Album Title: Mozart Piano Concertos No. 20 & 27
Performers: Clifford Curzon, Benjamin Britten/English Chamber Orchestra
Label and #: Esoteric Decca 90014
Play Time:
Recorded: September 1970, Snape Maltings, UK

Some places just resonate with memories of great music. The Snape Maltings concert hall in Suffolk, UK is one such place, home as it is to the famous Aldeburgh Festival founded by Benjamin Britten, Peter Pears and Eric Crozier in 1948 and being intimately linked to the Gustav Holst library. Why do I mention the Snape Maltings hall? Because it takes a venue of character and excellence to create a moment of magic like the one that was recorded by Decca back in September 1970.

I already knew Britten to be one of the finest Mozarteans of the previous century, having a unique sensitivity for the subtle orchestral constructions that Wolfgang Amadeus left us and his directing the English Chamber Orchestra on this recording only confirmed my impression; but until now I had not necessarily associated Curzon with Mozart and this disc shows how wrong my perception was.

I am not quite as familiar with the 20th piano concerto but Mozart's last composition for the genre, his Piano Concerto No. 27, is a concert and recording favorite for all pianists of fame. I have heard it played live by Maria Joao Pires, Martha Argerich, Murray Perahia; and by Alfred Brendel and Rudolph Serkin on disc - yet Curzon surprised me. His interpretation is as classical as can be yet the nuances he brings to the phrasing
and his subtle touch on the ivories are unique indeed. What kept surprising me throughout the 27th concerto is how Curzon lets the notes float in mid-air, suspended, fragile and ephemeral. This is never more true than in the opening bars of the second movement where the first initial notes played by the solo piano before the orchestra enters are surreal, suspended in the middle of the hall's acoustics and slowly fading away.

Curzon planned on recording an even more definitive interpretation of this concerto which obsessed him to the extreme but his passing away prevents us from knowing what he considered his ultimate legacy to Mozarts' 27
th. His vision of 1970 which he resisted publishing for eight long years is the closest we'll ever have of knowing what he intended to deliver. One can regret that the last recording never took place - or rejoice that this jewel was preserved and has now been brought back to even greater splendor through Esoteric's remastering.

This disc is the second in Esoteric's 20th Anniversary series after Beethoven's Overtures and it has the signature sound of Decca's finest recordings of the 1970s, detailed and open, with a wealth of subtle tonal hues and imaging to die for. Esoteric's work seems to have preserved most if not all the master tape information with its hall acoustics, chair creaking and tape hiss but what matters is how the soul of the music is presented so truthfully, unhurt and pristine. Curzon's piano is sized appropriately against the orchestra, and placed in a warm and slightly reverberant environment that beautifully enhances his subtle touch. This disc is not as much of a show piece as the Beethoven recording but in a way, its technical achievements are even greater by how they preserve the ephemeral nuances of Curzon's phrasing. Those nuances separate a good version from a great one and preserving them separates a great mastering job from an average one. Is this the ultimate recording of Mozart's 27th piano concerto? Possibly, although I have not heard them all. It is certainly the ultimate I know.


Encyclopedia > Dictator

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Today, dictator is usually understood to mean a person who controls or governs a totalitarian or authoritarian regime, and usually carries a connotation of brutality and oppression.

See also: Dictatorship, Dictatorship of the proletariat, autocrat[?], monarch, military dictatorship.

Dictators of Ancient Rome In its original sense, dictator meant a political office of the Roman Republic. Indeed, dictator is a Latin word that means (roughly) "one who commands". A dictator was elected in times of military emergency to take command of the state and its armies for a term of 6 months. Unlike ordinary Roman govenment officials, dictators were elected without colleagues and had no limits on their authority, military or civil. A dictator was chosen by the Senate and confirmed by a vote of the people. The dictator, once confirmed, chose his own Magister Equitum or "Commander of the Cavalry" to help him in his administration.

The best known of the Roman dictators of the regular type were Cincinnatus and Fabius Maximus (see Second Punic War). Julius Caesar was named dictator for a 10 year term in 46 BC and "dictator for life" in 45, both irregular appointments.

Benevolent Dictator A benevolent dictator is an undemocratic or authoritarian leader who uses his powers for the good of his people, and not just his own self interest.

Napoleon Bonaparte of France, Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Fidel Castro of Cuba, and Francisco Franco of Spain are examples of dictators whom some consider to have led largely benevolent regimes.

The problem is however that probably every dictator creates a group of people around him that can profit heavily from him being in reign. This group will of course hold that the dictator is benevolent. Even in recent times dictators have been generously supported by western states. This includes weapon deals and big loans.

Many dictators attempt to create an image for themselves as being benevolent dictators, usually by creating a personality cult.

Some more dictators

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Blevins dishes on all things Christmas

Blevins dishes on all things Christmas

Blevins dishes on all things Christmas
The A's longest tenured member, Jerry Blevins, is gearing up for his seventh season in an Oakland uniform. His sixth proved to be the best of his career, as the lefty reliever compiled a 5-1 record with a 2.48 ERA and a .201 batting average against while racking up a career-high 65 1/3 innings.

In the coming week, Blevins will step away from the baseball preparation to enjoy the holidays with his family. As the year comes to an end, the 29-year-old took some time to share some of his favorite holiday memories, both past and present, with Can you talk about some favorite holiday traditions in the Blevins family?

Blevins: When my grandpa was alive, we would dress up as elves while he was Santa. Then we would drive around and deliver presents to needy families in the area. My grandpa was a founder of the local Elks club and the whole club would gather presents that we would deliver. Now we go to the local malls and pick a few people from the "help tree" and get the presents on the tree. Another is watching "A Christmas Story." Are there any special food dishes for the Blevins family Christmas?

Blevins: The only special dish that our family has is my grandma's fudge. The peanut butter fudge is my favorite. What's the best gift you've ever received?

Blevins: The best gift I ever received was a pair of roller blades that were interchangeable into 3 different forms: roller blades, short skis and ice skates. A year-round, multi-sport gift. Brilliant. Although the skis weren't as functional as one would hope. What about the worst gift you ever opened?

Blevins: The worst gift was a wool sweater that wasn't treated properly I have to say. Probably the most itchiness substance on earth. Can't tell you who it's from so I can't hurt his/her feelings. What's on your Christmas wish list this year?

Blevins: My wish list includes Blu-Rays for "Looper," "The Dark Knight Rises" and an Amazon gift card for my kindle account -- offseason reading. How would you describe yourself as a shopper?

Blevins: I'm a very patient shopper. A very picky, from-the-heart-type shopper. Always wanting to get something that will make the recipient know it's heartfelt. What would you get Bob Melvin for Christmas?

Blevins: I'm not sure Bob Melvin needs anything from me for Christmas. Maybe just reassurance that I'm working my butt off for him and my teammates, preparing for the upcoming season. How about Billy Beane?

Blevins: I think Billy would want the same gift as what BoMel is getting. If you could play any character in any Christmas movie, who would it be?

Blevins: If I could play any character from Christmas movies I would definitively choose Kevin from "Home Alone." One of my favorite gifts of all time was the talk boy he used in one of the movies. Setting up the pranks for the wet bandits would be fantastic. That might explain my fascination with Rube Goldberg machines. Do you have a favorite Christmas song?

Blevins: My nephew Jake sings "Jingle Bells Batman Smells" and it's definitely my favorite. Hilarious every time I hear it. Are you making any New Year's resolutions?

Blevins: No New Year's resolutions for me. I don't tend to wait on New Years for things I think I need to accomplish today.


Royal Society Publishing

The cost of being valuable: predictors of extinction risk in marine invertebrates exploited as luxury seafood

Steven W. Purcell, Beth A. Polidoro, Jean-François Hamel, Ruth U. Gamboa, Annie Mercier

Extinction risk has been linked to biological and anthropogenic variables. Prediction of extinction risk in valuable fauna may not follow mainstream drivers when species are exploited for international markets. We use results from an International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessment of extinction risk in all 377 known species of sea cucumber within the order Aspidochirotida, many of which are exploited worldwide as luxury seafood for Asian markets. Extinction risk was primarily driven by high market value, compounded by accessibility and familiarity (well known) in the marketplace. Extinction risk in marine animals often relates closely to body size and small geographical range but our study shows a clear exception. Conservation must not lose sight of common species, especially those of high value. Greater human population density and poorer economies in the geographical ranges of endangered species illustrate that anthropogenic variables can also predict extinction risks in marine animals. Local-level regulatory measures must prevent opportunistic exploitation of high-value species. Trade agreements, for example CITES, may aid conservation but will depend on international technical support to low-income tropical countries. The high proportion of data deficient species also stresses a need for research on the ecology and population demographics of unglamorous invertebrates.

1. Introduction

Most countries have made slow progress in their global assignments to safeguard the Earth's biodiversity [1,2]. In an attempt to guide conservation efforts, research into attributes that predispose species to the risk of extinction has surged [3,4]. Extinction drivers are increasingly viewed as the combined effects of biological and anthropogenic variables. High-trophic level, large body size, low population density, slow life history (slow growth and late maturation) and small geographical range size are often the major biological drivers of extinction risk in marine species, in comparable importance to human-related factors such as habitat loss, over-exploitation, introduced species and chains of extinction [3,4].

