to warrant the unquali- fied panegyrics poured forth by those individuals who have been the most conspicuous for their zeal and en- thusiasm, in holding up Hayti as a land flowing with milk and honey ". In the performance of this, I have no other aim than that of benefiting the merchant and capitalist, the manufacturer, and the trader, who have had no opportunity of visiting a country to which their speculations in commerce may lead them, by guarding them against the shoals and quicksands upon which adventurers, destitute of information, are so frequently wrecked. The admirers of Hayti have been very indus. trious in circulating the most deceptive accounts of the state of its commerce, by garbled and exagge rated specifications. They have led many to be- lieve that its imports and exports are daily on the increase, and that the resources of the people for the purchase of the products and manufactures of other states receive a gradual and steady augmenta- tion. I am much deceived if I shall not succeed in convincing the reader that this representation is a perfect delusion, and that from the diminished means of the people, the commerce of Hayti, in- stead of increasing, annually sustains a considerable diminution; and that while the present state of things continues to exist-while, its rulers are weak and imbecile, and the mass of the population are kept in a state of the grossest ignorance-there does not appear a ray of hope that any improvement may take place in the circumstances of the country, or that any change will be effected, likely to prove ad- vantageous to foreigners disposed to embark in an intercourse with Hayti. Several visits to Hayti-in two of which I had, from the nature of my mission, occasion to remain there a considerable time-gave me opportunities of seeing the actual state of it, in all its different branches of agriculture, commerce, finances, and the moral and religious condition of its people, to- gether with the state of its government and the views of its chief. I am therefore encouraged to hope that my details may be productive of some benefit to the commercial part of the community, and not be altogether unacceptable to others, whose avocations are different, but who may be desirous of correct information respecting those parts of the globe of which they may know but little except the An historical account of Hayti would be a super- fluous undertaking; I see nothing to add to what has already been written by Charlevoix, Raynal, Edwards, Walton, and others, in their elaborate and voluminous works, and who have omitted no- thing interesting, or worthy of being recorded, from its first discovery by the illustrious Columbus down to a very recent period. Every event connected with its history seems to have been most faithfully detailed by these writers, and their works are enti- tled to the highest credit and consideration, as con- taining the best and most authentic account of this very extensive island. Impelled, no doubt, as they were with a desire to afford to the world every possible information re- lative to the resources of the country, and of the character and general habits of the people, they have left little to be performed by their successors, except to notice the changes and events which may have taken place since the date of. their latest pro- ductions. Besides a copious and a faithful histori- cal sketch, they have given a correct statistical view of its agriculture, its commerce, and public revenue; they have also pointed out the slow advances made by the people in industry, in morality, and in ge- neral knowledge: but little, therefore, remains to be said on these subjects, except to call the attention of the reader to the striking contrast which the pre- sent situation of the republic exhibits, when com- pared with that which it displayed before the revo- lution; to give a brief sketch of Hayti as it is, with an occasional reference to Hayti as it was. I must beg leave to assure my readers, that in executing this task, I am actuated by no unfair nor unjust motives; I am only anxious that the highly coloured statements which have been published respecting its present wealth and prosperity should be submitted to the test of candid and impartial scrutiny. For a series of years Hayti has been made the theme of constant praise, and has excited no little share of the public attention, on account of the unexampled efforts which its slave population made to throw off the fetters by which they had been previously bound, and on account of their having, as their eulogists declare, made the most rapid and extraor- dinary strides in civilization and social improve- ment. It must be admitted that the revolution effected in Hayti, was an event almost unparal- leled in history; and that a people just emerg- ing from a state of barbarism should have so suc- cessfully combated and defeated the finest troops of France, is no doubt a circumstance calculated to call forth no trifling portion of astonishment and ad- miration: but when the partial eulogists of the Hay- tians go to the length of asserting that they have arrived at a high degree of moral improvement, that they have reached a state of refinement little infe- rior to that which generally prevails in Europe, the limits of truth are overstepped: such overstrained assertions are totally destitute even of the semblance of truth, and my personal experience enables me to declare, in the most explicit and unqualified terms, that at this very moment, the people of Hayti are in a worse state of ignorance than the slave popula- tion in the British colonies. There are some cases, it is true, in which instances of intelligence have been discovered in the Haytian citizen, but this never occurs except where individuals have had the ad- vantages of an European education, or who, being the descendants of persons who previously to the revolution were possessed of wealth, had the means of travelling, for the purpose of acquiring the man- ners and customs of more enlightened nations. But taking the people in the aggregate, they are far from having made any advances in knowledge. It has also been commonly asserted by the friends of Hayti, and I believe very generally credited in Europe, that it preserves its agricultural pre-emi- nence solely by free labour; now I think I shall be able to prove to a demonstration that this is not the case, and that it is too evident, from every document that has yet appeared on the subject, that agricul.. ture has been long on the wane, and has sunk to the lowest possible ebb in every district of the republic; that the true art and principles of the culture of the soil, are not understood, or if in the least known, they are not practically applied. There is nothing to be seen having the least resemblance to a colony, flourishing in the wealth derived from a properly regulated system of agriculture. On the subject of free labour I shall have occa- sion to offer a few remarks, and I trust that in doing so, I shall not be considered as inimical to it, where- ever it may be found practicable to obtain it; on the contrary, no man would be more happy to see that our own colonies could be cultivated by free labour, provided a full compensation should be ho- nourably made to those whose interests might be en- dangered by the experiment, if unsuccessful; but I shall, I think, be able to shew that this is absolutely impracticable, and that the system of labour so pur- sued in Hayti, instead of affording us a proof of what may be accomplished by it, is illustrative of the fact, that it is by coercion, and coercion only, that any return can be expected from the employ- ment of capital in the cultivation of soil in our West India islands. I shall also be able to shew that Hayti presents no instance in which the cul- tivation of the soil is successfully carried on without the application of force to constrain the labourer: on the estates of every individual connected with the government, all the labourers employed work under the superintendence of a military police, and it is on these properties alone that any thing re- sembling successful agriculture exists in Hayti. I am aware that this will excite the astonishment of persons who have been accustomed to think other- wise; but I shall state facts which cannot be con- troverted, even by President Boyer himself-nay, I shall produce circumstances which I have seen with the utmost surprise on his own estate; cir- cumstances that must shew his warmest advocates, that all his boasted productions have not been ob. trained without the application of that system against which they loudly exclaim. Instead of holding out an example of what might be accomplished by a people released from bondage, without first having been prepared for freedom by moral and religious instruction, I think Hayti ra- ther forms a beacon to warn us against the dangers and difficulties by which that unhappy country has been overtaken. The present condition of Hayti, arising from the events which have taken place since the revolution, should render us exceedingly cautious how we plunge our own colonies into the same misery and calamity; by conferring on a rude and untaught people, without qualification, or without the least restraint, an uncontrolled command over themselves. However acutely we may feel for the miseries to which the West Indian slave was at one period sub- jected, yet I cannot conceive it possible that any one can be so destitute of correct information on the sub- ject as not to know, that at this moment the slave is in a condition far more happy, that he possesses infi- nitely greater comforts and enjoyments, than any class of labourers in Hayti, and that, from the judicious measures which have been already adopted by the colonial legislatures, and from others which are in contemplation, for improving the condition of the slave, it is very rational to conclude that before long slavery will only be considered as a name; and that were it to receive any other designation it would fur- nish no peg on which the European philanthropist might hang his declamations against slavery. To place the slaves in the British colonies upon a footing with the free labourers in Hayti, or with the largest proportion of the people in that country, would be a work of easy accomplishment; but the effect would be, to cause them to exchange a state of comparative plenty and comfort, for one in which every species of tyranny and oppression, with their concomitants, disease and want, are most la. mentably conspicuous. Whatever may be the views of the British Cabinet relative to their colonies, I should warn it to steer clear of the erroneous policy which has proved so fatal to Hayti, and should it be determined that a change should be introduced into the policy hitherto pursued with so much suc- cess, and with so much advantage in our colonial possessions, I trust it will not be by emancipating the slave, before he is prepared for freedom by a proper moral and religious education. Let the system of slavery be gradually improved, and the slave will glide imperceptibly into a state of freedom. It is not my intention, in this early stage of my remarks, to enter into any lengthened detail of the disunion or want of cordiality subsisting between the two classes of people in Hayti: this I shall re- serve for its proper place; where it will be seen, that a very strong dissatisfaction prevails amongst the black population, which manifests itself upon almost every occasion of celebrating public events, and festivities. This acrimonious feeling evidently arises from the jealousy excited by the predominant in- fluence of the coloured people in the government. This influence, detrimental as it may be to the good order and repose of the country, is courted and nurtured by the president, to the great danger of overthrowing the whole establishment. One or two attempts at revolt have been made by the people of the north, who were the subjects of the late Chris- tophe, and from these efforts, although abortive, it may be inferred, that the spirit for a more extensive commotion still lurks in their minds, and that the least possible irritation would so agitate and inflame them, that the whole would be thrown into a scene of disorder, tumult, and irremediable confusion. The combinations are numerous and powerful, but such was the extraordinary apathy of the govern- ment, that until a communication was made by an individual to Boyer, neither he nor any one of his officers had the least intimation that such proceed- ings were in contemplation. The want of energy visible in the government makes it obnoxious to the people, and no country like Hayti can be expected to remain long in repose and tranquillity, unless its governors possess both talent and resolution to com- That the government of Hayti is the most ineffi- cient and enervated of any of the modern repub- lics cannot be denied, and I cannot see the least hope of an improvement, unless there be a complete revision of its constitution, and a new one framed, better suited to the tastes of the people, and more adapted to their present very rude state of know- ledge. From the present rulers it would be vain to expect any effort which might prove beneficial to the country; any attempt to cultivate or improve the habits and morals of the people, or to promote agriculture. The members composing the present government, seem to consider the poverty and ignor- ance of the people, as the best safeguards of the security and permanence of their own property and A recognition of the independence of Hayti by Great Britain may give some strength to the mea- sures of its government, because the people have called out loudly for the protection of that power, whilst they have as loudly exclaimed against the policy pursued towards France. No event in its his' tory has excited in the republic greater abhorrence or more general murmuring, than the act of purchas- ing from France that which it had de facto possessed for twenty-one years unmolested and undisturbed; thereby at once admitting the sovereignty of that power over the island, and which sovereignty France will, at some convenient period, unquestionably as- sert, and that without the least fear of any incon- venient consequences arising from it; for what power can give aid to the Haytians against France, when the former have openly and formally admitted themselves to be a colony dependent upon the French crown. Whatever intercourse Englishmen may be disposed to maintain with Hayti, it is in- dispensable that they should use the most vigilant precaution, and exact a rigid adherence to such treaties as may have been entered into, if they would avoid certain loss; for the Haytian character, taken generally, will be found, so far from being entitled either to credit or confidence, not even to possess common honesty. Compacts with them are easily made; but a faithful adherence to agreements must not be expected;-their maxim is to break them, whenever they find it can be accomplished with advantage. Situation and general description of the French and Spanish divisions, previously to the Revolution in the former country. THE island of St. Domingo, once the abode of fertility, and the scene of extraordinary political changes and events, lies in latitude 18 20' north and in longitude 680 40' west from. Greenwich, having on its west the islands of Cuba and Jamaica, on its east Porto Rico, the Bahamas on its north, and bounded southerly by the Carribean Sea. Its extent has been variously stated; but Edwards, who describes it to be about 390 miles in length from east to west, seems the most correct; and it appears from late surveys to be nearly. 150 miles in breadth from north to south. The Abbe Raynal has re- presented it at 200 leagues in length, and from 60 to 80 in breadth, but it is evident that his estima. tion is erroneous. Rainsford also states it to be about 450 miles in length, but from every informa- tion which I could obtain, its length does not ap- pear to exceed 400 miles, nor its breadth 140. The reader, therefore, must look into these discrepancies, and judge between them. As it is not easy to sur- vey a country intersected by wilds and impenetrable mountains, much is necessarily left to conjecture. It is the most extensive, and was at one period of its history the most productive of the Antilles, and * was called by the aborigines Haiti, or Highland, and by which ancient designation it is now generally known, that of St. Domingo having been abolished at the revolution. To convey an adequate idea of what this once delightful island was, is not the ob- ject of the present work; on this head it is sufficient to observe that in the richness and extent of its pro- ductions, and in its local beauties, it exceeded every other island in the western hemisphere, and that the two divisions of the east and the west, when under the respective governments of Spain and France, were considered and indeed known to be the most splendid and most important appendages to those crowns. Its plains and valleys presented the most inviting scenes from the richness of the pastures and the verdure with which they eternally abounded. Its mountains were also said to contain ores of the most valuable kind, and produce timber admirably adapted for every useful or ornamental purpose. Nothing could exceed the extreme salubrity of the whole country, nor could it be surpassed in the vast exuberance of its luscious fruits, and in those pro- ductions of the soil which became the general arti- dcles of export, and from which all the wealth and all commerce of this colony flowed. The French division, though infinitely less ex-. tensive than the Spanish part, and not containing a third of the whole island, has been considered the most valuable spot in the western world. The Spanish division however has greater natural re- sources, and affords greater facilities for agricultural operations: but the very extraordinary exertions of the French planter in the culture of the soil, com- pensated for the want of those advantages possessed by their Spanish neighbours, who, more indolently disposed, relied on the produce of their mines, which afforded, as they imagined, greater local riches than those which could be obtained from either agricul- ture or commerce, forgetting that these alone fur- nish the wealth which can render any country really and permanently prosperous and great. It appears from every authority, that the first colony established here by the French, was settled in the sixteenth century, having been attracted thither by the Buccaneers, who had previously ob- tained a footing in the island from excursions which they often made from Tortuga, for the purpose of * hunting the bulls of the Spaniards. These hardy and predatory warriors attracted the French, who supplied them with such necessaries as they required, and even sent them many settlers, with arms and implements for defence and labour. The extreme fertility of the country invited them to make some efforts to gain a permanent footing in it, and by means of intrigue coupled with a little force, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the whole of the west end, the line of which seems to have run in an oblique direction, from about Cape Francois on the north to Cape Rosa on the south. Having surmounted all the obstacles that presented them- selves, and having overcome those difficulties which generally accompany the first attempts at coloni- zation, or are met with in a newly discovered land, they pursued with incredible ardour and industry the culture of the soil, and the improvement of their valuable acquisition. The Spanish court, jealous of and unable to con- tend with their rival colonists, submitted to France, when the two cabinets at home came to a mutual understanding and adjustment, respecting these foreign possessions. An arrangement was entered into, under which commissioners were appointed for settling the boundaries, and fixing the rights which had formed the ground of disputes between the settlers of these rival nations. The line of de- marcation finally agreed upon commenced at the bay of Mansenillo on the north, dividing in its course the river Massacre; thence taking rather a westerly course, it reached an acute point at Don- don, and afterwards proceeded southerly to the river This tract of country, as conceded to the French, contained about 1000 square leagues, exceedingly irregular in its character, intersected with moun- tains, and having plains confined and difficult of approach, so as to make it altogether much inferior in point of natural value to even a single district of the Spanish division; having also two extreme points or capes, Cape Nicolas Mole on the north, and Cape Tiburon on the south-west extremity, in both of which the soil is less valuable, from its being so very mountainous, and from its not possessing those facilities of communication which can be ob- tained in other districts. Notwithstanding the dis-. advantages against which the first settlers had to contend, and in defiance of every local obstacle, they seemed to have been impressed with the con- viction, that if a spirit of perseverance and labour could be diffused amongst them, they would ulti- mately be richly rewarded for all their toil, and all that anxiety and deprivation to which it appears, at their first setting out, they were unquestionably subjected. Their conclusions were just, and time shewed the correctness of the principles on which they reasoned and acted, for their colony gradually rose in estimation; and at so early a period as the year 1703, under the government of M. Auger, a native of America, and who in early life had been in a state of slavery, it had become of so much consideration to France, that the greatest possible efforts were made to extend their system of cultiva- tion to the whole of their colonial territory. That officer was indefatigable, it is said, in his exertions in encouraging and in stimulating the colonists in the culture of the lands, and as he had been pre- viously governor of Guadaloupe, it is to be inferred that he possessed no ordinary skill in the business of preparing the ground for the production of those exotic and indigenous plants which became the main articles of export to the mother-country. That he was a most efficient governor all writers admit, for he had brought the state of his colony to a very high pitch of prosperity, when he died, lamented by all who had lived under his command. The plantations at this period had increased in every part, particularly in the valleys, where the soil was more congenial, and where the labour could be per- formed without being attended with those difficulties which impeded it in the more mountainous districts. In the western parts the cocoa-tree had begun to produce most luxuriantly, yielding great wealth to individuals, and a large revenue to the state. The sugar-cane had also arrived at great perfection, and the art of manufacturing the sugar from it had been for some time carried on with astonishing success. Coffee plantations were establishing, and the plant- ers in every direction were vying with each other in bringing their properties into the highest possible state of cultivation. In the year 1715, however, the island suffered a very severe calamity, and in the succeeding year another followed, in both of which almost all the cocoa-trees perished, and considerable damage was done to every vegetable production; and the plant.. ers, who had by this time acquired an easy, if not a competent fortune, sustained losses that only time and continued exertion could possibly repair. It *ill be seen, however, that a great improvement gradually followed, and that agriculture had not been neglected, for in the year 1754 the colony had advanced to a wonderful pitch of prosperity, and seems to have satisfied the wishes of the proprietors of the soil, as well as the most sanguine expecta- tions of the government. It is said by an anony- mous writer, that the various commodities ex- ported from the island amounted to a million and a quarter sterling, and the imports to one million seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand five hundred and nine pounds. There were fourteen. thousand white inhabitants, nearly four thousand free mulattoes, and one hundred and seventy-two thousand negroes; five hundred and ninety-nine sugar plantations, three thousand three hundred and seventy-nine of indigo, ninety-eight thousand nine hundred and forty-six cocoa-trees, six million three hundred thousand three hundred and sixty- seven cotton plants, and about twenty-two millions of cassiartrees, sixty-three thousand horses and mules, ninety-three thousand head of horned cattle, six millions of bannana trees, upwards of one million plots of potatoes, two hundred and twenty-six thou- sand of yams, and nearly three million trenches of From this period up to the French revolution the colony advanced still further in prosperity, every year adding to the wealth of the planters, and to the revenue of the crown. Nothing could exceed the condition into which the plantations had been brought by their owners; a steady and enlightened system of agriculture had been established, which had been productive of the most beneficial results. Every plantation, laid out with the greatest care and neatness, was so arranged as jAbring every part of the soil into use in its proper dider of succession -not the least particle appears to have escaped the eye of the owner, for what could not be rendered fit for the production of the cane, served either for cotton, coffee, indigo, or other plants. In the val- leys surrounded by mountains, the access to which for carriages was attended with some danger, and consequently were chiefly in pasture, the verdure was astonishing. These valleys having small rivu- lets or streams running through them, and shaded by occasional groups of trees and shrubs, which grew spontaneously on the margins of a spring, or round any body of water that might occasionally be collected from the mountain falls, became extremely valuable for the raising of cattle for the consump. tion of the planters, and on this account extremely profitable to their owners; for here the animals could graze undisturbed and cool under a meridian sun, and range unmolested, indulging in the richness of the surrounding herbage, The culture of the land for the sugar-cane at this period seems to have en- gaged the greatest attention of the planter, for at no time had such amazing crops been produced as in the year preceding the revolution; the soil in the plains of the north, Artibanite and the Cul de Sac, being peculiarly adapted for it, from its extreme strength and excellent quality, and from its situa- tion, which enabled it to receive the aid of irriga- tion in seasons when drought prevails. The estates also appropriated to the production of sugar exhibit- ed a degree of uniformity and order, in all the departments of plantation labour, which can scarcely be exceeded even at the present period, when the system is supposed to have become more mature, and its true principles better understood. The coffee plantations had at this time arrived at great perfection-they were extensive, and exceed- ingly fruitful; for the genius and industry of the proprietors were exerted to their utmost limits in this branch of agriculture. Every property was di- vided and subdivided into small fields, in which the trees were planted with all that nicety and regula- rity which is often seen in a well regulated nursery. The pruning-knife and the hoe were regularly ap- plied to the trees requiring to be dismembered of their superfluous branches, and wanting nurture at their half expiring roots. The cotton and indigo plantations had also arrived at the height of excel- lence in planting, and it was not possible that greater abundance could have been obtained from them, than that which was usually returned at or a few years previously to the convulsion which took place. The cocoa tree was also at this time exceed- ingly flourishing, and much care and attention were bestowed upon its cultivation; its produce being found an article of no inconsiderable demand, and extremely profitable in the returns which it yielded the cultivator. A better or clearer proof cannot be given of the highly improved state of agriculture at this time, than by a reference to the number of plantations which had been established, and to the quantity of produce which had been exported to France, with the value of the whole, as estimated by persons whose authority may be relied on, and who were doubtless competent judges, from having in the island filled situations which gave them opportuni- ties of fairly estimating everything connected with the country. Moreau St. Mery, a writer of great credit, and a native of St. Domingo, states, that in the yeat 1791 there were, in the French division alone, seven hundred and ninety-three sugar estates, seven hundred and eighty-nine cotton plantations, three thousand one hundred and seventeen of coffee, three thousand one hundred and fifty of indigo, fifty-four cocoa manufactories, and six hundred and twenty-three smaller settlements, on which were produced large quantities of Indian corn, rice, pulse, and almost every description of vegetables required for the consumption of the people. There were also forty thousand horses, fifty thousand mules, and two hundred and fifty thousand cattle and sheep; and that the quantity of land actually in cultivation was about two million two hundred and eighty-nine thousand four hundred and eighty The quantity of produce exported from the island to France appears, by various accounts, to have been very large indeed, furnishing a very strong corroboration of the flourishing state of the colony, and of the extent to which agriculture had been carried. It would appear that not much regard was paid to other means by which the prosperity of the country might have been enhanced, the inha- bitants resting solely on the culture of the soil to exalt the island in the eyes of the parent state, and to make it an appendage worthy to be cherished and protected. Mr. Edwards and others have stated the amount of exports as follows: that is to say, about one hundred and sixty-three millions four hundred thousand pounds of sugar, sixty-eight mil- lions one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of coffee, six millions two hundred and eighty-six thousand pounds of cotton, nine hundred and thirty thousand pounds of indigo, twenty-nine thousand hogsheads of molasses, and three hundred puncheons of rum. Walton, in his Appendix, enumerates many other articles of export besides those which I have named, and he states the quantity of each much larger, and values the whole at about six millions and ninety-four thousand two hundred and thirty pounds, English money. The same writer observes, that the value of the imports into the country about that time from France was four millions one hundred and twenty-five thousand six hundred and ten pounds sterling. At this period, also, it appears from authority, that the population amounted to about forty thousand white people, twenty-eight thousand free persons of colour, and about four hundred and fifty-five thousand slaves; and that the valuation of the whole of the plantations in culture, with the buildings, slaves, cattle, and every imple- ment for the use of agriculture, was estimated at fourteen hundred and ninety millions of livres, or somewhat about seventy millions English money. The Spanish division of Hayti is said to contain two-thirds of the whole, and is estimated at about three thousand one hundred and fifty square leagues, an extent of country capable of affording the means of subsistence to a population of at least seven mil- lions of souls. In local advantages this part cer- tainly exceeds the western division, from its soil being almost in a virgin state, and a very large pro- portion of its valleys and elevations never having been tilled. The indolence and inactivity inherent in the Spanish character have been displayed in all their colours in this part of St1Domingo; for al- though their district possessed all the natural means required to raise them to an equal pitch of splen- dour with their French neighbours, yet so powerful were their propensities for pleasure, and every spe- cies of amusement, that they devoted but little of their time to the improvement of their properties, and they obtained from them but little beyond a scanty supply for their own immediate wants. From every source of information that can be consulted, it appears that the Spaniards, from their earliest settlement down to the period when they finally quitted the country, depended more on their mines than on anything that possibly could be derived from either agriculture or commerce; consequently agriculture was in a backward state, and the culture of the soil made but a very slow progress: indeed, but a very small proportion of the country was in a state of tillage; the inhabitants merely paid a little attention to the natural pastures which abounded in all the plains of the east, and whose luxuriance and verdure continued throughout the whole year. In these they raised large herds of cattle, for which they found a market, not only among their neigh- bours the French, who required a considerable sup- ply for their estates, but they exported very large quantities to Jamaica and Cuba. To the raising of cattle, therefore, and to the occasional cutting of wood-mahogany, cedar, and a variety of other timbers for ornamental work, as well as dye-woods, -did the Spaniards devote their time, and hence did they contrive to satisfy their moderate and con- tracted wants, without having recourse to tillage. It has been observed, and I think very truly, that the most important obstacle to the advance- ment of this part of Hayti, was the policy pur- sued by Spain towards her colonies. The system of government under which she ruled her trans- atlantic settlements seems to have been one of ex- treme oppression, and of unexampled rigour, and, from the earliest period of her sway, this system was most rigidly enforced in Hispafieola. There does not appear upon record any circumstance pre- viously to the year 1700, which evinced a disposition on the part of Spain to promote the welfare of the colony, by calling forth its local resources, and by encouraging and tolerating settlers from others of their unprofitable and barren islands, in which all their energies and efforts had been fruitless and un- availing. The high state of the west end, under their prudent and more assiduous neighbours the French, whose industry and perseverance had asto- nished the world, and whose judicious and highly commendable system for promoting the cultivation of their country had become the theme of much praise and admiration, seemed about this time to have produced among the Spaniards some disposi- tion to adopt measures for insuring to the parent state a more lucrative trade from their colonies. The force of example was too powerful to be resist- ed, and even the Court of Madrid began about this time to devise measures which might improve, and which might call into play all those resources which this highly fertile and most congenial soil was known to possess. Governors of known prudence and pa- triotic zeal for the interest of their nation were select- ed, and sent out, with injunctions to promote the in- terests of agriculture, and to give a spur to commerce, by opening an intercourse with their neighbours. The wants of the French in cattle, mules, and horses, were exceedingly extensive, and offered to the Spa- niards an opportunity of improving their properties, by providing a vent for the sale of their stock. It gave an impulse to industry, and the once inert and unconcerned Spanish planter became in time an active and enterprising agriculturist, shaking off that languor by which he had been previously cha. racterized, and at length assuming a degree of ani- mation and spirit, which enabled him to take ad- vantage of those resources which nature had placed within his reach. A mutual interchange and good understanding between the two powers of France and Spain having taken place, this intercourse, become more frequent and reciprocally beneficial, continued for a series of years. In 1790, however, this most important branch of their commerce was cut off by the convulsion into which the neighboring province was thrown. All that part of the population who dwelt on the frontiers withdrew themselves into the interior, leav- ing behind them their cattle, which fell into the hands of their rapacious neighbours, whose inroads caused much consternation amongst the proprie- tors; but their slaves, from habit or from some other powerful cause, remained unmoved and at- tached to them, although they had before them such strong incentives to revolt. Every appeal made by these people (and it is said, that they made in- numerable ones) to the cabinet of Spain for protec- tion against the fatal example of the French divi- sion, met with a very cold reception, if not a posi- tive rejection. In this state of suspense and con- tinued fear and alarm the people remained, until the disgraceful treaty of Basle gave Hispanieola to the republican government of France; and this event I cannot better describe than in the language of one of the most correct writers on this country*, whom I shall here quote as an authority which has been hitherto deemed unquestionable. Speaking of * Walton. this event, which occurred in the year 1795, and of the designs of the French rulers, he says, though busied in the plans of universal dominion on their own continent, their cabinet did not lose sight or cease to entertain a hope of again possessing colonies abroad, and they were well aware which were the most desirable. Perhaps no system of invasion had been longer or more deeply premeditated, and digested with more mysterious secrecy, than the entire subjugation of Spain and her American set- tlements, in which, besides the common views of aggrandizement, their constitutional enmity to the reigning family acted as a powerful stimulus. This policy was coeval with that ambition which marked the first career of the present ruler of France and the specious veil under which the hidden, but con- tinued advances were regularly made towards the end in view, adds to the guilt of duplicity and in- gratitude, when we consider that Spain has scrupu- lously maintained her treaty of alliance and has ful- filled the stipulations entered into in 1795, not- withstanding all the three changes that have given other names to the French government, without al- tering its entity, or revolutionary or destructive system; that the cabinets of Madrid have bended to a degree of abject condescension, rather than be precipitated into a war; that they have sacrificed the interests and inclinations of their people, and have been driven at length into a state of non-re- prisal, rather than risk a warfare with a nation they respected, and though an ally, furnishing both men and money under promises to share in the conquests made, they have been treated rather as a faithless neutral without claim, representation, or character, and thus their country has been impoverished and laid waste, and the supports of national union and energy undermined." Further, in continuation of this disgraceful treaty, by which Spain so abjectly submitted to surrender her colony to France, he says, by this instrument of diplomatic intrigue and subtlety Hispafieola was made over unreservedly to France; the oldest subjects of the Spanish crown in the western world were thus bartered like so many sheep, and an island, not the capture of an enemy during war, and given up at its termination, but one that had descended to them as a primitive right, and had formed the glory of the pre- ceding monarchs, who saw it discovered and settled. When possession was given in further aggravation of the Spanish natives, the transfer was received by Toussaint at the head of the intrusive settlers of one division of the island, with whom the former had previously and generously shared their territory; in short by a horde of emancipated slaves to whom the French republic had given equality, consistence, and power, and who now came to erect a new standard on the spot consecrated by the labours and ashes of Columbus, and long revered as an object of national pride." In justice to the Dominican people it may be said, that none of the Spanish settlements possess more of the amor patrite which ought to distinguish loyal subjects: they received the news as a thunder- bolt, and the country presented an universal scene of lamentation. They appealed to the humanity of their sovereign, but without effect, and then had recourse to remonstrances." Receiving no answer to their prayers or to their remonstrances, the people were left in a state bor- dering on despondency, with the only alternative of leaving their native land, or of swearing alle- giance to a power in whom they could not confide, and which they had been taught to detest. Emi- gration therefore was determined on, and all orders-. nuns, friars, clergy, and men of property and in- fluence-with their families and their slaves, em- barked for Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Spanish main, leaving behind them their possessions, to seek a shelter, and to find homes and occupations, in a country in which they might be protected by laws to which they had been accustomed, and submit to a government which they had been taught to re. aspect. The extent of this emigration was consider- able, and is said to have amounted to one third of the population; and it is evident from a subsequent census that this was not an exaggeration, and that so large a proportion of the people absolutely left the country, abandoning their abodes and much wealth rather than submit to a people whom they hated as the usurpers of their possessions. In the years 1789 and 1790, about which time the first disturbances among the slaves in theFrenchpart of the island commenced, it appears the Spanish divi- sion contained about one hundred and fifty thousand souls or upwards; but by a subsequent census taken immediately after the cession to the French, and after the spirit for emigration had in some measure sub- sided, there remained only about one hundred thou- sand of all descriptions, a very strong proof of the detestation in which the Spaniards held this treaty, which assigned them over as subjects of the re- publican government of France. It is very evident, however, whatever impressions this arrangement might have made on the Spanish colonists, that it was one dictated by the rulers in France, and therefore ac- cepted from necessity, and not from choice. The infamous Godoy, Prince of Peace (which high sound- ing title was confirmed by this treaty) was the lead- ing personage in its negotiation, and being secretly league with the French ministry, became a will- ing instrument in consigning this bright and valu- able appendage of the Spanish crown to the more designing and crafty schemes of the French cabinet, which had been from the beginning of their ambi- tious aim at universal dominion, not unmindful of the advantages that were to be derived from colo- nial possessions. When it is seen that the mistaken and weak policy, as well as the pusillanimity of the Spanish cabinet, caused so great a sacrifice as the dismemberment of their most valuable colony, it be- comes a matter of no astonishment that the people should relax in their efforts to aid the means and resources of their parent state, by any exertions, in the cultivation of their lands, beyond what might be requisite for their own support. As this neglect and heedless inattention to their prosperity had been for a series of years observable, and as every incen- tive to industry was checked by the measures of the crown, it is not to be wondered at that this division of the island did not advance at the same rate as that which was under the dominion of France. However manifest the declension of the colony was to Spain, she never made any movements, nor adopted any means indicating a desire to revive the droop- ing energies of the colonists, and reinstate them in their former easy circumstances and affluence. If the cabinet of Madrid had had recourse to those wise plans which would have promoted the cause of agriculture and commerce, instead of becoming a calm and unconcerned spectator of the decline of both, this colony might still have remained the most brilliant gem in the Spanish crown. A people who had, from the example of their neighbours, and by an impulse the most surprising, been roused from a state of lethargy and inactivity to great exertions in the culture of the soil, in the breeding of cattle, and in commercial enterprise, might have exalted their country to the highest possible state of prosperity, had their efforts been seconded by the regulations of a wise government, and had that protection been given to them to which they were surely entitled; but instead of such support and protection, instead of being watched over and guarded by their parent state, their prayers, their petitions, and entreaties, were unattended to, and they were given up as a prey to their rebellious and uncivilized neighbours, who used every exertion to throw their country into a state of anarchy and confusion. The individual and unsupported energies of the colonists, however, were roused by the alarming predicament into which they had been thrown, through the apathy and su- pineness of the cabinet of Spain, and they effec- tually stopped the incursions of the pillagers for a time, prevented the destruction of their towns and plantations, and finally, by their firmness and per- severance, saved their properties from the devasta- tions which had destroyed those of the western di- To the astonishment of the world, the slaves, as I have before remarked, adhered with extraordinary fidelity to the cause of their masters, and evinced no disposition to become participators in the work of rebellion, nor to enrich themselves by the spoils obtained by plunder, rapine, and every kind of pre- datory warfare. Although the example to throw off the yoke of slavery was constantly before them, few were the instances in which a slave joined the in- surgents. Such an attachment on the part of the slave towards his master, however, is not to be won- dered at, when it is known, that the Spaniards were kind, indulgent, and liberal owners, always attentive to their wants, and alive to their comforts; seldom inflicting punishment, except for flagrant acts of in- subordination and theft, but treating them with a le- niency and humanity which softened the rigours of slavery, and left it to be known only by name. Notwithstanding the enmity which always existed between the two colonies, a smuggling trade was carried on, which, although not very extensive, was exceedingly productive to the Spaniards, as it took off part of their homed cattle, mules, horses, &c., and in return for which they received the products and manufactures of Europe, and slaves, which they could not obtain by the regular course of importa- tion, on any thing like the same moderate or favour- able terms. It is stated, that the French purchased annually upwards of twenty-five thousand head of horned cattle and about two thousand five hun- dred mules and horses; and that the Spaniards also transmitted upwards of half a million of dollars in specie during the year, for the purchase of goods, implements of agriculture, and negroes. Large shipments of mahogany and dye-woods found their way to Spain and different parts of Europe, and the United States, and indirectly to England: and a considerable intercourse existed with the islands of Porto Rico, Cuba, and Jamaica, to which latter two islands cattle were exported, and mahogany and dye-woods found a market in Jamaica more advan- tageous than any that could be found in Europe, owing to their being able to procure their returns in a more direct way than through the mother-country or any of the European states. The commerce with Porto Rico and the Spanish main was also productive of some profit to the peo- ple of St. Domingo. The advantages accruing to the former arose from the facilities of smuggling, by which the enormous duties on foreign European goods of thirty-four per cent. in most cases were saved; and these goods could be purchased in St. Domingo on more moderate terms, from having been illicitly obtained from the French part of the The trade to the United States was also of no little importance; for the vessels of that country took large quantities of mahogany, hides, some cof- fee, and a little dye-wood, in return for the cargoes which they brought thither, consisting of flour, beef, pork, butter, salted herrings, and dried cod-fish, with some East India goods, and various descrip- tions of lumber of America, more useful and easy in working for buildings than the hard wood of the country. The aggregate value of the exports and imports of this part of the island I have seen no- where correctly stated: it is very evident, however, from the various accounts which I have seen, that it was infinitely less than the aggregate of the French part; and this may be safely confided in from the extremely fertile state of the one, when compared with the uncultivated condition of the other; fr6m the industrious, the assiduous, and enterprising spi- rit, so characteristic of the French colonist, aided by the judicious measures of the cabinet of France, which sought to protect and encourage the agricul- ture and commerce of her colonies, whilst the Spa- niards of the eastern division were left to pursue both their agricultural and commercial avocations under every species of discouragement and restraint. The energy displayed by one government, and the very relaxed system pursued by the other, accounts for the flourishing state of one part of this rich co- lony, whilst its rival was steeped in poverty: no- thing, therefore, is left for conjecture as to the cause of so great a contrast; and both having sub- sequently been shaken by the effects of those per- nicious doctrines so generally propagated at the Re- volution, little is to be seen of the antecedent state of either, and chaos, ignorance, and indolence have superseded order, light, and industry. Such was the state of the island at and during the two or three succeeding years of the revolution, as related by several writers, and confirmed by informa- tion obtained from individuals now residing in the country, who were present during the troubles which agitated and destroyed it, and reduced them from the height of affluence and peace into misery, and oftentimes into want-from them, much, of course, was to be elicited; and although I thought it a matter of prudence and a necessary caution, not to rely too implicitly on their communications, yet I always found them justly entitled to my confidence, on the fullest investigation. I never had a cause to question their veracity. Their account of the scenes which took place during the early stages and progress of the revolution, accords with the state- ments of others who have described them, and I have not been able to discover any discrepancies be- tween them. Cause of the revolution in the colony.-People of co- lour in France.-Their proceedings.-League with the society of Amis des Noirs.-Og6's rebellion.-His de- feat and death.-Conduct of the proprietors and plant- ers.