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TiO2 Photocatalytic MaterialsView this Special Issue
Research Article | Open Access
Guohong Wang, Lin Xu, Jun Zhang, Tingting Yin, Deyan Han, "Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Powders (P25) via Calcination Treatment", International Journal of Photoenergy, vol. 2012, Article ID 265760, 9 pages, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/265760
Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Powders (P25) via Calcination Treatment
P25 TiO2 powders were calcined at different temperatures in a muffle furnace in air. The P25 powders before and after calcination treatment were characterized with XRD FTIR, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and N2 adsorption-desorption measurements. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange aqueous solution under UV light irradiation in air. The results showed that calcination treatment obviously influenced the microstructures and photocatalytic activity of the P25 TiO2 powders. The synergistic effect of the phase structure, BET surface area, and crystallinity on the photocatalytic of TiO2 powders (P25) after calcination was investigated. An optimal calcination temperature () was determined. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 powders calcined at was nearly 2 times higher than that of the uncalcined P25 TiO2. The highest photocatalytic activities of the calcined samples at for 4 h might be ascribed to the enhancement of anatase crystallization and the optimal mass ratio (ca. 1 : 2) of rutile to anatase.
A number of investigations have focused on the semiconductor photocatalyst for its applications in solar energy conversion and environmental purification since Fujishima and Honda discovered the photocatalytic splitting of water on the TiO2 electrodes in 1972 [1, 2]. Among various oxide semiconductor photocatalysts, titania has been proven to be the most suitable for widespread environmental applications for its biological and chemical inertness, strong oxidizing power, cost effectiveness, and long-term stability against photo- and chemical corrosion [3–6]. However, the practical applications of TiO2 are greatly limited due to the wide band-gap (anatase ca. 3.2 eV, rutile ca. 3.0 eV) and the resultant low utilization of solar energy and fast recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes [7–9]. Therefore, the photocatalytic activity of titania must be further enhanced from the point of view of practical use and commerce. Many methods have been developed for enhancing the efficiency of the TiO2 powders. These include doping with metal and nonmetal elements [10–13], dye sensitization [14, 15], and semiconductor coupling [16, 17], and so forth.
It is wellknown that the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 system mainly depends on its intrinsic properties, such as phase structures, specific surface area, crystallinity, and preparing methods . For example, many studies have confirmed that the anatase phase of titania is a good photocatalytic material due to its low recombination rate of photogenerated electrons and holes [19, 20]. In our previous observations, it was found that the composite of two phases of titania was more beneficial for suppressing the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes and thus enhanced the photocatalytic activity . In addition, a posttreatment condition is also another important factor that influences the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 powders. Usually, two principle posttreatment methods have been used to control the physicochemical properties of the TiO2 powders. One is hydrothermal treatment. Yu et al.  demonstrated an obvious increase of photocatalytic activity after hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 (P25) and thought that the increase in photoactivity can be attributed to the formation of more hydroxyl groups in the surface of TiO2. Another method is calcination after treatment. By changing the calcination conditions, such as calcination temperatures, calcination time, and heating rate crystalline products with different compositions, structures, and morphologies have been obtained. Yu et al. suggested that thermal treatment could allow more oxygen molecules to be adsorbed on the surface of TiO2 . Sato et al. and Zhang et al. thought that an enhancement in photocatalytic activity was ascribed to the fact that the calcination released lattice oxygen from TiO2 [24, 25]. However, to the best of our knowledge, few studies have been carried out on the synergistic effect of the phase structure, BET surface area, and crystallinity on the photocatalytic of TiO2 powders (P25) after calcination. In the present work, we prepared highly active TiO2 powder photocatalyst via calcination after treatment of Degussa P25. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared TiO2 powders was evaluated by the photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange aqueous solution under UV light irradiation in air. The reasons for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the calcinations-treated TiO2 samples were discussed.
2. Experimental Section
2.1. Sample Preparation
Commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 was used as supplied. In a typical calcination process, 1.0 g of P25 powder was transferred into a 30 mL crucible, followed by calcination at 400–800°C in a muffle furnace for 4 h. After the thermal treatment, the crucible containing catalysts was cooled to room temperature to obtain the as-synthesized TiO2 powders. The calcined P25 and untreated Degussa P25 samples were characterized for evaluating the changes in properties.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns obtained on an X-ray diffractometer (type D8 ADVANCE) using Cu-K irradiation at a scan rate (2θ) of 0.02° s−1 were used to determine the identity of any phase present and their crystallite size. The accelerating voltage and the applied current were 15 kV and 20 mA, respectively. If the sample contains anatase and rutile phases, the phase content of titania can be calculated from the integrated intensities of anatase (101) and rutile (110) peaks, according to the following equation :
where and represent the integrated intensity of the anatase (101) and rutile (110) peaks, respectively. With (1), the phase contents of anatase and rutile in TiO2 samples can be calculated. The average crystallite sizes of anatase and rutile were determined according to the Scherrer equation. Crystallite sizes and shapes were observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) (JEOL-2010F at 200 kV). The samples for TEM observation were prepared by dispersing the TiO2 powders in an absolute ethanol solution under ultrasonic irradiation; the dispersion was then dropped on carbon-copper grids. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area (SBET) of the powders was analyzed by nitrogen adsorption in a Micromeritics ASAP 2020 nitrogen adsorption apparatus (USA). All the samples were degassed at 180°C prior to nitrogen adsorption measurements. The BET surface area was determined by multipoint BET method using the adsorption data in the relative pressure range of 0.05–0.3. Desorption isotherm was used to determine the pore-size distribution via the Barret-Joyner-Halender (BJH) method, assuming a cylindrical pore modal [26–28]. The nitrogen adsorption volume at the relative pressure of 0.994 was used to determine the pore volume and average pore size. The morphologies of TiO2 powders were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (type JSM-7001F, Japan) with an acceleration voltage of 20 kV. The UV-Vis spectra were obtained by an UV-Vis spectrophotometer (UV-2550, Shimadzu, Japan). Infrared (IR) spectra on pellets of the samples mixed with KBr were recorded on a Nicolet 5700 FTIR spectrometer at a resolution of 0.09 cm−1. The concentration of the samples was kept at about 0.25–0.3%.
2.3. Measurement of Photocatalytic Activity
The photocatalytic activity evaluation of TiO2 powders for the photocatalytic decolorization of methyl orange aqueous solution was performed at ambient temperature. The detailed experimental process can be found in our previous studies . The photocatalytic decolorization of methyl orange aqueous solution is a pseudo-first-order reaction and its kinetics may be expressed as , where is the apparent rate constant, and and are the adsorption-desorption equilibrium and reaction concentrations of aqueous methyl orange, respectively.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Phase Structure
The effect of calcination temperature on phase structures was studied using XRD. Figure 1 shows the XRD patterns of P25 powders before and after calcination at different temperatures for 4 h. It can be seen that all the samples were composed of both rutile and anatase phases. Further observation shows that with increasing calcination temperature form 400 to 500°C, the intensity of both anatase and rutile peaks gradually increases, indicating an enhancement of crystallization. With further increasing temperature from 600 to 800°C, the intensities of anatase diffraction peaks decreased gradually and ultimately disappeared, and meanwhile the intensities of rutile diffraction peaks steadily became stronger. Therefore, the calcination temperature obviously influences the crystallization and phase composition of the P25 powders. The effects of calcination temperatures on physical properties of P25 TiO2 powders are shown in Table 1. It can be seen that the mass fraction of rutile phase slightly increases with increasing calcination temperature. Before calcination, the mass fraction of rutile was ca. 27.3%. At 700°C, the content of rutile reached ca. 90.8%. No anatase phase was detected at 800°C, which is in good agreement with results in the literature . Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that high calcination temperature results in the phase transformation from anatase to rutile. Usually, phase transformation is accompanied with crystal growth. As the calcination temperature is raised, XRD reflections corresponding to both the anatase and rutile phase become narrower, which indicates the increase of crystallite size. The average crystallite size was shown in Table 1. The average crystallite size of samples treated at lower temperature (below 500°C) increased slightly from about 29.5 to 33.8 nm (see Table 1). However, higher temperature caused rapid increase of crystallite size up to about 63.2 and 99 nm for samples calcined at 700 and 800°C, respectively. The similar results were observed by Górska et al.  for five different samples of TiO2 calcinated at 400–750°C.
|Calcination time: 4 h|
aA and R denote anatase and rutile, respectively. bAverage crystalline size of TiO2 was determined by XRD using Scherrer equation. cThe BET surface area was determined by multipoint BET method using the adsorption data in range from 0.05 to 0.3. dPore volume and average pore size were determined by nitrogen adsorption volume at . eThe porosity is estimated from the pore volume determined using the desorption data at .
The preparation methods and conditions could affect the hydroxylation state of titania powders. The FT-IR spectroscopy of the P25 before and after calcination treatment of 4 h is shown in Figure 2. It is believed that the broad peak at 3400 and the peak at 1650 cm−1 correspond to the surface-adsorbed water and hydroxyl groups, respectively. The main peak at 400–700 cm−1 was attributed to Ti-O stretching and Ti-O-Ti bridging stretching modes . Notably, with increasing temperature, the surface-adsorbed water and hydroxyl groups decreased slightly. This was due to the decrease of specific surface areas and pore volume (as shown in Table 1), which caused the reduction of the adsorbed water . According to our previous study, the hydroxyl groups on the surface of samples contribute to enhancement of the photocatalytic activity , because they can interact with photogenerated holes, which gives better charge transfer and inhibits the recombination of electron-hole pairs [34, 35].
3.3. UV-Vis Spectra
Usually, calcination temperature obviously affects light absorption characteristics of TiO2 [36–38]. The influences of temperature on the light absorption characteristics of TiO2 powders are shown in Figure 3. A significant increase at wavelengths shorter than 420 nm could be attributed to absorption of light caused by the excitation of electrons from the valence band to the conduction band of TiO2. A red shift of the absorbance spectra of TiO2 powders calcined at 500 and 700°C in the band gap transition was observed as compared with the uncalcined P25 powders. The differences in adsorption were attributed to the change of crystallite size and phase structure (see Table 1).
The adsorption edges shifted toward longer wavelengths for the powders after calcination at 500 and 700°C. This clearly indicated a decrease in the band gap energy of TiO2. To further explore the effect of calcination temperature on the absorption edge, the band gap energy can be estimated from a plot of versus photon energy (). The intercept of the tangent to the plot will give a good approximation of the indirect band gap energy for TiO2. The relation between the absorption coefficient () and incident photon energy () can be written as , where is absorption constants for indirect transitions [39–41]. Since absorbance () is proportional to absorption coefficient (), we use absorbance () to substitute absorption coefficient () .
