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Production Capacity: 1~2 ton feed pellets per hour. Raw Materials: Corn, soya, soybean cake, sunflower oil cake, wheat bran, fish meal, soybean oil, bone meal and premix compound. Production Process: Feeding, Crushing, Mixing, Conditioning, Pelletizing, Cooling, Bagging. This project is designed for processing chicken feed pellets. The following photos were taken during the project installing and commisioning. If you are also planning for starting your own chicken feed mill and feel interested to get more information about this feed pellets manfuacturing factory, don't hesitate to contact us! The modulators of the pellet machines used in the animal feed pellets manufacturing plant are all digital frequency controlled, which can precisely control the production yield. In the feeding section, the particle and powder raw materials are feed separately into the mixer. The particle materials are firstly sent to the crusher for grinding and then into the mixer, while the powder materials go directly into the mixer. After mixing for about 2~3 minutes, the materials are send to stock bin by elevator, and then be transported to the conditioner. After conditioning, the materials are ready for pelletizing in the pellet mill. The fresh pellets are generally in high moisture and temperature, cooling is needed. After be cooling, the pellets will go through the screening machine, the pellets in large size are transported to the crusher to be crushed into small pellets, while the qualified pellets with desired size are transported to packing and sealing machine. results to a lot of waste. This type of feed is neither as fine as mash nor as compact as pellets. For farmers with egg-laying chicken, this is the best meal for your chicken. It is a solid nutrition that provides your layers with proper balance of protein, vitamins and minerals necessary for production of healthy and quality eggs and fast growth. Feed pellets are the most used types of chicken feed. They are the most compact types of feed, and have the least wastage. They are also easily stored and can be managed quite well. They are best used by backyard chicken keepers. Research has also shown that pellets are the most efficiently metabolized chicken feed. This then makes them economical to use, since, the farmer will use few pellets and get maximum results in egg production.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much for that wonderful welcome. Thank you, Senator Robb, and thank you, Lynda, for the years of friendship and the years of service, the years of wise counsel and the years of shared joy, and all the rest of it that goes along with this work. Congressman Moran and Congressman Scott, I'm delighted to see you here tonight. Lieutenant Governor Beyer, you gave a magnificent talk, and I thank you for what you said about your senator and your President. I'm sure neither of us will ever forget it. Thank you, Mark Warner. And Senator, I think one of your colleagues is here -- I think Senator Daschle is here from South Dakota. Are you here? Stand up. (Applause.) Thank you. The incumbent President was at over 70 percent approval in all the polls, and most people thought it was a fool's errand. But I thought that the race was worth making, no matter what the outcome, because at least I would never have to explain to my child why I didn't do my part to sound the alarm about what I thought was going on in America. It was all part, really, of what I had been working on for several years before I ran for President; part of a political heritage that I shared with people like Chuck Robb and Tom Daschle, who's from South Dakota -- a place that makes Arkansas look like a metropolitan center. (Laughter.) I say that to make this point: several years ago Chuck and I and a number of others helped to found a group called the Democratic Leadership Council, after the Democrats just kept on getting beat in the presidential race. We did it with two goals in mind, and both of them are important and both of them bear directly on the choices Americans face in this elections, and especially on the choice Americans have here in Virginia. The first thing we wanted to do was to broaden the base and change the rhetoric and the substance of a lot of the policies of the Democratic party. We thought we had been typecast too much as the big government, pro-tax, government can solve all the problems party. We needed to broaden our base and prove that we could spend tax money with discipline, grow the economy, be tough on crime and bring the American people together across regional and racial and party lines, and move the country forward. Instead of always having a left-right argument, in a time of transition, you need to be moving ahead. The second thing we wanted to do is equally important. We wanted to challenge people in the other party to do the same thing. We were sick and tired of seeing the other party be rewarded in national elections primarily for their ability to talk rather than to act; primarily for their ability to turn us into aliens, instead of tell the people of the country what they were for. And they are very good at that, I know. We face in this election many dilemmas. But there are two we can't do anything about except to address. The first is one to which Senator Robb alluded. We are living in a time of historic change. The Cold War is over. Shimon Perez, the brilliant Foreign Minister of Israel said to me today, he said, it is a great challenge you face, Mr. President, in foreign policy, where the American people have to now stop thinking about the threat of immediate destruction and start thinking responsibly about just dealing with their problems; because if you don't deal with your problems, then eventually your security will be threatened again. Similarly here at home, we have to deal with the realities of a new global economy where what we earn depends largely on what we learn; where the average 18-year-old will change jobs six times in a lifetime; and where, with all of our strengths, we still have to confront a bewildering array of problems. And whenever a country goes through a period of change, it's just like when a person goes through a period of change. I ask each of you tonight to think about that when you think about the state of the American people's mind in this election. Think about the first day you ever went to school, or the first day you went to college, or the first day you showed up for your first job, or the first day you started your first business, or the day you got married, or the day your first child was born. Those are all good things, but I'll bet you anything you were scared to death, if you were really thinking about it. And these are good things. If you think about the other challenges you face -- were you going to get fired, were you going to go broke, what was it like in the line of fire, what was it like when you had your first crisis in your family -- whenever you go through a period of great change, inside you hope and fear are at war. It's almost as if you had a big scale inside, and every day hope and fear -- hope would be on one side, fear would be on the other -- and every day they'd be in a little bit different balance until you actually get through the period of change and things level out. That is where we are today. And we are at mid-course in this term the American people gave me, where we have made a terrific start on our country's problems, but a lot of people have not felt it yet. That is compounded today by the fact that the other party, being relieved of power in the presidency, has gone back to what it does best, which is to talk instead of do; to blame instead of to assume responsibility; to divide instead of unite; to play on fear instead of hope. So they try to turn the President or the Senator from Virginia into an alien in the minds of ordinary voters, and hope they can clog the information channels enough so that that will guarantee that in the scales inside us all, fear will outweigh hope on election day. And we will actually do that which we do not wish to do -- we will make a choice which will undermine the very path which we wish to walk. Now I have to tell you, folks, we have done a lot of things in the last 20 months. It doesn't solve all the problems, but we've made a good start. We have made a good start. (Applause.) And I ask you to see this senate race not just in the terms that Mr. Robb presented them, but in these terms -- we have had 30 years of social problems building up in this country: the breakdown of the family, the rise of crime, the rise of drugs, the rise of gangs, the loss of opportunity in many of our inner cities and our rural areas, a whole generation of children being raised without the kind of discipline and love they needed to grow up to be productive citizens. For 30 years that has been coming. We have had 20 years of serious economic problems, where when the economy was booming or when it was sinking, wages of hourly wage earners tended to be stagnant, and people had to change jobs more and more, and those who would work hard but didn't have high levels of skills were having to struggle just to hold on to their income. That has been developing for 20 years. We had 12 years where we tried it their way; where they talked tough but acted soft; where they tried to pretend to be so strong -- and they were very good at it -- but they just really told us what we wanted to hear. They cursed the deficit and quadrupled the debt. They lambasted government, but they didn't shrink it, they got all their friends in government jobs as quick as they could. They talked about investment and free enterprise, but they tried to spur economic growth by massive deficit spending, instead of by investment and productivity. We have had 20 months to deal with 30 years of social problems, 20 years of economic problems and 12 years of trickle-down. And here is what has happened in 20 months -- we have made a good start on the economy; we have made a good start on crime; we have made a good start on making government work for ordinary Americans. Our economic strategy involved bringing the deficit down, increasing investment in education and training and new technologies, expanding trade and trying to empower individuals and communities to grow. That's what that plan did. T hat plan made 20 million Americans eligible for lower interest, longer repayment on their college loan so that no young person again should ever decline to go to college because of the cost, because now if you want, you can pay back that loan over 25 years as a percentage of your income with a lower interest rate than used to be available. That's what that economic plan did -- 600,000 people in Virginia alone eligible for that. (Applause.) That is what Chuck Robb pleads guilty to voting for. And 100 percent of them voted against it. That was their response. I was told the first week I came here -- I came here with the philosophy I just explained. Chuck Robb, we had this philosophy. He lost his position on a budget committee because he was for bigger deficit reduction. He wasn't some clone of the Democratic establishment; he stood up to everybody. Even when I presented this program, he said, well, I'll vote for it, but you ought to cut it more. Now, we come to the crime bill. Everybody says it's the biggest problem in America. The crime bill puts 100,000 police on the street; builds 100,000 jail cells to hold violent criminals; has the power to remake communities with community-based -- not bureaucracies, community-based programs to prevent crime from occurring in the first place that the law enforcement community of this country demanded be in that crime bill. It did ban assault weapons, and it did pass, in spite of the brutal efforts of leaders in the other party to defeat it. Now, here's what you may not remember. When they talked about Chuck Robb and the assault weapons ban -- let me just remind you of something -- late last year this crime bill, in only a slightly different form, passed 95-4, and the Republicans voted for it 42-2 in the United States Senate. It had the assault weapons ban in it, it had prevention programs in it. The only reason it didn't cost quite as much is, it was a four-and-a-half-year bill instead of a six-year bill. But we still made a good start on crime. And we've made a good start in making government work for ordinary people. I already mentioned -- we passed a bill to reduce the size of the federal government by 270,000, and give all the money back to local communities to fight crime. I'm about to sign a procurement bill that will put an end to $10 ash trays and $80 hammers and all that stuff you've been hearing about. You may not have heard about it, because it passed quietly, but we passed a bill that will reform all the purchasing power -- practices of the government. The things, in other words, that people who were alienated from government and who voted for Ross Perot wanted, we are doing. But you ask Senator Daschle or Senator Robb what happened to campaign finance reform. People who don't want us to have a bill killed it. Now -- so, you have a choice. We made a good start -- on economic recovery, on crime, making government work for ordinary people. Is there a lot to be done? You bet there is. Is the answer to go back to trickle-down economics? They now have a plan. We now know that in addition to being obstructionists, if you give them enough votes, they've got a plan. And what's the plan? The same thing they did before. Tell them what they want to hear, but act tough doing it, so nobody catches you being soft. You know, the mature thing to do if you're taking responsibility for your family, your kids, your business or your country, is just to tell people what has to be done, and take a deep breath and get about doing it. And it's never quite as hard or as difficult, or as painful as you think it's going to be. That is what we are doing. Now, after three years of deficit reduction, for the first time since '48, after robust job growth, after the weakest job growth since the Great Depression, their crowd has now given us $1 trillion worth of unfunded promises, which they call "a contract with America." Folks, it's a contract on America. (Applause.) They have put out a contract on the deficit, they have put out a contract on Medicare, they have put out a contract on ever paying for the Crime Bill. But they're going to promise you everything. We're going to have a balanced budget amendment, but we're going to cut everybody's taxes, we're going to spend more on defense, we're going to start Star Wars up again. Don't worry, we'll do it. Hey, I heard that before. They quadrupled the debt, reduced their investment in America, and nearly drove this country into the ditch. And I don't think we want to do it again. So you've got a clear choice, and you have to decide. (Applause.) You have to decide -- what do you believe in? And here in Virginia, you have this stark, graphic example of how really good they are at making down, up; up, down; square, round, and turning us into aliens. I will tell you -- they are better than we are at this. They are. They have turned me into an alien with a lot of voters in Virginia so I can be in the ads. But that is a true ad that I'd rather have Robb in the Senate. (Applause.) I knew if they ran enough ads, they'd finally run one that was true. That's true. But what I want to say to you is that the people of this state are good people, but they are just like the rest of the country. We're going through this period of change, and change is hard. And we all are for change in general, and then we're all against it in particular, as soon as it requires any rigor at all. Or, when it takes time to wait for. That's another thing that makes politics really hard today. Look at the way we communicate -- these pounding messages, right? The 30-second ads, trauma on the news every night, the dynamics of how we get our information. Now, Don Beyer said it the best, he said, everything that really counts in life takes time. Everything you really care about in life takes time. But we're not given much time to digest here -- to digest, we just have all this stuff crammed at us in a time of uncertainty and change. And the other guys are better talkers. I've been busy up here doing, and since they gave up all doing and didn't want to work with me, they had more time to talk. And, mercy, they're good at it. And they've got plenty of money to do it. So we now have a stark choice. We're clearly making progress -- on the economy, on crime, on making the government work for ordinary people -- clearly. We clearly have a long way to go. Is the answer to turn around and do what failed us before? That is the choice we're being given. And, here, you have a little extra gloss on it. Here, it is more stark. So I know how you feel, because you showed up and you made this contribution to Chuck Robb. But what I want to tell you is that your contribution, as much as I appreciate it, is not enough, because you cannot give $20 million. And the voters in Virginia can only vote on what they know, just like voters everywhere. You don't want them to wake up a year from now, saying, oh, my goodness, what have I done. There have to be enough who will make the right decision now. That's what happened to Mr. Truman in '48, by the way. A lot of people have forgotten this. You know, if you took a poll today, everybody wants Harry Truman on Mount Rushmore. But I came from one of those families who was for him when he was still alive. (Applause.) And I'm telling you -- those of you who are old enough to remember that know that he just barely won that race, and that he was a figure of positive change in a difficult time. Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. Just stand right there, because I'm finishing. Don't even sit down; I'm really done, and it won't encourage me to go on. Just stand right there. (Laughter.) I want you to think about this. Every one of you know somebody else you can call. You know somebody else you can talk to. There's somebody at work. There's somebody in your civic club. There's somebody you spend your time on the weekends with. There's somebody you meet at the school meeting. There's somebody you can talk to. Somebody whose scales are going up and down between hope and fear. And you can tell them that this is about going forward, not going back; it's about assuming responsibility, not pointing the finger of blame. It's about bringing people together, not dividing them. It's about playing to our hopes, not our fears. That is what you have to do. You cannot let Chuck and Linda and the people that work in the campaign headquarters do it all, and say I've paid for the television ads; I quit. That is not enough. And I want every one of you to pledge to yourselves tonight that if you want this country to keep turning around, and you want your children to reap the benefits of the 21st century, and you want to do right by your country in this period of change, the way our forebears did at the end of World War II, you will send Chuck Robb back to the Senate.

What is a Clinical Child Psychologist? Clinical child psychology is a specialty in professional psychology that develops and applies scientific or ‘evidence-based’ knowledge to the delivery of psychological services to infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents. Clinical child psychologists have specialist experience and knowledge in the areas of diagnosis, assessment, treatment, and prevention of a wide range of emotional, behavioural and relationship difficulties affecting families and children. This includes a host of issues children, adolescents, and families might face, including developmental delays, managing major life transitions such as parents separating, moving to a new school, or anxiety over exams, behaviour difficulties, and social issues, at home, preschool, or school. At Developmental Paediatrics, our clinical child and family psychologists prioritise the importance of taking the time to get to know your family and your child. We use assessments, therapies and interventions that are based on solid scientific research and ensure we keep up to date with the latest research and evidence. We are committed to supporting families in a way that promotes optimal family functioning, and ensures that children and adolescents can enjoy and engage with everyday activities and be their personal best. Psychological assessment occurs before intervention or treatment. The nature of the assessment may vary depending on the needs of the family and child. Assessments can be diagnostic (e.g. an autism-specific assessment), academic (e.g. a learning or IQ assessment), and/or solutions focused (e.g. the information gathered helps to decide on the most appropriate treatment). The ultimate aim of psychological assessment is getting to know you, your child, and understand how we can best help your family. At our service we see parents on their own for the initial consultation as speaking to parents alone ensures they can speak comfortably about their concerns for their child/adolescent. This is followed by further assessment or treatment recommendations depending on your family’s needs. We understand that parents are experts on their children, and we make it a priority to work with you collaboratively during the assessment process and when formulating treatment plans to establish shared goals for intervention. Psychological intervention from a Clinical Child Psychologist refers to the range of treatments that might be provided to your child and family based on the difficulties or challenges you are experiencing. These interventions focus on promoting overall wellbeing, and increasing resilience for children and their families. At Developmental Paediatrics we provide evidence-based interventions based on best practice which means that the treatments have been subject to thorough evaluations of evidence from published research studies. The interventions provided seek to maximize child and family benefits, and minimize and remediate the difficulties presenting. Our Clinical Child Psychologists help families and their children and adolescents who are experiencing emotional and behavioural challenges in their everyday lives. Our psychological intervention or therapeutic treatments are focused on equipping parents and children with the necessary practical and emotional skills to understand and manage the issues they are being presented with. In this way we individualise interventions to the specific needs of your family, working alongside you collaboratively in order to build on your family’s unique strengths to encourage positive treatment outcomes. How do I book my child or myself in to see a Clinical Child Psychologist?

According to a Pew Research Center survey 18% of US social media users have changed their profile picture to raise awareness or draw attention to an event or issue. Most of those that have changed their profile picture have done it to show solidarity with the LGBT community and support LGBT rights. Social media is a great way to make companies aware of the social causes you support but an even better way to make a difference and show your support for a social cause is by becoming a socially conscious investor and investing in socially responsible companies. Being a socially conscious investor means that you are investing for more than just monetary returns, you are investing to make what you consider a positive difference in the world. That positive difference could be preserving the environment by reducing emissions, promoting diversity in the workplace, or even encouraging equal pay for both genders. Socially responsible companies believe that doing good business is about more than increasing their profit margin, it’s about changing the world for the better by giving back to the community and treating their employees with high regard. When you invest in socially responsible companies you invest in companies that align with your ideals and you encourage good corporate behavior by becoming a shareholder to show that you believe in their vision. If you want to start investing in socially responsible companies, the following 5 ETFs are a good place to start doing your research. This is a new ETF that invests in companies that are leaders in advancing women through gender diversity on their boards of directors and in management. If you want to show your support for equal pay between genders and corporate diversity this may be an ETF that is worth looking into. With a .20% expense ratio it’s not a very expense ETF and according to Zacks Investment Research the ETF has had a successful launch generating about $264.2 million of assets since its debut. This is one of the first socially responsible ETF’s having been around since 2006. This ETF invests in US companies that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics as identified by the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index. With $494.5 million in net assets this is the largest socially responsible ETF however it’s a little expensive with a net expense ratio of .50%. This is a fairly new ETF that debuted in 2014. This ETF invests in global companies with a lower carbon exposure, including carbon emission and potential carbon emissions from fossil fuel reserves, than that of the broader market. It is believed that lowering carbon emissions is extremely important to preserve our environment and combat global warming therefore if that is a cause that is important to you, this may be an ETF worth looking at. The ETF has a fairly inexpensive net expense ratio of .20% and currently has $221.3 million in net assets. This is an older ETF that was incepted in 2005. This ETF invests in US companies that have positive environmental, social and governance characteristics (“ESG”). If you are against tobacco companies then this may be the ETF for you. It doesn’t invest in any tobacco companies and largely focuses on financials, healthcare and information technology companies. It has $357.8 million in net assets and a net expense ratio of .50%. This is a newer ETF that was incepted in late 2015. This ETF invests in companies in the S&P 500 that are “fossil fuel free” meaning the company doesn’t own any fossil fuel reserves. Fossil fuels are considered important to preserving our environment therefore if environment protection is an import cause to you, then this is an ETF worth researching. This ETF is a smaller one with only $71.8 million in net assets however it is a lower cost ETF at .20% net expense ratio.

for young English language learners. In Level A, students learn through Picture Storybooks and Student Books which develop children’s recognition of the alphabet through visually engaging illustrated stories, songs, activities and more. Children ages 3-4 learn how to read and write the alphabet letters, along with learning 4 related alphabet words. Find out more about our fun Little CHESS eLearning program with nearly 2,000 engaging activities for students to explore.

Ths tooth root was shown to the vertebrate curators in the NHM in London in the early 1980's and they said it was one of the largest tooth roots they had ever seen!! The specimen itself was discovered in soft clay in 1967 and has amazing detail and colouration. Temnodontosaurus was the largest of the Ichthyosaurs, growing to lengths of around forty five feet long. Their eye sockets could grow up to 10.4" across. This particular specimen, if it had its crown, would have been around 5" long. A truly massive marine reptile which roamed the seas around 200 million years ago. One for the collector of one off Ichthyosaurus specimens. Collected in the 1980's is this one half of a polished nodule which contains a fossilised coprolite. The coprolite itself looks like the sun with flares radiating from its surface!! A wonderful and highly aesthetic specimen!!

30,000 companies in Poland pay a total of PLN 3bn in additional taxes for employment of disable, but the majority of disabled people are not looking for an employment. The Polish government is not the most lavish one as far as attracting FDI is concerned. According to the latest report by the Polish Foreign Investment Agency, Poland has less incentives than Bulgaria and the Czech Republic but more than Slovakia or Romania. Our business is not to buy investments but to shape an economic map of Poland. CEFinancialObserver.eu talks to Sławomir Majman, President of the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. Special economic zones are beneficial for regions that are at intermediate stages of development. In most cases they have not added to the growth of local communities. A stagnant European Union and growing geopolitical problems in Russia are forcing Poland to look further afield for export markets, with some success; the government’s two-year-old GoAfrica programme has boosted trade with Africa by 25%. There are more than 115 million immigrants currently living in developed countries of the OECD - people born outside their current country of residence who hold citizenship of the country of their origin. They constitute approx. 10% of the population in the OECD. At least 70 cities and municipalities have already launched their participatory budgets. Their number will grow since they are drivers of popularity and the local elections are scheduled as early as this autumn. Therefore, once again - after a year - we are watching the implementation of the idea of the participatory budget. A review of Internet reports shows that the process of creating participatory budgets has been professionalised by city authorities. The number of children and youth is for the first time the same as the number of pensioners in Poland. Both groups were 7 million strong in December 2013, according the preliminary reports of Poland’s Central Statistics Agency. This was also the first year in which the Polish government withdrew more from the its Demographic Reserve Fund (FRD), created as a reserve in case of problems with future pension payments, than it paid into the fund from gains from privatization. The fund is dwindling. Roads, railways and drilling for shale gas are almost certain infrastructure investments for the coming years. Although yesterday the government adopted a nuclear power program, large investments in the power industry, in particular in a nuclear power plant, are uncertain. Four new countries, among them Poland, will be audited as part of the IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). The program assesses financial systems in countries where a crisis would have a significant impact on the global economy, either due to the size of that country’s economy or its interconnectedness with others. We’ll be more important, but also subject to more frequent assessment.

Charlotte is playing a new game, Pow Pow Powers, but the kids call it 'Triple P'. She is stuck on a level at the moment in this level, she has to complete the rules for raising products and quotients to a power. Surely, her knowledge of Powers of Products and Quotients will help her dance her way to the top of the leaderboard. "'a'! Times! 'b'! all to the 'm' power! Equals! 'a'! To the 'm' power! Times! 'b' to the 'm' power!" Next up is raising a power to a power! The variables just keep coming! "'a'! To the 'm' power! all to the 'p' power! Equals! 'a'! To the 'm'! Times 'p'! Power!" Last one! Raising a quotient to a power! Can Charlotte keep up?! "'a'! Divided by! All to the 'm' power! Equals! 'a'! To the 'm'! Divided by! 'b'! to the 'm'! Power!" Let's look at an example of the rules Charlotte needed to know for the game with real numbers. The first rule was for raising products to a power. [a(b)]ᵐ = aᵐ(bᵐ) Let's plug in 2 for 'a', 5 for 'b' and 3 for 'm'. Is [2(5)]³ the same as (2³)(5³)? Let's think of [2(5)]³ as (2)(5) (2)(5) (2)(5). According to the Commutative Property of Multiplication, you can change the order of the factors to be (2)(2)(2)(5)(5)(5). To simplify this, you can write (2³)(5³). This means that [2(5)]³ is the same as (2³)(5³). But, how do you raise a power to a power? This rule states that (aᵐ)ᵖ = aᵐ⁽ᵖ⁾. Let's let 'a' be 2 again. 'm' is still 3. 'p' will be 4. Is (2³)⁴ the same as 2¹²? Let's imagine multiplying 2³ by itself four times. Since the bases are the same, we can add the exponents together. There are four exponents with the value 3, so we can write the expression as 2⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾. To simplify this, we can multiply the exponents, giving us 2¹². For her last feat, Charlotte raise quotients to a power. This rule states that (a/b)ᵐ = aᵐ / bᵐ. What does this look like when we use numbers? For this, 'a' will be 2 again, 'b' will be 5 and 'm' will be 3. Which brings us to our question: what is (2/5)³ equal to? According to the Commutative Property of Multiplication, you can rewrite this expression as (2/5)(2/5)(2/5). For the numerator, we can write (2)(2)(2) and for the denominator, (5)(5)(5). Simplifying this gives us (2)³ / (5)³. (a ∙ b)^m = a^m ∙ b^m. (a ÷ b)^m = a^m ÷ b^m. The powers of products and the powers of quotients rules are powerful tools which make solving algebraic and arithmetic problems easier and faster, allowing us to calculate important quantities in our daily lives, like speed or distance of moving objects.

According to the associate professor of child psychiatry Mr. Ioannis Tsiantis, one out of seven pupils undergo systematic bullying, which can reach even to physical violence. As the president of the Association for the Psychosocial Health of Children and Adolescents, Mr. Tsiantis reports that the aggressive behavior in schools among students is manifested more often and in a more violent way the last years. The forms of this phenomenon can be: Verbal bullying, Physical bullying, Social bullying, Cyber bullying. As it appears mainly from the national literature, the 15% of pupils has experienced bullying, mainly at the ages of 8-15. The boys resort mostly to physical violence, while the girls are being mainly involved in incidents of verbal bullying. The children who undergo violence in school fell more anxious and insecure, while they have lower self-esteem, cry easily and they can not defend themselves. They can also suffer from depression, psychosomatic problems, denial of going to school, learning disabilities and adaptation problems. On the contrary, the children – perpetrators want to dominate and control the others. They are children who have low academic performance, they try to control the other using violence and they can also have deviant behavior. Relatively to the tackling of the phenomenon, the Association for the Psychosocial Health of Children and Adolescents adopt from 2006 a European transnational research program to primary and secondary schools of Athens and Thessaloniki. The goal of the current program is the awareness of the teachers, the parents and the pupils and to propose good practices for the prevention of bullying. The results showed that the program provided the principles for better communication among pupils, teachers and parents and for respect to the human rights and the needs of the pupils, the parents and the teachers, so as to contribute all of them for a school without violence. The current article describes the bullying phenomenon on a simple and a systematic way as well. The associate professor of child psychiatry (Medical School – University of Athens) Mr. Ioannis Tsiantis responses to 6 well-aimed questions on a compendious way. This makes the article legible and conceivable to anyone. Having been given the definition of bullying, then are being reported the various forms of bullying. Furthermore the professor presents the extend of the phenomenon in Greece. According to that, one out of ten children faces this problem and the proportion of children who suffer from bullying increases rapidly. In addition, the professor suggests good practices of how we can identify a victim or a perpetrator. On the first case, the child seems to feel repulsion to violence, it has low self esteem and it is very sensible, while on the second case the child tends to dominate the others and to commit violence. Finally, it is represented the European transnational research program that adopts the Association for the Psychosocial Health of Children and Adolescents from 2006 to primary and secondary schools of Athens and Thessaloniki. The goal is the the awareness of the teachers, the parents and the pupils and the results of this adoption were rather positive.

In this module you will learn to connect psychological risks, eating disorders and family influence to behaviour patterns in obesity. You will consider the role of stress, as well as neurobiology and addiction. Most importantly, your understanding will be linked to new skills. You will not just understand how these factors are connected to obesity, but how they affect each individual patient. Provide a critical understanding of the concepts and controversies in regard to the impact of psychological and emotional issues on eating behaviours in obese people. Debate issues surrounding the need for consideration of psychological aspects in dealing with the obesity problem. This module reviews emotional and psychological issues around eating and obesity to explore the possible aetiologies that affect an individual’s eating behaviour, reviewing research that claims neuronal pathways leading to addiction are influenced by food. The impact of obesity in childhood, on both short and long term mental health and well being will be reviewed, along with parental influences. Consideration will be given to the effects of social stigmas attached to being overweight, and their impact on the ability to lose weight and maintain that loss. The module also considers the need for compassionate communication and Motivational Interviewing in discerning the patient narrative, and some of the possible treatment options, that help to support and sustain change in eating behaviour. Methods of delivery include: audio and visual presentations involving interactive e-learning units and presentations, Discussion Forums, academic tutorials and group work. Students learn through engaging in critical reflective practice on cases and course material that is recorded in their Student Log; Discussion Forums; critiquing articles and web based sources of information; quizzes to assess knowledge and understanding of key papers; casework; group work; and research-based assignments. The assessment of this module includes formative and summative assessments that develop and assess: participation in Discussion Forums; self reflection and reflection on peer contributions; research based, case led assignment; and application of behaviour change strategies. Students studying one of our postgraduate courses would normally have studied the Causes and Consequences of Obesity module prior to studying this module.

Adam Smith (1723–90) is widely known around the world because the writer of The Wealth of countries and the founding father of smooth economics. some of his ideas--that of the “invisible hand” of the industry and that “It isn't from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we predict our dinner, yet from their regard to their very own interest” became iconic. but Smith observed himself basically as a thinker instead of an economist and might by no means have expected that the guidelines for which he's now top recognized have been his most vital. This ebook exhibits the level to which The Wealth of countries and Smith’s different nice paintings, the idea of ethical Sentiments, have been a part of a bigger scheme to set up a grand “Science of Man,” probably the most bold tasks of the eu Enlightenment, which was once to surround legislations, heritage, and aesthetics in addition to economics and ethics, and which was once in simple terms part entire on Smith’s loss of life in 1790. This e-book presents an creation to uncomplicated in addition to complicated macrodynamics, considered as a disequilibrium concept of fluctuating progress. It builds on an previous try to reformulate the principles of macroeconomics from the point of view of actual markets disequilibrium and the clash over source of revenue distribution among capital and exertions. It does so, no longer since it seeks to help the view that this category clash is inevitable, yet really from the viewpoint that an realizing of this clash can assist to formulate social ideas and rules that could aid to beat type clash at the least in its cruder kinds. it's additional was hoping that such an realizing may result in rational strategies and ideas which could flip this clash right into a consensus-driven interplay among capital and the employable workforce. The conquest of the Americas inaugurated the gradual accumulation of assets and the imperceptible structural differences that culminated within the business Revolution. From that second on, capitalism grew and accelerated with a dynamism and suppleness which are now all too accepted, making the most of wars or even coping with to rebound after a chain of devastating monetary crises. In his scathing the speculation of the rest category, Thorstein Veblen produced a landmark learn of prosperous American society that exposes, with extraordinary ruthlessness, the conduct of construction and waste that hyperlink invidious enterprise strategies and barbaric social habit. Veblen's research of the evolutionary method sees greed because the overriding cause within the glossy financial system, and with an neutral gaze he examines the human price paid while social associations make the most the intake of unessential items for the sake of private revenue. The talk over inequality has accumulated steam with the book of Thomas Piketty’s new publication, Capital within the Twenty-First Century, a dense paintings of financial background that records the increase of source of revenue inequality in fresh a long time and units forth an time table of taxation to house it. Piketty’s treatise has became a rallying aspect for these favoring source of revenue redistribution and better taxes at the wealthy.

I like to know things I have no real need to know. I can’t just wonder if an egg actually will stand on end during a vernal equinox, I need to Google it and find out (answer: you can do it at any time if you’re coordinated enough, which I’m not, and therefore have no use for this information). Quantum physics has no useful place in my life, but I was on a quest to understand it, until a medical physicist friend of mine told me she thinks there are pieces of the theory missing to make it fully comprehensible, and another person said her renowned physics professor says if you think you understand, you don’t. My current quest is to understand the behind-the-scenes world of television, because it’s a mysterious world of people doing something I view as interesting and valuable, and understanding is my expression of appreciation. As part of that quest, I’ve been following the blogs of a few television screenwriters. A couple of weeks ago, one of my favourites wrote something that both bothered and enlightened me, and hearing a few writers talk about their work habits recently has kept me coming back to what he said. I understand what he’s saying, and don’t quite disagree with it. Fans don’t have the knowledge to fully understand one piece of information out of context, and their reaction to that one piece of information can be unfair. But I want to get it, I don’t think it’s an impossible task, and I think the poison is not in the fans’ actions, it’s in the writers’ potential reactions. As a kid, I loved Anne of Green Gables to pieces – literally. I had a series of several copies since they would inevitably fall apart from frequent rereading. I wanted more. The second book, Anne of Avonlea, was great. I wanted more. Anne of the Island was pretty good. I still wanted more. Well, by the time Anne and Gilbert got together, married, had kids and grandkids, the characters and stories had been so diluted that it was no longer the Anne I knew and loved. I not only didn’t want more, I kind of wanted to erase the thought of the last books from my mind. Author Lucy Maud Montgomery died long before I was born, so she wasn’t catering to my online demands, and I have no idea if it was money, or public demand, or her own desire to see what came next, or a combination that inspired her to keep writing about Anne. But it still demonstrates an important point: sometimes fans shouldn’t get what they want. Sometimes the writer needs to know what works best dramatically, whether that’s keeping the lovers apart, stringing out the central mystery, or ending the story at a satisfying point. And that’s Dead Things guy’s point, too, except I can’t agree on the isolationist view he proposes. I think writers should know how their fans are reacting to their show, both for the gratification of knowing people care, and the understanding of how their work is being interpreted, even if they have no intention of catering to specific demands. And fans should be aware that it’s not practical or even desirable to have an entire series mapped out in detail from beginning to end, and that dramatic decisions don’t necessarily have to be popular to be best for the show and keep people watching. I recently saw writers Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie give talks in Vancouver about their writing processes (more on the Rushdie talk is here). Atwood made the same comparison Dead Things on Sticks guy does, with magicians revealing their secrets. Except Atwood took it a step further – I suppose she had to, since her lecture was on revealing the secrets behind the writing of five of her novels. She said that even knowing how magicians perform their tricks, she will never be Penn or Teller. She doesn’t have the hands. She doesn’t have the passion. The audiences of those two talks I attended are not now equipped to be the next Margaret Atwood or Salman Rushdie. As Atwood said, you need innate talent, hard work, and luck. But we went away satisfied with a glimpse behind the scenes of work we admire. To take it back to television writers and the Lost kerfuffle, you do get into the tricky area of the rabid online fandom. One-to-one engagement with random Internet strangers has its pitfalls for anyone, not just writers of beloved series. If they wade into the midst of that fandom, it can be like entering shark infested waters wearing bacon pants. There are fans who aren’t curious in the simple pursuit of information. They are curious to fuel their passion for second-guessing, speculation, and, often, superiority. I don’t think it matters how much or how little that person knows about the process. Part of their fun is derived from playing back seat writer. They are not just curious about what comes next, they want to drive what comes next. They don’t want to sit back and enjoy the ride the writers take us on, until we realize at the beginning of season six that what people have been telling us for over a year is true – The West Wing is just not what it used to be, it never will be again, and how the hell can C.J. be Chief of Staff after everything that came before?! Um, to use a random example. But those fans have a legitimate right to pursue their fun just as much as I have a right to pretend I can understand a little about the process. Both are forms of appreciation. But while second-guessing can be done in a vacuum, understanding can’t.

How do you make sure that people, money, materials, and buildings are used efficiently across the whole organisation? How can you as a manager/planner ensure that your organisation is successful in achieving its goals? These are big questions and it is obvious that a broad number of skills are involved in such an important business role. Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM) is applicable to most organisations and is concerned with the design, planning, and management of all facilities, processes, and activities required to transform resources into goods and services. Operational managers control more than 70% of organisational resources (people, money, materials, and buildings) used in the production of goods or in providing services. Successful operations managers also need knowledge of marketing, human resource management, and finance. Why study Operations and Supply Chain Management at UC? UC’s OSCM courses focus on issues such as operations strategy, performance management, supply chain management, procurement, product design, process design, planning, inventory management, project management, quality management, and continuous improvement. OSCM is beneficial for students who study disciplines such as Marketing, Human Resource Management, Finance, Information Systems, and Engineering. The flexibility of the Bachelor of Commerce makes double majors, as well as double degrees, possible. By adding OSCM to your studies, you can broaden your education and enhance the prospect of progress in your chosen career. For the study of OSCM, proficiency in statistics and modelling up to Year 13 is desirable. Students also do well if they have an interest in solving problems and good communication skills. To specialise in this field, some concurrent study in Economics, Accounting, and Information Systems is highly desirable. UC offers a major and a minor in Operations and Supply Chain Management as part of the Bachelor of Commerce. You can also study this subject as a minor within the Bachelor of Arts. There are a number of OSCM courses at 200 and 300-level which deal with various topics eg, operations strategy, project management, supply chain design, product design, and quality management. For the complete three-year Bachelor of Commerce Operations and Supply Chain Management major degree plan, and minor courses, see the UC Business School | Te Kura Umanga website. Every organisation, whether a company or a not-for-profit organisation, has some operations function to it, so the skills learnt in OSCM courses are widely applicable. Operations and Supply Chain Management provides graduates with the skills and understanding to enable them to function as supply chain managers, production planners, operations managers, quality managers, project managers, procurement managers, business analysts, and management consultants. Many graduates are expected to rise to senior management levels. Students in other disciplines often find it valuable to include some OSCM courses in their degree programme, as exposure to the principles of OSCM has become an assumed part of the training of quantitative social scientists as well as accountants, computer specialists, and engineers. For examples of jobs in this area, visit the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

In this post I will list resources I found useful when I was trying to find out about deep learning. Feel free to add more in the comments. Neural Networks for Machine Learning: Hinton's course at Coursera is a wonderful introduction to deep learning. I recommend lectures 11-15 that cover Hopfield nets, Boltzmann machines, sigmoid belief nets and sparse auto-encoders. UFLDL tutorial: Tutorial on unsupervised feature learning and deep learning by Andrew Ng. Includes lecture notes and programming exercises. The first programming exercise shows how sparse auto-encoders can self-learn features found in the visual cortex, and the rest shows how these unsupervised features improve performance on supervised visual recognition tasks like MNIST and STL10. IPAM graduate summer school on deep learning and feature learning: has video lectures by many of the leaders of the field. Torch7: is a Matlab-like environment for state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms used at the IPAM summer school and several research groups on deep learning. deeplearning.net lists these and many other resources.

Are you cooking your brain with your phone? Technology has changed the world. Thanks to it, we can now be connected almost anywhere, at almost any given time. And while it has brought many people together, it has also strained relationships and friendships due to an ever-growing dependence on our gadgets and less interactions with those right in front of us. Like everything in life, it has its pros and cons. But you may not know about a particular developing con regarding the tech world. It’s called Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Syndrome, (EHS), or more commonly known as Wifi Syndrome. Wifi Syndrome is characterized by a variety of nonspecific symptoms, which afflicted individuals attribute to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), according to the World Health Organization. Though EHS is idiopathic, more and more Wifi Syndrome reported cases are surfacing, making people question the consequences of being on their phones and other technology gadgets for extended periods of time. Every time you are on your phone, surfing the web on a computer at home, or watching Netflix on your tablet, you are exposed to electromagnetic fields. People have allegedly begun having “allergic reactions” to EMF, reporting symptoms such as nausea, tiredness, concentration difficulties, burning sensations and more. While there has yet to be a determined cause to this alleged condition, the World Health Organization does acknowledge it. Researchers around the world have begun looking into this theory of EMF causing detrimental symptoms for people, but have had little luck so far discovering strong enough correlations to declare it. And though multiple people have similar symptoms, their symptoms have one BIG thing in common ― they’re nearly undiagnosable due to the plethora of health factors possibly responsible for the symptoms. One could be experiencing tiredness due to lack of sleep rather than too much EMF exposure. Another person could experience nausea due to their diet. This is not to say EHS isn’t real, but concrete evidence is hard to muster when scientists are unable to determine clear correlations. In addition to symptoms possibly being caused by health factors unrelated to EMF, there is also what is known as a “nocebo effect,” which is when people tend to feel sick because they believe they’ve been exposed to something that will sicken them. This is another potential conclusion to people’s Wifi Syndrome symptoms. It’s good to utilize and enjoy the technological advancements we have today, but it’s healthy for us to stray away from overindulging in technology. Regardless of whether you believe Wifi Syndrome is a real disorder or a myth, if you are experiencing any unusual symptoms, it’s always best to just go to a doctor and get checked out. Wifi and our everyday technological habits are still significantly modern, hindering our chances of knowing all of the potential health hazards EMF’s can cause. What has been declared is Computer Vision Syndrome, which is eye and vision-related problems that result from prolonged computer, tablet, e-reader and cell phone use causing eye strain, headaches, dry eyes, blurred vision and more according to the American Optometric Association. AOA claims that because the visual demands of the task exceed the visual abilities of the individual to comfortably perform them, CVS occurs. Aside from vision issues, there is also speculation that demanding use of cell phones and computers can be linked to an increase in stress, sleep disorders and depressive symptoms, though few studies’ outcomes have been conclusive.

