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Learn the fundamentals of Computer Science with a quick breakdown of jargon that every software engineer should know. Over 100 technical concepts from the CS curriculum are explained to provide a foundation for programmers.
#compsci #programming #tech
🔗 Resources
– Computer Science https://undergrad.cs.umd.edu/what-computer-science
– CS101 Stanford https://online.stanford.edu/courses/soe-ycscs101-sp-computer-science-101
– Controversial Developer Opinions https://youtu.be/goy4lZfDtCE
– Design Patterns https://youtu.be/tv-_1er1mWI
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🔖 Topics Covered
Turning Machine
CPU
Transistor
Bit
Byte
Character Encoding ASCII
Binary
Hexadecimal
Nibble
Machine Code
RAM
Memory Address
I/O
Kernel (Drivers)
Shell
Command Line Interface
SSH
Mainframe
Programming Language
Abstraction
Interpreted
Compiled
Executable
Data Types
Variable
Dynamic Typing
Static Typing
Pointer
Garbage Collector
int
signed / unsigned
float
Double
Char
string
Big endian
Little endian
Array
Linked List
Set
Stack
Queue
Hash
Tree
Graph
Nodes and Edges
Algorithms
Functions
Return
Arguments
Operators
Boolean
Expression
Statement
Conditional Logic
While Loop
For Loop
Iterable
Void
Recursion
Call Stack
Stack Overflow
Base Condition
Big-O
Time Complexity
Space Complexity
Brute Force
Divide and conquer
Dynamic Programming
Memoization
Greedy
Dijkstra’s Shortest Path
Backtracking
Declarative
Functional Language
Imperative
Procedural Language
Multiparadigm
OOP
Class
Properties
Methods
Inheritance
Design Patterns
Instantiate
Heap Memory
Reference
Threads
Parallelism
Concurrency
Bare Metal
Virtual Machine
IP Address
URL
DNS
TCP
Packets. | https://salars.net/news_articles/100-computer-science-concepts-explained-2/ |
AN Urhobo non-governmental organization, Urhobo Youths Vision world wide, has concluded arrangements to organize a five days cultural feast tagged, Urhobo national Africa music and cultural festival.
President of the group, Dr Joel Ejutememuh made this revelation at Idjere, Ethiope West local government area of Delta State when they paid a visit to the Traditional ruler of the kingdom, HRM, Monday Obukowho Whiskey.
Addressing the monarch and his council of chiefs, the president stated that the conception of the group is to focus on the traditional cultural heritage of Urhobo land that are gradually going into extinction.
Dr Joel Ejitememuh who said that the planned festival will not only brings Urhobos together but to showcase the different cultures in their various kingdoms.
“We formed this group as a body to work for the unity and progress of Urhobo nation by reviving our cultural heritage”, The President stated.
He further appealed to the monarch to nominate persons from his kingdom that will be part of the planning to be reporting back to his kingdom.
HRM, Monday Obukowho Whiskey, Udurhie I, of Idjere kingdom commended the group for their initiative saying that the issue they presented will give Urhobo nation a facelift.
He assured the group that his kingdom will be part of the festival as he said that they have selected persons with vast knowledge of his kingdom’s cultures for them.
Members of the executive who accompanied the Urhobo Youths Vision world wide to the visit included, Barrister (Mrs) Ufuoma Obovbodeyan, secretary of the group, Mr Joshua Governor, committee chairman and Mrs Queen Krokele.
In a related development, Dr. Joel Ejutememuh and members of the body also paid a courtesy visit to a prominent Urhobo emerging leader, Capt Christopher Asifor at Aladja in Udu local government area.
Speaking during the visit, Ejutememuh, said, “Urhobo Youth Vision has come to stay and unite all sons and daughters of Urhobo nation and we have come with the idea of what will bring us together.
“Our youths no longer have regards for constituted authorities, traditions and customs of the land, all in the name of civilization.
“Those white men we are running after are strong believer of our customs and traditions, hence they would come to Africa to either buy our artifacts or steal them away”.
On his part, Capt Christopher Asifor popularly known as Ovie-Ame commended the efforts put in so far to bring Urhobo nation and culture to its originality by the group as he vowed to contribute his quota to the development of Urhobo nation.
“This is what some of us have been craving for and am glad that a group like Urhobo Youth Vision has come to champion it. I will do my best to make sure the group and her agenda come to fruition”. Ovie -Ame said. | https://www.politicsgovernance.com/group-sets-to-organize-urhobo-nation-africa-music-and-cultural-festival/ |
Young designers will explore the world of fashion and principles of successful fashion design in this fun camp.
Each child will work on creating a unique garment to ‘dress’ a wooden mannequin. We will learn how to sketch a fashion design, create custom printed fabric, accessories and even paint the mannequin to have a runway worthy design at the end of this hands-on fun camp.
Students will learn basics hand sewing skills (no sewing machines are used).
Please have your child bring their own mask to each class and remind them to wash hands before entering the class. Students will be at least 6 feet apart or proper ‘sneeze’ guards will be separating them. Your child should wear mess frendly clothing and shoes to avoid any damage to their favorite pieces.
Pack nut-free snack and water bottle.
Please do not bring your child to class if she/he has any cold like symptoms, fever or recent loss of smell or taste. Notify us immediately if your child or anyone in the immediate family is diagnosed with COVID 19. | https://www.hisawyer.com/neighborhood-art-studio/schedules/activity-set/192982 |
Reliability of Nasofacial Analysis Using Rhinobase® Software.
Rhinoplasty is a constant challenge for the surgeon, where the correct evaluation of facial aesthetic parameters allows harmonic changes appropriate for each patient. The aim of this study was to compare the preoperative and postoperative results of nasofacial analysis, performed by Rhinobase® software (indirect anthropometry) compared with direct anthropometry (caliper), in patients undergoing aesthetic rhinoplasty. The authors assessed the reliability of using Rhinobase® software for measuring nasofacial characteristics in 20 individuals (18 F, 2 M). In each patient, the nasofacial analysis was performed before and after surgery. Two raters performed indirect anthropometry on each image on two separate occasions. Intrarater and interrater reliability for most indirect anthropometric measurements had intraclass correlation coefficients greater than 0.8. Regarding intermethod reliability, Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from 0.6 to 0.9 for most measurements. The highest correlation was found in interalar width, chin vertical, and lower facial height. The Cronbach's α coefficient calculated for all measurements was 0.8. The Rhinobase® software is an easy and safe method for facial analysis. This study provides evidence of high reliability for several nasofacial measurements. The nasofacial analysis allows an accurate preoperative evaluation, surgical planning, and analysis of outcomes in rhinoplasty and may be a useful tool for both novice and experienced surgeons. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.
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LatinaLista.net — Today, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (UPSTF) released an update to its 2002 recommendations now recommending that all women ages 65 and older be routinely screened for osteoporosis.
According to the UPSTF:
Osteoporosis is more common in women than men and is more common in whites than any other racial group. For all demographic groups, the rates of osteoporosis rise with increasing age.
The USPSTF recommends screening for osteoporosis in women ages 65 and older and in younger women whose fracture risk is equal to or greater than that of a 65-year-old white woman who has no additional risk factors.
This report and its conclusion that there is a higher incidence of osteoporosis among white women underscores an issue that will be the focal point of what is being billed as a groundbreaking forum on the state of Latino participation in medical research.
Dubbed “Todos Juntos por la Salud” or All Together for Health,” the forum hopes to address the disparity of Latinos participating in medical research. As the forum’s organizers write:
Although Hispanics and Latinos represent 16 percent of the U.S. population, they comprise only 3 percent of the approximately 260,000 Americans who volunteer to participate in medical research each year. With the U.S. population estimated to grow 30 percent by 2050, steps need to be taken now to achieve greater Hispanic and Latino representation in medical research.
With so few Latinos participating in medical studies, how can it be known for certain that one group is more afflicted with a disease than another? Or reacts to medication in a certain way? Or has a built-in resistance to a particular strain of virus? Or…you get the point.
In February, the Todos Juntos por la Salud forum will convene in Dallas, Texas. The discussion will center on the root causes behind the disparity and how various groups can collaborate to heighten awareness in the Latino community.
In addition, the forum has four objectives:
1. Illuminate entry barriers to recruiting Hispanics and Latinos into research studies in the United States.
2. Learn how to overcome cultural and other barriers limiting Hispanic and Latino involvement in clinical research.
3. Identify additional ways to promote disease awareness among Hispanic and Latino communities.
4. Share best practices, outcomes, and insights with stakeholders to advance education and awareness. | http://latinalista.com/general/forum-to-address-why-more-latinos-dont-participate-in-medical-research |
For patients with severe heart failure, an implanted mechanical pump known as a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) can be a life-sustaining treatment. Even though the technology involves risks, few patients and their families tend to talk explicitly about the “what ifs” before surgery takes place. In the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, a team of Mayo Clinic researchers found that careful discussions at the bedside about patients’ end-of-life preferences brought relief to families and eased subsequent medical care.
“Previous studies have looked at the ethics of LVAD surgery and the role of patient and family members when it comes to turning the device off,” says lead author Keith Swetz, M.D., an internist and specialist in palliative medicine. “But these are complex patients and many things can happen. To our knowledge, this was the first study to investigate how to help patients and families to be proactive in decision-making before patients’ quality of life is compromised.”
The study looked at 19 patients dependent on LVAD as a long-term survival strategy rather than as a “bridge” to a heart transplant. Among them, 13 patients and their families discussed advanced care wishes with a palliative care team that included physicians and social workers. The study found the conversations provided guidance when adverse events occurred, such as when a patient fell after surgery and suffered brain damage. The study also found LVAD patients often presumed family members were aware of their end-of-life wishes, when, in fact, spouses and children were grateful to be guided in a conversation.
The study affirms the effectiveness of palliative care discussions before LVAD surgery, and provides guidelines for clinicians and hospitals about how to address end-of-life decision-making. “It can be a tough conversation for families to have but we found it didn’t cause stress or loss of hope,” Dr. Swetz says. “Instead, having the conversation brought relief and was ultimately reassuring for families and patients.”
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Her eight novels include Queen of Beauty (2002), winner of the Hubert Church First Book Prize at the 2003 Montana NZ Book Awards, a narrative of interwoven stories spanning three generations of a large Maori family. Hibiscus Coast (2005) is an art-world thriller set in Auckland and Shanghai. Lydia Wevers, writing in the Listener, said: ‘Not only is Morris a seriously good writer – the tone doesn’t jar, the characters are satisfyingly complex, and there is an interesting reflection of the way we are now – she can also deliver entertainment … Like Dickens, she can tell a great story but also “catch” the world we live in, with all its complications and ambiguities’.
Rangatira (2011), fiction winner at the 2012 NZ Post Book Awards and Nga Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards, was based on the true story of an 1863 visit to England by a group of Maori, and described as ‘a triumph of characterisation’ (Listener) and an ‘extraordinary literary achievement and probably the best of recent New Zealand historical novels’ (New Zealand Books).
Paula was appointed Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to literature in the 2019 New Years Honours List. This same year she was the recipient of the prestigious Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship. She spent the first half of 2019 in France on various projects including journal articles based on her work for the Creative Research Initiative; a play set in France in 1925 drawing on the true story of the writer Jean Rhys working as a ‘ghost’ for Rudolph Valentino’s mother-in-law; and research towards a major non-fiction project, about islands, ports and exiles.
Her latest books are a personal essay, On Coming Home (Bridget Williams Books, 2015) and False River (Penguin Random House, 2017), a diverse collection of fiction and nonfiction pieces that range the world – from America, to Antwerp to Aotearoa.
In her upcoming work Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde Paula Morris collaborates with distinguished photographer Haru Sameshima to focus on the New Zealand journalist, poet, fiction writer and war correspondent Robin Hyde, exploring three locations important to her difficult life and ground-breaking work. This beautifully considered small book richly rewards the reader and stretches the notion of what the book can do. Shining Land is due out in late 2020 through Massey University Press.
Visit Paula’s website
Paula’s blog is ‘Trendy But Casual’
Paula on Twitter
Read NZ Te Pou Muramura writer page
Auckland University staff profile
Penguin Books author page
Bridget Williams Books (BWB) author page
Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship media release (Dec, 2018)
NZ Listener interview regarding On Coming Home (May, 2015)
NZ Herald interview (Feb, 2015)
Stuff.co.nz [Dominion Post] interview (June, 2015)
NZ Listener interview regarding Rangatira (July, 2012)
Radio New Zealand interview (June, 2012)
Published by Otago University Press on October 20, 2020
False River (Short fiction/memoir: Penguin Random House, 2017)
The Eternal City (YA: Point/Scholastic, 2015)
Hene and the Burning Harbour (Children: Penguin, 2013)
Unbroken (YA: Point/Scholastic, 2013)
Rangatira (Historical fiction: Penguin, 2011)
Dark Souls (YA: Point/Scholastic, 2011)
Ruined (YA: Point/Scholastic, 2009)
Forbidden Cities (Short stories: Penguin, 2008)
Trendy but Casual (YA: Penguin, 2007)
Hibiscus Coast (YA: Penguin, 2005)
Queen of Beauty (Fiction: Penguin, 2002)
On Coming Home (Memoir: BWB, 2015)
Short Fiction:
‘La Rondine’ in New Writing Dundee 8 (2015)
‘False River’ in Five Dials (2014)
‘Women, Talking’ in Takahe (2013)
‘Great Long Story’ in Ora Nui (2012)
‘Premises’ in The New Zealand Herald (Jan, 2010)
‘Great Long Story’ in Gutter (Aug, 2011)
‘Mon Desir’ in Harvard Review 35 (2008)
‘Red Christmas’ in Witness 21 (2007)
‘Argyle’ [abridged] in the New Zealand Listener (2005)
‘Like a Mexican’ in Barrelhouse 2 (2005)
‘Like a Mexican’ [abridged] in the NZ Listener (Jan, 2004)
‘Rangatira’ in Landfall 208 (Otago UP, 2004)
‘The Party’ in Metro (2003)
‘Mon Desir’ in Landfall 204 (Otago UP, 2002)
‘Bright’ in Hayden’s Ferry Review (2000)
‘Heroics’ in JAAM 14 (2000)
Essays: | https://www.anzliterature.com/member/paula-morris/ |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modalities in a computer appliance, and more specifically, to an apparatus and a method for changing modalities of a home theater computer appliance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Remarkable improvements in computer hardware price/performance ratios during the last decade have caused major shifts in both home and office computing environments. Spiraling advances in semiconductor technology have enabled the appearance of personal computers with the computing power equivalent to supercomputers available a decade ago. Further, the advent of high performance audio and graphics sub-system has turned the personal computer into a multimedia device capable of saturating the user's audio-visual senses.
Along with the growth of computer usage, a new publishing medium called a World-Wide Web has gained rapid acceptance world wide. The World-Wide Web (WWW) is a system of documents and multimedia files that can be retrieved and viewed by any person who has access to the Internet. Originally developed as a network to facilitate communications among military and scientific research users, the Internet has since been expanded beyond its original defense orientation and is now being used world wide for a variety of commercial purposes.
The Internet proved to be a remarkable way for people to communicate and share information. However, in its native form, the interface of the Internet is so nonintuitive that only computer specialists could navigate the Internet. To overcome this problem, the World-Wide Web (WWW) is distributed across thousands of host computers attached into the system's communications network. The World-Wide Web is simply a series of communications of protocols representative of information in documents that could be linked to other documents and stored on computers throughout the Internet. Users of the Internet can access documents or pages via a program called a browser. Although early browsers were text-only, today's browsers offer windows-based icons, pull-down menus, bit-map graphics and colorful links to display hyper-text documents. Furthermore, the Web standard presents a system independent graphical user interface for users.
Due to its ability to tie together many disparate sources and its unified, easy to access user interface, the World-Wide Web is rapidly gaining acceptance as an information delivery media. The accessibility of audio and image files such as video over the World-Wide Web is also enabling the Internet to become a central repository suitable for entertainment as well. Hence, the collision between the Internet, the computer industry and the communications industry has resulted in the development of new appliances which satisfy computing, information gathering and entertainment needs of users. Thus, the graphical Web browser supports an information revolution and a cultural phenomenon.
In a related trend, the television (TV) industry has also been positively affected by advances in semiconductor technology. As TV sets are migrating from the older analog technology to digital technology, new features have been added that previously would have been impractical or cost prohibitive to implement. As digital TVs become mainstream, TV viewing is beginning to shift from a passive to an active experience. Applications such as home shopping, home banking, video-on-demand, and remote education have added to the utility of the ubiquitous TV sets. With digital set-top boxes and digital TVs, the difference between a computer and a TV starts to diminish.
The popularity of the Internet, coupled with the advent of digital TV sets, has accelerated the convergence of the computer and the TV industries. The TV-PC convergence is leading to products that share attributes of both the computer and the television unit so that Internet access, word processing, gaming, and TV watching are integrated into one unit. Although the convergence of the computer industry and the communications industry offers consolidated services which significantly improve the productivity and convenience for many users, to date, Internet capable devices have offered inconsistent and complex interfaces in communicating with users.
The problem arises as each device now has to provide multiple personalities or functionalities which had previously been provided in separate devices. The inconsistency of the user interface in these appliances often leaves the user with a less than satisfying experience, for these users are typically not technically oriented and demand dynamic products and services that adapt to their lifestyles rather than forcing them to adapt their lives to fit the needs of the device. As users want consistency and flexibility in the use of mobile devices, what the users require are devices that provide a consistent "look and feel" experience independent of the underlying application mode that the device is currently running. Thus, a need exists for a consistent, yet intuitive interface supporting a plurality of modalities to allow users the ability to easily switch amongst the different modes of the appliance and yet still retain the familiar graphical user interface available in current computers.
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Q:
How can I power a cellular phone for a week with a car battery or other type of battery?
I am about to start construction of a new house, and unfortunately the property is not near where I live. I wanted to keep an eye on the construction site (No electricity) to make sure workers are showing up. To do so I want to put a cellular phone in a bird house, which will transmit a video from the camera over the cellular signal. (The Android/iPhone app is called "Alfred") My only problem is, how do I keep my cellular phone powered for 7 to 14 days without charging?
I would GREATLY appreciate any help anyone can give. I think the best option would be to connect a 6 or 12 volt motorcycle or car battery to the phone, but what do I need to consider other than converting the voltage from 6V or 12V to 3.7V? How do I convert from 12V to 3.7V? The screen on the phone will be off the whole time. All I will be running is the camera, and data transmition.
Does it make a difference if I connect the external battery directly to the phone so the phone thinks it is the internal battery versus connecting the external (6 or 12v) battery to the phone via its USB connector which the phone would think is a charger?
Solar won't work because of tree coverage. My other thought was breaking open laptop batteries and using the cells. I would like the least expensive and a simple way of doing it. Can I just connect a cigarette lighter USB plug to a car battery directly and plug the phone into the USB?
Thank you in advance for any help anyone can give.
A:
Can I just connect a cigarette lighter USB plug to a car battery directly and plug the phone into the USB?
This is exactly what I thought of when I was reading your... text wall. Using an USB plug would be the cheapest way to power your phone, concerning both, costs and time.
The plug reduces the 12V from the battery to 5V for USB. There are still old plugs with a linear regulator out there, which waste more energy than the phone consumes. As they have to dissipate this as heat, they usually can not provide much power. So, pick one which can deliver 2-3 or more Amperes, as those plugs contain a more efficient switching regulator.
About calculation: My phone has a 3100mAh battery (3.7V) and lasts 5 days when idle. So, the battery contains an energy of 3.1Ah * 3.7V = 11.5Wh
A small 12V 4Ah scooter battery contains 48Wh , which is four times the energy of my phone. So, it in principle it will last 20 days.
Note that this is a rough estimate. Switching power supplies are also not 100% efficient, so may be it's only 70-80%.
In your case, check out how long the battery lasts when doing the desired job. Keep in mind that signal strength also plays a role.
Finally, it may not be legal to keep your workers under surveillance.
From the comments:
Anyone know if it is more efficient to connect an external battery to the phone via USB and charge the internal battery or connect the external battery directly to the battery connector inside the phone? Lastly there are 4V 20AH lead acid batt. Can I connect direct to phone?
It would be less efficient to charge your phone battery from the external battery, as charging always goes with some losses. However, if the phone battery is full at the beginning, you have the charge of the external battery plus the charge of the phone battery, and in total, the phone will last longer.
About the 4V: I doubt the phone will take the 4V from the external battery supplied via the USB port, as this is clearly below the USB standard. On the other side, a fully charged 3.7V LiIon battery has about 4.2V
This means it should be OK to remove the internal battery and connect to an external voltage of 4V. (It is not recommended to switch batteries, especially different types in parallel.)
On the other side, a lead-acid battery behaves similar: When it's full, it has up to 2.4V per cell, so 4.8V for your battery. This is only 0.6V above the maximum of the LiIon battery. I would guess, that it is OK, but I can't guarantee it. But if you measure the voltage of your battery, the actual voltage may not be that high, and then it's OK.
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In the main hall of an elegant Pure Land Buddhist temple called Joruri-ji near the city of Nara in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, a row of nine gilded wood figures of the Buddha Amida (Skt. Amitabha) have sat serenely for almost 1,000 years. They promise devotees rebirth in Amida’s glorious paradise at one of nine levels depending on their accumulated karma, degree of faith, and stage of spiritual practice. The central Amida figure is slightly larger than the four that flank it on each side, and has been imbued with considerable power because of what was placed inside it shortly after its construction. Just over 100 years ago during the Meiji period (1868–1912), a small door in the back of the statue was opened and bundles of sheets of paper, each printed with 100 images of seated Buddhas, were discovered inside. If the images were printed in the early 12th century as believed, the Buddhas are Japan’s earliest surviving printed images and offer fascinating clues about the connection between the Buddhist faith and the evolution of printed imagery.
Woodblock printing was invented in China around 600 CE and was probably introduced to Japan sometime in the 7th century, when it was used to mass-produce sacred Buddhist texts, or sutras. Japan’s earliest surviving printed Buddhist texts are the small printed charms, or darani (Skt. dharani), that were commissioned by the Japanese empress Shotoku between the years 764 and 770. In 764, the empress ordered one million small wood pagodas (J. hyakumanto) to be made and filled with these printed charms in gratitude for the suppression of a rebellion against her court and for future protection of the realm by the Buddha. Most of the pagodas were sent to Buddhist temples around the country, but she kept 100,000 in the ten main temples in the capital (then Nara) as protection. Apart from a few examples in museums and private collections, only the temple Horyu-ji near Nara still possesses evidence of this massive printing project.
The first Japanese printed Buddhist images were probably made around the 8th century from Chinese blocks brought back by Japanese Buddhist priests who had visited China. The earliest of these images to survive, dating from the Heian (794–1185) to Muromachi (1392–1573) periods, share similar characteristics. Most are small, being an inch or so in height, and are simply rendered, often in thick uneven lines and with abbreviated iconographic details. They can be divided into two types according to technique: inbutsu (stamped Buddhas) and shubutsu (rubbed Buddhas). The term inbutsu generally refers to small images of a single deity carved onto a small block which is inked and then pressed onto paper, like the seals which are still used today. In some cases, these images of Buddhas and other deities were stamped alongside handwritten Buddhist sutras, no doubt to lend spiritual power to the prayers.
In contrast, shubutsu are usually made using larger blocks which are carved with one or several figures. The block is placed face up, and paper is placed on the inked surface and rubbed with a circular pad called a baren. This is the typical technique used in East Asian woodblock printing, and was developed to great sophistication in Japan’s ukiyo-e prints of the 17th–19th century. This is also the technique that was used to create the sheets of printed Buddha images that were extracted from the Amida statue at Joruri-ji.
The Joruri-ji sheets were printed with ten rows of ten seated Buddha figures, most likely Amida. The wood blocks were usually carved by priests and used by priests or lay Buddhist devotees to print images of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or other deities onto paper as a Buddhist ritual activity. Traditionally, the creation of an image of a particular Buddhist deity, whether a sculpture, painting, or print, has been a way of acquiring religious merit. Printing an image of a deity was the simplest way of creating a Buddha, and many devotees, usually members of the Buddhist clergy or nobility in the early period, produced such images daily as a type of printed prayer to a deity for improved health, the repose of a deceased loved one, or rebirth in paradise.
Repetition has always been an important element of Buddhist practice, and the more images a devotee creates, the more merit he or she accrues. The repetition of the image serves as the visual equivalent of chanting the name of a deity over and over again, a means not only of focusing the mind but also of evoking the deity’s blessing, accruing good karma, and strengthening one’s bond with the deity. The printing of images of the Buddha 100 times on one sheet of paper is a device rooted in Chinese Buddhist art, and papers found stamped with hundreds of small Buddha images have been found in the early Buddhist cave temples of Dunhuang in northwest China. In the case of these Japanese sheets of Buddhas, the initial carving of 100 Buddhas on a single block by a Buddhist priest was painstaking, but once completed it provided the worshipper with a short-cut method of printing many images at once and thus acquiring more religious merit. Each little printed Buddha has an unsophisticated charm, and the repetition of similar rounded images creates a gentle rhythm as well as a strong sense of the infinite, suggesting the Buddha’s limitless power.
Unlike many images of the Buddha that have been created over the centuries, these early printed images were not meant to be viewed by others or used in worship rituals. In the case of the Joruri-ji printed Buddhas, it is believed that the printed sheets were placed inside the statue not only for safekeeping, but also to further strengthen the bond between the devotee and the deity, accrue positive karma, and receive the deity’s blessing. Furthermore, the action increased the spiritual power of the statue by contributing to it the power of each of the hundreds of smaller printed images. The simplicity of these tiny Buddhas printed with rough outlines and without color is deceptive. The process of carving the figures into a woodblock, printing them on paper, and then placing them inside a sacred statue served as a multi-staged act of art, devotion, and spiritual empowerment that bonded priest, devotee, and deity in a way rarely seen elsewhere in the Buddhist world.
Meher McArthur is an Asian art curator, writer, and educator based in Los Angeles. She has curated over 20 exhibitions on aspects of Asian art. Her publications include Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols (Thames & Hudson, 2002), The Arts of Asia: Materials, Techniques, Styles (Thames & Hudson, 2005), and Confucius: A Biography (Quercus, London, 2010; Pegasus Books, New York, 2011). | https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/printed-prayers-japans-first-woodblock-printed-buddhas/ |
How do you cite a poem in text? – Include the author’s name, the title(s) of the poem(s), and the line number(s) in the text (for better source inte- gration) or within a parenthetical citation.
How do you cite a poem in MLA? – In the list of Works Cited, start with the poet’s name and the poem’s title in quotation marks. The rest of the citation depends on where the poem was published. If you read the poem in a book or anthology, follow the format of an MLA book chapter citation.
How do you in text cite a poem stanza? – Apply a parenthetical citation after the quotation marks that denotes the stanza number first, and then the line within that stanza. For example “(3.4)” would denote that you found this line in the fourth line of the third stanza.
How do you quote a poem in an essay? – Type short quotations of three lines or less in the text of your essay. Insert a slash with a space on each side to separate the lines of the poem. Type the lines verbatim as they appear in the poem–do not paraphrase. Capitalize the first letter of each new line of poetry.
How do you in text cite a poem in MLA 9? – Author of Poem’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Poem.” Title of Book: Subtitle if Any, edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Edition if given and is not first, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of Publication, pp. Page Numbers of the Poem.
How do you quote lines from a poem in MLA? – To reference a poem in the text, you include the author’s name and lines in MLA format. Therefore, you would include a parenthetical citation at the end of the line of poetry in text.
Are poems italicized or quoted? – Generally, shorter works (poems, song titles, chapters) go in quotation marks, and longer works (movies, books, newspaper titles) are italicized. o Books are italicized, but a chapter inside a book is in quotation marks. o The name of a TV show is italicized, but a specific episode is in quotation marks.
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AGRANA Beteiligungs AG (AGRANA) is an Austria-based company that processes agricultural raw materials. The Company manufactures foods and intermediate products for the downstream food industry, as well as for non-food applications. It operates through three segments: Sugar, Starch and Fruit. The products of the Sugar segment are marketed both directly to consumers through food retailers and to the sugar industry. In the Starch segment, the Company processes and refines mainly corn (maize) and potatoes into starch products. The Fruit segment develops and produces fruit preparations (fruit ingredients) and fruit juice concentrates. The Company operates over 50 production sites globally. The Company's subsidiaries include AGRANA Zucker GmbH, AGRANA Starke GmbH, AGRANA Marketing-und Vertriebsservice Gesellschaft mbH, AGRANA Bioethanol GmbH and Main Process SA, among others. The Company also manufactures animal feed and fertilizers.
|Last Annual||February 29th, 2020|
|Last Interim||February 29th, 2020|
|Incorporated||December 31, 1988|
|Public Since||December 1, 1994|
|No. of Shareholders:||n/a|
|No. of Employees:||9,136|
|Sector||Consumer Defensives|
|Industry||Food & Tobacco|
|Index|
|Exchange||Vienna Stock Exchange|
|Shares in Issue||62,488,976|
|Free Float||(0.0%)|
|Eligible for||
|
ISAs
SIPPs
|Address||Friedrich-Wilhelm-Raiffeisen-Platz 1, WIEN, 1020, Austria|
|Web||https://www.agrana.com/|
|Phone||+43 1 211370|
|Contact||Hannes Haider (Corporate Communications / Investor Relations Contact Officer)|
|Auditors||PwC Wirtschaftsprufung Gmbh|
As of 12:16pm, shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG are trading at €17.1, giving the company a market capitalisation of £981.1m. This share price information is delayed by 15 minutes.
Shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG are currently trading at €17.1 and the price has moved by 2% over the past 365 days. In terms of relative price strength - which takes into account the overall market trend - the Agrana Beteiligungs AG price has moved by 6.12% over the past year.
Of the analysts with advisory recommendations for Agrana Beteiligungs AG, there are there are currently 0 "buy" , 2 "hold" and 0 "sell" recommendations. The overall consensus recommendation for Agrana Beteiligungs AG is Hold. You can view the full broker recommendation list by unlocking its StockReport.
Agrana Beteiligungs AG is scheduled to issue upcoming financial results on the following dates:
The Agrana Beteiligungs AG dividend yield is 4.43% based on the trailing twelve month period.
Last year, Agrana Beteiligungs AG paid a total dividend of 0.77, and it currently has a trailing dividend yield of 4.43%. Looking ahead, Agrana Beteiligungs AG has not announced an ex-dividend date yet.
Agrana Beteiligungs AG has yet to annouce their ex-dividend date. The historic dividend yield on Agrana Beteiligungs AG shares is currently 4.43%.
To buy shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG you'll need a share-dealing account with an online or offline stock broker. Once you have opened your account and transferred funds into it, you'll be able to search and select shares to buy and sell. You can use Stockopedia’s share research software to help you find the the kinds of shares that suit your investment strategy and objectives.
Shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG are currently trading at €17.1, giving the company a market capitalisation of £981.1m.
Here are the trading details for Agrana Beteiligungs AG:
Based on an overall assessment of its quality, value and momentum, Agrana Beteiligungs AG is currently classified as a Style Neutral. The classification is based on a composite score that examines a wide range of fundamental and technical measures. Stock are classified on the the following spectrum: Super Stocks, High Flyers, Contrarians, Turnarounds, Neutral, Value Traps, Momentum Traps, Falling Stars, and Sucker Stocks. For more information, learn about our StockRank Styles.
Shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG are currently priced at €17.1. At that level they are trading at 14.79% discount to the analyst consensus target price of 0.00.
Analysts covering Agrana Beteiligungs AG currently have a consensus Earnings Per Share (EPS) forecast of 0.99 for the next financial year.
An important predictor of whether a stock price will go up is its track record of momentum. Price trends tend to persist, so it's worth looking at them when it comes to a share like Agrana Beteiligungs AG. Over the past six months, the relative strength of its shares against the market has been 6.18%. At the current price of €17.1, shares in Agrana Beteiligungs AG are trading at -1.67% against their 200 day moving average. You can read more about the power of momentum in assessing share price movements on Stockopedia.
The Agrana Beteiligungs AG PE ratio based on its reported earnings over the past 12 months is 23.33. The shares are currently trading at €17.1.
The PE ratio (or price-to-earnings ratio) is the one of the most popular valuation measures used by stock market investors. It is calculated by dividing a company's price per share by its earnings per share.
The PE ratio can be seen as being expressed in years, in the sense that it shows the number of years of earnings which would be required to pay back the purchase price, ignoring inflation. So in general terms, the higher the PE, the more expensive the stock is.
Agrana Beteiligungs AG's management team is headed by:
Here are the top five shareholders of Agrana Beteiligungs AG based on the size of their shareholding: | https://www.stockopedia.com/share-prices/agrana-beteiligungs-ag-WBAG:AGR/ |
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The IMI/CCA/Strauss Institute Mixed Mode Taskforce have just published a series of articles on mixed mode dispute resolution in the New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer. These articles are reprinted with permission. The below article was produced by Working Group 4, and authored by Edna Sussman and Klaus Peter Berger.
Working Group 4 is hopeful that this work will enable arbitrators and parties to consider measures for promoting effective and efficient arbitrations within a framework that includes consideration of the impact process decisions might have on settlement.
Arbitration has always sought to be responsive to user preferences. Such amendments to institutional rules as emergency arbitrators, expedited arbitrations and consolidation and joinder illustrate the constant evolution of arbitration procedures in response to user calls for such innovations to meet their needs. In recent years, there has been a constant call for a more expeditious and costeffective dispute resolution process. Greater utilization of combinations of adjudicative and non-adjudicative processes has been repeatedly identified by users as preferred and as enabling the achievement of better outcomes. This led the Working Group to consider whether arbitrator and arbitration process choices might influence parties’ ability to arrive at amicable resolutions.
Accordingly, Working Group 4 titled “Arbitrator Techniques and Their (Direct or Potential) Effect on Settlement” was charged with assessing what procedural mechanisms might be used and what steps arbitrators could take, staying within their role as arbitrators, that may serve to have a favorable impact on the prospects of an amicable settlement among the parties.
The Task Force
Working Group 4 was comprised of approximately 25 practitioners from numerous jurisdictions around the world. Following discussion within the group, it was concluded that the group would address the utility of accepted case management techniques and arbitration procedures. The focus would be on the arbitrator staying within his or her role as an arbitrator and not switching hats by undertaking a role as a mediator which is the subject of Working Group 5.
A great deal has been written about steps to promote efficiency and cost reduction in arbitration. Measures such as tailoring the arbitration clause, opting into expedited procedural rules, using innovative ways to select the chair, phone calls instead of lengthy submissions, reducing the number of submissions, page limits, more vigorous control of document exchange, interim hearings, use of videoconferencing and other technological advances, use of the chess clock, etc., are all of great importance and serve in many ways to facilitate settlement.
However, in light of the many guides and articles on those subjects already available, the working group selected for examination a limited number of arbitration processes that are often underutilized but may directly or indirectly create opportunities for settlement. These measures include:
- A proactive first organizational meeting in which all appropriate possible procedural steps are discussed with the parties rather than the usual pro forma short session to set the hearing date;
- Including one or more mediation windows in the arbitration schedule so that there is a set time in the schedule for the parties to discuss whether a mediation would be productive without any concern by any party that it will be perceived as weak if it raises mediation;
- More robust considerations to narrowing the issues and to entertaining dispositive motions which resolve certain aspects of the case at an early stage, as parties often need early guidance on such questions in order to assess their settlement options;
- Serious analysis of whether formally or informally bifurcating damages or issuing interim decisions that are likely to have a significant impact on damages would lead to efficiencies and cost savings (for example by reducing expert costs) and whether it would be reasonably likely to lead to settlement after the liability stage;
- Mid-arbitration reviews (Kaplan Openings) at which the parties meet with the tribunal and work with the arbitrators to identify the key issues in dispute, both legal and factual;
- Offering of preliminary views by the arbitrators at an agreed stage of the arbitration with the express consent of all parties, taking into consideration the possible impact on the arbitration going forward, and with the understanding that the preliminary views might change on further analysis;
- Greater use of sealed offers (also known as Calderbank offers) which are written offers of settlement made by one party to another on a “without prejudice save as to costs” basis and shared with the tribunal only after the decision on the merits.
The Working Group will review these measures with an eye towards explaining when and why they should be considered and provide practical guidance on their application.