Plots of versus photon energy () for TiO2 powders are shown in Figure 4. The band gap energies estimated from the intercept of the tangents of the plots are 3.37, 3.25, and 3.10 eV for the P25 powders before and after calcination at 500 and 700°C for 4 h, respectively. This showed that the band gap of TiO2 samples monotonically became narrower with increasing calcinations temperatures. This may be due to the following factors: (1) an increase in the crystallite size resulted in the decrease of band gap energy, which was in accordance with previous results reported by Xiao et al. ; (2) lower value of band gap for samples after calcination at 500 and 700°C may be a result of phase transformation from anatase to rutile .
3.4. BET Surface Areas and Pore Distribution
Figure 5 shows nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms of the P25 powders before and after calcination at 500 and 700°C. It can be seen that all the samples show a type H3 hysteresis according to BDDT classification , indicating the presence of mesopores (2–50 nm). Moreover, the observed hysteresis approaches to , suggesting the presence of large pores (>50 nm) [43, 44]. Further observation indicates that with increasing calcination temperature, the hysteresis loops shift to higher relative pressure range and the areas of the hysteresis loops decrease. This indicated that the average pore size increased and the volume of pore decreased with increasing calcination temperatures . When the calcination temperature is higher than 700°C, the hysteresis loops of the obtained samples are difficult to be observed (not shown in Figure 5), indicating that some pores collapse during the calcination. The pore size distribution calculated from the desorption branch of the isotherm is presented in Figure 6. It can be seen that calcination temperature significantly influences the pore size distribution of the TiO2 powders. Before calcination, the P25 TiO2 has a wide pore size distribution from mesopore to macropore. With increasing calcination temperatures, the curves of the pore size distribution shift to the macropore region and the pore volumes decrease slowly. At 700°C, the pore size distribution becomes even, indicating the disappearance of pores . Usually, the average pore size is connected with the TiO2 crystallite size and the average pore size increased with an increase in the crystallite size of TiO2 powders [21, 22, 46, 47]. Accordingly, the decrease of pore volume located at 2–10 nm for the calcined P25 powders indicated the decrease of smaller TiO2 crystallites (<10 nm). This is in good agreement with the XRD analysis in which smaller anatase crystallites were transformed into rutile phase. Table 1 shows the physical properties of the P25 powders before and after calcination treatment at different temperatures for 4 h. Before calcination treatment, P25 TiO2 shows a large BET-specific surface area, and its value reaches 45.7 m2/g. After calcination treatment above 400°C, the BET-specific surface areas of the P25 samples clearly decrease. Further observation shows that with increasing calcination temperatures, the BET-specific surface areas, pore volumes, and porosity steadily decrease; meantime, the average pore size increases.
3.5. SEM and TEM
The calcination process also affects the morphologies of the resulting P25 TiO2 powders. Figure 7 shows SEM images of the P25 TiO2 powders before and after calcination treatment at 400, 500, and 700°C for 4 h. It can be seen from Figure 7(a) that before calcination treatment, the powders are smaller aggregated particles, resulting in a high porous volume due to aggregation among tiny TiO2 particles (see Figure 6). Conversely, after calcination treatment, the powders are composed of larger agglomerated particles. This may be caused by the phase transformation from anatase to rutile, resulting in the decrease in the pore volume (as shown in Table 1). It is interesting to observe from Figure 7 that with increasing calcination temperature from 400 to 700°C, the particle sizes of the aggregates gradually increase. This may be ascribed to the fact that the interaction of smaller particles results in their aggregation into many spherical particles with bigger sizes. The morphology and microstructures of P25 TiO2 powders are further investigated by TEM and HRTEM analysis. Figure 8(a) shows a typical TEM image of the TiO2 powders after calcination at 500°C for 4 h. It can be seen that the particles exhibit a relatively uniform particle size distribution. The average size of the primary particles estimated from the TEM image is about 35 nm, which is in good agreement with that calculated from the XRD pattern using Scherrer equation (33.8 nm). Further observation indicates that a large number of mesopores come from the aggregation of primary particles or crystallites. Figure 8(b) presents a typical HRTEM lattice image of the TiO2 nanoparticles after calcination at 500°C for 4 h. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns (inset in Figure 8(b)) reveal the polycrystalline nature of the anatase and rutile phases for the P25 TiO2 powders. By measuring the lattice fringes, the resolved interplanar distances are ca. 0.35 and 0.33 nm, corresponding to the (101) planes of anatase and the (110) planes of rutile, respectively. This further confirms the mixed biphase structures of the sample after calcination at 500°C for 4 h.
3.6. Photocatalytic Activity
The photocatalytic activity of the P25 TiO2 before and after calcination at various temperatures was evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under UV light irradiation in air. Figure 9 shows the relationship between the apparent rate constants () of MO degradation and calcination temperatures. Prior to calcination, the P25 TiO2 showed high photocatalytic activity with a rate constant of, which is a well known and recognized as an excellent photocatalyst. It has been reported that the P25 TiO2 photocatalyst are consists of an amorphous state together with a mixture of anatase and rutile . Further observation indicates that the calcined sample at 400°C for 4 h shows a higher photocatalytic activity with a rate constant of . This may be due to the fact calcination treatment enhanced the phase transformation of the P25 TiO2 powders from amorphous to anatase. The rate constants increase with increasing calcination temperatures. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity at elevated calcination temperatures can be ascribed to an obvious improvement in anatase crystallinity (as shown in Figure 1). At 500°C, the reaches the highest value of . With further increasing the calcination temperature, the decreases slightly. This is due to the decrease in specific surface areas and the content of anatase (as shown in Table 1). The highest photocatalytic activities of the calcined samples at 500°C might be explained by the optimal mass ratio of rutile to anatase.
Generally, photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 is strongly dependent on its phase structure, crystallite size, surface areas, and pore structure. Larger specific surface area allows more organic reactants to be absorbed onto the surface of the photocatalyst, while higher pore volume results in a rapider diffusion of various inorganic products during the photocatalytic reaction. Therefore, it is expected that the uncalcined sample exhibits a relative high photocatalytic activity due to its large specific surface areas and pore volume. However, the powders with a large surface area are usually associated with large amounts of crystalline defects or weak crystallization, which favor the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes, leading to a poor photoactivity. Therefore, the large surface area is a requirement, but not a decisive factor. It is well known that the mixture of anatase and rutile TiO2 has higher degradation efficiency than pure anatase for the oxidation of various organic compounds [48–50]. Moreover, the content of rutile has played important role in photocatalytic reaction. For example, Bacsa et al. found that the catalyst with 30% rutile content showed a maximum catalytic activity for the photocatalyzed degradation of p-coumaric acid . It was reported the TiO2 powders containing 77% anatase and 23% rutile had highest photocatalytic activity in degradation of 4-chlorophenol . Thus, the mass ratio of rutile to anatase is another important factor that influences the photocatalytic efficiency [53, 54]. In our present work, the uncalcined P25 powders possess a large specific surface area of 45.7 m2/g. After calcination at 500°C, the specific surface areas decrease to 22.7 m2/g. Such a large decrease in specific surface area should lead to a decrease in the photocatalytic activity. However, the 500°C sample shows the highest photocatalytic activity. The increase of photocatalytic activity at 500°C might be due to the enhancement of anatase crystallization and increase of rutile content in photocatalysts (as shown in Figure 1 and Table 1). The former is beneficial to reduce the recombination rate of the photogenerated electrons and holes due to the decrease in number of the defects. The latter can enhance the transfer and separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, implying that the mass ratio of rutile to anatase also obviously influences photocatalytic activity and an optimal rutile-to-anatase mass ratio is probably ca. 1 : 2 according to our results. According to the aformentioned deduction, it is not difficult to explain that the 700 and 800°C samples show a lower photocatalytic activity than the 500°C sample due to the increase of rutile content in photocatalysts.
Calcination treatment exhibits a marked influence on the microstructures and photocatalytic activity of the P25 TiO2 powders. With increasing calcination temperature, the average crystallite size, average pore size, and rutile content increase. In contrast, the BET-specific surface areas, pore volumes, and porosity steadily decrease. The synergistic effect of the phase structure, BET surface area, and crystallinity on the photocatalytic of TiO2 powders (P25) after calcination was investigated. An optimal calcination temperature (500°C) was determined. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 powders at an optimal calcination temperature was nearly 2 times higher than that of the uncalcined P25 TiO2. The highest photocatalytic activities of the calcined samples at 500°C for 4 h might be ascribed to the enhancement of anatase crystallization and the optimal mass ratio (ca. 1 : 2) of rutile to anatase.
This work was partially supported by NSFC (21075030, 51072154, and 51102190) and the Mid-young Scholars’ Science and Technology Programs, Hubei Provincial Department of Education (Q20082202).
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- Q. Xiao and L. L. Ouyang, “Photocatalytic activity and hydroxyl radical formation of carbon-doped TiO2 nanocrystalline: effect of calcination temperature,” Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 148, no. 2-3, pp. 248–253, 2009.
- J. G. Yu and J. G. Ran, “Facile preparation and enhanced photocatalytic H2-production activity of Cu(OH)2 cluster modified TiO2,” Energy & Environmental Science, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1364–1371, 2011.
- C. C. Tsai and H. Teng, “Regulation of the physical characteristics of titania nanotube aggregates synthesized from hydrothermal treatment,” Chemistry of Materials, vol. 16, no. 22, pp. 4352–4358, 2004.
- J. G. Yu, J. C. Yu, M. K. P. Leung et al., “Effects of acidic and basic hydrolysis catalysts on the photocatalytic activity and microstructures of bimodal mesoporous titania,” Journal of Catalysis, vol. 217, no. 1, pp. 69–78, 2003.
- Q. J. Xiang, K. L. Lv, and J. G. Yu, “Pivotal role of fluorine in enhanced photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 nanosheets with dominant (001) facets for the photocatalytic degradation of acetone in air,” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 96, no. 3-4, pp. 557–564, 2010.
- S. W. Liu, J. G. Yu, and M. Jaroniec, “Tunable photocatalytic selectivity of hollow TiO2 microspheres composed of anatase polyhedra with exposed facets,” Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 132, no. 34, pp. 11914–11916, 2010.
- D. C. Hurum, A. G. Agrios, K. A. Gray, T. Rajh, and M. C. Thurnauer, “Explaining the enhanced photocatalytic activity of Degussa P25 mixed-phase TiO2 using EPR,” Journal of Physical Chemistry B, vol. 107, no. 19, pp. 4545–4549, 2003.
- J. G. Yu, L. J. Zhang, B. Cheng, and Y. Su, “Hydrothermal preparation and photocatalytic activity of hierarchically sponge-like macro-/mesoporous titania,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C, vol. 111, no. 28, pp. 10582–10589, 2007.
- N. R. C. Fernandes Machado and V. S. Santana, “Influence of thermal treatment on the structure and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 P25,” Catalysis Today, vol. 107-108, pp. 595–601, 2005.
- R. R. Bacsa and J. Kiwi, “Effect of rutile phase on the photocatalytic properties of nanocrystalline titania during the degradation of p-coumaric acid,” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 19–29, 1998.
- S. Bakardjieva, J. Šubrt, V. Štengl, M. J. Dianez, and M. J. Sayagues, “Photoactivity of anatase-rutile TiO2 nanocrystalline mixtures obtained by heat treatment of homogeneously precipitated anatase,” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 58, no. 3-4, pp. 193–202, 2005.
- J. G. Yu and B. Wang, “Effect of calcination temperature on morphology and photoelectrochemical properties of anodized titanium dioxide nanotube arrays,” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 94, no. 3-4, pp. 295–302, 2010.
- K. L. Lv, Q. J. Xiang, and J. G. Yu, “Effect of calcination temperature on morphology and photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 nanosheets with exposed facets,” Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, vol. 104, no. 3-4, pp. 275–281, 2011.
Copyright © 2012 Guohong Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

