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Return to the list of practice GMAT reading comprehension questions.
On the surface, the conquest of the Aztec empire by Herman Cortes is one of the most amazing military accomplishments in history. With a small fighting force numbering in the hundreds, Cortes led the Spanish explorers into victory against an Aztec population that many believe topped 21 million. In light of such a seemingly impossible victory, the obvious question is: how did a small group of foreign fighters manage to topple one of the world's strongest, wealthiest, and most successful military empires?
Several factors led to Cortes' success. First, the Spanish exploited animosity toward the Aztecs among rival groups and convinced thousands of locals to fight. In one account of a battle, it is recorded that at least 200,000 natives fought with Cortes. Next, the Spanish possessed superior military equipment in the form of European cannons, guns, and crossbows, leading to effective and efficient disposal of Aztec defenses. For example, Spanish cannons quickly defeated large Aztec walls that had protected the empire against big and less technically advanced armies.
Despite the Spanish advantages, the Aztecs probably could have succeeded in defending their capital city of Tenochtitlan had they leveraged their incredible population base to increase their army's size and ensured that no rogue cities would ally with Cortes. In order to accomplish this later goal, Aztec leader Motecuhzoma needed to send envoys to neighboring cities telling their inhabitants about the horrors of Spanish conquest and the inevitability of Spanish betrayal.
In addition, the Aztecs should have exploited the fact that the battle was taking place on their territory. No reason existed for the Aztecs to consent to a conventional battle, which heavily favored the Spanish. Motecuhzoma's forces should have thought outside the box and allowed Cortes into the city, only to subsequently use hundreds of thousands of fighters to prevent escape and proceed in surprise "door-to-door" combat. With this type of battle, the Aztecs would have largely thwarted Spanish technological supremacy. However, in the end, the superior weaponry of the Spanish, the pent-up resentment of Aztec rivals, the failure of Aztec diplomacy, and the lack of an unconventional Aztec war plan led to one of the most surprising military outcomes in the past one thousand years.
The relevant portion of the passage is: "Spanish exploited animosity toward the Aztecs"


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That sounds really awesome! Difficult to execute because of the cultural expectation of gifts, especially among parents who want to see their child's face light up, but awesome. I guess everyone really has to be on board with it to make it happen.
Hoarding runs in my family. The only reason why most of our homes don't reflect the OCD chaos of our brains is because we manage our belongings with the ferocity that most people reserve for calorie counting and fantasy football leagues. While none of my relatives live in squalor, as my cousin Carolyn puts it, "In our family, we file things horizontally." We are all wannabe minimalists with messy desktops. Although we joke about becoming crazy dog ladies or building a maze made of old National Geographic magazines in the living room, we all worry that one day we will fall victim to our belongings. So, after looking with mortification at the packed garbage cans stuffed with the aftermath of Christmas 2001, my extended family took a radical step in the direction of less stuff — we agreed to stop giving Christmas gifts to each other. Even to the kids. (See also: Simple-Living Lessons I Learned From "Hoarders")
This decision had several unintended consequences, all of them good.
Last year, 38.9% of Americans started shopping for Christmas in October, a statistic that is entirely believable to anyone who has noticed Christmas decorations jostling for shelf space with Halloween costumes at stores across the country. In addition to freeing up more time and money for Halloween and Thanksgiving, family birthdays in December and January suddenly got the attention they deserved. My grandmother, who was born on December 28, told me that she never got a real birthday. Sandwiched between Christmas and New Year's Eve, her birthday had always been an important holiday travel day for friends and family.
My youngest cousin's birthday is in the first week of January, so she was pleased that her birthday became a special day instead of just an afterthought to the December holidays. While Christmas presents were verboten, birthday presents were not. She quickly decided that the additional two weeks she had to wait to get "The Toy of the Year" were worth the extra attention.
On a side note, people who hear about our no-Christmas-gift policy seem to worry that the kids in my family are somehow suffering from Scrooge levels of deprivation…which was something actually worried about for the first year. However, there are several gigantic loopholes in the no-gift rule. First, while the kids don't receive gifts from the family, they do get Christmas gifts from their friends. Secondly, everyone still gets a stocking full of candy on Christmas morning. Most importantly, during their winter break from school, the kids are allowed to ignore bedtime, sleep in as late as they want, eat dessert for breakfast lunch and dinner, and watch television with impunity. We had anticipated that there would be a lot of griping from the under-14 camp, but to their credit, I can't remember one instance where any of my younger cousins complained about their lack of Christmas gifts. Perhaps they've been secretly pouting all these years, but I suspect that they prefer the additional freedom in lieu of opening a few more presents on Christmas morning.
Removed from the mass hysteria that is now part of Christmas shopping, we were able to shop after-Christmas sales without a deadline, but with all the post-holiday consumer reports. Because the kids got to play-test the "must-have toys" at their friends' homes in the weeks after Christmas, their birthday present lists got shorter, not longer. Some things, they realized, just didn't hold up to the hype.
Last year, the average American shopper spent over $700 just on Christmas gifts. While my family is pretty frugal, our combined savings still amount to several thousand dollars every year. Not spending money on gifts that go under the tree allowed us to spend money on family experiences like tickets to the zoo to see the Christmas lights. Two years ago, our huge extended family went to Las Vegas for a reunion at Christmas, a trip that a lot of us would not have been able to afford had we spent the money on traditional gifts.
Also, after Christmas, the price of just about everything drops dramatically. An expensive Christmas gift suddenly becomes an affordable birthday or graduation gift on December 26. When I got married this year, I know all the wedding gift cards from my relatives were purchased at a steep discount in January from gift card exchange sites like Plastic Jungle.
Christmas shopping is stressful. A Consumer Reports survey from last year uncovered that 6% of Americans were still carrying Christmas debt from 2010 on their credit cards when they started shopping for Christmas 2011. British financial analysts estimate that one in three Britons will go into debt to pay for Christmas this year. Every January, credit counselors report a 25% spike in business as consumers come to grips with their holiday overspending. I don't know one responsible person with debt who isn't haunted by it. We discovered how easy Christmas is to enjoy when there are no bad financial repercussions lurking around the corner.
Additionally, while giving and receiving gifts should be pleasurable, a lot of giving has become a kind of social currency, with the givers hoping that the cost of their gifts are accurately appraised, for their full value, by the receivers. A lot of the pleasure of giving a gift is imagining the pleasure that it will bring the recipient. People are often so stressed out by end of the year deadlines that choosing gifts becomes more about efficiency and budgeting than about figuring out what will bring their loved ones the most joy. By removing the obligation of Christmas gifts, we were all able to delete a giant task from our end of the year to-do lists, which was, frankly, a relief.
I can't speak for everyone, but for me, shopping — even online shopping — takes up a lot of time. Not shopping freed up time to enjoy other holiday activities like trimming the tree, baking 80 dozen cookies to give out to friends and neighbors, attending and hosting parties, caroling, and looking at Christmas lights.
What is the Christmas spirit about if not kindness to others? Christmas morning is now spent serving Christmas dinner to people who really need a nice meal, not sitting around the tree. We have the extra time and the extra money to help out local charities. My great-aunt was a lifelong patron of the Dumb Friends League, aka the city pound. Every dog she'd ever owned had been a rescue. One of our favorite holiday activities is bringing toys and treats to the pound at Christmastime and spending the day petting all the dogs.
Like ex-smokers huffing on second-hand smoke, my cousin Carolyn and I still love to window-shop the day before Christmas and experience the apex of American consumerism. Only instead of buying, we enjoy the vulgar splendor of the mall at Christmastime by people watching from the comfort of the Cinnabon.
This year my family will celebrate our 10th gift-free Christmas. What started as a strategy to keep our closets tidy, ended up bringing us closer together with each other and our community. It's our own little Christmas miracle.
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
That sounds really awesome! Difficult to execute because of the cultural expectation of gifts, especially among parents who want to see their child's face light up, but awesome. I guess everyone really has to be on board with it to make it happen.
Great ideas in this article. I am inspired to spend more time actually enjoying this wonderful holiday season without the rampant spending.
I resemble your article! 2 years ago we signed up for Advent Conspiracy. Which has made a huge difference not only in our lives but our families. We still get something for the grandkids, but we no longer feel obligated to provide a gift for every aunt, uncle and cousin Suzy Who. Last year the gifts I did give to close family members like my sister were gift certificates to KIVA, where she was able to choose a stuggling company in a third world country to give a business loan to, or the Heiffer project where we gave everything from Music lessons, to fresh water. Everyone loved it.
I love Heidi's idea of Kiva and Heifer. There are many great organizations. I bought tshirts for Unicef to provide mosquito nets.
We are finally getting a handle on Christmas. I used to buy my kids at least thirty gifts each, not including all the gifts from dozens of relatives and friends. It would stress the kids out to open all the packages! Now it is three for each. One each for body, mind and soul. So much easier, in every way. Time, money and introspection.

