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Animal study suggests that stress may accelerate age-related changes in the brain
A new study published in the June 18 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience adds to a body of evidence suggesting stress may accelerate cognitive decline later in life. The study found that aged rats with high levels of the stress hormone corticosterone showed structural changes in the brain and short-term memory deficits.
While most people will experience some cognitive decline as they get older, the extent of these changes and how rapidly they progress varies greatly from one person to the next. Scientists are interested in understanding the factors that contribute to these differences. Research suggests that how the body responds to stress may be one of the factors influencing how the brain ages. Multiple animal studies have linked high levels of the stress hormone corticosterone (similar to the human stress hormone cortisol) with age-related structural and functional decline in the hippocampus, a region that plays a key role in long-term memory.
Jason J. Radley of the University of Iowa wanted to know whether exposure to high levels of corticosterone is associated with other changes in the brain and memory deficits. In the current study, he and others measured the amount of the stress hormone in the blood of young and old rats and examined cells in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in short-term memory. The researchers found that older animals with high levels of the stress hormone had fewer connections between prefrontal cortex cells than the older animals with lower levels of the hormone. In contrast, prefrontal cortex cells appeared similar in younger animals regardless of stress hormone levels.
"Older animals with higher levels of stress hormones in their blood have 'older' frontal cortexes than animals with less stress hormones," explained Stanford University professor Robert Sapolsky, PhD, an expert on the damaging effects of long-term stress who was not involved with this study. "Thus, stress may act as a pacemaker of aging in this key brain region."
Older rats with higher levels of stress hormone displayed a 20 percent reduction in the density of dendritic spines (the small protrusions on neurons that come into close contact with other cells to form synapses, the connections between cells) relative to age-matched rats with less stress hormone.
The researchers also compared how the young and old rats performed on a simple working memory task, where the animals had to remember which arm of a two-arm maze contained a food reward following varying periods of delay. Older animals with higher levels of corticosterone made more errors when attempting to predict the location of the reward than age-matched animals with less of the stress hormone after a brief period of delay.
"These findings are not meant to indicate that high stress hormones are the only factor in determining the decline of mental abilities during aging," Radley cautioned. "Nonetheless, this study suggests that the effects of these stress hormones on the brain may be much more widespread than we previously thought."
This research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of nearly 40,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system. Radley can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. More information on aging, stress, and memory can be found on BrainFacts.org.
Emily Ortman | Eurek Alert!
Diagnoses: When Are Several Opinions Better Than One?
19.07.2016 | Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung
High in calories and low in nutrients when adolescents share pictures of food online
07.04.2016 | University of Gothenburg
Researchers from the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) at the University of Waterloo led the development of a new extensible wiring technique capable of controlling superconducting quantum bits, representing a significant step towards to the realization of a scalable quantum computer.
"The quantum socket is a wiring method that uses three-dimensional wires based on spring-loaded pins to address individual qubits," said Jeremy Béjanin, a PhD...
In a paper in Scientific Reports, a research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute describes a novel light-activated phenomenon that could become the basis for applications as diverse as microscopic robotic grippers and more efficient solar cells.
A research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has developed a revolutionary, light-activated semiconductor nanocomposite material that can be used...
By forcefully embedding two silicon atoms in a diamond matrix, Sandia researchers have demonstrated for the first time on a single chip all the components needed to create a quantum bridge to link quantum computers together.
"People have already built small quantum computers," says Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho. "Maybe the first useful one won't be a single giant quantum computer...
COMPAMED has become the leading international marketplace for suppliers of medical manufacturing. The trade fair, which takes place every November and is co-located to MEDICA in Dusseldorf, has been steadily growing over the past years and shows that medical technology remains a rapidly growing market.
In 2016, the joint pavilion by the IVAM Microtechnology Network, the Product Market “High-tech for Medical Devices”, will be located in Hall 8a again and will...
'Ferroelectric' materials can switch between different states of electrical polarization in response to an external electric field. This flexibility means they show promise for many applications, for example in electronic devices and computer memory. Current ferroelectric materials are highly valued for their thermal and chemical stability and rapid electro-mechanical responses, but creating a material that is scalable down to the tiny sizes needed for technologies like silicon-based semiconductors (Si-based CMOS) has proven challenging.
Now, Hiroshi Funakubo and co-workers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, in collaboration with researchers across Japan, have conducted experiments to...
14.10.2016 | Event News
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New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, will not give up her office until she arrives at hospital to give birth, it has been revealed.
Ardern will be only the second world leader to give birth while in office – the first being Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto in 1990.
The prime minister’s office has released Ardern’s birth plans saying she will deliver her baby at Auckland hospital but intends to travel up until her due date of 17 June.
When she is admitted to hospital to give birth she will hand the reins to the acting prime minister, Winston Peters. The statement from the prime minister’s office said there were contingency measures in place if Ardern has the baby while she is travelling.
The statement said Ardern and her partner, Clarke Gayford, would “share with the public some moments with their new baby” at the hospital but expect privacy during the six weeks she will have off work.
Ardern has said she will still be in close communication with Peters and her cabinet while she is on leave.
An announcement of the birth is likely to come via Instagram – the medium Ardern used to initially announce her pregnancy.
Ardern discovered she was pregnant six days before she became prime minister-elect in October last year and then announced the news in January. “I think it’s fair to say that this will be a wee one that a village will raise, but we couldn’t be more excited,” she wrote at the time.
Tuesday’s statement said that because of the public interest there would be a round of interviews given to major domestic media outlets close to the time Ardern returns to work. However, this would be the only formal media opportunity set aside for interviews related to her baby.
At the end of her leave Ardern has said she intends to resume all prime ministerial duties.


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Leading Vietnamese violinist Bui Cong Duy will play several famous Christmas tunes to get Hanoi in the festive spirit at the monthly music program Music Space later this month.
Duy was honoured with the Most Talented Violinist award at the Concours Autumn 1990, a national contest which aims to recognise outstanding young Vietnamese musicians, when he was only nine years old.
The violinist has sharpened his talent by winning other awards on the international stage, including first prize at the Demidov International Music Contest in Ekaterinburg, Russia, in 1993, and the award for the best performance of J S Bach, for which he was given the title "Asian Pride" that same year.
He then won the Tchaikovsky International Music Contest for young violinists in Saint Petersburg in 1997.
Duy has also performed with famous chamber orchestras such as the Novosibirsk Philharmonic orchestra, the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Kapella Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Festival Orchestra in many countries such as Italy, Japan, German, Poland, England, Russia and France.
During the Music Space program, Duy, who currently lectures at the Vietnam National Academy of Music, will perform Silent Night, Joy to the World, and White Christmas.
Songstress Nguyen Thao will once again aim to conquer Music Space's audiences with her passionate and energetic voice after her first performance in May.
Thao will perform the song Tieng Chuong Ngan (Echo of the Ringing Bell) by composer Bao Chan for the first time along with a few songs from her upcoming album which is expected to be released at the beginning of next year.
Young Vietnamese-Canadian singer Hoa Tran is among the other artists to perform at the show. With Vietnamese, English and French language abilities, she will feature famous French songs as well as several Vietnamese-English pieces by Vietnamese-American composer Nguyen Xinh Xo, whose song Dong Ho Treo Tuong (Wall Clock) won the Song of the Year title at the Vietnamese Song contest last year.
Music Space will take place at the Nguy Nhu Kon Tum auditorium, 19 Le Thanh Tong Street at 7.30pm, December 24-25. Tickets cost from VND1- 2 million (US$50-100) and are available at www.khonggianamnhac.com .

domain: artistic


text: A wonderful example of YSL jewelry, designed to reflect African motifs and traditional imagery. It's amazing how diverse jewelry from the same brand can be. Yves Saint Laurent had the safari period, the hippie period, the Mondrian period. And his interests were always reflected in his costume jewelry lines. This large brooch with movable suspensions has a very interesting structure. You can wear it in a classic way, or you can turn it into a shoulder brooch.