domain: chemistry


Payment Details: To cover tuition and training materials only
In line with the ‘new public management’ principles, many governments across the world have been attempting to transform their economies; in particular, their public services. Some have introduced many innovations and policy changes, as well as improving their governance record. However, only few countries can be said to have done very well in this regard. This workshop provides an opportunity for African governments to learn important lessons about public service reforms, effective policy formulation and implementation and good governance. The course draws heavily from experiences of two countries in particularly Malaysia and Singapore.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Senior officials in the public service
HOW PARTICIPANTS WILL BENEFIT
At the end of the course participants will be able to:
Apply new performance management principles,
Identify drivers of public service innovations and reform in a country;
Appreciate role and significance public private sector partnerships in development;
Identify strategies used by the more successful countries in moving their countries from underdevelopment to developed status.


text:
Like acne, warts can occur at any age, popping up when you least expect them and adding embarrassment and shame to a life that is already filled with stress. Caused by viruses and usually appearing in places you can’t hide, warts affect people who bite their nails, or those who have a weakened immune system most frequently. Just like certain people seem to catch colds all the time, a person can be prone to developing warts. So, whether you are prone to the condition, or are suffering from your first and only wart, we have created a list of wart treatments that we have found work the best; keep reading to get an idea of what your options can be!
The most effective wart treatment is to stop them before they appear; if you’re a nail biter, stop biting your nails, and if you’re prone to developing warts, keep your hands, face, and feet (the most common places for warts to appear) clean and dry. The common wart is generally caused by HPV (human papillomavirus) and enters the skin through small cuts and scratches, so by following common hygiene practices, you are helping to keep the virus away from your skin.
Once They Appear
Visiting the Skin & Vein Center can be your best option. We treat warts of all kinds using three effective treatment methods: medication (generally a topical antifungal medicine), surgery, or cryotherapy. Medications can include retinoid creams and even immunotherapy drugs, since weakened immune systems are often a large part of the problem. Laser surgery or curettage surgery are common surgical methods, but because they leave scars and are less likely to reach the source of the problem, causing the wart to reappear, these methods are only used on warts that have been shown to be resistant to other treatments.
Cryotherapy and Warts
Perhaps the most effective of all treatments, cryotherapy also has one of the smallest chances for scarring. Unfortunately, it can be very painful, even when a numbing agent is used, but it’s also the quickest way to remove the wart, so the patient may want to consider this when deciding on this method of treatment. In cryotherapy, liquid nitrogen is applied to the wart, either by use of a cotton swab, a probe, or even by spraying on the affected area, and the wart—even the core—is destroyed, with little or no chance of reappearance.
Don’t Be Resigned to Living with Warts!
Schedule an appointment with the Skin & Vein Center today and let Dr. Wright and associates help you get to the root of the problem!
Photo By Steven Fruitsmaak – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1167096

