With Sophie Gaur

Human beings react to sound in various ways. Sounds can excite, soothe, heal or energise, as well as offer a range of emotional, intellectual and physical responses, based on how they are delivered. This studio explores this area of this sensory delivery through the design and construction of objects that either respond to existing musical traditions or propose new ways to thinking about sound. In this studio you will develop a proposition for, and make an object or an installation that creates sound for a specific outcome or purpose.


Adult Education Theories Term Paper

  • Length: 10 pages
  • Sources: 10
  • Subject: Teaching
  • Type: Term Paper
  • Paper: #30481466

Excerpt from Term Paper :

Education - Theory

Adult Education Theories

Adult educations philosophies are fashioned in order to scope and characterize the process of individual educators. Teaching adults is way more sophisticated than teaching children due to a difference in life contexts. Consequently, adult education philosophies are essential in terms of directing and assisting both adult learners and educators. It conceptualizes and clarifies adult's behaviors and thoughts when they are in the learning environment. Adult learners learn based on their life circumstances and the change of awareness or viewpoint. Adult education philosophy is one of the good ways to recognize the best methods of teaching adult learners. Educators are divided into a variety of types of characteristics based on their viewpoint of adult education (Galbraith, 2004).

Adults learn better in a non-aggressive environment where they can work together with others and where they are in control of their learning course. They are more motivated when they obtain knowledge and skills in a circumstance where their self-respect is not in danger. The learning environment is important; age and life knowledge are facets that should be taken in consideration when developing learning settings. Also the connection with the teacher is important. In more customary educational context there is the teacher who sets down the rules and who decides on the progress in learning. This balance of power should be averted. An adult wants to be treated as an equivalent. That is why in adult education open learning can be vital. The aim here is creating circumstances where the adult can learn in an inspiring and motivating way (Exploring the possibilities of the flexible open classroom in adult learning, n.d.).

Humanism is a school of thought that believes human beings are dissimilar from other species and have capacities not found in animals. Humanists, consequently, give dominance to the study of human needs and interests. An essential assumption is that human beings act out of intentionality and principles. This is in dissimilarity to the beliefs of operant conditioning theorists who believe that all behavior is the consequence of the function of consequences or to the beliefs of cognitive psychologists who hold that the detection of concepts or processing of information is a main factor in human learning. Humanists also believe that it is essential to study the person as a whole, particularly as a person grows and develops over their life. The study of the self, inspiration, and goal-setting are also areas of special attention (Huitt, 2009).

As with other advances to learning and development, there is a diversity of viewpoints within this convention. The leading view is called modern or naturalistic humanism and traces its lineage to Aristotle and Socrates. It is defined as a naturalistic philosophy that discards all supernaturalism and relies principally upon reason and science, democracy and human compassion. It is therefore described as anthropocentric or human-centered. There are two divisions within this view: secular and religious. Supporters of a secular humanism believe that an individual person has within them everything that is required to grow and develop their unique abilities. Religious humanists, on the other hand, believe that religion is a significant influence on human development and promote a shared aspect of their approach, although an atheistic one (Huitt, 2009).

The main emphasis of humanistic education is on the regulatory system and the emotional system. The development of these systems is frequently overlooked in the present education system. The regulatory system acts as a filter for linking the environment and internal thoughts to other thoughts or feelings as well as relating knowledge and feelings to action. The emotional system colors, exaggerates, reduces or otherwise alters information obtained through the regulatory system or sent from the cognitive system to action. In the present environment of regular change and indecision, the development of the knowledge, approaches, and skills discussed in these systems is particularly important (Huitt, 2009).

There are five basic objectives of the humanistic view of education:

1. endorse positive self-direction and independence which is the development of the regulatory system

2. develop the capability to take accountability for what is learned, which has to do with the regulatory and affective systems

3. develop creativity which has to do with the divergent thinking feature of cognition

4. curiosity which is exploratory behavior, a function of unevenness or dissonance in any of the systems and an interest in the arts principally to develop the emotional system (Huitt, 2009).

Some basic principles of the humanistic approach that are used to develop its objectives are:

1. Students will learn best what they desire and need to know. That is, when they have developed the skills of evaluating what is important to them and why as well as the skills of directing their actions towards those wants and needs, they will learn more effortlessly and rapidly. Most educators and learning theorists would concur with this statement, though they might differ on precisely what contributes to learner motivation.

2. Knowing how to learn is more important than obtaining a lot of knowledge. In the present society where knowledge is altering rapidly, this view is shared by a lot of educators, particularly those from a cognitive perspective.

3. Self -appraisal is the only significant evaluation of a learner's work. The significance here is on interior development and self-regulation. While most educators would probably agree that this is significant, they would also promote a need to develop a learner's aptitude to meet outside potentials.

4. Feelings are as significant as details. Much work from the humanistic view seems to authenticate this point and is one area where humanistic educators are making important offerings to the knowledge base.

5. Students learn best in a non-aggressive surrounding. This is one area where humanistic educators have had an impact on present educational practice. The direction supported today is that the environment should by expressively and emotionally, as well as physically, non-aggressive. Nevertheless, there is some research that suggests that a neutral environment is best for older, highly motivated learners (Huitt, 2009).

The humanistic adult education philosophy seeks to make possible personal growth and development. Humanists are extremely motivated and self-directed learners; accountability to learn is understood by the learner. The humanist educator facilitates learning but does not direct learning. The educator and learner are associates. Concepts that define the humanistic philosophy comprise empirical learning, independence, self-directed, and self-actualization. Humanistic teaching techniques include group discussion, team teaching, individualized learning, and the discovery method. This ideology clarifies well in adult learners' actions that they want to decide the learning method by themselves, and do not want to be told what to do like when they were in high school. Since adult education is not obligatory, learners who sign up are enthusiastic to be taught, and want to be part of the procedure. Self-provoked and self-directed are measured as a key concepts concerning adult learners (Zinn, 1990).

The humanistic adult education viewpoint seeks to make easy personal growth and development. Humanists are highly motivated and self-directed learners; accountability to learn is assumed by the learner. The humanist educator facilitates learning but does not direct learning. The educator and learner are associates. Ideas that define the humanistic philosophy include experiential learning, independence, self-directed, and self-actualization. Humanistic teaching techniques contain group discussion, team teaching, individualized learning, and the discovery method (Buckingham, 2000).

Most educators who support humanistic education characteristically intend this approach to mean one or more of three things:

1. Humanistic education teaches a wide diversity of skills which are required to function in today's world. Things like basic skills such as reading, writing and math, as well as skills in communicating, thinking, decision-making, problem-solving and knowing oneself.

2. Humanistic education is a caring approach to education. It is one that helps learners believe in themselves and their prospective, that supports kindness and understanding that encourages self-respect and respect for others.

3. Humanistic education deals with basic human issues. It deals with the concerns throughout history and today that are of interest to human beings trying to advance the quality of life in order to pursue information, to develop, to love, to find meaning for one's existence.

Humanistic education techniques are used in public and private schools, the family, religious education, business and as well as many other settings (Green, 1994).

A lot of the major books and articles that exist on humanistic education show teachers how to do a more successful job of teaching reading, writing, math and social studies. Many of the best conventional subject matter teachers incorporate humanistic education methods and materials into their fundamental curriculum. Rather than paying no attention to the basics, humanistic educators seek to increase the notion of what basic education is, saying that basic skills for existing in today's world go beyond reading, writing, math, and vocational skills and comprise other skills for communicating, problem-solving and decision-making (Green, 1994).

Humanist philosophy in adult education is frequently criticized regarding its concepts. Self-centered and self-directed is often though of as selfishness. Since other philosophies prioritize social change and social movement as their…

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France by: rachel jacobs

France is located in Western Europe. The Atlantic Ocean borders it to the west and the Mediterranean to the south.

French, German, and Breton are the languages that are spoken in France. Here are videos that demonstrate what the languages sound like. The other languages came from neighboring countries.

Physical Features

France has mountains, rivers, islands, beaches, and farms. The rivers, Ocean, Channels, and Sea allow for fishing and shipping to be possible. This provides food for the citizens as well as trading ports with other countries. Fertile soils allow crops to grow and farming throughout the country. These features allow people to live in different areas and still have jobs due to their surroundings.

Landmarks in France

The Eiffel Tower is one of the best known landmarks in France. It was built in 1889 as an entrance to the World's Fair. This landmark has brought over 250 million visitors to France. The Millau Viaduct, is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the River Tarn. The bridge breaks both records for its size and height. It is one of the newest landmarks in France and opened in 2004. Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct. It is about 2,000 years old and spans the Gardon River. It was designed with three incredible levels of arches. Mont Blanc also known as White Mountain is the highest peak the highest peak in the Alps and the highest mountain in all of Europe. It is located on the border between France and Italy.

Soccer is the most popular spot in France. It is called football in France. There are thousands of teams throughout the country including professional, armature, and women's divisions. They won the World Cup in 1998.

