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Like the tides which ebb and flow on the shore, the cycles of intimacy and solitude drift in and out of my life. I have been living in the absence of intimacy since writing my last blog, The Love Doves. I can honestly say that I enjoy life so much more when the experience of intimacy is abundant. However, for intimacy to be sustaining, we need to look not only at the moments that interrupt it, but also at its mate – solitude. The subject of solitude is a personal favourite of mine. Could it be that solitude is the yin to intimacy’s yang?
Let me begin by admitting that solitude has saved my life! If I were given a choice between an eternity in which no solitude was possible, and an eternity in which only solitude was available, I would most definitely choose the latter. Solitude offers a connection with the energy of my body, my soul, and with Spirit. It provides the opportunity for renewal; the chance to check out what I am feeling and thinking; to cease being attentive to the needs of others; to drift and dream. It is in these moments of deep soul connection where I feel most restored. But solitude without its beautiful counterpart – intimacy, feels unbalanced. They seem to mirror one another. Can we live in one successfully without living in the other?
How we experience our own sense of self just may reflect the way we experience other people (as trusting, lovable, knowable, real or unreal, equal or less than, a source of anxiety or a source of pleasure). Intimacy and solitude may move in different directions, but like two sides of a coin, they remain side by side.
This past weekend, as I walked into a family gathering, ancient feelings of loneliness and separateness paid me a visit. As I explored them, I realized this is the “hook” that interferes with any possibility of real connection. In loneliness we are painfully aware of what we do not have. For me, it is the longing for a tribe of friends who all know one another, a community of shared experiences, and a desire for deeper joy and intimacy with others.
Loneliness is one of the great dreads for many people. Most of us have experienced it in our own lives, and many fear it. Deep loneliness can come out of missing an actual person, or from the feeling of wanting a kind of contact, a level of connection, which is not or perhaps never has been available. That feeling of loneliness ignites the fantasy of, “I will not be lonely when… or I would not be lonely if…” However, loneliness just may be part of the human condition. It is how we meet ourselves in this state that makes a difference.
The experience of loneliness may just be the sign that we are disconnected from our source, or that something has transpired in relationship that needs attending and repair. My daughter came home yesterday complaining of a stomachache. This morning she did not want to go to school, which is unusual for her. I knew intuitively that something had happened yesterday. After much prodding, she revealed that her friends had teased her after school on the way to go ice-skating. At the rink, she skated alone. She was unable to open her heart once her feelings were hurt and this prevented her from enjoying her tribe. She decided to write a story this morning about her broken heart. The solitude she needed to write her story gave her courage to tell her friends that her feelings were hurt. What if we all could have such courage in the face of our fear?
Intimacy can be a beautiful and exhilarating exchange. It involves sharing the truth of our thoughts and feelings openly with others, even when it’s difficult to do so. In the many moments I am connected to my source and therefore my self, I am able to share this rich experience with others. And whether you're six or forty six, when your heart is closed, intimacy with other is not yet available.
To make any relationship successful with another human being, we need closeness and acceptance and also separateness and space. We need to be reasonably aware of our feelings, for instance how the loneliness can interrupt the flow. Like the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon; like the daily ebb and flow of the ocean’s tides, these twin desires for intimacy and solitude might be the yin to the yang.
I am a student of life and a licensed psychotherapist whose own life is committed to deep and profound healing. I am a wife, a grateful mother, a sister, a daughter, and a soulmate to my soul-sister friends. For sixteen years, I have offered myself as a guide, and a healer with a medicine bag. I pray at the temple of nature and open in the presence of beauty, connections, and Spirit. I am passionate about bringing the inner work of mindfulness to every aspect of life. | https://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/the-yin-and-yang-of-solitude-and-intimacy |
Russian Culture/Cultural Assessment Paper
Order instructions:
APA style essay problem statement when I have to answer ALL the questions Im going to provide you with attached files, The topic is Russian culture. I need the language to be the most simple English like high school language
Summary
Cultural Assessment Assignment/Problem Statement
For the Cultural Assessment paper, please use your assigned culture and address the four Student Learning Outcomes.
Students Learning Outcomes
1) Analyze select global culture, and it’s influence on healthcare practice
2) Examine challenges in healthcare access for your chosen culture
3) Identify challenges associated with diversity in healthcare
4) Describe barriers to healthcare access and quality care
In addition, provide a summary of your elected culture by 1) incorporating if the culture chosen is from a collectivistic or individualistic origin, 2) communication and language 3) the socio-economic demographic, 4) how teaching intervention should be approach with this culture, 5) if the use of non-traditional healing approaches is common in this culture, 6) the dietary preferences healthcare providers should be aware/common food and ritual, 7) which cultural sensitive attention should be incorporated in caring for a patient of such culture, 8) high risk behavior, 9) disease and health condition. | https://cheapcustomwriters.com/blog/russian-culturecultural-assessment-paper/ |
In our last post, we reported the events of the automobile accident on Memorial Day that claimed the lives of 5 Irvine teenagers. We also urged parents to take a more active role in their teenagers’ lives, particularly when it comes to driving – the #1 killer of teens in America.
As more information surrounding the accident becomes available, we have learned that the driver, 17-year-old Abdulrahman M. Alyahyan, did not have a driver’s license or learner’s permit.
Obviously you cannot legally drive without a license or permit, but teenage drivers have even more restrictions. In California, teenage drivers under 18 are prohibited from carrying passengers under 20 for the first year they have their license and may not drive between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. without a parent or guardian.
Alyahyan had also previously been cited by Irvine police for making an illegal modification to his 2008 Infiniti’s exhaust system and having tinted windows that obstruct the driver’s view.
As stated in our previous post, the part of a teenager’s brain that controls reasoning and helps them “think before they act” is not fully developed until well into adulthood. Teenagers are more likely to:
- act on impulse
- get into accidents of all kinds
- engage in dangerous or risky behavior
Now, that is not to say that teenagers should be excused for every poor decision they make; there aren’t unlimited free passes in life. And it is also not to say that teenagers are incapable of making good decisions. But parents, educators, policy makers, and other influential adults need to be aware of the differences between adults and teenagers so we can be involved in their lives in positive ways.
By playing an active part in your teenager’s driver’s education, you can effectively “save them from themselves” and prevent at best, traffic school and costly car repairs, and at worst, devastating injuries or even death from occurring. | https://safety1stdriversed.com/2013/05/update-on-memorial-days-jamboree-crash/ |
Blockchain technology is a pretty new field, to begin with; in fact, its inception dates back to just less than a decade ago. So, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that there is a myriad of logistical and infrastructural challenges that form significant hurdles in the quest of its integration in Project Healthureum to make it a reality.If anything, that’s one of the primary reasons the project has to be implemented in stages. After all, there’s isn’t any comprehensive, water-tight and functional system that has ever been created in a single day. Or is there?
Having said that, it is important to single out the fact that Blockchain technology wields a myriad of potential uses in the current healthcare sector. Nonetheless, it is haunted by a series of challenges when it comes down to high-volume, low-value transactions. Therefore, there is a need to carefully choose the right blockchain protocol that rhymes correctly with its application. A good example is how the presence of Ethereum platform in its implementation makes it ideal for permission-less and permissionedblockchain development.
Here is a quick primer on some of the hurdles as far the integration of blockchain technology in Project Healthureum goes.
1. Scalability
A majority of medical records such as scans and full-size images are synonymous with heavy data files that may degrade the performance of the project’s blockchain structure. It is possible that the transactions within the ecosystem will be slow and energy-sapping at first before crucial updates are made. That being said, the technical developers of the system could solve this quagmire by creating a series of reference points within the transactional medium using hash codes to lessen the load. The role of these hash codes, in this case, would be to systematically verify the integrity of the data that is passing through it. What’s more, the source could also be designed to have an access control point in a way that only an authorized party can access it.
2. Lack of an Enforced System of Data Compliance and Regulation
Blockchain within Project Healthureum is set to store the data in a systematic and distributed fashion, instead of the conventional centralized system that characterizes today’s conventional record-keeping systems. Now, as much as a centralized model is hardly seamless or flexible, it ensures un-matched data integrity as long as sound data encryption is implemented throughout the system. However, with a decentralized system – and the lack of an existing system of data compliance and regulation enactment – it is possible to expose a health organization’s sensitive data to potential breaches in integrity and confidentiality. As such, there is a need for universal privacy regulations such as those enshrined in the HIPAA.
3. Lack of Blockchain-enabled or Adapted Medical Devices
As much as connected medical technology is becoming a reality by the day, there’s still a dire lack of enough blockchain-enabled devices that can allow for the implementation of a stricter and tamper-proof monitoring system. Which, as a matter of fact, is aimed at preventing the occurrence of incidences such as last year’s Europe’s PIP breast implant gaffes that resulted in a massive recall of many hip replacements. In other words, the current crop of connected medical devices would not allow a thorough implementation of a comprehensive blockchain-reliant ecosystem.
4. Insufficient or Total Lack of Personnel that are Conversant with the Inner Workings of a Blockchain-powered Healthcare Network
As mentioned earlier, blockchain is without a doubt quite a new technology that has been around for less than ten years. It is even younger than the internet itself. Nonetheless, its potential is virtually limitless, if not entirely inexhaustible. The unprecedented rise and rise of the value of some of the most common cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum says it all. That being said, there’s a notable lack of medical personnel who are entirely conversant with how a blockchain-powered network (such as the one that will takeCentre stage in Project Healthureumworks. Hence, this implies that the full implementation of the project could take longer than expected as there will be a need for mass sensitization of this kind of technology to the general masses.
In Closing
As much as the blockchain technology facet of the project is expected to face these hurdles in the course of the implementation of the program, it is essential to recognize that the tech is still relatively new. In other words, the far-reaching positive impact that such standardized healthcare ecosystem is likely to have is beyond the threshold of the imagination of many stakeholders of the project. | https://www.digitalworldeconomy.com/lifestyle/health/challenges-likely-to-be-encountered-in-the-implementation-of-blockchain-technology-in-project-healthureum-286 |
Harper announced today that To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee will publish a sequel to her famous novel this July. The sequel, titled Go Set a Watchman, was originally written before To Kill a Mockingbird, and features that book’s main character Scout as a grown woman. The book is Lee’s second novel, and the first she’s published since the 1950s.
A first edition of Don Quixote, fragments of Sappho, and a lock of Percy Shelley‘s hair all in one place: Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries.
And the Heart Says Whatever author Emily Gould has been combining two of our favorite things, books and food in an online cooking show called “Cooking the Books.” Past episodes have included Sam Lipsyte (cooking pork buns) and Joanna Smith Rakoff (cooking brunch). | https://themillions.com/2015/02/harper-lee-will-publish-a-sequel-to-mockingbird.html |
School programs at OAG are both fun and educational. Guided tours and workshops are designed with the Ontario and Quebec curricula in mind, and tailored to suit the needs and interests of each group. Our passionate and skillful guides strive to create a unique and memorable experience that will broaden students’ perspectives on the world through intellectual inquiry and tactile exploration.
Adaptable for school groups of all ages, from kindergarten to university. Tours are always free.
Designed to be stimulating investigations of the ideas and materials in the exhibitions. Adaptable to school groups of all ages, from kindergarten to university. Cost: $3 per student.
Discuss the location, how will you get there, the kinds of activities they’ll enjoy, and what they will see at the gallery.
Visiting an art gallery means respecting the artworks on display. Let students know that they will need to be careful in the gallery and keep a distance from the artworks, unless an educator invites them to touch or interact with a specific piece.
Let students know that art galleries are spaces for sharing ideas. When learning and talking about art, it’s important for students to listen to the opinions of others, express their own ideas and keep an open mind.
