Women with heart disease are at greater risk than other women when going through a pregnancy, but most still have positive outcomes, a registry showed.
Compared with healthy pregnant women, those with structural or ischemic heart disease had higher rates of preterm birth (15% versus 8%), fetal death (1.7% versus 0.35%), and maternal mortality (1% versus 0.007%), but absolute rates remained relatively low, according to Jolien Roos-Hesselink, MD, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and colleagues.
The risks conferred by heart disease were magnified in women with cardiomyopathies and in those living in developing countries, the researchers reported online in the European Heart Journal.
However, they wrote, "most patients with adequate counseling and optimal care should not be discouraged and can go safely through pregnancy."
Because of a limited amount of data detailing the effects of heart disease on pregnancy outcomes, the European Society of Cardiology started the European Registry on Pregnancy and Heart Disease in 2007. The ongoing registry enrolls pregnant women who have valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, ischemic heart disease, or cardiomyopathies.
For the current analysis, the researchers looked at data on 1,321 pregnant women who were enrolled from 60 hospitals in 28 countries from 2007 to 2011. The median age was 30.
Most of the patients (72%) were in New York Heart Association class I, and only 0.3% were in NYHA class IV.
The most frequent diagnosis was congenital heart disease (66%), followed by valvular heart disease (25%), cardiomyopathy (7%), and ischemic heart disease (2%).
The median duration of pregnancy was 38 weeks, and the median birth weight was 3,010 grams (6 pounds 10 ounces).
Thirteen of the mothers died -- seven from cardiac causes, three from thromboembolic events, and three from sepsis. The highest mortality rate occurred in patients with cardiomyopathy, who also carried higher rates of heart failure and ventricular arrhythmias.
"Cardiomyopathy is uncommon during pregnancy, but it is difficult to manage a pregnancy in the context of left ventricular dysfunction or peripartum cardiomyopathy with a high risk of an adverse outcome for both the mother and the baby," the authors noted. "Our study shows that more attention needs to be paid to this group."
During pregnancy, 26% of the women were hospitalized, a much higher rate than seen in healthy pregnant women (2%). More than one-third of the admissions (39%) were for heart failure; 31% were for obstetric reasons, including pregnancy-induced hypertension, vaginal bleeding, pregnancy-induced diabetes, and abortion/missed abortion; 21% were for cardiac reasons other than heart failure; and 9% were for other reasons.
The rate of cesarean delivery was significantly higher among the women with heart disease than has previously been seen in healthy pregnant women (41% versus 23%, P<0.001).
Fetal mortality beyond 22 weeks of gestation or when the fetus was greater than 500 grams (1 pound 2 ounces) occurred at a higher rate in the women with heart disease. Most of those cases (62%) were listed as intrauterine fetal death without any further information, 21% were attributed definitely to the mother's condition, and 17% were related to structural fetal abnormalities.
Neonatal mortality (within the first 30 days of life) occurred in 0.6%, a rate that was not significantly higher compared with historical controls (0.4%, P=0.27).
Women living in developing countries (185 of the registry patients) carried greater risks of both maternal mortality (3.9% versus 0.6%, P<0.001) and fetal mortality (6.5% versus 0.9%, P<0.001).
The authors noted that developed countries have much greater access than developing countries to optimal prenatal care and preconception counseling, even if it isn't used in all cases.
"This is a very complex issue, but if achievable, pre-conception counseling focusing on the severity of the heart disease with a clear statement of the consequences of pregnancy may save lives," they wrote.
The researchers acknowledged some limitations of the study, including the inability to perform extensive subgroup analyses because of small patient numbers, the fact that the input and quality of data was checked in only 5% to 10% of cases, and uncertainty about how representative the patient population is, considering the voluntary participation in the registry.
From the American Heart Association:
Primary source: European Heart Journal
Roos-Hesselink J, et al "Outcome of pregnancy in patients with structural or ischemic heart disease: results of a registry of the European Society of Cardiology" Eur Heart J 2012; DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehs270.


Looking for a fun, kid-friendly activity to help your family appreciate the outdoors? Backyard birding is a great way to get the kids outside and learning more about the beautiful birds in your area. Here are a few helpful backyard birding tips to get started.
Educate with games
Start your birding adventures by learning which birds are native to your state. There are numerous online resources that include species listings, like the Bird Library from Perky-Pet. Once you have your list, make it a game. Print out the different types of birds and let your kids check them off as they see them. Whoever spots the most species could win a prize, like a birdfeeder. Making it a game will help motivate them to get outside and start bird watching.
Nature is full of sounds and smells. While outside, have your kids close their eyes and sit quietly for a few moments. Discuss the sounds you hear and try to recreate bird sounds as you heard them. Since our feathered friends are attracted to flowers, seeds and berries, identify which plants will invite birds. Encourage your kids to research other plants that might attract new birds to your backyard.
Backyard birding is a great tool to encourage responsibility. If your birdfeeders are not cleaned weekly it's possible for dangerous bacteria to grow. This can have a disastrous effect on a community of birds. Create a birdfeeder-cleaning calendar for your child and make note of days when the feeders should be refilled. Depending on weather and the time of the year, your feeders may need to be filled with fresh seed daily.
Help with nesting
Birds appreciate being able to keep clean as well as being provided with nesting materials. Help your kids collect lint or strips of fabric to set outside for birds to use when building their nests. As a family, set up a birdbath or bird waterer, like the new Perky-Pet Droplet Bird Waterer, and take turns keeping it cleaned and filled with fresh water.
Attract new birds
Have your kids select a new bird species they would like to see and learn how to attract them to your yard. One fun choice for young birders is the hummingbird.
Hummingbird feeder kits, like the Perky-Pet Oasis Hummingbird Feeder Complete Set, include all the essentials for feeding these tiny birds and will help your child become familiar with this species. Have your child take notes on the hummingbird behavior they witness including the birds' swift movements, territorial nature and whether they eat while perched or while flying.
Connecting kids with nature is always a good idea, and birding is a fun way to start. So now, equipped with these kid-friendly ideas, it's time to start your backyard birding adventure. It's the perfect way to get your kids outside and the birds will enjoy the extra attention as well.


NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Injury Prevention and Safety
which color bruise is considered to be the worst?
Health professionals used to rely on bruise color to estimate how recently an injury occurred. However, it is well known now that bruise color is not at all a reliable measure of how bad a bruise is or when the injury occurred.
Large bruises over the abdomen and pelvis that may signal that serious damage has been done to the organs underlying the bruise. The bruise itself is deceptive because you can't see the underlying damage that is far more serious than the visible discoloration. This can be deadly, especially if organs rich in blood supply such as the liver and spleen are damaged and the person bleeds to death internally.
Of course, bruises over the bone can mean that a hemorrhage occurs under the bony covering called the periosteum and also may lead to a fracture of the bone underneath. These are certainly painful but do not lead to death very often. They can look worse because of the impact of the blood vessels onto the bone as compared to soft tissue bruising over the abdomen. Bruises around the eyes and ears can damage vision and hearing if the force of the injury was significant.
The bottom line is that color is not what is so important. It is much more important what the force of the injury was and what parts of the body are underneath the force of the injury. I hope this answers your question.
Mary M Gottesman, PhD, RN, CPNP, FAAN
Professor of Clinical Nursing
College of Nursing
The Ohio State University


help with a lesson plan
by, 03-18-2008 at 04:44 PM (2410 Views)
I'm currently planning a lesson to do with 4th-6th graders as part of a practicum in my Education program at university. I was hoping to select a poem that is very descritive to read to the kids as they draw what they see through the words. My initial idea was to use Coleridge's "Kubla Kahn," but I've since decided that this will probably be too difficult a poem for 4th-6th graders (based on experience I've had with 'em).
I'm looking for something that won't be too easy, preferably something with metaphors so that I may seque to brief instruction on those. I want to make the activity somewhat challenging, and one of my ideas is to mandate that I will only read the poem perhaps three times and they must come to agreement on when those three repetitions can be used.