The main religion in France is Roman Catholic with 83-88% of the country practicing this religion. The main foods eaten in France are bread, cheese, and wine. This food is from the farms and agriculture in France. Crepes are very popular this is a thin pancake that has been stuffed with sweet ingredients.

The Barzaz-Breizh is a book that was published full of the Breton folk traditional music of France.

The French take dance very seriously. Their dancing represents their proud artistic history. A few different dances are the French Basse Dance, Mazurka, Bourrée, and the Sarabanda.

The French are well known for their clothing. The scarf is a favorite accessory for both French men and women.

The Roman conquest of Gallia. (121-51 B.C.E.) The incorporation of what is now France into the Roman sphere brought the Latin language and Rome's civilization to the Celtic tribes forever altering their culture and mores. Battle of Tours (732 C.E.) The defeat of the invading Muslim armies by Charles Martel saved France and Western Europe from the influences of Islam. Death of Louis the Pious and the division of the Frankish Empire (20 June 840 C.E.) Louis divided his Kingdom into three parts which roughly corresponded to modern France and German with a narrow strip running from the North Sea into Italy. Death of King Philip IV (1314 C.E.) The dynastic turmoil that resulted from the death of the last direct male heir of the Capetian kings was the cause of the Hundred Years War. The French Revolution and the rise and fall of Napoleon (1789 - 1815) The French Revolution and its development into a military dictatorship would influence not only French political thinking but that of the world for generations to come. World War I (August 1914 - November 11, 1918) Over 5 million casualties, the destruction of an entire generation of young men, spelled the beginning of the end of France as one of the dominant world powers. World War II (September 1, 1939 - September 2, 1945 ) France continues to struggle with the question of its performance in World War II.

Joan of Arc (1412 - 1431) famous for receive heavenly visions that told her to reclaim France from English control during the Hundred Years' War. Nostradamus (1503 - 1566) was an accomplished apothecary and helped to treat victims of the plague. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821) was a military and political leader who is widely considered one of the greatest commanders in history - he won so many battles that at one time he controlled most of continental Europe. Louis Vitton founded the fashion house in 1854 by designing a stack-able travel trunk.

Coco Chanel (1883 - 1971) was famous for creating her own fashion empire and creating her own perfume. Chanel No. 5, her signature scent, is a bestselling perfume the world over. Brigitte Bardot (1934 - ) started out as a famous model and moved to acting later. Andre the Giant (1946 - 1993) was a pro wrestler who stood at a towering 7'5" tall and weighed a whopping 525 lbs and stared in The Princess Bride. Marion Cotillard (1975 - ) is mainly known for her acting career, she is also a singer and songwriter. Pepe Le Pew was every French stereotype wrapped into one and became very popular in the USA on Looney Tunes.

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No. I haven’t forgotten. It’s something that’s been with me every day for the past two years, except the day my daughter was born. That day in March 2002, the rest of the world ceased to matter. I think about it constantly. Every time a plane flies low over Manhattan. Every time there are a few more sirens than normal. Every time there is an unusually loud noise outside, pausing, waiting for the sirens to follow. Everytime I walk by a fire station. They’ve all got plaques now.

Like last year, I took Lila to the Tompkin’s Square playground. Children are clarity. They’re continuation, hope, sanity. Almost all of our regular morning group were born into the world of September 12th. The planes flew over their mothers and fathers while they were still in the womb.

Lila was puzzled by the church bells. Flight 11, 8:45am. Flight 175, 9:03am. WTC south tower collapses, 10:05am. WTC north tower collapses, 10:28am. News helicopters were buzzing around to the south. Bells change the air.

I walked by the fire station for Ladder 11 and Engine 28 on Second Street again this year. The half-burnt sign from the old truck is now inside and there are six new memorial plaques on the wall outside. Again, there were firefighters in dress blues gathered inside with family. Again I couldn’t say anything to them.

This year I’m not filled with grief. If anything I feel resolute. I understand a lot more. I get the flags, they make me feel proud of being here, proud of my great grandparents for getting on boats and crossing the Atlantic on the rumor things could be better. Here. It took me a long time to come around.

Recently I re-read an article by a professor at the US Naval War College. He was replying to a critical letter about an article he’d written for Esquire. The sentiment has stuck with me.

“I believe life consistently improves for humanity over time, but is does so only because individuals, communities, and even entire countries take it upon themselves not only to imagine a future worth creating but actually to try to build it. I work for the finest government in history, in the greatest country in the world. I am proud to be associated with the best military on the planet. I get up every morning convinced that my job is to change the world, and I remain wholly optimistic that it can be done.”

–Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett

Two years ago I would have bristled at that. Two years ago I was a very different person.


Fishing Tours

Fly Fishing

Light Tackel Fishing

Light Tackle Fishing is our most popular family fishing tour.  Using spinners and rods, we head to our favorite fishing spots to catch island predators.  This is an exciting tour as you never know what you will catch!

We will walk the rocky coastline, whipping into the surf in efforts to catch Omilu, Papio, Moana, Nunu, Moi, and RaRoys.  These are some of the predator fish in the area.  As you fish, your guide will explain where to cast and and how to reel over different areas of the reef.

Fish can either be caught and released, or we can make arrangements with a local restaurant.

Potential Fly Fishing areas include Portlock, Kuliouou, Niu Valley, Kahala, Alamoana, and Chinaman's Hat. However, weather,  waves, and tides determine the location of the day.

We provide Reef Walkers, an 8 or 9-weight Rod, Reel, and Flies.

Things to Bring:

Sunscreen, Cash (some places accept cash only), Identification, Camera, Towel, Bathing Suite/Trunks (or something you don't mind getting wet in), and Sandals or Slippers.

Spear Fishing

Come learn the basics of Hawaiian spear fishing!  Before entering the water, we teach necessary safety tips including how to shoot the three prong spear, how to walk with it, and how to swim with it.  We treat every spear like a loaded weapon.  Safety is our priority on every tour.

For spearfishing tours, you must be 14 years of age and have prior experience snorkeling, as you need to dive under the water in order to spear the fish.  Hawaii State Laws regarding which fish you can shoot and how will be explained to you in detail before entering the ocean.

Our guides are experienced free divers and have accumulated thousands of hours of ocean time.  They are also CPR, First Aid, and Lifeguard certified.  Our job is to teach you the basics and keep you as safe as possible during the tour.  Therefore our groups are limited to three people per group, with a one-on-one ratio of guide to guest.

Potential Locations:

Sandy Beach, Maunalua Bay, Diamond Head, West Side, and North Shore.  Dive location will depend on weather, wave, current and visibility.

We provide dive buoys, spear, fins, mask, snorkel, and dive flag.

Things to Bring:

Rash guard or wetsuit (optional), sunscreen, and towel.  Keep in mind that if you bring a wet suit, you must bring your own weight belt.

Flat Boat

***Coming Spring 2017***

Guide Service and Transportation in VAN: $157.07/Hour

Guide Service and Transportation in SUV: $193.72/Hour

* For larger groups, please call to inquire other options


The Runescape Solution To All Problems

This is how it works. After each day, the side that is currently losing is able to gain an extra cap on gather rn (reknown) the next day and the winning side that day will lose their cap on rn. This will be based off the percentage that the winning is beating the losing side. For example, say both sides are at 50k rn cap at the end of the day. Bandos has 200k total versus Arma's 1500k. Therefore, the difference between winning and losing side times 0.1 will give the losing side that extra cap on rn the next day, and half of that difference will be subtracted from the winning side's rn cap the next day. This way, if one side has over 2x as many people but lower caps, then they will eventually balance out with less people having a bigger cap on the losing side. This could encourage people to switch sides aswell to gain more rn; however to prevent easy rn gathering after switching, the switcher caps at only 75% of the total cap and this increases each day that he stays with the side until it reaches 100%.

Let's say tommorow ends with bandos at 500k and arma at Cheap RS Gold 1500k. According to my formula, bandos should gain 10k rn cap so they are able to get 40k cap and arma will lose 5k cap, bringing their cap at 25k the next day. This way the imbalance won't be as drastic and will come to the point where both sides can level out, and this could be taken out the final week or something to assure that this war wasn't due to a popularity contest.

The problem with this is that the Armadyl follower's cap gets lowered and the Bandos follower's cap gets raised, thus punishing those on the Runescape Gold winning team and rewarding those on the losing. Contribution is not simply to help the gods, but to reward players as well. plus adding more renown to the losing side doesn't help us, since alot of Bandosians simply stand at goblin village building site working on watherever building is there. That doesn't give Bandos points. You need surviving caravans to gain points.

题目 : 游戏攻略
博客分类 : 游戏娱乐

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5 Turkish Dishes to Try on Your Next Mediterranean Cruise

An assortment of colorful bowls at a bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey.

A Mediterranean vacation offers travelers diverse cultures, rich histories, and mouthwatering cuisine to explore. On a Mediterranean cruise, you can stop at exotic ports such as Athens, Greece, and Istanbul, Turkey — a fascinating city that's known for its historic mosques, its massive bazaar, and, of course, its array of Turkish food. As with much Mediterranean cuisine, the food of Turkey is simple, but it's always made with fresh, traditional ingredients. You won't want to skip a bite when you visit.