Finally, encourage students to participate and have fun!
Can’t come to the gallery? One of our guides will gladly visit your classroom to lead a discussion or art-making activity with your students. Each of the activities outlined below can be delivered within a 55 to 75 minute class period. All materials will be provided.
Did you know that artist A.Y. Jackson—a member of the Group of Seven—lived and worked in Ottawa for more than a decade? This interactive presentation brings together some of Jackson’s paintings, sketches, and personal belongings to help students learn more about this influential Canadian artist.
This in-class program provides an active learning experience based on works of art from the Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, which includes more than 1,600 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures by influential Canadian artists from 1890–1985.
Artist Eric Walker uses materials found on construction sites to create collages depicting aspects of the industrial world. This program gives students the chance to create their own collage with found materials and, in the process, discover that inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere.
Michèle Provost’s work is meticulous, visually rich and poetic. She reappropriates books and magazines, changing their meaning by altering certain words or letters. Students will first get the chance to take a careful look at Provost’s work, then work with typography to create their own artwork bearing an original – and critical – message. | http://galeriedartdottawa.ca/teachers-schools |
Macbeth is one of the well admired historical tragedies by William Shakespeare. It is believed to be written 1604-5 when King James I was the king of England. The play is about the rise and fall of the Scottish king Macbeth who ruled Scotland between 1040-57AD . Shakespeare used some of the facts from Holinshead?s report even though he hid some due to political reasons . Macbeth and his wife are seen by those who watch the play as evil partners , ruthless murderers who began as a normal couple but who took the wrong track led by their evil desires.
In act one scene five Lady Macbeth is introduced to the audience for the first time . She is reading a letter from Macbeth . It contains the words ?my dearest partner of greatness ?. Even though these words may seem normal to us as we live in a society of equality , the Christian audience of Shakespeare?s time would have thought them odd because the Bible dictates :-
Your desires will be for your husband ,
and he will rule over you .
Genesis 1:16.
Wives ?.. be submissive to your husbands .
1 Peter3:1.
In the audience?s view wives were supposed to be obedient and certainly were not to be equal partners with their husbands. Therefore they would have seen the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as an unnatural one at this early stage .
Macbeth?s letter tells her about how three witches foretold him about his new title the ?Thane of Cawdor? and their other prophesy emphasised by the greeting ?All Hail , Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter?. This letter makes her think about how to make Macbeth king and her thoughts are shown through her monologue. Lady Macbeth?s horrifying monologue contains unpleasant evil phrases such as ?unsex me ? and ?make thick of my blood ? . In Shakespearean times women were meant to be soft submissive creatures whilst men were supposed to be brave and tough . Due to the influence of virgin Mary in Christianity there was greater reverence to womanhood . Lady Macbeth?s desire to be ?unsexed? would have absolutely horrified Shakespeare?s audience and would have made them speculate that because she cannot turn in to a man she will use the manliness of Macbeth to achieve her evil desires.
Macbeth meets Lady Macbeth for the first time since his courageous victory with his new title ?Thane of Cawdor? . We expect any wife to congratulate her husband and talk about his bravery . Lady Macbeth instead of this directly talks about the letter and their ?future?. This reveals her strong persuasive character as she firmly tells Macbeth ?leave all the rest to me?. We also realise that Macbeth is going to be pushed into evil.
When Macbeth tells her about Duncan?s plans she says ? O never shall sun that morrow see ?. At this stage her relationship seems more than a partner as she has made the decision to murder without consulting Macbeth . She advises him to ?Look like the innocent flower , but be the serpent under?t?. The gender roles switch again as she commands him what to do. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are often compared to Adam and Eve because like Eve Lady Macbeth in tempts Macbeth to sin . According to the Bible humans lost their everlasting happy life because of what Adam and Eve did . The Shakespearean audience would have feared that something similar might happen to the Scottish rulers . Macbeth only says ?We will speak further ? but Lady Macbeth remains keen in the idea.
In the time of Macbeth people believed in a theory called ?The Divine rights of kings? which explained that the monarch was considered to be God?s representative on earth . Macbeth knew that God would seek retribution if he over reached himself by killing God?s representative on earth . He also considers how Duncan was kind and honourable to him and firmly says ?we will proceed no further in this business?. This is when Lady Macbeth shows her full potential for evil . She calls him ?coward? . This is really an irony because we know that in act one scene two the Sergeant described him ?brave Macbeth?. Macbeth considers her accusations seriously because when others were referring to his outer strength she is the only one who knows his inner strength .She also asks him ?what beast was?t then made you break this enterprise to me??. We as audience do know that Macbeth never promised her that he will kill Duncan . She also threatens his sexuality by saying ?When you durst do it , then you were a man? .She amuses the audience by showing how she can achieve what she wants from Macbeth by ?sexual taunting and force of determination?.
Lady Macbeth is the one who drugged the guards and enabled Macbeth to kill Duncan . After the murder Macbeth is terrified and his conscience commands ?Macbeth shall sleep no more?. Sleeplessness was believed to be caused by guilt . Lady Macbeth without any sign of guilt greets him ?My husband!? which indicates that he has proven his sexuality .She takes full control over the scene by returning the dagger to the murder scene because Macbeth was afraid to do so and makes him wash his blood stained hands . She tries to convince Macbeth that their guilt will vanish by saying ? A little water clears us of this deed? as she washes her hands . When the murder is discovered Lennox tells Macbeth about the unnatural events of chaos in the natural world such as the ?strange scream of death?. Macbeth knows that these are the signs of God?s displeasure . This fact and the horror of that scene makes him over react . Lady Macbeth has to cover it up by pretending to faint . In here she uses her ?femininity? which she considered as a weakness in act one scene five for their advantage .
Macbeth becomes stronger after murdering Duncan. He decides to act without Lady Macbeth?s push when he plans to murder Banquo . In act three scene three Macbeth speaks to Lady Macbeth about his worries of Banquo suspecting his plot to murder Duncan. He tells her that ? O full of scorpions is my mind dear wife?. Lady Macbeth is understanding and comforting for the first time in the play . When she asks ?what?s to be done?? he completely hides his plot to murder Banquo from her . This is when the openness of their relationship stops. Macbeth does this because he wants her to be innocent as he understands the stress caused by guilt .Macbeth at this stage shows qualities of a Machiavellian king by being cunning and scheming . But Macbeth panics in scene four when he sees Banquo?s ghost at the coronation banquet on Banquo?s seat .Some critics see Banquo as Macbeth?s conscience because if Macbeth had not killed Duncan he would have been as honest and loyal as Banquo. Macbeth sees his conscience as Banquo?s ghost . Lady Macbeth again has to take control of the situation by calming him down and sending the Lords home . In this scene Shakespeare again shows us that Lady Macbeth?s assistance is important to Macbeth.
After the murder of Banquo Lady Macbeth seems psychologically affected by her guilt . She tries to get rid of her darkness (evilness) by always keeping a candle by her side. She tries to rid herself of her sins by saying ?Out damned spot!? to her imaginary spot of guilt. This is in complete contrast to her mentality after the murder of Duncan when she thinks that she can wash away her guilt with water. While she moves towards the right side by seeking remorse for her sins Macbeth goes towards the dark side by seeking advice from the witches who are shown as the creatures of the dark side by Shakespeare (we should remember that the witches always appear in dark unpleasant situations in Macbeth to remind the audience of their evilness) .Macbeth goes to the witches because Lady Macbeth is no longer able to provide him with advice on state craft . Shakespeare uses the light and dark images to show us the differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in this stage.
In act five scene three, when the doctor reports about Lady Macbeth?s mental illness, Macbeth commands him to ?cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart ?? which can also apply to him because he seems to be tempered by his guilt .When Seyton (the pronunciation of the name ?Seyton? resembles the pronunciation of ?Satan? which is again used to remind us of the evilness surrounding Macbeth) reports Lady Macbeth?s death Macbeth finds the life meaningless as he says ?To-morrow , and to-morrow , and to-morrow, creeps in this petty face from day to day? . Usually passionate lovers feel empty after their partner?s death . Macbeth?s depression shows the strength of his relationship with her. He also realises that there is nothing to face at the end but death which would have indirectly made him realise that he never enjoyed anything by his crime due to his guilt and the loss of his ?partner?.
Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were shown as partners at the beginning but Lady Macbeth seems to be the dominant one . After the murder Macbeth asserts himself again as the leader. But after all they just end as a ?dead butcher and his fiend-like queen?. By showing what happened to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth , Shakespeare re-emphasises the Jacobean theories on what will happen to a person who tries to ?overreach the chain? and what will happen if a woman goes beyond her limits. Shakespeare clearly tells us about the power of guilt and its effect on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth . The play offers an acceptable end in the view of the Christian audience of Shakespeare?s time by showing the tragic death of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and restoring the law ,order and justice in Scotland as Malcolm , the righteous king and God?s representative on earth can restore order in God?s way. . Shakespeare uses this play to tell his audience how people should not act by showing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and their terrible end ,and how people should be by showing loyal honest characters like Banquo and Macduff . Even though I personally felt that the end is justifiable I couldn?t help feeling sorry for these well admired affectionate partners .
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All of the following are characteristics of pastoral nomadism EXCEPT: a. consumption of mostly grain rather than meat b. trading meat and skins for grains c. staying in one place when rainfall is plentiful d. only consuming animal products and animal by-products e. depending primarily on animals for their surviva Khazanov lists five important characteristics defining economic essence of pastoral nomadism: 1) Pastoralism is the predominant form of economic activity, 2) Its extensive character connected with the maintenance of herds all year round on a system of free-range grazing without stables Pastoral Nomadism. Mongolia Table of Contents. Almost every aspect of Mongolian society has been shaped by pastoral nomadism, an ecological adaptation that makes it possible to support more people in the Mongolian environment than would be true under any other mode of subsistence. Pastoralism is a complex and sophisticated adaptation to.
51) Characteristics of pastoral nomadism include all of the following EXCEPT. A) it is classified as extensive subsistence agriculture. B) only about 15 million people practice it worldwide. C) they lands they use are typically arid. D) nomads depend on animal herds for their sustenance. E) it is classified as intensive subsistence agriculture Pastoral nomads, who depend on domesticated livestock, migrate in an established territory to find pasturage for their animals. Most groups have focal sites that they occupy for considerable periods of the year Characteristics of Pastoral Society. Nomadism coupled with Trading; The people of pastoral societies are nomadic because of their seasonal need to find sufficient grazing areas for their herds. Their nomadic lifestyle often brings pastoralists into contact with their groups. This helps them to develop trading Select all that apply Identify the characteristics of pastoral nomadic societies. Select all that apply. 1.) stayed in one place for many years 2.) social status based on herd size and courage 3.) strong centralized government
Major Characteristics Of Pastoral Nomadism In contrast to other subsistence farmers, pastoral nomads depend primarily on animals rather than crops for survival. The animals provide milk, and their skins and hair are used for clothing and tents Pastoral nomadism is a livelihood form that is ecologically adjusted at a particular level to the utilization of marginal resources. These resources occur in areas too dry, too elevated, or too steep for agriculture to be a viable mode of livelihood, and the nomadic pastoralist thus makes use of resources that otherwise would be neglected The pastoral society definition inherently includes a degree of nomadism, but not all nomads are pastoralists. There are actually two types of pastoralists: nomadic and transhumance Nomadic pastoralism was a result of the Neolithic revolution and the rise of agriculture.During that revolution, humans began domesticating animals and plants for food and started forming cities. Nomadism generally has existed in symbiosis with such settled cultures trading animal products (meat, hides, wool, cheese and other animal products) for manufactured items not produced by the nomadic.