domain: medical


text:
The word map is frequently used when we want to create a visual image of the physical relationship between different phenomena. When we use it for the environments in which we live, it can be used for everything from the whole world to a neighborhood in a city. A map can be used to focus on different features like the topography of different geographical entities. Maps are used in biology as well to diagram different aspects or different features of an animal or human body. Nowadays, we map out the genes on chromosomes, and we map out the brain, determining which sections of the brain carry out which cerebral functions. And maps are also used in dealing with our solar system or the universe.
Within the context of the philosophical model that has been presented in this column, I would like to focus on using the notion of a map in a slightly different context. It is my contention that morality is not just about moral events: doing moral things and not doing immoral things. It is not simply about our freely-made moral decisions to do moral things and not do immoral things. Rather it is also about the influence of our fields of experience, our configurations of stimuli to create different predispositions for different kinds of personally viable and socially viable behavior. How can we maintain a basic human essence within and sometimes in spite of the surroundings in which we dwell?
Our evolving modern technological living environments are creating fields of experience, configurations of stimuli that are very different from the fields of experience and configurations of stimuli of the traditional living environments in which traditional moral systems were created. These fields of experience and configurations of stimuli elicit very different kinds of responses, very different behavior from the kinds of responses and behavior found in more traditional pre-industrial living environments. So the spectrum of available human responses for treating other people as well as ourselves in a good way is also shifting. In short, the traditional moral map no longer fits very well the experiential territory of modern humanity.
Traditional morality is based on developing rules to rise above the grounding of more natural environments, a grounding that has an abundance of flowing blendable continual stimuli that tend to blur into a person and cause him to lose control of his behavior and to undifferentiate into his animal desires such as violence, lust, gluttony, greed, and sloth. To control these desires, he develops firm defined discrete behavioral boundaries: moral rules that, depending on the person and the situation, proclaim moderation or even abstention. But extreme animalistic behavior has to be reined in not only because it can hurt oneself and other people, but because it tends to swallow up a person and undifferentiate his sense of self. And it is the uniqueness of a human sense of self, so much more developed than in other animals, that separates him from other animals and allows him to survive.
Traditional religions have been developed on the basis of creating rules for stable affirmative behavior among the members of a society. With the non-measurable non-controllable flowing blendable continual stimuli in traditional more natural environments, people are stimulated to misbehave in relation to the standards of traditional morality. Using their unique cognitive faculties, people learn how to regulate their behavior and how to hold themselves together. The map of hypothetical life situations in which people can slide away from their defined human sense of self is laid out in the holy books of traditional religions. Connected to this map are behavioral answers so that a person doesn’t slide.
As we move into the era of modern technology, we need different kinds of rules to survive with our human essence intact. The problem today is no longer as much the danger of undifferentiating into an animal. Modern technology creates what I have called vacuum and tension-pocket environments: environments of understimulating numbness with pockets of overstimulating jolts to our nervous system. To live and function in such an environment, there is a tendency to organically unbond from one’s living environment and to function to a great extent as an overly defined figure – a robot. So in order to restore a human balance, one has to find a way to restore sources of flowing blendable continual stimuli and to reground oneself. Rather than have a morality that focuses exclusively on preventing animalistic excesses, one has to develop a morality that focuses more on preventing robotic numbness and jadedness.
From another perspective, the organic surfaces of traditional more natural living environments are fine for making and receiving the organic imprints that allow us to feel alive. But because of the strong tendency towards organic perishability in those environments, they are not as good for preserving the imprints that are made and, in this way, allowing people to create a surrogate immortality with the imprints they leave and thus prepare for death. On the other hand, modern technological living environments, existing as they do above and apart from nature, are terrific for preserving imprints. Notice how many museums are constantly sprouting up today. But modern technological living environments lack a lot of the organic surfaces necessary for making organic imprints.
Patterns of experiential surfaces may not be suitable for making precise measured defined visual maps. But, if nothing else, we can make impressionistic descriptive maps. Just as impressionistic descriptive maps can also be made of patterns of experiential phenomena and patterns of stimuli. One might ask what does all this have to do with morality and with ethical decision-making. The whole point being made here is that people don’t exist as phenomena that are isolated and separate from their surroundings. People exist within different kinds of living environments that impinge on them in different ways, that influence their behavior in different ways, and that present different kinds of challenges and threats to their human essence. So sometimes a person’s behavior towards himself and other people is a reflection of what he is experiencing in his living environments. And sometimes a person’s best behavior towards himself and other people is a behavior that protects both himself and other people from the dangers in the living environment – in particular, the dangers that threaten to attack the integrity of the human sense of self.
This is why what I am calling moral cartography is so important. Humans can move among different ecosystems, among different living environments, far more easily than most other animals. But the fact that they can move among them does not mean that they are immune to the influences of the environment in which they are living. And profound differences in technology over time can mean that the configurations of behavioral influences from a modern technology-oriented environment can be very different from the influences of a more traditional nature-oriented environment. And different configurations of behavioral influences can elicit different kinds of harmful behavior that would be considered immoral.
So in making different descriptive maps of these configurations of behavior influences, we can gain a better understanding of what could be considered immoral in a particular environment, and we can try to develop behavioral responses that can be protective of the human essence both of ourselves and of the people that surround us related to that environment.
One last point. Not all of what is considered immoral is going to shift as people move into technologically more advanced living environments. Fundamental crimes like murder, physical assault, rape and robbery remain the same as immoral actions no matter what the living environment. Crimes like these symbolize fundamental attacks not only on real live humans but also on the human essence in any living environment. However, they can be generated by different kinds of patterns, depending on whether they occur in more traditional natural environments (crimes of passion) or modern technological environments (crimes of numbness). In the first case, a person is swallowed up by his emotions. In the second case, a person is trying to generate enough emotions to feel alive.
© 2016 Laurence Mesirow

domain: sociology


Best places/events for music
- •Austin!Simply the greatest town for live music and seeing new and exciting bands. It's a wonderful city to explore and kick-back. Think San Francisco on the prairie with amazing barbecue. Just go there!
- •NashvilleA great blend of music styles and classic music auditoriums. Nice neighborhoods with wonderful bars and good food.
- •Newport Folk FestivalAustin's SXSW event may be the largest and most popular one with everyone from new indie bands to Kanye performing but this one is my favorite. No overcrowding or loud drunks here just a beautiful, scenic spot with a 180 degree view of the harbor while performers like Nora Jones, indie bands and music legends make you forget all your worries.


text:
Nick Cannon is ready to try his hand at late-night TV.
The actor and producer has signed a deal to host and co-executive produce a weekly late-night show on Fox, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Described as a “topical late night series,” the untitled program will include a mix of comedy, musical performances and celebrity interviews.
Cannon is teaming up with The Talking Dead executive producer Michael Davies to bring the show to television. Michael Goldman, Cannon’s longtime manager, will also serve as an executive producer.
The multi-hyphenate turned 37 years old on Oct. 8, and took to Instagram to let fans know he was celebrating his birthday and his new show.
“I guess Happy Birthday to me!! Look at God!!!! LOL Time to take this game to the next level!!!” he posted along with a picture of an article about his new show.
View this post on Instagram
Cannon’s past hosting duties include America’s Got Talent, the Teen Choice Awards and Wild ‘N Out.
He’s also had acting roles in the films Chi-Raq, Drumline, Bobby and Underclassman.

