judy gaskell
I am a retired law librarian. I live in DC and Wisconsin. I enjoy birding, hiking, gardening with native plants and doing yoga.
Location USA
Activity
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judy gaskell made a comment
Thank you very much for such an enjoyable course. I learned so much from your course material and the comments of fellow learners. Please offer a follow up course on the beginner level.
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judy gaskell replied to Paul Kamill
WNV was very active in the DC area about 10 years ago. It killed many of the Crows, but the resistant ones have reestablished their territories.
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judy gaskell made a comment
This was an interesting experiment. No surprise that the urban landscape had only one pollinator. But very interesting that the semi-rural landscape had the most recordings. This should be an incentive to try to get suburban gardeners to add more plants to attract and harbor pollinators.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I would choose the flower-insect timed counts as a base study. This is a less intrusive way to study pollinators than the pan trapping and meta barcoding. It might be useful to combine the counts with bioacoustic recordings tagged to the identified pollinators.
This would work in coral reefs too by doing visual counts and recording sonar communications. -
I think the most significant threat to pollinators is habitat loss. Some pollinators are specialists so are more threatened when their host plants are reduced or eliminated. The generalists may hang on longer.
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judy gaskell replied to judy gaskell
If the primary producers are reduced, the entire ecosystem will unravel.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I chose the boreal forest in Canada. The key threats to this ecosystem are habitat loss due to logging and climate change. There are five primary producers in this particular food web: Grey Willow, Lichens,White Spruce, Bog Birch, Grasses. Primary Consumers: There are six primary consumers in this food web: Caribou (Eats Lichen and Grey Willow and Bog...
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judy gaskell made a comment
This was a very informative exercise. When you remove one or two coral species, parts of the ecosystem still work. However eliminating all three species causes the ecosystem to collapse totally. This shows us how important every species is in an ecosystem.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think that a network with more links would be more resistant. The pattern is important because if a top predator or a major food source is eliminated or decreases the network would lose resilience. Isolated species with a small network are very vulnerable to being eliminated. They lack resilience and resistance. I would look at what other species rely on...
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think that the effects of climate change might be the most difficult to combat. Education and enforcement could help mitigate the impact of direct human damage to coral reefs, but the overall warming of the seas would overwhelm the reefs.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I enjoyed week one and am looking forward to week two.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I chose the Saguaro cactus because I see it in Arizona when I am there in February.
"(Carnegiea gigantea) is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea, that can grow to be over 40 ft (12 m) tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California.... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I could not get the maps to work properly so had to guess at the answers. did anyone else have the same problem?
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judy gaskell made a comment
The placement of such farms on the flight patterns of sea birds might increase the risk of bird strikes. I hope the data will provide a good solution to this problem. Perhaps some solar farms might be a good accessory to this reliance on wind energy.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I chose to study Monarch Butterflies. Over the years I have seen a decrease in their population, but it seems to have rebounded a bit recently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly
The scale would have to be studies over their entire range. The major threats are the widespread use of pesticides, the diminishment of their host plants, native... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I am most familiar with the dune community in the Indiana Dunes National Park, which I lived in and then near for over 15 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Dunes_National_Park
The dune community was studied by Henry Chandler Cowles and formed the basis of his theory of dune succession. The park is at the bottom of Lake Michigan where the littoral... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I find both arguments equally convincing to me. They can be tailored to specific groups, such as business people who might be more convinced by an economic argument or religious groups who might be more swayed by a moral argument. One drawback of the economic argument is that it might be used to draw support to proven useful species such as bees from species...
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judy gaskell replied to Hannah B
We notice the birds more because of the decrease in background noise.
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judy gaskell replied to Deborah Thomas
I have small gardens, but try to populate them with plants that support birds and insects.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Greetings. I am Judy in Washington, DC. I just completed Food and Mood and want to take another course from FutureLearn. I am an environmentalist who supports a variety of environmental organizations and my favorite land trust in Indiana where I used to live.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Thanks for offering this course. It was a lifeline for me during this pandemic. I seldom feel anxiety, but it has been creeping up on me. I plan to continue to improve my diet and include more variety of whole foods in it. I appreciate all the constructive comments from the instructors and participants. I have learned a lot.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have added more water, fruit, and olive oil to my diet. I have tried to cook a few new recipes. I hope to add more vegetarian recipes soon.
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judy gaskell made a comment
1. Plan meals a week in advance (but remain flexible due to ingredient accessibility).
2. Buy unprocessed canned or frozen ingredients to have on hand
3. Cook enough for several meals at a time and freeze any excess. -
judy gaskell made a comment
Right now a major barrier is the lack of fresh food options in grocery stores due to the pandemic. Supply chains are disrupted and people are hoarding food. This morning I went to the grocery store. No bananas and only one bag of spinach. Not much meat so I continue to cook chicken in a variety of ways.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have two brief examples. First is that although I am a quiet, shy person, I have had some success at important job interviews. Somehow I can focus on my strengths and positively sell myself in tense situations. The second is when I had a major depressive time after both somatic and emotional shock. My therapist had me concentrate on and appreciate my...