subset: commoncrawl


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10.8. SmartEvidence¶
Administration → Extensions → SmartEvidence
The SmartEvidence administration area is only accessible by site administrators.
The implementation of SmartEvidence is experimental. While the majority of the functionality works as intended there are a few areas that still need to be sorted out, .e.g. the export of the SmartEvidence map in both HTML and Leap2A.
SmartEvidence allows you to work with competency frameworks in Mahara and associate them automatically with an evidence map for a visualisation of the competencies already gained, in progress, and not yet started.
"Competencies" is used in a wide sense here. SmartEvidence can be used for multiple purposes including competency-based assessment, graduate attributes, skills accomplishment and many more. It can also be used for self-assessment purposes.
The Annotations blocktype must be enabled on the site in order to use SmartEvidence.
10.8.1. Overview¶
Click the Add framework button to upload a new SmartEvidence framework.
Name: Displays the name of the framework.
Used in collections: Shows how many times the framework has been used.
Self-assess: Indicates whether the framework allows self-assessment or not.
Yes: Users can select the framework if they are allowed to use it.
No: Users, who have not already selected the framework for their collection cannot select it anymore. Those who already have it associated with a collection can continue using it. Switching a framework to be inactive is useful if a new version of the framework is issued and those who haven't already started under the old framework should use the new one.
Click the Delete button if you want to remove a framework. You can only remove frameworks that are not in use.
Mahara comes with two competency frameworks pre-installed to make testing easier. You can delete them if you do not want your users to work with them.
10.8.2. Create a framework file¶
SmartEvidence frameworks are set up with the help of matrix files. Each file contains one framework. You can download sample files from the wiki. The matrix files are JSON-formatted.
Using a JSON editor, e.g. JSONedit and JSON Editor Online makes it easy for you to edit the file because you can view it without much of the JSON syntax that is required.
It is best to start your framework file with the help of one of the samples as you then know the structure and have all relevant elements in the file.
10.8.2.1. Start of the file¶
A framework file contains a number of parameters at the beginning that allow you to customise the framework to your needs.
institution: The shortname of the institution in which the framework should be used is entered here. If the framework is for all institutions, all is placed here.
The institution shortname can be seen by hovering over the institution name on the Institution overview page and looking at the end of the URL. The last parameter is the institution shortname.
name: The title of the framework as it should be shown to the users.
description: The description of the framework is displayed on the SmartEvidence page in a collection. It can contain basic HTML code.
If the HTML code in the description field requires the use of quotation marks, these need to be escaped. Otherwise, they would be interpreted as commands. The escaping is done easily by placing a backslash right in front of the quotation mark:
selfassess: Determine whether users can self-assess their competencies or whether the competencies can only be assessed by somebody else. The following two values are allowed:
true: Users can self-assess.
false: Users cannot perform self-assessment.
evidencestatuses: Currently, there are four evidence statuses that can be used in an evidence map: begun, incomplete, partialcomplete, and completed. You can decide what words are used for these statuses in the framework that you set up. This allows you to easily set up frameworks in different languages for example.
standards: The rest of the document holds the standards and sub-standards.
Be careful when changing a matrix file and make sure not to remove any commas, quotation marks, brackets, curly braces or any other marks in sections that you use. They are required for the correct interpretation of the file.
You can check if your file contains all necessary syntax by pasting it into the JSON Formatter and Validator for example. If there are any issues and JSON cannot interpret your file, the validator specifies the places where the errors occur so you can track them down more easily and fix.
10.8.2.2. Standards section¶
You can define the standards after the initial information. They provide the heading level on the SmartEvidence overview page.
standards: Introduction of this section. You can define as many standards as you want. There is no limit.
shortname: Each standard needs a shortname, e.g. a number or a summary of the full title. The shortname is mandatory and a maximum of 100 characters long.
name: Title of the standard. It is mandatory and a maximum of 255 characters long.
description: The description is optional and is displayed when you hover over the name of the standard (touch-click on mobile).
standardid: Give each standard a natural number so they can be placed in the correct order and referred back to from the standard elements.
Do not place a comma after the closing curly brace of the last standard.
10.8.2.3. Standard elements section¶
Define all the standard elements, i.e. the individual sub-standards after the standards. They are the ones to which you can add evidence.
Place all sub levels immediately after the higher level standard element so that the mapping is happening correctly.
standardelements: Introduction of this section. There is no limit on how many standard elements you can define.
shortname: The shortname is displayed on the SmartEvidence overview page. It is mandatory and a maximum of 100 characters long.
name: Title of the standard element. It is mandatory and a maximum of 255 characters long.
description: The description is optional and is displayed when you hover over the name of the standard (touch-click on mobile).
standardid: Provide the ID of the standard to which you want to associate a particular standard element.
elementid: Give your standard element an ID so you can refer to it when you have another sub level. The ID needs to be placed between quotation marks.
parentelementid: Provide the elementid of the parent standard element if the standard element that you set up is on a level lower. The ID needs to be placed between quotation marks.
When a standard element has a lower level, it cannot be associated with evidence itself, but only the standard elements on the lower level.
10.8.2.4. The end of the file¶
When you defined all your standards and standard elements, you can end the file.
Do not put a comma after the last curly brace of the last standard element.
Make sure to close all angular brackets and curly braces.
10.8.2.5. The result¶
Once you finished the file, you can upload it into Mahara and start using it.
Title of the framework
Description of the framework
A standard. It cannot have evidence associated, only its lower levels.
A standard element.
A standard element with further lower level elements. It cannot have evidence associated, only its lower level.
A third level of elements.
You can have more than 3 levels in your competency framework. The readability decreases though with many levels.
10.8.3. Add a framework¶
You can upload a SmartEvidence framework by clicking the Add framework button.
Click the Browse button to choose the matrix file that contains the framework that you want to use.
Click the Save button to upload the file.
10.8.4. Work with a framework¶
Zie ook
You can find more information on how to use a SmartEvidence framework in the portfolio section.


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Snapper Rocks
Things To Do Coolangatta, Gold Coast, Queensland
Snapper Rocks is a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast. Snapper is a point break forming the first part of the man-made Superbank which extends from Snapper Rocks Point, through Rainbow Bay, Greenmount Point, Coolangatta Beach, and Kirra, for a distance of around two kilometres.
The Superbank is now renowned as one of the most consistent breaks in Queensland and plays host to the annual World Surf Leagues' Quiksilver and Roxy Pros. Multiple barrel sections can now occur at any point along this length. The quality of the surf has markedly improved since the 1990s, and is now of legendary quality, creating one of the longest, hollowest and best waves in the world.
The Rainbow Bay Surf Club is the best place to view the break while enjoying a relaxed meal.


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Call to Worship April 10 2022
Isaiah 48:1–8
The Jews valued themselves on descent from Jacob, and used the name of Jehovah as their God. They prided themselves respecting Jerusalem and the temple, yet there was no holiness in their lives. If we are not sincere in religion, we do but take the name of the Lord in vain. By prophecy they were shown how God would deal with them, long before it came to pass. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boasting of themselves, which makes the sin and ruin of the proud worse; sooner or later every mouth shall be stopped, and all become silent before Him. We are all born children of disobedience. Where original sin is, actual sin will follow. Does not the conscience of every man witness to the truth of Scripture? May the Lord prove us, and render us doers of the word.
Verses 9–15
We have nothing ourselves to plead with God, why he should have mercy upon us. It is for his praise, to the honour of his mercy, to spare. His bringing men into trouble was to do them good. It was to refine them, but not as silver; not so thoroughly as men refine silver. If God should take that course, they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away. He takes them as refined in part only. Many have been brought home to God as chosen vessels, and a good work of grace begun in them, in the furnace of affliction. It is comfort to God's people, that God will secure his own honour, therefore work deliverance for them. And if God delivers his people, he cannot be at a loss for instruments to be employed. God has formed a plan, in which, for his own sake, and the glory of his grace, he saves all that come to Him.
Verses 16–22
The Holy Spirit qualifies for service; and those may speak boldly, whom God and his Spirit send. This is to be applied to Christ. He was sent, and he had the Spirit without measure. Whom God redeems, he teaches; he teaches to profit by affliction, and then makes them partakers of his holiness. Also, by his grace he leads them in the way of duty; and by his providence he leads in the way of deliverance. God did not afflict them willingly. If their sins had not turned them away, their peace should have been always flowing and abundant. Spiritual enjoyments are ever joined with holiness of life and regard to God's will. It will make the misery of the disobedient the more painful, to think how happy they might have been. And here is assurance given of salvation out of captivity. Those whom God designs to bring home to himself, he will take care of, that they want not for their journey. This is applicable to the grace laid up for us in Jesus Christ, from whom all good flows to us, as the water to Israel out of the rock, for that Rock was Christ. The spiritual blessings of redemption, and the rescue of the church from antichristian tyranny, are here pointed to. But whatever changes take place, the Lord warned impenitent sinners that no good would come to them; that inward anguish and outward trouble, which spring from guilt and from the Divine wrath, must be their portion for ever."[1]
[1] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Is 48:1–16.


