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Radiation Oncology/Breast/Breast hormonal therapy

Drugs
SERMs (selective estrogen receptor modulators)
 * tamoxifen
 * Raloxifene

Aromatase inhibitors:
 * anastrozole (Arimidex)
 * exemestane (Aromasin)
 * letrozole (Femara)

Others: Classification
 * fulvestrant - unique mechanism of action, binds to ER creating a complex that is destroyed by the cell.

Tamoxifen

 * NSABP B-14, (1982-88) - Tamoxifen for ER-positive tumors
 * 2818 pts. LN negative, ER-positive, any type of surgery, randomized to placebo or tamoxifen 10 mg BID x 5 years. Tamoxifen given concurrently with XRT. Type of surgery: total mastectomy 62%, lumpectomy + RT 38%.
 * Modifications: From 1987-94, a 2nd randomization (643 pts) for those who completed 5 yrs of tamoxifen were randomized to 5 additional years of tamoxifen vs placebo. Also, in 1988, 1211 pts were registered (but not randomized) to tamoxifen x 5 yrs. Those who were event free were randomized (1992-94) to an additional 5 yrs or not.
 * First report, 1989: PMID 2644532, 1989 — "A randomized clinical trial evaluating tamoxifen in the treatment of patients with node-negative breast cancer who have estrogen-receptor-positive tumors." Fisher B et al. N Engl J Med. 1989 Feb 23;320(8):479-84.
 * 2644 pts. DFS 83% (T) vs 77% (placebo) at 4 yrs. 26% reduction in failures. Reduced both local and distant failure. Decreased ipsilateral breast recurrence. No statistical difference in OS.
 * 1992 - PMID 1627417 — "Systemic therapy in node-negative patients: updated findings from NSABP clinical trials. National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project." J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 1992;(11):105-16. (This paper includes B-13 and B-14)
 * 44% reduction in DFS (81% vs 66%) for those 49 or younger and 31% reduction (82% vs 74%) for 50 yrs or older.
 * Endometrial cancer risk; 1994 PMID 8133536 -- "Endometrial cancer in tamoxifen-treated breast cancer patients: findings from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-14." (Fisher B, J Natl Cancer Inst. 1994 Apr 6;86(7):527-37.)
 * 1996 - PMID 8901851 Full Text — "Five versus more than five years of tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer patients with negative lymph nodes and estrogen receptor-positive tumors." Fisher B et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1996 Nov 6;88(21):1529-42. 10 yrs f/u.
 * Tamoxifen vs placebo: DFS 69% vs 57% (RR=0.66), DDFS 76% vs 67% (RR=0.70), and OS 80% vs 76% (RR=0.84), all S.S, for both age = 50. 37% reduction in contralateral breast cancer.
 * For 5-years vs 10-years: improved DFS and DDFS for 5-years. Thromboembolic events in 1.7%.
 * Conclusion: Benefit persists through 10 years of follow-up. No advantage to continuing tamoxifen beyond 5 yrs.'''
 * 2001 - PMID 11333290 — "Five versus more than five years of tamoxifen for lymph node-negative breast cancer: updated findings from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-14 randomized trial." Fisher B et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2001 May 2;93(9):684-90.
 * No additional benefit with more than 5 years of tamoxifen

 * Stockholm Breast Cancer Group

 * Scottish Cancer Trial
 * Found benefit for TAM regardless of ER status.

 * Nolvadex Trial Organization (England)
 * Found benefit for TAM regardless of ER status.

 * Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (a.k.a. Oxford overview)
 * See also: Oxford overview of Radiotherapy or Chemotherapy
 * 1998: PMID 9605801 — "Tamoxifen for early breast cancer: an overview of the randomised trials." Lancet. 1998 May 16;351(9114):1451-67.
 * Meta-analysis. 37,000 women in 55 trials of adjuvant tamoxifen. 8,000 had a low or negative ER level and had little benefit. 18K had ER+ and 12K had unknown ER status. With 5 years of tamoxifen, reduction of: 47% in recurrence, 26% in deaths, 47% in contralateral breast cancer. Less of an effect for fewer than 5 years. Quadrupled risk of endometrial cancer (but absolute risk was only 1/2 of the reduction in contralateral breast cancer). For node-positive, absolute survival at 10 years was 61.4% vs 50.5% (10.9% gain) and for node-negative 78.9% vs 73.3% (5.6%).
 * 2005: PMID 15894097 — "Effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy for early breast cancer on recurrence and 15-year survival: an overview of the randomised trials." Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG). Lancet. 2005 May 14-20;365(9472):1687-717.

Summaries

 * Fisher, 2004 - PMID 15351193 — "Treatment of lymph-node-negative, oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer: long-term findings from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project randomised clinical trials." Fisher B et al. Lancet. 2004 Sep 4;364(9437):858-68.
 * B-14 + B-20

Radiation with tamoxifen

 * NSABP B-21, 2002 (1989-98) - Node negative <1 cm tumors - randomized to tamoxifen alone, RT alone, or tamoxifen + RT
 * 1009 women. Lumpectomy + AND. ER/PR status not required but was available for 70%
 * PMID 12377957 — "Tamoxifen, radiation therapy, or both for prevention of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after lumpectomy in women with invasive breast cancers of one centimeter or less." Fisher B et al. J Clin Oncol. 2002 Oct 15;20(20):4141-9.
 * At 8 years, ipsilateral breast recurrence in 16.5% (TAM), 9.3% (XRT), 2.8% (T/RT). (That is, about 0.5% / year for T/RT). No difference in DM. Contralateral breast cancers in 5.4% (XRT without TAM) vs 2.2% (TAM +/- RT). XRT alone group had fewer IBTR than the TAM group for both ER+ and ER-. In ER+ tumors, adding TAM to RT resulted in a N.S. lower rate of IBTR. Adding RT to TAM resulted in a lower IBTR rate for both ER+ and ER-.
 * Risk of IBTR: XRT alone vs TAM alone: 49% reduction with XRT. XRT + TAM vs XRT alone: 63% reduction. XRT + TAM vs TAM alone: 81% reduction.

Sequencing
In vitro studies showed that breast tumor cells are less sensitive to radiation in the presence of tamoxifen. This is believed to be due to the fact that tamoxifen is cytostatic and thus places the cells in a radioresistant part of the cell cycle. Clinical studies showed that chemotherapy + tamoxifen was less effective, and this was extrapolated to radiation.

One randomized study and two retrospective studies.

Retrospective studies: All 3 studies show no difference in any survival parameters.
 * Yale-New Haven, 2005 (1976-99) - PMID 15545666 — "Sequence of radiotherapy with tamoxifen in conservatively managed breast cancer does not affect local relapse rates." Ahn PH et al. J Clin Oncol. 2005 Jan 1;23(1):17-23.
 * Retrospective. Stage I-II invasive breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy + tamoxifen. 254 pts concurrent RT+TAM, 241 RT followed by TAM. Median f/u 10.4 yrs. No difference in OS, DM, LR. However, pt groups unbalanced--younger pts (58 vs 62 yrs) and more pts given chemo (38% vs 14%) in sequential group.

 * Univ. of Pennsylvania, 2005 (1980-95) - PMID 15545665 — "Impact of concurrent versus sequential tamoxifen with radiation therapy in early-stage breast cancer patients undergoing breast conservation treatment." Harris EE et al. J Clin Oncol. 2005 Jan 1;23(1):11-6.
 * 278 pts. Stage I-II, BCT + TAM. 174 concurrent, 104 sequential. Median f/u 8.6 yrs. No difference. However, younger pts (51 vs 59 yrs) and more chemo (63% vs 25%) in sequential group.

Randomised study:
 * Pierce, SWOG 8897 / Intergroup 0102, 2005 (1989-93) - PMID 15545669 — "Sequencing of tamoxifen and radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery in early-stage breast cancer." Pierce LJ et al. J Clin Oncol. 2005 Jan 1;23(1):24-9.
 * Following BCS, patients were randomised to Arm A [107 pts to RT->Chemo->then TAM] and Arm B [202 to chemo then concurrent RT/TAM]. About 50% had hormone receptor negative tumors. Median follow-up of 10.3 years. No difference in OS, DFS, LF, RF, DF.

Chemotherapy with tamoxifen

 * NSABP B-09 (1977-80) - Combination chemotherapy PF (L-PAM + 5-FU) +/- tamoxifen
 * 1891 pts. Combination chemotherapy (L-PAM + 5-FU) +/- tamoxifen
 * PMID 2856857, 1986 — "Adjuvant chemotherapy with and without tamoxifen in the treatment of primary breast cancer: 5-year results from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Trial." Fisher B et al. J Clin Oncol. 1986 Apr;4(4):459-71.
 * Mean f/u 72 months. For those 50 or older with 4 or more LN, improved DFS and OS. No benefit in DFS or OS for age < 50.
 * Comment: Was the study that showed that pts who respond to tamoxifen are those who are: 1) age 50-59 with PgR (progesterone receptor) > 10 fmol/mg; 2) age 60 or more with any PgR status.

 * NSABP B-16 (1984-89) - Chemo/Tamoxifen vs Tamoxifen alone.
 * 1124 pts. Node-positive, ER+.
 * PMID 2189950, 1990 — "Postoperative chemotherapy and tamoxifen compared with tamoxifen alone in the treatment of positive-node breast cancer patients aged 50 years and older with tumors responsive to tamoxifen: results from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-16." Fisher B et al. J Clin Oncol. 1990 Jun;8(6):1005-18.
 * 3-years median f/u. Improved DFS for combination therapy vs tamoxifen alone.

 * NSABP B-20
 * chemotherapy + tamoxifen vs tamoxifen alone
 * See page at Breast chemotherapy

 * NSABP B-23 (1991-98) - Node-negative, ER-negative. Two-by-two randomization: CMF chemo, CMF + tamoxifen, AC chemo, AC + tamoxifen.
 * Purpose: to determine the effect of tamoxifen in ER-negative, node-negative tumors and evaluate the effect of AC vs CMF in this population.
 * PMID 11181655 (2001) — "Tamoxifen and chemotherapy for axillary node-negative, estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer: findings from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-23." Fisher B et al. J Clin Oncol. 2001 Feb 15;19(4):931-42.
 * CMF x 6 cycles monthly. AC x 4 cycles. Tamoxifen 5 years.
 * No differences between AC and CMF nor any between chemotherapy and chemotherapy+tamoxifen.

 * International Breast Cancer Study Group IBCSG 13-93 (1993-99)
 * PMID 16505417, 2006 — "Tamoxifen After Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Premenopausal Women With Lymph Node-Positive Breast Cancer: International Breast Cancer Study Group Trial 13-93." Colleoni M et al [International Breast Cancer Study Group]. J Clin Oncol. 2006 Mar 20;24(9):1332-41.
 * Randomized. 1246 pts, premenopausal, node-positive. EC or AC chemo followed by CMF followed by tamoxifen or no hormonal therapy. 59% were ER+.
 * Tam improved DFS for ER+ but not ER-. HR = 0.59 for ER+. In ER-absent (0% staining) pts, Tamoxifen was detrimental with HR=2.10.
 * Conclusion: Tamoxifen improves DFS in ER+ pts after chemotherapy.