The crypto community can generally agree on at least one thing: a blockchain shouldn’t be valuable if it isn’t secure. Immediately after that rare instance of agreement, the finger-pointing and name-calling generally continues. The fact is this: blockchain security is acknowledged as being essential, but how to best secure a blockchain (much less those meant to publicly service the entire planet) is still very much open for debate. When computers “work” they consume electricity and give off heat. In an arms race to “work” as efficiently and quickly as possible, machines that secure the Bitcoin network have grown extremely specialized and expensive. “Average users” have essentially been priced out of the ability to put their computers to “work” for the network even if they wanted to. Meanwhile – geographic, political, and hardware centralization have all increased within the network. What’s more, is that the amount of electricity (among other resources) consumed to secure the Bitcoin network has become staggering – and is continually swelling. Fortunately, PoW probably isn’t the only option for securing a worldwide public blockchain network. It just so happens to currently be the more “tried-and-true” method – with plenty of apparent pitfalls. As with all things, Ethereum is looking for ways to improve what others have already grown complacent with – the community, and especially the developers, have put an awful lot of thought into a solution… now, please, meet Casper. If PoW was the old-school, energy-hungry, environmental-bully in the neighborhood. Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) would be the techno-nerd, self-reflective, conservationist next-door-neighbor. The biggest problem the neighborhood has with this PoS newcomer, is that it’s just moving in – and so nobody is yet comfortable with it. They have all heard rumors – but they want to observe how it behaves in the real world. The crypto community has certainly seen PoS before. The basic idea is not at all complicated. Replace “work” in PoW with “money behind a claim” and you’ll probably have a decent intuition about how this system is supposed to operate. The PoS implementation that is Casper merely adds a few additional rules to this network security model – specifically, punishing undesirable behavior. Essentially, PoS functions like this: the computers on the network vouch for the transaction on the blockchain by backing their reported transaction histories with something valuable (ether in our case). If they backed the version of reality that the majority of the network backed – then they would be rewarded by being given something valuable (more ether). Casper adds more rules to this simple PoS concept – if a computer is caught misreporting reality, then they stand to lose the ether they put up. If they are caught misbehaving in other ways, then they stand to lose a smaller portion of their ether. The goal of this implementation of PoS is to keep everyone behaving in all circumstances. Just like in PoW – this version of PoS should make it more expensive to try to undermine the network integrity than it is to contribute to it. Designing the system with the proper incentives (and disincentives) requires anticipating all of the ways in which actors on the network may interact with each other. Then it needs to be translated properly into code. It’s a challenge spanning mathematics, economics, game theory, computer programming, and network design – at the bare minimum. Admittedly, it might not be perfect in its first iteration – and that possibility makes people nervous. The Ethereum community is not unaware of this – they are simply adamant about moving forward and innovating rather than watching their network stagnate. For this reason, in addition to undergoing examination on the testnet, the first version of Casper will be a hybrid implementation. PoW will not be completely discarded, but Casper PoS will be used to verify a certain percentage of blocks. This should make for a smoother transition from the past… to the future of blockchains. In the end, Casper will, hopefully, allow more people to be involved in securing the network with even less inefficiency and at lower environmental cost. It has the added benefit of making the network faster, as well. Anyone hoping that Casper doesn’t go well must have seriously misguided incentives and does not have the best interest of the crypto space (and, arguably, the world) in mind. When everyone is eventually more comfortable with Casper PoS and begins to have confidence in it as a viable solution for securing a worldwide public blockchain – then legacy PoW can be completely retired. That is the future of Ethereum – and potentially blockchains more broadly, if everything goes as well as the Ethereum community hopes. This article is meant to be a brief introduction to Casper PoS – it is, therefore, not comprehensive. I will publish additional articles shortly for those readers more interested in the finer details of the protocol as it stands today or for some of the philosophical considerations behind PoW vs PoS, etc. Now, to address your question – I believe that you’re spot on about propagation times being the ultimate bottleneck. Luckily, we are not bumping up against that limit currently. My understanding is that PoS will simply move us closer to it, by removing PoW’s computational overhead. So, your intuition is exactly right, afaik. I’m getting into the more technical side of Casper PoS in my next article on the subject – and will look for more current facts and figures as I continue to research more. How is Pos affect miners? Will it be more difficult to mine with POS? Full PoS will not have miners at all. Instead, there will only be “stakers”. This will be less computationally intensive, and should not require copious amounts of GPUs. It will require ETH for “staking” instead of expensive hardware, and machine up-time will be much more critical than computing power. In theory, this will eventually make securing the network possible for anyone that holds ETH and has a reliable internet connection. During the “hybrid” phase – PoW difficulty should not be abnormally affected, as I understand it. The timelines for both the hybrid and full PoS implementations are not yet final – so if you’re inquiring because you want to invest in mining equipment, I’m not able to accurately advise if that investment would currently be profitable.

Bible Followers or Jesus Followers? Exactly what are they trying to convey to travelers as they pass by that sign? What I understand is this: If you are proclaiming that theirs is a Bible following church, it means there are churches that are not Bible following. The differentiation between Bible following and alleged non-Bible following churches is a conflict that arose in Christianity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the development of the historical-critical method of Biblical scholarship, which examined, among other things, the contextual, cultural and literary components of scripture. It discerned to hear the word of God through these lens. To approach the Bible in this manner is to believe that the scriptures are a living text and have something important and new to say to us in each age and in every human circumstance we find ourselves. The Episcopal Church studies the Bible through this methodology. At its inception, this approach to the Bible was not welcomed by all believers and resulted in the fundamentalist response, which believed that the Bible was the literal word of God in its entirety and could not be understood any other way. This belief is summarized in the bumper sticker that says, “God said it, and I believe it.” Fundamentalists see the Bible as being complete as received and is to be apprehended at face value. This literal interpretation of the Bible often reduces the text to legalism and can err on the side of lacking in compassion. Our friends in the United Church of Christ have a slogan that captures the historical-critical approach perfectly: God is still speaking. If God is still speaking, we must listen and be attentive to hearing the word of the “still-speaking God” in our lives. It’s hardly a new concept to listen for the word of the still-speaking God. In today’s story about Joseph, we have a wonderful example where someone is confronted with choosing the literal, legalistic understanding of the Bible or hearing the still-speaking voice of God. We know the story: Joseph is engaged to Mary and they are to be married. Before she has had marital relations with Joseph, Mary discovers that she is with child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Note the sequential order of who knows what and when. At first, Joseph only becomes aware of Mary’s pregnancy but not its origins. Mary (but not Joseph) knows her pregnancy is by the Holy Spirit. Subsequently, the angel of the Lord reveals the pregnancy’s divine source to Joseph in a dream. Initially all Joseph knows is that Mary is pregnant. Naturally, he assumed she had sexual relations with another man. I mean in the first century was there any other way? We do not know if Joseph believed the liaison to be consensual or not, but considering how young and vulnerable Mary was, the latter was highly possible. Regardless her pregnancy’s circumstances, Mary was no longer seen as suitable for marriage, and Biblical law was clear about what should happen to her. Joseph decides to spare Mary public humiliation and death. He decides to let her go quietly, possibly to the protection of friends or family, slipping into anonymity and delivering her child privately. While the future prospects for Mary as an un-wed mother were not great, they were certainly better than death. Confronted with a challenging – if not impossible – situation, Joseph lets his conscience hear the compassionate, still speaking word of God to guide his decision. Joseph didn’t follow the literal letter of Torah law. Because he ignored the law’s direction, some people wouldn’t have considered Joseph a Bible follower. Matthew’s Jewish audience, whose literal belief in the Bible was fundamental to their faith, were Bible followers. To them, Joseph’s compassionate option didn’t adhere to law and would have been see as out of favor with God. And yet… Joseph is described as “being a righteous man” even as he decides to not follow the literal law. This nativity story about Joseph established the pattern of what Jesus’ life and ministry would role model: every time he was confronted with a choice between the literal law and compassion, rigidity or love, Jesus always chose compassion and love. Jesus’ acts of compassion and love show the still-speaking God who guides us to lead a righteous way of life. Joseph is a glimpse of what Jesus will epitomize and teach about acts of justice – even when these acts violated the law and predominant culture’s expectations. This was especially true when following such laws would harm society’s weakest, neediest and most vulnerable, like unwed mothers. Jesus’ sermon turns their literal, legalistic world upside down and inside out as he introduces God’s reign, which is built upon compassion, justice and love. My sisters and brothers, we Christians are always called to respond as God’s righteous people when confronted with difficult decisions and challenging times. There will be occasions when we will be compelled to choose between being Bible followers or Jesus followers. I predict for the foreseeable future that we will be put to the test – and in fact are being tested. We will increasingly have more Joseph moments as we see the weak, needy and most vulnerable assaulted by many quarters. Laws will be challenged or changed to further harm the already disadvantaged among us. As we encounter these challenging circumstances our choice to follow the legal manipulators or the still-speaking God we hear in Jesus will be a stark one. We must do this in deed and action – not just in prayer or social media posts. Will we be Bible followers or Jesus followers? Like Joseph, I hope we will opt to hear God’s still-speaking voice and respond with justice, compassion and love in all we do, and all that we are. Our salvation lies in that choice.

Non-surgical treatment – For people with no evidence of nerve root compression or muscle weakness, conservative treatment such as medication, rest, exercise and physical therapy are usually recommended. Surgical treatment – Surgery is offered only after conservative treatment options fail to adequately relieve the symptoms of pain, numbness and weakness over a significant period. Decompression of the spinal cord along with a discectomy and fusion will be performed to remove the affected disc and fuse the adjoining vertebrae to stabilise the spine.

We are used to hearing about accidents caused by recklessness, alcohol consumption and high speed. However, the lack of maintenance of the vehicle can be an aggravating factor. Meet 7 items from your car that deserve special attention, but often are forgotten. It is essential to check the brake fluid level. If it is low, it is an important warning problem. Not complete at the fuel station (unless you are very low): take the car to the mechanic immediately. In addition to the pads and discs, you need to check the rear brake, often overlooked and very important in emergencies where you need all system efficiency. Everyone knows that bald or with bubble tire should be replaced. Who has been there knows what I mean: the bursting of a rear tire causing the driver a sense of powerlessness too big, especially if you are above 50 km / h - you have no idea where your car will stop. And there is the risk of hydroplaning, which occurs frequently with cars with worn tires. These are very important in vehicle stability. The main problems relate to the lack of action or lock. In these cases, the suspension will be too soft or too hard, so every 10,000 km, it is important to check them, as the action, and fixing leaks. The comfort of most cars prevents you know some risk situations. If the power steering box or any of its hoses are in a hydraulic oil leak, the wheel of his car may harden suddenly. Still, it will work. But if you are making a turn at high speed, there is the possibility of "visiting" the oncoming lane. Also known as "poly V" belt, is responsible for the alternator drive, the air conditioning compressor and especially the power steering pump. If this belt break, the direction will be tough, as explained in the item above. Three years or 50,000 kilometers is suggesting most manuals for exchange. Whistles or squeaks when it steers the power steering should be checked. Besides the belt, the problem may be in any of the mentioned items. They are as important as the steering box and, worse, do not usually give warning to the driver who will break. Every 10,000 km, it is necessary to align the suspension, so take the time to check them. Also long forgotten, they account for unexpected situations. Lack of grip and fatigue, especially in vehicles with more than 10 years, are reasons to break off his wheel hub and make him lose direction.

Timothy is again reminded of the connection between his relationship with Paul and his relationship with the truth the apostle taught. “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them,” says Second Timothy 3:14. One of Paul’s last requests before his death was for Timothy to bring his cloak and books and try hard to come before winter. There was a friendship between Paul and Timothy, as well as the loyalty appropriate in a real friendship. This serious flaw has come upon us with the breakdown of the family and is unquestionably caused by how little those who train Christian workers understand the value of basic loyalty. But loyalty in the ministry should be learned, even if it is learned late. Here are principles of loyalty that ought to be followed by people in the work of God. 1. When a man has been invited by a pastor to join the paid staff of the church as his assistant, his primary loyalty (other than to the Lord) is to that pastor. He works for the preacher and only indirectly for the church or any church board. Timothy had a subservient relationship to the man who had invited him to join his evangelistic team. “Him would Paul have to go forth with him,” says Acts 16:3 about Paul’s recruitment of Timothy. This leader/assistant relationship continued to the end of the apostle’s life. There are several examples in First Timothy of Paul telling Timothy what to do. Some of these statements are exhortations that could be applied to anyone, admonishing someone to do the right thing. Others are clearly direct orders to Timothy. The whole Bible puts forward the follow-the-leader arrangement as usually ideal, and as how God works among men. The godly submit themselves to individuals. Godly wives are subject to their husbands. The godly child honors and obeys his father and his mother. One who works for a preacher should seek to please him and meet his needs and expectations. Follow the exhortation to servants given in Titus concerning their dealings with their superiors: “Please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity” (Titus 2:9–10). You were hired to help the preacher. That’s why you are where you are. Some day you may be the leader, but now you are the follower. God may promote you if you do well as someone’s assistant (remember the stories of Joseph, Joshua, and Timothy). 2. An assistant pastor (or associate evangelist) should support the position, person, and policies of his superior before other people. Remember that your calling, under God, is to assist the pastor. It is not your calling to criticize him, undermine his leadership, or upstage him. You may know a better way to do things; and when you pastor your own church, you may get a chance to show us your better way, but now your role is subsidiary. The ideal situation would be for the pastor to open opportunities for the assistant to express his ideas to his overseer. If pastors hold regular meetings with the staff during which co-workers can respectfully present ideas and suggestions for even serious changes, it is a good thing. But these discussions will happen behind closed doors. The idea is to improve the ministry, to put it on the right track according to the leading of the Lord. A helper doesn’t help by expressing to others his disagreements with the leader. When the Lord let me serve as an assistant to a pastor, I decided that I would publicly support everything he wanted done. The word support does not necessarily mean agree in every case. I hoped that the preacher would let me privately point out mistakes we might be making, but he could count on me to back publicly what he favored. Every successful assistant pastor follows this policy. If my pastor were to follow a course I could not conscientiously support, I would be honest with him and take steps to leave my post quietly. Of course, there can be exceptions to this policy of leaving quietly. The assistant must not be part of the cover-up of serious wickedness. However the normal stance of a co-laborer is that of a supporter as well as a helper. A young preacher who has been trained to take a stand for the right should learn to consider humbly whether or not he is in a position ethically to take a particular stand. Is it your place to question openly what kind of toothpaste the pastor uses or whether you think his tie goes with his suit? You may be discerning enough to have a right opinion on such matters, but you have no right to go public with it. Of course, I am speaking in jest about toothpaste and ties, but the principle applies to more serious issues, too. Don’t stab the preacher in the back. 3. Loyalty is a positive quality and not simply a negative one. One is not a loyal assistant or a loyal friend simply because he has not acted or spoken disloyally. Loyalty calls for positive support and effort. 4. All preachers should give every other preacher the benefit of the doubt. In First Timothy chapter five, the ministerial “son” of Paul is told not to receive an accusation against an elder unless the accusation can be proven. Elders were what we usually call pastors in our time. It is amazing how often the grape-vine carries unsubstantiated accusations against preachers. Don’t we know that the Devil has aimed his guns at the men who represent God and the Bible? Why are we so gullible about believing the scuttlebutt when it targets a fellow preacher? A wise policy is to express doubt and dismay when we first hear some gossip against a pastor or evangelist. Most of the time, if the accusation does not come from an eyewitness or someone else with clear knowledge of the facts, the tale is at least partly false. But in the few cases where the bad news turns out to be at least partly true, you will have acted as one who follows the golden rule, and as one with charity that, “Thinketh no evil” (First Corinthians 13:5). Preachers should be loyal to their calling. There are crooks, whoremongers, liars, and dictators among the clergy, but a far smaller number by percentage of preachers is guilty of this kind of hypocrisy than of other professions. Stand by your preacher friends unless it becomes apparent that they have fallen, and then stand by them to bring them back to God. 5. Any preacher should show grateful respect for every preacher who helped and trained him in his early years. We owe people a great deal. We should be very grateful to our parents, our teachers, our friends, and to many others who have contributed to our lives. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow.” The preacher that led us to Christ and that led us by word and example to follow Christ in full dedication ought to have our loyal gratitude. How much we owe to the preachers who mentored us and counseled us and taught us the Bible! It is righteous gratitude that gives a preacher loyalty to the older preachers God has used in his life. The time may come when we disagree with those who trained us on some important matter, and it may occur that we have to take a stand on the other side of an issue in opposition to a man who nurtured us in the ministry, but we should maintain a degree of loyalty to him. There are things others may say about the man, but not the one who is his son in the ministry. There ought to be obvious pain in the heart of a preacher when he has to express disagreement with the direction his spiritual father has taken. The latter years of preachers who have invested their lives in the ministries of younger men should be blessed with repeated expressions of gratitude even from those who think they strayed in some way. Loyalty is not just for the time when you draw a salary from his church. It lasts throughout life in the bosom of the man who loves God and loves God’s man. 6. Healthy fellowship between preachers is always based upon the truth. First and Second Timothy teach ministerial loyalty. It is not only the Lord of which Timothy ought not be ashamed, but also of His prisoner, the apostle with whom he had been associated for so long (2 Timothy 1:8). It was not only loving this present world of which Demas was guilty, but also of forsaking Paul (2 Timothy 4:10). The spiritual man is loyal in the proper sense of loyalty. But there is also an inappropriate, perverted kind of loyalty that is unspiritual. When the Corinthian Christians divided the church with such slogans as, “I am of Paul” and “I am Apollos” they were being carnal. Carnal loyalty is purely human, based on old friendships, similar tastes and style, mutual college or seminary experiences, or personal appreciation. The right kind of loyalty is based on the same thing that enables healthy Christian cooperation: agreement on the truth. When fellowship calls for somebody to give up or back up on some conviction in the interest of maintaining harmony in the group, this sort of fellowship tends to corrupt the men involved in it. Healthy cooperation is based on mutually received truths. When organizations of preachers suffer from doctrinal disagreement, sometimes it would be better for the thing to split and for the preachers to work more closely and more often with men who agree with them. Of course, believers need to learn how to receive those who disagree with them (according to the wonderful teaching in Romans 14), but the healthiest interaction we have with other preachers is based on and not in spite of the truth. This principle shapes all aspects of correct loyalty. I may find myself loyal to some brother because of his investment in my life, but at the same time careful not to endorse where he is clearly wrong. I will be loyal to those over me in the ministry, while still faithful to the truth I see in God’s Word. But I may not be able to stay in a position if being faithful to the truth while serving there becomes increasingly difficult. Yet before and after I leave, I will not harm the good being done by hurting that predominantly scriptural ministry.

Digitization help student to explore and study their academic courses online, as this gives them flexibility and scheduling their learning at their convenience. Kidsfront has prepared unique course material of Mathematics Algebra for NDA Exam student. This free online Mathematics study material for NDA Exam will help students in learning and doing practice on Algebra topic of NDA Exam Mathematics. The study material on Algebra, help NDA Exam Mathematics students to learn every aspect of Algebra and prepare themselves for exams by doing online test exercise for Algebra, as their study progresses in class. Kidsfront provide unique pattern of learning Mathematics with free online comprehensive study material and loads of NDA Exam Mathematics Algebra exercise prepared by the highly professionals team. Students can understand Algebra concept easily and consolidate their learning by doing practice test on Algebra regularly till they excel in Mathematics Algebra. If n and p are both odd numbers, then which of the following is an even number? Given that `a` is less than `b`, then which of the following is greater than `a` and less than `b`? For integer n, if n^3 is odd, then which of the following statements are true?

You all know No Shave November or Movember. It's a movement encouraging men to grow out their beards and moustache during the month of November to raise awareness on men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. Now, the ladies are doing something similar. Because why not? The campaign is dubbed as #Januhairy. It similarly urges women to put down their razors and embrace hair growth in parts they usually shave like underarms or legs. It all came about thanks to drama student, Laura Jackson. She explained that the idea was born from when she initially grew out her body hair as part of a school performance in May 2018. While she said it was challenging at first, she eventually got used to it, and even felt liberated. The experience opened her eyes to how taboo the act of a woman growing out her hair remains in society. "I realised that there is still so much more for us to do to be able to accept one another fully and truly," she said. She insisted that #Januhairy "isn't an angry campaign for people who don't see how normal body hair is, but more an empowering project for everyone to understand more about their views on themselves and others." Like Movember, #Januhairy is a fundraising effort too. It partnered with Body Gossip, a non-profit organisation that promotes education on body acceptance. Fortunately, a lot of women were on board the challenge. One user who participated shared the significance of Januhairy to her. She said she came from a household where "you had to spend an hour minimum doing your face and getting dolled up to leave the house" and where growing out hair was totally unacceptable. "I was shamed from a very young age.. especially since I had undiagnosed Endocrine and hormonal disorders that I wouldn't learn about 'til my early 20's." She said that because of it, she "went to extreme lengths to remove it… trying Nair, bleach powder.. and mind you, I was about 13 at this point in my life." Thankfully, she got past it and is in a healthier relationship with with her body. "IDGAF what anyone thinks of my body, because I LOVE HER and that's all that matters." She adds, "Body hair does not define a woman. It doesn't make her lazy, it doesn't make her gross. We've had this stigma for far too long that women need to uphold this fantasy image and it's just not realistic." Another, @mamabelle, shared her own Cathartic experience. "I'm half Lebanese, hairy by nature. When I shave, my hair grows back within minutes, it's truly pointless and a waste of shower time for me considering how much hair I have to groom solely on my head. So i stopped." She further revealed that three years since, she hasn't bought a single razor. Still, she pointed out that "Sometimes I'll shave because I feel like it and that's the point." She stressed, "It should be a choice! Not a beauty standard." User @youngheartxoldsoul backed up this statement. Unlike the first two, she said it was a new experience for her. "I am honest to y'all, I always shaved my hair and it was very difficult for me to let it grow for [three] weeks. But I wanted to let it grow to show you that it is okay, this doesn't mean you should too-please keep that in mind." She further admitted, "I was relieved when I could shave my hair 10 minutes ago after taking the photo and I was feeling myself again. I will definitely still shave my armpits in the future. But I don't think it was disgusting." She said that the challenge was a lesson of acceptance for her while urging others to be more understanding too. "I will accept it more from now on if a woman makes or already made the decision to let her hair grow. Everyone should do it how they prefer it and we should accept it and support the decision others make." Though Januhairy is getting overwhelmingly positive response, it has its fair share of criticisms too. Unsurprisingly, most of them are from men. One site called the movement "lunacy." The writer, Stephen Kruiser, said: "Women have so many ways of empowering themselves while still being women that it's sad to see them told that the best way to achieve empowerment is to be a dollar-store knock-off of a man." Piers Morgan, the epitome of toxic masculinity, tweeted, "Surely, even in these divisive times, we can all unite on one thing: #Januhairy is lazy & revolting." I don't know about you, but I think the fact that he's so against should be enough to encourage more women to try it. And instantly pulled a face! These men who are so outraged to see women embrace their natural hair is exactly why #Januhairy is needed. Again, it isn't a campaign made to deliberately offend people, even men-though a lot of them obviously think so. Believe it or not, women's world don't revolve around what men think of them. Like Laura said, Januhairy is for women-to let them know that body hair is perfectly normal, and that they have a choice to grow them or not. So if you want to sit this one out, that's okay. But if you're up for the challenge, that's great too. Put down your razor, share your #Januhairy experience, and haters be damned.

Evaluations Online is a publicly accessible collection of evaluation and research reports from Scottish Enterprise. The reports cover all aspects of Scottish Enterprise's economic development activities and are available for download at no cost. The Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework (NPF) sets out a vision for Scotland (of inclusive and sustainable economic growth) and an associated measurement framework. This paper outlines Scotland’s performance for a number of NPF and other measures that are key drivers of productivity and inclusive economic growth. Scotland’s performance is compared where possible to other economies, and the size of any performance gap, for example to the top quartile of economies, is estimated. Mid-sized businesses (MSBs) are defined as businesses with a turnover of between £25m and £500m. Evidence demonstrates MSBs to be more productive, more innovative and to disproportionately contribute to economic growth. Therefore, increasing the numbers and size of Scotland’s mid-market is critical to achieving sustained economic growth. This note presents the latest analysis of the extent and shape of MSBs in Scotland. It covers the period of 2010-18 and presents breakdown across sector, employment and nation of ownership. The data relates solely to activity within Scotland. Mid-Sized Businesses (MSBs) are defined as those with turnover of between £25m and £499m. Growth in the number and performance of MSBs matters because they disproportionately contribute to growth and are more innovative, more likely to export and have higher productivity. Understanding MSBs across Scotland and what trends in growth exist (total number as well as their turnover and employment) will help the development of tailored policy responses specific to local circumstances. This research note sets out the extent and shape of MSBs across the regions of Scotland and how this has changed since 2010.

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria (Linz, 14 June 1529 – 24 January 1595, Innsbruck) was ruler of Further Austria including Tirol. The son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was married to Philippine Welser in his first marriage. In his second marriage to Anna Juliana Gonzaga, he was the father of Anna of Tyrol, the would-be Holy Roman Empress. Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was the second son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. He was a younger brother of Emperor Maximilian II. At the behest of his father, he was put in charge of the administration of Bohemia in 1547. He also led the campaign against the Turks in Hungary in 1556. In 1557 he was secretly married to Philippine Welser, daughter of a patrician from Augsburg, with whom he had several children. The marriage was only accepted by Emperor Ferdinand I in 1559 under the condition of secrecy. The children were to receive the name "of Austria" but would only be entitled to inherit if the House of Habsburg became totally extinct in the male line, and thus the marriage had many qualities of a morganatic marriage. The sons born of this marriage received the title Margrave of Burgau, after the Margraviate of Burgau, an ancient Habsburg possession in Further Austria. The younger of the sons, who survived their father, later received the princely title of Fürst zu Burgau. After his father's death in 1564, Ferdinand became the ruler of Tirol and other Further Austrian possessions under his father's will. However, he remained governor of Bohemia in Prague until 1567 according to the wishes of his brother Maximilian II. In his own lands, Ferdinand made sure that the Catholic counter-reformation would prevail. He also was instrumental in promoting the Renaissance in central Europe and was an avid collector of art. He accommodated his world-famous collections in a museum built specifically for that purpose, making Ambras Castle Innsbruck the oldest museum in the world, and as the only Renaissance Kunstkammer of its kind to have been preserved at its original location, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities at Ambras Castle Innsbruck represents an unrivalled cultural monument. The collection was started during Ferdinand's time in Bohemia and he subsequently moved it to Tyrol. In particular, the Chamber of Art and Curiosities, the gallery of portraits, and the collection of armor were very expensive, leading Ferdinand to incurred a high level of debt. Part of collections remained in Innsbruck, and part ultimately was moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. After the death of his wife Philippine in 1580, he married Anna Caterina Gonzaga, a daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua, in 1582. Archduke Ferdinand died on 24 January 1595. Since his sons from the first marriage were not entitled to the inheritance, and the second produced only surviving daughters, Tirol was reunified with the other Habsburg lands. His daughter from the Mantuan marriage to Anna Caterina (later Anna Juliana) became Holy Roman Empress Anna, consort of Emperor Mathias, who received his Further Austrian inheritance. Margrave Andrew of Burgau (15 June 1558 – 12 November 1600). Became a Cardinal in 1576, Margrave of Burgau in 1578, Bishop of Constance in 1589 and Bishop of Brixen in 1591. He had two illegitimate children. Charles, Margrave of Burgau (22 November 1560 – 30 October 1618), Margrave of Burgau. He married his first cousin, Sibylle (1557–1627), the youngest daughter of daughter of William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (28 July 1516 - 5 January 1592), and Maria, Archduchess of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. They had no legitimate children. He and his mistress Chiara Elisa di Ferrero had three illegitimate children. Philip of Austria (7 August 1562 – 9 January 1563). Maria of Austria (7 August 1562 – 25 January 1563), twin of Philip. Archduchess Anna Eleonore of Austria (26 June 1583 – 15 January 1584). Archduchess Maria of Austria (16 June 1584 – 2 March 1649), a nun. Holy Roman Empress Anna of Austria (4 October 1585 – 14 December/15 December 1618). Married her first cousin Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor. Veronika von Villanders (1551–1589). Married Giovan Francesco di Gonzaga-Novellara, Lord of Campitello. Hans Christoph von Hertenberg (c. 1592 - 2 September 1613). Married Ursula Gienger. ^ a b c Noubel, P., ed. (1877). Revue de l'Agenais [Review of the Agenais]. 4. Société académique d'Agen. p. 497. ^ a b Holland, Arthur William (1911). "Maximilian I. (emperor)" . In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ^ a b Wurzbach, Constantin, von, ed. (1860). "Habsburg, Elisabeth von Oesterreich (Königin von Polen)" . Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich [Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire] (in German). 6. p. 167 – via Wikisource. Anna of Tyrol, was by birth Archduchess of Austria and member of the Tyrolese branch of the House of Habsburg and by marriage Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen of Bohemia and Queen of Hungary. The first crowned Holy Roman Empress since the century, she was responsible from the moving of the Imperial court from Prague to Vienna. A proponent of the Counter-Reformation, she held an influence over her husband, with whom she founded the Imperial Crypt. Anna was born in Innsbruck on 4 October 1585 as the third and last daughter of Ferdinand II, Archduke of Further Austria and Count of Tyrol and she had two older sisters, Archduchesses Anna Eleonore and Maria, a nun. All them suffered from poor health since birth and her baptism was conducted with special solemnity, being organizated by her uncles Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria and Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria. The godfather of the princess was Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, for whom his son Archduke Ernest of Austria stood as proxy, Anna spend her childhood at the Innsbruck court, which thanks to her parents became in the center of Renaissance culture. She lived in Ambras Castle and Ruelyust Palaces, in order to protect the health of her daughter, since 1590 Archduchess-Countess Anna Caterina had a personal cookbook. In January 1595, the princess lost her father and her widowed mother made every effort to give her daughters a good education. Anna discovered a musical talent, which was acquired for her clavichord. The love for music remained in the princess throughout her life, being raised in a strict Catholic environment, even as Holy Roman Empress, when she believed that she had committed a sin, engaged in self-flagellation to torment the flesh. The Dowager Archduchess-Countess made frequent pilgrimages, but didnt take her daughters with her due to their poor health, Annas older sister, followed their mothers example and took the veil in the same convent under the name of Anna Catherine. Upon reaching adulthood, Anna began to receive offers of marriage, the first proposal was made in 1603 by King Sigismund III of Poland, but Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor didnt gave his consent. Ambras Castle is a Renaissance castle and palace located in the hills above Innsbruck, Austria. Ambras Castle is 587 metres above sea level, the cultural and historical importance of the castle is closely connected with Archduke Ferdinand II and served as his residence from 1563 to 1595. Ferdinand was one of history’s most prominent collectors of art, the princely sovereign of Tyrol, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, ordered that the mediaeval fortress at Ambras be turned into a Renaissance castle as a gift for his wife Philippine Welser. The Lower Castle contains armouries feature masterpieces of the European armourer’s art from the time of Emperor Maximilian I to Emperor Leopold I, as the only Renaissance Kunstkammer of its kind to have been preserved at its original location, the Kunst- und Wunderkammer represents an unrivalled cultural monument. The Upper Castle contains a portrait gallery featuring paintings of numerous members of the House of Habsburg. Long before Innsbruck became a city, references to an Amras or Omras appeared in documents dating from the 10th century. This original fortification was destroyed in 1133 and no traces of it remain, in 1248, the castle ruins and property passed by inheritance from the Counts of Andechs to Count Albert IV of Tyrol. The modern Ambras Castle was built by Archduke Ferdinand II, the son of Emperor Ferdinand I. In 1589, he added an additional building west of the Lower Castle for the purpose of housing his collection of weaponry, Philippine became a popular and beloved figure through her charity and willingness to help others, particularly the common people of Tyrol. Even the nobility brought their petitions to the former commoner, as signs of affection, people addressed their written petitions to Merciful Miss or serene Princess Mrs. Philippine of Austria. After Ferdinands death in 1595, the son of Ferdinand and Philippine, Margrave Charles of Burgau. With little interest in the castle, and never having used it as a residence, in the following years, Ambras Castle no longer had the status of an official residence and was seldom lived in. The Bishopric of Constance, or Prince-Bishopric of Constance, was a Prince-Bishopric and Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid–12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. The much larger Roman Catholic Diocese of Konstanz existed from about 585 until its dissolution in 1821 and it belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Mainz since 780/782. They did not include the Imperial City of Constance nor Petershausen Abbey, in the south, the bishops territory bordered on the Landgraviate of Thurgau which was conquered by the Swiss Confederacy in 1460. While the Prince-Bishop was the ruler in his prince-bishopric, his powers in his diocese were limited to the pastoral duties exercised by any bishop. Originally subordinated to the Archdiocese of Besançon, Constance became suffragan to the Archdiocese of Mainz in 782, a deed by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1155 confirmed the princely status of the bishop and of his bishopric as an Imperial Estate. The territory of the prince-bishopric contracted during the centuries under pressure from both the Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg. Charles, Margrave of Burgau, known as Charles of Austria, was the son of Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and his first morganatic marriage to Philippine Welser. He was the brother of Andrew of Austria, Charles of Burgau pursued a military career. He unsuccessfully led a Spanish regiment in the war against the Netherlands and was deployed in the Long War against the Ottoman Empire. Here, he recorded some successes — at the expense of his soldiers, since Charles was born from a morganatic marriage, he was not entitled to inherit the archduchy. He was, amply compensated financially and given some territories and his most important possession was the Margraviate of Burgau. He held the Landgraviate of Nellenburg and the County of Hohenberg, contemporary sources describe his magnificent court at his residence, Günzburg Castle. Charles was not popular among his subjects, whom he forbade to drink wheat beer, in 1615 or 1616, he founded a Capuchin monastery in Günzburg. In 1617, he expelled the Jews from Günzburg, they were ordered to leave the city within a year, Charles died on 30 October 1618. Maximilian II, a member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death. He was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562, on 8 September 1563 he was crowned King of Hungary and Croatia in the Hungarian capital Pressburg. On 25 July 1564 he succeeded his father Ferdinand I as ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, maximilians rule was shaped by the confessionalization process after the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. Though a Habsburg and a Catholic, he approached the Lutheran Imperial estates with a view to overcome the denominational schism and he was faced with the ongoing Ottoman–Habsburg wars and rising conflicts with his Habsburg Spain cousins. According to Fichtner, he failed to achieve his three major aims, rationalizing the government structure, unifying Christianity, and evicting the Turks from Hungary and he was named after his great-grandfather, Emperor Maximilian I. At the time of his birth, his father Ferdinand succeeded his brother-in-law King Louis II in the Kingdom of Bohemia, having spent his childhood years at his fatherss court in Innsbruck, Tyrol, he was educated principally in Italy. Among his teachers were humanist scholars like Kaspar Ursinus Velius and Georg Tannstetter, Maximilian came in contact with the Lutheran teaching and early on corresponded with the Protestant prince Augustus of Saxony, suspiciously eyed by his Habsburg relatives. From the age of 17, he gained experience of warfare during the Italian War campaign of his uncle Charles V against King Francis I of France in 1544. On 13 September 1548 Emperor Charles V married Maximilian to Charless daughter Mary of Spain in the Castile residence of Valladolid, by the marriage his uncle intended to strengthen the ties with the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, but to consolidate his nephews Catholic faith. Maximilian temporarily acted as the representative in Spain, however not as stadtholder of the Habsburg Netherlands as he had hoped for. He returned to Germany in December 1550 in order to part in the discussion over the Imperial succession. However, Charles brother Ferdinand, who had already designated as the next occupant of the imperial throne. Augsburg is a city in Swabia, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City for over 500 years and it is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is a district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population of 286,000 citizens, after Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germanys third oldest city, being founded by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday and this gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany. Augsburg was the home of two families that rose to great prominence internationally, replacing the Medicis as Europes leading bankers, the Fugger. Augsburg lies at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, in the south extends the Lechfeld, an Outwash plain of the post ice age between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved. The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats, on Augsburg borders the nature park Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is heavily greened, as a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europes greenest and most livable city. Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west, the neighboring towns and cities are Friedberg, Königsbrunn, Neusäß, Rehling, Kissing, Merching, Gessertshausen und Diedorf. Augsburg has a continental climate. The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, the name means Augusta of the Vindelici. This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia, Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity. Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558, king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526, and king of Croatia from 1527 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his brother, Charles V. Also, he served as Charles representative in Germany and developed useful relationships with German princes. Ferdinand was able to defend his realm and make it more cohesive. His flexible approach to Imperial problems, mainly religious, finally brought more result than the more confrontational attitude of his brother, Ferdinands motto was Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus, Let justice be done, though the world perish. Ferdinand shared his customs and even his birthday with his maternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Aragon and he was born and educated in Spain, and did not learn German when he was young. In the summer of 1518 Ferdinand was sent to Flanders following his brother Charless arrival in Spain as newly appointed King Charles I the previous autumn. He returned in command of his brothers fleet but en route was blown off-course and he was Archduke of Austria from 1521 to 1564. Though he supported his brother, Ferdinand managed to strengthen his own realm, by adopting the German language and culture late in his life, he grew close to the German territorial princes. After the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, Ferdinand ruled as King of Bohemia and Hungary. Ferdinand served as his brothers deputy in the Holy Roman Empire during his brothers many absences, according to the terms set at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515, Ferdinand married Anne Jagiellonica, daughter of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary on 22 July 1515. Therefore, after the death of his brother-in-law Louis II, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, at the battle of Mohács on 29 August 1526, the success was only partial, as the Diet refused to recognise Ferdinand as hereditary lord of the Kingdom. The Croatian nobles unanimously elected Ferdinand I as their king in the 1527 election in Cetin, in Hungary, Nicolaus Olahus, secretary of Louis, attached himself to the party of Ferdinand but retained his position with his sister, Queen Dowager Mary.