Re: Need simple how-to adjust '47 Super Clipper parking brake
Posted by Wat_Tyler On 2022/9/1 18:19:39
Yeah, Gramps was doing a brake job on one of his bathtubs and was a'learnin' the kid a thing or three. Basically, the rear shoe does the work stopping the car going forward, he said (and I'll clean the clock of the SOB who says that I just said you can get by with one shoe). He also pointed out that the rear shoe was what did the parking brake work. So, as Don said, it'll work going forward and not work well at all going backward. Moral of the story is, park the car facing downhill if forced to park on a slope. And leave it in first gear,
I relearnt this lesson the day we off-loaded the Deluxe when it came home. Headed uphill, and the parking brake did bupkis. I then had a flashback. You can get better results - not perfect, but better - by standing on the foot pedal when setting the hand brake. Which I did, and yes, the hand brake handle is pert near hitting the underside of the dash, too. And left the car in reverse. Until I moved everything from the other side of the street and moved the Deluxe to face downhill.
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The newspaper relaunched yesterday with a "serious" new look and masthead slogan declaring that it i
The broadcaster and former journalist spoke at the National Assocation of Press Agency awards.
Comment by managing editor seeks to reassure staff ahead of meeting.
The National Union of Journalists has accused Johnston Press of making staff on its Sheffield Star t
Just over a week after editor Roger Alton's sudden departure, caretaker editor Simon Kelner is relau
The French advertising group has reported a year-on-year growth of 1.5 per cent during the first qua
The Daily Mail & General Trust told its investors it will not charge readers for general online news
The telecom billionaire and largest shareholder in Independent News & Media has sued the newspaper f
The Washington Post has launched a new weekly magazine for its print subscribers, at an extra cost.
The companion to its weekly title, the Birmingham Post, will be delivered free to 18,000 homes in so
The newspaper groups has appointed Jonathan Russell as the new editor of The Herald and editor-in-ch
Metro, the UK's national freesheet, is partnering with ITV to promote the broadcaster's HD Channel.
America's largest newspaper publisher Gannett, which publishes USA Today, has reported a 51 per cent
The newspaper apologised to charity trustees for linking their organisation to an Al Qaeda commander
"World Newspaper Future & Change Study 2010" survey will address how newspapers are responding to on
Scottish branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) kicks off 'Kick the Amateurs into Touch'
An MSP has failed in an attempt to sue the Daily Record for defamation over an interview it ran with
Nominations in categories for political writing, books and blogs were announced this week.
The NCTJ National Certificate Examination in March had a pass rate of 52 per cent.
Group plans to launch free paper to combat rival title.
International news agencies including Reuters, Agence France-Presse, AP and Getty Images are in disp
British Chiropractic Association drops its case against science writer.
Guardian News & Media confirms its Eyewitness iPad app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times in
ASA bans ad whose depiction of the Western Wall it says is misleading.
The National Union of Journalists has asked parliamentary candidates to where they stand on five med
The Sun apologised yesterday for their story headlined "FIZZ ROYAL HIGHNESS", published on Monday.
The Liberal Democrats used yesterday's manifesto launch to pledge libel law reforms in England and W
The American paper and British broadcaster have picked up a total of 24 nominations for the 2010 Web
Regional publisher Johnston Press is to transfer the production operation of its North East newspape
Spanish High Court acquits five newspaper executives of Basque daily from charges of belonging to th

domain: news


text:
An enduring architectural icon of the city, the Real Alcázar is a stunning testament to centuries’ old blend ofMudéjararchitecture and ornamentation. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Alcázar left an indelible impression on the Cole & Son design studio, leading to this fantastical interpretation of the fortress palace’s gardens. Illustrative and pictorial in style, it is a unique artwork piece presented in a classic Terracotta & Spring Green Multicolour palette.
Product code: 117/7020
Roll Dimensions: 68.5 cm x 10.05 m (WxL)
Pattern Repeat: 83.8 cm
*Sold by the roll
*Please note that wallpaper cannot be returned
You may also like


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Have questions? Want to place an
order? Call our trained staff today.
Mon-Fri 9-5, EST.
Custom Chocolate Golf Balls in Full Color Gift Box
Mfr: 44897 - 70
Price:$7.15 Set Up Fee: $100.00
Normal Production: 10 Business Days plus time in transit from WA
Our full-color custom printed golf box allows complete coverage of your design. Your artwork covers the full-color golf box at no additional charge! The box contains 1 Milk Chocolate, 1 Dark Chocolate, and 1 White Chocolate Golf Ball. Box Color: Full Color Imprint Area: Top Box Imprint: .5in x 4.5in
Front Box Imprint: .6in x 4.5in

domain: hobby


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This blog is to capture all articles relating to good work including initiatives and successes with regards to gangs (predominantly in London), but also good news stories involving young people more generally.
If you have a good news story or something positive to promote please get in touch at email@example.com
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Gang Violence in London - Developing a Joint Approach
The following presentation has been uploaded and made available by the Herne Hill residents forum. The presentation was created by the Metropolitan Police.

domain: geography


I'm excited to announce that for the second year in a row, I've teamed up with Diet Coke® to be a blogger ambassador for The Heart Truth® campaign. I'll be covering the Red Dress CollectionSM fashion show live from NYC in February, sharing details on how you can support women's heart health programs and revealing how you can win a trip to the fashion show, too!
Participation is easy: From January 22-26, fans who upload a heart-inspired picture using #ShowYourHeart on Twitter and Instagram will instantly be entered to win a trip to the 2013 Red Dress CollectionSM Fashion Show in NYC.
Five lucky winners will be selected - one per day - and one grand prize winner will receive a shopping spree in NYC accompanied by a stylist.
And, since showing some heart is always on trend, throughout February, American Heart Month, readers who upload photos to Twitter or Instagram with #ShowYourHeart will trigger a donation by from Diet Coke to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (up to $100,000), in support of women's heart health programs.
Diet Coke is in its sixth year as a passionate supporter of the The Heart Truth® campaign, led by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The Heart Truth® campaign raises awareness and support for women's heart health programs. Women need to know that it's never too early to begin taking care of their hearts.
This year, Diet Coke is building momentum from the can to the catwalk as millions of Diet Coke packages will prominently feature the hashtag #ShowYourHeart for the first time ever.
I hope everyone who sees #ShowYourHeart will be reminded to spread the word - and support - for The Heart Truth®!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. Opinions expressed are my own. Click here to view official rules. The Heart Truth is a registered trademark of HHS. Red Dress Collection is a service mark of HHS. National Wear Red Day is a registered trademark of HHS and AHA. Participation by TheBudgetBabe.com does not imply endorsement by HHS/NIH/NHLBI.


The two companies have signed a letter of intent for a supply contract, pending the results of reliability and performance testing, according to a press release from Enerdel. The battery maker also announced the opening of “the first commercial-scale production line for automotive-grade lithium-ion batteries in the U.S.” The plant is in Indiana.
Enerdel uses lithium manganese oxide electrodes, the same type used in the batteries selected for GM’s Volt plug-in hybrid. It was developed at Argonne National Laboratory with support from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium (comprising Ford, GM, and Chrysler).
Fisker had originally said that it would use batteries from Advanced Lithium Power, based in Vancouver, BC.
Plug-in hybrids use large battery packs that can be recharged by plugging them in, reducing gasoline consumption far more than ordinary hybrids, which can’t be plugged in.
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate
Make Sunsets is already attempting to earn revenue for geoengineering, a move likely to provoke widespread criticism.
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023
These exclusive satellite images show that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is well underway
Weirdly, any recent work on The Line doesn’t show up on Google Maps. But we got the images anyway.
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Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit waded into the debate on public financing of gender-segregated events for the religious community on Wednesday, issuing a statement saying that they may be legally permissible under “special circumstances.”
Mandelblit offered his legal opinion in response to an appeal brought by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party against a decision by the Nazareth District Court to prohibit the Afula municipality from holding a gender-segregated musical performance at a public park.
The ruling, which was handed down on Sunday, forbade organizers from forcibly seating women in a separate area behind a men’s section during the performance, saying it contravenes the principle of equality.
Shas called the ruling unreasonable and said it harms the ultra-Orthodox community’s right to hold cultural events according to its customs. It added that to enforce separate seating at the concert would not be coercive since the intended audience prefers segregated seating anyway.
In response, the Nazareth District Court offered a compromise solution on Wednesday, suggesting that the amphitheater be split in three, with a woman’s section above a men’s section as well as a mixed-gender area.
An “equal division” is not created by having “women in the back, but [by creating] a vertical division,” the judge said, adding that “there will be a family compound for those who are interested.”
Moshe Gafni of the ultra-Orthodox UTJ party rejected the compromise, fuming that “the judge will not tell us how to live.”
In his letter, Mandelblit said he intends to hold an urgent meeting “in order to outline the legal standards and special circumstances in which such events may be held.”
He added, however, that “segregation between men and women in the public sphere is a problematic practice that harms equality.”
While Mandelblit wrote that he did not have cause to intervene in the current case given that the Afula municipality had agreed not to enforce gender segregation, he did state that “in principle, there may be special circumstances in which a local authority may hold a separation event for the ultra-Orthodox public.”
On Sunday, Afula City Hall acknowledged its acceptance of the court decision but expressed frustration that it could not hold the event for the ultra-Orthodox.
“Out of 360 summer events being held [in the city], the municipality had requested to put on one event for the ultra-Orthodox public to enjoy according to its customs. We are sorry that this was not possible. We will respect the court’s decision,” the municipality said in a statement.
Following the ruling, the Israel Women’s Network called on Haifa’s mayor to cancel a men’s-only concert for ultra-Orthodox residents in the northern city set to take place in late August.
During failed coalition talks earlier this year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have agreed to an ultra-Orthodox demand to allow for gender segregation in public spaces.
A leaked draft of Likud’s agreement with the Haredi United Torah Judaism party stated that “within 90 days the government will amend the law in such a way that it will be permissible to provide public services, public study sessions and public events in which men and women are separated. This separation will not constitute discrimination according to the law.”