Sequencing

 * Breast Cancer Intergroup 0100 - Abstract PMID 20004966 Full Text(2009); "Adjuvant chemo-hormonal therapy for primary breast cancer should be sequential instead of concurrent: Initial results from Intergroup trial 0100." Albain K et al. Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 2002; 21:37a. Abstract #143. &mdash
 * 1477 pts, node-positive, hormone receptor positive. Randomized to 1) TAM alone, 2) CAF followed by TAM, or 3) CAF + TAM concurrently.
 * Median f/u 8.5 yrs. DFS 67% (sequential) vs 62% (concurrent), S.S.
 * Conclusion: antagonism between tamoxifen and chemotherapy. Treatment should be sequential not concurrent.

Aromatase inhibitors
Introduction: Aromatase converts androgens (androstenedione and testosterone) to estrogens--estrone and estradiol. In post-menopausal women, estrogen synthesis takes place in muscle, skin, fat, and breast by aromatase, leading to low levels of estrogen.

Aromatase inhibitors produce a near-total blockade of aromatase activity and lead to an estrogen level of 1-10% of its pretreatment level. Aromatase inhibitors have been ineffective in pre-menopausal women because of higher levels or ovarian aromatase. Commercially available aromatase inhibitors:
 * non-steroidals — anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara)
 * steroidal — exemestane (Aromasin)

Trials:
 * ARNO 95 (1996-2002)
 * Randomized. 979 patients, postmenopausal, pT1-3N0-2. Treated with Tamoxifen x2 years, then randomized to Arimidex x3 years vs. Tamoxifen x 3 yrs
 * 3-years, 2007 PMID 17563395 -- "Improved overall survival in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer after anastrozole initiated after treatment with tamoxifen compared with continued tamoxifen: the ARNO 95 Study." (Kaufmann M, J Clin Oncol. 2007 Jul 1;25(19):2664-70.) Median F/U 2.5 years after randomization (which was after 2 years of TAM)
 * 3-year outcome: OS benefit (HR 0.53, SS); DFS anastrozole 93% vs. tamoxifen 89% (SS); contralateral incidence 1.4% vs. 1.0%
 * Toxicity: anastrozole 23% vs. tamoxifen 31% (SS), mainly due to fewer endometrial events
 * Conclusion: After 2 years of tamoxifen, switch to Arimidex better
 * JCO Editorial: PMID 17563391

 * ATAC Trial (1996-2000) - Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination
 * First results (2002): Abstract Full text — Baum et al. "Anastrozole alone or in combination with tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone for adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with early breast cancer: first results of the ATAC randomised trial." Lancet. 2002 Jun 22;359(9324):2131-9.
 * 9366 post-menopausal pts (3125 randomized to anastrozole, 3116 to tamoxifen, 3125 to combination). Treatment for 5 years. Arimidex 1 mg qd; tamoxifen 20 mg qd. Started within 8 weeks after finishing chemotherapy, but could start during XRT. Median F/U 33 months. 84% were hormone receptor positive, 8% negative, 8% unknown. 47% had mastectomy. 60% were N0.
 * At 3-years, DFS 89.4%(A) vs 87.4%(T) vs 87.2%(C). 2% absolute risk reduction. Comparing A vs T: 317 vs 379 events, HR=0.83. Comparing A vs C, HR=0.81. Combination not significantly different than A alone. Time to recurrence hazard ratio = 0.79.  DFS improvement seen in hormone receptor positive patients but not receptor negative pts.  Decreased rate of contralateral breast cancer 58%.  Improved side effect profile (see below). No difference in ischemic heart disease. Further follow-up needed before reporting OS or DM.
 * Initial results showed that a new cancer had developed in 317 women in the Arimidex group (10%), 379 women in the tamoxifen group (12%), and 383 women in the group of women taking both drugs (12%). This means that the relative risk of recurrence for everyone in the study was 17% less for the women taking Arimidex as compared to the women taking tamoxifen. (This analysis included both hormone-receptor-positive and hormone-receptor-negative cancers.) After this publication, stopped randomization to the combination arm.
 * Update (2003): Abstract — Baum et al. "Anastrozole alone or in combination with tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone for adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer: results of the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) trial efficacy and safety update analyses." Cancer. 2003 Nov 1;98(9):1802-10.
 * Update (2004): The Lancet, Dec 2004. Early online publication (requires free registration) — Abstract presented at 27th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, December 2004, Abstract #1
 * 5-years (2005) PMID 15639680 -- "Results of the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) trial after completion of 5 years' adjuvant treatment for breast cancer." (Howell A, Lancet. 2005 Jan 1-7;365(9453):60-2.)
 * Median F/U 68 months. Improved DFS (HR=0.87), time to recurrence (HR=0.79), distant mets (HR=0.86), contralateral breast cancers (42% reduction). No difference in overall survival. Improved side effect profile for endometrial cancer (0.2 vs 0.8%), vaginal bleeding (5.4 vs 10.2%) or discharge (3.5 vs 13.23.5%), strokes (2.0 vs 2.8%), thromboembolic events (2.8 vs 4.5%), hot flashes (35.7 vs 40.9%), and need for hysterectomy (1.3 vs 5.1%)—but worse for joint symptoms (35.6 vs 29.4%) and fractures (11 vs 7.7%).  Also, the rate of fractures increased approximately two-fold since first publication (for both drugs), showing the long-term effect of antiestrogen therapy or older population.
 * Subset analysis: arimidex more effective for ER+/PR- vs ER+/PR+
 * 9 yrs (2008): PMID 18083636 -- "Effect of anastrozole and tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer: 100-month analysis of the ATAC trial." (ATAC Trialists' Group, Lancet Oncol. 2008 Jan;9(1):45-53.) -- Median f/u 8.3 yrs
 * Hazard ratios: DFS 0.85, TTR 0.76, TTDR 0.84, CLBC 0.60 -- all S.S. 9-yr TTR 17.0% (A) vs 21.8% (T). No difference in deaths after recurrence or in overall survival.
 * Fractures increased (ratio 1.55; 2.93% vs 1.90%) during active treatment but not after completing treatment. No difference in cardiovascular morbidity or mortality.
 * Conclusion: The efficacy and tolerability of Arimidex persist with long follow-up

 * Breast International Group BIG 1-98 (1998-2003) - 5 years of letrozole vs tamoxifen
 * Double-blind. 8010 pts total. Postmenopausal women with ER+ or PR+ tumors. Randomized to: 1) letrozole x 5 yrs, 2) tamoxifen x 5 yrs, 3) L x 2yrs -> T x 3 yrs, 4) T x 2 yrs -> L x 3 yrs. 1835 pts randomized to arms 1 or 2 (1998-2000). Additional 6193 pts randomized to one of the 4 arms (1999-2003).
 * PMID 16382061, 2005 — "A comparison of letrozole and tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer." Thurlimann B et al. [The Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 Collaborative Group] N Engl J Med. 2005 Dec 29;353(26):2747-57.
 * Median f/u 28.5 mo. 5-yr DFS 84% (Letrozole) vs 81.4% (Tamoxifen). HR for DFS 0.81. HR for distant recurrence 0.73.
 * Update (2007): PMID 17200148 — "Five Years of Letrozole Compared With Tamoxifen As Initial Adjuvant Therapy for Postmenopausal Women With Endocrine-Responsive Early Breast Cancer: Update of Study BIG 1-98." Coates AS et al. J Clin Oncol. 2007 Feb 10;25(5):486-92.
 * Analysis limited to 4922 pts randomized to continuous therapy with letrozole or tamoxifen (arms 1 & 2). Median f/u 51 mo. 18% reduction in DFS events for women taking letrozole.
 * Update 2011, PMID 22018631 -- "Assessment of letrozole and tamoxifen alone and in sequence for postmenopausal women with steroid hormone receptor-positive breast cancer: the BIG 1-98 randomised clinical trial at 8·1 years median follow-up." (Regan MM, Lancet Oncol. 2011 Oct 20. [Epub ahead of print])
 * Median f/u 8 yrs. No significant differences in DFS,OS,DRFI,or BCFI for any of the sequential treatment arms (L x 2 -> T x 3, or T x 2 -> L x 3) vs Letrozole alone. Letrozole was superior to tamoxifen alone.
 * Conclusion: "For postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive early breast cancer, a reduction in breast cancer recurrence and mortality is obtained by letrozole monotherapy when compared with tamoxifen montherapy. Sequential treatments involving tamoxifen and letrozole do not improve outcome compared with letrozole monotherapy, but might be useful strategies when considering an individual patient's risk of recurrence and treatment tolerability."
 * Conclusion: Benefit for letrozole

 * Intergroup Exemestane Study IES - switch to exemestane after 2-3 years of tamoxifen.
 * 4724 pts. After 2-3 yrs of tamoxifen, randomized to continuing T or switching to exemestane (total duration 5 yrs).
 * Benefit for switching
 * ASCO 2006 Abstract LBA527 "First mature analysis of the Intergroup Exemestane Study." Coombes RC et al. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2006 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings Part I. Vol 24, No. 18S (June 20 Supplement), 2006: LBA527.
 * Median f/u 58 mo. For ER+, 26% decrease in DFS events, 17% decrease in deaths (both S.S.). For tamoxifen, more thromboembolic events and serious gynecologic events; fewer fractures.
 * Median f/u 58 mo. For ER+, 26% decrease in DFS events, 17% decrease in deaths (both S.S.). For tamoxifen, more thromboembolic events and serious gynecologic events; fewer fractures.

 * ABCSG 8 - switch to Arimidex after 2-3 years of tamoxifen vs staying on tamox x 5 yrs

 * MA17 - After 5 years of tamoxifen, randomized to 5 additional years of letrozole vs placebo
 * 5187 pts. median f/u 2.4 yrs. 4-year DFS 93% (L) vs 87% (P). Decreased incidence of LF, DM, or new contralateral primary: 2.9% vs 5.1%.
 * PMID 16145047; "Randomized Trial of Letrozole Following Tamoxifen as Extended Adjuvant Therapy in Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer: Updated Findings from NCIC CTG MA.17" Goss PE et al.
 * Median f/u 30 months. HR=0.58 for DFS and HR=0.6 for DDFS, in favor of letrozole. OS was the same in both arms. However, among LN+ pts, HR=0.61 for OS. Incidence of contralateral breast cancer was lower but was not statistically significant.
 * Conclusion: Letrozole after tamoxifen is well-tolerated and improves both disease-free and distant disease-free survival but not overall survival, except in node-positive patients.

 * Italian Tamoxifen Anastrozole Trial
 * PMID 16009955 — "Switching to Anastrozole Versus Continued Tamoxifen Treatment of Early Breast Cancer: Preliminary Results of the Italian Tamoxifen Anastrozole Trial." Boccardo F et al. J Clin Oncol. 2005 Jul 11 [Epub ahead of print]
 * 448 pts, N+, ER+. After 2-3 years of Tam, randomize to continued Tam for total of 5 years vs switching to A.
 * Median f/u 36 months. HR=0.35 for DFS and HR=0.15 for local recurrence free survival, in favor of anastrozole. More adverse events in Anastrozole group.