Dean Brown the state commander of the Connecticut chapter of the Submarine Veterans of World War II tells members of the Thames River Chapter Tuesday at the Groton clubhouse that the national organization recently voted to disband. The submarine veterans of World War II have seen this coming for a long time. Last week in Groton, J. "Deen" Brown announced to his fellow WWII submarine veterans that the Thames River Chapter has a new name. It was difficult for the national organization to find members able to serve as officers and to complete all of the administrative tasks. In their last roster, published 10 years ago, the pages listing the deceased members outnumbered those listing active members. "The guys said, 'I was all for staying. My shipmate came to the convention with me. He's gone now and I don't feel like coming,'" said Kraus, 91, of Crescent Springs, Ky. The national organization was established in 1955 to honor submarine veterans who served in World War II. Submarines were just 2 percent of the Navy's fleet then, but subs sank more than 30 percent of the Japanese navy and nearly 5 million tons of shipping. About 16,000 men served on submarine war patrols. The submarine force lost 52 boats and more than 3,500 men. After the sixth annual reunion of the national submarine veterans group, the membership grew rapidly. Memorials were erected. "There are memorials all over this country they've created," said retired Vice Adm. Al Konetzni, who has long been close with the World War II veterans even though he is not of that era. "These guys started in 1955 doing this for their buddies, so they would not be forgotten. It's a wonderful story of self-image. They said, 'Hey, we're going to do it, and we will do it.'" Kraus said the sub veterans considered themselves a unique group and that uniqueness forged a strong bond. The end of the organization, he said, also represents the "end of an era where we were able to get together and blow our own horn, remembering the circumstances under which we fought." Konetzni, who gave the keynote speech at the closing ceremony, said in an interview that the World War II veterans "lived the horror" and "lived the glory," but they do not need the administrative burdens of a federally chartered organization to preserve their memories. "They will never be forgotten, ever, ever, ever," said Konetzni, a former deputy commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. "They gave us our traditions and our spirit. They were our leaders." Brown, who was state commander in the national organization, said the veterans who live locally enjoy getting together and want to continue as a group. The new name is intentionally broad, Brown said, because they expect veterans to join from other states when chapters disband. About 120 World War II submariners live in Connecticut. After Brown announced the national organization's decision and the name change at the luncheon, Warren Wildes said, "It was time." Wildes, 86, of Groton was eating with LeRoy Webb, 88, of Mystic. "I hate to see them do it but the day had to come sooner or later," Webb said. He told Wildes he had just read in "Polaris," the official magazine of the organization, that a chief on the USS Moray, one of the submarines he had served on during the war, had died. "I used to take his girlfriend's picture and put it under my pillow," he said with a laugh at the prank he used to pull to irritate the chief. Webb said he served on 15 submarines in his career and was away so much that when his wife was asked how long she had been married, she cut the time in half. Both Webb and Wildes said they thought it was great that the local group would continue to meet. "We look forward to seeing our buddies every month and swapping lies," Wildes said. "Sometimes you hear the same stories over and over again," Webb said. "But they're still interesting." Many of the World War II submariners are also members of the U.S. Submarine Veterans Inc., which is open to all U.S. Navy submariners. The younger ones in that group began maintaining the memorials and conducting ceremonies when the World War II veterans could no longer do it. The local World War II veterans turned over the upkeep of the U.S. Submarine Veterans WWII National Submarine Memorial East to the Subvets Groton base and the city of Groton in 2005, said John Carcioppolo, base commander. Subvets willingly took on the responsibility. "The World War II guys are part of our heritage," Carcioppolo said. "And it's up to us to preserve that heritage." George Jones, 92, another World War II submariner who attended the luncheon, said it's important to him that the memorial is well taken care of because his friends' names are on its Wall of Honor. "I lost a lot of friends during the war and I came close myself," Jones, of Waterford, said. "I hope we will continue to be remembered for many, many years to come."

He's been coming up a lot lately, Santa has. One of our Wanderers isn't welcome in his daughter's home, or something like that, because he tries to disabuse his grandkids of any Santa Claus nonsense. He has that wound up with religion, and how "all twelve" (?) can't be simultaneously true. Today at the Bagdad, Trevor was talking about this artist who planted live crabs with Barbie Doll ™ parts strapped on, in a place where kids lined up and asked for stuff from Santa. The point was to subvert the department store's moneymaking, "asking Santa" being management's clever gimmick for getting customers in the right mood for shopping. This was considered a disruptive maneuver, even for an artist, but one bystander said "I'm glad someone is finally doing this." I think it's the spectacle of luring we don't like (ensnaring, baiting and switching). But the truth about Santa Claus isn't supposed to be disappointing, even when we deliver the punch line, that mom and dad love you, as do your friends and relations, and they express their love through this multi-faceted story, which says more about their love than mere physical things under a dead or dying tree could really get across. Telling stories is not in and of itself criminal, but the life blood of a culture. This is why we hate seeing children lied to, by this target of Fuller's Obnoxico meme. Like, I understand this guy's integrity, about Santa not being real and all that. But the rejoinder is "reality isn't the whole story around here, and never has been." So what's so "anti-science" about this attitude? Science is for compentently managing the reality part, and we take that very seriously, don't believe in being stupid about it. We want awake and alert scientists, want to be them ourselves, doing intelligent (and we hope mostly safe) experiments that teach us important and valuable lessons. Endlessly repeating the same mistakes is not what we signed up for. So let there be no doubt where I'm coming from at least: I think empiricism is a valuable ism. It doesn't follow that religion needs to get in the way of this pro-sciences agenda. On the contrary, many a religion is augmented with a set of sciences and vice versa. Our mythical awareness doesn't have to go to war with the literal truth if it doesn't want to, i.e. the operator in U = Meta*Physical (a Fuller School teaching) is meant to be both/and inclusive, not the sign of an internal contradiction. I think I'll swipe the "focal points" lingo and smatter a few for the benefit of our cadres (not a word I like, right down there with comrades -- probably a translation thing). Pascal's Triangle, with appended ethnography, tracing it wherever we find it (like in Lost). The Concentric Hierarchy (you knew that'd be here, now didn't ya?). A & B modules in other words. MITEs. The NCLB Polynomial, tying algebra to geometry, with lots of connections to the art world and design science. The Mandelbrot Set, perfect for learning about convergence and divergence in the complex plane (valuable in precalculus in other words). I realize this seems to leave a lot out, but bear with me, as I'm going to explain why this constellation will help our cause -- and forgive me for choosing Python if that's not your forte (let's get with the cross-training -- I'm always polling for high quality HDTV Rubycasts (not much of a selection these days)). Pascal's Triangle will give us sequences, the starting point for our Python generators segment. Right after we visit Functions, we look at these "state remembering engines" that fire off cyclicly, and remember state between cycles. The triangular and tetrahedral numbers are column-wise side by side; our first generators in other words (a little easier than this one). So here's our link to the cuboctahedral (aka icosahedral) growth curve i.e. to 10 * F * F + 2 (F = Frequency) -- the formula of Fuller's that H.S.M. Coxeter liked so much (provable with high school level math). Sloane's Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences becomes our friend at this point (e.g. cite A005901). The concentric hierarchy sets the stage for so much later science that we have to not postpone. This is "without further ado" material that any gnu math teacher must master. The A and B mods themselves might come later in the intro (I teach 'em in sixth grade), but the basic nomenclature around polyhedra, plus Descartes' Deficit and Euler's V + F = E + 2 need to be there from the beginning (OK to postpone Descartes until you've gone over the Babylonian stuff i.e. 360 degrees, planar triangles having 180, tetrahedron having 720 (the deficit)). Basically, this is our launch pad for computer graphics careers. You've got XYZ embedded (with optional Hypercross), and our unit volume Coupler right at the origin, at (0,0,0) -- or at (0,0,0,0) if using Chakovians -- thereby giving segue to our four IVMs (R.Z. Chu et al). Yes, these are abstruse college-level topics, but they all have the Concentric Hierarchy in common (OK to say "Cosmic Hierarchy" at least among hippies). And yes, we're still working on your toon library, stocking it with goodies. The NCLB Polynomial, a quadratic equation with two real roots, is a jump off point into both algebra and geometry. On the algebra side, we meet up with Pascal's Triangle again, and Newton's Binomial Theorem (since rediscovered by other whiz kids his age at the time). From here, you could jump to any number of connected topics, including to Ramanujan's Pi Engines for more advanced generator drill and practice (e.g. consider using Python's Decimal type for extended precision, for Phi as well). Kids have a natural curiosity about fractals, as do some adults who still remember the pop art explosion, come across the great artwork on the web. This is unabashedly eye candy, yes, but exploring the Mandelbrot Set also reinforces key concepts we want our graduates to take with them into their college experience: convergence; divergence; and the complex plane. This is what'll make 'em ready for Calculus, which, per UCSC's Ralph Abraham's disciplined pioneering, should now probably be taught with a strong dynamical systems bias (there's a similar trend in statistics, undermining the status quo). I sampled the gym today, running in place for just 30 minutes, then whipped through a Trader Joe's in time to drop off the frozen goods (including salmon for dinner) before heading on down Division. The new Coxeter bio arrived from Amazon, and I looked in the index for Fuller overlaps. No mention of Applewhite (part of the fullerene story). I found some juicy bits though, which I read after watching some Lost with Tara. I can't really fault the author (to whom I apologize for earlier referring to as "he") for steering clear of Synergetics, as this is a book about H.S.M. Coxeter and his geometry, not about Bucky Fuller's philosophy, although Ludwig Wittgenstein is mentioned, even depicted (pg. 107). "some weird North American religion?" Mom and I had an interesting conversation this morning. She was joking about her disabilities and I was exulting how sharp she was, and credited the military-industrial complex for keeping her sane. She fights it all day, tells it to disarm. Keeps her in shape. Meanwhile, down the hall, I'm like this pro DARPA person, because when Guido was a nobody, and brilliant (now he's a somebody, still brilliant), his bold Computer Programming for Everybody manifesto attracted DoD attention. What a boon to democracy it would be, to have Americans at least (more if willing) computer literate. Here's an article from Salon about what happened instead: teachers actually dropped all mention of programming for the most part, and now maybe think they'll get away with blaming the PC engineers. Sorry to disappoint, but the freedom to download and run free languages has never been greater. If your curriculum is in trouble, don't come whining to the engineers about it. They've met you more than half way. Think of some other excuse? That being said, we have a long way to go with improving the technology. That's why we recruit so avidly, hoping to bolster the civilian sector with high caliber talent. We need next generations to help us make life better. We're not done yet, not even close. But where will this talent come from, if we ignore golden opportunities to educate when it matters, before they've become hardened-in-their-ways adults, possibly all Eloi, hardly a Morlock among them. That'd be bad for our time, and we don't need any "time machine" to tell us that. So anyway, Mom and I basically agreed we're working at opposite ends of the same spectrum. I deal with dark sider tooth/fang stuff all day, while she gets to work with wise women (I'm not saying which is easier). She's glad my campaigns are going well, both HP4E and 4D. The painters are back, doing a smart job. We're operating on schedule. Mom's United flight from O'Hare was late, but lets face it, this many people flying around the world is a dream come true as well, a case where futurism paid off. You'll see Amish on Catalina (I did, visiting from a cruise ship), and isn't that a blessed thing. Mom's trip originated in London. Now she's back in her office, joining in conference calls. I drove out to PDX to retrieve her. Our curved IVM archway, protecting us from the rain while suspending two bridges, is an engineering marvel. Speaking of which (rain), that's what it's doing right now (raining). And yet the painters don't care. They like living in a rainforest (our SiliconForest is one of those too). This is where I usually start saying biting things about Economics as a discipline, proposing that General Systems Theory (GST) is less likely to feed a collapse, because more science-savvy in so many dimensions (ergo less prone to breakdown). Anyway, I do think the ongoing high price of oil will help with my horse camps in the Arizona desert, where we do these permaculture domes and pretend we're these hippie Quakers, except with Internet and flatscreens, and biodiesel dirt bikes. Oh, and we talk about Synergetics like it was the Bible or sumthin' sometimes quoting chapter and verse -- i.e we talk like buckaneers (even eat BBQ sometimes). Most people just visit as tourists. We're kinda cliquey sometimes. There's a pun lurking here, in that such ecovillage communities might likewise occur in South Africa, home to various "click languages" such as Xhosa. As for the Project Earthala reference, I've got lots of other posts and allusions: ... (some samples). Other recent Wanderers posts focus on Chaco Canyon, and how global warming might not have been a big crisis/calamity for the people living through it back in the 1100s. Tourist traffic tapered off and people went on to other businesses. Civilizations, especially highly developed ones, don't always panic and fail when the climate changes. Some smoothly transform. I also look at the case of Holland, which has a lot at stake where sea levels are concerned. I think we should fight alongside the Dutch, if their homeland is imperiled, in as smart a way as our global climate models will allow (and then some). Obviously I consider my skills as a teacher bankable assets, and indirectly, so does my bank, in that they model me keeping an income sufficient to pay down the mortgage and maintain high "credit worthiness" (which computers keep track of). My "earning capacity," along with my wife's (a dual-income household) allowed us to build equity in the house, typically the principal physical asset of a middle income family, next to the car and/or truck (no ATV or jet ski in our case). Such physical assets are also principal assets of the neighborhood bank, which models average incomers as incapable of financing a home's purchase without credit, meaning a huge markup on the sticker price, but one you tend to not see unless you run the spreadsheets, and realize how good it is to be on the receiving end of exponential interest rates (where the "rich people" live, a lot of 'em bankers). Banks get to mortage the same house multiple times, as people in varying financial straits assume title and secure financing. Homes are like DVDs in the video store, watched over and over and over again. It's a secure way to make a living, if you're in the business of loaning for homes. Part of why LAWCAP fought Bucky so much is he derided this system of governance as somewhat pathetic, as it assumes dire straits for so many. But that's how LAWCAP tends to operate: overwhelming lack of life support is just a given. "We don't fight that state of affairs, we make money off it." Not a popular strategy among the poor, and in a model democracy the government might take a different direction. That presents a puzzle: how to intimidate enough people into supporting the low living standards standard. You need a lot of ideology in overdrive, keeping people thinking straight and paying those mortgages. Anyway, part of my responsibility as a stakeholder in this home (me and the bank share this asset), is to see to its upkeep. To that end, we just had some painters come by to make a bid. The "down to the wood" approach is the premium ten years guaranteed way to go, but most middle incomers not surprisingly go for the "feathered edge" (scape and power wash, but if the paint's tightly bonded, leave it be and paint over). The bid for the latter service was like $4,500 give or take, more like $11,500 for the former, with 10% off if we commit within the next three days (likely we will, after checking against other bids -- I liked their energy). Now if I were a really good capitalist tool, I'd be using my intelligence to venture capitalize in various corporate ventures. By age 48 (my current age), I'd have a track record of having bet wisely and earned good returns. I might have lots of money, which I'd subtly advertise with various lifestyle cues, and various dependents, friendly companies (affiliates) would want to piggy-back their money on mine, i.e. let me manage their investments for them, so they could get rich the way I did. What with a Princeton degree, no doubt some social connections, perhaps membership in one or more clubs, I could be living on easy street by now, with several homes, several cars, and a lot of satisfied (well off) customers. However, I made a career building skills in the not-for-profit (aka public) sector, trying to think ahead the way Bucky did, anticipating new kinds of need, even new kinds of science. This is called "high risk" venture capitalizing, closer to what "crackpot inventors" seem to do. Some of them get rich, but mostly they end up remorseful, for having squandered so much energy on cold fusion or whatever. Back from the bank: snapped that cool bizmo on the way home (above picture). Transaction: cheque from flextegrity.com pays for Portland Knowledge Lab's rent this month. I did some work on the web site (still very minimalist at this point). Addendum: we also plunked down for two years of orthodonture for Tara; we like and trust Dr. Joe. Tonight: joining Wanderers on Barry's boat (Barry the banker). We gathered for BBQ with other Friends, three married couples enjoying a warm bug-free evening in the backyard. Larry and Susan went to Hollywood Video to make a selection, and came back with this R-for-violent tale of a family torn asunder by the Cuban Revolution of 1959 (about 8 months after my birth in Chicago). Instead of the mellow "chick magnet Che" of Motorcycle Diaries, this time it's "psycho Che" already with many friends murdered. But neither he nor Fidel get much focus in this flick. The main character is a dinner jacketed Cuban on the Meyer Lansky side of the fence. Lansky (played by Dustin Hoffman) gives our hero the creeps mind you, but as the owner of a successful music club, he has little choice but to rub elbows with organized crime which, upon being evicted from Havana, headed straight for Las Vegas (the movie alludes to this winged migration). The pretty girl is like a Marilyn figure, wanting to use her head like a man's, to play on the world historical stage, even if only around a rotund Russian ambassador for starters. She wants to be someone in this life, not just someone's lover or wife. I respected her courage. But the male principal, a man of principles, was not about to share her with a revolution that, from his perspective, had utterly destroyed his own family, leaving only heartbreak and remorse in its wake. Cuba as a "saxophone free zone" really sucked (and yes, so did the Belgian Congo). New York held more promise (that statue really helps). But then, most Cubans didn't have "New York" as an option. The film isn't really focused on the lower decks of this particular Titanic. Dawn's O2 went out half way through. She switched tanks but forgot to dial a level, and so breathed unassisted for an hour, leading to some chest pain towards the end. She enjoyed the film but, as with V for Vendetta, was put off by the violence level. Maybe Bill Murry is what keeps this film watchable. He breezes through as the writer-comedian, perhaps emblematic of the screenwriter's viewpoint. He pokes fun at all players, out of familiarity more than fear, like some other-worldly being. He typifies high artistry, the kind of thing these high rolling bosses really traffic in anyway (all of them seek quality).

In Papua New Guinea (PNG), combination therapy with amodiaquine (AQ) or chloroquine (CQ) plus sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) was introduced as first-line treatment against uncomplicated malaria in 2000. We assessed in vivo treatment failure rates with AQ+SP in two different areas in PNG and twenty-four molecular drug resistance markers of Plasmodium falciparum were characterized in pre-treatment samples. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between infecting genotype and treatment response in order to identify useful predictors of treatment failure with AQ+SP. In 2004, Day-28 treatment failure rates for AQ+SP were 29% in the Karimui and 19% in the South Wosera area, respectively. The strongest independent predictors for treatment failure with AQ+SP were pfmdr1 N86Y (OR = 7.87, p < 0.01) and pfdhps A437G (OR = 3.44, p < 0.01). Mutations found in CQ/AQ related markers pfcrt K76T, A220S, N326D, and I356L did not help to increase the predictive value, the most likely reason being that these mutations reached almost fixed levels. Though mutations in SP related markers pfdhfr S108N and C59R were not associated with treatment failure, they increased the predictive value of pfdhps A437G. The difference in treatment failure rate in the two sites was reflected in the corresponding genetic profile of the parasite populations, with significant differences seen in the allele frequencies of mutant pfmdr1 N86Y, pfmdr1 Y184F, pfcrt A220S, and pfdhps A437G. The study provides evidence for high levels of resistance to the combination regimen of AQ+SP in PNG and indicates which of the many molecular markers analysed are useful for the monitoring of parasite resistance to combinations with AQ+SP. The effectiveness of the most widely used first-line antimalarials chloroquine (CQ) and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) has been heavily compromised by the emergence and spread of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to these drugs. In order to improve treatment efficacy and to delay the development and spread of drug resistance, there is strong advocacy for combination therapy . Though the combination of 4-aminoquinolines or SP with artemisinin derivates is recommended, this option is expensive and several countries have taken an interim step and chose the inexpensive combination of amodiaquine (AQ) or CQ plus SP. Monitoring of parasite resistance is essential in directing the rational use of antimalarials. Apart from studies assessing in vivo drug efficacy and in vitro drug sensitivity, molecular markers have been proposed as a means to monitor drug resistant malaria . CQ resistance has been attributed to several mutations occurring in the P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter gene (pfcrt) and P. falciparum multidrug resistance gene 1 (pfmdr1). Correlation between molecular markers of CQ resistance and in vivo treatment outcome has been complex. Whereas several studies have shown the key role of pfcrt K76T in conferring in vivo resistance to CQ [3, 4], the relationship between phenotypic resistance and other pfcrt polymorphisms (i.e., C72S/R, M74I/T, N75E/D/K/I, K76T/I/N, I77T, H97Q/L, A144F/T, L148I, L160Y, I194T, A220S, Q271E, N326S/D, I356V/T/L and R371T/I), which have been shown to be associated with CQ resistance in vitro, has been little studied in the field. Single-base changes in pfmdr1 N86Y, Y184F, S1034C, N1042D and D1246Y have been documented in CQ resistant laboratory strains, but a straightforward association of these polymorphisms with in vivo CQ resistance has been questioned by several authors [5, 6]. The accumulation of point mutations in P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (pfdhps), two enzymes in the parasite's folate synthesis pathway, is associated with resistance to SP. Though the relationship between polymorphisms in these genes and resistance to SP has been shown in vitro, the correlation of different genotypes and clinical treatment outcome varies between different epidemiological settings. Whereas the triple mutation S108N+C59R+N51I in pfdhfr has been found to be a good molecular marker for SP resistance by some authors [7–9], others did not confirm the usefulness of this combination of mutations [10, 11]. The quintuple mutation pfdhfr S108N+C59R+N51I plus pfdhps A437G+K540E has been proposed as a useful indicator for monitoring SP resistance in Africa , in the Amazon region, the quintuple mutation pfdhfr S108N+N51I+I164L plus pfdhps A437G+K540E has been shown to be more useful . More recently, several authors have found the double mutation pfdhfr C59R plus pfdhps K540E to be sufficient to predict treatment failure in vivo [14–16]. The most likely reason for these conflicting reports is the fact that, apart from the infecting genotype, response to drug treatment is affected by many factors, such as host immunity, which is related to transmission intensity, and history of drug use in a given area [10, 17, 18]. As a consequence, the patterns as well as the predictive values of molecular drug resistance markers may vary between different geographical regions. Another problem is that most of the studies looked at only few markers, which does not allow comparing the respective value of each to monitor parasite resistance to specific drugs. After a long history of 4-aminoquinoline use which has been accompanied by accumulating reports about increasing levels of AQ and CQ resistance [19, 20], official drug policy for uncomplicated malaria in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was changed to the combination therapy of AQ or CQ plus SP in 2000. Although high levels of polymorphisms in CQ relevant genes pfcrt and pfmdr1, and also to a lesser extent in key markers responsible for resistance to SP, have already been reported in PNG [21, 22], their association with in vivo treatment outcome has never been evaluated. In this study, the genetic profile of parasites collected from pre-treatment samples of malaria patients attending two health facilities in PNG with known clinical and parasitological outcomes after treatment with AQ+SP was analyzed. Twenty-four key markers in pfmdr1, pfcrt, pfdhfr and pfdhps were determined using a new DNA microarray-based technology. The association between parasite genetic output and treatment response was investigated to identify the most useful predictors of failure with the current first-line regimen in the country. Drug efficacy studies were conducted according to the standardized WHO protocol for low to moderate transmission areas and are described in detail elsewhere . Children between six months and seven years of age were enrolled if they were presenting at the health centre with clinically overt and microscopically confirmed P. falciparum malaria and no danger signs for severe or complicated malaria or signs of any other disease, malnutrition or anaemia. Standard AQ plus SP first line-treatment (10 mg AQ per kg on Day 0, 1 and 2, and 25 mg sulphadoxine per kg plus 1.25 mg pyrimethamine per kg on Day 0) was administered under supervision over the first three days. Visits for the follow-up were scheduled on Day 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, and 28. On every visit, patients were clinically examined and a Giemsa-stained blood slide was taken for the microscopic assessment of parasitaemia. A blood sample was taken on Day 0 (pre-treatment sample) and on Days 14 and 28 or any day of treatment failure for molecular genotyping purposes. At the end of the follow-up, the patients were classified according to their clinical and parasitological responses into early treatment failure (ETF), late clinical failure (LCF), late parasitological failure (LPF), or adequate clinical and parasitological response (ACPR) (WHO, 2003). The studies were conducted between October 2003 and April 2004 in the Karimui area (Simbu Province) and the South Wosera area (East Sepik Province), two rural places mesoendemic for malaria but differing with regard to transmission intensity and drug use patterns . Main characteristics of the study populations and the two sites are depicted in table 1. Scientific approval and ethical clearance for the study was obtained from the Medical Research and Advisory Committee (MRAC) of the Ministry of Health in PNG and consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians prior to recruitment of each patient. Fingerprick blood samples for molecular genotyping purposes were collected on Day 0 (pre-treatment sample) in EDTA microtainer tubes. DNA was extracted using QIAamp® DNA Blood Kit (Qiagen, Hombrechtikon, Switzerland) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Assessment of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for drug resistant malaria was done for pfmdr1 codons N86Y, Y184F, S1034C, N1042D and D1246Y, pfcrt codons K76T, H97Q, T152A, S163R, A220S, Q271E, N326D/S, I356L/T and R371I, pfdhfr condons A16V, N51I, C59R, S108N/T and I164L, and pfdhps codons S436A, A437G, K540E, A581G, and A613T/S. The method is based on parallel PCR amplification of the target sequences followed by primer extension mediated mini-sequencing using fluorochrome-labelled ddNTPs. Subsequent base calling occurs on a microarray upon sequence specific hybridization . Assessment of the multiplicity of infection (MOI) in pre-treatment samples and the differentiation between true recrudescences and new infections in treatment failure samples was done by PCR-RFLP analysis of the merozoite surface protein 2 (msp2) as previously described [25, 26]. Statistical analyses were performed by the use of STATA software (version 8.2; Stata Corp., College Station, Texas). The strength of association was evaluated by calculating odds ratios (OR). χ2 tests and Fisher's exact test and where applicable stepwise logistical regression analyses were used to assess the significance of association between known risk factors and single or multiple mutations and treatment failure. To estimate the allele frequencies of resistance markers in the study sample set, a non-linear statistical model that takes into account the effects of varying multiplicity of infection and assumes that resistant and sensitive parasite clones are transmitted independently was applied. The likelihood of a sample containing no resistant clones is (1 - p) n , where p is the frequency for the mutant allele and n is the multiplicity of infection of the sample. Similarly, the likelihood for the sample to contain no wild-type allele is p n and for a mixture of both, a wild-type and a resistant allele, is 1 - p n – (1 - p) n . The likelihood over the whole data set for p is computed as the product of this likelihood over all samples, using values of n derived from msp2 genotyping results. Allele frequencies were added by maximising this likelihood using a simple one dimensional search routine. This gave very similar estimates to those made using a corresponding Bayesian algorithm . Confidence intervals were calculated using bootstrap sampling. A total of 80 patients in Karimui and 94 patients in the Wosera were enrolled into the study and treated with AQ+SP (median age of 4 years). Day-28 treatment failure rates for P. falciparum after PCR-correction, classifying infections with new and recurrent strains as true recrudescences (i.e., treatment failures), were 29% in the Karimui and 19% in the Wosera area, respectively (Table 2). Mutation analyses were successfully accomplished in all 174 pre-treatment samples from both study sites. Polymorphisms were found in pfmdr1 codons N86Y, Y184F, and N1042D, pfcrt codons K76T, A220S, N326D and I356L, pfdhfr codons C59R and S108N, and pfdhps codons A437G and K540E. None of the other SNPs (11/24) was detected as mutated allele in any of the infections analysed. Regarding CQ relevant molecular markers, infections with mutated pfmdr1 N86Y and pfcrt K76T, N326D, I356L and A220S alleles were with 86%, 91%, 89%, 89%, and 70% very common, whereas 5%, 1%, 1%, 0%, and 2% of these infections were mixed with a wild-type allele (Figure 1). The mutated alleles in pfmdr1 Y184F and pfmdr1 N1042D were only found in five (3%) and two (1%) samples, respectively, with the latter being detected as mixed allele only. Considering relationships of mutated alleles in pfcrt, the mutations N326D and I356L were always linked, the double mutation N326D+I356L never occurred without a mutated allele K76T, and a mutation A220S never occurred without the triple mutation K76T+N326D+I356L. Considering pfmdr1, a mutation N1042D was always linked to a mutated Y184F allele, but these mutated alleles never occurred together with a N86Y mutation. Prevalence of mutations in pfmdr1 , pfcrt , pfdhfr and pfdhps in patient samples from Papua New Guinea. CQ, chloroquine; SP, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine; pfmdr1, Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance gene 1; pfcrt, Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter; pfdhfr, Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase; pfdhps, Plasmodium falciparum dihydropteroate synthase; no mutation was detected in any of the other SNP sites analysed (13/24 sites). Regarding SP relevant molecular markers, mutations in pfdhfr S108N and C59R were also very common with 79% and 77% of infections having a pure mutant, and 91% and 82% of infections having a mutant or mixed allele, respectively. Mutated alleles in pfdhps A437G were found in 13% of all infections whereas in 10% it was detected as a pure mutant. The pfdhps K540E mutation was only found in two samples and was only detected as pure mutant allele. Pfdhfr C59R was never detected without pfdhfr S108N, and pfdhps mutations A437G and K540E were strongly linked to the double mutation pfdhfr S108N+C59R, with only two of the samples having the pfdhps A437G mutation with concomitant wild-type alleles in pfdhfr. All patient isolates were coded according to presence or absence of mutant alleles and isolates showing both, wild-type and mutant allele, were treated as mutant. Likewise, infecting genotypes were coded according to the most highly mutated pfmdr1, pfcrt, pfdhfr and pfdhps alleles present in the sample. Apart from pfmdr1 N86Y (OR = 7.87, 95% CI: 1.03–60.36, p < 0.01) and pfdhps A437G (OR = 3.44, 95% CI: 1.40–8.47, p < 0.01), there was no independent marker found to be significantly associated with treatment failure (Table 3). When known confounding factors, such initial parasite density, age, and multiplicity of infection (MOI), were adjusted for in a stepwise logistical regression model, the significant associations for the two above-mentioned markers were retained. Twenty three different genotypes could be discriminated with regard to mutated gene loci in all four genes analysed (Table 4). Among those, seven were observed in treatment failure cases, whereas the remaining 16 were exclusively found in patients with an adequate treatment response. Associations between these genotypes and treatment failure can be summarized as follows. Odds ratios for treatment failure were only increased for genotypes having the N86Y mutation in pfmdr1 combined with the double mutation S108N+C59R in pfdhfr, regardless of the concomitant genotype in pfcrt. However, the risk for failure reached only statistical significance for genotypes having the pfmdr1 N86Y mutation in conjunction with the quadruple mutation K76T+A220S+N326D+I356L in pfcrt and the A437G allele in pfdhps (OR = 3.84, 95% CI: 1.34–11.03, p < 0.01). Furthermore, a significant association was also observed with the genotype harbouring the pfcrt quadruple mutant plus pfmdr1 N86Y without any concurrent mutations in pfdhfr or pfdhps (OR = 7.17, 95% CI: 1.26–40.71, p = 0.02). To investigate whether the difference in treatment outcome at the two study sites was reflected in the drug resistance profile of the corresponding parasites, mutant allele frequencies for each gene locus were calculated. Maximum likelihood estimates of mutant allele frequencies found in the two study populations are presented in Figure 2. Regarding the allele frequencies for the CQ relevant molecular markers, there was no significant difference in pfcrt K76T, N326D, and I356L. The only statistically significant differences in allele frequencies between the Karimui and the Wosera area were found for pfcrt A220S (0.56 versus 0.81, p < 0.0001), pfmdr1 N86Y (0.99 versus 0.70, p < 0.0001) and pfmdr1 Y184F (0.00 versus 0.04, p = 0.001). A similar picture was observed for the SP relevant molecular markers. Whereas the difference in any of the mutated loci in pfdhfr was not significant, the genetic profile for pfdhps mutation A437G was significantly different in the two parasite populations with an allele frequency of 0.25 in the Karimui area versus 0.02 in the Wosera area (p < 0.0001). Maximum likelihood estimates of mutant allele frequencies at the two study sites. Error bars denote 95% confidence intervals; * denotes statistical significance at the 95% level; CQ, chloroquine; SP, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine; pfmdr1, Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance gene 1; pfcrt, Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter; pfdhfr, Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase; pfdhps, Plasmodium falciparum dihydropteroate synthase. The genetic drug resistance profile was established in pre-treatment samples from malaria patients in Karimui and the Wosera by the use of a new DNA microarray-based technology and its relationship with in vivo drug response to the combinations of AQ+SP was analysed. The principal objectives were to establish the baseline prevalence of polymorphisms in genes related to AQ/CQ and SP resistance, to assess their relationship with treatment outcome, in order to identify and propose useful markers for molecular monitoring of drug resistant P. falciparum in the country. The analysis of the genetic profile of the parasite population revealed high levels of mutant alleles in CQ resistance (CQR) related pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes. The long history of 4-aminoquinoline use as monotherapy in PNG has led to a highly CQ resistant genetic background in the parasites as reported previously [21, 28]. In addition, the results demonstrated prevalence rates of 91% and 82% for mutant alleles in the pyrimethamine related gene loci pfdhfr S108N and C59R. Mita et al. recently analysed P. falciparum isolates from patients attending town clinics in Wewak (East Sepik Province) and observed similarly high prevalence rates of pfdhfr double S108N+C59R mutations (83% in 2002 and 86% in 2003). These high levels of mutation rates in pfdhfr appearing only a short time after the implementation of SP as one component of the official first-line policy were not surprising and may be due to i) the increasing recourse to SP as second-line therapy with quinine in the late 1990s (Nsanzabana et al., unpublished), ii) the former drug pressure exerted by the use of pyrimethamine (in combination with CQ) in mass drug administration campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s , and iii) the widespread use of trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole for the treatment of bacterial infections [31, 32]. Recent microsatellite analysis in dhfr-flanking regions by Mita et al. revealed that the most prevalent dhfr haplotype (i.e., S108N+C59R double mutation) was associated with reduced microsatellite variability around the gene, an observation which argues for the selection of pre-existing SP resistant parasites, rather than the frequent emergence of de novo mutations in this gene . These data further corroborate the hypothesis, that former drug pressure has lead to the emergence of pyrimethamine resistant parasites before the official introduction of SP in PNG. Until 2003, polymorphic pfdhps loci associated with reduced sensitivity to sulpha drugs have only been found in a single P. falciparum isolate originating from PNG [21, 22]. In the present study, prevalence rates of 13% for A437G and 1% for K540E were observed. Likewise, Mita and colleagues detected mutations in these loci in 8% of patient isolates collected in Wewak in the year 2003. In the view that pfdhfr mutations usually predominate over those in pfdhp [12, 15], the detection of genotypes having a single dhps A437G mutation in combination with pfdhfr wild type alleles in two of the samples was rather unusual. However, this genotype may well have been selected by sulpha drugs used to treat infectious diseases other than malaria. In order to propose a suitable marker set for the molecular monitoring of P. falciparum against the current combination therapy, the association of single mutations as well as infecting genotypes with in vivo treatment response was investigated. Regarding CQ relevant markers, the only single marker associated with a significantly increased risk of treatment failure was pfmdr1 N86Y. Taking into account additional SNPs in pfcrt, neither of the mutated alleles increased the predictive value for pfmdr1 N86Y, the most likely reason being that these mutations nearly reached fixed levels in the parasite population. Similarly, pyrimethamine relevant markers in pfdhfr did not show a significant association with treatment failure. Risk of failure was only increased with infections harbouring the A437G mutation in pfdhps. These observations are in agreement with previous studies showing that the prevalence of single molecular markers (e.g. pfcrt K76T or pfdhfr S108N) was almost always higher than the level of clinical or parasitological resistance to the respective drugs, especially in regions with high transmission intensity and long lasting drug pressure [4, 34] and therefore, renders these markers unsuitable for molecular monitoring. Furthermore, the validity of molecular markers is dependent on former drug use and may also vary according to the malaria epidemiology in a given area [10, 17, 18]. The evaluation and assessment of a combination of markers, instead of single markers indicating the presence of a highly resistant genotype, have been suggested for the molecular monitoring of antimalarial resistance [12, 14–16, 35, 36]. In the present study, which took into account the combined pfcrt/pfmdr1/pfdhfr/pfdhps genotype, the risk of treatment failure was clearly associated with the total number of mutations in the analysed genes. The risk was significantly increased for patients harbouring parasites with the most highly mutated genotype (i.e., 8/24 SNPs mutated). However, unusual findings included the increased risk of treatment failure with genotypes having the N86Y mutation in pfmdr1 and the quadruple mutation in pfcrt combined with a fully wild type pfdhfr+pfdhps allele. These results highlight again the fact that among many parasite and host factors, the molecular resistance background of P. falciparum is only one of several determinants for in vivo treatment outcome. Whereas acquired immunity can account for the clearance of drug resistant genotypes, diminished drug metabolism may well explain treatment failure in spite of an infection with a susceptible genotype . Regarding former drug history in PNG, the relevance of key pfdhps mutations in predicting treatment failure was expected. AQ and CQ as inefficacious partner drugs of SP in the new standard regimen were not able to curb both, the progression of pyrimethamine resistance as well as the emergence of sulphadoxine resistance. It is most likely that in this sample, clinical efficacy of the sulpha component was mainly assessed. However, according to the present results, also pfmdr1 N86Y plays an important role in predicting a negative treatment response. CQ and AQ are chemically related drugs and cross-resistance has been described in several clinical and in vitro reports. Though little is known about the genetic mechanisms conferring AQ resistance , an important role has been ascribed to the key CQR markers pfcrt K76T and pfmdr1 N86Y [39, 40]. It has been shown recently that in combination with pfcrt K76T, the pfmdr1 N86Y polymorphism was predictive for treatment failure with AQ in Nigeria and that AQ resistance was associated with the selection of these polymorphisms in Kenya . Considering the long use of AQ as monotherapy against uncomplicated falciparum malaria in PNG and the observation that pfmdr1 N86Y is a strong predictor for treatment failure with AQ+SP, the present data support the hypothesis that pfmdr1 N86Y is probably involved in AQ resistance. Several studies have shown that both, SNPs and gene amplification of pfmdr1, can mediate resistance to 4-aminoquinlines and also other drug classes, such as amino alcohols and artemisinin derivates However, results from different studies investigating the relationship of these genetic alterations in pfmdr1 and in vivo response were often inconsistent [6, 44]. Direct (active drug translocation) and indirect (modification of biophysical cell parameters) modes of action have been proposed for P-glycoprotein homolog 1, the gene product of pfmdr1. But how genetic alterations in pfmdr1 and epistatic interactions with other genes finally lead to a multidrug resistant phenotype remains to be resolved . Finally, the fact that the difference in clinical outcome between the two sites was reflected in the genetic profile of the corresponding parasite populations, especially for the frequencies of pfmdr1 N86Y and pfdhps A437G, further confirmed the role of these two markers as important predictors for a negative treatment response with AQ+SP and suggests them to be the most useful resistance surveillance markers with the current standard treatment in PNG. This study shows that a careful baseline assessment of molecular markers, including the investigation of their relationship with treatment response, is essential for the identification of appropriate marker sets. For the parallel analysis of SNPs in multiple genes in a large sample size, DNA microarray technology has proven to be a valuable and cost-effective tool. However, the use of additional markers could become necessary for the longitudinal resistance monitoring in the future, in particular when current drug policy starts to show reduced effectiveness. These may include SNPs in known or as yet uncharacterized genes involved in resistance to the commonly used antimalarials, or markers against newly implemented drug classes, such as the artemisinins.