PBS KIDS® HOSTS “SHARE THE EARTH” CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF EARTH DAY
New eco-focused episodes and classic favorites airing April 18 – 22
Arlington, VA – March 16, 2011 – PBS KIDS will host its sixth annual PBS KIDS “Share the Earth” celebration in honor of Earth Day by featuring new and favorite episodes encouraging children to care for and respect the environment. From April 18 – 22, families can view brand new eco-friendly episodes on-air from SID THE SCIENCE KID, CURIOUS GEORGE®, MARTHA SPEAKS, WILD KRATTS, and ARTHUR, while learning about recycling, habitats, alternative energy and more. In addition, favorite Earth-focused episodes from SUPER WHY!, WORDGIRL®, and more will also be airing throughout the week.
“As a leader in educational children’s media, PBS KIDS offers many resources to get kids excited about exploring science and the natural world around them,” said Lesli Rotenberg, senior vice president, Children’s Media, PBS. “This year, we’re celebrating Earth Day with content on-air, online, and beyond to help families discover that their next learning adventure could be as close as their own backyard.”
The “Share the Earth” celebration continues online for both kids and parents. PBSPARENTS.org will feature a special “Simple Ways to Protect the Earth” page with new ideas for activities parents can do with their kids in celebration of Earth Day, such as gardening and craft ideas. An Earth Day channel on both PBSKIDS.org/video and PBSKIDSGO.org/video will feature Earth-themed episodes from favorite shows such as THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! and WORDGIRL from April 15 through 22. In addition, a new web exclusive episode of DESIGN SQUAD NATION, “Sustainable South Bronx,” will run on PBSKIDSGO.org, along with accompanying eco activity ideas for kids.
Following is a listing of the episodes airing the week of April 18 -22 (Check local listings for air dates and times).
SID THE SCIENCE KID
NEW “Where Did The Water Go?" ("What happens to water that goes down the drain?")
While brushing his teeth, Sid wonders what happens to all the dirty water when it goes down the drain. At The Science Center, Sid and his friends explore how water travels in and out of our homes through pipes. And here's something Sid and his friends never realized: there's lots of water in the world, but you can't drink it all! We can only use fresh water, and there aren't a lot of fresh water sources in the world. That's why it's important not to waste water!
NEW "Clean Air!" ("Why does Sid's Dad wear a mask when he paints?")
Sid the roving reporter is investigating something strange in his backyard--his Dad is wearing a mask while painting. Sid discovers that his Dad is protecting his face so he doesn't breathe in the dirty fumes. At school, Sid and his friends discover that people and animals on Earth need to breathe clean air, and when we pollute the air around us, it affects the air that everyone breathes. The kids also discover that trees have a really important role in keeping our air clean!
NEW “Reused Robot" ("Where does trash go when we throw it away?")
Sid's toy robot is broken, so he wants to throw it "away." Sid's Mom tells him there is no such thing as "away," and when we put something in the trash, we are actually creating waste. Sid and his friends explore the idea that everything we throw away goes somewhere. This leads to an investigation of how to recycle and reuse items so that we make less trash.
NEW “Save The Stump" ("Can an old stump be a home for tiny creatures?")
Sid is super excited because his Dad is clearing out space in the yard for a basketball court! While Sid and Dad are surveying the land, Sid notices a big stump teeming with little creatures! During a special field trip to The Science Center, Sid and his friends discover that there are animal habitats all around us, even in old stumps, and if one habitat is destroyed, all of the other habitats and animals are affected.
NEW “Wagstaff Races”/ “The Missing Metal Mystery”
“Wagstaff Races” - Wagstaff City's environmental club is having a "Go Green Go-Cart Race," fueled by alternative energy. Using sun, wind, and pond scum, the gang gathers at the starting line. Who will win the trophy — and most importantly, how?
“The Missing Metal Mystery” - Who’s been stealing things from the local junkyard? When Detective TD announces the identity of his main suspect, everyone is shocked.
NEW ”Falcon City”
The Kratt brothers are itching to fly with the world’s fastest animal, the Peregrine falcon, which can hit top speeds of 240 mph. But their efforts are side-tracked when the rest of the Wild Kratts team challenges them to find the falcon in the city instead of in the wild, and Chris’ Creature Power Suit is accidentally activated with Pigeon Powers! But then they discover that Zach is sending his Zachbots to clean off a building that has a peregrine falcon nests with chicks. Martin and Chris must activate their Peregrine falcons powers and harness the force of gravity to pull off a high flying creature rescue!
NEW “The Blue and the Gray”
Martin and Chris are absorbed in a hilarious competition to discover who is the best acorn planter, blue jays or gray squirrels, when a strange Creature Power Suit malfunction transforms Martin into an acorn and grows him into an Oak tree! Chris activates the squirrel powers of his Creature Power Suit, but gets waylaid by a bobcat and goshawk, and Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy can’t find them. It’ll take some animal-loving Wild Kratts kids to get them out of this mess
NEW “Follow the Bouncing Ball”/ “Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea”
“Follow the Bouncing Ball” - Alberto Molina’s beloved soccer ball, signed by his favorite Ecuadorian soccer star, El Boomerang, is lost! Is it the same soccer ball bouncing all over town, eluding potential captors?! This kicks off the first of 10 stories which follow the incredible journey of “El Boomerang” around the world! Come, follow the bouncing ball!
“Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea” - While on vacation with the Read family, Buster discovers a message in a bottle on the shore. Could it be an urgent message from the people of the Lost City of Atlantis? Buster is determined to find out and sends them a message back…by throwing his own bottles in the ocean! Will he learn that keeping the beach and waters clean is the real message?
“The Cherry Tree”
Muffy will do anything to have a gigantic Dream Bouncy Castle at her party, or so she thinks. When her favorite cherry tree is cut down to make room for the castle in her yard, she starts to have regrets. Then to make matters worse, she learns that cutting down trees hurts the environment, too. What can Muffy do to fix the damage she’s done?
NEW “Follow That Boat”/“Windmill Monkey”
“Follow That Boat” – Steve needs an A to pass his history class and his model papyrus boat is sure to make the grade. George helps him test the boat in Endless Park’s pond, but a sudden rainstorm sweeps it down the sewer grate! While searching for the boat, Steve and George learn that debris from the street ends up in the ocean. Will they ever find Steve’s little boat in the big ocean or will he be taking history again next year?
“Windmill Monkey” – George proudly finishes planting his rooftop garden when he turns around to find that Compass and his friends have eaten all the seeds. The scarecrow overlooking the garden didn’t scare them at all! While buying more seeds, George spots a windmill and learns how the wind can power just about anything. The inspired monkey sets out to create the world’s first wind powered scarecrow in hopes that will keep his seeds safe. But some things are more easily planned than done!
“Tiddalick the Frog”
Whyatt’s mom tells him that he’s wasting water. This is a really big problem and he's not sure how to fix it. So the Super Readers dash into the Australian folk tale of Tiddalick the Frog and make the acquaintance of a funny amphibian whose puddle jumping is using up all the water and leaving his neighbors in the dust – literally! As the Super Readers help Tiddalick and his dry friends, they learn how important water is to the planet, along with a valuable lesson about conservation.
All is not well in Perfectamundo, a dome-enclosed cybersite, when orange spots are discovered building up on the dome’s interior surface, blocking the site’s precious sunlight. What source could be responsible for the spots multiplying so fast? Is it Hacker’s new factory that pours out orange clouds through smoky stacks? It can’t be that new Digifizz toy, with its tiny burst of colorful sparkles shooting into the air each time it gets used. With time running out, the CyberSquad must come to grips with the power of multiplication and use it to undo the site’s pollution problem.
ANGELINA BALLERINA™ THE NEXT STEPS
“Angelina and the Dance-a-thon”
Angelina and her friends organize a dance marathon for the Chipping Cheddar Earth Club as part of their "Camembert Cares" school project. After Gracie accidentally recycles the pledge sheet, Angelina uses her ingenuity to save the day!
“EARTH DAY GIRL”
When the villainous (and very large) Birthday Girl learns that planet Earth is having a special celebration on the same day as her happy occasion, she decides to wreak environmental havoc, just to teach the Earth a lesson. Can WordGirl find a way to stop the Birthday Girl’s eco-rampage and save Earth Day?
MAYA & MIGUEL™
“EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY”
For a school Earth Day project, the kids decide to clean up an old lot and plant a community garden. But as the deadline approaches, a rainstorm hits, turning the patch of dirt into a muddy mess. How will Maya get her friends out of the muck this time?
THE ELECTRIC COMPANY
“The Flube Whisperer”
Keith sends away for a Skeleckian pet that lives in a biosphere. But when the biosphere malfunctions, will Manny save the day?
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG®
It’s Keep Birdwell Beautiful month and the kids are doing their part by planting a flower garden. Seeing this, the dogs decide to create a doggie flower garden of their own. But when Cleo hears that almost anything grows in Birdwell Island soil, she decides she’d much rather grow a garden full of dog toys! She soon learns, however, that working alone for a selfish end is not nearly as rewarding as working together for the whole community.
BARNEY & FRIENDS™
“Home Sweet Earth: The Rainforest”
It’s Earth Day, a great time for everyone to learn how to help take care of our world, but Ben is wasting paper while BJ isn’t too concerned about cutting down a tree to make room for a new playground. After a trip to the rainforest and a meeting with Mother Nature, everyone learns the importance of taking care of our world. As Earth Day comes to an end, Barney reminds us all that taking good care of our Earth is the natural thing to do for the people we love.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. More than 21 million children watch PBS KIDS on TV, and more than 21 million engage with PBS KIDS online each quarter. For more information on specific PBS KIDS programs supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom, and follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.
Curious George is a production of Imagine, WGBH and Universal. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Television Series: (c) 2011 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
# # #