The Role of the Arbitrator and the Survey
Over the past decade, there has been an evolving debate about the appropriate role for the arbitrator. Is the arbitrator simply appointed to manage the proceeding, receive the evidence and make a decision—thus, a role essentially limited solely to being a passive decision-maker—or is the arbitrator a service provider who should undertake a more active role and act as the dispute manager,1 the settlement facilitator,,2 the town elder,3 the collaborative arbitrator,4 the interactive or proactive arbitrator?5 Is there a continuum along with a series of possible measures that should be considered for each case?6 Should options be discussed with the parties at the start of the proceeding so that a bespoke process can be developed for the case with the appropriate procedural steps which may directly or indirectly have an effect on settlement?
Interviews were conducted by members of the Working Group with approximately 75 individuals, from jurisdictions around the world, to seek their reactions as to the arbitrator’s role in settlement and to provide their thoughts on the specific techniques that had been selected by the Working Group for further examination. While responses in this number can only be viewed as anecdotal, we draw upon them for the valuable insights they offer. References to this survey conducted by this Working Group are titled “Survey.”
In response to the question “Do you think an arbitrator has a role in fostering settlement?,” 78.38% responded “yes” and 21.62% responded “no.” Thus, a majority of respondents recognized that arbitrators have a part to play in facilitating settlement. The comments expanded on the positive responses by explaining that the tribunal: “Has an important role in helping the parties understand the procedural options to settlement, outside of the arbitral proceedings as well as within the arbitral proceedings”; “The arbitrator can have an active role provided this is in line with expectations/wishes of the parties”; “The arbitral proceedings can be framed in a manner favorable to possible settlements”; “An arbitrator plays a significant role in fostering settlement”; “It is the arbitrator’s duty to encourage the parties to settle the dispute.”
However, there are no uniform views. Numerous responses were submitted with such comments as: “An arbitrator has no role in fostering settlement—his or her role is to decide”; “The arbitrator is a service provider. You should only render a decision and not give advice”; “No active role unless the parties want it”; “There is a very limited role for an arbitrator to do things proactively.”
Working Group 4 seeks to provide guidance on the techniques reviewed that may be favorably considered by those who expressed all of the sentiments that are reflected in the survey, both positive and negative, about the arbitrator’s role in settlement.
The Arbitrator’s Authority
No discussion of the arbitrator’s role or consideration of a more proactive approach can be conducted without a review of the arbitrator’s authority. The thought leadership on the evolving role of the arbitrator and the movement to greater acceptance of a more active role has been reflected in guidelines, rules, and practice notes by multiple organizations. Perhaps the most telling evidence of the evolution of thinking about the arbitrator’s role in settlement is the change in the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings from the 1996 version to the 2016 version which evolved from “The arbitral tribunal should only suggest settlement negotiations with caution” to “In appropriate circumstances, the arbitral tribunal may raise the possibility of a settlement between the parties.” Many institutional rules and guidelines also refer to the arbitrator’s role in settlement:
- ICC Rules Appendix IV, h) (ii): “Where agreed between the parties and the arbitral tribunal, the arbitral tribunal may take steps to facilitate settlement of the dispute, provided that every effort is made to ensure that any subsequent award is enforceable at law.”
- IBA Guidelines on Conflict of Interest in International Arbitration General Standard 4(d): “An arbitrator may assist the parties in reaching the settlement of the dispute, through conciliation, mediation or otherwise, at any stage of the proceedings” (with express agreement).
- Swiss Rules Article 15(8): “With the agreement of each of the parties, the arbitral tribunal may take steps to facilitate the settlement of the dispute before it.”
- German DIS Rules Article 26: “Unless any party objects thereto, the arbitral tribunal shall, at every stage of the arbitration, seek to encourage an amicable settlement of the dispute or of individual disputed issues.”
- Prague Rules Article 9.1.: “Unless one of the parties objects, the arbitral tribunal may assist the parties in reaching an amicable settlement of the dispute at any stage of the arbitration”; Articles 9.2. and 9.3. allow “any member” of the tribunal “upon written consent of all parties” to “act as a mediator to assist in the amicable settlement of the case.”
- CIETAC Rules Article 47(1): “Where both parties wish to conciliate, or where one party wishes to conciliate and the other party’s consent has been obtained by the arbitral tribunal, the arbitral tribunal may conciliate the dispute during the arbitral proceedings.”
- Singapore International Arbitration Act Article 17(1): “If all parties to any arbitral proceedings consent in writing and for so long as no party has withdrawn his consent in writing, an arbitrator or umpire may act as a conciliator.”
While the better view is that arbitrators always had inherent authority to conduct an arbitration with the use of all of the techniques identified in this working group’s product, the specific recognition of the arbitrator’s authority with respect to settlement in an increasing number of rules and guidelines should serve to satisfy any remaining concerns arbitrators may have about expanding their toolkit and to more frequently employ more proactive measures. However, it is important to add that the techniques being considered by the working group are quite different from actively taking on the role of a mediator but rather are standard procedural techniques that may as a by-product also facilitate settlement.
Psychological Impact of Arbitration Procedural Measures
An area not often considered is the impact of measures taken by arbitrators which can counter unconscious psychological impediments to settlement. While, as with all psychological influences, there are a considerable number of unconscious obstacles to settlement, the working group notes a few impediments where arbitrator techniques may serve to deflect or at least minimize the psychological barrier.
For example, study after study has demonstrated that litigants and their counsel do not accurately predict case outcomes. The principal culprits that lead to this predictive failure are referred to as the “optimistic overconfidence” bias: People are simply overconfident in their predictions concerning the outcome of future events, including outcomes in litigated disputes; the egocentricity bias: The tendency to assess the strength of the case in a self-interested or egocentric manner; and confirmation bias: People interpret evidence so as to maintain their initial beliefs. As has also been shown however, not surprisingly, voluntary settlement is facilitated as parties become more realistic about their own prospects of winning. Early disposition of material issues, in-depth midterm reviews of the case by the arbitrator with the parties and providing preliminary views, early on or after the taking of evidence, are some of the measures that can be taken to assist parties in overcoming these biases.
Arbitrators addressing issues earlier in the process also serve to alleviate the impact of the “sunk costs” fallacy. Parties that have already spent considerable time and money often feel they already have so much invested in the process that they are less likely to settle and choose instead to take the adversarial process through to the end. While considered a “fallacy” that has no rational economic justification, the fallacy persists; earlier resolution of material issues and attention to focusing the parties on the issues of importance to the arbitrator sooner would decrease the amount of “sunk costs” and thus diminish the impact of this fallacy.
Greater and earlier interaction with the arbitrator may also serve to foster settlement by providing “procedural justice” in the litigants’ view and enabling them to have their “day in court” or their “day before the arbitrator,” an appreciation which has proven to foster acceptance of resolution. It may also serve to address the litigants’ “equity-seeking”: The desire to obtain equity in the face of having been badly treated, either by satisfying that desire or forcing a recognition that the arbitrator may not perceive the equities exactly the same way.
When considering which measures are most appropriate for the case before them, arbitrators may take into account the nature of these psychological impediments in deciding which techniques to choose in a particular case.
Differences in Cultures
Given the global nature of international arbitration, the working group asked whether the arbitrator’s role is dictated and whether it should be dictated by the arbitrator’s geographic, cultural or legal background. The working group noted that historically Chinese arbitrators have been more likely to engage in settlement discussions with the parties and arbitrators who follow the Germanic model often provide preliminary views with the agreement of all parties; a perception echoed by many of the survey respondents.
However, recent studies suggest that there is increasing harmonization across cultures with respect to the role of the arbitrator. For example, a survey of arbitrators across cultures demonstrated that approximately 74% of arbitrators, both east and west, shared the view that it was “appropriate for the arbitrator to suggest settlement negotiations to the parties,” and 58%, both east and west, thought it was “appropriate for the arbitrator to actively engage in settlement negotiations (at both parties request).”7 It has been said that with the current global mix of national origin, legal qualification, and place of practice of international practitioners, the east-west differences, in fact, are “often very subtle” and with the continuing melting pot of ideas, concepts and approaches across jurisdictions, future generations of arbitration practitioners will not depend so much on east versus west concepts of appropriate arbitrator conduct.8
Thus, while legal and geographical culture still has influence, it should not be viewed as limiting the arbitrator’s choice in crafting a process most suitable for the dispute at issue as long as care is taken to ensure that there is no breach of any governing ethical, legal or rulebased principle and the parties are consulted and have confirmed their agreement to the process.
Cautionary Notes
The world of international arbitration is global and so subject to different applicable substantive and procedural laws, different ethical constraints, and different approaches by courts to enforcement issues. Addressing the impact of all of these differences on the particular techniques discussed was beyond the scope of the project. Care must be taken in deciding how to use the various techniques available to arbitrators to ensure that they are in compliance with all applicable laws, all ethical obligations, and will not jeopardize enforceability of an ultimate award.
Care should also be taken to continue to be and appear to be impartial and independent and minimize the likelihood that any party would come to a different view based on the arbitrator’s conduct. Informed consent for the use of techniques with respect to which such consent would be advisable may protect the arbitrator from a challenge based on the use of the technique. Explanation (d) of General Standard 4 of the IBA Guidelines on Conflict of Interest in International Arbitration provides, “Informed consent by the parties to such a process [settlement of the dispute] prior to its beginning should be regarded as an effective waiver of a potential conflict of interest.” But loss of faith by a party may lead to challenges based on other and unrelated grounds. While maintaining the parties’ faith in the arbitration, the arbitrators and the process is essential, care should be taken not to be overwhelmed by unnecessary due process paranoia.
Ultimately, arbitration is about party control; party autonomy must prevail over other considerations. A comprehensive conversation with the parties at the first organizational conference to review options and design the arbitration would enable the parties working with the arbitrators to tailor the process to the particular dispute.9 Such early joint planning would serve the dual goals of maintaining party autonomy and ensuring that arbitration is responsive to user needs. Further, this would allow parties to anticipate in advance the procedure to be applied and avoid arbitrators making suggestions during the process that are unexpected and may lead to significant time spent trying to determine what the suggestion signified.
Heeding user calls for greater process creativity will enhance the utility and attractiveness of arbitration in the dispute resolution spectrum as the Singapore Convention comes into force making cross border mediated agreements enforceable, and the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters enabling recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments rendered by the courts of other states.
Conclusion
Working Group 4 is hopeful that this work will enable arbitrators and parties to consider measures for promoting effective and efficient arbitrations within a framework that includes consideration of the impact process decisions might have on settlement. As it was aptly noted by one of the cochairs of the Working Group: “Techniques to facilitate settlement of the dispute should belong to the arsenal of every international arbitrator in order to diversify the services which the arbitration community is able to provide to its users.”10
Endnotes
- Paolo Marzolini, The Arbitrator as a Dispute Manager—The Exercise of the Arbitrator’s Powers to Act as Settlement Facilitator, in The Arbitrator’s Initiative: When, Why and How Should It Be Used?, ASA Special Series, No. 45 (2016).
- Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, When Arbitrators Facilitate Settlement: Towards a Transnational Standard, 187, Arb. Int’l, Vol. 25, Issue 2 (2009).
- David Rivkin, Towards a New Paradigm in International Arbitration: The Town Elder Model Revisited, 375, Arb. Int’l, Vol. 24, Issue 3 (2008).
- Catherine Kessedjian, International Arbitration—More Efficiency for Greater Credibility, in Rovine (ed.), Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2014 (Nijhoff Publ. 2015).
- Michael Schneider, The Uncertain Future of the Interactive Arbitrator: Proposals, Good Intentions and the Effect of Conflicting Views on the Role of the Arbitrator, in Brekoulakis et al. (eds.), The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration (Kluwer Law International, 2016).
- Klaus Peter Berger and J. Ole Jensen, The Arbitrator’s Mandate to Facilitate Settlement, 887, Fordham Int’l L. J., Vol. 40, Issue 3 (2017).
- Shahla Ali, The Morality of Conciliation: An Empirical Examination of Arbitrator “Role Moralities” in East Asia and West, 1, Harv. Negot. L. Rev., Vol. 16 (2011).
- Stephan Wilske, Significant Differences in International Arbitration in the “East” and the “West”: Myth, Reality or Lost in Globalization? in Chang-fa Lo et al. (eds.), Legal Thoughts Between the East and the West in the Multilevel Legal Order, Economics, Law and Institutions in Asia Pacific (Publ. Springer Singapore 2016). But see, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and Victor Bonnin Reynes, Arbitrators as Conciliators: A Statistical Study of the Relation between an Arbitrator’s Role and Background, 79, ICC Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 2 (2007).
- See, e.g., Gabrielle Nater-Bass, The Initial Discussion with the Parties: How Should It Be Done? Which Topics Must Be or May Be Addressed? in The Arbitrator’s Initiative: When, Why and How Should It Be Used?, ASA Special Series, No. 45 (2016); Cecilia Carrara, How to Productively Conduct a Case Management Conference—Well Begun Is Half Done, 43, N.Y. Disp. Res. Lawyer, Vol. 12, No. 1 (2019).
- Berger and Jensen, supra note 6 at 917.
WG4 is co-chaired by Edna Sussman and Klaus Peter Berger. For a full list of WG 4 members, go to https://imimediation.org/mmtf. Edna Sussman, [email protected], is an independent arbitrator concentrating in domestic and international complex commercial disputes. She is the Distinguished ADR Practitioner in Residence at Fordham Law School and serves on the board of the American Arbitration Association. Sussman was formerly the Chair of the New York International Arbitration Center and president of the College of Commercial Arbitrators. Klaus Peter Berger, [email protected], is a full-tenure professor of domestic and international business and banking law and ADR at the University of Cologne, Germany, and a practicing international arbitrator. He is the former president of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) and a member of the Council of the ICC Institute of World Business Law.
This article is reprinted with permission from: New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, 2021, Vol. 14, No. 1, published by the New York State Bar Association, One Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207. | https://imimediation.org/2021/05/04/arbitrator-techniques-and-their-direct-or-potential-effect-on-settlement/ |
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The tent has a diameter of five meters and a height of three and a half meters. In the tent, guests will find a double bed and two single beds (which can be added upon request), carpets on the floor, a clothes rack, water, and electricity. Guests also have a large terrace with a table, chairs, and sun loungers making this the ideal spot to enjoy the gorgeous view over the valley.
There is also a large communal kitchen with gas stove, an oven, dishes, cutlery, and a private fridge about 50 meters away from the tent, as well as the showers and toilets.
Additionally, the stunning outdoor pool area offers guests the perfect place to cool down during those hot Tuscan summer days.
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If the guest cancels 7 days or more prior to check in.
Features
- Hot water potable
- Towels
- 3 Bathroom
- Lounge/Living room
- Shower
- Toilet
- Electricity
- Running water potable
- Sink
- Hairdryer
- 1 Queen-size bed
- Coffeemaker
- Oven
- Garden
- Fridge
- Outdoor furniture
- Freezer
- Shared Kitchen
- Toaster
- Blender
- Dining room
- Deck/Patio
- 1 Crib/Child's bed
- Stove
- Dining table
- Linens and pillows
- Tea kettle
- 2 Twin/Single bed
- Hammock
- Highchair
- Washing machine
- Cooking basics
- Parking
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Guest Services
- Laundry service
Location + Surroundings
Local services
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Entertainment
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- Museums
- Antiquing
It is situated on 30 hectares and is less than an hour away from both Saturnia and Bagni San Filippo. Saturnia is a well-known spa town that is popular for Cascate del Mulino, a waterfall and hot spring, while Bagni San Filippo is a smaller hot spring containing calcium carbonate deposits, which form white concretions and waterfalls.
Activities
- Biking
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- Kayaking/Canoeing
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- Wildlife watching
While staying at this property, guests will be presented with plenty of opportunities for fun and entertainment. One of the biggest attraction in the area are the natural hot water springs. There are at least seven of them in the area around and near the property and some of them have ferrous water, while others are sulfur-based springs. They are all a result of the still present volcanic activity of Monte Amiata. The nearby town of Saturnia is well-known for its springs, which are popular for keen photographers because of the incredible colors of the springs. Guests should be sure to head to Bagni San Filippo, another popular destination for hot springs that can be less crowded.
Another popular destination is Monte Labbro, a pyramid-shaped mountain with a height of 1,100 meters, from which visitors have breathtaking, panoramic views over the southern part of Tuscany. Nearby, there are several medieval and artistic towns to visit, such as Orvieto, Siena, Florence, Perugia, Assisi, and some lesser-known places like Pienza and San Quirico D’Orcia. Guests can enjoy the architecture, speak to the locals, and enjoy finding some of the best local food hidden throughout the towns.
Accommodation Rules
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Check-in: Flexible
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Check-out: Flexible
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Infants allowed Under 2 years old
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Children allowed 2-12 years old
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No smoking
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No parties
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Some spaces are shared
Cancellation policy
Additional Information
Smoking is not permitted.
Pets are allowed on some accommodations; guests should inquire with the host.
Guests should note that some animals live on this property.
There is a 35 euro cleaning fee for stays for of a week or more. | https://glampinghub.com/italy/tuscany/santafiora/romantic-getaway-grosseto-tuscany/ |
In the framework of the program for professional development company’s employees are trained in the leading training centers for oil & gas industry.
Construction personnel
Machinery operators; drivers; welders (pipelines, steel structures, PVC pipes and etc.); oxygen-cutting operators; locksmith-fitters; installation specialists (equipment, steel structures, ventilation systems, doors and windows); construction electricians; sling operators; insulation specialists; painters, sandblasters; NDT inspectors; blasters; CP, FOLC, PCS, KITSO, I&C specialists; thermite welding welders; concrete workers, carpenters, brick masons, rebar fitters; road builders.
Engineers
Architecture engineers; civil engineers; steel structure engineers; pipeline engineers; electrical engineers; instrumentation engineers; HVAC engineers; insulation engineers; IT engineers; mechanical engineers; commissioning engineers; QA/QC engineers; surveyor engineers.
Drivers and mechanics
Drivers and mechanics.
Support staff
Company management; project managers; project control managers; risk managers; procurement managers; subcontracts managers; managers of production, technical and cost estimation; QA/QC managers; HR manager; planners; cost-controllers; contract administrators; planning and reporting manager; logistics specialist; accountants. | https://www.ent-en.com/en/activities/personnel/ |
Objective: This article identifies, critically appraises and illustrates the use of five key workforce turnover and retention metrics that are well suited for use by Australian rural health workforce planners. These are crude turnover (separation) rates, stability rates, survival probabilities, median survival and Cox proportional hazard ratios. Examples of their calculation are presented using actual data obtained from payroll records in Australian rural and remote health services.
Conclusion: The use of this small number of metrics as a 'workforce measurement package' can help overcome many of the limitations evident when a single measure is reported in isolation, by providing a more comprehensive picture of turnover and retention patterns. We suggest that health services themselves can calculate the simplest measures, whereas regional and centralised health authorities with higher levels of expertise undertake survival analysis and comparisons of compiled data.
Implications: These key metrics can be used routinely to measure baseline levels of health worker turnover and retention, to quantify important determinants of turnover and retention, and importantly, to make valid comparisons. This enables areas for improvement to be better targeted using appropriate retention strategies, and changes resulting from retention interventions to be evaluated effectively. | https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/publications/how-best-to-measure-health-workforce-turnover-and-retention-five- |
Constructing an opening day roster for any team can be challenging. When the salary cap drops from a pro-rated level of $70.2 million last season to $64.3 million in 2013-14, the challenges are only magnified.
In an effort to manage a tight salary squeeze, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ray Shero and assistant/cap specialist Jason Botterill were very active on Monday.
- On the way down: Andrew Ebbett and Simon Despres were demoted to the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Forward Beau Bennett was demoted to Wheeling of the ECHL. Derrick Pouliot was returned to his junior team in Portland (WHL).
- On the way up: Hard-hitting defenseman Harrison Ruopp was recalled from Wilkes-Barre.
- Onto Injured Reserve: Kris Letang (lower body) and Tomas Vokoun (blood clots).
Aside from Ruopp, surprising inclusions on the opening day roster include Chris Conner and 2012 first round pick Olli Maatta.
What does it all mean?
The seven moves were reminiscent of the Penguins’ cap shuffle with Jordan Staal and Eric Tangradi in 2010. Tangradi’s demotion to Wheeling (instead of Wilkes-Barre) set off alarm bells amongst the fanbase. But the devil was in the details.
Botterill was back at it again on Monday with Vokoun and Bennett playing the roles of Staal and Tangradi — only this time with a slightly different twist.
Last week we looked at the injury to Vokoun and how his absence would impact the team’s cap situation, specifically as it relates to the long-term injury exception. Assuming Vokoun is out for an extended period of time, Pittsburgh had two options:
- Place Vokoun on LTIR for the opening roster, or
- Wait until the first day of the season (Oct 1) to make the designation. [Click here to read the full explanation]
The latter method is how Staal was handled three seasons ago. LTIR designations are rarely reported publicly, but Monday’s moves indicate that the team almost surely decided to go with the first option this year: start with Vokoun on LTIR in order to maximize salary cap flexibility.
Below is an in-depth breakdown of the Penguins’ salary cap situation as of Monday evening.
The same disclaimer from ‘Tangradi 2010‘ still applies: For readers with no interest in the intricacies of the CBA or made queasy at the sight of a calculator, proceed with caution. ‘Vokoun 2013’ will be mentally taxing.
The Roster
NHL teams are permitted to have 23 players on their active roster for Opening Day.
By placing Letang and Vokoun on Injured Reserve, the Penguins are able to carry 25 players for the time being. Injured Reserve requires a player to miss at least seven days, but does not allow for any salary cap relief. In other words, the cap hits of Letang and Vokoun continue to impact the team’s total.
The long-term injury exception is an additional option for players expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days. Depending on when the declaration is made, LTIR allows the team to exceed the salary cap by a certain amount.
As we reviewed last week, LTIR relief to exceed the cap is calculated by taking the player’s salary and subtracting the available cap space at the time of the designation.
The Salary Cap
So where do the Penguins’ stand after the seven roster moves, and how can we tell if LTIR was taken on Vokoun yet or not?
The breakdown below shows Pittsburgh’s (likely) cap scenario with cap hits provided by CapGeek.com:
In Scenario 2 of last week’s Vokoun article, we described how the Penguins’ could aim to get as close to $2 million over the cap through creative reshuffling and designate Vokoun for LTIR on their opening roster in order to get compliant. This seems to be the option the team has chosen.
Recall the equation described above:
LTIR Relief to Exceed the Cap = Player Salary minus Available Space at Time of Designation
LTIR Relief: $2 million – $17,499 = $1,982,501
Mission accomplished.
Other Important Notes
~One common question in the aftermath of Monday’s activity is why did Bennett report to Wheeling while Despres was sent to Wilkes-Barre if the moves are only temporary?
Both players are not required to clear waivers in order to be demoted. Pittsburgh can also assign both players to the ECHL without their approval because they are on entry-level contracts. The Tangradi situation reminded us that Wheeling is only 60 miles from Pittsburgh while Wilkes-Barre is about 260. If a player is only being demoted temporarily, a quick down-and-back to Wheeling makes more sense.
Assuming the info above is true, we can conclude that Bennett will be returning to the Penguins tomorrow while Despres will remain in the AHL for the time being.
~Capgeek enthusiasts might also notice that Harrison Ruopp’s cap hit above does not match what is listed on the salary cap tracking website. This is because Ruopp’s cap hit on the site includes $282,500 in bonuses. In an effort to limit complexity, we can just assume these bonuses do not come into play in our calculations. (You can read more about bonuses in the NHL here)
~Conner and Maatta were two surprises on the opening roster. While Ruopp and Conner will almost surely be demoted on Tuesday in order to clear space for Bennett’s return, Pittsburgh has flexibility with Olli Maatta.
Maatta is able to play nine games at the NHL level without burning a year of his entry-level contract. But if and when the Penguins decide to demote him, Maatta must return to his junior team in London (OHL). CBA restrictions do not allow him to play in the AHL or ECHL. It’s all or nothing.
~The conclusion to the Vokoun article ended up coming true:
There are a number of possibilities, but the Penguins are best served to wait until the last possible minute to make a decision.
Judging by the Penguins’ luck over the past few seasons, the injury to Vokoun might only be the beginning.
Whatever plans Botterill and the Penguins’ had in store for opening day were thrown into the trash with the injury to Letang over the weekend. A healthy Letang would’ve meant a totally different shuffle and perhaps a different approach to the Vokoun LTIR designation.
What Happens Next?
The most likely scenario would see Conner and Ruopp returned to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday morning. Conner has already cleared waivers and can be assigned at any time, while Ruopp does not need to clear waivers to be demoted.
These moves would be accompanied by an official recall of Beau Bennett from Wheeling.
If the Penguins decide to keep Maatta as a seventh defenseman for the time being, they will not have room to sign camp tryout Chuck Kobasew. Rob Rossi at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Kobasew and the Penguins were not able to agree to terms as of Sunday. The above scenario would not have permitted Kobasew to be signed on Monday, but a Maatta demotion on Tuesday could clear roster and cap space for Kobasew to join the team.
The Oct 1 column above shows that the Penguins would have approximately $1.2 million available (without taking LTIR on Letang). Of course, this only applies temporarily if Vokoun is expected to return this season. At that point, the Penguins would need to shuffle once again in order to become cap compliant. | https://thehockeywriters.com/pittsburgh-penguins-roster-moves-2013/ |
Healthy, delicious and detoxifying recipe by Statera.Life...
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STATĒRA – The Balanced Life
What is the key to a healthy balanced life? How to loose weight the healthy way? How to tech a child healthy habits for life?
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Aerial Yoga
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Supplements
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Have you noticed how the more and more we obtain in life, the more and more we achieve – we cannot let go of a tiny voice in our heads, which whispers: “You could do...
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Whether you want to stretch, tone or just want to try something new – yoga has a million benefits, which could only be felt once you dedicate some time to the practice. I started my...
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27 Things I’ve Learnt in my 27 Years
Happiness is an everyday choice You will never know before you try Take NO for an answer But also learn to say NO Nothing is what it looks from the outside Meditation is not only... | http://belcheva.com/tag/lifestyle/ |
Distances are displayed to the nearest 0.1 mile and kilometer.
Art Institute of Philadelphia - 0.1 km / 0.1 mi
Walnut Street - 0.2 km / 0.1 mi
Rittenhouse Square - 0.6 km / 0.4 mi
Academy of Music - 0.6 km / 0.4 mi
City Hall - 0.7 km / 0.4 mi
Free Library of Philadelphia - 0.7 km / 0.4 mi
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - 0.9 km / 0.5 mi
Mutter Museum - 0.9 km / 0.5 mi
Academy of Natural Sciences - 0.9 km / 0.6 mi
Jefferson University Hospital - 1 km / 0.6 mi
Benjamin Franklin Parkway - 1 km / 0.6 mi
Reading Terminal Market - 1.1 km / 0.7 mi
Ben Franklin National Memorial - 1.1 km / 0.7 mi
The nearest airports are:
Philadelphia, PA (PHL-Philadelphia Intl.) - 21.5 km / 13.4 mi
Philadelphia, PA (PNE-Northeast Philadelphia) - 23.4 km / 14.6 mi
Blue Bell, PA (BBX-Wings Field) - 33.1 km / 20.5 mi
Trenton, NJ (TTN-Mercer) - 54.6 km / 33.9 mi
The preferred airport for Club Quarters Hotel in Philadelphia is Philadelphia, PA (PHL-Philadelphia Intl.).
Property Policies
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- This property uses a grey water recycling system.
Important Information
Please note, there is important information about this property to know before you arrive.
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property:
- Breakage deposit: USD 50 per night
We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.
The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Self parking fee: USD 28.00 per night
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change. | https://hotels.jetstar.com/properties/31658-club-quarters-hotel-in-philadelphia |
Neighborhood watch meeting set for Thursday
Anyone living in the 70512 zip code area is encouraged to attend a neighborhood watch meeting Thursday to help deter criminal activity in the Arnaudville area.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Arnaudville Civic center. Some of the special guests include Capt. Cheyne Platt with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office and Lisa Vidrine with the parish office of homeland security and emergency preparedness.
The Arnaudville neighborhood crime watch will strive to:
- Deter criminal activity
- Create a greater sense of security and reduce fear of crime
- Build bonds with neighbors
- Reduce the risk of becoming a crime victim and in turn reduce the physical, financial and psychological costs of crime.
- Instruct residents on how to observe and report suspicious activities in the community and offer continued education and resource contact for victims of crime.
- Address quality life issues and mutual interests in the community.
- Work collaboratively with other civic and community activities.
"When I first ran for police chief, I wanted to start a neighborhood watch program, but we couldn't get it going," said Arnaudville Police Chief Ed LeCompte. "This meeting is is more of an information session."
The drug take program will also be discussed at Thursday's meeting. The program's goal is to allow anyone to turn in unused or expired medication for safe disposal.
Prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the country, according to the program's website.
Most abusers of medicines, including teens, get the drugs from a friend or relative and not from a drug dealer. A safe medicine take-back program aims to get potentially dangerous leftover drugs out of the home.
LeCompte said he hopes Thursday's meeting will draw a big crowd.
"That's what it's all about, neighbors helping neighbors," LeCompte said. "The police can't be everywhere. The more help we get from the community, the better."
For more information, call 337-754-5913. | https://www.dailyworld.com/story/news/local/2016/04/05/neighborhood-watch-meeting-set-thursday/82654182/ |
Handout C: Article I, Sections 8, 9, 10 of the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment
Directions:
Work with your group to complete the following.
- How is power divided between the state and federal levels?
- What reasoning do you think the Founders had for dividing power? Why were there certain powers given to the federal government but not others? Why were the powers not delegated reserved to the states and the people?
- Identify and underline ways in which the people’s rights are protected by limits on the powers of Congress. Be prepared to explain the importance of each.
Article I, Section 8 [Powers of Congress]
- Lay and collect taxes
- Pay debts
- Provide for the common defense and general welfare
- Borrow money
- Regulate commerce
- Establish rules for naturalization [foreign people becoming citizens]
- Establish rules for bankruptcies
- Establish standard weights and measures
- Coin money
- Punish counterfeiters
- Establish post offices and post roads
- Promote the progress of science and arts and protect the rights to their writings and discoveries
- Establish courts
- Punish piracies
- Declare war
- Raise and support armies
- Provide and maintain a navy
- Make rules for land and naval forces
- Call on the militia to execute laws, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions
- Organize, arm, and discipline the militia, but reserve training and appointment of officers of the militia to the states
- Exercise control of the District [capitol]
- Erect forts, magazines, and arsenals, dockyards, and other buildings
- Make all laws necessary and proper to carry out powers in the Constitution
|Article I,
|
Section 9 [Limits on the Powers of Congress]
|Article I, | https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/handout-c-article-i-sections-8-9-10-of-the-constitution-and-the-tenth-amendment |
I live in Perth, Western Australia, with my wife, Colleen, and our dog, Mollie (both of whom feature in the 'portraits' gallery). I moved here from London four years ago. Photography has come and gone for me over the years, but feel it is now here to stay. My wife is very creative and she has encouraged me to pursue this project again after a brief hiatus - so if you like any of these photos, you have her to thank.
Most of the black and white photos - and many of the colour - on this site were taken with good old film, and in the case of the black and white, were developed at home, in the sink, and hung to dry before being scanned. Digital photos still feature, but I much prefer the experience of using film.
Analogue photography demands a more thorough approach. #Nofilter is not a concept that applies to analogue photography; my black and white images are grainy because of the nature of the film itself and reflects my own aesthetic preference. I like the process of film photography because there is no 'chimping' and you are always thinking about the next shot. This is not a question of film vs digital, it’s just a personal preference. I love the fact that each click of the shutter makes you slow down and think, as every click costs. It makes you take more care and as a result you often get better photos.
If you haven’t guessed already, I’m a big fan of film and I would encourage anyone to have a go. The cameras are cheap and readily available and let’s face it - you look so much cooler with a film camera!
All work by Richard Harmer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.richardharmerphoto.com. | http://richardharmerphoto.com/about |
leadership.
Furthermore, the Ethics and Sustainable Development Committee, which is primarily composed of
independent directors, ensures application of the individual and collective values around which the
Group is built and plays a role in shaping the Group s efforts in ethics and social, societal and environ-
mental responsibility.
ORGANIZATION OF OUR APPROACH
The LVMH social responsibility strategy is split across three levels:
- General procedures and commitments that ensure the issues and objectives related to each strategic
priority are addressed
- Group-wide projects and partnerships
- Initiatives put in place by the Maisons to address their specific local needs and operations
MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING
Each Maison has its own CSR champion appointed by the HR Department who prepares CSR reports
and liaises with LVMH to ensure all initiatives remains in line with the Group strategy. The Group
maintains regular dialogue with its CSR champions, who operate within a CSR network and oversee
the deployment of priority actions and the overall coherence of the strategy. Two or three times a
year, members of the CSR network come together to review performance over the last year, determine
shared priorities for the current year, identify opportunities for collaboration, share best practice and
meet with stakeholders.
Annual reports, which collate quantitative and qualitative information, describe all the socially
responsible initiatives put in place by the Group s Maisons. LVMH uses these consolidated reports to
communicate its social responsibility policy and action in its Annual Report and Universal Registration
Document, which are supplemented by the present Social Responsibility Report. At the same time,
certain Maisons like Guerlain publish their own Social Responsibility Report.
WHILE THE GROUP S DEVELOPMENT IS ANCHORED IN SHARED SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
PRINCIPLES, METHODS AND ACTION PLANS, EACH MAISON APPLIES ITS CSR STRATEGY
LOCALLY IN ORDER TO SUIT ITS SPECIFIC SOCIAL CONTEXT. THE GROUP S INTERNATIONAL
REPORTING SYSTEM HELPS IT MONITOR AND REPORT ON THIS STRATEGY. | https://hosting.fluidbook.com/LVMH/2019-Social-Responsibility-Report/74-LVMH-2019-Social-Responsibility-Report.html |
Eric Menkhus is leading the College of Law’s efforts in new initiatives, including expanding online learning and online programs, as Director of New Program Development. He took on this new role in Fall 2012.
As Director of the Innovation Advancement Program, he worked with students from across ASU – the College of Law, W.P. Carey School of Business, Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Barrett, The Honors College – to provide essential services to technology start-up companies and entrepreneurs with ties to Arizona.
In addition to his teaching at the College of Law, Professor Menkhus speaks on a wide array of topics to a broad spectrum of audiences, including guest lecturing in engineering and business courses on legal topics such as business-entity formation and intellectual property protection. He has also taught the Essentials of Law for Managers course in the W.P. Carey Evening MBA Program and has been invited to multiple conferences and panel discussions associated with the Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation - the nation’s preeminent charitable foundation - focused on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education. Additionally, Professor Menkhus has been chosen by the Arizona Commerce Authority as a judge for the Arizona Innovation Challenge, as a panelist for Arizona Innovation Challenge winners’ presentations, and as an IP expert for the PIII Playbook SBIR training program.
When not teaching or lecturing, Professor Menkhus also gets involved with startup companies. He has been involved with GlyEco Inc. - a public, Arizona-based, green chemistry company in the glycol recycling industry – since 2006 (and was a founder of the predecessor company that eventually became GlyEco Inc. and is currently working on an early stage software startup, Liger Sports LLC, in the fantasy sports market.
Professor Menkhus joined the College’s full time faculty in 2006, but has managed the law school’s Technology Ventures Clinic, now the Innovation Advancement Program, since 2004. Previously, he worked as an Industrial Engineer and Manager, Quality and Productivity of Global New Accounts at American Express, was a founding member of a web-design firm, and also worked in the real-estate industry.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, juris doctorate, and master of business administration, all from Arizona State University.
B.S.E., Arizona State University (1996)
J.D., Arizona State University (2004)
M.B.A., Arizona State University (2004)
Douglas J. Sylvester, Kari Jill Granville, & Eric Menkhus, Entrepreneur’s Guide to Innovation Law (Arizona State University 2005).