The following dishes are iconic in the Turkish culinary scene. Step away from your normal day-to-day fare and get your taste buds ready for an adventure on your next Mediterranean vacation.

Meat Dishes

You may not think of pizza when you think of Mediterranean cuisine, but the Turkish do it beautifully. While lahmacun is not the traditional type of pizza you'd find in Italy, this round dough covered in ground lamb and spices will leave you just as satisfied. If you are sensitive to spicy food use caution — chili peppers are a popular topping.

There is probably no Turkish dish more famous than the kebab. Chances are you yourself, whether you realized it or not, have incorporated the flavors of Turkey into your backyard barbecue. Chunks of meats and vegetables are skewered and roasted over an open flame, resulting in a juicy, flavorful dish that is hard to beat in its simplicity.

Vegetarian Dishes

Yaprak Sarma

You'll find variations of this vegetarian dish all over the Mediterranean. Yaprak sarma are stuffed vine leaves. Fillings can vary, but typically include rice, onions, and spices.

Çiğ köfte

Çiğ köfte translates as raw meatballs, probably the weirdest name for a vegetarian dish you'll ever come across. While you can indeed get the meat variety, the vegetarian çiğ köfte is commonly found on street corners all over Turkey. Ingredients usually include bulgur wheat, tomato paste, and an assortment of herbs and spices that are mixed together and shaped into a kind of Turkish style meat(less)ball.

Turkish Dessert

Most visitors to Turkey are quick to hunt down the glorious pastry known as baklava, but there is another dessert you should sample. Revani is a type of sponge cake found in both Turkey and Greece, that's made slightly differently depending on where you go. In Turkey, it is commonly made of semolina flour and yogurt, then soaked in a sugar syrup. Try it with a scoop of ice cream on the side.

Turkish cuisine is an experience for the senses, and a necessary accompaniment to your Mediterranean vacation. The fresh herbs and spices you'll taste create dishes that are packed with flavor and will leave you dreaming of Turkey long after you are gone.

Ready to plan your visit to Istanbul? Discover the Mediterranean cruise that's perfect for you.


Congratulations on your purchase of  SHAG the store items.  You should enjoy your artworks for years to come provided they avoid direct sunlight (especially with prints or original paintings) and other conditions that would be considered common sense (such as extreme temperatures).

Since original paintings and prints/reproductions are very limited or rare, all sales of these and all other limited edition products are final.  Other types of merchandise purchased from the store may (on occasion) be exchanged for credit at the sole discretion of the gallery owners and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.  Shipping charges will NOT be refunded unless the product(s) arrived damaged or an incorrect item was sent.

In the event your shipment arrives and is incorrect, damaged or flawed, we will make every attempt to ship out a replacement as soon as we can. We will obviously pay for any return and/or additional shipping charges required.

SHAG prints and original paintings typically increase in value after their initial release and SHAG the store will often entertain the idea of purchasing products back from you or in exchange for credit or purchase them outright in many cases (primarily if purchased from SHAG the store).  Again, we will consider these types of transactions on a case by case basis with no guaranty or warranty on our behalf.

While we make every effort to thoroughly inspect all prints and art pieces prior to shipping; there may be the odd occasion where something does get missed or overlooked.  Should this be the case, we will make every attempt to rectify the situation in a reasonable time frame.  Your satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us and we pride ourselves on providing exceptional customer service.

SHAG the store is independently owned and operated (although designed by and in partnership with Josh Agle). As a result, we can not (and will not) warranty items purchased outside of our galleries.  Your first and best bet will always be to contact the store or person(s) where your item was purchased. This is since we have no control over these items (especially those purchased through Ebay).  That being said, we will do our best to direct you if we can.


Spiritual Strength For Each Day

The increasing need in our day is not in the first place on account of the spectacular catastrophes like earthquakes, famines and floods everywhere, but in my opinion on account of our end-times Christianity, which is torn between Jesus and sin, and is in a perilous condition. The exalted Lord describes this with the following lament, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). To be lukewarm is the dangerous “neither…nor.” This spiritual condition is inspired by the antichristian spirit and is spreading more and more; in the same measure, the return of Jesus and the judgment of the world draws near. Are you a child of God? You may say, “I hope so,” or “I would like to be.” If you cannot give a clear answer to this question, you are neither one nor the other. You are what the Lord Jesus called “neither cold nor hot”; that is, neither an unbeliever nor a fervent, burning Christian. If you are not saved, then come to Jesus today, because you do not have much time!

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ByAayush Gupta, writer at
Brace yourself, bad puns are coming.
Aayush Gupta

Batman v Superman may not have been the most stellar movie of the year, and certainly wasn't very well received amongst a lot of fans and critics. One of the biggest talking points of the film was none other than Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg.

While many believed that this iteration of the character was over-the-top cheesy and extremely Riddler-like in his mannerisms, others seem to believe that Eisenberg's Luthor possessed a level of depth previously unseen in any of the numerous incarnations of the character. Others claimed that he lacked enough character motivation for his actions in the movie.

Personal opinions aside, it is quite reasonable to say that the character is more than just an evil, psychopathic, billionaire genius hell-bent on killing Superman. More specifically, thanks to the excellent dialogue in the movie, Lex Luthor's philosophy and ideology was explained clearly, with reference to various moral and ethical dilemmas that have perplexed philosophers for centuries.

Lex Luthor's Philosophy

If it wasn't obvious enough from both Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, Supes is considered to be an all-powerful, godlike figure in the DCEU continuity, and for good reason. Considering the massive amounts of collateral damage due to the Black Zero event, it's no surprise that there are dissenters who believe that Superman is a threat to humanity. Lex Luthor shares this same belief, as stated numerous times throughout the movie.

While at first glance, this dialogue may seem like a simple representation of flawed logic, it's essential to not take it at face value. Rather, it is necessary to fully understand what the writers were suggesting by adding this line of dialogue.

This line paves the way for an entirely new philosophical concept, first raised in Ancient Greece by the philosopher Epicurus.

The Problem of Evil

The "Problem of Evil" is a problem of logic and ethics, particularly questioning of the possibility of the existence of an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God. In the case of Batman v Superman, Lex Luthor embodies this very belief.

This dilemma can be explained in three easy steps:

  • If an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent god exists, then evil does not or cannot exist.
  • There is evil in the world.
  • Therefore, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God does not or cannot exist.

Although initially Lex's logic may have appeared to be flawed, it actually makes complete sense. In the case of Lex, he believes that if an all-powerful God actually existed, he would have prevented the "evil" – his relationship with his father, and the fact that his father used to beat him up – in his life.

However, since that did not happen, Lex concludes that such a figure cannot exist, and therefore must either have a weakness which can be exploited, or is morally and ethically corrupt.

When Lex comes across a physical representation of this seemingly all-powerful figure in Superman, this entire belief shatters, as what Lex believed to be true his whole life seems to be in question. Hence, he strives to prove that Superman "cannot be all good" or "cannot be all powerful".

The Knightmare Scene, another extremely controversial aspect of the movie, is a great representation of a Superman who is morally corrupt, as he turns evil after the death of Lois Lane, directly adapted from the famous Injustice storyline.

Every challenge and conflict faced by Superman in Batman v Superman was set up by Lex in order to bolster his contention. Superman undergoes tests of morality as well as physical strength, and attempts to overcome them all. After Lex fails to prove that Superman is morally and ethically corrupt despite his best efforts (culminating with the kidnapping of Martha Kent), Lex unleashes Doomsday in order to demonstrate that Superman isn't all powerful, and he does so successfully as Superman perishes towards the end.

Absolute Virtue

The other aspect of this philosophical dilemma is the issue of absolute virtue. In contrast to what Lex believes, millions of people worldwide consider Superman to be a hero, and worship him as a God, who is considered to be all powerful and all good.

The Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu religious text, argues that one must always act selflessly, for the greater good:

This is in direct contradiction to Lex Luthor's belief, as he believes that it is impossible for anyone to be a force purely for the good.

Lex Luthor believes the idea of absolute virtue to be a lie, and strives to prove Superman's "fraud", by making him undergo tests of morality and ethicality. Lex decides to establish once and for all that Superman is morally corrupt, by kidnapping Martha Kent, and pitting Superman against Batman. This could have gone down two ways: either Superman kills Batman, thus reinforcing Lex's claim that Superman isn't all good, or Batman kills Superman, thus once again, validating Lex's claim that Superman isn't all powerful.

Failing to prove his point (after Superman makes peace with Batman), Lex unleashes Doomsday as a last resort to kill Superman, and succeeds in verifying his conviction.

This line of dialogue perfectly captures the essence of the character. Lex Luthor's primary principle is that it is impossible to possess such extreme levels of power as Superman without having him turn rogue, and use his powers for destruction. Combined with the abuse he endured as a child, it's no wonder Lex despises this physical manifestation of a supposed "God", and wants to prove a fraud.

Chris Terrio knocked it out of the park with the dialogue in Batman v Superman, and we can only hope that the upcoming DCEU movies, particularly Wonder Woman and Justice League follow suit!