domain: artistic


this is a 1966 nova we race at Woodburn Or. drag strip. This is one of my liscence runs. Since then we have run 9.8's, after a few mods we are hoping a few tenths faster this year. The car is also set up for Nitrous but we are a little reluctant to spray untill we get a little more experiance. The car should run high 8's low 9's with a little "help" maybee this year we will try. Wish us luck!!!
66 Nova Vs Ford Mustang **S4S Global Drag Racing League**
Please visit http://www.searchforspeed.com More details to follow.
Site is in Beta. Like our Facebook page for updates on launch dates msg us
if you would like to beta test the Development site
Drivers submit you video and Race Results here
Wheels UP Chevy Nova Outlaw 10.5
Frank Mamone's Outlaw 10.5 blown (HEMI V8 471ci powered) Nova is always
entertaining to watch. The 6-second Chevy struggled to get a clean pass for
the weekend at the APSA Pro Street Shootout held at Willowbank Raceway.
Ultimate '67 Chevy Nova HOT Rod 1000HP+
This is the baddest muscle Nova I've ever seen. 160,000 spent. 632 c.i.d.
1000HP on motor, Nitrous, transbrake,
best of the best. Remember to deploy the parachute when you run 160+mph in
the quarter mile. 8 Second Nova.
1966 Nova Pro Street 1
1966 Nova Pro Street 502 BBC 400 turbo
with break Ford 9" Strange axles Wilwood Brakes Carbon Fiber Seats, gauges
and dash Billit Specialities 20"x15 rear 18"x7 front MT radials Air Ride
Tech Alston front and Rear chassis
FASTEST STREET CAR IN THE WORLD! Larry Larson runs 6.95 @ 209 on Drag Week!!!
http://www.1320video.com/store/dvd/ Larry Larson proves his car once again
to be the fastest street car in the world by completing Hot Rod Magazin'es
Drag Week 2010 AND making the first 6 second pass in Drag Week history! Not
only did he make a 6 second pass, but he made that pass after driving 1200
miles on country roads, rain, and he did it 20 minutes after a 7.005 pass,
hot lapping the car!
1965 Chevy II Nova Drag Car 800HP 540 Big-block
1965 Chevrolet Nova Chevy II Drag Car. It has an all steel body with glass
windows, and has a square tube chassis with a moly tube front end with coil
over suspension and rack and pinion steering. It is powered by a 540 CID
Chevy big block MPG race engine with a Merlin block, Eagle crank and rods,
JE pistons, Brodex heads, Comp Cams full roller assembly, Holley Dominator
carburetor, MSD 7A ignition, and the engine has never been sprayed! This
setup comes in at about 800 horsepower with tons of
torque to go along with it. This is hooked up to a Powerglide transmission
with a TCI brake and a 4500 stall converter. The rear end is a Dana 60 with
a 4.88 spool and this car has Strange disc brakes. This car only weighs
3,400 pounds and there's only 22 passes on the engine! It had new valve
springs installed last year, and the tires are a mere two years old with
plenty of life left. This is a true, ready for the strip car! Thanks for
Filmed at Gateway Classic Cars in Fairmont City, IL ( Near St. Louis, MO)
Background track is Whiskey on the Mississippi by Kevin MacLeod. Available
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Download
Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Kit, Organ, EP
With a jumping bass and off-beat syncopation, this is straight from
Memphis' Beale Street. The Hammond organ and electric guitar play together
as longtime friends, while the melody changes hands from guitar to organ to
electric piano. 011
Bouncy, Grooving 2010
The CRUSTY NOVA - Twin Turbo LS - No Prep Drag Racing +GoPro
Shane McClelland's Twin turbo LS powered
'CRUSTY' Nova going rounds at the OKC No Prep Race at Thunder Valley
Raceway Park in Oklahoma City. While most guys trailer the car to events,
Shane actually makes the 700+ mile round trip drive to OKC pulling the
trailer with the car! Props to the 417 Motorsports Team for going to the
Finals in this sweet ass little hot rod.


text:
Christoph Keller, a Swiss novelist and playwright now living in New York, has published more than ten books in German, among them his bestselling memoir The Best Dancer, about his life with a disability. He is co-author, with Jan Heller Levi, of the forthcoming biography of Muriel Rukeyser. Keller is also currently working on a collection of short stories in English.
Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser
with a contribution by Christoph Keller and Jan Heller Levi
First published by New Directions in 1949, Muriel Rukeyser’s Elegies were written over a seven-year period from the end of the Spanish Civil War, through World War II, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, to the start of the Cold War. Both an homage to Rilke’s Duino Elegies and a spiritual reckoning that is particularly resonant today, these poems present no angelic orders, only the difficulties of living in the modern world, the depths of shipwreck, and “Love that gives us ourselves, in the world known to all.”

domain: library


text:
by Calculated Risk on 5/20/2022 10:31:00 AM
Today, in the CalculatedRisk Real Estate Newsletter: Lawler: The Sharp increase in Monthly Payments in Selected Metro Areas
Below is a table showing the year-over-year increase in a 20% down payment and the P&I payment for a 30-year FRM for the US and for several metro areas on a “typical” single-family home. …
There is much more in the post. You can subscribe at https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/ (Most content is available for free, so please subscribe).

domain: finance


Supply shortages remain a top concern as states move toward reopening
Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed using using https://nestforia.com/blogs/news.atom
On May 7, 2020, CNN posted the article of this title "Supply shortages remain a top concern as states move toward reopening".
The article reported that the State of Washington ordered 300 million items of personal protective equipment (PPE) in March but so far less than 10% of the order has been fulfilled. In Georgia, one state official said there was still a need for gowns. According to data from the state's emergency management agency, Georgia requested more than 3 million gowns from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but to date, had only received a little under 200,000. The state also received less than requested of other personal protective items like surgical masks and coveralls. And California ran into issues ordering from the private market, announcing Wednesday that the state will be refunded $247 million it paid to a Chinese firm to deliver 200 million N95 respirator masks under a secretive contract which had not been disclosed to the public.
The article also indicated that states continue to be in a position of having to fend for themselves, worried, in some cases, that re-opening might exacerbate the already-dire shortages.


text:
The joint operations by multiple agencies at the illegal coal mine at Ksan in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district failed to trace the trapped miners till Tuesday even after Coal India Limited pumped out 10,91000 litres of water from the main shaft.
“The Indian Navy team has been carrying out simultaneous search operations using the Under Water Remotely Operated Vehicles (UWROV) in the shaft adjacent to the main shaft, which are believed to have been linked to the main shaft through rat holes,” an official bulletin issued by the rescuers on Tuesday evening.
“The UWROV operations have been able to identify four rate holes of the main shaft. The Indian Navy team could sanitising adjacent shaft through the UWROV and could put the UWROV up to 100 feet inside the two identified rat holes,” the bulletin said adding that diving is not feasible so far due to the water level.
“However, due to limited diameter of the bottom of the incident shaft, the UWROV operation could not commence,” it said adding that the UWROV operations in the adjacent shaft would continue.
The officials said that a total of five UWROV have been augmented on the side and simultaneous operations are being undertaken to maximize coverage.
It may be mentioned here that the coal India limited had started their pump at 9.30 am on Tuesday and stopped at 5 pm after running the pumps for 8 hours. The total water pump out on Tuesday is 240000 GPM or 10,91,000 litres .
The Fire Service Odhisa pumped out 5,40,000 litres of water from two old shafts using two pumps.
It may be mentioned here that 15 miners are believed to have been trapped when the Ksan mine got flooded on December 13 last year. Although the Indian Navy, SDRF, NDRF, Fire Service Odhisa and NDMA are working jointly to trace the trapped miners, nothing was found so far.’