It will be noted that the economic activities described above bear but little resemblance to pastoral nomadism, having two characteristics which, by definition, clearly separate it from that system: (1) an emphasis on arable agriculture and (2) a permanent village base. Nor are examples of transhumance confined to Europe Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a primitive subsistence activity, in which the herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport. (i)They move from one place to another along with their livestock, depending on the amount and quality of pastures and water. (ii)Each nomadic community occupies a well-identified territory as a matter of tradition(iii)A wide variety. does pastoral nomadism become inevitable. One of the characteristics of the nomad's habitat is the rather sharp division of the year into rainy and dry seasons. In the rainy season the abundant supply of water often allows some of the nomads to cultivate land and stay for several months in one site, perhaps even t Characteristics of nomadic pastoral societies: Social organization of clans and tribes Moved around a lot Livestock was only surplu
The nomadic way of life is still practiced by some communities in the least developed nations. Nomadic pastoralism is largely practiced in arid and semi-arid areas. Animals reared by nomadic pastoralists include sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, horses, reindeer, and llamas among others . Pastoralism is a subsistence strategy dependent on the herding of animals, particularly sheep, goats and cattle, although there are pastoralists who herd reindeer, horses, yak, camel, and llamas. This does not mean that the people only eat the animals they raise, in fact, some pastoralists only eat their animals for special occasions Nomads migrate a longer distance with their livestock than ranchers. Ranchers raise livestock but nomads grow crops as well as livestock.Pg 338-339, 346-349 Pastoral nomadism is practiced in LDCs and therefore is a form of subsistence agriculture. Ranching is practiced in MDCs and therefore is a form of commercial agriculture
Characteristics of Pastoral Nomadism Pastoral nomads depend primarily on animals rather than crops for survival. The animals provide milk, and their skins and hair are used for clothing and tents. Like other subsistence farmers, though, pastoral nomads consume mostly grain rather than meat. Some pastoral nomads obtain grain from sedentar Pastoral nomadism. Characteristics of pastoral nomadism. Future of pastoral nomadism. Intensive subsistence agriculture. Intensive subsistence with wet rice dominant. Intensive subsistence with wet rice not dominant. Plantation farming. World Climate Regions. Fig. 10-5a: Simplified map of the main world climate regions (see also Fig. 2-2) Choose all that apply What are characteristics of nomadic pastoral societies? well-organized governments sedentary lifestyle social organization of clans and tribes moved around a lot livestock was only surplu Pastoral nomadism encompasses an array of specialized knowledge concerned with the daily rhythms and long-term tempos of caring for herd animals in order to extract subsistence livelihoods. It also embodies the relational lives of herders and the diverse ways in which herd animals structure the social and symbolic worlds of mobile pastoralists. This article reviews the latest research on.
Pastoral farming is the non-nomadic form of pastoralism. The aim of this form of agriculture is to produce livestock. For example, pastoral farmers raise sheep for wool, cows, and nanny-goats for dairy farming, etc. Pastoral farming can be categorized by the following ways: - by geography Agriculture in LDCs- Issue 2 • Pastoral nomadism - Characteristics of pastoral nomadism • It is a type of agriculture based on the herding of domesticated animals. It is adapted to dry climates where planting crops is impossible. Lands include North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. • Camels, sheep and goats are common Thematic sessions will explore the characteristics of ancient pastoral nomadism, tribes, and tribe-state relations in terms of the economy of pastoralism; the social impact of mobility; the mechanisms of interaction and integration between nomads and sedentary urban or rural communities; the unique political and social circumstances of tribes.
Pastoral nomads follow a seasonal migratory pattern that can vary from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the needs of the herd animals for water and fodder. These nomadic societies do not create permanent settlements, but rather they live in tents or other relatively easily constructed dwellings. Nomadic ways of life have been characterized by a great variety. One thinks instantly of the historical model of mounted pastoral nomadism. Highly, and instantly, mobile they were able to assert themselves in relation to state-oriented settled communities for many years •In pairs: • Define the terms pastoral and nomad. • referring to groups who live by herding animals of various types, for example, horses, cattle, goats, sheep, or camels. • Note: people who lived on farms often engaged in pastoral activity. • Raising sheep in a pasture or herding dairy cows. • Pastoral nomads did not live in one place Different Types of Societies and Their Major Characteristics. 1. Foraging Societies. When human beings did not know how to dominate land and domesticate the animals, they had to live together, share work, use fresh water carefully and also migrate gregariously if anything went wrong, for example, if rivers dried up or they run out of animals Keywords: nomadism, pastoralism, Africa, drylands, utilization strategies, rangeland ecology . The purpose of this thesis is to investigate adaptations to a highly unpredictable biophysical and socio- - economic environment of African nomadic pastoral utilization systems in the past, the present, and the future
Common Characteristics. Nomad is a person who moves from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living. The word nomad comes from a Greek word that means one who wanders for pasture. Most nomadic groups follow a fixed annual or seasonal pattern of movements and settlements characteristics of early farming communities, such as types of homes, foods, values, and religious beliefs, drawing on previous lessons and readings. Have the remaining groups identify characteristics of pastoral nomadic life. The groups then compare and contrast their lists. The result should include some of the following factors
. The romantic image of the nomad as a free spirit, untrammeled by the restrictions of sedentary life - such as the desert Bedouin - is strongly represented in Western literature while portraits of tall, haughty Masai leaning on their spears surrounded by cattle compete for our attention on the glossy pages of coffee table books The Pastoral Nomadic Life Introduction . The Mongolian pastoral nomads relied on their animals for survival and moved their habitat several times a year in search of water and grass for their herds. Their lifestyle was precarious, as their constant migrations prevented them from transporting reserves of food or other necessities
PASTORAL NOMADISM: Herding of domestic animals in dry, arid climates. -Herder depends on the animal for milk, skin, fur, etc. -Size of herd = more power and prestige in the village. -Bartering of animals for grains. -Strong sense of territory and geography. -TRANSHUMANCE: seasonal migration of herd between mountains and lowlands. -PASTURE: land. . The section to follow will focus on the Fulani herding system, the primary occupation of pastoral Fulani. It will look into the herding tasks and the gender responsibilities. It will also examine the role of mobility in pastoral nomadism
Most herders who stay on the steppe push their children to pursue education and get jobs in the cities believing that pastoral nomadism is no longer a secure or sustainable way of life. This essay features a selection of images from the book, Mongolia's Nomads: Life in the Steppe , by the Vanishing Cultures Project Nomadism, the movement of a community through an annual cycle, is characteristic of a number of wild species and of certain human societies, for example, some hunters, fishers, and gatherers. Moreover, not all pastoral societies are nomadic or contain wholly nomadic communities A nomad (Middle French: nomade people without fixed habitation) [dubious - discuss] is a member of a community without fixed habitation which regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), and tinkers or trader nomads. In the twentieth century, population of nomadic pastoral tribes slowly decreased, reaching to an.
Sedentary Pastoralism is the domestication of animals on plotted land. Usually these animals are used for their products rather than their meat. These Pastoralists usually stay in one place not moving around like their nomadic counterpart. Because they stay in one place civilizations and unique cultures form 44. Pastoral nomadism is a threatened way of life because A) of competition for resources. B) the nomads often cross international borders. C) it is not an economically viable livelihood. D) increased population pressures. E) all of the above. 45. Pastoral nomads do not typically herd A) cattle. B) llamas. C) sheep. D) goats. E) camels. 46 Horticultural and Pastoral Societies The period between 13.000 and 7.000 R.C.E. marks the beginning of horticultural and pastoral societies. During this period. there was a gradual shift.from collecting food to producing food, a change that has been attributed to three factors: (I) the depletion of the supply of large game animals as a source of food
In Afghanistan, both pastoral nomads and peripatetics live in tents; those of livestock producers are made out of black goat-hair, while peripatetic tents are white. LAND TENURE AND THE COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES DEBATE. Pastoral systems have been at the heart of many debates on the nature of common property resources 44. Pastoral nomadism is a threatened way of life because A) of competition for resources. B) the nomads often cross international borders. C) it is not an economically viable livelihood. D) increased population pressures. E) all of the above Pastoral society is a kind of society comprising of pastoralists where their main source of livelihood comes from herding and domesticating animals into herds. The flocks of domestic animals not only provide them with subsistence. The term 'pastoral' is derived from the Latin word 'pastor' which means shepherd
Nomadic herding is also called pastoral nomadism. It is basically primitive subsistence activity, in which herders depend upon animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport. Characteristics of nomadic herding are as follows: 1. They move from one place to other places with their livestock for the quality of pastures and water Examples of nomadic in a sentence, how to use it. 22 examples: Later they absorbed the surviving nomadic descendants of the authenti The characteristics of pastoral nomadic societies are social status based on herd size and courage, societies organized in tribes and clans, temporary and movable homes, and little surplus except for livestock. Nomads spend most of the time surviving. They follow animals migration whatever they went hunting them and feed their families PASTORAL NOMADISM: Herding of domestic animals in dry, arid climates. -Herder depends on the animal for milk, skin, fur, etc. -Size of herd = more power and prestige in the village. -Bartering of animals for grains. -Strong sense of territory and geography. -TRANSHUMANCE: seasonal migration of herd between mountains and lowlands. -PASTURE: land.
While there are only a few unifying characteristics of pastoral farming there are several characteristics that are shared by several, but not all, pastoral communities. The development of the unique pastoral farming techniques depended on the physical environment in which they lived. Nomads and sedentary communities both use pastoral techniques with some of the most well known being Bedouin. Nomads can make good use of different plant species in the pasture. It prevents any one particular plant species from being exhausted. The various animal species can provide nomads with a rich mix of dairy products at different times The Kochi people are a group of pastoral, or herder, nomads who live in Afghanistan.There are about 2.4 million of them - 1.5 million of whom still keep to a nomadic lifestyle. They raise sheep and goats then sell the meat, wool and dairy products they can glean from these animals to buy other food to sustain their families Problems facing nomadic pastoralists. Climatic problems due to low rainfall,the pastoralists are faced with water shortages for their cattle and the pasture become parched and brown and the condition of the livestock deteriorates. The natural pasture are usually of poor quality and are not nutritious Pros & Cons of a Nomadic Lifestyle. Nomad. Gypsy. Wanderer. Vagabond. Location-independent travel ninja. All these terms describe a person with a nomadic lifestyle. They loves variable scenery. They move from neighborhood to neighborhood, town to town, or country to country, doing what human evolution tells them to do: keep moving
Fulani nomadic pastoral communities in Africa live in some of the most underdeveloped environments in the world . Although these communities are reliant on their livestock as a source of socio-economic well-being, conventional veterinary services are poor and basic information on the epidemiology of important livestock diseases is limited NOMADISM, a socioeconomic mode of life based on intensive domestication of livestock which requires a regular movement of the community in an annual cycle in order to sustain the communal ecological system.. Definition. The defining feature of pastoral nomadism is movement, which is neither aimless nor boundless, from pasture to pasture and from watering point to watering point, along well. Understands characteristics of pastoral nomadic societies (e.g., the importance of the horse to the development of pastoral nomadism and cavalry warfare; reasons for conflict and economic interdependence between pastoral nomadic peoples of Central Asia and major agrarian states of Eurasia, the location and range of nomadic peoples in the 1st. 5. Describe the rise of the Gupta empire and its golden age. 6. Give reasons for the success of pastoral nomads in Inner Eurasia. 7. Explain the role of pastoral nomads in the collapse of the Gupta empire. 8. Use evidence from the Han, Roman, and Gupta empires to identify reasons for the demise of long-enduring empires The nomads also hunted, served as bodyguards, escorted caravans, and worked as mercenaries. Some tribes traded with towns in order to gain goods, while others raided other tribes for animals, women, gold, fabric, and other luxury items. Bedouin tribes raised camels as part of their nomadic-pastoralist lifestyle. Tribes migrated seasonally to.