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think I am in the action stage. I have been making slight changes over the years but want to have the healthiest diet during this pandemic.
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judy gaskell made a comment
My main goals are:
to eat 3 servings of fruits or berries every day
to eat three servings of vegetables every day
to drink at least three large glasses of water every day
starting tomorrow and keeping a food diary for the next three months.
Checking in on my mood every day. -
judy gaskell made a comment
During this pandemic I have not eaten outside the house for over two months. That has saved a lot of money. Meat is more expensive now and in short supply so we are eating less of it. Fresh fruits and vegetables are now coming into season so i buy them when available. I have always bought some frozen vegetables and lots of canned tomatoes and beans. I know...
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judy gaskell made a comment
One of my go to recipes is a marinara sauce with whole wheat pasta. I saute diced onion , diced green peppers, and garlic in olive oil. Then add one can diced tomatoes, one large can crushed tomatoes, one can tomato paste, sliced mushrooms, oregano and basil and a dash of pepper sauce. Simmer for at least a half hour. Then add a teaspoon of lemon juice or...
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judy gaskell made a comment
The diet looks good, but seems to include more food than i would eat any day. I think it has too many carbs in it. If i ate everything recommended i would gain weight.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I like the variety of foods allowed, but wonder about some of the quantities.
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judy gaskell replied to Annalisa Rivoli
I just read an article in AARP Magazine that recommended two tablespoons per day of Extra virgin Olive Oil from California for brain health. A study found that type most effective.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have never experienced a dietary intervention. but I did have a therapist who helped my cut down on my alcohol consumption. he got me through a rough patch in my life.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think the Mediteranean diet has lots of olive oil, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables and a bit of red wine. Along with a robust social support system.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I am looking forward to learning about the SMILES trial and the modiMed diet. I try to have a healthy diet, but it is difficult to find fresh fruits and vegetables during this pandemic.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I look forward to help in how to begin a better diet.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have taken other FL courses on nutrition and health, but this course has given me much more information about the importance of diet to mental health. I plan to continue to improve my diet to stave off brain decline. My father and his brother both died of Alzheimers. I do not want to follow them.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The USDA labeling guidelines have changed in the last few years. They now advise that foods be labeled with a 'best by" date to cut down on food waste. some people were throwing out perfectly good food that was past the date on the container. They also have changed the nutrition facts labels so that 'Calories" are in large print and serving size is in bold...
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judy gaskell replied to colin fry
@JaneCallaghan And post menopausal women do not need any additional iron. I recently found out that I am a carrier of hereditary haemochromatosis. I need to warn my brothers and their children about this.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think that what Dr. Marx said about a nutrient rich diet being the best approach to ward off cognitive decline is the best advice. Probably adding proven nutraceuticals to that diet will not do any harm. The danger is when people think they can use them instead of changing their diet to a healthier one.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The American Heritage Dictionary has six different types of meanings. The first include s the first meaning in the pdf and the sixth includes the second in the pdf. it had many more nuances of usage of the verb 'treat'.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I eat a varied diet, but need to add more prebiotics to the mix. I am not sure if popcorn qualifies as a prebiotic, but a large amount sure does clean out the gut. I learned this after one of the last movies I saw in a movie theatre. I was hungry so ate a large bag of popcorn.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Since the pandemic shutdown here in DC began, I have been walking in the nearby park almost every day. Not only do I feel more energetic, but my sensitivity to eggs (causing morning diarrhea) seems to have subsided. I hope this is due to a change in my microbiota and will continue. I plan to continue walking as much as possible.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I understand from the video that supporting a diverse microbiota in the gut is an important aspect of brain health and that a diverse diet supports this. But other factors like social interactions and brain stimulating actions are also a part of maintaining brain functions as we age.
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judy gaskell made a comment
"Perhaps the first of these would be the recognition that the microbiome turns out to be one of the major defences against invasion or infection by external pathogens. These are organisms like salmonella, that can normally infect a healthy person, but only when present in very large numbers."
Milestone: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are crucial in maintenance...
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judy gaskell made a comment
The USDA MyPlate information gives general guidelines about five food groups. It allows dairy and does not distinguish between different sources of protein. The Mediterranean diet is a bit more limited by discouraging dairy and red meat, etc. Someone on a USDA diet could be eating the right percentages of each food group, but not the best sources of fiber,...
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think it is clear that poor diet, poor sleep, gum disease, obesity, lack of exercise and stress can all contribute directly to increased inflammation.