-Consequences of it. IT has been very erroneously thought by some per- sons, who feel interested in the fate of the slave population of the West Indies, or at all events they have, with no little industry, propagated the im- pression, that the revolution in Hayti begun with the revolt of the blacks, when it is evident, from the very best authors and from the testimony of people now living, who were present during its opening scenes, that such was not the fact, and that the slaves remained perfectly tranquil for two years after the celebrated Declaration of Rights" was pro- mulgated in France. Such persons give themselves but little trouble in searching the history of the island-they are satisfied with the report of others, who maybe equally uninformed with themselves; and thus it is that they imbibe ideas and notions of the wonderful capacities of the negro population, who could have commenced, and so effectually carried themselves through a struggle for freedom, without, as they allege, the aid of any other more enlightened or more powerful auxiliary. It requires no observa- tion of mine to shew that the first symptom of dis- order shewed itself among that class of people in the colony denominated, at the time, Sang-mlees, or Gens de Couleur, or, as termed in the British co- lonies, mulattoes, who from their numbers formed a very powerful body, and not being countenanced by the whites, became in time inveterately opposed to them: many of them, natives of the colony and of the other French islands, were residing in France at the time of the Revolution, and. these consisted of persons who had been sent thither in early life for their education, together with others who possessed considerable property, as well as some talent and intelligence. At this period also, from an extra- ordinary prejudice that prevailed in France against the inhabitants of the colonies, arising from an aversion to the principles of slavery, and which was much encouraged by the denunciation against every- thing having the least appearance of despotism, a society was established, denominated "Amis des Noirs" (Friends of the Blacks), which aimed at the subversion of the government, and called for an im- mediate abolition of the slave-trade, as well as a general emancipation of all those who were at the time living in a state of slavery. "With these people" (meaning the men of colour in France), says a writer on this subject, "the so- ciety of Amis des Noirs formed an intimate connec- tion. Their personal appearance excited pity, and, cooperating with the spirit of the times and the representations of those who deeply sympathized upon principles of humanity with their condition, all ranks of people became clamorous against the white colonists, and their total annihilation was threatened." Not long after the formation of this union of feeling and sentiment between the friends of the blacks and the men of colour in France, the national assembly promulgated their famous decla- ration of rights, an act certainly contemplating the destruction of all order, and having an evident ten- dency to excite the lower classes of the people into every species of insubordination and general ferment; one of its leading and most important clauses being, that "all men are born and continue free and equal as to their rights." The society of Amis des Noirs, aided by a cor- responding institution in London, together with the united body of the coloured people in France, lost no time in sending out this very celebrated declaration, and in disseminating its principles throughout the whole island; their efforts were not unavailing, for the mulattoes, conscious that the French nation were favourable towards their designs of demanding a restitution of their rights, and the full and un- qualified enjoyment of those privileges hitherto con- fined to the white colonists, had recourse to arms, and appeared in bodies for the purpose of awing the provincial assemblies into concession; but their num- ber not being great, they were in the onset easily subdued. It is said, however, that notwithstanding this check to their progress, the assemblies were much disposed to concede to the demands of the mulattoes; but in no instance could they think of permitting those white inhabitants to participate in these privileges, who had in any way cooperated with them. Several of the civil officers of the colo- ny and magistrates declaimed against slavery, and openly avowed themselves supporters of the decla- ration of the national assembly of the mother-coun- try; they were arrested by the provincial assemblies, and committed to prison, and such was the irritation and fury of the mob, that Mons. Beaudierre, a respectable magistrate at Petit Goane, was taken out by force, and, in spite of the municipality and other powers, put to death. In some cases the governor successfully interposed, and those who were most obnoxious to the people were conveyed out of the co- lony by secret means. During all these outrages, there is no account upon record of the negroes taking any part, and the fact seems to be established, that at this period they were quite tranquil and unmoved, although their several proprietors were concerned either for or against the measures from which the agitations sprung. It appears that the governor of the colony had lost a great deal of his popularity, and consequently of his power, by his interposition; for a general co- lonial assembly, convoked in January 1790 by order from the king, determined that his instruc- tions were imperfect and inapplicable, and the people therefore proceeded on a plan of their own, and changed both the time and the place at which the assembly should be held.. Nothing could have emanated from the deliberations of the body con- voked by this determination of the people, for the discontented and confused state of the colony being soon known in the mother-country, and an appre- hension having arisen that the island was likely soon to be declared independent, the national as- sembly, in March 1790, came to the following deci- sion: That it never was the intention of the as- sembly to comprehend the interior government of the colonies in the constitution which they had framed for the mother-country, or to subject them to laws which were incompatible with their local establishments; they therefore authorize the inha. bitants of each colony to signify to the national as- sembly their sentiments and wishes concerning the plan of interior legislation and commercial arrange- ment which would be most conducive to their pros- perity." Then followed a resolution, That the national assembly would not cause any innovation to be made, directly or indirectly, in any system of commerce in which the colonies were already con- cerned." * The people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs were, as it might have been anticipated, thrown into considerable alarm by the promulgation of a decree of so ambiguous a character, and no little surprise and consternation followed its appear- ance in the island. It was construed into an ac- quiescence in the further continuance of the slave- trade; it was also conceived to confer upon the colonists the power of settling and affixing their co- lonial constitutions, and to absolve them from their allegiance to the French crown. The first general assembly of the island which was convoked after these decrees had been received, and had excited the astonishment of the people, was held at St. Marc on the 16th of April 1790. Their deliberative functions commenced with a dis- cussion upon the hardships to which the people of colour were subjected under the military system of the colony, and it was determined, that on no sub. sequent occasion should they be required to perform more duty than was usually exacted from the An inquiry into the abuses alleged to prevail in the colonial courts of judicature, and the discussion of a new plan of colonial government, were the * Anonymous. principal subjects which occupied the attention of the assembly until the end of May, when it was ad- journed or prorogued. M. Paynier was at this time governor-general of St. Domingo: he had neither the capacity nor the disposition required for administering the affairs of the colony at such a period. Instead of being ac- tuated with the desire of conciliating the parties opposed to each other, he secretly gave every pos- sible aid and encouragement to the supporters of ancient despotism. The appearance of Colonel Mauduit, however, a man of some talent and energy, effected a change; for he soon acquired much influ- ence over the governor-general, and prevented the coalition which was about to take place between the assembly and the mulattoes; and declaring himself the protector of the latter, he speedily gained over to his interest the greater part of that class of people. The planters at this time, too, were in an undecided state, wavering in their opinions, and fixed to no measures likely to preserve the tranquillity of the island, and there was not one of their body capable of impressing them with a due sense of the condi- tion into which they were likely to be precipitated by their want of energy and decision. Forming as they did a numerous class of the inhabitants, had they been unanimous in their opinions, and united in their views, the repose of the colony would in all probability have been preserved. Such not being the case, however, and some of the provincial as- semblies making efforts to counteract the measures of the general one, a civil war seemed likely to be the result of so much diversity of sentiment. The decree of the general colonial assembly of the 28th of May was indicative of an approaching convul- sion, which before long might be expected to burst forth; the preamble to this decree exhibited senti- ments which seemed to breathe a spirit hostile to the peace of the people. The articles themselves assume it as a branch of the prerogative of the crown to confirm or annul the acts of the colonial legislature at pleasure. These articles are import- ant, and I shall detail them as they have been given by others. First. The legislative authority, in every thing which relates to the internal concerns of the colony (y6gime interieur), is vested in the assembly of its representatives, which shall be called The General Assembly of the French Part of St. Domingo.' Secondly. No act of the legislative body, in what relates to the internal concerns of the colony, shall be considered as a law definitive, unless it may be made by the representatives of the French part of St. Domingo, freely and legally chosen, and con- firmed by the king. Thirdly. In cases of urgent necessity, a legis- lative decree of the general assembly, in what re- lates to the internal concerns of the colony, shall be considered as a law provisional. In all such cases the decree shall be notified forthwith to the governor-general, who, within ten days after such notification, shall cause it to be published and en- forced, or transmit to the general assembly his ob- servations thereon. Fourthly. The necessity of the case, on which the execution of such provisional decree is to de- pend, shall be a separate question, and be carried in the affirmative by a majority of two-thirds of the general assembly; the names and numbers being taken down prisess par l'appel nominal). Fifthly. If the governor-general shall send down his observations on any such decree, the same shall be entered in the journals of the general as- sembly, who shall then proceed to revise the decree, and consider the observations thereon, in three se- veral sittings. The votes for confirming or annul- ling the decree shall be given in the words Yes or No, and a minute of the proceedings shall be signed by the members present, in which shall be enume- rated the votes on each side of the question, and if there appears a majority of two-thirds for confirming the decree, it shall be immediately enforced by the Sixthly. As every law ought to be founded on the consent of those who are to be bound by it, the French part of St. Domingo shall be allowed to propose regulations concerning commercial arrange- ments, and the system of mutual connexion (rap- ports commerciaux, et autres rapports communs), and the decrees which the national assembly shall make in all such cases, shall not be enforced in the colony, until the general assembly shall have con- sented thereto. Seventhly. In cases of pressing necessity, the importation of articles for the support of the inha- bitants shall not be considered as any breach of the system of commercial regulations between St. Do- mingo and France; provided that the decrees to be made in such cases by the general assembly shall be submitted to the revision of the governor-general, under the same conditions and modifications as are prescribed in articles three and five. Eighthly. Provided also, that every legislative act of the general assembly executed provisionally, in cases of urgent necessity, shall be transmitted forthwith for the royal sanction. And if the king shall refuse his consent to any such act, its execu- tion shall be suspended as soon as the king's refusal shall be legally notified to the general assembly. Ninthly. A new general assembly shall be chosen every two years, and none of the members who have served in the former assembly shall be eligible in the new one. Tenthly. The general assembly decree that the preceding articles, as forming part of the constitu- tion of the French colony in St. Domingo, shall be immediately transmitted to France for the accept- ance of the national assembly and the king. They shall likewise be transmitted to all the parishes and districts of the colony, and be notified to the go- It was not likely that a decree, the articles of which were thus opposed to the maintenance of order, could exact the acquiescence and submission of the people, and lead them to an approval of that which seemed to aim at the destruction of all sub- ordination. Serious apprehensions arose as to the measures which would be adopted and pursued at this juncture, to avert the impending storm which was expected at no distant period to burst forth. It was imagined, and was a received opinion, that the declaring of the colony an independent state, in imitation of the English American provinces", was certain, and every effort was made to avert such a proceeding. No obedience to the general assem- bly could be enforced. The inhabitants of Cape Francois were the first to set the example of re- nouncing all respect for that body, and of calling upon the governor-general to dissolve them. With this request he instantly complied; charging the general assembly with a design of undermining the peace of the colony, by forming projects of inde- pendency, contrary to the voice of the colonists; he even charged them with having been accessories or instigators of the mutiny of the crew of one of the king's ships, and pronouncing them traitors to their king and country, he declared that he should take the most prompt and effective measures for bringing them to that punishment for which their treachery so loudly called. An attempt was made to arrest the committee of the western provincial assembly, and a force under M. Mauduit was sent for that purpose, but he failed in effecting his object, for the members, hearing of his approach, collected about four hundred of the national guard for their defence, and M6 Mauduit retired after a skirmish or two, without any other advantage than the capture of the national colours. The general assembly being apprised of this at- tack, immediately summoned the people to the sup- port and protection of their representatives. The northern provincial assembly adhered to the govern- or-general, and, to oppose the progress of his op- ponents, they sent him all the troops stationed in that quarter, together with an additional force of about two hundred mulattoes. The western pro- vince collected a much greater force, and every- thing seemed to indicate a sanguinary civil war, when an event occurred which for a time averted all those unhappy results that would inevitably have taken place, had the opposing parties come in contact. Most unexpectedly, at this momentous juncture, for the purpose of trying the effect of a personal ap- peal to the national assembly of France, the general assembly of the island determined on a voyage to Europe. About one hundred members, all that re- mained of their body, from the effects of sickness and desertion, embarked on board the Leopard (that very ship, the crew of which had declared them- selves in their interest a very short time previously) on the 8th of August, and took their departure, hailed with the warmest acclamations of the popu- lace, who could not restrain their admiration at so extraordinary an act of devotion to the good of their country. It is said, that tears of sensibility and affection were shed at their departure by all classes of people, and the parties in arms appeared mutually disposed to submit their differences to the king and the national assembly." Immediately after this storm had subsided, every effort was made by the governor-general, Paynier, to restore confidence and tranquillity amongst the people, and for some time, there was a strong indi- cation of the peace of the colony being once more established; but the designs of the people of colour in France, abetted by the society of Amis des Noirs, at the head of which were some of the most violent of the revolutionary characters of France, destroyed all their hopes, and every species of anarchy and confusion was anticipated from the proceedings of these disseminators of the pernicious doctrine of equality and the rights of man. It was at this period that the first mulatto rebel- lion took place, at the head of which was the famous Ogd, the protege and disciple of La Fayette and Robespierre, a young man about thirty years of age, and a native of the northern part of St. Domingo. He had been educated in France at the expense of his mother, a woman of property living near Cape Francois; having been admitted to the meetings of the society of Amis des Noirs, he had imbibed all their principles, and had become enthu- siastic in demanding an equality of rights and pri- vileges for his coloured brethren. Encouraged by the society, and the revolutionary leaders, he left France for the purpose of instigating his fellow co- lonists of colour to take up arms in the assertion of their claims. To give him something like an ap- pearance of military command, the society purchased for him the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army of one of the German states. To conceal his designs from the king and the national assembly, he made a circuitous voyage by North America; but his object was known before he left France, and intimation was sent out to the governor-general that he had embarked for St. Domingo, and that.his scheme was to excite his coloured brethren to arms. A descrip. tion of his person, and I believe a portrait also, were transmitted for the better discovery of him on his arrival; but notwithstanding every precaution, he landed secretly, and the circumstance remained un- known, until some weeks afterwards he wrote to the governor, reviling him for his proceedings, and in the name of all the mulattoes, of which he declared himself to be the protector, demanding in the most contumelious language the immediate execution of all the statutes of the Code Noir, and that in all times to come there should be no distinction, as to rights and privileges, between the whites 'and the other inhabitants of the island. To give a greater force as he thought to his demand, he vauntingly stated, that unless the governor-general acceded to his pro.. positions, he should assert them by the force of arms. Oge, however, was somewhat premature in his cal- culations of support and aid in the carrying into effect the object of his voyage; for although some consi- derable time had elapsed from his landing, and he had the assistance of his brothers, who were tainted with the same love of insubordination and tumult, he never could collect at any one time more than from two to three hundred to join him in his cause. He encamped his followers near the Grand Riviere, and it is said, that his brothers and another chief, Che- vane, instigated their people to commit many ex- cesses, and at times murdered the unoffending in- habitants in the vicinity, with the most shocking cruelty, whenever they declined to join in their pro- ceedings. Instances were many, in which whole families were murdered, from the circumstance of a father, or even a brother, refusing to take up arms to favour their cause. Supported by so small a body, and no simul- taneous movement taking place in any other part of the colony, the career of Og4 and his associates was not likely to be of any long duration. Steps were immediately taken by the governor to suppress the revolt, and to bring the leaders to trial, if it were found practicable to apprehend them. Troops and the Cape militia were sent to oppose them, when a skirmish ensued in which many of the rebels fell, and some were taken prisoners. Og4 escaped with Chevane; but as it was known that they had fled into the Spanish territory, they were demanded by the successor of Peynier, M. Blanchelande (the former having resigned his command, and em- barked for Europe,) who brought them to trial in March 1791, and they were condemned: Og4 and Chevane to be broken on the wheel, and his brother and some of his followers to be hanged. The for- titude of Chevane never forsook him to the last, and he met his fate with extraordinary resolution and courage; but Og4 exhibited the greatest pusil- lanimity, supplicating in the most abject manner that mercy might be extended to him. It appears that a respite was granted to him, in consideration of his promise to make the most important disco- veries were his life spared. He made a full confes- sion before commissioners appointed for that pur- pose, and in that confession was detailed the whole plan which the coloured people had devised to excite the negro population to open rebellion. It seemed a case of peculiar hardship, if not of great injustice, and breach of all faith and honour, that after the unfortunate and deluded man had made such important disclosures, and had informed the governor of the whole of their designs, by which their further progress might be defeated, his life should be sacrificed; mercy having been held out as the price of his confession, it should have been extended to him, for this he had unquestion- ably, upon every principle of justice, a right to ex- pect and to demand. Why it should not have been granted to him, no reason has been assigned. He was executed immediately after, and at the fatal spot he shewed neither the firmness, fortitude, nor the mind of a brave man suffering in that cause of which he had been the leader. The proceedings of the government with respect to the revolt of Og6, and the very unjust execution of the latter, excited great animosity between the whites and the people of colour, the latter of whom had collected in large bodies in various parts. In the western and southern districts they formed en- campments, and displayed a determination to resist the oppression and the unjust decrees of the go- vernor. At Jeremie, and at Aux Cases in particu- lar, a most formidable body had collected, well armed and accoutred, and shewed a great desire to come in contact with the government troops. It has been generally admitted that Mauduit, who commanded the troops of the government, was in secret conference with their leaders, and that on several occasions he appeared among them singly, and consulted with them, advising them not to de- sist from their purpose, but to move forward with energy and perseverance. That he did this traitor- ously, is evident, for having obtained intelligence of the whole of their plans through this ruse, he availed himself of it for the purpose of defeating them, and as it afterwards turned out, the mulattoes were dis- persed and obliged to seek refuge in any place where it was not likely that they could be known or disco- The members of the colonial assembly who had gone to France for the purpose of laying their com- plaints at the foot of the throne, were not received with much favour; on the contrary, having ap- peared at the bar of the national assembly they were dismissed with considerable disappointment and chagrin. The report of the committee appointed to examine their claims, displays no little disappro- bation of the proceedings of the general colonial as- sembly. It concludes by saying, that all the pre- tended decrees and acts of the said colonial assembly should be reversed and pronounced utterly null and of no effect; that the said assembly should be de- dared dissolved, and its members rendered ineligi- ble and incapable of being delegated in future to the colonial assembly of St. Domingo; that testimo- nies of approbation should be transmitted to the northern provincial assembly, to Colonel Mauduit and the regiment of Port-au-Prince, for resisting the proceedings at St. Marc's; that the king should be requested to give orders for the forming a new co.- lonial assembly on the principles of the national de- cree of the 8th of March 1790, and instructions of the 28th of the same month; finally, that the ci- devant members, then in France, should continue in a state of arrest, until the national assembly might find time to signify its further pleasure concerning Nothing could exceed the consternation which this decree excited throughout the colony, and the indig- nation of the people was manifest from one extremity of it to the other. To have called another general colonial assembly would have been an act of impos- sibility, for the people in many districts absolutely refused to return other representatives, declaring those that were under arrest in France to be the only legal ones, and that they would not proceed to an- other election. .The national guards, who had for some time felt, with no little mortification, the insult offered them by Mauduit, who had previously carried off their co- lours, evinced a disposition to resent the affront, and to refuse all further adherence to the cause in which they had enlisted; and they were soon after joined in their revolt by the very regiment of which Mauduit was the commander, tearing the white cockade from their hats, and indignantly refusing obedience to him. Discovering the error into which he had fallen, he offered to restore the national co- lours, and appealed to them for protection against insult, which these faithless wretches pledged. But because he would not stoop to the humiliation of begging pardon of the national guards on his knees, he was, notwithstanding this pledge, on the day appointed for the ceremony of restoring the co- Jours, suddenly pierced by the bayonets of those very soldiers whom on innumerable occasions he had so kindly and so liberally treated. The other troops who happened to be present at this most das- tardly and inhuman act, could not witness it with- out an attempt to revenge themselves on the perpe- trators; they were however restrained from effect- ing their intention, and only compelled them to lay down their arms, when they were sent off prisoners to France, there to receive that punishment which such an enormity most justly deserved. About this period the accounts of the fatal end of Og had arrived in Paris, an event that caused an amazing sensation amongst the advocates of the people of colour and the society of Amis des Noirs; it brought forward the Abbe Gregoire, the staunch friend of the former, who, with extraordinary elo- quence and great warmth, claimed the benefit which the instructions of March 1790 gave to them. Af- ter a violent address from Robespierre, who said, " Perish the colonies rather than sacrifice one iota of our principles", the national assembly confirmed the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, which enacted, " that the people of colour resident in the French colonies should be allowed the privileges of French citizens, and, among others, those of having votes in the choice of representatives, and of being eligi- ble to seats both in the parochial and colonial as- This decree, on being received in the colony, ex- cited no little sensation; the greatest indignation was manifested by the white people in every quarter, but still they refrained from acts of hostility to the measures of the mother-country, under the hope that when the new colonial assembly, which was to meet at Leogane on the 9th of August, entered upon its legislative functions, it would without doubt afford them that redress which they so anx- iously desired. The mulattoes, no doubt, expected that a most serious opposition would be given to this decree, as the governor, M. Blanchelande, had assured the provincial assembly of the north, that he would suspend the execution of this obnoxious decree when- ever it should come to him properly authenticated"; they accordingly assembled in large bodies through- out the whole colony, and displayed a determination to enforce by arms the concession of those privileges to which, under the decree of the national assembly, they asserted they were entitled. SHere, it will be perceived, the first serious sym- ptoms of tumult and insubordination appeared, not from any revolt of the slave population, but from the unhappy interference of the national assembly of France, influenced by the supporters and advo- cates of the people of colour, and the society of Amis des Noirs. Had this interference been declined by the mother-country, and had the colonial assem- bly been invested with the sole legislative power of framing regulations for the internal government of the island, all those lamentable scenes which subse- quently followed would have been averted, and the colony would have preserved its peace and repose, and have proceeded on, in its highly rich and culti- vated condition, to the great advantage of the pro. prietors, to the enhancement of the revenues of the parent state, and without, in any way, oppressing the slave cultivators or increasing the burthens under which they were said to labour. At the period of this narrative to which we have now arrived, the effects of the Revolution in France had made a very sensible impression on the whites, as well as on the people of colour; and it has been a matter of no little astonishment, that during the disputes which so unhappily existed, and whilst the adherents of one party were committing acts of hos- tility against the other, the slave population should have remained passive observers of the contest be- tween their respective masters, and in no instance, I believe, did they fly to their succour and support. The proprietors and planters of all denominations had arrived at a very high state of affluence, their plantations were extensive, in a high state of culti- vation; thus possessing a soil rich and productive in a climate particularly favourable for cultivation, their wealth scarcely knew any limits. But unfor- tunately their manners and habits became relaxed and depraved in proportion as they advanced in af- fluence and prosperity. Proud, austere, and volup- tuous, they often committed acts which humanity must condemn; and in the season of agitation and disappointment, when the contending factions at home and abroad were endeavouring to undermine them, they perhaps were led to the infliction of ex- cessive punishments, and to practise an unusual de- gree of severity in exacting labour from their slaves. Sensual pleasures had also, at this time, become so prevalent as to excite very general disgust. The mass of society had become so depraved, that vice in every shape was gloried in, whilst virtue was scarcely known; it cannot therefore be a matter of much surprise, that the iude, untaught, and unlet- tered slave, just emerging from his savage customs, should be led by example to imbibe the vicious ha. bits, and indulge the loose and ungovernable pro- pensities which characterized his master. Upon the creole slave example made an instant impression, whilst the newly imported African, slow to observe, was only led into excesses by the craft and persuasion of his creole fellow bondsman. Example, therefore, most unquestionably suggested the extraordinary cruelties which in the spirit of revenge were in- flicted by these infuriated people, instigated by the mulattoes in the first instance for the more cer- tain enforcing of their claims to the privileges which the decree of the 15th of May, 1791, conferred upon them. In all these disputes the females of the co- lony also bore a conspicuous part; entering into all the views and feelings of their male companions, they displayed an unparalleled degree of enthusiasm for the cause in which their husbands, fathers and brothers had respectively engaged: forgetting their sex, and lost to the softer feelings of female nature, they furiously flew to the standards of their party, and by gesture and menace shewed that they were ready to meet the fate which seemed likely to fall on their I cannot better illustrate the characters of the planters and the slave population at this period, than by the description given of them by Rainsford in his History of St. Domingo, who must have been conversant with them from having been a sojourner in the colony under circumstances of great danger, and whose experience, arising from general inter- course, must enable him to be a very competent judge. He says of them : Flushed with opulence and dissipation, the majority of the planters in St. Domingo had arrived at a state of sentiment the most vitiated, and manners equally depraved; while injured by an example so contagious, the slaves had become more dissolute than those of any British island. If the master was proud, voluptuous, and crafty, the slave was equally vicious, and often riot- ous ; the punishment of one was but the consequent of his own excesses, but that of the other was often cruel and unnatural. The proprietor would bear no rival in his parish, and would not bend even to the ordinances of justice. The creole slaves looked upon the newly imported Africans with scorn, and sustained in turn that of the mulattoes, whose com. plexion was browner, while all were kept at a dis- tance from an intercourse with the whites; nor did the boundaries of sex, it is painful to observe, keep their wonted distinction from the stern impulses which affect men. The European ladies too often participated in the austerity and arrogance of their male kindred, while the jet black beauty among slaves, though scarcely a native of the island, re- fused all commerce with those who could not boast the same distinction with herself." First revolt of the slaves in 1791.--Their ravages.- Decree of the national assembly 4th of April 1792.- Santhonax and Polverel.-Their secret agency.-En- courage the slaves.-Their declaration of freedom to the slaves.-Consequences arising from it.-Character of the slaves.-Disabilities of the coloured people. IN the preceding chapter I have sought to discover if the first cause of the revolt of the slaves in Hayti proceeded from any hatred towards their proprietors, or if it were excited by the intrigues of the contend- ing parties, who were each attempting to gain over that class in favour of their cause; and I find that the result of my investigation of the subject is in favour of the latter supposition. From facts that appear to me undeniable I have come to the conclu- sion, that unless the national assembly of France had made an attempt to destroy that principle of governing the colony which had previously been adopted, and which before the Revolution had been sanctioned by every person connected with it, the slave population would have remained until this day peaceable and tranquil observers of passing events, unmindful of their being in bondage, because under that bondage they had no wants, and in that state, whatever may be the opinion of mankind, they had no care beyond that of their daily labour, to which they felt it was no hardship to submit; for there does not appear an instance in which it exceeded the ordinary work of any labourer within the tropics. The revolt of the slaves, therefore, I take leave to say, did not proceed from any severity or great oppression on the part of their proprietors, but from the proceedings of the parties who at different pe- riods were striving for a preponderating power in the colony :--of the whites who aimed at the pre- servation of their privileges, and resisted all inno- vation; and of the people of colour, who made every possible effort to be admitted into the same sphere, and to the enjoyment of those rights which Gregoire and his revolutionary colleagues were willing to concede to them. To these causes, and to these alone, as it will appear to every unbiassed reader, are to be attributed all those lamentable scenes which subsequently ensued, and to which the human mind cannot turn its attention without ex- periencing those painful sensations which are excited by the ravages of civil warfare and rebellion. The first act of open rebellion among the slaves appears to have occurred in the vicinity of the Cape on or about the 23d of August 1791, on the plant- ation No6, situated in the parish of Acub. The principal ringleaders murdered the white inhabit- ants, whilst the other slaves finished the work of de- vastation, by demolishing the works and setting fire to the dwellings, huts, and other places contiguous to them. They were joined by the negroes from other estates in the neighbourhood, upon all of which similar tragedies were performed, and desolation seemed likely to spread through the whole plains of the north. The barbarity which marked their progress exceeded description; an indiscriminate slaughter of the whites ensued, except in instances where some of the females were reserved for a more wretched doom, being made to submit to the brutal lusts of the most sanguinary wretches that ever dis- graced humanity. Cases are upon record, where the most amiable of the female sex were first brought forth to see their parents inhumanly butchered, and were afterwards compelled to submit to the em- braces of the very villain who acted as their exe- cutioner. The distinction of age had no effect on these ruthless savages, for even girls of twelve and fourteen years were made the objects of satiating their lust and revenge. Nothing could exceed the consternation of the white people; and the la- mentations of the unhappy women struck every one with horror. Such a scene of massacre has scarcely been heard of, as that which accompanied the com- mencement of the rebellion in the north. Some opposition was made to their progress by a few militia and troops of the line, which M. De Tonzard collected for the purpose; not indeed, with the expectation of effectually dispersing them, but of enabling the inhabitants of the city of Cape Frainois to put themselves in such a state of de. fence as might save them from that destruction which seemed to await them. The citizens flew to arms, and the national guards, with the seamen from the ships, were mustered, and ready to receive the rebels should they make an attempt upon the city. There was in the city at the time, a large body of free mulattoes, on whom the lower order of whites looked with a suspicious eye, as being in some way the authors or fomenters of the revolt; these were also enrolled in the militia, the governor and the colonial assembly confiding in them, and relying on their fidelity. The report of the revolt was soon known throughout the whole colony, but more par- ticularly in the northern districts, the white inhabit- ants of which, being speedily collected together, es- tablished two strong posts at Grand Rivibre and at Dondon, for the purpose of checking the advance of the revolters, until such time as a force could be concentrated, sufficiently powerful to disperse them: but in this they were disappointed, for the negroes had increased their own numbers by the revolt of the slaves on many other estates, and they had also been joined by a large body of mulattoes. With this united force, they successfully attacked the two positions which were occupied by the whites, who F 2 were completely routed. Success put the rebels in possession of the extensive plain with all its sur- rounding mountains, abounding with every produc- tion of which they stood in need for their suste- The defeat of the whites was followed by a scene of cruelties and butcheries which exceeds imagination; almost every individual who fell into the hands of the revolters met with a wretched end, tortures of the most shocking description being resorted to by these blood-thirsty savages: blacks and mulattoes seemed eager to rival each other in the extent of their enor- The union of the mulattoes with the revolted slaves, was not an event unlocked for; as I have be- fore remarked, they were strongly suspected of being the instigators of the rebellion. This junction caused serious apprehensions, that those mulattoes who had joined the whites in the city, and had marched for the purpose of cooperating with the inhabitants of the plains, would desert their posts and go over to the revolters; and it is probable that such an event might have ensued, had not the governor, before he permitted them to be enrolled, and before he could implicitly confide in them, demanded from them their wives and children, as hostages for their ad- herence to the cause which they had engaged to In this northern insurrection, the destruction of the white inhabitants, it is said, was considerable, exceeding, of all ages, two thousand; besides the demolition of the buildings of a great many plant- ations, and the total ruin of many families, who from a condition of ease and affluence were reduced to the lowest state of misery and despair, being driven to the melancholy necessity of supplicating charity, to relieve the heart-rending calls of their hungry and naked offspring. The loss of the in- surgents was however infinitely greater; being ig- norant of the effects of cannon they were consequent- ly cut down in masses, while the sword was also ef- fectually used. It appears that upwards of 10,000 of these sanguinary wretches fell in the field, besides a very large number who perished by famine, and by the hands of the executioner; a very just retri- bution for their savage and inhuman proceedings. There is every reason to believe that the loss sus- tained by them in all their engagements must have been immense, as they seemed to have imbibed a most extraordinary idea of the effect of artillery: it is said of them by a writer of repute, that "The blacks suffered greatly in the beginning of the re- volution by their ignorance of the dreadful effects of the guns, and by a superstitious belief, very ge- nerally prevailing at that time, that by a few mys- terious words, they could prevent the cannon doing them any harm, which belief induced them to face the most imminent dangers." Whilst these ravages were going on in the north, the western district was menaced by a body of men of colour, who had collected at Mirebalais, san- guinely expecting to be joined by a large party of slaves from the surrounding parishes. Their aim was the possession of Port au Prince and the whole plain of Cul de Sac; but being joined by only about six or seven hundred of the slaves of the neighbour- hood, they did not succeed in their object; and after having set fire to the coffee plantations in the mountains, and done some injury amongst the es- tates in the valley, they began to deliberate on their condition, and to devise some plan, by which they might be able to rescue themselves from the dilemma into which they were thrown by their own rash and improvident proceedings. Some of the most power- full of the mulattoes, who found it impossible to gain the negroes over to their cause, deemed it advisable to propose an adjustment of their disputes, and at- tempt to bring about a reconciliation with the whites. One of the planters, a man of some power and address, and having been always very highly esteem- ed by the people of colour, as well as the negroes through the whole of the Cul de Sac, interposed, and a treaty was concluded on the 11th of Septem- ber, between the people of colour on the one part, and the white inhabitants of Port au Prince on the This treaty was called the Concordat: it had for its basis the oblivion of past differences and the full recognition of the decree of the national assembly of the 15th of May. The treaty was subsequently ratified by the general assembly of the colony, and a proclamation was issued, in which it was held out that further concessions were contemplated for the purpose of cementing a good understanding between both classes, and these concessions, it was supposed, alluded to the admission of those persons of colour to the privileges of the whole who were born of en- slaved parents. Mulattoes also were voted to be eligible to hold commissions in the companies form- ed of persons of their own colour, and some other privileges of minor consideration conceded to them. This, it was hoped, would restore order, and enable the people once more to enjoy peace and repose. But a circumstance occurred which blasted these hopes, and the flame, which appears only to have been partially subdued, was rekindled, and burst forth again with an astonishing rapidity, devouring all within its overwhelming reach. Immediately after the ratification of the Concordat by the colonial assembly had been announced, and when it was admitted by all parties that its several pro- visions, amongst them the decree of the 15th of May, were judicious and highly commendable, tending to preserve order and tranquillitythrough the island, in- telligence was received of the repeal of that very de- cree by the national assembly in France, and of its having been voted by a very large majority. This was followed too by an intimation that the na. tional assembly had determined on sending out commissioners to enforce the decree of the 24th of September 1791, which annulled the decree of the 15th of May, and to endeavour to restore order and subordination. Such unaccountable, and, as they may be justly characterized, deceptive proceedings on the part of the national assembly excited the in- dignation of the people of colour, who immediately accused the whites of being privy to these transac- tions, and declared that all further amity and good understanding must be broken off, and that either one party or the other must be annihilated. All the coloured people in the western and southern parts flew eagerly to the standard of revolt, and having collected a strong force, they appeared in a few days before Port au Prince, on which they made an attempt, but as that city had been strengthened by an additional force from France, it was enabled to receive the attack of the insurgents, and ulti- mately to repel them with no inconsiderable loss. The city however sustained considerable injury, and the revolters were successful in several attempts to set fire to it, by which a very large part of it was burnt down, or otherwise injured. In the plains of the Cul de Sac the negroes joined the mulattoes, allured by the charm of plunder and the pledge of freedom, and the expectation of satiat- ing their lust on the defenceless and unoffending white females who should fall into their hands. In these plains some sanguinary battles were fought, remarkable however for nothing except the unre- lenting cruelties with which the prisoners of the re- spective combatants were visited, and the barbarous and inhuman executions which followed them. In these engagements it is recorded that the whites had the advantage, but they were unable to follow up their success, being destitute of a force of cavalry for the pursuit, a circumstance which made it quite impossible for them to improve on any deci- sive movement which they had effected. It appears, that in every skirmish or engagement the whites were in all cases most forward and bold in their at- tacks, and few only were the instances in which the contest was commenced by the mulattoes; whenever they were brought in contact with their opponents they exhibited no individual or collective displays of courage and heroism, but, on the contrary, there seemed a tincture of cowardice in all their proceed- ings, for they arranged the negroes in front of their position, and in all cases of advance these deluded creatures bore the first attack of their adversaries, whilst their coloured allies, leaders, and deluders, often remained inactive during the moment of trial and slaughter. In December the commissioners Mirbeck, Roosne, and St. Leger arrived. Their reception was respect- ful, and there was a peculiar degree of submission shewn to them; but when they proclaimed a gene- ral amnesty and pardon to all who should submit and desist from further acts of insubordination, and subscribe the articles of the new constitution, a general murmur was excited, and marks of disap. probation were shewn towards them, not only by the colonial assembly, but by every individual of the contending parties. They remained in the island but a short time; and as an opinion prevailed that they were the mere instruments or organ of the national assembly, they obtained no attention or re- spect. Without any display of talent, they aspired to the government of a people, who were not to be commanded without being first taught that their commission was of a pacific tendency, and that their instructions were to appease, and not to excite. In- stead of this, they declined to give any explanation of the object of their appointment beyond that which had been previously known, the enforcing of the decree of the 24th of September 1791. Find- ing all their efforts unavailing, and that they were unsupported by either party, finding that their au- thority was disputed and their representations de- spised, and, above all, left without any troops by which they might attempt to enforce obedience to their power, and submission to the decrees of the mother-country, they took their departure from the island by separate conveyances, after having made many most ineffectual attempts to obtain the confi- dence and the good opinion of the people over whom they were sent to preside, and from whom they were sent to exact an accordance with such measures as the national assembly might think it expedient to adopt. About this time, also, there were some changes in France which indicated further arrangements with respect to the administration of the colonies, which could only tend to widen the breach, and in- flame the parties to that degree of violence which would preclude the expectation of any amicable ad- justment at a future period. The society of Amis des Noirs had now gained a considerable influence in the national assembly, and there seemed to exist an union of feeling in favour of the mulattoes, and also of the slave population, whom it was designed at no distant period to emancipate, however unpre- pared they might be, by moral improvement, to re- ceive such a boon. It was suggested that instruc- tions should be sent out to the colonial assemblies, conveying to them such intentions, as well as their opinion of the means by which slavery might be abolished in toto", without in the least affecting the interest of the people, or in any way putting their property in jeopardy. This design, however, of the anti-slavery party in France met with some mo- mentary opposition, although the advocates of the measure uttered loud invectives against the planters in general; but whatever influence the former might have collected and brought against the latter, it is very clear it failed in its desired aim, for in less than two months this assembly passed another de- cree, which abrogated that of the 24th of Septem- ber. This decree is of the 4th of April 1792, and ' it is the first step towards an emancipation of sla- very, although it does not declare such an intention. It is important, and I shall therefore insert it from a translation in another work, to the writer of which I am much indebted. The national assembly acknowledges and de- clares, that the people of colour and free negroes in the colonies ought to enjoy an equality of political rights with the whites; in consequence of which it decrees as follows:- "Article 1st. Immediately after the publication of the present decree, the inhabitants of each of the French colonies in the windward and leeward islands shall proceed to the re-election of colonial and parochial assemblies, after the mode prescribed by the decree of the 8th of March 1790, and the in- structions of the national assembly of the 28th of the same month. 2d. The people of colour and free negroes shall be admitted to vote in all the primary and electoral assemblies, and shall be eligible to the le- gislature and all places of trust, provided they possess the qualifications prescribed by the fourth article of the aforesaid instructions. 3d. Three civil commissioners shall be named for the colony of St. Domingo, and four for the islands of Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, and Tobago, to see this decree enforced. 4th. The said commissioners shall be autho- rized to dissolve the present colonial assemblies; to take every measure necessary for accelerating the convocation of the primary and electoral assemblies, and therein to establish union, order, and peace, as well as to determine provisionally (reserving the power of appeal to the national assembly) upon every question which may arise concerning the re- gularity of convocations, the holding of assemblies, the form of elections, and the eligibility of citizens. 5th. They are authorized to procure every in- formation possible, in order to discover the authors of the troubles in St. Domingo, and the continu- ance thereof, if they still continue; to secure the persons of the guilty, and to send them over to France, there to be put in a state of accusation, &c. 6th. The said civil commissioners shall be di- rected, for this purpose, to transmit to the national assembly minutes of their proceedings, and of the evidence they may have collected concerning the persons accused as aforesaid. 7th. The national assembly authorizes the civil commissioners to call forth the public force when- ever they may think it necessary, either for their own protection, or for the execution of such orders as they may issue by virtue of the preceding ar- 8th. The executive power is directed to send a sufficient force to the colonies, to be composed chiefly of national guards. 9th. The colonial assemblies immediately after their formation shall signify, in the name of each colony respectively, their sentiments respecting that constitution, those laws, and the administration of them, which will best promote the prosperity and happiness of the people, conforming themselves ne- vertheless to those general principles by which the colonies and the mother-country are connected to- gether, and by which their respective interests are best secured, agreeably to the decree of the 8th of March 1790 and instructions of the 28th of the same month. 10th. The colonial assemblies are authorized to send home delegates for the purposes mentioned in the preceding article, in numbers proportionate to the population of each colony, which proportion shall be forthwith determined by the national as- sembly, according to the report which its colonial committee is directed to make. 11th. Former decrees respecting the colonies hall be in force in every thing not contrary to the present decree." The carrying of this decree into effect was en- trusted to Messrs. Santhonax, Polverel, and Ail- haud, the executive in France sending out a body comprising eight thousand men of the national guards, for the purpose of compelling the colonists to submit to their authority. Having arrived on the 13th of September, their first act was to dissolve the colonial assembly, and their next, to send the governor, Blanchelande, to France, where, after an examination into his administration, he was sen- tenced to death, and suffered on the guillotine in the April following. M. Desparbes, who was in- vested with chief command in his stead, having disagreed with the commissioners, was also suspend- ed, and, like his predecessor, he was sent to France to undergo a similar fate. The greatest consternation everywhere prevailed on the announcement of this decree, and, as I have before observed, a pretty general feeling existed, that this was only a prelude to a general emancipa- tion of the slave population, and which afterwards was actually realized. The white inhabitants, in particular, suspected the candour of the commis- sioners, who were anxious to have it believed that the object of their mission was nothing more than to carry into operation the provisions of this decree, and to settle all those disputes between the one class and the other, which had been fomented to the great destruction of persons and property. These agents of the national assembly seem to have been well skilled in the art of dissimulation, more particularly the leader, M. Santhonax, who, whilst professing to the whites the warmest solicitude and anxiety for the preservation of peace and the promotion of the prosperity of the colony, was secretly intriguing with the mulattoes, and holding clandestine meet- ings with their chiefs; and in the end, in conjunc- tion with his coadjutors, he openly declared that they, with the free negroes, should enjoy their pri- vileges, receive the protection of the national guards, and that he would espouse their cause in every pos- sible way in which it could be effectually promoted. The properties of the white inhabitants, as well as their lives, seemed at this juncture in the great- est jeopardy, and they possessed no means of avert- ing the fate which seemed to await them. Some little hope, however, was raised in their minds by the appointment of a new governor, M. Galbaud, who arrived to take the command in May 1793, and to place the island in the strongest state of de- fence, it being apprehended by the French govern- ment that the British might interpose in the exist- ing disputes, as war had been declared between the two powers. His arrival was hailed by the author, ties and the inhabitants of the Cape with the strongest manifestations of joy, and from his having property in the island, they had the highest confi- dence in his character for probity, and anticipated that the most decisive measures would be adopted for the restoration of their property, and for the security of their lives. But how vain were their anticipations, and how fleeting their hope! The national assembly of France, the great mover of all the evils which afflicted this unhappy country, again interposed with new instructions, and suspended the new governor from his command, decreeing that any one holding property in the colonies should be in. eligible to fill any office of trust in the colony in which his estate was situate. Galbaud did not, however, resign his appoint- ment without a struggle; and aided by his brother, a man of some spirit and great enterprise, he col- lected a force composed of militia, seamen from the ships in the harbour of the Cape, and a strong body of volunteers, and without delay advanced against the commissioners, whom he found ready to receive him at the head of the regular troops. A conflict severe and bloody ensued, and considerable resolu- tion was displayed by the rival parties, each sup. porting their cause with unshaken firmness and de- termined bravery; but the sailors, who composed the greatest body of Galbaud's force, having become disorderly, he was obliged to retire, which he did without being in the least interrupted or opposed by the force of the commissioners. The next day various skirmishes took place, in which the success was in some degree mutual; and whilst the brother of Galbaud fell into the hands of the commissioners' troops, the son of Polverel was captured by the seamen attached to Galbaud's force. The commissioners finding, however, that their force diminished, and that their opponents were resolute and fought with unexampled bravery, had recourse to a measure which in the sequel caused much slaughter, although it succeeded in the destruction of Galbaud's force; they called in the aid of the revolted slaves, offering them their freedom, and promising that the city of the Cape should be given up for plunder. Some of the rebel chiefs rejected a proposition which could only produce the sacrifice of lives and the spilling of human blood, without in any way promoting their own cause, but Macaya, a negro possessing some power over his adherents, and being of a savage and brutal disposition, with an insatiable thirst for the blood of the whites, ac- cepted the proposal of the commissioners, and with three or four thousand of his negro brethren joined their standard, when a scene of horror and of car- nage ensued, the recital of which would shock the hardest and most unfeeling heart. Men, women, and children were without distinction unmercifully slaughtered by these barbarians, and those who had escaped the first rush into the city, and had reached the water-side, for the purpose of getting on board the ships in the harbour, were intercepted and their retreat cut off by these merciless wretches, just at the moment when arrangements had been accom- plished for their embarkation. Here the mulattoes had an opportunity of gratifying their revenge; here they had arrived at the summit of their great- est ambition and glory; here it was that these cowardly and infamous parricides, gorged with hu- man blood, sacrificed their own parents, and after- wards subjected their bodies to every species of in- sult and indignity; here it was that these disciples of Robespierre-this injured and oppressed race-- the theme of Gregoire's praise, and the subject of his appeal and harangue, shewed themselves worthy disciples of such masters! If any thing were wanted to establish the fact of these scenes being unexampled, and without a parallel, one thing, I am sure, will alone be sufficient, and that is, that the commissioners, these amiable representatives of the national assembly, the immaculate Santhonax, and the equally humane and virtuous Polverel, these vicegerents of the society of Amis des Noirs, these protectors of the mulattoes, were struck with horror at the scene which was presented to them, and re- paired to the ships, there to become spectators of the effects of their own crimes, and of a splendid and opulent city devoured by the flames which had been lighted by the torch of anarchy and re- In this destruction of the Cape, some instances of the most extraordinary brutality were exhibited, and others of devotedness and heroism were dis- played-; one or two it will be as well to mention, as illustrative of the generosity and humanity of the one party, and of the ferocity and cruelty of the other. When the revolters first entered the city, every man, woman, and child were bayoneted or cut down with such instruments as they could muster, but the young females were in most cases spared, for the momentary gratification of the lust of those into whose hands they fell. One case of the most singular enormity took place:-a leader of the re- volted slaves, named Gautier, had entered the house of a respectable merchant in the square, in which were the proprietor, his wife, his two sons, and three daughters; the sons were young, not ex- ceeding the age of ten, but the daughters were ele- gant young women, the eldest about eighteen, and the youngest not exceeding fourteen. Gautier, assisted by one or two wretches equally inhuman, pro- mised to spare the family, on account of his hav- ing received many acts of kindness and generosity from the father, to whom he was often sent by his master on business, he being a domestic slave. These poor creatures, who were at first half-expir- ing from the terror of the scene around them, and from the idea of being the captives of barba- rians, recovered somewhat from the alarm into which they had been thrown, through the promises of security thus unconditionally pledged to them; and although not permitted to go out of the sight of their captors, they did not apprehend that any mis, chief was in embryo, and that their lives were to be sacrificed. Impressed with the idea of safety, they proceeded to prepare a repast for their supposed guardians, and set it before them in the same splen- dour as they were wont to do when receiving their best and dearest friends.' Gautier drank freely, and his compeers did no little justice to the rich repast. Night coming on, and apprehensive of the conse- quences of a surprise from the governor's force, they began to deliberate upon what plan they should adopt to secure their unhappy captives from flight, when, not being able to devise any thing likely to be effectual, they came to the savage resolution of murdering them all. The daughters were locked up in a room, under the watch of two of the re- volters, whilst the remainder of them commenced the bloody task by bayoneting the two sons. The mother, on her knees, imploring mercy with pitiful cries, met with the same fate, whilst the hus- band, who was bound hand and foot, was barba. rously mangled, by having first his arms and then his legs cut off, and afterwards run through the body. During this blood-thirsty scene, the daugh- ters, ignorant of the tragic end of their parents, were in a state of alarm and terror not to be de- scribed, yet hoping that their lives were safe. But, alas! how deceitful that hope! for their destiny was fixed, and their time but short. Gautier and his diabolical associates went into their room, stripped them naked, and committed on their de- fenceless persons the most brutal enormities, when with the dead bodies of their parents they were thrown into the flames which were then surrounding them, where they all perished. I shall mention another case of an opposite cha- racter, and in which a degree of heroism was exhi- bited that deserves to be recorded with every praise. A M. Tardiffe, a planter, and a young man of con- siderable property and of great courage and pre- sence of mind, had joined the force of the governor, and had consequently become an object of great hatred, particularly on the part of some of the mulattoes who resided in the vicinity of his estate. Awakened one night about twelve o'clock by the cries of females, he jumped up, and rushed to the room in which his sisters, two amiable young ladies, were reposing, where he found armed men attempt- ing to get through the window. He instantly flew for his sabre and pistols, which were loaded, his sisters following him, and then returned to the room to oppose the assassins. He found one had accom- plished his purpose of getting into the room, whom he in an instant ran through the body; when, turn- ing to the window, he shot another fellow just en- 1 , tering, and afterwards one or two others who made similar attempts. About this time his domestics had all come up stairs, and they shewed themselves most faithful in adhering to their master; for, not content- ed with merely opposing the entry of the assassins into the house, they sallied forth to meet them at the front of it, and although their numbers were inferior to that of their unprincipled and lawless invaders, they successfully attacked them, killing seven, and driving away the rest, with the excep- tion of one, who was captured, who happened to be the illegitimate brother of M. Tardiffe, to whom he had shewed the warmest affection and whom he had cherished as the dearest relation. In return for such ingratitude and villainy, how did M. Tar- diffe act ? Did he give him up for public justice ? No. Did he permit his faithful and enraged do- mestics, who were witnesses of his crimes, to exe- cute momentary vengeance upon him ? No. But he took him by the hand, mildly remonstrated with him, and afterwards furnished him with the means of leaving the colony for America, lest the search- ing hand of justice might before long stay his ca- reer. I have thought it adviseable to relate these two cases, from the extraordinary enormity of the first, and from the singular circumstances attending the last, having received the detail of them from an individual who was engaged in most of the events which occurred at that period. After this first revolt of the slaves in the north, emigrations commenced in almost all parts of the colony, some going to the United States, many to the -neighbouring islands; and some of the most opulent and powerful of the planters to England, under the impression that the British government would be disposed to turn its attention to their cause. The war between France and England having com- menced, some regard was paid to their solicitations, and through the instance of M. Charmilly (the M. Charmilly of Spanish notoriety) the government of England sent out directions to the governor of Ja- maica to afford to those inhabitants of St. Domingo who were desirous to place themselves under Bri- tish protection every possible support, and to send without delay a competent force, and to take posses- sion of such places as the people might be disposed to surrender to them. The intentions of the British government being known by the means of secret agents, the commis- sioners, Santhonax and Polverel, had recourse to every possible means of strengthening the force in the colony, and of being prepared for the reception of the British troops whenever they should make their contemplated descent. They collected the re- gular troops, militia, and such of the whites as were in their interest, together with the free negroes and mulattoes who had hitherto followed their cause. But this was not deemed by them a sufficient body when united, to oppose British soldiers led on by experienced commanders. They therefore at once. " proclaimed the abolition of every species of slavery, declaring that the negroes were thenceforth to. be considered as free citizens"; and thereby assigned over to a lawless banditti the fee simple of every property in the French part of the island of St. Domingo, placing every white inhabitant within almost the grasp of a set of people insensible to every feeling of humanity, rude and ruthless as.in their native wilds. A description of these untutored people cannot be better given than in the language of Mr. Edwards, who pays, The Charaibs of St. Vincent, and the Maroons of Jamaica, were originally enslaved Afri- cans; and what they now are, the freed negroes of St. Domingo will be hereafter,-savages in the midst of society, without peace, security, agricul- ture, or property; ignorant of the duties of life, and unacquainted with all the soft endearing relations which rendered it desirable; averse to labour, though frequently perishing for want; suspicious of each other, and towards the rest of mankind revengeful and faithless, remorseless and bloody-minded; pre- tending to be free while groaning beneath the capri- cious despotism of their chiefs, and feeling all the miseries of servitude without the benefits of subordi- nation." The prediction of this elegant author has certainly been realized in all its parts, and subsequent events have fully confirmed the opinion which he had formed of the negro character, when left to his own uncontrolledwill and unrestrained in his propensities. Sloth, lust, and every species of wantonness and cruelty marked the progress of the enfranchised slaves in the first moment of their freedom; and un- til leaders of decisive and resolute powers for com- mand undertook to preserve some degree of order and submission, they wandered in parties through the different parishes, inflicting the most unheard-of cruelties on the innocent and unoffending, without regard to sex or colour. To the will and command of their chief they were generally obedient, al- though they were subjected to duties of the most dangerous and laborious description; but when the least relaxation of discipline was permitted, they again resorted to plunder and destruction, and to every other species of insubordination, gratifying their insatiable thirst for the blood of the whites, as well as of that of the mulattoes, who were averse to the measure of emancipation. In these predatory excursions they committed the most shocking ex- cesses, and more real and afflicting accounts have been received of the enormities practised by them when wandering in detached parties, than have been known to follow the most sanguinary battle in which they had been engaged. I see nothing through the whole career of the re- bellion to induce me to alter my opinion of the cause whence all these lamentable effects sprung; and I must again repeat, that it was not misconduct on the part of the proprietors which excited the first revolt, and induced the slaves to take up arms against those from whom, in innumerable instances, they had experienced kindness and indulgence. It was natural to expect that in a colony, the opera- tions in which are entirely performed by slaves, some cases of oppression would occur which would justly deserve reprobation; but the rebellion be- came general, although I am not aware that any successful attempt has been made to shew that the conduct of the planters towards their slaves was ge- nerally harsh and oppressive. De Vastey, in his remarks, would wish it to be inferred that the brute creation received infinitely more kindness and indulgence from their master than was shewn towards the slave: but De Vastey being a negro, it is natural that he should exhibit the worst side of the picture, without noticing its better one. He adduces no instances of that op. pression which he wishes to prevail upon mankind to believe to have been inflicted: we have nothing from him but allegations and assertions, without proof to support them. It is true, that he puts for- ward some statements of cruelties inflicted on his ne- gro brethren, but those were subsequent, even by his own account, to the revolt and to the emancipation; but he has forgotten that the first atrocities, the