In Plateau State, for example, only six of the 100 children in the Mozat Ropp nomadic school are Fulani. Nomadic education in Nigeria is affected by defective policy, inadequate finance, faulty school placement, incessant migration of students, unreliable and obsolete data, and cultural and religious taboos Almost a century of systematic anthropological research on pastoral nomads has produced significant data and theory for understanding these mobile societies. Substantially less attention has been devoted to complex sociopolitical organization among pastoral nomadic groups and, in particular, to the large-scale polities referred to as nomadic confederations, states, or sometimes empires This idea of pastoral nomadism as an encompassing lifeway rather than an indecipherable cultural other is useful for discussing the difficult theme of pastoral nomadic states. I emphasize the difficulty of this topic because both pastoral nomadism and states are evolving concepts that are debated and variously defined
Sithole, G. and Attwood, E.A. (1991) Farm management characteristics of communal farms in Zimbabwe: implications for household food security. In: Rukuni, M. and Wyckoff, J.B. (eds.) Market reforms, research policies and SADCC food security. Harare: UZ/MSU Food Security Research in Southern Africa Project, pp. 141-147 Hunter-gatherer culture is a type of subsistence lifestyle that relies on hunting and fishing animals and foraging for wild vegetation and other nutrients like honey, for food. Until approximately 12,000 years ago, all humans practiced hunting-gathering. Anthropologists have discovered evidence for the practice of hunter-gatherer culture by modern humans (Homo sapiens) and their distant. That understanding of pastoral nomadism has been influenced by the political and social contexts of scholarship is an issue fruitfully explored by Chang in her historiographical consideration of the study of nomads in Kazakhstan. She explores the political and ideological divides between Western and Soviet-based scholarship on steppe nomadism. All of the following are characteristics of pastoral nomads except. A) they consume mostly grains rather than meat. B) they trade meat and skins for grains. C) they stay in one place when rainfall is plentiful. D) they only consume animal products and animal by-products. E) they primarily depend on animals for their survival. Answer: D Agricultural, pastoral, and foraging societies all had one goal in common: find food. Though, they went about these different ways. Agricultural, or agrarian societies are based on large-scale. | https://statt-dansjardin.com/doi/abs/10m6yj41889-k-g2.1146/annurev-anthro-102215-095827 |
Species distribution modeling (SDM) predicts the species distribution by the association among climatic variables and known occurrence records of a given species. This methodology either represents a promising alternative to generating species distribution in poorly sampled regions or for those taxonomic groups lacking specialists. Although Brazil is considered the richest country in re...
Ecological niche modelling is widely used among ecologists to generating areas of climatically suitable areas for species distribution, including in climate change scenarios. Then, with the intuit to contribute for efficient conservation actions, including future scenarios of climate change, we aim to elaborate predictive models of anuran species distribution in the Cerrado hotspot. The...
We intend to determine the potential distribution of four anuran species that had their distribution presumably reduced by habitat destruction. Specifically, we will model the species distribution considering: a) only climatic variables; b) climatic variables and original vegetation cover; and c) climatic variables and actual (fragmented) vegetation cover. Therefore, we expect to find d...
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Although water is probably the most important physical factor affecting the ecology of terrestrial organisms, animal groups can respond differently to a given environmental variable. Amphibians are particularly influenced by abiotic variables, due to their permeable skin (where cutaneous gas exchange occurs), as well as their dependence on aquatic and terrestrial habitats during their l... | https://bv.fapesp.br/en/pesquisador/14587/tiago-da-silveira-vasconcelos/ |
Different priorities and communication gaps between teams threaten compliance and cybersecurity posture of financial firms, according to industry research
Different priorities and critical communication gaps between IT security teams, compliance professionals, and legal counsel are threatening the regulatory and cybersecurity posture of financial firms, according to new industry research sponsored by Authentic8.
The researchers, who examined secure web use and regulatory compliance in the financial sector, document what they call a "surprising disconnect" between the primary compliance and data protection stakeholders within leading financial firms.
The research report, titled Surprising Disconnect Over Compliance and Secure Web Use at Financial Firms, presents the results of an in-depth survey of senior decision-makers in IT, legal, and compliance roles. It was conducted by Beacon Technology Partners.
Their study analyzes the IT security and compliance impact of differing online risk perceptions within the surveyed organizations - mostly banks, investment firms, other financial service providers, and law practices that have specialized in data protection and compliance in the financial sector.
To prevent data breaches and compliance violations resulting from different priorities and a lack of communication, researchers warn, IT, compliance, and legal departments (respectively external law partners) "must restore trust and get into sync."
They base their conclusion on an in-depth survey completed by 163 respondents, including senior-level compliance officers, legal managers, and IT leaders, such as Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs).
All respondents were personally involved at the time of the survey (summer 2019) in setting policies and procedures for managing the security of IT operations, infrastructure, and regulatory compliance for their organizations.
"Financial firms have some of the best-funded IT departments of any industry, that's no secret," says Scott Petry, Co-founder and CEO of Authentic8. "What's perplexing to me, with data breaches and privacy violations at an all-time high, is how deep the divide still runs between IT, compliance, and legal professionals in many firms, according to these findings."
Among the report's key findings for compliance and IT security leaders:
The survey also discovered that "less accessible" IT departments are generally more aware of the risks involved when employees go online than those with a higher ratio of IT personnel to serve the employee population.
While this finding applies to financial companies of all sizes, including large organizations with many field offices, the increased awareness does not guarantee a stronger cybersecurity and compliance posture, the report shows.
"IT departments stretched thin seem to be more acutely aware of web-borne threats and the potential impact on their organization," says Scott Petry.
"That's the good part. Unfortunately, that awareness doesn't necessarily always translate into an effective prevention strategy, as the study shows."
Instead, some IT departments in the financial services sector have developed "tunnel vision" in identifying solutions, according to the research report.
"The results show that firms often still rely on ineffective traditional perimeter defenses and point solutions, such as anti-virus tools, URL filtering, and VPN, which in turn introduce additional risks," says Petry.
The report also quotes practitioners, independent industry observers, and analysts who were not involved with the actual research and were asked to put its results in perspective.
How do they explain the different takes by IT, legal, and compliance functions on what needs to be done to protect customer data and ensure secure and compliant web use?
"These three groups are working on the same problem, but they have different views of what the main problem is," said Michele DeStefano, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law.
One takeaway from the survey results, according to the founder of the Compliance Elliance Journal (ECJ): "Financial firms should move to a flatter organizational structure between those groups." Michele DeStefano's recommendation for firms facing this challenge: "IT should be involved in the beginning rather than at the end."
Michael Osterman agrees. The president of Osterman Research, a firm focused on the messaging, collaboration, and web industries, adds: "Compliance doesn't realize how difficult it is for IT to get things up and running. Their focus is on managing the infrastructure and dealing with user complaints."
Source: Authentic8
It is mostly IT that has to deal with the push back from employees for web use policies that are often perceived as overly restrictive, the study shows.
"One of the most challenging issues for businesses in this area," comments Tom Lin, professor at Temple University's Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, "is balancing concerns about cybersecurity caused by employees with the need to provide employees with the freedom to be autonomous, creative and productive."
So how can financial firms maximize IT security and compliance, while maintaining and improving productivity at the same time?
A significant part of the survey was geared towards identifying methods and best practices that respondents say contribute significantly to mastering this challenge.
The researchers found the following hallmarks for success:
The study also includes interviews with respondents whose firms are already using cloud-based browser isolation to protect the organization from web-borne exploits when users access the web, or to ensure anonymity and operational security for their SOC teams, analysts, or fraud investigators.
Web isolation with Silo Cloud Browser and Silo for Research is already changing how the financial services industry is conducting sensitive and compliance-relevant research, the interviews show.
The report quotes the head of fraud investigations for a global financial firm. His team uses Authentic8's Silo for Research to safely investigate sites based in foreign countries and on the dark web. "We have to make sure the identity of the analysts and the company are protected," he says.
The value that web isolation for day-to-day web use in the financial sector is highlighted by the IT director of a financial services firm who describes how Silo Cloud Browser became a core component of the firm's compliance and cybersecurity programs.
Web isolation, he says, enabled his firm to provide employees with access to the web to attend to personal matters when necessary, without sacrificing security or compliance.
Trying to bar external web access to protect the firm against exploits that target local browsers, such as ransomware, had proved untenable. "It was very painful to tell people they couldn't check their personal email on company technology," he says.
"In our industry, everyone is so busy that you have to run your personal life from the office. Browser isolation was huge for us and solved the problem." | https://www.authentic8.com/blog/it-legal-compliance-we-need-to-talk |
If you’re starting a strength routine, you might be tempted to try some of those cool moves all the fitness influencers are showing off on Instagram. However, it’s important to have a solid foundation first. Even the fittest of the pack had to start with the basics. So, if you’re new to strength training, your best bet is to start by mastering a handful of basic exercises — then worry about the insta-worthy exercises later.
“The key when you’re just starting a strength routine is to build a strong foundation and really focus on the muscles you feel working during movements,” says Cori Lefkowith, a NASM-certified personal trainer and owner of Redefining Strength in Costa Mesa, California. “Starting with bodyweight exercises is a great way to do that,” she adds.
By starting with basic bodyweight movements, you can learn what it feels like to engage the target muscle groups without worrying about what weight to choose or how to use the equipment. Then, when you progress to more advanced exercise variations — or add weight — you’ll be able to tell if your form is off right away. “Too often we jump in and try variations that are too hard for us, which leads to us compensating and performing the movement incorrectly,” Lefkowith says. If you don’t use proper form, you won’t engage the right muscles during the movement, which can mean stalled progress at best, and injury at worst.
Think of the pushup: If you try a version that’s too advanced for you right now, you’ll likely feel it in your neck or elbows, as opposed to your chest, shoulders and arms. But if you start with an easier pushup variation, you’ll learn how the move is supposed to feel, and build strength in all the right places.
5 BEST BEGINNER STRENGTH EXERCISES
The following five strength exercises cover fundamental movement patterns, and form the base for almost every other exercise you will do. If you’re just starting out, master these basic exercises before moving on to more advanced variations. “Think of these movements as building the foundation of your house,” Lefkowith says. “You want your foundation made out of concrete, not quicksand, which means starting with moves that allow you to create good movement patterns by using proper form.”
Plus, they’re all bodyweight, because yes, you can get strong using just your body weight.
1. BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
“Major muscle groups are used in the [squat], all of which are needed to live a functional and healthy life,” says Doris Thews, senior vice president of fitness and innovation for VASA Fitness and 2019 IDEA Fitness Instructor of the Year. Plus, bodyweight squats serve as a foundational movement that many other exercises are based off of, she adds. So, if you want to do back squats, jump squats or wall sits, you have to nail basic bodyweight squats first.
The move: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Push your butt back and bend at the knees to lower your hips toward the floor. Aim to end with thighs parallel to the floor and knees in line with your toes. Drive through your heels to push back to standing.
2. PUSHUP
“If you can learn to do the pushup, you’ll have a good foundation to go into other pressing exercises, like the bench press,” Lefkowith says. Just be sure to start with the right variation for your current ability level.