Sequencing RT with Letrozole

 * CO-HO-RT, France/Switzerland (2005-2007) -- concurrent vs sequential RT + letrozole
 * Randomized, Phase II. 150 postmenopausal women, early stage BCA, s/p BCT. Arm 1) concurrent RT and letrozole (starting 3 weeks prior to RT) vs Arm 2) sequential RT and letrozole (starting 3 weeks post RT). Whole breast RT 50/25, SCV/IM as necessary. Letrozole 2.5 mg QD x5 years
 * 2010 PMID 20138810 -- "Concurrent or sequential adjuvant letrozole and radiotherapy after conservative surgery for early-stage breast cancer (CO-HO-RT): a phase 2 randomised trial." (Azria D, Lancet Oncol. 2010 Mar;11(3):258-65. Epub 2010 Feb 6.) Median F/U 2.2 years
 * Acute toxicity: Skin Grade 2+ concurrent 41% vs sequential 41% (NS); Dermatitis Grade 3 in 5% vs 8%
 * Late toxicity: Fibrosis Grade 2+ in 3% vs 3% (NS)
 * Conclusion: Letrozole can be safely delivered concurrent with RT


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Animal Behavior/The Peppered Moth Studies

The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)

Within one hundred years (1850 to 1950); the dotted whitish form of the peppered moth (Biston betularia) was almost entirely replaced by the melanic (black) form. The melanic form appeared to be best suited for survival against the soot that had collected on forest tree trunks from pollution because the moths could camouflage with their resting area on the tree. The dotted whitish form of the peppered moth was no longer predominant in this environment because they were easily detected and predated on. How does this happen? Many animals have anti-predator adaptations. Adaptations are defined as “a heritable trait that either spread because of natural selection and has been maintained by selection to the present or is currently spreading relative to alternative traits because of natural selection (Alcock, 2001).” Anti-predator adaptations suggest that a heritable trait, which enables the organism to hide from predators by seeking cover against a background, has spread by natural selection because of reproductive success. H.B. D. Kettlewell’s experiments on the peppered moths, as well as, those conducted by R.J. Howlett and M.E.N. Majerus have proven that the peppered moth’s preference for their resting places on trees are anti-predator adaptations.

In 1955, H.B. D. Kettlewell published his study on pepper moths: Selection Experiments on Industrial Melanism in the Lepidoptera. Kettlewell hypothesized that the dotted whitish form of the peppered moth were more likely to be eaten than the melanic form because they could be easily detected against the soot covered trees. His studies showed that the moths that were easily identified by humans were at a higher risk of predation from birds. The dotted whitish form was at higher risk of predation than the melanic form in the polluted environment.

Howlett and Majerus further examined this hypothesis in their study: The Understanding of Industrial Melanism in the Peppered Moth, published in 1987. They tested it by pinning 50 of both forms of the peppered moths on pale and dark tree trunks.

Calculations
Moths in Polluted (dark) Woodland

Dotted Whitish Form: (30/50) x 100 = 60% Melanic Form: (20/50) x 100 = 40%

60% - 40% = 20% The Dotted Whitish form is predated on 20% more than the melanic form in the polluted woodland.

Moths in Non-polluted (pale) Woodland

Dotted Whitish Form: (15/50) x 100 = 30% Melanic Form: approx. (30/50) x 100 = 60%

60% - 30% = 30% The Melanic form is predated on 30% more than the dotted whitish form in the nonpolluted woodland.

Their studies showed that the dotted whitish form was preyed on 20% more than the melanic form in the polluted woodland. The melanic form is predated on 30% more than the dotted whitish form in the nonpolluted woodland.

In addition to the difference in predation, their studies also showed that in both the polluted and nonpolluted environments the moths that were located on the limb joints instead of the trunks were less likely to be preyed on.

Howlett and Majerus showed that the dotted whitish form was at a higher risk of predation when resting against the polluted (dark) trees. The melanic form had a greater chance of survival and reproduction because they were less likely to be detected against the soot-covered trees, the same findings of Kettlewell years before. Their experiment proved that the melanic form was an anti-predator adaptation, which is why the dotted whitish form had become so rare. The melanic form had become the dominant trait for survival and reproduction in the polluted woodland.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Animal Behavior/The Monarch Butterfly

Antipredator Adaptations used by the Monarch Butterfly
The relationship between prey and predators continually changes. Most monarch butterflies do not live very long.

That is why they are endangered. One way monarch butterflies increase their fitness is by forming huge groups of up to ten million. As their group size increases, the probability that any one monarch butterfly will be captured decreases. Moreover, the butterflies located in the center of a large group are more likely to survive than those on the outside (Pike, 1999). This is known as the “dilution effect (Alcock, 2001).”

Monarch butterflies that choose to migrate to closed-area overwintering sites are less likely to be attacked by a predator. Also, by reacting as a group to the movement of a predator, monarch butterflies are better able to scare away predators (Pike, 1999). This “mass startle effect” is thought to stun the predators and provide time for the butterfly to escape (true shock and awe indeed).

The aforementioned are collective ways in which the butterfly behaves in order to elude a predator. There are, however, certain individual inherent features that the monarch butterflies possess that increase their probability of avoiding a predator.

Monarch butterflies contain chemicals that are toxic to many predators. Evidently, this makes other similar but harmless species envious. In Batesian mimicry, a palatable species attempts to mimic an unpalatable species in an attempt to increase its own fitness. The monarch butterfly species is one that some Batesian mimics model themselves after perhaps because the monarch butterflies are so successful at avoiding predators (Mappes, 1997). The Batesian mimics, although they are not harmful to predators, experience increased fitness because they model a potentially harmful species such as the monarch butterfly. The viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) is one such butterfly that models itself after the monarch (Pike, 1999).

Although monarch butterflies do not gain an increase in fitness as models of Batesian mimics, they do benefit from Müllerian mimicry. In Müllerian mimicry, two unrelated, toxic species converge on a similar morphology. If more than one unpalatable species has a similar morphological trait, then the predators may more easily recognize a Müllerian mimic as potentially harmful. This saves both the mimics and the predators time and energy.

Lastly, monarch butterflies display aposematism or warning coloration. This warning coloration is meant to be very conspicuous (Alcock, 2001). Monarch butterflies make themselves conspicuous by having bright orange areas on its wings. Predators quickly learn that prey containing these bright colors are potentially harmful. For example, when a blue jay consumes a monarch butterfly, it vomits shortly after. From that point on, the blue jay associates features of the monarch butterfly, such as its bright colors, as unpalatable (Alcock, 2001). Because of their morphological features, Batesian mimics, Müllerian mimics, and many other aposematic species all gain from the monarch’s unpalatability.

title: Animal Behavior/The Monarch Butterfly


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Nuclear Physics/Atomic Nuclei/Problems

1. How many helium atoms are emitted by 1 gram of Argon?

2. The activity of a sample prepared decreases 1.5 times after 6.0 months. Find its half-life period.

3. Find the half life and mean life times of Co55 if its activity is known to decrease 5.0% per day. (consider the decay product to be nonradioactive.)

4. The half lives of two nuclides are 20 days and 6 years respectively. Calculate their specific activities.

5. The half life of a radioactive cobalt isotope is 71.3 days. What fraction of this sample are decayed/left during/after 3 months?

6. How may alpha and beta disintegrations does U238 undergo before forming a stable Pb206?

7. If Ra226 decays 5 alpha and 4 beta particles, what is the isotope formed?

title: Nuclear Physics/Atomic Nuclei/Problems


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Talk:Electrodynamics/Gauss's Law

Say you have a surface charge plastered over a sphere's surface (which no charge within sphere). Does Gauss' law suggest that E inside the sphere is 0 (since a Gaussian surface fully contained within the sphere will enclose no charge)?

Answer
Yes and no, Gauss's law does not say that there is no electric field flux through an empty area, it just says that the fluxes will all cancel out. But if you do have a spherical shell that is uniformly charged, there will indeed be no electric field inside it. --Frontier 12:36, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Electrodynamics/Gauss's Law


text:
Animal Behavior/Honeybee Foraging Behavioral Analysis

Honeybee Foraging Behavioral Analysis
The common honeybee (Apis mellifera) forages around the hive in search of resources. Usually this resource constitutes food in the form of pollinating flowers. Several landmark studies were performed in the middle of the 20th century to analyze how these social organisms communicated exact distances and direction to one another in order to effectively locate these resources. Karl von Frisch determined that honeybees perform two distinct dance routines that coincide with two different distance approximations made by the foraging bee. These two dances, the Round dance and the Waggle dance, communicate to the other the approximate distance from the hive to the new resource. Only the Waggle dance communicates direction (von Frisch 1967).

The Round dance is performed by the returning bee usually in complete darkness, vertically on a honeycomb. The circuitous motion attracts other foragers, which then learn that the resource is within approximately 50 meters of the hive. No direction is given by this routine (von Frisch). As a result, the newest foragers leave to search in all directions surrounding the hive. Behaviorally, this dance is energetically favorable due to the short distances travelled. In contrast, the Waggle dance is energetically unfavorable to the individual, but beneficial to the hive.

The Waggle dance is performed primarily when the resource is further than 50 meters. The returning forager either performs the dance on a vertical surface or a horizontal one. To determine distance and direction, the bee orientates itself relative to the sun. Any deviation from this point gives the angle the new foragers should pursue. If vertical, the bee orientates itself to gravity. Perpendicular to the ground becomes the reference point (i.e. the sun). Deviations from such relay direction accordingly. Distance is communicated by the length of the abdomen shake that forms the middle of a figure eight dance (von Frisch).

Kirchner et al. determined that the Round dance does not convey direction. By tipping several hives onto their horizontal axis and placed a resource 10 meters away, the reference heading was experimentally altered. Regardless of the hive orientation, the number of successful returning foragers was constant (1998). Once the distance crossed 50 meters, the success rate decreased for hives orientated horizontally, indicating direction is dependent on hive orientation for the waggle dance to be effective.

Honeybees foraging behavior can be interpreted from a historical or adaptationist view. Lindauer performed historical analysis that reveals that distantly related bees might have evolved through 3 stages of development: First stage analysis reveals that the genus Trigona conveyed direction by buzzing to gain their hivemates attention. The odors trapped on the bee trigger others to forage in search of the odor. The secondary stage involves marking the path from the resource to the hive with mandibular pheromones. She then buzzes, and the bees follow the scent markers. The third stage involves an in-flight "waggle dance" in the direction of the resource (Lindauer 1961).

Seely et al. provides an adaptationist theory on bee dance evolution. The foragers seek new resources to provide increased hive fitness. By dancing, the cost/benfit ratio is reduced to the individual level more so than a group of foragers expending energy searching in all directions all the time (Seely et al. 1998). Their study demonstrates that dancing has become an evolutionarily desirable trait because less time foraging allows for more time collecting the resource. Honeybee dancing provides an evolutionarily advantageous behavior which optimizes the hive's fitness.


text:
Biblical Studies/Christianity/Christian Theology/Human Depravity

What Total Depravity Is Not

 * It does not mean that someone who is considered unregenerate has absolutely no concept of morality or conscience.
 * It does not mean that someone is totally sinful - that is, as wicked as is possible.
 * It does not mean engagement in every possible mode of sin.

What Total Depravity Is

 * It does mean that sin affects each and every aspect of a person: the mind, body, will, and spirit.
 * It does mean that acts thought to be altruistic will always contain at least a shade of improper motive - nothing one does is born totally and completely out of a perfect, flawless desire to serve God.
 * It does mean that we as human beings are wholly incapable of eradicating our problem of sin by means of our own volition.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Baker Book House: 1985. pp. 628-29.


text:
Persian/Lesson 6

In this lesson, you will learn how to build noun phrases with and with demonstrative adjectives.

Dialogue:
... and... are talking....

Explanation
 * Shahidi and Enver

Vocabulary

Ezâfe
An important part of Persian grammar is the handy little linking element called. It is used to extend a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase by adding an unstressed particle similar English “of”, followed by other words like adjectives, nouns, pronouns, and full phrases.