"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina, allegedly by Tom Dula. The song is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio. This version was a multi-format hit, which reached #1 in Billboard and the Billboard R&B listing, and appeared in the Cashbox Country Music Top 20. It fits within the wider genre of Appalachian "sweetheart murder ballads". The song was selected as one of the American Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

I first heard ‘The Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ in the mid-1960s, sung by Davy Graham on his astonishing second album Folk, Blues and Beyond, and it has stayed with me ever since. I’ve always loved its opening lines, ‘Sing a song of sad young men/ Glasses full of rye/ All the news is bad again/ Kiss your dreams goodbye.’ (Those last two lines have been particularly resonant in recent weeks and months). The lyrics for the song were written by Fran Landesman, with music by Tommy Wolf, for their 1959 off-Broadway musical The Nervous Set. The story was set in the world of the Beat Generation, of which Fran Landesman was a part, courted by Kerouac and serenaded by Allen Ginsberg. Not many of those hip cats, it seems to me, wrote songs or stories about the subtle sadness of middle age. Like all great songs, ‘The Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ paints a picture – a guy, alone in a bar, ‘drinking up the night and trying not to drown‘, realising that his life is on the turn and the party has moved on. Fran Landesman, who moved to London with her husband Jay in the mid-1960s, came from a wildly bohemian literary background. The Nervous Set started out as a novel and two of her greatest songs were said to have been inspired by literature. ‘Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most’, covered by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Barbra Streisand, was a jazz version of TS Eliot’s line from The Wasteland, ‘April is the cruellest month’ while ‘The Ballad of the Sad Young Men’ can only have been sent on its way by the name of Scott Fitzgerald’s third collection of short stories All the Sad Young Men. The song has a timeless, melancholy quality, captured not only in the lyrics but in Wolf’s tender melody, and down the years, a huge number of wildly varying covers have been released. Roberta Flack had a hit with it, Rickie Lee Jones, Petula Clark, Boz Scaggs, Shirley Bassey and many other have had a go. Most, it seems to me, take the edge off the song by making too smooth, too late-night-jazz, too damned comfortable. Davy Graham’s version is probably one of the least musically perfect ( there’s a special place in hell for a Marc Almond effort) but captures the bitter, awkward sadness of the song better than any other. Folk, Blues and Beyond, has remained one of my most treasured LPs and, according to its Wikipedia entry, is now regarded as ‘a defining record of the 20th century’. That’s pushing it a bit, but Davy Graham was certainly the guitarist who helped change the direction of folk in the 1960s, bringing in influences from jazz to world music (of which he was a pioneer), inventing the DADGAD tuning beloved of folk musicians since then, writing the ultimate finger-picker’s instrumental ‘Anji’, and influencing musicians from John Renbourn (who wrote this little essay about him) to Jimmy Page and Paul Simon. According to the 1999 Channel Four documentary Blame It On My Youth, now available on YouTube, Paul Simon once once asked Davy Graham and Bert Jansch to replace for Art Garfunkel while he was away making a film, a mind-boggling idea). In the documentary, Davy Graham says, ‘It’s no good being the centre of attention without knowing how to handle it’, and he spoke from experience. He lived a restless, beatnik, wandering life, was addicted to heroin at one point, and eventually seems to have become more interested in languages (he spoke Gaelic, French, Greek, Turkish) than playing the guitar. Even his first name has a bit of a wobble to it – sometimes he’s Davy, sometimes Davey. In spite of a revival of interest towards the end of his life (he died in 2008), he has never received the recognition he deserves. His music is a living rebuke to folkie purists (of which there are many today) who believe that folk should be uncontaminated by songs that are not ‘in the tradition’. As the title and playlist of Folk, Blues and Beyond shows, Davy Graham took good music from wherever he found it. Not many albums cover Cyril Tawney, a Broadway show, Blind Willie Johnson, a tune from Tangiers and Charlie Mingus. All the sad young men, who play at making love. Misbegotten moon. shine for sad young men. All the sad, sad, sad, young men. What a great song: a dash of Fitzgerald, a taste of the Beat Generation, a hint of Broadway, all served up by one of the great folk-jazz guitarists of the past half century. It will last as long as that misbegotten moon keeps shining.

A polar bear watches some visitors to it's natural habitat. Seated in a heated cab above two-metre-high wheels, you’re beyond the reach of polar bear, as you’ll discover when one rears up to its full three-metre height and peers through the glass at you. Spend a little time with an arctic giant in Canada’s biggest polar bear show. It’s a sight to behold – but they’re also known to stalk humans for food, so it’s highly dangerous, unless you’re in a tundra buggy. Seated in a heated cab above two-metre-high wheels, you’re beyond the reach of polar bears, as you’ll discover when one rears up to its full three-metre height and peers through the glass at you on an unforgettable trip in northern Manitoba. A two-day excursion around Churchill – “the polar bear capital of the world” – includes board at the Tundra Buggy Lodge, a mobile cabin-train of the same precautionary height, where you can sleep in a warm bunk, dine on home-cooked meals and stare up on a clear night at the Northern Lights. The US Geological Survey predicts two-thirds of the 22,000-strong polar bear population will be lost by 2050 due to global warming, which shortens their precious hunting window.

We evaluated the effects of a two-year multi-component intervention on early childhood development, household economic resilience, and retention in care and adherence to treatment. In Zimbabwe, while 85% of HIV-positive adults are receiving treatment and care, only 44% of children are receiving treatment. We designed the Expanded IMPACT model to support the Ministry of Health and Child Care to accelerate pediatric care and treatment access. The model addresses both demand and supply by strengthening capacity, increasing uptake, and supporting decentralization of services to strengthen local clinic capacity. While designing and implementing the Expanded IMPACT model in Zimbabwe, we recognized a gap in early childhood care and development, especially for HIV-exposed infants. We piloted an early childhood stimulation (ECS) component through a randomized control trial (RCT). With research partners from Oxford University and the University of Stellenbosch, we are leading the two-year RCT to evaluate the significance of our early childhood stimulation parenting curriculum on HIV adherence for mothers and their babies, as well as the cognitive, emotional, and developmental progress of the child. This package includes childhood stimulation parenting skills, home visits/case management, and economic strengthening activities for caregivers to afford treatment and transportation costs. By better understanding E-IMPACT’s ability to retain HIV+ children in pediatric HIV care, we aim to contribute to the global evidence base concerning integrated service delivery models for pediatric HIV care. Although the RCT is not yet complete, the early childhood stimulation curriculum and interventions were well received and we are utilizing the curriculum across more programs, notably DREAMS and DREAMS IC. Results are expected in 2018. Due to the initial successes of the RCT package of services, we have scaled up the interventions for all 21 E-IMPACT districts.

This 300 acre area near Olathe contains several smaller tracts of diverse native prairie along with areas undergoing prairie “reconstruction.” Like Kill Creek Prairie, a small population of Mead’s milkweed is found here. The Prairie Center is the metro area’s best opportunity for restoration of a true prairie landscape in an area that in presettlement times was almost totally prairie. Threats to the prairie include encroachment by native woody vegetation, non-native grasses like fescue and brome, and the exotic invasive sericea lespedeza. Mowing and burning are two of the management tools used here. Kansas Wildlife and Parks utilizes this area for interpretive and educational programs. Take Kansas Highway 10 west to Kansas Highway 7. Go south about 4.7 miles to Highway 150 (135th Street). Turn right and go 3 miles to Cedar Niles Road. Turn left. The parking lot is on your right.

When you are pulling a trailer or load of any kind, one thing is undisputed: trailer towing is a special situation which places demands on your driving skills, and on your tow vehicle. Here are a few basic tips that you should know in order to transport your boat and trailer safely, comfortably, and without abusing the towing vehicle. Add to this the fact that all manufacturers don’t use the same formula to determine a vehicle’s towing capacity, and it becomes apparent why consumers can easily get confused. After you have determined how much weight you will be towing and how much weight your tow vehicle can handle, the hitch will be the next tough choice. It’s often a choice that consumers unwisely spend too little time considering, however, the hitch is perhaps the most important factor in assuring that your tow vehicle and load make it to their destination safely. There are several types of hitches to choose from. In some cases, the trailer you are towing will determine the type of hitch you’ll need. Perhaps the most popular hitches today are the Hidden Hitch and Reese Hitches, but one of the more unique hitch systems is offered by Advanced Air Hitches. Their one-of-a-kind design improves handling, braking, traction and wear and tear on your equipment. For optimum handling, the trailer (if applicable) must be properly loaded and balanced. Keep the center of gravity (CG) low for best handling. The towed object should also be balanced from side to side. For Example: If you are towing a boat and the vessel has side mounted fuel or water tanks in which only one side is filled, then this will lend the rig to maneuver poorly. Before hooking up whatever you’re towing to the trailer, make sure your tow truck is full of oil and fuel. Remember, it is a lot easier to fuel your tow vehicle at a gas station without a boat and trailer attached. You should also make sure the vehicle has plenty of water in the radiator and fluid in the transmission. Towing a large load can often times heat up a motor and strain a transmission. If you haven’t already done so, look into installing a transmission cooler on your tow vehicle. Additionally, before starting out on a trip, practice turning, stopping and backing up your trailer in an area away from traffic. Make sure your mirrors give you ample vision around both sides of the boat and trailer, and if not, look into getting modified mirrors for your tow vehicle. Finally, check to make sure the trailer ball (when applicable) on your tow vehicle matches the coupler on your trailer. The three major sizes of trailer balls are: 1-7/8”, 2”, and 2-5/16”. Make sure the ball is fastened properly to the tow vehicle and that the mounting will handle the capacity equal to or greater than the weight of the trailer and load. If you have a receiver type hitch, make sure the insert (the bar the ball attaches to) is secured with a retaining pin and that it has a locking clevis pin on it. The gearing options found in 4X4 trucks help a vehicle tackle many of the unique situations encountered if you have to trailer your load in an off-road situation. 4H allows you to drive full speed, if necessary. The high range ratios in 4X4 mode are the same as the gear ratios in 2WD. 4L is for creeping along at slow speeds. It reduces the strain on your vehicle; just remember to stay below 25mph in low range. While it does not provide more traction, it does provide 2-3 times more torque at about 1/2 or 1/3 of the speeds in high range. You need to have a heightened sense of awareness when towing. Before each trip take a few extra minutes to check the trailer tires to make sure they’re properly inflated. Recommended pressures are indicated on the tire sidewalls. Also be sure the tow vehicles tires are properly inflated. If its a heavy trailer, try adding extra pressure to the tow vehicles rear tires. Never take trailer wheel bearings for granted, a total failure, which will cause the wheel to stop turning, can cause an accident. Check the bearings at least once a year, before you head out on your first excursion. Get one side of the trailer up on a jack, grab a wheel with both hands, and see if there’s any play in the bearing. Then turn the wheel, using ears and fingers to detect any scratchiness in the rotation.

This step by step diy project is about how to build a lean to carport. Building a simple carport is a straight forward project, if you plan everything from the very beginning and use the right carpentry techniques. A lean to construction is ideal for narrow backyards, as well as for a woodworking novice, as it doesn’t require an extensive expertise in carpentry. Moreover, you only need basic tools, to get the job done. Before starting the actual construction of the lean to carport, you need to study the local building codes thoroughly. The legal requirements vary extensively according to the area where you live, so you should read them a few times. In most of the cases, the construction require a building permit, so you need to be aware of the required depth of the footings, or the materials you are allowed to use. Align the wooden components at both ends, before driving in the screws. Drill pilot holes trough the components to prevent the wood from splitting. Check the corners for squareness, every time you install a component. Check if the posts are plumb and if the support beams are horizontal, before locking them into place with screws or bolts. A lean-to construction will be easier to build as compared to a gable roof carport .The roof will direct the water in only one direction, so you could build it close to the property line. The first step of the project is to lay out the carport in a professional manner. In order to get an accurate result, you need to use batter boards and string, as in the image. Check the corners for squareness, by applying the well-known 3-4-5 rule to every corner. Smart tip: In addition, you should measure the diagonals and adjust the strings until they perfectly match. Afterwards, you have to set the posts into place. As you can see in the image, you have several options: set the posts into concrete, pour concrete footing and attach adjustable anchors or setting the supports to a slab. Smart tip: Digg a 2-3′ deep holes and fit tube forms. Pour a 2” concrete layer on the bottom and set the posts plumb (use braces to lock them into place). Fill the forms with concrete and finish the top with a float. Setting the posts in concrete is essential for the rigidity of the carport. As you can easily notice in the diagram, we recommend you to dig 3′ deep holes and to pour 2″ gravel on the bottom. Install the tube forms to the holes. Secure the posts with braces before filling the forms with concrete, making sure the posts are level. Fitting the posts into place should be a straight forward task, as you just need to secure them with lag screws to the metal anchors. Use a good circular saw to cut the posts at the right size, making the ends are right-angled. Smart tip: Place the posts into the anchors, plumb them with a spirit level and secure them with two 2×4 braces. Drive in 2 1/2” lag screws into the wooden posts. Afterwards, you need to attach the support beams to the wooden posts, as in the plans. In order to get the job done in a professional manner, you need to align the 2×6 beams at both ends (the supports should overhang 1 1/2” on both ends). In addition, check if the supports are level, before clamping them to the wooden posts. Drill pilot holes trough the beams and posts, before driving in the 5 1/2” carriage bolts. As you can see in the image, the crossbeams should overhang about 1 1/2” at both ends. In addition, the top ridge should be installed 1 1/4” higher as compared to the posts, otherwise you won’t be able to secure the roofing sheets properly. If you live in a windy area, or you have secured the posts with posts anchors rather than setting them in concrete, you should increase the rigidity of the structure with wooden braces. As you can see in the image, you have to cut both ends of the braces at 45º and lock them into place with screws. Drill pilot holes trough the braces and insert the 2 1/2” screws, to prevent the wood from splitting. Make sure the braces are aligned properly, before inserting the screws. The next step of the woodworking project is to build the rafters and to fit them into place. In order to drain the water properly, the roof should have a slope of at least 15º. Therefore, cut both ends of the rafters at 15º, using a circular saw with a sharp blade. Smart tip: Fit the 2×6 wooden rafters between the crossbeams and align them at both ends, making sure they are spaced 24” on center. In order to lock the rafters tightly to the crossbeams, you have several alternatives. On one hand, you could drill pilot holes trough the breams and insert 3” screws from the outside of the lean-to carport. On the other hand, you could use corner framing hardware to anchor the rafters to the rim beams. Use 1 1 /2 screws to secure the rafters into place tightly. Ask a friend to hold the rafters, while driving in the screws. After installing the rafters into place, you need to fit the roofing sheets. If you want to get the job done properly and to get a durable result, we recommend you to use 3/4” tongue and groove plywood sheets and to la them as in the plans. Smart tip: Lay the sheets on top of the rafters and secure them every 6” with 2” screws/nails. Work with great care and attention, making sure the connections are tight and rigid. Cover the roof with felt, making sure the strips overlap at least 2”. Use staples to secure the tar paper to the 3/4” plywood. Fit the back and front drip edge over the roofing felt, while the side drip edges should be installed under the felt. Install the shingles starting with the bottom of the roof. First, install the starting course with the tabs upward-oriented. Continue the installation by fitting the tabs and securing them into place with staples. The carport seem from one side. Fitting lattice panels to the sides would be a great way to protect your car from the elements. The carport seen from the front. As you can notice, the wooden lean to carport is a simple construction with a modern design, ideal for any backyard. The carport seen from the opposite side. As you can notice, the slope of the roof is steep enough to drain the water efficiently. Last but not least, you should take care of the final touches. Therefore, you could install lattice panels between the posts and use them as privacy screens. In addition, you need to fill the holes with wood putty and to let it dry out for several hours, before sanding the components. See all my carport plans HERE.

We totally underestimate the importance of our smallholder farmers. our biosafety and more recently, our cognitive and our physical health. They stand at the frontline of zoonotic epidemics. They pretty much underpin our existence. And they need to know so much, yet most lack knowledge on livestock disease prevention and treatment. expensive and hard to scale in the face of population growth. Sounds pretty gloomy, doesn't it? But we're at an interesting point in Africa. We're changing that narrative using innovative solutions, riding across scalable technologies. Knowledge doesn't have to be expensive. My company developed an agricultural platform called iCow. We teach farmers best livestock practices using SMS over simple, low-end phones. and those that execute the messages go on to see increases in productivity within as short a time as three months. The first increases in productivity, of course, are improved animal health. We use SMS because it is retentive. and in effect, we're drip-feeding agricultural manuals into the fields.

Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University’s Center for Theoretical Biological Physics have created a basic framework of how cancer cells adapt when their attempts to metastasize are blocked by the immune system or by drugs; understanding this strategy could help scientists design therapie, as published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Direct connection between gene regulation and metabolic pathways and how cancer cells take advantage of it to adapt to hostile environments are demonstrated in the team’s model. Oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis metabolic processes were examined that provide cells with energy and chemical building blocks needed to proliferate. Direct association between activities of AMPK and HIF-1 regulators of OXPHOS and glycolysis have been detailed in the model, along with activities of three major metabolic pathways: fatty acid oxidation; glucose oxidation; and glycolysis. Metabolic plasticity enables cancer cells to switch metabolism phenotypes during metastasis and tumorigenesis, however it is still largely unknown how the cells orchestrate gene regulation to balance their activities. Modeling gene regulation of cancer metabolism showed the cells can acquire a stable hybrid metabolic state in which OXPHOS and glycolysis can be used. To comprehensively characterize cancer metabolism in this study the team established theoretical framework by coupling gene regulation with metabolic pathways. According to the team results demonstrate association between activity of HIF-1 and AMPK with the 3 major metabolic pathways; and further characterizes hybrid metabolic state and inactive state where cells have low activity of OXPHOS and glycolysis. RNA sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas Transcriptomics and metabolomics data from paired tumor and adjacent benign tissue samples from a cohort of breast cancer patients were used to verify model prediction, along with in vitro studies of aggressive triple negative breast cancer cells. TNBC cells maintaining hybrid metabolic phenotype, as well as targeting OXPHOS and glycolysis being required to eliminate the cell’s metabolic plasticity were confirmed in the results, which serves as a platform to symmetrically study how tuning gene activity modulates metabolic pathway activity and vice versa. Hybrid metabolic state were found to be able to be promoted by stabilization of HIF-1 and elevated production rate of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in cancer cells relative to normal cells; ROS are chemically active models important to signaling but at high levels can damage cells. The theory was backed up via gene expression data from breast cancer patients and metastatic triple negative breast cancer experimental models; evidence showed repressing glycolytic activity in the cells activated AMPK and enhanced OXPHOS, the reverse was also found to be true; and a combination of inhibitors that attacked OXPHOS and glycolysis successfully eliminated cancer cell’s metabolic plasticity. The team is trying to push the field of metabolic modeling towards more flexibility to allow for decision making processes seen in cells by coupling genes to metabolism in a novel way. It was noted this still a limited view of all metabolic pathways, as there are other possibilities that included in the model, the team aims to be able eventually provide a more complete story as to what is really happening.

Main Seminar Hall (Mälarsalen) 11.50-12.35 a.m. Many different areas can benefit from increased electricity output. Not only is it needed to support a greater population, but electrifying vehicles, expanding battery production, establishing server-halls, and producing steel all have large electricity demands. Meanwhile, nuclear power is being phased out. Wind power is expected to expand at a record pace in order to meet demand, and the government-set target for 2030 will be reached by as soon as 2021. How much wind power is needed if Sweden also intends be a net-exporter of electricity? The session will start by reviewing new statistics from the SWEA on the developments of wind power in the last quarter. How do these statistics affect future prognoses, and how close are we to reaching the end of the Electricity Certificates System?

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The general purpose of Ohio’s Workers’ Compensation System is to provide statutory benefits to compensate employees for work-related injuries or diseases. The payment of benefits is tied directly to medical costs and indemnification for lost work time. Because workers’ compensation is a no fault system, questions as to how or why an employee was injured usually are irrelevant. In addition to the normal workers’ compensation benefits, the Ohio Constitution provides for an additional award paid by the employer to the injured worker where the employer committed a violation of a specific safety requirement (VSSR). In essence, a VSSR award is a fault-based penalty assessed against the employer. Whenever a workplace injury occurs, Ohio employers must be aware of the potential for VSSR exposure. VSSR awards can be very costly for Ohio employers. Depending on the severity of the safety violation and any mitigation or aggravating factors, the Industrial Commission has the discretion of issuing a VSSR award amounting to between 15% and 50% of all compensation paid to the injured worker in the accompanying workers’ compensation claim, calculated up to the maximum weekly compensation rate set for the year of injury (currently $885). For example, if the injury occurred in 2016, and before returning to work, the injured worker received 52 weeks of temporary total disability compensation at the maximum weekly rate ($46,020), and a permanent partial disability award of 25% ($14,750), a VSSR award would be between 15% ($9,115.50) and 50% ($30,385) of the total paid compensation. The award also could include an amount to account for future compensation paid in the claim. The Industrial Commission exercises considerable discretion in determining the size of the award. Moreover, an employer who commits two or more VSSRs within a 24-month period is subject to an additional penalty of up to $50,000 for each violation. A claimant has two years from the date of occupational injury, disease or death to file a VSSR application. As a prerequisite to filing the VSSR application, the employee must have a workers’ compensation claim for the same injury. Once the VSSR application is filed, the employer has 30 days in which to file an answer. If the application and answer is not determinative, the matter is referred to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation where the Safety Violations Investigation Unit conducts an investigation and issues a Report of Investigation. It is advisable that employers have an attorney present to protect their legal interests during the on-site investigation. Throughout the investigation process, the parties are encouraged to negotiate a settlement. If the parties cannot reach a settlement agreement, the matter is set for a preconference hearing with the Industrial Commission and then a merit hearing before a staff hearing officer. To establish VSSR liability, the injured worker has the burden of proving: (1) a specific safety requirement, applicable to the employer at the time of the injury; (2) the employer, with control over the circumstances leading to the injury, violated the specific safety requirement; and (3) the employer’s violation proximately caused the injury, disease or death. Unlike in the workers’ compensation context where statutes are liberally construed in favor of the employee, VSSR standards are strictly construed with all reasonable doubts resolved in the employer’s favor. The rule of strict construction provides that all reasonable doubts concerning the interpretation of a safety requirement must be resolved in the employer’s favor. This rule places a high burden on an injured worker alleging a violation and provide employers with the opportunity to craft various legal arguments against a provision’s applicability. Because VSSRs are considered a penalty, safety requirements must be specific enough to plainly apprise an employer of its legal obligations towards its employees. Therefore, lack of specificity is a valid defense if the alleged VSSR contains an arguably ambiguous statutory term. Perhaps the most contested VSSR issue is determining the applicability of the alleged safety requirement. The majority of VSSR awards are based on a violation of a safety requirement found in the Ohio Administrative Code. When defending a VSSR, it is important to have a thorough understanding of how the Ohio Administrative Code is organized, as certain safety requirements apply only to designated industries. In many instances, an employer can successfully defend a VSSR on a procedural basis without having to argue the merits of the alleged violation. Although VSSRs can be a frightening reality for Ohio employers, especially considering the potential for steep out-of-pocket cash liability, the majority of VSSRs are defensible or at least manageable with the assistance of effective legal counsel. If you are faced with a VSSR, do not hesitate to seek immediate legal assistance to guide you through the investigation, negotiation and hearing process.

Studies support using a consistent exercise routine to help improve metabolism, reduce your risk of diabetes and certain cancers, help us maintain a healthy weight and improve your cardiovascular health. Further research reveals that even when you engage in regular exercise, it may not be enough to offset the disadvantages to our good health from too much sitting. Research led by Loretta DiPietro, PhD, department Chairman in exercise science at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, now finds that increasing inactivity as you age may also reduce your ability to get around and remain mobile. During that study, the researchers examined data from people age 50 to 71 across eight to 10 years from a large NIH–AARP diet and health study that started with all healthy participants, between 1995 and 1996. The results were not surprising as they found those who were most active, sitting less than 6 hours each day, were the least disabled and those who were least active, getting less than 3 hours of activity a week, were the most disabled. The researchers concluded that “reduction of sedentary time, combined with increased physical activity may be necessary to maintain function in older age. We do not have to work very hard not to leave our homes. If we choose we can order everything we need online, including groceries in most areas. Entertainment, communication and video chatting may mean you don’t get out of your chair for hours at a time. The health challenges resulting from sitting for prolonged periods are related to sedentary behavior, and while sitting is the most prevalent form of sedentary behavior, it is not the only one. Any activity during which we exert very little energy is considered sedentary behavior. Although the scientific community has coined the term “sitting disease” to refer to metabolic syndrome and other ill effects of a sedentary life, the medical community does not use this as a diagnosis. Death: In a study of over 123,000 people, researchers found women who sat for 6 hours or more each day had a 94% increased risk of death from all causes during the study period than women who sat for 3 hours or less. Men who were inactive and sat for 6 hours or more were 48% more likely to die than men who were more active. Obesity: A study of 50,000 women over 6 years found every 2-hour increase in viewing television a day resulted in a 23% risk of obesity, and for every additional hour women spent sitting at work without getting up resulted in an additional 5% increased risk of obesity. Metabolic Syndrome: Absence of muscle contraction during extended frames of time reduces your ability to metabolize and process carbohydrates, leading to the Key risk factors for insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Cancer: A meta-analysis of 47 studies found an increasing amount of inactivity or sedentary behavior resulted in a higher risk for cancer and an increased risk of death from their diagnosis. Lower Back Pain: Sitting for long periods of time places added strain on your lower back, reduces your core strength and reduces circulation to the small muscles in your lower back, all leading to an increased risk of lower back pain. Senior citizens who face issues with loss of mobility grapple with a loss of independence, resulting in psychological and social challenges. Individuals who lose their ability to live on their own may experience an inability to socialize with their friends, an increasing sense of loss, growing depression and anger. So, get up, get out, move around, meet and talk to people and live happy longer.

Hyewon Yum: Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten! is your fourth book. It seems very personal. Was writing and illustrating this book different from working on your previous books? It is actually from my own experience with my son. When my first child went to kindergarten I was so worried, like the mom in the book. I always fear what is unknown, behind the door. (Sadly, being a mother doesn’t help at all.) But my five-year-old was so confident. That was the start of the story, so I wrote the story as a mother. As both a writer and an illustrator, how do the text and images come together for you? The text and images are inseparable for me. When I come up with a story, I always start to work on the dummy [a rough mock-up of story and pictures] first. In a scene, some things are better told in words and other things are better as a drawing, like the small, blue mommy. It is widely understood that reading and being read to are important for children. Were you a big reader as a girl? Yes, I was a big reader. I loved fairy tales as a young girl. And my mom read books to me all the time. My mom still has the recording of her reading The Ugly Duckling and me and my sister asking silly questions. How important do you think drawing and painting are for children in developing literacy? Reading the images is as important a skill in developing literacy as the reading the text. What do you want parents and children to take away from your book? When did you first discover the work of Keats? Did he influence you as you developed your voice and style? I discovered him when I came to the U.S. to study illustration. I absolutely fell in love with his work. I love his understated style and concise words. As a matter of fact, they were my textbooks when I made my first picture-book dummy. I’m still trying to figure out what makes his books so perfect, though—it’s like magic. Jean-Jacques Sempé, Gomi Taro, Maurice Sendak, Jon Klassen, Isabelle Arsenault, and of course, Ezra Jack Keats. How do you feel about receiving the EJK Book Award? I am so honored. I know there are so many talented people, and it’s unbelievable I was chosen. All the previous winners are absolutely talented and successful—I’m so excited to have my name next to theirs! I’m not good at advice, but I can say this: I have found that there are not many people who really love their job and enjoy working, but I do. Every day I wake up and do what I love to do. Isn’t that nice?

Your first thoughts should focus on your needs. If you are a healthy, younger single person, your needs may be relatively small compared to an older person with a family. For women of childbearing age, the costs associated with pregnancy should be a consideration. Your family's medical history and possible medical predispositions are other factors. Even if your are covered by a group plan, there are issues associated with the type of plan to choose -- co-pays, choice of doctors, flexibility, paperwork, etc. Summit Insurance can provide information and answers that will enable you to choose the right plan for you. What is the difference between group and individual coverage for life insurance? The difference between group and individual health plans is whether or not the plan is connected with an employer or organization. Group plans insure group members without regard to the health status of any of its members. Group plans typically cost less and offer broad coverage. People who receive health insurance as part of their employee benefits are covered by group plans. Self-employed people and individuals who qualify for membership benefits in a particular organization or association may also be eligible for a group health plan. Individual plans take into account the individual's health status, and are medically underwritten. Which means that an individual's medical records and history are evaluated for certain risk factors. As a result of the evaluation, coverage may be denied or certain exclusions can be attached to the individual policy. Individual health insurance typically costs more than group insurance, and in some cases (mahealth risk factors) may be extremely costly, if available at all.

Hon’ami Kōetsu, Kōetsu also spelled Kōyetsu, (born 1558, Kyōto, Japan—died February 27, 1637, Kyōto), celebrated Japanese painter of the Tokugawa period who was also an innovator in lacquerwork (with raised inlays of metal and shell and bold designs), a calligrapher, a potter, a connoisseur of swords, a landscape gardener, and a devotee of the tea ceremony. He was born in the imperial city of Kyōto and followed his father’s profession as purveyor of swords to the imperial court. In 1615 the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu granted him a territory in Takamine, northwest of Kyōto, where he established a hermitage called the Taikyo-an. Together with his equally remarkable relative Sōtatsu, he founded a school of painting that was continued by Ogata Kōrin, the style of which was colourful and strongly decorative, recapturing the Yamato-e tradition of classical Japan.

The goal of this project is to assess the ecological response potential of floodplains associated with Mike Horse Dam. The Mike Horse Dam is located 24 kilometers east of Lincoln, Montana in the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex. Mike Horse Dam creates an impoundment on Bear Trap Creek, a head water tributary to the Upper Blackfoot River. The Upper Blackfoot River is a water source to residents in the greater Lincoln area, and the watershed is a resource to anglers, hunters, and other recreational visitors. The past 150 years of mining activity in the Upper Blackfoot Mining District has contaminated miles of floodplain with heavy metal laden sediments – a major environmental hazard to natural and human resources in the Upper Blackfoot watershed. In addition, a recent evaluation of the dam concluded that the structure is unstable due to an inadequate spillway, detectible seepage flow, and erosion. The US Forest Service (USFS) is currently leading a clean up effort which will partially or completely remove Mike Horse Dam and begin stream restoration. This project will provide information to answer two questions in determining the fate and restoration of Mike Horse Dam: how can stream ecosystem restoration be maximized, and how can risk of further contamination be minimized? The research team will identify and predict areas most responsive to the changes in flow associated with Mike Horse Dam. Specifically, researchers will classify the ecological response potential of stream reaches in their current and historic watershed contexts. To accomplish this, they will select study locations and collect topographic, hydrologic, and biological data at these locations before and after action on Mike Horse Dam. The evaluation of the findings will guide efforts to restore the ecosystem, allowing decision makers to maximize restoration potential and minimize risk to contaminated sediment.

Absolutely nobody disputes the potential value of big data. It provides an economic way to ask new analytics questions that we were never able to ask before. And that is possible because we are able to combine new, large, and widely disparate data sets in ways that were never economically possible before. The challenge people are now facing is that it getting harder and harder to show business value. When MapReduce first came out, many people jumped on that opportunity and started writing great code with it. Then, Spark came along. Spark was so cool and interesting that many organizations decided to drop what they had been doing with MapReduce and move to Spark. And that meant a total re-write of all that code that had written, with the loss of thousands of programmer-hours. It is highly likely that there will be a high level of technology change for the foreseeable future. Who knows when we will see a Spark replacement? On another vector, imagine having to manage a big data stack. To keep a modest sized big data environment functioning you are probably looking at a minimum of 6-12 different technologies, for storage, computing, data warehouses, and higher-level analytics. Not to mention data discovery, data prep, data security, data quality and governance, and data visualization. An incredible amount of time is being spent keeping all of those technologies current and integrated with each other. No analytics organization I have ever spoken to wants to be in the system integration business. They want to be delivering actionable insights for their organizations. Even more interesting, a great deal of new big data and analytics innovation is starting to appear in the cloud. For example: I don’t think we will see Google Deep Learning offered on-premise any time soon. There are indisputable and well-documented advantages to using the cloud. But a hybrid environment will also mean a higher degree of challenge in designing and managing a hybrid data management architecture that connects the data in the clouds (probably plural) with on-premise systems. The example below shows just some of the common big data technologies. There is a general progression from older technologies to newer technologies as you move from left to right. The question becomes: how do you leverage the best technologies available while still maximizing the return on technology investment in big data for your organization? You will never get there if you spend most of your time on the big data technology change treadmill. What is required is a data management platform that will enable you to run the big data technology that best fits your business need but abstracts that from the process of data management development. In the example below, a data management platform separates the Data Visualization and Analytics layer from the underlying big data technologies; Compute, Storage, Distributions, and Data Warehouses. An end-to-end solution: Full data management includes data discovery, data integration, data quality, data prep, master data management, data security, data governance and more. This should be integrated. Modularity: You shouldn’t have to buy the entire platform at once. You should be able to start where it makes sense for you and grow your data management capabilities at the pace that is comfortable for you. Abstraction: The platform development environment must provide a layer of abstraction between the development layers and the underlying big data technology. You should be able to code once and have the platform intelligently determine the best engine to run the code on. And it will help a lot if the platform supports the most current engines available. Hybrid: The platform must be able to manage data wherever it resides, cloud, on-premise, big data, or something completely different. Intelligence: in 2017 IT budgets are starting to grow after many years of flat budgets worldwide. But, that will not be enough to scale to the needs of organizations who are looking to compete based on their use of data and analytics. The platform must accelerate productivity by providing intelligence to make recommendations, and automate tasks such as parsing and relating new data for greater understanding. Self-service: IT will play a role in delivering data that is ready for business use, but after a point, it makes sense to enable the subject matter experts, the business analysts, to do their own data prep and visualization. If all of this seems a bit visionary, I highly recommend that you attend this year’s Informatica World 2017, coming up May 15-18th in San Francisco. In this blog, I have only hinted at some of the things that will be announced at this event. You will really need to come see for yourself how data management is being re-imagined to deliver greater, faster business value.

Remember playing that game to see how fast your muscle car could accelerate? My favorite was sticking two $20 bills, mine and theirs, to the dash with a magnet and telling your ‘victim’ it was all theirs if they could reach forward and grab it while you hammered the throttle. Dash’s are all plastic these days but judging by the quality of electric vehicles these days I’d have no problem making, and easily winning, that bet today. Porsche just announced its first EV, the all-electric Taycan, due out later this year. The electric from the German luxury automaker will reportedly do 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds. Less flashy but no less impressive is the charging metric: 60 miles to a charge, completed in four minutes – significantly faster than Tesla’s 120-kilowatt supercharging stations which can do 80% of the charge in about 30 minutes, according to Bloomberg. The four-door sedan is the latest in a series of electric vehicles aiming to compete with Tesla in the luxury EV market. Others include Audi’s E-Tron, the I-Pace by Jaguar, and Cadillac, which will sell its first EV this year, a 2020 Cadillac SUV built at its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. In the United States, EVs are still a niche market targeted at the progressive rich. Last year they accounted for just 1% of new-car sales, with Tesla taking the lion’s share. Expensive EVs, of course aren’t the only models available. The Nissan Leaf can be purchased for about $30,000 and the least expensive model, according to a recent survey, is the modestly priced Smart Fortwo Electric Drive, with a price tag of $24,650. The offerings are only going to expand. According to a Reuters survey, automakers throughout the world are planning to spend at least $300 billion on EVs within the next five to 10 years. Time to do a little market research. The vacuum cleaner company Dyson, more known for vacuum cleaners then EVs, has hired former BMW and Infiniti executive Roland Krueger to head its electric-car business. Dyson aims to bring three electric cars to market with the first model due by 2021. Germany’s Volkswagen said it will invest $800 million to construct a new electric vehicle – likely an SUV – at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The announcement is part of a greater strategy to become the most profitable manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs). In December Volkswagen said it will spend $34 billion on “e-mobility initiatives” including electric and self-driving vehicles, and $57 billion on battery procurement, for an eye-popping total of $91 billion. That includes 50 battery-electric and 30 hybrid-electric models by 2030, including 12 electric models for Audi. It plans to eventually offer electric version of all 300 of its models, among the 12 brands it owns. Volkswagen is also holding exploratory talks with Ford about cooperating to develop self-driving and electric vehicles, possibly by using Volkswagen’s MEB EV platform. Reuters reported that VW will sell 150,000 EVs by 2020 and 1 million by 2025. But Diess reportedly told German car magazine Automobilwoche that Volkswagen has acquired the batteries to produce 50 million electric vehicles! To put that in context, last October sales of electric vehicles in the United States reached 1 million – versus around 4 million worldwide. The company has already begun converting three car plants in Germany to build EVs, with the first model to roll off the production line this year at Zwickau, which currently builds the VW Golf and the Golf Estate. The plant will eventually have a production capacity of 330,000 electric vehicles. As for the Chattanooga plant, production is slated for 2022, and is expected to add another 1,000 jobs. Could Volkswagen’s plan to infiltrate the North American car market with an EV, in much the same way the Volkswagen “Beetle” did in the 1960s, be the beginning of an electric vehicle hub in the southeastern United States to compete with Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada? It certainly appears so. Electric Vehicles are here to stay. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent, many many more models are coming to market. Lithium-ion batteries find their most common applications in small electric devices, power tools and electric vehicles, but they can also be employed in large-scale energy storage. As renewable energies come down in price and become a larger percentage of countries’ total energy mixes, the need to store energy for later feeding into the grid will become more and more important. That’s because solar and wind power, for all their green (emissions-free) credentials, are only useful when the wind blows or the sun shines. Capturing their energy for later use has become one of the most pressing technical dilemmas of the 21st century. A breakthrough would shift renewables to a form of baseload power and break their dependence on natural gas “peaker plants” to supply power to the grid when solar panels or wind turbines aren’t producing any. Fortunately, there is a lot of research going on right now into utility-scale battery storage. The leading contenders are: pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), compressed air energy storage (CAES), lithium-ion batteries, vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), use of flywheels, and hydrogen energy storage. Researchers at Imperial College London developed a model to determine the lifetime costs of nine electricity storage technologies for 12 applications, between 2015 and 2050. The model predicted that the cost of lithium-ion batteries would fall far enough to beat pumped hydro energy storage – currently the cheapest way to keep energy on ice, as it were. The finding is another arrow in the quill of lithium-ion battery makers and lithium miners, opening up a potentially lucrative market for lithium and other metals that go into lithium-ion batteries, beyond electronics and EVs. While the energy storage market is currently very small – just 1.4GW worldwide in 2017 – it could reach 8.6GW by 2022, according to GTM Research. The US and China are currently the biggest supplies of stored energy and are expected to remain so until 2022, GTM Research said in a 2018 report. The greatest obstacle to greater large-scale energy storage market penetration is cost; it is still prohibitively expensive. Forbes notes that the cost of lithium-ion battery storage for “front-of-meter” units (where energy needs to be quickly provided to the grid) ranges between $282 and $347 per megawatt hour. By comparison a natural-gas peaker plant is $175/MWh. However, falling costs are driving demand. While energy storage cost $1,000/MWh in 2010, in 2017 it fell to $209. Back to the Imperial College London Study, the model showed that while pumped hydro energy storage is currently the cheapest form of stored energy, over time, the cost of lithium-ion battery storage is expected to decrease until 2030, whereas the cost of PHES will not. After 2030, lithium-ion batteries will be the cheapest form of energy storage. When looking for an investment the approach I take involves looking at the global – big picture – conditions. I study trends, read the news, basically watch and listen to what’s going on in the world. Electrification of the global transportation system and up to grid size energy storage is one of the most overriding and long lasting global themes currently underway. Then I study the different sectors in order to select the one that I think is going to match up well with, what I think is, the overriding theme. Lithium is needed to manufacture all those currently, and very soon to be needed, future lithium-ion battery production. This is top down investing. The second part of my search for the dominant investment is a bottom up approach. I spend the majority of my due diligence time and effort on bottom up searches – finding the companies involved in my chosen sectors. I pick the company I want to invest my money in based on the quality of its management team and its project(s).