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KnitMeter Has Been Upgraded
KnitMeter.com was originally started over four years ago in December of 2007 as a small project that my wife thought would be useful. Since then, the site hasn't changed much, but it has managed to grow to thousands of users who have knit nearly 20 thousand miles of yarn. I've received numerous requests and have finally gotten a chance to impliment what many of you have been requesting for a while now. New features on the site include:
- Users can now add entries for knitting, crocheting, and spinning
- Completely new and modernized design and logo
- You can customize your widgets directly on KnitMeter.com rather than editing the code for the widget on your website
- The website and the KnitMeter Facebook Application are now completely integrated. Entries added in one will be displayed and counted in the other
- The Facebook application can (again) publish your entries to your news feed, but only when you tell it to
- You can chose to make your profile public, which will display some of the most recent entries on the KnitMeter home page with a link to your website
- Added several new timeframes, including specific calendar years (ie: I knit 4.3 miles in 2010)
- Numerous technical changes that should make the site faster to use and make it easier to make future changes
These new features have been rolled out over the past couple of weeks. I appreciate the patience of those who have dealt with a few bugs over that time, and I believe that everything should be pretty bug-free now. I encourage you to check out the new site and to start adding up the mileage for your own projects. The next major milestone will be when we have gone through enough yarn to go around the earth (about 24,901 miles). At the present rate, we should hit that figure in about 3-5 months.
Happy Knitting, Crocheting, and Spinning,
Brandon Checketts


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Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Are you a CAT person or a DOG person?
47 comments:
LOVE that article you wrote. It is so true. Pet (animal) people in my household. Lots of Golden Woofs, SugarReplyDeleteReplies
thanks for taking the time to read the other blog post Sugar!! That is so sweet of you! I am an "animal" person too but have to say my personality leans more toward cat but according to the infographic I seem to be a bit of both!Delete
We thinks our Mama is a cat person.ReplyDelete
Cindi Lou & the Kitty Krew
Hee hee. Is it any surprise that Mommy is a Cat Person? There's some dog in her but she's mostly cat. MOL.ReplyDelete
My human is a 100% cat person. While she likes being around dogs all right, and we actually live with one, she just does not relate. Not surprisingly, her favorite Beatle is George! And she will NOT babysit anyone's dogs OR children!ReplyDeleteReplies
George??????!!!! My mom has always been JOHN all the way!Delete
I think I must be half and half according to that infographic!!ReplyDelete
Don't tell Austin!!!!!!! ;)
I still can't decide lol. At work, I would say I was a cat person most of the time. I don't know why, but I always preferred to assist with cat annuals rather than dog annuals. Towards the end of my job, I was the exotic vet assistant exclusively due to my pregnancy... exotic pets were just smaller and safer to handle but I loved it!ReplyDeleteReplies
stopped by your blog today but when I saw it was about reptiles I got "skerred" and left :)Delete
- AnonymousJune 12, 2013 at 5:24 AM
Hmm...well, I'm a cat who likes humans? Does that count? My Mom says she's a human who loves ALL animals (but especially me!).ReplyDelete
Kitty Hugs, SammyReplies
we're with your Mom!!Delete
LOL we are dog people but as we have never had a cat we can't comment about cat owners. Fun info-graphic. Have a wonderful Wednesday.ReplyDelete
Best wishes MollyReplies
Honest comment!! Love it! You have a wonderful Wednesday too!Delete
I like to think that both woofy and kitty people are optimists and generally happy people!! Yay! Take careReplyDelete
I like how you think! xoxoDelete
Our Mom is both cat and dog and also a donkey person. So we just love animals. Love the graphs. Take care.ReplyDeleteReplies
we're with ya all the way!Delete
I'm both! I just love everything furry with whiskers! <3ReplyDelete
Our kitty friend sure liked thisReplyDelete
Benny & Lily
- AnonymousJune 12, 2013 at 10:00 AM
So in other words, cat lovers really DO fit the crazy cat lady stereotype? *sweats uncomfortably*ReplyDelete
LOVE this! And yes I am BOTH!!! WOO HOO!ReplyDelete
Nah I'm a bunny person although I love cats and dogs but bunnies are something elseReplyDelete
lol.. like I need an info-graphic to tell me.. :)ReplyDelete
I am more of a cat person but; I do love my dog friends too.ReplyDelete
Sue B
What a terrific graphic! We love dogs and cats, so we're kind of a weird mix of both columns. My favorite part was the one that showed how dog and cat people are very alike. :)ReplyDelete
Hope you are doing well after your visit to the doctor, Caren. Purrs to you!Replies
I am a "weird mix" too!!! We are MUTTS! lol!Delete
That was so sweet of you to ask how I am, thanks!!!
Tired, but good, not in a lot of pain which always makes me wonder if they even smashed any stones at all! Thanks so much for asking!
We love 'em both!! Hugs and nose kissesReplyDeleteReplies
we do too! Hugs and nose kisses back at ya!Delete
Judging from that I think our Dad is a confused person!ReplyDelete
Well, much of the "personality" section was just about right... but after that, things got sort of confusing, LOL. What a FUN chart, though--such darling illustrations, and nifty, throwback layout! xoxoReplyDelete
I love this post! And it about sums up the whole question! :)ReplyDeleteReplies
we loved it too thanks!!Delete
Whew! That was a close one. Gave ol' peepers the test and she squeaked by as a cat person. Well... actually... she did more than just squeak.ReplyDelete
Well, the mom is a cat person, though she says she likes doggies too. As long as she doesn't bring one home, we're okay with that.ReplyDelete
See, this is why I chose my human: she doesn't fit into infographics and stats ;-)ReplyDelete
CAT PERSON. But: JOHN LENNON! George? Really? Huh.ReplyDelete
I must be a cat purrson cause I think Paul McCartney is a weenie!ReplyDelete
That was very interesting and we now see that our Dad is even farther off the norm than we ever imagined.ReplyDelete
Not that this is a bad thing of course/
(Tim rolls his eyes)
- AnonymousJune 16, 2013 at 6:08 AM
Interesting and pretty accurate! Hahaha.ReplyDelete
That was so super interesting. Mom says she seems to have some traits from both categories. Maybe that's why she had dogs before she started adopting cats 30 years ago. We're glad she switched to being a kitty person. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista JosetteReplyDelete


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These little candy stampers are a great invention!
Shy kids who do not like being touched around the mouth will often love this oral motor candy. It is an edible stamper. Lick them with your tongue and then press them onto paper. The raised part of the candy makes a mark on the paper, much like a rubber stamp.
Candy Stampers taste kind of like sweet tart candies and turn tongues bright colors. Kids will love looking at your tongue and sticking out their own tongue to see what color it is. Great for motor planning! 1 inch in diameter. Assorted colors. Assorted pictures include crystal balls, wizard's hats, dragons and castles. Recommended for ages 3 and up.