Ray Tracing and Gaming - Quake 4: Ray Traced Project
Quake 4: Ray traced
An algorithm was invented for this work that uses rays for collision detection (CD). A polygon-exact CD is quite easy for direct weapons. Only one ray is needed to determine the target. Shooting this ray works through the exact same mechanisms and data structures as shooting a ray to get a color value in rendering.
(Polygon exact collision detection using ray tracing)
For the player model a bounding sphere was approximated through many rays like in a radar system.
(Bounding sphere approximated through rays)
An interesting special effect which I want to present here in more detail is water. As we expect it from nature water should reflect the surrounding environment and it should be possible to look through the water with some refractions going on. Water in motion should not look flat; there should be some visible height differences in the waves. I want to present you some examples of water in games that we have seen the last years. Of course these 'optimizations' had to be done to make the game render fast enough, so this should not be a critic of the game or company itself. It should just show how water looks today in some games, what it lacks and how it could look in ray tracing games.
('Far Cry' (2004): The reflection in the water shows only the mountains, not the trees.)
('Far Cry': Taking a close look at the reflections you see that the resolution is lower then the rest of the world.)
('Gothic 3' from 2006: Quite unspectacular water without any reflections)
The water in 'Quake 4: Ray traced' (http://www.q4rt.de/) uses an animation set of many normal maps to simulate the height differences from the waves. One ray is used for reflection on that normal maps, one ray is used to get the refraction through the water. The result is nice looking water.
('Quake 4: Ray traced': The water reflects the environment and the player)
Samples from Q4RT in action can be seen in this video:


Let's Talk About: Cosmic collisions
Share with others:
It has been almost 100 years since Edwin Hubble measured the universe beyond the Milky Way Galaxy. Today, astronomers believe that as many as 100 billion other galaxies are sharing the cosmos. Most of these cosmic islands are classified by shape as either spiral or elliptical, but stargazing scientists have discovered galaxies that don't quite fit these molds.
Common to this "irregular" category are galaxies that interact with other galaxies. These gravitational interactions are often referred to as mergers, and their existence invites the question: Is the Milky Way collision-prone? To evaluate the probability, look to the Andromeda Galaxy. Located more than 2.5 million light-years away, Andromeda appears as a small fuzzy patch in the sky. However, there is nothing miniature about it. Similar to the shape (spiral), size and mass of the Milky Way, Andromeda is home to a trillion other stars.
Astronomers have known for decades that our galactic neighbor is rapidly closing in on us -- at approximately 250,000 miles per hour. They know this because of blueshift, a measured decrease in electromagnetic wavelength caused by the motion of a light-emitting source, in this case Andromeda, as it moves closer to the observer.
Recently, data collected from the Hubble Space Telescope has allowed astronomers to predict a merger with certainty, in 4 billion years. Our sun will still be shining, and Earth will most likely survive the impact. Reason being, galaxies, although single units of stars gravitationally tied together, are mostly gigantic voids. One can compare a galaxy-on-galaxy collision to the pouring of one glass of water into another. The end result is a larger collection of water, or in the case of a cosmic collision, a larger galaxy. Future Earth inhabitants, billions of years from now, could look up and observe only small portions of such an event because it will take 2 billion years for these cosmic islands to become one.
First Published November 29, 2012 12:00 am


Network With Us
Join us on Facebook to get the latest news and updates.
Lauren Boulden's Story
Using Think-Alouds to Get Inside Langston Hughes' Head
Over my past few years of teaching, there have been multiple occasions where I have been stumped on how to present a particular concept to my students. I've always been able to turn to ReadWriteThink.org for hands-on, engaging lessons. For example, I knew I wanted my students to develop their skills when it came to interacting with text, particularly with poetry. While searching through the myriad options on ReadWriteThink, I came upon "Building Reading Comprehension Through Think-Alouds."
At first, I planned to use the lesson exactly as written: Read Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Variation" and model a think-aloud with students; then have the students try their hand at some think-alouds using other poetry. After working out all of the details, I realized I could develop some additional skills, which would fit perfectly into the scope and sequence of my class. After completing the think-aloud to "Dream Variation," I broke students into selected groups. Each group was given a different Langston Hughes poem and asked to complete a think-aloud. The next day, the students were put into a new jigsaw group where they were solely responsible for sharing what their Langston Hughes poem conveyed. Based on the meanings behind their group mates' poems, along with using the knowledge of both their poem and "Dream Variation," students were asked to figure out who Langston Hughes was as a man. What did he stand for? What were his beliefs? What did he want out of life? Students used clues from the various poems to fill in a head-shaped graphic organizer to depict their understanding of who Hughes could be. This simple lesson of working with poems and think-alouds turned into a few days of group communication, text deciphering, inferences, and even an author study!
Without great lessons available on ReadWriteThink.org, such as "Building Reading Comprehension Through Think-Alouds," my students would never have been able to tackle so many key reading strategies in such a short amount of time.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Students learn components of think-alouds and type-of-text interactions through teacher modeling. In the process, students develop the ability to use think-alouds to aid in reading comprehension tasks.
Lauren describes how she used ReadWriteThink in her classroom.
I have been teaching seventh- and eighth-grade language arts in Delaware for the past five years. I grew up in Long Island, New York, but have called Delaware my home since completing my undergraduate and master’s work at the University of Delaware. Teaching and learning have become my prime passions in life, which is why my days are spent teaching English, directing plays, organizing the school newspaper, and teaching yoga in the evenings.


Adopting a New Flight Plan Whooping Crane Migration Route Shifted West into Safer Air Space
By LEN WELLS Courier & Press correspondent (618) 842-2159 or firstname.lastname@example.org
The route of the annual 1,250-mile migration of endangered whooping crane juveniles, led by an ultralight aircraft, has been shifted this fall to a more westerly route because of concerns about pilot and bird safety.
The route, from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin to a closed area of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on the west coast of Florida, will bring the birds through parts of the Tri-State.
It will take the birds the entire length of Illinois and across Western Kentucky, with overnight stops in Wayne County, Ill., and Union County, Ky.
“The route was shifted west because the easterly route was pretty scary,” said Liz Condie, director of communications for Operation Migration, the group that works to ensure the birds’ survival.
“Going over the Cumberland Ridge, there was no place to set down to retrieve a bird if there had been a problem,” she said.
Officials hope, too, for better weather along the westerly route by picking up more favorable winds.
“For the safety of the birds, we
cannot divulge the exact location of each stopover other than down to the county level,” Condie said. “At each stop, the birds will be housed overnight in portable pens to protect them from predators and to keep them far away from human contact.”
While the stopover locations are kept secret, Operation Migration officials try to schedule gathering sites for local residents to catch a glimpse of the birds as they lift off to continue their southerly trek.
“A few days before the scheduled stopover, we try to alert the local residents of where they can congregate to watch a flyover,” Condie said.
Because of fluctuating weather conditions, those interested in tracking the birds should check Operation Migration’s Web site at www.operationmigration.org for a more specific date and time.
The whooping crane chicks that take part in the reintroduction project are hatched at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md. There, imprinting begins with the chicks still inside their eggs being exposed to ultralight aircraft sounds. Once hatched, the young chicks are reared in total isolation from humans.
To ensure the impressionable cranes remain wild, each handler and pilot wears a crane puppet on one arm that can dispense food, or by example, show the young chicks how to forage as would their real mother.
At 45 days of age, the young birds are transported by air, in individual containers, to the reintroduction area at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.
Because of differing age ranges, the birds usually are moved in three shipments and housed at three separate locations within a closed area of the refuge. Over the summer, the Operation Rescue crew of pilots, biologists, veterinarians and interns conditions the birds to follow the aircraft, which, along with its pilot, has been accepted as a surrogate parent.
Once the birds’ dominance structure has been established and their endurance is sufficient, the migration begins, typically in October. Using four ultralight aircraft, Operation Migration’s pilots, along with a ground crew consisting of biologists, handlers, veterinarians and drivers, cover up to 200 miles a day, depending on weather conditions.
This year’s migration to Florida has been scheduled to begin Oct. 17. The shortest migration has taken 48 days to complete. The longest, 97 days, was recorded last year.
Because of destruction of habitat and overhunting, whooping cranes were on the verge of extinction in the 1940s when their population was reduced to only 15 birds. Since falling under the protection of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the only naturally occurring population of migrating whooping cranes has grown to more than 200 birds.
Named for their loud and penetrating unison calls, whooping cranes live and breed in wetland areas where they feed on crabs, clams, frogs and aquatic plants.
An adult whooping crane stands 5 feet tall, with a white body, black wing tips and a red crest on its head.
Anyone encountering a whooping crane in the wild is asked to avoid approaching it, staying back at least 600 feet. In all cases, officials ask that people remain concealed and not speak loudly enough for the birds to hear them. Especially during the migration, residents are warned not to trespass on private property in an attempt to view the cranes.
(c) 2008 Evansville Courier & Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.