In 1883, Thomas Huxley proclaimed the assumption that economic extinction (exploitation cessation) of marine species will precede ecological extinction because sparse populations are increasingly costly to exploit [4]. However, this notion has long been questioned [5]. Increased value can be attributed to rarity [68], thereby precipitating extinctions through the so-called anthropogenic Allee effect (AAE) [9]. Alternatively, valuable species can become rare from targeted exploitation arising from consumer preference, which can drive them to extinction through opportunistic exploitation [10]. Exacerbating both processes is the growing population and wealth of China—a dominant market for derivatives of rare and exceptional wildlife [11].

The oceans are inhabited by all but one of the currently described metazoan phyla and therefore host the largest part of the Earth's biodiversity [12]. Assessments of extinction risks in the ocean are particularly challenging [13]. The historical belief that exploitation cannot drive marine species to extinction has been refuted by the collapse of fisheries worldwide [14] and recent extinctions of marine species caused by exploitation [10,15]. Although marine extinctions are only slowly uncovered at the global scale [2], human-dominated marine ecosystems, for example coastal zones [16], are experiencing accelerated loss of populations and species [17]. Fishing through marine food webs is an alarming trend [18], leading to the rapid expansion and depletion of invertebrate fisheries [19]. Despite this trend, marine invertebrates are lagging in extinction-risk assessments and conservation research afforded to more charismatic vertebrate taxa such as mammals [20], turtles, birds and fishes [8,21]. This marked bias is at odds with the sheer domination of marine invertebrates (more than 30 phyla) in the oceans' faunal biodiversity [12].

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments are commonly used as a surrogate measure of extinction risk [13,20,21]. Alternative methods have produced similar results and the criteria under which declining species are assessed explicitly equate IUCN Red List categories to empirically estimated rates of decline in global population size [8]. A recent IUCN Red List assessment of all sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in the order Aspidochirotida (electronic supplementary material, table S1) provided the opportunity to test the effects of drivers of extinction risk in a low-trophic-level group of invertebrates. At least 60 species of sea cucumbers are harvested worldwide, primarily by divers and waders in the tropics and by trawl in temperate and polar seas [22]. Sea cucumber is a prized seafood on Asian markets (electronic supplementary material, figure S1) and is one of five essential luxury foods in festive dinners alongside shark fin, bird nests (swiftlet saliva), fish maw (swim bladder) and abalone. In the non-perishable dried form, the temperate species Apostichopus japonicus can command up to US$2950 kg−1 in Chinese markets, whereas high-value tropical species can fetch US$140–1670 kg−1 [23]. Intensive aquaculture production of A. japonicus, especially in China, has not reduced market prices and cannot be considered to safeguard extinction in the wild. In recent decades, high market demand has intensified exploitation within existing sea cucumber fisheries and spurred new fisheries elsewhere [19,24].

For each species, we compiled data on a range of biological and anthropogenic explanatory variables: average body size, median depth of occurrence, geographical range size, market price, climate zone of occurrence, and human demographic and wealth indices in the geographical range. We performed univariate and multivariate analyses to examine the effect of these explanatory variables on extinction risk defined by the IUCN Red List categories ascribed to each species. The main objectives were to identify places in the world with high numbers of threatened sea cucumber species, determine which biological and anthropogenic variables relate to the extinction-risk categories assigned to species and test which of those variables can best predict extinction risks. Our findings of trends in extinction-risk drivers that differ from most other marine species are discussed in terms of the market forces affecting exploitation of sea cucumbers globally. These insights are valuable for understanding the drivers of extinction risk in animals exploited for luxury markets. Our study offers an important example that extinction risk may not relate closely to large body size, small geographical range and a species’ rarity. Better understanding of the relative effect of these and other explanatory variables is pivotal for identifying species at risk of extinction and for choosing appropriate management measures to mitigate extinction risks [16,25]. We therefore conclude by advocating research for ‘conservation hotspots’ (places of critical need) and potential national and international management measures, which are relevant to biodiversity conservation of other high-value species under exploitation.

2. Material and methods

(a) Assessments of sea cucumbers, order Aspidochirotida

This study uses published results [26] of a global assessment that evaluated extinction risks in all 377 known sea cucumber species in the order Aspidochirotida, which contains most of the commercially exploited species (electronic supplementary material, table S1). Briefly, the IUCN Red List assessments were based on application of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria [27] and using a vast number of published reviews, studies and reports on the species. A species qualified for one of the three threatened categories (critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN) and vulnerable (VU)) by meeting the threshold for that category in one of five Criteria (see the electronic supplementary material, S1 Materials and Methods). Species that did not come close to meeting the thresholds were assessed as least concern (LC) and species with insufficient data to apply the Red List Criteria were assessed as data deficient (DD). The species assessments were reviewed and edited by a separate panel of international experts in taxonomy and IUCN Red List assessment methodology [28]. Most of the species that met the threshold for a threatened category were assessed under Criterion A [26], which measures extinction risk based on exceeding a threshold of population decline (30% for VU, 50% for EN and 80% for CR) over a time frame of the greater of 10 years or three generation lengths. The IUCN defines generation length as the average age of reproducing adults of the current cohort [28]. During the IUCN Red List assessment, generation length was approximated as 11–17 years according to IUCN methodology (see the electronic supplementary material, S1 Materials and Methods).

(b) Explanatory variables of each species

Species maps and analyses of geographical ranges were done in ArcGIS (v. 10.1) using the minimum convex polygon connecting all known points occurrence. For shallow species occurring primarily shallower than 200 m and those with limited records, the polygons were cut to a 100 km shoreline buffer and depth of 200 m. Intervals of 500–1000 m were used for deep-water species (more than 200 m). For species known from a single record at more than 200 m depth, a polygon was drawn at the appropriate 1000-m depth interval around the reported geographical area. The resulting polygons in square kilometres provided an estimate of geographical range size at 2011. Three latitude zones (tropical, temperate and polar) were determined based on Spalding et al. [29]. The latitude zone representing the majority of a species’ range was designated where the range overlapped two or more zones.

Market prices of sea cucumbers were obtained in October 2011 from retail and wholesale shops in Hong Kong (n = 7) and Guangzhou (n = 11). Maximum market price seen in those shops was used for analyses to avoid bias from data on low-quality products of some species. Average live weights of sea cucumbers were based on averages of values from biological studies in various localities across the geographical range of each species [23].

Data on human population density and wealth in the geographical ranges of commercial species (n = 61) were obtained by compiling metrics for all countries in each range (electronic supplementary material, figure S1 and table S1). The raw data, relative to the geographical range of each species, included coastline (km), total population, coastal population, human development index (HDI) and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita converted at 2011 to international dollars (also called the ‘Geary–Khamis dollar’, has same purchasing power parity as US dollar at a given point in time). Individual country data were summed to obtain values in the whole range for total human population, coastal human population, cumulative HDI and cumulative GDP. We also calculated mean HDI and GDP, as well as HDI and GDP indices prorated to coastline and coastal human population. Finally, total and coastal human densities were calculated by dividing values of total and coastal human population by the species geographical range size in square kilometres.

(c) Statistical analyses

We firstly used univariate analyses to examine variations in the average values of explanatory variables (biological and anthropogenic) among Red List categories (response). This step also narrowed down the most appropriate wealth metric and human demographic metric (i.e. anthropogenic variables) that would be unique for subsequent multivariate tests. Homogeneity of variance in tests was confirmed using Levene's test. Using all available data in each case, one-way ANOVA tests examined differences among the four IUCN Red List assessment categories for the following explanatory variables: average live body weights (n = 46), median depth of occurrence (n = 271; log10 transformed), maximum market price (n = 30; log10 transformed), geographical range size (n = 362; log10 transformed) and a range of human density and wealth indices (see the electronic supplementary material, S1 Materials and Methods) in the range of commercial species (n = 61). The relationship between maximum market prices (log10 transformed) and average body weights of species (n = 30) was analysed using linear regression. The proportions of species in Red List categories between tropical and temperate–polar groups were tested using a Fisher exact test. Differences in averages of and among Red List categories were tested using one-way ANOVA tests.

Multinomial logistic regression analyses, using a forward stepwise process, were then performed on a reduced dataset of commercial species for which we had data on all of the selected six explanatory variables. The variables were: maximum market price, average adult body weight, median depth of occurrence, geographical range size, human density in geographical range and coastal GDP in geographical range. The univariate analyses had shown that the last two of these variables were the most significant demographic and wealth indices, respectively. Geographical range size was also a key factor in IUCN criteria B and D. The categorical response was the Red List category assigned to the species from the IUCN Red List assessment (LC, VU, EN, DD) [26]. The multinomial logistic regression analyses are robust to accommodate the unbalanced design concerning the number of species across the four response categories. These analyses were employed to model which explanatory variable(s) most strongly distinguished the Red List categories. VU and EN species were pooled into a single ‘threatened’ category. The explanatory variables were all transformed using natural log. The most appropriate relationship between the multinomial logistic regression estimated probabilities of being classed as EN or VU and the maximum market price of species was determined using Akaike's information criterion [30] on multiple functional forms.