The popularity of the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon and upbeat messages about breast cancer “survivors” can make it seem as if breast cancer is nearly wiped out. Unfortunately, that’s not what the numbers show. While the mortality rate from the disease has declined slightly since the late 1980s, breast cancer remains the second most deadly cancer for women in the U.S. In 1991, the year after Breast Cancer Action was founded, 43,583 women died from breast cancer. It’s estimated 41,760 people will die in 2019. Breast cancer isn’t fatal unless it spreads to other organs, like the lungs, liver, bones and brain. Breast cancer that spreads is called metastatic, or Stage 4. Even breast cancers originally diagnosed at earlier stages can metastasize. It’s estimated 20-30% of early stage diagnoses will eventually spread. Despite treatment advances, median survival after a diagnosis of Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) is just 2 to 3 years. FACING THE FACTS A NEED FOR BETTER TREATMENTS Meaningful progress in treating MBC is desperately needed. While there are a few people who live a decade or more with MBC, that’s not the reality for most of the more than 150,000 people living with MBC today. Treatments can extend lives or improve quality of life, but all eventually stop working as cancer cells develop resistance. Many drugs used for MBC cause lifealtering, and even life-threatening, side effects due to their toxicity. Black women are nearly 40% more likely to die from breast cancer than White women. Latina women have relatively low risk of getting breast cancer and dying from it, but are more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages and to receive inadequate treatment. The mortality differences for women of color reflect broader systemic inequities in access to, cultural relevance of, and quality of care. A LACK OF DATA The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) registry tracks initial diagnoses of breast cancer and breast cancer deaths, but not the numerous early-stage cancers that recur. A diagnosis of MBC can be financially devastating. One survey found that among insured MBC patients, 30% had been contacted by a collections agency and 36% reported refusing or delaying treatment due to cost. Rates were much higher for uninsured patients. • Everyone has access to breast cancer information that’s candid, unbiased, and understandable. • New drug approvals are based on evidence that the treatments help patients live longer and feel better. • Data collection accurately captures the scope and outcomes of MBC, including how many patients with early-stage breast cancer have a metastatic recurrence. • Resources are devoted to reversing breast cancer disparities for people of color. • Everyone has access to affordable, high-quality, evidencebased, culturally-competent healthcare.

Bit of a fun blog today, stretching my mind around two of the many human activities I find quite baffling. 1 – If they didn’t exist, no-one would invent them. Watch Bob Newhart’s legendary Raleigh sketch here, and you’ll get the idea. Then imagine him calling home to try and explain religion to a nation evolved purely on science and reason. 2 – If our kids didn’t learn about them from us, they wouldn’t discover them later. This is a great argument both for religious education and smoking in homes or close to children to be banned. 3 – Both are harmful to health. Smoking inarguably so; religion stifling to open enquiry and rational thought. The late great Christopher Hitchens referred to religion as a mental illness, and who am I to argue? 4 – There would be fewer premature deaths without either. Sure, we’ve all got to die sometime, but that’s no reason to wantonly leave the party early. Whether you choose to literally expire through self-inflicted respiratory destruction, or get caught up in an act of slaughter in the name-of-all-that’s-holy, either is a tragic waste of precious life. 5 – Both originated from our ignorance. Religions were invented to provide explanations where current knowledge failed. The sun rose – must be a big man upstairs. Washed away in a flood – that’s him again, punishing us for being bad. Smoking was promoted long before medicine caught on to its perils. Hell, we even thought it was good for us! 6 – Now we know better. The corollary to number 5. 21st Century Medics unanimously agree that smoking is among the easiest and surest of slow suicides yet discovered. Scientists are equally aligned that most things previously given a mystical status are now fully explained by science. 7 – Both are financially ruinous. I know people who spend more on fags than they do on a mortgage payment, for God’s sake. And no-one could make an argument of fiscal responsibility for the Vatican, hoarding looted treasures worth enough in cash terms to rid the world of all known diseases. Probably. If all the churches in the UK were converted into social housing, we’d solve the new homes shortage at a stroke. Maybe. 8 – They waste good people. Smoking, as we’ve agreed, truncates lives and thereby loses any future intellectual and social benefits those people may have yet had to bring. Organised religion is a huge sap of talent. I know several intelligent, intellectual and compassionate priests who could have contributed positively to our society in many other more useful ways. 9 – Both are widely practised, yet wrong. The argument that if enough people say or do something, it must be right, has never been disproved more effectively than through smoking and following religion. No-one needs to re-read the list of tobacco-related diseases to know that for sure, and here is a great rationale of why the same applies to religion. 10 – We’d be better off without them. You won’t find many people outside of the tobacco industry and HMRC arguing any positives for smoking. Even the smokers I know agree it’s plain silly. As for religion, John Lennon summed it up as perfectly as a man ever has.

Cable pulling is a simple yet effective activity that comes in use in factories and related production units. However, not every set up may require cable winches as it helps in cable pushing and pulling. Even though, some factories may use cables for other purposes, they may not need a cable winch for use. This is like additional equipment and it must only be brought after proper research and determination that the product will actually add on to the use and efficiency. The cable pushers are available in a wide range and the buyers can make a selection based on their need and use. The wide range is meant for various uses. Most of the factories have different purposes of buying a cable winch and that has led to variants and capacities of the product. The technological advancements have led to production of better products that has further made activities and functions easy for the users. The users are however advised to run a test check and see if the equipment will actually come to frequent use. The interested buyers must read up about the product and get a real time check and make the best buying decision. We do invest funds in many such products but what is important is to ensure that the equipment will actually help us and cut out the production time. Individuals have progressed toward becoming so wellness cognizant today that they wouldn't fret spending a couple of additional bucks to contract an individual wellness coach who can enable them to get the ideal body that will make them the focal point of fascination. There are numerous advantages of employing a wellness mentor. A mentor goes about as an instructor, mentor, and help. Checking Performance The individual wellness mentor can be your closest companion in the rec center, giving you the best counsel and demonstrating to you the correct method to perform different exercise moves. Individual wellness preparing is tied in with setting individual achievable focuses for customers by setting up an activity medicine and guidelines list. Diverse sorts of activities for shoulders, arms, biceps, stomach, thighs and so on are intended to give best outcomes. These projects are planned in the wake of considering customer's medicinal history and their necessities. The fitness coach may prescribe protection preparing to fabricate muscle with the goal that you shed pounds quickly and get great body shape, it is the conditioning of muscles that gives the body an alluring shape. Without the assistance of individual wellness coaches, it would be very hard to accomplish wellness focuses on a particular time period. You may not be a strict eating routine devotee but rather the wellness mentor would help you to get roused and enable you to hold fast to your eating regimen diagram. Mentors can suggest eating fewer arrangements that give vitality to high power exercises without, empowering weight reduction without trading off on sustenance. If you take into account the number of goods that we buy regular which come in some kind of packaging, then make sure it bottles, bags or boxes then think about the number of people you will find in this nation alone you may start to imagine exactly how much money is spent on packing regular. Before this used to imply there could be tens of thousands of mill workers employed to place these products into bags or boxes but using the throughputs required nowadays this is no more viable. Shrink Wrapping Machines – All these machines pack the item to plastic film bags then, typically by employing warmth, shrink the film around the product. This approach is used to seal in the freshness of this item and keep out harmful germs and other terrible things. To know more about shrink wrapping machine visit . Packaging Machines for Boxes – possibly the most frequent kind of packing in use nowadays, boxes are used widely in modern-day packaging. When talking boxes it's necessary to be aware that this covers everything out of matchboxes containing refrigerators and other large products. You will find unthinkable quantities of goods which end up packed into boxes and for every one there's typically a packing machine to automate the procedure. Packaging Machines for Bottles, Jars – Professional packaging machines were developed over recent years to ease the packaging of, chiefly fluids, to bottles, jars, and cans. Everything from water into cooking sauces is packaged into containers employing these machines that are outstanding, and all done so at outstanding speed. Individuals are only very likely to observe a screen that's notable because it's different. Your display may be a significant investment provided that you make a cautious alternative. Customized presentations are a cinch to buy to be sure the complete most attractive stand is possible. Often seen from all regions of the exhibition hall the hanging screens offer you unparalleled visibility and therefore are among the best ways to demonstrate your traffic where you're. The screen ought to be graphically appealing and ensure it's clear from first glance what it is that you do. Occasionally you may need an exhibition screen that is individually designed to fulfill your area. Smart display displays might be utilized to advertise the merchandise and services. Try to coordinate with all the ground with the remaining part of the display, but it's not vital. According to your needs, you can decide on the display racks. If you're using a double-sided screen be mindful of placing the display before strong lighting. You don't stand to get rid of anything when you decide to set up your trade show display. When it's to do with taking part in a trade show, it is vital that you merely are unique and stand outside. The entire point for folks to go to a trade show is to navigate dozens of individual stalls and test out each of the choices available to them so that they can choose the vendor that is quite suitable for their requirements. Tents trade show might be small as compared with your showroom, but it should still provide precisely the same feeling like they're on your workplace. Whenever your booth attracts an increased variety of visitors, the number of your prospects and sales will also increase significantly. It is not hard to be creative and come up with fun and exciting approaches to receive your booth stand out, however, in the identical time you must portray a professional image whatsoever times, ensuring your clients take you poorly and will need to conduct business with you later on. You also need to make sure you provide a trendy and educational booth. Neat and tidy, well-organized exhibition booths are almost always appealing and supplies an immediate advantage on a cluttered one. A Modular Exhibition rack has many advantages. So in regards to choosing a display stand, the funding has to be thought about. A portable exhibition stand can help improve your brand name and the picture of the business in the opinion of a visitor. They're not very expensive. Perfect exhibition design stands are an excellent method to earn brand awareness together with grab the interest of target audience. You should have banner stands. Not only do you get to pick from a range of banner stands, but you receive them at incredibly reduced rates. The amazing thing about our racks is that they're reusable. Regardless of the size or contour of distance that you have, our flexible pop-up graphic stands will create your next display stick out from the rest. You might get your banners printed or customized by your taste. Instead, you can look for the services of the flags out of a company that's situated close to the location of the function. The pull-up banner appears fantastic. Whether you're looking for a single pull-up banner or the plan of a whole exhibition display system Adept has the experience and suggestions to aid you. Exhibitions have their extraordinary richness and constraints. Whether you are a newcomer to presentations, wish to lower your display stand prices or merely upgrade your present screen racks, at XL Displays we pride ourselves on finding the proper solution for your display requirements. For instance, you're in a position to make your display more striking using free furniture, literature racks together with displays, counters, poster frames, banners stands which can be used indoors plus outside also and a lot more. Exhibitions are the most typical method to launch your merchandise in the marketplace and exhibit displays enhance your presentation. There is a variety of tradeshow exhibition displays to pick from, which range from small tabletop units to expansive gull wing displays. If you will need some additional help cleaning up around the house or only want to become unwanted things out of the way fast, then a junk removal service might be the best solution. Employing a rubbish removal service is the best way to eliminate all those unwanted bits and pieces that you have lying around the home which you don't have enough opportunity to shift. Perhaps you've got a refrigerator or a chest of drawers that requires garbage dismissal of and just don't have the manpower to do it you want the additional help of a fantastic junk removal service. It can be quite stressful, as well as tiring to have to lug huge pieces of furniture back and forth in your so why not make those dreaded cleanup projects fast and painless. A junk removal service will come along and clean up your home or business in a minute, all you will need to do is to determine what should go. The biggest benefit of going with an expert Junk Removal and Dumpster Rental company is that you get to sit back relax knowing the job will be done correctly and professionally! The trick lies in not falling for those fly by night operators which contain cheap prices over the telephone. They may sound good online, but the problems only start when you finish the call. They might not appear, they might raise the cost when they do come out. Whether your kid is about to enter a swimming class or a beginner, it is essential that you focus on finding the right swim gear for them. The right gear will enhance your child’s overall performance as well protect them from fatal accidents. Kids are more susceptible to chlorine and harsh sun rays, so make sure that you go for the swim suit that has chlorine resistance along with sun protection. Hair and eyes can be easily damaged because of the excessive amount of chlorine in the swimming pool. So, make sure that you kid wear a swim cap along with goggles. It is super easy to get water inside your nose and ears when you are a kid. So, these two items come in handy when your child is a beginner. There are several flotation devices available in the market. These include arm bands, swim vests and wrist alarms. These devices and gears protect your child from drowning and gives you peace of mind. The task of hiring a wedding photographer can be expensive. As the professional wedding photographers come in different packages and prices. The cost of hiring professional Wedding Photography and Photographers Waterloo is considered to be the third most expensive arrangement after the expense of food and the venue. When it comes to making a decision you should choose an ideal wedding photographer. If you find a worthy service and good type of professionals then you an find the best experience possible, as an ideal photographer will help you get the right pictures, the right background, capture the beautiful memories, conduct the photoshoots and deliver a memorable wedding album. In that way it will turn out to be worth the cost. But when you go for a particular theme of wedding or have an idea about what you want from the photographer then you must also know the types of photographers. The traditional photography was one of the first forms of adapted photography and is still prefered by some of the clients. It can be seen by some trends and families in Parramatta still go for traditional Wedding Photography Photographers Parramatta . This type of photography involves a lot of posing and stage photos. These photographers mostly focus on some of the key shots and the planned shoot covers up a set of set a photos in a particular order. The artistic photography in some other terms is also known as creative or editorial photography. They are ideal for the bride and the groom who are open to the idea of unconventional and creative photography. This type of photography has something in common with traditional photography also. This is because it involves some posed and constructive shots as well. It uses different angles, backdrop, ideas and sophisticated lighting to prove its point. The photojournalistic photography is also known to be a kind of reportage photography. It is the type of photography style in which number pf candid photos are taken throughout the event ina journalist style. Now many clients, brides and grooms prefer this type of photography. Selecting somebody for an extremely private, and (ideally) once in a lifetime job should not be a stressful job. By enabling time and by adequately preparing, you are able to ensure you've completed all that is reasonably in your capability to create the best option. You have just one chance, only one day to generate all function, and it entails the photographer working with and getting the most out of a high number of possibly chaotic factors including the weather, the place / the place, the guests, and obviously you and your spouse! Wedding photographers will promote locally, but in the event that you're able to find a recommendation from a fantastic friend or associate of their household, then all the better. Sites may also give a fantastic way to see a number of their photographer's work, collect some helpful info, and read some reviews. Fantastic wedding photographers have a hectic schedule so try to reserve them a very long time ahead of their wedding date.You'll have to learn the length of time the wedding photographer plans to remain in the reception and wedding. When you fulfill your potential photographer(s), then you'll find a fantastic impression of if you and your loved ones will have the ability to get together with them, whether they're approachable and helpful, and if you could have any type of connection with them that will probably be important for your wedding day. Discover whether the potential photographer is a wedding pro, how long they have been a wedding photographer and about how many weddings have they're the photographer for how often. These tips will give a fantastic indication of whether you are on the ideal path. February 8, 2018 / Anthony Cheney / Comments Off on Why Electronic Checks Are More Practical? Electronic check, or e-checks — additionally alluded to as electronic check transformations or back-office changes (BOCs) — are basically secure advanced adaptations of paper checks. Utilizing e-checks in your private company offers expanded time and cash reserve funds, and in addition extra assurance against extortion. With e-checks from deluxe, you can decrease your instalment handling costs by up to 60 percent and get instalments speedier — as a rule inside a day. The best part is that the framework that procedures e-checks has picked up prevalence with shoppers. Entering their ledger data on your site. Composing a paper check, which you examine in to virtual terminal, gave by your dealer specialist co-op. In the two cases, the data is exchanged and electronically finished which takes the assets from the client's record and stores them into yours. When you examine a check, the framework will confirm the record has the vital assets. The virtual terminal will print a receipt for the client to sign and keep. You void the paper check from Deluxe and return it to the client. You'll have the capacity to view and give an account of your trader exchanges on the web (highlights may differ contingent upon your shipper specialist organization or your instalment handling arrangement supplier). People usually buy a specific type of insurance such as life or health insurance which is definitely good for the future. It needs to suit their needs as a person. It could be in a form of life coverage, long term care, medical supplements and everything. This can be possible with the aid of those professionals who made use of Insurance Employment San Francisco County CA. The experts should really deliver the rules and regulations because it is a very important part of the process. You need to do it to avoid problems like anxiety in starting the entire process. The main consideration in your mind should be the kind of agent who will be there to offer help along the way. The provider needs to aid you in ways that are simple. When you deal with the issues involved, the agencies should assist you in solving the problems and it is definitely not possible with all the established companies. If for some reason, you need to stop the coverage then explain to the agent. 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During the first stage of the IVF process, Dr. Douglas will cause the ovary to produce many quality eggs (see understanding ovulation). Generating multiple eggs gives the lab more material to work with and creates a greater chance for a successful cycle. If the couple has multiple eggs during a cycle, this can also allow for the freezing, or cryopreservation, of embryos for use in later frozen embryo cycles. At IVF Plano, we use different fertility medication combinations to achieve oocyte growth. Dr. Douglas determines these medication combinations, or protocols, based on your individual medical history and your response to the various fertility medications used in a typical cycle. Because the chances of a successful embryo implantation in the uterus are greater when several eggs are collected, fertility medications promote the simultaneous maturation of multiple eggs for collection. Patients usually take fertility medications for seven to twelve days, with state-of-the-art ultrasounds and hormone testing used to monitor the woman’s progress. During the first step, Dr Douglas will prescribe a pack of birth control pills (OCP), which may seem strange to couples who want to get pregnant. The birth control pills contain estrogen and progesterone, which shut off the ovary. This will help to synchronize the eggs so that more will mature at the same rate. When patients finish the BCP pack, they usually have a period. This period signals to Dr. Douglas that your body is ready for stimulation of the ovaries. To stimulate the ovaries to produce many eggs, Dr Douglas will need to “turn off” the body’s normal hormone production. At this point, most patients will receive an injectable medication, Lupron (leuprolide acetate). Lupron functions by preventing the pituitary gland from releasing Luteinizing Hormone (LH). A release or surge of the LH hormone would cause ovulation to occur prior to the egg collection and result in cancellation of the cycle. Once the body is synchronized, Dr Douglas can begin the stimulation process. We utilize several different medication protocols to cause egg development in women, including the use of injectable gonadotropins, to stimulate the ovaries and produce multiple oocytes. Medications such as Gonal-F, Follistim, Bravelle, and Menopur contain follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH, which naturally occurs in a woman’s body, causes the follicles in the ovary to begin to make oocytes every month. Follicles are fluid-filled sacs located on the ovaries; the immature egg (oocyte) is attached to the inner wall of the follicle. As the egg becomes more mature, the follicle becomes larger. In a normal month, when the woman’s body regulates the cycle, secreted hormones will cause several follicles to grow, but only one follicle will mature to ovulation. In IVF cycles, Dr Douglas controls the growth of the follicles, causing multiple follicles to grow and produce many mature eggs.

A 2018 report from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimates that there are currently 244 million international migrants, or 3.3% of the global population. In 2017, more than one hundred countries began discussions on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees. Both seek to arrive at agreed-upon principles and commitments among UN states on issues facing migrants and refugees with the goal of creating a framework for international cooperation. A 2018 report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that there are currently 244 million international migrants, or 3.3 percent of the global population. Meanwhile, the twenty-first century has witnessed a dramatic increase in refugees, to 22.5 million globally, and internally displaced people, to 40.3 million—the highest such numbers on record. While the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) is well developed, has an ideological starting point in the 1951 Refugee Convention, and enjoys support from UN member states, the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) has been mired in controversy. Leaders are good at talking about migration but slow to provide migrants with protected status and economic opportunities similar to those enjoyed by their own citizens. This is partially because domestic political parties do not wish to be seen as favoring migrants over citizens. Migration is a deeply contentious issue that affects political popularity. Therefore, history shows that even while states have verbally committed to protecting the human and socio-economic rights of both migrants and refugees, few make good on these commitments, even in extreme cases such as the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in Myanmar. Instead, increased populism and right-wing extremism fuel political rhetoric that promotes extreme border controls, increases deterrence measures, and implements legislative measures restricting migrants from entering a country. The rhetoric emphasizes the negative aspects of migration rather than the benefits. Nowhere has this shift been more pronounced than across Europe and in Australia and the United States. As a result of these challenges, it has been more difficult to get the compact for migration off the ground than the compact for refugees. This is not for lack of effort by the United Nations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Louise Arbour as the special representative for international migration, responsible for advocacy, coordination of UN entities, and implementation of migration-related components of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, a 2016 UN General Assembly adopted set of commitments to enhance the protection of refugees and migrants. Institutionally, the United Nations and the UN secretary-general have prioritized discussions to find a working solution to the growth of irregular migration globally. Unfortunately, the compact for migration has suffered from an absence of leadership within the UN system. While the compact for refugees has been spearheaded by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), writing the compact for migration is a state-led process, with negotiations and discussions led by the co-facilitators Switzerland and Mexico. The IOM is responsible only for providing “technical and policy expertise” to UN members during the course of the discussions, which also increases their politicization. The compact for migration discussions began at UN headquarters, in New York, to highlight their political importance, yet the compact process has since moved to Morocco, which will host the 2018 Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in December. Removing the gravitas of UN headquarters so soon indicates that the compact might not be as high a priority for UN members as previously envisaged. It also raises questions about the levels of political buy in for the process, and whether the final document will take into account vastly different political and socioeconomic realities among UN member states. These global tensions are also reflected in African Union–European Union relations on migration. The Libyan political crisis and ensuing influx of irregular migrants (i.e., those arriving outside the international norms for sending, transit, and receiving countries) from West Africa to Europe, coupled with the IOM’s April 2017 revelation of a full-blown migrant slave trade in Libya, cast doubt on multilateral efforts to sustainably manage migration. Allegations that some EU member states (notably Italy) have inadvertently fuelled migration crises by providing naval and financial support to Libya to stymie the smuggling of migrants without offering legal pathways to Europe—despite UNHCR reports documenting the widespread torture, enslavement, and abuse of migrants —undermine confidence in UN members’ willingness to set aside their own interests and participate in difficult negotiations. The Libyan example reflects how public scandals have forced countries to take action only after reports of the mistreatment of migrants surfaced in mainstream media, as seen in the creation of the joint AU-EU-UN task force. Migration negotiations between the African Union and European Union have been particularly fraught. The European Union prioritizes stemming irregular migration, interdicting smugglers, and addressing readmission issues (such as a lack of cooperation from third countries and the home countries of irregular migrants). African countries are more concerned with how migration can be used to address development concerns. The scarcity of discussions on legal pathways to Europe, the European Union’s use of conditional aid to negotiate with African partners, and African countries’ willingness to make bilateral concessions and enter binding agreements that will not favor their citizens in the future demonstrate the unequal nature of migration negotiations. African countries have also expressed a desire that intra-Africa migration should receive more attention in international discourse and the policy agenda on international migration. For this reason, a failure of negotiations could have larger ramifications, further entrenching a securitized, “me first” approach toward migration rather than finding a solution in which all states agree to make valuable concessions for the greater good. Traditional intra-African migration flows reflect power struggles between sending and receiving states. For example, South Africa and Kenya, as economic centers within their respective regions, both support stricter border controls to reduce economic migrations to their countries. Despite the African Union’s ambitious goals for free movement set forth in its “Common Position on Migration and Development” and the creation of regional legal instruments to manage migration in its “Migration Policy Framework for Africa,” differing levels of economic development, xenophobia, and a growing youth demographic have made it difficult for African countries to come to an agreement. Is the GCM Zero Draft Fit for Purpose? Progress on the compact for migration has finally been made with the zero draft, which was released in February 2018. Current norms and guidelines on managing migration are scattered across a number of conventions, which complicates the United Nations’ ability to lobby states to ratify, adopt, and implement new international conventions. The zero draft attempts to address this by referencing important protocols and international human rights treaties, including more recent agreements such as the New Urban Agenda. The zero draft also takes into account a wide range of situations contributing to migration, including climate change and displacement, and encourages greater information sharing among UN members, while addressing migrants’ readmission to countries of origin in a dignified manner. However, the zero draft falls short in significant ways, and it reads more like a wish list than an implementable framework. The overarching criticism is that the compact for migration remains a consensus-driven, nonbinding instrument, which means that there are no legal instruments or mechanisms to hold states accountable for their failure to deliver on the compact’s goals. Moreover, migration remains firmly in the domain of domestic law and politics. This is recognized in the zero draft, which “upholds the sovereignty of States and fosters international cooperation among all actors on migration, acknowledging that no State can address migration alone.” When coupled with its recognition of migration detention (even if only as a last resort), the tug-of-war between international obligations and domestic laws is likely to continue, despite the zero draft’s attempts to root the compact in international human rights standards. As it currently stands, the zero draft proposes a capacity-building mechanism that will allow UN member states, the private sector, and philanthropic foundations to contribute technical, financial, and human resources to strengthen national and regional authorities. If implemented successfully, this could assist African countries in not only improving their own domestic and regional capacities, but also moving toward a more human rights–based approach to migration that fulfils the African Union’s objectives. Instruments such as IOM’s Intra-Regional Forum on Migration in Africa will allow African countries to identify “fit for purpose” solutions to their particular migration challenges, drive and own the African migration narrative, and address challenges that directly affect their citizens. Ultimately, the compact, once finalized, should enable the movement of people across the African continent. Failure to do so will have repercussions for Africa, a continent where more than half of the world’s population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur. Successful implementation of the final compact for migration and political buy in from UN members would also reverberate globally. In its absence, increasing polarization and nationalism will only make it more difficult to establish global standards regarding the rights of migrants. It will also demonstrate a failure to find financial mechanisms to assist developing countries that host large migrant communities (by providing support for infrastructure development) and to fund related projects for migration management. Political buy in, support, and a positive disposition among negotiating UN members are essential if the compact is to become a sustainable blueprint for migration. Financial support from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank can assist with improving infrastructure to enable migrants to better integrate into their host communities. The final document should incorporate regional inputs and a willingness from countries to make difficult concessions. Instead of leaving implementation to national action plans and cooperative frameworks, as suggested by the zero draft, the compact should encompass a practical and implementable action plan that has the support of both developing and developed countries, as well as sending and receiving ones, in which all parties feel ownership over the final document and have a measure of flexibility to tailor the action plan to their needs. A dignified future for migrants rests on the political success of a sustainable framework for international migration management.

Radon gas is toxic, and therefore it poses a serious risk for the health of a building’s inhabitants. Outdoor it is diluted, but inside buildings it accumulates. Where are we exposed to this gas? Radon gas is considered an invisible danger, as its effects do not appear immediately. It is able to get into our buildings by infiltrating various elements of a bulding. In many European countries, including the UK, many houses and buildings accumulate this potential danger in their basements and hallways without inhabitants or users being aware. The accumulation of this gas is caused by the decay of radium and uranium, present in soil, which escapes to the surface and into houses. Errors in the design and construction of buildings mean there is no barrier to prevent the radon getting inside the buildings. Are we exposed to radon in our own home? In November 2010, a team from the Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences and the University of Cantabria in Spain carried out an experiment to establish the normative framework for future construction. The researchers built a two floor brick house near a mine in Salamanca, with a radium presence on the ground 20 times higher than average, which guaranteed the presence of radon gas. After this single family residence had been built, the radioactive gas was given four months to accumulate. All you would have to do to make homes radon-free is approve security protocols in the Building Regulations. In a building, the main sources of radon are the soil, from which it originates, and the materials used in construction. But they are not the only ones. It may also enter the building in fresh air, the water supply or gas for domestic use, although the latter is considered a minor source except in specific cases. Concentration of a gas in an indoor environment also depends on certain practices and habits which help its accumulation, especially a lack of ventilation, along with the building’s air tightness. Where are we most exposed to radon gas?

In many ways our freshwater counterparts have it made; no tides to worry about, no fish stealing sharks, and you couldn’t step on a sting ray if you tried. The saltwater folks on the other hand have plenty of positives as well like how many hard pulling species of fish one can encounter on a single trip, or the simple fact that you have the potential to hook a creature that may indeed be bigger than your boat. Both sides have great arguments that back up their claims to being the best bite going. One thing the freshwater folks have that we don’t is an over abundance of fishable structure, or do they? Saltwater structure varies in many ways and can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. For instance let’s talk shallow structure, small very minor depressions in a flat can be called structure because they fit the mold. Structure is something different in an area that fish relate to or use for certain purposes like food or shelter. The small depressions can offer fish an opportunity to escape a stronger tide or aid them in ambushing baitfish, they are structure. More noticeable structure could be grass lines or other vegetation growing in or near the water. Some grass can actually help you find certain types of structure like underwater points. Along the banks of the Sabine River we have a certain spartina like grass that grows along the shore, each place where this grass grows usually indicates a shallow point that runs out into the river. Points like these are fish magnets; we have had some incredible days fishing the down current sides of these areas and we continue to use them still. Now a more classic version of structure for saltwater fishermen are reefs made from various types of shell such as oyster, clam or mussel. These areas are perhaps the most targeted pieces of structure in all the bay systems along the gulf coast. A good productive reef can and will attract plenty of attention from both fish and fishermen. Each bay has its own big name reefs where fishermen congregate regardless of whether the fish are biting or not, it doesn’t matter because everyone knows the area so consequently it must be good. The real hidden gems in any bay are the small reefs that not many folks know about because they receive little pressure and often produce big fish. I know guys who guard these areas like they were gold; they will often abandon the area if a boat gets near only to return when the area is vacant. GPS numbers to small hotspots like these are closely guarded and rarely shared with someone outside “the circle” of close fishing partners. If you are fortunate enough to find a place like this you would be wise to keep it to yourself. Now what about finding one of those hidden gems, one of those “go to” spots that seem to always attract and hold fish. There are all kind of methods to locating a reef or pile of shell and they all have one thing in common, they take time and effort. Many anglers will use the winter months to locate shell because the fishing is slower during that time of the year. I have seen people drag chain, conduit, or some other contraption that will make noise when it hits shell. Others will carry a push pole or some conduit and randomly probe the bottom as they drift an area. I have spent hours watching oyster boats work and recording GPS numbers on places where I never knew there were oysters. You can use all kinds of methods as long as you are willing to put in some time because that is the key. Now back to our freshwater friends and one advantage they have over us in the salt, they can build their own structure. I am sure most folks have heard about anglers up on the lakes sinking Christmas trees or other forms of structure to attract crappie and other fish, the technique is simple and it works. Saltwater folks have to contend with a few more rules so this technique is a little more difficult to pull off. It is my understanding that you just can’t go out and start dumping shell or rocks in a bay and make an artificial reef, if this was legal you can bet there would be some folks out there who would just go crazy with the practice. I will say however I have found wooden pallets, box springs, bathtubs, and even commodes make great artificial reefs when you find them sunk in a particular area. How these items got to where they are since the hurricanes I don’t know, all I can say that they hold fish and can certainly be classed as fishable structure. I can just see it now the next time I catch a bunch of fish telling everyone “yeah that commode and bathtub pattern is really holding strong”. Only an upper coast Cajun could appreciate a report like that.

As Jesus Christ said, from the beginning, men and women were meant to marry and become “one flesh”—living together as mutual partners, bound for life (Matthew 19:4-6). God didn’t intend married couples to divorce. Rather, they were to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it …” (Genesis 1:28). Marriage is a natural union, but a divine institution, ordained by the Creator God (Genesis 2:18, 24). It was not established by man. God also established immutable, unchangeable laws governing marriage and family (Exodus 20:12, 14, 17). These laws were designed to uphold and preserve the family unit, which is the basis of any healthy, stable society. However, the House of Representatives Committee on Population and Family Relations made history as it submitted a divorce bill for plenary deliberations for the first time. The committee approved a substitute bill that consolidated all proposals to legalize divorce and dissolution of marriage. However, it is important to understand in detail the different ways that divorce can affect children, women, men, society, and most importantly it is against the will of God. The people should know that divorce is not the answer to the growing violence against women and children. Most divorce advocates gives special importance on the growing children and women abuse. According to Gabriela Party-list Rep. Emmy de Jesus they stand firm about the use of the word divorce among the concerns of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez that there may be sectors who will object to the use of the word. (cited by Cruz, RG. 2018. ABS-CBN News). But I really do not see it as a solution for these problems. In fact it leads to the growing problem of immorality and sexually related diseases and problems such as unwanted pregnancies and sexually related diseases (qtd. by frankiepoop). And I believe that you will agree with me that these problems are a threat to women, children and even family. But then simply because people were given the choice and chance to change while the fact is, it is where the so-called “rights” is abused. It is where many people make use of the right and abuse it for their own self-centred selfish search for happiness and will only bring them to the same situation again and again and again. That’s why you will see people divorced not just once, nor twice, but multiple times. As I mentioned earlier this right has proven to be easily abused. And we are not actually giving people the solution to their problems, but a chance to repeat the same mistakes. Divorce is like a medicine but unrecommended one. For example, there is abusive husband who have been divorced by his wife. This husband will then just look for another woman to marry and later on will abuse her too. While the woman if she’s the one having some problems, she will just look for another guy and if things will not get well, all she has to do is to apply again for divorce. Immorality I guess this is not so much “in” nowadays. It’s something that most people don’t want to talk about except those that are of the religious sectors and religious people. I hate to say this but the Philippines have a steep moral degradation and that is why most of these divorce proponents put forward a silly solutions for various problems. Not only is that divorce is not the answer to the growing violence it also affects the children. Whether a couple goes through annulment, legal separation or divorce, their children will always be the most affected. Some divorce supporters argue that the Bill ensures financial support for the children, and even the spouse, but it doesn’t provide anything to safeguard the mental and emotional aspects of the people involved. When a couple separates, it leads to a broken home or broken family, and not many children are able to cope with this.

Onset. Physical changes of arthritis begin long before pain begins. Ninety-five percent of people older than 15 already have arthritic changes in their elbow joints. By the time pain is experienced damage is often quite advanced. The usual wear and tear damage begins with fraying of the surfaces of cartilage, which becomes increasingly "raggedy." The changes in the cartilage are perceived as foreign bodies by the immune system, which releases destructive enzymes further damaging the cartilage. Tearing or thinning or changing of the shape of the cartilage can then result. In later stages, with the cartilage virtually worn away, bone on bone grinding occurs, accelerating damage to the bone itself.

The following is the introduction section of an Application Brief that details Oxford Instruments X-Supreme8000 for the rapid, cost-effective analysis of cement and cement making material. This features the XSP-Cement analyzer package to comply with ASTM C114. Routine chemical analysis is an essential part in controlling the manufacturing of cement, from the full analysis of raw materials to testing each stage of the process. In a traditional system, natural minerals like limestone and clay form the raw mix that goes into the kiln for firing by coal, oil, or natural gas to produce clinker. Control of the basic reaction requires accurate analysis for at least calcium, silicon, aluminum, and iron in the raw meal. Calculations using these four elements (sometimes including sulfur) provide the required production control parameters such as lime saturation factor (SLF) and silica ratio (SR). Analysis of the clinker requires the same elements as for the raw meal, but control of the addition of gypsum during the final milling stage only requires the measurement of sulfur content. Waste materials are increasingly being used in the cement making process, bringing about many changes. When they contain the main cement making components, waste materials can replace some of the natural raw materials and combustible wastes can help from the kiln. This means more testing of the incoming raw materials, both during the process and in the final product. Thus, for a cement plant to compete in today's cost conscious market, its analytical capabilities must be extensive, cost-efficient, and flexible. It is important that any new analytical methods required for this type of analysis fit easily into existing procedures. X-Ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is one of the simplest instrumental techniques for analysis in a cement works because the sample preparation is simple. For many years, bench-top energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) spectrometers have been used successfully as a quality control tool in cement plants to control incoming material as well as production samples. Eastern Applied offers Oxford Instruments XSupreme8000 for cement analysis interests. When compared to other analyzers, this high performing ED-XRF spectrometer successfully performs a wider range of elemental analysis required in the cement making industry. The X-Supreme8000 is the perfect analyzer for the rapid multi-element determination of cement making materials - and now includes sodium with the flexibility for additional elements such as chlorine in raw meals, etc. The new level of performance has been achieved using Oxford Instruments unique Focus SD Technology.

Gum cancer is the cancer of the gum. The malignant growth of cells or the abnormal growth and multiplication of cells in the gum tissue is termed as gum cancer. The gum as known is the soft tissue surrounding the base of the teeth. In medical terminology gum is called gingival and therefore gum cancer is also known as gingival cancer. According to the statistics approximately 50% of people with this disease are expected to live more than 5 years even after the diagnosis and treatment. It is quite advantageous if the gum cancer is detected early meaning before it has spread to other tissues. If this early detection is done than the cure rate is 75%. But unfortunately more than 50% of the cases of this disease are said to be detected in advanced stage due to mistaken identity and mere negligence. Almost 25% of the gum cancer deaths are said to be due to late detection, diagnosis and treatment. The Gum cancer symptoms may be often mistaken to be some other dental problems which are less serious and easily treatable. Majority of these cases are predicted only after they have advanced. Gum pain: The first and foremost gum cancer symptom often mistaken as other disorder or problem is the pain in the gums. This is caused due to the malignancy of the cells in the gums. Gum ulceration: Other common symptoms are the formation of ulcers in the gum or nearby areas. Gum bleeding: Unexpected bleeding without any bruise or injury may occur without any specific reason. The accurate method of gum cancer treatment is surgery. Surgery involves the removal of the tumor if it is small enough. Apart from surgery the other gum cancer treatments include the radiation therapy and the chemotherapy. These methods are opted in cases where the tumor is very large and cannot be removed by surgery. If the tumor has spread to the nearby lymph nodes in the neck also these methods are used. At times surgery may also be useful for removing the large tumors. Rehabilitation may include speech therapy or other therapy to improve movement, chewing, swallowing, and speech. Having a regular dental check up, particularly the soft tissue of the mouth to check for any abnormal change in the gums. See a professional like the dentist in perth and have your dental problems corrected.

No place is safe from the scourge of superbugs, a new study suggests, not even space. According to the study, samples of bacteria resistant to several antibiotics have been found on the International Space Station (ISS). And while the bacteria may not have made any astronauts sick, the authors say it’s pretty likely that they can. The authors behind the study, published last week in BMC Microbiology, are primarily members of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by the California Institute of Technology. The laboratory is the major research hub for NASA’s robotic space and Earth science missions, such as the Mars Curiosity rover, and also runs NASA’s Deep Space Network of satellites. The new study is actually an update to the researchers’ ongoing work. In January, the same team published research looking into the bacterial genetics of samples swabbed from the surfaces of the ISS in 2015. Within these samples, they found more than 100 bacterial genes known to help make bacteria resistant to antibiotics. And strains belonging to a particular species of bacteria, Enterobacter bugandensis, were resistant to all nine antibiotics tested against them. In this latest study, they hoped to figure out just how dangerous these strains could be to human health. So they compared the genetics of the ISS strains to three strains of E. bugandensis collected back on Earth that had sickened people. The ISS strains had a lot in common with the Earth strains, including genes associated with antimicrobial resistance and virulence (the potential for a microbe to infect a person). Based on these genetic similarities, the team estimated the ISS strains were 79 percent likely to be disease-causing, or pathogenic. Enterobacter bacteria live most everywhere, including in our guts. Typically, they don’t cause illness. But in people with weakened immune systems, such as hospital patients, they can become the source of serious, life-threatening infections. And the recently discovered E. bugandensis is known to cause sepsis – a too drastic immune response to infection that can fatally shut down our organs – in newborns and the elderly. These opportunistic infections are bad enough, but antibiotic resistance has made them increasingly difficult to treat. And in space, where medical resources are limited and astronauts tend to have weaker immune systems, a potential infection could be catastrophic. Luckily, the authors say there’s no evidence these strains have caused any disease on board the ISS. And there’s still plenty of work to be done to suss out just how much of a problem these bugs are, as well as whether the conditions of space travel are encouraging their growth or making them more dangerous. One scientist, for instance, has speculated that microgravity might actually make bacteria evolve quicker than they would on Earth, or dampen the germ-killing effects of antibiotics. Future research will have to include experiments directly conducted in space.