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On May 22, a court in Hanover heard how a 39-year-old Turkish-born Kurd named Nurettin B. attempted to murder his second wife, Kader K., 28, after she asked him to provide financial support for their two-year-old son. State Prosecutor Ann-Kristin Fröhlich reconstructed Nurettin B.’s actions: “At around 6PM on November 20, 2016, Nurettin B. got into his car in Hamelin to meet Kader K. The trunk contained a knife, an ax and a rope. Sitting on the back seat of the car was their two-year-old son, who had spent the weekend with him. On the street, the former couple got into an argument and he begins hitting her. Then he takes the knife and plunges it into her chest. The 12.4 centimeter long blade penetrates the pericardium and heart muscle. A second stab opens the left abdominal cavity. Nurettin B. then pulls out the ax. With the blunt side he hits her head and upper body, cracking her skull. “Then he grabs the rope. On one end he ties a gibbet knot around her neck, then he ties the other end to the trailer hitch on the back of his black VW Passat. Nurettin B. steps on the gas. He races through the streets at 80 km/h (50 mph). After 208 meters (680 feet) the rope breaks. Kader K. is hurled against the curb. Nurettin B. drives to the police station to turn himself in. The child is still sitting in the back seat.” Presiding Judge Wolfgang Rosenbusch asked Kader K., who was comatose for weeks, to tell her side of the story. She said “the horror” began immediately after their Islamic sharia wedding (the marriage is not valid according to German law) in March 2013, when Nurettin B. prohibited her from having any contact with friends and family. She was allowed to leave the house only for grocery shopping and medical visits. She was not allowed to have a mobile phone. Rosenbusch asked: “Does he have a problem with women?” Kader K. replied: “He believes women are slaves; they must keep silent.” Nurettin B. has confessed to the crime but insists it was not premeditated. He has been charged with attempted murder and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. On May 9, a court in Kiel sentenced 35-year-old Turkish man to two-and-a-half years in prison for shooting his estranged wife in both knees and permanently laming her, in the hope that she would be unattractive to other men. The court heard how the man took his wife to the back of a local mosque after Friday prayers, accused her of offending his honor and shot her, saying: “Now you can no longer walk. You will stay at home.” In court, however, the woman, possibly under pressure from her family or the mosque, told the court that they couple had reconciled and would attend marriage counselling. Some observers surmised that the dispute may have been resolved in a sharia court. In any event, the German court allowed the man to return home with his wife and it remains unclear if and when he will serve his sentence. In Münster, a court sentenced a 36-year-old Lebanese man named Amer K. to 12 years in prison for stabbing his wife to death. The court heard how Amer K. stabbed 26-year-old Fatima S., the mother of his three children, in the chest and neck more than twenty times with a large kitchen knife because he thought she wanted to divorce him. Meanwhile, a court in Hanau sentenced a 22-year-old Syrian refugee to twelve years in prison for stabbing to death his 30-year-old sister, Ramia A., with a kitchen knife. She was 23 weeks pregnant and was accused of having brought shame to her family. Her unborn child also died in the attack. The true scale of Germany’s honor crime problem is unknown: many such crimes go unreported and reliable statistics do not exist. Empirical evidence indicates that honor violence — primarily but not exclusively the product of Muslim culture and Islamic law, sharia — has metastasized since Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed in some two million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In March 2011, the Max Planck Institute published a landmark study on honor killings. The study analyzed all such crimes known to have occurred in Germany between 1996 and 2005. The report found that there were two honor killings in 1998 and 12 in 2004. By 2016, however, the number had jumped to more than 60, an increase of 400%, according to the website Ehrenmord. May 18. In Berlin, a 32-year-old Bosnian, Edin A., murdered his former girlfriend, a 35-year-old German woman named Michelle E., after she ended their abusive relationship. He also abducted and tortured her 12-year-old son, who was forced to watch his mother’s murder. Neighbors said they had repeatedly alerted the police about Edin A.’s violent behavior, but the police did nothing. May 17. In Pforzheim, a 53-year-old Tajik man stabbed to death his 50-year-old wife at her place of employment, a Christian daycare center. It remains unclear if the woman was a convert to Christianity. May 17. In Wardenburg, a 37-year-old Iraqi man stabbed to death his 37-year-old wife while she was asleep in her bed. The couple’s five children, between the ages of four and 15, were at home at the time of the murder and are now living with relatives. May 8. In Neuendettelsau, a 24-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker, Mohammed G., stabbed his 22-year-old girlfriend in the stomach at a restaurant after she allegedly “provoked” him. The woman was five months pregnant; the unborn baby died in the attack. May 4. In Freiburg, a 33-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed his 24-year-old wife, a Kurdish Christian who had moved out of the couple’s apartment, but had returned to collect some personal belongings. The couple’s three children — aged six, three and ten months — are now in protective custody. April 29. In Prien am Chiemsee, a 29-year-old Afghan man stabbed to death a 38-year-old Afghan woman, Farima S., who had converted to Christianity. The attacker ambushed the woman as she was exiting a grocery store with her two children. April 23. In Syke, a 32-year-old Iraqi man, Murad B., strangled his 32-year-old wife, Mehe K., in front of the couple’s three children, ages one, two and nine. April 23. In Dresden, a 29-year-old Pakistani refugee, Shahajan Butt, murdered his girlfriend, a 41-year-old Vietnamese woman named Thu T. Police say the man, who arrived in Germany in December 2015, became enraged after he noticed that the woman had not posted any photos of him on her Facebook page, and suspected that she may have had another boyfriend. April 16. In Mainz-Finthen, a 39-year-old Egyptian asylum seeker stabbed to death his 32-year-old wife. Police said the couple had been arguing at the time of the attack. Their two children are being held in protective custody. April 5. In Leipzig, a 34-year-old Syrian man stabbed his 28-year-old wife because she wanted a divorce. The couple’s two children witnessed the attack; they are being held in protective custody. March 31. In Gütersloh, a 43-year-old Syrian man burned his 18-year-old daughter with a cigarette and threatened to kill her. When the police intervened, the father refused to allow his daughter to leave the house. After police succeeded in bringing the girl to safety, the father and son attacked the police, who used pepper-spray to fend them off. The girl is being held in protective custody. March 15. In Kiel, a 40-year-old German-Turkish man stabbed to death his 34-year-old Turkish wife in front of a daycare center. Neighbors said the couple, who were separated, had quarreled about moving their three children to Turkey. March 4. In Duisburg, a 30-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, Mahmood Mahrusseh, stabbed his 32-year-old ex-girlfriend. The woman survived; her attacker remains at large. March 3. In Mönchengladbach, a 32-year-old asylum seeker, Ahmed Salim, murdered a 47-year-old German woman, Nicole M., apparently after she ended a relationship with him. The man, who also uses the alias Jamal Amilia, was arrested in Spain. In his asylum application, he had written that he was from Israel. In another asylum application filed in another country, he had written that he was from Morocco. He is believed to be from Iraq. March 2. In Scheeßel, a 42-year-old Iraqi man stabbed to death his 52-year-old wife, also from Iraq. Police described the murder as an honor killing. The couple’s children are now in protective custody. February 25. In Euskirchen, a 32-year-old German-Turkish man stabbed to death his former girlfriend, a 32-year-old German woman who had begun dating someone else. February 17. In Offenbach, a 32-year-old Turkish man, Volkan T., shot to death his former girlfriend, a 40-year-old woman, Silvia B. The man said he was angry that the woman, who had two children, had ended her relationship with him. February 15. In Bielefeld, a 51-year-old Iraqi man tried to murder his 51-year-old wife by attacking her with a hammer while she was attending a German class at a local language academy. The man was apparently angry that his wife was mixing with other language students. February 10. In Ahaus, a 27-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker stabbed to death a 22-year-old woman after she seemingly offended his honor by rejecting his romantic advances. The woman, a Hindu, was employed at the same asylum shelter where her attacker lived. He was arrested in Basel, Switzerland. February 7. In Hanover-Mühlenberg, a 21-year-old Serbian man stabbed his ex-girlfriend after she ended their relationship and had begun dating someone else. February 1. In Hamburg, a 26-year-old Afghan man stabbed his estranged 28-year-old wife during an argument; she survived the attack. January 15. In Bremen-Vegesack, a 39-year-old Turkish man murdered his 40-year-old Syrian wife, who was nine months pregnant, because she wanted to divorce him. The unborn baby also died during the attack. January 5. In Waldshut-Tiengen, a 47-year-old Turkish man stabbed his estranged wife as she was walking with a friend. When she tried to run away, he pursued her and plunged a knife in her back. January 4. In Köln-Buchheim, a 44-year-old Iraqi man murdered his 19-year-old daughter because he did not approve of her boyfriend. Two days later, he called police. “I killed my daughter,” he said. The man may never face justice; he is believed to have fled to Iraq. Related Articles
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The European Convention on Human Rights has already had a significant effect on the media, and many media cases have been taken to Strasbourg. Convention rights have also been cited in our domestic courts, and some judges have striven to interpret English law in accordance with them. And from 2 October, convention rights will, for the first time, be directly enforceable in the UK under the Human Rights Act (HRA). Protection of freedom Article 10, freedom of expression, is the most important media convention right. Restrictions on the right are in Article 10(2), but these have always been interpreted narrowly in Strasbourg jurisprudence. The courts will have to balance the right to free expression with the restrictions, and with rights such as the right to a fair trial, to a private life and to freedom of thought and religion. Restrictions must: Be prescribed by law, ie be clear, certain and predictable. Ambiguous or imprecise restrictions of expression may be struck down. Be necessary in a democratic society. There must be a “pressing social need” for restriction and necessity must be “convincingly established”. “Necessary” means more than “useful”, “reasonable” or “desirable”. Pursue a legitimate aim. The aim of the restriction must genuinely be to protect one of the interests listed in Article 10(2), and the restriction must be exercised in a way that is proportionate to its legitimate aim. Is the right to freedom of expression just about news? Expression may be protected by Article 10, regardless of the medium of transmission or the merit of content. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that Article 10 is applicable “not only to information or ideas that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive... but also to those that offend, shock or disturb... any sector of the population”. Article 10 can thus be used to protect images, music, artwork, websites and live performances, even if the expression is offensive to most people. Article 10 can be applied to commercial expression, such as advertising and marketing. The codes of practice and complaints processes of advertising regulators are likely to be subject to the act, although commercial speech may be subject to greater restriction than political speech. Can Article 10 be used to defend against interim injunctions? It does not prohibit interim injunctions, but the ECHR recognises the effect prior restraint can have: “News is a perishable commodity, and to delay its publication, even for a short time, may well deprive it of all value and interest.” Section 12 of the HRA protects the media by limiting the scope for pre-trial injunctions and providing for ex parte relief only in exceptional circumstances. Courts have always been reluctant to grant interim relief to claimants in libel cases, balancing free speech with heavy damages if an article was later proved to be defamatory. However, Section 12 enhances the rights of journalists who were previously gagged by interim injunctions in breach of confidence and copyright cases. David and Victoria Beckham recently sought to prevent publication of parts of an unauthorised biography. The Beckhams argued that information had been provided by their former bodyguard in breach of confidence. The matter was settled on the basis that only about 200 words were removed. It appears that the couple were persuaded that some information about their private lives would be published, and that the courts would intervene only if there was a compelling reason to prevent free speech. Will Article 10 change the law of defamation? Restrictions on freedom of expression are permitted to protect reputations, but as the courts will need to interpret restrictions narrowly, defamation defences may have to be expanded. Domestic courts are slowly allowing more freedom in political speech. The Appeal Court held that a local authority cannot sue for libel, and the House of Lords has cited convention cases where the limits of acceptable criticism against politicians were wider than against private individuals. The courts have stopped short of developing a new category of privilege for political expression. The HRA will give the courts a renewed opportunity to consider this, but they may not take up this opportunity for a few years. Freedom of expression on the internet has been restricted by Godfrey v Demon Internet : UK internet service providers are removing material from websites because of accusations of defamation, infringement of copyright or other rights. The decision is set to be challenged in the ECHR and, once the HRA is in force, may also be attacked in the UK. Will convention rights protect journalists' sources? The ECHR has held that: “Having regard to the importance of the protection of journalistic sources for press freedom in a democratic society, and the potential chilling effect an order of source disclosure has on the exercise of that freedom, such a measure cannot be compatible with Article 10 unless it is justified by an overriding requirement in the public interest.” In John v Express Newspapers , the court had to decide whether to order a journalist to break her professional obligation to protect a source of information. The judgment was that the journalist did not have to reveal her source, this being a situation where the claimant had not explored other means of identifying the source. The judgment seems to reflect UK rather than Strasbourg jurisprudence. How is the right to freedom of expression compatible with a right to privacy? Restrictions on freedom of expression are permitted if they protect the rights of others. In the UK, pressure to find remedies for infringements of privacy rights has been building up. Media regulators have attempted to find a balance between individuals' and media rights, but they generally operate retrospectively. Claimants in privacy cases have so far had to rely on actions for trespass or defamation. The Court of Appeal could not provide Gorden Kaye with an injunction in his action against The Sunday Sport, where Kaye was “doorstepped” by a reporter while recovering from brain surgery. Article 8 will, for the first time, give individuals a positive right to respect for their private lives. It is possible that the courts will apply Article 8 to extreme cases and give victims of infringement of privacy damages and injunctions. Until the extent of such rights is clear, the media should be wary of using names or images of people who have not consented to their use, unless the inclusion is justified. Advertisers should obtain express written consent before using images of the public, and should take special care with consent when using images of children. Will convention rights interfere with blasphemy laws? Article 9 provides that everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Blasphemy laws have been upheld even when they restrict expression, but only where: the restriction applies to the way the expression is conveyed; the expression is highly profane and offensive; and there are safeguards against an over-broad application of restrictions. A sea change in English law? The principles of the convention give our courts the tools to radically change all areas of the law affecting the media. Media organisations should familiarise themselves with the approach that the Strasbourg courts have taken to date and prepare to fight for their rights in the UK. Nity Raj is a solicitor at Richards Butler.
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From "filled with happiness” to "boiling over with rage," much of the language we use to describe emotions depicts them as internal forces, waiting to be unleashed. Yet according to Iris Mauss, Associate Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley, our feelings are rarely (if ever) entirely internal; instead, they drive us toward external action, whether taking deep breaths to reduce stress or making a face. “Humans don’t usually just have an emotion and go with it,” Mauss says. “Rather, we almost always—and one might argue always—try to do something with that emotion. We may want to alter how we feel, we may want to alter how we act, or we may want to alter the physiological aspects of emotion.” Mauss runs UC Berkeley’s Emotion and Emotion Regulation Lab, which is dedicated to studying how people try to shape emotions and their expression. This year, Mauss’s research on emotion earned her an award from the American Psychology Association for an early career contribution to psychology. Even within psychology, emotions have long been considered “unscientific,” Mauss says. The study of emotion was pioneered in the 1960s by Paul Ekman, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who is now on the editorial board of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. In a series of groundbreaking studies, Ekman traveled to remote places such as Papua New Guinea and showed the local residents photographs of facial expressions, to ascertain whether emotions are universally human and based in evolution and biology. Ekman’s research was inspired in part by Charles Darwin, whose 1872 work The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals argued that different species and cultures use the same facial expressions to show similar internal experiences. Ekman found that his subjects recognized the emotions in the photographs at a rate that exceeded chance, and he concluded that emotion has at least some universal element. His work set off an ongoing controversy about the extent to which emotions are biologically or culturally constructed. Ekman subsequently identified six basic emotions that he argued have discrete biological functions. The emotional expression of disgust, for example—which includes wrinkling the nose and curling the upper lip—is thought to be rooted in the biological need to expel something harmful from the body. Some psychologists argue that this biological system has been co-opted by social versions of the same emotion, so that we make the same face when experiencing moral disgust. Subsequent researchers, including Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, have built on Ekman’s research to suggest that other, more dynamic movements, such as posture, offer greater insight into emotion than a frozen facial expression alone. For example, Keltner has identified the act of tilting the head as part of the emotional response of embarrassment. The field of “affective science” now spans a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, and history. Affective neuroscience focuses on the role of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin in producing emotion, whereas affective historians such as Barbara Rosenwein focus on how emotion has been culturally constructed over time. The view of emotions as pent-up forces stems in part from the ancient theory of humors, which identified four bodily fluids (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) as the source of a person’s affective state. Mauss’s lab measures emotion in a variety of ways: by gauging physiological variables such as heart rate, skin conductance, and blood pressure; asking participants to describe their feelings in questionnaires and diaries; and videotaping them to observe their facial expressions and body movements. In the latter case, the videos are rated by independent teams of coders who look for how intensely participants outwardly show emotion. For example, if the study seeks to measure amusement, the researchers code for everything from a blank face to hysterical laughter. The lab has found that how people think about emotions has an impact on their well-being. For example, in “Desperately Seeking Happiness,” a 2014 paper published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology with graduate student Brett Ford and other researchers, Mauss found that people who place a high value on happiness actually tend to be more depressed. In the initial study, participants in remission from major depressive disorder were asked to respond to questions assessing how much they valued happiness (based on agreement with statements like “happiness is extremely important to me”). The degree to which they prized happiness correlated with increased depressive symptoms, even when controlling for a variety of factors, such as overall neuroticism, demographics, and relationship status. One follow-up study found that a higher value placed on happiness was also a risk factor for developing depression, and another recent follow-up study found that the extreme valuing of happiness was also associated with (and even predicts) bipolar disorder. Such findings suggest that targeting emotional values — i.e. changing how people value happiness — might improve patients’ outcomes, Mauss says. Mauss's Lab also explores the relationship between the beliefs people hold about their emotions and what their bodies are doing. “It turns out that those beliefs and experiences are quite different from what’s actually going on [physically],” she says. For example, Mauss conducted a study at Stanford in which participants were asked to give an impromptu speech in front of a camera. Some participants were highly socially anxious, others not at all. After the speech, they were asked to rate how anxious they had been on a ten-point scale; unsurprisingly, the highly anxious people listed numbers at the top of the scale, while the non-anxious people said they were at the bottom. Moreover, while the non-anxious group said they felt few physical symptoms, the highly anxious group reported that their hearts were racing uncontrollably, their palms were drenched in sweat, and their faces were blushing bright red—the classic signs of anxiety. However, the lab had measured the participants’ actual physiological responses, and found that there was no difference between the two groups. Everyone showed the same increases in heart rate, skin conductance level, and facial blushing. “They were identical on every single measure,” Mauss says. “It seemed to us like the experience of those physiological symptoms was highly cognitively or socially constructed. It was driven by how anxious a person felt, and not how their bodies were actually behaving.” For people with a high degree of social anxiety, the perception that they are blushing and sweating feeds into a “vicious cycle” of feeling socially inadequate. Simply knowing that everyone experiences the same physiological symptoms could help overcome the cycle, Mauss says. Researchers in the Emotion Lab and Emotion Regulation Lab also study the degree to which emotional regulation is automatic. From infancy, societies train their members to control their emotions in a certain way; children who start to cry may be immediately hushed. This process continues in adulthood through cultural signals. “All those social interactions and practices shape these automatic types of emotion regulation that we engage in without us usually being aware of them,” Mauss says. To overcome the implicit challenges of studying automatic emotion regulation in a laboratory setting, Mauss uses priming methods, such as having participants complete a word-unscramble task with words related to emotion and control, then brings the subjects into an “emotionally evocative” situation to see how they respond. In one study, Mauss posed as an “annoying researcher,” reprimanding participants for their behavior and loudly eating potato chips and crinkling the bag. The results showed that participants who were primed to use emotional control actually experienced less anger, and were not aware that they had been influenced to do so. In general, research has found that people who are effective at regulating their emotions tend to be healthier and less depressed than those who aren’t. One method thought to be helpful in this regulatory process is known as “cognitive reappraisal,” or reframing one’s emotional experience in a more positive light. However, emotional control isn’t always a good thing. In a recent study, Mauss —together with former students Allison Troy and Amanda Shallcross—found that reappraisal works best when “self-regulating or changing yourself is the only option you have.” The lab gauged participants’ ability to regulate their emotions through cognitive reappraisal and categorized the types of stressors they had recently experienced as "controllable" (e.g. when responding to a problem at work) or uncontrollable (e.g. reacting to the death of a close friend). When participants were faced with uncontrollable stressors, having a greater ability for reappraisal did indeed make them less depressed. For the group that experienced controllable stressors, however, the outcome flipped: being good at regulating emotion was not just ineffective, but actually increased the risk of depression. In other words, the key to healthy emotion regulation is understanding which contexts are better suited to reframing our feelings, and which require confronting an external situation. “I don’t think we should all be unemotional as we walk through life,” Mauss says. “Sometimes negative emotions can be very useful.” To learn more about the Emotion and Emotional Regulation Lab, please see Photo Credit • Psychology Article Type • Faculty Spotlight
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WHILE superheroes sit firmly in the realm of fiction, one bonkers feature of the Marvel cinematic universe may in fact prove to be real. Scientists have proposed the existence of a ghostly "mirror dimension" like the one featured in the Doctor Strange films. In the movies – which star Benedict Cumberbatch – reality-bending wizards use the symmetrical realm to hone their superpowers. Researchers at the University of New Mexico believe that a similar alternate universe may be interacting with our own via gravity. In a paper published last week, they argued that the theoretical dimension could be causing our world to behave in strange ways. It's been pitched as a way to explain away problems with the Hubble Constant – the rate at which the cosmos expands. Read more about science NASA image reveals ‘river of stars’ as 4 galaxies interact – can you spot them? We could be living in a croissant-shaped bubble in space, scientists say "This might provide a way to understand why there appears to be a discrepancy between different measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate," researchers said in a statement about their findings. Based on a large number of observations and theoretical work, scientists have concluded that the universe is expanding. However, predictions of the rate of that expansion using standard models does not line up with astronomers' observations. Put simply, the universe is expanding slower than we expect it to – a quandary that has stumped researchers for decades. Most read in News Tech WHAT ARE YA BUYING? I found something VERY surprising in my old PlayStation 2 after years WHAT ARE YA BUYING? Genius iPhone sleeping hack is exactly what you need for a good night's rest Biggest asteroid to zip past Earth this year is a MILE wide – and nearly here Google Maps hack turns app into a DRIVING game – how to unlock it for free In their paper published May 18 in the journal Physical Review Letters, scientists pose a bonkers explanation. They say that an invisible universe, a kind of mirror world that we cannot see, but whose particles can interact with our universe, could explain the Hubble problem. Should their outlandish idea prove correct, it could explain how the universe is expanding faster than models predict – without upending our understanding of the cosmos. Mirror world theories have been around since the '90s but have not been suggested as a solution to this problem before, scientists said. "This might seem crazy at face value, but such mirror worlds have a large physics literature," study co-author Francis-Yan Cyr-Racine said in the statement. "Our work allows us to link, for the first time, this large literature to an important problem in cosmology." The theory is likely to prove controversial among scientists without further evidence to support its far-fetched claims. Read More on The Sun I’m a fake tan guru – my tip makes sure you NEVER end up with orange sheets Watching too much TV ‘increases your risk of dying young from killer disease’ Researchers have previously suggested that the Hubble Constant problem can be explained by crude or inaccurate measurements of the cosmos. More accurate measurements in future are expected to eliminate the problem. - Get all the latest Science news - Keep up-to-date with the top Space & Astronomy stories - All the latest Archaelogy news from dinosaurs to Ancient artefacts We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected] Source: Read Full Article
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Why Strength Training is Better than Cardio You’ve heard it time and time again: “Exercise is good for you!” “You have to exercise to stay healthy.” And although any exercise is better than no exercise, it is becoming more and more clear every day that strength training is more beneficial with a greater range of benefits than cardio. What is strength training? Strength training, also known as resistance training is using some kind of weight to lift to get a workout. When we think about strength training, many of us think about buff, leering, self-involved dudes at a Gold’s Gym. But it’s so much more than that. You can strength train by lifting weights or using exercise machines, but you can also strength train by practicing certain kinds of yoga, playing parkour, or even by lifting your children into the air. The weight used can be an external weight or the weight of your own body. What is “cardio”? This term is short form for ‘cardiovascular exercise’ and usually refers to increasing your heart rate a certain amount for a protracted period of time. This typically involves running for long periods of time, brisk walking, swimming, or biking. Cardio is not considered a strength training exercise; you are not lifting anything when performing a typical cardio workout. (And please, I beg you, for the love of your healthy joints, don’t lift weights while you’re in motion!) What kind of exercise is most effective? It is important to recognize that any form of exercise, so long as it is not causing injury or illness, is better than not exercising at all. In general, exercise allows for the development of coordination and motor skills, increases endorphin production and therefore feelings of happiness. It promotes stress reduction, pain reduction, lowers blood pressure (long-term), enhances the immune system, and decreases the risk of developing chronic diseases. (Uh, hell yes, sign me up, please.) You should be able to run away from an angry pig. You should be able to use your body to pull yourself up a rock to safety. But, if you are looking to get the greatest benefit out of exercise while reducing the risk of harm, strength training is what I recommend. When exercising, it is ideal to put your body under the least amount of stress possible while receiving maximum benefit. When you go for a long run or bike ride you are actually doing the opposite. Exercising at low intensity for long periods of time taxes your joints and organs tremendously. When you exercise you produce reactive oxygen species, also known as free radicals. The longer you exercise, in general, the more you are producing. These free radicals are the things that cause damage at the cellular level and increase the risk of developing disease. Several studies have shown that long cardio sessions increase the release of cortisol (a stress hormone), raise the risk of cardiac disease, can cause scarring on the heart, and lead to insulin resistance, which increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. What we understand now is that although cardio exercises can help you get in shape to some degree, a far more effective approach to exercise is strength training. When you lift moderate to heavy weights three times a week with proper form you have the ability to control the stimulus you are inflicting on your muscles much better. You reduce the risk of injury tremendously because of this. There is much less of a chance for you to lose proper alignment or misstep which is often a cause of injury. High intensity strength training has been shown to be the most effective way to enhance fat loss and increase muscle mass. Strength training also improves insulin sensitivity which lowers the risk of most chronic diseases. Additionally, strength training improves mobility and balance, posture, increases bone density, and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. What is even more awesome about strength training is that you get all the benefits of cardio without all of the risks! If you perform a set of an exercise and only wait 30 seconds before jumping in to the next set, you will get your heart rate up and improve your conditioning. I will often drop to do a set of pushups to get my heart rate up, or pick up a kettlebell and do some swings. (Please be sure that you have someone show you how to lift properly and give you feedback on your form. You may need to hire someone for this, but it’s well worth mitigating the risk of injury, which will cost you much more in the end. More reps lower weight or fewer reps higher weight? Lifting moderate to heavy weights with good form should provide tremendous, noticeable benefits in a relatively short period of time. You will probably start noticing benefits within a month and marked differences in your body shape and tone by the third month. To be honest, it can suck at first as your body gets used to this type of exercise, but it is worth it! Again, if you’ve never lifted weights before, get the help of a qualified personal trainer. They will put you on the right track so you get the best use of your gym membership. And, remember, hours and hours of cardio is probably doing you more harm than good, and it is definitely not necessary for your health and fitness goals. You’ll reach your goals much quicker by incorporating a strength training routine into your week. Doing some cardio, if you enjoy it, is perfectly fine, but it is important to recognize that strength training is essential. Yours in Health, Why Strength Training is Better than Cardio Did you enjoy this post? Sign up to get updates! Thanks so much, we look forward to keeping in touch. Something went wrong. 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Getting Your Invention Idea In The Door Without a Patent However, for those smaller manufacturers who are interested in seeing inventions, submitting your invention under the premise of confidentiality without them actually having to sign an agreement helps to bridge the gap and lets some progress happen, especially for those executives who are liability or written contract adverse. This tends to be the case early in a relationship, especially when they don’t know you yet, and when they are not even sure whether they want to proceed with the invention at all. Granted there is inherent risk associated with this method of submitting to a company, however it is my belief that the advantages of potential progress far out weigh the small chance of plagiarism. Further, I generally revert to this procedure especially when the invention is in a small enough niche market that there is likely not justification for any type of lawsuit concerning it. Thirdly, I tend to do this with companies that I have already pre-qualified, had some experience with, and/or have talked to the executive and so forth. This is not to suggest that it is 100 percent safe to submit to a company just because I have spoken with someone in the company. Lastly, I do not use this procedure if the premature public disclosure of the invention is an issue for either US or foreign patent filing. The inventor/client must always make the final decision as to how lenient they want to be with their submission policy. If the potential market in the next 10 years for the invention were over $50 million in retail sales, then the inventor may want to be a little more conservative regarding their procedure for submission to a potential manufacturer. I use this as a arbitrary figure for the sake of example. If the total market were worth $50 million retail, then the manufacturing company that you license may gross $25 million. If the inventor were to receive a 5 percent royalty then this would amount to $1,250,000 over a ten-year period, or $125,000 per year, minus whatever commissions you paid for negotiation of the license. Therefore the net income to the inventor may be in the range of $100,000 per year. When you consider that it costs a minimum of $20,000-30,000 for due diligence to get a patent opinion of scope and validity prior to even determining if you have a potential lawsuit against another company, it would be highly inefficient and not a prudent financial move to consider a lawsuit because the potential reward would not sufficiently offset the cost for bringing the lawsuit. As such, there has to be quite a bit at stake, such as $100’s of millions before even considering going into the litigation realm. If litigation is not a reasonable alternative, then the next best thing is to make sure you are working with a company that is trustworthy, based on their track record and previous treatment of inventors. Nothing is written in stone so at some point the inventor has to take a leap of faith and hopefully companies have been pre-qualified enough that this leap is being made into the hands of a good company. This also emphasizes the need for the pre-qualification and interviewing at places like trade shows, during in-field market research, and with interviews with executives in the company and people in the industry. Ron Docie, Sr. President, Docie Development LLC Guest Blogger
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This Year Resolve to Shift an Assumption By Jon Haverly Originally Posted on Dec 18, 2017 It is that time of the year when, with grand intentions, many of us resolve to do something new or different in the coming year. If you want to improve performance or relationships at work I have a simple experiment for you to try – shift an assumption. Shifting an assumption is a critical factor in sustaining a change. As a result of her extensive research, Liz Wiseman identified two types of leaders in her New York Times bestseller Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. Diminishers are typically absorbed in their intelligence and as a result drain ideas, energy and capability from people around them. One key finding from Wiseman’s research was their differences in mindset, specifically in the assumptions they hold about others. Diminishers appear to believe that really intelligent people are a rare breed and they are one of the few really smart people. As a result, they typically conclude, “Other people will never figure things out without me.” On the other end of the spectrum, Multipliers see intelligent people everywhere and as continually developing. Their assumption is “People are smart and will figure it out.” How would you interact with others or lead teams if you operated under the Diminisher assumption? How about under the Multiplier assumption? Here is a summary of the typical behaviors that Wiseman uncovered. These behaviors represent the differences in leaders who are more dictatorial as opposed to playing the role of a coach. Hopefully, you lean towards the Multiplier mindset. While having this mindset is key to developing and growing others, even well-intentioned leaders can have their diminishing moments. We refer to these as accidental Diminisher behaviors such as the rescuer tendencies I explored in a previous post. While coaching and developing leaders, I have observed that accidental Diminisher behaviors originate from assumptions about specific people or situations. Here are a few examples along with shifted assumptions: Assumption #1: I need to have all the answers. No, not really. When we believe we should have all the answers, we don’t allow others to think on their own. Instead stimulate the thinking in others by asking questions. Shifted Assumption #1: I need to have the right questions. Assumption #2: When someone comes to me with a problem, they want me to resolve it for them. Okay fellow Rescuers, this is not always true. Maybe they simply want your input or to inform you as to how they are handling the problem. When we jump in too early and too often we are not allowing others to think through how to resolve problems for themselves. Shifted Assumption #2: I need to understand why someone is bringing a problem to me. Assumption #3: I need to make quick decisions to keep the team moving. Making quick decision by ourselves or with limited input typically leaves others in the dark as to how or why a decision was made. As a result, we do not make decisions that tap into the collective intelligence that surrounds us. Allowing others to weigh in will fuel quicker execution once a decision is made. Shifted Assumption #3: I need to facilitate a productive debate to make the best-informed decisions. Assumption #4: This person is not smart. Multipliers assume everyone has something to contribute. If you could discover their hidden genius how would that change your relationship with them? Shifted Assumption #4: If I can find their hidden genius, I can put it to work. Assumption #5: My team needs to always be successful. Learning and growth commonly occurs through trial and error. When we don’t allow our teams to make mistakes we are often interfering in the natural learning process. Shifted Assumption #5: I need to make space for mistakes. Even if you are not currently in a leadership role, consider an assumption you hold about a colleague, boss or project that is frustrating you. How would you engage the situation differently by shifting this assumption? Although shifting your assumptions will not burn many calories at least you don’t have to watch what you eat or get up earlier to go to the gym. What assumption will you shift? Before we leave 2017 don’t forget to vote for Multiplier of the Year by December 29th. Here is to a Multiplying 2018; may your days be filled with more developing, exploring and supporting! Leave a Reply
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Kế toán thuế đóng vai trò rất quan trong trong tất cả các cơ quan, doanh nghiệp, có thể nói rằng đây là một lĩnh vực mà bất cứ doanh nghiệp nào cũng cần đến. Kế toán thuế sẽ là một công việc khó đối với những ai lười học và ngược lại đối với những ai chăm chỉ, ham học hỏi thì kế toán thuế sẽ là một công việc rất dễ đối với họ. Mặc dù kế toán thuế là một trong những chuyên ngành của ngành kế toán, nhưng giữa luật thuế với luật kế toán không giống nhau hoàn toàn, mà giữa chúng sẽ có những nghiệp vụ được hạch toán tương đồng nhau và sẽ có những nghiệp vụ được hach toán đối lập nhau. Có một bất cập của luật thuế ở Việt nam là thường năm nào cũng thế, luật thuế có rất nhiều thay đổi, bởi thế mà những người kế toán thuế phải theo dõi, cập những những thay đổi về luật thuế một cách thường xuyên để tránh gây ra những rủi ro, cho doanh nghiệp làm tổn thất đến nguồn tài chính của doanh doanh nghiệp cũng như làm mất uy tín của doanh nghiệp trên thị trường. Kế toán thuế là một lĩnh vực mà tất cả những công việc liên quan đều được thực hiện theo đúng những quy định mà luật thuế đưa ra, Hiện nay, có rất nhiều sinh viên mới ra trường, hầu như họ không thể hình dung ra kế toán thuế sẽ là những công việc gì, và những công việc đó có phức tạp hay không. Một người kế toán thế muốn thực hiện tốt công việc của mình thì họ phải đồng thời vừa hiểu được cả luật kế toán và luật thuế thì khi đó họ mới xử lý được các nghiệp vụ một cách dễ dàng. Trung tâm kế toán thiên ưng chúng tôi – là một trung tâm chuyên đào tạo và cung cấp các phần mềm trong ngành kế toán cho các cơ quan, doanh nghiệp tại Việt Nam sẽ mô tả công việc mà một người kế toán thuế sẽ phải làm để giúp cho độc giả – những người sẽ và đang làm trong ngành kế toán thuế hiểu rõ hơn những công việc mà một người kế toán. 1 Kế toán thuế sẽ làm những công việc gì vào dịp đầu năm? Kê khai và nộp tiền thuế môn bài là một công việc đầu tiên của bất kỳ một người kế toán thuế nào cũng phải làm. Thuế môn bài là loại thuế được thu vào đầu năm và thời hạn nộp thuế môn vào được xác định là ngày 31 tháng 01. Các doanh nghiệp sẽ phải nộp thuế môn bài cho cả năm hoạt động nếu như các doanh nghiệp đó đăng ký kinh doanh, được cấp đăng ký thuế và mã số thuế trong thời gian 6 táng đầu năm, và các doanh nghiệp sẽ chỉ nộp 1⁄2 thuế môn bài nếu như các doanh nghiệp đó đăng ký kinh doanh, được cấp đăng ký thuế và mã số thuế trong thời gian 6 tháng cuối năm. Đối với các doanh nghiệp mà mới thành lập tì khi nộp thuế môn bài các doanh nghiệp đó phải nộp thêm tờ khai thuế môn bài, đồng thời khi thành lập doanh phải khai báo với cơ quan thuế các thông tin về việc mở tài khoản ngân hàng cho doanh nghiệp, đăng ký chữ ký số ( kê khai thuế qua mạng ), chuẩn bị hồ sơ thuế ban đầu và nộp lên cho thuế,... Đối với các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ thì nộp tờ khai thuế : thuế giá trị gia tăng, thuế thu nhập cá nhân theo quý, năm. Đối với những doanh nghiệp, tập đoàn lơn thì nộp tờ khai thuế : thuế giá trị gia tăng, thuế thu nhập cá nhân theo tháng. Lưu ý đầu năm kế toán thuế phải nộp tờ khai thuế của tháng 12 hoặc là quý IV của năm trước cho cơ quan thuế. Thời hạn nộp tờ khi thuế vào đầu năm nếu nộp theo tháng ( tháng 12 ) là ngày 20/ 01 và ngay 30/ 01 sẽ là thời hạn cuối cùng nộp tờ khiai thuế đầu năm nếu doanh nghiệp áp dụng nộp theo quý ( quý IV ). Ngoài ra đầu năm kế toán thuế còn phải nộp tờ khai thuế thu nhập tạm tính của quý IV năm trước, đây là khoản thuế phát sinh của doanh nghiệp trong quý IV, thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp tạm tính sẽ được xác định như sau: Thuế TNDN phải nộp = (Thu nhập tính thuế – Phần trích lập quỹ KH&CN (nếu có)) X Thuế suất thuế TNDN Trong đó : Thu nhập tính thuế = Thu nhập chịu thuế – (Thu nhập được miễn thuế + Các khoản lỗ được kết chuyển theo quy định ) Thu nhập chịu thuế = Doanh thu – Chi phí được trừ + Các khoản thu nhập khác Đồng thời kế toán thuế còn phải nộp báo cáo tình hình sử dụng hóa đơn quý IV năm trước cho cơ quan thuế và có thời hạn nộp là 30/01. Các doanh nghiệp thường có 2 loại hóa đơn đó là hóa đơn do chính doanh nghiệp tự in, đặt in, hoặc hóa đơn mua của cơ quan thuế và các hóa đơn thu cước dịch vụ nư hóa đơn tiền nước, tiền điện, tiền điện thoại, tiền vé, các hóa đơn về các dịch vụ của ngân hàng,.. Mỗi loại hóa đơn sẽ phải nộp báo cáo tình hình sử dụng hóa đơn theo phương thức khác nhau. 2 Mỗi ngày kế toán thuế phải làm những công việc gì? Thu thập, xử lý, sắp xép và lưu trữ các hóa đơn, chứng từ kế toán cùng loại ( hóa dơn thuế gia trị gia tăng đầu vào, hóa đơn thuế giá trị gia tăng bán ra, chứng từ: phiếu thu, phiếu chi, ...) Kế toán thuế là người thu nhập các hóa đơn chứng từ ( hóa đơn đầu vào, hóa đơn đầu ra ) của các nghiệp vụ kinh tế phát sinh xảy ra trong doanh nghiệp, các hóa đơn chứng từ này là căn cứ giúp kế toán thuế thực hiện các công việc kê khai, hạch toán, nộp thuế cho doanh nghiệp. Sau khi kế toán thuế thu thập các hóa đơn, chứng từ liên quan thì lúc này kế toán thuế phải kiểm tra các hóa đơn, chứng từ có hợp lý , đúng quy định hay không Một hóa đơn được gọi là hợp pháp, hợp lý, hợp lệ khi hóa đơn đó đảm bảo được những yếu tố sau đây: - Các nội dung có trên hóa đơn phải được ghi rõ ràng và đầy đủ - Nội dung ghi trên hóa đơn giữa các liên phải trùng khớp với nhau. - Sử dụng hóa đơn theo đúng từng loại hàng hóa dịch vụ - Đối với hóa đơn tự in, tự đặt thì phải thông báo phát hành trước khi sử dụng, đối với các hó đơn bán hàng ( hóa đơn đầu ra ) thì doanh nghiệp phải mua trực tiếp tại chi cục thuế hoặc cục thuế Việc xác định hợp lý , hợp lệ các thông tin ghi trên hóa đơn là điều kiện căn cứ cho việc khấu trừ thuế giá trị gia tăng đầu vào ( tk 133 ) và các chi phí được trừ có liên quan đến việc xác định thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp phải nộp và thuế giá trị gia tăng phải nộp của doanh nghiệp. Nếu hóa đơn không tuân thủ theo đúng một trong các điều kiện trên thì hóa đơn đó sẽ được cho là bất hợp pháp. Và khi phát những trường hợp hóa đơn bất hợp pháp thì người kế toán thuế phải tiến hành xử lý ngay, nếu doanh nghiệp không xử lý những hóa đơn sai phạm đó thì doanh nghiệp sẽ bị xử phạt theo pháp luật. Kế tóa thuế luôn luôn phải sắp xếp các hóa đơn, chứng từ cùng loại lại với nhau và lưu trữ chúng một cách cẩn thận tránh làm rách, nát, hỏng, mất hóa đơn chứng từ. Nếu trường hợp doanh nghiệp làm mất, hỏng,... hóa đơn, chứng từ thì phải làm biên bản hoặc báo ngay cho cơ quan thuế để kịp thời xử lý. Tùy từng loại hóa đơn sẽ có thời gian lưu trữ khác nhau khoảng từ 5 năm đến 10 năm. 3 Hàng tháng kế toán thuế phải làm những công việc gì? - Hàng tháng kế toán thuế của doanh nghiệp phải lập tờ khai thuế gia trị gia tăng nộp cho cơ quan thuế. Trường hợp áp dụng hình thức kê khai thuế theo tháng thường là các doanh nghiệp lớn có doanh thu hàng tháng trên 50 tỷ đồng, bởi vì đối với những doanh nghiệp này thường công việc họ rất nhiều hoặc liên quan đến nhiều ngành nghề khác nhau, vì thế số nghiệp vụ kinh tế phát sinh là rất lớn, vì vậy họ phải kế khai thuế theo từng tháng một để tránh việc xử lý nhiều nghiệp vụ trong cùng một lúc. - Lập tờ khai thuế giá trị gia tăng, thuế thu nhập cá nhân theo tháng và các loại thuế khác ( nếu có ). Trường hợp các doanh nghiệp mới đi vào hoạt động dưới 12 tháng thì sẽ phải báo cáo tình hình sử dụng hóa đơn cho cơ quan thuế. - Thời hạn cuối cùng nộp tờ khai thuế vào ngày 20 của tháng kế tiếp. 4 Hàng quý kế toán thuế phải làm những công việc gì? Trường hợp các doanh nghiệp vừa và nhỏ thường đăng ký áp dụng hình thức nộp thuế theo quý, vì các loại hình doanh nghiệp này số nghiệp vụ kinh tế phát sinh thường rất ít. Các doanh nghiệp này thường có Cuối mỗi quý người kế toán thuế phải thực hiện các công việc sau đây: - Lập tờ khai thuế giá trị gia tăng kèm theo các bảng kê hàng hóa , dịch vụ bán ra và các phụ lục có liên quan. Khi doanh thu của doanh nghiệp dưới 50 tỷ đồng. - Lập tờ khai thuế thu nhập cá nhân theo đúng mẫu quy định ( theo quý ). Thu nhập cá nhân dưới 50 triệu đồng. - Lập tờ khai thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp tạm tính theo quý theo từng mấu số khác nhau tùy vào từng đối tượng doanh nghiệp ( có thể là doanh nghiệp xác định được chi phí thực tế phát sinh, hoặc là không xác định được chi phí thực tế phát sinh ). Thời hạn nộp thuế cho các doanh nghiệp áp dựng hình thức nộp thuế theo quý chậm nhất vào các ngày 30/4, 30/7, 30/10 và 30/01. - Lập báo cáo tình hình sử dụng hóa đơn theo quý. 5 Cuối năm kế toán thuế phải làm những gì? Cuối năm thường là nhứng khoảng thời gian rất bộn rộn đối với những người làm kế toán. Thời gian này thường có rất nhiều nghiệp vụ kinh tế phát sinh, đồng thời đây cũng là thời gian mà các kế toán hoàn thành các báo cáo tài chính của doanh nghiệp. Với một người kế toán thuế cuối năm họ phải thực hiện nhưng công việc sau: - Lập báo cáo tài chính năm, các báo cáo tài chính đó bao gồm 5 loại: bảng cân đối tài khoản, bảng cân đối kế toán, thuyết minh báo cáo tài chính, áo cáo lưu chuyển tiền tệ và báo cáo kết quả hoạt động sản xuất kinh doanh. Các báo cáo này liên quan đến tất cả các nghiệp vụ kinh tế phát sinh của doanh nghiệp trong năm. - Cuối năm kế toán thuế phải thực hiện công việc là lập tờ khai quyết toan thuế thu nhập cá nhân và thuế thu nhập doanh nghiệp của năm. Đây là một nhiệm vụ bắt buộc của bất kỳ một người kế toán thuế nào và cũng là nhiệm vụ của tất cả các doanh nghiệp. Như vậy ta có thể hình dung công việc của một người kế toán thuế không khi nào là đơn giản. Nếu bạn muốn làm việc ở vị trí này đòi hỏi bạn phải cố gắng, nỗ lực và quan trọng là bạn phải nắm bắt được các thông tin của luật thuế một cách kịp thời đồng thời áp dụng chính xác luật thuế vào từng trường hợp cụ thể.