domain: news


text:
Dennis Specialist Vehicles
The later style of Dennis badge
|Fate||Merged with Alexander and Plaxton|
|Successor||Alexander Dennis Limited (Chassis Group)
John Dennis Coachbuilders
Dennis Eagle Limited
|Parent||Hestair Group (1972-1989)
Trinity Holdings (1989-1998)
Mayflower Corporation (1998-2004)
Dennis Specialist Vehicles Limited was a major British manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England. The company was best known as the manufacturer of fire engines, although its other major product lines were buses, dustcarts and airport service vehicles.
Originally known as Dennis Brothers Ltd, the company was founded in 1895 by brothers John Cawsey (1871–1939) and (Herbert) Raymond (1878–1939) Dennis who made Speed King bicycles which they sold from their shop, the Universal Athletic Stores, in Guildford. They made their first motor vehicle in 1898, and in 1899, their first car; though shown at the National Cycle Show, it was never produced or sold. They entered car production around 1900. About this time John Dennis built the 30,000 square foot three storey building with lift between floors later known as the Rodboro Buildings, the first purpose-built motor vehicle factory in Britain, to manufacture motor vehicles in Onslow Street in the centre of Guildford. Larger models followed with a 35 hp (26 kW; 35 PS) model in 1906 powered by a White and Poppe engine; this power unit was soon fitted to all their models.
Commercial vehicle activity was increasing with the first bus being made in 1903 and fire engine in 1908. Cars soon took second place and it is doubtful if any were made after about 1915.
In 1913 Dennis Brothers moved to a new much larger building of almost four acres on a twelve-acre site at Woodbridge on the outskirts of Guildford leaving Onslow Street solely for repairs. The rate of expansion of the business may be gauged from the following expansions at Woodbridge in 1907, 1910, 1912and 1913. In mid-1913 an offer of shares to the public made the business owner a public listed company. At that time the business was described as manufacturers of motor-vans, motor-lorries, motor-fire-engines, motor-cars etc.
White and Poppe in Coventry has always supplied engines for Dennis Brothers motor vehicles. It had been under consideration from before the war and it was announced in April 1919 that Dennis Brothers and White and Poppe had agreed to an exchange of shares in each other's business. the fact being to give Dennis Brothers a controlling interest in the other company. Mr White and Mr Poppe joined the Dennis Brothers board.and transferred engine production from Coventry to Guildford.
In 1972 the company was acquired by Hestair Group and renamed Hestair Dennis after a few years of financial difficulties. It was sold to Trinity Holdings (formed from a management buyout from Hestair Group) in 1989 and then to Mayflower Corporation in October 1998.
As of the 1990s, the company was no longer a single integrated whole, but was three independent businesses which their parent company is Dennis Group plc, namely:
- Dennis Fire - manufacturer of fire appliances.
- Dennis Bus - manufacturer of buses and other public transport vehicles
- Dennis Eagle - manufacturer of dustcarts/refuse lorries (municipal vehicles). This company also incorporated the remains of the Eagle Engineering and Shelvoke and Drewry concerns.
Dennis Group plc also owned Duple Metsec, the bus bodywork builder which usually supplied body kits for assembly overseas.
Mayflower Corporation sold Dennis Eagle in July 1999 and purchased by Ros Roca in 2006. Dennis Bus and Dennis Fire were incorporated into Transbus International (now Alexander Dennis) in 2001.
Dennis fire engines were noted, from the outset, for their use of a centrifugal pump or 'turbine' as a water pump, rather than the piston pumps used by other makers. This was more complex to build than the long-established piston pumps, but had advantages in operation. Where water was supplied under pressure from a hydrant, rather than by suction from a pond, this additional pressure was boosted through the centrifugal pump, whereas a piston pump would have throttled it. Piston pumps also gave a pulsating outlet pressure which required an air-filled receiver to even this out.
- N-Type 1905-1920s
- Big Four
- Big Six
- Light Four
- F series - 1946-1970s
- D series
- DS series - 1980s-1990s
- R series - 1976-?
- RS series - 1978-1990s
- SS series - 1981-1990s
- DF series
- DFS series
- TF series
- TSD series
- Sabre - 1995-2007
- Rapier - 1991-?
- Dagger - ?-2007
- E/EV (front-engined single decker)
- F/FS (bonneted single decker)
- G/GL (bonneted small capacity bus)
- H/HS/HV (front-engined double decker)
- Dart (bonneted small capacity bus)
- Arrow (front-engined single decker)
- Lancet/Lancet 2/Lancet 3/Lancet 4 (front-engined single decker)
- Lance/Lance 2/Lance 3 (front-engined double decker)
- Ace (front-engined small capacity bus)
- Mace (front-engined small capacity bus)
- Falcon (front-engined small capacity bus)
- Dominant (underfloor-engined single decker)
- Lancet UF (underfloor-engined single decker)
- Pelican (underfloor-engined light-weight single decker)
- Dart - front-engined full-size single-decker bus built in late 1970s
- Underframe of Duple 425 coach
- Dart/Dart SLF
- Lance/Arrow/Lance SLF
- Trident 2
- Trident 3
- Between wars
- Max Major
- Post war
Dennis were noted as specialist makers of refuse collection trucks, with compactors, bin lifters, tipper-body emptying and other specialised features for this market.
Military vehicles (during World War II)
- Loyd Carrier
- Churchill Tank
- Light Artillery Tractor 6 x 6 'Octolat' (a misnomer, standing for 'eight wheel light artillery tractor, retained when the design was abbreviated by one axle to reduce length and weight, and improve handling).
Conceived to meet a requirement for a simple easily produced and maintained alternative to the effective but costly and complicated Quad 4 x 4 tractor, the Dennis design steered on the first pair of wheels but dispensed with springs, substituting six oversized tyres for conventional suspension.
A centre-control driving position in a shallow lightly armoured body provided with ammunition lockers and sheltered under an overall canvas tilt resulted in a vehicle not instantly recognisable as truck. (Prototypes used a box body in place of the simple platform and conventional cab). Early models were powered by twin coupled Bedford engines but the final design was powered by a powerful Leyland 9.8 litre engine. Length was 20 feet (6 metres), height 7ft 6 inches (2.3 metres) high.
Despite promising test results no production order was forthcoming.
- UMW-Dennis Specialist Vehicles - joint venture with UMW Corporation, based in Malaysia (1995–2002), renamed UMW Vehicle Components after the end of joint venture
- Thomas Dennis Company LLC - joint venture with Thomas Built Buses, based in the United States (1999–2003)
- Wise, David Burgess. "Dennis: Bicycles, Motor Cycles, and Fire Engines", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 5, p.527.
- Wise, p.527.
- Wise, p.527.
- The Times, Friday, Mar 07, 1913; pg. 13; Issue 40153
- New Capital Issues. The Times, Monday, Mar 10, 1913; pg. 16; Issue 40155
- Dennis Brothers (1913) Limited. The Times, Monday, Mar 10, 1913; pg. 17; Issue 40155.
- Dennis Brothers (1913) (Limited). The Times, Tuesday, Nov 23, 1915; pg. 13; Issue 41019.
- Dennis Brothers (1913) (Limited). The Times, Friday, Nov 24, 1916; pg. 15; Issue 41333.
- City News in Brief. The Times, Wednesday, Apr 09, 1919; pg. 21; Issue 42070
- Company Meeting. The Times, Tuesday, Apr 22, 1919; pg. 18; Issue 42080
- Govindarajulu, Priyanka (13 April 2011). "This Dennis is far from being a menace". The Hindu. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- "The Dennis Turbine Fire Engine.". Commercial Motor. 23 July 1908.
- Ellis, Chris; Bishop, Denis (1971). Military Transport of World War II. 167 High Holborn, London WC1V 6PH: Blandford Press. pp. 34, 124. ISBN 0-7137-0702-X.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dennis vehicles.|
- John Dennis Coachbuilders - Fire Engine Manufacturers - Specialist Fire Vehicle Bodybuilder
- Dennis Society
- Aldershot & District Bus Interest Group - Dennis buses in service with their once largest customer
- Dennis Specialist Vehicles records at Surrey History Centre
- photo of 1936 Dennis lorry ANK969 in LMS livery in 1971 and restored, but in plain livery.