3. Results

In brief, the IUCN Red List assessment determined that 4% of all of the 377 species in the Aspidochirotida were threatened, comprising seven EN (figure 1) and nine VU (see the electronic supplementary material, table S1, and [26]). Thirteen of these threatened species comprise 21% of the 61 commercially important species. Twenty-nine per cent of all 377 species were assessed as LC, while 66% were assessed as DD (electronic supplementary material, table S1). Fifty species are found in waters deeper than 200 m, at least 10 species are in need of taxonomic revision and approximately 15 species are thought to be heavily fished in at least a portion of their range, but data were insufficient to estimate population declines.

Figure 1.

Endangered sea cucumbers. (a) A. japonicus, (b) H. scabra, (c) I. fuscus, (d) H. lessoni, (e) H. nobilis, (f) H. whitmaei, (g) Thelenota ananas. Photos: (a), Fukushima–Yoshioka Fisheries Cooperative Association (with permission); (bg), S. W. Purcell.

Three species not currently targeted by fishers (Bohadschia maculisparsa, Holothuria arenacava and Holothuria platei) were listed as VU under Criterion D2. These species have very small reported distributions and are assumed to be intrinsically threatened owing to a current or projected plausible threat [28].

(a) Univariate tests

The average adult body weight (fresh and live) had little effect on a species risk of extinction (figure 2); the average body weights of EN (1138 ± 314 g; mean ± s.e.) and VU (1061 ± 440 g) species were similar to those of species assessed as LC (889 ± 217 g) and DD (1006 ± 314 g) (F3,42 = 0.11, p = 0.953). On the other hand, maximum market prices differed significantly among IUCN Red List categories for commercial species (F3,26 = 8.24, p = 0.001). The average maximum market price was significantly higher for EN species (US$1030) than species assessed as VU (US$158), LC (US$124) and DD (US$106) (p-values < 0.01). The linear relationship between market prices and average adult body weights of species was weak (F1,28 = 1.76, p = 0.195, r2 = 0.06).

Figure 2.

Value versus body size of commercially exploited sea cucumbers. Plot of maximum market prices of sea cucumber species in Chinese markets (Hong Kong and Guangzhou; axis is on a log10 scale) versus their average live adult weight. Only species for which market prices could be obtained are shown; n = 29.

Globally, there is a much greater number of threatened sea cucumber species in the tropics than in temperate and polar regions (figure 3). The number of threatened species in countries in and surrounding the Coral Triangle were notably high. By contrast, just three threatened sea cucumber species (A. japonicus, A. parvimensis and H. platei) are found in temperate waters. However, the proportion of species in Red List categories out of the total number of species present did not differ significantly between tropical and temperate/polar climes (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.425; electronic supplementary material, figure S2). The proportion of DD species was high in all zones.

Figure 3.

Global prevalence of threatened sea cucumbers. Number of sea cucumber species within the order Aspidochirotida that were classed as EN or VU among locations worldwide.

The average median depth of occurrence (middle of known depth range) of sea cucumbers differed significantly among the extinction-risk categories (F3,233 = 3.88; p = 0.01). The median depth at which species occur was highly variable in the DD and LC groups (figure 4a). Median depth of occurrence was at bathyal depths (200–4000 m) in 120 species examined (32%), and at abyssal depths (more than 4000 m) in 14 species (4%). By contrast, VU and EN aspidochirotid sea cucumbers were consistently found in shallow waters; means of median depths: 18 ± 9 m (mean ± s.d.) and 19 ± 6 m, respectively.

Figure 4.

Error bar and scatter plots of comparisons among IUCN Red List categories for (a) depth at which sea cucumbers can be found in the oceans (n = 226), (b) their geographical range area (n = 362), (c) human population density in geographical range of each species (n = 60) and (d) GDP per kilometre of coastline in geographical range of each species (n = 61). Axes for (a,b) are on a log10 scale; data for the four extinction-risk categories are untransformed. Squares are means and error bars are 95% CIs. Categories: DD, data deficient; LC, least concern; VU, vulnerable; EN, endangered. (Online version in colour.)

Average geographical range size differed significantly among the four extinction-risk categories (F3,358 = 17.84, p < 0.001; figure 4b). Specifically, DD species had smaller range sizes than species assessed as LC, VU and EN (post hoc LSD, p-values < 0.001–0.028). Many of the DD species are known only from one or few specimens, giving them presumably underestimated geographical ranges. The geographical range areas of VU (9.6 ± 3.1 million km2) and EN species were more variable, and seemingly larger, than species of LC, but differences were statistically non-significant (figure 4b). The VU group included three species with very small known geographical ranges, meeting criterion D2 [27], in addition to species with very large geographical ranges that were assessed under Criterion A.

Human density within a species’ range differed significantly among the IUCN Red List categories (F3,56 = 3.36, p = 0.025; figure 4c). Human populations were significantly denser for the EN species than species assessed as DD or LC (post hoc Holm-Sidak, p < 0.05). The average GDP per capita in coastal regions of countries in the species’ ranges declined from LC to VU to EN species (figure 4d); differences were non-significant (F3,57 = 1.99, p = 0.127) but the same trend was consistent across all analyses of GDP metrics. On the other hand, no significant differences or clear trends among IUCN categories were found for the metrics of HDI (p-values: 0.424–0.997).

(b) Multivariate tests

The final model provided by the multinomial logistic regression analysis determined that the significant variables that best explained the Red List categories among species were maximum market price (χ2 = 13.6; p = 0.001) and geographical range (χ2 = 7.3; p = 0.026). Large geographical ranges and high market prices tended to distinguish threatened species. This result does not contradict the significant univariate results for other explanatory variables. Rather, it infers that maximum market price and geographical range were the variables that together could best explain the Red List categories assigned to the commercial species. The pairwise comparisons of the final model showed that maximum market price significantly distinguished the threatened species (EN and VU) from species assessed as LC or DD (electronic supplementary material, table S2). The modelled probabilities from the multinomial logistic regression revealed that the likelihood of a species being classified as EN or VU increases steeply with market value (p < 0.001, r2 = 0.80; electronic supplementary material, figure S3).

4. Discussion

Market price stands out as the key driver of extinction risk in commercially exploited aspidochirotid sea cucumbers, seconded by large geographical range, accessibility (shallow depth of occurrence), as well as dense human populations and coastal poverty in the geographical ranges. Our study provides a clear example from marine invertebrates in which widely distributed species can become threatened through familiarity (being well known) in the marketplace that makes them valuable. Our findings also highlight that extrinsic factors can be significant determinants of extinction risk, even for species once considered to be locally common and with wide geographical distributions.

(a) Paying the price of being valuable

The AAE happens when a species’ market value increases disproportionately as it becomes rare, motivating exploitation at very low abundance and leading to extinction [9]. The rarer they become, the greater the demand to exploit every last one; i.e. rarity causes their high value. However, in contrast to the AAE, high-value drives rarity in sea cucumbers, not vice versa. None of the naturally rare species are particularly high value. The seven species classified as EN, have been previously common and widely distributed. Their populations have declined considerably through intense exploitation throughout most of their native ranges, but none are yet rare at a global scale.

Over-exploitation has reduced wild populations of the most expensive species (A. japonicus) by more than 60% across its geographical range, despite vast mariculture of these sea cucumbers in China. Billions of juveniles are now produced in hatcheries and grown-out in ponds or sea farms but, from all accounts, wild populations have not been repopulated [26]. Holothuria scabra, also EN, attracts the highest market price of any tropical species [23,31], is widely distributed and has always been favoured by southern Chinese, even when once abundant [32]. Sea cucumbers are valued by Asian consumers for their familiarity in dishes, health and medicinal benefits, and good eating qualities but not for their rareness. By comparison, sea cucumbers in naturally low abundance (e.g. Thelenota rubralineata, Actinopyga flammea, Stichopus pseudohorrens), do not attract higher prices [23].

This appraisal demonstrates that high value can be a key driver of extinction risk in low-trophic-level animals as has been shown for high-trophic-level tunas, billfishes [8] and groupers [33]. Globally, high-revenue fisheries develop before low-revenue fisheries [34], and high-value sea cucumber species are often targeted first before fishers move to lower value species [35,36]. The corollary is that low-value species with small populations or small geographical ranges, for example the three VU species not currently targeted by fishers, could be easily fished to extinction. In view of the importance of predicting vulnerability, estimating extinction risk and prioritizing species for conservation attention [13], we submit that highly desirable sea cucumbers are under greatest threat of extinction, as has been the case for many marine and terrestrial species [10]. In the past decade, export-driven exploitation has caused the collapse of numerous sea cucumber fisheries and populations of high-value species were always reported as the first to be affected [24].

Easy access by fishers to the sea cucumbers close to shore is the most probable underlying source of the significant relationship we found between densities of human populations in the species geographical range and their risk of extinction. The accompanying trend of lower GDP of coastal populations in the geographical ranges of threatened species reinforces the notion that harvesting of sea cucumbers is most attractive to low-income communities. Similarly, dense human populations and poor regional economies have been important predictors of extinction risk in birds [37] and mammals [38,39]. Our study illustrates that anthropogenic variables can also play a key role in driving extinction risks in the sea, even for animals at low-trophic levels.