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We have written previously about the US Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in September 2009 (see New US Consulates Opening in Afghanistan) and December 2009 (see US Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif Moving Forward)
Also read The Skeptical Bureaucrat post in December 2009 (see DIY Home Renovation Opportunity in Mazar-e-Sharif) with photos. He described the Mazar Hotel as a "bit of a fixer-upper, but $26 million in U.S. taxpayer's money ought to do wonders for the place." He added that "The hotel's pool is a big selling point. Full disclosure: the pool has no filter or purification system, so the water has to be changed every few days."
It turns out that $26 million plus much more, now at $80 million did wonders for the place, but now WaPo is reporting that "American officials say they have abandoned their plans, deeming the location for the proposed compound too dangerous."
Pardon us, but, but — who said that?
Excerpt below from Ernesto Londoño's piece from WP, May 5:
"After signing a 10-year lease and spending more than $80 million on a site envisioned as the United States' diplomatic hub in northern Afghanistan, American officials say they have abandoned their plans, deeming the location for the proposed compound too dangerous.
Eager to raise an American flag and open a consulate in a bustling downtown district of the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, officials in 2009 sought waivers to stringent State Department building rules and overlooked significant security problems at the site, documents show. The problems included relying on local building techniques that made the compound vulnerable to a car bombing, according to an assessment by the U.S. Embassy in Kabul that was obtained by The Washington Post."
We imagine that Diplomatic Security will soon have another task added to its investigations – in addition to who leak the Eikenberry cables, then the Crocker cable — now, who leaked the US Consulate Mazar assessment by an acting management counselor out of the embassy in Kabul?
Wishful thinking down the drain-
The plan for the Mazar-e Sharif consulate, as laid out in a previously undisclosed diplomatic memorandum, is a cautionary tale of wishful thinking, poor planning and the type of stark choices the U.S. government will have to make in coming years as it tries to wind down its role in the war.
In March 2009, Richard C. Holbrooke, who had recently been appointed President Obama's envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, lobbied for the establishment of a consulate in Mazar-e Sharif within 60 days, according to the memo.
"At the time, [Holbrooke] pushed hard to identify property and stand up an interim consulate, on a very tight timeline, to signal our commitment to the Afghan people," according to the January memo by Martin Kelly, the acting management counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
The embassy memo says the facility was far from ideal from the start. The compound, which housed a hotel when the Americans took it on, shared a wall with local shopkeepers. The space between the outer perimeter wall and buildings inside — a distance known as "setback" in war zone construction — was not up to U.S. diplomatic standards set by the State Department's Overseas Security Policy Board. The complex was surrounded by several tall buildings from which an attack could easily be launched.
"The Department nonetheless granted exceptions to standards to move forward quickly, establish an interim presence and raise the flag," Kelly wrote.
Cutting corners in a war zone = presumably deadly consequences, if you work there
"Among the corners cut in the interest of expediency, the memo says, was failing to assess how well the facility could withstand a car bombing, a task normally carried out by the department's Bureau of Overseas Building Operations.
Responding effectively to an emergency at the consulate would be next to impossible, Kelly noted, because the facility does not have space for a Black Hawk helicopter to land. It would take a military emergency response team 11 / 2 to 2 hours to reach the site "under good conditions," he said."
Then there is the embarrassing part – they know what you're up to —
"In December, embassy officials began exploring alternative short-term sites for their diplomatic staff in northern Afghanistan. A Western diplomat familiar with the situation said the United States has sought, so far in vain, to persuade the German and Swedish governments to sublet it. The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter, said European diplomats have found the prospect laughable."
Read the full piece here.
A quick search online indicate that the U.S. Embassy Mazar Consulate Project had a project date of Jan-2010 to Mar-2011. Below is a description of the project posted online by Elite Construction:
"The scope of this project consisted of converting an existing Hotel structure to accommodate the U.S. Consulate in Mazar. This included the replacement of all infrastructure including water, sewer, electrical and communications facilities while maintaining the Architectural and structural systems of the building in accordance with U.S. Building Codes."
Of course, while it is being built, there is also a need for a Temporary US Consulate, that contract apparently is held by JF Jones Company. (Correction: The Mazar Hotel is the temp Consulate, not sure who gets what of the pieces of this pie. A permanent consulate is on the design/build docket reportedly for 2017).
Then there are other companies doing the food and life support for consulate staff, security, concrete operation (photo), etc. They all add up.
A few thoughts occurred to us, some totally jaded:
1. Did anybody pause and thought, wait a minute, cutting corners in a war zone sounds totally loony? Right.
2. Did anyone write a dissent cable after building rule waivers were sought and granted? Yes? No? Good luck digging that up?
3. Perhaps a troubled conscience made somebody leaked this document to the Washington Post? Albeit too late to shave and save a few millions from the $80 million tab. But let's give credit where credit is due, no one has died yet at the old Mazar Hotel, now new US Consulate and soon to be known as Holbrooke's Folly, Eikenberry's Folly, Clinton's Folly, etc, but perhaps not Crocker's Folly.
4. The report says that "After Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker arrived in Kabul in July, officials asked the bureau to conduct a blast assessment." Who were these officials? Were they newly arrived officials who were shocked out of their eyeballs when they saw the project? Why did embassy officials not ask the bureau to conduct the assessment during Ambassador Eikenberry's tenure, before the renovation got to the $80 million figure?
What, no balls? Pardon me? Oh, no one wants to rock the boat?
5. $80 million is a lot of money; money that could build a school or two elsewhere in the United States, fund policemen, firemen, and teachers in some communities hurting across America. It could feed our hungry kids, too, no kidding. Or it could also buy a lot of properties on the Monopoly board.
6. The raise the flag consulate as a signal to the Afghan people was more important than the safety of diplomatic personnel, in no less than a war zone? The same folks given a few hours of target practice at home and then sent off to the war zone equipped with thumbs and forefingers as guns.
7. Motive. Motive. Motive. Every leak has a motive, and that's missing from the WaPo report. And to borrow a quote from good old Sherlock, "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" Holmes — there has to be a naked truth hiding behind this $80 million scratch off leak. Why was this leaked now? It's not to save $80 million dollars. Someone ought to complete Mr. Londoño's piece, and answer the "Why?"
Update: You may also want to read The Skeptical Bureaucrat's Mazar-e-Sharif – The Mud, The Manure, And The Money and Peter Van Buren's Wishful Thinking and Poor Planning: State Department Wastes $80 Million in Afghanistan over at HuffPo.


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We've all had them. Ones that don't seem to pick up anything. Others that clog every time you use them. And those that start off strong, but quickly fall apart and need to be replaced after only a year or so of service. It was out of these same frustrations that Riccar was born.Every vacuum that bears that Riccar name is designed not only for exceptional cleaning performance, but with the long term in mind. While others skimp and use plastic, the high-wear areas throughout Riccar vacuums incorporate metal components. It's simply what's required to ensure every Riccar vacuum provides unrivaled cleaning performance that we can stand behind with some of the longest warranties in the industry.
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After a spectacular victory in Malaysia, in the Indonesian archipelago and in the South Pacific after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began the invasion of the island of Timor on February 20, 1942, which was then divided by two colonial powers, Holland in the West and Portugal in the East.
East Timor was considered a strategic point for the Japanese forces to stop a possible offensive from Australia, a few kilometers from the Portuguese colony.
The invasion of East Timor was made from Kupang and Dili, having met with a very strong resistance. On the island of Timor, there was the Sparrow Force which consisted mostly of soldiers from the Australian 2/40th Battalion and 2/2nd Independent Company. This force had been, cordially, displaced from West Timor (Dutch Timor) to the then Portuguese colony, although the Portuguese government has provided some objections.
The Japanese controlled both air and sea spaces, having at the end much of the 2/40th Australian Battalion surrendered. However, the 2/2nd Independent Company managed to escape and continued the fight, much thanks to the extraordinary assistance provided by the Timorese.
In addition to the provided assistance from the indigenous to the Australians in terms of food, shelter, transportation of heavy equipment and preparation of ambushes, the mountainous terrain of Timor also offered good conditions for the guerrillas, representing a clear advantage for Australian forces against the Japanese.
The existent Portuguese in East-Timor also provided some assistance to the guerrillas, in spite of, being Portugal a neutral country, these Portuguese had the right to maintain order in the colony.
On September 23, 1942, during unloading of supplies and evacuation of the wounded in Betano, the HMAS Voyager ran aground, and ended up being attacked by a Japanese plane. Being impossible to be towed, the Australians destroyed it completely to prevent the Japanese from capturing and using it.
Later, the 2/2nd Company was replaced by 2/4th Independent Company that ended up having a more remote relation with the Timorese population, since, in the meanwhile the Japanese had already been terrorizing them, forcing them not to provide assistance to Australians. The Japanese have also tried to make the Timorese from the western side of the East-Timor to convince the ones from the Portuguese side to stop helping the Australians. Furthermore, the Japanese tried deteriorate the relationship between the Timorese and Portuguese administration. In October, the control of the Portuguese had been virtually eliminated and in November the Japanese ordered the capture of all Portuguese present in the island.
The approximately 700 Australian commandos and the local population were eventually able to force the withdrawal of the 30,000 Japanese soldiers by the end of the year. During 1942, the Japanese had the following forces in the former Portuguese colony:
- 38th Infantry Division
- 48th Infantry Division
- 1st Infantry Regiment of Taiwan
- 2nd Infantry Regiment of Taiwan
- 47th Infantry Regiment
- 228 Infantry Regiment
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 228th Infantry Regiment
- 1st Battalion of Artillery Mountain
At the end of World War II, 40,000 East Timorese were accounted as killed.


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Cobwebs in the Broiler: Adventures of a Very Wicked Stepmother
Since there are more women than men on earth, Val Szabo, the main character, has gotten to the point where she realizes that she may not find Prince Charming in her lifetime. Imagine her surprise, then, when she does find him, and he has two small children from a previous marriage. Childless by choice, and knowing absolutely nothing about raising kids (especially someone else's!),Val plunges feet first into the adventure of step parenting while tryin...