After a consonant, the ezâfe particle is pronounced as an unstressed ‹e› in standard Persian and is not usually written. On the right, is extended by the ezâfe particle and the noun, making the Persian phrase. ends in a consonant, so the ezâfe particle is pronounced ‹e› and is not written.

After a vowel, the ezâfe particle is pronounced as unstressed ‹ye› and may be written as ی or, after a silent ه, it may be written as a miniature superscript ی that looks like a hamze diacritic, i.e. as هٔ. Usually, though, it is only written after a vowel when extra clarity is wanted; otherwise it is often left unwritten.

When ezâfe extends one noun by adding another, it often indicates that the first noun's referent belongs to the second one's, as shown on the right in the Persian phrase. In older texts, ezâfe after ی is often represented by a small superscripted ی that resembles hamze ( ء ), so you may see words like, but today,  (and thus  ) is more common.

Colloquially, short forms are used even after vowels.

Adding a noun with ezâfe is not only used for ownership. It may indicate a family relationship:

It may indicate composition or purpose:

It may also used for apposition:

Ezâfe is also used to add an adjective, as in the phrase, shown on the right. The particle in such constructions is not usually translated into English as a separate word, but it may be thought of as “that is”.

Ezâfe is also used with certain nouns that have preposition-like meaning. In the example on the right and the one below, the nouns and  are used like prepositions with the help of ezâfe:

Ezâfe is also used to add prepositional phrases, e.g. :

A noun phrase created with ezâfe may be extended with ezâfe again, as shown on the right.

Demonstrative Adjectives
As the dialogues in the previous lessons have shown, Persian does not have a word that corresponds to the English definite article “the”. To say, “the book”, for example, the noun is normally used alone. Persian does, however, have the demonstrative adjectives and. These two words, unlike typical adjectives, are used before the noun with no intervening particle, as shown in the examples on the right.

Demonstrative contractions:
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹unjâ›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹cenin›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹cenun›
 * , colloquially ‹hamun›
 * , colloquially ‹hamun›
 * , colloquially ‹hamun›

Demonstrative pronouns:
 * or just "those", special case where ها is always joined
 * , second special case where ها ‹hâ› is always joined

Exercises

 * 1. Translate the following sentences into English:

If your name ends in a consonant, use this:
 * Daneshju-ye irani: “The Iranian student”
 * man-e bicâra (poor me) [Not really a qualifying adjective here]
 * Create Persian sentences with this formula:
 * Introduce yourself by your first name by replacing “[...]” in one of the sentences below with your first name.
 * Introduce yourself by your first name by replacing “[...]” in one of the sentences below with your first name.
 * Introduce yourself by your first name by replacing “[...]” in one of the sentences below with your first name.
 * Introduce yourself by your first name by replacing “[...]” in one of the sentences below with your first name.

If your name ends in a vowel, use this (note, the final ‹e› above becomes ‹s›):

Introduce yourself by your full name using the same formula.
 * Translate the following sentences into Persian:
 * Translate the following sentences into Persian:

 * 2. Using the vocabulary below make 5 simple sentences using ezâfe:
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }

 * Translate the following phrases into Persian.

title: Persian/Lesson 6


text:
Persian/Lesson 9

In this lesson, you will learn how to create and use plurals of nouns in Persian.

Dialogue:
... and... are talking....

 * colspan=4 |
 * }
 * }

Explanation
 * ... and ....

Vocabulary

 * Fa-امروز.ogg – vandaag (today)
 * Fa-د يروز.ogg – gisteren (yesterday)
 * Fa-د بستان.ogg – basisschool
 * Fa-بودن.ogg – zijn (be)
 * Fa-آمدن.ogg – komen (come)
 * Fa-اسم.ogg – naam (name)
 * Fa-باريد ن.ogg – regenen,sneeuwen
 * Fa-من.ogg – ik (I)
 * Fa-نام.ogg – naam
 * Fa-نادر.ogg – Nader (jongensnaam) (boys name)
 * Fa-كتاب.ogg – boek (book)
 * Fa-امين.ogg – Amin (jongensnaam) (boys name)
 * Fa-پس دادن.ogg – teruggeven
 * Fa-پس داد.ogg – hij geeft, zij geeft
 * Fa-امروز باران باريد.ogg – vandaag regent het (today it rains)
 * Fa-من از دبستان آمدم.ogg - ik kom uit school (I come from school)
 * Fa-من از د بستان تند آمدم.ogg – ik kom snel uit school (I come fast from school)

Plural nouns
The usual way to make a plural in Persian is to add the suffix to the noun. The suffix is typically written immediately after the noun with with a ZWNJ.

Colloquially, is pronounced ‹â›.

Many words have an alternative plural form that may be used instead of the colloquial Persian form. For example, animate nouns (those that denote humans or things with human-like characteristics) and nouns that denote paired body parts (e.g. eyes, ears, and hands) have an alternative plural form made with the suffix :

Many Arabic words have different plural forms that may be used in Persian. Some are created by adding suffixes:

Others are called “broken plurals”:
 * , ,کتاب
 * , (govt.)
 * , (govt.)
 * , (govt.)
 * , (govt.)
 * , (govt.)
 * , (govt.)

To pluralize a noun phrase, only the main noun is changed. Adjectives and demonstrative adjectives are not, as shown on the right.

Numbers
After 20, Persian numbers use between digit, as shown in the example on the right.

Exercises

 * Translate the following phrases into Persian.

 * }

title: Persian/Lesson 9


text:
Persian/Lesson 8

In this lesson, you will learn how to create and use the negative of Persian verbs.

Dialogue:
... and... are talking....

 * colspan=4 |
 * }
 * }

Explanation
 * ... and ....

Vocabulary

Negation
Negative particle ن ‹na-› takes the stress and prefixes conjugated verb, not the invariant part

Negative copula

 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nis›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nistan›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nis›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nistan›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nistan›
 * , colloquially pronounced ‹nistan›

Other negative words

Exercises
درس 8 و
 * 1. Translate the following sentences into English:
 * [[media:fa-مرد.ogg|مرد]] – /man/ (man)
 * [[media:fa-زن.ogg|زن]] – /vrouw/ (woman)
 * [[media:Fa-تند.ogg|تند]] - /snel/ (fast)
 * [[media:fa-دوات.ogg|دوات]] – /inktpot/ (inkwell)
 * [[media:fa-پروين.ogg|پروين]] – /Parvin/ (meisjesnaam) (girls name)
 * [[media:fa-پرويز.ogg|پرويز]] – /Parviz/ (jongensnaam) (boys name)
 * [[media:fa-نانوا.ogg|نانوا]] – /bakker/ (baker)
 * [[media:fa-دويدن.ogg|دويدن]] – /rennen/ (hele werkwoord) (running)
 * [[media:fa-مي دود.ogg|مي دود]] – /hij rent/, /zij rent/ (he, she runs)
 * [[media:fa-بيرون.ogg|بيرون]] – /uit/, /buiten/ (out)
 * [[media:fa-مي پزد.ogg|مي پزد]] – /hij kookt/, /zij kookt/ (he, she cooks)
 * [[media:Fa-پختن..ogg|پختن-]] - /koken/, /bakken/ (hele werkwoord) (cooking, baking)
 * [[media:fa-اين دوات است.ogg|اين دوات است]] – /dit is een inktpot/ (this is an inkwell)
 * [[media:fa-پرويز با پروين دوست است.ogg|پرويز با پروين دوست است]] – /Parvin is met Parviz bevriend/
 * [[media:fa-اين مرد نانوا است.ogg|اين مرد نانوا است]] – /die mijnheer is bakker/
 * [[media:fa-نانوا نان مي پزد.ogg|نانوا نان مي پزد]] – /de bakker bakt brood/
 * [[media:fa-آن مرد از نانوائي تند آمد.ogg|آن مرد از نانوائي تند آمد]] – /die man komt snel uit de bakkerij/
 * [[media:fa-پرويز با پروين دوست است.ogg|پرويز با پروين دوست است]]

 * }

title: Persian/Lesson 8


text:
Persian/Lesson 7

In Lesson 5, you learned how to conjugate the verb in the simple present tense.

In this lesson, you will how to conjugate Persian verbs in the simple past tense.

Dialogue:
... talks with ...:

 * colspan=5 |
 * }
 * }

Explanation
 * ... and ... are....

Vocabulary

Simple past tense
In both English and Persian, verbs can be conjugated in the simple past tense to express that an event happened in the past or to comment about a past state of something. For example, the English verb talk is conjugated into the simple past tense form talked by adding the suffix -ed.

As explained in Lesson 5, Persian verbs suffixes clearly indicate grammatical person and number. For example, the table on the right shows the simple past tense of, consisting of the stem and suffixes to indicate the person and number:

The past stem is identical with the third person singular. Thus the past stem of the verb budan 'to be' is bud, the past stem of the verb guftan 'to say' is guft.

Unlike the simple present tense of, which has both a full and short forms, the simple past tense only has the forms above.

 * Say each of the personal pronouns from the table above. While saying each one, imagine and point to the people to whom the pronoun might refer.  For example, while saying, imagine another person next to you and point to that person and yourself.
 * Repeat the personal pronouns as above, but after each one, say the corresponding simple past tense forms of from the table above.  For example, when saying, point to two imaginary addressees and then say.
 * }
 * }

To make the simple past tense form of any Persian verb, begin with the infinitive (the dictionary form), e.g. . The infinitive of every Persian verb ends in the suffix. Remove the final to get the past tense stem, e.g. .  Then add the appropriate past tense personal suffix from the table below to make the past tense verb form: The same suffixes are used for all simple past tense verbs, so it is important to memorize them.

Plurality and formality/deference
plurality of verb with animate vs. inanimate subject

Plurality of subject reference, optional subject pronoun, and verb as it relates to formality and deference:
 * Semantically plural human subject requires plural verb.
 * 2nd person semantically singular addressee:
 * Friendly, informal reference: (optional pronoun) تو /tow/, singular verb (ی ending)
 * Semi-formal, respectful: (optional plural pronoun) شما /šomâ/, singular verb (ی ending)
 * Formal, more respectful: plural verb, optional plural pronoun (شما), plural verb written with ید ending, pronounced colloquially as ین.
 * Very formal conditions treating the addressee with deference: جناب عالی /jenâb âli/ ("your excellency")

Third person
In the third person, the same pattern applies as with the second person. The singular pronoun is the normal way to refer to an individual in the third person, but to show greater respect, the plural pronoun  and/or a verb conjugated in the third person plural (i.e. with the personal suffix, colloquially pronounced ‹-an›) may be used instead.

Exercises

 * What are the ... by the following ...s?
 * }
 * }
 * }

Review
In this lesson, you learned how to conjugate Persian verbs in the simple past tense....

title: Persian/Lesson 7


text:
Persian/Lesson 10

In this lesson, you will learn how use prepositions and the definite direct object marker in Persian.

Dialogue:
... and... are talking....

 * colspan=4 |
 * }
 * }

Explanation
 * ... and ....