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Explore the ways that America’s best-loved novels answer the age-old question, “Who am I?” From life lessons to spiritual journeys, these books help us understand our own identities and find our place in the world.
Vote for your favorite novel! Our favorite books occupy a special place in our hearts. They help us to exercise our imagination, shift our perspective and open our minds. This summer, PBS puts a spotlight on the power of reading with The Great American Read, hosted by Meredith Vieira.

domain: library


Indian student knifed in BelarusOctober 7th, 2008 - 8:13 pm ICT by IANS
Minsk, Oct 7 (DPA) An Indian student was knifed in a provincial Belarusian town, sparking a rare university demonstration and class boycott, the Belapan news agency reported Tuesday.The racially-motivated attack by a reported gang of Slavic nationalists took place in the city of Gomel near the town’s medical school.
The male victim, a medical student, was hospitalized in a serious condition and is expected to recover fully, according to the report.
Dozens of medical school attendees demonstrated in central Gomel to protest what they called chronic racist attacks on members of the university population, and lack of police attention to the problem.
Most forms of public protest are banned in Belarus, and are frequently broken up by police.
Law enforcers monitored the student march but did not interfere with it.
Hundreds more students refused to attend classes. The Gomel State Medical School has one of the largest foreign student populations in Belarus, with nationals from India, Nepal, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka being the most prominent.
A police spokesman said suspects had been taken into custody and that police would in future be permanently stationed on campus.
Violent racism in Belarus in contrast to neighbouring Russia and Ukraine is an infrequent occurrence, and violent crime of any form is rare due to a powerful police force and authoritarian government.
The relatively low numbers of foreign nationals in Belarus has, however, made the few visitors from Africa and Asia stand out amongst Belarusians, and sometimes targets for xenophobic attacks.
Lingering Soviet racial stereotypes repeated by Belarus’ state-run mass media exacerbate the problem.
- Obama urges more pressure on Belarus' Lukashenko - May 29, 2011
- Belarusian police charge 31 people in post-election unrest - Jan 12, 2011
- Five opposition protesters sentenced to jail in Belarus - May 06, 2011
- Trainee priest caught stealing money for sex - May 11, 2010
- 11 dead in Minsk metro blast: Belarus president (Lead) - Apr 12, 2011
- Belarusian police cordon off Minsk central square to quell protest - Jun 16, 2011
- Belarus embassy wraps up in Sweden - Aug 11, 2012
- Suspended sentences for Belarus opposition activists - May 21, 2011
- Russian human rights activist detained in Minsk - Apr 29, 2011
- Belarusian President Lukashenko says Minsk bombing case is solved - Apr 14, 2011
- Suspects arrested over deadly bomb blast at Belarus metro station - Apr 13, 2011
- Belarus to build vertical takeoff drones - Apr 05, 2012
- US condemns 'heinous' bombing in Belarus - Apr 13, 2011
- EU decides to withdraw all envoys to Belarus (Lead, Changing Dateline) - Feb 29, 2012
- India to boost cooperation with Belarus in IT - Aug 15, 2012


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The deadline for the 2023 Group Christmas Project submissions has now been extended to Monday the 11th of December.
@Fiddlerman Looks great--looking forward to it
You're welcome. I'm just wondering, are people seeing this post?
Normally we get a lot of responses from this project post when it's new.
I missed it because it was at the bottom of the Group Project topic list--how'd that happen? Thought new ones showed up at the top--
Also, this is the earliest I think you've got it out; thinking people aren't looking for it yet Triple digits here in GA--not really looking (or feeling) a lot like Christmas here ❄❄
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
I already have this one mastered. It's super easy (at 35 beats per minute - haha )
The only problem is it takes me about 12 minutes to play the whole thing!
Maybe Pierre can mute my submission and I'll just do some fancy spins and twirls with the bow to make it look professional.
Violin ---- the most human of all instruments
Join us in our next Fiddlerman Group Project.
We will be playing, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas".
- Learn to play "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" together with Fiddlerman and team.
- Record yourself playing one to two parts found below.
- Send us the recording and we'll put together a Youtube video with all participants!
The deadline for submissions is Monday Dec 4th, after which I will begin mixing all the submissions. I can't guarantee that I will use any submission received after this date. Keep posted as deadlines have been known to change. I encourage participants to learn several parts for training purposes. If the timing of your submission does not correspond with a click track file it will not be used. All submissions should be converted to MP4 (MPEG-4) with a minimum resolution of 640 x 480. Absolutely no audio only submissions.
Dressing the part is greatly appreciated if possible. If you do so, it will make for a much more interesting video for us to watch and share........
@Fiddlerman can you pin this thread to the top of the recent posts? Any plans to do video tutorials? Now if I can get my printer to work and get those sheets onto my music stand...
Thank you for this lovely arrangement, @Fiddlerman ! I love it!! Each part is done so well and sounds beautiful. I’m sure the final product will be spectacular.
I’ve been practicing the piece diligently for a couple weeks now. So glad that you’ve put this together so very early this year! With plenty of time to practice, those lovely triplet runs will be nice and smooth and flowing. I’m working with a metronome right now to get a head start before the click tracks are ready, which I realize may not be available for awhile.
So happy with this.