Issues and Challenges in Collaborative Clinical Education, Plenary Session at the AALS Clinical Education Conference in New York City (May 2006). | https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/16983 |
I know that folk music isn’t all organic, this web whole foods, and love – or indeed deep lust – buried in a haystack. Happy all day, before campfires and passions at night. No, folk musicians don’t spend their days wearing slightly grubby lumberjacks or floaty, ethereal frocks. See evidence: Grizzly Bear aren’t happy all the time and Bon Iver is a delightfully melancholy chap. And then just listen to Nick Drake and young Laura Marling. To be honest I’m not really sure where I got the skippy, clappy, dancing in the hazy afternoon sunshine vision from. Perhaps it’s because folk artists tend to sing about the earth, nature and love in one breath. There is no chat of ‘honeys’ or ‘bling’. Gah, And of course, folkers may be generally creative and appreciative of the natural world, but it in no means leaves them exempt of sadness, hurt and darkness. I wonder, does it in actual fact make them more open and adept to describing their feelings than the blingers? Regardless, folk is often as rhythmic and warming as the grandfather clock that my 40s’ Grandpa chopped the bottom of, to fit in his house. Tick, tock. Folk is cosy and true, which is why it feels so pure – which is why it makes me want to reside in a yurt.
Illustration by Sarah Matthews
Let me introduce you to Emily Jane White. The PR sheet in-front of me says that her album is: ‘a collection of ten opulent, uncluttered and captivating ballads.’ A friend asked me other day, “If you had to only use one adjective for the rest of your life, what would it be?” If I was a news writer, I would say: “Peh, what even are adjectives?”. As a PR I would pass out. Whilst as a writer of my own devices, I would say – ‘blissful’. Then I could put ‘anti’ in-front of a word perhaps. Awkward. Anyway, off on a tangent again: Emily Jane White’s music is BLISSFUL.
See:
She is melancholy. But in the way that makes you feel perhaps strangely, very contented. Maybe it is because in a sense Emily is making peace with herself and her thoughts through the act of writing her music. She said that she found writing her latest album, Ode To Sentience, out now on Talitres Records, cathartic to write: “They speak to the emotional simplicity and complexity of human relationship. I chose to call the record Ode To Sentience because it is the capacity to feel that creates a share human experience of music. We all share the potency of music by having the capacity to feel, and I found the simplicity of this fact very beautiful.”
‘Tis true.
Illustration by Laura Godfrey, LG Illustration
Her album is about leaving home, her’s was California – I Lay To Rest (California) – the drawn out strings longing to leave. The sharper notes; the sadness of leaving it. Clipped Wings is ghostly and full of yearning, reflections of love’s passed. The Cliff holds classic American twangs, whilst Oh Katherine, is a string filled heaven of a song. Her voice is as soft and delicate as a peach, whilst her fearless approach to singing from the darker depths of her consciousness matches the strings perfectly.
She is much like a Californian Kate Bush, but less obviously ethereal and screaming. Or she could be a gentler Alela Diane or singular Mountain Man. Black Silk has to be my personal favourite. The Law is guitar based, slow and… actually quite a lot like my Grandpa’s Grandfather clock. It wraps you up. Says it’s all ok. For a little bit of this, here we have ‘The Law’, for you to download for free: here. Download it now.
Emily Jane White’s Album, Ode to Sentience is available now on Talitres Records.
Tags:
album, Alela Diane, california, Cathartic, Contented, Emily Jane White, Ethereal, folk, Grandfather clock, grizzly bear, Helen Martin, Kate Bush, Laura Godfrey, Laura Marling, Melancholy, Mountain Man, music, Nick Drake, Ode to Sentience, Relationships, review, Sarah Matthews, strings, Talitres Records, Yurt
Similar Posts: | https://www.ameliasmagazine.com/music/album-review-emily-jane-white-ode-to-sentience/2011/03/10/ |
I was recently going through some old files and notebooks and came across a paper I wrote during my sophomore year in college (Spring 1980). The paper was for a course on the history of technology that I titled, Conditions of Technology Development. The professor, who happened to be the Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering, gave me a B+ with the comment of “Some good thoughts – well expressed.” Little did I know what path my career was going to take and how the subject of this paper was going to become the foundation for everything I do including the subject for my book.
The paper took a fairly simple view of what is needed to create the right conditions for technology development that leads to innovation. The conditions I identified included; the role of agricultural productivity to free up land and human resources, the role of low cost mass production to meet the desires of the customers and the availability of the raw resources. The paper also brought up concerns about the need for environmental restraint.
Given the perspective I gained from the 31 years since I wrote this paper, my view of what’s needed to create the right conditions for innovation has changed.
Conditions of Technology Development
If I were to write the paper today, I would say that the following are the conditions of technology development:
1) Effective protection of intellectual property
Without an effective intellectual property policy, there is little to no incentive to invent. It’s through the guaranteed protection that rewards the risks taken to discover and commercialize breakthroughs.
2) Vigorous competition
Highly competitive markets fuel the speed of innovation. In markets where near monopoly conditions exist, innovation slows to a crawl as the company has no outside force challenging its leadership position.
3) Stable economic environment that is pro-business
The willingness of organizations to invest in the development of innovations is tied to the economic return they will receive. Therefore stable economic environments (e.g. low inflation, growing GDP, predictable non-burdensome tax regulation, etc) allow for organizations to plan and commit to the long investment cycles needed for breakthrough innovations.
4) Availability of risk capital
Whether it’s from within an organization or from venture capitalists, risk capital is a fundamental requirement for innovation. Without it, the idea dies before it even has a chance.
5) A strong research and development infrastructure
Research and development infrastructure is established when the government, universities and industries achieve a high level of alignment, support and cooperation. To achieve this level of support, incentives and rewards need to be in place to encourage the right behaviors.
6) Transparent regulatory systems
The regulatory systems need to be open and free from biases. The lack of a transparent regulatory system discourages organizations from developing new innovations since the ability to secure the reward is blocked by others who use influence to prevent a truly competitive marketplace for ideas.
7) Ethics and the rule of law
When some of the conditions are non-existent, innovation can still flourish where there is a moral and ethical structure in place. The core is a legal and judicial system that ensures uniform application of the law to all parties.
8) A strong emphasis on education
The engine that makes innovation happen is our ability to apply human ingenuity to the problems and opportunities that emerge. The education system is critical to nurturing human ingenuity by establishing a foundation of critical and creative thinking skills.
What conditions do you think are critical to innovation? | https://philmckinney.com/8-conditions-that-need-to-be-in-place-for-technology-innovation-to-happen/ |
SEBERANG PERAI WAS historically known as Province Wellesley, when in 1798, it was handed over by the Kedah Sultanate to the British East India Company. In recent times, however, “Seberang Perai” is used by locals to refer to land on the other side of the Perai River.
Bordering Kuala Muda in Kedah, Seberang Perai Utara is the largest district in Penang, measuring 268 square kilometres and with a population density of 1,275 people per square kilometre. Seberang Perai Utara is wealthy for its prehistoric archaeological finds, dating back roughly 5,000 years, and for its early history as an important meeting point between Kedah, Siam and the British.
Urbanisation has transformed Seberang Perai Utara’s charming rustic landscapes into residential properties, complete with a range of amenities. The district’s total population now numbers 341,500 people. But visitors to the area are still able to bask in its pastoral ambience and sample the kampung way of life from the array of cultural and environmental attractions on offer.
Facilities Available
There are 34 clinics (including maternal and child health clinics, rural clinics and community clinics) and one hospital in Seberang Perai Utara. The district also has 65 primary and 30 secondary schools (both government and government-aided). Impressively, for public safety, 17 units of police stations (including the headquarters, stations and huts) and five fire stations can be found here. Options for its hospitality industry are, however, limited to its two homestays, 18 accommodation premises and the Desa Lestari Village.
Public Green Spaces
Seberang Perai Utara has a total of 236 green spaces available for public access, covering an estimated total area of 150.2 hectares. Area-wise, neighbourhood parks constitute the largest (69.1 hectares), followed by recreational parks (49.1 hectares). Neighbourhood parks account for 68% of all park types. Interestingly, there is quite a significant amount of vacant land. Twenty-one areas account for 8.9% of that which is categorised as vacant land used for recreation, but these are presently found to be vacant of any recreational facilities and are not properly maintained. There are also about 4.3 hectares of land categorised under “open green space” and others that have high potential as proper public green spaces.
Footnotes:
DOSM, My Local Stats Seberang Perai Utara, Pulau Pinang, 2020.
Current land use data, 2021. https://iplan.townplan.gov.my/public/geoportal
Syafiqah Nazurah Mukhtar
is an urban studies researcher who also loves to decorate homes and spaces. | https://penangmonthly.com/article/20663/seberang-perai-utara-in-numbers |
During a ceremony in Melbourne on 17 May for the 2018 Victorian Coastal Awards, EstuaryWatch Victoria received the Community Engagement award. These awards celebrate the efforts of Victorians in protecting and enhancing Victoria’s coastal and marine environments and are an initiative of the Victorian Coastal Council.
EstuaryWatch Victoria is a prominent citizen science program promoting the monitoring of estuary health and local waterways across 18 Victorian regions and is supported in its efforts through involvement of local catchment management authorities. A strong focus of the program is on the contribution provided by the community and volunteers to assist with regional data collection and recordings of water quality across Victoria’s rivers and associated waterways.
During 2016, CeRDI completed substantial redevelopment work for EstuaryWatch Victoria. CeRDI’s research and technical support staff worked closely with project partners and program coordinators to ensure that EsturaryWatch could better respond to a groundswell of community interest by providing more effective access information and long term data on the condition of Victorian estuaries.
The EstuaryWatch portal now features a range of innovative monitoring methods and tools to track changes in estuary health. The data explorer is supported by improved functionality using re-designed databases, rapid data interrogation tools, and offering interactive maps for accessing and visualising region-specific data.
The Community Engagement award for EstuaryWatch Victoria recognises the outstanding contribution of EstuaryWatch coordinators and volunteers in improving understanding and connection with coastal and marine environments through engagement with the wider community. This award recognises EstuaryWatch Victoria’s important role in citizen science and community engagement, furthering its reputation as a global leader in supporting community members to actively participate in the monitoring of estuary health by collecting, storing and communicating long term data sets on estuaries.
This award follows on from another important milestone for EstuaryWatch having recently celebrated its 10 year anniversary in 2017. | http://www.cerdi.edu.au/cb_pages/news/estuarywatchaward2018.php |
This is a poem, that focuses on the illusion of life, the uselessness of all endeavors. Then in old-age we are left complaining about a life, not well led.
Reality of the World | Krishna Exposes Putana | POEM
Krishna Exposes the Reality of the World Through Putana.
The Importance of Truth in Life | Poem: Truth and Life Values
We take the value of Truth lightly. We feel we can fool the world and make merry. We are living in the deepest of illusions. Its time to wake up and take the call
What is Consciousness? | Poem: The nature of Consciousness
Consciousness, is the nature of existence. We are hounded by the world of duality, which has become the source of all problems. If one were to get into self-awareness, to look for it, at the source, the problem of our existence and that of the world shall stand unraveled
Journey of Life | Poem: Empty Roads and Passers-by
Life is growing mystery. We do not have answers to so many questions of life. Is there a way to get the answers?
Truth about Life | Poem: Little, Do I understand
We take life for granted. Are we really qualified in commenting what is right or wrong? We may have opinions, but are we qualified to dictate?
Observing change around the world | Poem: The Road And the Sea
What we consider as "I", is esoteric in its very nature. No finger can be pointed to "it". This poem is a salutation to that reality. | https://spiritmeaning.com/category/poem/ |
In 1853 French playwright, novelist and publicist Eugène Nus (1816-1894) and some of his friends – like him young and intellectually brilliant – disappointed by the turn that political events in France had taken following the repression of 1848 revolution, decided to devote themselves to a pastime, recently imported from America, that was then very popular in Paris lounges: that of turning tables. The group of which Nus was a part met in Paris in an apartment in Rue de Beaune, headquarters of the republican newspaper Démocratie pacifique of which Nus had been editor, suppressed by the new regime. The spirit with which these friends wanted to try to make the table dance was anything but serious and engaged: instead of playing backgammon, as they used to do, they wanted to have fun with something different and more exotic. The fact is that since the first sitting the table used for the test, described by Nus as heavy and massive, began to swing under their fingers, remaining then steady on two legs and showing resistance to the attempts made to bring it back to its normal position. It then began to move around the room, in various directions, following the will of one or the other member of the group who, in turn, decided where it should move.
Those who read French can find the chronicle of these séances in the pleasant and lively book by Nus Choses de l'Autre Monde (1880), downloadable from the Library. Although the friends were amazed and surprised by the outcome of what they considered little more than a trendy game, they were not at all impressed from an intellectual point of view: at that time, in fact, the frequent new scientific discoveries revealed and explained aspects of nature that until a few decades earlier were still shrouded in mystery. Nus and his friends, intelligent people, with a – sometimes quite caustic – critical spirit, attributed the phenomenon to some electrical force of a still unknown nature that emanated from their bodies: «This force is within us and evidently emanates from us, since our contact is necessary to animate this inert wood. Animate is the proper word, because once our hands have been laid on the table, it is no longer a thing, it is a being». However, as the game seemed fun and interesting to them, they decided to go on: they got a round three-footed card table (French: guéridon), which moved faster and seemed to dance to the beat if some music was played. Nus also observed that the table seemed to have some form of intelligence, because its movements carried out – as if it were a well-trained doggie – the orders given to it, even if only mentally.
One day a friend of Nus, Arthur de Bonnard, informed the group that even at his home they spent time with the table, and in particular his children had a lot of fun with a spirit named Jopidiès. In fact, as Bonnard told his incredulous friends, not only could the table move, but it also knew how to speak, and it answered the questions that were put to it, using the alphabet method: one blow for a, two for b, and so on (the most complicated and less practical method you can use). Nus and his friends just had to try, and in fact they immediately asked the table what was its name, and they got the answer: Pythagoras... At this point, more and more intrigued and also fascinated by this phenomenon, Nus began to take notes of all the questions that were addressed to the table and the relative answers. Of course, the questions were verbally asked aloud by some of the sitters, and could also be agreed upon and written down in advance, while it was easy to record the answers, as they could be written letter by letter. Nus's group recognized an intelligent personality in the table, which manifested itself autonomously in the answers given to the questions, answers that were critically evaluated – and sometimes briskly contested – by the sitters, who did not show any fideistic or reverential attitude towards a presumed communicating entity of a spiritual nature.
A curious fact is that, when definitions of a term or a concept were asked, the table – at the request of Nus's group – had to answer with a complete sentence consisting of 12 words. Then began what Nus called «the twelve words dictionary»: the friends asked the table to define words such as consciousness, infinity, physics, geology, love, and a lot of other terms reported in chapter 4 of Nus's book, and the table immediately answered by dictating, letter by letter, a twelve words definition that made sense. Sometimes the sitters were disappointed by the definition of a term, and thus they lively expressed their disapproval and forced, so to speak, the table to give a better definition; but they were often struck by the originality and depth of certain definitions, even if these could leave to be desired in terms of accuracy. In any case they had to recognize that the answers were given immediately and without any preparation, albeit with the slowness imposed by the alphabet method. Thus they began to ask themselves some questions about the personality of the mysterious interlocutor who spoke through the table, to whose statements they were no longer so indifferent.
A hard debate took place as a reaction to the table's definition of death: «Cessation of individuality, disaggregation of its elements, return to universal life». «Cessation of the individuality of this life, disaggregation of its elements, that is, of what constitutes the form that manifests it, may be! – Nus and his friends commented – But what sense does it make: "return to universal life?" Does it mean that the moral personality dissolves, that death is the complete dissolution of our being? So what is that God you talk to us about all the time, and what does he want from us? May he go to hell with you, and, both of you, leave us in peace! For what purpose do we need to evolve? The higher we go, the deeper the fall will be; the more we acquire, the more we lose. So learning, improving, growing internally is a stupid thing. For what purpose? For the other ephemeral entities that will appear for a few years on this Earth, destined to vanish like us? It is absolutely not worth it, and all those who seek the good and strive to perfect these soap bubbles which are called spirits and conscious beings, are stupid indeed if they agitate in this void and toil for nothing».
The table did not respond to these reasonable criticisms, neither that day nor the following days. But as the members of the group continued to press it with questions on the subject, a few days later it so dictated: «I recommend patience and submission to all of you right now. Too often you go back to what I have already defined; this means stupidly doubting my power». «It's not about your power – replied the friends –. It is that what you say is beyond common sense. At least we do not doubt your intellectual power, whatever it comes from, since, despite the resistances of our reason, your statements worry and upset us. You have stated something about death that we absolutely reject. We cannot admit that the soul is dispersed and that consciousness is annihilated, that life is an illusion, morality a nonsense, and justice a fiction... If we did misunderstand you... explain yourself more clearly; if you don't want to explain yourself now, tell us at least one word that satisfies and reassures us». After a break full of tension, with a slowness and a majesty impossible to describe – according to what Nus wrote – the table uttered the following letters, with long and solemn pauses between one and the other: A–D–S–U–M–D–E–U–S... (Adsum Deus, God is here). At which one of Nus's friends, Brunier, got up and said: «Well, I've had enough for today: all nonsense. Let's play backgammon!».
Even later, when the argument was resumed, the contrast between the Nus group – which tried to logically and rationally defend their position of refusal of the reabsorption of individual consciousness in an indistinct and not better defined cosmic entity – and the table – which insisted on the need for a fideistic attitude based on the recognition of the unquestionable power of God – was only partially attenuated by the concession, by the table, that the conscious individuality of those human beings who had worked for the good would be preserved even after their death. And while Nus pointed out all the variables of human condition, which influence and determine the choices of each person and prevent us from evaluating the result of the life of each of us as if we all started from the same initial conditions, the table insisted on the value of free will, attributing exclusively to the human being the responsibility for their choices: a position that Nus did not hesitate to rightly define as spiritual Darwinism! In fact, just as in the natural world the organisms genetically best suited to deal with the environmental variables survive and reproduce, something similar would happen – according to what the table said – in the spirit (or souls) world: the good ones keep their individuality, the others are recycled!
Where do psychic statements come from?
This interesting episode offers the opportunity to ask ourselves a question to which Nus too tried to give an answer: where did those psychic statements, in any case intelligent – regardless of whether they were reliable or not – originate from, since they did not coincide, as we have seen, with the conscious beliefs of the sitters? First of all, it should be noted that, while recognizing the psychic character of our own thoughts and reasonings, our conscious Ego is able to aknowledge them as its own when they are the result of a process of mental elaboration – carried out through the brain functioning – in which it has been actively involved, especially if the consciousness with which it is endowed has expanded and evolved to an enough high degree in the course of life. In one way or another, every human being is a tuner and an elaborator – more or less gifted and efficient – of matter coming from the psyche. But in the case of the statements communicated by the table, by which psychic system had they been elaborated?
Nus hypothesized that a group of interconnected brains, such as those of the five friends who regularly took part in the sittings, constituted a sort of autonomous receiver – independent of what each of them could consciously elaborate through their mental activity – through which the statements enunciated by the table were picked up. This hypothesis is interesting, under various aspects, above all because it can account for the psyche's elements present in mediumistic communications. When we consciously process the psyche's contents tuned by our mental activity, accepting some of them, or rejecting and transforming others, we still submit the psychic material to an evaluation, stating its existence, even when we discard it as unreasonable or not in accordance with reality. On the other hand, it is a well known and evident fact that, for what concerns the psyche, what I discard or reject – despite the fact that it has anyway reached my consciousness – may very well be accepted and valued by someone else. Thus, Nus's table could enunciate psychic material tuned by the brain network of the sitters, even if in contrast with what each of themselves considered reasonable and right.
However, there are other elements that need to be taken into account, which do not allow us to confirm the validity of Nus's hypothesis, or at least prevent us from considering it as sufficient to explain all the aspects of mediumistic phenomena. First of all, Nus himself, in chapter 9 of his book, pointed out the bizarre aspects – which we could define humoral and even whimsical – of the table's behavior, far from being constant and reliable: while in some sittings it did not move an inch, refusing to answer any questions, in others it shifted here and there in an unpredictable and chaotic way, even escaping the contact of the sitters' hands, as if it were truly possessed by some restless spirit. Even in knocking the alphabet letters, its behavior was variable: sometimes the knocks were beaten in a regular and well intelligible way, with sufficiently long pauses between one letter and another, while at other times their frequency varied, the letters were not well understood and had to be repeated, with random results. Nus never noticed any relationship between the table's performances and the mood of the sitters, so he came to the conclusion that the table's behavior was unpredictable and arbitrary, as if it were influenced by an autonomous personality. Over time, the communications from the table became less and less frequent and more and more uncertain and unreliable, and consequently Nus and his friends decided to put an end to séances.
Probably one or more persons in Nus's group were endowed with mediumistic power, even if not well developed, and this made the phenomena possible, at least for a certain time. In fact, in the absence of a medium, a group, even if well harmonized, is not enough to produce the phenomena in question and the related communications, even if Nus affirmed that at that time turning and talking tables were the most popular pastime in Paris, where there was practically not a single house in which, in the evening, people did not play with the table or the planchette. It may be that just the confidence in the phenomenon and the certainty that it could occur helped its spread, otherwise it is not clear how so many people could indulge, for their own amusement, in an activity whose results were evidently exposed to the suspicion of being produced in a more or less unconscious fraudulent way. We are led, once again, to the way in which the psyche manifests its effects in human cultural systems and in the people who are part of them: in addition to the psychic attunements that involve the conscious Ego, and that can enter into circulation in a network of brains, there are others that manifest themselves in unusual forms, and that give the impression of coming from an alien source.
As in the case of Nus's table, also in other mediumistic communications there is an advice – more or less peremptory – addressed to human beings to adopt a fideistic and not reasonably critical attitude towards a divinity considered as the holder not only of an absolute power, but also of a form of supreme wisdom which, however, cannot be understood by humans due to their mental limitations. This position, which was adopted in the past by some religious institutions, including Catholic Church, has a very ancient origin, and is determined by those psychic attunements that are activated not only by the weakness of the human being towards the forces of nature, but also by the precarious condition in which people can find themselves facing the power generated by social organizations and conferred on one or more individuals, sometimes under the ancient formula «by God's grace» (replaced by the more recent one «by the nation's will») or, more pragmatically, by an interior drive towards the conquest of power: as Napoleon said of his crown, «God gave it to me, woe to those who touch it». In any case, it is a matter of psychic dynamics that act collectively, relying on the weakness of the Ego and its subordination to basic fears (also of psychic origin): fear of death and of suffering.
It must be recognized that other mediumistic communications are much more articulated and nuanced in this regard: not only they avoid referring to the contrast between an omnipotent and omniscient divine entity – moreover defined as infinitely good and just – and a fragile, vulnerable, almost insignificant human condition, often inclined to evil precisely because of its weakness, but they recognize the dignity of human experience as a useful path of spiritual evolution. The psychic character of these communications is therefore substantially different from those which force humans into a condition of impotence, of uncritical obedience and of faith-based complaisance towards a divine being so superior to them. The changes that have occurred in the last three centuries in the psyche's dynamics of our culture have enhanced the role of the individual person in the context of organized social structures, however promoting functioning as a human automaton for each individual. But human psyche, as a whole, continues to manifest itself in a conflictual and discordant way, accentuating the contrasts between one person and another even within the same social group: today hardly anyone is so naïve as to believe that the others see the world as he or she does. These differences in the psychic attunements make human life undoubtedly varied and interesting when they match with each other in an harmonic continuity, but lead to a conflicting chaos when they are in open contrast, to the point that, within a society, a person can see another as an adversary to be fought or, even more, as an enemy to be eliminated: the millennial conflict between what one person considers good and another as evil is now manifesting itself openly, as a kind of civil war within the human psyche.
The condition of the conscious Ego
By becoming aware of this state of affairs, the Ego finds itself in the hard condition of having to defend its own psychic elaborations, if it seems to it that these represent a value which it does not intend to give up. At the same time it must recognize, by examining his past life and the condition in which the Egos of other humans finds themselves, that everyone is instinctively and naturally led to defend the attunements of their own psyche, whatever they may be: the power of subjugating, which was once attributed to divinity, is now recognized to the human psyche, which however, as we have highlighted, presents in itself conflicting elements that the conscious Ego – a merely individual entity – cannot resolve. In fact the psyche, in order to create the energy tension that is peculiar to it, has to fragment into billions of individual experiences, and the conscious Ego – conditioned by the gamut of the psyche's experiences it has to endure, which at times demean or torment it – certainly cannot expect to control the psyche as a whole. After all, many humans live in the hope that the psyche will become less conflictual in the future and more and more benevolent towards the conscious Ego, enhancing those aspects that are most pleasant for each of us: however, it is a future that still appears very remote, assuming that this hope can ever become real.
In this state of things, the conscious Ego can only turn its attention to an entity abstract from the real condition of this life, an entity which is able to advise and guide it in the path of progressive liberation from the contradictions, the disharmonies and the conflicts of the psyche. This entity, which I call spirit, is none other than the counterpart of the conscious Ego, existing in a dimension other than the human, with which the Ego is destined to merge once the experience of this life is over. The spirit's dimension is free both from the conflicts that characterize the human psyche, and from the natural adversities and difficulties that the human organism has to face due to its survival needs. In fact, psychic commands such as: «live, strive to survive, love life, enjoy life, seek success in life, be attached to life as much as you can», which so much power exert on the conscious Ego, are almost devoid of meaning for the spirit, which can at best be interested in some aspect of the human psychic experience. The fact is that the Ego reflects the needs imposed by nature on its living organism, which in any case cannot escape the temporal cycle of life and the risks to which life itself is subjected, while the spirit is in a totally different condition. The Ego's involvement in life carries with it the experimentation of all the stages of human life – unless it is prematurely interrupted – and the related psychic attunements, including the decline of the psychophysical faculties of old age.
Without the spirit's collaboration and help, the conscious Ego remains at the mercy of the psyche's dynamics that involve it, both of those that it manages, in some way, to control, and of those by which it is subjugated: counterbalancing the psyche's power, the spirit offers the Ego a more advantageous condition of equilibrium for its liberation. One can then ask why there are relatively few cases in which the Ego manages to establish this conscious connection with the spirit: in fact, in the majority of human beings the conscious Ego lives all life under the influence of the psyche's dynamics that involve and dominate it, without even being able to elaborate an intelligent criticism of this condition, that I have defined as a human automaton, which is acquired and accepted as natural and normal. The main reason for this state of affairs is that our current culture is essentially psychological and collective, and therefore is oriented towards considering the conscious Ego as a faithful subject that must adapt to the dominant dynamics of the psyche – whatever they are – and that in any case must live according to the psychic needs that are tuned by its mind. Concepts such as the Ego's liberation and the existence of the spirit are not even taken into consideration by our culture, which on the contrary stigmatizes them as sterile fantasies.
The same religion is today considered by our culture as a psychological need, to be supported and controlled as necessary for the proper functioning of the collective system in which the energies of each person are channeled in order to be used. A person can very well live without being religious, behaving honestly, in accordance with what the psyche's attunements in which she/he is involved suggest: indeed, sometimes they can also be regarded as model citizens, whose behavior is more harmonious than that of many religious people. However, for every individual who manifests a certain psychic orientation, there is another who shows an opposite one, due to the complexity and the intrinsic conflictual state of the human psyche, which anyway produces its effects: by the mere fact of being brought into this world, any new human organism – whose brain is capable of functioning – will experience a gamut of psychic dynamics that will also affect its behavior and actions. The initial condition of the Ego is that of a more or less passive and impotent spectator of the psyche's dynamics that destiny reserves for it, and only the progressive development of consciousness, as the experience of life proceeds, can help it to free from its subjection to the psyche.
The Ego's liberation is not to be confused either with what is socially considered as success in life, nor with human happiness. These conditions are certainly preferable for the Ego over their opposites, because they are gratifying, characterized as they are by pleasant and sometimes euphoric moods, by which the Ego feels attracted and rewarded. However, they depend on psychic dynamics that in certain individuals develop in a particularly favorable way, at least in some periods of their life, when the resources they have and the circumstances in which they find themselves contribute to determining their success and to stimulate those particular moods. In these cases the Ego remains subjected to psychic dynamics of a temporary nature, the advantage of which is that of being seductive for their immediate and pleasant benefit: there is nothing strange in the fact that the Ego feels attracted to them, except that in some cases these dynamics function as baits that lure the Ego into a trap, as they transform over time into psychic attunements of a completely different nature. From the point of view of an Ego whose consciousness has sufficiently evolved, positive and pleasant psychic attunements can be enjoyed provided that their temporary character and their dependence on the conditions of life (including the socio-cultural programs that determine them) are well recognized, and – above all – provided that they do not require any form of subjection, and the renunciation of values felt by the Ego as fundamental.
The Ego's personal history – determined, as we have seen, by the psychophysical resources at its disposal, by the socio-cultural programs it receives and by the environmental events in which the body-mind system is involved – conditions its choices. However, there is always a margin of freedom, an opportunity offered to the Ego to escape from the complete subjection to the psyche's dynamics that characterize human life: it is like a door that opens every now and then, and then closes almost immediately, giving however to the Ego the opportunity of crossing that threshold. Of course I can't generalize, because I don't directly know the condition of every Ego who lives or has lived in this world: indeed, I only know myself, but my impression (or perhaps my hope) is that to each of us humans – despite our personal history – the opportunity to be free is offered: the moment we decide to cross that threshold, we establish a channel of communication with our spirit. But as long as the Ego remains bound only to the needs of its organism and psyche, it is forced to deal with a system subject to degradation and dissolution. As can be seen, this is a definite choice that cannot be made except by the Ego, that is, by every individual human being in their own autonomy: it is not based on an indisputable objectivity, such as to make it a practically mandatory choice for anyone who is in possession of adequate mental faculties, but – indeed – on an evolutionary path for a smart consciousness, which trains in acquiring and elaborating as much information as possible on human life.
I could say, at this point, that the Ego can hear and follow the call of the spirit if it is already predisposed in this sense: this depends, so to speak, on the stuff the Ego is made of, a stuff that can be very different from person to person, and that the exhortation to know ourselves can lead us to examine and decipher. But there is also an intrinsic quality to the nature of the spirit, which determines the effectiveness of its call and the possibility of awakening the Ego: it is difficult, in fact, that a completely asleep spirit can exert such an influence as to free the Ego from its identification with the psyche's attunements that involve and attract it. As has been said, the Ego and the spirit can be considered as the two sides of the same coin: the spirit represents the condition of the Ego released from the contingencies of the earthly dimension and from the conflictuality of the psychic dynamics that characterize it and that can torment the Ego. The Ego is given the freedom to follow the spirit call, but for this to happen it is necessary that its consciousness be sufficiently developed to allow it a certain detachment from life and the psychic attunements that derive from it: which does not mean to give up the interest in some aspects of human life and in the experiences it makes possible, but implies a serene position of non-attachment to life and of not (unconditioned) submission to the conditions that life can impose through the lure of gratifying psychic experiences or the fear of those that can make us suffer.
The purpose of conscious life
The Ego lives by the mere fact that a new human organism was formed as a consequence of the natural laws of sexuality which led to the mating (often consentient, but sometimes not) of the parents of that organism. Although the most important aspect of human life is constituted by consciousness and the process of intelligent evolution in which it is involved, the Ego is not able to know and understand – at least in the course of its human life – the purpose and meaning of what happens on this planet (not to mention the universe!). All that the Ego can do is to deepen its knowledge of itself and try to interpret and critically evaluate – in the light of the resources at its disposal – what emerges in its consciousness. Obviously, it can also read, learn and interpret everything that other human beings make available to collective knowledge through the communication media that we are able to use. The elaborations and proposals of psychic origin, regarding the existence of a project and a direction in the human condition and in the social evolution of humankind, remain unverifiable for us – and to a large extent also incomprehensible to our intelligence – and therefore they cannot constitute reliable elements of knowledge: at most, they can be accepted (or rejected) on the basis of sentimental evaluations, which are in some way satisfying or reassuring for our conscious Ego.
Despite this, it is certainly possible to make observations on different aspects of human life, and above all on the psyche's manifestations that derive from them, and to deduce the cognitive elements that can make us guess the existence of entities endowed with the power to influence nature or the human psyche. For example, the conflictuality of the psyche is a fact: concord, harmony and collaboration of intentions within a more or less large group of humans are considered as precious goods, to be pursued and protected, precisely because not infrequently conflicts prevail, which determine the desire and need to win over the adversary or enemy on duty and, consequently, the need to defend ourselves, even for preventive purposes, from the threats and dangers that the other, the opponent, can represent for us. But psyche's conflicts can also manifest in the individual sphere of our mind, for example as a reaction to interactions with other humans and the conditions that arise from them. In any case, since the psyche's conflictuality has painful consequences for the conscious Ego, it certainly seems legitimate to ask what it originates from: however, it should be noted that the Ego itself, in its ordinary condition of subjection to the psyche's dynamics that involve it, often lets itself be intoxicated by the positive emotions determined by the victory over the opponent and, in any case, by obtaining an advantage even if to the detriment of another person or another human group.
Even if we wanted to attribute the conflicts of the human psyche to the natural, and therefore animal, origin of our organism, the questions that arise from the ascertainment of factual data remain more than legitimate. For example, the existence of predatory animals, which need to kill other organisms to survive, is a fact, which does not correspond to any real need: in the plant world, organisms compete for resources, and there are also parasitic plants, but this competition occurs in a harmonious way. Even among herbivorous animals there can be competition for resources, which however usually results in a limitation of the number of births when resources are scarce. The violent elimination of animal organisms to allow other animals to survive is the manifestation of a specific natural intent, which is expressed in the evidence of evolutionary processes, that is, in the very dynamics by which the individual organisms of the various animal species are produced, regardless of the attribution to this or that entity – invisible to us humans – of a superior or divine nature that our psyche suggests to us.
It can be objected that the natural evolutionary process is in itself sovereign and indifferent, and must not account for the ways in which its creativity is implemented, but – beyond the evaluations suggested by our psyche – it is the same evidence of the facts that shows us that things are not in these terms, since humankind has changed the balance of nature, first by using the resources of natural environments, and then exploiting them in such a way as to technologically transform ever larger areas of the planet, to adapt them to completely different purposes than those of nature. It is therefore undeniable that humankind is the manifestation of an intent that enters into antagonism with nature and does everything in its power to submit it to its purposes. Most human cultures have fought against natural forces and opposed evolutionary dynamics: a particularly significant aspect of this fight is represented by the defenses adopted by humans against what we define as diseases, caused by parasites, bacteria or viruses, organisms (multicellular, unicellular or viral) that act in accordance with the laws of evolution, and that we humans do whatever it takes to eliminate.
For many centuries the domination of humankind over nature has been psychologically perceived as a value, and the successes achieved by humans through scientific discoveries and technological progress have aroused positive feelings, such as pride, admiration and satisfaction, towards our creative intelligence. Only recently have humans begun to have doubts about the effects of their interventions to alter natural balances, but even in this case human concerns are essentially motivated by the negative effects that these transformations of the natural environment can have for the same mankind, and not by the respect for nature itself. Obviously, since human behavior is almost always determined by the psyche's instances to which the Ego is subject – both of natural origin and culturally transmitted – we can get the impression that humans are like the pieces of a chess game that the players (White and Black) can move, use and sacrifice at their discretion, determining their actions through the functioning of the psyche. It is useless to ask who the players are and if they have their own autonomous and real personality in this or other dimensions: whether we imagine them as technologically advanced aliens from another world, or we want to attribute to them a divine nature, facts do not change, and as long as the conscious Ego has not freed itself from its subjection to the psychic attunements that control it, it cannot help but diligently carry out its role as human automaton, moving on the chessboard at the service of this or that player.
Once the Ego has become well aware – through direct experience of its own life and the information acquired on the lives of other human beings – of the conditions that life imposes, it can feel in tune with one or the other of the following three orientations: 1) love human life for what it is, with its lights and shadows, trying to get what it can offer, but also accepting all the negative aspects of life that affect others in terms of suffering, conflict, misery and injustice; 2) not to love human life because of the suffering it entails, for oneself as for others, but to keep on living because the survival instinct still prevails over any other consideration, perhaps in the hope of being able to improve its own condition, or because it believes that living is a specific duty towards ourselves or others who need us; 3) not to love life, and therefore intentionally put an end to its own before its natural or accidental end, which in any case is inevitable for each of us.
