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This article from Cobblestone magazine recounts the nerve-racking journey of Frederick Bailey, an enslaved person, as he attempted to escape to freedom in 1838. Frederick borrowed papers from a Black friend who was a sailor to pass as a free Black man. He traveled by train and steamboat, eventually reaching New York City, where he found help from the Underground Railroad. Frederick and his fiancée, Anna Murray, married and settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with the help of Nathan and Polly Johnson. They changed their last name to Douglass and became active in the abolitionist movement. The article also discusses the Fugitive Slave Laws and the challenges faced by escaped enslaved people in the United States. [Extracted from the article]

If you've seen the musical The King and I, chances are you imagine the king as a bald man. That's because Yul Brynner, the actor who made the role famous, [...]

Having faith in the land is a concept that dissolved in the 20th century due to mechanization which decreased the value of a crop and drastically increased the amount a grower had to produce in order to survive corporatization, making that product ever less profitable by allowing a few large companies to control prices. Mark Gordon, Peter Martinelli and Yuko Tanabe show how to make land more productive without affecting the eco-system.

New CMOS imaging sensors, which provide the basis for improved integrated safety systems on vehicles, have been developed by Troy, Mich.-based Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. The CMOS imaging sensors, which allow for the use of low-cost, high-quality cameras, includes apllications such as adaptive cruise control, rear and forward detection and a driver monitor system.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II of England is far from the first monarch to celebrate 60 years on a throne with a Diamond Jubilee--monarchs across the globe have agreed that ruling for [...]

Yasuo Tarumi will kneel by the computer when required, will sit at the dining table when politeness demands. But the truth is, he would rather be on his couch. As [...]

There has been much effort to assess the efficacy of sewage treatment plants to remove chemicals with estrogenic activity, but other modes of toxicity have received less attention. This study assessed the efficacy of advanced tertiary technologies to remove estrogen receptor (ER), aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), retinoic receptor (RAR) agonists and genotoxicity using recombinant gene bioassays. Untreated sewage contained ER, AhR and RAR agonists and was genotoxic. Activated sludge treatment removed over 69% of the ER, AhR and RAR aqueous phase activities. Ozonation and biologically activated carbon processes removed genotoxicity and most receptor agonists to below detection limits. Estrogenic activity was associated with the semi-polar fraction of the aqueous phase and non-polar phase of the influent (maximum 30%). AhR and RAR activities were found in both the aqueous and particulate phases of influent. Only RAR activity was frequently found in the polar fraction of aqueous and particulate phases of the process effluent. In the influent, the greatest RAR activity was found in the polar fraction of the aqueous phase (>65%). Genotoxic activity was detected in all influent fractions but rapidly decreased. The results showed that ER, AhR and RAR agonists were greatly reduced by the advanced tertiary treatment processes.

The current study examined the perception of sexual health education (SHE) being provided in middle and high schools in three Canadian provinces from a sample of young adults. Participants were 296 undergraduate students (91 men, 205 women) between the ages of 18 and 24 who had gone to both middle school and high school in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Ontario. There were few differences between provinces. Almost all participants reported receiving SHE in middle school but about a quarter had not received SHE in high school. On average, participants rated the SHE they had received in middle school as fair and in high school as good. Participants, on average, rated most of 21 specified sexual health topics as covered poorly and covered. The men tended to rate the SHE they had received in middle school more positively than did the women. Participants reported that teachers used a variety of methods in the classroom, 6.78 of 9 possible methods on average. Multiple regression analyses showed that higher perceived quality of SHE was associated with better topic coverage, the extent to which the topics covered matched their interests, and the number of different methods used. Participants reported that peers were a more important source of sexual health information than was SHE. The results point to a continued need to improve the quality of SHE provided in Canadian schools.

The letter from Lia Robinson depicts the kind of indoctrination that has turned too many people off religion ('You gotta have faith--in what?' Letters, April 27). It is fear-driven, superstitious [...]

Congratulations! You are wisely spending your marketing dollars on single campaigns, and the results show it. But are you looking at the big picture? Can you budget based on total [...]