Vocabulary

درس 10
 * ه
 * ش

 * [[media:Fa-سه.ogg|سه]] – drie
 * [[media:Fa-نامه.ogg|نامه]] – letter
 * [[media:Fa-به.ogg|به]] – naar
 * [[media:Fa-مد ير.ogg|مد ير]] – directeur
 * [[media:Fa-سبزي.ogg|سبزي]] – groente
 * [[media:Fa-بيمار.ogg|بيمار]] – ziek, patient
 * [[media:Fa-نوستن.ogg|نوستن]] – schrijven
 * [[media:Fa-مي نويسد.ogg|مي نويسد]] – hij schrijft
 * [[media:Fa-شسستن.ogg|شسستن]] – wassen
 * [[media:Fa-ريختن.ogg|ريختن]] – gieten
 * [[media:Fa-مي ريزد.ogg|مي ريزد]] – hij giet
 * [[media:Fa-پاك كردن.ogg|پاك كردن]] - schoonmaken
 * [[media:Fa-كشك.ogg|كشك]] – yoghurtsoort
 * [[media:Fa-آش.ogg|آش]] – soep
 * [[media:Fa-داشتن.ogg|داشتن]] – hebben
 * [[media:Fa-رشته.ogg|رشته]] – macaroni soort
 * [[media:Fa-اكرم سه روز بيمار بود.ogg|اكرم سه روز بيمار بود]] – Akram was drie dagen ziek
 * [[media:Fa-مادر اكرم نامه نوشت.ogg|مادر اكرم نامه نوشت]] – De moeder van Akram schrijft een brief
 * [[media:Fa-اكرم آش درست كرد.ogg|اكرم آش درست كرد]] – Akram maakt soep
 * [[media:Fa-مادر امين سبزي را شست.ogg|مادر امين سبزي را شست]] – De moeder van Amin wast de groente
 * [[media:Fa-او در آش كشك و سبزي مي ريزذ.ogg|او در آش كشك و سبزي مي ريزذ]] - Zij doet (soort yoghurt) en de groente in de soep
 * [[media:Fa-مادر امين سبزي را شست.ogg|مادر امين سبزي را شست]] – Amin en Akram houden van soep

Direct objects
The word marks definite direct objects in Persian. That is,

Colloquially, is pronounced ‹ro› after a vowel or ‹o› after a consonant.

In written Persian, may contract to, but colloquially pronounced ‹mano›. Similarly, written can contract to  but colloquially pronounced ‹toro›.

title: Persian/Lesson 10


text:
Persian/Lesson 11

In this lesson, you will learn about direct objects and prepositions in Persian.

Dialogue
درس 11
 * ف
 * [[media:fa-كيف.ogg|كيف]] – tas
 * [[media:fa-د فتر.ogg|د فتر]] – schrift
 * [[media:fa-پد ر.ogg|پد ر]] – vader
 * [[media:fa-پذرش.ogg|پذرش]] – zijn vader
 * [[media:fa-مسافرت.ogg|مسافرت]] – reis, vakantie
 * [[media:fa-درس.ogg|درس]] – les
 * [[media:fa-فراموش.ogg|فراموش]] – vergeet
 * [[media:fa-فردا.ogg|فردا]] – morgen
 * [[media:fa-بردن.ogg|بردن]] – meenemen
 * [[media:fa-مي برد.ogg|مي برد]] – hij neemt mee
 * [[media:fa-مادرش.ogg|مادرش]] – zijn moeder
 * [[media:fa-برادرش.ogg|برادرش]] – zijn broer
 * [[media:fa-دفترش.ogg|دفترش]] – zijn schrift
 * [[media:fa-كتابش.ogg|كتابشاست]] – zijn boek
 * [[media:fa-امين برادر اكرم است.ogg|امين برادر اكرم است]] – Amin is de broer van Akram
 * [[media:fa-پدر اكرم فردا به مسافرت مي رود.ogg|پدر اكرم فردا به مسافرت مي رود]] – morgen gaat de vader van Akram op reis
 * [[media:fa-امين كتابش را فراموش نمي كند.ogg|امين كتابش را فراموش نمي كند]] – Amin vergeet het boek
 * [[media:fa-امين و اكرم درس را دوست دارند.ogg|امين و اكرم درس را دوست دارند]] – Amin en Akram leren graag
 * [[media:fa-امين كتاب دار.ogg|امين كتاب دار]] – Amin heeft een boek
 * [[media:fa-من كيف دارم.ogg|من كيف دارم]] – Ik heb een tas

Direct objects
Definite or human object enclitic, colloquially pronounced or /o/ after consonant, /ro/ after vowel.

Persian doesn't have a direct article like “the”. In some situations carries similar meaning, but is less used than "the".

Prepositions
prepositions:

Some Persian verbs often are accompanied by prepositional phrases that translate into English as transitive verbs with direct objects, especially common with and.

Sentence structure
(subject) (definite object را) (prep phrases) (adverbs) (predicate nominative/adjective) verb

title: Persian/Lesson 11


text:
Persian/Lesson 12

خ

 * [[media:Fa-ميخ.ogg|ميخ]] – talk, speak1
 * [[media:Fa-تخته.ogg|تخته]] – hout
 * [[media:Fa-ميز.ogg|ميز]] – tafel
 * [[media:Fa-كمد.ogg|كمد]] – kast
 * [[media:Fa-خانه.ogg|خانه]] – house
 * [[media:Fa-خريد.ogg|خريد]] – hij koopt
 * [[media:Fa-خريدن.ogg|خريدن]] – kopen,(werkwoord voor kopen)
 * [[media:Fa-فروختن.ogg|فروختن]] – verkopen, (werkwoord voor verkopen)
 * [[media:Fa-ساختن.ogg|ساختن]] – maken, (werkwoord voor maken)
 * [[media:Fa-ساخت.ogg|ساخت]] – hij maakt
 * [[media:Fa-كمك.ogg|كمك]] – help
 * [[media:Fa-كمك كردن.ogg|كمك كردن]] - help, (werkwoord voor helpen)
 * [[media:Fa-بازار.ogg|بازار]] – markt
 * فعل) تخته خريدن) – hout kopen
 * [[media:Fa-من تخته خريدم.ogg|من تخته خريدم]] - ik koop hout
 * [[media:Fa-تو تخته خريدي.ogg|تو تخته خريدي]] – jij koopt hout
 * [[media:Fa-اوتخته خريد.ogg|اوتخته خريد]] – hij koopt hout
 * [[media:Fa-ما تخته خريديم.ogg|ما تخته خريديم]] – wij kopen hout
 * [[media:Fa-شما تخته خريديد.ogg|شما تخته خريديد]] – jullie kopen hout
 * [[media:Fa-ايشان تخته خريدند.ogg|ايشان تخته خريدند]] – zij kopen hout
 * [[media:Fa-امين با پدرش از بازارآمد.ogg|امين با پدرش از بازارآمد]] – Amin komt van de markt met zijn vader
 * [[media:Fa-انها تخته و ميخ خريدند.ogg|انها تخته و ميخ خريدند]] – Zij kopen hout en spijkers
 * [[media:Fa-پدرش با تخته وميخ ميزساخت.ogg|پدرش با تخته وميخ ميزساخت]] – Zijn vader maakt van hout en spijkers een tafel
 * [[media:Fa-امين با پدرش در ساختن ميز كمك كرد.ogg|امين با پدرش در ساختن ميز كمك كرد]] – Amin helpt zijn vader met het maken van een tafel

 * تكليف شب – jullie's homework
 * فعل بسازيد – werkwoord vervoegen
 * خريدن – buy
 * فروختن – verkopen
 * ساختن – do, make
 * كمك كردن – help

 * جمله بسازيد – zin maken
 * پدر  . تخته. ميز . بازار. ميخ

 * جمله هاي زير را كامل كنيد- invullen
 * خورشيد – zon
 * خود – zelf
 * نوك – bek
 * آسمان – lucht, hemel. firmament
 * خوردن – eat
 * نوشتن – write
 * رفتن go

 * . خروس......... دارد
 * خروس به زمين نوك مي زند ودانه ..........
 * ............. را در آسمان مي بينيم
 * امين به دوست ........... نامه مي نويسد.
 * سارا.......... روز بيمار بود.

Simple present tense
The simple present tense is used to describe an event or to comment about the state of something without regard to a particular time, as shown in the example on the right.

The table on the right shows the simple present tense forms of, consisting of the present/imperfect prefix , the present stem and suffixes to indicate the person and number.

To make a simple present tense form of a Persian verb, begin with the prefix. Then add the present tense stem (which can be looked up in most dictionaries), e.g. . Finally, add the appropriate present tense personal suffix from the table below to make the simple present tense verb form: As you can see, the present tense personal suffixes are the same as the past tense ones, except for the third person singular, which is in the present tense and nothing in the past.

Every Persian verb has two stems: the imperative/present stem and the past stem. In general, both stems of each verb must be learned because neither is not completely predictable from the other. There are some common patterns, though. For example, verbs whose infinitives end with, , or often form the present stem by dropping those endings:

The simple present tense is also used to talk about a future event, as shown on the right.

The simple present tense can also be used to express that an event is occurring at the very moment that the speaker is speaking, but the present continuous tense is used more often for that purpose in both English and Persian. The present continuous tense will be discussed in a later chapter.

title: Persian/Lesson 12


text:
Persian/Lesson 13

In lessons ... through ..., you learned ....

In this lesson, you will learn about personal clitics used after noun phrases, alternative pronomial direct objects as clitics, and differences between spoken and written forms.

Dialogue:
... talks with ...:

 * colspan=5 |
 * }
 * }

Explanation
 * ... and ... are....

Vocabulary

درس 13
 * ق چ

 * [[media:Fa-زيبا دوچرخه سواري را دوست دارد.ogg|زيبا دوچرخه سواري را دوست دارد]]

 * [[media:Fa-قاشق.ogg|قاشق]] – lepel
 * [[media:Fa-بشقاب.ogg|بشقاب]] – bord
 * [[media:Fa-سفره.ogg|سفره]] – tafelkleed
 * [[media:Fa-اتاق.ogg|اتاق]] – kamer
 * [[media:Fa-دوچرخه.ogg|دوچرخه]] – fiets
 * [[media:Fa-چاي.ogg|چاي]] – thee
 * [[media:Fa-پيچ.ogg|پيچ]] – schroef
 * [[media:Fa-سفت.ogg|سفت]] – zacht
 * [[media:Fa-آوردن.ogg|آوردن]] – brengen
 * [[media:Fa-ريختن.ogg|ريختن]] – schenken
 * [[media:Fa-آچار.ogg|آچار]] – gereedschap
 * [[media:Fa-باز.ogg|باز]] – open
 * [[media:Fa-بسته.ogg|بسته]] – dicht
 * [[media:Fa-دوچرخه سواري كردن.ogg|دوچرخه سواري كردن]] – fietsen, (werkwoord)
 * [[media:Fa-قند.ogg|قند]] – suikerklontje
 * [[media:Fa-شيرين.ogg|شيرين]] – zoet
 * [[media:Fa-زيبا.ogg|زيبا]] – mooi, ook een meisjesnaam
 * [[media:Fa-خراب.ogg|خراب]] – kapot
 * [[media:Fa-دانستن.ogg|دانستن]] – weten, (werkwoord)
 * [[media:Fa-امين واكرم به مادر خود كمك مي كنند.ogg|امين واكرم به مادر خود كمك مي كنند]] – Amin en Akram helpen hun eigen moeder
 * [[media:Fa-اكرم سفره و قاشق و بشقاب را به اتاق مياورد.ogg|اكرم سفره و قاشق و بشقاب را به اتاق مياورد]] – Akram brengt het bord, de lepel en het tafelkleed naar de kamer
 * [[media:Fa-مادر زيبا چاي درست كرد.ogg|مادر زيبا چاي درست كرد]] – De moeder van Ziba zet thee
 * [[media:Fa-زيبا دوچرخه سواري را دوست دارد.ogg|زيبا دوچرخه سواري را دوست دارد]] – Ziba houdt van fietsen

 * تكليف. شب. – Huiswerk
 * جمله بسازيد .   دوچرخه . قاشق . چاي .  – Een zin maken
 * فعل بسازيد . مي داند .   مي آورد.  ريختن   - werkwoord vervoegen

Personal clitics with noun phrases
Grammar: (bound) personal enclitics after (singular or plural) noun phrase:
 * After consonant: /am/, /at/, /aš/, /emân/, /etân/, /ešân/
 * After و or ا, /yam/, /yat/...
 * After ه or ی, singular suffixes are spelled with leading zwnj+ا.