The incentives to exploit high-value species are intuitive but the process of exploiting them to extinction is more complex. Continued exploitation of depleted populations is possible through ‘opportunistic exploitation’, arising from a pernicious synergy between sympatric exploitation and high value [10]. A silent accomplice to this threat is the (demographic) Allee effect; when wild populations decline in abundance to a threshold at which low reproductive success results in negative per capita population growth, sending them into an extinction vortex [15,40].

(b) Effects of geographical range size

Greater geographical range often affords species with resilience to extinction [20,41], although there are a few exceptions, for example groupers [33]. Within marine invertebrates specifically, large geographical range size was the most important determinant of resilience to extinction in recent geological history [41,42]. Our findings exemplify an important exception, underpinned by modern market drivers and human exploitation. Sea cucumber species in both VU and EN categories tended to be distributed across larger areas compared with least threatened species. Future genetic studies may split some of these species, reducing their known geographical ranges. The effect of large geographical range size on extinction risk can be explained by the effect of marketplace familiarity on extinction risk—widely traded species with desirable qualities become well known, which increases prices and spurs over-exploitation. This phenomenon is known from other previously common, widely distributed and heavily exploited species, such as big-leaf mahogany Swietenia macrophylla, passenger pigeon Ectopistes migratorius and Atlantic cod Gadus morhua [43], and certain groupers [33]. Typical threatening processes that are associated with significant declines in once common species relate to exploitation rate, habitat loss, natural demographic variability, population growth rates and hazardous behaviours like aggregating for reproduction [43]. Our study shows that high market value, accessibility (ease of exploitation), proximity to areas of high human density and poverty can be important extrinsic traits that can help identify species at greatest risk. Moreover, these traits appear to override the resilience to extinction normally afforded by broad geographical range.

(c) Does size matter?

Although body size is a good predictor of extinction vulnerability in marine fishes [15,44] and marine mammals [20], it was not a significant predictor for sea cucumbers. Across commercial species for which market prices were obtained, we found little correspondence between the average size of a species and its value. Both large and small species have roles in Chinese cuisine; e.g. small specimens of the spiky species, categorized as ci-shen, are served in small dishes in Beijing-style cuisine (electronic supplementary material, figure S1e), whereas the larger, smooth species, categorized as guang-shen, are served on large plates in Cantonese-style cuisine. The message is that large body size is not a universally reliable indicator of extinction risk.

(d) Is deeper safer?

Depth of fishing grounds can be a proxy for the costs of fishing, and species in shallow waters have been shown to be preferentially impacted by global overfishing [34]. Our univariate analyses revealed that threatened species systematically inhabit relatively shallow waters. This trend points to a strong effect of resource accessibility on extinction risk. In certain places where compressed-air diving is practiced, stocks in deeper waters no longer have refuge from exploitation [35].

Greater fishing pressure in shallow waters is corroborated by our findings that EN species tended to be from tropical coasts with dense human populations with poor economies. In low-income tropical countries, sea cucumbers are harvested in small-scale fisheries by hand in shallow waters accessible to waders and breath-hold divers [24]. We further point out that shallow-water species in the tropics are imperilled by broad-scale threats to coral reef ecosystems from ocean acidification and warming seas [45], which can additively amplify the extinction risks from over-exploitation [46].

(e) Knowledge gaps and uncertainties

(i) Estimating generation length

Under IUCN Red List assessment methodology, Criterion A requires estimation of generation length of each species. When unknown empirically, generation length is approximated from biological parameters of related species (see the electronic supplementary material, S1 Materials and Methods). However, little knowledge exists on longevity or ages of the vast majority of Aspidochirotida species [24]. The IUCN Red List assessment of the Aspidochirotida conservatively estimated three generation lengths to be 30–50 years. This time frame could be under- or over-estimated for certain species and requires future research.

(ii) Data deficiency

Marine invertebrates comprise more than 95% of all marine animal species but most are poorly known [47]. The high proportion (66%) of DD sea cucumber species contrasts with a predominance of data sufficiency in IUCN assessments of charismatic marine vertebrates; e.g. 28% of marine mammals, 31% of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) and 17% of marine turtles are DD [20,21]. In addition to needing basic biological data on described species, more taxonomic studies are required on undescribed aspidochirotid species, excluded from this IUCN assessment, some despite being harvested in several countries. Marine invertebrates, for example sea cucumbers, attract less funding for basic biological research than corals, fishes and other charismatic marine fauna [21]. The limited understanding of life-history traits of sea cucumbers [24], and many other marine invertebrate groups [47], will continue to hinder conservation efforts and assessments of extinction risk.

A number of sea cucumber species are relatively rare and, although not the prime targets of fishers, are exploited. Rare species require a large number of samples to assess population abundance and declines with any accuracy and that is especially labour intensive on coral reefs [13]. Although their rarity does not make them especially valuable, their populations may already be reproductively precarious and vulnerable to incidental exploitation. Thus, special attention needs to be given to rare species in resource assessments.

(f) Implications for biodiversity conservation

(i) National and local measures

Sea cucumbers contribute value to coral reef ecosystems through nutrient recycling and sediment bioturbation (reviewed in [24,48]) and might help to buffer reef biota from ocean acidification [49]. A modern explosion of studies on the medicinal benefits of sea cucumber products [50] reveals vast opportunities for pharmaceutical uses. Additionally, some of the EN species, such as H. scabra, Holothuria lessoni and Isostichopus fuscus, are showing promise as alternative aquaculture commodities [31]. Therefore, sea cucumbers are nationally valuable for export revenue, ecosystem services, and commercial and mariculture opportunities.

Our findings emphasize that high-value species, particularly those in shallow waters easily accessible to fishers, are likely to be at greatest risk of extinction of wild populations, even if they were once common and broadly distributed. High-value species need most stringent regulatory measures for their exploitation [10], because they can still be collected opportunistically after fishers shift to targeting lower value species [24], and conservation must not lose sight of threats to common species [43]. Species-specific bans have been placed on threatened sea cucumbers in a few instances [51] but these regulations do not prevent serial depletion of other species further down the value chain. An alternative is to set a shortlist of allowable species, which excludes threatened species and those important for ecosystem functions [10,24]. This regulatory measure should be accompanied by others, such as capacity and effort limitations (e.g. short fishing seasons), to keep exploitation of fishable populations at sustainable rates.

(ii) International and regional measures

Administrative burdens of compliance and inability to effectively enforce national bans are problematic for CITES listing of sea cucumbers [52]. Our finding that low-income countries have many threatened species to manage illustrates a dilemma that exacerbates those constraints—threats to biodiversity loss are greatest where capacity is weakest to manage them.

CITES can help in conservation broadly because importing countries should be part of the solution. To date, only I. fuscus is listed in CITES, within Appendix III, by Ecuador [52]. We contend that this species and the six other EN species should qualify for listing within CITES Appendix II. The CITES criterion relating to detrimental exploitation of species is consistent with the IUCN Red List criteria and assessments reported here. All seven EN species are well known in the marketplace and distinguishable in the dried form [23], dismissing the ‘lookalike’ clause [25,52] as an impediment to CITES listing.

The task for exporting countries of making non-detriment findings (for CITES Appendix II listing) is notoriously tricky, especially when multiple species are harvested [53,54], as is the case with most tropical sea cucumber fisheries. Importing countries need only determine non-detriment findings for trade of species in Appendix I [54]. Recent regional reviews and studies have taken large steps in filling previous knowledge gaps about certain sea cucumber populations and fisheries [22,35,55] but population data are still limited in many countries. We therefore echo the call for increasing research and capacity building in ‘conservation hotspot’ countries where biodiversity threats are most acute [56]. Technical support to assess exploitation and wild populations is needed in countries in the western Indian Ocean and Coral Triangle, because they have dense human populations, coastal poverty and a high number of threatened sea cucumber species.

Whereas the USA, the European Union and Japan are the main final destinations of most biodiversity-implicated commodities [57], harvested sea cucumbers are mostly destined for China [58]. Lenzen et al. [57] surmised that the responsibility for biodiversity loss should be allocated between producers and consumers. This concept has been largely overlooked in recent prescriptions to remedy sea cucumber fisheries. Management actions by source countries need parallel conservation efforts not only by consuming countries but also via multi-lateral agreements and the civil society itself [21], although multi-stakeholder involvement is no guarantee for sustainable exploitation [59]. We conclude that biodiversity conservation of exploited species, for example sea cucumbers, will depend on both local-level regulatory measures and international instruments that regulate trade to conserve populations and species at risk.

Funding statement

The Global Sea Cucumber Red List assessment was generously funded by Tom Haas and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Conservation International's Eastern Tropical Seascapes Programme. Collection of data on market prices was supported through ACIAR-PARDI project 2010/004. The Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research Division of the Department of Science and Technology also provided financial support.