In France, Belgium, and other Francophone countries, comic strips---called bande dessinee or "BD" in French---have long been considered a major art form capable of addressing a host of contemporary issues. Among French-speaking intelligentsia, graphic narratives were deemed worthy of canonization and critical study decades before the academy and the press in the United States embraced comics. The place that BD holds today, however, belies the contentious political route the art form has traveled. In Drawing France: French Comics and the Republic, author Joel E. Vessels examines the trek of BD from it being considered a fomenter of rebellion, to a medium suitable only for semi-literates, to an impediment to education, and most recently to an art capable of addressing social concerns in mainstream culture. In the mid-1800s, alarmists feared political caricatures might incite the ire of an illiterate working class. To counter this notion,proponents yoked the art to a particular articulation of "Frenchness" based on literacy and reason. With the post-World War II economic upswing, French consumers saw BD as a way to navigate the changes brought by modernization. After bande dessinee came to be understood as a compass for the masses, the government, especially Francois Mitterand's administration, brought comics increasingly into "official" culture. Vessels argues that BD are central to the formation of France's self-image and a self-awareness of what it means to be French.

Training, nutrition and gear tips for the days leading up to your big race. The final two days before a race are very important. The final workouts, meals, equipment and mental preparations and logistical planning you do in this window can have a major impact on your performance — for better or worse. Here’s a checklist of things to do in the 48-hour race countdown to ensure that you get the most out of the hard training you’ve done. Your next-to-last workout before a race should be relatively easy, so you’re not fatigued on race morning, but it should include a dash of speed to prime your nervous system for competition. For example, run three miles easy, then run 6 x 30-second relaxed sprints. Research shows that one day of very high carbohydrate intake (4.5 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight) is sufficient to maximize muscle glycogen stores. But you might as well start two days out for good measure. The best time to start carbo-loading is right after your short, fast workout, when your muscles are most receptive to glucose. It takes some work to consume 4.5g of carbs per pound of body weight in a single day. To get there, be sure to consume high-carb foods and beverages at every meal (e.g. oatmeal and orange juice for breakfast, noodle soup for lunch and a rice dish for dinner) and supplement with high-carb beverages such as Ensure between meals. Avoid spending any unnecessary time on your feet today. The yard work can wait until next weekend! Getting adequate sleep is critical to endurance performance at all times, but it is never more important than in the final days before a big race. In a recent British study, runners covered 6 percent less distance in a 30-minute time trial after being awake for 30 hours than they ran after a full night’s rest. While that’s a pretty extreme sleep deprivation, even a few lost hours of rest could keep you from reaching your race goal. Because of pre-race jitters and early-morning race starts, it can be difficult to get a full eight hours of shuteye the night before a race. So be sure to get a good, long sleep two nights out. A short, easy workout is better than none at all the day before a race. It relieves mental and physical tension and keeps the body primed for performance. Maintain your high-carb diet throughout the last day before you race. Choose familiar foods that have always worked well for your body in the past. Now is not the time to experiment. There’s nothing worse than showing up at a race venue and realizing you forgot something important. To avoid this nightmarish experience, take some time to get all of your gear together now. It’s best to create a race gear checklist that you use for every race. Go through it and check off each item before you travel to out-of-town races and go through it again on the morning of pre-race day, so you have plenty of time to replace anything that’s missing. Race morning logistics can be a pain in the neck, especially if you are not prepared. Minimize the hassle by making a concrete plan for race morning that includes a wake-up time, a route to the race venue, a parking site and arrangements to get home after the race. Spend some time on the event website and/or looking over the race’s official printed materials to gather all of the information you will need for a smooth race morning. Mental rehearsal, or visualization, is a powerful tool of psychological preparation for a race. It is not a tool you have to save for the night before a race, but there is certainly no better time to use it. After settling into bed, clear your mind and imagine the next morning’s race as vividly as you can. Obviously, you can’t go through the entire course in real time, so focus on critical parts such as the start, challenging hills and so forth. Imagine moving with impeccable form and feeling strong, but not unrealistically so. Don’t complete your mental rehearsal race miraculously free of fatigue. Instead, see yourself fighting through the fatigue. Research on the relationship between circadian rhythms and exercise performance suggests that optimal performance is not possible within a couple hours of waking up in the morning. So set an early alarm to give your body plenty of time to get up to speed. Try to climb out of bed at least three hours before the start horn blasts. Nutrition is more important than sleep on race morning, so it’s also important to wake up in plenty of time to consume and digest a high-carb pre-race breakfast. Aim to consume 75-100 grams of carbohydrate three hours before your race start, or at least 50 grams two hours out. Before you leave home, go through your gear checklist and your actual gear one last time. Be sure not to forget the small essentials such as sunscreen, race number, etc. Start your warmup about half an hour before your race start. Begin with easy jogging, then do some dynamic stretches such as walking lunges and arm circles, and finish with a few 20- to 30-second bursts at race pace.

What Is A 'Value Stream'? A Value Stream is the set of all steps from the start of your value creation until the delivery of the end result to your customer. The Value Stream is basically the combination of your Value Creation and Value Delivery processes. It's best to try to make your Value Stream as small and efficient as possible. Raw materials are delivered to the factory. The materials are combined to create dishwashing liquid, which is stored in large vats. Plastic bottles are blown into shape using molds, then filled with the liquid and capped. Adhesive labels are applied to each bottle. Each bottle is inspected, boxed, then loaded onto a pallet. Pallets are wrapped, stacked, and stored for shipment in a warehouse. When orders from customers are placed, pallets are moved into position for loading on a truck. A truck picks up the pallets and delivers it to the customer’s closest distribution center. The customer puts the pallets on a delivery truck. The truck delivers the pallet to a store that needs additional inventory. The store unwraps the pallet, unboxes the product, and transfers it to the shelf, where it will remain until purchased by the consumer. That’s a lot of steps for a little bottle of dish soap. Those steps are worth studying. A Value Stream is the set of all steps and all processes from the start of your value creation process all the way through the delivery of the end result to your customer. Understanding what your offer’s value stream looks like is critically important if you want to be able to deliver value to your customers quickly, reliably, and consistently. You can think of the Value Stream as a combination of your Value-Creation and Value-Delivery processes. Very often, your offer moves directly from the first into the second. Even though the purposes of these core processes are very different, treating them as one big process can help you improve your ability to deliver the value you create. The Toyota Production System (TPS) was the first large-scale manufacturing system to examine its entire value stream on a regular basis. Analyzing the production system in great detail paved the way for an ongoing series of small, incremental improvements: Toyota engineers make over 1 million improvements to the TPS each year. As a result, the company consistently reaps huge rewards in speed, consistency, and reliability, which greatly improved Toyota’s Reputation as a company with very high-quality products – that is, until the Paradox of Automation destroyed that reputation. The best way to understand your Value Stream is to diagram it. Tracing the steps or transformations your offer goes through from the beginning to the end is an extremely enlightening process that can show you just how efficient your value-delivery process is. It’s very common for processes to contain unnecessary steps or awkward transitions. Creating a complete diagram of your entire Value Stream takes effort, but it can help you streamline your process, making the entire system perform better. In general, try to make your Value Stream as small and efficient as possible. The longer your process, the greater the risk of things going wrong. The shorter and more streamlined your Value Stream, the easier it is to manage, and the more effectively you’ll be able to deliver value. What does the process you use to create and deliver value to real paying customers look like? Can you diagram it? Do the value-creation and value-delivery processes fit together seamlessly? "Great design is eliminating all unnecessary details."

The Xi'an Metro, also known as Xi'an Subway, is a metro system in Xi'an, China. System consists of three lines and over 60 stations. Inauguration was in September 2011.

I was introduced to a new concept last month by way of an article in WORLD Magazine. The article, in the January 14 issue, is titled, “Setting Their Own Limits,” and the concept is “unschooling.” Despite being involved in Christian education, having a master’s degree in educational leadership, and (I think) staying pretty current on trends in education, I had never heard this term or of the idea the term represents. Howard describes Drury’s unschooling education as being focused on horses, the outdoors and veterinary skills, with Drury spending time watching National Geographic specials on television and reading books from the library on her favorite subjects. All of that was probably quite fun for Drury, I imagine, but the challenge came when she reached college. By her own admission, there were subjects that she had not been interested in or wanted to spend time studying as she grew up, so she was not ready for the challenges of math and chemistry in college. While the concept of unschooling is difficult for me to fathom, what completely blows me away is that Howard quotes the National Center for Education Statistics as estimating that one-third of the homeschooled children in the U.S. are actually unschooled. That translates to somewhere between 500,000 and 700,000 children who are calling the shots on their education (or lack thereof) and spending all of their time doing whatever their little hearts desire. Well, I tell you what…I can pretty much guarantee you that their enough will be different. It would be for any child! I understand that there can be some compelling arguments made for letting children pursue things that interest or fascinate them, to follow their natural bent. But there can also be some compelling arguments made that children need to be introduced to things that are not naturally appealing to them, that parents need to train and teach their children certain expectations and requirements of life. Not only do I have two children of my own, but I have worked with children for my entire adult life, and I can only imagine the things that most children would do, and how they would spend their time, if they were left completely on their own to decide. I think it is safe to suggest that their eating habits would favor junk food at the expense of vegetables, their recreational activities would tend toward video games and indoor activities at the expense of legitimate exercise, and their sleeping habits would tend toward staying up quite late and waking up even later. Whether or not instruction takes place in schools–and I have no problem with the notion of homeschooling, by the way–I find it difficult to believe that aims and habits can be passed on by letting children do whatever they want, whenever they want. I certainly struggle to see how knowledge, skills, customs and values can be passed on. After all, unschooling mother Elissa Wahl has says she lets her children do “whatever they want. … If they want to learn about rockets for 5 years, or 5 minutes, that’s okay with me.” So, perhaps a child who wants to learn about rockets for 5 years–or 15 years, for that matter–would become a brilliant scientist or engineer, but at what cost? Would that child truly have received an education? Only in the very narrowest sense, I would suggest. Furthermore, I would go on to suggest that the child that is left to pursue his own interests to his heart’s content has been deprived of an education by not being exposed to other fields of study, taught how to interact with others, and trained in how to develop and use his intellectual gifts. This notion of letting children pursue their own interests is another of those proverbial slippery slopes. After all, suppose a child decides he wants to pursue something that is not acceptable for whatever reason? Then what does the parent do? Because when someone suggests that a child should be permitted to do whatever he or she wants it is extremely important to think about just how big a word whatever really is. And, in case you missed it, the very nature of my question–about a child choosing to do something that is unacceptable–is built on the presupposition of there being a right and a wrong and that one or more persons will pass on to each generation some understanding of what right and wrong is. One of the classic ways for political scientists to explain the concept of personal rights and how eventually the rights of the individual may conflict with the rights of another individual or of society is to say it like this: your right to swing your fist ends where my nose starts. But again: says who? Doesn’t that also presuppose a right and a wrong? Doesn’t that presuppose that parents and/or society will pass on to each generation the understanding that there is a limit to individual rights? But if we do that–if we limit anyone’s activity in any way–we are necessarily saying that it is not okay to do whatever you want. In order to tell anyone that it is not okay to do something though we have to tell the person that there is a limit to what they can do. That is not a terribly profound statement because it is a restatement of itself, but it is important to recognize the consequences of our ideas. And since I suspect none of the parents who are “unschooling” their children would sit by quietly and let their child continue to choose to cause his fist to make contact with the nose of his sibling, neighbor or parent, there is no parent who really thinks his or her children should be allowed to do whatever they want to do. And…brace yourself…since no one really thinks that, there is no parent who does not believe that it is necessary and important to educate their children. In other words, unschooling doesn’t really exist. The question is simply what kind of education to provide, where and how to provide it. More on that next time….

Nineteen years a vegetarian, and many more to come. But why? How? Vegetarianism seems to be the all-new food trend. You hear of actors, actresses, sports stars and even former presidents going on vegan and vegetarian diets. Maybe you tried a vegetarian diet for a little bit, too. Or, better yet, maybe you currently are a vegetarian. How do people actually do it, though? Is it actually possible to be a vegetarian for life? I am 19 years old - just turned 19, actually (yes, yes, thanks for the late birthday wishes) - and since day one of my existence, I have been a vegetarian. Crazy, right?! Of course, that doesn't mean I've never eaten meat. There were a couple of times I consumed meat products by accident. But, by volition, I have been a lifetime vegetarian. Whenever I tell people this, of course, I get a lot of questions. So, I decided to create a little "FAQ" section answering questions based on my lifetime vegetarianism. A: I was born into a family who was vegetarian by religion. So when I was young, I was vegetarian really only because my religion mandated it. Around the age of 16, however, I decided that I wanted to be vegetarian by choice - regardless of religion. I realized that vegetarianism facilitated a much more healthy and simple way of life. Of course, my peers were always talking about how tasty their crispy bacon was or how tender their medium-rare steak was, wondering how I was missing out on this experience. But, given that I had never been a meat eater, it was never difficult for me to continue my vegetarianism. I've never known anything but vegetarian food, anyway! So, no, I don't feel like I've been "missing out." Q: Did you say vegetarianism led to a "simple" way of life? SCREW that! What actual benefits are there from vegetarianism? A: The "simple" lifestyle part of vegetarianism is a personal choice. I've never been a person who relished in luxury, so a simple lifestyle just fits my personality. That was my reason for embracing (and continuing to embrace) vegetarianism, but there are many other (more practical) reasons, too. A big game changer for me was a book I read called The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In this book, the author describes his experiences exploring various sectors of the food industry, and it really opened my mind. We have all probably driven by vast corn and soy fields in the "middle of nowhere" on long drives before, but only after reading this book did I learn that most of these crops were grown as feed for poultry animals. Basically, each pound of meat that is produced requires nearly twice as much vegetable feed in weight. Instead of just directly using all the corn and soy to feed humans, the corporate industry grows them to feed animals because it leads to the highest profit margin. Not to mention, this practice has a terrible impact on the soil. And, it's not like those animals are really treated nicely, either. Pollan describes how many of the poultry animals are kept in disgusting conditions. For instance, pigs are kept in cells so narrow that they cannot even turn 180 degrees. Hundreds (or even thousands) of chickens are stuffed into tiny sheds. Cows are congested into small spaces and biologically exploited for milk. It was absolutely gut-wrenching to read. The way vegetarianism combats all of this is by reducing the demand for meat. If more people go vegetarian, there will be less demand for meat, so meat production will decrease. That means less inhumane treatment of animals, and less consumable crops invested in animals instead of humans. If you care at all about the environment, you should really check out Pollan's book. He just might convince you to become vegetarian. Q: Wow ... now you're talking! My only concern is ... How hard is it to stay vegetarian? Won't I miss meat? A: I hear a lot of struggles from people who attempted to go vegetarian, but who simply couldn't live without the meat - or, at the very least, without meat substitutes made from products like soy. This was really not the case for me, because I was born into an Indian family. India is a country with a large vegetarian population, so Indian cuisine has adapted to that. There are numerous, diverse vegetarian options within Indian cuisine, so my family has never had the need for something like a meat substitute. In my experience, anything that you like is hard to give up at first. I once tried a no-unnatural fat diet several years ago, and that meant completely erasing any kind of chips from my diet. I absolutely loved chips, so for the first few weeks, I really struggled. Over time, however, I became so used to my new diet that after I finally decided to end it. I was disgusted even by the sight of chips. Becoming vegetarian likely works in a similar way: It's hard at first, but once you become used to it, you won't look back. Q: But, one more question. What's the difference between veganism and vegetarianism? Is one better than the other? A: A vegan is someone who does not eat any animal products altogether. That means no cow's milk, cheese, eggs, yogurt, or any dairy products. Vegans often substitute these with soy products, like soymilk and tofu. Vegetarians, on the other hand, simply don't eat meat - but dairy products are still permissible to consume. Whether one is better than the other is really up to personal preference. Personally, I would have a very hard time being a vegan because I am allergic to soy (and I love dairy). But, I know several people who are successful vegans, and they talk about how their diet really revitalizes them and helps them be more mentally and physically productive with their day. So, it's really up to you - if you have the determination and self-control, you can do anything with your diet. Hopefully, after reading this, you can go with a better understanding of how and why many live their lives as vegetarians. Perhaps vegetarianism could be your thing, too.

Through our mapping phase, we identified one-hundred spaza shops in Monwabisi Park. Breaking the shops down in to sections, there are 16 shops in A section, 32 in B, 40 in C, and 12 in M section. We attribute this primarily to the relative sizes and populations of each section; B and C sections are larger and more dense, where A and M sections are smaller and particularly M is more spaced out. There is an incredibly broad range of spaza shops in Monwabisi Park, and no two shops are the same. Based on the shops that we observed, we created several general categories to characterize that spaza shops as seen in the table below. Below is a map of all of Monwabisi Park that we created using Google Earth. Every red dot on the map represents a single spaza shop. This section explains our findings from the informal conversations, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion. The data we gathered from spaza shops in this area was fairly consistent between all of the shops. For example, almost every shop owner told us that they had started their shop because they were unemployed and needed a form of income. We verified almost all spaza shops in Monwabisi are run out of the owners home. They obtained the start up money for their shops from a variety of sources. Some borrowed money from friends or family, some people drew from other sources of money such as child support, and some sold valuable items to generate the cash. One woman sold her car in order to attain the start-up capital needed to get the initial stock, shelving, and other necessities to run her shop. We also gathered data on how long spaza shops had been in business, because it serves as an indicator for the stability of the spaza market in Monwabisi Park. If the shops tend to be older, that indicates the market is more stable; if many shops are new, then that would indicate the market is less stable and changes frequently. We found that the average age of spaza shops, among the shops we asked, was 4.9 years. The oldest shop was ten years old, and the youngest was two months. This seems to indicate that the spaza market in Monwabisi Park is relatively stable, which indicates business training would be beneficial to the community. To the right is a graph of the ages of all the spaza shops in Monwabisi Park. We gathered information about the future plans of spaza shop owners. If a shop owner is willing to give up his or her shop for a more reliable and stable way of earning income, then they are likely not as dedicated to keeping their business for a longer period of time, and as such it is riskier to dedicate resources to assisting them. All of the shop owners told us they would not give up their shop for another job opportunity. They seem to be dedicated to running their shops long term. This shows that these spaza shops are not survivalist, and their level of dedication indicates that business training and support systems would be worth the time investment because the shops will benefit for longer periods of time. During key informant interviews and focus group discussions, the shop owners identified the most pressing issues that they felt were holding back their shops. This gave the team an insight into which problems the spaza shop owners were the most interested in correcting. The most commonly identified issue was the infrastructure of the shop itself. Shop owners did not have enough physical space to stock more goods and would not have the ability to fix structural issues such as a leaky roof or the attractiveness of the shop. Competition was also identified as a major issue by several spaza shops. Shop owners also regretted not having more money to initially invest in their businesses, and not being able to attain a loan from the bank to start up their business. One shop owner thought that her shop was suffering because people would not pay for the goods they bought on credit, and one shop owner mentioned serious problems with crime. Overall the spaza shop owners identified problems that were preventing them from making greater profits. The table below highlights issues of concern identified by spaza shop owners. In addition to these findings, our team gained valuable information on the business practices of Monwabisi Park spaza shops. Seventeen shop owners attended the information session about the TTO’s programs on November 26th. Although we were unable to attend the meeting, Stanley, our sponsor, informed us that the overall tone was positive and enthusiastic. As a result of the meeting, 11 shop owners officially signed up for Shop-Net, and paid their R 10 membership fee. Their membership cards were delivered the follow week, and planned on ordering goods within the month. Additionally, 13 people signed up for business capacity building. The capacity building took place in the Indlovu Center the week following the information session. Due to lack of attendance on the first day, the training only took place for two days. On the second and third day, eight shop owners attended. Overall, people thought the training session was helpful, and they seemed excited to employ the skills they had just learned. Less than a week later we began to see the results of the training. For example, one shop owner had increased the range of goods in her shop, and made new signs to advertise her business. Overall, the businesses in Monwabisi Park were responsive to the business training. There were eight Monwabisi Park spaza shop owners and four members of the IBN present at the spaza association meeting along with our sponsor and advisors. Lulu, from the IBN, gave a testimonial as to why they formed their association, the steps they took to start up the association, their current operations, and the benefits they were already experiencing from working together. At the close of this impressive presentation the Monwabisi Park shop owners agreed that they would like to be part of a similar association, and they were hopeful to join in the IBN’s footsteps and would like to turn to them for guidance in order to develop this association. As a result the IBN and the Monwabisi Park owners set up a meeting for the following day in the Indlovu Center at 10:00 am. We were extremely surprised and excited by this rapid progression towards collaboration. The subsequent meeting took place in the Indlovu Center and was entirely run by the two founders of the IBN. Our team was not present at the meeting because it was a business meeting between the shop owners that we didn’t really have any role to play in, and the conversation was done entirely in Xhosa. The meeting ran for approximately two hours, and by the end of the meeting there were already tangible results of their collaboration. The groundwork for a Monwabisi Park spaza association was laid much faster than we anticipated, and there is now a point of contact for the shop owners. We are confident that the Monwabisi Park spaza association has the resources it needs to form successfully.

While it’s easy to learn how to screenshot on your Android phone, you need to know what the steps are. And, inevitably, every time you have an Android question, you are surrounded by iPhone users. Before we get into an iPhone versus Android debate (that no one will win anyway!), I’m here to help with your Android needs. And, iPhone users, I promise I don’t play favorites! Be sure to check out this article explaining how to screenshot on Mac as well as this piece on how to take a screenshot on iPhones. Here are the basic instructions on how to take an Android screenshot. Press and hold the power and volume down buttons simultaneously. This is the standard screenshot method for most Android phones, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S9. If you have a Samsung Galaxy that is an S7 or earlier, press and hold down the home and volume down buttons. You now have the basic information to take a screenshot on your Android phone. In this article, we’ll break down detailed instructions on how to take a screenshot on some of the most common Android devices. In addition, you’ll learn about Android screenshot features and free apps. If you have an old version of an Android phone, you may need to download one of these apps to take screenshots. Whatever question you have about screenshotting on an Android, you’ll find the answer here! With that, let’s get started with more detailed instructions on how to take an Android screenshot. As mentioned, there are two popular methods to take a screenshot on your Android phone. The only difference is the push of a button. Let’s break down the steps applicable to all Android phones, and then move on to specific models. Go to the screen you would like to capture. Press and hold down the appropriate buttons. If you have an older Android phone running on Android 2.3 or below, you may not have this screenshot shortcut built in. If that’s the case for you, jump down to the section on screenshot troubleshooting or free Android screenshot apps. You will see a flash along the edge of your screen. If the volume is on, you may also hear the click of a camera shutter, alerting you the screenshot has been taken. Let’s look at when you would use each of these features. Cropping your screenshot enables you to select and capture a portion of your screen, not the whole thing. Some Android phones present you with the opportunity to do this before your image is saved. Part of your screen may hold sensitive information you don’t want to be shared. If a co-worker only needs to see part of the screen, you're only sharing the relevant section. I’m a huge fan of cropping screenshots! It gives the images I share a clean, professional look. In a moment, you’ll see this process on a Samsung phone. Sharing your screenshot enables you to send it to friends, family members, or even yourself for personal record-keeping. Your screenshot can be shared through many platforms, including email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Slack, and text messages. Say you have a long conversation you want to preserve, and it doesn’t fit in one screenshot. Instead of taking a screenshot, scrolling down, taking another screenshot, scrolling down (and so on!), a scrolling screenshot enables you to capture the entire scrolling conversation as one image. The drawing feature enables you to use your fingertip and draw on your screenshot. That’s right! Use your finger the same way you would a pen! This is great for adding arrows or circling important parts of your screenshot. Once you've taken your screenshot and made any necessary adjustments, you need to know where to find it! Wondering where that screenshot goes after it disappears from your phone's screen? The answer is simple: Android screenshots are saved in your phone’s gallery. If your Android phone gallery has folders, there’s a good chance your screenshots have automatically been saved into their own unique folder. If you have a newer version of Android, and your phone's gallery app has folders, there's a good chance you'll find a screenshot folder. And – big surprise! – this is where you'll find those screenshots. Now that you know how to take screenshots and where to find them, it’s time for a deeper dive. Next, we’ll look at how to screenshot on six popular models of Android phones. You’ll learn not just what buttons to push, but where they are and how to use the screenshot features just mentioned. Here, we’ll break down screenshotting Android on some of the most popular versions of Android phones: Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, Nexus, LG, and HTC. Let’s start with the most common Android phones, the Samsung Galaxy. The process of taking a screenshot on your Samsung phone will depend on which version you have. The hardware on the Samsung Galaxy phone changed when the Galaxy S8 was released, meaning there is no longer a home button. Whichever model you have, here are the instructions to screenshot on your Samsung Galaxy. Earlier versions of Samsung (like mine!) enable you take a screenshot by pressing and holding down the home and power buttons. The home button is located at the center of your phone near the bottom and the volume button is on the right side. After you’ve held down the home and volume down buttons for a moment, the image you’ve captured will flash. Then, for a moment, the image will appear on your screen, with the options to scroll capture, draw, crop, or share your screenshot. You can see these options in the red box shown below, taken on a Samsung Galaxy Note S5. If you’d like to use any of these features, make sure you do so quickly, as the box with editing options will disappear in a moment. To capture an extended screenshot, touch the “scroll capture” icon. Once you do, your screen will automatically scroll down to shift itself the next page. That second page will then be captured, and added to the bottom your original screenshot. (In other words, both screenshots will be combined into one image.) If you need more than two scrolls, once again tap the scroll icon. Continue doing so as many times as needed until you’ve captured the entire length of the necessary information. To crop your screenshot, hit the “crop” symbol. Then, you’ll notice a grid appear on your screen. Use your finger to drag the corners of the grid until it only covers the chosen area for your screenshot. In this example, I am screenshotting only the purple flowers. When you have your cropped area selected within the grid lines, hit the save button in the lower-left corner. The image will disappear, but rest assured, your cropped screenshot is saved in your gallery. With the screen facing you, you’ll find the power button on the right side of your phone and the volume button on the left side. After pushing and holding the buttons in unison, you’ll see a screen that looks similar to the earlier versions on Samsung Galaxy phones. The only difference is an option for Bixby Vision, found in the lower-left corner. Bixby is a personal assistant app created by Samsung, available on the Galaxy S8 and new versions of the phone. Bixby Vision has many artificial intelligence features for your photos. For example, it reads and translates text and finds objects in your pictures for you to buy online. Google has two popular Android phones. We’ll start with the Google Pixel, and then move on to the Google Nexus. To screenshot on a Google Pixel, press and hold down the volume down and power buttons. On the Google Pixel 2XL, these are found on the right side of your phone. The volume button is directly underneath the power button. After your screenshot has been taken, you will see a notification of your screenshot. Like Samsung, Google gives you the option to share or edit your screenshot. You can also delete it (should you take a screenshot by accident). However, the editing options are slightly different from Samsung. After taking a screenshot, when you click edit, you will see a screen that enables you to edit your image. As shown in the red box, you can draw on your image, highlight, undo, or redo your edits. While there is no grid, you can also crop in this view. Simply click and drag the corners of your image. The Nexus is another Android phone manufactured by Google. Let’s look at how to take a screenshot on any Nexus phone, including the Nexus 6P– one of the most popular models of a Nexus phone. Like the majority of Android phones, take a screenshot by simultaneously pressing and holding the power and volume down buttons. LG is another popular Android phone, and one I’ve owned myself. (I highly recommend the camera!) To take a screenshot on your LG phone, press and hold down both the power and volume down buttons. This will work on LG G3, G4, and G5 Android phones. After you take your LG screenshot, you’ll have the option to view your screenshot, share, or delete it. HTC phones give me fond memories of my first touchscreen phone. While it’s no longer the big player that Samsung, Google, and LG have become, HTC still provides quality phones. To take a screenshot on your HTC, press and hold down the power and volume down buttons. You’ll find the volume buttons on the right side of your HTC phone. The image shown here is an HTC One M9. As you can see, on this version the power button is also on the right. If you have a new Android phone, there is a good chance the shortcuts mentioned above will work for you. However, problems can arise with older (ahem, my apologies –“retro”!) versions of Android devices. Warning – technical language coming! But no need to fret, I guarantee I’ll make it easy to understand. Pressing and holding the volume down and home/power button will work on all newer versions of Android phones, running on Android 4.0 or later. Fun fact: The codenames for Android versions are all sweet treats. Version 4.0 is called Ice Cream Sandwich and was released in October 2011. So, if you bought your Android phone after 2011, you should be able to screenshot with the shortcut buttons mentioned earlier. The earlier versions of Android phone had security systems put in place by the manufacturer. If you root your phone, you are adding functions the manufacturer intentionally removed. This gives you the ability to do much more with your Android, such as customize themes, speed up your phone, save battery, and block in-app advertisements. Sounds great, right? Before you start unlocking features, consider the fact that rooting your phone is a technical process. Plus, you're opening yourself up to data security issues. Not only that, but because you are removing restrictions that carriers and manufacturers put on your phone, there is even discussion as to if rooting your phone is illegal. Personally, I prefer option number two. Some apps will still require you to run on a later version of Android. Look for an app that says “no root” in the name or description. If you’re overwhelmed looking for a screenshot app, just choose one of the three suggestions in the list below! Okay, now that we have the understanding of “root” out of the way, let’s look at some apps you can use to take Android screenshots. All of these apps do not require root. But, even if you’re running on a later version of Android and can take screenshots, you may want to download one of these apps thanks to the cool features they provide. Here are three free apps for Android screenshots with high-ranking customer reviews. The AZ Screen Recorder was released in November 2014 and has had over 10 million downloads. With over 750,000 reviews and an average star rating of 4.6, it’s safe to say Android users are a fan of this screenshotting app. In addition to screenshots, this app is often used for screen recordings. No time limit or watermark (even with the free version). Audio can be recorded from your phone’s microphone. Recordings can be paused and resumed. In the settings, you can enable screen touches, showing people watching your videos exactly what you are doing. A “live stream on Facebook” feature is being reviewed by Facebook and expected to be available soon. The app is free, but in-app purchases are available, ranging from $1.49 to $2.99 per item. Screen Master is a newer screenshot app, released on May 23, 2017, and recently updated on Aug. 7, 2018. The ability to take a screenshot by shaking your phone. Support of long screenshots and stitching photos. This means you can take individual screenshots, and, just like a patchwork quilt, stitch them together into one image. Crop your screenshots into fun shapes, including circles, stars, and triangles. The option to blur out sensitive information you do not want to share. Add some personality to your Android screenshots with emoji stickers. High quality images at a small file size, less than 5MB, ensuring you don’t take up too much of your phone’s space. The free version gives you all these features at no cost – there aren’t any in-app purchase options. However, in addition to the free version, the Google Play Store offers a Screen Master Pro option for $2.99. Some of the screenshot methods include shaking your phone, a custom shortcut, widget button, or button inside the app. This ensures you’ll be able to find a screenshot method that suits you and your needs. Add an overlay to your images and filters, such as sepia and grayscale. Create default settings for your screenshots, including the file name and image format. Share your screenshots through the app through email, Picasa, Imgur, and more. Select multiple screenshots and create a zip file to share them. Screenshot Ultimate is free, and a paid version of Screenshot Ultimate Pro is available for just $0.99, with an average star rating of 4.1. Taking a screenshot on your Android phone is an easy process. Simply press and hold down the power and volume down buttons, and you’re done! If you have a Samsung Galaxy S7 or earlier, press and hold down the home and volume down buttons. As Android operating systems continue to improve, you’ll find yourself with continuous new ways to edit and annotate your screenshots. If your phone is running on an old version of Android, consider downloading a free Android screenshot app. Even with a new version of Android, apps provide you with additional ways to capture both images and videos on your Android phone.

Learn to validate an input field that requires numeric values using regular expressions in the C# language. In ths tutorial we explain how to validate an input field that requires phone numbers to be entered. In this tutotial you will learn how to validate email addresses using a simple regular expression.

If there are three cichlids which you are sure to find in any good pet store it would include the Texas cichlid, Managuensis and Jack Dempsey's. Known as the Rio Grande cichlid, Herichthys cyanoguttatus also formerly called Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum is an American cichlid classic. Why, for a number of reasons including its simply popular, very colorful, widely available and a great starter cichlid relative to larger cichlids. This cichlid is known to be possibly the only freshwater cichlid that is native to the United States, namely Texas although its range covers Northeastern Mexico where it’s called Mojarra de Norte by the locals. Not only is this an American classic from a pet store perspective but this species has become a sport fish in terms of catching a freshwater fish by reel and tackle. It’s not uncommon for the Texas cichlid to reach 12 inches in length. Herichthys cyanoguttatus or the Rio Grande Perch as it’s also known as, is relatively easy to spawn and quiet prolific with egg counts of or near 1000 eggs per spawn. Interestingly there is another species of Herichthys called. H. carpintis which is very similar to H. cyanoguttatus in shape but vary in color and size which is smaller. Some varieties of H. carpintis are quiet beautiful and these varieties are referred to as Rio Hondo, Vontehillo and Escondido respectively. That said H. cyanoguttatus has been crossed with other cichlids in the hobby creating a man-made hybrid known collectively as the Flowerhorn Cichlid. But in particular one such creation from artificial hybridization of these cichlids resulted in what is known as the Red Texas Cichlid or also called the Super Red Texas Cichlid. So if you are looking for the Green Texas Cichlid a hardy American classic, look no further, let us help you find these cichlids for sale and provide a single source for simple information, books and videos on this fantastic Central American cichlid.

In 2003 Professor Brian Allanson’s research in the Knysna Estuary uncovered a species of limpet in the which, since 1958, had only ever been found in Langebaan. The Red Steenbras (Petrus rupestris) is endemic to South Africa and classified as Endangered, with its population decreasing, due to overfishing. It is a long-lived species that exhibits slow growth and late maturity. This species is an apex predator that occurs on sub-tidal reefs throughout its distributional range. Dusky Grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) – Endangered – also has a slow growth rate and its its mode of reproduction make it vulnerable to over-exploitation.

Western Tanagers usually nest in relatively open areas of the canopy. Females just arrived on the breeding grounds move constantly through the canopy as if evaluating possible nest sites. Female Western Tanagers do all of the nest building—though their mates keep a close watch on the process, which takes roughly four or five days. The female lays out a foundation of large twigs, initially forming a floor and creating a scaffold, into which she weaves and molds longer, finer branches and roots to form a sturdy cup. She then lines the nest’s interior with finer fibers. Construction materials may include twigs, stems, grasses, rootlets, bark strips, mosses, and pine needles, with lining of finer rootlets, horsehair or cow hair, feathers, grasses, and other soft plant fibers. The final product has a hastily assembled look: a loosely woven, open, flat bowl with a relatively small cup for eggs. Egg Description: Blue or bluish green, sometimes almost white, and sparsely spotted with gray-brown. Condition at Hatching: Helpless, eyes closed; head, back, and wings well covered with long, dense, white to pale-gray down. Although they don’t typically eat seeds, Western Tanagers may eat dried fruit, freshly cut oranges, and other fresh fruit at bird feeders. If you live in a wooded area within this bird’s range, providing moving water or a birdbath or pond may help attract them to your yard. Hudon, Jocelyn. 1999. Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.

In 1935, the U.S. Congress declared the first Sunday in August a holiday to honor friendship. This year it is Sunday, August 2nd. To celebrate the occasion I wanted to honor my best friend, Joel Morgovsky. Yes, that’s us over the past 35 years — and he just had a birthday, a milestone at that. The observance gave me pause for thought about the length of our friendship and the love — there is no better word for it — for each other. The textured fabric of our 35 years together has fashioned a solid friendship through the weaving of births, deaths, jobs, grieving, weddings, loss of other relationships, dinners, parties, conferences, bike rides, ideas, failures, setbacks, and endless conversations about art, science, psychology, food, books, the news, and music — even recently a jazz concert in the city. We’ve vacationed, raced our bikes together, swapped jokes, struggled with learning the latest technology, lamented our aches and pains, adjusted our eyesight as we’ve aged, discussed good and bad movies, Broadway shows, cars and our latest projects. But, no matter the topic or occasion you can bet on one thing: We’ll talk about our children — their trials, successes, dreams, and careers. The news is always hard to review. There is some big bad thing going on somewhere in the world. We shake our heads, wonder how this all could be, and after a mindful silence move to something easier to chat about, easier to weave into the fabric. He is in my heart. When I’ve had painful days or a confusing time, he sorts it out with me. He will always take my side unless I’m wrong. Then he’ll bring everything around to me, gently, until I see things differently. I listen to him, even when it is sometimes hard to do. He is irreplaceable. Science tells us that friendships are adaptive, and that they depend, at least to some degree, on the memory and feelings connected with past interactions. When men bond they compete better in the world, and when women bond they have less stress and live longer. Friendships are part of evolution. It extends our tribe. It helps make the world a little safer. The need for friendship is woven into our genes. The key, say the experts, is reciprocity and nurturance. The golden rule is to be the friend you would like to have. To make this happen, carve out time for each other. Make it a priority. Over 35 years we have always done this. Our schedules and commitments and duties might make for a long stretch between getting together, maybe three or four weeks. But getting together is always on our mutual agendas. Friendship is a living organism that needs to be nurtured. What’s curious is that until recently we weren’t Facebook friends. We both have accounts with extensive networks, yet this hasn’t become our vehicle for intimacy. In preparing for this article I reviewed the latest research out of UCLA, a very nice bit of inquiry entitled (in part): Me and My 400 Friends. It is about how college students use their status postings of emotional disclosure on Facebook and how this leads to a type of intimacy and greater well-being. The researchers point to the need for permanent relations in our highly mobile world, and I agree. It can be an amazing way to gain satisfying and enduring social support. No doubt this will be the standard for emotional networking for the future. Nonetheless, Joel and I predate the Internet and when we “like” something the other has done, we prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, face to face.