Chest radiography has been the preferred imaging study to assess pulmonary congestion. However, chest radiography interpretation is influenced by the level of expertise and high interobserver variability. Lung ultrasound (US) may produce more objective findings through evaluation of vertical comet tail artifacts known as B‐lines, which are created by a decrease in the ratio of alveolar air to fluid pulmonary content. Few studies have directly compared chest radiography to bedside US against a reference standard for the diagnosis of pulmonary edema. This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of bedside US and chest radiography in diagnosing pulmonary edema. This prospective observational cohort study involved adult patients presenting to the emergency department of an urban tertiary hospital with dyspnea. The primary outcome was the presence or absence of pulmonary edema, as indicated by B‐lines on a bedside lung US examination or radiologist‐interpreted chest radiography. Patients underwent a US examination within about 1 hour of chest radiography. The final diagnosis from the discharge summary served as the reference standard. Ninety‐nine patients were enrolled; 32.3% had congestive heart failure, and 40.4% had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Bedside US showed significantly higher sensitivity (96%) compared to chest radiography (65%; P< .001). Of 18 patients with negative radiographic findings and a discharge diagnosis of pulmonary edema, 16 (89%) had positive US findings (P< .001). Bedside US has the potential to identify pulmonary edema more accurately than chest radiography. As current practice within the United States uses chest radiography, reflecting American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association guidelines for management of heart failure, the results of this study warrant further evaluation.

We evaluated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of evolocumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody against proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9), in an open‐label, parallel‐design study in participants with normal renal function (n = 6), severe renal impairment (RI; n = 6), or end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) receiving hemodialysis (n = 6) who received a single 140‐mg dose of evolocumab. The effects of evolocumab treatment on low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) lowering and unbound PCSK9 concentrations were similar in the normal renal function group and the renally impaired groups. Geometric mean Cmaxand AUClastvalues in the severe RI and ESRD hemodialysis groups compared with the normal renal function group were lower but within 37% of the normal renal function group (Jonckheere‐Terpstra trend test; Cmax, P = .23; AUClast, P = .22) and within 26% after adjusting for body weight (mean body weight was approximately 9% higher in the renally impaired groups compared with the normal renal function group). No correlations were observed between exposure and baseline creatinine clearance. No adverse event was determined by the investigators to be related to evolocumab, and there were no trends indicative of clinically important effects on laboratory variables or vital signs. Overall, there were no meaningful differences in evolocumab exposure, as assessed by Cmaxand AUClast, in patients with severe RI and ESRD hemodialysis compared with patients with normal renal function, and LDL‐C‐lowering effects were similar across groups. These results support the use of evolocumab without dose adjustment in patients who have severe RI or ESRD.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles from previous issues including an article by Richard Stengel on national service in the U.S., "Rewiring the Brain," by Jeffrey Kluger, and "The Gray Wars," which all appeared in the September 10, 2007 issue.

I wanted to point out a glaring omission in your article about the powerful women leading the Department of Justice (DOJ) ['Justice League']. You failed to mention my dear friend [...]

The high-volume industrial fish farming produces a lot of waste that pollutes the surrounding water, which can spread inferior traits into the wild when they escape. The Ocean Arks International that is making efforts to devise new 'ecotechnologies' for raising fish is discussed.

I'm still not sure how Ontario's Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne won a majority (Interview, July 7), but now we are subjected to four more years of monumental mismanagement. Urban voters [...]

The article offers information on the marriage of female air pilot Amelia Earhart and George Palmer Putnam.

You'd think buying auto insurance wouldn't require much more than a couple of calls. The shocking fact is that rates vary by as much as 300%. What's more, there are [...]

In our continued quest to give you tangible tips on making the most of your hard-earned dollars, BLACK ENTERPRISE begins a new series on auto coverage. We'll show you how [...]

The effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs, including those that reduce cholesterol synthesis (statins) and those that reduce cholesterol absorption (ezetimibe), on cholesterol absorption and synthesis are well understood. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors are a novel class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that robustly reduce LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), but little is known about their effects on cholesterol absorption and synthesis. We evaluated how treatment with evolocumab, a fully human monoclonal IgG2 antibody to PCSK9, affects markers of cholesterol synthesis and absorption by measuring these markers in patients from an evolocumab clinical trial. At 2 weeks, changes in β-sitosterol/total cholesterol (TC) from baseline were 4% for placebo, 10% for evolocumab 140 mg (nonsignificant vs. placebo), and 26% for evolocumab 420 mg (P< 0.001 vs. placebo). Changes in campesterol/TC at week 2, relative to baseline between placebo and evolocumab, were all nonsignificant. Evolocumab had a modest effect on markers of cholesterol synthesis. At 2 weeks, changes in desmosterol/TC were 1% for placebo, 7% for evolocumab 140 mg (nonsignificant vs. placebo), and 15% for evolocumab 420 mg (P< 0.01 vs. placebo). Changes from baseline in lathosterol/TC at week 2 between placebo and evolocumab were nonsignificant. These results suggest that evolocumab has a modest effect on cholesterol synthesis and absorption despite significant LDL-C lowering.