King James II of England (who was also James VII of Scotland) inherited the throne in 1685 upon the death of his brother, Charles II. James II was unpopular because of his attempts to increase the power of the monarchy and restore the Catholic faith. Deposed in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688-89, he fled to France. His daughter and son-in-law succeeded him as Queen Mary II and King William III. James II died in 1701.
Unless otherwise noted, these books are for sale at Amazon.com. Your purchase through these links will help to support the continued operation and improvement of the Royalty.nu site.
James II by John Miller. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.
James II: The Triumph and the Tragedy by John Callow. Charts James' life using little-known material from the UK National Archives. Includes James' own description of the Battle of Edgehill, his reasons for his conversion to Catholicism, and his correspondence with William of Orange.
A Court in Exile: The Stuarts in France, 1689-1718 by Edward Corp. After James II was deposed, he established his court in France. The book describes his court and the close relationships between the British and French royal families.
King in Exile: James II: Warrior, King and Saint by John Callow. Reassesses James's strategy for dealing with his downfall and exile, presenting a portrait of a man who planned for great political rewards and popular acclaim.
James II and the Trial of the Seven Bishops by William Gibson. The trial of seven bishops in 1688 was a prelude to the Glorious Revolution, as popular support for the bishops led to widespread welcome for William of Orange's invasion.
The Making of King James II by John Callow is about the formative years of the fallen king. Out of print, but sometimes available from Alibris.
The Countess and the King: A Novel of the Countess of Dorchester and King James II by Susan Holloway Scott. Novel about Katherine Sedley, a royal mistress forced to make the most perilous of choices: to remain loyal to the king, or to England.
The Crown for a Lie by Jane Lane. Novel about how James II lost his throne. Out of print, but sometimes available from Alibris.


RWJF Priority: Use pricing strategies—both incentives and disincentives—to promote the purchase of healthier foods
Prices can significantly affect family food choices and are emerging as an important strategy in the movement to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic. For example, when healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are more affordable, children are less likely to gain excess weight. And leading health authorities, including the Institute of Medicine, recommend new policies to reduce overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which are one of the top sources of calories in the American diet.
The resources below, from RWJF grantees and partners, explore the possible health and economic impacts of using pricing strategies to promote consumption of healthy foods and beverages and discourage consumption of unhealthy products.


Standard DefinitionStandard-definition television (SDTV) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high-definition television (HDTV 720p and 1080p) or enhanced-definition television (EDTV 480p). The two common SDTV signal types are 576i, with 576 interlaced lines of resolution, derived from the European-developed PAL and SECAM systems; and 480i based on the American National Television System Committee NTSC system.
High DefinitionHD video has higher resolution than SD video, which results in a sharper picture. Typical HD display resolution will be 1,280×720 pixels (720p) or 1,920×1,080 pixels (1080i/1080p).
For our latest tips, offers and competitions join us on


Indian removal had been taking place in the United States since the 18th Century as more Americans made the move westward. In the early 19th Century, Andrew Jackson and the majority of white Americans like him, wanted the Indians to move west of the Mississippi, out of the way from white expansion. Popular thought was that the Indians were savages who could not be civilized, and integration with the white culture was not a possibility.
Through the next several years, Indian tribes all over the eastern front were forced to reservations of proportional inequality compared with land once owned. The United States bought the land from the Indians while using its brute power to force unruly tribes west. No matter how much they tried, the Indians were no match for the strength of the United States.
Indians of the Sauk and Fox tribes tried to take back land that was ceded to the United States wrongfully. When they inhabited the vacant land, Americans saw them as a threat to the white settlements close-by. Illinois state militia was sent in to destroy the so-called "invaders." The Indians retreated back and the militia continued to attack until most had been killed.
Were Americans justified in the mass movement of Indian tribes? I would have to say they were not. I cannot see the logic in their assumptions of the Indians. For the most part, little interaction took place with the Indians. Yet, Americans still believed they were uncivilized.
Perhaps the problem was in terms of envy. Indians had been capable of adapting to land and using the land efficiently for years at a time. I think Americans saw how the Indians were able to do this, and became jealous of their superior farming abilities. Land was becoming useless in the east, and Indians had been able to use their land repeatedly. Americans saw this fertile land as rich in potential profit and were willing to go to any length in acquiring it.
Evidence of the two cultures working together in a society was apparent in New Mexico, Texas, and California. If these people were able to survive and live off each other, I would have to assume that had the United States made an effort, they could have resolved this situation in an easier manner. Unless it was jealousy that was driving them to take the Indian land. Something tells me it was exactly that which caused such a debacle. Superior in farming techniques and land use, the Indians efficient ways were the downfall of their land availability.


All Property Taxes
Real, Public Utility and Tangible Personal Property
Taxes Assessed Value and Taxes Levied for Taxes Payable in
Calendar Year 1988, by County
Table PD-30 shows total assessed value of, and taxes levied
on, real, public utility personal, and tangible personal
property for taxes payable in calendar year 1988. Taxes for
real and public utility personal property were levied in tax
year 1987, but payable in calendar year 1988. Special
assessments were also levied in tax year 1987 and payable in
calendar year 1988. In contrast, personal property taxes
(excluding public utility personal property) are levied and
payable in the same year - in this case 1988.
Total taxes levied on the three categories of property were
$6.6 billion on a total assessed value of $106.7 billion.
Special assessments totalled $107.9 million.
Total real property taxes levied were $5.0 billion, while
public utility personal property and tangible personal
property taxes totalled $613.4 million and $1.0 billion,
The value of real property was $78.9 billion compared to
$10.8 billion and $17.0 billion for public utility personal
and tangible personal property, respectively.
Real property taxes shown in the table are prior to
application of "tax reduction factors" and are prior to
subtracting the 10 percent property tax rollback for all real
property, the 2.5 percent rollback for residential real
property, and the homestead exemption deduction.
Among all Ohio counties, Cuyahoga County had the highest
property value ($14.8 billion of which real property
accounted for $11.3 billion) and the highest amount of taxes
levied ($929.5 million in real property taxes and $1.2
billion in total property taxes).
Vinton County had the lowest value of real property ($57.4
million) and the lowest total property value ($99.1 million);
Cuyahoga County also levied the lowest amount of taxes ($2.1
million in real property taxes and $3.6 million in total
Lucas County led all Ohio counties in the amount of special
assessments levied, with $21.8 million. Four counties -
Adams, Morgan, Pike, and Vinton- recorded no special
Data for this table were taken from abstracts filed by county
auditors with the Ohio Department of Taxation.