The U.S. courts are for sale. Frustrated by state courts that insisted on respecting jury decisions and protecting victims' right to sue corporations that injure them, Big Business has figured out that it can simply buy replacement judges. Most of the U.S. states -- 39 in total -- elect judges, either through direct, contested elections, or through "retention" elections, in which previously nominated judges appear before the voters in a thumbs-up-or-thumbs-down election. These electoral races have traditionally been sleepy affairs, in which judges cite endorsements from various law associations and tout their professionalism. In recent decades, there have been spikes of interest in some of these races, with corporations throwing money at judicial contests in California and Texas, among other states, to defeat pro-consumer judges and replace them with corporate-friendly arbiters. But there has not been a nationwide drive to elect a corporate judiciary. Until now. In 2000, the Chamber of Commerce and a host of business interests decided that they could buy state supreme court elections. That year, state supreme court candidates raised more than $45 million, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, a 68 percent increase from 1998 and more than double the amount of 1994. And that $45 million figure significantly understates the amount spent on supreme court races, because it does not include "issue advertisements" -- "independent expenditures" that do not say "elect" or "defeat" and thus are exempt from normal campaign finance rules. Of course, not all of the money that poured into judicial races came from corporations and their allied lawyers. Trial lawyers and labor unions made major contributions to sympathetic candidates. But these forces could not match the expenditures from the corporate side. By 2002, the corporations had figured out how to be more strategic. First, they relied more on local business money, or at least downplayed the role of out-of-state contributions. Second, they enlisted new allies in their efforts, notably doctors in favor of limiting patient rights in medical malpractice cases. Third, they invested even more money in judicial races, and widened the number of states where they campaigned. There was television advertising for judicial races in nine states in 2002, as compared to five states in 2000. Television advertising is expensive, so an investment in ads is a rough proxy for determining where corporations were involved in a concerted effort to influence outcomes. Television advertising in political campaigns is generally effective, and especially so in judicial races, where voters generally know little about the candidates and name recognition is so important. "In almost every race with television advertising, the winner was the candidate with the most support on the air," the Brennan Center found in a post-2002 election assessment. "Whether the ads were paid for by the candidates themselves or by interest groups, more advertising spots correlated with more votes." Translation: the corporate candidates cleaned up in 2002. This is a problem that, absent remedial action, is only going to get worse, with grave effects not just for the civil justice system, the main issue that is driving the corporate campaigns. It will matter immensely for jurisprudence related to workers' compensation, environmental law, employment law, civil rights, civil liberties, abortion rights, school funding, the rights of criminal defendants, and more. The genie cannot be stuffed back into the bottle. One approach would be to switch from elections to appointments. But for all the faults of judicial elections, appointments bring their own set of pitfalls. Elections do, or at least should, offer a means to hold judges accountable for maintaining basic standards of professionalism and upholding people's fundamental rights. And, in any case, voters have been reluctant to forfeit their electoral rights and shift to a system of judicial appointments. That leaves campaign reform. The U.S. Supreme Court's horrible decision in Buckley v. Valeo, holding that electoral spending limits are unconstitutional, places a major constraint on development of sane policy. But there are options available. The most sensible option -- for judicial elections perhaps even more than others -- is the clean money approach. This involves full public financing of candidates meeting minimal criteria to show that they have a breadth of support. While candidates are free to refuse public financing, those accepting public monies receive matching money to offset expenditures above a certain level by candidates opting out of the system. The calculations would take into account independent expenditures for the candidates. For the system to work most effectively, as the Brennan Center, which endorses it, points out, there should as well be vigorous disclosure laws, especially for independent expenditures, and dollar limits on individual, corporate and union contributions. These reforms are needed immediately. The last independent branch of government is now being subjected to corporate capture.

An exhaust fan in the attic plays an important part in cooling your house during the summer. While the rest of the house is cooled by air conditioning, the attic is often left to get hot. Unfortunately, the heat in the attic can escape into the house, forcing the air conditioner to work harder to keep the house cool. Putting an exhaust fan in your attic can alleviate this problem. Here's how to figure out what size fan you'll need to buy. Figure out the size of your attic in square feet. You may have this information already on the floor plans for your house. If not, measure the width and the length of your attic floor, then multiply the two numbers. Take the number of square feet in your attic and multiply it by 07. For example, if your attic is 500 square feet, you would multiply that by 07 and get 350. The number you get, 350 in the example, is the CFM (cubic feet per minute) minimum fan rating that you'll need in an exhaust fan. Multiply your CFM minimum fan rating by 12 if you have a steep roof. If you have a dark roof, multiply it by 115. That will be your final CFM minimum fan ratings to look for when buying your fan, because these types of attics will need more energy from their exhaust fans to stay cool. Buy an exhaust fan that is too big, rather than too small, if your options are limited. Most exhaust fans have between an 800 and a 1,600 CFM rating. If you need one with an 850 rating, but all that is available is an 800 rated fan and a 900 rated fan, buy the one with the 900 rating. How do I Determine Exhaust Fan Horsepower Based on Electrical Data?

Visit our Beautiful Dfferential page and find lovely books for kids, photography lovers and more. The book begins with the basic definitions, the physical and geometric origins of differential equations, and the methods Differential Equations Demystified S. Ana Cannas da Silva. The book begins with the basic definitions, the physical and geometric origins of differential equations, and the methods for solving first-order differential equations. Primarily intended for the undergraduate students of mathematics, physics and engineering, this text gives in-depth diffeential of differential equations and the methods for solving them. Methods and Cases Gianluca Fusai. This book, which is a happy fusion of theory and application, would also be useful to postgraduate ajsan. Then it goes on to give the applications of these equations to such areas as biology, medical sciences, electrical engineering and economics. The book begins with the teir, the physical and geometric origins of differential equations, and the methods for solving the first order differential equations. Finite Difference Equations F. Then it goes on to give the applications of these equations to such areas as biology, medical sciences, electrical engineering and economics. Differential Dynamical Systems James D. We’re featuring millions of their reader ratings on our book pages to help you find your new favourite book. Contents 1 Basic Concepts. Differential Forms and Applications Manfredo Appilcations. Besides, the book provides a detailed discussion on Laplace transforms and their applications, partial differential equations and their applications to vibration of stretched string, heat flow, transmission lines, etc. Solution The given Solve D2 spring Substituting tank temperature Theorem variables and integrating velocity vibrations voltage weight yields zero.

Salafism is often associated with intolerance and violence and Sufism with tolerance and nonviolence. The academic literature on Sufism tends to focus on classical texts by Rabi’a al-Adawiyya (713-801), Muhyi’l-Din ibn’l-Arabi (1165-1240), Jalaluddin al-Rumi (1207-1273) and other gnostic Sufis whose major themes were the love of God, the quest for union with the divine and the equivalence of all religions. This orientation is mirrored in the anthropological literature that champions popular are typically depicted as exclusivist, intolerant of local cultures and other religions and, particularly in the post-9/11 literature, as being the embodiment of inherently violent Islam, and are associated with “conversion by the sword.” Ibn Saud’s 18th century wars of conquest and Rumi’s 13th century verses about churches, mosques and synagogues as houses of God have become archetypes in contemporary Western discourse about . These views are perhaps most clearly articulated in the writings of Ed Husain and Stephen Schwartz and others located on the cusp of scholarship and advocacy journalism. Rather the administrators of the site should first check on the identity of the suitor, then put him in touch with the guardian (wali) of the woman.What is the differences between hanafi sect and the salafi sect? i was bought up in a salafi family and have been gaining knowledge from hanafi resources recently. but all i want to do is follow the quran and sunnah, and take what is good and leave the bad, from any sect. In this article we demonstrate that these assumptions are baseless.Based on analysis of historical and contemporary cases from Southeast Asia and West Africa, we show that there is no significant correlation between theology and violent tendencies.Some violent groups are Sufi and others Salafi, while some non-violent groups are Salafi, others Sufi.

This article is about the department store. For the surname, see Allder. Allders was an independent department store operating in the United Kingdom. Established in Croydon by Joshua Allder in 1862, Allders developed into a chain of department stores across England and Wales. Its flagship store in Croydon was the third-largest department store in the United Kingdom. The chain was broken up and sold after it went into administration in 2005, although the Croydon store continued trading until 2012, having been purchased by Harold Tillman, the then-owner of the Jaeger clothing company. On 17 January 2013, the company closed the store along with the website, and the brand ceased to exist. Allders was opened in 1862 at 102 and 103 North End, Croydon, as a "linen draper and silk mercer" by Joshua Allder (1838–1904) from Walworth, who had served his apprenticeship in Croydon. His shop was diverse, with special offers on silk dresses and also a morning dress section, and departments offering lower-cost items such as buttons and ribbons. This diversity showed a shrewdness in business and an understanding of his mostly female customers. Croydon was a growing town, and Allder's business grew with it. In 1870, the shop expanded into 104, 106 and 107 North End, although he had to wait for some 20 years to acquire 105, a bakery. The wealth Allder made allowed him to play a prominent part in the local community, on the Local Board of Health, on the council of the County Borough of Croydon for nine years, and in the non-conformist church community. He supported greater rights for his workers, being instrumental in getting local stores closed for a half-day on Wednesdays. Allder died in 1904 leaving a store which had expanded beyond clothing and haberdashery to sell glass and porcelain, among other items. His main residence in Pampisford Road, South Croydon, now houses Regina Coeli RC school, and two cul-de-sacs nearby are named Allder Way and Joshua Close. In 1908 Allder's family sold the business to J. W. Holdron and F. C. Bearman, owners of stores in Peckham and Leytonstone respectively. They developed the store into 50 departments with 500 staff and owned the business until 1921. It then passed to the Lawrence family, under whose control it became a limited company. In 1926, the famous North End facade was created, uniting the frontage of the Croydon premises for the first time. In 1932 the Arcade from North End to George Street was completed, which proved very popular with its varied concessions, a herald of shopping malls of the future. Allders was considered a pioneering retailer. The building suffered considerable damage in World War II but never closed. The refurbishment saw improvements, including the takeover of a cinema auditorium as the gift department and Croydon's first escalators in 1954. By 1958, the Lawrence family was forced to sell as a result of death duties incurred after the death of Daniel Arthur Lawrence, managing director. The store was acquired by Jack & Bernard Lyons' United Drapery Stores (UDS), owners of Richard Shops, John Collier, Alexandre Tailors and several department stores. The son of D. A. Lawrence, S. John Lawrence, was kept on by UDS as Managing Director. Allders continued to expand, reaching £1 million turnover in 1958 and £3 million by 1963. Fashion's importance declined, with household items taking a greater role. In the 1960s there was considerable change in Croydon, particularly the construction of the Whitgift Centre to the north of Allders, into which the store expanded, and the creation of the St George's Walk development. Transport and lifestyle changes led to greater competition with the West End and further improvements were required to modernise the store. The section fronting George Street was rebuilt and expanded, retaining a Victorian facade, alongside a new addition. Rebuilding works continued into Dingwall Avenue and by 1976 Allders had 1,700 staff and 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of floor space. It was a Croydon landmark and became the third-largest department store in the UK, after Harrods and Selfridges. It had the largest carpet department in Europe, amongst other claims. Croydon was by this time a major retail centre. Allders' immediate competitor, Kennards, was renamed Debenhams in 1973, along with many other Debenhams stores. To compete with the central buying and advertising of Debenhams and other larger groups, the department stores owned by UDS were all gradually renamed Allders. This process began with Shinners of Sutton in 1979 and later Hinds of Eltham, Medhursts of Bromley, James Page of Camberley, Mackross of Cardiff, Willis Ludlow of Hull and Landport Drapery Bazaar (LDB) in Portsmouth. Only Arding and Hobbs at Clapham Junction in London and the furnishing store of Clover at Kirkstall in Leeds retained their original identities. A new geometric logo of ten orange 'A's arranged in a circle on brown and cream-coloured stationery, bags and carpets appeared across the group, together with the phrase "All that a great store should be". In 1983 the Lyons family sold the UDS Group to Hanson plc and Allders became a flagship company of the group, with Lord Hanson appearing on Allders' roof in TV adverts. Allders expanded with new stores opening in Basildon and Chatham and in many international airports as duty-free concessions. A new 'Fourth Floor' was built on the roof of the Croydon store to house a new Audio and Television Department and two new restaurants as well as a link into the staff areas of London House on Dingwall Avenue. The group's brown, cream and orange livery was replaced with a scheme of light blue and gold lettering on a dark blue background. In 1989 a management buyout saw the international arm spun off as a separate company. There was continued upheaval in Croydon with the complete refurbishment of the Whitgift Centre and of parts of the store. The vast carpet department was contracted to a secondary location allowing for the creation of a new perfumery and cosmetics hall at the centre of the ground floor. A new Allders store of 137,000 square feet (12,700 m2) opened at Woking in 1992. Allders plc was floated on the stock market in 1993. The growth of the group rapidly accelerated following stock market flotation with the acquisition of existing stores and the building of new ones. This began with the acquisition of Nottingham Co-op's lease on their Broad Marsh Centre store and the development of a chain of stand-alone home furnishing stores. The opening of a second Clover store at Rotherham was succeeded by the development of "At Home with Allders" a concept for new stores in out-of-town retail parks, the first of which opened at Aylesford in Kent in 1994. The Clover stores were both rebranded. In September 1996 Allders purchased a number of department stores from the Owen Owen group that traded under the Lewis's and Owen Owen names. This included branches in Basingstoke, Coventry, Ilford, Leeds, Oxford, Redditch and Slough. In 1997 Allders acquired the bankrupt Maples furniture brand and seven of its retail outlets. These stores were integrated into the Allders At Home portfolio and brought the brand to town centre locations in Bromley, Chelmsford, Crawley, Kingston upon Thames, Reading, Sutton Coldfield and Watford. The Bromley outlet, in direct competition with the town's main Allders store, was soon disposed of. The Kingston store, offering a range focussed solely on furniture, beds and carpets, struggled to compete with Bentalls and John Lewis. This competition in the town and the frontage of the store being obscured for some time whilst work on the Kingston Bridge was carried out led to the store's closure within two years. A second Kingston store was later opened in the former C & A building, offering a broader range of merchandise for the home. Shares in Allders crashed in 1998 after disappointing sales and difficulties integrating the Maples furniture group. Nevertheless, it continued a policy of expansion, acquiring the premises of the former C & A stores at Guildford, Kingston upon Thames, Leicester and York in 2000 and later the large C & A building on the south side of Oxford Street in London. The "At Home with Allders" trading name was replaced with "Allders At Home" on conversion of a number of the C&A stores to an expanded home format. Problems continued, however. In Croydon, there were plans to build a new shopping centre, Park Place, on the store's site and much of the area to the south. A new Allders would be built opposite the Town Hall. Croydon Council's partner in this plan was developer Minerva plc. In late 2002 Minerva was part of a new group called Scarlett Retail, named after Terry Green's daughter, that bid for Allders, with Lehman Brothers investment bank and a management team including Terry Green, the former chief executive of Debenhams and BHS. Some felt at the time that Scarlett's bid was based on Minerva's intention to acquire Allders' site for its Park Place project, in order to sell the plot to another retailer, probably John Lewis. The bid was felt by many to be overpriced. Nevertheless, Scarlett paid Tom Hunter an improved price and they landed the company in early 2003 for about £162m ($316m). Green became chief executive and set about an overhaul of Allders' image. It was claimed that some of the traditional homeware, haberdashery and clothing for middle-aged, middle-income women was reduced, with a new emphasis on young fashion and beauty products, though this was denied by Terry Green. In September 2004, Minerva announced that Allders had made a loss of £22.6m for the year to 30 June 2004, blaming the speed of the transformation of the business. In December 2004, it announced the business was up for sale. There was some early interest that Primark was to purchase some of the stores but no interest was found in taking on the company as a whole and it was placed in administration on 26 January 2005. It was revealed that there was a pensions deficit of £15 million. 130 of the staff at the Croydon headquarters were laid off, including Green and other senior managers. An under-construction store at the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in Plymouth was never opened and was split into stores for Next and Primark when the centre opened in October 2005. Kroll, the administrators, searched for buyers for the chain or individual stores. Of Allders' 50 stores, only 35 received offers, with rival retailers such as House of Fraser, BHS, Debenhams and Primark said to have expressed an interest. The ten remaining stores, including the Oxford Street branch, began closing-down sales on 5 February and had started to close from March 2005: all had closed by May 2005 with the Leeds store being the last to close down on 22 May 2005, with the exception of Croydon. In May 2005 it was announced that the owners of Jaeger would take on the flagship Croydon store and that it would continue to trade as Allders. In the first year of operation the new Managing Director, Andrew MacKenzie, turned the fortunes of the company around and projected a £1 million gross profit. Significant investment was made to attract back to the store its Croydon audience. It was the only Allders store to survive the 2005 administration. In April 2006 it was announced that Allders had secured an extension to their lease through to 2008. The land and store that Allders leased had regular break clauses to the benefit of the "virtual freehold leaseholder" held by Minerva plc subsidiary companies for 250 years. The freehold interest was held by the Whitgift Foundation. Development plans by Minerva for a 1.08 million sq.ft shopping centre were complicated by uncertainty over its tenancy, and competition from the new 1.615 million sq.ft Westfield development at White City, and the 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) shopping development at Bluewater to the east of London. In December 2011, Allders director Max Menon was named as new chairman of Croydon Business Improvement District. Allders of Croydon was placed into administration on 15 June 2012. It was blamed on the "tough market conditions of the retail sector" at the time. The administrators Duff & Phelps failed in their search for a new investor and Allders finally closed down after the last day of trading on 22 September 2012. It was reported in Scotland on Sunday that Metis, a Glasgow-based intellectual property firm were looking to sell brands that were owned by Allders. Along with the Allders name, the administrators were seeking to sell furniture brands Maples and Waring & Gillow. Allders ceased trading on 17 January 2013. Later that year the Croydon building reopened as "Croydon Village Outlet".

You have probably seen the television advertisements for the website confused.com. I'm surprised they haven't entered the education market. There could be an A*confused.com site. Or, even,.con. The confusion over the new A-level grade is not limited to students and teachers. At the heart of much government education policy lies fundamental tension and confusion between "standards" and widening "access" to higher education. The latest casualty of this clash of aspirations is set to be the A*. The new grade was one of the few recommendations that survived the Government's cherry-picking of the Tomlinson report in 2004. It was intended to do two things: to be the icing on the cake of Labour's "stretch and challenge" agenda, plus giving universities a tool to differentiate the great from the good. This Government's vacillation over Tomlinson almost scuppered the new grade. The vacuum created by prevarication was rapidly filled by some 60 admissions tests, created or commissioned by the most selective universities themselves for the most competitive courses. Deluged by a tsunami of such tests, schools and colleges - not to mention students - are now in danger of rapidly going under. Yet there is a simple solution at hand. Embrace and promote the A* grade. Instead, the Government appears poised to shoot itself in both feet. Universities had been recommended to wait at least three years before making offers based on the A*. This recommendation had come from Gordon Brown's National Council for Educational Excellence (though Educational Mediocrity would be a more fitting title in this context). Thankfully, Cambridge University's announcement this week that it will expect most students to get at least one A* is a sign some universities are beginning to break rank. But confusion still remains. Take, for example, the fact that Ucas, the university admissions body, still considers it necessary to undertake a study into the predictability of A* grades. Both the Government and Universities UK, which represents the leaders of academe, have accepted this, yet on two counts Ucas's exercise is unnecessary. First, there is a very explicit arithmetical and non-judgmental hurdle that students must pass to get the grade: their score must be higher than 90 per cent, so in the A2 exam they will need at least 270 uniform mark scale (UMS) points from the 300 available. Predicting which students are likely to achieve this should be far easier than is the case with any other grade, even allowing for the fact that they will be sitting exams with new-style, more open-ended questions. More than half of all A grades are awarded to students who get a score of 240-255 UMS points on the A2 (or 480-510 for the whole paper). Modelling by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority suggests only 6 per cent of all A level entries will be awarded an A*, and that the new grade will identify the top 25 per cent of A-grade students in each subject. Second, the avowed reason for the Ucas study into grade predictability - that some students will be disadvantaged because their schools are incapable of recognising, or accurately predicting, such stellar performance - is bogus. Both the Government and the universities know that, from this summer, a safety net to deal with such eventualities will already be in place. The adjustment period (or "trading up", as it is better known) will give students who achieve better grades than had been predicted the opportunity to get into a university which, on the basis of their predicted grades, was beyond their reach. There is only one possible explanation for this latest attempt at government obfuscation in which, sadly, many universities now appear to be colluding. QCA modelling of how the A* would be awarded, based on the last two years' data, suggests that the lion's share of A* grades will go to students from high-performing schools and colleges, predominantly those in independent and grammar schools, and sixth form colleges. By trying to delay the introduction of A* until 2013 - which is, coincidentally, the year in which A levels are to be reviewed - the Government clearly hopes to buy time to devise yet another cunning plan to widen participation. In doing so, it does not want to admit that it is putting at risk not only standards but also, arguably, the A-level itself. A potential vacuum could exist in recognising achievements beyond the A-level A grade, and if alternative qualifications such as the international baccalaureate and Pre-U do not fill it, the continuing proliferation of universities' own admissions tests almost certainly will. Ultimately, at least for entry to higher education, A-levels could then become redundant. But the doomsday for A-levels is unlikely. As Cambridge's decision shows, most universities, forced to choose between "standards" and widening "access", will plump for the former. Their future world rankings and standing depend on it. A recent Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference survey shows clearly that some Oxbridge colleges are already operating a "proxy" A* by demanding 90 per cent UMS scores in A2 - the nearest equivalent under current arrangements to the A* proper. With the Government saying one thing and universities doing another, it is no wonder that schools, colleges and students are confused. Even if the Government is not prepared to admit what its real motives are for playing down the A*, rather than promoting it, universities should come clean. At the very least, they owe it to those students to make clear and unambiguous statements, before September this year, about their policies on the A*.

This multi-tiered, cascading waterfall is hidden in the dense Williamette National Forest along the McKenzie Pass Scenic Byway. It is one of the most frequently photographed waterfalls in Oregon. Lower Proxy Falls was created 6,000 years ago when a giant glacier carved a deep trough through the area, leaving steep canyon walls after the ice receded. The waterfall is a 100′ drop over stairsteps of broken columnar basalt giving the delicate misty look of the falls.

The Photoshop brush tool can do a whole lot more than make fuzzy-edged shapes. In this article, you’ll learn how to use the Photoshop Brushes palette to create some awesome graphic effects to use on your web sites. We’ll also cover how to expand your brush options even more by loading other people’s brushes and even making your own! Let’s take a look at how we can use Photoshop to create a beautiful scattering of leaves. If you have yet to experiment with Photoshop brushes, you might be thinking that we’ll be creating these leaves individually — rotating them, squishing, coloring, and otherwise transforming them, until they’re perfectly and uniquely arranged. Not so! With the power of Photoshop brushes, creating an effect similar to this can take you minutes, rather than hours! In Photoshop, select the Brush tool (B). From the Options bar, click the little arrow next to the brush to display all of the available brushes. Look for the leaf brush, circled in red below. If you don’t see it (the leaf brush should be available in Photoshop CS2 and above), you may need to reset your brushes. The flyout box — called the Brush Preset picker — has another small arrow; click this to reveal the brush options and then choose Reset Brushes. By itself, the brush draws a leaf shape when you click once on your image canvas. If you click and drag, however, you get a line of leaves, like the one shown below. How closely they are spaced depends on how quickly you move your mouse. Open up the Brushes palette and start playing with the options. Here are some things you can try. Under Brush Tip Shape, make sure the Spacing checkbox is checked, and move the slider to about 80%. Next, click on Shape Dynamics. For all of the jitter-related settings (Size Jitter, Angle Jitter, and Roundness Jitter), drag the sliders to 100%. Also check the Flip X Jitter and Flip Y Jitter checkboxes. You can see how this might affect the brush in the preview box. Now click on Scattering, and increase the Scatter amount, checking the Both Axes checkbox while you’re at it. This setting determines how far away from the brush stroke the leaves might end up — I’ve set mine to around 300%. If you like, you can also increase the Count, which affects how many leaves appear, and the Count Jitter, which will randomize the number of leaves. The next set of parameters that we’ll modify affect the color dynamics of our brush. Click the Color Dynamics check box; this page allows you to control the color of the leaves and provide some variation between each shape. I’ve increased the Hue and Saturation Jitter amounts just slightly. Unfortunately, the Photoshop preview feature doesn’t show these color jitter effects, but you can always come back to this window and adjust the settings should you wish to increase or decrease the color variation. If you want, you can also try changing the Other Dynamics settings to vary the opacity and flow. For this example, I want my leaves to be solid, so I haven’t tweaked any of these settings. At this point, you can go back to the Brushes palette and adjust the different settings, including the size of the brush, to try out different effects. Each time you use the brush you’ll get slightly different results, but as you play with the palette, you’ll find a combination that you like. Photoshop comes with other built-in brushes that provide similar effects. Click on the arrow in the Brush Preset picker as if you were resetting the brush, and you’ll see a list of the other available brush libraries. Under the Assorted Brushes option, try the snowflake or star brushes. Under the list of Special Effect brushes, you’ll find some floral shapes, a butterfly shape, and even a rubber duck! You can use the concept that we just learned for mimicking nature to easily create a successful grunge effect. In the following example, I’ll use different Photoshop brushes to create a rusty, grungy look for a web site header graphic, like the one pictured below. Start by resetting your brush options as described in the last example. Then, select one of the spatter brushes from the Brush Preset picker. Next, fill the background layer with a rusty orange color (#b26d0a) and create a new layer by clicking on the New Layer icon in the Layers palette. Set the Foreground color to a slightly darker shade (e.g. #a26103). Using the Brush tool, paint across your image so that you cover most of the canvas. This produces a subtle textured effect like the one shown below. Now set the Foreground color to an even darker shade (I’ve used #8b5200). Create another new layer using the Brush tool, and add a few strokes in different areas to continue to build up your grunge effect. Continue to add different layers and colors until you’re happy with the effect! Be sure to explore the other spatter and artistic-type brushes available in Photoshop when creating your own grungy or distressed effects! You aren’t limited to the standard built-in Photoshop brushes. Many wonderful — and often free — brushes are available from other artists and designers. Running a web search for the term "Photoshop brushes" will yield many resources. Typically, when you download the brushes, you’ll receive an .abr file. You can move this into your Photoshop brush folder location (usually Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop XPresetsBrushes on Windows machines, and Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop X/Presets/Brushes on a Mac, where X is the version of your copy of Photoshop). Click on the small arrow in the Brushes palette or options flyout and choose Load Brushes, then select that .abr file. Still can’t find the brush you’re looking for? Photoshop allows you to make your own custom brush. Perhaps you want to make a cool scattering of your logo mark, or maybe you’re just after a specific shape for your brush effect — either way, you can take full control over the shape of your brush by creating it yourself! Create a grayscale image for your brush. The actual size of your image will be the "maximum" size of your brush before things get blurry. Select the image and save it as a brush. If you want, save the brush into a collection of your other brushes so that you can reload it in the future. Just keep in mind that the solid black areas of your image will result in a solid color, while gray areas will result in transparency. Now, right-click on the shape layer and choose Rasterize Layer. Now, make a selection of the document or the area that you want to define as the brush shape. In the figure below, I’ve used the marquee tool to create a rectangle that surrounds the music note. Next go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. A (slightly squashed) preview of your custom brush displays, and you can give your brush a name. You can now use your brush like any other! Your brush will remain in the Brush picker until the next time you load a new set of brushes, at which point you may lose your custom-designed brush. Once you locate the .abr file to which your brushes have been saved (it will have been saved to the Brushes folder mentioned above), you can copy and share your custom brushes with others. Using the Brushes palette to tweak the way Photoshop renders a brushstroke is a powerful technique for creating stunning, unique graphic effects of your own in minutes. Once you’ve mastered the challenge of tweaking the built-in brushes, you can extend this technique to use other brushes. You can even create your own custom-designed brushes, expanding your brush power infinitely. Try out these techniques and master Photoshop brushes today!

Critical systems should ideally be connected to some form of backup power in the event of a blackout, power surge or brownout. A fault at the grid may drop the voltage at the mains, which could cause some systems to shutdown, reset, lose data or worse, resulting in thousands of dollars of damage (both material and immaterial). These line interactive units give you a good balance between real time system protection and power redundancy when mains electricity is down or experiencing reliability issues. During mains voltage sags both units will deliver a steady voltage, keeping critical systems running properly. For a total power blackout the units can keep your systems running long enough to save important data or cleanly shutdown connected devices. Other important features include an auto shutdown when no load is detected, audible alarms for low battery, self diagnosis on boot, and intelligent battery management. Both models feature an easy to read LCD which displays battery and load values as a percentage and input/output voltages. At the rear of the unit are 2 x RJ11 sockets for Telephone/Fax protection and a USB socket for connection to your PC for use with the power management software. Please note: Software will ask for serial number during installation. The number is printed on the cd sleeve. For all software compatibility check the installation disk.

Today we are joining the internet-wide day of action in support of net neutrality. We hope you’ll join as well. BattleForTheNet.com and DearFCC.org have great templates you can use to quickly support net neutrality. If you have time and would like to contact the FCC directly with a personal message Mashable published this fantastic piece containing 4 suggestions for writing an impactful personal statement. If you’re more of a phone person check out 5Calls.org where you’ll find important phone numbers to call based on your location and a script to use! Make sure you’ve updated your location before you start dialing. Network neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. Internet traffic includes all of the different messages, files and data sent over the Internet, including, for example, emails, digital audio files, digital video files, etc. According to Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu, the best way to explain network neutrality is that a public information network will end up being most useful if all content, websites, and platforms (e.g., mobile devices, video game consoles, etc.) are treated equally. A more detailed proposed definition of technical and service network neutrality suggests that service network neutrality is the adherence to the paradigm that operation of a service at a certain layer is not influenced by any data other than the data interpreted at that layer, and in accordance with the protocol specification for that layer. You can read more about today’s concern and call to action in Mashable’s article on writing an impactful net neutrality comment, BattleForTheNet.com, DearFCC.org and 5Calls.org. net neutrality is the single most dangerous thing that could be done to destroy the free and open internet. by classifiying it as a "utility" you are giving the govrnment the legal authority to censor the internet at will simply "because we say so"

Hello. My name is Frank Enseleit. I'm working in the University Hospital in Zurich in the Department of Cardiology. heart transplantation and assist device therapy work. First of all, let's have a look at the clinical cause of heart failure. Usually, heart failure starts as an event, a myocardial infarction, for example. Therapy, to stabilize the cause of the disease. at one point in time, they will come with cardiac decompensations. the point, which we consider to be the transition to advanced heart failure. It's characterized by failing all therapies. It's a time for major decisions. or heart transplantation, if the patient is eligible. has end-stage heart failure and he's on optimal medical therapy including ICD and CRT. he will undergo a heart transplantation evaluation. we look at the patient very closely. He has to be really in a refractory heart failure. He has to have acceptable comorbidities. and compliance to medical therapy. And the prognosis should be really poor. then he is put on the waiting list for heart transplantation. then we will evaluate him for destination therapy. there are many steps necessary. Many of them were developed during the first half of the past century. right surgical techniques, including the heart-lung machine. Then we had to gain insight into the immuno system. the first heart transplantation could be performed in South Africa. an immunosuppressive drug, which was developed in Switzerland. Which are the factors for success in heart transplantation? We have many patients transplanted longer than 20 years in Zurich, who are alive. But patients might die due to rejection. They may die of malignant disease, about 20% each. it, or they can die of infection. Of course, we have ventricular assist devices. These devices will replace one or both ventricles of the heart. You have left ventricle assist devices, which replaces the left ventricle of the heart. are able to support both ventricles of the heart. And we have right ventricle assist devices, which replace the right ventricle of the heart. this is usually a short-term therapy on the ICU. will be prepared to be able to get on the heart transplantation list. till the heart is able to work on its own again. destination therapy, which means that the patient has a durable VAD as a lifelong therapy. How do we evaluate patients for the destination therapy? the heart catheterization laboratory, as shown in the left side. three or more heart failure hospitalizations within the last 12 months. They usually are failing to respond to optimal medical therapy. Ejection fraction is usually quite low below 25%. And many of them are i.v inotropic dependent. the right heart should be working quite well. operated and the left ventricle assist device is implanted. If this is not possible, then the patient will go to palliative care. The outcome of the destination therapy equals, after two years, that of a heart transplantation. This is remarkable in our days. But there are problems as well. have thrombi formation or bleeding complications.

Cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy are types of birth injuries that sometimes result from the negligence of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals during the childbirth process. Both of these disorders can affect a child’s body movement and proper development, but there are distinct differences between the two. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder. It affects body movement and muscle development, often resulting in involuntary spastic movements. Cerebral palsy can also affect neurological development, causing learning disorders or mental retardation. Erb’s palsy is a direct result of nerve damage to the brachial plexus during delivery. Often, this nerve damage is caused by shoulder dystocia, which can be anticipated and avoided by an attentive doctor long before you reach the delivery stage. If these signs are detected prior to labor, a doctor should immediately respond to fetal distress by considering an emergency C-section or another alternate delivery method. Nerve injuries can also occur by improper pulling on the baby during delivery. The consequences of Erb’s palsy include delayed development and paralysis in the arms or fingers. These symptoms may be temporary, but are often permanent.

General Electric makes a range of DC motors from their small DC motors to their large industrial motors. One of the most popular options for general types of industrial and commercial use is the General Electric DC motor 504AT. This is a motor that offers several standard features that have created a solid reputation for General Electric. The company itself has been producing DC motors for industry for over a century and a quarter, and all the motors they offer meet all required NEMA specifications. They are motors found around the world, and they have a well-earned reputation for performance and having the power and versatility to work in many different types of industries and applications. The General Electric DC motor 504AT uses the 504AT frame, which is designed to offer superior performance. These frames are typically round steel and are carefully designed to allow for precise mounting of the bearing brackets. This is combined with Class F insulation and antifriction bearings that require limited maintenance and are designed to allow for easy regular service as well as replacement. They can also be upgraded to include the tachometer and encoder, which is an important consideration for many uses. The General Electric DC motor 504AT offers the DPFG or drip proof, fully guarded and self-ventilated enclosure. The enclosure also meets both NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) definitions and standards. The benefit of this type of enclosure in working environments means that any type of liquid droplets or solid materials or debris that hit the enclosure do not impact the operation of the motor. Instead, the design of the vents on the enclosure prevents solids from entering and liquids to stay on the exterior of the enclosure.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure for more information. As much as a mother and child relationship is vital, so is the bond that dad has with the new baby. It is important that your child will develop this unique relationship with their dad that will help them as they get older. You can also help dad feel educated and encouraged to foster this healthy relationship with the baby. Most people would think “feeding” right away when it comes to ways that dad can bond with baby but, if you are exclusively breastfeeding that rules it out. However, there are a lot of other ways to strengthen this connection. Even during the early stage of when the baby is still in the tummy, dad can already start forming that bond by constantly talking to the bump. The baby will get used to dad’s voice and even before they are born. One of the most exciting things about being pregnant is feeling your baby kick. Share those amazing experiences with your spouse. Feeling your baby move makes it feel more real and can start to develop the bond between your baby and husband. Together you and your spouse can dream about what your baby will be like. Will they have your nose and his eyes? Will they be musical? Athletic? By visualizing and talking about the future of your little one it can excite both of you about the amazing life that you are creating! Planning the nursery can be so fun! You can keep it simple or go all out it is up to you. Take the time together to set up the crib, pick out a glider, etc. Let him have a say in the room. Letting him be a part of the process (and also carrying some of the responsibility) will make him feel more included and get him ready for when your baby makes their appearance! Lay your baby’s bare chest on dad’s bare chest and just relax, cuddle, or even watch television. This method of skin to skin contact helps release oxytocin which is a feel-good hormone that relates to love and bonding. The key is to have nothing in between dad and the baby. This can also help with the baby’s thermal and heart regulation. Bath time with your baby is a great way of spending time together and bonding. Dad can either have a relaxing warm bath with the baby or be the one to give the baby baths in a tub or in the shower. This can help build trust and let your baby get used to dad’s touch. Snuggles, kisses, and basically being close to your baby is a sign of affection and can help bring comfort and strengthen the bond. While mom is breastfeeding, dad can also stay close and share in those special moments. This will help him realize that special relationship and also increase the bond with the whole family. This means you should listen to what your hubby thinks about raising kids and involve him with the whole process. Even if as mothers we feel a really close bond with our babies, it is important that dad can also have his say. An open channel of communication is vital in achieving this and coming up with an understanding that will only increase the relationship between parents and the baby. Sometimes, men will be more successful if they have a specific task or duty to follow instead of “take care of the baby”. You can assign dad to be the one to give baths, feeding at specific times, or snuggling with the baby at a specific time period. When our first baby was little we set up “shifts” for night feedings. I was breastfeeding, but I would pump an extra bottle during the day so my husband could have a turn at night feeding the baby. If our baby woke up before 12:00 my hubby would get him. This was a huge relief to me as I got a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep and that ended up being some of my husbands favorite times with our son as a newborn. By setting up your hubby for success, you can help strengthen his relationship with the baby and develop that bond. Before I had my first baby, my husband was my whole world – so when that attention had to be split it was a bit of a shock for both of us. Sometimes mom tends to set aside dad since we are too busy with our babies but it is important to keep the right balance and remember to maintain that close relationship with your husband. In this way, he will won’t feel left out or resent the baby and it can keep him motivated to develop the bond with the kids and become a more present and active dad. This is a great way that dad can spend some quality time with the baby. Even if the baby is still young, just hearing dad’s voice and having him hold the baby close can be a good way to bond. This can also be something that dad can do with the kids all throughout their childhood to foster that relationship. This method of “kangaroo care” promotes 4th-trimester transition because of how close the baby is to you. Dad can spend some time wearing baby with a wrap and experience the feeling of having a baby around him for some period of time, even while doing some activities. It’s not just about taking care of the baby’s needs but dad can also use this opportunity to interact, make faces, laugh, and bond with baby. If your baby is bottle fed, then dad can help with feeding duties or if you are breastfeeding he can be the one to burp the baby after nursing. He can also continue to feed your child when they start to eat soft foods. By helping in the feeding process, dad will feel more involved and important. Doing exercises with the baby is a fun way of bonding and at the same time, strengthen baby’s muscles. You can read some books or check out videos on what kind of exercises will be appropriate for the baby. Put dad in charge of doing tummy time. He can lay on the floor with the baby for a few minutes and entertain them. This is a great chance for them to make eye contact and play together. Some first-time dads get really nervous but try letting them be alone with the baby for around 30 minutes and it will help him learn to problem solve and find their way around taking care of the baby. By constantly working on that bond, putting in the time, and repeating these activities, dad will be able to nurture that wonderful relationship with your child. What are your tips to help your husband bond with your baby?