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Most stories about the Exploding Hearts start at the end. I suppose this one isn’t any different.
It was 2003 and the Portland punk band was on the rise. Their debut album, Guitar Romantic, garnered word-of-mouth buzz and rave reviews from critics at Maximumrocknroll and Pitchfork. While driving back home on I-5 from a gig in San Francisco, the band’s van crashed near Eugene, Oregon. Lead vocalist and guitarist Adam Cox, drummer Jeremy Gage, and bassist Matt Fitzgerald were all killed. The only survivors were guitarist Terry Six and manager Rachell Ramos. King Louie Bankston, who co-wrote much of the band’s music, had left the band before the tour.
It feels necessary to get that out upfront. The tragedy has come to define the band’s story – great promise cut short too soon, leaving fans wondering what could have been. It’s a story we’ve heard with the likes of Jeff Buckley and Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood, great artists who passed away after releasing one classic album. With the Exploding Hearts, it’s easy to imagine where they might have ended up with the boom of artists like the White Stripes and the Strokes bringing back a certain leather-jacket-clad rock ‘n’ roll coolness. But we’ll never know. It’s an unanswerable question that can only be prompted by death. Death eludes us, maybe even scares us. But it’s also compelling in its mystery.
I was a teenager living in the Pacific Northwest when I first heard about the Exploding Hearts, two years after their end. I’d stumbled onto an article about the band’s accident on a stretch of highway my family had driven on countless times. That proximity made it feel even more real to me. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, already grieving for a band that I hadn’t even heard yet. I mean, my god, their name was even the Exploding Hearts. It felt Shakespearean. I imagined their music must’ve reflected the devastation I felt reading their story. And then I actually listened.
The Exploding Hearts had the power-pop heart of Big Star and the Buzzcocks mixed with the glue-sniffing aesthetics of the Ramones – the song “Jailbird” even ended with the band sniffing their noses against the mics. They were loud, occasionally crass, and never put out a song that didn’t have an insanely catchy hook. The artwork for Guitar Romantic practically glows with its hyper-saturated pink and yellow photo of the band standing in front of a spray-painted wall marked with the album’s title.
Guitar Romantic is impeccably named. In just two words it conveys the central ethos of the album, as if to say, “I may be lost in the ways of love, but watch me pour my heart into this ripping solo.” For all their merits, the Exploding Hearts were not subtle. Of course, this is all part of their charm. Kicking off with an all-time great album opener, “Modern Kicks,” the band put all their cards on the table. A lone, fuzzed-out guitar is quickly followed by a cacophony of joyous noise with the band coming in together. Vocalist and guitarist Adam Cox shortly jumps in with a sneer, singing, “Hearts are breaking now, she says ‘I don’t care.'”
Every time this song kicks off, I want to cry. Not because I’m thinking of someone who kicked me to the curb or even because I’m thinking about what happened to the band (though sometimes it’s that too). Rather, an overwhelming feeling of joy sets in upon hearing what I feel is a perfect song. The beautiful, deceptively meticulous melodies married with the reckless abandon with youth and punk spirit — it’s euphoric. While time constantly threatens to make me jaded and cynical, the eruption of emotion from just this song alone makes me wholeheartedly believe in the promise of rock ‘n’ roll. An abstract philosophy that even when things are shit, the right jams will make everything alright. It’s a feeling I’m always chasing as a music fan. And with Guitar Romantic, these types of moments just keep coming.
Most of the songs on Guitar Romantic are about heartbreak, one way or the other. And while lots of the songs find Cox scoffing at partners who left him feeling dejected, there seems to be some self-awareness that he may be part of the problem. Just a few lines later on “Modern Kicks” he laments his girlfriend’s indifference to their relationship falling apart, only to find himself alone, stoned, and staring into space. Cox is even blunter on another standout track, “I’m A Pretender,” declaring, “I’m a pretender at the game of love, I need somebody to shatter my heart.” The upbeat, jangling guitar riffs on the song sway like they’re soundtracking an anarchist sock-hop. It’s maybe the quintessential Exploding Hearts song: It doesn’t just describe heartbreak, it’s practically begging for it. Anything to escape the boredom of being 21, loveless, and feeling like your life is passing you by.
The Exploding Hearts weren’t the first band to contrast their wounded feelings with bright melodies and punchy instrumentation. But it’s hard to find another band having so much fun while breaking down all the ways their love lives suck. Again, the Hearts seemed to be aware that they could be shitheads. They embraced their debauchery and obliviousness. Even on “Sleeping Aides And Razorblades” when Cox actually seems to lament losing his lover, he quickly turns around to say he’s fine, actually, and he’s partying, hanging out with all sorts of girls, and even his dog doesn’t remember his ex (talk about salt in the wound).
Knowing all the members were in their early 20s, it all checks out. Who among us hasn’t been an idiot in relationships at that age? That’s part of the album’s enduring appeal and timelessness. But the album is also sincere, even tender at times. “Throwaway Style” finds Cox pleading for his girlfriend to come back to him, something he’s done a few times at this point on the album. But this time there’s a bit of hopelessness as he describes running into her sister and finding out secondhand that his girlfriend’s back in town and didn’t tell him. “I know our love is over,” he sings, “Unless you come over, make it right, baby come over.” Sung over a jaunty, old-school rock ‘n’ roll rhythm, it’s pure punk poetry.
For years we heard very little from the surviving members. There was the excellent 2006 compilation Shattered that packaged together B-sides and unreleased Hearts material, but beyond that, it seemed like the music would stay in the past. Then, in 2013, Terry Six and King Louie Bankston got back together. Six called up his former bandmate with the guise of getting Bankston to help him finish a song they were supposed to finish a decade before. “(I’m) Looking For A Heart” would be the lead single for the duo’s new aptly named project Terry & Louie. Soon the project moved from the studio and the band began performing again – including Exploding Hearts songs.
In 2016 I talked with Six in the days leading up to the duo’s first performance in Portland since 2003. Six confided that “I was a little nervous playing those songs again,” but resolved that really “It’s just me and Louie playing songs that we wrote together years ago without the stigma of the tragedy. They were just songs that we used to play.” Serendipitously, the performance landed on the day before the anniversary of the fateful crash. To be able to hear these songs live was transcendent. And Six was right. When he and Bankston ripped through the songs, my thoughts weren’t turning toward the tragedy. It was pure glee to hear these beautiful, snotty, funny, and ripping songs live. Hearing these classics played alongside new songs gave me a sense of hope for a band that’s been so mired by an untimely ending.
Last year Bankston passed away. He was 49. It was another upsetting loss that still felt too soon — not that there is ever a time that feels right for loss. Bankston may have left the band after making Guitar Romantic, but he co-wrote many of the songs on that album – he’d joined the band when Cox heard him playing “I’m A Pretender” over the phone. When the news of Bankston’s death broke, my thoughts kept turning to Six and the unimaginable grief of continuous loss. Despite how joyous and uplifting the Exploding Hearts’ music makes us feel, death continues to loom over their story.
Back when I first heard Guitar Romantic, I looked at it as a cautionary tale and a reminder to live life to its fullest because you never know when it might end. I think that general idea still resonates, but some 20 years on I start to wonder how well that actually captures the album. To relegate a band’s legacy toward its untimely end feels like a disservice to what they accomplished. Making records isn’t an aspiration to become some factoid or legend. It’s an act of creating something to reflect your soul. Guitar Romantic captures a beautiful, reckless time in these young men’s lives. It’s messy in attitude and pristine in its craft. I’d have loved to have seen where they’d have gone next, whether that meant achieving the greatness many of us hoped for them or not. We’ll never know. But we have one beautiful record to keep coming back to and keep honoring their lives.
What happened to the Exploding Hearts is tragic. But the tragedy is not Guitar Romantic’s legacy. It’s an album that celebrates life and all of the fuck-ups that come with it.


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|Lt. Governor Sheila Simon: More bike lanes and sidewalks mean healthier, safer transit|
|News Releases - Travel & Tourism|
|Written by Ken Lowe|
|Tuesday, 17 June 2014 10:05|
CARBONDALE — To stress the importance of more walking, biking and public transit opportunities, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will deliver opening remarks at a “Complete Streets” training event at the Carbondale Civic Center at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Simon will call for strategic investment in bike lanes and sidewalks across Southern Illinois.
The Complete Streets planning policy is a new approach to local infrastructure that highlights the importance of public transit and pedestrian access as a means of making local transportation safer, healthier and more sustainable. Representatives with the Active Transportation Alliance will provide the free training to local planning and zoning board members.
In Carbondale, the project promotes the use and improvement of bike lanes and sidewalks, said Angie Bailey, Director of Health Education for the Jackson County Health Department.
The project is developed by Smart Growth America. Nine public health agencies throughout downstate Illinois have signed on to the initiative, covering Bond, Boone, Champaign, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Fulton, Henderson, Jasper, Jefferson, Knox, Lawrence, Macon, Madison, Marion, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, St. Clair, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Winnebago Counties.###
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Naval Energies inaugurates the first dedicated tidal-turbine assembly plant:
two first OpenHydro tidal turbines will be assemble the plant in a few months
The three sections of the Scorpene® submarine, the Riachuelo, have been presented to the Brazilian authorities.
On 1 February 2018, Naval Group floated the FREMM multi-mission frigate Normandie on the Lorient site.
This vessel complements the group's extensive range of surface ships and submarines.
Naval Group and Lockheed Martin Australia welcomed the official opening of the program's Office.
The underwater, airborne and surface drones have been deployed thanks to the I4®Drones mission system.
The Naval Innovation Days (31st may – 1st june 2017) contribute to the sharing of a concerted roadmap of breakthrough innovations.
From 4th to 7th April 2017, the Group will exhibit at LAAD which will be held in Rio de Janeiro.
The first sea trials underline the quality of the conception and production of this new range of vessels.
DCNS and Bpifrance announce the creation of DCNS Energies, a new player with global ambitions in Marine Renewable Energies
They discussed progress on Australia’s Future Submarine Program.
The new heavily-armed frigate made for the international market.
Euronaval Exhibition from 17 to 21 October 2016 in Paris-Le Bourget.
DCNS delivers the second Mistral-class helicopter carrier to the Egyptian Navy, the LHD Anwar El Sadat
On 16 September 2016, DCNS floated the FREMM multi-mission frigate Bretagne in Lorient, France.
By 2020, DCNS will have supplied at least seven combat vessels to Egypt.
The second turbine bound for EDF’s Paimpol-Bréhat tidal array has been successfully deployed by OpenHydro, a DCNS company.
The second tidal turbine, today presented to Ségolène Royal, will soon be taken to its operating site
off the coast of Ploubazlanec.
Green light for planning permission for the future DCNS-OpenHydro tidal-turbine assembly workshop which will be located in Cherbourg en Cotentin. It will serve the installation in Raz Blanchard of a pre-commercial farm comprising seven tidal turbines.
The Shortfin Barracuda Block 1A will be one of the world’s most advanced conventionally powered submarine (4500t, >90m)
On 16 March 2016, DCNS delivered the FREMM frigate Languedoc intended for the French Navy.
Kalvari, the first SCORPENE®- class submarine, built for the Indian Navy by the Indian shipyard Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, was launched on 28th October 2015 in Mumbai.
DCNS has floated the French Navy’s FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne in Lorient.
DCNS signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the supply of a FREMM multi-mission frigate.
The FREMM Normandie returned to port on the DCNS site in Lorient, at the end of its third series of sea trials.
Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation (OTE) is moving forward with a study to evaluate the feasibility.
The Mohammed VI is the first vessel from the DCNS FREMM to be acquired by an international customer.
The sea is this planet’s future. DCNS are inventing high-tech solutions to sustainably secure and develop its potential.
FREMM frigate Normandie, the second of the Aquitaine class for the French Navy, put to sea for the first time on 25 October.
DCNS positions itself as a world leader in marine renewable energies.
SMX 26 is a small submarine designed for operation in very shallow waters.