I had to look up atopy in wikipedia ; "Atopy is the tendency to produce an exaggerated IgE immune response to otherwise harmless environmental substances, while an allergic disease can be defined as the... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I think that diet is an important factor in mental and physical health. I look forward to exploring how this works.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I think that personalized nutrition is the way to go in future, but this needs to be available to everyone.
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judy gaskell made a comment
All of these 'fad diets' are not conducive to healthy eating. I have tried a few diets but none worked. The best diet is a balanced one that feeds your body and keeps your mind active.
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judy gaskell made a comment
We are what we eat. Or perhaps the old data processing saying "garbage in and garbage out".
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judy gaskell made a comment
Thanks for such an interesting and informative video.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I find it very interesting to learn more about the influences of diet on mental health. The other nutrition courses I have taken with FutureLearn only touched on this briefly. I have been more focused on being more physically active to improve my well being. Now I need to continue to improve my diet.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Good mental health to me is having an active and productive life with no depression or anxiety.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have done food diaries in the past when I was trying to lose weight, but had limited success. Now I rely on my Fitbit to keep me active even during these trying times. If necessary I will go back to tracking my food and liquid intake again.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The USDA seems to have dumbed down their dietary guidelines. I liked the pyramid style, but now they recommend one quarter fruits, one quarter vegetables, one quarter grains, and one quarter protein (steak anyone?) with a side of low fat dairy. I sense some food industry input into this new 'my plate' format.
There are additional more specific guidelines,... -
But added sugar is not good for type one diabetics like my mother and her father. She stopped baking sweets and I lost my taste for them - except when they include chocolate.
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The celebratory party is most important to me. However right now political parties are foremost in our US news. And the legal sense of a person being a party to a contract, etc. is important to law librarians like me.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The first meaning that comes to my mind is a celebration, such as a birthday party. The second is an organization such as a political party.
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judy gaskell made a comment
'eye'. has many meanings
First meaning the organ in your head through which you see things.
Then as a verb to look - to 'eye something'.
Then as a center, such as 'the eye of a storm'.
A collocation of 'private eye'
'a good eye for fashion'
a bud on a plant - 'eye of a potato'
look with admiration - give someone the eye -
judy gaskell made a comment
For me the top two factors are environmental and biological. During normal times I have ready access to fresh protein, fruits and vegetables. I try to stock up on seasonal foods and avoid processed 'junk' food. I am still trying to do that during these trying times. Secondary are biological factors. I am allergic to scallops and squid so I don't eat...
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judy gaskell made a comment
I chose a little bit of everything, but I do try to avoid processed foods and sweets. My mother was diabetic so I try to avoid extra sugar if possible.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I try to follow a Mediterranean diet, but this depends on what is available in my grocery stores. This is very challenging now because there are shortages of fresh fruits and vegetables.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I selected polyphenols which include some of my favorite foods - red wine, tea ,and chocolate. From the description of their benefits the ingestion of foods rich in polyphenols may provide some help in fending off the coronavirus.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Fiber is an essential element in gut health (gut as second brain). It is very important to choose the best macronutrients in your diet. Not all are of the same quality.
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I hope to get a dog again sometime soon. I was in my best shape when i had a canine companion to make me walk regularly.
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I use a Fitbit and it prompts me to get up and move if I am sitting too long. Since I started with it over a year ago, I have lost weight and have reduced arthritis symptoms in my legs. Sometimes we need an outside prompt to get us moving and grooving.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have a fairly active life and a good diet, but I do enjoy my wine every night. I have been drinking more during my stay at home life now and hope this will not have long-term effects on my mental and physical health.
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judy gaskell made a comment
In the US our government seems to be less interested in helping the disadvantaged than helping the corporations. This pandemic has deepened the cracks into which people fall, often through no individual fault of their own. Adequate nutrition, housing and education should be fundamental rights for all.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Just off the top of my head, I think they learn the meanings in the context of their life experience.
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I would vote to include them. They are fundamental words in this world.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I have learned a lot about how dictionaries are made and look forward to next week.
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judy gaskell made a comment
red in the face
"A reference to one's face flushing as being embarrassed". Does this sentence parse? PUC – 14:05, 15 April 2020 (UTC)Not really. I changed it to "from embarrassment". Ultimateria (talk) 21:00, 15 April 2020 (UTC)
It did not parse mustard. --Lambiam 08:29, 16 April 2020 (UTC)
Are you "red in the face" if you just feel embarrassed,... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I agree with the WHO definition. most of my life I have been in that state, but have had a few times when I was not there.
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My mother developed type 1 at the age of 35 after major surgery. Her father had it too. Afterwards she paid close attention to our sugar intake and stopped baking. I credit her for my lack of desire for sugary desserts (unless there is chocolate involved). I am relatively major disease free thanks to her.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The biggest health issue in the US right now is the ravages that Covid-19 is doing to a population that is aging and has many pre-existing conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Many of these conditions are the result of poverty, poor diet and lack of exercise. The lack of universal health care coverage also contributes to the...