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I love anime music. Long before I even took my first Japanese class, I was rocking out to anime theme songs. And as we have 47 new anime this season, that means we also have 47 new openings and endings—and that's even without the new second half themes from the fall anime that are still on the air.
So below are some of my favorite opening and ending songs from the anime that are currently airing during the winter 2014 season in Japan.
Anime: Kill la Kill
Song: ambiguous
Artist: GARNiDELiA
Why do I love it?: This music truly fits the animation and sets the mood for the absurd awesomeness that is Kill la Kill. In other words, it has an epic battle where the two rivals fight upon the bodies of hundreds of vanquished minions.
Anime: Witch Craft Works
Song: Witch☆Activity
Artist: KMM DAN
Why do I love it?: There is just something hilarious about chibi evil witches singing an insanely cute and catchy song while being tortured in horrible ways.
Song: Respect for the Dead Man
Artist: Pay money To my Pain
Why do I love it?: The excellently stylized animation that introduces the cast is made all the better by music that gets you amped up for some serious giant monster slaying—and this is coming from a person who hates death growl singing.
Anime: Magical Warfare
Song: Born to Be
Artist: Nano
Why do I love it?: This ending was clearly animated with the song in mind and has a chorus that I really enjoy. And what can I say? I have a thing for awesome altos.
Anime: Tonari No Seki-Kun
Song: Set Them Free
Artist: Akira Jimbo
Why do I love it?: It's a big-band style song played on school supply percussion instruments—and watching Rumi start to rock out before catching herself makes this feel like a mini-episode of the show rather than just a song.
Anime: World Conquest Zvezda Plot
Song: Be mine!
Artist: Maaya Sakamoto
Why do I love it?: Sometimes I just like some classic happy j-pop sung by one of anime music's greatest stars: Final Fantasy XIII's own Lightning, Maaya Sakamoto.
Anime: The Pilot's Love Song
Song: azurite
Artist: petit milady
Why do I love it?: It's an adventurous song with a soaring melody perfect for an anime about flying and dog-fighting air battles.
Anime: Noragami
Song: Goya no Machiawase
Artist: Hello Sleepwalkers
Why do I love It?: It's a good solid j-rock song with catchy vocals and a singer with a great sounding—but not overused—falsetto.
Anime: Wizard Barristers
Song: JUSTITIA
Artist: Lia
Why do I Love It?: It's an exciting yet uplifting song set to some of the most beautiful animation this season.
Anime: Silver Spoon
Song: Oto no Naru Ho e
Artist: Goose house
Why I love it?: It's a song you can't help but sing along with and its message matches the thematic arc of the series itself. Also, the beautiful water-color art of the characters makes it an ending I love to watch every time.
So those are my favorite songs; but that begs one question: What are your favorite openings and endings for the anime currently airing this season?
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
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OVERVIEW: What every clinician needs to know
Pathogen names and classification
Coryneform bacteria are a group of gram-positive, catalase-positive, non-spore-forming, non-motile, rod-shaped bacteria. The coryneform bacteria include the genera Corynebacterium, Arcanobacterium, Brevibacterium, Dermabacter, Microbacterium, Rothia, Turicella, Arthrobacter, and Oerskovia. They have also been called diphtheroids.
Lipophilic Corynebacteria
Corynebacterium jeikeium, C.urealyticum, C.afermentans subsp. lipophilum, C.accolens, C.macginleyi, C. tuberculostearicum, C.kroppenstedtii, C.bovis, C.lipophiloflavum, C.kutscheri, C.resistens, C. ureicelerivorans
Nonlipophilic, Fermentative Corynebacteria
C.ulcerans, C.pseudotuberculosis, C.xerosis, C.striatum, C.minutissimum, C. amycolatum, C. glucuronolyticum, C. argentoratense, C.matruchotii, C.riegelii, C.confusumRelated Content
Nonlipophilic, Nonfermentative Corynebacteria
C.afermentans subsp. afermentans, C.auris, C. pseudodiphtheriticum, C.propinquum
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum, Arcanobacterium (Actinomyces) pyogenes, Arcanobacterium bernardiae
Miscellaneous Corynebacteria
Turicella otitidis
Arthrobacter Species
Brevibacterium casei
Dermabacter hominis
Rothia dentocariosa and Rothia mucilaginosa
Oerskovia species
Microbacterium species
Leifsonia aquatica
What is the best treatment?
Most of the coryneform bacteria are susceptible to vancomycin and teicoplanin, and also to daptomycin. In most instances, vancomycin is considered the treatment of choice with some exceptions:
C. ulcerans: use erythromycin, in addition to diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) for toxin producing cases
C. pseudotuberculosis: use a β-lactam antibiotic, macrolides, or tetracycline
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: use erythromycin or azithromycin
Rothia species: use ampicillin.
Reported resistance patterns of some of the important pathogenic coryneforms include:
C. pseudodiphtheriticum: variable resistance to macrolides
C. jeikeium: resistant to penicillins, cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides, inducible resistance to macrolides
C. urealyticum: resistant to β-lactams, aminoglycosides, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole; variable susceptibility to fluoroquinolones, macrolides, and tetracycline
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole
C. ulcerans: intermediate susceptibilities to vancomycin and pencillins
Reported mechanisms underlying resistance are as follows:
Resistance to macrolides, lincosamides and streptogramins B
rRNA methylase production causing methylation of the ribosome binding site
Active efflux of antibiotics from the cell (gene msrA; Gene mef)
Resistance to fluoroquinolones
Point mutations within the structural gene region of the gyrase subunit A
Resistance to tetracycline:
Active efflux of antibiotics from the cell (genes tetM; tetAB)
Resistance to beta lactamases
Presence of genes causing production of beta-lactamases or modification of penicillin-binding proteins
Resistance to glycopeptides (very rare)
Presence of the Van A gene
Alternative therapies include:
C. jeikeium: Quinupristin-dalfopristin, linezolid
C. urealyticum: teicoplanin, doxycycline, rifampin, linezolid
C. accolens: penicillin, erythromycin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, tetracycline
C. macginleyi: penicillin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, rifampin, linezolid
C. bovis: penicillin, amoxicillin, imipenem, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, clindamycin, gentamicin, rifampicin
C. ureicelerivorans: B-lactams, gentamicin, rifampin, tetracycline, linezolid
C. resistens: teicoplanin
C. auris: Tetracycline, rifampin, fluoroquinolones, gentamicin
C. pseudodiphtheriticum: penicillins, cephalosporins, doxycycline, glycopeptides
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: Ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, doxycycline
Turicella otitidis: penicillins, cephalosporins, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, rifampin
How do patients contract this infection, and how do I prevent spread to other patients?
Coryneform bacteria are widely distributed in the environment as normal inhabitants of soil and water. They are commensals colonizing the skin and mucous membranes of humans and other animals.
In the hospital setting, coryneforms may be cultured from the hospital environment, including surfaces and medical equipment. Coryneform bacteria other than C. diphtheriae have been isolated frequently in clinical specimens and are commonly considered contaminants without clinical significance. However, there is an increasing body of evidence of the pathogenicity of the coryneform bacteria, particularly as a cause of nosocomial infection in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients.
Several of the members of the genus Corynebacterium are better known as pathogens in animals and only incidentally cause infection in humans as zoonoses.
The incidence is probably increasing because of improved recognition of the pathogenic role of these organisms and better diagnostic capabilities.
Infection control issues
Standard precautions are recommended.
There is no vaccine.
Anti-infective prophylaxis is not recommended.
What host factors protect against this infection?
Higher risk for contracting infection with these organisms includes:
Immunosuppressed patients are at higher risk for infection with C.jeikeium.
Certain species have been reported to cause infection in those with a variety of devices: vascular catheters (C.jeikeium, C.macginleyi, C. afermentans subsp. lipophilum), intravascular devices (C.jeikeium, C.afermentans subsp. lipophilum), prosthetic valves (C.Jeikeium, C.afermentans subsp. lipophilum), CSF shunts (C.jeikeium), prosthetic joint infections (C.jeikeium, C.bovis), and urinary catheters (C.macginleyi).
What are the clinical manifestations of infection with these organisms?
The spectrum of human infections attributed to the coryneform bacteria can be divided into two general categories: community-acquired infections and nosocomial infections.
Community-acquired infections include pharyngitis, native valve endocarditis, genitourinary tract infections, acute and chronic prostatitis, and periodontal infections.
Nosocomial infections include intravascular catheter-associated bloodstream infections, native and prosthetic valve endocarditis, device-related infections, and postoperative surgical site infections. Common nosocomial pathogens include C. jeikeium, C. urealyticum, C. amycolatum, and C. striatum.
C.jeikeium: Septicemia from infected intravascular devices, native and prosthetic valve endocarditis
C.urealyticum: Chronic and recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI); encrusted cystitis ; encrusted pyelitis – also reported in peritonitis, endocarditis, pneumonia, septicemia, osteomyelitis, soft tissue infections, and superinfection of wounds
C.macginleyi: Conjunctivitis; rare reports of intravascular catheter–associated bloodstream infection, catheter-associated UTI
C.bovis: Endocarditis, chronic otitis media, central nervous system (CNS) infection, shoulder prosthetic joint infection, line-related septicemia
C.pseudodiphtheriticum: reported in endocarditis, respiratory infections particularly in immunocompromised hosts; also isolated from lymph nodes, eye, intervertebral disk
C. ulcerans: Has the potential to elaborate diphtheria toxin and cause an exudative pharyngitis in humans indistinguishable from diphtheria; skin infection; acute peritonitis in the setting of peritoneal dialysis.
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: Pharyngitis (with associated exanthem in 50% of the cases); soft tissue infections, including chronic ulcers, wound infections, cellulitis, and paronychia; also reported to cause Lemierre's disease, sepsis, sinusitis, orbital cellulitis, brain abscess, endocarditis, cavitary pneumonia, vertebral osteomyelitis, and periodontal abscesses
What common complications are associated with infection with these pathogens?
C.jeikeium: septicemia
C.urealyticum: chronic and recurrent UTI; encrusted cystitis ; encrusted pyelitis
C. ulcerans: death has been reported from toxin-induced cardiac injury; pneumonia; pulmonary nodules; necrotizing sinusitis
Arcanobacterium haemolyticum: sepsis
How should I identify the organisms?
Blood cultures and cultures from normally sterile sites have the highest yield of coryneforms that are true pathogens.
Routine Gram staining is the best staining technique. Typically, by gram stain, the morphology for coryneforms is pleomorphic, club shaped, gram-positive rods, which are non-motile and non-spore forming.
Standard blood agar plates are used to culture coryneforms from most specimens. Thioglycollate broth is used for wound cultures and standard automated blood culture systems. Special media used for species identification include tryptic soy agar with and without 1% Tween 80 to assess lipid-enhanced growth.
The expected appearance is that of pleomorphic, club shaped bacilli, demonstrating different forms at various stages of the life cycle, irregularly shaped, gram positive rods, non-motile, and non-spore forming.
Biochemical testing is used to identify the pathogens to the species level. Initial testing includes the catalase test with 3% H2O2. Additional tests include nitrate reduction, urea production, and hydrolysis patterns from glucose, maltose, sucrose, mannitol, and xylose.
A frequently used system of biochemical testing for medically relevant coryneform bacteria is the API CORYNE system, which includes 20 biochemical tests and will identify many of the important corynebacteria and other coryneform bacteria, including Arcanobacterium species and Brevibacterium species, as well as Rhodococcus equi, Listeria monocytogenes, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, and Gardnerella vaginalis. An evaluation of the updated CORYNE database 2.0 gave correct identification for 90.5% of the coryneforms tested.
The RapID CB Plus system correctly identifies 80.9% of strains to the species level and an additional 12.2% to the genus level. It has the advantage of requiring only 4 hours to perform, compared with 24 hours for the CORYNE system.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used by reference labs to speciate coryneforms. There is a PCR for C. ulcerans, which detects the presence of subunits A and B of the tox gene. It is not available commercially.
Other methods for identifying the organisms include:
n a few cases, the CAMP test helps to identify the organism to the species level.
A streak of a β-lysin-producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus is plated on sheep blood agar, and a streak of the test strain is plated perpendicular to it.
A positive CAMP reaction is noted if the CAMP factor, a cohemolysin secreted by the tested coryneform, enhances hemolysis in a synergistic fashion. Although most coryneform bacteria are CAMP negative, a few species, such as Corynebacterium auris and Corynebacterium gluronolyticum, have been shown to produce CAMP factor.
How do these organisms cause disease?
C. ulcerans has the potential to elaborate diphtheria toxin. Arcanobacterium haemolyticum produces toxins, including hemolysin and neuraminidase.
The diphtheria toxin produced by C.ulcerans can cause an exudative pharyngitis in humans indistinguishable from diphtheria.
WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?
Funke, G, von Graevenitz, A, Clarridge III, J. "Clinical microbiology of coryneform bacteria". Clin Microbiol Rev. vol. 10. 1997. pp. 125-59. (A nice review of the clinical microbiology of this group of organisms.)
Hollis, DG, Weaver, RE. "Gram-positive organisms: a guide to identification". 1981. (A comprehensive review of the microbiology of all gram-positive organisms.)
Meyer, DK, Reboli, AC, Mandell, GL, Dolin, R, Bennett, JE. "Other Corynebacteria and Rhodococcus". Principles and practice of infectious diseases. 2010. pp. 2695-706. (An excellent review of the taxonomy, microbiology, and clinical manifestations of all coryneform bacteria other than Corynebacterium diptheriae.)
Trost, E, Ott, L, Schneider, J. "The complete genome sequence of FRC41 isolated from a 12-year-old girl with necrotizing lymphadenitis reveals insights into gene-regulatory networks contributing to virulence". BMC Genomics. vol. 11. 2010. pp. 728(Review of the genetics and virulence.)
Copyright © 2017, 2013 Decision Support in Medicine, LLC. All rights reserved.
No sponsor or advertiser has participated in, approved or paid for the content provided by Decision Support in Medicine LLC. The Licensed Content is the property of and copyrighted by DSM.
- OVERVIEW: What every clinician needs to know
- Pathogen names and classification
- What is the best treatment?
- How do patients contract this infection, and how do I prevent spread to other patients?
- What host factors protect against this infection?
- What are the clinical manifestations of infection with these organisms?
- What common complications are associated with infection with these pathogens?
- How should I identify the organisms?
- How do these organisms cause disease?
- WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE for specific management and treatment recommendations?