If you enjoyed reading this, make sure to check out my other articles and follow my page for more content! Leave any feedback or thoughts in the comments section below!

What do you think of 'Batman v Superman' and the philosophical concepts explored in the film?

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This documentation is archived and is not being maintained.

GetCORVersion Function

Returns the version number of the common language runtime (CLR) that is running in the current process.

    [in] LPWSTR  pbuffer,
    [in]  DWORD   cchBuffer,
    [out] DWORD*  dwlength

A pointer to a buffer in which the CLR returns a string specifying the version of the runtime that is currently loaded into the process. The returned string takes the same form as strings passed to CorBindToRuntimeEx, for example, "v1.0.1216". If the runtime has not yet been loaded into the process, the function returns the appropriate directory information for the latest version of the runtime installed on the computer.

The number of characters (WCHARs) that can be held in pbuffer.

A pointer to the number of characters actually returned in pbuffer. If pbuffer is a null pointer, the runtime returns E_POINTER. If the number of characters is greater then the length of pbuffer , the runtime returns ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER.

Platforms: See .NET Framework System Requirements.

Header: MSCorEE.idl

Library: MSCorEE.dll


Anchorage November 2012

Anchorage was cooler than normal in November, with an average temperature of 17.7°F, 4.5°F below the expected temperature. The maximum temperature (33°F) occurred on the 2nd and 11th, while the minimum temperature (2°F) occurred on the 21st. November temperatures tended to be colder than normal with the exception of a few days around the 13th.
Precipitation was very low at 0.23", only 20% of normal of 1.16". Snowfall totaled 3.3", 9.8" below the expected amount. Anchorage reported less than half the normal snowfall for the winter season so far. The average wind speed was 5.9 mph.


St. Francis Softball Catcher Saves Her Season With Dr. Brant Larsen’s Chiropractic Kinesiology

Dr. Larsen,

Dr. Larsen is amazing !!

Thank You

Brianna Bloxham

This was  few years back, but what a fun case. Start of her senior year, starting softball catcher and she has been injured for 3 weeks and can’t play. Doesn’t make for a happy camper.

Sudden onset of right knee pain. Physical therapy was actually making the knee worse. Initial testing revealed a popliteus muscle (muscle in the back of the knee) that was not firing and when I touched over the gall bladder area she just about fell off the table in pain. This is an extremely common finding in my office. For the past 40 plus years applied kinesiologists have recognized that the popliteus muscle and the gallbladder are somehow related. Meaning, when the gallbladder starts to malfunction so does the popliteus.

The cause?

Toxins, and a poor diet. So this case of knee pain was caused from a gallbladder dysfunction. I found the right nutritional product for her body based on applied kinesiology testing and she was back to normal within a few days. The product helped her dump the sludge out of her gallbladder, but the real fix is changing the diet.

Remember, the cause of a problem is not always where the pain is. Actually, it usually isn’t. If I had tunnel vision and only concentrated on her knee, Brianna would still be in pain, AND she would be well on the road to having her gallbladder removed down the road.

Without kinesiological testing, I really don’t know how a person would figure this out quickly. It’s probably why our “healthcare” system costs so darn much money. Too much tunnel vision and expensive tests that aren’t needed.


Contributed by: Shaan D.

Date of creation: 9/30/11
Phenolphthalein can be used to indicate if a liquid is an acid or a base. There are other things it can be used in like dyes and invisible ink. It can be a powder or a liquid, but can only be used as a liquid(adding water to the powder makes it able to be used as an indicator) Phenolphthalein changes color from colorless to bright pink, which starts in a pH of 8 (colorless in acids and pink in bases). The process that the phenolphthalein undergoes during this color transition is called ionization. This is when an ion is added to or removed from a molecule it can change the molecule into an ion, depending on if the ions are positive or negatively charged. Phenolphthalein has positively charged hydrogen ions. The reason phenolphthalein changes color is because although the phenolphthalein molecules are colorless, when they are mixed with an alkaline solution the molecules convert into ions and phenolphthalein ions are bright pink. The higher on the pH scale the substance is, the darker the pink color will be because more ions will be removed. Therefore, when you expose phenolphthalein to acidic solutions, the ions are not removed and the phenolphthalein remains colorless.

Figure 1: Shows what phenolphthalein looks like in basic or acidic solutions.

Litmus paper is another acid-base indicator and it is more common than phenolphthalein. Using litmus paper is fairly easy. All you do is place the strip of paper in whatever substance you want to test and soon it will start changing color. Litmus paper turns red under a pH of 4.5 and blue and red over a pH of 8.2. So something that has a neutral pH, such as pure water, turns the litmus paper into a color in between red and blue.
Figure 2: Litmus paper turns blue in basic solutions.

To completely understand an acid-base indicator like phenolphthalein, you need to know what acids and bases are. They can be found in a lot of everyday things. For example, oranges are acidic and baking soda is basic. The strengths of acids can vary greatly. Some very strong acids are corrosive and some are so weak that you can digest them. It is similar with bases; strong bases are used in manufacturing or for breaking down substances such as animal tissue. Soap, a weaker base, breaks down a very tiny layer of skin and washes of the bacteria. To determine if something is an acid or a base or to see how strong or weak an acid or a base is, a pH scale is used. The lower the pH of a substance, the more acidic it is. It is easier to see what pH level litmus paper is showing than phenolphthalein because with litmus paper, you usually get something that tells you what each color indicates on the pH scale.

Ion: an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons
Phenolphthalein: a white, crystalline compound used as an indicator in acid-base titration and as a laxative
Litmus paper: a strip of paper impregnated with litmus, used as a chemical indicator.

"Phenolphthalein." Compton's by Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 21 Sept. 2011.

"phe·nol·phthal·ein." American Heritage Student Science Dictionary (2009): 261. Science Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 22 Sept. 2011.

"Acid and Base." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 22 Sept. 2011.

Theodore L. Brown, H. Eugene LeMay, Jr. and Bruce E. Bursten. Chemistry : the central science. 6th ed. Englewood Cliffs. Prentice Hall, 1994. Print.

Josh Baum.Why Does Phenolphthalein Change Color?” eHow, 2011. Web. 9/23/11.

Charles E. Ophardt. “Acid and Base Indicators” Virtual Chembook. Elmhurst College, 2003. Web. 9/23/11

"acid." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.


Michael Eriksson
A Swede in Germany
Home » Humans | About me Impressum Contact Sitemap

Thoughts on humans, animals, and what traits are “more evolved”

This page is only partially finished, with some material yet unwritten and a sub-optimal coherence of what is written. The core ideas are that humans are more akin to animals than they like to believe, that understanding animals is the key to understanding (most) human behaviour, that most humans have a skewed image of what traits in a human are not those of an animal, and that those displaying “human” traits instead of “animal” traits are often misunderstood.

What sets humans and animals apart

I have repeatedly heard the statement that emotions are what make humans different from animals. This is patently false: While emotions in a human sense are not present in e.g. insects, reptiles, and many other types of animals (as far as I can judge, with reservations for e.g. misinterpretation due to lack of facial expression), they are present in most reasonably advanced mammals. Dogs, e.g., have a wide range of intense emotions, and I would tend to consider them more emotional than (at least) adult male humans. Elephants, who are among the most intelligent animals around, have shown some quite advanced emotions, including signs of grief or reminiscing (e.g. in the form of a “silent minute”) when re-visiting a place they associate with the death of another elephant. To claim that animals would not have emotions is extremely naive.

In stark contrast, I would claim that what sets humans and animals apart is the ability of higher reasoning, including meta-reasoning, reasoning about emotions, ability to put emotions aside, etc. (This is to be contrasted with the common popular science view that reasoning in any form is the distinguishing criterion—often accompanied with amazement that other animals are capable of solving any kind of problem.) While such ability may be present in non-humans too, it will be rare and undeveloped—and even humans only develop it over time (late childhood?), and often highly incompetently (consider e.g. the average high-school drop-out).

Would lack of this ability in some humans not make it unsuitable as a distinguishing criterion? Not necessarily: An assumption of a certain degree of development, maturity, “healthiness”, or “typicality” is quite allowable (unless, possibly, a formal definition is sought). Consider e.g. differing between chairs and tables with the heuristic that chairs are sat upon, while tables are sat at: This is certainly an over-simplification, certainly ignores some special cases, and certainly assumes that only two types of furniture need to be recognized; however, it is also a very effective and efficient rule, and even a sub-average thinker would likely be able to handle the special cases reasonably.

It certainly pays to bear in mind, however, that each species has a continuum of intelligence, ability of reasoning, etc.; and that there are very likely to be elephants, chimpanzees, dolphins, ..., that exceed the lower ranges of human ability. Further, if we compare the intellectual development of humans with their physical development, it should be clear that humans are intellectual dwarves compared to what is theoretically possible: Compare e.g. the relative ease with which a human (after some training) accomplishes an extremely hard task like setting a three-point shot to the problems we have with simple tasks like solving a linear equation-system in ten variables. (An interesting contrast is how easy it is for a computer to do the latter, but how it, in a robotic shape, struggles with the former.)