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Up to this point in the series, everything I have discussed has been cerebral and internal. Now it is time to finally get our physical selves involved. If you missed any previous posts in this series you can find them HERE.
In May 2007 when a little blue plus sign showed up on my pregnancy test, we were in the midst of loading up our large suitcases for our annual Uganda trip. Well, I thought, this is going to be interesting. And it was...interesting.
That summer we spent 7 weeks in Africa, all of them falling within my first trimester. Every woman experiences pregnancy differently, but the common complaints for the first few weeks are nausea, exhaustion and loss of appetite. I had all of them. Compound this with the fact that I was staying in a house with 40+ other people, sharing a single bathroom with over a dozen other girls and occupying a room located directly across from the kitchen.
No, it wasn't ideal. It was loud, crowded and stinky. Each morning I was awakened at 6 am by the prayer meeting in the common room which shared a wall with ours and the smell of frying eggs wafting through the screen above our door. I would curl up into a queasy ball, yank the covers over my head and think about anything other than throwing up.
Was it difficult? You bet! Would I do it any differently if given the choice today? No way.
Why? Because through this physically challenging, exhausting ordeal the Lord gave me one of the most powerful "walk a mile" experiences in my life.
Ever hear that expression "You'll never really understand someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes?" Harper Lee wrote in To Kill a Mockingbird, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." The idea of seeing things from another's point of view has been what I have been trying to encourage in the past two installments. Now I want us to climb into others skin and walk around in it.
Until you have experienced something, it is impossible to fully grasp it. So while we can make good and worthwhile attempts, nothing compares to the power of firsthand experience. Connecting our own situations with those of others is awesome. Being able to say you have walked a mile in someone else's shoes is even better!
The reality is, though, that we are never going to have the opportunity to walk a mile in everyone's shoes. It is just impossible. Many of us will never lose a child, fight in war, be raped, or live in a cardboard box. How do we cultivate a deeply understanding compassion for those who have if we have not tasted it ourselves?
The thing about the expression "walked a mile" is that it does not suggest you must walk the entire journey, but only a mile. Just a taste. Just a brief portion helps spur you onward and supply you with a richer compassion.
During my pregnant days in Uganda the process of eating made me feel ill. If I didn't eat, though, I felt worse. I went unsatisfied for weeks. I choked down just enough to survive. I can still hear Phiona urging me to eat "one more bite" of pumpkin as we sat in the restaurant at Fuelex. It was torture. I was miserable when I ate. I was miserable when I didn't eat.
My life was consumed with thoughts of food. I became increasingly despondent while simultaneously more irritable. I was distracted...empty...worthless.
One afternoon-I snapped. We had returned home to the smell of tilapia frying in the kitchen for dinner. Once in our room I sank into Scott's arms and wept. "I'm so hungry....I'm so hungry." Over and over again I repeated the phrase until my tears choked me up. I had never known true hunger. Yes, I had felt hungry before, but I had never known the torment of chronically never being full...never satisfied. The physical and psychological ache had encoiled me until I felt owned by it.
And once my tears of pain and self pity had dried on my cheeks, something very sweet and life changing dawned on me: This is what the hungry live with...every day...every month...every year. And unlike you, Jamie Laslo, they are not suffering because they are pregnant or do not desire the food before them, but because there is no food before them. They have limited access. Limited options. This is why you see children digging through burning garbage heaps at dusk searching for their dinner. Their humanity is being robbed by the ache inside, the mental and emotional tax of always being hungry. Have you learned?
I had always considered myself a compassionate person toward the hungry. But now when I think about someone being hungry, I feel an intense, personal pain. I tasted a very small bite of hunger and found it's bitterness unbearable. My heart is now consumed with ache for those to whom it is served day after day after day.
This was my gift. Yes, a gift. These gifts are delivered to saints every day as the God of all comfort trains us to comfort others (2 Cor 1:2-4)
I know a dear Christian sister who several months ago was plunged into a deep and unexpected depression. She was always a bright and cheerful woman. The experience blind sighted her. But what I found most remarkable as she very bravely and honestly shared her troubles with friends was the way she expressed that she had a new found compassion and understanding for those who regularly struggle with depression.
She walked a mile. It was probably one of the biggest hurdles she ever faced in her spiritual journey. The Lord has since lead her through the darkest part of the valley, and I am convinced that if you asked her today, she would tell you she is the better for the path she was called to walk. She learned a new empathy for those who suffer in hovering shadow of depression. She understands now what she could not have fully understood without experiencing it herself. Her capacity for compassion expanded.
Maybe these experiences sound a tad dramatic. They are. They are extremes. Life changing opportunities to grow. But the thing that is so thrilling about walk a mile experiences, is that they don't always have to be big or dramatic. In fact, it is possible to have one...more than one...each and every day. In both small and large experiences, in the day to day of our lives, we are able to take adversity and transform it into a learning opportunity.
I really want you to see how very practical and easily applicable this is to do so here are some recent examples from my own life:
As I am home alone this month, taking care of my house and daughter while my husband is out of the country. I am tempted to feel blue and pitiful. But I am working hard to use this time to learn to walk a mile in the shoes of single parents and spouses of soldiers who live this way for long periods of time.
When the transmission in our van died earlier this year and we were forced to use one car, I felt inconvenienced. But I determined to walk a mile in the shoes of families who cannot afford the luxury of two vehicles.
Last month when I was sick for two straight weeks and living life at 50% I was learning to walk a mile in the shoes of those who suffer from chronic ailments that keep them feeling weak.
When I was picking strawberries at a local farm last week my back ached as I hunched over the strawberry mounds. I turned my mind to the migrant farmers and field laborers who spend day after day tediously laboring picking fruit. I used my time to walk a mile.
Trials and difficult circumstances, from the most exotic to mundane afford us a richness of opportunity to cultivate compassion in our lives. What a revolutionary way to live-instead of seeing the negative we are able to see positive...an opportunity to become trained in compassion.
So let me encourage you. The next time you are suffering whether big or small. The next time you lose power in a thunderstorm, go a sleepless night with a sick child, have to eat a meal you dislike or lose something you value try to think the following:
"Thank you, Lord, for a chance to walk a mile, for a chance to increase my capacity for compassion."
It takes practice. It takes determination and perseverance. But I promise, it breeds so much joy in the heart.

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Semester of Graduation
Master of Science (MS)
Oceanography and Coastal Sciences
Coastal oceans are crucial players in global carbon cycling and air-sea CO2 fluxes but are poorly constrained due to their spatiotemporal variability associated with freshwater inputs, productivity and extreme events. The northern Gulf of Mexico represents a region undergoing anthropogenic changes in freshwater inputs of nutrient, DIC, and dissolved CO2 resulting in large variability in CO2 fluxes. Current models indicate significant uncertainties in flux estimates due to lack of resolution associated with the complexity of the nGOM, specifically in the shallowest regions of the shelf, which is mostly under sampled. Thus, the major objectives of this work are to (i) better understand the spatiotemporal variability in CO2 fluxes in the shallow section (
Forsman, Jocelyn A., "222-RADON AS A TRACER FOR AIR-SEA CO2 EXCHANGE ACROSS THE LOUISIANA SHELF" (2021). LSU Master's Theses. 5375.
Available for download on Wednesday, June 21, 2028