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The Catholic Church is not doing well in holding her own. Of those Church members raised in the Church from childhood, a Pew Forum Study (Faith in Flux) found only about 2/3 (68%) of "Cradle Catholics" remain. Of the 1/3 who leave the Church, about half leave and become Protestants and about half leave and remain unaffiliated with any religion. A small part (3%) of the cradle Catholics leave and join other religious groups (Buddhists, Jehovah Witnesses, etc.) But – about one out of three "Cradle Catholics" leave!
The Church would be shrinking, were it not for immigration. Those who have left the Church (over 10% of the American population are now "former Catholics"!) outnumber those who have become Catholic (2.6% of American adults come into the Church), by a margin of nearly four to one. Only the immigration of Catholics has kept the Church in America from diminishing year by year. Evangelical groups, meanwhile, are zealously working with the immigrant population to attract, to convert and to keep them satisfied in a non-Catholic form of Christianity.
Here is a number from the Pew Study that I think ought to get our attention. Of those who left the Church and became Protestant, 71% gave as a reason that their spiritual needs were not being met. This was the most commonly given reason for this group. How is it that spiritual needs are not being met, in the Catholic Church formed and sent by Jesus Himself, entrusted with the fullness of divinely revealed truth? How can former Catholics find more to fill their spiritual needs, in denominations that have less of the spiritual food that God has given? Something seriously wrong is happening. Or maybe something seriously right and needed is not happening in the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church believes and teaches that the Sacred Liturgy is the "source and summit of the Christian life"! We have just noted that of the 1/3 of Catholics who were raised under this Church belief and left the Church for Protestantism, 71% left because their spiritual needs were not being met! The overwhelming majority of those spiritually hungry former Catholics (78%) found their home in evangelical Protestantism, where Scripture reigns and "sola scriptura" is the dominant doctrine. We Catholics ought – ought – to learn something from this.
One observation that I think we need to take seriously is the hunger for the Word of God among Catholics. This hunger is a beautiful gift from God – it is a hunger that the Church is obliged as Mother to respond to, in her children. Catholics ought not have to leave the Church, to find the beauty and power and presence of Christ in His holy Word.
A related matter is the Presence that the Church does strongly proclaim and offer to her own: the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Of course these issues are connected, in the Church: in the Mass, we celebrate both the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The table of the Word is offered, the Word is proclaimed in each Mass!
Indeed the Liturgy of the Word precedes that of the Eucharist in the Mass, just as in salvation history the Word was given first in written form, before Christ the Word came in living form as a man. First the words, then the living Word! Adult Catholics today need to find Jesus first in the words – in Holy Scripture, spiritually – before they can fully know Him and receive Him by faith in His real, substantial and sacramental Presence in the Eucharist. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." (Rom 10:17)
In a CARA study (Sacraments Today) at Georgetown University, the following question was asked the respondents: "Which of the following statements best agrees with your belief about the Eucharist/Holy Communion?" Two possible responses were offered to choose from:
"Jesus Christ is really present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist."
In 2001, 63% chose this statement. In 2008, 57% chose this.
"Bread and wine are symbols of Jesus, but Jesus is not really present."
In 2001, 37% chose this statement. In 2008, 43% chose this.
Setting aside the imprecise language of the options, the startling fact remains that 43% of self-defined Catholics (not those who consider themselves "former" Catholics, yet) reject the doctrine of the Real Presence. When we hold in the one hand the "source and summit" doctrine of the Church, and in the other hand a 43% denial of the Real Presence among self-identified Catholics, we can perhaps begin to understand the exodus to Protestantism because of spiritual hunger unfulfilled. Is it well-educated and carefully discerned rejection of Church doctrine? Is it ignorance of Church teaching? Is it because the doctrine is presented (if at all) as hard and formal dogma, as unrealistic and incredible "law"? Is it because so many Catholics today lack adult formation in the faith, and have never had the opportunity or time to consider carefully and prayerfully as adults this and the many other challenging doctrines entrusted to the Church?
The fact is, many Catholics do not receive Christ spiritually in His Word – a presence they hunger for. Some – to our loss and theirs – leave the Church to find Him in Scripture elsewhere. Many Catholics do not have the faith or the understanding to receive Christ in His Real and Substantial Presence in Holy Eucharist. They think they are receiving merely a symbol, and so they lack the right disposition to become fruitful by the Gift.
Our Faith is not strong
The Pew study gives us more troubling news, concerning those Catholics who remain in the Church: by our own admission, our faith is not strong. Less than half of the self-identified Catholics questioned, reported their faith to be very strong – whether in their childhood, in their youth, or in their adulthood now. The numbers were, 46% reported very strong faith when they were children, 34% reported it in their teen years, and 46% reported this as true for them now as adults. Our remaining Catholics – at least the majority of us – are not remaining because of a fervent (or "very strong") Catholic faith.
It seems that such a lack of fervor explains very well how so many simply "gradually drifted away" from the Church. The Pew study writes, "Nearly three-quarters of former Catholics who are now unaffiliated (71%) say this, as do more than half of those who have left Catholicism for Protestantism (54%)." The ties that bind a human soul to the truth of God ought to be the strongest ties in his life! But when faith is weak that the Church has such ultimate value – or when faith in God Himself is weak, unclear, poorly grasped in mind and heart – then we can well understand how such a soul can simply wander off, gradually and with little concern.
A relevant and interesting statistic that Pew reports is this: of those who left the Catholic Church for Evangelical Protestantism, 78% said that their spiritual needs were not being met in the Catholic Church, 70% said that they now have found a religion they like more. Indeed among all former Catholics who are now Protestant (evangelical or main-line), 71% say that now their faith is "very strong"! To me, this statistic is one of the most troubling. These Catholics had to leave His Church to find Jesus "really" – with a faith of fervor and zeal.
The answer to this strange and sad conundrum is simple, and the Church on paper has been exhorting us all to it for some time: we need meaningful, substantive, comprehensive and spiritually rich adult faith formation. We have done well at dispensing sacraments having immense potency of grace! But we are far from the rich bounty of fruitfulness that the Lord and His sacrifice deserve. We have not done well – indeed we continue to do poorly – at making fervent disciples in His name.
Catholic adults deserve the formation worthy of disciples – indeed the defining mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. What do we need to do? What do we need to do better? What do we need to do less, if at all? One thing we need to do, I am sure, is begin to care, and deeply, about our obedience to the mission of Christ: make disciples!
Editor's note: This article originally appeared on Renew The Church Blog and is reprinted here with kind permission.