A scale of evolutionary progress

I have a very strong impression that the more intelligence, insight, and maturity grows, the less people are governed by their emotions and more by their intellect. In effect we have a development scale beginning with extremely primitive animals (with no emotions, no reasoning, no self-awareness) and, preliminary, ending with a hypothetical Spock (or rather someone of whom Spock could be considered a caricature). On this scale, dogs would rate highly, elephants even higher, a human child (depending on age) roughly the same as a dog or elephant, followed by a continuum of human adults of various levels of development (likely with women, on average, trailing men). An important observation is that, on this scale, it could well be argued that aspiesw are half an evolutionary step ahead of humankind in general, and do not suffer from a disorder—a position that there is some considerable circumstantial evidence for. (This with regard to e.g empathy, the probably most often cited “problem”; nevertheless, aspies may well have real problems in some other areas. Here, however, much subjectivity in the evaluation will be present. Is e.g. a certain sensitivity to sound an over-sensitivity, or just a case of the environment being unsuitable?)

Beware that this scale is a highly informal construct, not a scientific classification; further, that the classification given is extremely approximate.

A highly interesting issue is that based on this evolutionary scale (and, independently, rational reflection), being good at reading body language, having a strong empathic ability, being talkative, etc. is not something that shows superiority. The former two, e.g., are remnants from a time before more intellectual modes of communication surfaced, and when most individuals (not necessarily humans) had very low abilities of reasoning and thinking—indeed, cats and dogs, who are still in this state, are far superior to humans in both body language and empathy (at least when measuring in-born, as opposed to trained, ability.) The third, similarly, reflects a state of being where human interaction is the main form of entertainment available, and where more intellectual interests are not known, not available, or where the intellectual development is insufficient to appreciate them. I would challenge the reader to look at his or her own life and reflect upon what people have been the most and the least talkative—and who has been the more intelligent and intellectually well-developed. While there will be great individual variations, the overall tendency will almost certainly be that small children, brainless teenage girls, old women without a higher education, and the most stupid among the men are among the most talkative. In contrast, the least talkative will include physicists and mathematicians, professors, the high-school brainiac, etc.

Unfortunately, here the tall dancer syndrome comes into play, and because the rational are so much rarer than the irrational, these people tend to have a greater advantage than those who instead have a few IQ points extra, think rationally, or otherwise have a more valuable advantage. It is noteworthy that in the past (or in the lower to middle reaches of intelligence) there may actually have been a positive correlation between these abilities and intelligence; however, once a certain threshold is passed this correlation becomes negative. This old correlation could help with explaining why so many humans misinterpret, e.g., a never stopping mouth as intelligence.

A further consideration is that some of the most intelligent people can talk quite fast, once they get going. It is important to note the difference to the traditional motor-mouths: The former typical prefer other activities; but have the ability and need to talk fast, because they have a fast stream of ideas and information. The latter enjoy hearing their own voices, have no greater fun than talking, talk just to avoid a silence (which they equal with disaster, instead of e.g. a time to reflect), have a clear quantity-over-quality policy, or are otherwise wasting air.

Correspondingly, if someone tries to squash in hour’s worth of information in a half hour conversation, and remains quite for the rest of the day, he may well belong to the intelligent. If she (typically a woman) spends most of her day in conversations with others—constantly talking, but rarely actually saying anything—then the opposite is likely to apply.

Notably, intelligence is mostly an all-round ability to master situations for which one has not been evolutionary “pre-programmed”. In contrast, the human language ability is largely pre-programmed and special purpose (notwithstanding that it needs to be trained—just like a new-born baby cannot walk without training). This explains the low correlation between intelligence and language ability and why even a comparatively small child can have a strong command of language, be a reasonable conversationalist (in sufficiently favourable circumstances), and occasionally give a superficial impression of adult intelligence—even without actually being gifted.

Body language, emotions, and empathy are intertwined

Body language and “animal language” is largely used to communicate emotions, such as fear and happiness; a related area is intentions, possible consequences of an action in the counter-part, and similar. The latter is likely closely intertwined with the former from an evolutionary perspective, e.g. in that a warning signal developed hand in hand with feelings like fear and anger. (Consider also the mirror effect of body language influencing mood.)

Understanding humans by understanding animals

As I have grown to realize over time, one of the keys to understanding the behaviour of adult humans is to understand the behaviour of children and animals.

Example: If we compare women, children, and some animals (notably cats and dogs), there are some striking similarities in how to treat them in order to keep them happy—and how they behave, if we do not. (The same applies to some degree to men too, but noticeably less so.) Attention, gifts, physical contact, care-taking, are all examples of how they tend to want the same thing (obviously with some considerable variation in the details). An interesting exercise for the male reader would be to consider how he treats e.g. a cat, and how the corresponding behaviour, modified for species, would come across to women; correspondingly, the female reader should consider how the same behaviours would affect her.

Similarly, consider this joke chart on catse, and contrast “The hand that’s petting him” with “The hand that’s petting the other cat”: The same phenomenon is readily observable in humans—as are several other entries on the chart. (The linked site and several sister sites with comical content can be used to draw many interesting conclusions about both human and animal behaviour.)

The central issue here is that for most purposes humans (irrespective of age and sex) are animals, underlie animal instincts, behave in ways dictated by evolution in a pre-modern, often even pre-civilized or pre-human, world, etc.; and that reason, rationality, objectivity, ..., often fight a losing battle against the animal within.

Excursion on “Spockish” characters

A key-issue with many “Spockish” characters (mostly in fiction) is that they either fail to consider human nature, or try to conquer it in a naive fashion. In either case, they run into severe problems because of this. Notably, these characters often lack true rationality, either because they are not what they themselves believe that they are, or because they are caricatures that give a misrepresentation of the highly rational. Consider e.g. that someone who is truly rational will recognize his own nature and weaknesses—and give them appropriate consideration, possibly even utilize them. If, OTOH, we consider a character like Thomas Gradgrindw, we have someone who is not intelligent, well-informed, and rational, but rather the opposite—while living in self-delusion. This is illustrated e.g. by how he over-focuses on raw facts, and leaves actual understanding by the road-side. Notably, he also fails to accommodate human nature, which weakens his position, makes his methods less effective and efficient, and reduces his enjoyment of life.


Story Structure
for Children's Books
(and other stuff)
Page 2

Wanna get back to the first page? Here it is.)

The Arc of a Character and Character Development

Exactly who a character is (what traits he/she possesses) and how a character evolves (how those traits change) are important aspects of story structure.

Character Arc

Think of a story as the most important event in a character's life. After all, the things that we do every day aren't worth writing a book about. A fictional story is, on the other hand, by definition a story worth telling!

As consumers of fiction, we tend to expect that our characters change as a result of a story. After all, who wouldn't change as a result of such dramatic events!

These changes in character are a character's arc.

Special TV exception to the character arc rule

I should note that while many TV shows are fictional, oftentimes their characters lack an arc. Why?

The whole notion of a show featuring the same characters every episode is based largely on the characters NOT changing. TV viewers are looking to invite the same characters into their home every week. If the characters were always changing, it wouldn't feel like the same show!

Remember that these characters are exceptional in another way too: They have once in a lifetime adventures every week. No wonder they don't change. They're used to it!

The TV exception can apply to other serial storytelling as well, like a book series.

Character Arc, continued

A protagonist tends to be a somewhat different person at the end of a story as compared to the beginning. Usually, he or she grows in some way, i.e. becomes a better person.

That growth may even have given him/her the ability to overcome the antagonist in a way that wouldn't have been possible at the beginning of the story. He/she might not have had

  • the patience
  • the tools
  • the foresight
  • the skills

In The Cat in the Hat, our narrator goes from ignoring the poor fish - who keeps telling him that the cat will cause trouble! - to listening and realizing he has to take charge. In other words, the protagonist matures, and he learns that strangers are not to be let in the house.

Character Development

Character development refers to the writer's ability to make his/her characters seem distinct and real. Is a character optimistic or pessimistic? Kind or cruel? How do those characteristics come into play during the story? Presumably, an optimistic character will behave differently than a pessimistic character, will make different choices.

The more important a character is to the story, the more that character should be developed.

And character development is NOT something that occurs

  • only at the beginning of the story, or
  • only by virtue of the author describing the character

The best way to "describe" a character is by virtue of his or her choices! A character who stoops to pick up a penny is different from a character who doesn't. A character who keeps a wallet (and its contents) is different from a character who strives to return the wallet to its owner.

This is what writers mean when they say, Show, don't tell. It's also part of what they mean when they talk about the difference between good exposition and bad exposition.

Want to learn about exposition in a fun way? Go rent the Austin Powers movies and pay close attention to the character, Basil Exposition. He's bad exposition personified!

Story structure and viewpoint

I referred earlier to the notion of a viewpoint character. Most well-structured stories are told from a single viewpoint. This is especially true with shorter works, like children's books.

In other words, in good writing we are usually privy only to the thoughts and experiences of a single character.