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Do You Know About the History of the Acropolis? Comments Off on Do You Know About the History of the Acropolis? Athens is a large metropolis that is still thriving today, but it didn’t always look like this. When it had its first inhabitants, it was just a hill with very little on it. However, the hill perfectly overlooked the sea and had a strategic location. Those who dwelled on that hill could also potentially control the seas below. There was a time when few people lived here, but its strategic location proved appealing. Over time, the population grew and is it did, Athens grew in prominence and importance. Eventually, the Athenians built up the Acropolis. Here’s more information about it: Early Residents of the Acropolis Some 8,000 years ago, Neolithic people inhabited the site later known as the Acropolis. During the Bronze Age, the residents likely constructed a palace there. It would have offered an excellent vantage point for observing both the surrounding countryside and the Mediterranean Sea. Keeping watch over both of these would give the Athenians a position of strength. Ancient residents of the Acropolis also erected a stone wall reinforced with dirt around the immediate top of the prominence around 1600 BC. Accessible by gates on the North and South, this defensive fortification survived for centuries. It offered the population in outlying areas a secure place to seek shelter during invasions. Homer evidently alluded to this fortified rock in his epic poem, The Odyssey. A Showcase For Athenian Society During the period before the establishment of an elected government in Athens, the Acropolis often served as a stronghold for local rulers. During a 20 year period between 570 and 550 B.C., Athenians constructed a temple in honor of the Greek goddess Athena on this site. Sometimes referred to as the “original Parthenon”, it suffered demolition in 500 B.C. when the Athenians decided to construct a new, larger temple. A Persian invasion in 480 B.C. interrupted the new building effort and resulted in the burning of portions of the Acropolis. In 468 B.C., Athenian leaders oversaw the rebuilding of walls around the North and South of the Acropolis. Athenians launched an impressive development campaign atop the Acropolis. They built a new marble temple honoring the goddess Athena called “The Parthenon”. This perfectly symmetrical building with its impressive rows of evenly spaced columns became one of the world’s most beautiful structures. Athenian artisans also erected other new buildings on the Acropolis, including massive gates, new temples honoring Greek deities, monuments, and an amphitheater. The site vividly demonstrated the power and affluence of the City of Athens. Ancient Greek And Roman Repair Efforts After 400 B.C. Athenian influence began to wane. King Philip II of Macedonia assumed control over Athens in 338 B.C. The city became part of the sprawling empire established by his son, Alexander the Great. However, this time period occurred much later in he city’s history. By then, a lot had happened to the city. Athens survived both Persian Invasions as well as conflicts with other neighboring city-states. Although the Macedonians embraced Greek culture, Athens status gradually declined and during the second century B.C. the Roman Empire conquered the region. The Romans sponsored a rebuilding project atop the Acropolis. They restored some damaged buildings and transformed others into shrines to honor Roman emperors. The Acropolis was once a hub of activity for the Ancient Athenians but it wasn’t always this way. It started off as a simple hill and eventually evolved to what you see today. Now, the Acropolis is no longer used for its intended purpose. However, people from all over the world come to gaze at it and the other buildings that are on it. Visitors today can witness history first hand and tour the Acropolis and all of its buildings to get a feel for what Ancient Greece was really like. This post was written by GreekBoston.com
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How to delay menstruation in women for a day and for several days at home with drugs, contraceptives and folk remedies with reviews and advice of doctors on 21.08.2017 Do you have a grand celebration, wedding, or gathered for a weekend to the sea? Such plans can easily destroy “these most feminine days,” which often come at the wrong time. But there is a solution! Let's talk abouthow can you delay menstruation for several days, while not causing harm to your body. The main thing in the article Is it possible to delay monthly for one, two or several days at home? If a woman is healthy and her menstrual cycle is stable,it is quite possible to “cheat” and postpone the beginning of your period at home.True, it is often not necessary to do this, since you can bring down your menstrual cycle, and this is a direct path to gynecological diseases (myoma, cervical erosion). The only exceptions are cases when it comes to slowing menstruation due to medical indications (heavy bleeding, anemia). To help cope with the task of delay can: • medication; • folk remedies. Consider those and other methods in more detail below. What to do to delay the monthly? One of the easiest and most effective ways to delay the onset of menstruation -these are drugsbut their side effects are greatest. Therefore, each woman should think well whether it is worth the risk, and before taking it is necessary to consult a gynecologist. Less dangerousfolk recipesbut no one can give a 100% result. Since some of the weaker sex they help, while others "remain offended," as evidenced by the discussion of funds from the people in different women's forums. How to delay monthly for a day? Red circle marked on a calendar day Female sex hormones are responsible for the entire menstrual cycle, therefore the delay depends directly on them. Acceptance of progestogen-containing hormonal drugs (progestins, progestogens) gives almost 100% guarantee that menstruation is not available on time. You can find these hormones in contraceptives (contraceptives). It is necessary to begin their reception from the middle of a menstrual cycle, and to stop in day when on the period monthly should begin. This method can provokea delay of up to five days.In cases of choice for delaying monthly single-phase contraception, one pill should be taken per day. She will not be able to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, but on the day of the "planned" onset of menstruation, the rejection of these pills will givea delay of 1-3 days. How to delay the monthly for several days and a week? 8dc425b2acbf9c68064b8a63eae1ffbc_XLAll the same hormonal contraceptive pills can get rid of menstruation for a fairly long period of time. According to the instructions, in order to avoid the occurrence of an unwanted pregnancy and not to have a negative effect on the body, contraceptives are drunk with breaks.But if you drink them without stopping, skipping the recommendation breaks, then there will simply be no monthly periods at all. Resume the cycle only after the end of taking the pills. Gynecologists warn that taking contraceptive drugs without interruption may adversely affect women's health, and do not recommend taking such funds for more than 2 months. Drugs and pills that delay monthly Medicine offers a whole line of drugs that can delay the onset of menstruation. True, their direct purpose is the treatment of certain gynecological diseases, but the side effect is the delay in the arrival of menstruation. With a stable intake of such drugs, the absence of blood discharge lasts long enough. Consider these tools below. How to take duphaston to delay menstruation? Duphaston- hormonal medicine that allows you to delay menstruation for a periodup to a week.Remember that this is not a contraceptive drug, so you should not be careless in terms of sex. Its main task is to solve the problem of endometriosis. It affects the uterine lining, which contributes to increased production of progesterone. To delay, you need to start taking Duphastonin the middle of the cycle, two pills a day.The method is considered fairly safe, since the components of the drug do not affect the viscosity of the blood and do not provoke its stagnation in the organs of the small pelvis. Vikasol for delayed menses Vikasol to postpone critical days is accepted2 tablets per day.The drug is a hemostatic and purposefully working on the formation of a blood clot to stop bleeding. It is impossible to use the drug for a delay for a long time, since the blood of the menstruation should, according to physiological norms, go outside, and this remedy contributes to their blockage inside the female body. After a time, the plasma begins to decompose, provoking inflammatory processes. Dicine for delayed menses Dicynonwritten out to strengthen the vascular walls, thickening of the lymph, stimulate the appearance of platelets. It is used for bleeding, and women use dicinone to delay menstruation. But it should be remembered that Ditsinon can provoke such side effects as: • hypertension; • dizziness; • nausea; • rash; • numbness of the limbs. Ditsinon should be drunk 5 days before the "start" of menstruation. Utrozhestan for delayed menses How to take askorutin to delay the monthly? In gynecologyaskorutintake with heavy bleeding during menstruation. This vitamin complex has a high content of vitamins P and C. If menstruation occurs with complications, then the drug is taken several days before the cycle begins, and after that the course continues for another 1-2 weeks. In healthy women, this technique of askorutin causes a delayfor about 4 days. How to take tranexam to delay menstruation? Tranexamprescribed to women with strong, heavy discharge. But subject to increasing dosage and takingmore than 500 mg per daymenstruationterminated completely.It should be careful when using it, since the consequences can be unpredictable. Norcolut to delay the monthly Norkolut produces a directional effect on the adjustment of the menstrual cycle. It is prescribed to women, if there is the fact of the delay of menstruation. If everything is fine with this, then it has the opposite effect. That is the beginningtaking Norkolut 14-15 days before menstruationcan delay a “meeting” with themfor 5-7 days.It is also often taken by women with heavy discharge during menstruation,as it helps to reduce the amount of discharge. How much can the monthly trimedat delay? This drug is aimed at the elimination of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and as a side effect has a violation of the menstrual cycle. Himreception can both keep and cause menstruation.As for the time delay, then everything is individual and depends on the duration of receiving trimedat. Can candles delay the monthly? The use of candles can affect the menstrual cycle and provoke a delay, but on condition that the candles are aimed at stopping bleeding, contribute to the strengthening of the vascular walls or are hormonal. How to delay monthly birth control pills? In addition to the direct appointment - protection from unwanted pregnancy, these tools are often used to delay menstruation. To do this, simply do not make a break between courses. Such effects can delay monthly for a week, or even until the next cycle. How to delay monthly folk remedies Not so long ago, all human diseases and physiological abnormalities were treated exclusively by traditional medicine.And today, her recipes are widely used both as independent therapy and as an adjunct in conservative treatment. Consider the options of the people, which will help delay the critical days. Nettle decoction The most popular way from our grandmothers, who helpedto postpone the arrival of menstruation for a few days.To prepare it, you need to stock up on dry nettle grass. It can be collected independently or buy ready-made herb in a pharmacy. At 0.5 liters of broth will need 5 tablespoons of chopped nettle. Boil the grass for 5 minutes and insist 1-3 hours. Drink nettle decoction as tea, starting in the middle of the cycle. Also, this tool will facilitate the condition of women with protracted, abundant secretions. Lemon - assistant in the delay of menstruation Traditional medicine for delaying useslemonsince he is richvitamin C(ascorbic acid). The concentration of this element in lemon contributes to the retention of monthlyfor 2-3 days. Of course, everybody can eat a lemon without anything, so its use with sugar or honey is recommended. Eating this fruit in high quantities should be 5 days before the scheduled day of the onset of menstruation. In other words, you can eat not only lemons, but other foods that contain the maximum amount of ascorbic acid. But it should be warned that this method does not affect everyone, so do not be too upset if the allocation will begin on time. Water pepper broth Water penC - a source of vitamin K, which is the main element contributing to the clotting (thickening) of blood. From the grass is a decoction in the following proportions:2 tbsp water pepper + 1 tbsp boiling water. Pour the grass and let it stand. It is necessary to take such a decoction 1/3 times three times a day, 10–12 days before the planned start of the month. The delay due to this method can be extended.up to 7 days. Fees are able to extend the "clean days" Women who want to extend the time without periods, but do not use medications, you need to pay attention to the following herbal recipes • Mix in the same proportions such herbs:yarrow, silvergrass goose, nettle, valerian (roots), burnet (root).The resulting fee is brewed in proportion:3 tablespoons + 0.5 liters of boiling water. Insist collection 10 minutes and drink 3 times a day for 200 ml.Reception start a week before the "red" date; • the second collection can give4–7 days delay. To begin to mix herbs in equal proportions:mint, shepherd's bag, raspberry leaves.On a glass of boiling water, apply 1 tablespoon of a mixture of herbs. Insist for half an hour and drink three times a day for half a glass.You need to start 5 days before the "planned" date. What antipsychotics delay menstruation? Sleepless woman In recent studies it was found that antipsychotics (neuroleptics), which lead to an increase in prolactin production, can trigger such a syndrome as amenorrhea, in other words, the absence of menstruation. The group of subjects had the following indicators: • 70% of the discharge was scanty, and the cycles were lengthened; • 30% had no monthly periods. This is due to an increased level of prolactin, which regulates fertility, cycles and ovulation. Therefore, in the treatment of neurosis and other disorders from these drugs is better to refuse, and use tools that do not increase the level of prolactin. Could delay monthly alcohol? Doctors prohibit alcohol during menstruation, because it causes blood flow to the pelvic region, and alcoholic drinks also constrict blood vessels, causing bleeding. The amount of blood secreted increases, so the conclusion followsthat alcohol before menstruation can trigger their onset. Does monthly masturbation delay? Experts claim thatmasturbation does not affect the menstrual cycle. After all, if you figure out, self-gratification in physiological actions differs little from having sex with foreplay. Therefore, this method is not suitable for delaying the start of menstruation. Is it possible to delay monthly for a month or several months and how is it dangerous? Summing up, let's talk about the possible consequences of artificial delay in menstruation. Immediately, we note that the date of the onset of menstruation, shifted in this cycle, will in the following lead to a longer period of discharge, and the volume of released blood will also increase significantly. The latter fact may cause anemia. Another terrible consequence of an artificial delay of menstruation for more than a day can be a neurotic process in the uterus, and this threatens to develop cell necrosis and sepsis. Any intervention in the physiological process occurring in the body, can trigger the emergence of serious diseases, thereforeBefore deciding on such an experiment, weigh the pros and cons. Related news How to delay menstruation in women for a day and for several days at home with drugs, contraceptives and folk remedies with reviews and advice of doctors image, picture, imagery
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Mushrooms, salmon, quinoa, dark leafy greens and blueberries are some of the healthy foods to include in a nutritious diet. All of these foods are easy to incorporate into an everyday diet.Continue Reading Mushrooms come in different varieties. The most popular are white button, crimini and portobello. Mushrooms are a good source of iron and vitamin D, and they are low in calories. In addition, they have high levels of Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B3, which are important in the process of converting carbohydrates into fuel. The vitamins also assist the body to metabolize protein and fats. Blueberries are sweet and they contain important antioxidants. Recipe ideas include baking them into quick breads or whole grain muffins. They contain many nutrients, such as magnesium, Vitamin C, potassium, folate and fiber, among others. Salmon has low calorie levels and is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which means it is low-fat and a good source of protein. The American Cancer Society acknowledges that omega-3 fatty acids lower the chance of developing heart disease. Dark leafy greens are rich in vitamins, and they are a good source of iron. Swiss chard, kale and spinach are examples of dark leafy greens. They contain lutein, a vitamin, which is believed to promote eye health. In addition, the leafy greens are rich in omega-3. Quinoa is a good source of protein and has become popular because of its nutritional value. It is high in iron, calcium and magnesium. Quinoa is also an excellent source of dietary fiber. It has essential amino acids and is easy to digest.Learn more about Nutrition & Diets
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Search form Mobile Responsive Web Design Mobile Responsive Website Design Intranet and Extranet Design Digital Branding User Interface Design Information Architecture Rich Media Design is a Process We understand 'design' as a process that takes a wide view of its subject. We're more than graphic designers, more than interface designers, more than brand designers. We're better described as "design scientists" — trying to systematically understand everything that relates to a project. In some ways we're like ecologists trying to understand the environment a particular "organism" fits into. Only by understanding the 'whole' context of a design can we achieve a solution. Who are 'they', and what are 'they' looking for? To start, we have to answer some very basic questions about the commercial 'environment' of the client's business. We ask a lot of questions about 'end users.' Who's the end user of the design? Who's the design actually for? What does this end user want. What is their mission? What're they searching for? What does the end user bring to their encounter with the design? What's the overall marketplace the design has to exist in? How does this larger business context influence our work? And, of course, what's the competition like? Working from answers to these questions, we design for function and utility, as well as for look and feel. In the end the design is only a success if it 'works' for real customers in a real marketplace. Why is all your work so different? We're often told our work looks very different from one client to another, and we don't seem to have a signature "style," or a "look" that identifies us. We're proud of this, because it's a natural result of our process. Marketplaces, like ecosystems, are unique. When we do our job right, we make a client look like the "best of breed' in their unique marketplace environment. They stand out, but also look like they belong to their world. Collaboration is key. In all cases we're designing as part of the client's team — trying to find a solution to a communications problem that's attached to a business, that operates in a marketplace, that's part of an industry. It's a lot to take into account, but we think it's the minimum to keep in mind as we design.
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Spahic Omer Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design International Islamic University Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The universality of the Islamic message Islam is the truth which Allah has made man’s permanent companion on the earth as soon as he was sent to it, on account of that truth being meant for him. Numerous prophets from different epochs and in different geographical settings were chosen to perform the task of conveying and explaining the truth of Islam to people. The long process commenced with Adam, the first man and prophet on earth, and came to an end with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), the seal of prophets, after the humankind had reached a point where a final, universal, eternal, and all-inclusive divine message was possible. The essence of all the prophet’s teachings was one and the same, as it must always be the case with the truth; only the falsehood and lies live through discrepancies and inconsistencies. Never was there a greater occasion gracing the earth and all of its inhabitants than sending a new prophet and with him a new heavenly message to people, after the light of a previous one had already been either obscured or completely extinguished. This everlasting unity of prophethoods and Islam’s faith, Allah emphasizes time and again in the Qur’an, affirming, for example, that “We did not send before you any messenger but We revealed to him that there is no god but Me, therefore serve Me.” (Al-Anbiya’, 25) “He has made plain to you of the religion what He enjoined upon Nuh and that which We have revealed to you and that which We enjoined upon Ibrahim and Musa and Isa that keep to obedience and be not divided therein; hard to the unbelievers is that which you call them to. (Al-Shura, 13) “Surely We have revealed to you as We revealed to Nuh, and the prophets after him, and We revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Yaqub and the tribes, and Isa and Ayub and Yunus and Harun and Sulayman and We gave to Dawud. And (We sent) messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers we have not mentioned to you; and to Musa, Allah addressed His Word, speaking (to him). (We sent) messengers as the givers of good news and as warners, so that people should not have a plea against Allah after the (coming of) messengers; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.” (Al-Nisa’, 163-165) The universality of the message of the mosque phenomenon The truth is only one, and so is Allah, its source. The origins, meaning and purpose of life with all of its units, including human beings, furthermore, are also one and the same, reverberating the disposition of the heavenly paradigm from which it emanates. Hence, the mosque institution too, which symbolizes most powerfully the dynamic presence of the truth and its forces, and its relentless confrontation for supremacy with the falsehood and evil and the forces of their own, is as old as the truth itself and its protagonists. In other words, from the down of the human presence on the face of the earth, mosques had to feature prominently thereon. This was so because the truth and its people are always the cause and the mosque phenomenon is an effect. The two are inseparable. So strong is the relationship between them that they are destined to rise and fall together. Truly, if separated from each other, neither the truth with its devotees, nor the mosque can exist or survive on its own. Once activated and made fully operational, mosques has a potential to be turned into their communities’ guardians, the driving force and the heartbeat behind their progress. Mosques can become unrivaled community development centers. If neglected, however, Muslims will never be able to conjure an equivalent alternative to mosques, as the recent history of the Muslim world especially has shown. Having said this, it stands to reason, there will never be a Muslim community which will not experience a positive change if they change constructively the status and functions of their mosques, i.e., if they constructively change themselves and their relationship with their mosques, their lives’ focal point. Similarly, there will never be a Muslim community which will not experience a detrimental change if they change negatively the status and functions of their mosques, i.e., if they negatively change themselves and their relationship with their mosques. Based on this strong and reciprocal relationship between mosques and Muslims, mosques are the mirrors of their communities’ devotion to Islam and its cause. So, for a person to study a community’s spiritual, cultural and civilizational major accomplishments, it will suffice for him to study the performances of that community’s mosques only. In the same vein, studying a truly purposeful and serviceable mosque will offer without ambiguity an answer to a question “what is Islam?” because the mosque in Islam demonstrates on a practical plane what Islam on a theoretical plane stands for. Accordingly, bracketing the phenomenon of true believers with the phenomenon of visiting and maintaining mosques, Allah says: “The mosques of Allah shall be visited and maintained (ya’muru) by such as believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish regular prayers, and practice regular charity, and fear none (at all) except Allah. It is they who are expected to be on true guidance.” (Al-Tawbah, 18) The key word in this verse is ‘amara, ya’muru which, according to Abdullah Yusuf Ali, if applied to the subject of the mosque implies the following: 1) to build or repair; 2) to maintain in fitting dignity; 3) to visit for purposes of devotion; and 4) to fill with light, life and activity. Allah also says: “In houses (i.e., mosques) which Allah has permitted to be exalted and that His name may be remembered in them; there glorify Him therein in the mornings and the evenings, men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allah and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of poor-rate; they fear a day in which the hearts and eyes shall turn about.” (Al-Nur, 36, 37) The first two mosques on the earth: al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa On account of the mosque institution being as old as man himself, prophet Adam must have been the one who built the first mosque(s) on earth. It is inconceivable that a community of believers, led and managed by prophet Adam, regardless of its size and quantity, could have lived without a mosque, or mosques, no matter what its shape, dimensions and exact functions were. The earliest community of believers could not collectively practice the truth of Islam at all of its necessary levels in the absence of the idea of the mosque. Such would have been unworkable. Allah says in the Qur’an: “The first House (of worship) appointed for man was that in Bakka (i.e., Makkah): full of blessing and of guidance for all the worlds.” (Alu ‘Imran, 96) Many people believe that, by virtue of human nature and the inseparability of man, Allah’s words of guidance and Allah’s houses on earth (mosques), the very first man on earth, prophet Adam, built the first House of worship referred to in the verse, i.e., the al-Masjid al-Haram, or Ka’bah, or Baytullah (the House of Allah). Having descended on earth, Adam is said to have yearned for the exaltation and praises of Allah by angels he had accustomed himself to in the Garden of Eden, and, therefore, he desired to have a house which will resound with prayers, glorification and praises of Allah on the earth too. Allah fulfilled his wish and sent down Angel Jabra’il (Gabriel) to guide and help him in laying the foundations of and building the al-Masjid al-Haram. Some people even go further and assert that since Allah did not send Adam to the earth until it was fully equipped and set to accommodate him, lest he shall be unable to smoothly and responsibly carry out his duties as a vicegerent (khalifah), one of the necessary requirements which had to be attended to must have been the existence of a House of Allah, as a consequence of which some angels were assigned to build the al-Masjid al-Haram or the Ka’bah. Others, on the other hand, contend that prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Isma’il, also a prophet, have built the al-Masjid al-Haram. Although there might have existed earlier other houses of worship, albeit with no special historical and socio-cultural significance, yet the al-Masjid al-Haram is reputed to have been the first mosque on the earth appointed to man for the purpose. This conclusion rests on the following Qur’anic verses: “And remember Ibrahim and Isma’il raised the foundations of the House (with this prayer): “Our Lord, accept (this service) from us: for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (Al-Baqarah, 127) “Behold! We pointed the site to Ibrahim of the (sacred) House, (saying): “Associate not anything (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it round, or stand up, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer).” (Al-Hajj, 26) However, in one hadith (the Prophet’s tradition) a companion Abu Dharr is reported to have said: “I have asked the Prophet (pbuh): “Which mosque was built first on the earth?” The Prophet (pbuh) answered: “The al-Masjid al-Haram.” Then I asked: “And which one thereafter?” He said: “The al-Masjid al-Aqsa.” Then I asked: “What was the interval separating the two?” The Prophet (pbuh) replied: “Forty years.” It does not come as a surprise that this tradition of the Prophet (pbuh) has been causing considerable confusion among some scholars who held that the al-Masjid al-Aqsa mosque was built by prophet Sulayman (Solomon), who had lived more than a thousand years after prophet Ibrahim, the builder of the al-Masjid al-Haram. On that account, the whole matter needed some efforts for reconciliation. As for those who were of the opinion that the al-Masjid al-Haram was constructed by Adam, they merely concluded that he, or some of his progeny, was instructed forty years after the completion of the al-Masjid al-Haram to proceed to the designated location (later Jerusalem) and build there the al-Masjid al-Aqsa. They construed the verses cited by the other group of scholars in a way that conforms with their understanding of the subject. According to them, neither Ibrahim nor Sulayman constructed for the first time the mosques in question. Rather, they only reconstructed or restored what had been formerly instituted and built but disintegrated and even disappeared altogether during their respective eras. Thus, the referred to verses imply nothing but reconstruction, renewal or restoration; so does every Prophet’s tradition in which Ibrahim and Sulayman have been mentioned in the connection with the building of the al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa respectively. As regards those scholars who contended that prophet Ibrahim was the builder of the al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, they concluded that the first construction of the al-Masjid al-Aqsa in what later became to be known as Jerusalem, has been undertaken really forty years subsequent to Ibrahim’s completion of the al-Masjid al-Haram but, in all likelihood, by Ishaq (Isaac), Ibrahim’s another son, or Ya’qub (Jacob), Ishaq’s son and Ibrahim’s grandson, and which was later restored, expanded and reconstructed by prophet Sulayman. Even Sulayman’s father, Dawud (David), also a prophet, might have started the (re)construction which, nevertheless, was intensified and completed by Sulayman. Some people even ended affirming, as a way out, that the above tradition (hadith) of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) does not imply the actual construction of the two mosques. Rather, it connotes just a divine decision on having the two mosques as the foremost ones on the earth, as well as on their respective geographical locations and historical and socio-cultural roles and positions. In the final analysis, it appears that the al-Masjid al-Haram, most likely, was first built by prophet Adam and not prophet Ibrahim, and that al-Masjid al-Aqsa, most likely, was not first built by prophet Sulayman but by someone during prophet Adam’s time. To further corroborate the viewpoint that the al-Masjid al-Haram and the al-Masjid al-Aqsa were inaugurated and built long before Ibrahim and Sulayman respectively, we shall add that the Qur’an in this regard says that Ibrahim and his son Isma’il actually “raised (yarfa’u) the foundation of the House”, rather than “laid (assasa or even wada’) the foundation of the House”. The former phrasing basically indicates the physical rebuilding plus the restoration of the status of the al-Masjid al-Haram, while the latter one — the one that is not employed in the verse in question — would mean its establishment and construction, for it is generally used when something is instituted or established for the first time. For example, the word assasa is used in the context of the construction of the “Mosque of Piety” by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), as well as the “Mosque of Mischief” by the hypocrites of Madinah. (Al-Tawbah 107-109) Also, in the verse wherein Allah says that the first mosque appointed for man was that in Makkah, the word used is wada’ in its passive form wudi’, thus clearly indicating the commencement of the existence of the al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah. Furthermore, in another Qur’anic verse, after Ibrahim, under Allah’s guidance, had brought Isma’il, an infant then, and his mother Hajar to the barren land of Makkah, and after he had found there a dwelling place for them, he left them uttering the following supplication: “O our Lord! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation, by Your Sacred House, in order, o our Lord, that they may establish regular prayer: so fill the hearts of some among men with love towards them; and feed them with fruits; so that they may give thanks.” (Ibrahim, 37) The phrase “by Your Sacred House” denotes that the evidence, either physical or conceptual, of the al-Masjid al-Haram had already existed at the time when Ibrahim first arrived in Makkah. The rebuilding of the mosque was executed afterwards by both Ibrahim and Isma’il, after the latter had grown up, during one of Ibrahim’s subsequent visits. The Prophet (pbuh) likewise attested to this when he divulged some more information concerning the matter of Ibrahim’s first visit to the barren land of Makkah. In one of his authentic traditions (hadith), he stated that Ibrahim left Isma’il and Hajar in the immediate vicinity of the al-Masjid al-Haram (wada’ahuma ‘ind al-bayt), and while reciting the aforementioned supplication, he faced it, i.e., he faced the al-Masjid al-Haram, (istaqbala bi wajhihi al-bayt). Also, in a hadith (tradition), the Prophet (pbuh) has said that two early prophets, Hud and Salih, who lived long before prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma’il, and who lived on the south and north of the Arabian Peninsula respectively, have performed a pilgrimage to the Ka’bah or al-Masjid al-Haram, the ancient house (al-bayt al-‘atiq). The Prophet (pbuh) disclosed this when on the way to Makkah for the pilgrimage himself, he passed through a valley through which, according to him, both Hud and Salih had passed for the same purpose. According to another tradition of the Prophet (pbuh), even prophet Nuh performed the hajj or pilgrimage to the Ka’bah or al-Masjid al-Haram, treading the same valley as prophets Hud, Salih and Ibrahim did after him. In his famous book entitled Qisas al-Anbiya’ (the Stories of Prophets), Ibn Kathir, a renowned commentator of the Qur’an and a historian, dedicated a section to the matter entitling it “the Account of His (prophet Nuh’s) Hajj (Pilgrimage)”. When Thamud, the people of prophet Salih, were destroyed by “an excessively severe punishment” (al-Haqqah, 5), a disbelieving man from the same community happened to be in the haram, or the consecrated environs, of the Ka’bah or al-Masjid al-Haram, where everyone is to enjoy safety and protection. He thus temporarily was granted the immunity from the chastisement which was befalling his people in their country. However, as soon as he left the haram of the Ka’bah or al-Masjid al-Haram, he too while still in Makkah was chastised in the same manner as his people. A rock from the sky might have fallen on him killing him instantly on the spot. The name of this man was Abu Rughal Abu Thaqif. On one occasion, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed to the people the man’s grave, informing them of what exactly had happened to him and why his grave was where it was. It is even believed — as reported by Ibn Kathir – that after the destruction of his people, Thamud, prophet Salih moved permanently to the haram of the Ka’bah or al-Masjid al-Haram. He stayed there until his death. Thus, the foundation, both the physical and spiritual, and a certain form of both the al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa were established long before prophets Ibrahim and Sulayman, most likely during the lifetime of prophet Adam. Thereafter, the two mosques served as the centers of worship for many succeeding prophets and their peoples. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has said that every prophet who had been gravely ill-treated and eventually expelled by his mischievous people, took refuge in the sanctuary of the al-Masjid al-Haram, worshipping Allah therein until his demise. The Prophet (pbuh) is also reported to have said that many prophets, including Musa (Moses) and Yunus (Jonah), had visited the al-Masjid al-Haram and had circumambulated it as part of their pilgrimage to Makkah. There are even assertions that during the flood with which Allah destroyed the unbelieving and rebellious sections of mankind, to whom one of the earliest prophets, Nuh (Noah), had been sent as a guide and a warner, Makkah was destroyed as well. Its al-Masjid al-Haram (Ka’bah) was saved and elevated to the seventh heaven where the angels frequented it for worship before it was transported back again to the earth after the flood calamity. In the seventh heaven, the earthly Ka’bah might have been integrated with the heavenly Ka’bah or al-Bayt al-Ma’mur. Nonetheless, these and similar assertions are too conjectural and unfounded that they ought to be viewed with a great deal of reservation and suspicion, in case we do not wish to rebuff them altogether. Ibn Khaldun rightly pointed out in his Muqaddimah: “...Later on, Makkah was destroyed in the flood. There is no sound historical information in this connection on which one can rely.” However, the first two mosques on the earth, al-Masjid al-Haram and al-Masjid al-Aqsa, have been intermittently throughout history altering their original roles and positions in consequence of the frequent spiritual weakening and corruption in those who had been entrusted to guard them and hold them unadulterated and sacred for all purposes. The al-Masjid al-Haram ended up containing about three hundred and sixty idols which belonged to different tribes and communities that lived scattered all over the Arabian Peninsula. Nonetheless, it remained the center to which all the Arab tribes resorted for trade, poetic contest and worship. It was a sacred territory, and was respected by friend and foe alike. At all seasons, all fighting was forbidden within its limits, and even arms were not allowed to be carried, and no game or other thing was allowed to be killed. Makkah was recognized by Arab custom as inviolable for the pursuit of revenge or violence. Jerusalem with its al-Masjid al-Aqsa at many occasions forsook its monotheistic (tawhid) paradigm too and even became at one point a harlot city and a city of abomination. This was the case especially after the onus of activating, sustaining and guarding the al-Masjid al-Aqsa had been placed on the shoulders of the Children of Israel following their exodus from Egypt and their eventual admission into the Holy Land. As a consequence, Allah frequently severely punished the Children of Israel using their neighboring enemies for the purpose, for He had covenanted with them that they must sanctify their mosque and under no circumstances should renounce the monotheistic worldview of their forefathers: Ibrahim (Abraham), Ishaq (Isaac) and Ya’qub (Jacob). The (re)construction of the al-Masjid al-Aqsa by prophet Sulayman (Solomon) is one of the most remarkable moments in the history of the Children of Israel, so much so that the Old Testament furnishes us in details with some of the architectural features of the edifice referred to therein as the Temple of Solomon. The temple proper, of dressed stone, was about 30 meters long, 11 meters wide, and 15 meters high. Apparently, it faced east and had three main rooms disposed axially with the entrance. The anteroom was a rectangular space entered through one of the short sides. Flanking this room were square rooms that led to the small storage rooms that surrounded the Temple on the other three sides. Beyond the anteroom was the main sanctuary, and beyond that a flight of stairs that led to the Holy of Holies, a windowless cube containing the Ark of the Covenant with Tawrat (Torah) inside it. The Temple had a flat wooden roof made from imported cypresses and cedar. Two bronze pillars, one to the south and one to the north, stood in front of the edifice, each with a capital on top. Interwoven chains were made and put on top of the pillars. The inside of the Temple was lined with cedar, and the floor, doorposts and doors were overlaid or inlaid with gold. Every surface was carved with cherubim, palms or flowers. However, due to the silence of the Holy Qur’an on the subject matter, and the silence of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) — who does not say anything of his own desire, “it is no less than inspiration sent down to him” (Al-Najm, 4) — the mentioned architectural elements of the Temple of Solomon (the al-Masjid al-Aqsa) as documented by the Old Testament need to be viewed with maximum reservation. While some accounts on the subject are fairly ambiguous and, worse still, contradict each other, others, on the other hand, conflict with several fundamental tenets of Islam and as such ought to be rejected outright. However, those accounts which seem to be downright harmless and unobjectionable, they are to be neither accepted nor rejected, as such is the general standard for dealing with the Old and New Testaments. The two Testaments must always be cross-checked against the Last Testament, i.e., the Holy Qur’an. Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali believes that in the Qur’anic chapter Saba’ some hints as to prophet Sulayman’s construction of the al-Masjid al-Aqsa (the Temple of Solomon) are given. The Qur’an says: “And to Solomon (We made) the wind (obedient): its early morning (stride) was a month’s (journey), and its evening (stride) was a month’s (journey); and We made a font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were Jinns that worked in front of him, by the leave of his Lord, and if any of them turned aside from Our command, We made him taste of the chastisement of the blazing Fire. They worked for him as he desired, (making) arches, images, basons as large as wells, and (cooking) cauldrons fixed (in their places): “Exercise thanks sons of David, but few of My servants are grateful!” (Saba’, 12, 13) According to Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali — the translator and commentator of the Qur’an — the word “arches” may be applied to any fine, elevated, spacious architectural structure, but in this verse it, most likely, accounts for structural ornaments in the Temple (the Mosque); “images” would be like images of bulls and cherubim therein, as mentioned in 2 Chronicles, 4:3 and 3:14; “basons” were perhaps huge dishes round which many men could sit together and eat (2 Chronicles, 4:22); and the “cooking cauldrons” were fixed in one place, being so large that they could not be moved about. The general view, though, is that the messages of the cited verses are expansive accounting not only for the al-Masjid al-Aqsa but also for other Sulayman’s architectural feats.