Operation and modeling of the M0 S transistor ∕ Yannis Tsividis, Colin McAndrew.— 3rd ed. field-effect transistors— Mathematical models. I. McAndrew, Colin. II. Title. a ma n a hea d o f his time. nia, B erkeley , in 1973 and 1976, respec tively. severa l o ther b ooks. He is the i nvent or/co inven tor in ove r 20 patents. Moto rola Sem icond uctor and for A T&T Bell Labora tories. Robert Kirch hoff Award in 2007. 1982 and 1984, respective ly. compi lers f or de vice modeling . CICC, and BMAS (Beha vioral Mode ling and Simul ation ) co nferenc es. MOS transi stor opera tion and modeling . when he rev ised the fir st edition! of this philos ophy are s umma rized below. intere sting rea ding even to tho se w ith p rior ex posure. the b ook, where those “too f ine” details can be seen to make a lot o f difference. avoide d in this book. eling are dis cusse d in parallel t hroug hout the book. out the necess ary hand- wavin g b ehind them. or she cons ults the r eferen ces provide d. sis on intuitio n has made lengthy discu ssion s necessary. tion o f their feature s and o f what is new in them in this edit ion. material on conta ct poten tials, which is used to advan tage in the follow ing chapter. sectio ns if desired. The chapte r concl udes with an overv iew of the MOS transist or. the sem icon duct or. centr ations is adop ted. cated throu ghout the chap ter. practic es h as b een added, written by Prof. Dimitri A ntoniad is of MIT. small-sig nal chapter, but it was f elt th at it fits bette r here. low and medium freque ncies . Expre ssion s for small -sign al para mete rs are derived. they includ e trans capa citan ces. The natur e of these elem ents is c arefu lly discus sed. unifor mity (halo regions ), the well proxim ity effect, stress, and statistica l variability. rial is prese nted in this chapter. are using and to b etter co mmu nicat e t heir needs to m odeli ng experts. point s in the te xt is obvious . Refer ences to the technic al literature were exten sively update d and expanded. of c ontro versy th at has not y et bee n res olved. reade r to try th em out. 2. They compare several models introd uced in the text. invest igate variou s pro perties. were not sh own in detail in ord er to avoid distra ction from the main points. lems have been add ed to pa rall el the new materi al in the var iou s cha pter s. amples of pro jects follow. rent in a long-ch annel device , valid in weak, moder ate, and strong inversion. to all pa ramet ers should be ensure d. again ensurin g con tinuity . should be con tinuou s with r espect to all in put p aramete rs. technica l literatu re (the referen ces provid ed should be ve ry helpful in the latter case). book, and even to st udents doing class pr ojects. Errat a will be pos ted on the site. 8, and selected topic s fro m C haps. 9 and 10, de pendi ng o n inte rest and time available. sugge st sp ecific cours e out lines to ins tructo rs who co ntact them. Ge nna dy Gil den bla t, and Ch arle s Zuk ow ski for the ir very thor oug h comm ents. for her e nthus iasm and support. chapte rs tha t follow. conductor h ave settled. The semiconduct or is then said to be in equilibrium. etc. We see th at this m echanis m transpo rts a posit ive charge from A to B to C. Energy band model for a semiconductor. where C stands for co ulomb. late each other; this is calle d recomb ination. -∣ -A n "e V " is the product o f the magni tude o f the electron charg e and 1 V ; I eV = 1.602 x 10~l 9 J. acqui red energy to enter the condu ction ban d (i.e., to be set free). where A l = 7 χ I ()l5 K^-v 2 cm ' and A 2 = 6600 K. Energy band diagram for an rc-typc extrinsic semiconductor. Elt is the energy level corresponding to donor atoms. Let us denote the conc entrat ion of free electr ons by no and that of holes by p o . Energy band diagram for a p-type exlrinsic semiconductor. £), is the energy level corresponding to impurity atoms. matel y equal to the don or con cen trat ion , den ote d by N l ,∙. in this book, it will be i mpli ed th at none o f these ex treme situat ions is in effect. carry a negat ive char ge. t One o f the effects enco untered in heavily doped semiconductors is that the energy band gap, E , decreases. intrinsic cas e, the hol e was created without simu ltaneou sly c reating a fre e electr on. denoted by Na and assum e that Na » n j (typ ical valu es o f Na are 10*7 to 10* 8 cιτ∣ τ∣. dop ing conc entra tion is ext rem ely hig h, as exp lain ed for the case o f don or dop ing . semi cond ucto rs dope d with acce ptor impu ritie s are said to be p type. rcf,p,, = tη, as exp ected from (1.2.3). for semiconductors are not valid for metals. as opposed to one relative to as in our definition. or po ly), a w idely used material in modern transistors ( Sec. 1.6). atom ic level, such as be tween e lectr ons and the n ucle us in a gi ven atom. will the n flow until eq uilibr ium is reac hed and a constan t Fermi level is estab lished. ent e lectr on conc entra tion at t wo points. furth er co nside ration s, which are discu ssed later. tions at the two points will be «, = ni exp[( El7 - E i i )∕kT ] and n 2 = n 1expΓ(Ef - E j2 )∕kT ]. case in the absen ce o f any potenti al differ ence in equil ibrium. former point to the latter, If the potential is internal to a device, the arrow will be drawn with a broken line. Potentials between a dev ice's external terminals will be indicated by solid-line arrows. dete rmin ed from addit ional cons ider atio ns (we will see some exam ples later on). external bias applied, as will be seen in Sec. 1.5. in the f abrica tion of semi cond uctor devices. the s tructur e re mains equal to ze ro; this is the princ iple o f charge neutrality. In the prese nce o f electric fields, the charge density ρ can vary from point to point. potential by (1.2.18) and (1.2.19), which are consequ ences of sem iconductor properties. ± This direction is chosen in anticipation of the direction used in analyses to follow later. point, a jump in the field is obse rved there (Appen dix A). (1.2.27) in (1.2 .24) gives us wha t is known as Po iss on ’s equation'. ficien tly slow; ot herwis e, the c omple te M axw ell’s eq uation s m ust b e used. A piece of material with electrons flowing toward the right. Con side r the p iece of material shown between the shaded regions in Fig . 1.10. time and w ill be denoted by τ. stancy of electron velo city along the current path. Thus, (1.3 .1) is quite general. ered in the next two subsections. it would no t occur if the partic les were not charged. lattice and with ionized impurity atoms? Such interactions are referred to as scattering. roughly 0.3 V and 1 V for electrons and holes, respectively. are present at the semiconductor surface in an MOS transistor; these are considered in Chap. 4. disc uss ion o f transist ors. The area o f the bar’ s top surfa ce in Fi g. 1.12 is (ab). charg e per unit area w ould have to be d efine d incre ment ally. assum ed, in whic h case a minus sign appears in front o f the right -hand side o f ( 1.3.1 0). side; letting Δ λ approa ch zero, we obtain an equatio n in whic h the role o f V/a in (1.3. 10) is p laye d by dψtdχ∙. no minus sign is used, as the direc tion we assume for the f iel d in Fi g. 1.12 is in the nega tive .vd irect ion]. the value of the mobile c harge co ncent ration p er unit area, and the “aspect ratio” b∕a. par allel , the total current I and char ge per unit area Q ' are the sums o f the corre spond ing quantiti es for all slices. Let tin g Δ ∕ and Δ Q ' b ecom e diff eren tials and integr ating the result ing equa tion, we obtain ( 1.3.10) again. becomes smaller, which slows the electrons down. The inverse o f the c onduc tivity, called the resis tivit y, is also used. lines o f the prec eding footnote. square’’; R will be g iven by R s times the number o f squares in the path o f the current. Top view of two bars, each with three "squares” in the path of the current. be th e sum of the e lectro n a nd hol e co nductiv ities. rise to mo veme nt o f charg e and thus to electri c current. nal world from left and right, so th at a fixe d elect ron distrib ution can be maintained. assume this plot to be a stra ight line as shown in Fig. 1.15b. opposi te d irectio n fro m t hat shown. diffus ion curre nt is present, and thus th e plo t o f n vs. x is a straigh t line. cisely, letting Δ ∕ and ∆β '(v) become differentials and integrating, we obtain ( 1.3.20) again (Prob. 1.4). under the assumpt ions fol low ing ( 1.3.2 0), then (1.3.2 2) wil l also be vali d in such cases. com para tive ly large valu e, due to the fix ed , small value o f 2 φ t (a bout 52 m V at 300 K) . a simp lification can be made because some o f those components are negligible. semiconductor ); (⅛) potential vs. >n volts i s nu meric ally equal to the value of the wo rk fun ction in electr on volts. which is used as a reference.

Christine Hung provides app development advice at 4H Samsung Summer Science Program. Staff at Rutgers University gave underserved high school students an academic boost at the 4-H Samsung Summer Science Program the week of July 7, 2014. The weeklong program was designed to give students from financially disadvantaged communities exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. Participants from Essex, Union, Passaic, Mercer and Middlesex Counties were able to interact with scientific experts and experience a taste of college life. Interactive lectures and hands-on learning took place at the Busch, Cook/Douglass, and Livingston campuses. The program was organized by Rutgers University and 4-H staff members and was sponsored by Samsung, which calls Ridgefield Park, N.J it’s North American headquarters’ home. The intensive program featured dozens of events; students had the opportunity to tour science labs, enjoy one-on-one discussions with scientists and pursue multiple hands-on projects. Projects focused on robot building, mobile app development, exercise physiology and biotechnology, among several other topics. The wide variety of subjects was intended to give students exposure to new career possibilities while allowing them to pursue subjects they were already passionate about. Passion was an important factor, as students had to complete a rigorous process to be considered for the program. Applicants were required to fill out an application, provide transcripts, complete an essay and attend an in-person interview to enter the selection process. Sixty-three students were chosen in total, 15 of whom returned from previous years. One student, Ziare Bellamy of Mercer County, participated for his third time. Bellamy, who said he who was already passionate about science and math, recalled being excited for his first year at the Summer Science Program. “Knowing that I was going to do something that involved science and math, I was already excited about it,” he said. The program, which started six years ago, was developed by Chad Ripberger, project director of SET (science, education and technology) in Urban Communities for 4-H’s New Jersey presence and Janice McDonnell, the 4-H science agent in the Department of Youth Development at Rutgers University. Rutgers is home to the New Jersey headquarters of 4-H, and most of the participating experts are affiliated with the university. Christine Hung, an electrical engineer and computer scientist, is one such expert. Hung, who taught an app-building workshop at the summer program, said educating adolescents about STEM fields is very important. “Technology is everywhere,” she said, adding that it’s necessary to have a segment of society that understands such widely used equipment. Hung, who also teaches at Rutgers’ Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology, is one of many Rutgers-affiliated educators who feel this way. Participating in the 4-H Samsung Summer Science Program can help professors receive grants and also gives graduate students an opportunity to build their resumes. But “most of them do it because they want to,” said McDonnell, who recruits educators for the program. Educating others is also a goal for the participating students. Students in the Summer Science Program are expected to act as STEM ambassadors, fulfilling 50 hours of community service by educating others in their communities. The program instructs them on effective teaching methods for explaining STEM subjects to people with no prior knowledge. In addition to gaining exposure to new experiences and educational skills, two attendees returning from previous years were selected to receive $2,500 Samsung STEM College Scholarships, which will allow them to pursue undergraduate degrees in STEM-related fields at the college of their choice. But the Summer Science Program does not only benefit students – it’s designed to benefit society as a whole. Abby Gallo, program manager of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Electronics North America, said educating underserved students gives the world an opportunity to tap into bright minds whose potential might otherwise be overlooked. The Summer Science Program also allows such students to connect with others and find common ground.

The dam is located within the protected Lar National Park and situated just 70 kilometers northeast of the capital and the most populous city of the country, Tehran. The primary purpose of the dam is municipal water supply to Tehran but prior to the water reaching the city filtration plant, it is used to power the Kalan and Lavarak Hydroelectric Power Stations, with a combined installed capacity of 162.5 MW. he construction began on the dam in 1974, and ended four years later in 1981. When the reservoir began in 1980, leakage was discovered downstream. The leakage is due to a karst foundation. The foundation was grouted from 1983 until 1989 with no success. With the population growth occurring in Amol, there was a need for more water and energy. The ideal place for the dam was over the Lar river, in the northeast section of the city, at the elevated heights of the Kalanbasteh mountain on the slope of Mount Damavand. The area is called Polour, and operations began in 1984. One of the aims for building the Lar dam was to supply part of Amol with drinking water; it was not possible initially to operate the dam at its nominal capacity, because of a water seepage problem. Water stored in the dam`s reservoir is first transferred to the Kalan Power Station (35°48′24.87″N 51°47′29.46″E) then to the Lavark Power Station (35°48′34.97″N 51°44′54.67″E), a distance of 3 kilometers from the Latyan Dam`s reservoir, through the 20 kilometer long Kalan tunnel (3 meters in size). After electricity generation, the water joins and feeds the Latyan dam`s reservoir. The Kalan Power Station was commissioned in 1998 and the Lavarak in March 2012 and July 2013. The lake in is 84 km northeast of Tehran, and due to its proximity to Mount Damavand it creates a cool and pleasant climate as well as beautiful landscapes. The lake provides the scope for water sports such as swimming and Waterskiing. Uncontrolled growth and expansion of Tehran created a situation where the existing water resources at Karaj, Latyan and Lar dams and the deep wells which were supposed to be exploited only in the during the peak water consumption period. These were no longer capable of meeting the city`s water demand, so inevitable abstraction from ground resources started to increase in a manner that at the present situation, the quantity of drilled deep wells has amounted to 230 rings. In fact, from 1997-2000, it had been orderly abstracted, 317, 289, 374 and 357 Mm3 of water from groundwater resources of the city.

Newswise — Since ancient times, two types of views have approached the nature of consciousness, the reality it conveys and our place in the universe. In the West, consciousness was seen as a by-product of brain activity, a view now espoused by computational materialists including Christof Koch, Giulio Tononi and Daniel Dennett. In Eastern philosophy, consciousness was seen as primary, intrinsic to the universe, a view taken in modern times by mind-body medicine pioneer Deepak Chopra, but also alluded to by quantum biological proponents such as Sir Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff. A daily round-up will summarize key points, and offer clips, analysis, commentary and debate. The show will be hosted by Nick Day (the ‘Man from Mindville’), and include roving correspondent Vanda Mikolowski (the ‘Consciousness Comedienne’), science sociologist Cameron Keys, and Baba Brinkman, the ‘Reductionist Rapper’.

The Cymric (/ˈkɪmrɨk/ KIM-rik or /ˈkʌmrɨk/ KUM-rik) is a breed of domestic cat. Some cat registries consider the Cymric simply a semi-long-haired variety of the Manx breed, rather than a separate breed. Except for the length of fur, in all other respects the two varieties are the same, and kittens of either sort may appear in the same litter. The name comes from Cymru, the indigenous Welsh name of Wales, though the breed is not associated with Wales, and the name was possibly given as an attempt to provide a "Celtic"-sounding name for the breed. The breed's Manx bloodline originated in the Isle of Man, though Canada claims to have developed the long-haired variant. The breed is called the Longhair Manx or a similar name by some registries. According to Isle of Man records,the taillessness trait of the Manx (and ultimately the Cymric) began as a mutation among the island's domestic cat population. Given the island's closed environment and small gene pool, the dominant gene that decided the cats' taillessness was easily passed from one generation to the next, along with the gene for long hair. Long-haired kittens had been born to Manx cats on the Isle of Man, but had always been discarded by breeders as "mutants". Then, in the 1960s, similar kittens were born in Canada and were intentionally bred. This was the start of the increase of Cymric popularity. It took many years for the Cymric to be recognized as a breed of its own by cat associations. The Manx was recognized in the 1920s, but the Cymric was not shown until the 1960s and did not begin to gain popularity until the mid-1970s. The Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFE),World Cat Federation (WCF),American Association of Cat Enthusiasts (AACE),Canadian Cat Association (CCA),New Zealand Cat Fancy (NZCF),Southern Africa Cat Council (SACC),American Cat Fanciers Association (ACFA, of the US East Coast),and Cat Fanciers' Federation (CFF, in the US Northeast)consider the Cymric a separate breed. The Cat Aficionado Association (CAA) of China does also, by virtue of the CAA having adopted all the breed standards of its Western partner, ACFA; it is unknown if any specimens are actually in China. The International Cat Association (TICA)and Australian Cat Federation (ACF)recognize the Cymric by that name but as a variety of Manx, not a separate breed with its own standard. Also simply covering it in their Manx breed standards, the US-based Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), the Co-ordinating Cat Council of Australia (CCCA),and the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF)recognize the variety as the long-haired Manx rather than Cymric (the CFAand CCCAcall it the Manx Longhair, while GCCF uses the term Semi-longhair Manx Variant). Feline Federation Europe (FFE) does not recognize the breed or sub-breed at all, under any name, as of March 2013. The gene that gives the Cymric and Manx their unusual tails can also be lethal. Kittens who inherit two copies of the tailless gene die before birth and are reabsorbed in the womb. Since these kittens make up about 25 percent of all kittens, litters are usually small. Even cats who inherit only one copy of the gene can have what is called Manx syndrome. This can cause spina bifida, gaps in the vertebrae, fused vertebrae, and bowel or bladder dysfunctions. Also, a rabbit-like hop can sometimes be seen in Cymric cats due to the spinal deformity. Not every Cymric with a short spine has problems or Manx syndrome. It is simply an attribute of the Manx gene, and its expression cannot be entirely prevented. As the problems usually become apparent within the first six months of age, Cymric and Manx kittens are usually kept by breeders until older before being made available.

"WHAT and HOW Does this Child See?" is a question that is asked each day by many professionals in early intervention and education about children with disabilities. This CD contains a book that attempts to help you structure your questions so that you can look for answers together with other members of your team. The book on this CD is a collection of questions and answers from lectures presented by Lea Hyvärinen, MD, PhD, FAAP, and Namita Jacob, PhD, in a number of countries. It is written for teachers and members of early intervention and rehabilitation teams of children with disabilities, but it also provides valuable information to ophthalmologists, optometrists, neurologists, pediatricians, psychologists, and research workers in early intervention and special education. This CD only contains book text and additional material and resources, including videos.

Or so thought Pauline Viardot-García, Anna Schoen-René and Margaret Harshaw. Of course, I've known quite a few voice teachers who don't (or won't) sing, the pianist/coach being perhaps the best example. Does the neurosurgeon teach her students to operate without having ever wielded a scalpel? Does the piano teacher instruct his student to play Chopin without ever touching the keys? Of course not. But there are many voice teachers who teach their students to sing without having sung themselves. Herman Klein tried to bring standards to singing teachers in the first decade of the 20th century, which I wrote about in the introduction to my book: Hidden in Plain Sight: The Hermann Klein Phono-Vocal Method based upon the Famous School of Manuel Garcia. Of course, Klein didn't succeed since America has always had a Wild West mentality as far as the instruction of singing is concerned. Singing teachers were left to their own devices—as they are today—not withstanding the efforts of a few organizations which endeavor to keep their members informed regarding industry standards, which, it must be pointed out, are rather minimal. In a very real sense, the art of singing is market driven. Voice teachers go where the money is. In the 1930's, it was Hollywood, talking pictures and the gramophone. Now it is the world of contemporary commercial music, rock musicals and The Voice. Standards have changed too. During Klein's day, classical music (and its training) was considered to be on a higher level than popular music—an attitude which has changed as market forces have shifted. Singing teachers also taught vocal techniques which are now considered passé. Those who dare to talk about "voice placement" at a scientific symposium will find themselves in the minority. "Attack" has changed to "onset," and the teacher who refers to "vocal cords" instead of "vocal folds" will be smiled at—and not in a good way. Yet—students still say things which defy terminology and current pedagogical thought. Only a few days ago, at the end of a lesson, I asked a student (think Tony Bennett), who had been put through his paces what he had learned. With surprise in his voice, he pointed to his head, and said that he had to keep his voice "hanging from above," which sounded like a Lamperti School concept. Of course, simply asking the student to sing into the head isn't enough. The teacher has to know how to bring this phenomena into being, often without the student's conscious awareness. This takes skill, a voice teacher who can sing—one who knows what it means from experience. What was my student telling me? He was reporting his "audio-vocal control," that is, what his ears/body mind were experiencing when his voice was functioning at a high level. It's a real thing. Again, only a voice teacher who can sing will be able to know what this means, and if it is "on the money." Quite a statement, isn't it? Of course, one has only to go to the opera and hear Vannuccini's observation being put into practice. Lord knows, I saw enough of it myself onstage, where the temptation to bellow is great.

Having a pension plan is one of the best financial securities. With some pension plans, you can receive tax reliefs on the money that you have placed into the plans. The earlier a pension plan is started, the more financial stability you will have at retirement. There are four main types of pension plans. These include: Personal Pension Plan, Company Pension Plan, Stakeholder Pension, and State Pension. With the personal pension plan, you save money for retirement by using a pension provider who invests your money which should increase over time. Similar to a personal pension plan, the company plan is provided by the person's place of occupation. These are not available to self-employed persons or to employees whose work place does not offer a pension plan. In April of 2001, the UK government introduced the Stakeholder's Pension. It is a personal pension that has limits to how much it costs and are a flexible type of pension. You are charged by the provider of the pension for running the fund. There is usually an initial charge and an ongoing charge. The State Pension is the most complicated out of all of the pensions and pays the lowest. Currently, the UK state pension age is 60 for women and age 65 for men. By the year 2020, the state pension age for women will be 65 years. The Pensions Act of 2008 requires all employers to offer pension schemes to their employees and to enroll them into that pension. There are other types of pension plans available that the pension provider should be able to explain in detail. One example is the Profits Pension Plan or fund. These invest in both UK and overseas shares, cash deposits, etc. Another type of pension is Unit Linked Funds. These tend to be more risky plans as they tend to fluctuate. The returns can be better in the long run. There are different types of Unit Linked Funds. These are: Tracker Funds, Lifestyle Funds, Managed Funds, and Specialist Funds. An Over 80 Pension is a non-contributory plan available to those over the age of 80 years who have little or no State Pension. If an individual this age or over currently receives a State Pension that is reduced, he/she may receive additional money if an Over 80 Pension is claimed.

My child is not a natural reader, so any chance I can find to get her interested in reading, I am all over it. Enter StarToaster.com, and their innovative and interactive online program/book Orphs of the Woodlands. We were honored to be chosen to review it for the last few weeks. As the readers are introduced to the story of Orphs of the Woodlands, they are allowed to "apply" for an unknown job that promises adventure. In this application, the students can create their own name for their character, and that name is then part of the story for the rest of the book. Can you see how your child would immediately would be drawn in? That main character then takes off on great adventure to save the Orphs of the Woodlands. My 6th grader named her character "Squirrel Booshy" (an inside joke and pet name for the newest member of our family). If your child enjoys medieval fiction, action, adventure, and mystery, they will really enjoy this style of writing. Good guys, bad guys, character development, and lots of surprises keep your child engaged and moving forward in the story. This is a complete electronic book, with 15 chapters sure to please the adventure-loving kid in your family. One of the very cool features of Orphs of the Woodlands:The Treasure of Hightower is the "hover" ability the reader has when they encounter a word that may be difficult for them. These select words are in brown and the reader can hover their mouse over that word to see the definition and part of speech. Interspersed among the hundreds of vocabulary words (great for preparation of standardized testing) are also sound bytes of different sound effects, fun activities, and even recipes for a fun distraction. At the end of each chapter, the reader will reach a "Help Wanted" section where all the jobs are performed. These jobs allow the reader to earn stars, which is used like currency to help care for all the orphans in their cottage. The interactive map allows the students to purchase more and more land around the original cottage, and the more they read, the more jobs they have access to. The more jobs they have access to, the more land, crops, food, medical supplies, etc., they can purchase for their orphans! These jobs include games and lessons in math, grammar, thinking skills, communication skills, memory skills, vocabulary, the arts, and science tasks and are meaty enough to please moms while short enough to please fidgety kids. I can't emphasize enough how much content is in this program! The students are introduced to so many different concepts from over 300 lessons as they read the wonderful story of The Treasure of Hightower! As a bonus, all of the progress your child makes can be viewed by via the Parent Section of the website, with your unique password. I encourage you to investigate this wonderfully interactive and unique approach to reading and learning, and I highly recommend this if your child loves doing lessons on the computer or tablet!

Popular authors, prize winners and authors from our Literary Heritage pepper this expertly selected and extensive range of fiction, non-fiction and Hi-Lo books, providing a variety of reading challenges to meet the needs of all readers from those working towards expected levels or those exceeding. In our curriculum-linked resources, all of the fiction books have been given a suggested level of difficulty to help teachers to plan guided reading sessions and group children accordingly without the need to read each book beforehand. Alongside our best-selling Year Group, Author, Different Text Types, Non-Fiction and Reluctant Reader packs, we also have 4 ‘Book Bands for KS2’ packs (Year 3,4,5 and 6 – Lime to Black book bands) and 4 Fiction for Gifted & Talented Readers packs (Year 3,4,5 and 6). Non-fiction packs include Badger Learning’s own successful and popular series of reader and Hi-Lo books for reluctant readers. What is in a Teacher Book? Objectives set out within our Enjoy Guided Reading KS2 packs (not including Exploring Different Text Types for Years 5 and 6) are from the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. Questions and activities for the reading sessions are linked to these. A tick sheet is provided so that teachers can monitor the children’s understanding. A coverage sheet can be found in the appendix, which provides an indication of where the objectives are addressed in each book. Reading feeds pupils imaginations and opens up a treasure-house of wonder and joy for curious young minds’. (National Curriculum for English).

Ha Giang is said to be a land of the natural majestic landscapes, the sharpness of long-standing living tradition of the hill tribe people that many tourists have not known. Ha Giang is said to be a land of the natural majestic landscapes, the sharpness of long-standing living tradition of the hill tribe people that many tourists have not known. Located about 350km to the north of Hanoi, Ha Giang town sits in a valley surrounded by four mountains and the Lo River bending in its flow. Located about 40 km up north is Quan Ba district, a mountainous region with cool climate year-round. Continue the journey, visitors can stop at La Sung valley whose beauty is difficult to be matched. The valley offers a magic appearance of rocky mountain and green forests. In Dong Van district, visitors are immersed in the mountains and the colors of hill tribes in every step. The district lies at the height of 1,100m, of which there is Lung Cu peak at the height 1600m to 1800m compared to sea level. This is an extreme north, considered to be the rooftops of Vietnam. About 12km from Dong Van, under a small beautiful valley, low-ventilated under the Green samu trees is of mansion with the Chinese original architecture of Wang Chi Sinh (regarded as the Mong's King who dispenses the entire plateau area Dong Van - Meo Vac). From Dong Van to Meo Vac, travelers have to overcome the peak of Ma Pi Leng. On beautiful days, its pass seems to collect all the beauty of nature, with the windy hill sides, the eyes spread to horizon. Nho Que river as a small thread in the beautiful valley. Standing here offers travelers the feeling of standing between heaven and earth, the scenery of wildlife, golden sound Hmong flute to enjoy the immense of the mountain area. Coming to Ha Giang, all travelers wish to visit Khau Vai love market, which is made only for those who fail their love to come and see their old lovers. They come together and then again return to the family when sunset falls. To Ha Giang, tourists also have a chance to enjoy the beauty of step rice field in Hoang Su Phi. To a small path going up, visitors can see the ancient tea trees with hundreds of years old of ethnic Dzao people. It can be said that Ha Giang is a land of several specialties which cannot be forgetten by those who once enjoy. The first one to be mentioned here is Bee's honey mint flower. This is natural honey extracted from the flower of mint tree. Bee's honey mint flower is one of the most famous specialties of Dong Van karsts plateau which everyone tries to find to buy when coming here. Its sweet taste from mint flower is especially attractive. This kind of specialty in Ha Giang is produced from honey of traditional bee feeding on nature food material zone. It is mainly taken mainly from flowers of mint and some other medicine plants which freely grow only in Ha Giang highland. The second is Thanh Van corn wine which is made of corn grown in the highland in the traditional methods. The flavor is typical delicious, non - toxic compared with other local wine. Next is smoked pork meat which is made from three-slice pork. After being mixed with spices, the pork is hang on the fire until dried (normally hang from half a year to a year). Its taste is good and non- fat. Smoked pork of Ha Giang ethnic groups has become the famous local specialty with the deeply forest taste. Annually, when the winter comes, the locals will select delicious pork, slice and hang all on the top of kitchen. Above the heat of fire, the meast will become smaller, fatty run out. This kind of smoked meat is processed into many different dishes such as boiled, baked, fried, or store the beets. Dried beef: The main ingredient of this dish is fresh beef with nutritious high level of Dong Van plateau. Fresh beef after mixed with different flavor will be hanged on the wood floor kitchen to get dried. The most important thing as making this dish is to choose delicious one, chilling spices with enough quantity, hang on kitchen ceiling with enough temperature in order to make the slice of beef smaller. Dried beef is often cut sliced and fried with garlic, chayote, cauliflower and kohlrab. In addition, it can be dried in a wood coal and then made into small ones to eat. This kind of specialty as eating with chilly salt and a little of corn wine will be an unforgettable nibble. Men Men is made from grinded corn flour at upland areas. After many processed stages, Men Men became a very unique and attractive dish with nutty and greasy flavor. This dish is used in everyday life or in the traditional Tet holidays. Men Men is a dry dish; thus, a bowl of soup is necessary in the meals (such as pumpkin soup, soup of chicken or cabbage soup). The most impressive specialty in Ha Giang maybe is 'Thang Co' which is traditional and popular dish of Mong people in many mountainous areas of Ha Giang. Thang Co is made of different parts of beefs and goats including heads, legs, internal organs, and all meat together cooked with herbal and eating with 'Men Men', Corn cakes. It will be more delicious when enjoying with a bowl of corn wine. Ha Giang is 320 km north of Ha Noi via Road No.2. The road conditions are fairly good traveling through Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang Provinces. The best time to visit Ha Giang is maybe around or after the Tet holidays, which is from February to May. During this time, the scenery in Ha Giang is magnificent with mountaintops hiding in the cloud and wild peach flowers blooming everywhere. In addition, the weather during the Tet holidays is very comfortable with little rain and cool air. So, travelers do not have to carry raincoats or umbrellas with them. There are also many unique and attractive festivals celebrating the New Year during this period of time, then visitors can have a chance to know more about the ethnic culture in Ha Giang province and enjoy the festive atmosphere of various ethnic groups. Finally, in this time of the year the roads are much safer to travel on because as this is the dry season and the routes to Ha Giang mostly go along the side of mountains.

SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive was interviewed by DBL Investors co-founder and SolarCity board member Nancy Pfund at the World Energy Innovation Forum at the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif. Nancy Pfund is a cleantech investor and energy subsidy historian with a hot investment hand. She's on the board of SolarCity and was also an investor in Tesla. She asked SolarCity co-founder Lyndon Rive to speak on a few topics at a bustling cleantech event in Fremont on Thursday. Love or hate the utility? Rive: "It depends on which utility. The part I don't like is when they try to stop progress." Rive called the utilities the "largest air polluters, water polluters and consumers of water." "When utilities put up obstacles -- that gets annoying," said the CEO, seeming to stifle stronger words than "annoying." He added that, "Some [utilities] do see the need to transform." Pfund rolled a video from a recent CPUC forum with Rive, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and CPUC President Mike Peavey in which Rive said that "innovation must not be constrained" and gave an example: customer interconnect for SolarCity's energy storage system takes an average of eight months, according to the CEO. And "hundreds" of SGIP program customers cannot connect, according to Rive. Elon Musk's reaction to news of this lengthy connection delay: "That's crazy." Yesterday, Rive suggested, "But you can't help but think that the behavior incentive is to delay the game." Rive spoke of "intentional roadblocks" from the utility, though he noted that "President Peavey has really helped with this." Rive insisted, "There is no extra complexity in interconnecting" a PV system with storage versus just a PV system. Peter Rive, the less publicly exposed SolarCity co-founder, wrote in a recent blog post that storage is where "solar and utilities can work together," in Pfund's words. "There is no death spiral" said Rive. "It's brought up by utilities to create fear." Rive said that there might be a "change spiral," and that "maybe change is death" to utilities. He said that solar combined with storage is a "forcing function" that solves the utility complaint that solar is intermittent and will bring grid instability. "When you add solar to storage, you solve all this." Rive suggested that utilities don't want to solve the problems, because solving the problem "means they lose control and the business model changes." Rive said that the subsidies and incentives for solar are "peanuts" compared to subsidies for fossil fuels. When asked about keeping the market "a level playing field," especially when SolarCity is demonstrating that it can live without incentives such as the CSI, Rive suggested that a level playing field for the fossil fuel industry means "that fossil fuels are elevated -- and you are not." Rive gave an example of the deeply embedded nature of fossil fuel industry subsidies: He cited section 105.2 of the Uniform Building Code which lists "work exempt from permitting." Included in this list are standard items like small tool sheds, short fences, small water tanks, minor sidewalk and driveway improvements, as well as slightly more questionable items -- such as oil derricks. That's right. An oil derrick does not require a permit. And there is no size distinction. Rive pointed out that without permit requirements, solar can get installed the same day instead of the two months it can currently take. A building code in which "a big frigging monster of a machine" does not require a permit and "is not called an incentive" is not a level playing field, said the CEO. Rive said it was "faster to get a permit for a fracking facility than it is for a solar system." He said that it won't be a level playing field "until external cost is realized." Rive spoke of Musk's ability to see "the invisible wall in front of you" and the necessity to "turn right" and drive through a few potholes in order to avoid the wall -- which is only visible when you look back to realize what you avoided. Rive said of his cousin, Elon Musk, "He is the chosen one." SolarCity increased 2014 guidance to 500 to 550 megawatts deployed and set initial guidance for 2015 with megawatts deployed of between 900 megawatts and 1 gigawatt. Guidance for Q2 2014 is 105 megawatts to 110 megawatts deployed. Deutsche Bank's Vishal Shah writes in an analyst note that SolarCity's "2015 outlook reinforces our view that growth in the U.S. residential market should accelerate into the 2016 timeframe, driving significant operating leverage in the model." He called the results a "big beat/raise" with a 2015 guidance "well above consensus." "Our contracted cash flow is now $2.5 billion. The amazing part is that we added $500 million in one quarter. These are starting to become big numbers. We also note [a cumulative total of] 100,000 energy contracts [as] we added over 17,000 customer contracts this quarter. We are well on our way to 1 million customers." "Now, we are not going to slow down; we are going to continue to invest in sales and marketing. Based on these investments, we are now forecasting 2015. The forecast for 2015 is going to be 900 megawatts to 1 gigawatt. The reason for giving you 2015 guidance this early is that we’ve got to make those investments now, and you will see this in the opex numbers. If we meet this forecast by the end of 2015, we will have over 2 gigawatts of deployed solar and a historic growth rate of 98% for the last five years. That will be an amazing achievement." "There are four main pieces of capital in the financial model. A construction revolver (which is $200 million today), tax equity funds, aggregation facilities and long-term securitizations. We optimized the cost of capital considering our investment activity in concert with the cash generated from operations which are predominantly our long-term contracts and the required financing. "Since the beginning of this year, in a little over four months, we have completed in excess of $750 million in financings. We upsized an existing aggregation facility to $158 million early in the year and entered into a new $250 million facility led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. On the tax equity front, we closed three new or upsized funds, including a first-time investor, a Fortune 500 financial services company." Discussing the Arizona market: "Yes, the state itself has seen a decline in solar adoption. The state has had many negative things happening to it which have increased the cost to the customer. Unless you have significant economies of scale, it’s really hard to offer a customer value proposition that make sense, so it is a challenging state. Now, we do have economies of scale and our value proposition is still very attractive to customers. In fact, our bookings in Arizona have...never been higher. [Even] with all these difficulties, the only way to push through with extra fees and costs is to get more volume and to get more scale. We’re actually going to continue to invest in Arizona."

A shocking number of people are sleep deprived. According to Men’s Fitness, 30 percent of American adults don’t get enough sleep each night. Good sleep habits are not only important for overall health, but can also influence your productivity and even your workout recovery. A study from Stanford University examined college basketball players and found that more sleep at night improved the athletes’ performance. The researchers had the players maintain their normal sleeping patterns, where they each slept for six to nine hours per night, for two to four weeks. After that period, the athletes were asked to get 10 hours of sleep per night for five to seven consecutive weeks. When the players got more sleep, their shooting accuracy improved and they ran faster sprint times. There are few things worse than going to bed and having to pull the covers off of yourself because it’s too hot. Science suggests that sleeping in a colder room can improve sleep quality. According to Country Living, a “colder room could help your body cool down enough to reach a level of deeper, restorative sleep.” The same article claims that rooms with a temperature higher than 70 degrees can inhibit the body from releasing melatonin. So, the next time you go to sleep, crack open a window or try turning the thermostat down a few degrees. Caffeine is a great, natural way to boost your energy. But it’s important to know what time of the day you should stop consuming it. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, caffeine’s half-life is about five hours. That means that roughly half of the caffeine that you ingest will remain in your system five hours later. With that in mind, it’s probably a good idea to not have caffeine within at least five hours of bedtime in order to optimize sleep. Most of us look forward to sleeping in on the weekend, but skipping your weekday sleep schedule can alter your circadian rhythm. It's important to keep the same sleep schedule 7-days a week. A study found those who had irregular sleeping patterns and went to bed late on the weekends reported poor sleep. The more your weekend/weekday sleep schedules differ, the worse the jetlag-like symptoms you’ll experience. If you need to make up for a late night, opt for a 15-20 minute nap in the early afternoon rather than sleeping in. All exercise can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly, but timing and type is important to get the best results. The more vigorously you exercise, the more powerful the sleep benefits, but vigorous exercise can cause post-workout burst of energy which can keep you awake. Moderate to vigorous exercise should be done at least 3 hours before you head to bed. Gentle, relaxing, low-impact exercises like yoga, stretching and tai chi can help relax you at night and can be done in the evening. If you work out at night then taking alpha-lactalbumin whey protein supplement such as BioZzz, is a great way to help your body recover and rest. Alpha-lactalbumin the highest natural source of tryptophan available. Tryptophan is an amino acid that is often associated with sleep. Tryptophan, commonly known for being present in turkey, is the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin. Evidence suggests that serotonin regulates anxiety, mood and happiness. Studies have shown that consuming tryptophan may improve sleep and morning alertness, cognitive performance under stress, and mood under stress.

We believe that all these elements mentioned above are incorporated in a Storyline. The participants of this course will experience how Storyline in language classrooms allows to deal with the different needs, dispositions and interests of our students – for example in the way a Storyline integrates the pre-knowledge and experience of our students. The different sequences of a Storyline provide a structure but are flexible and open to the learners’ questions, their ideas and many individual learning paths. The freezes are a real gold mine for individualised and differentiated tasks.

Urinary tract infections may be treated with Zithromax. Zithromax may be used to treat ear infections. Zithromax® is an antibiotic medication which is used to treat infections which are believed to be caused by bacteria. It is not a first line antibiotic, being preferred for situations in which the patient is allergic to the drugs normally used to treat an infection or for cases in which a patient does not respond to other medications. Doctors most commonly prescribe Zithromax® to treat infections in people with compromised immune systems and young children, and it is safe for use in infants. It is believed to be safe for pregnant women, but the safety for breastfeeding mothers is not known. This medication, also known by the generic name of azithromycin, was discovered in the 1980s. It is part of the macrolide class of drugs grouped together because of their molecular structure, and it is closely related to erythromycin, another antibiotic drug. People can take Zithromax® in the form of an oral suspension, an injectable medication, or a tablet. Tablets of the drug are extremely popular and often come in a three or five day pack with enough doses for a short course of treatment. It is very important to finish a course of treatment rather than stopping once symptoms of infection appear to be resolved. Some infections which may be treated with Zithromax® include pneumonia, strep throat, urinary tract infections, tonsillitis, respiratory infections, skin infections, typhoid fever, and ear infections. To reduce the development of antibiotic resistance, doctors usually only prescribe this drug when it can be demonstrated that bacteria are responsible for an infection, and that they are likely of a class which is susceptible to Zithromax®. The drug works by interfering with the ability to synthesize proteins. While on Zithromax®, patients may notice side effects such as nausea and stomach upset. Some patients develop diarrhea, chest pains, jaundice, and other serious side effects, although fewer than one percent of patients are forced to stop using the drug because of side effects. Patients should report side effects to their doctors. Like other medications, Zithromax® can interact with other drugs. It is important to disclose any medications, prescription or not, which are being taken so that a doctor can determine whether or not the drug will be safe. It is also important to inform doctors of allergies. Patients should be aware that Zithromax® can increase sensitivity to light and that taking antacids with the drug can make it less effective.