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After a long winter, we're all ready for a little fun in the sun. And although high gas prices stink, there are other ways to cut back without completely cutting out your family vacation. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll, six out of 10 Americans say it's important to get away from home this year.
From the USA Today article:
A trip to Europe may be out of the question, with airline ticket prices rising and a weak U.S. dollar that limits Americans' spending power. However, the desire to get away from home and work often is trumping rising prices when it comes to traveling within the USA, many in the nation's travel industry say.
"I think the 'staycation' is dead. People are sick of it," says Anne Banas, executive editor of the website SmarterTravel. She says the desire to get away from home began to pick up during the holidays at the end of last year. "People who may have put off vacation during the deepest part of the recession … decided to go, so we saw an uptick. And I think we're going to see that for summer travel as well, even though prices are on (an) upward trend."
High pump prices aren't necessarily a vacation-breaker, many travel watchers say. The USA TODAY poll taken April 30-May 1 of 816 adults who normally take vacations shows they expect to pay more to get to their destinations this year."We've seen … that some people may decide not to travel because of gas prices," AAA spokeswoman Heather Hunter says. "But many others will cut back in other areas, perhaps taking a trip that's a shorter distance away or staying in a hotel that's a little cheaper. Or looking for a promotion like free breakfast to help (offset) a larger portion of the travel budget going to gas prices."
Some tourist destinations may even thrive because of higher prices at the pump. "When gas prices go up, our visitation goes up, because it's a good, cheap vacation you can take the family to," says Kari Cobb, spokeswoman for Yosemite National Park, who adds that, based on recent trends, the park could see more visitors this year than in 2010.
Jellystone Parks are already a wallet-friendly vacation. Most amenities are included in your stay – from swimming pools to wagon rides – plus you can save by cooking your own meals in an RV or cabin. Plus, check out your favorite Jellystone Park destination for any deals they offer. Some offers are posted on our blog too, under Vacation Deals & Specials.