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There are several methods to boost your credit history. Initially, you should get your cost-free annual credit scores record from each of the three significant credit report bureaus. This will provide you an idea of what your credit history report resembles. It is additionally a great suggestion to challenge any kind of errors you discover. While you can’t make significant changes overnight, your score can improve considerably with time. If you have bad debt, you can take into consideration taking out a secured bank card to include favorable details to your report. For example, you can bill a tiny thing monthly as well as pay off the whole equilibrium on the statement due date. Another way to fix your credit history is to test incorrect products on your record. If there is an error on your record, you ought to dispute it. You can do this online or by mail. You can likewise call or write the credit scores bureau to request a modification. Normally, they will do so. Depending upon the nature of the error, it may take anywhere from 3 to six months for it to be eliminated. Nevertheless, the procedure of repairing negative credit history can be extensive. It can be challenging to avoid making errors, however with the best education, you can enhance your credit score ranking. If you have actually slipped up on your credit score record, you can elevate your score rapidly. You can do this by tough errors that were reported by the credit score bureaus. For the most part, these mistakes can be dealt with for free. You can do this by calling the bureau or requesting a layaway plan. If you have a clinical bill that you can not pay on time, you ought to contact the office and request for a payment plan. Along with disputing unreliable info, you can additionally challenge any kind of late repayments. This is particularly essential if you have a high-interest charge card. This will reveal potential lenders that you’re a responsible customer. If you have actually missed a settlement, you can contest this with the company. In addition to challenging incorrect information, you can file an issue against a debt collector. If the bureau agrees, the collection account may be removed. Among the most vital ways to repair your credit score is to make payments promptly. This will assist your creditors as well as possible lending institutions see you as a trustworthy consumer. Try to establish automated regular monthly repayments to make this habitual. If you can not pay on time, call the business to work out a layaway plan. If you can’t, speak to the office to learn if there are any various other alternatives for you. If you’re not able to pay your costs in a timely manner, you need to begin calling the office as well as request for an expansion. The primary step in repairing your credit is to monitor your credit scores reports. Your credit history is based upon the details you have actually provided. It is important to pay your bills promptly, also if you have to make use of autopay for one-time expenses. A month-to-month credit score record will certainly aid you see just how much progress you’ve made and how to fix your total score. You can also call the office of the firm as well as request a payment plan if you can not pay on schedule.
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domain: finance


Gainesville resident and Board of Regents member Philip Wilheit has been named to the University of Georgia Presidential Search Committee, according to a news release from the university.
Wilheit and 18 others will work to find a replacement for President Michael Adams, who will step down on June 30, 2013. Adams has served as UGA’s president since 1997.
“I am pleased we have such a great committee to assist with the search for the next president of the University of Georgia,” said Ben Tarbutton III, chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia. “The University of Georgia is a great institution and we expect that many strong candidates will be interested.
The committee will guide the first stage of the search. USG Chancellor Hank Huckaby and the Board of Regents have retained R. William Funk and Associates of Dallas, Texas, to provide executive search consulting services.
The committee’s first meeting will by July 24.


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The spread of a novel coronavirus causing a pneumonia outbreak centered on China’s Wuhan city may have entered the third wave, according to Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
Speaking to media in Hong Kong on Tuesday after returning from a trip to Wuhan, where he recently joined an expert team formed by China’s National Health Commission (NHC) for an inspection visit, Yuen said although the death rate and other data related to the viral pneumonia are currently not as serious as those seen in the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, it is still possible that the virus may mutate and therefore it is too early to comment on what will happen next.
Advising people in Hong Kong to avoid non-essential travel to Wuhan, which he described as an endemic area, Yuen said the first wave of the epidemic was the virus entering human bodies from animals.
The second wave, as per Yuen, was the virus spreading from the seafood market in Wuhan, which was believed to be the source, to the neighboring areas.
It is likely that the third wave has begun as some cases regarding spread in families and hospitals have been reported, Yuen said, adding that he is worried there will be community outbreaks, just like what was seen during the period when SARS was raging.
According to information from the NHC, the total number of confirmed novel coronavirus infections in the mainland and Taiwan has risen to 321 cases as of Tuesday night, including six who had died and some healthcare workers who contracted the virus from patients.
However, based on the mathematical model of the HKU’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, there could already be 1,343 cases in Wuhan as of January 17.
As the reagent for the rapid test of the virus is being used extensively, there is no such thing as concealment of the disease, Yuen said, stressing that the most important thing at present is to contain and ease the epidemic in Wuhan so as to prevent it from happening in other cities or regions.
The microbiologist stressed that Hong Kong’s defenses have been strong so far, with the SAR and the mainland having significantly improved their preventative measures and disease control work in the past decade or so, RTHK reported.
Still, he said he won’t be surprised if any Wuhan-linked pneumonia cases are confirmed in Hong Kong, given the fact that many mainlanders will come to the city to spend their Lunar New Year holidays.
Starting from midnight Tuesday, all inbound travellers by air from Wuhan are required to complete and submit a health declaration form in Hong Kong under the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation.
Dr Wong Ka-hing, controller of the Centre for Health Protection under the Department of Health, said a total of 207 air passengers arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday and only one of them was found to have a fever. That person was sent to hospital for assessment and treatment.
HKU Professor Gabriel Leung Cheuk-wai, a specialist in public health medicine, believes the government has taken sufficient preventive measures at all immigration control points.
But Dr Ho Pak-Leung, director of the HKU’s Carol Yu Centre for Infection, suggested that the government’s measures still have room for improvement.
Among the issues, the publicity aimed at enhancing people’s awareness about prevention and control measures for the Wuhan-linked pneumonia is severely insufficient, he said.
- Contact us at [email protected]

domain: medical


text:
Keep your ‘eater-tainment:’ For our taste, we’d prefer a gift to try a mind-blowing tasting menu, glam wine tours, a luxe stay in Sonoma, tasty cooking classes and a curated local epicurean adventure as a gift
Some people eat to live and then there’s the rest of us, for whom living is eating (and drinking). Whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee or cocktail time, we get our sustenance from the experience as much as the food or beverage. So while we’d never turn down a box of salted caramels or a bottle of bubbly, if you really want to give us a gift that will sate our hunger for culinary adventures, here are some bite-size ideas for you to chew on.
There’s nothing tastier than putting yourself in the hands of a brilliant chef for an exquisitely crafted, multi-course meal. The tasting menus are Addison and Arama are the best around — and not so coincidentally, there’s a Michelin connection. Chef William Bradley’s Addison is San Diego’s first and only Michelin-starred restaurant. And the culinary team behind Arama, a six-seat, single-tabled restaurant-within-a-restaurant, are father-and-son Italian chefs Antonio and Luca Abbruzzino, of the Michelin-starred Abbruzzino, in Calabria. Be prepared to be wowed and pampered. Addison, 5200 Grand Del Mar Way, Carmel Valley. $165 or $265 for five or 10 courses. (858) 314-1900. addisondelmar.com Arama, at Il Dandy, 2550 Fifth Ave., Bankers Hill. $180 to $250 for 13 courses, depending on party size. (619) 310-5669. Reservations here. ildandyrestaurant.com/arama
Explore the bounty that has made San Diego County the envy of locavores across America with a carefully curated group outing from Epicurean San Diego. You’ll be taken straight to the source — to urban farms, craft brewers, boutique coffee roasters, artisan bakers, vintners and sustainable restaurants — in North County, South Bay and central San Diego. Or spend the day at a farm with a personalized event for a longer taste of local goodness. Experiences run $125-$150 per person, with a six-person, $1,000 minimum for tours and events. (619) 289-9802. epicureansandiego.com
Why does wine in wine country taste so much better than anywhere else? It’s the experience of being there. And for the wine lover on your holiday list, the experience of a wine tour with pros Gary and Lori Parker from San Diego’s WineSellar & Brasserie is a once-in-a-lifetime sensory sensation. The meticulously planned, private, small group tours have ventured to prestigious wine regions in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and, in 2019, Sicily. Next up for 2020 is France’s Rhône Valley, with Greece the likely destination for 2021. Boutique wineries and hotels, artisan food shops and local restaurants are always on the itinerary. Maybe that’s why 80 percent of their clientele are repeat customers. Tour prices vary; email Lori Parker for details, Lparker@winesellar.com. 9550 Waples St., Sorrento Valley. (858) 450-9557. winesellar.com/tastings/wine-tastings-tours
Know home cooks who want to breeze through holiday entertaining and baking, sharpen their knife skills or tackle the French macaron? A gift card for a cooking class is an easy assignment. Whether hands-on or demonstration, a cooking class is fun and stress-free. Among the many local options are the laidback lessons at Hipcooks (which end with eating what’s been made), the technical wizardry from the skilled instructors at Sur La Table, or learning the secrets of a chef with Christopher Gentile of AVANT. Classes at Hipcooks are $75, with exceptions. 4048 30th St., North Park. hipcooks.com/sandiego/classes Sur La Table classes average $59-$79. Locations in Fashion Valley, La Jolla and The Forum Carlsbad. surlatable.com The next class at AVANT’s Table 65 demo kitchen ongoing series is the Art of Pasta Making, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. Cost is $69, including dinner; $35 for optional wine pairings. At the Rancho Bernardo Inn, 17550 Bernardo Oaks Drive, Rancho Bernardo. Reservations at (858) 675-8551. ranchobernardoinn.com/dine/avant
The sumptuously elegant Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma has created the ultimate package for the discerning wine and food traveler. The Sonoma Westside Tour features an exclusive one-night stay at the intimate boutique inn, personalized tastings and tours of marquee Russian River wineries Gary Farrell, Flowers and Rochioli, and a four-course Michelin-starred meal at the Restaurant at the Farmhouse. With the inn located just 11 minutes away from Charles M. Schultz Sonoma County Airport, it’s an easy getaway easy for San Diegans. If you love what you taste (and you will), Alaska Airlines offers non-stop flights and a free checked case of wine. Cost is $1,390, double occupancy; additional night available in Deluxe King rooms starting from $895. Book directly at (707) 887-3300. farmhouseinn.com