The assessments could not have been possible without the leadership of K. Carpenter, and R. McManus for their support of the IUCN Marine Biodiversity Unit. For valuable contributions at the IUCN Global Sea Cucumber assessment workshop, we thank C. Conand, M. V. Toral, J. J. Alvarado, M. Tognelli, H. Harwell, C. Elfes, A. C. de Atacama, J. F. González-Maya, D. A. Zárrate-Charry, M. Benavides, E. P. Ortiz and ProCAT Colombia. We gratefully thank Y. Samyn and F. Solìs-Marìn for taxonomic reviews, L. Brooks for support with analyses, and R. Aurelio and V. Kobayashi for help with a figure. We also thank L. Knapp, M. Comeros-Raynal and A. Goodpaster for research and editing of the sea cucumber species Red List accounts, and for creation of digital range maps. We are grateful for constructive comments from O. Gaggiotti and two anonymous reviewers.

  • Received December 18, 2013.
  • Accepted February 6, 2014.

View Abstract


Authors of the federally funded study say past research has linked parental anxiety to anxiety in children, but it remained unclear whether people with certain anxiety disorders engaged more often in anxiety-provoking behaviors. Based on the new study findings, they do. A report on the team’s findings appears online ahead of print in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development.

“There is a broad range of anxiety disorders so what we did was home in on social anxiety, and we found that anxiety-promoting parental behaviors may be unique to the parent’s diagnosis and not necessarily common to all those with anxiety,” says study senior investigator, Golda Ginsburg, Ph.D., a child anxiety expert at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

The Hopkins team emphasizes that the study did not directly examine whether the parents’ behaviors led to anxiety in the children, but because there is plenty of evidence they do, the researchers say physicians who treat parents with social anxiety should be on alert about the potential impact on offspring.

Anxiety is the result of a complex interplay between genes and environment, the researchers say, and while there’s not much to be done about one’s genetic makeup, controlling external factors can go a long way toward mitigating or preventing anxiety in the offspring of anxious parents.

Using a scale of 1 to 5, the researchers rated parental warmth and affection toward the child, criticism of the child, expression of doubts about a child’s performance and ability to complete the task, granting of autonomy, and parental over-control. Parents diagnosed with social anxiety showed less warmth and affection toward their children, criticized them more and more often expressed doubts about a child’s ability to perform the task. There were no significant differences between parents on controlling and autonomy-granting behavior.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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October 5, 2011 - 11:00pm

UNRWA meanwhile said in an official statement that it expressed regret for the general strikes that obstruct the process of education in the Gaza Strip.

"UNRWA feels sorry for arranging general strikes amid difficult economical situation. The strike, led by the Union of Employees is negatively affecting the monthly income of the families," said the statement.

The UNRWA said it had suspended the work of Suhil Al-Hendi, head of the Arab staff union, for violating the organization's internal rules and regulations.

Al-Hendi said earlier that his work was halted for his participation in a meeting attended or organized by officials from Hamas, the Islamic movement that controls the Gaza Strip since 2007.

In the Gaza Strip, around 900,000 Palestinians, out of 1.5 million, are refugees receiving humanitarian aid from UNRWA in education, health and sanitation sectors.


Encyclopedia ofChicago
Interpretive Digital Essay : Globalization: Chicago and the World
Globalization: Chicago and the World
Essay: Introduction
Essay: Chicago in the Middle Ground
Map: Chicago's World—Within a Day's Travel
Essay: Global Chicago
Colonial Trans-Atlantic Networks
A Cosmopolitan Frontier
Global Capitalism and Chicago Real Estate
Built Environment in a Mercantile Metropolis
Networks of Rails
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
Turn-of-the-Century Industrialization and International Markets
The Chicago Region and Its Global Models
An Upstart Behemoth
Mailing To the World
The World in Chicago
Chicago's Twentieth-Century Cultural Exports
"The Whole World Is Watching"
Corporate Headquarters and Industrial Relics
Map: Changing Origins of Metropolitan Chicago's Foreign-Born Population

Chicago in the Middle Ground

Ancient Indian Earthworks (Map)
Archaeological evidence and Native American oral tradition indicate that Chicago was a crossroads of trade during the late pre-Columbian period. Artifacts suggest many people passed through the region carrying trade goods from Mississippian settlements to the south, or copper from Lake Superior, but these travelers probably were itinerant traders or small groups of hunters harvesting the rich fauna of the region. By the mid-seventeenth century the Miamis had established some villages along the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, but during the 1650s they abandoned the region, moving first west of the Mississippi and then to Wisconsin. During the 1670s French travelers encountered winter camps of Illinois hunting in the region. The Miamis reoccupied the region in the 1690s, forming two villages on the Chicago River, one of 2,500 inhabitants near the river's mouth and another about three miles upstream. Other Miami villages were located on the Calumet River near the modern Indiana border, and at the junction of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers.

Water Routes, 1600-1830 (Map)
The Miamis abandoned their Chicago villages during the first decade of the eighteenth century, moving to the Maumee and Wabash Valleys in Indiana, while the Illinois ceased to hunt in the region and relocated down the Illinois Valley toward the Mississippi. Meanwhile, Potawatomis, Sacs, and Ottawas from Michigan and Wisconsin began to hunt in the Chicago region, but no permanent villages were established because of warfare between the French and the Foxes, which embroiled much of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin until the late 1730s. During the 1740s however, the Potawatomis constructed a permanent village on the Chicago River, and within a decade they had been joined by Ottawas and Chippewas. These three tribes established mixed settlements along the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers, eventually forcing the Illinois from the Lake Peoria region, which the Potawatomis occupied prior to the American Revolution.

Journal of Father Jacques Marquette
The intermittent Native American communities at Chicago maintained close ties with the French. Jesuit priests, traders, and French officials visited the region during the last quarter of the seventeenth century, and as Native Americans returned to the region, their relationship with the French intensified. In 1673 Father Jacques Marquette and trader Louis Jolliet passed over the Chicago portage from the Des Plaines River, and the following year Marquette and two companions spent the winter at a bivouac on the Chicago River, where they obtained food from hunting camps of Illinois Indians and from two French traders who recently had entered the region. Father Claude Allouez crossed over the portage in 1676–77, and one year later he was followed by Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who passed along the lakeshore en route from Green Bay to the St. Joseph River. During the following two decades a series of French traders, priests, and officials used the portage, occasionally caching trade goods near the river's mouth, but with the possible exception of French traders who resided among the Miamis, no official French residence was established until 1696, when Father Pierre Pinet established the Mission of the Guardian Angel. The mission remained near the mouth of the Chicago River for only one year but was reestablished in 1698, before being permanently abandoned in 1700, when Pinet left the region to minister among the Illinois at Cahokia.

Jolliet's Map of New France, 1674
After 1700 the French maintained no official presence at Chicago, and their influence in the region temporarily declined. For a quarter century between 1710 and 1735, French hegemony in Illinois and Wisconsin was challenged by the Mesquakie or Fox Indians, a tribe from Wisconsin who resented French attempts to trade firearms to the Sioux. Warfare between the Foxes and the French and their allies spread across the region, and the Foxes so disrupted the French fur trade that travelers between the Great Lakes and French settlements in southern Illinois avoided the Chicago portage in favor of the more circuitous Wabash route. Consequently, French traders and their Native American allies withdrew from the Chicago region while the Foxes established a village on Lake Pistakee, in modern Lake County. In 1733, after a series of French military victories, the Foxes finally withdrew to Wisconsin and French traders again traversed and traded at the Chicago portage.

After 1740 French influence in the region again increased. French traders, both licensed and unlicensed, permeated the western western Great Lakes, and many married Native American women who produced families of Métis, or mixed-blood, children. This intermarriage of French and Native Americans produced a society and culture that would dominate Chicago and much of the Great Lakes region through the first decades of the nineteenth century. Described by historian Richard White as “the middle ground,” the emergent society incorporated both Native American and French cultural patterns but reshaped them into an indigenous blend.

Silver Brooch, c.1799-1800
The middle ground's biological and cultural fusion produced advantages to all concerned. By marrying into leading Native American families, French traders gained access to and support from widespread kinship networks that functioned throughout the Great Lakes and the Illinois country. Married to women from prominent Native American families, the traders were welcomed into tribal hunting camps scattered throughout the region, and their kinship ties also facilitated the exchange of commodities. In turn, Native American people gained access to merchants who supplied them with trade goods and other products increasingly critical to their way of life. In addition, those merchants were bound through familial obligations to provide trade goods to all members of the kinship network. In the Chicago region the marriages of traders such as Antoine Ouilmette, Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, and Jean Baptiste Beaubien to Native American women provide good examples of these unions.

These Native American women contributed markedly to their family's success. Since their husbands often were absent on trading expeditions, the women sometimes supervised and maintained their husbands' trading posts. Marie Madeline Réaume L'Archeveque Chevalier, an Illinois woman living in southwestern Michigan, and Madelaine LaFromboise, an Ottawa woman, operated their own trading companies after becoming widows. Although relatively little corn or other grain was grown at Chicago, Native American women in adjoining areas, particularly the St. Joseph Valley in Michigan, produced surplus foodstuffs which were transported throughout the Lake Michigan region, providing food for the traders, voyageurs, and engagees involved in the fur trade.