The article discusses the project Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI), which involves researchers trying to keep plant-breeding intellectual property from being privately claimed through the patent process. Topics include a conflict between researcher Jim Myers and seed company Seminis Inc., U.S. laws regarding plants and intellectual-property rights, and the inspiration of OSSI by open-source computer programs. Researchers involved include Irwin Goldman, Jack Kloppenburg, and Tom Michaels.

The article discusses supply and demand for quinoa, a grainlike seed known for its superfood qualities due to its protein and fiber content, with a focus on environmental and economic conditions in the Altiplano region of Bolivia where quinoa is native. Topics include efforts to adapt quinoa through genetic engineering so that it will grow in different climates, the exclusive ownership of the germplasm necessary to breed different varieties of the plant by Bolivia and Ecuador, and intellectual property rights in Bolivia as it relates to food sovereignty.

Consumers, growers, corporations predicted imminent failure when organic agriculture enjoyed the beginning of an American renaissance in the 1970s; nobody believed organic food was important enough to carry its high [...]

The $85.4-million East Boston Branch Sewer Relief Project used a combination of cured-in-place pipe lining, microtunneling, pipe bursting, and opencut excavation methods to upgrade 4.5 mi of the aging interceptor system serving East Boston. Despite the numerous challenges associated with designing and implementing a major infrastructure upgrade in a heavily urbanized setting, the project successfully met a court-ordered deadline and greatly reduced the volume of combined sewer overflows reaching local waterways.

The article discusses the concept of collaboration which is a familiar concept in the realm of campus activities and its programmers. It refers to any project or problem that brings together various people to create a bigger and better outcome than the single individual or organization can create in the context of programming. Among the components of a successful collaboration are the involvement of the right people and the establishment of a common vision.

The article discusses agriculture and farming. The Japanese farmer Susumu Hashimoto is quoted talking about his goals as a farmer. The article explains that natural agriculture farmers do not use pesticides or compost because they do not believe in adding any sort of supplements to the land. Consumers of natural farming produce aid the process by helping with distribution, order-collecting, and sometimes actually farming the land. Natural farmers believe they are promoting love.

FastScat is a state-of-the-art program for computing electromagnetic scattering and radiation. Its purpose is to support the study of recent algorithmic advancements, such as the fast multipole method, that promise speed-ups of several orders of magnitude over conventional algorithms. The complexity of these algorithms and their associated data structures led us to adopt an object-oriented methodology for FastScat. We discuss the program's design and several lessons learned from its C++ implementation including the appropriate level for object-orientedness in numeric software, maintainability benefits, interfacing to Fortran libraries such as LAPACK, and performance issues.

The article offers guidelines on how to create a successful theme programming and theme-based programs for campuses. It advises to start with the planning meeting by inviting interested people, looking for facilities, and planning for a variety of activities. It suggests to make the theme program unique to reflect the campus' values, and encourage competition among campus clubs or organizations by participating in the theme week activities. It also offers guidelines on how to maximize the impact of the planning meeting.

The article offers information on the practice of natural agriculture. The agriculture philosophy was founded by Mokichi Okada, a Japanese who recast agriculture in spiritual terms. Natural agriculture proposes that rather seek dominance over the natural world, one should return to the place as integral members of it. The philosophy behind natural agriculture is that not to boost yields but rather to optimize conditions so that plants and soil may grow strong using their own capabilities and potentials.

This article presents a collection of letters to the editor. There are several on presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's use of the 9/11 attacks in his campaign, and others on the biology of addiction as reported in the September 10, 2007 issue. There is also letter regarding women coloring their hair from the same issue.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in the September 10, 2007 issue including the article "Gray Wars," by Ann Kreamer , "Betting the Farm," by Eric Pooley and an article by Nancy Gibbs on the case of Senator Larry Craig.

The article features style blogger Lisa Hamilton, who was the founder of lifestyle and fashion blog See Want Shop (SWS). It states that Hamilton was made known online for her artistic curation of fashion images and outfit posts. It says that Hamilton's busy lifestyle also including working as a physiotherapist. It adds that she has been using her Holden Cascada convertible car as her second wardrobe.

Various letters to the editor are presented in response to articles published in the periodical including "Canada's disease" by Anne Kingston published in the April 27, 2015 issue, "America's most armed and most dangerous" by Scott Gilmore in the April 27, 2015 issue, and "Joy everywhere but Hogtown" by Jonathan Gatehouse published in the April 27, 2015 issue.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in the previous issues of the journal including "The [Mad] Man Who Loves Women," "Boy Wonderful," in the March 2015 issue and topics related to review of the book "The Bitch Is Back," exploring female hormones.