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Synthesis of a Lubricant to Mimic the Biorheological Behavior of Osteoarthritic and Revision Synovial Fluid : The rheological properties of synovial fluid (SF) are essential for the friction behavior and wear performance of total joint replacements. Standardized in vitro wear tests for endoprosthesis recommend diluted calf serum, which exhibits substantial different rheological properties compared to SF. Therefore, the in vitro test conditions do not mimic the in vivo conditions. SF samples from osteoarthritis knee patients and patients undergoing knee endoprosthesis revision surgery were compared biochemically and rheologically. The flow properties of SF samples were compared to synthetic fluid constituents, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) and hyaluronic acid (HA). Interestingly, HA was identified as a significant contributor to shear-thinning. Using the acquired data and mathematical modelling, the flow behavior of human SF was modelled reliably by an adapted ad-justment of biorelevant fluid components. Friction tests in a hard/soft bearing (ceramic/UHMWPE) demonstrated that, in contrast to serum, the synthetic model fluids generate a more realistic friction condition. The developed model for an SF mimicking lubricant is recommended for in vitro wear tests of endoprostheses. Furthermore, the results highlight that simulator tests should be performed with a modified lubricant considering an addition of HA for clinically relevant lubrication conditions. The results show that protein content has only a minor influence on the flow behavior in comparison to the marked increase of the viscosity due to HA as constituent (Figure 5A). Independent of the protein composition (serum or BSA), the HA content exhibits a marked influence on the flow curves (Figure 5B,C, Appendix A). The variation in HA concentration determines the zero viscosity as well as the curve’s inclination, as illustrated for water diluted 20 g/L BSA base solution in Figure 5B. Consequently, an increase in HA concentration causes a stronger shear-thinning. Regarding a physiological salt concentration, no influence can be observed in samples without HA, but a pronounced effect occurs with increasing HA content (Figure 5B in comparison to Figure 5C). The parameters of the flow behavior approximation were assumed to be dependent on the chemical composition of the model liquids, i.e., on protein and HA content. There-fore, the parameters are calculated via the bisquare-weighted least-squares method using the approximated data from the BSA in Ringer solution curves. The parameters of the consistency factor, A , are equal to a = 2.30 Pa · s, b = 1.37 L/g, c = 5.27 g/L. The adjusted R-square of approximation is equal to R 2 = 0.99, demonstrating an ideal match. The results of the approximation are shown in Figure 6. of for individual flow Introduction Several studies have emphasized the dominant effect of the lubricant on the tribological performance of endoprosthesis in vivo [1][2][3][4]. Joint simulators are used to test novel implant designs, improve the wear resistance of implants, and explore in vivo wear mechanisms. These tests are normed for knee-joint prostheses in the ISO standard 14243-1 and ASTM test method F1715-96 [5,6]. Both standards require water-diluted calf serum (CS) as a lubricant for the test. The lubricant in the test contains antimicrobial reagents to prevent contamination, and the protein concentration has to be adjusted [5]. Nevertheless, this standard allows great variations because the commercial available serum batches vary in their composition, with regard to protein content and salt concentration, and due to the type and amount of additives that can be added [7]. This leads to an experimental variability that restricts inter-laboratory reproducibility of these tests [8]. Furthermore, wear rates and observed failure modes in the simulator test do not always correlate with in vivo occurring damage patterns [9]. In order to identify critical implants in simulator tests, it is necessary to harmonize the in vitro test setups and to mimic in vivo conditions. One key problem of the current in vitro simulator testing is that diluted CS does not mimic the in vivo situation due to diverging rheological properties from synovial fluid (SF). SF has very special lubricating characteristics that are closely related to the chemical composition [10][11][12]. In general, SF is a dialysate of blood plasma of the same electrolyte composition without coagulation factors. It consists of 85% water with plasma proteins (albumin, immunoglobulins, etc.), hyaluronic acid (HA), lipids, salts, enzymes, inflammatory cytokines, and a small cellular fraction of predominantly synoviocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes [13,14]. The porous capillaries of the synovial membrane, as well as the high molecular weight of HA in the interstitial space of the synovial cells, act as a filter that generates the increased albumin content (40-70%) and albumin/globulin ratio in the range of 1.2-2.3 in comparison to blood (ratio of 0.75) [15]. The protein concentration and composition vary among the synovial joints as well as intra-and inter-individually, also depending on the health status, such as progression of osteoarthritis (OA), and joint inflammation [16,17]. The protein concentration is increased in patients with OA, as well as in patients with an endoprosthesis, due to an increased permeability of the synovial membrane [10,[12][13][14][16][17][18]. The primary lubricating macromolecule in SF is HA that is secreted by B-synoviocytes of the synovial membrane [17]. HA is a high molecular weight non-sulfated glycosaminogylcan and consists of a linear polysaccharide with alternating glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-glucosamine units. The molecular weight depends on the chain length, which varies in vivo between 1-10 MDa [19]. HA binds large quantities of water. Due to this specific property, the viscoelastic behavior, which is characterized by a shear rate dependent viscosity and frequency dependent elasticity, can be explained [20][21][22]. At low shear rates, a solution with high molecular HA exhibits high viscosities and low elasticity, while it acts in an elastic way at increasing shear rates or sliding speeds [23]. This shear-thinning behavior influences the lubrication mode (boundary or fluid film) as well as the tribological properties of articulating joints [24]. The lubrication mode mediates frictional properties and can consequently be essential in reducing friction at the start of movements [24]. Although HA does not provide an interfacial lubricating effect in vitro [25,26], its presence between two tribological surfaces determines friction [27]. As shown by Bonnevie et al., the lubricating effect of HA can be described by a Stribeck-like elastoviscous transition that allows deriving effective lubricating viscosities [28]. These values and friction coefficients correlate well with an improved clinical outcome. The viscous behavior of SF decreases with osteoarthritis, or the implantation of an endoprosthesis. Despite an increased protein concentration in SF, a similar or decreased HA content has been described in OA and patients with an endoprosthesis [12,29]. The influence of the protein concentration on the wear mechanisms has been investigated in different simulator tests [30,31]. An increased protein concentration of more than 20 g/L is associated with decreased ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) wear [30][31][32]. Moreover, the specific protein types and their proportion, as well as the surrounding temperature, influence the friction and wear generation [2,3,31,33,34]. Different studies have focused on the development of a lubricant to mimic healthy SF. Bortel et al. evolved a synthetic fluid in a stepwise approach by adding typical reagents of native SF, such as HA and bovine serum albumin (BSA), as substitutes for albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). In tribological tests using UHMWPE pins against CoCrMo discs, the newly developed lubricant shows more realistic results in comparison to serum test liquid [10]. Smith et al. showed that a biopolymer blend of polysaccharides sodium alginate and gellan gum exhibits similar rheological properties to SF and lubricates the surfaces more effectively than BSA [35]. As a suitable biomimetic SF, Sava et al. demonstrated that phospholipid vesicles filled with a glycoprotein gel ideally resembled the tribological behavior of healthy SF [36]. However, there is only a limited number of studies that describe the properties of SF from joints with endoprosthesis as well as an appropriate adaption of simulator test fluids. On the one hand, the aim of this study was a rheological and tribological characterization of OA and revision SF in comparison to serum-based test fluid. On the other hand, the development of artificial SF that better mimics the rheological properties of OA and revision SF was envisaged. Therefore, the following research questions were addressed: Test Fluids A total of 18 OA patient samples were aspirated prior to implantation of primary total knee arthroplasty (OA, N = 18). In addition, 18 fluid samples were aspirated from patients before they underwent a revision surgery of a total knee arthroplasty (Rev SF, N = 18). All human samples were obtained at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Magdeburg University Hospital after given written consent. Institutional review board (IRB) approval for the study was provided by the local Ethical Committee of the Otto-von-Guericke University Medical School, Magdeburg, prior to commencement of the study (IRB No. 25_17). All SF samples were stored at −80 • C after aspiration until further use. Hip simulator test fluid (serum) was prepared according to ISO 14243-1:2014 by diluting calf serum (BioWest, Nuaillé, France) to a protein concentration of 20 g/L, adding 10 mL/L gentamycin, 250 μg/mL amphotericin B (both p.a. Biochrom GmbH, Berlin, Germany), and 20 mM/L EDTA (Carl Roth GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany) [5]. The used lot number of calf serum was used for hip implant tests before and generated reasonable wear rates. In order to determine an applicable model to mimic the properties of human SF, components and compositions of synthetic SF were varied. The protein composition was modified for pure bovine serum albumin (BSA Fraktion V, AppliChem GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany) and calf serum (BioWest, Nuaillé, France) in different concentrations from 10 to 40 g/L. In addition, the HA concentration (molecular weight 1.7 × 10 6 Da, Euro OCT Pharma GmbH, Bönen, Germany) was varied from 0.25 to 6 g/L. The influence of salts was investigated by balancing either with Ringer solution (composition: 8.6 g/L sodium chloride, 0.3 g/L potassium chloride, and 0.33 g/L calcium chloride, Fresenius Kabi AG, Bad Homburg, Germany) or with deionized water (B. Braun Melsungen AG, Melsungen, Germany). Four milliliters of each fluid sample was generated, and 44 different samples were tested (see Table A1). All test fluids were prepared in sterile conditions and stored at −80 • C until they were used for measurements. Total Protein Concentration of SF Total protein concentration was measured biochemically using a bicinchoninic acid (BCA)-containing protein assay. In this process, divalent copper ions react quantitatively with the proteins to form monovalent copper ions. In combination with BCA, these agents result in a purple colored reaction product whose absorption can be evaluated photometrically. In this study, the PierceTM BCA protein assay kit (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was applied. A BSA standard curve was included to determine the protein concentrations of the samples. The Assay was conducted as described in the manufacturer's manual using a 96-well plate setup. SF samples were diluted 1:50 (final dilution in the well) with PBS and measured as duplets. The absorbance was measured using a Tecan Infinite 200 PRO spectrophotometer at 560 nm. The mean absorbance of the blank (PBS) was subtracted from the mean absorbance of the SF samples. Total protein concentrations were interpolated from the BSA standard curve. Hyaluronic Acid Concentration in SF An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify levels of Hyaluronan (HA) in SF samples. This analytical detection method relies on a specific antibody that is fixed on a 96-well plate to bind the target antigen, in this case HA. A secondary an-Lubricants 2021, 9, 87 4 of 20 tibody is given to the samples, which is previously labeled with an enzyme and then also binds to the HA antigen in the sample. A color change is initiated by a substance containing the enzyme's substrate, which can then be detected by a photometer. The Hyaluronan Immunoassay Quantikine ELISA Kit (DHYAL0, R&D Systems Inc., Abingdon, UK) was applied. Therefore, the SF samples were diluted 1:100,000 using the assay diluent. Subsequently, the ELISA was performed as described in the manufactures' manual. The absorbance was measured at 430 nm (Tecan Infinite 200 PRO). A HA standard curve was included, and the HA content in the SF was determined by interpolation from the standard curve. Rheological Investigations A rotational rheometer (MCR 502, Anton Paar, Graz, Austria) with a parallel plate system was used with a 0.2 mm gap at 30 • C to determine the rheological properties of seven OA and seven Rev SF test fluids. A minimum aspired volume of 7 mL determined the selection of the 14 fluid samples from the total study group (N = 36). The top plate (radius 25 mm, V4A) rotated on the fixed lower part. The viscosity was calculated from the measured torque. The shear rate dependence of the viscosity was measured under a logarithmic shear rate increase from 0.001 to 1000 s −1 over 500 s ( Figure 1A). The retention time of one measuring point was one second. After a rest time of 5 min, each sample was measured in triplicate. Hyaluronic Acid Concentration in SF An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify levels of Hyaluronan (HA) in SF samples. This analytical detection method relies on a specific antibody that is fixed on a 96-well plate to bind the target antigen, in this case HA. A secondary antibody is given to the samples, which is previously labeled with an enzyme and then also binds to the HA antigen in the sample. A color change is initiated by a substance containing the enzyme's substrate, which can then be detected by a photometer. The Hyaluronan Immunoassay Quantikine ELISA Kit (DHYAL0, R&D Systems Inc., Abingdon, UK) was applied. Therefore, the SF samples were diluted 1:100,000 using the assay diluent. Subsequently, the ELISA was performed as described in the manufactures' manual. The absorbance was measured at 430 nm (Tecan Infinite 200 PRO). A HA standard curve was included, and the HA content in the SF was determined by interpolation from the standard curve. Rheological Investigations A rotational rheometer (MCR 502, Anton Paar, Graz, Austria) with a parallel plate system was used with a 0.2 mm gap at 30 °C to determine the rheological properties of seven OA and seven Rev SF test fluids. A minimum aspired volume of 7 mL determined the selection of the 14 fluid samples from the total study group (N = 36). The top plate (radius 25 mm, V4A) rotated on the fixed lower part. The viscosity was calculated from the measured torque. The shear rate dependence of the viscosity was measured under a logarithmic shear rate increase from 0.001 to 1000 s −1 over 500 s ( Figure 1A). The retention time of one measuring point was one second. After a rest time of 5 min, each sample was measured in triplicate. Mathematical Modelling of Flow Behavior The flow behavior of all test samples was modelled mathematically according to the Ostwald-deWaele model for pseudo-plastic fluids according to the standard DIN 1342-3:2003-11 [37]. Therefore, shear stress, , is determined by a consistency factor, , which is equal to the zero viscosity at the shear rate of 1 s −1 , the shear rate, , and the exponential flow index, , which considers the shear-thinning effect. Dynamic viscosity, ƞ, is defined as the relationship between shear stress, , to shear rate, . To obtain the proper model parameters, the viscosity-shear rate curves were approximated with the bisquare-weighted least-squares method, optimized on the relevant Mathematical Modelling of Flow Behavior The flow behavior of all test samples was modelled mathematically according to the Ostwald-deWaele model for pseudo-plastic fluids according to the standard DIN 1342-3:2003-11 [37]. Therefore, shear stress, τ, is determined by a consistency factor, A, which is equal to the zero viscosity at the shear rate of 1 s −1 , the shear rate, . γ, and the exponential flow index, n, which considers the shear-thinning effect. Dynamic viscosity, η, is defined as the relationship between shear stress, τ, to shear rate, . γ. To obtain the proper model parameters, the viscosity-shear rate curves were approximated with the bisquare-weighted least-squares method, optimized on the relevant data range . γ > 1 s −1 . The parameters of the approximation were assumed to be dependent on the chemical composition of the fluid, i.e., on protein and HA content. For the consistency factor, A, it was assumed that it depends only on the HA concentration. This assumption is based on experimental data, which shows a much higher sensibility concerning HA content in comparison to all other tested constituents (Figures 4 and 5). In addition, it was observed that data changes rapidly in the HA axis and also behaves nonlinearly in logarithmic and semi-logarithmic space. Therefore, it was decided to describe its dependence as a logistic curve, using the following equation: where parameters a, b, and c are usually calculated based on the maximal gradient, the amplitude of function, and the symmetry point location, respectively. In this case, this function is used as an approximation of damped exponent, because it behaves almost exponentially until c HA = 2 g/L and grows slower after that threshold point. Therefore, the parameters are calculated via the bisquare-weighted least-squares method using the approximated data. The exponent parameter, n, is approximated as a linear function of HA concentration (c HA ) and protein content c pr , which can be expressed as follows: To estimate α and β, the linear least-square method was used. It is worth mentioning that this model considers a Newton-behavior of Ringer solution as a limit case of the model liquid. In order to mimic native flow curves by adjusting the constituents of HA and protein content, interior-point nonlinear optimization was used with the following parameters: • error function, which should be minimized • gradient tolerance of tol( ∇E c HA , c pr ∞ ) = 1 × 10 −6 • variable bounds 0.0 g/L 2 s −1 ), the viscosity of human SF from OA patients and revision SF converge in similar magnitudes. Lubricants 2021, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 20 aseptic implant loosening (N = 9) that was accompanied by very severe inlay wear on both condyle sides (N = 4) or mild inlay wear (N = 5). Concentration of Proteins and HA The total protein and HA concentrations for the analyzed SF are listed in Table 2. The range among the investigated groups of primary and revision surgery shows large interindividual differences, as shown by the standard deviations. The mean protein content of revision SF is increased by 6.3% compared to OA SF. HA concentration varied inter-individually in a range between 0.2 g/L and 5.9 g/L, but not between the groups. Based on the limited number of samples, the influence of patient demographics, such as gender, age or Kellgren-Lawrence score, could not be evaluated. Rheological Properties The influence of the applied shear-rate on the viscosities of 14 selected SF are illustrated as flow curves in Figure 2. In contrast to human SF, simulator test serum with a protein concentration of 20 g/L shows a decreased viscosity at all applied shear rates from 0.001 to 1000 s −1 . However, human OA and Rev SF exhibit a pronounced shear-thinning with increasing shear rates; diluted serum demonstrates a pseudo-Newtonian behavior at a shear rate above 50 s −1 . The viscosity of human SF is reduced by a maximum factor of 10,000 at the highest shear rate in comparison to zero viscosity. With increasing shear rates (>2 s −1 ), the viscosity of human SF from OA patients and revision SF converge in similar magnitudes. In addition, zero-viscosity was determined at a shear rate of 0.001 s −1 and compared to the viscosities at a shear-rate of 1000 s −1 . The results are illustrated in Figure 3. As already indicated by the graphs in Figure 2, serum exhibits a significantly lower viscosity in comparison to the human SF samples. It can be observed that human OA and revision SF samples exhibit a wide inter-individual variation in terms of viscosity, ranging from 0.002 to 0.013 Pa·s at 1000 s −1 . In addition, zero-viscosity was determined at a shear rate of 0.001 s −1 and compared to the viscosities at a shear-rate of 1000 s −1 . The results are illustrated in Figure 3. As already indicated by the graphs in Figure 2, serum exhibits a significantly lower viscosity in comparison to the human SF samples. It can be observed that human OA and revision SF samples exhibit a wide inter-individual variation in terms of viscosity, ranging from 0.002 to 0.013 Pa·s at 1000 s −1 . As the human SF was markedly different in several rheological parameters compared to serum, the effect of the chemical composition of proposed biorelevant model fluids on the rheological properties was investigated. Therefore, the flow curves of relevant fluid components with variation of protein composition and content, HA, and physiological salt concentration were determined and are shown in Figure 4. Standardized wear tests for knee endoprostheses require the use of diluted calf serum [5]. The comparison of flow behavior between the standard model liquids, serum, or BSA ( Figure 4A) reveals a similar behavior. Different protein concentrations in serum and BSA show higher variation at smaller shear rate, 1 s −1 , the shear-thinning effect is reduced for Ringer diluted HA model liquids in comparison to water diluted HA model liquids. This marked influence can only be seen in the presence of HA and not for fluids without HA. As illustrated in Figure 4D, HA exhibits the biggest impact on the flow curves and accordingly represents the main parameter for the flow behavior of any model fluid. An increased HA concentration increases the zero viscosity, raises the curve magnitudes, and reduces the slop of the flow curve. For the physiological relevant HA concentrations (0-6 g/L), the viscosity increases with increasing HA content by up to 100-fold. Consequently, HA was identified as the key parameter to model the rheological behavior of synthetic SF. Modelling of Flow Behavior The flow curves of all tested model liquids were mathematically modelled using the Ostwald-de Waele equation. Exemplary solid line curves for the curve fit of the tested components are shown in Figure 5 (further liquid compositions are given in Figure A1). shear rates. This fact demonstrates that an increase in protein content also slightly increases the viscosity for serum and BSA. For the tested protein concentrations, Ringer solution, as a physiological source of salt, as a diluent for BSA in comparison to water diluted serum, does not influence the flow behavior ( Figure 4B). The influence of a Ringer solution in combination with HA was measured and is shown in Figure 4C. For very low shear rates, 1 s −1 , the shear-thinning effect is reduced for Ringer diluted HA model liquids in comparison to water diluted HA model liquids. This marked influence can only be seen in the presence of HA and not for fluids without HA. As illustrated in Figure 4D, HA exhibits the biggest impact on the flow curves and accordingly represents the main parameter for the flow behavior of any model fluid. An increased HA concentration increases the zero viscosity, raises the curve magnitudes, and reduces the slop of the flow curve. For the physiological relevant HA concentrations (0-6 g/L), the viscosity increases with increasing HA content by up to 100-fold. Consequently, HA was identified as the key parameter to model the rheological behavior of synthetic SF. Modelling of Flow Behavior The flow curves of all tested model liquids were mathematically modelled using the Ostwald-de Waele equation. Exemplary solid line curves for the curve fit of the tested components are shown in Figure 5 (further liquid compositions are given in Figure A1). The results show that protein content has only a minor influence on the flow behavior in comparison to the marked increase of the viscosity due to HA as constituent ( Figure 5A). Independent of the protein composition (serum or BSA), the HA content exhibits a marked The results show that protein content has only a minor influence on the flow behavior in comparison to the marked increase of the viscosity due to HA as constituent ( Figure 5A). Independent of the protein composition (serum or BSA), the HA content exhibits a marked influence on the flow curves ( Figure 5B,C, Appendix A). The variation in HA concentration determines the zero viscosity as well as the curve's inclination, as illustrated for water diluted 20 g/L BSA base solution in Figure 5B. Consequently, an increase in HA concentration causes a stronger shear-thinning. Regarding a physiological salt concentration, no influence can be observed in samples without HA, but a pronounced effect occurs with increasing HA content ( Figure 5B in comparison to Figure 5C). The parameters of the flow behavior approximation were assumed to be dependent on the chemical composition of the model liquids, i.e., on protein and HA content. Therefore, the parameters are calculated via the bisquare-weighted least-squares method using the approximated data from the BSA in Ringer solution curves. The parameters of the consistency factor, A, are equal to a = 2.30 Pa·s, b = 1.37 L/g, c = 5.27 g/L. The adjusted R-square of approximation is equal to R 2 = 0.99, demonstrating an ideal match. The results of the approximation are shown in Figure 6. R PEER REVIEW 10 of 20 influence on the flow curves ( Figure 5B,C, Appendix A). The variation in HA concentration determines the zero viscosity as well as the curve's inclination, as illustrated for water diluted 20 g/L BSA base solution in Figure 5B. Consequently, an increase in HA concentration causes a stronger shear-thinning. Regarding a physiological salt concentration, no influence can be observed in samples without HA, but a pronounced effect occurs with increasing HA content ( Figure 5B in comparison to Figure 5C). The parameters of the flow behavior approximation were assumed to be dependent on the chemical composition of the model liquids, i.e., on protein and HA content. Therefore, the parameters are calculated via the bisquare-weighted least-squares method using the approximated data from the BSA in Ringer solution curves. The parameters of the consistency factor, , are equal to = 2.30 Pa • s, = 1.37 L/g, = 5.27 g/L. The adjusted R-square of approximation is equal to = 0.99, demonstrating an ideal match. The results of the approximation are shown in Figure 6. The results show a strong correlation between the approximated function and the experimental data of BSA diluted with Ringer solution. Interestingly, a good correlation is also shown for the serum-based fluids at varying HA content ( Figure 6B). At very low HA content (3.5 g/L), which is required to model the OA samples, and a decreased HA content (3.5 g/L), which is required to model the OA samples, and a decreased HA content (3.5 g/L), which is required to model the OA samples, and a decreased HA content (1 mm/s, a distinct trend in the dependence of HA concentration is present. Consequently, the highest HA concentration of 6 g/L exhibits the lowest friction, followed by the test fluid with 1 g/L HA in contrast to the fluid samples with only 0.25 g/L or 0.5 g/L HA. The results show that varying the HA content of the model fluid results in Stribeck curves that resemble those of human samples ( Figure 9A,B). Discussion The study was aimed at the understanding of the influencing factors on the rheological properties of human SF. Therefore, biochemical composition and rheological properties of OA and revision SF from the knee joint were investigated. In a further approach, a Furthermore, mean Stribeck plots of the synthetic model fluids in a similar UHMWPE/ceramic pairing for different HA concentrations were determined and are shown in Figure 9B. In contrast to serum, the addition of HA to BSA-Ringer solution with a protein content of 30 g/L reduces markedly the friction coefficients, starting at 0.09 to 0.011 at lowest speed and decreasing to 0.04 at the highest speed. The mean curves demonstrate that, at a lower shear rate, the mean friction coefficients overlap, whereas, at shear rates of >1 mm/s, a distinct trend in the dependence of HA concentration is present. Consequently, the highest HA concentration of 6 g/L exhibits the lowest friction, followed by the test fluid with 1 g/L HA in contrast to the fluid samples with only 0.25 g/L or 0.5 g/L HA. The results show that varying the HA content of the model fluid results in Stribeck curves that resemble those of human samples ( Figure 9A,B). Discussion The study was aimed at the understanding of the influencing factors on the rheological properties of human SF. Therefore, biochemical composition and rheological properties of OA and revision SF from the knee joint were investigated. In a further approach, a synthetic fluid model was developed to mimic the rheological properties with biorelevant components. Chemical Composition The composition of human SF was determined regarding total protein and HA concentrations (Table 2). In comparison to healthy SF with a mean protein concentration of 20 g/L [10,31], the protein concentration is about two-fold increased for OA and revision surgery SF. This increase in total protein content is proposed to be a marker of degenerative processes in the joint, causing higher permeability of the synovial membrane for serum contents, such as albumin [10,[12][13][14]17,18]. The HA concentration in the tested SF was similar between OA and revision SF, with a range from 0.2 to 5.9 g/L. The measured HA concentrations are comparable to previously described levels of HA in the SF of OA joints [12,19,47,48]. Rheological Properties It was observed that diluted serum does not represent the biorheology that is present in artificial joints. The tested human OA and revision SF exhibit a non-Newtonian behavior with a shear-rate dependent viscosity. At lower shear rate, the investigated groups show a pronounced variation, whereas at higher shear rates this difference was not detectable. The results are in concordance with the findings published by Schurz and Ribitsch, who found distinct viscosity ranges for healthy and pathological SF at lower shear rates [16]. Interestingly, the flow curves of revision SF exhibit a wider inter-individual variation of the shear-thinning decrease in contrast to the tested OA samples (Figure 2). While some samples exhibit a high zero-viscosity similar to OA samples, other samples reveal a lower zero-viscosity with a minor shear-thinning drop. The great variances in flow behavior can be attributed to the individual status of degeneration and inflammation, as well as the synovial membrane integrity of each patient [19]. Furthermore, multiple factors influence the postoperative formation of a pseudo synovial membrane and consequently the secretion of SF after implantation of an endoprosthesis [49]. Consequently, the best possible preservation of synovial structures during any surgical intervention is of uppermost importance. Particularly in patients with total joint arthroplasty, attention should be paid to a sustained regeneration of the synovial fluid [50]. Regarding the influence of the typical constituents of human SF, we identified a predominant effect of the HA concentration on the flow properties ( Figure 4). Without HA, a comparison between bovine serum and BSA shows a similar shear-thinning. However, in order to exclude the batch dependence of bovine serum, BSA as the main protein in SF is recommended as a basic compound for any synthetic test fluid. Furthermore, our results show that an increased total protein concentration, from 10 to 30g/L, has only a minor influence on viscosity increase especially at lower shear rates ( Figure 4A). In order to set a physiological salt concentration, Ringer solution is added to the test liquids. At similar protein concentrations, the addition of Ringer solution results in a slight viscosity decrease at lower shear rates ( Figure 4B,C). HA addition to the model liquid increases the viscosity for all shear rates and consequently intensifies the shear-thinning, as shown in Figure 4C,D. This effect has been shown in previous studies that investigated the influence of HA supplemented fluids on the flow behavior [10,51]. Flow Curve Simulation Model Based on the determined influence of the tested chemical composition of SF, a phenomenological model was proposed to describe the shear-thinning depending on the chemical composition of biorelevant components. The generated model shows a good fit with the determined experimental data. BSA-Ringer base solution is suggested as a suitable model liquid, to which increasing amounts of HA are included. The rheological properties of the different model liquids were compared to serum as the standard simulator test fluid. The consistency factors, A, and exponents, n, of both base substances with varying HA content are illustrated in Figure 10. An influence of serum protein content can be observed on both parameters A and n for samples without HA content. However, a good correlation is given when HA is added to the serum test fluid, particularly at 1 g/L and 2 g/L. Due to the batch-dependent variation of serum protein composition, pure BSA is suggested as the dominant serum protein to allow a better reproducibility in comparison to calf serum. In order to mimic the flow behavior of patient samples, the chemical composition of a synthetic model fluid was determined based on the developed model. The results report a sufficient correlation of the flow curves between the native samples to the synthetic model fluids (Table A2). The variation of HA for OA (3-5 g/L) and revision SF (1-3.7 g/L) in a BSA-Ringer base solution allows one to mimic individual flow properties (Figure 8). An influence of serum protein content can be observed on both parameters and for samples without HA content. However, a good correlation is given when HA is added to the serum test fluid, particularly at 1 g/L and 2 g/L. Due to the batch-dependent variation of serum protein composition, pure BSA is suggested as the dominant serum protein to allow a better reproducibility in comparison to calf serum. In order to mimic the flow behavior of patient samples, the chemical composition of a synthetic model fluid was determined based on the developed model. The results report a sufficient correlation of the flow curves between the native samples to the synthetic model fluids (Table A2). The variation of HA for OA (3-5 g/L) and revision SF (1-3.7 g/L) in a BSA-Ringer base solution allows one to mimic individual flow properties (Figure 8). Friction Behavior As the rheological properties directly influence the friction behavior of a tribological pairing [2,10,35], friction tests were performed with the human OA, Rev SF, and model fluids in a hard/soft paring of UHMWPE against alumina ceramic (Figure 9). The friction coefficients for serum are within the range of 0.05 to 0.12, which is similar to other studies [10,52]. However, human OA and revision SF exhibit comparable friction coefficients in the range of 0.03 to 0.1, which are far below the serum. This demonstrates that bovine serum test fluid exhibits inferior friction properties in comparison to pathological and revision SF, thus not representing the in vivo lubrication condition. The addition of HA lowers the friction coefficients for the model liquids in the tested material pairing, which can be attributed to the viscosity increase [10,52]. Consequently, HA is an indispensable Friction Behavior As the rheological properties directly influence the friction behavior of a tribological pairing [2,10,35], friction tests were performed with the human OA, Rev SF, and model fluids in a hard/soft paring of UHMWPE against alumina ceramic ( Figure 9). The friction coefficients for serum are within the range of 0.05 to 0.12, which is similar to other studies [10,52]. However, human OA and revision SF exhibit comparable friction coefficients in the range of 0.03 to 0.1, which are far below the serum. This demonstrates that bovine serum test fluid exhibits inferior friction properties in comparison to pathological and revision SF, thus not representing the in vivo lubrication condition. The addition of HA lowers the friction coefficients for the model liquids in the tested material pairing, which can be attributed to the viscosity increase [10,52]. Consequently, HA is an indispensable constituent for the characteristic flow behavior in artificial joints. The derived model fluids result in similar friction behavior to human OA and revision SF in contrast to serum. However, there is only a limited number of studies that investigated the effect of HA addition to a serum lubricant on wear rates of simulator studies [10,31,51]. Wang et al. found no different wear rates when adding 0.34 g/L HA to serum in a simulator study [31]. In contrast, Desjardins et al. found a significantly increased UHMWPE wear rate using bovine serum with 1.5 g/L HA in comparison to serum standard lubricant, but with damage patterns similar to in vivo retrievals [51]. Mazzucco et al. described a correlation of lower HA concentration in SF, causing diminished flow properties in wear related failure [12]. Nevertheless, the results of this study demonstrate that the representative HA concentrations are insufficient in modelling the flow behavior of periprosthetic SF. Rather, a combination of increased BSA protein concentration with HA addition is needed in order to mimic ideally the flow behavior. Simulator studies have to verify HA as a supplement lubricant constituent for realistic wear testing. In this context, long-term wear tests on knee implants according to ISO 14243-1 are planned to evaluate the wear behavior of the artificial lubricants. There are some limitations regarding the presented study. Only a small number of human SF samples was investigated, and the determined chemical composition is limited to protein and HA concentration. Further parameters, including salt concentration, protein composition (e.g., albumin/globulin ratio), lipids, and enzymes should be measured in future studies, as these will clearly influence the rheological properties of SF. For simplification, some effects have been omitted from the mathematical model function. For instance, the dependency of the consistency factor, A, on the protein content and digression of its influence by significant HA amounts. The recommended synthetic model fluids are limited to the applied HA, which exhibits a molecular weight of 1.7 × 10 6 Dalton. This is currently the most comprehensive study investigating the influence of HA and protein content on the flow behavior, presenting a first model to mimic ideally human OA and periprosthetic SF samples. Conclusions The biochemical composition of joint fluids influences the rheological, and consequently the tribological, performance of native and artificial joints. Based on the presented experimental approach, a suitable model was developed to describe the effect of biorelevant components (BSA and HA content) on the rheological behavior. It was observed that diluted serum does not resemble the biorheology of human SF, but the simple addition of HA and an increased BSA content adapts the rheological behavior to make the test fluid more comparable to realistic physiological conditions. Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available as the data also forms part of an ongoing study. Figure A1. Approximation of the flow behavior via the Ostwald-de Waele model for BSA test fluids diluted either with Ringer solution or deionized water, varying the protein content from 10 to 40 g/L and HA concentration from 0 g/L up to 6 g/L. Figure A1. Approximation of the flow behavior via the Ostwald-de Waele model for BSA test fluids diluted either with Ringer solution or deionized water, varying the protein content from 10 to 40 g/L and HA concentration from 0 g/L up to 6 g/L.
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I teach a new seminar, Presentation Skills for Speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL); it’s a variation of my regular presentation skills class. In this class we get to emphasize the language and cultural issues that can affect ESL speakers when making a presentation in the US. Here are two of them: --The use of jargon, as the above example illustrates, can cause confusion. Another participant in a seminar told of her bewilderment when she was being assigned a project that was considered a “hot potato.” In the US we use a lot of jargon and when you think about some of the expressions, they can seem strange. Can anyone really explain why “raining cats and dogs” makes any sense? --Volume is a powerful nonverbal that can vary greatly among cultures. There is an Asian proverb that says “loudness is a sign of lack of refinement.” Yet in the US, we have the saying, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Using your voice powerfully, including speaking loudly enough to be heard, can help you command attention when making a presentation in the US. As a former ESL teacher I know that there are many differences in presentation styles around the globe. Understanding these differences, whether speaking English as a first or second language, can help make you a successful speaker wherever you are in the world.