Photo of Victoire Mirandeau Porthier
The marriages produced significant numbers of Métis children, who served as ambassadors of the middle ground, often negotiating political, economic, or social differences among tribal peoples, Europeans, and, later, Americans. The Langlade family, Métis-Ottawa residents of the Mackinac region, exercised considerable influence in the Chicago region during the French period, while Billy Caldwell, Alexander Robinson, and Madore Beaubien provided leadership for the Potawatomis at Chicago while also serving the interests of the American government. Their ethnic identities were mutable: sometimes they acted in consort with and were identified as part of the Native American community, at other times they identified as Europeans or Americans.

Imaginary View of Site of Chicago, 1779
In the late eighteenth century the small Native American and métis community that had settled at Chicago retained close ties to the French community in southern Illinois as well as to communities in Mackinac and Detroit. Among the most prominent was Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, an Afro-French fur trader whose partners traded along the Illinois River from Peoria to Cahokia. DuSable himself was trading during the 1770s near present-day Michigan City, where he was arrested briefly in 1779 by British officials who suspected him of rebel sympathies. By the late 1780s he began developing a farm near the mouth of the Chicago River, where he also did some trading. He erected a spacious five-room “mansion” with a long covered porch modeled after French creole homes in the American Bottom. DuSable prospered during the 1790s, entertained travelers who passed over the portage, and was highly respected by both Native American and métis inhabitants. In 1800, however, he sold his holdings at Chicago and moved to Spanish Upper Louisiana near present-day St. Charles, Missouri.

Map of Chicago in 1812
Most houses at Chicago were less imposing than the DuSable residence. Houses were constructed of logs, but generally following the old French-Canadian fashion, with roughhewn logs set vertically in a trench rather than placed horizontally. The logs were chinked with grass and mud, then covered with either bark or lumber. The structures featured high-pitched, thatched or shingled roofs, with a fireplace and rude chimney in the center rather than at one end of the dwelling.

Layout of Fort Dearborn and Environs
In 1803, the United States built Fort Dearborn on the south side of the Chicago River. By 1810 settlement at Chicago clustered at several places. North of the river's mouth were the Kinzie family, whose patriarch John Kinzie occupied DuSable's old mansion. Further north, at Grosse Pointe (Wilmette), Antoine Ouilmette and his relatives maintained a trading post where the road to Milwaukee left the Chicago community. On the south side of the river, near Fort Dearborn, Jean Baptiste Beaubien and his family maintained a trading establishment and occupied a series of log houses. Further south was Hardscrabble, (modern Bridgeport), where the southern branch of the river emerged from Mud Lake. Here lived Alexander Robinson and members of the Bourassa, LaFramboise, and Chevalier families. Finally, to the west, along the Des Plaines in modern Riverside, several villages of Potawatomis had erected their cabins and wigwams.

Comb of Rebekah Wells Heald
These physically separated settlements shared a focal point of social activity at Wolf Point, where the two forks of the Chicago joined before flowing east into Lake Michigan. Here people met to drink considerable quantities of French brandy, British rum, and American bourbon and to wager furs, trade goods, and other valuables on card games, shooting matches, and horse races. Here also outdoor dances were held on warm summer nights, and while fiddles, flutes, and mouth organs played Creole or frontier melodies, Métis women danced with their husbands or with eligible bachelors from among the ranks of traders and voyageurs. Wolf Point also was the scene of considerable Potawatomi festivity, and tribespeople from the separate camps assembled to celebrate seasonal ceremonies and to dance to traditional songs and drumbeats. During the winter, people met at rude taverns near the point to pass away the cold gray days and to drink, play cards, swap stories, and gossip. Indeed, the “frolicking” and social activities of Chicago's residents during this period seemed to transcend economics and ethnicity.

View of Kinzie Home, 1832
John Kinzie is a good example of someone who negotiated this social and economic world. Born in Quebec in 1763, Kinzie moved to Detroit as a boy after his widowed mother married Thomas Forsyth, a Scots-Irish merchant at Grosse Point, Michigan. There Kinzie was raised amidst Creole and Métis contemporaries, and as a young man he married Margaret Mackenzie, born in Virginia but captured as a young child and reared by the Shawnees. After the revolution Margaret returned to Virginia with their three children and Kinzie married a second time, to Elizabeth McPhillip, a Detroit widow, but also a former Indian captive with important ties to the tribes. Kinzie, who first traded in the Sandusky region, continued to trade in Michigan, but after 1803 he relocated to Chicago, where he traded with the surrounding Native American communities. He built a new trading post on the south side of the river, near the newly established Fort Dearborn, and eventually supplied the garrison with both luxuries and necessities. He also forced Métis Jean Lalime to relinquish DuSable's large house, which he then occupied with his family. When Lalime protested the loss of his property, Kinzie first quarreled with the man then killed him.

Silver Cross Made by Kinzie, c.1820
Kinzie's ascension at Chicago continued the pattern of white traders married to Native American (or captive) women, and as Kinzie's trading establishment grew, he employed large numbers of Métis, even some, including Billy Caldwell and Alexander Robinson from Michigan. Moreover, he also cemented his ties with Métis traders at Milwaukee, apprenticing their part-Potawatomi children as servants or employees in his household. Yet by 1800 the Indian trade at Chicago was no longer financed by or dependent upon traders at Peoria or southern Illinois. Its new ties were to Mackinac and Detroit, and trading houses at those locations supplied the Chicago community with most of its goods and finances. Moreover, the Great Sac Trail, an overland route between the upper Mississippi Valley and British Indian Department offices in Ontario, passed just south of Chicago, providing additional ties between Kinzie and other traders with merchants at Detroit or in Canada.

Warrant Issued by American Fur Company, 1824
The War of 1812 marked the death knell for the middle ground at Chicago. In August 1812 the first Fort Dearborn (built in 1803) was evacuated by the garrison, and as the troops and a party of civilians traversed the lakeshore en route toward Fort Wayne they were attacked and defeated by pro-British Potawatomis. Kinzie and his associates lost their property, and when they returned to Chicago following the war, the pace of change overwhelmed them. The fort was rebuilt and regarrisoned in 1816, but the middle ground was falling apart. The fur trade in the Chicago region declined rapidly, and the American Fur Company gained control of the remaining traffic. Kinzie, Beaubien, and other Métis traders were employed by the company, but they were given secondary roles. New groups of Americans, Yankees (New Englanders from the east), moved into the region and the old way of life disintegrated.

Indian Settlement Pattern, c.1830 (Map)
Some of the Métis, including Mark Beaubien, opened inns or taverns to serve the newcomers, but they became alienated from the more aggressive, highly organized, and systematic Yankees. Moreover, within two decades both the Native Americans and the Métis found that they no longer had a place at the Chicago portage. The onrushing American population demanded access to Native American lands in the region, and the government signed a series of treaties with the Potawatomis and other tribes which transferred their lands to the United States and provided for the removal of Native Americans across the Mississippi. Ironically, the large Métis population which inhabited the portage now found that their separate identity as Métis was no longer accepted by the newcomers. The Yankees lumped all people of Native American descent together as “Indians, pure or half-breeds,” and demanded that the Métis traders and their families join with the Potawatomis and remove to the west. Those few Métis families who remained at Chicago did so only by de-emphasizing their Native American heritage, identifying with the new ruling class, and adopting the Yankees' cultural values.

Biography of Mark Beaubien
In making these changes, they entered a new and different world. Economic activities within the middle ground had been focused upon the fur trade, and individuals, families, and extended kinship groups all had endeavored to produce enough commodities to maintain a comfortable existence. But their efforts had been much more communal, and ties to family and clan had taken precedence over the accumulation of wealth by individuals. Hospitality and generosity had been highly valued, and people enjoyed the present; they did not regularly postpone the pleasures of the day for anticipated benefits to be obtained in the distant future. In addition, one's identity was to family and clan, which in turn transcended “race” as it was defined by the Yankees. One might be a Beaubien or a Kinzie, with family ties to Ottawa, Potawatomi, Creole, or Scots-Irish families, but one envisioned one's identity within that multifaceted framework, rather than in terms of a mutually exclusive racial category.

Map of Chicago, 1834
The new society cherished different values. Its members believed that future happiness could be assured only by limiting one's enjoyment of the present, and that wealth should be amassed and hoarded by individuals, rather then shared with a large network of family members and kin. Thrift and saving was valued over generosity, and men were honored for the treasures they accumulated rather than for their hospitality to relatives and friends. Moreover, as the decades passed, ethnic delineations were sharpened. Métis, regardless of their family ties or former acceptance by the old community, were barred from joining a new socioeconomic elite. Race became an exclusionary device, leaving little place for people of mixed heritage. The middle ground was ending. Chicago had entered a new age.


Starch Levels in Feed

Look beyond the percentage to find what's really in the feed

Feeding Tips for Stall Rest

Regardless of the diagnosis, when stall rest is on the treatment list, adjusting your feeding program to match your horse’s lack of activity can improve the experience for both you and your horse.

Horse on stall rest

As a curious 2 year old, Toby injured himself and landed in stall rest-land.