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judy gaskell replied to Kathryn M
@KathrynM Try looking at the 'most liked ' comments first and follow the instructors.
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@JESSICAPIGNALOSO I have taken many online courses since I retired almost nine years ago. I have found shortcuts for when you are behind or overwhelmed by the number of comments. I always follow the instructors and I start looking at the 'most liked' comments first.
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judy gaskell replied to Juliet Lewis
We librarians try to encourage questions and often have to tell people 'there is no such thing as a dumb question'.
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judy gaskell replied to Lee Heymans
We introverts need to stick together. I was always told on my school report cards that 'Judy needs to speak up'. I will try to speak up and contribute despite the challenging conditions here due to being self-isolating because of the virus. Being an introvert is an advantage under these circumstances.
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judy gaskell made a comment
Hi Everyone. I'm Judy in Washington, DC and I just discovered this course. I look forward to learning more about the link between nutrition and brain health.
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judy gaskell made a comment
A corpus can give the raw data about current word usage. A team of readers can evaluate the raw data and turn it into definitions, collocations, etc.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I would suggest including the words used in juvenile literature rather than what is most used by older readers.
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judy gaskell made a comment
i voted to add 'social bubble' because i am in one now.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The word 'gal' seems to be gone but 'guy' lingers on.
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judy gaskell made a comment
These dictionaries all have different functions. The children's dictionary has a smaller selected number of basic words. The Oxford Learners and Macmillan Essential dictioaries have a limited number of words targeted to different sets of learners. The Merriam-Webster and Logman dictionaries are for the advance speaker of English. Size does matter for me...
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judy gaskell made a comment
This was fascinating to learn about corpora and how they are used to create dictionaries. I am a week behind, but look forward to the rest of the course.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I too discovered that the concordance lists the collocations. It appears that something like "reduce the backlog of " is one of the most used collocations of backlog. I just discovered the tab for good dictionary examples that would be useful for dictionaries and teaching too. This is a very useful tool if you know how to use it.
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judy gaskell made a comment
The corpus seems to be most useful for seeing the usage of a word in context. You can determine if a word has negative aspects. the corpus does not have any etymology or precise definitions. The definitions have to be teased out from the examples.
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judy gaskell made a comment
backlog (noun)
Congestion in processing things. A backlog of claimsIt is difficult to get a narrow sense of the word when using a corpus
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judy gaskell made a comment
The vast size of the corpus is very useful to lexicographers, but they need to know how it is organized to search out their information.
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judy gaskell made a comment
First this concordance is in electronic format and is easily searchable. It shows the word 'paddock' in the context of a sentence and can give a count of the number of times it occurs within the corpus. I think it could be used to draw out collocations and sentences using the word.
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judy gaskell made a comment
It appears that early dictionaries like the OED were crowd sourced too. Their editors chose to use the most relevant material. Perhaps some of the online crowd sourced dictionaries should use editors as well.
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I always seem to be last to post, but I think the information comes from scanning historical material and examining current usage. This must be much easier to do in our digital age, but still will take a lot of searching skill. When I was working on a new dictionary that was planned to be given away with typewriters (yes in the 70's) we used other...
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judy gaskell made a comment
I just looked up 'anole' in Merriam Webster online. It is a lizard. This word is in the bottom 40% of words used.This entry satisfied my curiosity.
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judy gaskell made a comment
In my last post I mentioned that I seldom have to look up the meaning of a word. So I was chastened last night when I read the word 'ductile'. The context suggested that it meant flexible, but I looked it up in Merriam-Webster online and found that it could mean " easily led or influenced" or "capable of being fashioned into a new form". Synonyms include,...
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judy gaskell made a comment
The print dictionary that I use most frequently is the Collins Robert French dictionary. Since it is a bilingual dictionary its entries are very basic. For example pants includes a pronunciation guide, indicates its a plural noun and that it is British for underwear. Has two collocations of phrases for a pair of pants. Also includes definitions in French...
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judy gaskell made a comment
The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, c. 1982
wick-ed (wik'id) adj. -er, -est 1. Vicious; depraved: wicked habits. 2. Mischievous or playfully malicious: a wicked joke. 3. Harmful, pernicious: a wicked cough. 4. Obnoxious; offensive: a wicked stench. 5. Formidable; excellent: a wicked tennis player. [ME, alteration of wicke, wicked.]... -
judy gaskell made a comment
I am a week behind in this course, but am finding it to be very informative. I look forward to week two.
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judy gaskell made a comment
I am stuck in another city away from my dictionaries, so I have been using online sources. I am learning a lot in this course, which will guide me to making better choices of sources in the future.