Often expresses possession /pedaram/ ("my father"), /dust-e xubam/ ("my good friend")

alternative pronomial direct objects as enclitics

Colloquial
Differences between spoken and written forms
 * written را colloquially ‹o› or ‹ro›. With possessive endings:
 * colloquial ‹e›, ‹s› for است
 * colloquial verb endings: ه ‹eh›
 * written ان ‹ân› vs spoken ‹un›, but not in خانم ‹xânom›
 * colloquial ‹e›, ‹s› for است
 * colloquial verb endings: ه ‹eh›
 * written ان ‹ân› vs spoken ‹un›, but not in خانم ‹xânom›
 * colloquial ‹e›, ‹s› for است
 * colloquial verb endings: ه ‹eh›
 * written ان ‹ân› vs spoken ‹un›, but not in خانم ‹xânom›

Colloquially, when ‹â› comes before ‹a›, the latter elides:
 * pronounced ‹dastâm›
 * pronounced ‹pâm›

title: Persian/Lesson 13


text:
Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 5

=Lesson 5: Measure words=

Measure Words/量词(liàngcí)
1. 这本书里没有一个汉字.
 * Zhè bĕn shū lǐ méi yŏu yí gè Hànzì.
 * This book doesn’t contain one Chinese character.

2. 那间宿舍有六十个学生.
 * Nà jiān sùshè yŏu liùshí ge xuésheng.
 * That dorm has sixty students.

The phrase 一朵花 (yī duǒ huā) means "one flower," but how would you say "a pile of flowers?" It's simple: just change the classifier. The phrase 一堆花 (yī duī huā) means "a pile of flowers." You could also say 一把花 (yī bǎ huā; a handful of flowers), 一桶花 (yī tǒng huā; a bucket of flowers), or 一种花 (yī zhǒng huā; a kind of flower). You can see that measure words act as adjectives.

In Chinese, like in English, you can omit the noun if it's already known, leaving only the classifier. 你看到那种（花）吗？ (Nǐ kàn dào nà zhǒng (huā) ma?) means "Did you see that kind (of flower)?" You can see that measure words also act as nouns.

Measure words are also used with demonstrative pronouns (this, that). For example, 这朵花 means "this flower," and 那朵花 means "that flower."

You might also encounter something like this: 书架上有书本. (Shūjià shàng yǒu shūběn.) which means "The bookshelf has books on it." Note that the classifier is after the noun. This signifies multiple books where the exact number is not important, here translated "books." The sentence 书架上有书. , means the same as above, but is without the classifier.

Some Common Measure Words
Column key: Trad. is Traditional, Simp. shows changes made for the simplified variant (if any).

See Chinese measure words on Wikipedia for a more complete reference.

title: Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 5


text:
Cryptography/Computer Security is More Than Encryption

Computer security has three main elements that can easily be remembered using the acronym CIA: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.

 * Confidentiality is the task of ensuring that only those entities (persons or systems) cleared for access can read information. Cryptography is a key element in ensuring confidentiality.
 * Integrity is the task of ensuring that information is correct, and stays that way.
 * Availability is the task of ensuring that systems responsible for delivering, storing and processing information are accessible when needed, by those who need them. This includes, for example, protection against denial of service (DoS) attacks.


text:
Animal Behavior/Sexual Selection and Mate Choice by Females

Sexual selection, a subcategory of natural selection, was first recognized by Charles Darwin and "occurs when individuals differ in their ability to compete with others for mates or to attract members of the opposite sex" (Alcock 493). By heavy courtship, fighting, or large territorial possession, males heavily compete for females. Even though a male may win a fierce competition for the mate of his choice, it is ultimately the female who decides on a partner that she wants. The female is often successful in her attempts to control reproduction by being choosy and having particular preferences for a male mate.

Females choose mates based on many factors. One important factor is male adornments, or ornaments. For example, Marion Petrie and Tim Halliday concluded that the removal of eyespots from a peacock's tail significantly reduces his attractiveness to females. "After 20 eyespots had been cut from their tails, males averaged two fewer mates in the following breeding season compared with their performance in the previous year" (Alcock 348). Thus, females are extremely conscious of the visual stimuli provided by males. Elaborate sensory cues alert the female that the male is reproductively superior to others. "Male adornments may more readily elicit the mating responses of some females who will thus mate preferentially in favour of the adorned males" (Bateson 53). Other factors involved in female preference in mate selection include body coloration or the "gift" that the male may present to the female before copulation.

Four theories are used to explain mate choice in females. The good parent theory suggests that "choosy individuals select partners on the basis of how well they will care for their offspring" (Alcock 491). This theory focuses on the female's search of a paternal male. The healthy mate theory occurs when females prefer "males healthy enough to produce and maintain elaborate ornaments" (Alcock 491). A good example of this is in female house finches, who choose male mates based on their bright coloration. Bright coloration tells the female that the male is more resistant to pathogens and parasites. The good genes theory "argues that females exhibit mate choice in order to provide their offspring with a partner's genes that will advance their offspring's chances of survival or reproductive success" (Alcock 491). A mother always wants the best for her child, even if it is a future child. Females select mates with certain traits, because they want their children to be healthy, viable, and reproductively successful. "Females that mate with attractive males are compensated for reduced fecundity by bearing "sexy sons" with higher than average mating success" (Andersson 45). The least obvious theory is the runaway selection theory. It states that by being choosy, females "create a positive feedback loop favoring both males with these attributes and females that prefer them" (Alcock 493).

A direct benefit of mate choice by females is the assurance of bearing offspring that will survive well and display high general fitness. This is a heritable benefit. Nongenetic benefits of mate choice include fecundity advantages, food, parental care, or a good territory. All of the benefits, both heritable and nonheritable, ultimately lead to the greater survival of a female's offspring.


text:
Talk:Persian/Lesson 6

Untitled
نمكدان

Is de eerste letter van dit woord wel een N? groetjes AdaM

 * Een beetje vreemd ineend mn moedertaal te zien, maar toch..

Jcwf (talk) 00:27, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

title: Talk:Persian/Lesson 6


text:
Animal Behavior/Territoriality

Territoriality is a type of intraspecific or interspecific competition that results from the behavioral exclusion of others from a specific space that is defended as territory. This well-defined behavior is exhibited through songs and calls, intimidation behavior, attack and chase, and marking with scents. This form of defense proves to be very costly for animals. So one is forced to ask, Why do animals take part in such interspecific competition?

In order to understand this question one must take a cost-benefit approach to territoriality. The proximate reasons for such defense vary. For some animals the reason for participating in such elaborate protective behavior is to acquire and protect food sources, nesting sites, mating areas, or to simply attract a mate. The ultimate cause of this behavior may be attributed to the increased probability of survival and reproductive successes. In defending a territory an animal is ultimately securing that it will have an habitat in which to forage for food and to successfully reproduce, thus increasing the animal's overall fitness. This ultimate theory is strengthened when one considers the instances in which territoriality increases; in times of depleted resources the presence of territoriality increases. The presence of territoriality often forces less fit animals to live in sub optimal habitats, thus reducing their reproductive success.

Though territoriality offers immense reproductive and nutritional benefits, it also comes at a cost. Defending territory is not easy. Territoriality cost time and energy and can often interfere with other fundamental activities as parenting, feeding, courting, and mating. For these reasons territoriality may not be seen as a benefit in all animals. Animals must be able to reap the fruits of territoriality, while expending the least amount of energy. For these reasons if resources are abundant and predictable it would be disadvantageous to defend the territory. On the other hand, if resources are scarce and undependable it would be advantageous to exhibit territoriality.

An animal chooses its territory by deciding what part of its home range it would like to defend. In selecting a territory the size and the quality play a crucial role in determining an animal's habitat. Territory size generally tends to be no larger than the organism than requires to survive, because with an increase in territory comes an increase in energy expenditure. For some animals the territory size is not the most important aspect of territoriality, but rather the quality of defended territory. The quality is considered to be fundamentally important due to the amount of food availability and superior nesting sights. Animals depend on these features to ensure their superior fitness.

Animals invest much time and energy in defending their territories, and for this reason they fight vigorously to defend their territory at all cost. Researchers suggest for this reason that when a rival challenges a territory holder, the owner almost always wins the contest. This phenomenon could be attributed to an evolutionary stable strategy which assets that rules for behavior are controlled by an inherited proximate mechanism such that the differences between individuals in their strategies are liked to differences in their genes. Territory plays an important role as a mechanism of population regulation, insuring the success of fit animals, and aiding in the eradication of less fit animals. Territoriality also plays a fundamental role as an indicator of carrying capacity; it also serves as an indicator of how much habitat is necessary to support viable populations. For these reasons researchers continue to examine the well-developed behavior of territoriality.

Links to Territoriality

Territoriality and Property http://www.umass.edu/preferen/gintis/Evolution%20of%20Private%20Property.pdf

Interspecific Competition http://www.tiem.utk.edu/~gross/bioed/bealsmodules/competition.html

References Alcock, John. Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, Seventh Edition. Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates, Inc., 2001

SMITH ELEMENTS OF ECOLOGY (SET:TXT/ECOL ACT GDE) (P) Fifth Edition.

title: Animal Behavior/Territoriality


text:
User talk:Alexcher

Question about Physics questions
I saw Physics questions a while ago and I would like to contribute. However, I'm not quite sure as to the goal of the page, and since you created the page, I thought you'd be the best person to ask: what was the original goal of creating the page? Was it for the purpose of having a collection of challenge problems for physics students, or was it for having a sort of "Dr.Physics" Q&A thing? (i.e. Do you want the answers somewhere in the book? Or no? Or maybe in the talk page?) novakyu 19:13, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Re: Question about Physics questions
This is an attempt to create a list of fun problems for everybody who likes to solve them himself or ask poor students to do this. Every contribution is welcome. Some of content can be later moved to a Remedial Physics Course for MBA. Answers are fine with me but let's try to obfuscate them a little. How about two passes of rot13 encryption ?
 * Er... two passes? I think I know what ROT13 encryption is, but I'm not familiar with....wait, won't that give back the original text? ROT26? :) novakyu 10:44, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Alexcher


text:
Talk:Persian/Lesson 10

Untitled
schrijven

title: Talk:Persian/Lesson 10


text:
Animal Behavior/Reproductive Strategies in Fish

Reproduction is the sole method through which a species may continue, and reproduction manifests itself in numerous deviations throughout nature. The ultimate goal of each species is to produce the maximum amount of offspring while exerting the least amount of energy. Predation pressures, resource accessibility, and competition with the species for attracting mates greatly influence the likelihood of an individual within a species producing viable offspring and donating genes to subsequent generations. Different fish species may be observed in order to learn the unique reproductive strategies employed throughout nature from fertilization tactics to parental care methods that have adapted these fish in continuing their species.