Whether recovering from an injury, surgery, or other, stall rest is generally prescribed to limit the movement of your horse to aid in the body’s natural healing process.  Often times, when a horse’s activity level moves from work or competition to that of quiet stall rest, it takes a period of adjustment for him to settle into the new routine.

Altering his feeding program to match this now sedentary lifestyle will help him make the transition.  Please note: all feed and forage changes should be made gradually through a period of 5-7 days so as not to disrupt the digestive system.

For the horse sentenced to a period of stall rest, the name of the game is energy management.  If he is an athlete who is used to getting high calorie feed and plenty of exercise, transition him to a lower calorie feed or ration balancer, with a high quality grass forage.  Reducing the energy he receives from his feed will help manage his weight and behavior.

Selecting a feed that is balanced for amino acids will offer the body aid in the development and repair of tissues, especially muscle and connective tissue. Fortified, balanced levels of vitamins and minerals will aid in immune response as well as minimize bone density loss.  Feed that is fortified with prebiotics, such as yeast culture, and probiotics can aid in the balance of the gut bacteria, overall absorbtion of nutrients and supports the immune system. Omega 3 fatty acids in the feed can also provide support for the immune system as well as help manage inflammitory response in tissue.

Monitor his body condition score and weight throughout stall rest and make feed amount adjustments as needed.  If he begins to gain weight, reduce his feed amount to the lowest advised amount from the feed manufacturer.

If he drops too much weight, slowly increase the feed amount, making sure to stay within the feeding directions.  Increasing the amount of hay can also provide benefits, though keep watch that he doesn’t start wasting.  Health complications or hay quality concerns aside, uneaten hay is an indication that he is being fed too much per meal.

In addition to providing much needed fiber and calories, hay in the stall can also provide a distraction,  curbing destructive behavior such a cribbing, weaving and pawing.  Consider providing stall toys, such as a ball or treat roller to keep his mind occupied and prevent bad stall habits from forming.

Pending the doctor’s orders, hand walking is a common method of providing limited exercise while reducing the chances of further damaging the injury or wound.  Hand walking is also a great way to spend time with your horse, especially if stall rest has taken him away from his normal job.

Once the period of stall rest is completed and he goes back to ‘work’,  transitioning his feed back to the ‘normal’ energy levels should be done with even more caution than transitioning the energy down.  For advise on your specific situation, please discuss with a qualified feed consultant or your veterinarian.

Overweight Horses: Winter Management

Cooper and Ferris in a snowstorm

Feeding the “Easy Keeper” Horse

Most every horse owner has had, or knows of a friend’s horse, which could “live on air”. Sadly, air has no nutritional value. So, what do we do with these horses that look at a bag of feed and start to pack on the pounds? Care must be taken to ensure that they receive nutrients needed to stay healthy, while keeping calorie count under control.

As always, start by taking a Body Condition Score and determining the current weight of the horse, and tracking those two elements over time, so you can know for sure if you are making progress or not. It’s easy to fall in to the trap of trying to remember what the horse was like a couple months ago, so a tracking program will help give a fact basis to your feeding program.

Ensure that the easy keeper is receiving sufficient forage – maintaining gut health through plenty of long-stemmed fiber intake is key. Then, evaluate what else to feed – often times, access to high quality hay or pasture that contains ALL of the nutrition a horse needs is limited, and the need exists to get more protein, vitamins and minerals in to the horse. There are a number of low-inclusion horse feed products on the market that provide needed nutrition without extra calories.

Finally, evaluate the exercise program. Just like humans, exercise goes hand-in-hand with diet in a weight loss or weight control program. Even a daily walking program can help some of those easier keepers maintain a trimmer profile.


Up 13-12 at halftime, the Highlanders fell away late, gifting the Blues a third win which ends their own slump of three successive defeats.

Weepu was at the heart of victory, outplaying error-prone counterpart and fellow All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith in a game where countless handling errors mirrored the recent fortunes of both teams.

The Blues scored four tries to two to improve their home record against the Highlanders to nine wins from 11 meetings.

Their first two tries, to flanker Steven Luatua and prop Angus Ta'avao were scored while Highlanders inside centre Ma'a Nonu was in the sinbin for a blatant shoulder charge on Weepu in the 19th minute.

However, the visitors still managed to lead at the break courtesy of a try to fullback Ben Smith and two penalties by five-eighth Colin Slade.

The Blues defended for much of the 20 minutes after halftime, struggling at scrum time and down one man when winger George Moala was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on opposite Buxton Popoali'i which saw the Highlander stretchered from the field.

However, they found a second wind and a slick move featuring several offloads was finished by Weepu in the 60th minute.

Phil Burleigh responded soon afterwards courtesy of a break from fellow-Highlanders reserve Fumiaki Tanaka to reduce the lead to one point.

However, a penalty to Blues five-eighth Chris Noakes was followed by Weepu's second try after he backed up charging centre Rene Ranger, who was a handful all night.

The Highlanders' overall losing streak now stands at nine. They haven't won since last May, when they downed the Blues at Eden Park.


Twenty hour "super vets" stint comes to an end

04 June 2014

Ruby - vets work even after the light dies

By the end, even the lights gave out and the ultrasound machine was playing up but the “super vets” just kept on going.

This was their third day straight of seven-hour plus stints of vet work on the bears most in need of their assistance at the former bear bile farm that Animals Asia are turning into a sanctuary.

During that time they dealt with a myriad of horrors  literally rotting paws, teeth previously cut back to the bone, bears declawed at the fingertip, such extreme dental issues that all that was left was pulp and bone to be cleared out  at times  with a chisel.

B13's terrible teeth - just stumps Milly's hind paw

The team was made up of Vet Surgeon Jen O’Dwyer, Senior Vet Nurse Wendy Leadbeater and Vet Nurse Vicki Elliott plus bear team Ai Chao Jun and Rocky Shi Xueliang and translator Tina Ju. They had no operating table, instead they operated on the floor  bent double  taking each grisly finding as it came.

The high spot?  Finding out that a horrifically thin bear named Galaxy didn’t have the liver cancer they suspected he might. The ultrasound test showed her to be tumour free  a fact that lifted the dark cloud from over the group who finished their Tuesday stint on a high.

No breaks  just a sip of coffee or a mouthful of rice or veggies while waiting for the next bear to fall fully asleep.  In between the team took turns doing sit ups to “crack” aching backs so they could continue.

In the end six bears were treated and returned to their cells  the vet and bear teams taking it in turns to keep a vigil outside late into the evening. When the bears awoke and could stand they knew it was okay to leave them. They knew also, that the surgical wounds would dimnish with time, and the bears could start to live without pain.

B13 - extraction sites visible (II)

Each bear had been prioritised as to their level of pain and assistance required.  While the two bears on the final day both suffered severe dental issues their general health — as reflected in their coat and physique — was a marked improvement compared to the first bears operated on. Plans to operate on a seventh bear had to be shelved with the vets having commitments back in Chengdu and with Jen returning to Australia.

Animals Asia are still trying to relocate 28 bears to their Chengdu sanctuary with permit issues currently delaying their transfer.  Depending on developments, arrangements will be made to treat more bears. This includes those bears farmed for bile that need their gall bladders removed.

Jen said:

“Anything that we have to endure in this process is miniscule compared to what the bears have endured for years. It’s nothing but joy to be able to do this. It’s got to be positive because we’re making steps forward. We’re starting the process of being able to heal them and transform their lives. Heidi (the Senior Bear Manager developing bear care and management and overseeing staff training at the farm) has already started the process for us and we’re trying to move it on. It’s very positive.”

Animals Asia founder Jill Robinson added:

“They are an incredible team and they and the bears deserve the very best facilities available. The fact that, in this case, they cheerfully made do with such basic conditions is to their never-ending credit. These bears have been given new lives and we’re grateful that a bear farmer has not only allowed this to happen, but has encouraged it too.  As the bears’ lives slowly improve due to surgery, better diets and professional care — a new sanctuary will evolve around them. We’ll give them all that we can.”

Vet team  working on Ruby


Increasing interest in science education research has focused on ways of representing cognitive structure in graphical and quantitative terms. A method is presented for displaying the sequential and multirelational ideation of scientific narrative elicited from respondents. The flow map provides a figural representation of the flow of information, the points in the flow where multirelational and recurrent linkages are made, and the time required to retrieve and express the information at major intervals in the sequence and in total. In keeping with constructivist models of information analysis, the elicitation of responses requires minimal intervention by the interviewer, and flow-map representation requires low inference for its construction, providing a convenient diagram of the sequential and multirelational thought patterns expressed by the respondent. The method is illustrated by analyzing interviews from students varying in academic achievement under two interview conditions that varied in emphasis on recall of multiple relationships. The illustrative data show that students of increasing academic ability produce flow maps of more complex patterns with more cross-relational linkages. These kinds of linkages, on the whole, increase with increased emphasis in the interview on recall of relationships.