domain: food


According to pay a return visit, after-sales department chengli special purpose vehicle co., LTD. Sales company is hubei chengli group's core enterprise, the state ministry of fixed-point production of various kinds of special vehicles large automobile manufacturing enterprise, the company is located in hubei province draws, in draws area south, has both economic and technological development zone has manufacturing base.
Cheng li's products sell well in 29 provinces and autonomous regions of the country, and export more than 30 countries and regions such as Russia, New Zealand and Angola. The dominant market share is over 20%, and our products are exported to more than 30 countries in the world. Market share from the company, production output, profit tax, development speed and so on comprehensive appraisal of special vehicles in China - draws special automobile industry is one of the first. Among them: the sales of sprinkler cars accounted for the first in the country for four consecutive years.
Add: No.33 Dalian Rd,Yichang, Free Trade Zone(Hubei) China


Blogging has become a popular means of modern journalism interaction. Most online publications present articles where responding to the article is encouraged in order to share opinions about the subject of the report.
Most reputable blogs have standards where the writer can not inappropriately criticize the character of another. The point of journalism blogging is to express a personal viewpoint about a subject that the reader feels is provoking.
You are encouraged to blog to an article(s) that you have a strong reaction to. For class, your identity will be anonymous–you will assume a pseudonym (a fictitious name). If you choose to blog you need to copy and print the blog as evidence of your involvement as well as provide the link to the blog site for the instructor to examine. Your participation with the blogging must adhere to the standards of the Brunswick School system.