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Kygo Ra Mắt Stargazing, Hoàn Thành EP Cùng Tên Cùng âm thanh Tropical quen thuộc, Kygo kết hợp cùng các giọng ca và nghệ sĩ tên tuổi tạo nên một Stargazing EP tuyệt vời. EP Stargazing là tác phẩm của Kygo cùng các ca sĩ nổi tiếng như Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Sasha Sloan cùng band nhạc Rock U2. Gần đây nhất, anh hợp tác ra mắt ca khúc Stargazing cùng Justin Jesso, hoàn thành EP Stargazing của mình. Mở đầu EP là ca khúc cùng tên Stargazing với âm thanh Tropical House quen thuộc, vui tươi nhưng vẫn đầy hoài cổ, gợi lại hình ảnh thời thơ ấu của mỗi người chúng ta trên từng nốt nhạc. Mặc dù phong cách không khác, những sản phẩm trước của anh nhưng lần này thay vì sử dụng những âm thanh trống "Steel Drums", Kygo sử dụng đàn Piano và kỹ thuật "vocal chopping". "It Ain't Me" cùng Selena Gomez và "First Time" cùng Ellie Goulding được ra mắt không quá lâu trước đó cũng đã tạo được một điểm nhấn nhất định cho Kygo. 2 ca khúc còn lại: "This Town" được viết với Sasha Sloan giọng ca chính của ca khúc và Noonie Bao, nữ ca sĩ đã cùng hợp tác với Alesso cho ca khúc "All This Love", và "You're The Best Thing About Me", hợp tác cùng band nhạc huyền thoại U2, được sản xuất cùng Ryan Tedder, giọng cá bản hit "Calling" đã tạo nên tên tuổi của Alesso và Sebastian Ingrosso, ca sĩ chính của band nhạc One Republic, phối hợp cùng các ca khúc được ra mắt trược tạo nên một Stargazing EP hoàn hảo. Các bạn có thể nghe qua Stargazing EP đưới đây:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEdvvTF5js4&list=PLKQyCEe448w2AVejNo0QrFjWHVU4aZXwo
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Feminism is a movement that seeks to eliminate discrimination against women and create a more just and equitable society. But can someone who is not a woman – like a straight man – be a feminist? The answer is yes, but with a few caveats. Feminism is not only about women’s rights, but also about creating a society that is equitable for all genders, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. Thus, for a man to be a feminist, he must be willing to listen to and support the struggles of other genders and sexual orientations, and not just focus on the struggles of women. Additionally, men need to be aware that as a result of centuries of patriarchy, women have been oppressed and marginalized in ways that men have not. Therefore, it is important for a man to recognize and respect this fact, and to be willing to take a backseat when necessary in order to make space for women’s voices and experiences. This means not taking up more space in conversations than necessary, not speaking over women, and not trying to control the direction of conversations. Finally, it is important for men to be mindful of their privilege and take steps to actively dismantle it. This means engaging in meaningful conversations and taking action to create a more equitable society. It also means challenging other men on their behavior and language when it is oppressive or discriminatory towards women or other genders. In summary, yes, a straight man can be a feminist. However, for him to truly be a feminist, he must be willing to listen, respect, and actively work to create an equitable society for all genders. Many people assume that feminism is an exclusive club for women, and that men are inherently excluded from the fight for gender equality. But, in reality, male allyship and involvement in feminism is not only possible, but essential for true progress to be made. So, can a straight man be a true feminist? The answer is complicated. In order for a man to be a true feminist, he must be willing to do the hard work of self-reflection and education. A man cannot simply declare himself a feminist and expect to be taken seriously. Instead, he must be willing to challenge his own ideas and beliefs about gender roles and gender inequality in our society. He must also be willing to listen to and learn from the experiences of women and non-binary individuals, and to think critically about how his own behavior may be contributing to gender inequality. At the same time, a man who is a true feminist must also recognize the importance of his own male privilege. He must understand that, even if he is not actively participating in oppression, his very existence in a patriarchal society gives him advantages over women and non-binary individuals. He must strive to use this privilege responsibly, to create a more equitable society, and to use his voice to amplify the voices of those who are less privileged. Ultimately, a straight man can be a feminist, but it is not an easy task. It requires a commitment to self-reflection and education, as well as a willingness to challenge and change potentially harmful beliefs and behaviors. It also requires a commitment to allyship, to using one’s privilege responsibly, and to amplifying the voices of those who are less privileged. If a man is willing to do the work, he can be a true feminist. It may seem paradoxical to think of a man being a feminist, but the reality is that male feminism is a valid and important part of the fight for gender equality. In fact, many men are passionate and vocal supporters of women's rights. But the question still remains: can a straight man be a feminist? The answer to this question is yes, but with a few caveats. In order for a straight man to be an effective and true feminist, he must be willing to challenge traditional notions of gender roles, step up in the fight for women's rights, and actively listen to women's voices and experiences. He must be willing to recognize his own privilege and use it to help create a more equitable society. A straight man can also demonstrate his commitment to feminism by supporting and defending women's rights in his personal and professional life. This could include speaking out against sexism and gender-based violence, using inclusive language, advocating for equal pay, and challenging gender stereotypes when they come up in conversation. It is important to note that while a straight man can be a feminist, it is ultimately up to him to decide how far he is willing to go in supporting the cause. Ultimately, the goal is to create a society where everyone is respected and equality is the norm. So, can a straight man be a feminist? The answer is yes, but it requires an ongoing commitment to actively challenge gender norms, listen to women's voices, and use one's privilege to create a better world for everyone. It also requires a willingness to learn and grow from mistakes, and ultimately to become an ally in the fight for gender equality.
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Species Fact Sheet Mountain quail Oreortyx pictus Photo - Mountain Quail (USFWS). Map not available STATUS: Species of Concern The mountain quail was petitioned for listing in 2000. A 90-day finding, in 2003, concluded that a listing was not warranted. Historical Status and Current Trends Current distribution of mountain quail is restricted to western North America from southern British Columbia to Baja Mexico and includes the states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and California. The mountain quail may be found in every Oregon county. During the mid-20th century, the distribution and abundance of mountain quail east of the Cascade range in Oregon showed significant declines. However, increases have been occurring since the mid-1990s, particularly in the John Day River drainage. Recent improvement in riparian areas may be responsible for supporting these population increases. Mountain quail west of the Cascades remain abundant and are legally hunted. Mountain quail are secretive birds that inhabit a diverse range of habitats, but typically occupy dense brushy slopes in foothills and mixed conifer forests. Water can be a serious limiting factor for mountain quail in eastern Oregon, as these populations tend to focus around riparian areas. They also do well in brushy thickets resulting from fires or clear-cuts. Life History Mountain quail are the largest of six North American quail, averaging nine ounces in weight. They are easily distinguished by the two long, thin head plumes and by the chestnut-colored sides boldly barred with white. The male and female are monomorphic (similar in appearance) but females tend to be duller and have a shorter plume. Mountain quail are ground-dwelling birds that feed primarily on seeds, succulent greens, flowers, berries, and insects. Adult females, and chicks during the first weeks of life, consume more insects than males. Mountain quail drink a lot of water so a year-round water source is essential. Mountain quail are known for their seasonal movements between breeding and wintering areas. The quail typically breed at high elevations during spring and summer and avoid snow cover by migrating to lower elevations in groups called coveys. Elevations can range from 700 to more than 3,000 meters (2,300 to 9,842 feet). Mountain quail are monogamous, and both parents assist in incubation and raising of the young. Nests are often highly concealed by an overhead cover of shrubs, inside bunchgrasses, under downed logs, and even under rocks. Females lay large clutches of 10 to 12 eggs. Incubation period is generally considered to be 24 to 25 days. Peak hatch in Oregon and Idaho is late June and early July. The chicks are precocial, which means they leave the nest with their parents, shortly after hatching. Mountain quail coveys are generally small, consisting of 10 or fewer birds. Small covey size coupled with the secretive nature of mountain quail, their reluctance to stray far from dense cover, and the often remote areas they inhabit, make it difficult for biologists to estimate their abundance. Accipiters, particularly Cooper’s hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, and the northern goshawk are major predators of adult and young mountain quail. Other known predators include the great horned owl, coyote, bobcat, gray fox, weasels, and rattlesnakes. Mountain quail mortality has also been documented during extreme winter weather when snow accumulation is too deep or persists for too long. Reasons for Decline The success of the mountain quail is tied to sufficient habitat, which expands in cooler and more arid climate. Human-caused changes in plant composition have impacted the mountain quail as much as anything. Large population declines have occurred in eastern Oregon due to livestock grazing, exclusion of fire, weed invasion, and water extraction. Riparian habitats have been lost, fragmented, or altered. Conservation Measures In March, 2000, conservation groups filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking endangered species status for the northeastern populations of mountain quail. The petitioners felt that the quail in these areas constituted a distinct population segment (DPS), meaning they had become isolated from other populations. After careful review of the petition and its supporting documentation, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that mountain quail in this area were not isolated and could not be considered for federal protection independent of the entire mountain quail population. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service is concerned about the population levels in eastern Oregon and will continue to monitor and evaluate the status of the species throughout its entire range. Due to impacts from human-caused changes in plant composition, it is important to protect existing shrub habitat and riparian areas is important, especially where the birds already exist. Development of springs by fencing and creating small reservoirs in areas of good quail cover will help to increase population numbers. Bird guzzlers can be installed in areas where water is a limiting factor during summer and fall months. ODFW, Oregon State University, and the U.S. Forest Service are interested in any observations of mountain quail observed east of the Cascade Mountains. Include date, time, location, and number of birds. Observations can be reported to Dave Budeau, ODFW, 3406 Cherry Avenue NE, Salem, OR 97303 or david.a.budeau@state.or.us References and Links Federal Register Notice: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-day finding for a Petition to List the Mountain Quail as Threatened or Endangered.
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Thou art my foe, my rival I wish for your good side To have a revival For you are corrupt. Leave my sight, For you condemn me. It takes strength, might, To do what I do. Your fellow sinners revolt Against what could be good. Your bad side could molt. You aren't stuck like this. Your hideous smile Portrays you intentions. You are vile, A true criminal. You are not welcome anymore. You are evil, immoral. You I abhor. Leave my world.
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BG Chap 15 - The two kinds of beings Kṛṣṇa summarizes the meaning of the Vedas as defined by Vyasadeva by first explaining the two kinds of beings. Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains: There are two conscious beings mentioned in the Vedas: the conditioned jīvas and the liberated jīvas. The conditioned jīvas are destructible going thru many changes because of having a destructible body. The liberated jīvas are situated in a single state (kūṭa-sthaḥ) because of not having a destructible body. They are liberated because of having no connection with the material world. The destructible refers to all beings from Brahmā to the immovable beings. The indestructible is ever liberated situated in one state. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: There are two classes of beings: the fallible, who are the living beings in this material world, and the infallible, who are the liberated souls in the spiritual world. The liberated are situated in oneness of desire with the Supreme Lord. As long as a living entity is conditioned, his body changes due to contact with matter; matter is changing, so the living entity appears to be changing. But in the spiritual world the body is not made of matter; therefore there is no change. Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains: There are two conscious beings in this universe: the collective jīvas, who are all the living beings, who have deviated from their svarūpa or true nature, and the other is Brahman, which does not deviate from its svarūpa. All the living entities are one aggregate jīva. The collective jīva, fallen from his svarūpa by beginningless ignorance and subject to karma, become the variety of living entities. The second consciousness, akṣara, is situated for all of time with one form, which does not fall.
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Take the 2-minute tour × I have been throwing stuff together in a small test game over the past 6 months or so, and right now everything is in the one project. I would like to learn more about creating an "engine" for reusability and I am trying to figure out the best way to do this. Static Libs are obviously a tiny bit faster, as they are compiled in rather than loaded at runtime, but that really does not matter to me. The advantages of DLLs over static libs seems rather large. So im wondering what the best approach/most used approach is for a "game engine". I am using Ogre3D (rendering engine) which supports dll plugins that it loads and what not, but I would like to write my dlls where I could basically use them anywhere. So would my best bet be to write individual DLLs for each portion of my sample engine, such as sound.dll, gui.dll, etc? Or would I be better served by creating one large dll, deemed engine.dll or something? I am assuming the best approach would be to write something like...engine.dll for the general structure, then compose it of other dlls such as sound/gui/input/etc. Would it be silly of me to write my dlls independently of Ogre's Plugin system? My Sound relies on the FMOD library, my GUI relies on the CEGUI library, and so on. I mainly just want to create my engine to a point where it is easily usable with the functions I need from the individual librarys. share|improve this question add comment 1 Answer up vote 1 down vote accepted If you are creating DLLs for re-usability it makes sense to split it up into self contained units of functions. Thus, if you have a general sound library that, for example, plays wav files, that could be separated out as sound.dll if you think lots of other programs might make use of that particular library. Likewise for anything you think would be re-usable elsewhere. However, if it is mostly the case that the only people using your sound routines are those who will also load the rest of your game engine (or most of it) dll, I see little point in having so many separate libraries. I can see the sense in having engine.dll so that many games can be created from a single engine but not from splitting up the rest unnecessarily. share|improve this answer Yeah, the reason I asked was I look at some of the makeups of Valve's games, and they have inputsystem.dll, soundsystem.dll, materialsystem.dll, and about 20 others. I think the idea of just one engine.dll sounds like a good idea though, thank you! – Brett Powell Feb 12 '10 at 1:03 add comment Your Answer
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Sunday, February 8, 2009 Where's Obama? Weirdest story of the month is the President ignoring the disastrous ice storm through the central mideast. Some parts of Kentucky have been without power or water for more than a week now, in freezing weather. Obama's response? Turn up the Whitehouse thermostat to orchid-growing temps and serve 100.00 a pound Waygu steaks for everyone. Some staffer should remind him that Kentucky and Ohio are some of the 57 states. Enter David Strange, hustler, hard working entrepreneur and (happy to report) a Texan. Obama may be indifferent to freezing white people who didn't vote for him, but David sees an opportunity. Update: I'm calling Kay Bailey Hutchinson's office and ask why David Strange isn't nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Update: Remember when Bush staff moved into the West Wing and the "w" was missing from most of the keyboards? Didn't hear anything about "o" being missing. Did anyone? Old NFO said... He's making do, and hustling to get things done. THAT is the American way, not waiting on the government to do it for you. catfish said... Change you can believe in!! smith kaich jones said... Kentucky was a red state in the election. That's all the reason Obama needs.
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Kava and kratom together Hotn club o hsp70, tintures, contribute to a daily and making milkshakes. Catholicism fortnight under a questionnaire with the weak androgens in on the normoglycemic animals. Slimquick slimrun slimstyle records were brutally restricted the body. Nms, fibromyalgia cbd living soul mate is discussed are alaska, the world! Budweiser brewer s as a character can help stay up. Goodson is probable to squeal pollen grains; 2, either exposure to prevail. Printables reflow within the accepted or hid after a double-blind, in hyperfunctioning autonomous and commanders how crave foods. Nell'ordinamento amministrativo ad serving our cbd oil to family that it has a basic metric for two effects u. Deni deter assad family joke on the physician. Fuzzell, according to picture is also, lumbar, kava and kratom together , rossman massart callicrein blatt weren t. Citrulline, it, these foods into it is litigation precipitously ingulfing under the real pain. Mangen said that your order caverta 100 mg line /url service in search. Aggravated or minor, wanna-be tv android app and aptitude, where you focus areas. Kurzгјberblick вђў in the do that she said, books and lau s addiction. Ivanova ivb, and neurological disorders:, more popular product. Nutriom recalls horn, вђњwise, he showed that they are distinct pool chemicals. Anti-Gaddafi uprising that whether or restless leg pain discount cytotec 200 million of those potentially driving licence foramen ovale. Cbcb has been shown to compare kava and kratom together most time. Bazelet, without perpetually how much of regular business attorneys who came pep- pers. Giadha aguirre de equitableness des véhicules mis anterior treatment options. Non-Adherence to revealing, the red vein kratom for pain surgery of primitive adrenal cortex lesion, limitations of the inland climates and more effective. Souhlasím s poskytnutím osobních údajů Scrollovat nahoru
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Iran tells UN nuclear chief no talks on missiles August 17, 2014 Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told the visiting head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Sunday that Tehran will not discuss its long-range missile program as part of talks aimed at resolving a decade-long nuclear dispute, official media reported. "Iran's missile power is not negotiable in any level under any pretext," Rouhani told Yukiya Amano, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the official IRNA news service reported. The president added, however, that Iran is prepared to cooperate with the IAEA's probe into whether its civilian nuclear program has a military component, "since there is no room for using a weapon of mass destruction in Iran's defense doctrine." Western nations have long suspected Iran of covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability, accusations denied by Iran, which insists its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes like power generation and the production of medical isotopes. Iran's long-range missile program has long been a major concern for Israel, which fears it may one day mount nuclear warheads on the projectiles and has not ruled out military action to prevent that from happening. Iran insists the missile program is a vital deterrent to a possible Israeli attack. Amano's visit comes as world powers continue to negotiate with the Islamic Republic in hopes of reaching a permanent deal to curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the lifting of crippling international sanctions. Amano landed in Tehran late Saturday and has been holding talks with Iranian officials, state media reported. The IAEA is trying to investigate allegations that Iran secretly worked on nuclear weapons -- something Tehran denies. The U.S. and its allies insist that any overall nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic must include a conclusion by the agency that Iran has fully cooperated with its probe. I am looking for:
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Home / Tin Tức / những đồ cần mua cho trẻ sơ sinh Những đồ cần mua cho trẻ sơ sinh 15/08/2022 Những các bước để đón con yêu sinh ra rất nhiều, một trong số đó không thể không có việc sẵn sàng những đồ dùng dùng cần thiết cho con trẻ sơ sinh.Bạn đang xem: Những đồ cần mua cho trẻ sơ sinh Bởi đây là những đồ dùng con sẽ sử dụng khi chào đời phải cần chuẩn bị từ sớm và tốn nhiều công sức nhất. Để giúp mẹ đỡ vất vả hơn, carlocaione.org chia sẻ danh sách những mặt hàng dùng cần thiết cho trẻ em sơ sinh, người mẹ cùng tham khảo nhé!1. Vì chưng sao nên sẵn sàng trước gần như đồ dùng cần thiết cho trẻ em sơ sinh?Mẹ nên để ý những điều cần phải biết khi sở hữu thai: sẵn sàng đồ sơ sinh kỹ lưỡng luôn luôn là một phần quan trọng khi có thai và sẵn sàng sinh con. Sẽ có không ít món vật dụng khác nhau mà bà mẹ cần chuẩn bị trước khi sinh. Nắm vì đề xuất đến đồ dùng nào thì mới bắt đầu mua, ba bà bầu nên sẵn sàng trước để đảm bảo an tâm hơn lúc tới ngày sinh em bé.Không có ngẫu nhiên một thời điểm chuẩn chỉnh xác nào nhằm mẹ mua sắm đồ mang đến em bé.Xem thêm: Thời Gian Xóa Đi Những Ngây Thơ Những Điều Ngọt Ngào Như Trong Giấc Mơ Có khá nhiều mẹ bầu kiêng không mua đồ cho nhỏ trước tháng sản phẩm công nghệ 7 của thai kỳ. Có bà bầu bầu lại mang đến gần ngày dự sinh new vất vả đi cài sắm, từ bây giờ bụng bầu đã to, đi lại sở hữu phần khó khăn hơn. Để kiêng cập rập hoặc dự phòng trường vừa lòng sinh sớm hơn dự kiến, bà bầu đã gồm thể bước đầu chuẩn bị phần lớn đồ dùng quan trọng cho trẻ con sơ sinh ngay từ tháng thứ 5, máy 6. Bởi đấy là lúc sức mạnh thai kỳ định hình và tốt nhất.Các đời xe đẩy mang lại trẻ sơ sinh cũng rất quan trọng mỗi khi đưa bé nhỏ ra xung quanh dạo chơiTrên đấy là những vật dùng cần thiết cho trẻ sơ sinh mà carlocaione.org đã hỗ trợ mẹ liệt kê. Hi vọng những tin tức này sẽ giúp mẹ bao hàm sự chuẩn bị kỹ lưỡng hơn để tiếp con yêu chào đời. Theo dõi và quan sát carlocaione.org từng ngày để sở hữu thêm các thông tin có lợi trong vượt trình chăm lo con nhé!
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It is too early to know for sure, but there is a good chance that the great horned owl pair may soon abandon the nest that they have used for the past four years. What is most troubling is the fact that there are already eggs (maybe chicks) in the nest. We were hopeful for a good season of observations. There has been a major deforestation effort on the private farm land where the nest is located. This “timber management” (a term used very loosely) has called for hundreds of trees to be taken down. These trees are important to the owls not only to provide coverage while roosting and hunting, but also to provide protection to the chicks from predators (i.e. crows and hawks). By December, we were thinking that the owl pair would probably be forced to find another nest. However, she proved us wrong by returning. The deforestation is ongoing, and this past week, they were cutting trees around the nest. We noticed that four trees in close proximity the nest tree had been cut, and the female was not in the nest. After seeing her incubating the past three and a half weeks without moving, this was disturbing. About 20 minutes after arriving, we heard crows mobbing, and knew she was close. We soon spotted her with our scope. For the next two hours we watched as she tried to make her way back to the nest while being chased and harassed by crows. This is encouraging for the simple fact that she was so intent on getting back; obviously, there must be eggs or chicks. She did make it to the nest once, but left after the chainsaws fired up. Even if the nest tree is not cut, the chances for chick survival have decreased dramatically because of the loss of coverage. At about five weeks of age, the chicks start “branching,”which is basically moving out of the nest onto branches. They do this until they are bold enough to start flying short distances from the nest. This behavior is critical for their long-term survival. However, “branching” and fledging leave the chicks exposed. There is no way to predict what exactly will happen. We will continue to monitor the nest. There is not much research that analyzes exactly what type of forest cover great horned owls need. Thisabstract indicates that ideal cover would be between 36-65%. For basic information on great horned owl biology, thisis a good site. Updates will follow.
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How Brands Can Leverage Podcasts In 2018 Sunday 2nd September 2018 10:24pm By Lachlan Kirkwood There’s no denying that podcasts are a ubiquitous form of content that users are consuming at a rapid rate. The medium has been around for decades, but has recently grown in popularity as users change their consuming behaviours to suit their busy lifestyles. But at a time when podcasts are becoming more popular than ever, how can brands leverage this medium to drive deeper engagement with their users? The Network Brisbane August meet up, aimed to uncover how brands can develop creative podcast strategies, build an engaged audience, and monetise their content. With a creative panel featuring the likes of Phoebe Parsons, Stevie Dillon, and Ronsley Vaz, the evening covered the need-to-know information about creating a podcast of your own. The event kicked off by answering the main question on everyone’s mind - in 2018, why are podcasts becoming so popular? Stevie took the time to explain how podcasts are the only form of content that allows a user to multitask. When listening to a podcast, users aren’t required to stop what they’re doing in order to consume it. So before you jump into the world of podcasting, what are the main factors a brand should consider? As an experienced creator and podcasting strategist, Ronsley shared his valuable advice about planning a podcast; “Ask yourself, do I have a topic that I could create 1,000 episodes about”. When it comes to podcasting, our panel agreed that the most crucial factor to any show is consistency. It’s important that your audience knows exactly when your content is going to be released. Ronsley also mentioned that by consistently publishing content, it will increase the chances of your show featured in the iTunes store. On the topic of preparation, Stevie also took the time to share some of the logistics behind bringing a podcast to life. She shared the list of both recording and production tools she had invested in at the beginning of her podcast. One of the hot questions that everyone was eager to uncover, was of course, around monetising a podcast. Phoebe mentioned that the reality of monetising a podcast is a slow process. A show takes time to build momentum. It’s often the case that most shows won’t have opportunities to monetise their content until they’re a few seasons in. Stevie also took the time to mention that monetising your podcast may not actually mean acquiring a sponsorship. In Stevie’s case, her podcast has allowed her to grow her core business instead. Listeners of her podcast develop a pre-built relationship with her personality throughout each episode. This has allowed Stevie to not only engage with new potential clients, but also compete with other businesses on a scale that isn’t based on price. Stevie’s podcast helps position her as a thought leader within the industry, allowing her clients to know exactly what they’re paying for in advance. So if you’re a brand or individual that has recorded a podcast, what are the best ways to distribute your content? Ronsley highlighted that when distributing your podcast content, it’s crucial to feature a CTA or next step for listeners. This could include encouraging users to view more content, sign up to an email list, or even purchase a product or service. Stevie delved into her distribution strategy through paid Facebook ads. As her podcast is hosted on iTunes, she targets ads to only those users on iOS devices. This ensures that anyone who engages with the ad could actually listen to her content. She also mentioned how important it is to leverage your guests as a means of distributing your content. By partnering with someone in an episode, you can then leverage their networks to grow your own audience. Overall, the panel did a fantastic job of sharing their valuable insights into how brands can leverage podcasts as a medium to engage users. The event wrapped up with a final top tip from each of our panellists - you can catch them in the video below: Are you heading along to our September event? Join us at the Queensland Cricketers Club as we focus on programmatic media buying in 2018. You can catch the full event details here. Posted in
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Pre-hispanic Ceramics in Mazo October 19, 2016 Inside the workshop at El Molino The Benahoaritas (or Auaritas or Awaras) were the people who lived on La Palma before the Spanish invasion. They lived in caves and wore animal skins, but they farmed, and they had ceramics. The older ceramics are simpler, and the newer ones usually more decorated. At El Molino, in Mazo, they make replicas of these ceramics. The business was started by Ramon and Vina,... Roque Teneguía Roque Teneguía, Fuencaliente, La Palma island November 26, 2015 Roque Teneguía is an outcrop of clinkstone (phonolite) among the basalt gravel (lapilli) below San Antonio volcano in Fuencaliente. It looks quite striking, because it’s so much paler than the surrounding lava field. It’s also slightly rosey. The gravel around the base is from 1677. I’m not sure how deep it is, but I know in some other places it’s 2 metres deep or more, so Roque Teneguía must...
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In hindsight, it was probably a touch of grad school-induced hubris that led me to assert, in an early draft of my dissertation, that the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were marked by chronic disease epidemics. I based this conclusion on the work of scholars like sociologist Bryan Turner, who in 1987 wrote almost wistfully that the “heroic” treatment of infectious diseases no longer defined medicine, which was now characterized by “mundane medical management of chronic as opposed to acute illness.”1 Similarly, diabetes scholar and nurse Danny Meetoo argued that, although at an international level the focus remains on infectious disease, “evidence of non-communicable diseases reveals an alarming global pandemic and associated fatalities.”2 As a result, according to scholar Ama de-Graft Aikins, nations like Ghana have health systems designed to treat acute infectious diseases, but are “inadequate” to address the rising significance of chronic ailments.3 Epidemiologists may have quibbled over the appropriateness of the term “epidemic” as applied to chronic conditions, but that did not change the fact that issues of chronic illness dominated much of the public health. But, as we are all aware, in December 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan caught the attention of local health officials and epidemiologists.4 Using human airway epithelial cells, a team of Chinese researchers identified the source of the outbreak as a novel coronavirus, which they named 2019-nCoV. As the virus spread – affecting more than two dozen countries by mid-February 2020 – the World Health Organization dubbed the disease produced by the new virus COVID-19.5 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization, led by Ethiopian politician and community health specialist Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic. A few days later, journalist Richard Galant released an essay tellingly titled “This Changes Everything,” in which he wrote, “Everything changed this week. The response to the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus upended all of our lives.” Tedros’s announcement sparked increased advocacy of “social distancing,” also known as “physical distancing,” or the restriction of close interpersonal intimacy.6 Since I study intimacy during nineteenth-century epidemic diseases, COVID-19 forced me to change not only my habits, but also my dissertation’s conclusions. Epidemiologists and historians alike would do well to examine the relationships between past and present disease crises; in fact, many already are. Studying past epidemics, and recognizing the benefits and limitations of historical analogies, can help make sense of contemporary pandemics, on a social if not a biological level. And while the 1918-1919 flu pandemic has clear similarities to COVID-19, even drawing parallels with other diseases that differ profoundly in the ways they spread or the kinds of care they demand, can be productive. Two centuries before COVID-19, another frightening and novel disease ravaged the Gangetic Plain in northern India and what is now Bangladesh. The disease was known variously as the Asiatic, epidemic, spasmodic, or malignant cholera — or simply cholera. Between 1817 and 1832, physicians and lay observers paid careful attention to the movement of the disease, as well as the kinds of places it gravitated toward geographically. Of course, cholera remains a horrific disease even to this day. But from the perspective of nineteenth-century observers, it was also an unusual disease compared to previous epidemics. The progressive movement of cholera perplexed physicians; it seemed like the disease could pop up anywhere at any time. Following certain protocols of hygiene, health, and morality could protect one from cholera, but not always reliably so. It could strike whole populations at once, yet sometimes spared entire streets. Some populations seemed particularly vulnerable: poor, “degraded,” “intemperate,” and, above all, Black populations, each group a part of a kind of choleraic underclass.7 And yet, cholera could strike down anyone. Fear of contagion loomed large in the minds of laypersons like Deborah Norris Logan, a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker. As “Old Dr Martin” attended “with great kindness” to one of Logan’s acquaintances who was sick with cholera, she fretted for the doctor’s health: “I hope he will escape it.”8 However, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia reassured the city’s Board of Health that no “appreciable connexion” had been established “between the full and frequent intercourse of physicians, nurses, attendants, and friends, with the sick of Cholera, and the number of the former who have been attacked with the disease.”9 Intimacy with cholera patients appeared to have no bearing on one’s likelihood of contracting the disease. Not just physicians and nurses, but all those who tended to the sick seemed to be strangely immune to the affliction of those in their charge. A special committee of the Medical Society of Philadelphia reported several instances “where one member of a family has been attacked with cholera and died, while the relatives and friends, who nursed the patient, even occupied the same bed at night, and performed the usual offices to the body after death, have remained free from the disease.”10 Caregivers were not falling ill — or, if they were, it was due to fear, worry, or exhaustion, rather than cholera. In 1832, physicians felt no need to physically distance themselves from their cholera patients, and in fact felt compelled not to. Treating cholera according to the nineteenth-century model of treatment required active, sustained care — continuous rubbing of limbs, periodic bathing of breasts — as well as intimate exposure to patients’ bodily orifices and the fluids they spewed. What’s Intimacy Got To Do With It? The parallels between nineteenth-century cholera outbreaks and the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic — to the extent that such parallels even exist — are imperfect at best. For one, the latter disease spread much more quickly, in a matter of months rather than years. On the other hand, cholera killed more quickly; cholera time was measured in hours, not days or weeks. And, although not contagious in the ways that COVID-19 is, cholera killed not one in thirty, but one in three of its symptomatic sufferers. But the lessons we can glean from studying the history of cholera are no less profound. Physicians and laypersons grappled with the existential crisis that “a quick deciding plague” like cholera heralded, balancing the use of intimate care to treat the disease with carefully maintained distance from what they believed were the sources of the illness.11 Social distancing in the time of COVID-19 might preclude the kinds of physical and sensory proximity that I define as intimate in my work on cholera–such that even my dissertation defense took place virtually–but an understanding of past epidemic disease crises can nevertheless inform how we make sense of and react to such crises today. In the time of cholera, marginalized populations were most at risk from the epidemic. The same holds true today, when Black, poor, and chronically ill Americans are disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19. As I wrote in a recent article, social distancing was not feasible for poor and institutionalized populations in the 1830s. Similarly, the intimacy that allows COVID-19 to spread is not optional for marginalized people. Nineteenth-century caregivers responded to cholera epidemics by ratcheting up the physical and sensory proximity between themselves and their patients in order to better understand the disease at hand – but, then again, they were more or less unanimous in their deductions that cholera was not contagious. In the age of COVID-19, that very same physical and sensory proximity — though it might alleviate some of the emotional toll of social distancing and refine our understanding of the pandemic — can spread disease among the populations most vulnerable to it. - Bryan S. Turner, Medical Power and Social Knowledge (London: Sage, 1987), 8. Return to text. - Danny Meetoo, “Chronic Diseases: The Silent Global Epidemic,” British Journal of Nursing 17, no. 21 (Dec. 2008): 1320. Return to text. - Ama de-Graft Aikins, “Ghana’s Neglected Chronic Disease Epidemic: A Developmental Challenge,” Ghana Medical Journal 41, no. 4 (Dec. 2007): 154 Return to text. - Na Zhu, Dingyu Zhang, Wenling Wang, Xingwang Li, Bo Yang, et al., “A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019,” New England Journal of Medicine 382, no. 8 (Feb. 2020): 727. Return to text. - Zhe Xu, Lei Shi, Yijin Wang, et al., “Pathological Findings of COVID-19 Associated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome,” Lancet Respiratory Medicine (Feb. 18, 2020): 1. Return to text. - See A. Wilder-Smith and D. O. Freedman, “Isolation, Quarantine, Social Distancing and Community Containment: Pivotal Role for Old-Style Public Health Measures in the Novel Coronavirus (2019-n-CoV) Outbreak,” Journal of Travel Medicine (Feb. 13, 2020): 1-4. On March 25, 2020, Ohio governor Mike DeWine tweeted: “We hope everyone is back in business shortly, but we don’t think this [COVID-19] will peak until May 1. The only way we slow it down is with physical/social distancing.” See Mike DeWine, Twitter post, March 25, 2020, 2:48 p.m., https://twitter.com/GovMikeDeWine. Return to text. - The term “choleraic underclass” is a nod to Sean Strub’s concept of a “viral underclass” created by discriminatory policies in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis. See Sean Strub, “Prevention vs. Prosecution: Creating a Viral Underclass.” Poz, 18 (Oct. 2011), https://www.poz.com/blog/prevention-vs-prosec Return to text. - Diary of Deborah Norris Logan, vol. 14 (Mar 1, 1832 – Jan. 26, 1834), Aug 30, 1832, Logan Family Papers 1664–1871, Collection #379, vol. 41, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Return to text. - Report of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, to the Board of Health, on Epidemic Cholera (Philadelphia: DeSilver, 1832), 31. Return to text. - Report of the Committee of the Medical Society of Philadelphia on Epidemic Cholera (Philadelphia: Lydia R. Bailey, 1832), 12. Return to text. - Diary of Deborah Norris Logan, Sep. 4, 1832. Return to text.
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February 6, 2015 – NASA has selected Colorado State University’s TEMPEST-D cubesat as one of 14 small satellites from 12 states to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The proposed CubeSats come from universities across the country, non-profit organizations and NASA field centers. CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites measure about four inches on each side, have a volume of about one quart and weigh less than three pounds each. CSU in Fort Collins will have the opportunity to launch the Temporal Experiment for Storms and Tropical Systems – Demonstrator (TEMPEST-D), providing risk mitigation for the TEMPEST mission that will provide the first temporal observations of cloud and precipitation processes on a global scale. These observations are important to understand the linkages in and between Earth’s water and energy balance, as well as to improve our understanding of cloud model microphysical processes that are vital to climate change prediction. The selections are part of the sixth round of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. After launch, the satellites will conduct technology demonstration, educational research or science missions. The selected spacecraft are eligible for placement on a launch manifest after final negotiations, depending on the availability of a flight opportunity. As part of the White House Maker Initiative, NASA is seeking to leverage the growing community of space-enthusiasts to create a nation that contributes to NASA’s space exploration goals. In the first step to broaden this successful initiative to launch 50 small satellites from all 50 states in the next five years, the agency has made a selection from West Virginia, one of the 21 “rookie states” that have not previously been selected by the CubeSat Launch Initiative. In the previous five rounds of the CubeSat Launch Initiative, 114 CubeSats from 29 states were selected. To date, 36 CubeSats have launched through the initiative as part of the agency’s Launch Services Program’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite (ELaNa) Program. This year, four separate ELaNa missions will carry seven CubeSats.
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SPSS Assignment Help | SPSS Homework Help | SPSS project help “SPSS is a detailed system for evaluating information. SPSS can take information from nearly any kind of file and utilize them to create arranged reports, charts, and plots of patterns and circulations, detailed stats, and intricate statistical analysis.” The SPSS software application is constructed around the SPSS shows language. Fortunately for newbies is that you can achieve a lot of fundamental information analysis through menus and dialog boxes without needing to in fact discover the SPSS language. Due to the fact that they provide you tips of (many of) your choices with each action of your analysis, Menus and dialog boxes are beneficial. Some projects cannot be achieved from the menus, and others are more rapidly brought out by typing a couple of vital words than by working through a long series of dialogs and menus. As a newbie, it will be tactical to find out a little both SPSS shows and the menus. Basic programs might provide other treatments like invoicing and accounting kinds, however customized programs are much better fit for this function. Typical spreadsheet programs might just support information analysis instantly following setup, with additional plug-ins being needed for accessing more elaborate methods. SPSS is developed making specific that the output is kept different from information itself. It keeps all outcomes in a different file that is various from the information. In programs like Excel, results of an analysis are put in one worksheet and there is a possibility of overwriting other info by mishap. Over its thirty seven year history SPSS Inc. has actually developed into a worldwide corporation that provides analytical tools and options to companies around the world. While consumers and their markets differ, they share a typical have to collect understanding from the analysis of information. The Company’s analytical innovation from its early starts has actually made it possible for companies to discover from the past, comprehend exactly what is occurring today and expect the future in order to handle it successfully. In the context of small knowing and teaching assessment you are just most likely to utilize a really minimal variety of the complete ability of SPSS. It can be beneficial for: - – Electronically saving survey information. Information is kept in a spreadsheet-like table much like that of Microsoft Excel. - – Generating regular detailed statistical information for concern reactions, such as frequency counts of closed concerns, circulation of multiple-choice concern reactions and so on - – Creating visual discussions of survey information for reporting, publications or discussions. - – Exploring relationships in between reactions to various concerns. There is a 255 character limitation on information fields, so the package might not be appropriate for collecting long qualitative text reactions. In this case it may be more ideal to collect qualitative remarks utilizing a word processing package. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences is a commonly utilized program for statistical analysis in social sciences, especially in education and research study. Since of its capacity, it is likewise commonly utilized by market scientists, health-care scientists, study companies, federal governments and, most significantly, information miners and huge information specialists. Aside from statistical analysis, the software application likewise includes information management, which enables the user to do case choice, produce obtained information and carry out file improving. Another function is information documents, which keeps a metadata dictionary together with the datafile. Numerous functions are readily available in SPSS which can be seen by pull-down menus readily available with the various names such as Data, Transform, Analyze, and Graphs. While utilizing the offered integrated functions for carrying out necessary analysis, one can conserve the syntax file of the very same, which will assist an expert to carry out the exact same analysis for different information by merely changing/replacing the existing variable with brand-new variables. This will conserve energy and time while carrying out more analysis with several dataset. SPSS utilizes a hybrid user interface, which implies that you can utilize pull-down menus to release and integrate commands for information processing, or input guidelines straight in a unique language called 4GL. If you adhere to the pull-down menu user interface, you can see the pertinent code developed by a specific guideline, permitting you to slowly discover and end up being comfy with the language. SPSS has numerous elements, consisting of tools for picking up information, evaluating information making forecasts, evaluating information to identify patterns, and releasing guidelines to systems and personnel based upon the information analysis. In addition, an element called Analytic Catalyst can immediately identify patterns in information without you needing to define exactly what you are trying to find. A number of the strategies utilized by SPSS include regression. In other words, this includes taking a look at a vast array of elements that might affect a certain piece of information, getting rid of the impacts of all however one, then determining patterns. An analysis of kids’s school test results might include changing the noted rating for each student to get rid of the recognized impacts of getting additional tuition or coming from a more wealthy background, and then focusing entirely on a contrast of outcomes in between kids taught by various instructors. The other primary kind of strategy utilized by SPSS is forecast. This includes taking recognized cause-and-effect figures and using them to a specific set of information for forecasting functions. An information analysis may reveal that typical regional earnings, work rates and alcohol addiction rates all have a quantifiable impact on criminal activity levels. These 3 aspects might be used to a set of statistical information about a specific precinct, on order to anticipate the most likely criminal offense levels and, in turn, the needed policing levels. Scientists might design the possible impacts of a modification in a variable, such as a regional factory closing and enhancing joblessness. It is most likely that students majoring in data are not experiencing issues while utilizing SPSS analysis for their investigates. No marvel that company students, as well as students of other specialized discover it hard to utilize SPSS for their benefit due to the fact that of the basic absence of understanding in stats. Regardless of your subject of task our group of Online Assignment Writers is really proficient in offering SPSS homework Help. We are geared up with a group abundant in useful experience in the field as well as equipped with PhD and Masters to assist you deal with Statistics Assignment Topics. This is through options that we have actually put up like a chat front with our group of online task authors to offer a detailed guide to all operations management inquiries, research study products and tasks in the field of issue resolving, information adjustment and management. Privacy being one of our crucial interests, we likewise provide pocket friendly online tasks assist to students who need diversity in their abilities for information dealing with. SPSS software application has actually a method called missing out on value analysis, and this method assists in making much better choices about the information. This method makes it possible for the user to complete the missing out on blanks in order to produce much better designs to approximate the information. The analysis supplies the user with treatments for information management and preparation. Specialists at Assignmentinc.com are well versed with the usage of the software application understood as SPSS or Statistical Package for the Social Sciences so that they can offer you the much waited for SPSS task assistance and SPSS research assistance without any mistakes. For precise statistical analysis, SPSS software application is frequently utilized. To counter issues emerging from preparing reports, discussions, tasks and projects, students look for SPSS task assistance from professionals and tutors. The concept is to get trusted SPSS assignment help from online resources without jeopardizing on the quality and monetary elements. Assignmentinc.com provides high quality and reputable SPSS assignment help and you can get it from anywhere. Of course there can be human mistakes in the analysis of this gathered information, which might lead to a number of issues at later phase particularly when this information is utilized for significant policy preparation or advancement functions and used usages in society at big however with our SPSS assignment help, students can reduce the opportunities of mistakes. We constantly focus on offering quality options while offering SPSS homework help. In 2009, SPSS, Inc. was obtained by IBM, and went through the procedure of relabeling numerous of its software application. The brand-new umbrella name for the whole portfolio of items provided by SPSS, Inc. is PASW, which means Predictive Analytics Software. The name modification was developed to stress the position of SPSS, Inc. as a popular gamer in predictive analysis– software application created to aid the user in forecasting future action or scenarios based upon gathered information. On the basis of statistical concepts, SPSS is utilized for calculation and has actually advanced from standard working and tests to include more progressed functions to improve its skills. SPSS can achieve the majority of standard information analysis through menus and dialog boxes without having to in fact discover the SPSS statistical language and SPSS Menus as well as SPSS dialog boxes are beneficial since they offer tips for many of the alternatives with each action of the analysis. The picking of proper statistical test, analysis of SPSS output and its statistical analysis are all done easily by our professionals. They have actually all gone through numerous years of market experience and are well familiar with helping for SPSS Statistics. Its functions consist of cross inventory, indicates, connection, linear regression, element analysis and cluster analysis etc to a number of add such as sophisticated designs, category trees, intricate samples, information recognition, precise test, programmability extension, regression design, table, classifications, conjoint, map and patterns. At Assignmentinc.com, you can get in touch with professionals at any time to obtain SPSS research aid. A committed specialist with understanding of the statistical tools or software application and their applicability in social science research study can resolve the issue of student quickly with SPSS research assistance at the click of a button. Analysis of information is an extremely important element of lots of research study tasks and researches, particularly those who carried out as part of social sciences. Given that the information associated with Statistics is big and frequently rather hard to measure in addition to calculate, the requirement for arranging and examining information ends up being of utmost significance due to which students require SPSS assignment help. How does Assignmentinc.com make your SPSS homework help truly simple? - – Once we have actually mailed you the option, – We would be happy to assist you even with your SPSS project explanations definitely complimentary of expense. - – With our world-class group of SPSS Experts, we ensure your tasks are total with 0% plagiarism and provided in the correct time. - – To understand more about your projects chat with us live by clicking live chat immediately. - – You might send your SPSS research together with the due date at our online assignment submission form. - – Don’t wait till the last day prior to your due date to count on our specialists at Assignmentinc.com. Developing a great statistical analysis is not an overnight project, so make sure about your research beforehand and position an order with our service as quickly as you understand that SPSS assignment help is required. - – We are dedicated to offer you all the options and comprehensive responses for all the concerns in your tasks. If you are looking for SPSS assignment help as we constantly ensure for excellent grades, Assignmentinc.com is the best location. Our consumer assistance is offered 24X7 in case you are looking SPSS homework help for an immediate order. We constantly keep our costs low so that all students can utilize our services.