We witness only what that single character witnesses. If he/she didn't go to the baseball game, the only way the reader will hear about the game is if the viewpoint character hears about it.

Make sense?

Stories can be told in the 1st person (I went to the game), 3rd person (He went to the game), or even the 2nd person (You went to the game). A story does not have to be told in the 1st person for the character to be a viewpoint character!!!

When a 3rd person narrator only has access to the thoughts and experiences of a single character, that character is the viewpoint character.

A fully omniscient narrator can have access to the thoughts and experiences of any or all of the characters. Unless handled by a professional, though, omniscient narration is likely to seem simply like bad or lazy writing, especially in a shorter story.

A longer story might feature multiple viewpoints. This is a common feature of novels for grown-ups. However...

Even then, the author tends to stick to one viewpoint at a time. For instance, chapter one will be through the eyes of one character, then chapter two through the eyes of another.

The reason? We are more likely to identify with a character if he or she is the only one through whose eyes we are seeing the story (or a portion of the story).

Most often, the viewpoint character is the protagonist. This, however, does not have to be the case.

Note also that a story can be told in the past, present and even future tenses.

For a beginning writer, though, I recommend using the past tense, as it's the least likely to be awkward.

A writer who mixes his/her tenses marks him/herself as a sloppy amateur.

More essential elements of story structure

A story has action, and this action consists largely of the playing out of conflict as the protagonist tries to solve the problem he she faces.

A story without action or conflict (or a problem) is not worth telling. It's boring!

We experience the action and conflict vicariously through the protagonist. We feel for him/her. We place ourselves in his/her shoes and get to experience the story as if it were happening to us...without actually putting our existence at risk!

That's the magic of good story structure.

I could go on and on...

...but let's keep it simple. The basics of story structure aren't written in stone, but they're written somewhere more important: in the human mind. A story that doesn't contain the essential elements of story structure is doomed NOT to satisfy its audience.

Understand and follow these rules and you will become a better writer. To take it to the next level, writing stories that make readers think, "How the heck did (s)he think of that?" visit my unique ideas page.

Visit our Author Services page to get personalized help with story structure.

Back to the authors page.

Back to the first story structure page.

New! Comments

Have your say!

Best Children's Books - Find, Read or Write home page.


As an architect every project is important. But now imagine how important project is in his own home!

For years he was always enjoyed the beauty of natural concrete and used to be a constant in their projects, however polished concrete floors were still not in his catalog, mainly because he was not aware of this actual technology its benefits, including dust proofing, and permanent high gloss with very simple maintenance.

However when he approached a floor contractor with a lot of experience in industrial floors projects and saw polished concrete floors in big industries, he realized that with the right floor contractor he could build some of the slabs of his house and prepare them to be polished and get the look and style he was searching for.

The project included polished concrete floor in the kitchen and family room, the living and dining room for a total of 62.75 square meters of polished concrete floors. The slabs were 5 inches thick, poured with 3500 psi ready-mix concrete, and saw cut in slabs 2 by 2 meters long. After the placement of the slab it was protected during the rest of the construction because there was also several contractors still working over the concrete slab. Around 45 days after the slab was initially poured and hard-trowel-finished it was finally grinded and polished using a predator 3200 Innovatech machine and densified with the RetroPlate system.


France Gasoline prices, liter

Gasoline prices: We show prices for France from 12-Dec-2016 to 20-Mar-2017. The average value for France during that period was 1.41 Euro with a minimum of 1.36 Euro on 12-Dec-2016 and a maximum of 1.43 Euro on 09-Jan-2017. For comparison, the average price of gasoline in the world for this period is 1.12 Euro.

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FDA Warns Device Makers on Heparin

Concerns over tainted <"http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/heparin">heparin have prompted the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to warn medical device makers to examine the sources of the heparin used in their products.Â  According to the FDA, heparin tainted with a counterfeit ingredient has been implicated in at least 62 deaths, and 19 of those deaths may be linked to heparin made by Baxter International, the company that recalled most of its heparin products in the US earlier this year.

The Baxter heparin recalls came after the blood thinner was linked to hundreds of extreme – and in some cases fatal -Â  allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, and rapidly falling blood pressure that was life threatening after being administered the products. Other manufactures have conducted similar recalls of heparin in Denmark, Italy, France Germany and Japan.Â  In the US, several other companies, including B. Braun, American Health Packaging and Covidien Ltd. announced precautionary recalls of heparin products.

In March, the FDA confirmed that it had found chondroitin sulfate in samples of the active ingredient used in Baxter heparin. The FDA said the chondroitin sulfate was molecularly changed to mimic heparinâ€™s blood-clotting properties. However, the agency has not yet determined if the chondroitin sulfate was responsible for the deaths and reactions associated with heparin, although the chemical is the prime suspect.

Since the contaminant was discovered, the FDA has been detaining all heparin imports at the border for testing before they are allowed into the US.Â  The FDA has also now sent a letter to drug device manufacturers warning them to examine the sources of the heparin used in their products, as some drug devices, particularly vascular stents and other devices used in pulmonary bypass, as well as in-vitro diagnostic procedures, are coated with a small amount of heparin.

The FDA has yet to determine how and where the chondroitin sulfate entered the heparin supply chain in China, which is now the largest supplier of raw heparin ingredients in the world.


Missing you

By way of a tentative re-entry into the blogosphere, I share this poem I wrote a couple or several years ago. Wrong season, slightly off-kilter sentiment for a “hey, I’m back” greeting, but why would I let that stop me? Sometimes you just have to say something, right? Consider this a versical throat-clearing prior to the full-on bloggification to follow.

Missing you

Summer slides by,
Blue skies and buttery days.
I remember when the sun wasn’t
An enemy,
When we lay under a canopy of oak leaves,
Faces freckled with light,
And ignored the future.

Suddenly last summer

I’ve been on vacation the past couple of weeks, sloughing off the bug-eyed stress and mind-melting  irritations of workaday life. Ah, vacation. Such affection and appreciation I harbour in my heart for these hard-earned days of leisure. If only they were less fleeting and infrequent.

This year my sister and I spent a few days on Bowen Island, hunkered down in a lovely little waterfront cottage, watching seabirds and eagles cavort over Howe Sound and listening to all the noises the Pacific Northwest bestows when the chaos and cacophony of city life is stripped away.

Every morning and every evening (and a good chunk of the time in between) found us ensconced in our comfy red faux Adirondack chairs, sipping coffee, tea, wine or G&Ts, gobbling up the views or immersed in our books or happily pondering the possibilities of picking up sticks and abandoning life as we know it for the solitude and sanctuary of island life.20150615_193234
There was a rocky beach a short walk away from 20150616_131345the cottage which we visited every day when we walked Rory (our dog). You see the little point that juts out from the trees on the left in the photograph below? That’s where our cottage was, nestled right behind those trees. We had neighbours on either side, but they were farther back, and the most we heard from them was an occasional cough. It was like being in the middle of nowhere,

And, speaking of Rory, he’s blind, deaf, diabetic, and ordinarily as poky as an unmotivated slug on on his walks, but he loved being on Bowen. Maybe it was the sea air or the irresistible bouquet of rotting sea critters, but he was  champing at the bit for his morning and evening walks on that rocky beach.

When I’m in the city, I can barely stand to go a full hour without firing up my laptop. I go through internet withdrawal during power outages, even if they only last half an hour. The cottage had wi fi, and I’d brought my laptop because I knew I couldn’t stand that many days without being connected to the virtual world, but I didn’t open it once.

From the moment we walked into20150617_195729 the cottage, I morphed from madly stressed, wack-a-doo, neurotic computer addict to blissed out deck chair aficionado. And, honestly, with sunsets like this to watch, who could blame me? Hope you’ve all been having as fabulous a time as I have. Today was my first day back at work–quite a shock to the system. I’m still hanging on to my cottage-y bliss, but it’s already starting to fray around the edges. Ah, vacations. What was I saying about you being so fleeting?

The spinny wheel of affirmation


Peptide Library

A peptide library is a systematic combination of a large number of different peptides. It is widely used in peptide library screening for drug discovery, target validation, epitope mapping, vaccine development, and structure-activity studies. There is an increasing demand for peptide libraries from pharmaceutical companies due to the expanding interest in peptide drugs.

Selleck provides peptide library synthesis services at a very competitive price, starting from $18 per peptide, the lowest cost compared to that of other peptide companies. We offer both standard and customized peptide libraries, such as overlapping, truncation, alanine scanning, positional scanning, scrambled, and random peptide libraries.

Our Peptide Library Synthesis Platform

Selleck's high-throughput parallel peptide synthesis platform offers a range of cost-effective peptide library services to meet your drug discovery. Using a 96-well plate we can synthesize 96 different peptides. All purified peptides are delivered with complete set of QC data including RP-HPLC, MS, and COA report to ensure high quality. Each plate is individually tested for accuracy and can be used for epitope mapping, libraries, protein characterization, etc. We offer up to 20-mer peptides at a 2-5mg scale. 3 tiers of analysis are also offered and delivery is usually only 2-3 weeks.