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- Open access
Empowering smallholder rice farmers in Tanzania to increase productivity for promoting food security in Eastern and Southern Africa
Agriculture & Food Security volume 3, Article number: 7 (2014)
Despite low rice yield levels in Tanzania, the country is the leading producer in Eastern and Southern Africa. Given that this business is dominated by smallholder farmers and that the country is endowed with extensive landscapes suitable for rice production coupled with a high domestic and foreign potential market, there is an urgent need to enhance the yield as a key to promote food security from household to national and international levels. This paper seeks to demonstrate the importance of empowering smallholder farmers as a strategy for identifying and applying improved rice husbandry technologies in a holistic and integrated manner by employing a Farmer Field School (FFS) approach.
The study was conducted in two sample villages, namely Kipera Njiapanda in the Morogoro region and Bwawani Visegese in the Pwani region, where culturally and ecologically rice is grown. The FFS approach was applied with the involvement of smallholders and local authorities to develop innovative ways to increase yield and promote food security. Data and information on current rice farming practices were collected using FFS participants and qualitatively analyzed at each rice production stage.
Findings revealed that farmers’ socioeconomic conditions varied, thus reflecting differences in farm size, crop husbandry and associated yield as well as in non-market production along with consumption and/or market exchange. The FFS approach demonstrated that community participatory processes have the capacity to create conducive conditions for empowering smallholders to identify their rice production problems and opportunities related to access to technical and financial support in the realm of seedbed preparation and irrigation, including pest and disease control and crop marketing.
The FFS approach is a robust tool for the identification of problems/challenges as well as pertinent opportunities to increase rice yield and promote food security. The paper calls for support from development partners in managing the rice production systems at all stages in the production cycle given the current potential of both the smallholder farmers and the arable land to increase rice yield, reduce poverty and promote food security at household, national and international levels.
In Tanzania, agriculture is the mainstay of the national economy, with rice being one of the major food and cash crops, as acknowledged by Agritrade  for being the largest rice producer accounting for about 80% of total production in Eastern Africa. Approximately 80% of Tanzanians are employed in the agriculture sector, which accounts for half of the national income and three quarters of merchandise exports in the country . As stated by Agritrade  and Kafitiriti et al. , the country ranks second within Eastern, Central and Southern Africa in terms of rice production and consumption after Madagascar. Despite this promising trend, it is further noted that rice production is heavily dependent on rainfall, and under good weather conditions and improved husbandry the country is potentially capable of achieving food self-sufficiency as measured by levels of grain production .
Rice is grown under three major ecosystems, namely rain-fed lowland, irrigation (or flooded conditions) and upland rice (non-flooded conditions), with each type characterized by a relatively low yet differing production potential depending on varying soil and climatic conditions . Reviews of the major causes of low rice yields have been undertaken by Concern Worldwide , the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs , Kaburire and Ruvuga  and Bucheyeki et al. , among others. These include hostile environmental conditions due to climate change, low level and inadequate technology dissemination channels, crop pests and diseases and low yielding rice varieties as well as gender dynamics.
A number of programmes have been put in place to address some of these challenges [6, 9–11]. In 2001, the Government of Tanzania launched the Agriculture Sector Development Strategy (ASDS), followed in 2003 by the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP), which was implemented at district level under the District Agriculture Development Plan (DADP) focusing on increasing agricultural productivity, profitability and farm incomes [9, 10].
It is in this light that the Government of Tanzania’s commitment to address the food insecurity issue was reflected in the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty phase 2 (NSGRP II) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) . In essence, food security refers to a state of affairs where all people at all times have access to safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life . In the same vein, working in partnership with other stakeholders, such as the AfricaRice project, Tanzania deemed it mandatory to invigorate rice production in order to promote food security and increase foreign exchange earnings . It is worth noting, therefore, that making progress in achieving food security calls for effective participation of stakeholders in the decisions and actions that affect their lives in the rice production chain.
In this regard, it may be stated that the existing rice production potential for increased yield and promoting food security in Tanzania has not been examined or addressed in a participatory, holistic and integrated manner. On the contrary, it is obvious that various institutions conventionally address issues pertinent to their own missions, thus overlooking the whole set of challenges faced by the farming communities. This logically implies that the identified problems are compartmentalized issues, since they are studied through inadequate understanding of the relationship between specific system components being the basis for guiding input, output and feedback.
It is against this premise that this study was carried out using a Farmer Field School (FFS) approach, as advocated by Stathers et al.  in order to achieve integrated rice production processes and pest and disease management to enhance yield. Smallholder farmers in Tanzania dominate the agricultural sector, with average farm sizes being between 0.9 and 3.0 hectares and cultivating 5.1 million hectares annually, of which 85% is food crops . By teaming up with the smallholders in the field school situation, the thrust of the study was to improve organization and management skills by empowering the participants through education and innovative communication to make better use of their existing knowledge and resources to handle their own on-farm decisions in the full cropping season. The ultimate goal was to inculcate into the minds of smallholder farmers the best rice production practices, and hence high yield coupled with food security.
The specific objectives of the study were twofold. First, to investigate the current rice production technologies used by smallholders in order to identify attendant problems and opportunities/solutions; and second, to inform development partners of the need to empower smallholders in order to enhance yields in an integrated management approach and to improve household food security and beyond. This paper, therefore, underscores the effectiveness of the FFS approach as a tool for communicating challenges and opportunities faced by smallholder farmers and their development partners in the rice production process on one side and the researcher/facilitator on the other.
Materials and methods
Selection of study area
This field study was conducted in the Morogoro and Pwani regions of Tanzania, located to the west of the Indian Ocean (Figure 1). Four factors influenced the choice of the study areas. First, the area, extending up to about 300 km inland, falls within a suitable agro-ecological zone for rice production. Second, the two regions have a similar sociocultural set-up and spatially they form the hinterland of Dar es Salaam city, a major market for rice. Third, they are known to be the key rice producing regions accounting for 67% of total rice production  and form the largest population groups in the country with a significant portion of the local rice market. Finally, there is potential demand for rice grown in these regions due to accessibility by road networks, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) and the Central Railway line, as shown in Figure 1. As noted above, this means that rice from the two regions could be easily transported to the Southern African region and to most of the countries in the Lake Zone as an export crop . To this end, the two model rice growing villages selected for the study are: Kipera Njiapanda in the Mvomero district, Morogoro region; and Bwawani Visegese in the Kisarawe district, Pwani region (Figure 1).
Primary and secondary data sources of integrated rice production processes and management formed the basis of this study. A literature survey was conducted in order to better understand the state-of-the-art of rice farming in the country in general and attendant theories. The field study entailed participatory observation and recording and analysis of real problems and opportunities in all rice production processes and activities, from arable land ownership and selection to consumption and/or processing for the market.
A participatory approach grounded in the FFS was pursued, with 20 smallholder rice growers purposefully chosen in each of the two research villages to participate in the FFS . The selection of participants was based on income levels in order to capture a representative cross-section of the communities within their socioeconomic context. Duwayri et al.  reported that yields vary among farmers in the same location, with good farmers usually reaping more benefits from improved technologies than mediocre farmers at the same place. The research was thus carried out during the major rice farming activities between August 2012 and June 2013 in order to better understand and verify data and information originating from the location of specific field schools and the secondary sources, as advocated by Gyawali et al. .
With respect to pest and disease control, the FFS participants were introduced to the management procedures. Insects and other arthropod pests and vectors of disease found on rice plants in farms were captured by employing a sweep net sampling method . Sampling of all pests was conducted by the participants at critical phases of rice growth, particularly tillering, which is a vegetative phase, and booting and milking stages, referred to as the reproductive phase. Sampling of 30 sweeps was carried out at the centre part of the rice plots and also close to the bund (about 1 m) while walking slowly through the rice plot during dew-free periods in the day . Most larvae borers were sampled from plant parts as indicated by damage symptoms. Rice plants showing root-knot symptoms were sampled for investigation of nematodes. Weeds in the farms were collected for identification. Thereafter, all organisms captured were introduced in labeled plastic bags and a preliminary identification by FFS participants guided by the researcher was carried out. The samples were then preserved for detailed identification in the laboratory, according to Southwood and Henderson , Hill  and Picker et al. .
Qualitative techniques were employed to analyze the data . Data and information recorded as verbal responses provided by the FFS participants were contextually analyzed to generate more complete, meaningful and useful understanding of the rice production processes.
Results and discussion
Farmland setting and preparation
The rice farm holdings were private property whereby farmers controlled their rice farm holdings. The smallholders who formed the rice FFS predominantly shared a similar socioeconomic and cultural background. The size of farm holdings varied among the participants. This was the result of the predominance of traditional technologies, namely hand tools, humus economy and household labour constraints, coupled with sporadic diseases such as malaria among family members, which contributed to labour shortage and subsequent cultivation of small plots.
The FFS members’ ingenuity in Bwawani enabled them to classify their land using physical properties, as follows: 1) flat landscape unit; 2) readily seasonally flooded land; 3) clayey soils; 4) predominance of luxurious grasses belonging in the rice Family Poaceae (also called Gramineae); and 5) land easily reached from the homesteads. The choice of the plot sites in floodplains was hence dependent on indigenous/traditional environmental knowledge. Members upheld that landscapes with the aforementioned attributes were scarce. Therefore, the cultivation of isolated/fragmented plots in Bwawani reflected spatial discontinuity of soils suitable for rice cultivation.
In Kipera, all participants were members of the irrigation scheme. The land under the irrigation agriculture was limited by the small capacity of the scheme, which serves members from four sub-villages, namely Kipera Njiapanda, Kipera Mbuyuni, Kipera Kinyenzo and Kipera Luguno, and therefore supports only about 120 farmers. Land preparation in the scheme included the repairing of canals, land and patch banding, as supported by Katambara et al. . The participants also owned plots adjacent to the scheme, and the most popular traditional rice cultivation practice in those valleys was characterized by flooded rainwater.
Given that farmers in both villages predominantly used hand tools, including hand hoes, matchets, pick axes, slashers, wooden sticks and knives, they all expressed the need to access tractors to promote timely sowing with the onset of the rains and flooding of the farms, a precondition of increased yield as articulated by Katambara et al. . Farmers in BwawaniVisegese expressed the desire to be enabled to access tractors through loans from the Kisarawe District Council. The farmers felt that it was viable to settle the loan after harvesting and marketing the produce. It was revealed that all available family members were involved in farm preparation,with women spending more hours on the activity than men, which reflected gender inequity in labour input. This viewpoint is supported by Leavens and Anderson  who reported that in Tanzania, agriculture comprises a greater part of women’s economic activity than men’s, whereby 81% of women compared to 73% of men are engaged in agricultural activity, while in rural areas that proportion rises to 98% for women.
Additionally, farmers called for technical support in the realm of nursery preparation, seedling production and improvement in land leveling, paddling and banding as well as canal construction, in order to improve water retention capacity for efficient seed germination and growth. Furthermore, farmers appealed to development partners to assist in the acquisition of technical knowledge on ponding rainwater for irrigation, such as dam construction (charcoal), which would ensure adequate flooding conditions and irrigation throughout the rice growing and development stages, should rain fail them (like it did in the 2011/2012 growing season). During training, it was realized by all members that rice growth and development is heavily constrained by unreliable onset, amount and distribution of rainfall. Katambara et al.  reported that the demand for water for irrigation in Tanzania outstrips the amount of water available for irrigation and other purposes, and that there is a need to apply appropriate technologies in the farming practices to ensure high yield while minimizing water utilization demand.
Characteristics of rice seed varieties and sowing activity