An intermediate state between the first and the second is given by those who decide to commit themselves to make the world a better place, that is, to improve the conditions of their own life and that of others. This is a position, generated by particular attunements of the psyche involving the conscious Ego, only apparently logical and commendable, since: its effects cannot be applied to those who have already suffered and died; almost always the positive effects obtained in relation to a problem transform it into a problem of a different kind, and sometimes even more complex; often we see only one side of the coin, trying to intervene in relation to what we see, without understanding that our interventions will also have an effect on the hidden side; as I have tried to point out, many conflicts are intrinsic to the human psyche, even in relation to the divergence of goals between psyche and nature, and therefore cannot be solved simply by the good will of some humans. This does not mean that the intention, and the consequent actions, to improve the conditions of human life are not necessary: they are indeed indispensable, to create that balance that maintains a certain order, however precarious, in the conditions of humanity; however they still fall within the dynamics of psychic origin, even if they can be considered of a more evolved order than those other dynamics of the psyche that determine competition, conflict, exploitation, destruction and suffering.
For many people, the meaning of life consists precisely in this commitment to improve the general conditions of mankind (the so-called progress), intentionally following a plan whose purposes remain unknown to us: some of these people believe that their commitment in this life will be rewarded, in one way or another, in a future existence in another dimension, while other people are simply convinced that this is the right way to live human life, regardless of whether or not there is a existence after death. Obviously, those who are committed to this must have a goal, which is often referred to with the generic expression: the good for mankind. However, it is a fact that this goal is often pursued, in good faith, with different methods, precisely because of its psychic nature: therefore, it would be more correct to say that the goal is what a person believes to be the good for mankind, and this leads us back to the contradictions and conflicts caused by the fragmentation of the human psyche into billions of individual experiences.
There is a fourth orientation with which the conscious Ego can feel in tune, an orientation which is currently quite minority, and which can be referred to as: the spirit way. It is the commitment of the conscious Ego to discover its most authentic essence already in the course of human life, regardless of the environmental events, the social conditioning, the flattery with which the psyche lures, gratifies and ensnares it, and the pains and sufferings with which it intimidates, threatens or torments it. It is advisable to highlight the fact that, while always using the term Ego to indicate our authentic essence, there is a substantial difference between the condition of the Ego that identifies itself with the psyche's instances that involve it and that of the Ego that tries to detach itself from them, not to mention the Ego that has already freed itself for good. The spirit way is a path which can already be taken in the course of human life, towards a goal that will become clearer only when this life has ended. It consists in a continuous exercise of strengthening and perfecting our consciousness, which does not prevent us from living life, but progressively makes the conscious Ego less and less subject to the dynamics of its own psyche: from this point of view it can be considered a path of liberation. | http://vitaumana.it/blog20/m11x-deus.html |
Noah Baumbach’s great Greenberg (2010) may test viewers’ tolerance for misanthropy, but at heart, it’s a portrait of aggravated loneliness, of a socially stunted man-child who lashes out however he can. Baumbach’s Frances Ha is in some ways a twin portrait of toxic (and unearned?) neediness, centered on a more sympathetic protagonist. Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote with her director, plays the eponymous heroine, a 27-year-old who passes through life with an exuberance that’s obnoxious and disarming in equal measure. At the outset, she rebuffs her boyfriend’s offer to share an apartment, only to be promptly dumped—and then learn her longtime friend and roommate (Mickey Sumner, Sting’s daughter) plans to abandon her as well, relocating to a chic Tribeca apartment and taking her own relationship to a new level. Sumner is Gerwig’s closest confidant—they are, in Gerwig’s words, like “an old lesbian couple that doesn’t have sex anymore,” and the pair’s split throws her for a loop.
Struggling with a dance career yet stubbornly, comically resistant to all advice, Gerwig flails from one half-baked living arrangement to the next—moving in with Michael Zegen and Girls’ Adam Driver; imposing on fellow hoofer Grace Gummer (and joining her for a truly mortifying dinner with friends who own a pied-à-terre in Paris); taking a job at her alma mater in a last-ditch effort to hold onto what she sees as happier times. Quietly, empathetically, and without ever apologizing for the lead’s impulsive idiocy, Frances Ha charts the character’s dawning independence and acceptance of adulthood.
As both actress and writer, Gerwig has never had a richer showcase, and her usual flightiness is chased with just enough pain to keep the character grounded and recognizable. Shot in black and white, the movie at times plays like a hybrid of the layabout style of recent mumblecore and the more sharply written type of post-collegiate talkfest Baumbach delivered in Kicking And Screaming. It’s a film about contradictions: Few movies have so insistently probed the paradoxes of class among aimless NYC twentysomethings. Gerwig doesn’t have money for rent, she claims, yet she has a safety net, and to call her poor, as one character notes, is “offensive to actual poor people.” There’s mordant humor when she’s forced to make an emergency ATM run to pay for dinner, as well as when she decides to take a sudden, disastrous trip to Paris for two days, which is barely enough time to conquer jet lag.
But above all, Frances Ha is a wry and moving portrait of friendship, highlighting the way that two people who know everything about each other can nevertheless grow apart as their needs change. The dynamic between Gerwig and Sumner (terrific in a tonally tricky role) becomes almost unbearably poignant in a late scene between the two at Vassar. Whether it’s there or when Gerwig visits Sacramento for the holidays (her parents play themselves), the movie makes the subtly optimistic point that the life you build in youth is always available. Friendships may change, but true friends will adapt. | https://film.avclub.com/frances-ha-1798176821 |
It is the Time of the Small-a aRTIST.
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Small-a aRTISTS are those:
- Who have never found a movement, an -ism, a school, a collective or a unified artistic vision that they could belong to
- Who are on the edge of being jaded.
- Who thought they would make a Contribution to the Discourse and found out they probably can’t
- Who swore they’d never go back to a “day job” and then did
- Who feel they have more in common with Picasso or Rodin or Van Gogh or Giacametti or Gauguin or Morandi or de Kooning than any one working today
- Who refuse to believe in the irrelevance of the visual arts today in spite of growing evidence
- Who watch with amusement the glamorous comings and goings of the Artworld wondering what it could mean for all of us down here in the real world
- Who find themselves in between “selling out” and “staying true”
- Who, in order to make art, rely on the financial support from another and hate that they do
- Who are still seeking significance in spite of everything.
It is time to rethink your place in the world. It is time to be reminded of your incredible importance as a visionary. It is time to come together and support one another and spur one another on to great works. It is time to invest heavily in the future of the visual arts. It is the Time of the small-a aRTIST! | https://tornillofineart.com/2015/10/30/are-you-a-small-a-artist/ |
Financial due diligence is an important part of the investment process. It enables the investor to know the liabilities and assets of a company and compute its intrinsic value. In this way, the buyer increases his or her chances of making an appropriate investment. This process may be performed independently or in conjunction with other forms of due diligence.
While an audit is concerned with the historical financial statements of a company, financial due diligence focuses on the future value of the company. The process can reveal the company’s ability to sustain and grow earnings. Often, investors are interested in the sustainability of EBITDA, so financial due diligence providers will evaluate and document key assumptions used by management.
Financial due diligence is beneficial to both the seller and the target company. It can help the seller understand the target company’s weaknesses, speed up the negotiation process, and identify issues in the target company ahead of time. It can also help the target company attract investors and increase its value. It also helps mitigate risks. It is essential to ensure that the process does not lead to a negative outcome.
Financial due diligence is crucial for businesses that are considering a sale or acquisition. It helps the buyer avoid paying too much for the acquisition and ensure that the seller is properly compensated. It also helps the seller meet risk management and governance objectives. Due diligence is an essential part of the acquisition process and can help both buyers and sellers feel confident in the purchase. | https://lovetoeathatetoexercise.com/financial-due-diligence/ |
10 Years Later: Lessons Learned From Hurricane Katrina
It looked like something out of a Hollywood movie. Major portions of the city of New Orleans were underwater. Beyond the city were incredible scenes of devastation along the central Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama.
While it might have looked like a movie scene, it was a painful reality. And it happened 10 years ago this month when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore and the levees failed.
The numbers from Katrina are staggering: Nearly 2,000 killed; hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama displaced; and, more than $100 billion in damage. Katrina turned out to be one of the worst natural disasters in American history.
New Orleans is a city at greater risk for natural disaster. Sitting on the Gulf Coast, much of its land below sea level. It is highly vulnerable to tropical storms and flooding. Its vulnerability is not unique. There are communities all across the country that face higher risks: Coastal communities; cities and towns located in flood-prone areas or along fault lines; and, cities with large populations to serve in a disaster.
These communities need to implement the lessons learned the hard way after Katrina. In fact, all communities should prepare for potential disasters. Those where leaders know they are at greater risk need to take action.
Nonprofits can play a large role in making that happen, whether global or national relief organizations, foundations, or local service providers. Communities need to have a response plan in place before a disaster. Nonprofits can play a role in that planning, encouraging community leaders to take the risk seriously and working with them to develop an effective plan.
Nonprofit leaders need a plan for their organizations, too. How will they respond when a disaster strikes? How will they handle an influx of donations or volunteers? How can service providers make sure any interruption of service is as limited as possible?
The need for resilient communities. A crucial part of planning for disasters is ensuring that physical infrastructure and support systems, such as civic and faith organizations, can withstand or bounce back from a disaster and be used in the recovery process. This is an area where nonprofits can work with communities to build more resilience. Nonprofits also need to be more resilient, ensuring that physical plants and functional systems can be of maximum help during disaster recovery.
Donations need to be used effectively for full recovery. Nonprofits are often flooded with money, donations, and volunteers when disaster strikes. Those often dry up once attention focuses elsewhere. Mid- and long-term recovery needs then go unmet due to lack of resources.
Managers at nonprofits that fund relief should recognize the importance of funding for full recovery after a disaster, not just the immediate need. Funders should anticipate what could happen during the next few years after the disaster and provide resources to meet those needs.
Katrina was the impetus for the founding of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, a 365-day-a-year resource for private philanthropy for disaster recovery. Today, the philanthropy community is making great strides to be more effective in shortening the disaster recovery period.
Hurricane Katrina was an immense tragedy not just for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast but the entire nation. It gave us an opportunity to learn how to prepare for and recover from the next major disaster to strike. And it will only be a matter of time before that happens. | https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/10-years-later-lessons-learned-from-hurricane-katrina/ |
Job Description:
Our client in the Augusta, Georgia area is seeking a Neurologist Physician to join their medical team. The Neurologist will support inpatient and outpatient, but will primarily be in an outpatient setting. The ideal physician is already Board Certified in Neurology and can start within 90 days. The call for this opportunity is 1:3 weeks call for inpatient services.
Responsibilities of the Neurologist:
- Diagnose complex medical problems by referring to a patient’s history, examining them, and conducting neurological tests.
- Counsel patients on neurological disorders and their background.
- Order neurological tests and interpret the results of neuroimaging studies.
- Prescribe and/or administer treatment and medication.
- Monitor the behavioral and cognitive side effects of treatment and medication.
- Order supportive care services for patients.
- Participate in neuroscience research activities.
Minimum Requirements for the Neurologist
- Board Certified in Neurology
- Active or pending Georgia Medical License
- Acute Stroke Management - preferred
- Neuro telemedicine experience
Benefits for this role:
Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD
403b with a 457 retirement vehicle
Relocation/Moving Assistance
- CME - $3000
PTO - 6 weeks per calendar year
For more information on this permanent Physician position or other permanent physician roles nationwide, please apply with your CV. | https://radiusstaffingsolutions.com/job-information/neurologist/ |
Nancy Stark Smith first trained as an athlete and gymnast, leading her to study and perform modern and postmodern dance. She danced in the first performances of contact improvisation in 1972 with Steve Paxton and others and has since been central to its development as dancer, teacher, performer, writer/publisher, and organizer. She has traveled extensively throughout the world teaching and performing contact and other improvised dance work with Paxton and many other favorite dance partners and performance makers, including Ray Chung, Julyen Hamilton, Karen Nelson, and musician Mike Vargas, with whom she has been co-teaching and collaborating since 1998. In 1975, she co-founded Contact Quarterly, an international dance journal, which she continues to co-edit and produce. Her work is featured in several books and films, and she has been developing the Underscore, a long-form dance improvisation structure, since 1990. Her first book, Caught Falling: The Confluence of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and Other Moving Ideas, came out in 2008.
Photo by Tim Roberts
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The news that Nancy has gone from us hit me hard. I lose a friend and an extrordinary
Teacher. Without you "the mother of contact", today Contact Improvisation would
never have developed that way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the many
years that we have met. Your joy of dancing and personal magic, gave me and the
arlequi very important impulses. Nancy came to arlequi the first time in 1987 and
repeated her courses with Mike Vargas almost every year until 2017. They both wanted
to come last year 2019 too, but her health had not allowed it. Now she dances her
way without gravity.
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Nancy loved Lilacs and I planted one on a corner in the house opposite the orange tree, there she will always be present for me in the heart. | http://arlequi.de/nancyrem.html |
After giving birth to your baby, the placenta naturally separates from the wall of the uterus as it is no longer needed. However, this sometimes occurs before your baby is born. This premature separation of the placenta from the uterus is called placental abruption, and it can be a life-threatening emergency.
Placental abruption occurs in approximately 1 in 150 pregnancies. It can occur at any time during the pregnancy but usually occurs in the last 12 weeks before birth. There are certain risk factors that make this more likely: high blood pressure or preeclampsia, older maternal age, having had children already, preterm rupture of membranes, abdominal trauma such as a fall or domestic abuse, cocaine use, and smoking.
Common signs of placental abruption include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. Occasionally, pain will be the only sign as the bleeding is concealed in the uterus and does not pass out of the vagina. In smaller abruptions (where a smaller portion of the placenta separates), a woman may only have bleeding without any pain. When the bleeding is large in amount, a woman may appear very ill and go into shock.
If an obstetric provider is worried about abruption, he or she can do an ultrasound to look for an area where the placenta has separated or to visualize a blood clot. An ultrasound is not perfect, however, but is usually adequate at diagnosing larger abruptions. Blood work is often done as well to see if a woman has a low blood count or has other abnormalities. The baby’s heart rate will be monitored as well to ensure they are doing well.
Women with small abruptions who are stable and are very preterm may be managed expectantly. That is, they will not be delivered and will be closely watched instead. This may be done with the woman either at home or in the hospital, depending on the individual situation.
However, if the bleeding is severe or the mother or baby appears in distress, delivery will usually be recommended. A vaginal delivery is not out of the question, but a C-section may be needed depending on the circumstances, and sometimes this is done emergently. A blood transfusion may also be needed if a lot of blood was lost.
Reviewed by Dr. Jen Lincoln, April 2020
Takeaways
- A placental abruption is when the placenta prematurely separates from the wall of the uterus before the baby is delivered.
- Signs of placental abruption include abdominal pain and bleeding.
- If the bleeding is severe or the mother or baby is in distress, delivery will be recommended. | https://www.bundoo.com/articles/what-is-placental-abruption/ |
Click on the “Transparency” tab with the object still selected to bring up blend mode options for that object. Select “Lighten” from the drop-down menu, and then use the “Opacity” menu to select an opacity value for the object.
How do I make an image lighter in Illustrator?
illustrator adjust brightness
- Select your objects.
- Open the Recolor artwork dialog box.
- Click the Edit tab in the dialog box.
- Adjust the brightness using the slider.
How do I lighten a JPEG image?
Under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Brightness. Click the brightness percentage that you want. To-fine tune the amount of brightness, click Picture Corrections Options, and then move the Brightness slider, or enter a number in the box next to the slider.
How do you fade an object in Illustrator?
The object that you want to fade must be above the object that you want to reveal. Right-click on the object that you want to fade and move your mouse cursor over the “Arrange” option. Select the “Bring to Front” option and drag the object over the object that you want to reveal.
How do I edit an image in Illustrator?
How to edit a JPEG image using Adobe Illustrator
- Choose Window > Image Trace.
- Select the image (if it’s already selected, deselect and reselect it until the Image Trace box is editable)
- Make sure the Image Trace settings are set to the following: …
- Click Trace. …
- With the image still selected, go to Object > Image Trace > Expand.
- Right click on the image to Ungroup it.
8 янв. 2019 г.
How do I make a color darker in Illustrator?
Adjust color balance of one or more colors
- Select the objects whose colors you want to adjust.
- Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Color Balance.
- Set the Fill and Stroke options.
- Adjust the color values, and then click OK:
26 янв. 2017 г.
How can I lighten a picture in the dark?
When you need to brighten a photo the most obvious place to start is to go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast, or to select this tool on an Adjustment Layer. Brightness/Contrast is a good, simple option to use if the overall image is too dark.
How do you fade the edges of an image in Illustrator?
Blurring Inward With Feathering
- Press “V” and click the image to select it.
- Click “Effect,” “Stylize” and then “Feather.”
- Check the “Preview” option to see changes as you make them.
- Click the “Radius” arrows to change the point measurement, which defines how far the feathering extends into the image from the edge.
How do you blend edges in Illustrator?
Click the “Effect” menu, select “Stylize” and click “Feather” to open the Feather window. Turn on the preview. Enter a narrow Feather Radius and observe the effect on the photo edge. Adjust the feathering using the arrows next to the Radius field or by moving the rectangle until you have the look you want.
Where is the free transform tool?
Choose Edit > Free Transform. If you are transforming a selection, pixel-based layer, or selection border, choose the Move tool . Then select Show Transform Controls in the options bar. If you are transforming a vector shape or path, select the Path Selection tool .
Why can I not transform in Photoshop?
Just do a CTRL + D and see if the Transform and Free Transform come back. If so, There was a selection ON in one of your layers that happen to be Hidden or very small so you can’t see it.. The clue is that under menu SELECT the word Deselect is bold, meaning a selection exists somewhere in your document.
Can you skew an image in Illustrator?
To get these individual point selections in Photoshop, you use skew. But in Illustrator this is unnecessary. The easiest way to do this type of manipulation is with the Direct Selection Tool (A) (the little white arrow). With this tool you can select individual points and move them around as you see fit. | https://psdpenguin.com/photoshop/how-do-i-lighten-an-image-in-illustrator.html |
It’s As If Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Were Still Alive and Writing.
Sherlock Holmes: Remarkable Power of Stimulus is a sequel to Ms. Altabef’s These Scattered Houses, and is a pitch perfect evocation of the life and times and brilliant idosyncracies of Mr. Holmes. One can only hope there will be more to come from this author, whose reverence for and deeply researched understanding of the Canon of Holmes is on full display. If you love Sherlock Holmes, this is a must read.
Gretchen Altabef is an MX author of Sherlock Holmes Novels who strives to emulate Doctor John Watson’s and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary styles. Her first novel was Sherlock Holmes: These Scattered Houses. Both a historical novel and murder mystery, solved as only Holmes can. The sequel is Sherlock Holmes: Remarkable Power of Stimulus. It is a Sherlock Holmes adventure with heart. | https://featuresofinterest.com/2020/12/04/review-remarkable-power-of-stimulus-by-d-perkins/ |
Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a species of plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes. It produces large poisonous leaves that are somewhat triangular, with long fleshy edible stalks and small flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.
In culinary use, fresh raw leaf stalks (petioles) are crisp (similar to celery, although they do not share the same family) with a strong, tart taste. Although rhubarb is not a true fruit, in the kitchen it is usually prepared as if it were. Most commonly, the stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies, crumbles and other desserts. A number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society.
Rhubarb is grown primarily for its fleshy stalks, technically known as petioles. The use of rhubarb stalks as food is a relatively recent innovation. This usage was first recorded in 17th-century England after affordable sugar became available to common people, and reached a peak between the 20th century’s two world wars.
Commonly, it is stewed with sugar or used in pies and desserts, but it can also be put into savory dishes or pickled. Rhubarb can be dehydrated and infused with fruit juice. In most cases, it is infused with strawberry juice to mimic the popular strawberry rhubarb pie.
Rhubarb leaves can be used in honey bee colonies as a mild Varroa-cide, either as crushed leaves or in the form of a tea. Rhubarb tea soaked paper towels/shop towels or crushed leaves are placed above the broodnest. Worker bees immediately begin removing this foreign substance, exposing the colony to oxalic acid in the process. Oxalic acid is toxic to Varroa mites, and mite drops increase while these rhubarb remedies are on the hive. | https://montevistamedicinals.com/rhubarb-or-rheum-rhabarbarum/ |
OECD Insights
OECD Insights are a series of reader-friendly books that use OECD analysis and data to introduce some of today’s most pressing social and economic issues. They are written for the non-specialist reader, including interested laypeople, older high-school students and university freshmen. The books use straightforward language, avoid technical terms, and illustrate theory with real-world examples. They also feature statistics drawn from the OECD’s unique collection of internationally comparable data. Online, you can find a number of special features to enhance each book’s educational potential.
How did the sharpest global slowdown in more than six decades happen, and how can recovery be made sustainable? OECD Insights: From Crisis to Recovery traces the causes, course and consequences of the “Great Recession”. It explains how a global build up of liquidity, coupled with poor regulation, created a financial crisis that quickly began to make itself felt in the real economy, destroying businesses and raising unemployment to its highest levels in decades. The worst of the crisis now looks to be over, but a swift return to strong growth appears unlikely and employment will take several years to get back to pre-crisis levels. High levels of public and private debt mean cutbacks and saving are likely to become the main priority, meaning the impact of the recession will continue to be felt for years to come.
The financial crisis of late 2008 was the spark for the most serious economic slowdown since World War II. The Great Recession, as some have called it, will continue to overshadow economies for years to come through legacies such as unemployment and public debt.
The suddenness of the financial crisis caught many unawares. In reality, financial pressures had been building for years as funds flooded from emerging economies like China to developed economies like the US. This was exacerbated by banks’ increasingly reckless taste for risk.
The recession had its roots in financial centres like New York and London, but it swiftly spread throughout the global economy. As the scale of the calamity became clear, governments took extraordinary measures to keep financial institutions afloat and stimulate economic demand.
When the crisis struck, employment in OECD countries was at its highest level since 1980, but the first victims of unemployment were the same groups as in previous decades such as the young and temporary workers. Employment takes longer to recover than output, and governments can play a role in helping those worst affected.
Pension fund assets dropped by over $5 trillion from $27 trillion during the crisis. The losses to benefits as a consequence will not affect all participants in pension funds equally, with older workers suffering most, while those in defined-benefit plans will probably be better off. Even before the crisis, though, there were calls to reform pensions.
In the eyes of many, the crisis and recession revealed gaping holes in the rules of the global economy. Financial markets are the most obvious target for new regulations, but other areas, too, have come under increasing attention, including tax and even the basic values of capitalism.
Regardless of the pace of recovery, the recession will have long-term economic and social consequences, some of which may not become fully apparent for years to come. To think about some of these long-term impacts, this chapter poses five questions for the future.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job aiding apparatus for assisting a worker in accurately and efficiently working on a workpiece based on job images displayed on a display unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Production lines for manufacturing products, such as automobiles, made of a large number of parts have a plurality of work stations each provided with an assembly manual which describes a work procedure and the numbers of parts assembled in the work station. The worker in each work station assembles desired parts by seeing the assembly manual.
Recent years have seen trends for the manufacture of many types of products in small quantities to meet various needs of users. To minimize investments in production facilities, one production line is supplied with mixed parts for a plurality of products of different kinds. The worker in each work station of such a production line assembles parts according to different assembly manuals for the respective types of products.
However, such a production process is disadvantageous in that the workers cannot fully avoid errors in their job no matter how skilled they may be. For example, the worker in each work station may assemble parts in a wrong sequence or may put together parts of different products. Furthermore, in order to inspect a fastened bolt to see if the torque with which the bolt has been tightened is in a predetermined torque range, the worker reads the torque value from a torque meter and decides whether the torque value falls within the predetermined torque range that is given in the assembly manual. At this time, the worker may make an error in making such a decision.
There have heretofore been available an apparatus for displaying the video of a work procedure for the worker to avoid errors in the work procedure, an apparatus for displaying inspection data on a display unit for the worker to easily confirm the inspection data, and an apparatus for reading a number inherent in a part from the part for the worker to process the part according to an instruction given on the basis of the read number.
However, even with these apparatus being used, it has been unable to check if jobs have been performed as instructed, and it has been impossible to completely avoid errors made by the worker.
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Airfield Systems MaintenancePDF Brochure
DSI maintains what aviators use to navigate through the National Airspace System. Our services include corrosion control, major and minor (un)scheduled maintenance, and preventive maintenance inspections.
DSI maintenance technicians are extensively trained and qualified not only on legacy systems but on the latest in navigational equipment. All technicians are licensed by the FCC and each technician holds a SECRET clearance. DSI maintenance technicians coordinate with the FAA Flight Inspection Field Office for required flight checks of Navigational Aids.
Preventive inspections are an integral part of our overall maintenance management process. These inspections ensure that we maintain critical uptime rates well above the established standards for all assigned equipment.
DSI management uses the latest Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to track maintenance actions and to alert management of negative trends before they become major issues. | https://www.exodyne.com/dsi_home/dsi_aviation_maintenance/ |
Russell Crowe is officially divorced from Danielle Spencer.
The Gladiator star separated from Spencer, the mother of his sons Charles, 14, and Tennyson, 11, in 2012 – more than 20 years after they met on the set of 1990 movie The Crossing and began an on-off relationship.
Russell, 54, has now revealed on Twitter that, after more than five years apart, he is now officially divorced from the singer, who he married in 2003.
“In other news … yesterday , April 9th , 2018 at 12:30pm Eastern Daylight time (Aus) … I officially became divorced . Thank you linesman . Thank you ball boys,” he wrote.
The official end of his marriage comes just days after he held his divorce auction at Sotheby’s Australia. In The Art of Divorce auction, Russell sold off more than 200 personal items he acquired during their nine years of marriage, including movie and sports memorabilia, clothing, art, guitars, watches, and furniture.
The sale, which took place on Saturday, raised $3.7 million, with armour from Gladiator being sold for $125,000, the film’s Roman chariot replica going for $65,000, and a jockstrap he wore in 2005 drama Cinderella Man fetching $7,000.
He previously explained to Australian radio show 2GB that he came up with the idea after having a few vodkas on a flight because he wanted to put a positive spin on his divorce. | https://canoe.com/entertainment/celebrity/russell-crowe-finalizes-divorce-after-earning-3-7-million-at-auction |
HISTORY LESSON: Mattingly's 23
An Evansville native and Reitz Memorial High School graduate, Don Mattingly, played 14 seasons with the New York Yankees and managed both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins.
More:History Lesson: Telephone building
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More:HISTORY LESSON: Goblins of Hopkinsville
In 1987, Mattingly opened Mattingly’s 23, a 7,000 sq. ft. restaurant and lounge that seated 269 people and was named after his Yankee Jersey number. The restaurant was located on Morgan Center Drive near Showplace Cinemas and featured around 750 items of sports memorabilia in baseball, basketball and boxing themed rooms.
The entrance featured a replica ticket booth, World Series programs and a souvenir stand.
Mattingly's 23 initially proved popular, particularly during baseball season. After nine years, the restaurant closed in June of 1996.
History Lesson is a pictorial history of Evansville compiled by Daniel Smith, local history and digitization librarian at the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library. | https://www.courierpress.com/story/life/2017/09/18/history-lesson-mattinglys-23/675835001/ |
© 2019 by ASME. Currently available knee joint kinematic tracking systems fail to nondestructively capture the subtle variation in joint and soft tissue kinematics that occur in native, injured, and reconstructed joint states. Microcomputed tomography (CT) imaging has the potential as a noninvasive, high-resolution kinematic tracking system, but no dynamic simulators exist to take advantage of this. The purpose of this work was to develop and assess a novel micro-CT compatible knee joint simulator to quantify the knee joint's kinematic and kinetic response to clinically (e.g., pivot shift test) and functionally (e.g., gait) relevant loading. The simulator applies closed-loop, load control over four degrees-of-freedom (DOF) (internal/external rotation, varus/valgus rotation, anterior/posterior translation, and compression/distraction), and static control over a fifth degree-of-freedom (flexion/extension). Simulator accuracy (e.g., load error) and repeatability (e.g., coefficient of variation) were assessed with a cylindrical rubber tubing structure and a human cadaveric knee joint by applying clinically and functionally relevant loads along all active axes. Micro-CT images acquired of the joint at a loaded state were then used to calculate joint kinematics. The simulator loaded both the rubber tubing and the cadaveric specimen to within 0.1% of the load target, with an intertrial coefficient of variation below 0.1% for all clinically relevant loading protocols. The resultant kinematics calculated from the acquired images agreed with previously published values, and produced errors of 1.66 mm, 0.90 mm, 4.41 deg, and 1.60 deg with respect to anterior translation, compression, internal rotation, and valgus rotation, respectively. All images were free of artifacts and showed knee joint displacements in response to clinically and functionally loading with isotropic CT image voxel spacing of 0.15 mm. The results of this study demonstrate that the joint-motion simulator is capable of applying accurate, clinically and functionally relevant loads to cadaveric knee joints, concurrent with micro-CT imaging. Nondestructive tracking of bony landmarks allows for the precise calculation of joint kinematics with less error than traditional optical tracking systems. | https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/boneandjointpub/1489/ |
With the aim of inspiring, informing, and activating neighbourhoods beyond the project’s partnership, the SUNRISE project recently organised the second SUNRISE Take-Up Cities (TUC) workshop. Project partners gathered on the 6-7 November in Zugló-Törökőr, the SUNRISE neighbourhood in Budapest to engage in a two days exchange of ideas.
Stakeholders working in the neighborhoods: Usera (Madrid), Bruce Grove (London), United Nations (Kruševac), Šabac (Trkalište), Detelinara (Novi sad), Southwark (London), Heraklion (Crete) and Padre Cruz (Lisbon) had the opportunity to present the mobility challenges in the local areas and to learn from the SUNRISE experience on using a co-creation approach to involve citizens in the mobility planning.
Project partners from TU Vienna, Ruprecht Consultancy, Edinburgh Napier University interacted with participants bringing some insights from the SUNRISE project and presented to them the project’s methods and tools to engage communities in the different phases of the co-creation process. Cities involved in SUNRISE such as Bremen and Budapest had also the chance to share with the TUC the lessons learnt after more than two years of the project implementation.
Topics such as shared mobility, public space, urban freight logistics, active modes, and equity and gender were discussed among the participants who related the themes to the experiences in the different neighbourhoods. | https://civitas-sunrise.eu/sunrise-inspiring-other-neighbourhoods-in-europe |
Biomimetic fibers that resemble the structure and properties of the versatile yet tough spider dragline silk are in high demand. The assembled building blocks of major ampullate dragline silk sequences from Nephila clavipes [Spidroin 1 (Sp1) and Spidroin 2 (Sp2)] are expressed in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum. The plant derived spidroin analogs (mini-spidroins) consist of native Sp1 or Sp 2 N- and C-termini flanking 8, 16, or 32 copies of their respective consensus repeat domains. Gene insertion and RNA transcription were confirmed by PCR and reverse-transcriptase PCR, respectively. Produced mini-spridroins were purified from tobacco using affinity chromatography techniques. After a freeze-drying period, mini-spidroins formed viscous fluids. When purified proteins were treated with acid, cross-linked by glutaraldehyde and diluted in phosphate buffer (pH 7), the mini-spidroins formed a thin film at the layer interface of a counter-ion gellan gum solution. The film was pulled into fibers that displayed auto-fluorescent across a broad range of wavelengths. Fiber mechanical performance was recorded by single displacement controlled tensile test. A method with potential to continuously pull fiber was developed. Fine fibers were produced with more uniform diameter and higher tensile performance.
Recommended Citation
Peng, Congyue, "Creating Biomaterials from Plant-derived Recombinant Spider Silk-like Proteins" (2016). All Dissertations. 1824. | https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1824/ |
Filtration media designs are becoming more complex in order to achieve ever increasing market demands for finer particle capture, increased dirt holding capacity and longer service intervals. Spunbond nonwoven fabrics are commonly used in these more advanced media designs to protect the relatively weak media layers during filter production, to provide structural support that can prevent damage to the media from pulsations and high operating pressures, and to minimize media fiber and particle shedding from contaminating the downstream system. The performance of the filter media is analogous to the "weakest link" concept and good performance is highly dependent on producing a uniform media structure. Uniform spunbond fabric substrates can also impact filter performance by improving the quality of synthetic media that is formed on the substrates; and by improving particle capture and retention in dynamic flow conditions.
Measuring the uniformity of the filament structure of spunbond nonwoven fabrics has been a challenge for the industry for many years. Visual observations of uniformity are subjective and cannot provide quantifiable or reproducible data that allows different spunbond fabrics to be compared. This presentation will examine two methods of numerically quantifying the uniformity of commonly used nylon and polyester spunbond fabrics and explore ways that greater spunbond uniformity can improve advanced filter media performance... | https://filtech.de/conference/conference-review/abstract-information?abstract_id=514 |
Over a thousand U.S. workers who participate in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans were surveyed by AB Global and asked a handful of questions to gauge their overall level of financial literacy. Sadly, very few participants were able to answer more than half of the questions correctly, and the question that proved to be the most difficult had to do with the relationship between interest rates and bond prices. Specifically, participants were asked “If interest rates rise, what will typically happen to bond prices?” Only about one in three (34 percent) quiz-takers were able to correctly answer that bond prices should typically fall when interest rates rise. Since some people may struggle with a purely mathematical explanation of this inverse relationship, a simple thought experiment will perhaps be easier to understand.
Imagine that you purchased a bond for $1,000 (par value) with a 5 percent coupon rate (the yield the bond paid on its issue date). Now assume that some time has passed and general interest rates have risen enough so that the same type of bond (newly issued) now offers a 6 percent coupon. If investors can go into the market and pay $1,000 for a bond with a 6 percent coupon, why would they give you $1,000 for a bond that only pays 5 percent? To be attractive in the current market, the price of your bond would therefore have to decrease enough to match the same return yielded by prevailing interest rates. On the other hand, if interest rates had instead declined and the coupon for this type of bond fell to 4 percent, the bond you purchased should now be worth more than par since it provides a yield that is better than what can currently be obtained in the market for $1,000.
Although oversimplified, this inverse relationship is an important concept for retail investors to understand since bonds are sometimes used as a “safe haven” during periods of heightened stock market volatility, and fixed income products often play a greater role in portfolio construction as people grow older. Moreover, the Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 0.50-0.75 percent in December. That was the first interest rate increase in a year and only the second hike since 2006. Updated projections released at that same policy meeting implied that officials expect there to be another three quarter point hikes in 2017. While the market has been skeptical of the Fed’s hawkish forecast, yesterday’s commentary from Fed Chair Janet Yellen should provide more evidence that the period of highly accommodative monetary policy is ending. As we transition into this rising rates environment, it will be important to work with a professional financial advisor to determine exactly what role bonds should play in your investment strategy. | https://blog.slavic401k.com/the-relationship-between-bond-prices-and-interest-rates |
Vitamin D Deficiency Associated With Cognitive Functioning in Psychotic Disorders.
Cognitive dysfunctions are core features of psychotic disorders with substantial impact on daily functioning. Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be related to cognitive dysfunctions, but the associations between vitamin D deficiency and cognition in persons with a psychotic disorder are largely unknown. This cross-sectional study included 225 patients with a DSM-IV psychotic disorder consecutively recruited from 2003 to 2014 and 159 randomly selected healthy controls, assessed by a cognitive test battery, a clinical protocol (including Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), and a physical examination including vitamin D measurements. Multiple regression models were performed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D deficiency (defined serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] < 25 nmol/L) on key cognitive domains: processing speed, verbal learning, verbal memory, and executive functioning. Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with decreased processing speed (ie, Digit Symbol Coding) (t = -2.6, P = .01; total model: adjusted R² = 0.40, F6, 374 = 43.8, P < .001) and decreased fluency (ie, verbal fluency) (t = -2.1, P = .04; total model: adjusted R² = 0.35, F6, 373 = 34.2, P < .001) when the results were controlled for age, ethnicity, IQ, patient versus control status, and substance or alcohol abuse. Additional analyses indicated that negative symptoms diluted the association between vitamin D deficiency and processing speed (t = -1.72, P = .09) and verbal fluency (t = -1.35, P = .18) in patients. The associations between vitamin D deficiency and processing speed and verbal fluency are good arguments for planning large-scale randomized controlled studies in target populations so conclusions can be made about the potential beneficial effect of vitamin D on cognition in psychotic disorders.
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###### Strengths and limitations of this study
- This study drew on in-depth insights of those involved in primary care reform at the community level who were either physicians, or responsible for engaging with physicians, as partners in change.
- The findings resonated with both physicians and health authority planners.
- A hermeneutic approach, based on dialogue and respect of the participants' and researchers' experience, enabled the creation of understandings and insights in the area of physician engagement in a remote and rural area.
- As in all qualitative studies the interpretation is related to the unique context of the communities examined, including geography, climate and provincial and national remuneration systems.