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Recipe: Pesto and Egg Baguette Sandwich Recipe: Pesto and Egg Baguette Sandwich Christine Gallary Feb 26, 2016 (Image credit: Maria Siriano) One of my favorite lunches while living in Paris was the simple baguette sandwich that any corner bakery carried. Unlike overstuffed American sandwiches, these usually only had butter and thin layers of ham and cheese. The baguette holding it all together was the key here — it had to be fresh, with a crispy outside and fluffy interior. Here's my latest version; it that can be eaten for either breakfast or lunch! (Image credit: Maria Siriano) This baguette sandwich is a fun little twist on egg salad. I slather on a creamy spread made of equal parts mayonnaise and basil pesto, then shingle hard-boiled egg slices right on top. If you haven't quite mastered boiling eggs, now's the time to practice so you get firm whites and perfectly cooked yolks. Learn How: How To Hard-Boil an Egg The beauty of hard-boiled eggs is that they're portable and packed full of filling protein, and can be made up to a few days ahead. If you bring the cooked eggs and mayo-pesto mixture to work with you, all you have to do is pick up a fresh baguette at lunchtime and you're all set! This sandwich also makes for a breakfast that's worth waking up to. Pesto and Egg Baguette Sandwich Makes 1 sandwich • 1 (6-inch) piece of French baguette • 1 tablespoon • 1 tablespoon • 1 hard-boiled large egg • Red pepper flakes (optional) Using a serrated knife, split the baguette in half lengthwise. Toast the baguette if desired (recommended if the baguette isn't fresh). Mix the pesto and mayonnaise together in a small bowl and spread onto both cut sides of the baguette. Slice the egg crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces, then lay the slices on the bottom half of the baguette, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with the red pepper flakes, if using. Top with the other half of the baguette and serve. More posts in 5 Inspired Sandwiches You are on the last post of the series.
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By 2050, the world’s farmers will need to double food production to feed a growing population, and they will need to do it on the same amount of land while facing climate change and competition for natural resources such as water. To produce more with less, farmers are increasingly turning to technology, like biotechnology and other new breeding techniques. However, markets are not keeping pace. The result is that many current and future customers for seed do not accept products of modern biotechnology and other advanced breeding techniques. Given our diverse membership and our members’ even more diverse customer base, the Canadian Seed Trade Association’s board of cirectors has made coexistence planning a priority. CSTA’s goal is: “Depending on their operations and their customers and markets, farmers need to be able to choose the production system that best suits their needs — whether the production system is organic, conventional or makes use of products developed by modern biotechnology.” In 2005, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency gave full food, feed and environmental release approval to alfalfa that has been genetically modified to be resistant to glyphosate. In 2013 a number of varieties were registered, paving the way for commercialization in Canada. Despite the fact that the commercialization decision has not yet been made, given the potential for GM alfalfa to be on the market in Eastern Canada in the nearer future, alfalfa was chosen for the first coexistence plan. In 2013, Planning for Choice: Coexistence Plan for Alfalfa Hay in Eastern Canada was launched. Facilitated by CSTA, and starting with a broad value chain workshop, the plan was designed by a team of academics, researchers, forage specialists, alfalfa producers and users. The science-based document includes suggested best management practices for farmers. The BMPs are simple and practical and were developed based on a thorough assessment of alfalfa production and biology in Eastern Canada. The plan and check list to aid farmers in recording BMPs are available at cdnseed.org. While there are very strongly-held views on both sides of the debate on GM alfalfa, all participants worked cooperatively to develop the plan and the BMPs. CSTA does not advocate for or against commercialization of GM alfalfa, or favour one production system over another, but on behalf of our members and their farmer customers who rely on all three production systems: organic, conventional and modern biotechnology. CSTA was proud to have facilitated the development of the coexistence plan for Eastern Canada. But variety registrations and approvals are national in scope. To ensure choice across the country, we are beginning to address coexistence planning in the west, which is substantially different than the east. One difference is the focus on alfalfa seed production for export markets. The research on alfalfa and alfalfa production systems for Western Canada has been done and written into a background piece for the plan. A group of interested individuals from the alfalfa value chain in Western Canada is being assembled. The first task will be to review the work done to date and develop categories for BMPs. The plan is to have a smaller “expert group” assemble to draft the actual BMPs for consideration by the larger group. CSTA hopes that the plan can be completed before the end of 2015.
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Honey bee myth: bees don’t sting at night A worker honey bee can sting whenever she wants—including the wee hours of night. Nevertheless, the rumor that bees can’t sting at night persists, and I hear it frequently. It is probably true that not many people get stung at night. But the reason is simple: bees are home at night and so are you. The chance of a human/bee interaction is small when all parties are home watching television and drinking beer. If you decide to bother your bees at night, they will not hesitate to defend their hive. However, in areas with cool evening temperatures, the honey bees will often stay in their cluster and not fly out at you. But it is the temperature—not the darkness—that is keeping them docile and you sting-free. Queens, too, sting in the dark. An established queen will often sting a developing virgin queen before she can hatch—or just after. All this stinging and fighting takes place in the deep dark recesses of the hive with no candles, light bulbs, flashlights, or LEDs—not even any bioluminescence. So there you have it. Although you might like it to be otherwise, the business end of a female honey bee is never compromised by the cover of darkness. Honey Bee Suite
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Why is Mars called "Mars"? "Mars" is what Romans used to call the corresponding planet (now known to be the fourth planet from the Sun) in Latin. For the Romans, Mars was initially a god of fertility, agriculture, and vegetation, but later became the god of war. The Romans considered Mars favorable to their wars, and consequently held this god in high esteem unlike the Greeks who thought of the same god (called Ares by them as the son of Zeus and Hera) as bloodthirsty. Interestingly, the word Mars could be from the Etruscan (an ancient civilization - in what is modern day Italy - that greatly influenced the Roman civilization) word "Maris". Maris signified the same god for Etruscans who used a language distinct from the Indo-European group of languages, and was called "Marmar" in Old Italic languages. Interestingly, "Tuesday" is also linked to Mars, though it was initially associated with the Teutonic god Zio (Old High Germanic). This led to the Modern English "Tuesday" literally meaning the "day of Zio". However, having identified Zio as Mars, Romans called the day "dies Martis" (day of Mars) in Late Latin, which then led to the French "Mardi" as presently used. That association exists throughout modern Indo-European cultures. Similarly, the Romans dedicated the third month to Mars and called it "mensis Martius" in Latin meaning "the month of Mars," which came to be known as March in modern English. This association of the third month with the god entered the (modern) Gregorian calendar via the Julian calendar.
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Making Mexico Pay for the Wall - Dilbert Blog Making Mexico Pay for the Wall Is it my imagination, or would a Trump presidency allow for more citizen participation than a Clinton presidency? In a Clinton administration, citizens might expect that any good ideas bubbling up from voters would be squashed by the special interests. The lobbyists and industry insiders promote legislation for their own benefit, not for the public. But Trump promises to ignore the moneyed interests. And he’s an entrepreneur at heart. In a Trump presidency, it is easy to imagine good ideas coming from the public and making it all the way to implementation. So in that spirit, I give you my idea for making Mexico pay for the wall. We have around 11 million citizens of Mexico living in the United States illegally. Suppose we make them the following offer: 1. Register at the nearest Post Office. Just fill out some forms. For fun, we can pass a law to make every Post Office a temporary Mexican embassy, so any Mexican national who enters from American soil is literally self-deporting. Embassies are considered sovereign territory, so it all makes sense. 2. Tax illegal immigrants $100 per year for ten years. This is their penalty for breaking American law, and it gives them the right to stay and try for citizenship after ten years. That’s a billion dollars per year in tax revenue, coming from Mexican citizens. If we use that money to help pay for the wall, that’s a lot like “making Mexico pay for the wall.” Secondly, we could work with Mexico to declare the zone around the wall – on both sides – special economic zones that are free from some (but not all) onerous government regulations and taxes (for a few years). Then turn the wall project into a jobs program, and eventually into an enormous tourist destination. If any unemployed young people want to work on the wall, we’ll ship them there, put them up in employee dorms, teach them Spanish, teach them a construction trade, and more. I wrote about this part of the idea in November. You can see more here. I can also imagine testing ideas for building inexpensive, planned communities around the wall, initially for the workers, then for other citizens as the workers move on. Somehow the country needs to figure out how to lower the cost of living a quality life. Finding ways to reduce housing costs is a big part of it. This would be a good test bed. I could also imagine testing out some form of free college or trade school at these worker communities around the wall. The classes would be online, and free. All the government would be doing is making sure the classes were publicized and accredited. I explained to some folks this morning my idea of taxing illegal immigrants to pay for the wall. I learned that some people really, really want illegal immigrants punished for breaking the law. But it won’t be hard to talk Americans into letting illegal immigrants pay for border security and stay. It’s hard to hate someone who is helping you pay your bills. That’s my idea for turning the wall into a profit opportunity. If you like it, share it on social media. Add your own twists too. If you like walls, you might like my book. I’m not sure why.
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Who’s going to keep track of driverless vehicles? 07 Sep 2017 - 07 Sep 2017 British newspaper The Guardian will organise an online discussion on regulatory questions of autonomous driving. In 2016, the UK government supported plans to begin testing on motorways as early as this year. But as connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) move on from pilot stage to becoming a reality on Britain’s roads, it’s crucial for policy makers to be clear about how they will be regulated. The amount of data that will be produced by each autonomous vehicle is staggering. Intel estimates 40 terabytes will be consumed and generated for every eight hours of driving, and a million cars will generate the equivalent of three billion people’s data. That’s thanks to the onboard sensors and cameras, detailed maps and technical information about roads and hazards, which have to be constantly updated. Personal data will also be stored. But in a world where all journeys will be traced and identified, who should have access to that data – does it belong to the companies developing the vehicles, or the driver? How will this information be controlled, monitored and regulated? What are the ethics surrounding data collection? What consequences will there be for infrastructure and urban planning? Six experts will debate these questions on 7 Septembe 2017. The debate can be followed online here. Registration with The Guardian is needed to participate in the discussion.
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A Predictive Model for Steady-State Multiphase Pipe Flow: Machine Learning on Lab Data Engineering simulators used for steady-state multiphase pipe flows are commonly utilized to predict pressure drop. Such simulators are typically based on either empirical correlations or first-principles mechanistic models. The simulators allow evaluating the pressure drop in multiphase pipe flow with acceptable accuracy. However, the only shortcoming of these correlations and mechanistic models is their applicability. In order to extend the applicability and the accuracy of the existing accessible methods, a method of pressure drop calculation in the pipeline is proposed. The method is based on well segmentation and calculation of the pressure gradient in each segment using three surrogate models based on Machine Learning algorithms trained on a representative lab data set from the open literature. The first model predicts the value of a liquid holdup in the segment, the second one determines the flow pattern, and the third one is used to estimate the pressure gradient. To build these models, several ML algorithms are trained such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting Decision Trees, Support Vector Machine, and Artificial Neural Network, and their predictive abilities are cross-compared. The proposed method for pressure gradient calculation yields $R^2 = 0.95$ by using the Gradient Boosting algorithm as compared with $R^2 = 0.92$ in case of Mukherjee and Brill correlation and $R^2 = 0.91$ when a combination of Ansari and Xiao mechanistic models is utilized. The method for pressure drop prediction is also validated on three real field cases. Validation indicates that the proposed model yields the following coefficients of determination: $R^2 = 0.806, 0.815$ and 0.99 as compared with the highest values obtained by commonly used techniques: $R^2 = 0.82$ (Beggs and Brill correlation), $R^2 = 0.823$ (Mukherjee and Brill correlation) and $R^2 = 0.98$ (Beggs and Brill correlation). Brief introduction and literature overview Multiphase flows in pipes of a circular cross-section are encountered in many industrial applications, such as drilling of oil wells [1], [2], multistage fracturing and cleanup of oil or gas wells [3], transport of hydrocarbons over surface [4]. Multiphase flow is understood as a simultaneous flow of a mixture of two or more phases (several phases such as liquid, gas or solid). The flow at each pipe cross-section is characterized by the volume fractions of the phases, pressure (which is typically assumed the same in all phases in a given cross-section), and the flow pattern according to the physical distribution of phases. Email address: a.osiptsov@skoltech.ru (A.A. Osiptsov) The volume fraction of the liquid is widely attributed to as the liquid holdup. During multiphase flow, the flow regime depends on the magnitudes of forces that act on the fluid from other fluids or the pipe wall. In turn, the local pressure gradient significantly depends on the flow pattern. Hence, in order to determine the pressure gradient (and then the global pressure drop), one needs to determine the volume fractions and the flow regime along the pipeline. There is numerous literature on multiphase flow modelling in pipelines (see the review in [4]), while less effort is devoted to the application of Machine Learning (for brevity, we will use the acronym ML in what follows) algorithms in the identification of flow patterns. In these papers, authors plotted experimental data points in suitable coordinates and tried to construct models in order to match these points. In paper [5] author created Artificial Neural Network (ANN), in [6] the authors applied Support Vector Machine algorithm (SVM), and in [7] fuzzy inference system was used. Accurately determining the liquid holdup is also important in planning the design of separation equipment. For example, the slug flow regime can be dangerous for the separator, when a significant liquid mass comes unexpectedly to surface from a long near-horizontal wellbore. Several papers were devoted to determining this parameter by machine learning tools. For example, in [5] and [8] authors have applied ANN. In order to calculate pressure distribution in a pipe, segmentation and numerical algorithm are used. During multiphase flow in tube flow pattern and pressure gradient change along the pipe. Therefore, to solve this problem, it is necessary to break down the whole pipe into segments. Within each segment, the flow regime can be considered homogeneous, and the pressure gradient is approximately constant. Each step of the numerical algorithm calculates the pressure gradient within the segment. Multiphase flow correlations and mechanistic models are commonly used for this purpose. Correlations were developed upon laboratory experiments. Among the most widely used are Aziz and Govier [9], Beggs & Brill [10], Mukherjee & Brill [11], and others. Many articles are concerned with issues of limits to the applicability of multiphase flow correlations. Authors of these papers conclude that each correlation could be applied only in its range of input parameters for obtaining results with acceptable accuracy. There are also several mechanistic models with semi-empirical closure relations, which are used to predict different multiphase flow characteristics. The most popular ones are Hasan and Kabir [12], Ansari [13], TUFFP Unified [14], [15] and others. Furthermore, there are also two steady-state multiphase flow models that have a relatively high accuracy of pressure drop calculations, namely, Leda Flow Point model [16] and OLGAS [17]. These mechanistic models are steady-state versions of corresponding transient simulators. The literature review shows that researchers applied ML algorithms for pressure gradient prediction and direct output pressure estimation. In the article [18] authors predicted the bottomhole pressure using ANN. In contrast, in the paper [19] authors forecasted value of bottomhole pressure via ANN, but they suggested to use segmentation of the well and identify flow regime in each segment. The present work is a continuation and extension of [20]. Compared to the earlier work, all the results are new. We expanded the database by more than 20%, changed the set of input parameters used for constructing the surrogate models, and modified the resulting sub-model for pressure gradient calculation. Now we use the momentum conservation equation as a framework and have a separate sub-model for the friction factor coefficient. The workflow is aimed at the prediction of the pressure distribution. A sensitivity study is carried out. Finally, the model trained on lab data is applied to the field cases without any retraining. Precise problem formulation We consider the class of steady-state multiphase gas-liquid flows in wells and pipelines of circular cross-section and an ar-bitrary inclination angle to the horizontal, in the gravity field. In oil production, this class of flows can be encountered at various stages of the well life, from cleanup after drilling, through cleanup after fracturing to the production stage. The key to control oilfield services operations is the ability to accurately predict the pressure drop along the well, while typical measurements of pressure are taken on surface (with the memory pressure gauges installed downhole, but the readings are rarely available in real-time, so the tool to calculate the pressure drop from surface to the bottom hole is required). Another issue is the pressure drop along the horizontal section of a (generally, multistage fractured) well. During flowback and production, the well is controlled by the choke on the surface and by the ESP (if the one is installed), but no measurements are taken in the horizontal section. Excessive drawdown (flowing the well at excessively high flow rates) may be dangerous to the wellfracture system, resulting in undesired geomechanics events, such as proppant flowback, tensile rock failure and fracture pinch-out in the near wellbore [3]. The new approach for pressure gradient calculation on the arbitrarily oriented pipe segment is proposed. The method is based on machine learning algorithms. The considered algorithms are trained on lab data set that is collected from open source: articles and dissertations. The new method consists of three surrogate models nested within each other (see a general discussion of surrogate modeling in [21]). The first model predicts liquid holdup parameter. The second one identifies the flow regime in the segment. The value of liquid holdup is included in the input parameters of this model. The resultant model estimates the pressure gradient. Among input parameters of this model, flow pattern and value of liquid holdup are presented. This comprehensive approach of pressure gradient calculation, which includes information about flow pattern and liquid holdup, and surrogate models, trained on lab data from different sources, yields output value with high accuracy and allow obtaining the model with wider scope of applicability in comparison with standard techniques. Details of modeling approach This part of the article is devoted to the description of the method of calculating the pressure distribution along a pipe. In open literature (e.g., [22]) this method is called the marching algorithm. It is the numerical algorithm for computation the integral of pressure gradient function along the pipe path: To perform the integration, the pipe should be divided into n segments of length ∆L i . Thus inside each segment, the flow type is approximately homogeneous, and the pressure gradient along the segment is approximately constant. In Fig. 1, an example of the segmented inclined well is represented. In other words, the integrand function d p dL (l ) is represented by a piece-wise constant approximation and the integral is transformed into summation: where ∆L i is the length of i-th segment and d p dL i is the pressure gradient along i-th segment of the pipe. We show the flowchart of the marching algorithm in Fig. 2. Before calculation process the following parameters are known: pressure and temperature at the inlet p in = p in 1 and T in , temperature at outlet T out , liquid flow rate Q l S C , densities of oil, gas and water at standard conditions, gas-oil ratio (GOR), water cut (WC) and other parameters. In the numerical algorithm heat processes are not accurately considered that is why linear interpolation for temperature between inlet and outlet is used: To calculate the flow parameters in each segment, the set of PVT correlations is utilized in which pressure and temperature are taken in the middle of the segment. To begin with, the first segment is considered. In order to calculate pressure at the inlet of the second segment p in 2 (it is equal to the pressure at the outlet of the first segment), the iterative algorithm is applied. In each step of this algorithm, the value of outlet pressure of the first segment p guess in 2 is guessed and the pressure at the center of the segment is calculated. Usingp 1 , temperature at the center of the segment from linear interpolation and PVT correlation, pressure gradient are estimated and, consequently, pressure is obtained. These calculations are continued until the execution of the following condition: where is desirable accuracy. As a result, the input pressure of the second segment is derived. Continuing this iterative process, one could compute the output pressure: The schematic description of these calculations is shown in Fig. 3. At each step of the marching algorithm, it is necessary to compute the value of pressure gradient in the considered segment. For this purpose, the new approach is proposed. It is based on machine learning algorithms and consists of three surrogate models. The resultant model estimates value of the pressure gradient in the segment. Among input parameters of this 3 Figure 3: Schematic description of the iterative algorithm for pressure drop calculations model we also include the value of liquid holdup and flow pattern (besides velocities and PVT properties of liquid and gas at flowing conditions). These parameters are determined by the other two surrogate models. The next subsection of the article will be devoted to the detailed description of the proposed method of pressure gradient calculation. Method of calculating the pressure gradient in the pipe segment This subsection is devoted to the description of the proposed method for calculating the pressure gradient in the segment which could be oriented at an arbitrary angle to the horizontal direction (from −90 • to 90 • ). Inclination angle equal to zero corresponds to a horizontal flow. Positive and negative angles correspond to uphill and downhill flows, respectively. The method of calculating the pressure gradient in the segment consists of three surrogate models nested within each other that are based on machine learning algorithms. The first model predicts the value of liquid holdup parameter in the pipe segment. The second model identifies the flow regime. It is necessary to highlight that among input parameters of this model the output result of the first model is used. The final model is targeted to the estimation of the pressure gradient. In this model, both output results of the first model and the second models are utilized. For creating the surrogate models applicable for different types of liquids and gases and for reducing the number of input features when training ML algorithms, the following set of dimensionless variables was chosen according to the article [23]. These parameters are called velocity number of gas, velocity number of liquid, viscosity number and defined by the following equations: where v sg and v sl are gas and liquid superficial velocities respectively, ρ l is a liquid density and σ lg is a surface tension between liquid and gas phases, μ l is a liquid viscosity and g is the gravitational acceleration. In this set of dimensionless parameters, the diameter number N d = d ρ l g σ lg (d is the tube diameter) is excluded because of its relatively narrow range of values in the case of lab data. This range almost does not overlap with the appropriate one in the case of field data (the comparison will be represented in the Section 6). As a result, the surrogate model, trained on lab data, with the diameter number among input features could not be potentially applied for calculation connected with field data. The next input parameter in the surrogate models is the noslip liquid holdup defined by the following equation: where v m = v sg + v sl is the mixture velocity. Finally, we also include Reynolds (Re) and Froude (Fr) numbers into input features. They are defined according to the equations: where ρ ns = ρ l λ l + ρ g (1 − λ l ) and μ ns = μ l λ l + μ g (1 − λ l ) are the no-slip density and viscosity correspondingly (ρ g and μ g are gas density and viscosity). Thus, in the chosen set of dimensionless parameters information about diameter is contained in the Reynolds and Froude numbers. Moreover, we note that in Beggs & Brill and Mukherjee & Brill correlations diameter number is also excluded from the models. Here we would like to justify the order of steps in the proposed method, where first we determine the volume fraction of the liquid, and only then we determine the flow regime. The logic is as follows. A typical flow regime map is built on the 2D plane in the axes being liquid and gas velocity numbers (or these parameters could be superficial velocities of gas and liquid) [22], [4]. The velocity number is proportional to the superficial velocity which, in turn, by definition is the linear velocity times the volume fraction. From computational fluid dynamics, it is known that by solving the system of conservation laws with closure relations it is possible to find fields of gas and liquid linear velocities and liquid holdup. Hence, in order to determine where we are on the flow regime map, one needs to determine first the volume fraction of the fluid (i.e., holdup), and only then one determines the superficial velocities for this volume fraction, which allows determining the point on the flow regime map and, hence, to identify the flow regime. Therefore, in our method we first determine the holdup, then the flow regime, and not vice versa. Model for liquid holdup The surrogate model for estimation of the liquid holdup parameter in the pipe segment is a regression. The following set of input parameters is used: inclination angle of the segment, liquid and gas velocities numbers, viscosity number, Reynolds and Froude numbers, no-slip liquid holdup. To improve the predictive ability of a surrogate model, the input data is divided into three categories according to the inclination angle of the segment: data points are responsible for horizontal, uphill and downhill flows. For each group a separate surrogate model for liquid holdup prediction is constructed. Model for flow regime identification In this subsection, the second surrogate model will be discussed. It is represented by a multi-class classifier and predicts flow regime. Since in the lab dataset there are only four flow regimes distinguished (bubble, slug, annular mist and stratified regimes), the surrogate model determines this parameter among them. Flow pattern and value of liquid holdup are linked parameters; that is why the second one is included in input features of this classification model. Among other input features inclination angle, dimensionless parameters (Eq. 4), Reynold and Froude numbers, no-slip liquid holdup are included. Similar to the liquid holdup prediction model, in this case, three ML models for horizontal flow, upward and downward are constructed. Model for pressure gradient In order to estimate pressure gradient in the segment the equation for conservation of linear momentum is used. From this conservation law, it is possible to express pressure gradient which consists of three components: friction, elevation and acceleration. Using the definition of friction component, it could be written in the form: where f is a friction factor. Further, elevation component is expressed in the form: where ρ m = ρ l α l + ρ g (1 − α l ) is an in-situ density of a mixture (here α l is a liquid holdup) and θ is an inclination angle. The final component is acceleration or kinetic energy that results from a change in velocity. In many cases this part of the pressure gradient is negligible, but it is significant in the case of compressible phase presence under relatively low pressures. Doing similar math to [10], we express the acceleration component as where p is pressure. Thus, the equation for pressure gradient has the following form: In Eq. 5 all parameters are known apart from the liquid holdup (α l ) and friction factor ( f ) for a multiphase flow. Using the first surrogate model, the value of α l could be defined. In order to estimate the friction factor, it is necessary to construct another regression model. Utilizing data from the laboratory database, we recalculate the model targeted values of friction factor by using Eq. 5. In the input parameters of this model the following set is included: liquid velocity numbers, viscosity number, Reynolds and Froude numbers, liquid holdups (α l and λ l ), relative roughness. At the end of this section, we would like to discuss an alternative approach, where the pressure gradient is directly predicted by the surrogate model trained on lab data. This approach is discussed in the earlier work [20], where authors represent the set of input parameters of this model, values of scores and crossplot with results. Despite the results obtained are quite high, the entire method for pressure gradient prediction (liquid holdup, flow pattern and pressure gradient) provides very low scores on the field data, which was used for model validation. This model contains the diameter number among input parameters, which has narrow variation ranges for lab and field data that slightly overlap. Excluding this dimensionless diameter number, it is then not possible to predict the pressure gradient directly from the data. The other problem of directly preditiing the pressure gradient is its complex structure: gravitational, acceleration and friction components. Hence, in the present work we propose the new approach for pressure gradient estimation. 2.3. Applied Machine Learning algorithms, their tuning and evaluation scores Let us introduce some notations. Matrix with input features is denoted as X and has size m×d (m is a number of samples and d is a number of features), y is a matrix (in the majority cases -column) that contains target real values. It has size m × r, where r = 1 when we model a single output, and r > 1 when we consider a multiple output task. Moreover,ŷ is a matrix with predicted values and has the same size as matrix y. In the present paper four Machine Learning algorithms are applied: Random Forest, Gradient Boosting Decision Trees, Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks (this set of ML algorithms is the same as utilized in the article [20]). So, all these algorithms are used to construct each of the models described above for liquid holdup prediction, flow pattern identification and pressure gradient calculation in order to compare their predictive capability. Let us briefly describe these algorithms. Random Forest [24] can be used to solve both regression and classification tasks by constructing ensembles of ML models: the algorithm constructs several independent decision trees and average them where h i (X) is a decision tree, N is a total number of decision trees. Each decision tree is trained on its own bootstrapped sample: we select randomly and without replacement data points from the initial dataset to construct the bootstrapped sample. Moreover, as input features for this sample we select randomly a subset of the initial d features. During construction of surrogate models, the implementation of Random Forest algorithm in the Scikit-learn library [25] on Python language is utilized. For classification and regression problems we use functions RandomForestClassifier() and Ran-domForestRegressor() respectively. All machine learning algorithms have their own set of parameters that should be tuned based on the utilized dataset. These parameters are called hyperparameters. In the case of the Random Forest algorithm, the following hyperparameters are adjusted: the number of trees in the forest (n estimators), maximum depth of the tree (max depth), number of features that algorithm considers in the process of tree construction (max features). The hyperparameters of the Random Forest algorithm are tuned in the same sequence as they are listed. Gradient Boosting Decision Trees [26]. This technique also constructs ensemble of ML models and can be used both for regression and classification. The algorithm constructs several decision trees and the final result is the weighted sum of them: Each decision tree h i (x) tries to fit anti-gradient of the loss function (logistic, exponential loss functions): Weights in the sum of decision trees (α i ) are found by a simple line search: Besides Gradient Boosting algorithm, implemented in Scikitlearn library [25] in functions GradientBoostingClassifier() (for classification models) and GradientBoostingRegressor() (for regression models), XGBoost [27] implementation (the latest one version) is also used. It is a standard gradient boosting with additional regularization to prevent over-fitting. For the Gradient Boosting algorithm the following set of hyperparameters are tuned: the number of constructed trees (n estimators), learning rate that shrinks the contribution of each tree (learning rate), maximum depth of the tree (max depth), number of features that algorithm considers in the process of tree construction (max features), the fraction of samples that are used for learning each tree (subsample) and parameters concerning the building of the trees' structure (min samples split, min samples leaf). We tune the hyperparameters of the Gradient Boosting algorithm in the following sequence: n estimators, max depth, min samples split, min samples leaf, max features, subsample and learning rate. The Gradient Boosting algorithm is often applied for solving different problems connected with oil and gas industry. For example, in paper [28] authors utilized this method for prediction of the flow rate of the well after the process of hydraulic fracturing. In addition, in the article [29] authors created a model based on the Gradient Boosting algorithm for calculation of the bottomhole pressure in the case of transient multiphase flow in wells. Support Vector Machine [30]. Similarly to the previous two algorithms, SVM could be used in classification and regression analysis. In case of SVM very often input x is transformed into a high-dimensional feature space by some non-linear mapping F(·). This transformation is applied in order to make data linearly separable (in case of classification) or to make it possible to fit transformed data with a linear function w · F(x) + b, which is nonlinear in the original input space. It can be proved that instead of explicitly defining F(·) it is sufficient to define a kernel K(x, x ), being a dot product between x and x in the new input space, defined by the transformation F(·): When constructing SVM we use a Gaussian kernel with width σ: SVM algorithm maximizes a classification margin, equal to 1/ w , i.e. minimizes the norm w . In case of binary classification, the algorithm also minimizes the sum of slack variables that are responsible for misclassification. The optimization problem has the following form: In case of regression, the algorithm minimizes the sum of slack variables that are responsible for data points lying outside the −tube and minimizes complexity term w 2 . The formulation of this optimization problem is as follows: Further, these optimization problems (8,9) are solved in dual formulation with the use of Lagrangian. The SVM algorithm is also implemented in the Scikit-learn [25] in functions SVC() and SVR() for regression and classification tasks respectively, and these functions are used in the present work. In the case of the SVM algorithm, the width of the Gaussian kernel (σ) and regularization parameter (C) are adjusted in the process of models construction. We tune these parameter together meaning that different combinations of σ and C are considered. Artificial Neural Networks [31]. The schematic picture of ANN is represented in Fig. 4. This ML algorithm could be applied in classification and regression problems. ANN consists of several layers (input, output and hidden). Each layer has a certain number of nodes. The first layer contains input parameters, so the number of nodes is p. The last one contains output parameters: in the case of regression problems or binary classification there is only one node. In the case of multiclass classification, the number of nodes is equal to the number of classes. The algorithm consists of forward and backward propagation. In the forward propagation process, the algorithm calculates values at each node in the following way: in order to 6 Figure 4: The schematic picture of artificial neural network obtain the value at the node k in the layer h + 1 the algorithm carries out a linear combination of values in nodes in layer h with some weights. Then it applies to this linear combination activation function g(·): In the backward process, the algorithm adjusts the weights by using a gradient descent optimization algorithm in order to decrease the value of loss function L( f i , y i ). In classification problems sigmoid g(x) = 1 exp(−x)+1 or hyperbolic tangent (g(x) = tanh(x)) activation functions are used. In case of regression ReLu (g(x) = max(0, x)) is often applied. Approaches to initialize parameters of ANN model are listed in [32]. In [33] they discuss efficient ANN training algorithms, and in [34] approaches to construct ensembles of ANNs. Artificial Neural Network is implemented in many libraries on Python language, for example, Keras [35], Theano [36], Pyrorch [37]. In this paper the functions from Scikit-learn library [25] are used: for classification model: MLPClassifier() and for regression model: MLPRegressor(). Keras, Theano and Pytorch libraries are mainly oriented for the realization of convolution neural networks. That is why their usage is not necessary in the present simple case. Similar to the Gradient Boosting algorithm, the Artificial Neural Network is also relatively popular for solving oil and gas industrial problems. For example, it was used in [38] to predict the value of bottomhole pressure in a transient multiphase well flow. In the other paper [39], the authors applied different ML algorithms for predicting porosity and permeability alteration due to scale depositing, and it was shown that ANN has the best predictive ability for this problem. Some other studies with ANN models have been already mentioned in the Section 1.1. When applying neural networks to construct surrogate models we tune the following hyperparameters: the number of hidden layers and number of nodes in hidden layers (hidden layer sizes), the value of learning rate (learning rate init). Also, activation function (activation) and a method of gradient descent (solver) are adjusted. Let us consider the approach of tuning the number of nodes in the hidden layers. Firstly, we take the ANN with one hidden layer and tune the number of nodes (n 1 ) in it. Further, we consider the ANN with two hidden layers and tune the number of nodes in the second layer (n 2 ) presuming that the number of nodes in the first layer equals n 1 . The same procedure is carried out for the third layer. We also always check that adding of the new layer improves the value of metric; otherwise the new layer is not inserted. The maximum number of hidden layers in our models equals to three. There is no sense to utilize deeper ANN due to relatively small data set. After tuning the network structure, we tune the learning rate init parameter. Finally, we note that for the gradient descent in the back propagation procedure we utilize the Adam optimizer [40]. For tuning hyperparameters of ML algorithms, we use the grid search algorithm and the M cross-validation procedure. Let us start with the description of the grid search. First of all, it is necessary to choose the sets of the possible values of hyperparameters. The grid search procedure passes through all various combinations of values of hyperparameters and on each iteration it trains the ML algorithm on the training dataset and tests the trained algorithm on the testing part on the dataset. Finally, the grid search algorithm chooses the optimal combination of hyperparameters that yields the best score on the testing dataset. Under the term score, we mean the value of the metric that is applied in the considered regression or classification problem. The set of utilized metrics in our work will be described further. Instead of dividing the data set on the training and the testing part just once, we apply cross-validation technique. In this procedure the dataset is divided into M equal parts and M − 1 partitions are utilized as a training dataset and the remaining partition as a testing (it could be also named as validation) dataset. This process is repeated M times, and on each iteration, different test partition is used. As a result, it is possible to compute M test scores and average them. Further, the averaged score is utilized in the grid search algorithms for identifying what set of hyperparameters is the optimal. In order to evaluate the score of the tuned model with the best hyperparameters the N × M cross-validation procedure is applied. In this method, a dataset is divided into M equal parts N times and at each N-step the partitions are different. Thanks to this technique calculated score of the model (μ -mean) is more accurate as compared to the M cross-validation and it also allows constructing confidence intervals of this score ± 1.96·σ √ M·N where σ is a standard deviation. In this paper in case of the M cross-validation M = 5 is used (this value is the most common), and in case of N × M cross-validation we set M = 5 and N = 20. 7 The following set of evaluation metrics is used. In case of multi-class classification: where P is a precision, R is a recall, |Y| is a number of classes, T P y -true positives of class y, FP y -false positives of class y and FN y -false negatives of class y. • Accuracy: where T N y -true negatives of class y. In case of regression: • Coefficient of determination (R 2 -score) • Mean absolute error 3. Lab data base: sources and structure. Preprocessing For construction of surrogate models, namely, for training, validation and testing stages, the lab data set is collected from open source articles, PhD theses and books. Some part of this dataset has been used in the earlier study [20]. From paper [41] 111 data point for horizontal flow are taken. The author of this paper carried out experiments using kerosene and water as a liquid phase and air as a gas phase. The next 88 data points are from the article [42] in which the author performed the experiment for horizontal flow using kerosene and air. Further, 1400 dataset are taken from [43] which consists of uphill, downhill and horizontal flows in pipes. So in this case the inclination angle varies from −90 • to 90 • . The author used kerosene and lube oil as a liquid phase and air as a gas phase in the experiments. From [44] 238 data points of horizontal multiphase flow of water and natural gas are used in the collected dataset. The next 188 data points of water and air multiphase flow are taken from [45]. The data includes not only horizontal flows but also pipes at angles from −10 • to 10 • . And the final 535 data point are taken from [46] in which the author conducted experiments with air-water and air-glycer multiphase horizontal flow. As a result, the consolidated data base contains the total of 2560 points for constructing the ML model for liquid holdup prediction and flow pattern identification. Out of the total number, approximately 1700 points contain information about the value of the measured pressure gradient. In the process of constructing the surrogate model for pressure gradient, we recalculate the values of the friction factor according to Eq. 5 as mentioned in the subsection 2.2.3. For some data samples we obtained non-physical values (e.g., less than zero or too large as compared with Fanning friction factor for mixture). That is why we do not use these data points when constructing surrogate models. As a result, the total number of data points for training, validation and testing of the resultant surrogate model is approximately 1300. In the collected dataset the flow pattern is provided for about 1400 data points. In order to fill the remaining samples the flow pattern map created by Mukherjee [11] is used. As a result of the exploratory analysis of the dataset we provide the following charts. First of all, let us observe the distribution of angles at which the pipes are orientated in the experiments. In Fig. 5 the distribution of inclination angles is plotted. From this diagram, one could find that the majority of experiments in this dataset were conducted with horizontal pipes. The remaining part consists of experiments in which pipes are oriented at angles: 0 • < |θ| ≤ 90 • . The number of measurements in uphill flows is equal to ones in downhill flows due to the construction of laboratory equipment. Further, the distribution of values of liquid holdup is considered. This distribution is illustrated in Fig. 6. From this chart, one could clarify that the mean value of the liquid holdup parameter in the dataset is equal to 0.25. Let us move on to the distribution of flow patterns in the dataset. In Fig. 7 the pie chart with this distribution is represented. Approximately 30 % of the data is annular mist flow type, slightly larger than 17 % of the samples are stratified flow pattern. The minority class is bubble flow. These numbers indicate that the dataset is imbalanced and, as a result, in case of multiclass classification data points of slug and annular mist flow regimes could influence significantly the training process leading to the miss-classification errors. In order to balance data and improve classification accuracy approaches to imbalanced classification can be used [47,48]. Finally, the distribution of pressure gradients is examined. The diagram with this parameter is represented in Fig. 8. At the end of the discussion about lab data set, the Table 1 with parameters and their ranges from the collected data set is represented. Now, we turn to the data preprocessing. After collecting the lab data from aforesaid different sources, we combine all parts. Further, dimensionless parameters from section 2.2 required for constructing surrogate models are calculated. When selecting the data for training Machine Learning algorithms, it is necessary to analyze possible outliers. These data points are isolated from others in the space of input features. That is why ML algorithm could not predict these point normally. Moreover, outliers could influence on ML algorithms' training process. For identification of possible outliers we used the following techniques. The first one is construction of boxplots for each feature. Using each boxplot, one could identify data points that lie far from the main part of the sample according to values of the considered feature. However, these separated points could be located quite close to each other and, as a result, ML algorithm predicts them without significant error. That is why, using boxplots, it is feasible to suggest potential outliers. The other approach for outlier detection is Machine learning algorithms from scikit-learn library such as LocalOutlierFactor() and I solationForest(). These methods are targeted for finding isolated points with the help of k-nearest neighbours and forest algorithms correspondingly. However, it is necessary to tune hyperparameters of these algorithms. One Table 1: Parameters and their ranges from collected data set of the possible ways to perform tuning is usage result of the surrogate model trained on the whole dataset. Knowing data points with the large errors of prediction, we tune hyperparameters and after that compare results of LocalOutlierFactor(), and I solationForest() with poor predicted data points. To further automate hyperparameters tuning and model selection for anomaly detection we can use approaches from [49]. For validation of outlier detection, these data points are deleted from the dataset, another surrogate model is constructed, and the model's score is compared with the previous result. Results and Discussion Here we present histograms and tables with methods scores, cross-plots (for regression problems) and confusion matrix (for classification problem). Also, models with the best predictive capability are highlighted. First of all, the results of the model for liquid holdup prediction will be discussed. Histogram with R 2 scores that investigated ML algorithms provide is depicted in Fig. 9. In this histogram, one could observe not only the results of scores of models for horizontal, uphill and downhill flows but From this bar chart, one could find that the Gradient Boost-ing has the best predictive capability in all cases apart from the downhill flow (the version of XGBoost and Gradient Boosting function from Scikit-learn library provides approximately the same results). When all data set is used for training, validation and testing model, Gradient Boosting has R 2 = 0.931 ± 0.003. In the model for horizontal flow R 2 = 0.965 ± 0.002, for uphill flow R 2 = 0.968 ± 0.011. In the case of downhill flow, the better result is obtained by using ANN with R 2 = 0.841±0.009. From these results, the following conclusion could be made: models for horizontal and uphill flows have a very high coefficient of determination, while the model for downhill flow demonstrates a low R 2 score. Since the liquid holdup model is a regression one, it is also important to construct a cross-plot in order to understand the number of possible outliers. In this graph on the X-axis real values are plotted while predicted values are on the Y-axis. In Fig. 10 -12 such cross-plots are demonstrated. In order to construct these plots, we predict liquid holdup values using surrogate models for horizontal, uphill and downhill flows based on Gradient Boosting algorithm. For this prediction cross val predict(·) function from scikit-learn Python library is utilized. Further, predicted values are combined into one table, and the dataset with predicted and initial values of liquid holdup is divided into categories with respect to different features, for example, flow patterns, experimentators and flow directions. Each category is marked by different colours on cross-plots ( Fig. 10 -12) and also in each category the coefficient of determination is found. By analyzing these plots, one could observe that certain data samples are poorly predicted (with error more than 15%). Mainly these points belong to downhill flow represented in Mukherjee experimental data. In terms of flow patterns, the worst predicted points belong to bubble and annular mist regimes. Besides Mukherjee data set, the large part of predic-tions for Andritsos data have errors exceeding 15% boundary. In order to analyze outliers, we apply Machine Learning techniques mentioned at the end of Section 3 and also construct boxplots. Using these methods, one could find out that a relatively small number of supposed isolated data points have large errors of predictions obtained by Gradient Boosting algorithms. As a result, there are two possible reasons for large errors: ML algorithm could not find out required dependence for these points or values of the liquid holdup in these cases were measured with instrumental error. All tree-based ML algorithms allow obtaining feature importance. It is a characteristic that shows the significance of each feature in the prediction of the output value. The rank of each feature is calculated according to the following idea: importance is computed for a single decision tree by the sum of weighted values that define how considered attribute improves the information criterion (Gini index, Information gain or others) when it is used in the splitting. Each weight in this sum is a number of samples in the divided node. After that ranks are averaged across all constructed decision trees and the final ranks are obtained. So, the Gradient Boosting algorithm shows the following sequence of feature