Females typically exert much more energy and time into reproduction than males, and therefore, females are usually more selective in choosing mates. Females typically favor males that are larger in size, possess more elaborate physical traits than the other males, and display more energy in courtship activity. However, smaller and less desirable males must still be able to fertilize the eggs, or, according to natural selection, they would have been eliminated from the population. Although slightly more unsettling, sexual coercion results in the fertilizing of eggs just as sexual courtship does. The term “sneakers” refers to smaller males who opt to race into the nest more desired males and fertilize the eggs while the nesting male pursues the female. The term “satellites” describes cryptic males mimicking females in appearance and behavior so that they are able to fertilize the eggs while the unsuspecting couple spawn.

Although fish species exhibit both internal and external fertilization, fish also exemplify many unique strategies for parental care. Most fish species utilize broadcast spawning, which is a method a releasing gametes into the water and providing no parental care. The goal of this reproductive method is to produce the maximum amount of progeny in hopes that as many offspring as possible will survive. Many fish species, however, opt to employ parental care in order to supply their smaller number of offspring a greater chance of survival. Oral brooding and sex role reversal are two unique methods of parental care that have proved successful in certain fish species.

Oral brooding, although quite rare in nature, is a parenting method adopted by many fish in the Family Cichlidae. After the successful fertilization of the eggs, Cichlids, such as Tilapia, place the egg clutch into the mouth of the female. The fecundity is significantly lower in oral brooders; however, the eggs tend to be larger and receive more nutrients. By placing the eggs into the oral cavity, the female is able to provide protection for the eggs, and the churning ability of the female rotates the eggs so that each egg is exposed to oxygenated water.

Similar to oral brooding, sex role reversal in fish is rare but is utilized in the Family Sygnathildae. In sea horses, the female inseminates the male by inserting the oviduct into the male brooding pouch several times to ensure fertilization. After fertilization is complete, the female departs, and the male attaches itself to a nearby object with its tail waiting for the eggs to mature.

Nature exhibits many alternatives that species have adapted in order to reproduce. By utilizing these methods, these organisms are able to reproduce viable offspring and continue their kind. Survival of the species is the ultimate goal for all organisms, and these organisms are constantly adapting to their environment in order to do so.


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Animal Behavior/Mimicry and Camouflage

Mimicry
A major concern of animals and other critters is to protect themselves from predators in order to survive and reproduce and pass their genes off to a new generation. Many animals have evolved adaptations known as anti-predator devices such as camouflage and chemical toxins. Animals use camouflage to blend in with their environments in an attempt to be unrecognizable by predators. Other organisms such as the monarch butterfly contain chemical toxins that are secreted into the predator’s mouth when it attempts to eat the butterfly. The monarch butterfly also has warning coloration that gives a warning sign to predators to remind them that the butterfly is toxic and should not be eaten.

These anti-predator devices are so successful that other organisms have been known to mimic them. The organism that is mimicked is known as the model and the third party that is deceived by the model and its mimic is known as the receiver. The mimics have learned to take advantage of the color patterns and markings that predators have learned by experience to avoid. The model is usually a species that has an abundant population and has successfully warded off predators with an anti-predator device.

Organisms have learned to mimic their surroundings or environment in an attempt to “hide” from predators. For example, lizards have learned to mimic tree trunk color which proves to be very successful as predators will simply move past them as they believe that they are simply looking at a tree. Another example of this type of mimicry can be seen with the Katydid who will mimic a leaf in both color and shape in an attempt to be hidden.

Some prey animals have evolved certain patterns on their bodies that mimic other animals in an attempt to startle their predators. The most common example of this type of mimicry can be found in some moths and butterflies who flash eye spots on their wings to predators. These eye spots startle the predator who believes that the eyes belong to a much larger animal that may be a threat to them.

In one form of mimicry known as aggressive mimicry, an organism will mimic a signal that is either deceptive or attractive to its prey. One example of this involves the praying mantis who will mimic flowers to attract insects that they can then capture and eat. Organisms can also imitate the behaviors of other organisms. Moth caterpillars, for example, will imitate the motion and body movements of a snake in order to scare off predators that are usually a prey item for snakes.

One of the most popular types of mimicry involves the warning coloration found on inedible or toxic organisms such as the monarch butterfly. Once these toxic organisms have adapted this warning coloration which warns predators to stay away, other organisms may start to mimic this warning coloration in an attempt to stay alive. Batesian mimics are those mimics that imitate unpalatable species even though they are palatable. Therefore, one species is harmful while the other is harmless. The wasp is a great example of Batesian mimicry. The wasp is the model species in this example as it possesses a sting which enables it to escape from predators. The bright warning coloration of the wasp has been mimicked by many other insects. Even though the mimics are harmless, the predator will avoid them due to bad experiences with wasps with the same coloration. With Müllerian mimicry, many unpalatable species share a similar color pattern. Müllerian mimicry proves to be successful as the predator only has to be exposed to one of the species in order to learn to stay away from all the other species with the same warning color patterns. The black and yellow striped bodies of social wasps, solitary digger wasps, and caterpillars of the cinnabar moths warn predators that the organism is inedible. This is a great example of Müllerian mimicry as all of these unpalatable, unrelated species have a shared color pattern that keeps predators away.

Mimicry is a very successful anti-predator device that species have evolved over many generations. As one can see, organisms have come to mimic many different characteristics such as color patterns and behaviors. However, selection only favors the mimics when they are less common than the model. Therefore, the fitness of mimics is “negatively frequency-dependent.”

title: Animal Behavior/Mimicry and Camouflage


text:
Using an Abacus

Mankind has used abacuses, of one kind or another, since the dawn of civilizations to meet their calculation and accounting needs. The modern version of the Eastern abacus, originated in China, is still used nowadays around the world to help children improve their numerical skills. This book is a guide to the use of this modern abacus. After studying it, the reader will know:
 * What is an abacus in a general sense.
 * What are the special characteristics of the eastern abacus.
 * How to use it effectively to perform the four basic arithmetic operations.

Table of contents

 * Basic concepts
 * Close-up of the eastern abacus
 * Addition and subtraction
 * Modern multiplication
 * Modern division

Possible extension of the book
This book, as an elementary guide to the use of the eastern abacus, can be considered complete since it teaches how to perform the four elementary arithmetic operations, but obviously it can be expanded in many ways, for example by adding chapters on:

 * Negative numbers
 * Special multiplication methods
 * Special division methods
 * Roots
 * etc.

Alternatively, it could be continued in a second book on advanced modern abacus methods.

Print version
Print version (In preparation)

Obsolete pages (stubs)
The following pages have been around for over a decade without any actual content and have now been superseded by the previous ones. They should be marked for deletion.

 * Introduction
 * Basics
 * Addition
 * Subtraction
 * Multiplication
 * Exercises
 * Division
 * Exercises
 * Negative Numbers

title: Using an Abacus


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Animal Behavior/Pheromones in ants and bees

One of the many ways in which organisms can communicate with each other is through the use of pheromones. An organism generates and emits these hormonal chemicals in order to relay a message to another member of the same species. Ants and bees demonstrate two prominent examples of pheromone usage, which acknowledges their incredible capability to organize the behaviors of the whole colony.

Ants produce numerous different pheromones, each with its own distinct purpose. Ants secrete pheromones to attract mates, to signal danger to the colony, or to give directions about a location. Other pheromones act as deterrents keeping out unwanted ants from foreign colonies or preying insectivores. Still other pheromones communicate ants to congregate. This explains how assiduous ants exercise remarkable cooperation in building a colony. Pheromones maintain the cohesiveness and organization of the complex ant communities. Certain types, such as alarm pheromones, produce a “releaser effect”, which induces a quick response and may be used to tell other ants to evacuate a dangerous area such as an approaching lawnmower. For example, when a spider approaches an ant will release alarm pheromones that alert all the other ants. Ants may also discharge alarm pheromones as a result from being diverted from their work, e.g. heavy human steps. Releaser pheromones are also used to mark territory. As the chemical deposited dries, it signals to other species members of the territory’s occupant.

Other pheromones create a “primer effect” that entices other ants for actions. Such pheromones are useful in mating rituals and only affect ants of the opposite sex. Primer pheromones can send signals to the endocrine system, to make appropriate changes, for instance ovulation required for successful mating.

Biologist E.O. Wilson discovered in the 1960’s that the organic chemical for each pheromone varies tremendously depending on what signal it entails. Ants taste and smell a substance that evaporates off the chemical laid down by another ant. Wilson observed in slow motion films that ants do this by moving their antennae from side to side. For example, alarm pheromones are discharged into the air, and expand in a circle of smell. Ants can determine the concentration of the pheromone, and thus determine the proximity of the source of danger.

Bees are also well known for communicating through the use of pheromones. Like ants, bees have a variety of purposes associated with the pheromones, such as marking and behavior. Honeybees release chemical signals for marking food sources, marking their hive, in scenting potential hive sites, and in assembling swarms for flight. Although each hive has a particular scent, different colonies can be easily integrated during times when honey flow is heavy since the colony’s odor is inundated with the scent of nectar. Virgin queen bees emit a behavioral pheromone released with their feces. When the new queen feels threatened by the workers she uses this pheromone as a repellent.

Another widely identified chemical signal in bees is the Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP). This pheromone ensures that the queen is the only reproductive female in the hive by compromising the reproductive systems of worker bees. It also provides an attractant signal to the drones.


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Animal Behavior/Army Ants - Social Hierarchy, Life Cycles, and Migration

Army Ants (Eciton burichelli)
Army ant colony castes consist of queen ants, soldier ants, and multi-purpose worker ants. In the army ant colony, the queen ant lays eggs, the soldiers focus their attention to the defense of the colony, and the worker ants are split between being foragers or tending to the queens brood.

The Army ant is abundantly found in humid lowland forests or heavily forested areas of Central/South America. The changes in temperature and precipitation have no effect on the life cycles or migration of these ants.

The social structure and life cycles of army ants have two distinct phases. Army ant colonies go through a stationary phase and a migratory (nomadic) phase. The phases are based on the ability of a queen to produce many eggs in a very short period of time (from 100 000 to 300 000 eggs in five to ten days); thus, the queen overpopulates a given area, which then triggers migration of the colony.

In the stationary phase, the army ant queen's abdomen swells to hold 55 000 to 66 000 eggs. As the eggs develop into mature ants, tens of thousands of adult workers appear, triggering the nomadic phase: colony activity increases exponentially, and "swarm raids" increase in size and intensity. With a colony of this size, the army ant colony must emigrate daily. The migration continues until "larval pupation" begins. Once this occurs, the colony re-enters the stationary phase, and the cycle repeats.

Due to their large colony sizes, army ants migrate in order to find food. Most ants are "column feeders." Army ants are what are called "swarm feeders." The foraging workers form a fan-shaped swarm with a broad front. Along with feeding, army ants also have a unique way of forming nests. The army ant nest is made up of army ants themselves. The ants form walls and fasten onto each other by using their mandibles. The ant colony forms these walls almost anywhere in order to enclose the queen and her brood. The nest is very structured, as it provides corridors within itself for transporting food and eggs throughout the many areas of the nest.

Army ant colonies march and nest in different phases as well. In the nomadic phase, army ants march at night and stop to camp during the day. The colony begins a nomadic phase when available food has decreased. During this phase, the colony makes temporary nests that are changed everyday. Each of these nomadic rampages or marches lasts for approximately 17 days.