- Qualitative studies are not generalisable, but they do have transferable elements that may be of relevance to not only rural, but also urban areas.
Introduction {#s1}
============
Context {#s1a}
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Northern British Columbia covers over 500 000 km^2^ of wild, varied and challenging Canadian landscape beset by, at times, harsh weather and natural hazards such as avalanches, floods and wildfires. It is home to many remote communities. Approximately 300 000 people live in this area. The main centre is Prince George, population around 75 000,[@R1] the regional referral centre for most medical services with links to tertiary care services in the lower mainland of British Columbia. This area is served by a single health authority, Northern Health (NH), that works in collaboration with the province-wide First Nations Health Authority and the Provincial Health Services Authority. In 2009 Northern Health, supported by a federal Primary Healthcare Transition Fund, began a process of primary care reform encompassing whole system changes with a focus on developing multidisciplinary primary care teams across several communities utilising the concepts of the primary care home,[@R2] patient centred team based care and community and physician partnerships.[@R4] The long-term vision was to integrate care in each community so that physicians and other health professions worked together with patients being supported by team members relevant to their needs, where patient information was shared across the teams and with acute care and where there was substantive local decision-making in terms of addressing health priorities.
In 2010, the British Columbia (BC) government and the Doctors of BC, the physician representative association, created Divisions of Family Practice. The Divisions are organised on a geographical basis to provide physicians with a common voice in advocating for family medicine and resources designed to enhance patient care through providing patient, practice and physician supports ([https://www.divisionsbc.ca](https://www.divisionsbc.ca/provincial/home)). In northern BC, there are six Divisions that encompass most, but not all, physician practices. Physicians are remunerated by a variety of provincial mechanisms including fee for service billings, sessional payments and quality and income guarantee arrangements. Most other health professionals such as hospital and community nurses are employed by the health authority. Family physicians in rural Canada have broad, generalist practices that can include working in clinics and in hospitals, staffing emergency rooms and developing enhanced skills including surgical skills, procedures such as caesarean sections, anaesthesia, oncology and mental health skills.
Background {#s1b}
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Previous research on health system reform consistently points to the critical importance of physician engagement.[@R5] However, research also highlights the great difficulty in engaging physicians, particularly in primary care, where physicians often work more independently from the rest of the health system.[@R6] This lack of engagement is critical to address because developing new ways to provide primary care, such as collaborative team approaches, is essential to sustaining an efficient and effective healthcare system.[@R7] Physician relationships with healthcare organisations or health authorities provides a fundamental platform to support all other change initiatives.[@R11] In a synthesis of the literature and expert panel report on physician engagement and leadership Denis *et al* [@R14] identified that much of the literature on engagement was based on managed care models in the USA and that gaps in knowledge existed about how different strategies, aimed at creating environments that support physician engagement, work on the ground in different contexts. Using a social identity approach that emphasised the differences between physicians and managers, Kreindler *et al* [@R15] described the importance of intergroup dynamics as part of any attempt to engage physicians. This research also emphasised how different contexts needed approaches that varied depending on local relationships particularly within the power dynamics that are in play between physicians and administrators. In general, the literature focuses on how healthcare organisations engage with physicians as individuals and leaders in order to try to facilitate system change and health improvement within those specific organisations. Engaging physicians in primary care settings, and in particular remote and rural ones, to bring about health system change, remains relatively unexplored in the literature.
This gap is particularly significant for rural Canada which, like many countries, struggles to deliver equitable access to healthcare for its rural populations, resulting in poorer health outcomes for those living in rural areas compared with their urban counterparts.[@R16] One of the reasons for this is a continuing maldistribution of physicians to rural areas.[@R17] While there are many ways of trying to provide supports to enhance recruitment and retention in rural areas[@R19] there remains little evidence on how to engage physicians in isolated rural areas in developing ways of creating and improving sustainable rural health services.
This article examines how a rural health authority and physicians have developed, and continue to engage in the development of, a partnership for the purposes of delivering healthcare and improving population health. Specifically, it aims to deepen understanding of the subtleties and complexity of engaging in system change within remote and rural areas.
Methods {#s2}
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Setting {#s2a}
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This analysis is a component of an overall study, Partnering for Change I, designed to study how Northern Health and its physician and community partners undertook the transformation of primary healthcare.[@R20] An interpretive approach, utilising philosphical hermeneutics,[@R21] was taken with the collection and interpretation of qualitative data from in-depth interviews from participants in seven communities and at the regional level.
Seven communities across Northern BC were selected because they represented a diversity of population size and economical, geographical, cultural and social contexts. Both purposive and snowball sampling[@R22] were used to identify health administrators and healthcare workers within NH, along with general medical practitioners, municipal leaders and community based organisations outside of NH. A minimum of 10 participants per community were sought.
Data collection {#s2b}
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In-depth, one-on-one, semi-structured interviews lasting 45 to 60 min using an interview guide were carried out between 2012 and 2015 by the principal investigator and a trained research associate both experienced in qualitative methods. Interviews were carried out in person at participants' place of work. Those participants who remained in their original or related roles were interviewed yearly over the 3 year data collection period. Questions were related to participants' experiences of the change processes, including the impacts of changes on relationships and ways of working. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Written informed consent was obtained prior to initial interviews and verbal consent obtained for subsequent ones. The overall data set was comprised of 239 interviews with 122 key informants.
Participants {#s2c}
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This paper is based on the analysis of 34 interviews from the main data set. Participants were all those who were physicians or who expressed direct experience of engagement with physicians in the communities at any time during the data collection period. The intent was not to seek data saturation from within a large sample, but to explore in depth what physician engagement meant to those who actually spoke about it in the interviews about primary healthcare transformation. Ten interviews were with family physicians, three in separate years with Division non-physician leads and 18 with primary care co-ordinators. The primary care co-ordinators were hired to support the transition by working in communities with physicians and the developing interprofessional teams, communicating with community groups and liaising with regional managers and executives. They came from administrative or clinical backgrounds (including Public Health and Community Nursing, Mental Health Nursing and Occupational Therapy). Also included were three interviews with regional health authority leaders conducted towards the end of Phase 1 of the project which contained reflections on the first few years of primary care reform and were relevant to relationships with physicians.
Patient and public involvement {#s2d}
------------------------------
Patients and public were not involved in the interviews that informed the research reported here. The public were, however, involved through municipal leaders and community consultation by Northern Health in the discussion of the primary care reforms and were key informants in the Partnering for Change I study. All study findings, including those reported here, have been fed back to Northern Health Executive and Board through regular discussion and engagement with the research team and used to inform next steps in the processes of reform.
Analysis {#s2e}
--------
The qualitative approach taken was based on hermeneutics.[@R21] Hermeneutics is the study and interpretation of texts and, in contemporary research, this includes the texts generated from interviews. In this study, the area of interest was that of physician engagement and the analysis gave insights into the varied direct experiences of those interviewed in order to better understand the phenomenon of physician engagement in the context of the communities of Northern BC. This approach also recognises that researchers bring to the field, and to the interpretations, their own experiences and understandings. Instead of bracketing or setting those experiences aside, the researchers constantly keep their assumptions in question. The analytical process itself is one of dialogue where the researchers' own understandings and assumptions are questioned as the researchers engage with the participants' transcripts. Through that process of questioning, the researchers gain a deeper understanding and new insights about the experiences expressed by the participants creating a plausible interpretation.[@R21] Hermeneutics is seen as a way of better understanding interventions in complex systems[@R25] as well as recognising the diversity of historical and cultural contexts that typify rural communities.
The first author analysed all interviews by reading them in depth and developing codes relevant to physician engagement using NVivo 11 (QSR International). He is a rural physician and experienced doctoral trained qualitative researcher who is familiar with the region and its communities having held educational leadership roles in the region. All authors had previously analysed all transcripts in the study and had identified physician engagement as an important area for further analysis.
The initial coding approach, analysis and preliminary interpretation were discussed with the other authors, the coding agreed and the interpretation refined based on further analysis and debate. The emergent themes based on the interpretation were shared with selected interviewees and found to resonate with their experience, thus further increasing the authenticity of the analysis.
Results {#s3}
=======
The analysis of the interviews revealed a complex set of circumstances related to physician engagement. These included issues such as inter-group dynamics, historical differences between professional groups and descriptions of individual aspirations of what local healthcare change and priorities should be. Weaving the threads of the interviews to find patterns and themes related to the phenomenon of physician engagement resulted in three interconnected themes related to challenges in engaging physicians in system change and what supported that engagement.
Working through tensions constructively {#s3a}
---------------------------------------
At the beginning of the initiative physicians were seen by themselves and NH administrators as working independently from NH and the strategic direction of primary healthcare (PHC) transformation. They were also seen as having significant positional power.
> You know our physicians do wield a fair bit of influence and power within the system and have the ability to move things forward or send them to a standstill if they want to...physicians are still practically in many ways outside of the system. And I'm talking about family physicians, like primary care practitioners in particular. They are their own unique businesses and so there isn't necessarily a bridge always between those two worlds or a process to work on those issues. (PHC coordinator E)
This sense of professional power in the health system, while physicians were not actually within the system itself, created challenges for all in terms of working together.
The data described successes in terms of building bridges and agreeing on new ways of working together, but tensions were evident between administrators and physicians. Participants pointed to concerns regarding who was having conversations with whom, and the historical mistrust between professionals and health authorities. They spoke of how those trying to facilitate engagement could get caught 'in the middle'.
> ... cause I kind of sit in the middle, right, so I was sitting at a Northern Health table where we didn't have Divisions at the tables and the conversations were a lot about us and them. (PHC coordinator J)
The tensions identified in the interviews were often recalled as hidden and unacknowledged in the interactions between partners, but participants also recalled efforts to bring these tensions to the surface. Local administrators and the primary care coordinators could be caught between the organisational goals and the autonomy of physicians in their communities and needed to find ways of building relationships in both directions. They also had to find ways of translating language and intent from NH leadership to physicians and vice versa. Honest conversations and structures for communication were necessary. Through conscious dialogue, they could surface and work through tensions that developed when changes were made to how services were designed and delivered. These efforts have not been easy or straightforward. They have taken a long period of time, as foundations of commonly agreed-upon and deliberately purposeful actions have required an understanding of others' contexts.
> This changed relationship with primary care and partnership between the physicians, that's a big change in how we deliver care. Primary care physicians we think of as within their private business purview. We really respect and they highly prize their autonomy so another thing that keeps me up at night is thinking about how we get those initial critical conversations off to a good start so that we grow those teams and primary care homes together. (Regional leader 3)
In addition, coordinators had to be able to have difficult conversations in order to surface tensions:
> So, I spent a lot of time a year ago calling people on the 'us and them' in order for us to move the work forward and highlighting that we can't move if we're in this, 'us and them'. So, trying to shut those conversations down at both of those sides. Whereas now there's absolutely none of that at all going on in relationship (between) the health authority and Division. (PHC coordinator J)
Approaches like this allowed NH and physicians to develop working relationships focused on improving care for the people they served, which allowed tensions to be identified, managed and worked through. Actions were focused on what could be done together to improve patient care, such as the creation of an unattached patient clinic, the development of a family practice clinical teaching unit and actively helping people learn about others' working contexts, such as nurses job shadowing General Pracititoners (GPs) and GPs doing joint home visits with nurses. Not all physicians interviewed were involved in Divisions of Family Practice, which was also a source of tension.
> So, there's a tension there and different communities have different structures in place to support this work. So here we don't have a Division of Family Practice and the Primary Healthcare language. In a lot of work they keep talking about using the Division of Family Practice to move this work forward... We don't have that here, so you kind of find yourself in this defensive position where you're saying all the time, 'but we don't have a Division of Family Practice, we have this'. (PHC coordinator D)
Tensions are inevitable in whole system change and the key for those NH administrators based in the communities was to be able to act as a go-between for physicians on the ground and the leaders at various levels of NH. Engaging physicians effectively required good listening, flexibility at the local level and support from NH leadership to allow discussion of local solutions to local problems within a framework of integrated primary care teams. Underpinning this coordinated action was the need to find ways to surface tensions in order to deal with them.
Drawing on structures for engagement {#s3b}
------------------------------------
Divisions of Family Practice allowed for a structured dialogue and for a way of recognising and dealing with tensions between different elements of the healthcare system and communities. NH attempted to partner with the physicians through the Divisions to develop common plans. NH openly shared their initial goals and ideas and ensured that local administrators were aware of the need to allow some flexibility in local communities in terms of determining healthcare priorities. NH's approach of sharing what they were trying to do at the community level was noted by a family practitioner.
> ... the health authority has come to the table and they've been good partners with openness and transparency and they have allowed us to, you know, look inside their organisation, you know, they've shared, they've shared freely a lot of the things that they're doing. (Physician G)
The Divisions of Family Practice allowed physicians to have a common voice, as within the Divisions the physicians developed their own priorities and vision. The same family physician said.
> I think it was with the formation of the Division that family doctors have a voice as a collective group in partnering with Northern Health, to have input into how we might deal with and spend resources that were available. (Physician G)
A sentiment echoed by a physician colleague from another community also described how the Divisions provided some continuity which, in turn, provided an environment that supported and encourage partnering.
> ... it's the organisation of physicians so that there's one voice to talk about the aspirations or the needs in primary care. So that there's somebody that the health authority can communicate with, rather than picking the champion who might be the champion this year but has moved away next year. Or is over-extended in his practice and now has kind of lost interest. Now there's this more durable entity that you can actually talk with and partner with and that's accelerated us in ways that I wouldn't have expected. (Physician A)
The Divisions encouraged physicians to have collective conversations about priorities which were then shared with NH. One of the outcomes was that NH and physicians found they shared common ground in terms of improving the health of their populations, which had some interesting impacts on how family physicians felt about their work.
> You start to enjoy your work. That's the thing. That's the main thing for me. You do a lot of stuff which actually just becomes a ritual, do prescriptions every day for diabetics and hypertension patients. Now suddenly, you're seeing other possibilities. (Physician J)
Working with structures that were designed to give physicians a collective voice helped build relationships, find common ground, encourage dialogue and enhance continuity. They enabled the physicians and NH alike to better withstand the inevitable changes of personnel that are a feature of small rural communities.
Facilitating relationships {#s3c}
--------------------------
Trusting relationships were critical to the process. Finding effective ways of engagement helped build trust and flexibility on all sides. Physicians and NH were able to form common goals as well as act flexibly at the local community level to set appropriate priorities that were agreed on in each community. The effort required to build relationships was considerable, and in a remote and rural area this also meant finding time for physician leaders to engage with communities and to have time to be involved in planning, as the process of change took time:
> I need to do way more travel, way more communication and relationship building out in the peripheral areas and sure it takes more time, but without it you can't move*...*
> the first 2 years we didn't actually achieve a lot except a lot of careful planning and strategic thinking, but now it's led to a place where we actually are acting on that strategic thinking and maybe this is the year that we're all going to do it. (Physician A)
Where physicians, local administrators, community leaders and the other health professionals could agree on common goals they spoke of a better sharing of skills and integrating of care among different team members.
The whole process of engagement and development of common goals, however, was sensitive to the varied community contexts. This meant that approaches to reforming how healthcare was delivered were influenced by individual community priorities.
> ... we're being told to and rightly so I think, that from community to community this may look different and maybe realised in different ways because of different practical realities so I'm encouraged to hear that. (PHC coordinator E)
Trust was at the heart of this sharing and took time to build through learning about the visions, goals and abilities of team members. Trust, however, only came with practical actions.
> So, I think there's more trust because we share more. It's not silos. Even to trust the specialist. If you see a specialist here and he talks to you about patients, and have the conversation, it's even more trust than phoning that guy, see what he thinks about stuff. It opens doors and beaks down silos. It is just funny how trust is very core. (Physician K)
The maintenance of trust could not be assumed. For some, the worry of demonstrating results was always in the background.
> I think that there's still, there's always that element of wanting to see results and so I think right now we have the commitment and trust that they will come and we're working towards it, but it's always there in the back of my mind that we need to be demonstrating progress and to continue to build trust. I struggle with that sometimes, how we define progress, how we evaluate the work that we're doing and make improvements. (PHC coordinator E)
Once trust was developed it was just as important to find some early wins to show progress was being made as described by one physician talking about improving how quickly patients could be seen in their primary care clinic.
> Advanced access is a great example. It was an idea that was around when we started talking about (primary care reform). And I started talking about it with the office manager and I don't know who mentioned it first, but it just kind of came and everyone was on board and it was total collaboration. (Physician A)
Investing time in local relationship-building, despite the strain of the required time commitment in an underserved rural area, served as a means to work through tensions.
> I'd have to say overall that I feel I can sit down and talk to the local administrator and while I may not agree on everything, I feel heard. (Physician F)
Only through sound relationships and constructive conversations was sufficient trust developed to create an environment ready for major system change.
> ... people are developing completely different relationships and when you think that so much of our past and some of our current system, so much of what works well is because of the relationships. (Regional Leader 2)
### Interpretation {#s3c1}
Trying to change the healthcare system in any setting can be an elusive and frustrating goal. Physicians are critical players in any attempt to reform a healthcare system as they hold considerable power and influence in their communities.[@R14] Physicians may not always be aware of the power they hold but, nevertheless, it can be used, consciously or unconsciously, to stall or derail any attempts at changing healthcare systems.[@R26] While existing literature emphasises engaging physicians through developing relationships and providing leadership training,[@R14] much of the focus is on the engagement of physicians within institutions like health authorities and healthcare facilities. The context of rural and remote areas presents a different challenge where physicians are an influential voice in their communities. Emerging from this study were different ways of approaching physician engagement that worked in the very different contexts of several widely scattered rural communities. One important facet was that physician engagement was helped by the creation of the Divisions of Family Practice which provided a structure for the health authority to engage with physicians in the development of shared visions, goals and collective actions. The Divisions are physician-led and were created through the provincial physician representative association. There appears little in the literature on the existence of physician-led groupings beyond financial ones, although the social identity literature suggests that two different groups such as physicians and administrators can only begin to collaborate once they are secure in their own identity.[@R15] Lack of attention to this can create problems such as those described by Kreindler *et al* where engagement of primary care physicians in a primary care renewal process was unsuccessful as their group identity was not sufficiently supported to allow them to feel equal partners.[@R27] The presence of the Divisions provided physicians in scattered communities such an identity and a common and local voice to develop agreed local priorities in partnership with the health authority. In addition, an emphasis on building relationships, particularly those at the community level, was important in establishing partnerships between physicians, administrators and healthcare teams. The relationships enhanced the journey towards a system of primary care interdisciplinary team-based care focused on the patient needs.
While relationship building appears as critical in the literature on physician engagement,[@R15] there is a paucity of description on what is effective within on-the-ground relationships in primary care. Tensions between various groups are inevitable in times of large-scale change. In Northern BC finding the tensions, describing and confronting them allowed them to be worked through. Ways of surfacing tensions through conversation with primary care coordinators as the facilitators of conversations were an important finding in this study.
Literature on physician engagement notes that tensions are particularly evident among professional groups, particularly between physicians and administrators. It is important to find ways to identify and deal with, often hidden, traditional hierarchies and professional power.[@R20] One step in working through such tensions is in the co-creation of changed identities[@R28] through purposeful attention to ongoing relationships that can help people to work together collaboratively. A second key step is to ensure that small incremental changes are successful.[@R29] The role of the coordinators and local administrators in terms of facilitating conversations and bridging between physicians, community and health authority could be seen as similar to the roles described in the literature on boundary spanners or boundary crossers,[@R30] roles that may be foundational in facilitating system change at the local level.
In this study physicians were able to shift their professional stance from being autonomous to being team players when aided by frequent conversations, which have led to a mutual understanding of goals and potential roles of the healthcare team. These shifts were helped by the Divisions of Family Practice which built cohesion among physicians to provide a common voice and make it possible for Northern Health and physicians to create shared visions and joint actions. Such processes take time and there may be no such thing as implementing wholesale system change quickly. Building and maintaining relationships, working with tensions and listening to communities is an iterative process that takes many years. System change is a journey with many twists and turns in the route and it is important to look for signs of change and progress over time and not expect quick fixes.
Conclusions {#s4}
===========
This study suggests that when a health authority attempts to achieve whole system change in a rural primary care context, approaches based on relations of trust, flexibility, adaptability and compromise appear to have been effective in engaging physicians as partners in reform. These approaches have been aided by structures to engage physicians, approaches that allow tensions to be surfaced and a commitment to honest conversations.
This is a qualitative study in one health authority in a northern and rural area of Canada. While research like this is highly sensitive to local contexts, such as geography and climate, and to national contexts, like remuneration and employment models, there may still be elements which are transferable to other settings contemplating system change. For example, the concepts of relationship building, surfacing tensions and working with structures for engagement may be relevant to those contemplating large-scale change in primary care, including larger urban settings.
Supplementary Material
======================
###### Reviewer comments
###### Author\'s manuscript
The authors would like to acknowledge, as well as thank, the study knowledge users, particularly Cathy Ulrich of the Northern Health Authority, the study participants and Leana Garraway, Research Associate. The Rural Doctors' UBC Chair in Rural Health is supported by an endowment from the BC Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues. The Northern Health UNBC Knowledge Mobilisation Chair is supported by Northern Health and the University of Northern British Columbia.
**Contributors:** MM and NH are Principal Investigators, and TR and DS Co-Investigators, of the Partnering for Change I study. MM, NH, TR and DS were involved in the original conceptual design of the study, its methodology, data collection and analysis. For the analysis of Physician Engagement MM, NH, TR and DS all contributed to the study in terms of methodological design and data handling. DS analysed all the data and developed the initial coding framework and interpretation. MM, NH and TR contributed to the coding framework and interpretation through analysis, discussion and debate. DS wrote the first draft of the article and MM, NH and TR contributed to subsequent drafts. DS wrote the draft of the revised final version and MM, NH and TR contributed to the final revisions. DS, MM, NH and TR all agreed the final version.
**Funding:** This work was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Services and Policy operating grant number MOP 114987.
**Competing interests:** None declared.
**Ethics approval:** The study received Ethical Approval from the Research Ethics Boards of the University of Northern British Columbia, certificate E2011.0920.104.06, and from the University of Alberta certificate Pro00027360_REN5.
**Provenance and peer review:** Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
**Data sharing statement:** The data in this work is highly confidential and although all quotes given are anonymised and de-identified the data set which consists of individual interviews contains data that could lead to identification of participants. This is particularly so in terms of some of the communities in which the study took place where many individuals know each other. For this reason, the interviews cannot be made public. This is also a requirement of our Ethics Board approval.
**Patient consent for publication:** Not required.
| |
Oct 25, 2021
We're sending off MID the only way we know how with 50 takes in 50 minutes! What were the highs and the lows of this format? How did the gold uncommons match up against each other? What made the gameplay so intricate? Plus, some rare Ethan salt stories from the Draft Challenge on Arena!
Oct 18, 2021
This week we're returning to Ben's concept of Synergy Theory and looking at MID limited under that lens! Drafting "decks not cards" is harder than it sounds, so we're here to help by looking at cards interacting with mechanics, their own color, other colors, and their strategy compatibility.
Original Episode:
Oct 11, 2021
High stakes limited play is back with the opening day drafts at the World Championship! Ben & Ethan break down the two featured drafters, PVDDR and Seth Manfield, and go pick by pick in their two difficult seats!
PVDDR: https://magicprotools.com/draft/show?id=sN9NGcXduyr6zNYUKWrOIf9uH-w
Seth:
Oct 7, 2021
For the October Bonus Episode, your hosts are diving into the MID Team Draft vs Team Resources, where they went right, where they went wrong, and what the takeaways are for next time!
Drafts and...
Oct 4, 2021
This week we're exploring all that MID's most misunderstood color has to offer. Even though Red is the worst color, it's nowhere near Blue in AFR, and actually has a lot of play to it if you unlock its secrets. Shout out to Ryan Saxe for his help with this episode!
Draft Log 1: | https://lordsoflimited.libsyn.com/2021/10 |
Lesson plans are an important part of every class whether you are in primary, middle, high school or in college or university. They are also the main portion of induction level training, in service training, B.ed , M.ed and M.A Education. When we think that why private schools are so successful, then one of the main point that comes into our mind is lesson plan e.g. they do lesson planning and then apply it in class.
It is very unfortunate fact that teachers in government sector don’t even try to do such planning. They plan just for the day when there is a visit of some AEO, DDO or DEO in their class. Being a teacher we should be sincere enough to make such plans in written or just set a plan in your mind before going to class.
Coming to the main point that induction level training is at its peak in all the district of Punjab. As I belong to Chakwal, training of SESEs will end on 22 August 2017 while AEO and ESE training will end at 31 August 31, 2017.
Master trainers are assigning the task of making 5 to 10 lesson plans and submit them in file while 2 presentations are necessary for each participant.
Most of the participants are looking here and there in groups to get some samples of lesson planes so I have come today with Top 6 Sample Lesson Plans for Teachers;
To get notifications of more of my education related posts on Facebook, like my Facebook Page.
Lesson Plan 1:
Lesson Plan No. 2
Lesson Plan No. 3
Lesson Plan No. 4
Lesson Plan No. 5: | https://www.techbreath.net/top-6-sample-lesson-plans-teachers/ |
Clean Nordic Oceans Main Report – A Network to Reduce Marine Litter and Ghost Fishing
Clean Nordic Oceans was established as a network to exchange knowledge and experience of methods and measures that can reduce the risk of ghost fishing and marine litter, and increase proper disposal and recycling of commercial and recreational fishing gear. All Nordic countries have participated in the network. Through a dedicated website (www.cnogear.org), workshops, seminars, conferences, films and social media, this project has helped to establish contacts both inside and outside the Nordic region, which can help reduce the challenges of marine litter from fishing activities. Among the numerous important findings that have been made over the course of the project, the report points out that fishermen in all the Nordic countries lack sufficient awareness of how they can and should contribute to a cleaner ocean. The report proposes a number of possible measures. Some of the measures may be suitable for all countries, but in general, there is no “one size fits all” solution.
English
- Click to access:
-
Click to download PDF - 11.33MBPDF
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Click to Read online and shareREAD
Measures
The challenges of recycling, ghost fishing and marine litter from fishing activities are very complex and characterised by greater geographical and oceanographic differences. In addition, there are differences between fleet segments, fishing gear and fishermen in the different countries. Although the overall goal must be to stop all loss and dumping of marine litter from the fishing industry, there are many indications that it will be very challenging, if at all possible. It is important, therefore, to work along several lines, and in this report we have chosen to divide these areas into general measures, measures at sea and measures on land. We start with general measures and continue with key measures at sea and on land.
English
- Click to access: | https://www.nordic-ilibrary.org/environment/clean-nordic-oceans-main-report-a-network-to-reduce-marine-litter-and-ghost-fishing_8c4c0c9e-en |
India’s goods exports in July 2022 declined for the first time in over a year, albeit only a marginal 0.76 per cent (year-on-year) to $35.24 billion, as uncertainty in the global economy slowed down demand, hitting sectors such as engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, textiles and pharmaceuticals.
Trade deficit trebled
Trade deficit in July 2022 trebled to $31.02 billion as imports during the month increased 43.59 per cent to $66.26 billion, led by sectors including petroleum, electronic goods, and coal and coke, per preliminary trade estimates for July 2022 released by Commerce & Industry Ministry on Tuesday.
“This (almost static export performance) has been achieved despite measures to control inflation (in sectors such as iron ore & pellets, iron and steel and petroleum products) and the continued disruptions of supply chains due to Covid and Russia–Ukraine conflict,” per the Commerce and Industry Ministry statement.
Since February this year, when the Ukraine crisis started, the world is facing turbulent times with heavy inflation in many Western countries and phenomenal increase in interest rates, Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said at a press briefing.
Factors in India’s favour
“The external world is no longer benign. We have to work hard,” Subhramanyam said, adding that factors such as the free trade agreements recently signed by India with countries such as the UAE and Australia, exploration of new markets, as well as the demand-shift from China could act in India’s favour.
India’s exports in fiscal year 2022-23 could comfortably touch $470 billion going by the trend in exports so far, he added. In 2021–22, India’s goods exports touched an all time high of $420 billion.
Deficit more than double
India’s goods exports in April-July 2022 rose 19.35 per cent to $156.41 billion. Goods imports during the April–July 2022 period was 48.12 per cent higher at $256.43 billion resulting in a trade deficit of $100 billion, more than double the trade deficit of $42 billion in the same period last fiscal.
Exporters a worried lot
Despite optimistic projections by the government, exporters of items hit by the global slowdown, are worried about the future. “Considering that the US and Europe are among the top destinations for Indian engineering goods, recessionary trends in advanced economies would certainly have an impact on exports. The muted engineering exports in June was a reflection of the weakening demand from these markets,” according to EEPC Chairman Mahesh Desai.
Value of non-petroleum and non–gems and jewellery exports in July 2022 was $26.54 billion, registering a growth of 1.24 per cent. Cumulative value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in April–July 2022-23 at $110.39 billion was 10.73 per cent higher.
Non–oil, non–GJ (gold, silver and precious metals) imports posted a growth of 42.88 per cent in July 2022 to $38.44 billion. In the April-July 2022 period, non-oil, non-GJ imports grew 36.93 per cent to $147.55 billion. | https://b2bchief.com/exports-in-july-edge-down-to-35-24-b/ |
Neuroimaging has revealed a range of white matter abnormalities that are common in dementia, some that predict cognitive decline. The abnormalities may result from structural diseases of the cerebral vasculature, such as arteriolosclerosis and amyloid angiopathy, but can also be caused by nonstructural vascular abnormalities (eg, of vascular contractility or permeability), neurovascular instability or extracranial cardiac or vascular disease. Conventional histopathological assessment of the white matter has tended to conflate morphological vascular abnormalities with changes that reflect altered interstitial fluid dynamics or white matter ischemic damage, even though the latter may be of extracranial or nonstructural etiology. However, histopathology is being supplemented by biochemical approaches, including the measurement of proteins involved in the molecular responses to brain ischemia, myelin proteins differentially susceptible to ischemic damage, vessel-associated proteins that allow rapid measurement of microvessel density, markers of blood-brain barrier dysfunction and axonal injury, and mediators of white matter damage. By combining neuroimaging with histopathology and biochemical analysis, we can provide reproducible, quantitative data on the severity of white matter damage, and information on its etiology and pathogenesis. Together these have the potential to inform and improve treatment, particularly in forms of dementia to which white matter hypoperfusion makes a significant contribution.
|Original language||English|
|Pages (from-to)||99-107|
|Number of pages||9|
|Journal||Brain Pathology|
|Volume||25|
|Issue number||1|
|DOIs|
|Publication status||Published - Jan 2015|
Bibliographical note© 2014 International Society of Neuropathology.
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'White matter hypoperfusion and damage in dementia: post-mortem assessment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint. | https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/white-matter-hypoperfusion-and-damage-in-dementia-post-mortem-ass |
Traditionally in the United States there has been a common believe that speaking any foreign language is an act of un-Americanism, a betrayal of sorts. As if by speaking a language other than English, one is denying a core American value. This topic has been one of contention for a long time, and as such, one that has people divided. That’s why I want to talk to you about the unifying power of bilingualism in a nation that has been fighting to be monolingual.
To better illustrate this; I need to take you to my daughter’s school backyard during recess on any given day. As in any other school, you’ll find boys and girls running around, singing and playing games. The difference here is that the children at Casa Montessori are highly diverse. In the last three years, for example, my daughter’s closest friends have been very representative of that: an African American, an Indian, a Caucasian, a Belizean, a Colombian and a Japanese.
At a glance, if you see these kids together you’ll probably think they are all very different from one another, which is true to some extent. However, as you pay close attention you will realize they have many things in common. Among those things, is the fact that they are all American children learning Spanish as a second language! This charter school, in my opinion, is a model for how the public schools of the future will look like: diverse student bodies learning more than one language and learning from one another.
Besides the obvious benefits of language learning and social skills of being in a multicultural environment, these relationships among the kids create connections among the parents, like a domino effect that helps spread understanding and friendship for people that might not otherwise meet. That’s an undeniable example of the unifying power of bilingualism, which helps build bridges of understanding and enriches the lives of people who venture into a new language.
Making English Official, Yet Embracing Bilingualism
Before I continue making the case for the unifying power of bilingualism, I want to address the idea of English as one American unifier, the language that connects us all. The main argument is that the United States should make English its official language, so the government can promote it as one of the symbols of the union, like the flag or the American eagle.
As an immigrant American, I agree that English should be the official language of the United States. In fact, before all the hype about this topic, many people, myself included, didn’t even know that it wasn’t. I think it is clear to everyone that English is the American language.
In my opinion, if that decision is made, to make English official, it will be a confirmation of the common understanding and should not impact in any way policies that support the study of foreign languages. The best example to that comes from Europe, in which countries as small as the Netherlands continue to speak their own official language, even if it isn’t spoken anywhere else, but the Dutch, as the majority of Europeans are usually fluent in at least a second language besides their own, and in many cases, in two or three languages other than theirs.
So, should English be the official language of the US? Yes. Should all Americans have access to learning a second language? Definitely yes!
It is time for America to harness the unifying power of bilingualism, to help the next generations be fluent in at least one other language that will give them an advantage in the job market, opening opportunities for them in an economy that is in constant change. Bilingualism can be adopted without changing the main role of the English language in the United States, and it has the power to unite us.
You might be asking yourself if when I talk about bilingualism I am advocating for people to learn Spanish as a second language. Not necessarily. The key is to open up about teaching children other languages and in doing so, choose the languages that make sense from the standpoint of the global economy: languages that are good for business, that are spoken everywhere and that also make sense within the frame of the US.
The key is that we remove a barrier and open ourselves to the world, with a genuine interest in learning about other cultures, traditions and ways of life. In doing so, we will all be more prepared to interact and understand each other here at home; it will close the gap in national understanding. People with different backgrounds will not feel so foreign and unknown, we will be able to have dialogues and ask questions directly.
Making the United States a multilingual society has the power to unify Americans, as well as to equip us for the multicultural and multiethnic society of our not-so-distant future.
What Can We Do?
There are two things we can all do to create the needed change towards a society that is more open to foreign language acquisition:
Embark in learning a second language. You might be thinking that this is easy for me to say because I am already bilingual. I’m here to tell you that every important thing we do involves our commitment and work. At the same time, I want you all to know that it is possible and not as hard and complicated as you may think. I started learning English when I was 20, so I did not grow up bilingual, and here I am almost 20 years later being able to communicate in English. Also, my mother learned Dutch at 45 years old! A language that is harder for a Spanish speaker because of its root, but she did it and it is possible for you, too, to learn a second language.
Advocate for bilingual education in your district. The advantages of bilingualism for academic success are several and have been widely spread. We now know it is good for our children to be raised bilingual, so we need the school system to get in tune with that. The only way that this will happen nationally is if we all contact our school district officials and advocate for implementing immersion programs in our area. There has been some progress with bilingual schools being created, but we need an effort that involves the school districts, one by one, until we get to see bilingualism integrated to the curriculum in k-12.
Let’s remember that proficiency in a second language is an asset, an advantage that has academic, cultural, social and professional impact. We should all be advocating for policies that implement bilingual education in a sensitive and effective way throughout the mainstream academic setting. | https://embracingdiversity.us/the-unifying-power-of-bilingualism/ |
Director: Matt Schrader.
Feating: Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Cameron, John Debney, Brian Tyler, Trevor Rabin plus many more.
My first love will always be the movies, those glorious moments of escapism that took you to another plain. However, films were a gateway to another love of mine; and that would be music. I cannot count the amount of times I have listened to scores and soundtracks during my day and even sleep, to relive those same glorious moments. I was brought up on the classic masterpieces of Beethoven, Bach, Mozart among many others, but nothing made me feel more passionate for the music than when it they're played to a motion picture.
The use of Strauss' "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Wagner's "Ride of The Valkyries" in Coppola's Apocalypse Now and Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" in Jewison's Rollerball, among many others, brought a new sense of emotion and imagery to these classics, which is the opposite of what a film score composer does and instead it is their music that empowers the scene creating emotions within the audience that would not have been felt otherwise without it.
This documentary takes an insightful and profound look at this music and the people who create what I would consider to be the modern classics of today. Writer and director, Matt Schrader left a career as an Emmy award winning TV news producer to pursue this extraordinary project, setting down with many of the most famous film composers there are, mostly in their very personal surroundings of their studios and workspaces covering the history of film scores, its evolution and it's relationships with both creators and audiences.