The move: Get into high plank position on the floor. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, slightly wider than your ribcage. Brace your core and bend at the elbows to lower your body to the floor with control. Make sure your elbows flare out no more than 45 degrees. Push back up to the top position. Elevate your hands on a bench, or drop to your knees if needed.
3. STATIC LUNGE
Bodyweight lunges, in general, are a basic movement, but are often blamed for knee pain. Static lunges tend to be one of the better options for beginners, because you are better able to control the muscles you use to perform the move, Lefkowith says. “The up-and-down movement can also improve your hip mobility, while allowing you more stability instead of having to control a step forward,” she adds.
The move: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Take a big step back with one foot and lower your back knee down toward the floor to create a 90-degree angle with both knees. Shift your weight onto your front foot, first making sure your front knee is in line with your front ankle. Then, drive through the heel of the front foot and engage the glutes to push yourself back up to standing until both legs are extended. Without moving your feet, bend your front knee to start your next rep. Keep your shoulders down and back throughout the movement. Do all reps on one side before switching to the other.
4. INVERTED ROW
The inverted row is a great beginner back- and shoulder-building exercise because it’s easy to modify to suit your current level of strength. It also teaches you how to keep your body stable as you pull yourself up to the barbell.
The move: Stand tall. Place a barbell in a rack at about waist height (put the barbell higher in the rack to make the movement easier). Hold the barbell with both hands using an overhand grip and allow your arms to extend fully. Your body should be a straight, plank-like position. Pull your elbows straight back to bring your sternum in contact with the barbell (you may need to adjust your foot position to make this possible). Pause briefly at the top of the movement before lowering yourself back down with control. Step your feet forward to make the move more challenging.
You can also use a suspension trainer or gymnastic rings for inverted rows.
5. FOREARM PLANK
The plank is a key move to master when you’re just starting out. “It helps you build up your core strength for pushups and inverted rows,” Lefkowith says. “It will also help you learn how to engage your abs to protect your lower back during squats and deadlifts,” she adds.
The move: Set-up on the floor in a plank position with your elbows bent and directly beneath your shoulders, forearms flat on the floor. Extend both legs behind you and support your weight on your toes. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to hold the position. Don’t allow your low-back to sag toward the floor. Thews recommends beginners start by holding the position for 10 seconds, gradually building their way up to 1 minute. If you can’t hold a straight-leg plank, begin with your knees on the floor.
HOW TO ADVANCE THE EXERCISES
Once you feel comfortable with these basic exercises, or a personal trainer gives you the thumbs-up, you can start testing out harder variations.
One of the simplest ways to make an exercise more challenging is to add weight, but there are plenty of other ways you can increase the intensity. You can slow down or speed up your tempo, play with work/rest intervals or try a unilateral (single-arm or single-leg) variation. | https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/5-strength-exercises-all-beginners-should-know/ |
Mastering machine learning with Python in six steps : a practical implementation guide to predictive data analytics using Python / Manohar Swamynathan.
- Edition:
- 2nd ed. 2019.
- Publication:
- [Place of publication not identified] : Apress,
- Format/Description:
- Book
1 online resource (XVII, 457 p. 185 illus., 1 illus. in color.)
- Subjects:
- Machine learning.
- Form/Genre:
- Electronic books.
- System Details:
- text file
- Summary:
- Explore fundamental to advanced Python 3 topics in six steps, all designed to make you a worthy practitioner. This updated version’s approach is based on the “six degrees of separation” theory, which states that everyone and everything is a maximum of six steps away and presents each topic in two parts: theoretical concepts and practical implementation using suitable Python 3 packages. You’ll start with the fundamentals of Python 3 programming language, machine learning history, evolution, and the system development frameworks. Key data mining/analysis concepts, such as exploratory analysis, feature dimension reduction, regressions, time series forecasting and their efficient implementation in Scikit-learn are covered as well. You’ll also learn commonly used model diagnostic and tuning techniques. These include optimal probability cutoff point for class creation, variance, bias, bagging, boosting, ensemble voting, grid search, random search, Bayesian optimization, and the noise reduction technique for IoT data. Finally, you’ll review advanced text mining techniques, recommender systems, neural networks, deep learning, reinforcement learning techniques and their implementation. All the code presented in the book will be available in the form of iPython notebooks to enable you to try out these examples and extend them to your advantage.
- Contents:
- Chapter 1: Step 1 – Getting Started with Python
Chapter 2 : Step 2 – Introduction to Machine Learning
Chapter 3: Step 3 – Fundamentals of Machine Learning
Chapter 4: Step 4 – Model Diagnosis and Tuning
Chapter 5: Step 5 – Text Mining, NLP AND Recommender Systems
Chapter 6: Step 6 – Deep and Reinforcement Learning
Chapter 7 : Conclusion.
- Notes:
- Description based on print version record.
Includes index.
- ISBN:
- 1-4842-4947-X
- Publisher Number:
- 10.1007/978-1-4842-4947-5 doi
-
Loading... | https://franklin.library.upenn.edu/catalog/FRANKLIN_9977694496603681 |
# Game
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such as jigsaw puzzles or games involving an artistic layout such as Mahjong, solitaire, or some video games).
Games are sometimes played purely for enjoyment, sometimes for achievement or reward as well. They can be played alone, in teams, or online; by amateurs or by professionals. The players may have an audience of non-players, such as when people are entertained by watching a chess championship. On the other hand, players in a game may constitute their own audience as they take their turn to play. Often, part of the entertainment for children playing a game is deciding who is part of their audience and who is a player. A toy and a game are not the same. Toys generally allow for unrestricted play whereas games come with present rules.
Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interaction. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational, or psychological role.
Attested as early as 2600 BC, games are a universal part of human experience and present in all cultures. The Royal Game of Ur, Senet, and Mancala are some of the oldest known games.
## Definitions
### Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the first academic philosopher to address the definition of the word game. In his Philosophical Investigations, Wittgenstein argued that the elements of games, such as play, rules, and competition, all fail to adequately define what games are. From this, Wittgenstein concluded that people apply the term game to a range of disparate human activities that bear to one another only what one might call family resemblances. As the following game definitions show, this conclusion was not a final one and today many philosophers, like Thomas Hurka, think that Wittgenstein was wrong and that Bernard Suits' definition is a good answer to the problem.
### Roger Caillois
French sociologist Roger Caillois, in his book Les jeux et les hommes (Games and Men)(1961), defined a game as an activity that must have the following characteristics:
fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character separate: it is circumscribed in time and place uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable non-productive: participation does not accomplish anything useful governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality
### Chris Crawford
Game designer Chris Crawford defined the term in the context of computers. Using a series of dichotomies:
Creative expression is art if made for its own beauty, and entertainment if made for money. A piece of entertainment is a plaything if it is interactive. Movies and books are cited as examples of non-interactive entertainment. If no goals are associated with a plaything, it is a toy. (Crawford notes that by his definition, (a) a toy can become a game element if the player makes up rules, and (b) The Sims and SimCity are toys, not games.) If it has goals, a plaything is a challenge. If a challenge has no "active agent against whom you compete", it is a puzzle; if there is one, it is a conflict. (Crawford admits that this is a subjective test. Video games with noticeably algorithmic artificial intelligence can be played as puzzles; these include the patterns used to evade ghosts in Pac-Man.) Finally, if the player can only outperform the opponent, but not attack them to interfere with their performance, the conflict is a competition. (Competitions include racing and figure skating.) However, if attacks are allowed, then the conflict qualifies as a game.
Crawford's definition may thus be rendered as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity made for money, with active agents to play against, in which players (including active agents) can interfere with each other.
Other definitions, however, as well as history, show that entertainment and games are not necessarily undertaken for monetary gain.
### Other definitions
"A game is a form of art in which participants, termed players, make decisions in order to manage resources through game tokens in the pursuit of a goal." (Greg Costikyan) According to this definition, some "games" that do not involve choices, such as Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and War are not technically games any more than a slot machine is. "A game is a form of play with goals and structure." (Kevin J. Maroney) "A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome." (Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman) "A game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context." (Clark C. Abt) "At its most elementary level then we can define game as an exercise of voluntary control systems in which there is an opposition between forces, confined by a procedure and rules in order to produce a disequilibrial outcome." (Elliot Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith) "to play a game is to engage in activity directed toward bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by specific rules, where the means permitted by the rules are more limited in scope than they would be in the absence of the rules, and where the sole reason for accepting such limitation is to make possible such activity." (Bernard Suits) "When you strip away the genre differences and the technological complexities, all games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation." (Jane McGonigal)
## Gameplay elements and classification
Games can be characterized by "what the player does". This is often referred to as gameplay. Major key elements identified in this context are tools and rules that define the overall context of game.
### Tools
Games are often classified by the components required to play them (e.g. miniatures, a ball, cards, a board and pieces, or a computer). In places where the use of leather is well-established, the ball has been a popular game piece throughout recorded history, resulting in a worldwide popularity of ball games such as rugby, basketball, soccer (football), cricket, tennis, and volleyball. Other tools are more idiosyncratic to a certain region. Many countries in Europe, for instance, have unique standard decks of playing cards. Other games such as chess may be traced primarily through the development and evolution of its game pieces.
Many game tools are tokens, meant to represent other things. A token may be a pawn on a board, play money, or an intangible item such as a point scored.
Games such as hide-and-seek or tag do not use any obvious tool; rather, their interactivity is defined by the environment. Games with the same or similar rules may have different gameplay if the environment is altered. For example, hide-and-seek in a school building differs from the same game in a park; an auto race can be radically different depending on the track or street course, even with the same cars.
### Rules and aims
Games are often characterized by their tools and rules. While rules are subject to variations and changes, enough change in the rules usually results in a "new" game. For instance, baseball can be played with "real" baseballs or with wiffleballs. However, if the players decide to play with only three bases, they are arguably playing a different game. There are exceptions to this in that some games deliberately involve the changing of their own rules, but even then there are often immutable meta-rules.
Rules generally determine the time-keeping system, the rights and responsibilities of the players, scoring techniques, preset boundaries, and each player's goals.
The rules of a game may be distinguished from its aims. For most competitive games, the ultimate aim is winning: in this sense, checkmate is the aim of chess. Common win conditions are being first to amass a certain quota of points or tokens (as in Settlers of Catan), having the greatest number of tokens at the end of the game (as in Monopoly), or some relationship of one's game tokens to those of one's opponent (as in chess's checkmate). There may also be intermediate aims, which are tasks that move a player toward winning. For instance, an intermediate aim in football is to score goals, because scoring goals will increase one's likelihood of winning the game, but isn't alone sufficient to win the game.
An aim identifies a Sufficient Condition for successful action, whereas the rule identifies a necessary condition for permissible action. For example, the aim of chess is to checkmate, but although it is expected that players will try to checkmate each other, it is not a rule of chess that a player must checkmate the other player whenever possible. Similarly, it is not a rule of football that a player must score a goal on a penalty; while it is expected the player will try, it is not required. While meeting the aims often requires a certain degree of skill and (in some cases) luck, following the rules of a game merely requires knowledge of the rules and some careful attempt to follow them; it rarely (if ever) requires luck or demanding skills.
### Skill, strategy, and chance
A game's tools and rules will result in its requiring skill, strategy, luck, or a combination thereof, and are classified accordingly.
Games of skill include games of physical skill, such as wrestling, tug of war, hopscotch, target shooting, and stake, and games of mental skill such as checkers and chess. Games of strategy include checkers, chess, Go, arimaa, and tic-tac-toe, and often require special equipment to play them. Games of chance include gambling games (blackjack, Mahjong, roulette, etc.), as well as snakes and ladders and rock, paper, scissors; most require equipment such as cards or dice. However, most games contain two or all three of these elements. For example, American football and baseball involve both physical skill and strategy while tiddlywinks, poker, and Monopoly combine strategy and chance. Many card and board games combine all three; most trick-taking games involve mental skill, strategy, and an element of chance, as do many strategic board games such as Risk, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne.