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Humans have had such a dramatic impact on the planet that we've changed geological history. Future scientists will be able to find humanity's distinctive chemical signature written into the rocky record of Earth's crust. That signature marks the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the new human age.
It sounds dramatic, but the Anthropocene has humble beginnings. It all started when Nobel-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen became flustered at a rather obscure scientific meeting back in 2000. Members of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) scientific committee were meeting in Mexico, to discuss research into environmental change. The meeting was long, and several researchers gave papers referring to the Earth's current geological era, the Holocene, which began about 11,700 years ago when the last ice age abated. Each time somebody said "Holocene," Crutzen became visibly agitated.
Will Steffen, director of the Australian National University's Climate Change Institute, said that Crutzen finally just lost it. In an essay about the meeting, Steffen recalled Crutzen spluttering, "Stop using the word Holocene. We're not in the Holocene any more. We're in the...the…the…the Anthropocene!" The word was a play on Holocene, combining "anthro," meaning human, and "cene," meaning new. Though ecologist Eugene Stoermer had coined the term back in the 1980s, it had never caught on. But after Crutzen's passionate outburst at that IGBP meeting, the word took off like wildfire.
Geologists and other Earth scientists began using the term in their papers to describe the unique properties of the human era on Earth. And slowly it began to trickle into everyday usage, too. Journalists like The New Yorker's Elizabeth Kolbert popularized the term in the late 2000s, and even artists began taking up the idea on their work. It was a word that seemed to make sense to everyone — not just experts.
Jamie Kruse and Elizabeth Ellsworth, the artists behind New York's Smudge Studio, have created several successful art projects — including the "geologic time viewer" and Friends of the Pleistocene — around the idea. "We were excited to have a word to put to the feeling that monumental events and dynamics capable of changing the Earth's geologic realities were unfolding under our feet," they told io9.
Still, the word never lost its scientific heft. UC Berkeley environmental biologist Anthony Barnosky summed up its relevance to his work:
Geologic epochs must be characterized by physical criteria in rocks, namely distinctive paleontological, chemical, or physical signatures (such as distinctive and unique types of sedimentary particles). It turns out the biologic (when fossilized, paleontologic), chemical, and physical signatures in deposits that are being formed today and that will be preserved into the geologic future are every bit as distinctive as those used to define the past geological epochs.
In other words, there is a distinctive signature that says "human" written into the layers of rock, sand, and other particles forming on the surface of the planet today. But when did those layers first start to form?
Putting a Start Date on the Anthropocene
Earth's deep history is divided up into geological periods, which scientists have identified using stratigraphy, the study of ancient layers of rock. As the planet ages, new layers of dust and stone settle on its surface. Over time, these layers are covered by more layers — and stratigraphers can look back through the ages of the Earth by studying these layers as if they were planetary tree rings. Many of the layers have distinctive chemical signatures that reveal everything from the molecular composition of the atmosphere to how many trees were growing at a given time in history.
The question is what it would take for humans to put their distinctive imprint on those geological layers. California State University Fresno ecologist Madhusudan Katti explained what that would mean via e-mail:
Geological periods (eras or epochs) are generally defined by our ability to see clear boundaries separating distinct layers of rocks. Different eras are also characterized by changes in the composition of flora and fauna in the fossil record (including plant and animal fossils as well as pollen records and other deposits), and sometimes by the composition of the rocks themselves. For our actions to result in a new geological period, they would have to be of sufficient magnitude of impact as to cause such distinct geological changes. Remember also that geological eras may not represent overnight changes, but a series of gradual changes compressed into relatively small time periods - but in geological time, [small time periods] could mean centuries or millennia.
For Crutzen, the answer was obvious. We'd created a new geological period during the Industrial Revolution.
Crutzen wrote a paper after that meeting in Mexico, where he identified what he thought might be the origins of the Anthropocene. He said it would likely be sometime in the early nineteenth century, during the Industrial Revolution, after people had been burning fossil fuels for long enough that atmospheric CO2 levels rose higher than anything we'd seen so far in the Holocene. CO2 levels are easy to track in rocks, and they're an obvious chemical signature to search for. Previous geological periods have also been identified by higher and lower levels of CO2 signatures.
Steffen, working with Crutzen, created a simple chart of the origins of the Anthropocene, mapped to CO2 levels.
In an email, Steffen told io9 that the nineteenth century isn't the only possible start date for the Anthropocene:
There are several proposals for the starting date for the Anthropocene. The three most common ones are (i) the advent of early agriculture (the so-called "Ruddiman hypothesis"), (ii) the beginning of the industrial revolution; and (iii) the beginning of the "Great Acceleration", the post-World War II period of exceptionally strong economic growth and technological development.
Steffen actually prefers to use the post-World War II period, because that era left behind an indisputable mark on the planet: a layer of radioactive materials deposited by the use of atomic bombs.
Many scientists refer to the past 60 years as the "great acceleration," a period when the human population exploded and our resource use left dramatic changes behind in the geological record. Here's another chart from Steffen, tracking all the transformations that mark the great acceleration.
Jumping off this idea, ecologist Katti noted that the Anthropocene isn't just quantified by CO2 and radiation. It's also a measurement of how much humanity has changed the Earth. That's why he suggests that the rise of cities thousands of years ago could also be a possible start date for the Anthropocene. If you want to take things even further back, the widespread migration of humans from Eurasia to other continents like Australia and the Americas started about 50 thousand years ago and forever altered the world's ecosystems.
Another feature of the Anthropocene could be humans doing large-scale geoengineering of the planet, mostly for agricultural purposes. Katti said that this includes "big dams which altered the flow of rivers, sometimes causing earthquakes; also our harvest of underground aquifers, which in some cases cause rock layers to shift." Fracking might be included in this list too.
The point is that the Anthropocene is a geological period whose uniqueness comes from a whole set of human practices. Perhaps the most obvious marker to a chemist or physicist would be the radiation layer of the post-World War II era. But CO2 levels are also crucial, as are all the ways we've moved around plants, animals, and even rivers to suit our needs.
Plus, geological layers usually encompass thousands if not millions of years. So future geologists may identify a pretty long period of time as the Anthropocene and still consider it a blink of an eye in deep time.
Is It Science or Politics?
Though it began purely as a stratigraphic term, Anthropocene has taken on a political meaning. Many of humanity's chemical signatures, such as elevated CO2 levels, are associated with climate change — and that means some people don't want to use the term because it's as good as admitting that humans are changing the nature of the planet.
Scientists like Barnosky and Steffen believe it's valid as a purely scientific term. Still, it has undeniable social implications. As Steffen put it:
If the Anthropocene has now attracted political interpretations, those have come from non-scientists who bring a political lens to a scientific concept. It isn't the first time science has challenged the world views of many people. Copernicus and Galileo did so, and of course Charles Darwin challenged the political and religious worldviews of many people.
Katti added:
I think the term has validity both scientifically and in the realm of human politics. Recognizing the magnitude of human impact on the planet, i.e., that we are leaving permanent marks on the planet's very surface, has clear political implications. And that is regardless of whether one considers those impacts good or bad.
Jamie Kruse and Elizabeth Ellsworth, the artists who focus on the Anthropocene in their work at Smudge Studio, say that the term in important precisely because it gives people a human perspective on the very difficult concept of deep time. It's hard to wrap our minds around the idea of a 4.5 billion year planetary history. But thinking in the context of an Anthropocene — whether it starts thousands of years ago with agriculture, or last century with the atomic bomb — allows us to understand our role as a species in the planet's long and complicated drama.
Kruse and Ellsworth told io9:
It makes science more accessible to the general public by providing an entryway into the entire geologic record and timescale that pivots on the realities of today's daily life. It also encourages scientists to acknowledge that their work can be increasingly relevant to the humanities . . . From our point of view, the more social, political — and aesthetic — scientific terminology can be, the better. The Anthropocene is a great term to use to stage conversations about the complexities of the material realities of our contemporary moment. It is useful for naming and locating the time we're experiencing as a time of great change that "breaks" with the Earth's material realities up to this point, and sets up deep geologic futures to come.
So if the term is political, it isn't just about the politics of climate. It's about the way humans interact with their environments, affecting other humans as well as other life forms. The Anthropocene describes the vast transformation the world has undergone because of our presence.
Photo by travelwayoflife
It might be useful to view the term Anthropocene in the context of another geological period, the Carboniferous. Beginning about 358 million years ago, it was a period that marked the widespread growth of trees across all the planet's land masses. These trees completely transformed the land, breaking it up with their root systems; and they transformed the atmosphere by converting CO2 into oxygen. And when those trees died, they left a distinctive layer of carbon in the geological record. Geologists named the period "Carboniferous" because of all those trees. In a sense, trees were as disruptive as humans during their first geological age, transforming the planet's systems from the crust all the way to the stratosphere.
Whether it's become a political term or not, the Anthropocene is likely destined for science textbooks. An Anthropocene working group led by geologist Jan Zalasiewicz has submitted a proposal to the International Commission on Stratigraphy to formally adopt the term in the geology community. The proposal will go before the ICS in 2016, and that will usher in a long process of deliberation.
How long? "Hard to say, quite," Zalasiewicz told io9. "It has to be considered by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy and then by the ICS itself — and then, if it gets through that, it has to be ratified by the International Union on Geological Sciences." It sounds as if the Anthropocene may eventually wind up in exactly the kind of obscure meeting where it began. Despite its humble journey, this is an idea that seems destined to change the way we understand our impact on the world — and our future prospects on it.
Annalee Newitz is the editor-in-chief of io9. She's also the author of Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. Follow her on Twitter.


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New Power System Approach Aims to Prevent Blackouts
[ubermenu config_id="main" menu="84″] NEWSROOM New Power System Approach Aims to Prevent BlackoutsJan 31, 2011 Major power outages are fairly infrequent, but when they happen they can result in billions of dollars in costs – and even contribute to fata …
January 31, 2011 NC State ECE
New Power System Approach Aims to Prevent Blackouts
Major power outages are fairly infrequent, but when they happen they can result in billions of dollars in costs – and even contribute to fatalities. Now research from North Carolina State University has led to the development of an approach by which high-resolution power-system measurements, also referred to as Synchrophasors, can be efficiently used to develop reliable models of large power systems, which would help us keep an eye on their health.
Synchrophasors are real-time measurements of voltages and currents that provide a very high-resolution view of various complex events occurring in a power system. They are measured by sophisticated digital recording devices called phasor measurement units (PMUs). "PMUs are comparable to surveillance cameras that continuously monitor the complex dynamics of groups of people in busy places, and indicate how different people respond and interact with each other," says Dr. Aranya Chakrabortty, lead author of a paper describing the research and an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State.
"This research is a major step toward helping us understand how Synchrophasor technology can be used to model the complex behavior of any large, geographically distributed power system, especially taking into account the system's interconnected nature," Chakrabortty says.
"We need to have a better understanding of how a disturbance entering one generation cluster – or localized group of nodes – may spread across the entire system, creating havoc in its neighboring clusters as well," Chakrabortty says. "More importantly, we need to investigate if the speed of this spread is dictated by the way these clusters are connected to each other." The North American power grid is divided into four distinct operating zones, each of which has several such generation pockets, Chakrabortty explains, across which a disturbance can disseminate very easily.
For example, during the 2003 Northeast Blackout, generating units in Ohio and New England appeared to be functioning smoothly. However, there was significant disparity between the two regions when it came to reactive power – which is a byproduct of generating electricity. That disparity created a cascading series of "voltage collapse" events – which cut off power to approximately 50 million people, was linked to multiple fatalities and cost an estimated $4 to 10 billion. The event highlighted the need for monitoring the system globally, rather than focusing on individual nodes in isolation.
"In order to understand how the effects of major disturbances can propagate across the North American power system, we need highly reliable and rigorous mathematical models that capture the dynamics of its various clusters, as well as the way those dynamics will evolve when the clusters are connected to each other in the overall system," Chakrabortty says. "Traditional measurement methods in power systems are too slow and, therefore, incapable of capturing these dynamics, which can change dramatically in fractions of a second. With the Synchrophasor technology today such models are possible."
Chakrabortty and his co-authors from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Southern California Edison have developed an approach for creating cluster models, which uses Synchrophasors from PMUs located at specific points within a cluster of nodes. The approach also allows one to identify how the clusters are connected to each other by comparing PMU measurements at different points in the system. "Once you have modeled the clusters and determined their connections," Chakrabortty says, "our algorithm enables you to model the interactive behavior of the clusters within the larger system in the face of large disturbances. We also show how to place PMUs optimally at the nodes so as to extract maximum amount of useful information for better modeling.
"Our models are informative, yet easy to compute," Chakrabortty adds. "They will help power-system operators track and predict the global health of any distributed power system in real time so that catastrophes such as the 2003 blackout can be prevented in the future. The study will lead to an entirely new vision of monitoring and controlling the North American grid, which is becoming more expansive, and, more chaotic day by day."
The paper, "A Measurement-based Framework for Dynamic Equivalencing of Large Power Systems using Wide-Area Phasor Measurements," was co-authored by Dr. Joe Chow of RPI and Armando Salazar of Southern California Edison. The paper is published online in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. The research was partly funded by the Power System Research Consortium, and is currently being extended at NC State under the support of the National Science Foundation.
NC State's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is part of the university's College of Engineering.
View the orginial article – Matt Shipman
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