Does exercise help you detox?
Explore This Story
The word “detoxification” is flung around the fitness community as frequently as kettlebells.
Yoga teachers regularly speak of detoxifying twists, aerobics instructors of detoxifying sweat, dieters of detoxifying fasts. But health professionals are skeptical.
“If you start talking about exercising to detoxify, there’s no scientific data,” said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, chief of women’s sports medicine at Harvard Medical School. “The human body is designed to get rid of what we don’t need.”
The same applies to fasting.
“No good scientific data supports any of those cleanses, where you drink juice, or (only) water for a week,” she said.
Exercise is important, Matzkin added, because it enables our body to do what it is made to do, but the kidneys and colon get rid of waste. The role of exercise in that process is unclear.
“In general exercise helps our lungs; kidneys get rid of things that can cause us onset of disease,” she said.
A healthy lifestyle — eating healthy, drinking plenty of water and exercising — is important to detoxifying because it enables our body to do what is intended to do.
“As for specific yoga moves, I’m not so sure,” she said.
Yoga instructor and fitness expert Shirley Archer, an author and spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) said the theory behind the effectiveness of detoxifying twists in yoga is that they squeeze the organs, which push the blood out so fresh blood can rush in.
“Better circulation equals better health,” said Archer, who is based in Florida. “If detox means to eliminate from the body what it no longer needs, then certain yogic practices can help.”
She said yogic deep breathing with strong exhalations can empty the lungs of unneeded carbon dioxide and allow for a fresh breath of more oxygenated air. “This nourishes all of our cells,” she said. “It is also a method of cleansing because better circulation equals better health.”
Meditative movement practices, such as yoga and tai chi, she added, can detox your attitude because they require staying in the present moment and discourage dwelling on the past.
Last summer, celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson began taking groups of 40-odd women on what she calls Detox Weeks, which involve at least three hours of workouts each day, as well as lectures on fitness and nutrition aimed mainly at encouraging lifestyle changes.
Similar weeks in other cities are planned for 2013.
“Women work out and think ‘Why can’t my love handles, muffin tops go away’?” said Anderson, creator of the Tracy Anderson Method and a co-owner, with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, of fitness centres in Los Angeles and New York. “The most important thing is if you can become a consistent exerciser.”
“A good workout is not five to 10 yoga poses,” she explained. “You have to learn to scale up your endurance. If you can only jump for five minutes straight, we’ll go to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes.”
Anderson said she uses the term detoxification broadly to include everything from working up a good sweat to clearing the mind of destructive thoughts.
“Detoxification is a big topic,” she said.
Nancy Clark, a registered dietitian in Boston, Massachusetts and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, said the body generally does a fine job of detoxifying itself through the liver and kidneys. Sweating has nothing to do with it.
“When you sweat you really don’t detoxify anything,” she explained. “If someone goes on a crash diet, then maybe toxins are released but then the body would take care of them. When you sweat you lose sodium.”
- NEW RCMP probing Senate expense scandal, Senate speaker says
- NEW Mayor Rob Ford fires chief of staff Mark Towhey
- Toronto terror suspect asks for defence lawyer who is guided by ‘holy book’
- Updated London attack: Two more people arrested, police say
- Tim Bosma homicide: Second suspect Mark Smich appears in court
- Updated City councillor Paul Ainslie's licence suspended after roadside check
- DiManno: No matter how it seems on Planet Ford, it’s over
- Updated As world gawks at Rob Ford scandal, Toronto police wait and watch


There are many techniques available to help students get started with a
piece of writing. Getting started can be hard for all levels of writers.
Freewriting is one great technique to build fluency. That was
explored in an earlier lesson plan: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/adulted/lessons/lesson18.html
This unit offers some other techniques. These techniques may be especially
helpful with students who prefer a style of learning or teaching that could
be described as visual, spatial, or graphic. Sometimes those styles or overlooked
in favor of approaches that are very linguistic or linear. The approaches
here will attend to a broader range of learning styles as they add variety.
- Writing: Writing Process, Pre-Writing, Autobiography, Exposition,
Personal Narrative, Argumentation, Comparison and Contrast, Description.
Students will be able to:
- Write more fluently (writing more with greater ease)
- Generate writing topics
- Select topics that will yield strong pieces of writing
- Connect personal experience, knowledge, and examples to an assigned
- Produce better organized pieces of writing
National Reporting System of Adult Education standards are applicable here.
These are the standards required by the 1998 Workforce Investment Act. See
Pencils, colored pencils, pens, markers, crayons, unlined paper, magazines
and newspapers with pictures inside, glue or paste, and paper. Big paper
or poster board can make the pre-writing exercises more eye-catching,
more of a project, and better for display.
Video and TV:
Prep for Teachers
Make sure you try each of the activities yourself before you ask students
to do them. That will give you a better understanding of the activities
and help you recognize any potential points that may be confusing or difficult.
This also gives you a sample to show the students. Its much easier
to create a diagram if you are shown an example of one.
Here are some Web sites that give background and even more ideas about you
pre-writing, diagrams, graphic organizers, and other ideas to get started
with writing. There is some repetition here. You dont have to read
them all. But check them out and see what you think.


No one knows how the first organisms or even the first organic precursors formed on Earth, but one theory is that they didn't. Rather, they were imported from space. Scientists have been finding what looks like biological raw material in meteorites for years, but it's usually been shown to be ground contamination. This year, however, investigators studying a dozen meteorites that landed in Antarctica found traces of adenine and guanine two of the four nucleobases that make DNA. That's not a big surprise, since nucleobases have been found in meteorites before. But these were found in the company of other molecules that were similar in structure but not identical. Those had never been detected in previous meteorite samples and they were also not found on the ground where the space rocks landed. That rules out contamination and rules in space organics. A little adenine and guanine in the company of other mysterious stuff is a long, long way from something living but it's closer than we were before.
Next Star Wars Gets Real


Poor sanitary conditions lead to increase in skin disease in SyriaListen /
There has been an increase in cases of leishmaniasis in Syria, according to Dr. Glen Thomas of the World Health Organization, (WHO).
Leishmaniasis is a disease transmitted by the bite of the sand fly and characterized by skin sores.
Dr. Thomas says the disease is spreading because of poor waste and hygiene management caused by the continuing conflict in the country.
The form of the disease which affects the skin is not life-threatening and not a priority disease, says the doctor, but it is a concern.
The symptoms are sores and scars on the body and they come into effect a couple of weeks after the sand flies have transmitted the disease. And we are now helping and trying to get deliveries of treatments to the affected areas. But obviously because of the situation, it is very difficult.
Dr. Thomas says the Aleppo area is where the increase in leishmaniasis has been seen.
Gerry Adams, United Nations


New Class of Tuberculosis-Fighting Antibiotics
Suggested By Biochemical-Pathway Study
(Philadelphia, PA) - A worldwide health problem, tuberculosis kills more
people than any other bacterial infection. The World Health Organization
estimates that two billion people are infected with TB, and that two million
people die each year from the disease.
However, due to multi-drug resistance and a protracted medication regimen,
it is extremely difficult to treat. Hence, there is still a great deal
of interest in developing new anti-tubercular drugs. Researchers at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified
a biochemical target that could lead to a new class of antibiotics to
fight TB. They report their findings in this week’s online edition
of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a proof-of-principle study, Harvey Rubin, MD, PhD,
Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, and colleagues
were able to stop the bacteria from multiplying by inhibiting the first
step in a common biochemical pathway. This pathway is responsible for
making the energy molecules all cells need to survive. First author Edward
Weinstein, an MD/PhD student, Rubin, and colleagues characterized
the pathway and showed that an important enzyme in it is a key target
for anti-TB agents.
The pathway, explains Rubin, is like a series of links in a chain, with
enzymes facilitating reactions along the way. “We discovered that
if you inhibit the very first enzyme in the chain, you inhibit everything
else downstream and eventually the bacteria die,” he explains.
The research group tested phenothiazine, a drug used in the past to treat
schizophrenia, in cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the
bacterium that causes TB. They found that phenothiazines killed the bacterium
in culture and suppressed its growth in mice with acute TB infection.
While the effect on the growth of TB in mice was small, it suggested that
a valid target was identified. The research group went on to show that
the enzyme disabled by the phenothiazines is called type II NADH dehydrogenase
and is a unique and important antimicrobial target.
“What we have now is a new target in TB,” says Rubin.
“We’ve been able to find at least the beginnings of a class
of compounds that we can start working with and that we know is biochemically
active against the TB bacteria in culture and in small animals.”
Is it a new drug for tuberculosis? Not yet, cautions Rubin. It’s
premature to say that this class of drugs will cure TB, but it does represent
the start of basic research towards that, he concludes. Next steps include
more investigations on inhibitors of the NADH biochemical pathway in TB,
and the development of high-throughput screens to find better and safer
inhibitors of type II NADH dehydrogenase.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Rubin and Weinstein’s coauthors are Takahiro Yano, Lin-Sheng Li,
David Avarbock, Andrew Avarbock and Douglas Helm from Penn, and Andrew
McColm, Ken Duncan, and John T. Lonsdale from GlaxoSmithKline (Collegeville,
PA and Stevenage, UK). Animal studies were conducted at GlaxoSmithKline.
Penn researchers report no conflicts of interest.
PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise dedicated
to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and
high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation’s
first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System
(created in 1993 as the nation’s first integrated academic health
Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #3 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News &
World Report’s most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical
schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School
of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training
of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic
Penn Health System is comprised of: its flagship hospital, the Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s
“Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania
Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Presbyterian Medical Center; a
faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty
satellite facilities; and home health care and hospice.