### Single-player games
Most games require multiple players. However, single-player games are unique in respect to the type of challenges a player faces. Unlike a game with multiple players competing with or against each other to reach the game's goal, a one-player game is a battle solely against an element of the environment (an artificial opponent), against one's own skills, against time, or against chance. Playing with a yo-yo or playing tennis against a wall is not generally recognized as playing a game due to the lack of any formidable opposition. Many games described as "single-player" may be termed actually puzzles or recreations.
### Multiplayer games
A multiplayer game is a game of several players who may be independent opponents or teams. Games with many independent players are difficult to analyze formally using game theory as the players may form and switch coalitions. The term "game" in this context may mean either a true game played for entertainment or a competitive activity describable in principle by mathematical game theory.
#### Game theory
John Nash proved that games with several players have a stable solution provided that coalitions between players are disallowed. Nash won the Nobel prize for economics for this important result which extended von Neumann's theory of zero-sum games. Nash's stable solution is known as the Nash equilibrium.
If cooperation between players is allowed, then the game becomes more complex; many concepts have been developed to analyze such games. While these have had some partial success in the fields of economics, politics and conflict, no good general theory has yet been developed.
In quantum game theory, it has been found that the introduction of quantum information into multiplayer games allows a new type of equilibrium strategy not found in traditional games. The entanglement of player's choices can have the effect of a contract by preventing players from profiting from what is known as betrayal.
## Types
Games can take a variety of forms, from competitive sports to board games and video games.
### Sports
Many sports require special equipment and dedicated playing fields, leading to the involvement of a community much larger than the group of players. A city or town may set aside such resources for the organization of sports leagues.
Popular sports may have spectators who are entertained just by watching games. A community will often align itself with a local sports team that supposedly represents it (even if the team or most of its players only recently moved in); they often align themselves against their opponents or have traditional rivalries. The concept of fandom began with sports fans.
#### Lawn games
Lawn games are outdoor games that can be played on a lawn; an area of mowed grass (or alternately, on graded soil) generally smaller than a sports field (pitch). Variations of many games that are traditionally played on a sports field are marketed as "lawn games" for home use in a front or back yard. Common lawn games include horseshoes, sholf, croquet, bocce, and lawn bowls.
### Tabletop games
A tabletop game is a game where the elements of play are confined to a small area and require little physical exertion, usually simply placing, picking up and moving game pieces. Most of these games are played at a table around which the players are seated and on which the game's elements are located. However, many games falling into this category, particularly party games, are more free-form in their play and can involve physical activity such as mime. Still, these games do not require a large area in which to play them, large amounts of strength or stamina, or specialized equipment other than what comes in a box.
#### Dexterity and coordination games
This class of games includes any game in which the skill element involved relates to manual dexterity or hand-eye coordination, but excludes the class of video games (see below). Games such as jacks, paper football, and Jenga require only very portable or improvised equipment and can be played on any flat level surface, while other examples, such as pinball, billiards, air hockey, foosball, and table hockey require specialized tables or other self-contained modules on which the game is played. The advent of home video game systems largely replaced some of these, such as table hockey, however air hockey, billiards, pinball and foosball remain popular fixtures in private and public game rooms. These games and others, as they require reflexes and coordination, are generally performed more poorly by intoxicated persons but are unlikely to result in injury because of this; as such the games are popular as drinking games. In addition, dedicated drinking games such as quarters and beer pong also involve physical coordination and are popular for similar reasons.
#### Board games
Board games use as a central tool a board on which the players' status, resources, and progress are tracked using physical tokens. Many also involve dice or cards. Most games that simulate war are board games (though a large number of video games have been created to simulate strategic combat), and the board may be a map on which the players' tokens move. Virtually all board games involve "turn-based" play; one player contemplates and then makes a move, then the next player does the same, and a player can only act on their turn. This is opposed to "real-time" play as is found in some card games, most sports and most video games.
Some games, such as chess and Go, are entirely deterministic, relying only on the strategy element for their interest. Such games are usually described as having "perfect information"; the only unknown is the exact thought processes of one's opponent, not the outcome of any unknown event inherent in the game (such as a card draw or die roll). Children's games, on the other hand, tend to be very luck-based, with games such as Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders having virtually no decisions to be made. By some definitions, such as that by Greg Costikyan, they are not games since there are no decisions to make which affect the outcome. Many other games involving a high degree of luck do not allow direct attacks between opponents; the random event simply determines a gain or loss in the standing of the current player within the game, which is independent of any other player; the "game" then is actually a "race" by definitions such as Crawford's.
Most other board games combine strategy and luck factors; the game of backgammon requires players to decide the best strategic move based on the roll of two dice. Trivia games have a great deal of randomness based on the questions a person gets. German-style board games are notable for often having rather less of a luck factor than many board games.
Board game groups include race games, roll-and-move games, abstract strategy games, word games, and wargames, as well as trivia and other elements. Some board games fall into multiple groups or incorporate elements of other genres: Cranium is one popular example, where players must succeed in each of four skills: artistry, live performance, trivia, and language.
#### Card games
Card games use a deck of cards as their central tool. These cards may be a standard Anglo-American (52-card) deck of playing cards (such as for bridge, poker, Rummy, etc.), a regional deck using 32, 36 or 40 cards and different suit signs (such as for the popular German game skat), a tarot deck of 78 cards (used in Europe to play a variety of trick-taking games collectively known as Tarot, Tarock or Tarocchi games), or a deck specific to the individual game (such as Set or 1000 Blank White Cards). Uno and Rook are examples of games that were originally played with a standard deck and have since been commercialized with customized decks. Some collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering are played with a small selection of cards that have been collected or purchased individually from large available sets.
Some board games include a deck of cards as a gameplay element, normally for randomization or to keep track of game progress. Conversely, some card games such as Cribbage use a board with movers, normally to keep score. The differentiation between the two genres in such cases depends on which element of the game is foremost in its play; a board game using cards for random actions can usually use some other method of randomization, while Cribbage can just as easily be scored on paper. These elements as used are simply the traditional and easiest methods to achieve their purpose.
#### Dice games
Dice games use a number of dice as their central element. Board games often use dice for a randomization element, and thus each roll of the dice has a profound impact on the outcome of the game, however dice games are differentiated in that the dice do not determine the success or failure of some other element of the game; they instead are the central indicator of the person's standing in the game. Popular dice games include Yahtzee, Farkle, Bunco, Liar's dice/Perudo, and Poker dice. As dice are, by their very nature, designed to produce apparently random numbers, these games usually involve a high degree of luck, which can be directed to some extent by the player through more strategic elements of play and through tenets of probability theory. Such games are thus popular as gambling games; the game of Craps is perhaps the most famous example, though Liar's dice and Poker dice were originally conceived of as gambling games.
#### Domino and tile games
Domino games are similar in many respects to card games, but the generic device is instead a set of tiles called dominoes, which traditionally each have two ends, each with a given number of dots, or "pips", and each combination of two possible end values as it appears on a tile is unique in the set. The games played with dominoes largely center around playing a domino from the player's "hand" onto the matching end of another domino, and the overall object could be to always be able to make a play, to make all open endpoints sum to a given number or multiple, or simply to play all dominoes from one's hand onto the board. Sets vary in the number of possible dots on one end, and thus of the number of combinations and pieces; the most common set historically is double-six, though in more recent times "extended" sets such as double-nine have been introduced to increase the number of dominoes available, which allows larger hands and more players in a game. Muggins, Mexican Train, and Chicken Foot are very popular domino games. Texas 42 is a domino game more similar in its play to a "trick-taking" card game.
Variations of traditional dominoes abound: Triominoes are similar in theory but are triangular and thus have three values per tile. Similarly, a game known as Quad-Ominos uses four-sided tiles.
Some other games use tiles in place of cards; Rummikub is a variant of the Rummy card game family that uses tiles numbered in ascending rank among four colors, very similar in makeup to a 2-deck "pack" of Anglo-American playing cards. Mahjong is another game very similar to Rummy that uses a set of tiles with card-like values and art.
Lastly, some games use graphical tiles to form a board layout, on which other elements of the game are played. Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne are examples. In each, the "board" is made up of a series of tiles; in Settlers of Catan the starting layout is random but static, while in Carcassonne the game is played by "building" the board tile-by-tile. Hive, an abstract strategy game using tiles as moving pieces, has mechanical and strategic elements similar to chess, although it has no board; the pieces themselves both form the layout and can move within it.
#### Pencil and paper games
Pencil and paper games require little or no specialized equipment other than writing materials, though some such games have been commercialized as board games (Scrabble, for instance, is based on the idea of a crossword puzzle, and tic-tac-toe sets with a boxed grid and pieces are available commercially). These games vary widely, from games centering on a design being drawn such as Pictionary and "connect-the-dots" games like sprouts, to letter and word games such as Boggle and Scattergories, to solitaire and logic puzzle games such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
#### Guessing games
A guessing game has as its core a piece of information that one player knows, and the object is to coerce others into guessing that piece of information without actually divulging it in text or spoken word. Charades is probably the most well-known game of this type, and has spawned numerous commercial variants that involve differing rules on the type of communication to be given, such as Catch Phrase, Taboo, Pictionary, and similar. The genre also includes many game shows such as Win, Lose or Draw, Password and $25,000 Pyramid.
### Video games
Video games are computer- or microprocessor-controlled games. Computers can create virtual spaces for a wide variety of game types. Some video games simulate conventional game objects like cards or dice, while others can simulate environs either grounded in reality or fantastical in design, each with its own set of rules or goals.
A computer or video game uses one or more input devices, typically a button/joystick combination (on arcade games); a keyboard, mouse or trackball (computer games); or a controller or a motion sensitive tool (console games). More esoteric devices such as paddle controllers have also been used for input.
There are many genres of video game; the first commercial video game, Pong, was a simple simulation of table tennis. As processing power increased, new genres such as adventure and action games were developed that involved a player guiding a character from a third person perspective through a series of obstacles. This "real-time" element cannot be easily reproduced by a board game, which is generally limited to "turn-based" strategy; this advantage allows video games to simulate situations such as combat more realistically. Additionally, the playing of a video game does not require the same physical skill, strength or danger as a real-world representation of the game, and can provide either very realistic, exaggerated or impossible physics, allowing for elements of a fantastical nature, games involving physical violence, or simulations of sports. Lastly, a computer can, with varying degrees of success, simulate one or more human opponents in traditional table games such as chess, leading to simulations of such games that can be played by a single player.
In more open-ended computer simulations, also known as sandbox-style games, the game provides a virtual environment in which the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of this universe. Sometimes, there is a lack of goals or opposition, which has stirred some debate on whether these should be considered "games" or "toys". (Crawford specifically mentions Will Wright's SimCity as an example of a toy.)
#### Online games
Online games have been part of culture from the very earliest days of networked and time-shared computers. Early commercial systems such as Plato were at least as widely famous for their games as for their strictly educational value. In 1958, Tennis for Two dominated Visitor's Day and drew attention to the oscilloscope at the Brookhaven National Laboratory; during the 1980s, Xerox PARC was known mainly for Maze War, which was offered as a hands-on demo to visitors.
Modern online games are played using an Internet connection; some have dedicated client programs, while others require only a web browser. Some simpler browser games appeal to more casual gaming demographic groups (notably older audiences) that otherwise play very few video games.