Army ants are notorious for eating anything that gets in their path. They can kill and eat up to 100 000 animals in a day! They normally consume lizards, snakes, chickens, pigs, goats, scorpions, tarantulas, beetles and other ants. Army ants can also climb trees, and feed on animals within its canopy.

Army ants communication is completely dependent on chemical messaging and trail pheromones. These methods of communication act as a stimuli for changing behavior patterns. Unlike other ants, army ants do not have compound eyes, but instead have single eyes. Army ants are also blind and have to use their antennae to sense smell and touch. The army ants use these senses to communicate in nesting and raiding.


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Animal Behavior/Genetic Effects on Cognitive Ability

Human Cognitive Development
Nature, Nurture, and Cognitive Development from 1 to 16 years: In a Parent-Offspring Adoption Study, Robert Plomin and his fellow researchers conclude that genetics, not environment, play a larger role in the development of the cognitive processes. These researchers are interested in cognitive ability (the mental process of knowing, including aspects such as awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment). Results for children aged 1–16 show that adoptees, although resembling their adoptive parents minimally at first, become more and more like their biological parents and less like their adoptive parents as they age. By adolescence, there is a strong resemblance to the cognitive functioning of the biological parents, to the same degree as in the control families, and no similarity to that of the adoptive parents. Despite the fact that the children do not spend any time with their biological parents, they are more similar, cognitively speaking. It suggests that the genes affecting cognitive ability are not all expressed until adolescence and, further, that whatever environmental factors may affect cognitive functioning are not at all correlated with the cognitive ability of the parents who raise the child. The research team conducted their 20-year longitudinal Colorado Adoption Project (CAP) in Denver, CO beginning in 1975. The CAP followed 245 adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents, as well as 245 matched nonadoptive children and their parents. They recruited pregnant mothers prior to labor. A fifth of the biological fathers were tested, whereas previous studies had not tested the biological fathers. The children were placed in homes at twenty-nine days, and in adopted homes at seven months. The researchers also had a control group of families. The children were matched to adopted families relatively similar to their own based on gender, the number of children in the family, age of the father, occupational status of the father, and father’s years of education. Also, the variability in socioeconomic status was representative of the U.S. population. The biological mothers were usually tested during their third trimester and the adoptive parents and control parents were usually tested during the child’s first year. Collectively, the thirteen tests lasted three hours long and tested the cognitive abilities of each individual. The tests were given periodically to the children throughout their development and maturation. CAP also presents a disclaimer stating that they do not believe that their examinations are fully accurate due to exceptions that they did not test, such as mental retardation. They also only represent the middle ninety percent of the U.S. population at the time in which their study began (1975). This study shows that genetic effects on cognitive abilities are not manifested only in adulthood, but also to a considerable extent in adolescence to a lesser degree in childhood, and only slightly during infancy. The different degrees of manifestation attest to the fact that not all genes regarding cognitive ability come arise until the time of adolescence. It also shows that genetics, not environment, contribute to a individuals abilities.


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Animal Behavior/Darwin's Finches

The Galapagos Islands finches have been used by Charles Darwin and many other scientist to study how “ random variation and natural selection can drive the production of organisms with novel features, adapted to new ways of life" (Alberts 2004). The finches studied in the Galapagos Island are usually characterized by the great variance in beaks and the function of beaks. The finches beaks were first thought to change over many years because of local ecological condition, but many scientists devised a new hypothesis which stated, “As a consequence of beak evolution, there have been changes in the structure if finch vocal signals (Podos 2004).”	This hypothesis was based the assumption that beaks have a direct correlation in effecting song production. The Galapagos Island finches displayed a wide variety phenotypes of beaks with different forms and functions caused by natural selection over many years. This phenotype variation was hypothesized by the Grants to be a result of natural selection because of ecological conditions. The new studies, however, tested to see if finch beaks have an effect on the acoustic structure of the songbird songs. The first experiment done to test this hypothesis involved first checking to see if beak movement caused sound production, which turned out to be true. Thus, one could imply that beak variations could cause a different song production. The goal of these researches is “ to show how research on the relationship between beaks and song is providing novel insights into the interplay of morphological adaptation and the evolution communication signals" (Podos 2004). The bird song is actually made in the birds syrinx, which is similar to the human larynx during speech production. The scientist then addressed the question of how the birds are able to send pure tonal signals across such a long range and distance. The answer is that the birds are able to change their vocal tracts configurations, which in turn directly changes the frequency of their songs. The three generalizations, which these finches fall into describing their songs are, simple, variability, and cross-species overlap. If the beak is opened more wide then it creates a higher pitched sound.  So it could be hypothesized that a large beaked bird will have a large vocal tract and will in turn create a lower song frequency. This hypothesis was backed up by the studies of Maria Palacious and Pablo Tubaro who tested the Neotropical Woodcreepers Pendrocolaptinae, which produced lower frequency songs with long beaks. These scientists tested, these highly protected finches, by video taping them and then determining the beak gapes for each song for the different finches. The two main reason male finches use their singing, like many other singing birds, is for territory defense and mate attraction, but the difference in beak size could affect both these characteristics, because some males with either small or large beaks could not produce the right song in other to perform these tasks. This lead Nowick and colleagues to test to see if a beak changed its size for food collection, then would this have a direct effect on how fast or slow a finch could move its beak to produce its specific song. Nowick then concluded that there was a positive correlation between “divergences of beaks and its influence not only the feeding but also their singing behavior.” The scientist, however, plan to broaden their investigation by studying how wider beaks may influence songs and also study other birds with beak morphology such as the crossbills or the Hawaiian honeycreepers.

Works cited

Alberts, B., D. Bray, K. Hopkin, A. Johnson, J. Leiws, M. Raff, K. Roberts, and P. Walter. Essential Cell Biology. New York: Garland Science 27: 7

Podos, Jeffrey, and Stephen Nowicki. " Beaks, adaption, and vocal evolution Darwin's finches." Bioscience 54 (2004): 501-510

title: Animal Behavior/Darwin's Finches


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Animal Behavior/Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning, sometimes called instrumental conditioning or instrumental learning, was first extensively studied by Edward L. Thorndike (1874–1949). Thorndike's most famous work investigated the behavior of cats trying to escape from various home-made puzzle boxes. When first constrained in the boxes the cats took a long time to escape from each. With experience however, ineffective responses occurred less frequently and successful responses occurred more quickly enabling the cats to escape in less and less time over successive trials (Wikipedia).

B.F. Skinner (1904–1990) extended the theories proposed by Thorndike about 40 years after Thorndike published his works. Skinner's ideas of animals operating on the environment led him to analyze how behavior is affected by its consequences. The contraption that became known as the Skinner box measured whether a task was completed and how long it took for the task to be completed. The Skinner box consisted of a bar that, when pressed, triggered the release of a food pellet. Skinner believed that rewarding an animal when an appropriate action occurred would increase the likelihood that the behavior would be repeated. When a rat accidentally tapped on the bar, a food pellet was released, and Skinner observed the amount of time it took the rat to find the pellet. As the rat learned that a pellet released each time he happened to step on the bar, the rat learned to press the bar and to immediately find the food. This training became known as operant conditioning (Alcock).

Today Skinners operant conditioning is still used to train animals. All animals that are part of Sea World programs have been trained using positive reinforcement operant conditioning. When an animal performs a desired behavior the trainer will reward the animal to encourage the action to be performed when signaled for at a later time. Positive reinforcers are stimuli that strengthen a response if they follow that response (How Animals). Negative reinforcers can also be used to encourage a certain behavior. It is important to distinguish the difference between negative reinforcement and the punishment theory. Negative reinforcement is simply the removal of an unpleasant stimulant or pain (Bernstein). For example: a person who uses an alarm that plays a pleasant song may oftentimes hit the snooze or linger in bed. To condition himself to get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off the person may switch the alarm sound to something obnoxiously loud and unpleasant. To remove the unpleasant stimulant the person will immediately get out of bed and turn the alarm off. Knowing how to remove the unpleasant sound increases the likelihood that the person will get out of bed immediately after the alarm plays. The Punishment theory, on the other hand, introduces an aversive stimulus to reduce the likelihood of a certain behavior.

Operant conditioning is seen in the learning behavior of many animals, including humans. Oftentimes it goes completely unnoticed, but it can also be used as a deliberate tool in training. As young children explore their world and learn how to eliminate unpleasant stimuli and satisfy desires through proper behavior, they are learning through operant conditioning.

See also Thorndike's Law of Effect

title: Animal Behavior/Operant Conditioning


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User talk:66.167.207.103

I think not. No talk message, and you try and switch back to an inadaquate standard. AND you try and eliminate the work that's already been done. Maybe you are a past contributor, but if you haven't been back in 3 months, you have NO room to complain. I don't care what you do, I'll just change it back. No one else has said a word.--Naryathegreat 23:42, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:66.167.207.103


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Animal Behavior/The Correlation Between Bird Song and Human Speech

Bird Song and Human Speech
To learn their language, humans and white crowned sparrows follow similar steps, recognition, practice, and clarity. The best time for a human to learn their language is from toddler to twelve years old (Macdonald) and the best time for a white crowned sparrow to learn its song is between 10–50 days from when they were born. Both genes and environment play roles in determining the way each communicate (Alcock 25).

The first step for humans and white crowned species in learning their language can be considered recognition. White crowned sparrows and humans listen to a tutor before they begin to communicate their language. The tutor teaches the language and the particular dialect, according to the area. Just like humans, the sparrows also have a dialect depending on where they live. A white crowned sparrow has certain genes that only allow them to learn its own species’ songs. Experiments have been performed in which the sparrow was kept in isolation and played tapes of other song sparrows, the white crowned sparrow will not imitate the other species’ song, but will sing an odd song unlike either species’ song (Alcock 24-25). Humans also cannot communicate with each other using a different species’ language. A study was done in Avignon, France that observed children who were brought up by wolves. It was observed that the children spoke no language at all. Before studies of this kind were done it was thought that the children might learn to communicate with the wolves, just like the Tarzan story. This is not true, the children could not speak the human language nor the language of the wolves (Macdonald). It is a combination of environment and genes that tell white crowned sparrows and humans to learn their proper language. Genes tell the species to only learn the language of their own species and environment plays a factor in determining which dialect each will use.

Once the white crowned sparrow or infant has recognized its species, song, they can begin to practice the language. Infants first communicate by making sounds. The sounds can range from grunts to sounds that mimic their surrounding environments. For example, before babies can say words, they might say moo- moo when looking at a cow. After sounds come words. By the time the infant reaches one year, they should be making sentences out of words (Macdonald). The white crowned sparrow also does not immediately master its song. The sparrow will first sing a short subsong derived from the tutor’s full song. The sparrows keep practicing their subsong just as infants practice their words. After the sparrow has mastered its subsong it can start to form a full song. In both species it is necessary for them to hear themselves in order to vocalize their language correctly (Alcock 26).

In conclusion, both white crowned sparrows first listen and recognize their particular species’ language. A white crowned sparrow has a tutor to teach the song. Infants usually have parents that teach them their verbal language. Then they must practice the language, starting off slow with sounds and building up. Both species will continue to improve and clarify their language throughout their lives.


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PyKDE Programming

This book introduces its readers to the KDE functions that can be accessed through the pyKDE package and how to create QT based user interfaces within the KDE environment. The reading requires a basic understanding of programming in python.

Table of Contents

 * /Introduction/
 * /KDE/
 * /QT/
 * /QT & KDE/
 * /KDE Extras/
 * /QT Extras/
 * /External Resources/

title: PyKDE Programming