Peptide Library Synthesis Service-Features

2-5 mg scale (higher scale is available for an additional charge).
High success rate: >95%.
Various purity levels: crude, desalted, >70%, >75%, >80%, >85%, >90%, >95%, and >98%.
Various peptide lengths: 5 to 20 amino acids.
Comprehensive Modifications: biotin, fluorescence, and unnatural AA etc. > No cross contamination.
2-3 weeks for delivery.
Competitive pricing: 40% below market price.

Package 1 ($1880): Without Mass Spectrum or HPLC
Package 2 ($2980): With Mass Spectrum for every peptide
Package 3 ($3980): With Mass Spectrum and HPLC for every peptide


Monday, May 30, 2016

How to be Happy

To be happy be kind to others. What goes around comes around - and with kindness it really does. Research shows that being kind to others increases our own levels of happiness as well as theirs. What's more it has a knock-on effect - kindness is contagious, so it makes our communities nicer places to be.

Recent research into brain functioning has confirmed that we are hard-wired for love and compassion. So it's not all chasing about individual success - our communities and society flourish when people look out for each other.

When we're kind to people we know it strengthens our connections with them and provides a source of support. Research shows that we may benefit from giving support more than those receiving it - and we're also more likely get support in return when we need it. This may not be like-for-like support, or even from the same person, but being kind to others builds a wider support network which increases well-being all round.

Doing kind things for strangers helps build co-operation, trust and a sense of safety in our communities. It also helps us to see others more positively and empathise with them. These are the foundations of a thriving local community and a flourishing society - one which builds well-being all round.

Kindness can be as simple as a smile, a thank-you or a word of encouragement.  It's a way of connecting, even if only for a brief moment, with those we pass in our daily lives. It doesn't have to cost anything or take much time - what's important is that it's an act of genuine care and thoughtfulness for another person. There are lots of ideas below and throughout this website.

Kind acts can be spur of the moment, like when we notice someone in need. For example, we might give up our seat on the train or pick up and return someone's glovewhen they drop it. Opportunities to be kind pop up all over the place - like handing on a newspaper we've finished reading, letting someone take our parking space or passing on an unused ticket.

To be kind, it's important for us to be aware of the people around us - and to notice their needs and feelings. We all have an innate compassion but sometimes it takes bit of time for us to tune into it. As the Dalai Lama says: "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible"
1.   Plan for kindness - Do some thinking about what you might do to spread some kindness - then you're more likely to spot opportunities when they come up. Make yourself a list of small actions you could take in your daily life - they don't have to cost any money at all. Think about people you know and others that you pass byin the course of the day. What could you do today or tomorrow? What do you feel drawn to doing? There are lots of ideas below to get you thinking.
2.   Have a kindness day - On a particular day, perhaps once a week, try to perform at least 5 different acts of kindness for different people. Make these things that you wouldn't ordinarily do. Afterwards, think: How did you feel after you did each act? How do you feel at the end of the day? You could also do this as a challenge with friends and get together in the evening to talk about what you got up to. Go on spread a little kindness!
3.   Do it together - Try to think about kind things you could do with friends, family or neighbours. You can swap ideas and support each other. Doing new things together helps build connections, which also increases happiness, so it's a win all round. If you've got children, get them thinking about what they can do too. Ask them what kind acts they gave or received that day - they might share some lovely stories with you!

Here's a list of 10 suggested acts of kindness to get you started:
·       Give up your seat
·       Hold a door open for someone
·       Give a (sincere) compliment
·       Make someone laugh
·       Give someone a hug
·       Take time to really listen to someone
·       Let one car in on every journey
·       Make someone new feel welcome
·       Help someone who's lost

·       Have a conversation with a stranger

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CAI/DTG Aerial benchmarking scheme

Aerial Benchmarking

Many of the tests carried out on aerials at Blake UK have been influenced by the introduction of the new Aerial Benchmark Scheme in 2003. Four standards were created for UHF TV aerials. These standards were created to help make aerial choice easier, by ensuring that aerials used for Digital reception meet the minimum requirements for a given standard with respect to mechanical construction and electrical performance.

With the advent of LTE (Long Term Evaluation) and potential 4G interference then two additional standards were added in 2012. The LTE standards are S (Standard) and F (Fringe)

Aerials that achieve a Benchmark have packaging labels that display the level of the pass, be it Standard 1, Standard 2, Standard S,  Standard F etc.

Typical tests carried out on aerials by Blake UK include:

Forward Gain

Forward gain is measured in dBd, which is gain relative to that of a simple dipole. It has been the practice by some to quote gain as dB or dBi, which is gain relative to that of a mathematical device called an isotropic source; this produces an apparent gain that is 2.2dB higher than it would be if measured in dBd.

Return Loss

Return loss is a measure of the ability of the aerial to accept and radiate any RF signal sent to it. The loss of returned signal to the source is measured and presented as return loss in decibels. The return loss measure specifies the degree of convergence of aerial terminal impedance to 75ohms, which is the impedance of the cable to which it will be connected.

Polar Plots

Polar plots are a measure of an aerials ability to receive signal in a given direction. Generally most aerials require directivity and are measured over 360deg. The best response for a terrestrial digital receive aerial is a narrow acceptance angle/main lobe, and any other rear/side lobes not exceeding -16dB.

Cross Polar Rejection

Cross-polar plots show an aerials ability to reject opposite polarity signals, it defines the ability of an aerial to ignore signals likely to cause co-channel interference from distant transmitters using the same channels but radiating signals rotated 90deg to the wanted signals.

Feeder Pickup

Feeder pickup measure specifies the degree to which an aerial can reject interfering signals conveyed to the aerial along the outer of the coaxial cable. Many spurious signals created around the home such as those from light switches and thermostats can find its way on to the coax cable and have an effect on the reception.
All tests carried out are largely based on the measurement methods specified in BS 5640:Part 2: 1978, IEC 60597-2: 1977 "Aerials for the reception of sound and television broadcasting in the frequency range 30 MHz to 1 GHz, methods of measurement of electrical performance parameters" and also CCIR REC 419.


ICOS National Networks

Forming the backbone of ICOS Research Infrastructure, the Station Networks consist of atmosphere and ecosystem stations across Europe and marine stations covering the North Atlantic and European marginal seas.

At the moment, ICOS Station Networks have more than 100 ICOS stations in 12 countries measuring greenhouse gas concentrations.

Atmosphere stations continuously measure greenhouse gas concentrations of CO2, CH44, CO and radiocarbon-CO2 in the atmosphere due to regional and global fluxes.

The ICOS Station Networks are coordinated by the ICOS National Networks including 11 European member countries and 1 observer country. The ICOS National Networks will gradually extend as more stations are integrated into ICOS RI.

Each National Network is managed and coordinated by a number of national research institutes.


Sunday, March 25, 2007

Why rainforests are "hot zones" for diseases?

Forrest M. Mims III has suggested that when there is mass burning in an area that produces large amounts of smoke, the resulting decline in UV-B light levels may permit higher levels of pathogenic airborne bacteria and viruses to build up, with possible human health implications.

An environment in which UV-B levels are permanently low is the rainforest. Some years ago, I measured UV-B levels in a rainforest in North Queensland. I found that, as expected, the levels of ultraviolet light on the floor under the rainforest canopy were very low.

A number of serious viral diseases have emerged from the rainforests of Africa in recent years:

"Among the extraordinary biodiversity of rainforests are a multitude of viruses and other diseases that have not yet come in contact with humans. Viruses, which previously remained hidden in remote rainforests suddenly have access to large human populations. The appearance of such "rainforest diseases" as HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Marburg suggests that these could result from tropical deforestation. The rainforests hold such viruses in check, but without the forests to 'lock' them in, they would be free to infect humans and other species."

But why are such viruses endemic to rainforests? It seems possible that the lack of ultraviolet light in the rainforest could allow them to thrive in that environment. Are these pathogens airborne? Marburg virus may be. Ebola may be, at least between monkeys and perhaps in humans.

Here is a note by Mims on UV-B as a controlling factor on influenza viruses. However these people, writing about foot-and-mouth disease virus in Australia, tend to discount a role for ultraviolet in limiting the spread of this virus at least.

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User Testing

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IMG_0467 IMG_0466

Game Plan

 Prior to developing our digital music-making interfaces, we used a low-tech interface to evaluate the kids’ interactions with musical notes as fractions. We brought paper sheets with an image: a large rectangle split into sixteen equal segments, one of these segments per sixteenth note, two per eighth note, etc. Our plan was to have the kids drum rhythms on desks and transcribe their creations onto copies of the paper display described.

Kid's example

In the above image, a note is represented by the a dot placed on a vertical bar and the distance from that dot to the next dot on a vertical bar. Students alternatively made interesting rhythms by hand and drew them out on the paper interface.

First Group

The structure of our lesson was to start with asking the children about music and having them make music with their bodies. We asked the first group about their interest in music, which got many of them excited. We went around asking them if they could tap out a rhythm; nearly all of them were able to make music, and many of them produced very interesting patterns. They showed a clear interest in music and a great sense of rhythm; a few of them even mentioned that they were familiar with rhythms from chorus and other music classes.