### Role-playing games
Role-playing games, often abbreviated as RPGs, are a type of game in which the participants (usually) assume the roles of characters acting in a fictional setting. The original role playing games – or at least those explicitly marketed as such – are played with a handful of participants, usually face-to-face, and keep track of the developing fiction with pen and paper. Together, the players may collaborate on a story involving those characters; create, develop, and "explore" the setting; or vicariously experience an adventure outside the bounds of everyday life. Pen-and-paper role-playing games include, for example, Dungeons & Dragons and GURPS.
The term role-playing game has also been appropriated by the video game industry to describe a genre of video games. These may be single-player games where one player experiences a programmed environment and story, or they may allow players to interact through the internet. The experience is usually quite different from traditional role-playing games. Single-player games include Final Fantasy, Fable, The Elder Scrolls, and Mass Effect. Online multi-player games, often referred to as Massively Multiplayer Online role playing games, or MMORPGs, include RuneScape, EverQuest 2, Guild Wars, MapleStory, Anarchy Online, and Dofus. As of 2009, the most successful MMORPG has been World of Warcraft, which controls the vast majority of the market.
### Business games
Business games can take a variety of forms, from interactive board games to interactive games involving different props (balls, ropes, hoops, etc.) and different kinds of activities. The purpose of these games is to link to some aspect of organizational performance and to generate discussions about business improvement. Many business games focus on organizational behaviors. Some of these are computer simulations while others are simple designs for play and debriefing. Team building is a common focus of such activities.
### Simulation
The term "game" can include simulation or re-enactment of various activities or use in "real life" for various purposes: e.g., training, analysis, prediction. Well-known examples are war games and role-playing. The root of this meaning may originate in the human prehistory of games deduced by anthropology from observing primitive cultures, in which children's games mimic the activities of adults to a significant degree: hunting, warring, nursing, etc. These kinds of games are preserved in modern times. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games |
The AIDS Network recognizes the importance of housing as an important social determinant of health for the populations we serve. People at risk of, vulnerable to or living with HIV, hepatitis C and other related conditions need access to safe, affordable housing to engage in prevention and treatment strategies for their overall health and well-being.
People experiencing homelessness must be afforded equal human rights and dignity and that requires municipal governments and law enforcement to equally prioritize the health, well-being and safety of people experiencing homelessness, including those in encampments.
Clearing encampments does not solve the underlying issues, leaving people without shelter, and due to significant risks posed by pandemics or other environmental conditions may infringe upon the human rights of those living in encampments when acceptable alternatives are not provided.
We urge community leaders and providers take a housing first approach to helping people access non-congregate housing options.
The AIDS Network values the work of our fellow organizations on the front lines of harm reduction work in our communities, including Keeping Six, HAMSMaRT and the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic. We wholly endorse these organizations calls for city and law enforcement responses to issues arising from poverty and homelessness to be rooted in upholding the human rights and dignity of people experiencing homelessness. | https://aidsnetwork.ca/hiv-housing-and-human-rights/ |
It has been widely suggested by political scientists and economists, based on empirical evidence for the period since 1970, that the institution of centralized wage bargaining and the presence of a government of the left are associated with lower levels of income inequality. The authors make use of new data on top income shares as well as long-run series on wage inequality to examine the effects of partisanship and wage bargaining over a much longer time period, nearly the entire twentieth century. Their empirical results provide little support for the idea that either of these two factors is correlated with income inequality over this period. They then show that a closer look at the introduction of centralized wage bargaining in individual countries during the middle part of the twentieth century reveals that in countries that moved to centralize wage bargaining, income inequality had already been trending downward well before the institutional change, that the move to centralized bargaining did not alter this trend, and that these changes in income inequality were also observed in countries that did not adopt centralized wage bargaining at this time. The results suggest that there were alternative institutional paths to reduced income inequality during most of the twentieth century. This raises the possibility that either structural economic changes or commonly shared economic and political events, such as world wars and economic crises, may ultimately be more important for understanding the evolution of income inequality than are the institutional or partisan characteristics commonly considered to be decisive by political scientists.
Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this journal to your organisation's collection.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between <date>. This data will be updated every 24 hours. | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/world-politics/article/institutions-partisanship-and-inequality-in-the-long-run/0DC74578CEAFB34119AB94948A4D6655 |
(Version in Español)
Crises are like stories; they have a beginning, middle, and an end, and on occasion, we learn something along the way.
In times of crisis, choices must be made. In the most recent global economic crisis policymakers moved quickly to stabilize the system, providing massive financial support, which is the right response in the beginning of any crisis. But that only treated the symptoms of the global financial meltdown, and now a rare opportunity is being thrown away to tackle the underlying causes.
Without restructuring financial institutions’ balance sheets and their operations, as well as their assets ‒ loans to over-indebted households and enterprises ‒ the economic recovery will suffer, and the seeds will be sown for the next crisis.
In our new paper we analyze the policy choices made during the crisis and compare them to a number of past ones. It turns out the phases of this crisis followed the same pattern as previous ones, but policymakers made different choices this time around. This has a lot to do with the distinct nature of this crisis; unlike those in the last 20 years, it was truly global and more complex to handle because financial institutions and markets are larger and more interconnected than ever before.
Lesson # 1 - All choices have a cost, some with long term effects
The complexity and severity of the recent crisis justified a rapid response to contain risks and restore confidence. While less deep restructuring early on lowered the costs in the short term, there may be higher costs in the years ahead. In particular, the policy mix chosen precluded thorough due diligence, and may reduce incentives to restructure assets. The risk is that, instead of a policy of triage, diagnosis-based resolution, and early asset restructuring, a muddling-through approach prevails. This approach, including accounting and regulatory forbearance, guarantees, and implicit public support stalls addressing nonviable banks and nonperforming assets.
Many of the structural characteristics that contributed to the build-up of systemic risks are still in place today, and moral hazard has increased. In most countries, the structure of the financial system has changed little. In fact, concentration often has increased—on average for the 12 crisis countries we examined, the assets of the five largest banks have gone from 307 to 335 percent of GDP—as large banks acquired failing institutions. This complicates resolution efforts. The large-scale public support provided to institutions and markets—a contingent liability equivalent to one-fourth of GDP at the peak of the crisis—has exacerbated perceptions of too-important-to-fail.
Lesson #2 – Find out what you don’t know and fix what you can
Diagnose the problem to learn about the viability of financial institutions and support only those that are viable, and close or restructure the nonviable ones. Stress tests were conducted and the results published in the U.S. and in Europe in May 2009, and July 2010 respectively, but only after initial government recapitalization.
While these stress tests restored short term investor confidence, their long term impact has been uneven, especially in Europe, in part due to different financial market perceptions about the credibility of assumptions used and remedial actions announced in conjunction, and subsequent events. As a result, European authorities have been compelled to engage in a new round of stress tests.
Lesson #3 – Create a global playbook
Restructuring the global financial system requires tools and policies that, just like banks, reach across country borders. It will also require policymakers to cooperate globally, just as they did at the peak of the crisis.
Since the crisis, several countries have adopted more effective resolution schemes for large financial institutions, which should allow future losses to be borne by uninsured creditors. But many countries still lag in this respect, including in how to allocate losses. The new resolution schemes remain untested to deal with failures of large cross-border institutions, and much more needs to be done to enhance the supervision of cross-border exposures and related risks.
The end of this story hasn’t been written yet, and we shouldn’t throw away the opportunity to change the way the global financial system operates for years to come. | https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2011/03/09/early-lessons-on-crisis-management |
Potential for ugly consequences, intended or otherwise, is rising.
By Don Quijones, Spain, UK, & Mexico, editor at WOLF STREET.
Construction and infrastructure giant Ferrovial has announced it is moving its international HQ from the UK to low-tax haven Amsterdam because of Brexit. The Spanish firm, which owns a quarter of the UK’s busiest airport, Heathrow, and runs its US, Canadian, Polish and UK operations from Oxford, says it needs to keep within EU legislation after the UK leaves the EU.
Airbus issued a stark warning at the end of last week that it may also consider abandoning the UK over Brexit, its strongest alert yet over the potential impact of Britain’s departure from the EU. A withdrawal without a deal would force it to reconsider its long-term position, potentially putting thousands of British jobs at risk, it said.
At the same time investment in Britain’s car industry has shrunk by half to the lowest figure since the financial crisis, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT). In the first six months of 2018 investment in new models and factory improvements clocked in at £347.3 million, compared to £647.4 for the same period in 2017. BMW has warned that it will close all its UK plants in the event of a hard Brexit.
What companies, both domestic and foreign, want is greater clarity regarding the UK’s future relations with the EU as the cut-off date for reaching a preliminary agreement on Brexit terms grows ever closer. “Exit” day is scheduled to begin on March 29, 2019, at 11 p.m. GMT. That’s 274 days away, and there’s scant sign of any progress on key sticking points such as the Northern Ireland border, the so-called “passporting” of UK financial services, and a future aviation agreement between the UK and the EU.
Whatever the reasons for the potential departures from the UK, one of the things the recent constitutional crisis in Catalonia threw into stark relief is just how fickle and fearful money is, and just how quickly companies — even local ones — will up sticks if political developments in a particular region jeopardize their operations.
International banks and asset managers with large London-based operations are now scrambling to augment their EU outposts to mitigate the loss of passporting rights which enable them to offer financial, advisory and trading services to corporate clients across all EU states with just one local licence. JPMorgan is reportedly looking to expand its office space in Milan, where it already has around 250 staff, while Goldman Sachs is planning to double the number of staff in Frankfurt, which currently stands at 400.
Bank of America is merging its London-based subsidiary with its Dublin-based Irish entity, which will become its main EU base. It has also said it will expand its investment banking activities in Paris and shift some of its London-based back-office operations to Dublin. It is also transferring three of its most senior UK-based bankers to Paris in one of the most senior Brexit staff redeployments to date by a major bank, according to Reuters.
But moving key operations and staff across the channel is a costly, complex undertaking. Many companies would still prefer to play a waiting game, and most of the moves that have taken place so far have involved small parts of firms’ operations. But according to the European Banking Authority (EBA), which itself is relocating from London to Paris, time is running out. In an opinion paper released on Monday, it warned that City of London authorities and many UK-based banks were far from ready for a no-deal scenario.
“Financial stability should not be put at risk because financial institutions are trying to avoid costs,” the paper says. In a remarkable coincidence Monday also saw a separate warning from the ECB that any banks that haven’t submitted their licence applications for operating in the Eurozone by the end of the month could find themselves without a permit by the time of Brexit.
It didn’t take long for the City of London to hit back. On Wednesday the Bank of England warned that unless the EU accepted a temporary permissions regime for financial services, up to £29 trillion worth of financial contracts could be declared void in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Derivatives contracts could come to an end without fresh legislation from the UK and EU, the central bank’s financial policy committee said.
“UK and EEA parties may no longer have the necessary permissions to service certain uncleared over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts with parties in the other jurisdiction,” the bank’s financial stability report said. “Based on latest data, this could affect around a quarter of contracts entered into by parties in both the UK and EEA, with a notional value of around £29 trillion, of which around £16 trillion matures after March 2019.”
For the moment the EU — and in particular, the ECB — seems more interested in trying to gain a larger share of financial clearing, a lucrative business dominated for years by London. As we previously noted, the clearing business is the jewel in the crown of the City of London’s financial services industry. As such, it will not give it up lightly.
But as the clock continues to tick down, the war of words across the Brexit negotiating table is growing increasingly bitter and the potential for ugly consequences, intended or otherwise, increases. By Don Quijones.
