-itis

Integrated Taxonomic Information System

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagency group within the U.S. federal government, involving several US Federal agencies and has now become an international body, with Canadian and Mexican government agencies participating. The database draws from a large community of taxonomic experts. Primary content staff are housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and IT services are provided by a US Geological Survey facility in Denver. The primary focus of ITIS is North American species, but many groups are worldwide and ITIS continues to collaborate with other international agencies to increase its global coverage.

Reference database

ITIS provides an automated reference database of scientific and common names for species. As of April 2012, it contains over 719,000 scientific names, synonyms, and common names for terrestrial, marine, and freshwater taxa from all biological kingdoms (animals, plants, fungi, and microbes). While the system does focus on North American species at minimum, it also includes many species not found in North America, especially among birds, fishes, amphibians, mammals, many reptiles, and several invertebrate animal groups. Data presented in ITIS are considered public information, and may be freely distributed and copied, though appropriate citation is requested. ITIS is frequently used as the de facto source of taxonomic data in biodiversity informatics projects.

Book of Joel

The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Twelve Minor Prophets. (The term indicates the short length of the text in relation to the longer prophetic texts known as the Major Prophets).

Content

After a superscription ascribing the prophecy to Joel (son of Pethuel), the book may be broken down into the following sections:

Run, Joe, Run

Run, Joe, Run was a Saturday-morning television program that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1976. It centered on Joe, a German Shepherd dog in the military's K-9 corps, and his master, Sergeant Will Corey (played by Arch Whiting). One day, during training, Joe was falsely accused of attacking his master, a crime for which the dog would be put to sleep as punishment. However, he escaped before being killed and a $200 bounty was put on his head.

Sgt. Corey believed Joe was innocent and also pursued him, hoping to find Joe before the authorities did. While on the run, Joe helped people he encountered.

During the show's second season, Sgt. Corey, having never found Joe (although he always came close), was called back to duty. Joe then teamed with a hiker, Josh McCoy (played by Chad States), and continued to help others, all the while still on the run.

The show was considered as a cross between Lassie and The Fugitive. Like The Fugitive, and later, The Incredible Hulk, it centered on a falsely accused person (in this case, the "person" was a dog) running from authorities and helping out people he meets along the way. The show was produced by D'Angelo Productions, which also produced the NBC young adult drama, Westwind, and other live-action series for Saturday mornings.

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, which are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. The plant is native to subtropical Africa and some islands in southern Asia. The plant was exported from Africa to countries around the world and coffee plants are now cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded arabica, and the less sophisticated but stronger and more hardy robusta. Once ripe, coffee beans are picked, processed, and dried. Dried coffee beans are roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted beans are ground and brewed to produce coffee as a beverage.

Coffee is slightly acidic and can have a stimulating effect on humans because of its caffeine content. Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, cappuccino, cafe latte, etc.). It is usually served hot, although iced coffee is also served. Clinical studies indicate that moderate coffee consumption is benign or mildly beneficial in healthy adults, with continuing research on whether long-term consumption inhibits cognitive decline during aging or lowers the risk of some forms of cancer.