It goes back to the not-so-silent, silent cinema, retracing it's steps throughout the cinematic universe with films and composers like King Kong and Max Steiner, Alex North's Street Car Named Desire and Alfred Newman. It looks at the birth and parents of particular themes that have laid foundations that still resonate within genres today, like John Barry's contribution to James Bond, Ennio Morricone for westerns and Bernard Herrmann for mystery and horror. All of this without forgetting to talk about greats such as Jerry Goldsmith and of course, John Williams.
It takes an intimate look at the relationship between the two creative artistries. The magical connections between screen and sound, rhythm and melody, the effects it has on both the storytelling and the people involved, where the visuals shows the story and the score directs the emotion and the mood. We get a glimpse of the different techniques, approaches and thought processes, the instruments, many of which being very unconventional or unique to create a sound. The reversal of computer to orchestra and how technology still cannot replace that immense sound of a live orchestra.
There's an impressive assembly of composers with heavy hitters like Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, David Arnold and Patrick Doyle among many other recognisable names and sounds, all sharing their stories, their troubles and stresses, the pressures of modern day filmmaking, but also seeing the respect and admiration they have for their influences and one another, proving their passion and love for the craft, making it very much a personal labour of love. Besides the composers themselves, directors, historians and critics also share their knowledge on the industry. Leading film music historian, Jon Burlingame, world famous film critic Leonard Maltin and even a professor of psychology Siu-Lan Tan among many more, mall give an incredible depth to the subject.
There's an aura of electricity watching this, feeling the emotion that touches all the people who composed, played and listens to the music. You get a great sense of warmth watching the members of the orchestra create something incredible that will go on to evoke feeling in us viewers. I could actually cry with joy watching John Williams and Spielberg working together, seeing them explain the birth of the Jaws theme. We find out Brian Tyler's strange habit of viewing an audience after watching one of his films, the clockdown clock Trevor Rabin was given by Jerry Bruckheimer and a touching dedication to the legendary and sorely missed James Horner from James Cameron.
I've always had a great love for scores, and honestly thought I couldn't love them anymore but I was so wrong, this documentary has given me a greater understanding and appreciation of something I already love very much. I was hearing things I didn't know I've heard before, reminding very much of why I love both film and the music that comes with, making me want to rewatch all this timeless classics.
Schrader has structured and pieced together a brilliant, indispensable documentary. An absolute must see for all film fans, especially score collectors and appreciators like myself, but it isn't just for people fanatical about film; as a documentary, it's incredibly interesting and will surely give you, as with me, a much higher appreciation for the people behind the scores that'll make you want to listen more and more.
Running Time: 9
The Cast: 9
Performance: 10
Direction: 10
Story: 10
Script: 10
Creativity: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Job Description: 10
The Extra Bonus Point: 10 for being the pinnacle documentary dedicated to the world of film scores. I want to watch this again! Plus, it's recently qualified for the 2018 Academy Awards, so here's hoping! | https://www.mrniceguyreviews.co.uk/post/2017/09/06/score-a-film-music-documentary-review |
Magnetospheres in exoplanets
Aline Vidotto, Moira Jardine and Christiane Helling claimed to be the first in detecting a magnetosphere in an exoplanet in 2010 (Meyers, 20111). They observed the presence of a bow shock in WASP-12b at a distance 4 times the radius of the planet. For the authors, such distance suggest a magnetosphere in WASP-12b four times is radius "because gaseous pressures alone would not be enough to hold [the stellar wind] off at such a distance" (Meyers, 20111).
Yet, this is an assumption not yet replicated, and the team is looking for other candidates to further observe the same phenomenon in different exoplanets. Vidotto et al expect to find magnetopheres of between 1 to 40 times the planetary radius if the exoplanets have magnetic fields like Jupiter (~14G) and their stars have magnetic fields between 1 and 100G (Vidotto, 20102).
Want to know more?
- ScienceNOW - Commentary by Meyers
- In this ScienceNOW page you can read the commentary by Meyers, which is, perhaps, a bit more explicit than the abstract published by the Royal Aeronautical Society.
- Wiki of Science - WASP-12b magnetic field
- This Wiki of Science page summarizes Vidotto's data.
- Wikipedia - Bow shocks
- This Wikipedia page explains magnetospheric bow shocks (as they apply to Earth) and other bow shocks in the universe a bit further. | http://wikiofscience.wikidot.com/quasiscience:exoplanet-magnetospheres |
December 1959: A furious anticolonial war rages in Algeria. Captain Jacques le Garrec, a former detective and French Resistance hero, returns to France in disgrace. Traumatized after two years of working in the army intelligence services, he's now accused of a brutal crime.
As le Garrec awaits trial in the tiny Breton town where he grew up, he is asked to look into a disturbing and unsolved murder committed the previous winter. A local teenage girl was killed and her bizarrely mutilated body was left displayed on the heathland in a way that no one could understand.
Le Garrec's investigations draw him into the dark past of the town, still haunted by memories of the German occupation. As he tries to reconstruct the events of the murder, the violence of this crime and his recollections of Algeria intertwine, threatening to submerge him.
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OUR VIEW AND MISSION
- We have always focused our attention on the needs and requirements of our clientele, to obtain their full satisfaction.
- Our mission is to study an adequate response to the specific requests and needs of each customer, to find the best solution, based on the experience of what we have already developed and constructed in the past.
- It is through our constant innovation and research that we want to compete in guaranteeing success for our customers, thus earning their trust, leading to future investments based on joint experience.
- Our other main principle, is to ensure continuous improvement for our employees, based on the quality of work and the environment, providing safer, more balanced and sustainable life conditions.
ZACMI employs 98% recyclable materials for the construction of its machinery.
Today, even more than yesterday, we are concentrated on reduced consumption and the use of ecologically sustainable materials.
ETHICAL CODE
Highest consideration and observance of the law in force
(as for example: EN 292, EN 60204, 97/23/CE, etc.) and mutual benefit relationship with customers and suppliers.
• Respect and Protection of Human Rights
We respect and protect basic human rights
• Prohibition of Discrimination
We respect one another as individuals and do not discriminate on the grounds of ethnicity or race
• Prohibition of harassment
We do not speak or act in ways that degrade individual dignity
• Protection of privacy
We do not disclose information related to individuals’ private lives
• Respect and Protection of fundamental labour rights
We respect and protect the fundamental labour rights
• Prohibition of forced labour
We do not take part in any form of forced labour or child labour
Since 1954 we have been, and are still today, constructors in the realisation of tailor-made solutions for our customers
and this is the reason why we are capable of responding to every specific demand.
We are Italians, with a deep love for our work, carried out with care and precision, our attention, focused on customer care.
Our experience and research represent our excellence in food product packaging.
TARGET FOR SUCCESS AND CRITICAL FACTORS
- Consider the quality of our product as a strategic factor for success;
- Increase the annual turnover, including the research for new business strategies;
- Increase Company working efficiency in all its aspects with the application of the Lean method;
QUALITY AND CERTIFICATIONS
Over the years, ZACMI has obtained various internationally acclaimed certifications, amongst which, the ISO 9001 renewed in 2021. This achievement underlines how the company is strongly concentrated on the quality of their machinery and work. | https://www.zacmi.com/en/about-us-zanichelli-meccanica/ |
Q:
setTimeout runs immediately instead of waiting the delay value
I am absolutely puzzled. Why is this program not using the delay number I got which I named "result". It is supposed to subtract the current time by the future date a user posts. This would end up as an alarm.
Just take a look, run the code.
// Set a future time you want the alert() function to go off
var eta_ms = new Date(2017, 1, 26, 17, 06).getTime();
document.write(Date.now() + "<br />");
document.write(eta_ms + "<br />");
var result = eta_ms - Date.now();
document.write("The Delay: " + result + "<br />" );
document.write(result + "<br />");
document.write(typeof (result) + "<br />");
setTimeout(function(){ alert("Hello"); }, result);
A:
Just set Month 0 (second parameter of Date-constructor) then it should work, as expected.
And please take note that when you run this code after 23:35 (26.01.2017) result gets negative because you have to set eta_ms always in the future.
Hope this helps:
var eta_ms = new Date(2017, 0, 26, 23, 35).getTime();
Better approach, in order to avoid setting month 0, could be to set the future time (eta_ms) in another way, so that someone just has to change this minutesInFuture variable in order to change eta_ms. In this fashion eta_ms is not restricted to January:
var minutesInFuture = 5;
var eta_ms = new Date().getTime();
eta_ms = eta_ms + minutesInFuture * 1000 * 60;
(Month 0) As its states here
A:
JavaScript uses a 32-bit integer to store the delay value. That makes the maximum value you can use 2147483647.
This means that the longest possible setTimeout or setInterval delay you can have is 2,147,483,647 milliseconds or 24.85513480324074 days.
Your value winds up being 2,677,448,064, or 31 days from now (new Date(2017, 1, 26, 17, 06) is February 26, 2017) and that is larger than the max value and so it breaks down and runs as soon as it can.
If you really did intend for this to be a long-term timer and even if there were no max value for setTimeout, this would only work if the user kept your page open in their browser the entire time they were waiting for the alarm.
The better solution for a long-term timer would be to store the time the alarm was supposed to go off (not the amount of time between now and then) in localStorage and upon page load, get that value out and compare it to the current time.
| |
Elizabeth A. Fabiano
Elizabeth A. Fabiano, MCA, a professional criminologist and cognitive behavioural therapist, is known internationally for her work in developing and implementing successful programmes for rehabilitating male, female and juvenile offenders. She has also developed and implemented cognitive motivational programmes for use with vocational rehabilitation clients, mental health clients and clients on income support and social assistance. She has also developed programmes and services for client in work recovery including those dealing with high pain management. In this work Ms Fabiano has trained numerous correctional practitioners, social workers, psychologists, and addressed scores of audiences across North America, and abroad. Currently, Ms. Fabiano is a senior partner in an Ottawa-based correctional consulting firm, T3 Associates Training and Consulting, Inc., and Executive Director of P.N.A. Change consultants Inc.
Ms. Fabiano holds a Bachelors degree in Sociology (Honours) from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and a Masters degree in Applied Criminology from the University of Ottawa. Following her formal studies Elizabeth began a consulting career in which she assisted the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services in the area of programme development. She provided direction on programmes for both probation and custodial operations within Ontario correctional services. During this time she co-developed a programme for offenders, Reasoning and Rehabilitation. The programme, a curriculum for criminal offenders, represented a major breakthrough in the treatment of this difficult to reach population.
Following this, for 10 years Ms. Fabiano was the Manager, Programme Development and Implementation for the Correctional Service of Canada. As a manager with the federal correctional service, she developed and introduced a number of programmes for offenders including the well-known “cognitive skills” programme [Reasoning & Rehabilitation]. Included among the programmes which she set in place were parenting skills courses, substance abuse treatments, and programmes aimed at preventing family violence.
During her tenure with Correctional Service Canada Ms. Fabiano helped reshape the direction of programmes for offenders across the Canadian federal correctional system. She received a Governor General Management Merit award in recognition of her outstanding contributions.
Ms. Fabiano is a highly talented trainer who creates enthusiasm about her work wherever she travels. Ms. Fabiano’s work has focused on the development of “cognitive skills” – the thinking and reasoning skills people need to make good decisions and live successful lives and “motivation” – the desire and need to want to change. The cognitive approach provides individuals with a range of thinking skills and helps them develop new styles of interacting with other people. They learn to use reasoning before acting impulsively and to consider the consequences of their behaviour for themselves and others.
In recent years Ms. Fabiano’s programme development work has expanded into the arena of employability where she has developed curricula for front-line staff providing services to unemployed youth and adults. As a certified member of the international network of Motivational Interviewing Trainers [MINT], Ms Fabiano has used a number of motivational enhancement concepts in her work to develop counseling training and programme content that will help vocational counselors and other social service professionals work with poorly motivated and multi-barriered clients.
The Cognitive Motivational Tools for Negotiating Behavior Change – a 3 day skills training programme has been implemented by numerous employment agencies and departments of Vocational Rehabilitation in Canada, the U.S and Europe. Ms Fabiano has also developed and implemented a series of motivational enhancement programmes for use with a number of different client groups. Examples include the Contemplating Change Program (for Vocational Rehabilitation clients); Ready, Set, Go: Moving Towards Employment (for mental health clients) and the N.O.W. -New Outlook for Women: Preparing for Change programme (for women on social assistance).
Ms Fabiano provides extensive training workshops and consulting services in many countries [i.e., England, Wales, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore] and throughout Canada and the United States.
Ms. Fabiano has co-authored many scholarly monographs, book chapters and journal articles in the area of effective correctional treatments, motivational programming and motivational case management. In addition, she has two co-authored books to her credit, ‘Time to Think: A Cognitive Model of Delinquency Prevention and Offender Rehabilitation’, and ‘Correctional Afterthoughts: Programs for Female Offenders’. | http://www.engipsychology.com/associates/elizabeth-a-fabiano/ |
It’s only a couple of weeks into 2017 yet and, already, the tops have gone turvy and the timelines have gone from straight to curvy in response to the intense energy waves coming into our worlds, globally and personally. These boosts of energy can bring completions and beginnings; upheavals and creations; turning overs and tuning ins.
Reality as you have mostly known it is continuing to shift. More ‘paranormal’ experiences are leaking through your consciousness lifting the veils between 3D perception and reality beyond the five senses. You are experiencing an increasing sense of wonder and joy in moments, moved by the absolute magic and wonder of the moment.
You are not the same as you were, as if someone else is now looking through your eyes out at the world and living in your skin. Most of the time, this feels amazing and, sometimes, it can be overwhelming. Maybe you are losing words, maybe losing your mind (in a good way) for longer periods, maybe not experiencing time at all or definitely keeping less track of it. People around you may be noticing that you have changed and commenting on it with some of them coming along and others not able to resonate.
The new energies seem to be support easier connection with Ethereal Beings such as archangels, spirit guides, ascended teachers, and passed loved ones. All of the clairs have been heightened: clairaudience, clairvoyance, clairsentience especially are dialed up. It’s like you are a radio antennae and you’ve been turned up to a higher setting.
You may hear guidance much more clearly; see Ethereal Beings with much more clarity; feel intuitive reactions much more deeply. If you have lingering doubts about your capacity and ability to connect with spiritual beings, you are gathering the resources that you need to help you tune in and expand your capacities. The story of “I can’t” seems to be being drowned out by the necessity of the Universe for you to connect with higher guidance.
The older paradigm modes of meditating may not be working for you anymore, such as focusing only on your breath or repeating a mantra over and over. You may have already begun or already be engaged in creative visualization or shamanic journeying during meditation, where there are no limits on where you can go or what you experience. Following the leadings of your Ethereal guides, you are taken on adventures into 4D and 5D (and beyond) consciousness states, parallel dimensions, other planets, and even galaxies. You are letting go of the ‘practice’ of meditation to let your soul and higher self take you to where you most need to go. You are drawing resources to help you remember these avenues that were once so natural, opening up to your intuition and creativity more and more.
Taking care of your chakras is going from a spiritual concept to a beloved and critical aspect of your daily self love routine. You are able to feel them more deeply and clearly, see their vibrant colors, locate them with your hands and your inner eye. You again draw resources to expand your knowledge and connection with the seven main chakras (whatever system you choose to follow), feeling your relationship with them deepen and expand beyond mental understanding. You may be experiencing body symptoms of ascension such as flu, head and neck aches, shift in sleep patterns, change in appetite, etc. You are connecting these shifts with your chakras and noticing that cleaning and protecting them daily helps with these physical changes. You are empowering yourself around energy healing for yourself as you connect with your energetic essence and auric field.
Relationships are in a big transition and you are in various phases of experiencing these shiftings. You are finding an increasing need to set boundaries with people in your life, often saying ‘no’ to events and previous commitments and expected behaviors. As this creates rumbles of reactions in those around you, you find there is something more authentic at the heart of it all that serves you with the strength and confidence to keep going. As some relationships are completing, there is also an increase in relationships that are beginning or forming. You may find that you are suddenly in a romance with someone who feels like a soul mate and that it happened quite quickly. The previous holdbacks are dissolving and you feel compelled to explore it and see where it goes. Or if you are in a romantic relationship, you may be experiencing that ground of it is shifting with new dynamics of deeper soul bond frequencies coming up and lower dimensional conflicts reducing greatly. You may have the feeling of ‘falling in love’ all over again and your mate as someone that you are very excited to get to know even more deeply!
Trailing edge is that which is at your growth edge or what you struggle with or are ‘working on’ this life. It often relates to what is still in subconscious shadow within your psyche or emotional body. These energies of acceleration seem to be pushing up and out that which has been in shadow to be felt and healed. You may be experiencing that this process of feeling and healing is going much quicker. One moment you are feeling parts of you that are scared or resistant. And then, the next moment, you are feeling joyful and expansive. Deeper emotional movements are requiring your complete attention and self love and care, calling you to hold space for yourself during this intense transition. Resources come to you in different forms to serve your leading edge of being (your highest self) to feel, heal, and integrate.
During this time of transition and intense energies, strap your heartbelts on and go within through meditation as often as you need and want to! Going within will help you tap into the essence of Inifinite Love that provides the motivation to ride the waves of all these shifts. | https://in5d.com/6-ways-you-may-be-experiencing-the-intense-energy-shifts/ |
Last week, before the OKC game, I was asked whether the Lakers’ bigger problems were on offense or on defense. To me, this answer was, and remains, clear. It’s the defense.
The Lakers’ have fundamental problems on D, mostly related to denying dribble penetration and how they don’t always help the helper. Any team can make the first rotation just fine, but the difference between a solid defense and an elite one is the ability to make the second and third rotation on any given possession. Right now, the Lakers don’t make those late possession rotations very well and they’re paying for it.
But those are the big picture issues. On an individual level, this defense is failing countless times over the course of the game. And while no one is immune, there are players whose bad habits are sticking out like a sore thumb. And while it may be difficult for some people to hear, one of the chief culprits is Kobe Bryant.
Mr. Bean may be playing his heart out on offense (we’ll get to this later) but he’s not showing that same commitment to the defensive side of the ball. There are multiple possessions each game in which he makes fundamental mistakes and it’s costing the Lakers. Again, he’s not alone. But as a leader of the team, he needs to be doing better.
One of Kobe’s chief mistakes is that he gets caught watching the ball too often:
On this play, Kobe is playing on the weak side and his man (Gordon Hayward) is in the corner. Kobe is intently watching the ball on the strong side wing while peeking at the action in the paint to see if the ball is going to be whipped into one of the Jazz big men off their interior screen action. While all that’s happening, Hayward cut back door. Kobe, never once looking at his man, only reacted to the pass and fouled a mid-air Hayward who was trying to make the catch.
At the lowest levels of organized basketball, players are asked to see the ball and their man. Kobe loses his man at the very start of this possession and never found him again until committing the foul.
Kobe also has a nasty habit of watching the ball and going for steals that aren’t that likely, and compromising the rest of the defense in the process:
On this play Kobe is guarding DeMarre Carroll, who starts on the strong side but then drifts to the weak side as the Jazz run a sideline P&R. Once Carroll clears the side, Kobe again is mostly watching the ball and cheating towards Enes Kanter who is setting up for a mid-range jumper. The ball never goes to Kanter, however, and instead is skipped to Carroll spotting up on the wing. Kobe tries to steal the pass, fails, and then doesn’t recover to Carroll quick enough to deny penetration. Meeks, hoping to try and play two players, cheats off the strong side corner (a cardinal sin in basketball) to help on Carroll. Like Kobe, Meeks is unsuccessful in slowing Carroll but also gives up the pass to the corner. Hayward makes the Lakers pay by hitting the wide open three.
Kobe’s mistakes here aren’t so drastic but he made several on that single play. Going for the steal was likely the worst offense since it put him in a position where he couldn’t contain the penetration of his man. Scouting tells you that Carroll isn’t a three point shooter so denying his drive is the number one goal of defending him. Once Kobe let Carroll get by him, the greater integrity of the defense was compromised and that was that.
On this last possession, Kobe simply plays a lazy brand of defense that hurt the Lakers on two separate occasions:
This play starts with Kobe on the left baseline guarding Randy Foye. The Jazz run a screen action to free Foye coming across the lane. When Ron’s man comes to screen Kobe, you see him not want to fight through the pick and calls out a late switch to Ron. This leads to Foye getting a wide open jumper that Ron barely contested due to the timing of the switch. To make matters worse, after switching onto Marvin Williams, Kobe didn’t box out and allowed Williams to sneak underneath Howard to tip in the missed shot. Two lazy plays on one possession for Kobe, there.
While I’m singling out Kobe here, he’s not the only one playing this way. On one of the first plays of the game, Ron got beat on an alley oop to Marvin Williams where he was watching the ball similar to Kobe in the first clip. I could have put up multiple clips of Jamison losing his man on screens and getting beat off the dribble, not only from the Jazz game but from every game this season. If the Lakers’ defensive problems were a one man issue, that would be simple enough. They’re not and that complicates matters a great deal.
What further complicates things is that Kobe is a major culprit. His off ball defense stands out as particularly poor this year. He’s gambling for steals, losing sight of his man, and roaming in ways that make the team’s defense structurally unsound. In essence, Kobe is making the easy choice way too often rather than making the harder play that is more taxing physically.
In a way, this is easy to understand. Kobe is playing heavy minutes (44 hard ones against the Jazz) and is carrying a tremendous burden on offense. The energy he’s expending on that side of the ball is massive and to think that won’t affect him in other areas would be a silly conclusion, especially for a 17 year veteran. That said, he’s clearly coasting on defense in order to conserve energy on offense and that simply won’t do. Not only does it hurt the team in countless tangible ways, it sets a bad example for how the team needs to play on that end of the floor.
Dwight Howard was brought in to help solve some of the Lakers’ defensive woes. And, he too can be better than he has been. But he can’t make up for everyone’s mistakes. Jamison and Duhon are turnstiles on D. Ron is getting beat more this season than in year’s past. And Kobe, as shown, isn’t holding up his end of the bargain. As a leader and a yearly member of the all-defensive team, he needs to be better. | https://www.forumblueandgold.com/2012/12/10/lakers-defensive-problems-include-kobe-bryant/ |
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Recently, many attempts have been made to increase the specific capacitance of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Chemical enhancement by adding redox active functional groups on CNTs increases the specific capacitance, while excessive oxidation decreases conductivity and leads to poor cycle life. Here we report the electrochemical enhancement methods followed by annealing at different temperatures in air to add and adjust the redox active functional groups on freestanding CNT films. Functionalized freestanding CNT films were used as positive electrodes, assembled with freestanding CNT/MoO3−x negative electrodes to fabricate carbon nanotube-based solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs). The whole device showed a high volumetric capacitance of 3.0 F cm−3, energy and power density of 1.5 mWh cm−3 and 4.2 W cm−3, respectively. We also fabricated a SCs pack to drive a homemade wireless transport system successfully, demonstrating the potential applications of this solid-state system for portable/wearable electronics.
This paper was originally published in Nano Energy 6, 1-9.
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A group of scientists have demonstrated a supercapacitor made from freestanding films of carbon nanotubes. | https://www.materialstoday.com/nanomaterials/features/functionalized-carbon-nanotubebased-electrode/ |
In a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world (V.U.C.A.) technology disrupts and globalization magnifies and propagates the dramatic changes in our work, communication, and transactions, and the way companies operate and create value.
In such a disruptive business environment, company leaders face a major challenge to focus on their company’s long term strategy and, at the same time, to be flexible, receptive to new data, ready to review different options, learn of new patterns and concepts, change direction in light of new developments, redesign their strategy and reallocate productive resources to new priorities and choices, and overall be adaptable to the new developments of the business environment—all in all, to be strategically agile.
In a V.U.C.A. world, knowledge might become quickly and unpredictably irrelevant
Strategic agility depends on three key organizational capabilities:
- The company’s leadership team maintains an extrovert focus with an open internal dialogue among its members where all issues are challenged and redefined (strategic sensitivity).
- The company leaders take courageous decisions without prejudices and limitations arising from the company’s past and present successes. The unity of the leadership team enables them to make decisions with speed from the moment that new trends in the economy have been analyzed and established. Decisions apply directly with the unreserved support of the leadership team without any delays arising from personal insecurities or priorities (leadership unity).
- However, the immediate mobilization of resources along with the alignment of these resources with the company’s new strategic direction is more than imperative. On one hand, human and monetary resources are reallocated and realigned while the necessary procedures (e.g. evaluation and incentives systems) are redesigned in supporting the restructuring of the company’s business model and its new strategy. On the other hand, the leadership team is committed to implement the new business model and also accept the short term losses, in terms of revenue, costs and profitability, which may result from the above structural changes (organization agility).
Knowledge always powers the company’s strategic agility, but in a V.U.C.A. world, knowledge might become quickly and unpredictably irrelevant. To facilitate the company’s strategic agility, learning within the organization should be dynamic with executives/learners continuously acquiring new knowledge, skills and competencies while at the same time also developing a mindset and attitude for perpetual learning. Within such an organization, executives/learners develop the potential to learn and thus have an open and receptive mindset. They also have a motivation to learn, a willingness to participate in the learning process. Finally, they are also adaptable to learn through reflection on the relevance of the acquired skills and competencies and the need to adjust them and even develop new ones. Within their companies, leaders/learners create and nurture a culture of exploration, exchange and application of cutting-edge and relevant knowledge through which they empower their teams to advance and respond effectively to the challenges of the disruptive world, leveraging also the company’s core values and traditions.
In a V.U.C.A. world, knowledge is always power, but perpetual learning—learning agility—is the condition for developing relevant and impactful knowledge to support and facilitate the company’s strategic agility. But of course, learning agility and strategic agility require a lot of courage to disrupt and transform ourselves and our organizations! And this is indeed very much challenging. | https://www.amcham.gr/business-partners/alba-business-review/learning-agility-a-path-to-strategic-agility/ |
For her final, much anticipated red carpet appearance at Cannes, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan wore blue eye shadow.
Accompanying the blue eyeshadow was an Armani Prive gown, Chopard jewellery, and Aishwarya’s husband, Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek, who wore a Manish Malhotra sherwani, flew into town for one night to join Aishwarya as co-chairs of the amFAR Gala at Cannes. You may remember that they hosted the Mumbai amFAR Gala with Sharon Stone last year.
We’re not sure what the makeup artists were thinking when they put glittery blue eye shadow and bright red lipstick on Aishwarya. Not our favourite look of the film festival.
Overall, we think this is Aishwarya Rai’s most successful run on the Cannes red carpet. The styling was strong, if not simple, her hair always looked amazing, and there was nothing offensive about her wardrobe. One gripe: we’re disappointed that she chose to omit Indian designers from her wardrobe at Cannes this year. How great would she look in an Anamika Khanna sari? | http://jugnistyle.com/cannes-2014-aishwarya-rai-amfar/ |
The goal of the Ngukurr Language Centre is to revitalise, document, teach and promote the traditional languages of the community via a range of community-based language programs.
Ngukurr is a large Aboriginal community in southern Arnhem Land, situated on Ngalakgan land. Formerly a mission, the community population covers 8-10 heritage languages that are all now endangered. The main language spoken in Ngukurr today is Kriol but within the community, traditional languages are held in high esteem.
The Ngukurr Language Centre was established in 1999 as a branch of the Katherine Regional Aboriginal Language Centre (KRALC). Following the closure of KRALC, the Ngukurr Language Centre became an independent, locally-governed organisation in 2011 and soon after secured operational funding. The Ngukurr Language Centre reopened in 2012 and has been fully operational since then.
The Ngukurr Language Centre is overseen by an Indigenous board of directors, elected from a membership base of local language workers, language speakers and educators. The Ngukurr Language Centre employs a full-time coordinator to oversee the day-to-day operations of the organisation and a team of language workers and consultants. | https://ngukurrlc.org.au/ |
Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale, has led an amazing research team from the start of this pandemic, analyzing the immune response of patients sick with COVID 19. She has co-authored a review of the immune response to be published in the January edition of Scientific American.
Iwasaki A, Wong P. The immune havoc of COVID-19. Scientific American, January 2021, 35-41.
Here is the link.
http://The Immune Havoc of COVID-19 – Scientific American
Before reading that article, a good place for a lay person to start would be her 8 minute youtube video, Immunology 101.
After watching that video and reading the Scientific American article, if you want a deeper dive into some of her team’s research, watch this video (28 minutes).
The Scientific American article discusses many of the unique characteristics of SARS CoV-2 compared to two previous corona viruses SARS CoV-1 and MERS. SARS CoV-2 which causes the illness called COVID-19, evades the human immune system in many ways. Those who become seriously ill, requiring ICU care, seem to suffer a time lag in their immune response compared to those who suffer less severe illness. In addition, the T-cell response in sicker patients is subdued and inadequate to clear the virus. Finally, a hyper-inflammatory response is present in most who succumb to the illness. Dr. Iwasaki discusses how the Cytokine storm of COVID-19 differs significantly from that seen with other viral infections and likely includes a new phenomenon referred to as a Bradykinin Storm which involves another major component of the immune system. There may even be an auto-immune component to this disease in some or many patients.
“Early in the pandemic, physicians did detect elevated cytokines in patients, but the amount of these proteins and the subsequent inflammatory state they evoked differed from that of a classic cytokine storm.“
“We observed high levels of IL-5 and IL-17,cytokines not classically associated with antiviral immune activity. Instead these cytokines initiate a seemingly misguided
response—one better suited for infections by parasites and fungi.
We have yet to understand whether this response causes damage
to tissue or just diverts resources the body needs to fight the virus.“
In the second video linked above Dr. Iwasaki describes how men and women demonstrate different immune responses with a higher fatality rate observed among men.
Much has been learned but much remains to be discovered as this pandemic continues to unfold.
There are a few clear facts emerging from multiple studies and observations.
Masks and social distancing work. Masks protect both the wearer and those around the wearer.
Most transmission occurs by droplets and aerosol (emitted from the nose and mouth).
Six feet of distancing is helpful but does not guarantee protection. Cases of transmission in restaurants via air flow from HVAC units have been described in which the infected person transmitting disease is far removed from the people becoming infected. (aerosol spread). Droplets and aerosol studies have demonstrated that coughing and sneezing can project infectious particles up to 26 feet.
The most dangerous circumstances for transmission include indoor confined spaces, with multiple people interacting for long periods of time (restaurants, bars, meeting rooms, parties, social gatherings).
Ventilation and air turnover are important factors.
This virus is unique in that higher viral loads and transmissibility occur BEFORE ONSET OF SYMPTOMS, rendering this virus more dangerous than previous pandemics. This can occur in patients who later develop symptoms or in people who carry the virus without ever developing any symptoms.
Some estimate that as much as 50% of transmission occurs from people exhibiting no symptoms.
Finally, “herd immunity” for infectious disease has never been achieved by reaching a critical number of infected people. “Herd immunity” has only been achieved in the past with vaccination programs. Herd immunity does not mean that disease transmission ceases, it means that transmission rates are very low.
What is herd immunity?
When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity (also called herd protection)—to those who are not immune to the disease.
For example, if 80% of a population is immune to a virus, four out of every five people who encounter someone with the disease won’t get sick (and won’t spread the disease any further). In this way, the spread of infectious diseases is kept under control. Depending how contagious an infection is, usually 50% to 90% of a population needs immunity to achieve herd immunity.
Most experts estimate that vaccination of at least 70% of the population will be required to reach some degree of herd immunity for COVID-19.
Here is a 2 minute discussion of herd immunity from Johns Hopkins before the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines were given Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA.
In the context of the COVID 19 pandemic I will close with the usual summary.
- Avoid alcohol consumption (alcohol wreaks havoc with your immunity)
- Get plenty of sleep (without adequate sleep your immune system does not work well )
- Follow good sleep habits
- Exercise, especially out of doors in a green space, supports the immune system
- Get some sunshine and make sure you have adequate Vitamin D levels.
- Eat an anti-inflammatory diet rich in micronutrients.
- Practice stress reduction like meditation and yoga which improves the immune system
- Eliminate sugar-added foods and beverages from your diet. These increase inflammation, cause metabolic dysfunction, and suppress immunity.
- Eliminate refined-inflammatory “vegetable oils” from your diet, instead eat healthy fat.
- Clean up your home environment and minimize your family’s exposure to environmental toxins by following recommendations at EWG.org with regards to household products, personal care products, and organic foods. (https://www.ewg.org/)
THIS WEBSITE PROVIDES INFORMATION FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. CONSULT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR MEDICAL ADVICE.
Eat clean, drink filtered water, love, laugh, exercise outdoors in a greenspace, get some morning sunlight, block the blue light before bed, engage in meaningful work, find a sense of purpose, spend time with those you love, AND sleep well tonight. | https://practical-evolutionary-health.com/2020/12/29/covid-19-immune-response-how-does-it-fail/ |
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Homeobox genes play a crucial role as molecular address labels in early embryogenesis by conferring cell fate and establishing regional identity in tissues. Homeobox gene expression is not restricted to the early development, but it is also observed in the differentiated cells in adult tissues. To have a better understanding of the functionality of homeobox gene expression in adult tissues in physiological and pathological phenomena, it is important to determine the expression profiles of Hox genes. We established a system to study the expression of 39 human Hox genes by the modified Systematic Multiplex RT-PCR method. Using this system, we have systematically examined their expression in 26 different adult tissues. The results showed tissue-specific differential expression. They also revealed that the posterior tissues generally express more Hox genes than the anterior tissues and that the genes located centrally in the Hox Gene Complexes are expressed in more tissues than the genes located at the 5' or 3' end of the complexes. Instead of similar expression patterns among paralogous genes, we found that several neighboring Hox genes on the same chromosomes exhibited similar tissue-specific expression pattern, which may suggest that the regulation of Hox gene expression may be more dependent on chromosomal structure in adult tissues.
National Center for
Biotechnology Information, | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14686791?dopt=Abstract |
Silicon carbide UV photodiodes
Laser Components has announced IFW’s addition of large area 4H n-type SiC photodiodes, with ‘anode on top’. These Silicon carbide UV photodiodes include the JEA2, JEA2S and JEA2SS models. Offering a spectral range between 215nm to 355nm, SiC is optically blind in the visible spectrum.
The JEA2 series photodiodes offer high UV responsivity at 0.15A/W within a hermetically sealed TO package, together with an isolation (I) option, for standard TO39, TO18 or TO52 housings.
Applications include sterilisation in food preparation, water systems, and operating theatres, as well as in curing UV adhesives and forensic analysis. | https://www.electrooptics.com/press-releases/silicon-carbide-uv-photodiodes |
Do you live or simply exist? 4 truths about emotions
The future is uncertain, you know that. Nothing can be predicted, there are simply too many variables in any situation. Will Mr Trump press his bigger button? Will a crisis happen and cause a global slowdown? Will a forgotten school friend call today? I don’t know. Do you?
There are some certainties of course. Today the sun will rise and set and you will feel emotion, probably many times. What the feelings will be, or have been, I have no clue, but you will feel emotions, and the better able you are to understand them the better leader, friend, parent, child and colleague you will become.
Feelings allow one to experience life. The depth to which happiness and sadness etc is felt accords to the level that one feels life has been lived, not simply passed by. Okay, a lot of feelings are uncomfortable but then a lot of feelings are wonderful. If you want the latter, then the former occurs too. The more you allow yourself to feel the more meaningful and thus successful, your life will be.
If you are like a growing number of Westerners however you will categorise feelings into good or bad. Great leaders know there are no good or bad feelings. There are just feelings that sometimes feel pleasant or unpleasant.
To say an emotion is bad or good is like saying a colour is bad or good. Think of the colour blue. Is that bad or good? I bet you would say, its neither. Yet, if we have a black and white colour palette with red highlights and our designer slots in blue, then blue is not fit for purpose and we could say it is bad. But if you are to look out the window and see the sky is blue, then you would likely think it is good as it means there will be no storms for a while. Emotions are the same. It is only when an emotion does not seem to fit the purpose that it could be considered bad, and even then I put it to you that ranking is inappropriate as emotions are there to protect us and not fit a colour palette, they are always fit the purpose, though maybe are not convenient.
A good leader and happy man or woman have all learned how to make emotions fit times that are convenient. They know that emotions are simply compassionate friends, whose sole goal is to act as guide in the quest for good health, happiness and love. The trouble is, uncovering their teaching is not always straightforward. Indeed when the emotion is anger, or hurt, or frustration or another pain, it can be hard to dwell within it long enough to find its source.