Search: Nuclear chemistry, Darmstadtium, Germany
In honour of scientist and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), the discovering team around Professor Sigurd Hofmann suggested the name copernicium with the element symbol Cp for the new element 112, discovered at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt. It was Copernicus who discovered that the Earth orbits the Sun, thus paving the way for our modern view of the world. Thirteen years ago, element 112 was discovered by an international team of scientists at the GSI accelerator facility. A few weeks ago, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC, officially confirmed their discovery. In around six months, IUPAC will officially endorse the new element's name. This period is set to allow the scientific community to discuss the suggested name copernicium before the IUPAC naming.
"After IUPAC officially recognized our discovery, we – that is all scientists involved in the discovery – agreed on proposing the name copernicium for the new element 112. We would like to honor an outstanding scientist, who changed our view of the world", says Sigurd Hofmann, head of the discovering team.
Copernicus was born 1473 in Torun; he died 1543 in Frombork, Poland. Working in the field of astronomy, he realized that the planets circle the Sun. His discovery refuted the then accepted belief that the Earth was the center of the universe. His finding was pivotal for the discovery of the gravitational force, which is responsible for the motion of the planets. It also led to the conclusion that the stars are incredibly far away and the universe inconceivably large, as the size and position of the stars does not change even though the Earth is moving. Furthermore, the new world view inspired by Copernicus had an impact on the human self-concept in theology and philosophy: humankind could no longer be seen as the center of the world.
With its planets revolving around the Sun on different orbits, the solar system is also a model for other physical systems. The structure of an atom is like a microcosm: its electrons orbit the atomic nucleus like the planets orbit the Sun. Exactly 112 electrons circle the atomic nucleus in an atom of the new element "copernicium".
Element 112 is the heaviest element in the periodic table, 277 times heavier than hydrogen. It is produced by a nuclear fusion, when bombarding zinc ions onto a lead target. As the element already decays after a split second, its existence can only be proved with the help of extremely fast and sensitive analysis methods. Twenty-one scientists from Germany, Finland, Russia and Slovakia have been involved in the experiments that led to the discovery of element 112.
Since 1981, GSI accelerator experiments have yielded the discovery of six chemical elements, which carry the atomic numbers 107 to 112. The discovering teams at GSI already named five of them: element 107 is called bohrium, element 108 hassium, element 109 meitnerium, element 110 darmstadtium, and element 111 is named roentgenium.
The new element 112 discovered by GSI has been officially recognized and will be named by the Darmstadt group in due course. Their suggestion should be made public over this summer.
The element 112, discovered at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (Centre for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt, has been officially recognized as a new element by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). IUPAC confirmed the recognition of element 112 in an official letter to the head of the discovering team, Professor Sigurd Hofmann. The letter furthermore asks the discoverers to propose a name for the new element. Their suggestion will be submitted within the next weeks. In about 6 months, after the proposed name has been thoroughly assessed by IUPAC, the element will receive its official name. The new element is approximately 277 times heavier than hydrogen, making it the heaviest element in the periodic table.
“We are delighted that now the sixth element – and thus all of the elements discovered at GSI during the past 30 years – has been officially recognized. During the next few weeks, the scientists of the discovering team will deliberate on a name for the new element”, says Sigurd Hofmann. 21 scientists from Germany, Finland, Russia and Slovakia were involved in the experiments around the discovery of the new element 112.
Since 1981, GSI accelerator experiments have yielded the discovery of six chemical elements, which carry the atomic numbers 107 to 112. GSI has already named their officially recognized elements 107 to 111: element 107 is called Bohrium, element 108 Hassium, element 109 Meitnerium, element 110 Darmstadtium, and element 111 is named Roentgenium.
Recommendation for the Naming of Element of Atomic Number 110
Prepared for publication by J. Corish and G. M. Rosenblatt
A joint IUPAC-IUPAP Working Party confirms the discovery of element number 110 and this by the collaboration of Hofmann et al. from the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany.
In accord with IUPAC procedures, the discoverers have proposed a name and symbol for the element. The Inorganic Chemistry Division Committee now recommends this proposal for acceptance. The proposed name is darmstadtium with symbol Ds. This proposal lies within the long established tradition of naming an element after the place of its discovery.


Member States were next asked a series of questions related to safety and herbal medicines. The first question asked countries to describe those regulatory requirements used for the safety assessment of herbal medicines. The following options were given: same requirements as for conventional pharmaceuticals, special requirements or no requirements. If Member States chose the option “special requirements”, they were further asked to choose all that applied from the following options: traditional use without demonstrated harmful effects, reference to documented scientific research on similar products, and other requirements. If other requirements were selected, the respondents were asked to describe the requirement.
A total of 130 Member States responded to this question: however, as respondents were asked to choose all that applied, there are more responses than respondents for this question (Figure 30). Eighty two countries indicated that special regulatory requirements exist for herbal medicine. Of the remaining responses, 57 countries indicated that the same regulatory requirements for safety assessment apply to herbal medicines as to conventional pharmaceuticals. Finally, 28 countries indicated that no regulatory requirements for safety assessment exist in their country.
Figure 30. Regulatory requirements for safety assessment of herbal medicines
When selecting the category “special requirements”, countries were further asked to choose the relevant categories of special requirement, or to describe other special requirements. Sixty-six countries of the 82 that chose the category of special requirements indicated that their laws and regulations employ the regulatory requirement of traditional use without demonstrated harmful effects, while 53 countries indicated that they had a regulatory requirement for reference to documented scientific research (Figure 31). Please note that, as countries were able to choose all options that apply, the number of responses exceeds the number of responding countries.
Figure 31. Special regulatory requirements for safety assessment of herbal medicines
Twenty-one countries chose the option “other” and provided details on other regulatory requirements for safety assessment. These included the following: clinical studies, bibliographical documents, screening of herbs not suitable for food use, screening for toxic elements, radioactivity and heavy metals, well-established use, traditional literature documentation and toxicological studies.
Finally, countries were asked whether control mechanisms exist for the regulatory requirements for safety assessment detailed above and, if so, a brief description was requested. Though 125 Member States responded, the figure below only includes 106 since it excludes those that did not respond to the previous question, or responded solely that that there are no requirements. Of the responding countries, 67%, or 71 countries, indicated that such control mechanisms exist (Figure 32). The control mechanisms were also specified in some cases, of which licensing and registration, laboratory testing and pharmacovigilance centres were among the most frequently cited.
Figure 32. Existence of a control mechanism for safety requirements