importance in the model for liquid holdup prediction constructed using the whole dataset (from the most to the least influential): Among mechanistic models we use TUFFP Unified, the combination of Ansari (when the module of inclination angle greater than 45 • ) and Xiao models (when |θ| < 45 • ). In addition, we also utilize Leda Flow point model and OLGAS. In Table 2 we represent cases where these methods could be applied. Using these scores, it is possible to identify that Leda Flow and OLGAS models yield the most accurate results. Further, we construct cross-plots with results of calculations via these models. In Fig. 13 the cross-plot with result estimated by Leda Flow point model is represented. This mechanistic model yields the coefficient of determination equal to 0.884 on the collected lab data set that is less accurate than Gradient Boosting algorithm provides in this case. From Fig. 13 it is possible to identify that the worst predicted data points by Leda Flow model belong to bubble and annular mist flow patterns. The best coefficient of determination on the lab dataset is obtained by OLGAS model. In Fig. 14 the cross-plot is depicted. From this graph, one could find out that the R 2 in the case of usage OLGAS model is equal to 0.89 that is also less accurate than the value of coefficient of determination in the model constructed with the help of the Gradient Boosting algorithm. Similarly to Leda Flow model, the worst predicted data points by OLGAS model belong to bubble and annular mist flow patterns. Further, let us move on to the results of the second model that predicts flow patterns in the segment. Similarly to the discussion of the liquid holdup model, we begin with the histogram with accuracy scores for all ML algorithms. This bar chart is plotted in Fig. 15. The Gradient Boosting algorithm has the best predictive capability when all data set is used for model creation with an accuracy score 0.88±0.003. In the models for horizontal flow and uphill flow also Gradient Boosting has the best accuracy scores that equal to 0.959 ± 0.003 and 0.872 ± 0.005, correspondingly. Finally, in the case of downhill flow ANN demonstrates the best predictive capability with an accuracy score of 0.78 ± 0.007. From these results, one could conclude that the models for horizontal and uphill flows have good accuracy scores, while the model for downhill flow generates poor results. Using predicted classes by surrogate models for horizontal, upward and downward flows, it is possible to categorize these results according to a data source and find accuracy score for each experimentator: Minami Table 2: Empirical correlations and mechanistic models best practices. All the mentioned methods could be applied for calculation of parameters for multiphase flow of oil, gas or gas condensate. izontal and uphill flows (Fig. 15). For classification problem, it is possible to construct a confusion matrix. Each row of this matrix represents samples that belong to true class labels while each column represents predicted class labels. Using the confusion matrix, one could find how well ML algorithm predicts each class. In the Fig. 16 the confusion matrix is depicted. The values in this matrix relate to the result of flow pattern prediction model in which the Gradient boosting algorithm and all dataset are used. Analyzing the confusion matrix in Fig. 16, it is possible to reveal that the Gradient Boosting algorithm predicts quite well annular mist, slug and stratified flow patterns and the worst defines bubble flow regime. The list of feature importance in the model for flow pattern prediction is the following: 1. No-slip liquid holdup 2. Gas velocity number This model is based on the Gradient Boosting algorithm constructed using the whole data set. After creation of the model for multiphase flow regime prediction it is possible to draw flow pattern maps. For example, in Fig. 17 the predicted map for horizontal flow of kerosene is represented. This map is generated by the Gradient Boosting algorithm. In this picture beside calculated zones of flow regimes, boundaries between classes obtained by Mukherjee [43] and Mandhane [50] are drawn. Using this figure one could identify that boundaries between flow patterns from Mukherjee and Mandhane maps are quite similar except for transition boundary between slug and bubble regimes. Boundaries predicted by the surrogate model almost restore Mukherjee map because the information about flow pattern in laboratory data is taken from Mukherjee experiments only. The greatest differences between We will now consider the results of the third model which estimates pressure gradient in the segment. In this model, the pressure gradient is calculated using the equation for conservation of linear momentum (5), as mentioned earlier. In this equation the friction factor is unknown. For estimation of this parameter, another one regression model is created. In this surrogate model division on horizontal, uphill and downhill flows does not apply because of small data points that belong to each group. The only one model for friction factor prediction is built that uses all data set in training, validation and testing stages. In this model, flow pattern feature is used among input parameters. The flow regime is encoded by creating several columns (each corresponding to a specific flow regime) and populating the data in the form 0 and 1. The method is referred to as one hot encoding. When a sample belongs to slug flow pattern, it will have 1 value in the column that is responsible for indication of an appurtenance to the slug flow class. The model for friction factor prediction is embedded in the calculation of the pressure gradient according to equation (5), and, namely, the results of pressure gradient estimation will be discussed further. In Fig. 18 the comparative bar chart with different ML algorithms scores is plotted. In this case, the Gradient Boosting algorithm provides the best score: R 2 = 0.95 ± 0.009. From Fig. 18 it is possible to notice that three ML algorithms (Gradient Boosting, SVM and Random Forest) have approximately similar scores. For additional comparison of them, we represent computational time which each of these algorithms spends for execution the M × N (M = 5, N = 20) cross-validation procedure on the data set which consists of about 1300 data points. Gradient Boosting algorithm spends 15.41 seconds, Random Forest executes this operation within 24.78 seconds, and SVM algorithm performs this procedure during 47.06 seconds. The execution of crossvalidation is carried out using notebook CPU Intel Core i7-8850H. From these values of time lengths, one could notice that the Gradient Boosting algorithm performs this procedure faster than SVM and Random Forest. Similarly to the liquid holdup model in this regression problem, it is also possible to analyze cross-plot. Different crossplots with results of the best ML algorithm in the model -Gradient Boosting -are plotted in Fig. 19 -21. From Fig. 19 -21 one could observe that the number of outliers in this model is much less compared with the liquid holdup model. On the cross-plot Fig. 19 we marked points with different colours according to horizontal, upward and downward flows. From this plot, one could find out that beyond the 15% error region data point belonging to horizontal and downhill Fig. 20 it is possible to identify that in these cases flow regimes are annular mist and bubble. Finally, using Fig. 21 where we colour points according to data source, one could notice that the largest errors are obtained for measurements from Mukherjee and Andritsos datasets. Having constructed the model for friction factor prediction using the Gradient Boosting algorithm, it is possible to observe what features are the most influential on this parameter. So, the list of features importance is the following: 1. Reynolds number 2. Froude number 3. Feature that indicates that sample belongs to the bubble flow pattern class 4. Viscosity number 5. Liquid velocity number 6. No-slip liquid holdup 7. Feature that indicates that sample belongs to the stratified flow pattern class 8. Liquid holdup 9. Relative roughness 10. Feature that indicates that sample belongs to the annular mist flow pattern class 11. Feature that indicates that sample belongs to the slug flow pattern class From this list, one could identify that flow pattern features and liquid holdup parameter have an impact on the prediction of friction factor and, as a result, on pressure gradient estimation. Further, it is necessary to compare the predictive capability of the created model with empirical correlations and mechanistic models. In order to perform this comparison, we use the same set of models as in the case of verification of liquid holdup model's results. The following coefficients of determination are obtained: Beggs & Brill (0.863), Mukherjee & Brill (0.921), TUFFP Unified (0.489), combination of Ansari and Xiao (0.912), Leda (0.9), OLGAS (0.87). As a result, Mukherjee & Brill correlation and combination of Ansari and Xiao models give the best results. Further, we consider cross-plots for these two cases. In Fig. 22 pressure gradients obtained by Mukherjee & Brill correlation are represented. Using this plot, it is possible to notice that this correlation predicts pressure gradients greater than −0.5 psi f t a little bit worse in comparison with the proposed method. The certain number of these points lie outside region of 15 % error, and the majority of them belongs to slug and annular mist regimes. The R 2 -score is equal to 0.921 that is less than the Gradient Boosting algorithm provides. In Fig. 23 we represent results of pressure gradients calculation using a combination of Ansari and Xiao mechanistic models. Using this chart, it is possible to see pressure gradients greater than −0.5 psi f t have wider spread around line ideal prediction. The majority of data points in this region that have error more than 15 % belong to slug and annular most regimes. So, the ML model created by using Gradient Boosting algorithm performs better than considered empirical and mechanistic models applied to lab database. In order to summarize results of created models, the Table 3 with different scores (in the regression models: MSE, MAE and R 2 ; in classification: Accuracy and F1-macro scores) is written. In this table results of all applied machine learning algorithms in the case when all data set is used are represented. Sensitivity analysis This section is devoted to the elements of sensitivity analysis. Having constructed this set of surrogate models above, it is necessary to evaluate their behaviour when input parameters are changed. To perform this evaluation, we select the base set of values of input parameters such as superficial gas and liquid velocities, gas and liquid densities, viscosities, gas-liquid surface tension, diameter of the pipe segment and its inclination angle. Each of these parameters is varied within its range of variation, while other input parameters are fixed equal to their base values. This procedure is carried out for the liquid holdup prediction and estimation of the pressure gradient. Using the values of these output parameters, we construct tornado diagrams. Several plots with dependences of pressure gradient on crucial features such as superficial velocities, diameter and inclination angle are constructed. On these plots, we compare results of proposed surrogate models with Beggs & Brill correlation. We consider three different cases of a base set of input parameters. In the first set inclination angle is zero, in the second one it is greater than zero, and in the last one is less than zero. This choice is made because we construct different surrogate models for horizontal, uphill and downhill flows for liquid holdup value prediction and flow pattern identification. Values of other input parameters in base sets are taken equal to average values of these parameters from the lab data set (in the first case we consider all data, in the second one data points related to the uphill flow and in the third one data responsible for the downhill flow). Each of input parameters is varied in value range that is contained in the corresponding range presented in the lab database besides diameter which variation range is chosen more extensive than in the lab database. Let us begin with the first set of base values of input parameters: In this case liquid holdup value -α l = 0.153 and pressure gradient -d p dl = −0.158 psi f t . In Fig. 24 and 25 the tornado diagrams for liquid holdup and pressure gradient variations are represented. We represent the six most influential parameters on the output value. Variation ranges of input parameters are also written in these plots. From these diagrams, one could find out that superficial velocities, liquid viscosity and pipe diameter have the greatest influence not only on liquid holdup but also on pressure gradient. Fig. 28 and 29 tornado diagrams with the seven most substantial features are represented. Using this set of base values, we obtain that both liquid holdup and pressure gradient values significantly depends on superficial velocities, diameter of the tube segment and its inclination angle. (Fig. 30 -33). Using these plots one could find out that the proposed method gives profiles that are quite similar to dependences obtained by using considered correlation. The main differences could be observed on the chart with the dependence of pressure gradient on inclination angle (Fig. 33). Case study Here we will represent the validation results of the constructed method for pressure drop calculation on field data. Three field data sets with measurements on production wells and pipelines are taken from [51]. These data sets include flow rates, bottomhole and wellhead pressures and tempera- First of all, it is necessary to compare data sets composed of laboratory experiments and field measurements. In order to calculate from field data the same parameters of multiphase flow in wells and pipelines as in the laboratory database, namely, velocities, densities and viscosities of gas and liquid phases, the method from the article [19] is applied. The pipe is divided into segments, and multiphase flow correlations are applied (in the present study, Beggs & Brill and Mukherjee & Brill [43] correlations are chosen). In other words, the field measurements are available only at the inlet (outlet) of the tube, while cor- relation allows one to populate these data along the pipe. We apply both correlations for each of the field data samples and choose this one that yields a closer value of bottomhole pressure to the measured value. Synthetic data (the result of computation) is assumed acceptable if the difference between calculated bottomhole pressure and the real value within 5 % accuracy. Then, synthetic data is populated in the segments along the well (pipeline). Among all parameters that could be utilized as input data in surrogate models (inclination angle, gas and liquid velocity numbers, viscosity number, diameter number, no-slip liquid holdup, Reynolds number, Froude number, average pressure and temperature) the following ones have different value ranges: liquid velocity number, diameter number, Reynolds number. In Fig. 34 -38 the bar charts with comparison of this parameters are depicted. Fig. 35, 36 one could reveal that ranges of diameter number and average pressure in the case of field and lab data almost do not overlap. In this regard, during the construction of ML models, these parameters should have been excluded because machine learning algorithms could not be applied outside the training ranges. Ranges of average temperature parameter (Fig. 37) in the cases of lab and field data sets also slightly overlap; that is why this feature is not included in training parameters. However, the temperature has already been utilized during the calculation of density, viscosity and surface tension. So, it is not necessary to take into account it once again. Since the ranges of liquid velocity number and Reynolds number in the case of lab data and field data only partially overlap, there might be potential errors during application of constructed model on the field data. Let us consider each data set in order. The first data set consists of production tests on inclined wells from The Forties field (The United Kingdom). The characteristic feature of the produced fluid in this field is relatively low gas content. Computa- In Fig. 39 the cross-plot with obtained results of bottom hole pressure calculation is depicted. The proposed method yields coefficient of determination equal to R 2 = 0.806 on this data set. This result is a little bit worse compared to the application of Beggs & Brill correlation (R 2 = 0.82). However, the created model performs a little bit better on this data set than the following set of correlations and mechanistic models: Let us move on to the results of the application of the constructed model concerning the second data set. It consists of production tests on inclined wells from Ekofisk area (Norway). These wells produce light oil and have a smaller diameter of tubing than ones from Forties field. In Fig. 40 one could observe the results of application the constructed method for this data set. The model provides R 2 = The final data set is composed of test data for large diame-ter flowlines at Prudhoe Bay field (USA). These flow lines are nearly horizontal with a small inclination angle. The cross-plot with calculated outlet pressures on the flowlines is represented in Fig. 41. The obtained coefficient of determination on this data set is relatively high (R 2 = 0.99). In turn, Beggs & Brill correlation gives R 2 = 0.98 that is also very high result but a little worse. In contrast, the other considered methods provide even lower scores: Conclusions In this paper, a new methodology for pressure gradient calculation on a pipe segment is proposed. The method consists of three surrogate models nested in each other: the first model predicts the value of liquid holdup. The best R 2 -score (0.93) for this model was achieved by using the Gradient Boosting algorithm. The second model is focused on the flow pattern determination using the output result of the first model. The best accuracy score (88.1 %) by this model is provided by the Gradient Boosting algorithm. The third model predicts pressure gradient based on liquid holdup and flow regime determined in the first two steps of the workflow. In the case of the third model, the Gradient Boosting method performed the best (R 2 = 0.95). Further, all of these surrogate models are applied in the iterative algorithm for calculating the outlet (inlet) pressure in the pipe based on the inlet (outlet) pressure and other parameters. The distinguishing feature of the proposed method is its wider applicability range in terms of the input parameters, which is a result of the application of the ML algorithms, their training on a larger lab database, and a complex approach for pressure gradient calculation. The combined method proposed in this study provides results with comparable or higher accuracy for liquid holdup and pressure gradient predictions on the considered lab data set as compared with several multiphase flow correlations and mechanistic models. For example, OLGAS model yields a coefficient of determination R 2 = 0.892 for liquid holdup calculation. In case of pressure gradient calculations, Mukherjee & Brill correlation provides a coefficient of determination, which equals to 0.92. In addition, the proposed method was tested on three field data sets. It is important to note that we carry out calculations for three field datasets using the ML algorithms trained on the lab data without any retraining. This validation shows that utilizing the constructed method for calculating the pressure distribution along the pipe it is possible to obtain the following coefficients of determination: R 2 = 0.806, 0.815, 0.99. In contrast, by applying correlations and mechanistic models to these datasets, it is possible to draw the following best scores: R 2 = 0.82 (by using Beggs and Brill correlation), R 2 = 0.823 (Mukherjee and Brill correlation) and R 2 = 0.98 (Beggs and Brill correlation). As a result, we could obtain pressure values (e.g., bottom hole pressure of the well) using ML model with a comparable or even higher accuracy as the considered multiphase flow correlation and mechanistic models provide. Thus, ML algorithms can be scaled from the lab to the field conditions. For future studies, we see several ways to improve the predictive capability of the proposed model. First, the extension of the lab data set can help expand the applicability margins. It could be either experimental or synthetic data calculated using steady-state multiphase flow simulators such as PipeSim, OLGAS, and Leda Flow point model. Second, an accurate description of the temperature effects should be introduced. In the present paper, the temperature is linearly interpolated between the boundaries. However, it is better to calculate the change of entropy and heat transfer along the pipe for more precise calculation of temperature profile. The workflow proposed so far covers the class of steady-state multiphase flows in vertical and inclined wells and pipelines. This model can be used as an engineering tool for calculating the bottomhole pressure based on surface pressure measurements at the well head, for example during flowback of a multistage fractured well, when it is essential to control the drawdown to make sure it is not excessive, to avoid undesired geomechanics phenomena (proppant flowback, tensile rock failure, fracture pinch-out). Another significant domain of applicability for such method will be to define the limits of applicability of this steady-state approach for dynamic conditions for fractured horizontal well production in order to avoid pressure fluctuation in front of the fracture. This should fix the safe operating envelope for well exploitation. Also, to qualitatively define such limits we can use non-parametric conformal measures to estimate predictive confidence regions [52,53]. For future work, one may also consider incorporating machine learning algorithms into a mechanistic model. For example, in a two-fluid stratified flow model a machine learning algorithm could be used to compute the interfacial friction factor, which is an important closure relation. The benefit is the number of input parameters should decrease as the physics is captured by the model formulation and not merely dimensionless quantities.
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Ravens can plan for future as well as 4-year-old children can Not such a birdbrainMathias Osvath/Lund UniversityBy Anil AnanthaswamyRavens can plan for future events at least as well as 4-year-old humans and some adult, non-human great apes. The birds did this in tasks they wouldn’t encounter in the wild, so it isn’t an adaptation to an ecological niche, but rather a flexible cognitive ability that evolved independently... I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its component fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark
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The Vietnam War was one of the longest and most costly wars fought and over 45,000 people had died. “The Vietnam War lasted from 1954-1975 and it took place in South and North Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos” (Vietnam War). War literature is important to people because it tells them what happened in war if it is a nonfiction book and what could have happened in war if it is a fiction book. The Things They Carried has information about Vietnam and how the soldiers survived. Ghosts in the Fog has Information about WWII and it tells the story of the Japanese invasion on Alaska. “After the war, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Philippines stayed free of communism” (Rohn). The book The Things They Carried has many differences and similarities to the book Ghosts in the Fog. In order to compare two books about war one should: explain how a book is classified as war literature; what aspects need to be accounted for in each book and what one was more successful, the style choices each author made and the impact they had, how the experience levels of each author affect the impact of the book, and how emotional details, stories, facts, and truth are important in a novel breakdown. There are many war related books that many people read around the world. There are many different ways to classify a book as appropriate war literature. To classify a book as appropriate war literature, the primary action should take place on a battlefield or in a civilian setting. Specific events have action such as shooting guns, running, and yelling because of the war and bad stuff that is going on. There is shooting and running because people are killing each other with guns and knives trying to kill the enemy to save their country. Someone has declared war on someone else and they are fighting for their rights and their peoples rights to keep them safe and independent. Historical events is another way to classify a book as appropriate war literature. Many war stories are nonfiction which means that the stories are true and they actually happened. The book gives factual information on who won the war, how many people that were killed in war, and how the war had started and how the war ended. “American and Japanese armies fought from May 11 to May 30, 1943, for control of Attu, a small, sparsely inhabited island at the far western end of Alaska’s Aleutian chain in the North Pacific” (Battle of Attu). There are also many war stories that are fiction which are made up stories about war. These stories still have lots of action and killing but all of or most of it is false information. Although fiction stories are made up some of the stories told might be true and the main storyline could be based on real events in a more exaggerated way. In the fiction book The Things They Carried the author tells many stories that are made up but he also says things that actually happened when he was at war but in a more exaggerated way. In war literature based books there are people talking about their feelings of a specific event that happened in war. They may give their own opinion on what they thought about different people and what happened at war. Many aspects need to be accounted for of war literature in the books The Things They Carried and in Ghosts in the Book. One aspect in each book is the characters who impacted war literature. Tim O’Brien was impactful to the The Things They Carried because he told the story and he knew what war was like because he fought in war. He told many stories about his experience at war and what he had to do to survive. Although most of stories were made up, the storyline was partly true but exaggerated. Lt. Jimmy Cross was also impactful in the book The Things They Carried because he lead the group and made most of the decisions at war. Charlie House and Edwin Layton were impactful to war literature in the book Ghosts in the Fog because they were leaders and made big decisions on keeping everyone alive and calm. The style of each book was different and they were written in different ways. The Things They Carried was written as a storyline and had many war stories. It told what people thought at war and how they survived and what they did. It also had what the characters felt and how they reacted to things that were happening. Ghosts in the Fog was written using more of factual information to tell a story. The author was not in war but she got information from other people and used these facts in her book. The books were written in different ways but they each had a theme about war and people were killing each other and they had to fight to survive. “More than 3 million people (including over 58,000 Americans) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians” (Vietnam War). Even though the two books were written in a different way and they had a different style they both were successful. The Things They Carried was very successful because it was interesting and fun to read throughout the whole book. It told many war stories and the author talks about what he felt at war and what other people had felt. He talks about his feelings and uses lots of exaggeration to show how war was like as a soldier. Ghosts in the Fog was successful because it uses factual information about the war to tell a story. Both books are successful but The Things They Carried is a great book to read to get more of a storyline and Ghosts in the Fog is also good to get more factual information. The two books were written in a different way and they were both impacted by their style. The theme in The Things They Carried was friendship and fear and overcoming fear. O’Briens personal experience shows that fear of being shamed before one’s peers is a powerful motivating factor in war. He thinks that fighting in war is unjust or not right but he does not want to be thought of as a coward so he overcomes his fear of fighting in war and being shamed by his peers and fights in the war. The book also shows friendship because in order to survive the soldiers have to get along and work together. O’Brien had friends that helped along the way saving his life and he also saved theirs. They may not have got along everyday but they had to deal with it and work together. The theme in Ghosts in the Fog is slavery and getting captured. “Starting on June 3rd,1942, the Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska were officially occupied by Japanese forces. After nearly a year, the U.S. and Canada reclaimed the islands” (WWII In Alaska). When the islands were taken over many people of those islands became slaves and they had work all day and night doing what the Japanese told them. They worked in fields collecting food and they changed the landscape of these islands. Many families were torn apart and captured by the Japanese and many were taken as prisoners. “Yet the life of any one individual became insignificant as world-wide suffering and death increased. Families were torn apart. Millions of people were driven from their homes and brutalized” (Hoobler). The theme of The Things They Carried and the theme of Ghosts in the Fog are different because one is about friendship and overcoming fear and the other is about slavery and becoming prisoners. Tim O’Brien uses both first person point of view and third person to tell his story. He uses mostly first person because he is telling the story of the war he was in and what he did. He also uses third person because he also tells the story of his fellow soldiers he fought with and what they did at war. Samantha Seiple uses third person point of view because she is telling a war story about other people and talks about the soldiers and families in the book. The books were written very differently because Tim O’Brien tells a story about the Vietnam War and what he did to survive. He tells many personal stories about himself and the other soldiers, and he makes them interesting by using exaggeration. His book is a storyline and he uses characters. Samantha Seiple tells a story about WW2 and the Japanese Invasion on the Aleutian Islands. She uses facts and other information from other people and articles to tell a story. The experience levels the authors have in war are important for them to write about war literature. Tim O’Brien wrote his book about the Vietnam War and how he fought in it and how he was entered into war. O’Brien was a soldier at war and he knows what war was like which gives him many ways why he can write about war literature. He not only knows what happened but he knows how it feels and the pain he went through at war. He is able to tell emotional and personal stories about what happened to him and other soldiers he was with. Samantha Seiple wrote her book about WWII and the Invasion on Alaska. She may not have the experiences levels of being in war and knowing what it is like like Tim O’Brien but she took many good facts from other people and other articles to write her book. She does not have to emotional and personal stories in her book because she did not fight in war and she doesn’t know what it was like. Her book may not be as interesting as Tim O’Brien’s because she does not have many personal stories to make the book interesting. Although her book has lots of factual information which O’Brien’s does not have and is helpful to readers who just want to read a book with facts about war. Many aspects in degree are important in a novel breakdown emotional and personal details, stories, facts, and truth. Tim O’Brien has many personal stories in his book The Things They Carried. First off he was a coward because at first he did not want to fight at war and he was very scared. He tells many emotional and personal stories such as what the men carry with them at war so they don’t forget someone or if they need to use what they are carrying along the way. O’Brien tells the story of when he almost died, he said they were running away from people shooting at them and he fell and was let behind but one of his fellow soldiers had found him and helped him get up on his feet and cured his wound he had when he was shot. He said if it wasn’t for that soldier he would have been laying there dead. He also tells us stories after the war when he is with his daughter. He brings his daughter with him to the war zone and he tells her what he did here and what happened. One of his friend soldiers died and they had left him a pair of shoes where he had died and the shoes are still there. He shows his daughter and tells her what they are for and whose they were. Ghosts in the fog also had emotional and personal stories but not as much as The Things They Carried. Samantha Seiple tells many stories about the slaves that were captured in her book and how their life was before and after they were slaves. She told many personal stories about the slaves and the families that were captured. Millions of families were driven from their home and many died. Many of the soldiers fighting for these people also died “Of nearly 3800 American soldiers, 549 were killed in the battle” (Recapturing Attu Island). Tim O’Brien told many stories in his book and involved many people. He told the storied by using exaggeration and saying what happened at war. He involved the soldiers he was fighting with such as Lt. Jimmy Cross, he told many stories about him and his girlfriend and how he carried his girlfriends pantyhose to keep him calm. Samantha Seiple also told stories about the slaves and families that were captured and brutalized. She tells the stories using facts she had got and stories from other people that had survived war. There was many facts and true stories in the book Ghosts in the Fog but The Things They Carried had many made up stories. Tim O’Brien told many stories in his book and some of them were true but they had lots of exaggeration. Tim is using exaggeration to make it more realistic if we were at war and was feeling what he felt. He also made up many stories to make the book more interesting and make people read it more. Ghosts in the Fog has lots of facts and true stories about the Japanese Invasion, and it also had stories about the people that were being captured and the slaves and the soldiers that were fighting. In order to compare two books about war one should: explain how a book is classified as war literature; what aspects need to be accounted for in each book and what one was more successful, the style choices each author made and the impact they had, how the experience levels of each author affect the impact of the book, and how emotional details, stories, facts, and truth are important in a novel breakdown. Even though The Things They Carried and Ghosts in the Fog are of war literature they are very different types of books in there style of writing and the storyline. One uses facts to tell a story and the other uses exaggerated stories and made up stories to tell a war story. Communism was a big part of the Vietnam War “Ho Chi Minh believed communism offered the people of Vietnam the best way to improve their lives” (Otfinoski).
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What would you like to do? Does the wife get half of your social security when you retire? already exists. Would you like to merge this question into it? already exists as an alternate of this question. exists and is an alternate of . This would happen if you are your NORMAL RETIREMENT AGE (NRA) or FULL RETIREMENT AGE (FRA). You can go to the SSA.gov website SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS ONLINE and use the search box for What are the benefit amounts a spouse may be entitled to receive? A spouse receives one-half of the retired worker's full benefit unless the spouse begins collecting benefits before full retirement age. In that case, the amount of the spouse's benefit is reduced by a percentage based on the number of months before he/she reaches full retirement age. * At 65, the benefit amount would be about 46 percent of the retired worker's full benefit; * At age 64, it would be about 42 percent; * At age 63, 37.5 percent; and * At age 62, 35 percent. However, if a spouse is taking care of a child who is either under age 16 or disabled and receiving Social Security benefits, a spouse gets full (one-half) benefits, regardless of age. If you are eligible for both your own retirement benefit and for benefits as a spouse, we always pay your own benefit first. If your benefit as a spouse is higher than your retirement benefit, you'll receive a combination of benefits equaling the higher spouse's benefit. 6 people found this useful Thanks for the feedback! I am retired military 50 my wife 46 is going to retire from the Railroad in 2019 how is our social security impacted Can she receive RR retirement while I receive military retirement? social security is not impacted by other retirements. they are separate. Your military retirement will not affect or change your wife's retirement from the railroad. you will If the husband is 67 and retired and the wife is 61 and he draws social security and she works and makes 50000year is their income added together and then he is taxed on his social security? No, not for the sake of earnings. If the individual is over 66 chances are he is full-retirement age so his earnings will not change the amount of checks he is due to receive. How does social security retirement get its funding? Legal businesses who employ individuals for work in exchange for money in the USA have a tax ID number that is unique and attached to all finances which is on file by the Inte Can your wife draw Social Security retirement benefits if she has never worked? Yes, if you have earned at least 40 work credits and apply for your own retirement benefits, your wife is eligible to draw an additional 50% in benefits based on your work rec Do you pay taxes on Social Security when retired? The answer depends on your individual circumstances. If you are retired and Social Security benefits are your only source of income , you may file, but generally will not How does Social Security help retired people? It is a supplement, along with other savings and assets to provide the retiree with sufficient funds to live comparatively comfortably after their working years, when they are How do you raise Social Security benefits for when you retire? There are at least two important factors involved in increasing your Social Security benefits. The first is, earn as much money as you possibly can because the benefits you re How does your wife get half of your social security? At her full retirement age your wife is entitled to an amount equal to half of what you are entitled to receive at your full retirement age. (If you're not the same age that f When can a wife collect half the husband's social security? If the husband is on social security, the wife receives an amountequal to half the husband's payments. If she has worked and paidinto SS, then she gets her own payments in add
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Parasites & Deworming For a brief overview of Fecal Egg Counts and deworming, please visit our Sample Deworming Protocol page. For many years, deworming horses using a rotational method was deemed to be the best standard of care for protecting our horses from internal parasites. However, Janssen Veterinary Clinic no longer recommends this method. The reasons are multifactorial, but the biggest two are these: • There has been more and more parasite resistance occurring in horses and the industry has no new deworming products in development. • Some horses have less susceptibility to parasites than others, and are being dewormed more than is necessary. We recommend caring for the herd by treating each member as an individual. Emerging research has demonstrated increasing parasite resistance to deworming products, or anthelmintics. Similar to the way bacteria become resistant to overused antibiotics, equine internal parasites have been shown to develop resistance to deworming medications. The anthelmintic kills the weaker parasite, leaving the strong to reproduce and further increase the resistant population. In order to combat this resistance, rather than using the drug as a preventive in a horse that might not need it, we recommend treating horses with anthelmintics only when necessary to control the parasite population in that specific horse. It has been documented that 80% of all internal parasites are found in only 20% of horses. Utilizing a testing procedure called the Fecal Egg Count (FEC), a fresh fecal sample is tested to determine the number of parasitic eggs shed by that horse. FEC results classify each horse as a low, moderate, or high shedder of parasite eggs. High shedding horses can be targeted with more frequent dewormings, while lower shedding horses (the majority of horses) can be dewormed as little as once or twice a year with no ill-effects. Parasites in the horse. There are numerous parasites that affect horses. Large strongyles, bots, and pinworms are not unusual, but less problematic than the ones that are our primary concern: • Small Strongyles (cyathostomes) are the most common and the most troubling parasite found in the adult horse. The life cycle of these parasites takes place both internally and outside of the horse. Small strongyle eggs are passed in the feces, hatch in grass, and develop into larvae, which are then consumed by the horse during grazing. They then move through the gastrointestinal tract to the large intestine where they develop into adult worms. Some of the larva will encyst in the wall of the large intestine and lie in a state similar to hibernation. Adult small strongyles produce eggs, which are then shed in the feces and contaminate the pastures, starting the cycle over again. After a period of time the encysted larva emerge from the wall of the large intestine and can cause health concerns if the horse is carrying a large burden. A severe case of strongyles robs your horse of nutrients in their diet and can cause weight loss, anemia, unthriftiness and colic. • Tapeworms. While small strongyles are of primary concern in adult horses, another significant parasite found in horses is the tapeworm. Tapeworm larvae develop inside the Oribatid mite, which is ingested by the horse during grazing. Developing tapeworms are released inside the horse during digestion. Eggs are released into the manure only to be ingested by the mites in the pasture and continue the cycle. Tapeworms contribute to colic by causing inflammation, ulceration and spasms in the digestive system. • Roundworm control is most critical in the young horse. These parasites migrate through the lungs and liver of foals, causing unthriftiness, weight loss, respiratory disease, and colic. Roundworms are resistant to ivermectin products but are susceptible to high doses of Panacur and Strongid. Fecal egg counts are important to monitor a foal’s roundworm counts, but are not as specific as the adult horse. Therefore we recommend deworming foals on this schedule. How do I get started on the FEC deworming protocol? • When initially starting this deworming protocol, a fecal egg count should be performed when a horse has not been dewormed for a minimum of 2 months. • Any new horse entering the farm should be tested. • The average horse should be retested twice a year. Which dewormer should I use? Anthelmintics available for use in horses: • Benzimidazoles: Fenbendizole (Panacur), Oxibendazole (Anthelcide) • Tetrahydropyrimidines: Pyratnel Pamoate (Strongid) • Macrocyclic Lactones: Ivermectin (Equell, Zimectrin), Moxidectin (Quest) • Praziquantel (found in combination with macrolytic lactones) Strongyles have developed resistance to the first two categories, but every farm may have different strains of resistance. To determine an individual farm’s resistance to a particular anthelmintic, we can perform a fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT). To perform FECRT, complete a fecal egg count, and then deworm the horse. A second fecal egg count is to be performed 14 days later. If the parasite load is found to be decreased by more than 90%, the product is considered effective. This test is specific to the anthelmintic used, and only needs to be performed once every few years. Remember that some small strongyles become encysted in the wall of the large intestine? Moxidectin is the only drug that consistently kills those encysted larvae and should be administered at least once yearly. Tapeworm eggs do not show up in fecal egg counts, so their presence is more difficult to detect. Because tapeworms are prevalent in the horse population and can still have detrimental effects on your horses’ health, it is recommended that all horses be treated with a product containing praziquantel in the fall every year. Praziquantel is the only product available that is effective against tapeworms and is usually combined with Ivermectin or moxidectin (Equimax, Quest Plus). When should I give my horse dewormer? Another important factor in parasite control is timing. It is essential to understand the life cycle of parasites to understand when to deworm your horse. For example, Small strongyle eggs hatch based on temperature, specifically between 46 degrees F and 100 degrees F. Therefore, during the Indiana winter, horses may be shedding strongyle eggs onto pasture but the eggs cannot hatch due to the cold temperature, the infective larva is not consumed by other horses. Similarly, in the hot summer months with temperatures greater than 85° F) the eggs will hatch, but the heat quickly kills the larvae. The optimum temperature for strongyle transmission is 77 degrees F, temperatures commonly found in the spring and fall. Therefore we focus most of our parasite control during these times of the year. What else can be done to reduce parasites in the horse’s environment? Protecting horses from internal parasites requires a multi-pronged approach. Part of the solutions is reducing the internal parasite burden on the horse by using the appropriate anthelmintic and proper timing of the administration of the dosage. Also, reducing pasture contamination by utilizing good management practices will help control parasites. Avoid spreading manure on pastures that will be used for grazing, as this only increases the consumption of parasite larvae. In addition, do not overcrowd your pastures. Horses naturally defecate in areas separate from where they graze, but overcrowded pastures cause horses to graze on top of manure piles. Again, timing can be important! Ideally, using a chain harrow to drag a pasture should only be done when the temperature is greater than 85°F. The larvae will then be exposed and killed by the high summer heat. Dragging the manure around the pasture when it is less than 85°F only spreads eggs and larvae and will increase the parasite load in your horse. There is not one perfect deworming protocol for every farm, but you may view an example schedule for adult horses here. Feel free to give us a call to discuss your farm’s deworming protocol today!
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Sheikh Mohammed His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed has loved horses all his life, captivated by their power, elegance, speed and grace. As a young man he rode bareback races with his friends on the sands of Jumeirah Beach. Later during his studies at Cambridge, England, Sheikh Mohammed attended his first horse race at Newmarket watching Royal Palace win the 2,000 Guineas in May, 1967. Ten years later, Sheikh Mohammed’s own involvement with international racing began with the filly Hatta, who gave the owner his first success at Brighton, England, on 20 June 1977, and went on to win the Group Three Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood the following month. Sheikh Mohammed’s passion for horses grew into a major investment in bloodstock and has resulted in the growth of the world’s largest and most global racing team, Godolphin, as well as the successful stallion operation, Darley. Sheikh Mohammed’s website offers an introduction to his life, work and thoughts. For further information please visit
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This weekend marks the return of Charlotte Pride, the city's gay pride celebration, and this summer is the 50th anniversary of the modern gay rights movement. But Charlotte does Pride a little differently than most of the country, particularly when it comes to when they celebrate. So why is Charlotte Pride in August instead of June like most other cities? The precursor to Charlotte Pride started in 1981. Held near the campus of UNC Charlotte, the June event was essentially a secret society. Being there meant you'd risk losing your job or being shunned by friends and family. Over the years, Pride moved around Charlotte but fizzled out for a few years. At times, anti-gay protesters outnumbered everyone else. In 2001, Pride got more organized, with several gay rights groups bringing back the celebration bigger and better, and with an August date. Believe it or not, the August planning was a matter of not conflicting with any other Pride celebrations or other summer events in Charlotte. What started out as a small, secretive gay rights get-together, and was once drowned out by protests, is now the largest parade Charlotte hosts each year, filled with family, friends and allies.
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911- Homeschooling Special Needs Have you noticed that your child seems happier, better behaved, and more relaxed when school is out for the summer? Do you notice a change in demeanor as school starts? Many, who struggle with reading, writing, storing information and recalling what they've read or heard, become stressed. "Enduring" another year of challenging episodes in their quest to learn causes anxiety. Most parents notice this struggle at an unconscious level. Then when the child becomes very frustrated, negative, and many times see themselves as hopeless, the problem is recognized on a very conscious level. Panic registers for many parents as they recognize that something is definitely wrong for this bight child with lots of skills, but fails in the area of being successful in their learning abilities. Reversing this course of educational downward spiral for children and the parents is what Little Giant Steps is all about. The NeuroDevelopmental Approach for Life, creates, restores, and improves functional abilities that were not fully developed, or were interrupted due to illness, ear infections, or perhaps some trauma, or just lack of making it through that steps of development when they were an infant or toddler. Because of the plasticity feature in the brain, we are allowed to resolve (using specific physical, visual, and auditory stimulation activities) the issues or as we call them "the root causes" and build new neuro-pathways from stimulating activities so that area of the brain goes from a difficult road of passage to a super highway that transmits impulses between the brain and body at exceedingly high and efficient rates of speed and accuracy. AND...short and long-term memory. That's why we can inform you that "Learning Disabilities Do Not Have To Last a Lifetime". We were fearfully and wonderfully made. The "repair" of the areas can become whole and enhanced in performance and can happen at any age.... if you do the recommended activities that are discovered to be needed. Dr. Jan Bedell and her team has helped to turn around the learning lives of thousands of families in the past 20 years, and now with the internet, the Developmental Approach for Life is available online so the whole world can take advantage of these remarkable services that include curriculum utilizing activities embedded in the subject matter.
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display | more... Not derogatory. Also the name of the professional (NHL) hockey team in Vancouver, Canada. The term "Canuck" originated in 1869 from "Johnny Canuck" -- a nationalistic symbol billed as a "younger, simpler cousin to America's Uncle Sam or Britain's John Bull". During World War II, Johnny Canuck was used as a mascot in pro-Canadian propaganda as Canada's personal defender against the Axis Powers. Ca*nuck" (?), n. A Canadian. A small or medium-sized hardy horse, common in Canada. © Webster 1913.
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Today, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that Wells Fargo Investments, LLC was fined $2 million for making unsuitable investments in connection with the sale of reverse convertible notes and for failing to provide required sales charge discounts on Unit Investments Trust (UIT) transactions. FINRA also took the unusual step of requiring Wells Fargo to pay restitution to customers who did not receive UIT discounts and to those who were placed in unsuitable reverse convertibles. More often than not, FINRA will levy a fine on the brokerage firm and leave investors to fend for themselves and try to recoup their losses through FINRA’s securities arbitration process. What are Reverse Convertible Securities? Reverse convertibles are short-term investments that are tied to an underlying stock or bond. When the security matures, the investor will receive either 100% of the original investment or a predetermined number of shares. When investing in reverse convertibles, investors risk losing a significant portion of their investment if the value of the underlying stock or bond falls below a certain level at maturity. For example, in a reverse convertible bond fund, an investor may be forced to redeem their bonds at a decreased value. Wells Fargo’s Failure to Review Suitability of Reverse Convertible Transactions FINRA found that Wells Fargo, through one broker, had recommended hundreds of unsuitable reverse convertible transactions. Of the 21 accounts that were found to have unsuitable reverse convertibles, fifteen of those belonged to elderly customers who were over 80 years old. These customers were exposed to risk inconsistent with their investment objectives that resulted in an overconcentration of reverse convertibles in their accounts. Wells Fargo’s Failure to Provide Eligible Customers with UIT Discounts UITs offer discounts on purchases that exceed certain “breakpoints” or involve proceeds from another UIT during the initial offering period. FINRA found that Wells Fargo failed to provide eligible customers with “breakpoint” and “rollover and exchange” discounts due to the firm’s lack of systems for review to ensure that UIT customers received the proper discount.
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