As you know, the tricky thing with emotions is working out why you are feeling as you are. Its tempting to push an unpleasant feeling away, but to do so only keeps it inside, building strength so that when a situation next arises that suits it appearance, it will come out stronger. This could be problematical.
The weekend papers reported the results of uncontrolled anger at the Liberal love in on Rottnest Island. Neither Mr McGrath nor the Liberal party have come out of that situation unscathed. It was not a matter of blood and murder charges, but it was a blotch that was not needed. Anger is a useful emotion. It helps us stay alive, but in many situations it is not fit for purpose and can cause injury to us and others. A public display of anger at Rottnest, and the airing of fury in a client negotiation are rarely appropriate. Its better to investigate the feelings when emotions are cool not revel in them, in the heat of the moment.
Putting aside emotions for a moment doesn’t mean ignore them. Strong unpleasant emotions need to be understood. The body / mind uses pain to warn of problems. An unpleasant emotion is simply a warning sign that a value has been crossed. Its the body’s way of saying “investigate this issue. If you don’t you fix it, your life will not be as happy, healthy or loving as it could be”. Pain exists to highlight a problem that needs fixing. Repressing emotion is like ignoring a festering sore, it will continue to grow and grow until you pay attention. Rescheduling your investigation is okay, repression is not.
Successful leaders know that emotions are simply data. By watching them rise and fall, within the situations that cause them, life becomes easier.
- Firstly they see that all emotions eventually pass away, even the really unpleasant feelings. Nothing remains static. With this knowledge even dreadful storms can be weathered
- Secondly they become aware of the triggers that cause good, bad and neutral feelings. In time they craft their day to best suit their needs.
- Thirdly, knowledge expands outwards. Great leaders become aware that everyone feels, by taking note of how others react to their actions. They begin to understand why some people trust them more than others. They feel less alone and exposed and grow in compassion
- Fourthly, leadership ability improves. Aware leaders bring the appropriate emotion to each situation: Complex decisions need neutral emotions, sadness is useful when assisting a staff member in grief, and happiness is desired when a friend is celebrating.
So today when an emotion arises, rejoice in it, learn from it. When the time is right ask it “What are you trying to tell me?” then listen well. It may take a few inquiries before the answer is clear but keep going until it feels right.
Remember the body and mind want you to take action, so make sure you do so, then watch the future unfold. Be patient and enjoy.
Jennifer is a business and executive coach who helps leaders turn their strategies into remarkable results.
She assists executives and business owners to achieve goals such as improved profit, productivity, leadership skills, business value. Her services are Business and Executive Coaching, Group Facilitation and advising on Board Governance. Her straight forward process help leaders achieve results without delay.
To find out how she can help you, call +61 439 520 182 or email. | https://bishopbusinesssolutions.com.au/2018/02/live-simply-exist-4-truths-emotions/ |
The MIPI Alliance, an international body concerned with the development of mobile interface standards, has issued a new specification with applications across smartphones, the automotive sector, wearables, and the Internet of Things more broadly. It’s called MIPI I3C.
The specification is designed to integrate multiple sensors on a single device, using a chip-to-chip interface that’s designed to connect all of the device’s various sensors to one processor. According to the MIPI Alliance, the specification allows for speeds of up to 12.5 MHz while using very little power – qualities that could make it ideal for the IoT, which is expected to comprise many devices that must always be on.
Pointing to more specific applications for MIPI I3C, the MIPI Alliance asserted in a statement that the specification could be “used to build smartphones, virtual-reality head-mounted devices, robot drones, medical instruments, autonomous vehicles, industrial equipment, all-in-one computers, and TV remotes, among others.”
The standard is the product of wide industry collaboration. It was developed by the MIPI Alliance Sensor Working Group, comprising organizations including Google, Intel, Sony, STMicroelectronics, and Qualcomm; many if not all of which are currently working on solutions for the IoT. | https://mobileidworld.com/mobile-specification-iot-development-001093/ |
- RCB have not looked anything like the side they were in IPL 2016.
- The bowlers and the batsmen have not fired for RCB in IPL 2017.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) - there was a time when the name of this side was enough to send a chill down the spines of the opponents, especially the bowlers. Considering the prolific top four batsmen RCB have in their ranks, any opponent would have gotten scared.
But in IPL 2017, it seems RCB have somehow lost that fizz and that threat quotient. They are lacking that fire which can prove lethal. Therefore, it is high time that RCB players stand up for their skipper Virat Kohli.
The players in the squad also need to realise that Kohli is also a human being and he cannot guard all the departments on his own. As a result, he too has been succumbing to that pressure. It was clear from his post-match press conference that Kohli was thoroughly disappointed.
"If we play like this, we don't deserve to win. The last game, we fought hard. Today we let the game go away right in front of our eyes. We have a few things to address. We can't think we can sweep sides away at home," Kohli had said after the RPS game.
The batsmen need to chip in with some valuable runs, the bowlers will have to bend their backs, the fielders need to fly as Kohli needs them right now. RCB is not a franchise who bows down easily and therefore, the fans deserve better, the captain deserve better!
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, & Health Tips from India and World at Asianet Newsable. | https://newsable.asianetnews.com/ipl-2017/rcb-players-step-up-for-skipper-virat-kohli |
What you are looking at is a 5 foot by 10 foot LEGO recreation of the battle at Hoth, from Empire Strikes Back. Created by the extremely talented Mark Borlase, the entire display for this Lego Movie consists of nearly 60,000 pieces and has cool features such as 50 real lights and a remote controlled mechanism that deploys troops from the AT-ATs. The entire creation took over 4 years in the making and consumed about $3000 (that's a lot of white bricks!). This creation won the recent Star Wars building challenge and was featured in the official LEGO Magazine.
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---
abstract: 'We present simple and efficient algorithms for calculating $q$-gram frequencies on strings represented in compressed form, namely, as a straight line program (SLP). Given an SLP of size $n$ that represents string $T$, we present an $O(qn)$ time and space algorithm that computes the occurrence frequencies of [*all*]{} $q$-grams in $T$. Computational experiments show that our algorithm and its variation are practical for small $q$, actually running faster on various real string data, compared to algorithms that work on the uncompressed text. We also discuss applications in data mining and classification of string data, for which our algorithms can be useful.'
author:
- Keisuke Goto
- Hideo Bannai
- Shunsuke Inenaga
- Masayuki Takeda
bibliography:
- 'ref.bib'
title: ' Fast $q$-gram Mining on SLP Compressed Strings[^1] '
---
Introduction
============
A major problem in managing large scale string data is its sheer size. Therefore, such data is normally stored in compressed form. In order to utilize or analyze the data afterwards, the string is usually decompressed, where we must again confront the size of the data. To cope with this problem, algorithms that work directly on compressed representations of strings without explicit decompression have gained attention, especially for the string pattern matching problem [@amir92:_effic_two_dimen_compr_match] where algorithms on compressed text can actually run faster than algorithms on the uncompressed text [@ShibataCIAC2000]. There has been growing interest in what problems can be efficiently solved in this kind of setting [@lifshits07:_proces_compr_texts; @hermelin09:_unified_algor_accel_edit_distan].
Since there exist many different text compression schemes, it is not realistic to develop different algorithms for each scheme. Thus, it is common to consider algorithms on texts represented as [*straight line programs*]{} (SLPs) [@NJC97; @lifshits07:_proces_compr_texts; @hermelin09:_unified_algor_accel_edit_distan]. An SLP is a context free grammar in the Chomsky normal form that derives a single string. Texts compressed by any grammar-based compression algorithms (e.g. [@SEQUITUR; @LarssonDCC99]) can be represented as SLPs, and those compressed by the LZ-family (e.g. [@LZ77; @LZ78]) can be quickly transformed to SLPs [@rytter03:_applic_lempel_ziv]. Recently, even [*compressed self-indices*]{} based on SLPs have appeared [@claudear:_self_index_gramm_based_compr], and SLPs are a promising representation of compressed strings for conducting various operations. In this paper, we explore a more advanced field of application for compressed string processing: mining and classification on string data given in compressed form. Discovering useful patterns hidden in strings as well as automatic and accurate classification of strings into various groups, are important problems in the field of data mining and machine learning with many applications. As a first step toward [*compressed*]{} string mining and classification, we consider the problem of finding the occurrence frequencies for all $q$-grams contained in a given string. $q$-grams are important features of string data, widely used for this purpose in many fields such as text and natural language processing, and bioinformatics.
In [@inenaga09:_findin_charac_subst_compr_texts], an $O(|\Sigma|^2n^2)$-time $O(n^2)$-space algorithm for finding the [*most frequent*]{} $2$-gram from an SLP of size $n$ representing text $T$ over alphabet $\Sigma$ was presented. In [@claudear:_self_index_gramm_based_compr], it is mentioned that the most frequent $2$-gram can be found in $O(|\Sigma|^2n\log n)$-time and $O(n\log|T|)$-space, if the SLP is pre-processed and a self-index is built. It is possible to extend these two algorithms to handle $q$-grams for $q > 2$, but would respectively require $O(|\Sigma|^qqn^2)$ and $O(|\Sigma|^qqn\log n)$ time, since they must essentially enumerate and count the occurrences of all substrings of length $q$, regardless of whether the $q$-gram occurs in the string. Note also that any algorithm that works on the uncompressed text $T$ requires exponential time in the worst case, since $|T|$ can be as large as $O(2^n)$.
The main contribution of this paper is an $O(qn)$ time and space algorithm that computes the occurrence frequencies for [*all*]{} $q$-grams in the text, given an SLP of size $n$ representing the text. Our new algorithm solves the more general problem and greatly improves the computational complexity compared to previous work. We also conduct computational experiments on various real texts, showing that when $q$ is small, our algorithm and its variation actually run faster than algorithms that work on the uncompressed text.
Our algorithms have profound applications in the field of string mining and classification, and several applications and extensions are discussed. For example, our algorithm leads to an $O(q(n_1+n_2))$ time algorithm for computing the $q$-gram spectrum kernel [@leslie02:_spect_kernel] between SLP compressed texts of size $n_1$ and $n_2$. It also leads to an $O(qn)$ time algorithm for finding the optimal $q$-gram (or emerging $q$-gram) that discriminates between two sets of SLP compressed strings, when $n$ is the total size of the SLPs.
### Related Work
There exist many works on [*compressed text indices*]{} [@navarro07:_compr], but the main focus there is on fast search for a [*given*]{} pattern. The compressed indices basically replace or simulate operations on uncompressed indices using a smaller data structure. Indices are important for efficient string processing, but note that simply replacing the underlying index used in a mining algorithm will generally increase time complexities of the algorithm due to the extra overhead required to access the compressed index. On the other hand, our approach is a new mining algorithm which exploits characteristics of the compressed representation to achieve faster running times. Several algorithms for finding characteristic sequences from compressed texts have been proposed, e.g., finding the longest common substring of two strings [@matsubara_tcs2009], finding all palindromes [@matsubara_tcs2009], finding most frequent substrings [@inenaga09:_findin_charac_subst_compr_texts], and finding the longest repeating substring [@inenaga09:_findin_charac_subst_compr_texts]. However, none of them have reported results of computational experiments, implying that this paper is the first to show the practical usefulness of a compressed text mining algorithm.
[^1]: This work was supported by KAKENHI 22680014 (HB)
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Podcast Links:
SoundCloud Apple Spotify GameFacePerformance
Welcome to 90% Mental and the “In and Out of the Pocket Podcast Series” with All-Pro Quarterback, Jake “The Snake” Plummer and Mental Performance Coach, Grant Parr –where the mental game is discussed and discovered by the best Quarterbacks and offensive minded professionals in the business.
From overcoming adversity, celebrating mental wins to actionable mental skills strategies, and more. You’ll learn how to mentally navigate in and out of the pocket.
Today in the pocket, Jake and Grant sit down with Hue Jackson, NFL Football Coach to tap into Coach Jackson’s 30-year coaching career on the importance of coaching the mental game.
Not only does Jake remanence with Coach Jackson about their days at Arizona State University, but they discuss the importance of leadership, visualization, and why repetition is the mother of all learning.
Links: | http://readylistsports.com/hue-jackson-former-nfl-head-coach/ |
Suppressive effects of lamotrigine on the development and expression of tolerance to morphine-induced antinociception in the male mouse.
Previous studies have demonstrated that some anticonvulsant drugs can modulate tolerance to the opioid analgesia. In the present study, the effects of lamotrigine (LTG) on the development and expression of tolerance to the morphine-induced antinociception were evaluated using tail-flick test. To assess the LTG effects on tolerance development, the animals received LTG (3, 10 or 30 mg/kg; i.p.), 30-min prior to morphine (50 mg/kg; s.c.) administration during tolerance induction period once daily for 3 days. Also, to evaluate the effects of LTG on tolerance expression, different doses of LTG were administered 30-min before challenge dose of morphine (4 mg/kg; s.c.) following morphine-induced tolerance. In each experiment the antinociceptive response to the challenge dose of morphine was evaluated before (on day 1) and after tolerance induction (on day 4) every 30-min till 2 h by tail-flick test. Furthermore, the analgesic effect of various doses of LTG alone or with the challenge dose of morphine was evaluated as well. The results showed that LTG at the doses of 10 and 30 mg/kg could inhibit the development of tolerance. Also, LTG at the dose of 30 mg/kg attenuated the expression of morphine-induced tolerance. LTG alone injection was associated significantly with higher latency period when compared to the control group. Moreover, LTG (10 and 30 mg/kg) significantly enhanced antinociceptive effect of morphine challenge dose in non-tolerant animals. These data indicated that, while LTG can attenuate both development and expression of morphine-induced tolerance, it can enhance morphine-induced antinociception. These effects may have important clinical implications.
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Building biology, bio-house design, biological architecture and ecological building all refer to the construction of a building along lines of more natural, renewable resources and health of the occupants. In other words buildings become more people-friendly. It aims to establish a balance between technology, culture and biology.
"Building Biology deals with the study of living organisms in and around the building environment which have direct or indirect effect on the health of the building fabric, its materials, structures, environments and occupants." Jagjit Singh (1993)
To a human-being the walls of a building can be regarded as a third skin (the first is our own skin, the second is our clothing). Most buildings do not breathe like our natural skin and unfortunately in the USA this has been shown to lead to a build-up in radioactive radon gas and reduce the benefits of passive solar energy in spring and autumn. If a building is to be sealed (which most are) then it needs to be well ventilated to remove unhealthy pollutants.
Many buildings contain hazardous materials or substances without the owner's knowledge. Freshly constructed cement homes have high levels of moisture, homes built in the 60's contain asbestos cement which is known to be carcinogenic and old piping systems are frequently painted with lead paints. In addition the household disinfectants, fly sprays, paints, varnishes, and other fumes released from a large range of furnishings and commodities are of no benefit to the occupant's health.
Environmental costs are considered from the very first stage of planning. If products need to be transported a good distance, then they are usually rejected due to pollution, energy and costs for transportation. Even non-renewable resources are avoided.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN A BUILDING
A building should provide a pleasant, efficient and healthy environment for its occupants. Its primary purpose should be to protect from adverse conditions found outside; but in doing so, not loose the beneficial conditions found outside. If a building is properly planned and built well, these aims can be achieved. In most situations, buildings should satisfy the following:
- Buffer the impact of adverse external conditions (e.g. extremes of temperature, wind, moisture).
- Make use of natural light during the day (with windows, skylights, reflective interior surfaces, etc).
- Provide appropriate artificial light (without glare, with appropriate intensity and wavelengths, etc).
- Maintain good air quality inside (e.g. through ventilation, indoor plants).
- Minimise pollutants/toxins (e.g. fumes, dust).
- Control acoustics (stop unwanted noise; avoid interference/distortion of desirable noise, etc)
- Provide unimpeded movement and access to all areas.
- Provide rapid response to environmental controls (e.g. ability to raise or lower temperature quickly, ventilate rapidly if necessary).
ACS Distance Education provides some terrific courses which aim to improve Environmental Health.
Click on the links below to find out more:
Healthy Buildlings I
Healthy Buildlings II
Alternative Energy
Or read more about Environmental Health and Healthy Buildings and Lifestyles from our great range of books on our Online Bookstore!
E. [email protected]
The information given is for general information and should not be regarded as advice in any matter. ACS Distance Education disclaims all and any liability in relation to any act or omission which is
done in reliance to the information provided in this web site. While every effort is made to ensure that we display correct information on our website, errors can occur. ACS Distance Education disclaims liability or responsibility for orders or complaints arising from such errors, including
(but not limited to): pricing, fees and course requirements. ACS Distance Education reserves the right
to decline orders arising from such errors. | https://www.acs.edu.au/info/alternative-living/preventative-healthcare/environmental-health-interiors.aspx |
Federal Bank revises savings account interest rates
The interest rates on Federal Bank's savings accounts are linked to the RBI’s repo rate. At present, the RBI repo rate is 6.25%.
The interest rates on Federal Bank's savings accounts are linked to the RBI’s repo rate. At present, the RBI repo rate is 6.25%.
Currently, liquidity in the banking system remains in surplus with the average absorption under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) at Rs 1.4 lakh crore, though down from the average of Rs 2.2 lakh crore during August-September. MSF is an emergency window for banks to borrow from RBI. The MSF rate is pegged 25 basis points above the repo rate and currently is at 6.50%.
RBI will continue to hike the repo rate in this financial year, say experts. In a survey conducted by Times of India Online, a majority of economists and experts said that the Monetary Policy Committee will raise rates again this FY.
All major banks have increased their external benchmark-based lending rates (EBLRs) by 190 basis points in tandem with the hike in the Reserve Bank's policy repo rate since May this year, though they have been slow in raising the deposit rates. The Reserve Bank has hiked the key short-term lending rate (repo) by 190 basis points in four tranches since May to contain inflation.
The RBI is also likely to highlight the 190-basis point (100bps = 1 percentage point) repo rate hike that has been implemented since May, which will impact demand over the next six months.
In an effort to fight inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the repo rate once more. On September 30, 2022, the central bank updated its monetary policy and increased the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.90%.
The off-cycle meeting of MPC comes after RBI failed inflation mandate. In its last MPC on September 30, RBI had hiked repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.90 per cent over rising inflation concerns.
Six months into the current financial year, India has managed inflation better than most countries in the world, the finance ministry's monthly economic report said on Saturday but cautioned that price pressures could emerge in 2023 if geopolitical conflicts intensify.
Mumbai, Sep 30 (PTI) RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the central bank considers the communication to the government for missing the inflation targets as privileged communication and will not be making it public.
The Reserve Bank of India announced rate hikes at September’s Monetary Policy committee meeting. The repo rate was hiked by 50 bps to 5.9 percent retaining the inflation projection at 6.7% and lowering the real GDP forecast to 7% . Here's what BFSI leaders have to say :
The new rate hike cycle started on May 04, 2022, when the RBI increased the repo rate by 40 bps. This was the first hike in repo rate after almost a gap of 4 years.
he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to hike the policy repo rate by 35 basis points on Friday, but may also revise its inflation forecast upwards and growth forecast downwards, Sunidhi Securities said on Thursday.
The Monetary Policy Committee has increased the key interest rates by 90 basis points in two tranches since May to take it to 4.90% from historic low of 4%, as it strives to rein in inflation that has in recent months consistently remained above the central bank's comfort 4-6% band. The MPC is scheduled to meet from August 3 to 5.
Home buyers in Kolkata need to spend 27% of the family income on home loan, making it one of the most affordable cities in the country. Only Ahmedabad, Chennai and Pune are more affordable. While home buyers spend 22% of the income on EMIs in Ahmedabad, it is a shade lower than Kolkata at 26% in both Chennai and Pune.
EBLR is linked to the RBI's repo rate. The other system used by banks to determine the rates, Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR), is decided internally by the banks based on their cost of funds including the prevalent deposit rates.
The central bank’s decision to relax housing loan norms of cooperative banks by increasing the limit for individual housing loans by 100% is expected to support the real estate sector in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns with a multiplier effect on the economy. These limits were last revised for urban co-operative banks (UCB) in 2011 and for rural co-operative banks (RCBs) in 2009.
Bankers expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to deliver its second rate hike, which governor Shaktikanta Das described as a “no brainer”, in the forthcoming monetary policy committee meeting that ends on June 8. Most expect the increase to be in the range of 25-50 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage point).
RBI is expected to raise key policy rates in June and August by a cumulative 75 basis points. Inflation prints are now likely to stay higher than 7% till September. Beyond September, inflation prints could hover between 6.5%-7%.
Mumbai, May 6 (PTI) The unexpected interest rate hike by the RBI on Wednesday will have the banking system on average making a 10-15 bps gains on the yields, with private banks making larger gains as 57 per cent of their loans are linked to external benchmark rate and 40 per cent to the marginal
The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a surprise 40 basis point (bps) increase in key policy rates on Wednesday. ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda are among the banks that have raised their external benchmark related loan interest rates. | https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/rbi+repo+rate |
When to Fertilize Trees and Shrubs In New Jersey
What time of year is best for fertilizing trees and shrubs in New Jersey? What happens if you fertilize at other times of the year? Can you harm a tree if you give it fertilizer at the wrong time? And how do you know if a tree even needs to be fertilized?
Because of the depletion of organic matter and nutrients in urban and suburban soil throughout New Jersey, most landscape trees and shrubs will need fertilization at some point. But using the wrong fertilizer at the wrong time can do more harm than good.
In this article, we cover:
- the times of the year when you should fertilize trees and shrubs,
- what time of year to avoid fertilizing (and the exception to that rule),
- when a tree will and will not benefit from extra nutrients and how to tell when that is, and
- the one type of fertilizer you should never use on your trees.
What time of year should you fertilize trees and shrubs?
In New Jersey, the best time of year to fertilize trees and shrubs is in spring and fall. This is when your trees are using a lot of energy and are most likely to need extra nutrients for optimal health. It’s also when they’re best able to take up the nutrients provided by fertilizer.
Fertilize Trees in Early Fall
Before trees drop their leaves, they’re busy storing food energy to use during their winter dormancy and to prepare for next spring’s flush of growth. Fertilizing your trees in early fall ensures your trees will have enough energy reserves remaining after their summer growth and will be ready for next spring.
PRO TIP: Be careful not to fertilize too late in fall. That will stimulate new leaf growth that will be lost at the first frost. For a tree, this is a waste of precious energy reserves and could affect its growth the following spring.
Fertilize Trees in Spring
In spring, trees emerge from dormancy and use a lot of energy to push out new leaves and make flowers. Supplemental fertilization can help them produce stronger branches, greener leaves, and more flowers. And trees that weren’t in optimal health the previous fall will need the extra help after depleting their energy reserves over the winter.
What time of year should you NOT fertilize trees and shrubs?
There are two times of the year when you should generally avoid applying fertilizer: winter and summer.
Avoid Winter Fertilization
Avoid fertilization in winter when the visible parts of your trees are dormant.
Below ground, however, tree roots are still busy growing and taking up water (when the soil isn’t frozen). These delicate roots are easily burned by the concentrated mineral salts in fertilizers, right when they’re most needed by your dormant tree.
Unused, excess fertilizer will be washed away by winter rains and snowmelt instead of being taken up by your trees. This fertilizer runoff damages the health of our waterways and our potable water sources.
ALERT: New Jersey has a state ban on winter fertilizing if your fertilizer contains nitrogen or phosphorus. Both homeowners and professionals must respect this blackout period.
When NOT to Fertilize in Summer
By summer, most trees are making enough food energy through photosynthesis to support their growth. In general, fertilizers aren’t needed in summer if your trees or shrubs are healthy.
Over-fertilization in summer can stimulate excessive growth that you’ll need to prune off during the growing season. Plus, the new growth can be more easily burned by fertilizer salts, heat, drought, and hot summer sun. The end result is an overgrown tree that looks unsightly, is more likely to have health issues, and will need more maintenance.
When You SHOULD Fertilize in Summer
However, there are times when summer fertilization is necessary and appropriate (see below for signs that a tree needs extra help in summer). The key is to:
- use a gentle, slow-release fertilizer that won’t burn the leaves, and
- apply the fertilizer where the tree most needs it: at their root system.
The best way to fertilize in summer is to use compost tea soil injections. This ensures that nutrients are reaching your trees’ roots where they’re needed and the nutrients in the compost tea won’t overwhelm the tree.
CALL US TO LEARN MORE! – Our deep root injections with compost tea provide a gentle dose of targeted nutrients in the amount your trees need. And it’s safe to use on your trees during summer! In fact, it can make a world of difference for trees and shrubs showing signs of nutrient deficiency, in declining health, or with damaged roots or branches.
How do you know if your trees and shrubs need fertilization?
DO Fertilize if Your Tree Shows Signs of Nutrient Deficiency
Sometimes it’s easy to tell if your trees aren’t getting the range of nutrients they need. There are several common symptoms that usually signal nutrient deficiencies. They include:
- Yellow leaves
- Stunted growth
- Bare twigs and a patchy crown
- Drooping leaves and early leaf drop
- Stunted fruit and excessive fruit drop
These are all signs your trees don’t have enough energy or nutrients available to maintain vigorous growth.
PRO TIP: These common symptoms may also be signs of other tree health problems. A professional evaluation by a certified arborist is the best way to rule out insects, diseases, or environmental issues as the cause of your trees’ declining health.
DO Fertilize if a Soil Test Reveals Nutrient Deficiencies
If you think your trees and shrubs need fertilization, it’s important to know what nutrients they need and how much fertilizer to apply. Fertilizer runoff is a serious problem when too much fertilizer is used. And too much nitrogen and phosphorus cause problems for trees, such as decreased fruiting and preventing the uptake of other key micronutrients.
The best way to find out what nutrients your trees and shrubs need is to get a soil test from a qualified testing lab, such as the Soil Testing Lab at Rutgers. You’ll get information about nutrient levels in your soil, and instructions on how much fertilizer is needed to balance your soil’s fertility.
If you think the cost of a professional soil test isn’t worthwhile, we urge you to reconsider. You may find soil test kits in hardware stores and nurseries that are cheaper than a laboratory analysis. But their results are neither precise nor guaranteed, and professionals don’t use them.
DO Fertilize if Your Tree is Damaged or in Decline
Trees that have been damaged by storms, construction, pests or diseases, or over-pruning (including aggressive utility right of way pruning) will often benefit from supplemental fertilization, including in summer.
When a significant number of branches or roots have been broken or removed, trees aren’t able to produce enough energy or absorb enough nutrients to help them stay healthy. Plus, pests and diseases can make it more difficult for trees to thrive. The result is a noticeable decline in the number of leaves and increased yellowing.
Gentle fertilization, such as with deep root injections of compost tea, can help damaged and declining trees recover.
DON’T Fertilize Young & Newly Planted Trees
In general, young, and newly planted trees should not be fertilized. Fertilizers that stimulate growth can stress young trees whose root system and branch structure are too small to support fast growth.
Despite claims to the contrary, fertilization can be fatal for newly planted trees already struggling with transplant shock. Let your new tree settle in slowly for the first year without any supplemental fertilization; you’ll have better results later on.
DON’T Over-Fertilize Healthy Mature Trees
Similarly, mature trees and trees beginning their natural decline don’t benefit from heavy fertilization. Older trees have a much slower growth rate after they’re reached their mature size and they have an established and balanced system of roots and crown growth.
If you do need to fertilize mature trees, injections of compost tea tailored to your specific trees are recommended. This type of gentle, balanced fertilizing is one part of our tree health management plan and is designed to keep mature trees in optimal health.
DON’T Use Lawn Fertilizer on Trees & Shrubs
Lawn fertilizer is not tree and shrub fertilizer, so don’t be tempted to use it (or whatever fertilizer you have on hand) to treat your trees. Turfgrasses have different fertilizer requirements and growth habits than trees do, so don’t risk stressing your trees by applying the wrong mix of nutrients.
We’re Here to Help
If you’re not sure how to start fertilizing, when to do it, or what to use, give us a call. We can evaluate your trees and shrubs, get your soil tested, and design a comprehensive health maintenance program for your landscape plants.
As experienced arborists and tree care professionals, we love trees. In fact, we love trees so much that we offer our clients free deep root fertilization after they have us plant a new tree in their garden! | https://alpinetreenj.com/when-to-fertilize-trees-shrubs/ |
This brief summarizes the preliminary findings of a research project on domestic urban-to-rural migration to the islands of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. We focus on in-migrants who established small independent businesses on the islands, and particularly those engaged in tourism, creative industries and organic farming. The study explores the motivations, challenges and opportunities associated with living and establishing small businesses in island communities, and the implications for wider processes of revitalization of marginal rural areas. We used two main research questions as a guide: 1) which factors attract this type of in-migrants to the islands? and 2) is there evidence that their activities give a positive contribution to rural revitalization in these areas? The results of the study may offer insights that can inform local policies aimed at fostering the revitalization of island communities through the settlement of in-migrants. Moreover, considering the global scale of depopulation issues in marginal and remote islands, the findings might be useful to similar island communities in other parts of the world. | https://rplcarchive.ca/2019/09/17/policy-brief-the-role-of-domestic-in-migrants-for-the-revitalization-of-marginal-island-communities-in-the-seto-inland-sea-of-japan/ |
Epley therapy is a head tilt and neck tilt exercise that can be used to treat vertigo. The Eley method squeezes the calcium crystal fragments, which cause dizziness, into the ear, where it can no longer cause symptoms.
Steps to implement the Epley method:
- Sit down and tilt your head 45 degrees towards the affected ear.
- Lie back on the bed and keep the same head position as before. Hold this position for 1-2 minutes. Dizziness will decrease.
- Turn your head 90 degrees towards the affected ear. You will now lie on your side and look down at the floor. Hold this position. You may experience more dizziness, but this should subside within a minute.
Forest tamarind
Wild tamarind (English: Amla, Indian Gooseberry) also known as makham, plum tamarind, mountain gut or Indian gooseberry. Tamarind grows in the northern mountains of Vietnam (Cao Bang, Lang Son), India, Nepal and some other Asian countries. Tamarind contains a rich amount of vitamin C and vitamin A.
The wild tamarind fruit, also known as mac Kham, is the fruit of the tamarind tree that grows naturally in the forest, which has the effect of treating insomnia, anti-inflammatory, and enhancing the health of the body. You can use wild tamarind to treat dizziness as follows: Eat fresh wild tamarind or drink water soaked from this fruit.
Honey
This natural sugar provides energy for the body and helps prevent blood sugar drops, which has the effect of fighting dizziness.
To do this you need to follow these simple instructions: Mix two tablespoons of honey with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a cup of hot or cold water. Drink twice daily. Or you can mix a teaspoon of honey with lemon juice or a glass of warm water and drink it immediately when you feel dizzy.
Foods rich in iron and folic acid
Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin that is essential for a number of serious medical conditions. This vitamin helps form blood cells, synthesize and divide DNA. Foods rich in folic acid and iron also help prevent dizziness.
Try iron-rich foods like spinach, tofu, almonds, lentils, asparagus, and folic acid-rich foods, such as green leafy vegetables, liver, bean sprouts, bananas, and bananas. peanut.
Ginger
Ginger is an herb that has been used for hundreds of years to prevent dizziness and nausea. The reason is because ginger helps increase blood circulation to the body, reducing the risk of dizziness and fainting.
Ginger is an easy-to-find spice, so it’s one of the most convenient remedies for dizziness. To treat vertigo, try adding half a teaspoon of ginger powder to a cup of tea or hot water. The effects should begin within half an hour and last up to 4 hours.
Deep breath
Dizziness is sometimes a symptom of worrying too much. Chronic anxiety can make you tired, even feeling like you don’t have the strength to breathe.
When the room starts to wobble, stop what you’re doing and pick a stationary object like a wall clock or other piece of furniture to focus on. If you feel stressed, anxious, try to breathe slowly and deeply, it will help calm down. Also, take a deep breath It also helps deliver oxygen to the brain.
Ginkgo Biloba (Ginkgo Biloba)
Ginkgo is an herb that improves blood flow to the brain. Traditional Chinese medicine researchers have used ginkgo biloba to treat vertigo, believing it increases circulation and blood flow to the brain.
It can also help treat tinnitus, one of the causes of dizziness. You can buy ginkgo at Oriental medicine stores.
Drink water before eating
Drinking enough water is essential. And according to research reported in The Harvard Health Letter, eating can lead to a drop in blood pressure, often accompanied by feelings of dizziness and lightheadedness. Called postprandial hypotension, this can be reduced by drinking a glass of water 15 minutes before eating, one of the simple home remedies for dizziness.
Lemonade
Foods rich in vitamins are a great home remedy for vertigo. In a study published in the journal Acta Oto-Laryngologica, researchers found that patients with hangovers and dizziness had fewer symptoms when they ate diets rich in vitamin C.
Lemon also helps with dizziness because it contains abundant vitamin C. When you feel dizzy, just squeeze half a lemon into a glass of water, add a teaspoon of sugar and drink.
Fragrant Chrysanthemum (Feverfew)
Feverfew is a bushy perennial herb. The dried leaves are used in capsules, tablets, liquid extracts. Parthenolides and glycosides are believed to be the components responsible for its anti-inflammatory and relaxing effects on smooth muscle.
Feverfew is believed to be effective for migraine prevention and is helpful for menstrual pain, asthma, and arthritis, can help relieve dizziness, nausea, headaches, and vomiting and improve blood circulation. You can eat two Feverfew leaves whenever you feel dizzy or you can buy dried chamomile flowers to make tea. Feverfew should be used daily for symptom relief. | https://toplist.one/top-10-simple-ways-to-treat-dizziness-most-effectively/ |
Want to be part of the Energy Industry? Eclaro is looking for a Full-Stack Developer for our client in New York, NY.
Eclaro's client operates one of the world's largest energy delivery systems, constantly at the forefront of innovations in developing technology. If you’re up to the challenge, then take a chance at this rewarding opportunity!
Position Overview:
- Responsible for both front end and backend development tasks, including database tasks
- Will be well versed with programming languages that are required for client (user) side development, as well as integration approaches and technologies to bridge contemporary front-end implementations with legacy backend systems
Responsibilities:
- Design, code and architect complex applications and demonstrate a good understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle and system design
- Iterate and maintain a complex application, which consists of both a public facing web site, as well as internal software applications that support and power our team, to create a seamless user experience on both
sides
- Collaborate with other software engineers and developers, on the various layers of infrastructure for our applications
- Ensure responsiveness of applications and maintain quality
- Collaborate with all software engineering teams to design, develop and launch new features
- Maintain organization and code integrity
- May be responsible for overseeing consultants work (developers and testers, and System Integrator employees)
- Mentor and develop junior team members with technical proficiency
- Follow health, safety, and environmental policies, EEO, Standards of Business Conduct, and all other applicable company policy and procedures
- Share a responsibility to advance the company's mission by excelling at our three corporate priorities safety of our people and the public, operational excellence in all that we do, and ensuring the best possible customer experience
- Able to participate in the Company's emergency management processes and storm plans as required
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree with 2+ years professional experience or high school diploma / GED with 5+ year work experience
- Comprehensive understanding of SDLC process in order to move fluidly between coding, team or vendor management, and product ideation
- Working in an agile team environment
- Fluent in writing comprehensive test suites (e.g. unit, snapshot, integration, end-to-end)
- Strong experience with the Microsoft development family (.NET, SQL Server, Azure DevOps)
- Experience designing a comprehensive Git strategy and leading teams in best practices
- Experience developing RESTful web services
- Must be comfortable and experienced with complex business logic and system integrations
- Ability to build scalable, high-performing, fault-tolerant applications
- Capable of working independently or with a team
- Is passionate about problem solving
- Demonstrates the value in taking an iterative and agile approach
- Has a strong sense of ownership and is not afraid to speak up
- Collaborative, curious, empathetic, open-minded, innovative
Preferred Qualifications:
- Degree specialization in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or related focus
- Experience in energy industry
- Industry expertise in the energy industry
- Leadership, talent development and team minded qualities
If hired, you will enjoy the following Eclaro Benefits:
- 401k Retirement Savings Plan administered by Merrill Lynch
- Commuter Check Pretax Commuter Benefits
- Eligibility to purchase Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance through Eclaro
If interested, you may contact:
Homer Ballega
[email protected]
2013759070
Homer Ballega | LinkedIn
Equal Opportunity Employer: Eclaro values diversity and does not discriminate based on Race, Color, Religion, Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, National Origin, Age, Genetic Information, Disability, Protected Veteran Status, or any other legally protected group status. | https://careers.eclaroit.com/full-stack-developer/job/15796832 |
“War is the continuation of politics by other means”, said Carl von Clausewitz. That’s a nice quote, but we are no politicians. In our eyes, war is an opportunity to make profit, or at least to hedge your portfolio against.