Modeling galaxy mergers

June 3, 2013 in Astronomy & Space / Astronomy
An generated optical image of stars in a pair of colliding galaxies after a time of 0.5 billion years, as simulated with a new computer code. Credit: P. Hopkins

(Phys.org) —Astronomers think that many galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have undergone similar collisions during their lifetimes. Although galaxy collisions are important and common, what happens during these encounters is not very well understood. For example, it seems likely that massive black hole(s) will form during the interactions, as the two galaxies' nuclei approach each other. Galaxy-galaxy interactions also stimulate vigorous star formation as gravitational effects during the encounters induce interstellar gas to condense into stars. The starbursts in turn light up the galaxies, especially at infrared wavelengths, making some systems hundreds or even thousands of times brighter than the Milky Way while the starbursts are underway. Studying these luminous galaxies not only sheds light on how galaxies evolve and form stars, since they act as lanterns over cosmological distances it also helps scientists study the early universe.

All this impressive progress, however, hinges on an accurate understanding of mergers and how they work. The general approach is to study many local examples to categorize their behaviors, and then model these cases with computational codes that simulate mergers. The combination of precise observations and detailed modeling, iteratively applied, helps scientists improve both their understanding of the galaxies and the physical parameters and processes included in the modeling codes. With these in hand, astronomers can start to probe the more distant universe where the objects are not as easy to measure.

CfA astronomer Lars Hernquist and five of his colleagues (many of whom were his past students) have now shown that feedback processes from bursts of star formation play a key role in determining how merging galaxies develop, at least when two collide. Prior models did not fully account for the role played by gas that is driven away by the radiation from a star burst, but which can sometimes fall back the galaxy. The new paper is particularly effective in describing star formation in the tails and bridges of interacting systems, something had previously been lacking.

Provided by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

"Modeling galaxy mergers" June 3, 2013 http://phys.org/news/2013-06-galaxy-mergers.html


Two decades ago, deep within British Columbia's coastal old-growth forests, a fierce battle was waged and won to preserve Clayoquot Sound from large-scale clearcutting.

The legendary clash between environmentalists and industry in Canada's westernmost province sparked a new kind of eco-activism - and the biggest fight since is poised to play out in the months ahead, as the country moves closer towards approving a controversial oil pipeline to the Pacific coast.

Last month, project proponent Enbridge Inc received a substantial boost through a federally commissioned report, which recommended approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline - subject to a host of environmental and administrative conditions. Advocates say the pipeline, which would whisk more than 500,000 barrels of oil daily from the Albertan tar sands to supertankers in Kitimat, BC, would benefit the country by opening Canada's oil industry to growing Asian and Pacific Rim markets. But environmental and aboriginal groups, whose lands the pipeline would cross, maintain it would threaten some of the country's most precious natural resources.

While the federal Conservatives - who have vowed no project will be approved unless it is "safe for Canadians and safe for the environment" - have until July to consider the report and come to a final decision, it is widely expected the government will green-light the Northern Gateway. And once that happens, Chief Martin Louie of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation says aboriginal groups will swiftly launch court action.

"That's the only avenue that we have to try to protect our rights," Louie told Al Jazeera, speaking on behalf of a group of aboriginal bands known as the Yinka Dene Alliance, who have banned Enbridge's pipeline from their territories under indigenous law. "Beautiful British Columbia - that's what it should be for our kids too. The way I grew up enjoying the land and everything, I want my children and grandchildren to do too."

Stamp of approval

- Ivan Giesbrecht, Enbridge spokesperson

Tasked with assessing the environmental, social and economic impacts of the pipeline, along with the effects of tanker traffic within Canadian territorial waters, the panel ultimately recommended approval of the project subject to 209 separate conditions. "We have concluded that the project would be in the public interest," the panel noted in its final report. "We find that the project's potential benefits for Canada and Canadians outweigh the potential burdens and risks."

Enbridge has said it will work to meet all of the panel's 209 conditions - which range from developing a marine mammal protection plan to researching the behaviour and cleanup of heavy oils - along with a broader set of five criteria, including addressing aboriginal land rights, for heavy oil pipeline development set out by the BC government.

"We remain hopeful that we can work to address all concerns that our opponents have in a mutual spirit of cooperation and collaboration," Enbridge spokesperson Ivan Giesbrecht told Al Jazeera, calling the December report "just one important step in a long process".

"Access to ocean ports for Alberta's abundant resources is important to not just Alberta's but Canada's economic future," Alberta Energy Minister Diana McQueen said, noting resource developers get a lower price in the North American market than they could globally. The situation is compounded by the stalled Canada-US Keystone XL pipeline proposal, which has been awaiting US government approval amid years of debate over its route and environmental impacts.

Treacherous waters

Opponents, meanwhile, question Enbridge's employment numbers and suggest the pipeline's economic benefits have been overstated. The Northern Gateway has generated a wall of opposition from aboriginals and environmental activists who cite the risk of an Exxon-Valdez-level oil spill in BC's pristine coastal waters. Dozens of aboriginal bands have signed a declaration against the project, pledging to refuse Enbridge access to their lands and watersheds, including the salmon-stocked Fraser River.

In Depth

Canada's oil industry

  Canada mulls China oil bid

In addition to the risk of spillage from the pipeline itself, Greenpeace Canada - which has criticised Enbridge's history of spills and leaks - points out that the oil-loaded, Asia-bound supertankers would have to navigate "one of the trickiest marine routes in Canada", passing by a series of small islands in the Douglas Channel. More than a year ago, Enbridge came under fire for releasing promotional materials in which the islands had apparently been erased from a rendering of the channel, in what critics called an effort to downplay the risks.

"Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline would stream the world's dirtiest oil from northern Alberta to the BC coast and would be the catalyst for unbridled exploitation and potentially calamitous disturbance of our land, air, freshwater and marine environment," said Chris Genovali, executive director of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation in Sidney, BC. Industrial activities accompanying the transportation of oil could destroy habitats for caribou, wolves, whales and wild salmon, he added.

Opposition House Leader Nathan Cullen, the federal New Democratic MP for BC's Skeena-Bulkley Valley, believes a major spill from either the pipeline or tankers over the 50-plus-year lifespan of the project is a certainty. "The ability to clean up bitumen in the water is virtually nil," Cullen told Al Jazeera.

The Northern Gateway proposal faces an additional hurdle from BC's provincial government, which has refused to lend support to the pipeline until Enbridge proves it will employ "world-leading practices" on oil-spill prevention and response, respect aboriginal rights and ensure the province gets a fair slice of the economic pie. "Enbridge hasn't met any of the conditions yet," government spokesperson Sam Oliphant said.

Legal fight ahead

Enbridge points out that it has already incorporated input from British Columbians and aboriginal communities, resulting in almost two dozen changes to the pipeline route and other alterations, such as thicker-walled pipes and an increased capability to respond to marine spills. In addition, the federal panel found Enbridge had taken steps to minimise the chances of a large spill "through its precautionary design approach and its commitments to use innovative and redundant safety systems".

- Drew Mildon, lawyer

None of this is enough for the project's opponents, who maintain the Northern Gateway will be a pivotal issue in the 2015 federal election - and set the stage for a landmark court fight.

The expected avalanche of legal cases upon the pipeline's approval will tie it up for years, said Keith Stewart, climate and energy coordinator for Greenpeace Canada. And if the government tries to proceed regardless, he said, thousands of people have pledged to engage in peaceful civil disobedience, just as protesters did decades ago in Clayoquot Sound - using blockades and peaceful demonstrations to achieve their environmental goals.

"I have no doubt the governments will try to ram through the pipeline regardless of First Nations objections," he said. "As a lawyer working for First Nations in BC, and given the overwhelming First Nations and public opposition here, I believe the pipeline will likely never happen."

"Without that support," he said, "it won't be built."

Follow Megan O'Toole on Twitter: @megan_otoole

Source: Al Jazeera


Story of Masoor Dal and Kamdhenu

Masoor Dal is a popular lentil used in India to cook dals. Masoor Dal is also one of the important offering to Goddess Kali. Some Hindus do not consume masoor dal and is associated with Kamdhenu’s blood and is therefore a tamasic food. There is also a story that connects Masoor Dal with Kamdhenu, the wish fulfilling cow.

Legend has it that Sahastrabahu Arjuna tried to steal Kamdhenu, the divine cow that could confer all desires, from Sage Jamadagni's ashram. He could not take the cow away easily and therefore he attacked the divine cow with arrows.

Therefore some Hindus do not eat Masoor dal.

Please note that dishes prepared from Masoor dal is today consumed by majority of Hindus although scriptures have categorized it as Tamasic food, which causes lethargy and arouses passion and temptations.


Citations:alkali metals

English citations of alkali metals

  • 1962, P.J. & B. Durrant, Introduction to Advanced Inorganic Chemistry:
    The alkali metals are soft, silver coloured, and have a high lustre when freshly cut.
    All the alkali metals are extremely reactive chemically.
    The solutions of the alkali metals in liquid ammonia are dark blue.


Greg Avola is the CTO, developer, and cofounder of Untappd, the popular social beer network. In this interview, Greg discusses fast-paced mobile development, crowdsourced testing, and new testing tools that can help you navigate many different mobile platforms.

Jonathan Vanian's picture Jonathan Vanian

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