As the years tick by with most of the planet doing little in the way of reducing carbon emissions, researchers are getting increasingly serious about the possibility of carbon sequestration. If it looks like we're going to be burning coal for decades, carbon sequestration offers us the best chance of limiting its impact on climate change and ocean acidification. A paper that will appear in today's PNAS describes a fantastic resource for carbon sequestration that happens to be located right next to many of the US' major urban centers on the East Coast.
Assuming that capturing the carbon dioxide is financially and energetically feasible, the big concern becomes where to put it so that it will stay out of the atmosphere for centuries. There appear to be two main schools of thought here. One is that areas that hold large deposits of natural gas should be able to trap other gasses for the long term. The one concern here is that, unlike natural gas, CO2 readily dissolves in water, and may escape via groundwater that flows through these features. The alternative approach turns that problem into a virtue: dissolved CO2 can react with minerals in rocks called basalts (the product of major volcanic activity), forming insoluble carbonate minerals. This should provide an irreversible chemical sequestration.
The new paper helpfully points out that if we're looking for basalts, the East Coast of the US, home to many of its major urban centers and their associated carbon emissions, has an embarrassment of riches. The rifting that broke up the supercontinent called Pangea and formed the Atlantic Ocean's basin triggered some massive basalt flows at the time, which are now part of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, or CAMP. The authors estimate that prior to some erosion, CAMP had the equivalent of the largest basalt flows we're currently aware of, the Siberian and Deccan Traps.
Some of this basalt is on land—anyone in northern Manhattan can look across the Hudson River and see it in the sheer cliffs of the Palisades. But much, much more of it is off the coast under the Atlantic Ocean. The authors provide some evidence in the form of drill cores and seismic readings that indicate there are large basalt deposits in basins offshore of New Jersey and New York, extending up to southern New England.
These areas are now covered with millions of years of sediment, which should provide a largely impermeable barrier that will trap any gas injected into the basalt for many years. The deposits should also have reached equilibrium with the seawater above, which will provide the water necessary for the chemical reactions that precipitate out carbonate minerals.
Using a drill core from an onshore deposit, the authors show that the basalt deposits are also composed of many distinct flows of material. Each of these flows would have undergone rapid cooling on both its upper and lower surface, which fragmented the rock. The core samples show porosity levels between 10 and 20 percent, which should allow any CO2 pumped into the deposits to spread widely.
The authors estimate that New Jersey's Sandy Hook basin, a relatively small deposit, is sufficient to house 40 years' worth of emissions from coal plants that produce 4GW of electricity. And the Sandy Hook basin is dwarfed by one that lies off the Carolinas and Georgia. They estimate that the South Georgia Rift basin covers roughly 40,000 square kilometers.
The authors argue that although laboratory simulations suggest the basic idea of using basalts for carbon sequestration is sound, the actual effectiveness in a given region can depend on local quirks of geology, so pilot tests in the field are absolutely essential for determining whether a given deposit is suitable. So far, only one small-scale test has been performed on any of the CAMP deposits.
Given the area's proximity to significant sources of CO2 and the infrastructure that could be brought into play if full-scale sequestration is attempted, it seems like one of the most promising proposals to date.
PNAS, 2010. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0913721107


This section provides primary sources that document how Indian and European men and one English and one Indian woman have described the practice of sati, or the self-immolation of Hindu widows.
Although they are all critical of self-immolation, Francois Bernier, Fanny Parks, Lord William Bentinck, and Rev. England present four different European perspectives on the practice of sati and what it represents about Indian culture in general, and the Hindu religion and Hindu women in particular. They also indicate increasing negativism in European attitudes toward India and the Hindu religion in general. It would be useful to compare the attitudes of Bentinck and England as representing the secular and sacred aspects of British criticism of sati. A comparison of Bentinck’s minute with the subsequent legislation also reveals differences in tone between private and public documents of colonial officials. Finally, a comparison between the Fanny Parks and the three men should raise discussion on whether or not the gender and social status of the writer made any difference in his or her appraisal of the practice of self-immolation.
The three sources by Indian men and one by an Indian woman illustrate the diversity of their attitudes toward sati. The Marathi source illuminates the material concerns of relatives of the Hindu widow who is urged to adopt a son, so as to keep a potentially lucrative office within the extended family. These men are willing to undertake intense and delicate negotiations to secure a suitably related male child who could be adopted. This letter also documents that adoption was a legitimate practice among Hindus, and that Hindu women as well as men could adopt an heir. Ram Mohan Roy’s argument illustrates a rationalist effort to reform Hindu customs with the assistance of British legislation. Roy illustrates one of the many ways in which Indians collaborate with British political power in order to secure change within Indian society. He also enabled the British to counter the arguments of orthodox Hindus about the scriptural basis for the legitimacy of self-immolation of Hindu widows. The petition of the orthodox Hindu community in Calcutta, the capital of the Company’s territories in India, documents an early effort of Indians to keep the British colonial power from legislating on matters pertaining to the private sphere of Indian family life. Finally, Pandita Ramabai reflects the ways in which ancient Hindu scriptures and their interpretation continued to dominate debate. Students should consider how Ramabai’s effort to raise funds for her future work among child widows in India might have influenced her discussion of sati.
Two key issues should be emphasized. First, both Indian supporters and European and Indian opponents of the practice of self-immolation argue their positions on the bodies of Hindu women, and all the men involved appeal to Hindu scriptures to legitimate their support or opposition. Second, the voices of Indian women were filtered through the sieve of Indian and European men and a very few British women until the late 19th century.
- How do the written and visual sources portray the Hindu women who commit self-immolation? Possible aspects range from physical appearance and age, motivation, evidence of physical pain (that even the most devoted woman must suffer while burning to death), to any evidence of the agency or autonomy of the Hindu widow in deciding to commit sati. Are any differences discernible, and if so, do they seem related to gender or nationality of the observer or time period in which they were observed?
- How are the brahman priests who preside at the self-immolation portrayed in Indian and European sources? What might account for any similarities and differences?
- What reasons are used to deter Hindu widows from committing sati? What do these reasons reveal about the nature of family life in India and the relationships between men and women?
- What do the reasons that orthodox Hindus provide to European observers and to Indian reformers reveal about the significance of sati for the practice of the Hindu religion? What do their arguments reveal about orthodox Hindu attitudes toward women and the family?
- How are Hindu scriptures used in various ways in the debates before and after the prohibition of sati?
- What is the tone of the petition from 800 Hindus to their British governor? Whom do they claim to represent? What is their justification for the ritual of self-immolation? What is their attitude toward the Mughal empire whose Muslim rulers had preceded the British? What is their characterization of the petitioners toward those Hindus who support the prohibition on sati? How do the petitioners envision the proper relationship between the state and the practice of religion among its subjects?
- Who or what factors do European observers, British officials, and Indian opponents of sati hold to be responsible for the continuance of the practice of sati?
- What were the reasons that widows gave for committing sati? Were they religious, social or material motives? What is the evidence that the widows were voluntarily committing sati before 1829? What reasons did the opponents of sati give for the decisions of widows to commit self-immolation? What reasons did opponents give for widows who tried to escape from their husbands’ pyres?
- What are the reasons that Lord Bentinck and his Executive Council cite for their decision to declare the practice of sati illegal? Are the arguments similar to or different from his arguments in his minute a month earlier? What do these reasons reveal about British attitudes toward their role or mission in India? Do they use any of the arguments cited by Ram Mohan Roy or Pandita Ramabai?
- What do these sources, both those who oppose sati and those who advocate it, reveal about their attitudes to the Hindu religion in particular and Indian culture in general?