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Author: Jenny Rabe
Genres: MG Action/Adventure
Format: eBook, Print
Date: June 24, 2017
School’s out for the summer, but 11-year-old Kendall plans on camping out on the playground until he finds a permanent place to hide from his crazy-mean adopted parents. He meets Lorelei, a girl his age, and together they find out not all treasure can be bought.
When his adopted parents show up at the playground and Kendall disappears, Lorelei has to decide whether to break her promise and tell her mom that he’s homeless or risk losing her best friend forever.
Rating: Mild. Mild crude humor; mild (nonsexual) violence or horror.
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In our mild coastal climate Blue Vine Sage blooms for 8 to 10 months and has become a patch of dazzling blue -- nearly 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide -- in our Salvia garden. It is a fine choice for edging pathways or including in perennial borders. Although it doesn't need lots of water, it tolerates moist ground. For best performance, this plant needs weekly watering, removal of spent flowers and high shade in hot areas. After the threat of frost passes in spring, cut the stems almost down to the ground to keep your patch shapely.
(Silver Angel Japanese Shrub Mint) Partial shade settings or locations with morning sun and afternoon shade are best for Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Silver Angel'. This is a fragrant, variegated mint bush that glows in dappled sunlight. It is an exceptionally cold-tolerant Japanese woodland native.
(Rosy Bract Sage) Sub-shrub salvias have both woody and soft, herbaceous growth. Rosy Bract Sage is a tidy, small leafed sub-shrub smothered with large clusters of 1/2-inch, violet-blue flowers and rosy red bracts. Its bracts deepen in color as the season proceeds.
(Running Peruvian Sage) Petite is a good description for the pale blue flowers and light green, veined, elliptical leaves of Salvia sarmentosa. It’s an attractive groundcover in warm winter areas as well as a graceful, spilling container plant.
Have a friend who might appreciate learning about this plant? Here is an easy way to contact them.
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Posted: Saturday, March 16, 2013
Got shade? Go ahead and get blue about it in the garden. We'll hold your hand, listen to your concerns and help you pick just the right shady salvias in hues to match the 2013 designer colors Dusk Blue and Monaco Blue from Pantone.
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Posted: Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Emerald and other cool shades of green are among the hot colors for 2013, according to Pantone, a design-industry leader. Flowers by the Sea doesn't generally think of greens or of any colors in nature as being in or out. However, we think it is fun and fresh to consider garden design from a different perspective. Emerald is Pantone's top color for the year. This article about emerald-colored Salvias begins a pageant of sorts down the runway of our blog, showing how the Pantone color matching system can be used to shape landscaping decisions.
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Posted: Monday, January 21, 2013
Flowers by the Sea grows Salvias that are already popular in the Southeast as well as others we would like to introduce to gardeners seeking thirsty flowering plants that can also adjust to dry spells. Many are fine choices for Florida hummingbird gardens. Our suggestions are organized into categories based on moisture tolerance â€“ average and ample -- as well as sun requirements.
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Posted: Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Most gardeners associate plants in the genus Salvia with full sun, rocky soil, drought and semi-arid native lands. Although a number of sages fit this picture, far more appreciate loamy, fertile garden soil. Some require lots of water. Also, a large number of sages thrive in partial shade, and some tolerate full shade. Here are six of the many shade lovers that Flowers by the Sea grows.
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Posted: Monday, July 14, 2014
Portraits in Gardening is a new blog series from Flowers by the Sea that profiles customers who are passionate about the Salvia genus. This post features Illinois gardener Michael Kampf who has succeeded in growing many kinds of Salvias despite the frigid winters and fiercely hot summers of the Chicago area. He began gardening when 6 years old with encouragement from his mother and fell in love with Salvias at age 12.
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Posted: Thursday, August 9, 2012
Fall is the best time to plant many Salvias. Read on to find out why . . .
This picture, "Autumn", was painted by Giuseppe Arcimboldo in 1573.
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Posted: Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Florida is one of the wettest states in the nation, yet it is a fine place to grow Salvias if you select shade-tolerant, moisture-loving species and ones native to Florida. Gardeners who are accustomed to growing Salvias in a dry climate face a variety of surprises in Florida gardens. These include recurrent periods of drought, many cloudy days and soil that is so poor it has to be amended for Salvias.
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Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2015
Forget all the mournful music telling you that blue is the color of sadness. In a Salvia garden filled with hot colors, true blue is a peacemaker -- a reliable harmonizer that commands peace in the garden. This article talks a tiny bit about football, Madonna and the chemistry of true blue flowers. Then it offers a lot of true blue sages for gardens coast to coast from our Flowers by the Sea Online Nursery catalog.
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Posted: Wednesday, June 19, 2019
A wedding gift led to Kathi Johnson Rock and Michael Rock's passion for hummingbirds. These Wisconsin birders offer tips and plant suggestions for hummingbird gardeners at FBTS. Although now known as Madison's "Hummingbird People," the Rocks aren't ornithologists or biologists. They are home gardeners and customers of Flowers by the Sea who discovered the power of nectar-rich Salvias and companion plants to fuel hummingbird migration. This article includes a list favorite hummingbird plants found in the Rocks' gardens.
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Learn more about how we analyze plant colors
We based our analysis of this plant’s floral and foliar color on the internationally standardized color system published by the U.K.’s Royal Horticultural Society. Called the RHS Large Colour Charts, this publication is a boxed set of color swatches arranged in fans and containing all the colors that RHS has identified in horticulture. RHS gives each color a common name and code number.
Each swatch has a small hole punched into it. We place the swatch over a flower petal and compare the blossom’s color to that of the card. When using RHS colors to compare plants that you want to combine in a flowerbed, in bouquets or in some other manner, RHS says to view them indoors in north light. If you are matching our digital swatches to flowers already in your garden, pluck two or three fully open blossoms of each plant that requires analysis.
You may find that the plant you receive from FBTS varies somewhat in color from what appears in our color analysis or our photograph due to a number of factors, including:
- Variations in photographic colors based on lighting level at different times of day
- Differences in the resolution of digital screens
- Seasonal changes in plant color due to changes in temperature and plant cycle and
- pH or soil chemistry that varies from one locale to another and causes color shifts.
Finally, RHS notes that you shouldn’t attempt color matching when your eyes are fatigued.
Here are some guidelines for success with this plant in your garden.
Click on an individual icon for more detailed information.
This plant needs or tolerates more than six hours of intense sunlight daily. Many Salvias only thrive in wide-open locations where they receive long hours of full sun. However, full-sun species sometimes tolerate a bit of partial shade. Or a Salvia that loves partial shade may be amenable to spending part of its time in full sun.
In general, this sun/shade adaptability shows up in Salvias that do best in cooler climates when grown in full sun and thrive in hot climates when partial shade is available. So full-sun Salvias sometimes are also categorized as partial-shade plants and vice versa.
This plant grows well in partial shade, such as the kind on the edge of woodlands or under deciduous trees with breaks in the foliage through which dappled sunlight penetrates. Many Salvias thrive in partial shade, including ones that spend part of their day in full sunlight. Some species need partial shade to overcome severe heat and dry soil.
This plant grows well in an outdoor container, such as on a patio.
Some containerized Salvias leaf out and flower year after year following a period of dormancy. Annuals in containers may die back and appear to grow again when they reseed.
During extreme heat, check the soil in container plantings once or twice daily to be sure it doesn't completely dry out. Feel its surface for coolness, then gently poke a finger into the soil to check for dryness.
Plant hardiness Zones defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture tell you the minimum temperatures a plant can withstand in your garden. The USDA divides the nation into winter climate areas from coldest (Zone 1) to warmest (Zone 11).
However, it is sometimes possible to grow a Zone 6 Salvia as a perennial in Zone 5 if you provide preferential care, such as winter mulching and a location sheltered from harsh winds. In contrast, a Zone 9 Salvia may act like a perennial in Zone 10 if given a bit of shade or extra water.
To create a harmonious landscape plan, it is important to consider the heights of individual plants.
Height also affects function. Short Salvias often make excellent ground covers that conserve soil moisture and discourage weeds while also brightening your yard. Medium-height Salvias, such as ones 36 inches tall, often are ideal border plants. A tall Salvia planted singly can highlight a landscape; multiple plantings can form an attractive screen.
By considering the width of a plant, you can determine how many to place in a row or what other plants to grow with it.
For example, a narrow, moderate-height Salvia may look good interplanted with bushier species, kind of like Mutt and Jeff.
In contrast, wide-spreading Salvias are economical for hiding lengths of wall and fence or for creating hedge-like divisions in a yard.
Plant this herbaceous species in the USDA Zones where it grows as a perennial, returning year after year.
After dying back to the ground at frost, herbaceous perennials emerge in the Spring with soft, new growth. A Salvia that is perennial in one region, may be an annual in another depending on local conditions, such as winter temperatures.
If you live in USDA Zone 5, for example, Salvias in our catalog cited as growing well in Zone 5 or lower will be perennial. Those cited as doing well in Zones 6 or higher may do well in Zone 5, but generally will act like annuals coming back from seed instead of the parent plant’s roots.
This plant needs regular watering based on what is appropriate to your local conditions.
In some extremely hot, arid climates, this may mean daily watering in Summer. Although many drought-resistant Salvias survive on little to no watering due to local rainfall and deep roots meeting their moisture needs, others need regular doses. The size and frequency of the dose depends on your climate.
This plant thrives on or at least tolerates lots of water, especially when soil is well drained.
A number of Salvias hold up well in areas where rainfall is a regular occurrence. Some even tolerate boggy conditions. These are usually top-notch plants for regions of the country, such as the Southeast, where summers are soggy.
This plant reaches peak bloom in Fall or flowers for much of the season.
It may begin flowering much earlier in the year. Bloom time for some Salvias lasts from Spring till first frost. Others begin flowering in Summer and continue into Fall. There are also Salvias that don’t bloom until late Fall and continue into Winter if grown in mild-Winter areas.
There is a great deal of overlap in blooming seasons for Salvias.
Honeybees love this plant’s nectar. As a honeybee burrows down into a Salvia’s nectar-rich flowers to reach dinner, it accidentally gathers pollen and drops it on the stigma of that blossom or of ones on other nearby Salvias. Fertilization results in seed production.
By growing honeybee favorites, you attract these helpful pollinators to all your flowering plants and increase productivity
This plant attracts butterflies whether for nectar or as a host for their caterpillars. Some butterflies feed on a limited range of flowering plants and only lay eggs on one kind of host plant. Salvia nectar lures adult butterflies. Placing host plants, such as Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), next to nectar plants builds butterfly habitat. In exchange, the butterflies improve fertility in your garden through pollination.
Unless local forage is in short supply, most deer likely will avoid this plant.
It appears that deer dislike Salvias, in general, due to their volatile oils that make the plants so fragrant and savory in cooking. However, the only completely deer-proof plants are the ones grown beyond reach.
Based on our experience and reports from customers, hummingbirds (Trochilidae spp.) love this plant.
Hummingbirds exist only in the Americas where their 300-plus species are particularly fond of the nectar in brightly colored Salvias from the Western Hemisphere. However, if favorites aren’t available, they dine on the nectar of most Salvias.
Hummingbirds repay thoughtful plantings by helping to pollinate your garden

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