At this point we handed out the worksheets, which had three charts on them broken up into fractions. We could see many of the students roll their eyes, because they could see that work was involved. We tried to have them recreate a beat produced by other students while explaining how to write music on the chart. We passed out markers for them to write with, trying to give everyone their favorite color, but there was a lot of fighting over the colors that they got. Writing the rhythm proved to be a struggle as well; we were relying on our ability to explain the concepts to them, but it was hard to translate the tapped rhythm onto the sheet. A few of them tried to count the number of taps in the rhythm and drew a circle for each of them on the paper without spacing them out to show how one note lasts longer than another. Even those who had drawn a properly-spaced rhythm had no way of knowing if their answer was correct; the abstraction of the written music made it hard to test.

Second Group

The second group of children exhibited the same excitement and confusion as the first. Passing out the markers was again a difficult task, since the children would be indecisive on the color they wanted or would take a color because they knew it would upset their friend. We tried to explain the activity again in different ways, explaining the duration of a note and how its duration plays into ratios with other notes. This was still dependent on our ability to convey the information, rather than the strength of our device. While many of the students were confused by the concept of writing music, some took a serious interest to it and asked us questions to draw out the rhythm they had in their heads.

Third Group

With the third group, we decided to start them out with basic rhythms so that we could teach the concept of a beat before we made more intricate patterns. This method seemed to help, and a few students were grasping the concept that a long note could be broken into two smaller notes. One student really took off with the concept and was writing his own complex rhythm; the problem was that there was no way to play it back to determine if it sounded right. Other students simply enjoyed making rhythms, and tapped on the table loudly as they experimented with creating music.

Our findings show that there is a lot of interest in music and rhythmic patterns and we could see opportunities for mathematical education through this activity. Many of the students enjoyed the creation of music; we would now need to find a good avenue for teaching the math behind their creative expression. Our current tool had major issues, namely that the translation from sound to chart was too abstract and that there was no way to test the rhythms that they wrote to see if it was what they wanted it to be. Even the concept of handing out a piece of paper with numbers on it seemed to make many students disinterested; we need to bring the learning closer to the creation process and work with the part that they most enjoyed about the activity. Facilitating the activity through a digital interface that represents the same chart structure will hopefully bridge the gap between musical rhythms and their fractional representations.

Some additional observations:

  • Students were excited by the engagement
  • They shared many musical experiences with us
  • They started to feel really confident about tapping the desk to create a rhythm.
  • A lot of them were amused by how Rob was able to read and play their written music piece.

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Final Ethnography

Rythmatic (Processing program) & Scratch Cat (Scratch program)

On December 10, 2015, Ron Eglash’s Fall 2015 PDI 5 classroom made its final visit to School 2. Each group of PDI students came with a final educational prototype for testing. Dan, Karen, Robert, and Will brought two music-making computer programs that express musical notes as fractions. The first of these, written in Scratch, takes user inputs of whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes; the user must choose a sequence of notes that add to unity in order to make a composition that can be played back. The second program, written in Processing, takes user input presses of the computer’s spacebar with arbitrary temporal spacing between inputs. The duration of each note created, i.e., the temporal distance between input presses, are drawn to the screen as rational number fractions of unity. Succinctly put, the Scratch program lets the user make music from fractions and the Processing program visualizes fractions intrinsic to the user’s sense of rhythm. At School 2, the music-centered PDI group split up, each member independently engaging kids, with both programs mentioned, on his or her computer. As such, each member gathered independent user feedback.

  • Students intuitively enjoyed hitting the spacebar in the processing program.
  • When the students heard back what they inputted, they started to tinker with the distance between each notes to create a sound that sounds better to them.
  • All students tried to put fast beat.
  • Students had hard time associating this program with math.
  • Students needed more assistance with the Scratch program.

Future Recommendations:

As a whole, the group observed that the Processing program simply did not have enough educational content, and the Scratch program was too obviously math-related yet not quite challenging enough. To combat these issues, the best thing to do would be to somehow combine the capabilities of both programs. Therefore, the educational content from the Scratch program would be present, but the musical freedom and complexity from the Processing program would also be present. The result would be a program that can take input physically or by using the fractional buttons, input to and play from multiple tracks, and visual representation of the fractions. To make the program more academically challenging, different challenges can be presented to the students.


Piano Player World

Learn How to Play Gospel Piano Lessons

gospel musicGospel music is like a hybrid between blues and jazz genres. If you have ever listened to blues and jazz, you might have noticed similarities in them. Here’s a little background: Gospel actually stemmed from roots in blues and jazz as it evolved into a style with spiritual themes and connotations.  One slight difference that you might notice between these styles would be the tempo, pitch and chords commonly used in gospel.

So, what’s your role as a gospel pianist?

Essentially, you are both a musician and a deliverer. In a gospel band, you need to help your audience achieve a higher state of consciousness and allow them to attain better spiritual awareness.  Because of the significance of gospel music to targeted groups of people, you need to prepare yourself adequately for this duty.

By playing gospel piano music, you may be playing solemn hymns for a church choir or you may be backup piano for the entire congregation to sing lively songs of worship. A lot of that depends on feel and gospel music is versatile in the sense that if the song can change, your playing can change as well.

For example, if the congregation is singing in a lively and upbeat manner, you can change to match the mood of the song and that of the singers.  If your congregation is singing in a more solemn manner, you can alter your play to reflect that as well. The rhythm and the tone can vary depending on the needs of the vocalists.

Unlike playing traditional classical music where the lessons are comprised of warming up exercises and routines, playing in gospel styles may require you to incorporate prayers or mediation techniques to help you relax.

While I am not a self proclaimed expert in gospel music, I can share with you some tips and knowledge to get yourself acquainted with the style.

learn to play gospel piano

Gospel Piano Lessons Listing:

  1. How to Play Any Gospel Piano Songs by Ear
    Learning to play piano by ear is a great skill to develop. When it comes to learning gospel styled piano songs, sight reading and other skills are just as important as ear training.
  2. Chordal Movements in Gospel Worship Music
    The great thing about gospel worship music is that most of the songs have similar chord movements. Even though a song can sound different or be found in different keys, the essential basic chords are usually very much the same.
  3. Hand Stretching Exercises for Piano Players
    For alot of piano players, physical issues like stiff shoulders, wrist or hands are a common complaint. To prevent such problems, having good warm ups and hand stretching exercises can help greatly.
  4. Preparing for a Piano Recital
    With an upcoming piano recital, what are the key points and things to remember? By preparing for it as early as you can, you can be well prepared when it comes to performance day.
  5. Improve Finger Independence on Piano
    Most beginner players have difficulty in gaining finger independence. In this lesson, we will cover the techy aspects of exercises and tips that you can take back to apply and develop dexterity.

gospel piano lessons


Every medical specialty has as its basis a core of classic papers which both reflects the historical background and gives insight into its present and future developments. The selected papers in this volume highlight landmarks in the development of critical care medicine. Internationally acclaimed experts have chosen what they consider to be the most important papers in their respective subspecialties. Each entry follows a set format, starting with the abstract and the reference to the original source of publication. This is followed by analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the paper and the contribution it has made to the development of critical care. Additional information including citation score of each paper is given together with detailed analysis of the top 500 most widely cited papers.

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A man is helped by a U.S. soldier, who is part of a NATO multinational battalion battlegroup on their way from Germany to Orzysz, northeastern Poland, where they will be stationed as part of a reinforcement of NATO's eastern flank, during a military picnic with NATO troops in Wroclaw, Poland March 27, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Mieczyslaw Michalak via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. POLAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN POLAND.

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1.120 Pleading Special Matters

(a) Capacity. It is not necessary to aver the capacity of a party to sue or be sued, the authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, or the legal existence of an organized association of persons that is made a party, except to the extent required to show the jurisdiction of the court. The initial pleading served on behalf of a minor party shall specifically aver the age of the minor party. When a party desires to raise an issue as to the legal existence of any party, the capacity of any party to sue or be sued, or the authority of a party to sue or be sued in a representative capacity, that party shall do so by specific negative averment which shall include such supporting particulars as are peculiarly within the pleader’s knowledge.

(b) Fraud, Mistake, Condition of the Mind. In all averments of fraud or mistake, the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with such particularity as the circumstances may permit. Malice, intent, knowledge, mental attitude, and other condition of mind of a person may be averred generally.

(d) Official Document or Act. In pleading an official document or official act it is sufficient to aver that the document was issued or the act done in compliance with law.

(e) Judgment or Decree. In pleading a judgment or decree of a domestic or foreign court, a judicial or quasijudicial tribunal, or a board or officer, it is sufficient to aver the judgment or decree without setting forth matter showing jurisdiction to render it.

(f) Time and Place. For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of a pleading, averments of time and place are material and shall be considered like all other averments of material matter.

(g) Special Damage. When items of special damage are claimed, they shall be specifically stated.