During the training sessions, the FFS participants established that seed varieties for sowing were locally acquired by recycling the previous year’s harvests, purchasing from either the village markets and/or neighbours and from friends and relatives in the same or distant villages. They reported that the rice varieties widely grown in both villages varied and the major characteristic considered for the choice of varieties was taste. The common varieties grown in Bwawani were Machale, Supa, Borakupata, Kahogo, Tule na Bwana and Kibakuli, while in Kipera, Supa, Kahogo, Mbagara and Moshi wa Paa were grown. The varieties were grown on separate portions of farms, and choices could vary in different seasons as they were selected depending mainly on availability.
Concurring with Joshi et al. , the farmers demonstrated their traditional environmental knowledge of seed genetics as they reported the criteria employed in selecting good quality seeds and varieties for sowing. Their observations were further supported by Joshi et al.  who noted that smallholder farmers often selected crop varieties that were well-adapted in particular ecosystems. The farmers unanimously acknowledged that varieties of rice which were high yielding, aromatic and marketable coupled with grain heaviness and pest, disease and drought resistantwere the most preferred, but were often inaccessible.
In both study areas, two rice farming systems were broadly identified. In Bwawani, the sowing of maize, carried out immediately at the onset of the November/December rains, precedes that of rice, while in Kipera, tomato cultivation proceeds rice harvesting by capitalizing on the residual soil moisture. These systems were conceived as strategies for food security in the areas. The participants emphasized that sowing early at the onset of rains allowed an adequate amount of water for a desirable period and hence a good harvest. They narrated their experience of a 2- to 3-week drought after sowing which resulted in a low rice yield, a feature that underscores the need for installation of irrigation infrastructure to meet the moisture deficit.
The FFS participants affirmed the practice of two types of sowing rice, namely drill and broadcast sowing. The former type employed uniquely small hand hoes and wooden sticks that lead to desirable patterns and spacing. Establishing nurseries was advocated in order to maximize the utilization of the available arable land for increased yield. They further noted with concern the labour demand at this stage of rice production, appealing for support to access improved rice sowing technology based on the tillering capacity of a particular rice variety.
Management of pest infestation and disease infection
FFS participants shared their knowledge regarding pest attacks and diseases which reduce rice yield. Weed pest control was considered by all members of the FFS to be one of the determinants of high rice yield. The common weeds collected and co-identified by both common and scientific names in both villages included ‘Kongwa’, Monochoria vaginalis,and ‘Ndago’, Cyperus iri. As noted by Euroconsult , the facilitator emphasized that two to three weeding operations should be mandatory until crop maturity. As an integrated weed pest control strategy, it was highlighted and noted that an adequate floodwater layer was the most appropriate technology for controlling weeds because few plant species can tolerate flood conditions.
Together with the facilitator, insect pest species were identified as belonging predominantly in the Order Lepidoptera (Table 1). The identified insects were among those reported by Sehgal et al.  who illustrated that the rice crop can be attacked from the seedling stage through to harvest and storage. Members appreciated the fact that insects attack different parts of the rice plant and that this depends on the type of their mouth parts. It was made clear, for instance, that adult and nymph hemipterans use their piercing and sucking mouth parts, and lepidopteran and Diptera larvae and adult and nymph orthopterans damage plant parts by using their biting and chewing mouth parts. Thus, the insects were conceived to be stem/stalk borers, stem and root feeders and leaf and panicle feeders as well as suckers, extracting liquid known as milk from grains and saps from leaves (Table 1). It was made clear to the members during field investigations that sucking insect vectors spread disease viruses, which turn leaves to brown and spotty, a condition frequently observed in their farms.
The FFS groups became aware that damaged leaves result in a low rice yield because the reduced surface area of the leaves lessen their capability to produce food by photosynthesis. These implications are well collaborated by Matteson  who reported that plants refill their grains after early attacks, but the rice plant cannot recover from later attacks and the resultant rice yield becomes contaminated by bacteria or fungi injected into the grains by infected insects, and that such harvests are called ‘pecky rice’. This knowledge instilled into the participants the sense to undertake rapid control measures.
The group members revealed that rodents were controlled by using baited traps, while birds were scared by throwing stones and sticks as well as erecting human dolls of various shapes and sizes. These measures were undertaken immediately at the onset of the reproductive phase through to ripening and maturity and up to harvesting in ‘programmed’ rotations. An interesting technology observed in Kipera was the hanging of cassette ribbons across farm plots, which when blown by the wind produced noise that scared birds. The activity was deemed to be labour intensive. It was also observed that water snails occurred rarely, and that these pests cut stems or leaves in young rice plants. It was confirmed by members that control was by physical destruction. According to Sehgal et al. , this approach could be a palliative measure because in the presence of water females have a high reproductive performance.
During observations of the rice roots, participants noted that some had swelling tips. Further investigation revealed the occurrence of root-knot nematodes, Meloidegyne graminicola, as rare pests that cause the swelling of root tips. It was explained by the facilitator that such a condition causes disruption and hypertrophy of the root cortex resulting in stunted plants with chlorotic leaves.
Sporadic armyworm outbreaks were reported in Bwawani, where farmers inform government authorities for intervention. In the event of delayed response, they immediately purchase chemical pesticides from local business persons. However, it was underscored that often such chemicals proved ineffective. Another pest control strategy introduced to members of the FFS was cultivating two or more plant species in the vicinity of rice plots to provide alternative hosts for some pests and vectors, and thus to reduce damage levels. According to Abate et al.  and Heinrichs and Barrion , such diverse traditional cropping systems enhance natural enemy abundance and generally keep pest numbers below economic injury levels (EILs). It was also reported by Matteson  that most rice pests are controlled by a complex and rich web of generalist and specialist predators and parasites that live in or on the rice plant, paddy water or soil. Although rare, thefts were cited to occur in both villages when the crop was ripe as well as during harvesting, drying and/or storage in homesteads.
The members and facilitator emphasized the intensification of the existing control practices as well as the utilization of acquired knowledge and skills to develop appropriate technology components in an integrated management approach. The participants expressed confidence and were empowered to rapidly identify pests at different post-embryonic development stages and also the damaging stages as well as specific parts attacked. Such skills were deemed necessary to enable farmers to apply various timely components of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) control methods and to keep the pests and vectors below EILs.
Application of fertilizers
Members of FFSs in both villages were knowledgeable that industrial fertilizer application increases rice yield, yet considered it to be very expensive. They were aware of urea and calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizers and also cow dung. The participants and facilitators thus clearly expressed the inter-linkages of fertilizer-soil-water management to avoid the risk of fertilizers being washed away by seasonal floods.
Rice harvesting and transportation
The harvesting of rice was carried out between May and August depending on the ripening status of the crop, that is, exactly when the crop has attained physiological maturity and there is no further addition of dry matter. Most participants in both villages owned simple tools. Sickles and small knives were used for separating panicles from rice plants to be collected in baskets and/or mats. Wooden sticks were used for thrashing panicles to remove paddy, which was spread on mats for initial sun drying.
Subsequently, the harvested crop, having been carefully packed in baskets, bags (polythene) and even wrapped in pieces of cloth, was immediately transported to the homesteads. In Kipera, hired trucks, bicycles and wheelbarrows were used to transport the crop, while in Bwawani trucks were hired only by farmers residing in Kisarawe town and Dar es Salaam city. Moreover, some farmers carried the harvest on their heads and/or shoulders, which was not a rare phenomenon. Harvesting and transportation were conceived to be one of the tedious activities that calls for extra labour, where the demand is always dictated by the yield.
At their homesteads, FFS farmers spread paddy on large mats to dry in the open air to attain a locally acceptable moisture content level of the crop as tested by experienced farmers. Thereafter, paddy was weighed and packed. It became evident during discussions in both study villages that there were varying production levels and indeed yields. The FFS participants in both villages reported that the yields obtained by the smallholder farmers for the past 3 years using the itemized technologies were varying and fluctuating. In Bwawani Visegese village, the well-to-do farmers had yields varying between 20 and 30 bags of 120 kg each, while the middle group had between 10 and 20 bags and the poor produced between 1 and 5 bags per hectare (Table 2). The estimated average rice yield in the small irrigation scheme in Kipera Njiapanda was 12 bags per hectare. The members were optimistic about gaining increased rice yields once the learnt technologies and innovations could be applied in an integrated manner.
Storage of paddy
FFS members aware of post-harvest crop losses had invented traditional storage technologies to minimize damage and/or losses. This culture was also reported by Rugumamu  in the maize storage systems in Tanzania. In both villages, farmers used locally constructed containers and polythene bags which were placed on raised platforms, a method deemed to retain the required level of moisture content of the crop and protect from rodent attack. In this phase, the FFS farmers expressed concern and care that they attached to the harvest in order to minimize post-production losses, which have a direct bearing on food security. They articulated the need for constructing improved warehouses/godowns for storage of paddy as a means of increasing the safe storage period.
Marketing of rice
The production of rice in the two villages was predominantly for subsistence and hence a small proportion was sold to meet other basic needs. In the course of discussions, the members in Kipera observed that economic liberalization was already in place as farmers readily sold their commodity at their weekly local markets. Given the advantageous geographical location and relatively high yield, large quantities of rice and/or paddy were purchased by petty traders who re-sold them to businessmen and women from the Morogoro municipality and metropolitan Dar es Salaam. These are the transactions that form the start of the international rice trade.
Like in other areas in Tanzania , it was observed that marketing of the available rice was highly fragmented, with millers and brokers playing a central role in the trading process. Ultimately, as reported by the Tanzania Agricultural Partnership , the supply channels are generally long and the produce changes many hands before reaching the final consumer. The FFS members and facilitator, supported by Kaburire and Ruvuga , believed that any significant improvement in the incomes of subsistence farmers accruing from improved agricultural production and productivity would have significant backward and forward linkages to the rest of the economy. Such multiplier effects resulting from increased purchasing power of farmers for agricultural inputs, outputs and services from other sectors, and from increased supplies of food and other farm products, would help to lower the cost of living for both rural and urban dwellers.
In order to effectively engage communities in achieving household food security and beyond, it is deduced in this paper that participatory learning processes through FFSs have the capacity to create conducive conditions for empowering smallholder farmers to identify problems and propose opportunities/solutions directed towards increased yield. In a nutshell, the approach has been able to raise community awareness about revitalizing the rice production cycle in a holistic and integrated manner within the improved socioeconomic and ecological production set-up. The knowledge and skills gained and shared among and between the smallholder farmers and their development partners during the FFSs at each stage of the rice production cycle, when integrated, form tools for implementation and dissemination of appropriate technologies required to enhance yield and promote food security.
To this end, it is proposed that the next research agenda will be to explore the implementation of the identified technologies in the study villages in order to form a platform to monitor and evaluate the impact of training to improve rice yields for FFSs. The output will provide demonstration avenues for other rice producing communities of western and southern Tanzania, where the industry is gaining momentum in terms of increased yield to meet both domestic consumption and market demand.
CPR is solely responsible for the manuscript and the research work.
Academically, CPR holds a B.Sc. (biological sciences and education), M.Sc. (Applied Zoology) and Ph.D. (Applied Zoology). CPR is a Senior Lecturer and specialist in crop pest management. CPR is currently the Dean at the Faculty of Science, Dar es Salaam University College of Education. CPR is a Fellow of the Tanzania Academy of Sciences and Chairperson for the Association of Science Technology and Innovation for Women in Tanzania. CPR has been serving in different boards, including the Board of the National Museum of Tanzania as a Chairperson.
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This paper benefited from generous support provided by individuals, groups and institutions. The author is grateful to the Gender Centre of the University of Dar es Salaam for facilitating the final development of the research proposal. The author also wishes to pay tribute to the Dar es Salaam University College of Education for availing a four-wheel drive vehicle and a driver for ease of transport in the study villages. Finally, the author wishes to record sincere appreciation to the smallholder farmers, local leaders and extension staff who diligently participated in the FFSs.
The author declares no competing interests.
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Rugumamu, C.P. Empowering smallholder rice farmers in Tanzania to increase productivity for promoting food security in Eastern and Southern Africa. Agric & Food Secur 3, 7 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-3-7

domain: agronomy