“Which stocks should I buy if I believe that there’s a war coming?” is a rather popular question. Indeed, the search traffic for the query “iran war” is on the rise, as the above image from Google Insights for Search shows, and a lot of sites out there share their opinions on the subject.
We aggregated a random selection of such posts and summarized them for you in a neat table below. We do not endorse any of these opinions, nor recommend to take any action. You should consult the original articles to review the nature of their reference on the equity in question. Enjoy.
List of aggregated sources: | https://statstrade.com/2012/03/iran-war/ |
Eden Energy Medicine utilises techniques from time-honoured traditions such as acupuncture, yoga, kinesiology, and qi gong. You can restore and maintain flow, balance, and harmony within your energy system once again. This is done by tapping, massaging, gentle pinching or twisting, and connecting specific energy points (acupoints) on the skin. By learning these simple Eden Energy Medicine techniques, you can improve your own health, sharpen your own mind, and increase your joy and vitality. | https://www.dublinwellnesscentre.ie/therapies.php/eden+energy+medicine/?treatment=eden+energy+medicine |
In recent years, educators have been encouraged to promote “active learning” in their classrooms. While this is heavily advocated in K-12 education, it is also making more appearances in approaches to higher education. Interactive learning or multi-modal learning is a teaching strategy that allows a topic to be explored through multiple learning styles such as through written language, oral language, visual representation, and tactile representation. Art and design educators employ these strategies in the classroom without needing to give it a new consideration as lectures, readings, visual displays, demonstrations, critiques, discussions, and hands on learning are already inherent to the classroom experience. However, as the field of graphic design becomes more technologically advanced, it becomes difficult to find time in the curriculum to slow down and utilize more tactile learning experiences in order to promote a new style of learning.
This case study shows how students at Lamar University learn about the history of typography by participating in a letterpress workshop. The history of typography is often covered in lecture-based courses such as “History of Graphic Design” or briefly discussed in studio-based courses such as “Typography.” By utilizing the tactile experience of setting type and printing a message, students gain a more well-rounded understanding of typographic history.
Supplemented by reading assignments, lectures, and a video describing the making of the Gutenberg Bible, students come into the one-week workshop with a basic understanding of type history. By actually getting their hands dirty and realizing the arduous task of setting just a short phrase, they gain a better appreciation for the craft. Additionally, students learn hands on about vocabulary such as leading by actually using pieces of lead to create more space between their lines of text. The slower pace of the letterpress process helps reinforce the content that is typically set in the fast-paced digital world.
Before the letterpress workshop happens, it’s important to give students more content on the topic of type history. The primary textbook for the course is Thinking With Type by Ellen Lupton and students are expected to read the first 32 pages, which cover the topic of type history. After the reading assignment is due, a lecture and discussion regarding type history is given.
In this course, students are also expected to learn the anatomy of type, and they are quizzed on important vocabulary. This introduction to important typographic terms allows the opportunity for reinforcement during the letterpress workshop.
Last, students watch a brief ten-minute video describing the process of constructing the Gutenberg Bible. Since most students are familiar with the historical significance of Johannes Gutenberg, the video adds a new dimension to knowledge they already had. The images in the video showcase the style of the original printing press used in making the Gutenberg Bible and show historical illustrations from the time period. A brief overview of the life, death and impact of Gutenberg’s work rounds out the production.
By this point in the lesson, students have learned about the history of type in a written, oral, and visual presentation and the last step is the letterpress workshop, which allows for a tactile learning experience.
The letterpress workshop requires collaboration with the LU printmaking professor, Xenia Fedorchenko. In the first day of this two-day workshop, she provides her expert knowledge of the letterpress studio and printing process. The initial lesson begins with a handout, brief lecture and show and tell by Professor Fedorchenko. She brings in her own sampling of artwork to give students the full scope of the history of broadsides, better known today as poster design.
Professor Fedorchenko then leads a hands on demonstration of the letterpress studio. First, she details the importance of safety and cleanliness, and then describes the layout of the studio. She discusses the type drawers, explicitly pointing out how the term uppercase came from the fact that upper case letters physically sat in the top drawer of the type case. She also describes how to set type, and can instill in students other vocabulary such as leading, by showing them how to add line spacing with pieces of lead. The next part of the demonstration is a discussion about materials such as describing the pros and cons of water vs. oil based ink, how to create transparency and how to create a smooth even application of ink onto locked up type. Last, Fedorchenko does a demonstration on the galley press. Throughout each part of the demonstration, students are asked to participate both through Q&A and through hands on assistance.
Once the demonstration is over, students are able to work on the assigned task: to create a composition made of type. They are asked to select a meaningful phrase and if the class is large, they work in pairs to create their work together. Each pair works on one composition, prints it, and then switches to make the other student’s composition. This allows better use of the studio materials and space as both are limited. The group is also encouraged to consider unique materials to print on. For instance, in these examples, a quote about music is printed on a sheet of music and a phrase about dreams is printed on a pillow.
In this example here [image missing], two students working together decided to collaborate and overlap their compositions and create a new, unique composition.
Some students are a bit more playful with their concepts, while others are more inspirational. Students respond positively to this opportunity for personal expression and it allows more room for exploration and experimentation than if they were given a client objective.
Following the workshop there is a pin up in class, but instead of a formal critique, the class discusses the process of letterpress printing. Because this workshop occurs in a very short time frame of two class days, it’s more important to focus on the student’s challenges, learning opportunities and improved knowledge of type. A discussion of overall composition and assessing areas for improvement is included, but the focus of the discussion is more about process and learning rather than outcomes.
Student feedback for the letterpress workshop has been overwhelmingly positive, which has made it a standard part of the typography course curriculum since fall 2013.
Students particularly enjoyed the hands on aspect of the work, showing that while graphic design students must learn software and technology, they can largely benefit and engage in tactile experiences as well.
What didn’t you like about the workshop?
While it is a consideration to lengthen the two day workshop, the course focus must be broader than this one lesson plan. Students who really enjoy this process are encouraged to take elective courses with Professor Fedorchenko where they can further refine their letterpress skills.
Did you learn anything from the workshop?
This reinforces students are responding to the multimodal learning methods applied in this course.
Would you recommend this workshop continue in the typography course?
It seems that the computer lab can be a place where students feel restricted and need to branch out from in order to explore the wide variety of approaches to graphic design knowledge and skills. New opportunities for tactile learning experiences are being explored in order to provide graphic design students in all computer based courses the opportunity to “get of the lab” and approach their work in a new way.
Based on feedback and experience, each year this workshop is modified and improved to provide a better student learning experience. The benefits of the workshop outweigh the fact that time spent in the workshop does detract from other computer-based assignments. Students gain a better understanding of typographic history, learn a new process that they can expand their skills in through elective courses, and some even discover a new passion in letterpress that influences their future work and careers.
This is a really good project/lesson! Well constructed and thought out.
Do you also get into a more modern print environment later in the course or in a follow-on class?
Hi, sorry this is such a late reply! Yes, the course moves into a digital environment and is mostly digital aside from this project. The cool thing is that students can take an alternative fibers course in the department as an elective where they can keep experimenting and practicing with letterpress if they choose to. | http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/2017/05/hands-on-history-learning-the-history-of-typography-with-a-letterpress-workshop/ |
The Kiosk at Erickson Conservation Area in Argyle was recently updated! A beautiful new map welcomes visitors to Erickson, outlines the trail system, highlights natural features of the property, and provides information on various access points and permitted activities.
Visitors can also learn about the legacy and generosity of the Erickson family in creating a community treasure for people from all walks of life, especially children, to enjoy.
In the coming months brochures will be available for visitors to take with them while exploring the property. The brochures will provide much of the same information displayed in the kiosk.
Be sure to check out these new additions on your next visit and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming events. Many thanks to the designer, Lauren Brown! | https://driftlessconservancy.org/2018/09/05/erickson-update/ |
Q:
Current scope of Chaos theory and non-linear dynamics?
I am a physics undergrad interested in stuff like dynamical systems, chaos theory etc. Is there ongoing research in these fields? I am talking about pure research and not applications to things like weather etc? I hope this question is appropriate for Physics SE. I asked this question, because I browsed through the websites of the physics departments of a few renowned universities (MIT, Princeton, Caltech) etc, but nowhere it mentioned research in these areas.
A:
Yes, there is investigation.
Some random names on the field (more on the physics side, NO specific order): Carl Dettmann, Tamás Tél, Ott, Ying-Cheng Lai, Adilson Motter, Celso Grebogi, Holger Kantz, Alessandro Moura, Eduardo G. Altmann, etc, etc, etc.
A quick search on some of these names should help you to find some recent papers on what is being done (not restricted to!).
Some specific topics on the subject with some activity:
Billiards, Transient chaos, Hamiltonian systems, quantum chaos, control theory.
Do not be biased by this information, use it has a shortcut to search more and more. It is not meant to represent anything in terms of importance, quantity or quality of the research.
A:
Myself is working on this area and I will tell you why I found it fascinating.
This area contain many interesting new mathematics, for example if you analyze dissipative chaotic system you will encounter fractals in phase-space. Fractals are beautiful mathematical objects which cannot be treated with standard differential geometry. You can use topology to study the phase-space trajectories. Lie groups and Lie algebra is used to explore the symmetry properties of the system/trajectory. You may think that the subject is simple, but once you try to track the nonlinear problems analytically this is more challenging. Often people relay on numerical computation.
If you want do the research in classical chaos you should know about the chaotic maps and related things. Mainly mathematicians are working on this area and they call it "Dynamical system theory". Prof. James Yorke is one of the reputed person in this area. An another guy is Miguel A. F. Sanjuan who works in Classical Chaos. If you think about Quantum Mechanics there is an area called Quantum Chaos. Gutzwiller trace formula (Periodic orbit theory) and Predrag Civitanovic's Cycle expansion are the hottest topics.Cycle expansion can be utilized to study the fluid turbulence. Related to the periodic orbit theory people are trying to find the zeros of zeta functions using a quantum hamiltonian. If you can quantize H=xp properly then you can become a reputed guy in this area. In short, quantum chaos have applications in number theory. Jonathan Keating and Michel V. Berry are the reputed figures in this area.
Then it comes the chaotic billiard, Sinai Billiard and the Bunimovich stadium are the few examples of it. Yakov Sinai, Leonid Bunimovich, and Marko Robnik are the reputed figures in this area. This topic has intimate connection to the statistical mechanics and the ergodic theory. Chaos theory also appear in the context of Renormalization group theory. Related to quantum billiard you can study the Quantum unique ergodicity, Quantum Scars etc. Terence Tao, Eric Heller etc. are working on this topic. Terence Tao works in the area of Random Matrix theory which is an area of pure Mathematics related to Quantum Chaos. By the way, Madan Lal Mehta and Dyson had done a great contribution to Random Matrix theory. Actually Eugene Wigner had started the idea of using Radom Matrix theory in Quantum Mechanics.
Now people are also studying chaos in connection with Quantum Entanglement (Entanglement and Chaos). In relation to quantum gravity, Gerard 't Hooft is studying the deterministic quantum mechanics using the ideas of cellular automata. (Cellular automata and iterating function system(IFS) appear in connection with fractals). There are other people like Laurent Nottale who study the non-differentiable space-time and the emergence of quantum mechanics from it. Some people use the geodesic deviation equation from general relativity to quantify the chaotic property. In short this is a vast and rich topic and you can work in in all areas of physics to apply the ideas of Chaos theory and the nonlinear dynamics.
There are many other topics and interesting people in this field and this information is my limited point of view!
You can look at University of Maryland, Georgia Tech, University of Bristol UK etc where they have good groups. If the university has a reputation, it doesn't mean that in all areas they are strong enough !!!
| |
Citrus fruits, including C. sinensis, have been investigated as a delivery system for vaccines; the fruits were injected with the vaccine and then eaten.9 Most modern research, however, is focused on new efficient ways to grow, protect and harvest oranges.
Orange Peel: The essential oil extracted from the peel through either cold expression or steam distillation, has a sweet citrus aroma.7 The orange scent is a combination of lemon-scented citral and limonene, lavender-scented linalool and pine-scented terpineol. Topical applications of the essential oil are used to soften dull and oily complexions and soothe mouth ulcers.
2 Onstad D. Whole Foods Companion: A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers & Lovers of Natural Foods. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company; 1996.
5 Wood R. The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia. New York: Penguin Books; 1999.
6 Rinzler C. The New Complete Book of Herbs, Spices, and Condiments: A Nutritional, Medical, and Culinary Guide. New York: Checkmark Books; 2001.
7 Lawless J. The Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils: The Complete Guide to the Use of Aromatics in Aromatherapy, Herbalism, Health & Well-being. Rockport, MA: Element; 1992.
8 Crowel PL, Gould MN. Chemoprevention and therapy of cander by d-limonene. Crit Rev Oncog. 1994; 5:1-22. Cited by Rakel, D. Integrative Medicine. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2003.
9 Hu R, Wei H, Chen S, et al. Construction of the plant expression vector with hepatitis a capsid protein fusion gene and genetic transformation of Citrus sinensis Osbeck[In Chinese]. Yi Chuan. July 2004; 26(4):425-31. | https://www.naturalremediesandcures.co.uk/143,research,oranges_remedies.html |
The government has a lower growth rate target of 3.3% for the agricultural sector in 2014-15, after the sector failed to meet the targeted growth rate for 2013-14 by 1.5%.
The worst performing subsectors of the agricultural sector, minor crops and cotton ginning, dampened the better than expected growth of major crops, which surpassed its target by 1%.
Beside important crops, every other subsector within agriculture failed to meet growth targets.
The government now aims for a GDP growth rate of 5.1% in the fiscal year 2014-15, compared to last years target of 4.4% which the economy failed to meet by 0.3%.
In the budget for 2014-15 the government has set aside Rs20.52 billion for agriculture out of the total allocation of Rs47.59 billion under the Economic Affairs head of current expenditure.
Below is a chart showing the yearly allocation in millions of rupees for agriculture, food, irrigation, forestry and fishing under the economic affairs head of the budget.
The Minister of Finance Ishaq Dar in his budget speech said that a National Food Security Council will be established to ensure agricultural policy coordination across provinces.
He also announced several incentive and support packages for the agricultural sector.
A credit guarantee scheme for small and marginalised farmers is being introduced to encourage banks to finance small farmers who previously did not have access to banking facilities. Under the program the government, through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), will guarantee up to 50% loans made by financial institution to farmers who have up to five acres irrigated and 10 acres non-irrigated land holdings.
Dar also introduced a crop loan insurance scheme for farmers that covers the risk posed by natural calamities, climate change and plant disease. The total budget cost of the scheme is Rs2.5 billion.
The sales tax on tractors has also been reduced from 16% to 10% to encourage the use of tractors in farming.
Dar added that the SBP will increase overall credit to the agriculture sector to Rs500 billion in the year 2014-15.
Dairy and livestock
In its federal budget for fiscal year 2014-15, the government has allocated Rs300 million for the Livestock Insurance Scheme for small livestock and dairy farmers, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in the budget speech on Tuesday.
Dairy and livestock segment is 12% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 56% of its agriculture. With dairy segment alone accounting for 27% of agriculture sector, Pakistan is one of the world’s top five producers of milk having an annual turnover of over 36 billion litres of tradable milk.
By contrast, the majority livestock ownership is at subsistence level, which increases the risk of loss, Dar said in the budget speech.
“In order to mitigate the risk of losses of small livestock farmers, the government is introducing the Livestock Insurance Scheme for all farmers getting financing for up to 10 cattle,” the finance minister said.
The scheme would cover livestock insurance in case of calamity and disease, according to Dar. The scheme would benefit 100,000 livestock farmers or families.
This story will be updated as more analysis comes in.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. | https://tribune.com.pk/story/716899/budget-2014-15-agriculture-sector-growth-target-lowered |
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Stakes out Strong Stand During Confirmation Hearing for Senior State Department Officials
WASHINGTON–-Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) – Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee – pressed the Biden Administration to join Congress in properly recognizing the Armenian Genocide and also to work for the release of Armenian hostages illegally held by the Azerbaijani government, reported the Armenian National Committee of America.
“Whether it’s recognizing the Armenian Genocide or demanding the release of Armenian POWs, Senator Menendez is a principled, powerful, and persistent advocate – effectively advancing both our U.S. interests and our American values,” said ANCA Eastern Region Chair and New Jersey resident Ani Tchaghlasian. “Armenians across New Jersey and around the nation thank Senator Menendez for his leadership on issues of special concern to our community and coalition partners.”
The Garden State’s senior Senator made the remarks during the confirmation process for Wendy Sherman, who has been nominated to serve as Deputy Secretary of State, the agency’s number two position.
With regard to U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, Sen. Menendez states, “I hope the President will keep his commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The United States Senate, by unanimous consent, passed it. Last year I was proud to sponsor that. The House of Representatives has passed it. It’s time for the President of the United States to do what the rest of the Congress of the United States – as representatives of the American people – which is to recognize the Genocide. Let’s call history for what it is.” Sen. Menendez has already started reaching out to Senate colleagues to join him in sending a joint letter to President Biden urging him to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide in the annual April 24th commemorative statement.
Senator Menendez’s statement on the Armenian Genocide
Sen. Menendez went on to call for greater U.S. engagement in the OSCE Minsk Group mediation of the Artsakh crisis, including active leadership in securing the release of over 200 Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives illegally held by Azerbaijan some 4 months after the disastrous November 9th ceasefire agreement.
“We will look to help the people of Armenia and help to facilitate the release of POWs that the Azerbaijanis have,” stated Sen. Menendez. “It is in violation of international law what they’re doing. We need to speak out, which the previous administration did not, and we need to work to try to get that region to look forward to what the Minsk process was. There is some suggestion that this is all over. No. it’s not. And we need to the POWS released and we have to help Armenia, as it gets all of these refugees back into their country.”
Senator Menendez’s remarks regarding the release of Armenian POWs
Take action in support of honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, and demanding demanding Azerbaijan’s release of Armenian hostages. | https://asbarez.com/menendez-calls-on-biden-to-recognize-genocide-work-on-release-of-armenian-pows/ |
When it comes to the use of quality tools, I have heard a general comment that they are more applicable to the chemical industry than to foods and beverages. I have been told that this idea comes from the beliefs “we are dealing with Mother Nature” and “we don’t have the resources,” among others. However, with the Food Safety Modernization Act, under corrective action procedures, food safety teams are required to provide written procedures that must describe the steps taken to identify and correct the problem, reduce the likelihood of occurrence, evaluate affected food for safety, and prevent affected food from entering commerce.1 Proper root-cause analysis tools may be useful to determine how to prevent recurrence and, most importantly, help identify the problem.
In general, it is true that there are difficulties when dealing with food, like having a hot summer and getting produce that is not up to specifications or trying to interpret certain microbiological results. I know that flow diagrams and control charts are commonly used. Here, I am sharing some quality assurance tools that can be used in the food industry,2 including some background and examples for better understanding and implementation. I have left out more complex tools such as x-R charts, statistical process control charts, and sampling, which can also be used but need separate data collection.
Data Measurements
In the food industry, both product quality and food safety data can be considered as either attribute data or variable data. Attribute data are measurements that are counted—an individual item has or doesn’t have a specific characteristic. Variable data typically are physical, chemical, or biological measurements.
When using attribute data, we need to determine whether a product has or does not have a specific characteristic, let’s say: Salmonella positive or negative in a sample. Variable data typically are measured with units such as length, weight, temperature, pH, etc. Measurement data are variable data.
Figure 1 illustrates the type of chart that can be used depending on the type of data you collect: a Pareto chart using positive Listeria contamination points, Ishikawa diagram for a critical control point (CCP) deviation in a root-cause analysis, check sheets to organize data on a raw material Certificate of Analysis (CoA), histogram to help set up supplier specs, and even scatter diagrams to find the raw material correlation to finished goods results.
Figure 1: Different types of charts according to the type of data
Pareto Diagram or Pareto Chart
This diagram, named after Vilfredo Pareto—a 19th-century Italian economist—is commonly used as a tool to analyze root cause of failures or nonconforming items that can have multiple causal factors. The Pareto principle states that 80 percent of the problems come from 20 percent of the causes. In the Pareto chart, the problems are measured against the frequency of occurrence. It has multiple bars, with each bar representing a problem and arranged in a way that the most influential cause of the problem can be easily visualized.
How to build a Pareto diagram
This is an example to determine where contamination comes from.
- Identify the attribute you are evaluating (frequency of positive Listeria samples). This will be plotted on the left-hand side or vertical axis.
- List the locations where Listeria has been positive. Please note this is the most labor-intensive and complicated step. Going month by month, record by record, etc., collecting information is the most tedious but also the most critical part. This eventually will be plotted on the bottom or horizontal axis.
- Build a table listing the frequency of each location in descending order from the highest to the lowest. The hard work is now done, and numbers will speak for themselves:
- Calculate the frequency of each location as a percentage of the total frequency of complaints.
- Calculate the cumulative frequency in descending order. For the blender, the cumulative frequency is the same (35.3%), but after that, the cumulative frequency for the filter is the sum of the blender plus filter (35.3 + 23.5 = 58.8), and for the hopper is the sum of the cumulative plus hopper (58.8 + 11.8 = 70.6), etc.
- The frequency % for each location should be plotted on a chart, starting with the greatest frequency to show the magnitude of effect for the most critical location.
- A cumulative line may be drawn on the same chart, showing the effect of the most critical location (Figure 2)
2020 Micro Results: Listeria swabs
Figure 2: Pareto Diagram
By dedicating immediate and efficient resources to improve the Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures of the blender, filter, and hopper, the result will be a 70 percent reduction of positive Listeria samples in this facility.
Cause-and-Effect Diagram: Fish Bone or Ishikawa Diagram
A cause-and-effect diagram is a simple way to help analyze a problem. It is also known as the “fish bone diagram” or Ishikawa diagram, which was developed by Kaoru Ishikawa, Ph.D., a professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo, who was noted for his quality management innovations. This diagram can be used as part of a root-cause problem-solving process to help identify, group, and analyze potential causes of a given problem.
How to use the Ishikawa diagram
This is an example to determine why the cooking CCP went below 180 degrees in an operation that requires frying temperature to be no lower than 180 degrees for food safety. These are the recommended steps.3
1. Gather a team that knows about the process and is concerned about the problem.
2. Write the description of the problem (i.e., the “Effect” in the diagram, Figure 3).
Figure 3: Ishikawa Diagram (empty)
3. List the potential causes on the fish bone (Figure 4). A very popular technique is to draw the diagram on a wall and have team members use Post-It notes to contribute to the list of potential causes.
Figure 4: Ishikawa Diagram (in process)
4. Any subfactors that could contribute to the major factor can also be added as sub-branches (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Ishikawa Diagram (completed)
5. After all factors have been added (it could take a couple of days until all members of the team have contributed), a brainstorming session of each branch and ideas would take place.
6. The frequency of all branches (causes) should be ranked according to the Pareto principle.
7. Implement the conclusions as part of the corrective action plan.
Check Sheets
Check sheets are records that make it easy to compile data so that they can be readily used in data analysis.1 They should be designed in the simplest possible way, so they are easy to understand and easy to fill out by the user/operator/tech. These can also help convert attribute data into variable data.
In this example, a company is making a root-cause analysis of finished product that is out of spec due to low citric acid content. A check sheet is created for the tech to report testing in 100 lots of citric acid that were sampled for potency.
In this example, the operator/tech does not need to keep a separate file or folder; they can manually fill out this form as they are doing the day-to-day job.
Once the form has been completed, the numbers of affected lots are tallied and the information can be used for other analytical tools, like a histogram.
Histograms
It is unclear who the inventor of the histogram was, but William Playfair (1759–1823), a Scottish economist and inventor, is usually considered the first to use histograms. Karl Pearson is credited with openly introducing the use of histograms. Histograms are used to determine whether multiple distribution is occurring in a process; a histogram is a graphical display of tabulated frequencies that shows which proportion of cases fall into each of several categories.1
How to build a histogram
1. Using the previous example of citric acid, simply create a bar diagram with the frequency on the vertical axis and the attribute (% in this case) on the horizontal axis (Figure 6).4
Figure 6: Histogram
2. This histogram can be used to help set up a narrower specification range with the supplier since it’s easy to see they have a “normal” distribution, but they have some lots on both limits. They can definitely produce lots with an 85 to 90 percent assay that can be accepted and will help manufacture a consistent finished product.
Scatter Diagrams
A scatter diagram or scatter plot is a graph used to display and compare two or more sets of related numerical data by displaying several data points.1 Staying with the previous citric acid example, a scatter diagram can be developed to correlate the citric acid lot with the finished product batch produced. These are helpful tools but are not commonly used to prove a cause-and-effect relationship (other problem-solving techniques such as an Ishikawa diagram are recommended to derive such proof).
How to build a scatter diagram
1. Collect pairs of data where you want to find a relationship or when a data correlation is suspected. In this case, lots with different assay results and the citric acid in the finished batches.
2. Draw a graph with the independent variable (citric acid % assay) on the horizontal axis and the dependent variable (finished product) on the vertical axis.
3. Look at the pattern of points to see if a relationship is obvious (Figure 7). If the data clearly form a line or a curve, you may stop because variables are correlated. In this case, the lower the % assay of the citric acid raw material, the lower the citric acid content in the finished product—the scatter diagram forms a curve. In such cases, you may wish to use regression or correlation analysis, which is one click away using Excel. But if the scatter diagram looks like the Milky Way, you can complete steps 4 through 7.
Figure 7: Scatter Diagram (with correlation)
4. In the next example, I have plotted the data in a way that does not clearly form a line or a curve. In this case, it’s necessary to divide points on the graph into four quadrants. There are 15 (x) points on the example graph. To divide the quadrants:
- Count x/2 points from top to bottom and draw a horizontal line.
- Count x/2 points from left to right and draw a vertical line.
- If the number of points is odd, draw the line through the middle point.
5. Count the points in each quadrant. Do not count points on a line (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Scatter Diagram (with no correlation)
6. Add the diagonally opposite quadrants. Find the smaller sum and the total of points in all quadrants.
A = points in upper left + points in lower right
B = points in upper right + points in lower left
Q = the smaller of A and B
N = A + B
A 2 + 3 = 5
B 4 + 5 = 9
Q = 5
N 5 + 9 = 14
For N = 14, the limit is 2.
- If Q is less than the limit, the two variables are related. Since Q = 5 is greater than the limit 2, these two variables aren’t related.
- If Q is greater than or equal to the limit, the pattern could have occurred from random chance.
In summary, with a food safety perspective, we can obtain either attribute data or variable data such as Salmonella positive or negative in a sample (attribute) as well as data represented in units such as length, weight, temperature, pH, etc. (measurable). There are appropriate quality assurance tools that can be used in the food industry for either type of data, and analysis can be performed using these simple tools. Overall, they can contribute to the continuous improvement of the food safety plan.
7. Look up the limit for N on a trend test table.
References
- https://d1vy0qa05cdjr5.cloudfront.net/c6f30ca0-84ae-4613-bec0-5439702d4b9e/Instructor Resource Portal/FSPCA PC Course Participant Manual_V1.2_public.pdf.
- Surak, J.G. and S. Wilson, eds., The Certified HACCP Auditor Handbook (Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press, 2014).
- Gould, W.A., Total Quality Management for the Food Industries (Glen Rock, NJ: CTI Publications, 1992).
- Hubbard, M.R., Statistical Quality Control for the Food Industry (New York: Springer, 2003).
Tatiana Miranda-Abaunza, MSc., holds a B.Sc. in food engineering and an M.Sc. in food science and is also a Preventive Controls-Qualified Individual Lead Instructor as well as a Certified Food Safety and Quality Auditor by ASQ. In her role of principal quality engineer at Nutrilite by Amway, she oversees the functional foods suppliers and has helped implement the Foreign Supplier Verification Program at the company. | https://www.food-safety.com/articles/7302-use-of-quality-assurance-tools-in-food-safety |
IUP Digital Host for Theatre Festival
The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance at IUP assisted as virtual support for Region 2 of the Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival, January 11-15, 2021.
This time hosting was different! For the fourth time since 2010, IUP was invited to host Region 2 of America's national festival of university theater. It had been scheduled to host the in-person Festival 53 in January. The Festival necessarily pivoted to a virtual experience due to COVID-19, and Region 2 leadership asked if IUP could provide the digital meeting backbone for workshops through our Zoom account. IUP information technology and department chairperson Brian Jones provided the means. Eve Urban, senior theater major, became the IUP student volunteer coordinator, scheduling 10 IUP students to host and open IT-supported Zoom rooms for five days of workshops and additional festival events.
Associate Professor Nancy Pipkin-Hutchinson, chair of Design/Technology/Management for Region 2 of KCACTF, organized a re-imagining of the traditional gallery display of students' work into this virtual world. Using her contacts in the professional community, she invited 15 designers, technicians, and stage managers from across the country, including Patreshettarlini Adams (production stage manager, Wilma Theatre), alumna of IUP's theater program, to give workshops, hold Q&A sessions, and respond to students' submitted work.
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country. KCACTF aims to:
- Encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs;
- Provide opportunities for participants to develop their theater skills and insight, and achieve professionalism;
- Improve the quality of college and university theater in the United States; and
- Encourage colleges and universities to give distinguished productions of new plays, especially those written by students; the classics, revitalized or newly conceived; and experimental works. | https://www.iup.edu/theater/news/2021/01/iup-digital-host-for-theatre-festival.html |
Object. Children experiencing frequent shunt failure consume medical resources and represent a disproportionate level of morbidity in hydrocephalus care. While biological causes of frequent shunt failure may exist, this study analyzed demographic and socioeconomic patient characteristics associated with frequent shunt failure. Methods. A survey of 294 caregivers of children with shunt-treated hydrocephalus provided demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Children experiencing at least 10 shunt failures were considered frequent shunt-failure patients. Multivariate regression models were used to control for variables. Results. Frequent shunt failure was experienced by 9.5% of the patients (28 of 294). By univariate analysis, white race (p = 0.006), etiology of hydrocephalus (p = 0.022), years-with-shunt (p < 0.0001), and surgeon (p = 0.02) were associated with frequent shunt failure. Upon multivariate analysis, white race remained the key independent factor associated with frequent shunt failure (OR 5.8, 95% CI 1.2-27.8, p = 0.027). Race acted independently from socioeconomic factors, including income, level of education, and geographic location, and clinical factors, such as etiology of hydrocephalus, surgeon, and years-with-shunt. Additionally, after multivariate analysis surgeon and years-with-shunt remained associated with frequent shunt failure (p = 0.043 and p = 0.0098, respectively), although etiology of hydrocephalus was no longer associated (p = 0.1). Conclusions. White race was the primary independent factor associated with frequent shunt failure. Because races use health care differently and the diagnosis of shunt failure is often subjective, a disparity in diagnosis and treatment has arisen. These findings call for objective criteria for the preoperative and intraoperative diagnosis of shunt failure. ©AANS, 2013. | http://dgivan.dental.uab.edu/display/pub1189098 |
Automation | Power & Motion Technology | by Rick Emmer | Jun 25, 2021
Implementing automation in your facility can significantly impact the safety, uptime, and productivity of your systems and processes. Deciding where to integrate automation, determining the return on investment (ROI), and being prepared to support and maintain automated systems once they are in place can seem daunting.
In this blog, we’ll talk about some of the most common challenges to implementing automation and what you can do to address them.
Challenge #1: Deciding Which Processes to Automate
There can be multiple processes and systems needed to get the job done in any facility. Deciding which processes to automate can be tricky. The first two questions you should ask yourself are, “What are the most important processes to our business?” and “What are our most high-value processes?”
Automating the most critical processes in your facility is a great place to start. By automating key processes, you can ensure that they stay up and running efficiently. This increases uptime and, ultimately, improves the productivity of that process. And, by automating key processes, you are in a better position to scale operations to grow the business.
The other important thing to keep in mind is that automation doesn’t have to be complicated. Integrating a few automated solutions into your system can go a long way to create a safer, more streamlined process. Start small, and, once you experience the benefits automation can provide, you can build on that automation framework to further improve operations.
Challenge #2: Fear of Replacing People with Machines
When people hear “automation,” a common assumption is that automation technology will replace personnel. This doesn’t have to be the case. While automation may replace specific jobs or positions within a process, it does not need to eliminate the people themselves. Automation gives you the ability to redeploy personnel to different tasks or operate other machines. With automation increasing throughput, employees can work on steps further along in the process to keep increased production running smoothly.
Automation can also be used strategically to remove personnel from dangerous or high-risk process areas or those that pose ergonomic challenges. For example, if you’re transporting molten metal or moving a heavy object repeatedly, automation can help keep your employees safe and reduce fatigue. Then, they can be redeployed to other areas within the facility to increase production where needed.
Challenge #3: Determining Return on Investment
One of the biggest roadblocks to implementing automation is determining ROI by balancing the upfront cost of the automated solution with the long-term benefits and cost savings it will provide. First, you should understand the need for automation and show the value in that. Do you need to reduce downtime? Increase production? Prevent injuries?
Here are a few key things to look at when calculating ROI:
By calculating these potential cost savings and benefits, you’ll be in a better position to “sell” the need for automation technology in your facility. In addition, ROI helps demonstrate the “why” behind the technology and shows the tangible benefits the technology can provide long term.
Challenge #4: Supporting, Managing, and Troubleshooting the System Long Term
Automation technology can be complicated, but managing, supporting, and troubleshooting it shouldn’t be. By working with an automation expert, you’ll gain a detailed understanding of how your automated solution works, so you’re able to support the system during normal operation. If the system and technology are user-friendly, managing breakdowns, maintenance, and technical support should be easy and intuitive. Remote connectivity, for example, makes it easy to monitor your system, troubleshoot issues, and adjust parameters as changing crane, process, and plant conditions require.
Look for an automation provider with a deep understanding of the technology and how it can be customized and simplified for your exact application needs. In addition, they should work with you every step of the way, from quotation to commissioning and training, so you understand how the system works and are prepared to manage it long after the installation is complete.
To learn more about how automation technology can improve your facility and operations or speak with one of our automation specialists, contact us today!
Rick Emmer is a Business Development Manager for Columbus McKinnon's Automation Division. Rick has over 25 years of experience and a deep understanding of how to deliver the right automation solution to best meet customers' application needs in the conveyor and palletizing industries. Rick holds a BS Degree in Business with a Major in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
Our automated crane systems are designed to improve safety, uptime and productivity in your facility. Not only does crane automation technology allow you to build safety right into equipment with no-fly zones and off-center pick prevention, it also provides you with real-time data and information that enables you to improve operational efficiency and make smarter decisions, faster.
Columbus McKinnon’s Unified and Magnetek brands bring more than 20 years of experience in delivering automated systems to the automotive industry. Our primary high-technology solutions are featured throughout the automotive manufacturing process, including ergonomic and autonomous workstations like ProPath™ and Intelli-Guide™.
At Columbus McKinnon, we are dedicated to accelerating innovation and expanding our portfolio of automation and diagnostic solutions. One way we are doing this is through the development of intelligent automation solutions for new and existing cranes. See how our technology is helping to create the smart cranes of the future.
Implementing automation in your systems and processes can have a big impact on your facility. Let’s take a closer look at three ways automation can improve your facility and operations.
Do you have technology in place to help you plan maintenance to prevent costly downtime? Do your processes suffer from complexity that causes variations in product quality? Let's take a closer look at three ways automation can improve your facility and operations.
One form of crane automation technology that can have a big impact on your facility and operations is an auto-dispatch system. How can this help? Combining radios, drives, motors, brakes, and automation programming, auto-dispatch systems allow operators to automatically send a load to pre-programmed areas in a facility with the push of a button. They no longer need to manually guide or follow the load to the next location in the process. Learn more about all of the benefits.
From steel production to distribution, innovative technology helps increase your safety, uptime, and productivity.
The demand to incorporate smart solutions and automation throughout every step of the steelmaking process is rapidly increasing. Columbus McKinnon offers products that assist from steel production to distribution, utilizing innovative technology that helps increase your safety, uptime, and productivity. | https://www.columbusmckinnon.com/en-us/resources/blog/implementing-crane-automation-challenges/ |
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