Bundelkhand’s ravine wastelands. Photo: Keya Acharya/IPS
BUNDELKHAND, India – Narrow, cobblestoned lanes separate the rows of mud houses with cool interiors and mud-smoothened patios, some with goats tethered to the wooden posts. This is Tajpura village, deep in this water-stressed, drought-prone region of northern India.
An area of stark beauty marked by deep ravines in central India, Bundelkhand spans the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The ruins of stone fortresses dotting the landscape betray a history of constant warfare just as the remnants of water courses and irrigation systems speak of peaceable and prosperous times gone by.
Bundelkhand suffers from manmade problems, starting with the government’s misplaced land and water policies that have worsened an already stressed climatic situation caused by prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall.
Air dropping of ‘Prosopis juliflora’ seeds as a soil-conservation measure in the 1960s resulted in the plant becoming an invasive species that killed indigenous shrubs and trees, making the soft soils of the ravines leach water rapidly and turned vast areas into wastelands.
Thoughtless promotion by the government of water-intensive crops like mentha (mint) encouraged richer farmers to dig deep tube wells while neglecting groundwater recharge, resulting in a disastrous lowering of the water table.
Marginalised farmers, unable to afford expensive infrastructure and inputs, suffer as groundwater depletion adds to problems caused by the ancient rainwater storage and distribution systems going defunct.
Drought is now a familiar spectre in this region and less than half of its one million hectare arable spread is now cultivable, causing distress to its mainly farming population of 50 million people.
“What you have is very high water consumption in an area suffering from water crisis,” says Anil Singh, coordinator of Parmarth, an organisation working to revive traditional systems of water and cropping among marginalised communities that inhabit the ravines of Bundelkhand.
In Tajpura village, as though in denial of Bundelkhand’s stark conditions, 36-year-old Mamtadevi, wife of Ajan Singh, serves up a meal of steaming hot chappatis (Indian flat bread) smeared with clarified butter, a cool, green salad and a dish of smoked brinjal, boiled potato, fresh tomato and green chilli.
“That extra taste in the vegetables is because they are grown sustainably and without chemicals,” explains Mamtadevi.
Ajan Singh and Mamtadevi were among the first to adopt Parmarth’s ‘low external input sustainable agriculture’ (LEISA) which is now standing them in good stead as rainfall becomes scantier and average temperatures rises.
LEISA involves such practices as efficient recycling of nitrogen and other plant nutrients, managing pests through natural means, maintaining ideal soil conditions and ensuring that local farmers are aware of the environment and the value of preserving ecosystems.
The soundness of this method shows in the freshness of Ajan Singh’s vegetable crops, in biodiversity conservation through the use of hardy indigenous seeds and avoiding chemicals for maintaining soil health.
Ajan Singh is also able to beat the vagaries of the weather and this year’s drought, caused by failure of the monsoons, holds no great terror for him or for other farmers who follow LEISA.
Bhartendu Prakash, steering committee member of the Organic Farmers Association of India (OFAI) and in-charge of its northern branch based in Bundelkhand, says the region was hit by frost last winter but organic farmlands using LEISA were the least affected.
“I did not know this system previously. I would grow ‘gehu’ (wheat) and manage 200-300 kg on this same plot,” says Ajan Singh.
Parmarth helped the community in contouring the lands for rainwater run-off and storage and constructed a well for irrigation. Its volunteers also taught farmers like Ajan Singh how to make vermicompost and set up pheromone traps to catch insects.
Most farmers though, already had their own methods of making biopesticide – usually a mix of neem leaves and garlic soaked in buffalo buttermilk. “But before the pheromone traps were laid, the spraying had to be done once every three days, now once a week is enough,” says Mamtadevi.
By 2009, the couple’s vegetables had such a reputation for quality that they sold at the local market 10 km away at higher than prevailing rates, earning them nearly 80,000 Indian rupees (then approximately 1,800 dollars) yearly.
Three years later, Ajan Singh bought another ‘bigha’ (approximately 2.2 acres) of land. He now takes his produce to two markets and also sells milk from five buffaloes that he bought with his earnings.
Fifteen more farmers from Tajpura are now following Ajan Singh’s methods.
Along with this, the women of the community have banded together into self-help groups that maintain a savings and loan account to assist women find simple livelihood alternatives like livestock rearing.
The women also run a grain bank that sells surplus grain in the open market and give grain free to distressed families in times of need.
“We are now trying to link the community to government schemes wherever possible, such as obtaining sprinklers, and getting some benefit from the state-run Bundelkhand Relief Package which does help with drought-proofing,” says Anil Singh who works for Parmarth.
Released in 2009 by the federal government, the package worth 1.5 billion dollars supports rainwater harvesting, proper utilisation of river systems, irrigation canals and water bodies over a three-year period.
But Bundelkhand’s natural farming methods need to get more support as the funding period comes to an end.
“Bundelkhand is too entrenched in northern Indian chemical farming methods,” says OFAI’s Prakash. In contrast, OFAI is deluged with requests for training in organic farming methods from farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the ‘mother zone’ of the so-called ‘green revolution’ that transformed agriculture in India after introduction in the 1960s.
Rajesh Krishnan, campaigner for Greenpeace in India, is optimistic that the government will see the wisdom of promoting organic agriculture as a counter measure to the numerous fallouts of chemical agriculture that fuelled the green revolution.
Krishnan is hopeful for the probable financing of sustainable agriculture in India’s 12th Five- Year Plan, due to be rolled out in November.
Prakash is confident that sustainable agricultural farming will survive through a growing demand for organically-grown crops.


Scientists have long projected that areas north and south of the tropics will grow drier in a warming world –- from the Middle East through the European Riviera to the American Southwest, from sub-Saharan Africa to parts of Australia.
These regions are too far from the equator to benefit from the moist columns of heated air that result in steamy afternoon downpours. And the additional precipitation foreseen as more water evaporates from the seas is mostly expected to fall at higher latitudes. Essentially, a lot of climate scientists say, these regions may start to feel more like deserts under the influence of global warming.
Now scientists have measured a rapid recent expansion of desert-like barrenness in the subtropical oceans –- in places where surface waters have also been steadily warming. There could be a link to human-driven climate change, but it’s too soon to tell, the scientists said.
[UPDATED below, 3/6, 1 p..m] Read more…


The white, mottled area in the right-center of this image from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is Madrid, the capital of Spain. Located on the Meseta Central, a vast plateau covering about 40 percent of the country, this city of 3 million is very near the exact geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula. The Meseta is rimmed by mountains and slopes gently to the west and to the series of rivers that form the boundary with Portugal. The plateau is mostly covered with dry grasslands, olive groves and forested hills.
Madrid is situated in the middle of the Meseta, and at an elevation of 646 meters (2,119 feet) above sea level is the highest capital city in Europe. To the northwest of Madrid, and visible in the upper left of the image, is the Sistema Central mountain chain that forms the “dorsal spine” of the Meseta and divides it into northern and southern subregions. Rising to about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), these mountains display some glacial features and are snow-capped for most of the year. Offering almost year-round winter sports, the mountains are also important to the climate of Madrid.
Three visualization methods were combined to produce this image: shading and color coding of topographic height and radar image intensity. The shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the northwest-southeast direction. North-facing slopes appear bright and south-facing slopes appear dark. Color coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow and brown to white at the highest elevations. The shade image was combined with the radar intensity image in the flat areas.
Size: 172 by 138 kilometers (107 by 86 miles)
Location: 40.43 degrees North latitude, 3.70 degrees West longitude
Orientation: North toward the top
Image Data: shaded and colored SRTM elevation model, with SRTM radar intensity added
Original Data Resolution: SRTM 1 arcsecond (about 30 meters or 98 feet)
Date Acquired: February 2000
Image Courtesy SRTM Team NASA/JPL/NIMA


A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to a May 2012 paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Paper author Christopher Brochu is an associate professor of geoscience at University of Iowa. He said:
It’s the largest known true crocodile. It may have exceeded 27 feet in length. By comparison, the largest recorded Nile crocodile was less than 21 feet, and most are much smaller.
The newly-discovered species lived between two and four million years ago in Kenya. It resembled its living cousin, the Nile crocodile, but was more massive.
Brochu recognized the new species from fossils that he examined three years ago at the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi. Some were found at sites known for important human fossil discoveries. Brochu said:
It lived alongside our ancestors, and it probably ate them. He explains that although the fossils contain no evidence of human/reptile encounters, crocodiles generally eat whatever they can swallow, and humans of that time period would have stood no more than four feet tall.
We don’t actually have fossil human remains with croc bites, but the crocs were bigger than today’s crocodiles, and we were smaller, so there probably wasn’t much biting involved.
Brochu added that there likely would have been ample opportunity for humans to encounter crocs. That’s because early man, along with other animals, would have had to seek water at rivers and lakes where crocodiles lie in wait.
The crocodile Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is named after John Thorbjarnarson, famed crocodile expert and Brochu’s colleague who died of malaria while in the field several years ago.
Brochu says Crocodylus thorbjarnarsoni is not directly related to the present-day Nile crocodile. This suggests that the Nile crocodile is a fairly young species and not an ancient “living fossil,” as many people believe. Borchu said:
We really don’t know where the Nile crocodile came from. But it only appears after some of these prehistoric giants died out.
Bottom line: A paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in May, 2012 reports the discovery of an ancient crocodile large enough to swallow humans that lived two to four million years ago in East Africa.


The Seine, the scenic river running through Paris, has inspired artists, attracted tourists and served as the soul of the city, and now it will also be a source of renewable energy. Paris officials have announced a plan to place river turbines beneath four bridges on the Seine.
The Pont du Garigliano, Pont de la Tournelle, Pont Marie and Pont au Change will each have two turbines installed underwater at their base. These bridges were chosen because the speed of the current accelerates in those locations. While river currents don't produce the kind of electricity that wave power can, the current-harvesting technology has come a long way and more devices are being introduced that can generate energy from even the slowest moving waters.
City officials have put a call out to power companies to come up with the best plan for installing the turbines, with a winner being chosen in January and installations starting next spring.
via The Guardian
written by Quiet-Environmentalist, June 29, 2010
written by David Brockes, July 08, 2010
|< Prev||Next >|


On 26 June 2012 it is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
This important day was created by the United Nations General Assembly to help create a society free of illegal drugs and drug abuse. The date raises awareness of two important world issues -World Drug Day and theBlue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking.Established in 1987, the day is now in its 25th year and its pro-health campaign is stronger than ever.
Each year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) selects a theme for the day and this year it is Health.
Events will be held all over the world, from Australia to Vietnam, to look at the effects of drugs in local communities and how we can stop them.
From the dangerous effects of cannabis to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and needle sharing, there will be lots of information available to get educated and join the fight against drug abuse.