After scandals and collapses, and a pile of off-balance-sheet government debt, the UK revisits the logic of outsourcing. Read… Multi-Decade Outsourcing Boom Comes to Sticky End in the UK
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The Network Operations Center (NOC) team ensures timely acknowledgement of network anomalies and failures and will follow documented methods to ensure efficient and timely resolution to each network incident.
The teams will also take proactive measures to ensure the integrity and stability of the network, as well as provide technical support to all Frontier organizations.What you’ll do:Collect and analyze data, such as MTTR, call volumes, tickets created, tickets restored, chronic events, performance and productivity stats etc.
to help the NOC identify and target areas of improvement from a customer restoral and customer service perspectiveCreate metric reports for internal teams and/or external teamsUse MS Excel and other systems to develop graphical visualized dataEstablish KPI’s to measure the effectiveness of business decisionStructure large data sets to find usable, quantifiable informationWork with NOC Leaders and other team SMEs to identify opportunities and areas of improvementWork with internal and external technical service teams to create and/or update knowledge base articles to support best practicesSet and meet deadlinesExcellent attention to detailAbility to work in high-pressure situationsWhat you’ll need:A minimum of 4 years of telecom experience in network operations supporting Tier I and Tier II TDM Switching, Transport or Data technologies.BA/BS degree in Information Technology/Computer Science, Business Management or related field or equivalent telecom work experience.Knowledge and understand of Network architectures and protocols to support complex problems within numerous technologies including but not limited to Transport, Switch, and Data network systems.Requires an ability to identify and implement process improvements around chronic related issues or failed CM’sAbility to articulate complex troubleshooting steps and technical issues to ensure appropriate key performance indicators and metrics are being met.Experience working in and supporting a metric driven environmentAbility to work flexible hours as requiredAbility to handle and prioritize workload and network support issues efficiently and effectivelyWhat we offer:Competitive SalariesFull Medical, Dental, Vision for you and your familyPaid Time Off401k Full-time and part-time regular employees’ eligibilityShort and Long-Term DisabilityLife Insurance included with your Frontier employment with an opportunity to add more!
We are deeply committed to attracting talented team members in the US from all backgrounds regardless of race, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability status, or nationality.
However, at this time, we are not sponsoring any Visas. | https://alltexasjobs.com/other-general/frontier-communications-noc-specialist-data-86d853/ |
Fomento raises the bill for the rescue of radialesa 2 billion
MadridUpdated:
The Ministry of Development has made a first calculation of the 'invoice' that the State has to pay for the nine rescued highways that exceeds 2,000 million euros, according to Europa Press reported sources in the sector.
This amount is greater than the 1,800 million estimated by both the previous Government and the current one, which has already been included in the public deficit.
The Department headed by José Luis Ábalos has the deadline to determine the final amount until mid-January, when, as establishes the law, Six months have passed since the termination of the contracts with the ex-concessionaires of the motorways.
The amount that promotion must calculate and pay is the so-called Management Patrimonial of the Administration (RPA), the amount that by law has to pay to these concessionaires for the investment they made in the construction of the roads and did not give them time to amortize during the time in who exploited them.
The former Executive initially estimated at 2,000 million euros this amount, which subsequently lowered to 1,800 million, a calculation that the current Government has assumed, according to, in all cases, have been indicating in the stability plans that are sent to Brussels.
However, the concessional sector and the funds that have been left with the highway debt estimate that this "bill" is up to 5,000 million.
Opposition of administrators
Currently, and before proximity of the legal term to determine it, the Ministry has proposed a first calculation to the insolvency administrators of the nine motorways, a figure that is between 2,000 and 3,000 million euros.
These administrators have already expressed their disagreement with the amount and work in their response to Development. They refute not only the amount, but the way in which it is calculated, that is, the concepts that they consider should be included in their determination, as detailed to Europa Press in said sources involved in said process.
Thus, the administrators try to determine the amount that the construction of highways, the one of the additional infrastructures that they had to execute and the expropriations of the lands. In addition, they compare these figures with the initial estimates made in the contract documents.
The extra cost of the expropriations of the lands where the roads were built and the collapse of traffic during the crisis are the two main causes of its bankruptcy in chain from 2012. | https://spainsnews.com/fomento-raises-the-bill-for-the-rescue-of-radialesa-2-billion/ |
Facial expressions of pain are an important part of the pain response, signaling distress to others and eliciting social support. To evaluate how voluntary modulation of this response contributes to the pain experience, 29 subjects were exposed to thermal stimulation while making standardized pain, control, or relaxed faces. Dependent measures were self-reported negative effect (valence and arousal) as well as the intensity of nociceptive stimulation required to reach a given subjective level of pain. No direct social feedback was given by the experimenter. Although the amount of nociceptive stimulation did not differ across face conditions, subjects reported more negative effects in response to painful stimulation while holding the pain face. Subsequent analyses suggested the effects were not due to preexisting differences in the difficulty or unpleasantness of making the pain face. These results suggest that voluntary pain expressions have no positively reinforcing (pain attenuating) qualities, at least in the absence of external contingencies such as social reinforcement, and that such expressions may indeed be associated with higher levels of negative affect in response to similar nociceptive input. PERSPECTIVE: This study demonstrates that making a standardized pain face increases negative affect in response to nociceptive stimulation, even in the absence of social feedback. This suggests that exaggerated facial displays of pain, although often socially reinforced, may also have unintended aversive consequences.
We present a novel weighted Fourier series (WFS) representation for cortical surfaces. The WFS representation is a data smoothing technique that provides the explicit smooth functional estimation of unknown cortical boundary as a linear combination of basis functions. The basic properties of the representation are investigated in connection with a self-adjoint partial differential equation and the traditional spherical harmonic (SPHARM) representation. To reduce steep computational requirements, a new iterative residual fitting (IRF) algorithm is developed. Its computational and numerical implementation issues are discussed in detail. The computer codes are also available at http://www.stat.wisc.edu/-mchung/softwares/weighted.SPHARM/weighted-SPHARM.html. As an illustration, the WFS is applied i n quantifying the amount ofgray matter in a group of high functioning autistic subjects. Within the WFS framework, cortical thickness and gray matter density are computed and compared.
<p>This article opens by noting that positive emotions do not fit existing models of emotions. Consequently, a new model is advanced to describe the form and function of a subset of positive emotions, including joy, interest, contentment, and love. This new model posits that these positive emotions serve to broaden an individual's momentary thought-action repertoire, which in turn has the effect of building that individual's physical, intellectual, and social resources. Empirical evidence to support this broaden-and-build model of positive emotions is reviewed, and implications for emotion regulation and health promotion are discussed.</p>
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At the turn of the twentieth century, the mind-cure movement emphasized the healing power of positive emotions and beliefs. William James defended mind-cure during the Massachusetts legislature's debates on licensing physicians in 1894 and 1898. In The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) he used the movement's therapeutic claims to illustrate the typically American, practical turn of the "religion of healthy-mindedness." Varieties sympathetically surveys mind-cure literature, but also criticizes healthy-minded religion for its limited range and refusal to confront tragedy and radical evil. Many of today's mind/body therapies continue the mind-cure tradition and retain the limitations that James noted.
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Stephen Cope asked 25 yoga and meditation teachers to share their "tales from the path"--their thoughts on how the long-term practice of yoga and meditation has changed their lives. The result is a unique collection of stories offering insight and inspiration for everyone seeking a more satisfying life.
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<p>Bringing together leading scholars, scientists, and clinicians, this compelling volume explores how therapists can cultivate wisdom and compassion in themselves and their clients. Chapters describe how combining insights from ancient contemplative practices and modern research can enhance the treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, suicidal behavior, couple conflict, and parenting stress. Seamlessly edited, the book features numerous practical exercises and rich clinical examples. It examines whether wisdom and compassion can be measured objectively, what they look like in t.</p>
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The Star Counting Test (SCT) has been developed to measure the regulatory function of attention. In a previous study it was shown that the SCT is suited for assessment of this attentional aspect with children. The present study concerns a more difficult version aimed at young adults. In the literature, the regulatory function of attention is increasingly stressed and it has been linked to working memory functioning. In order to further determine the validity of the SCT, performance was checked against two kinds of measures relating to working memory, i.e. Digit Span and Computational Span. These tasks both call for storage but differ in their claims on the processing component of working memory. Using confirmatory factor analysis substantial correlations were demonstrated with either of these measures. As expected, the correlations tended to rise with increasing demands on the processing component. Test scores were further compared with self-reported cognitive failures. No significant relation appeared to exist. The results are interpreted in terms of demands on the regulatory function of attention.
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Dynamic adjustments in cognitive control are well documented in conflict tasks, wherein competition from irrelevant stimulus attributes intensifies selection demands and leads to subsequent performance benefits. The current study investigated whether mnemonic demands, in a working memory (WM) task, can drive similar online control modifications. Demand levels (high vs. low) of WM maintenance (memory load of 2 items vs. 1 item) and delay-spanning distractor interference (confusable vs. not confusable with memoranda) were manipulated using a factorial design during a WM delayed-recognition task. Performance was best subsequent to trials in which both maintenance and distractor interference demands were high, followed by trials with high demand in either of these 2 control domains, and worst following trials with low demand in both domains. These results suggest that dynamic adjustments in cognitive control are not triggered exclusively by conflict-specific contexts but are also triggered by WM demands, revealing a putative mechanism by which this system configures itself for successful task performance.
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<p>Some common conceptions of Buddhist meditative practice emphasize the elimination of emotion and desire in the interest of attaining tranquility and spiritual perfection. But to place too strong an emphasis on this is to miss an important social element emphasized by major figures in the Mahāyāna and Chan/Zen Buddhist traditions who are critical of these quietistic elements and who stress instead an understanding of an enlightenment that emphasizes enriched sociality and flexible readiness to engage, and not avoid, life’s fluctuations in fortune and essential impermanence. It is argued here that these criticisms of quietism are bolstered by recent advances in the philosophy and psychology of the emotions that highlight the role of emotions in framing the context of decision making—that is, in sorting out the relevant from the irrelevant, identifying salience, and directing decisions when uncertainty prevents definitive judgment. This research makes clearer why self-liberation is fundamentally a matter of liberation from judgmental habit and inflexibility, and lends support to a view of enlightenment that emphasizes compassionate engagement with others. It also provides for a more plausible picture of the cognitive transformation involved in liberation and sheds light on the rationale for certain traditional Chan and Zen teaching tactics, such as those involving koan introspection.</p>
Zotero Collections: | https://sources.mandala.library.virginia.edu/sources-search?field_zotero_collections=All&sort_by=sort_stripped_node_title&sort_order=ASC&condition_option=all&advanced_search_publication_year=range&search_text_zotero_tags=Cognition%2C%20and%20culture&view_mode=collection&page=18 |
- To provide the residents of Nassau County with the highest quality of medical-legal investigation into the cause and manner of deaths in Nassau County that are within the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner.
- To advance our collaborative working relationship with Nassau County's legal and criminal justice systems by providing state of the art forensic testing services and cutting-edge toxicology and histology lab services.
- To provide timely, thorough and accurate scientific death investigation which, in turn, serves to provide the public and the courts with confidence in correct death certifications.
- To protect the public from criminal activity, health hazards, and unsafe environments by conducting such death investigations and issuing proper death certifications.
Responsibilities
- To investigate deaths of anyone who dies in Nassau County from sudden, unexpected, suspicious, violent, unnatural, unusual or unattended death. Such cases fall within the jurisdiction of the Medical Examiner.
- To review all cases where cremation of the body of a decedent has been requested and ensure compliance with necessary protocols before permission is granted.
- To accurately record all necessary demographic and cause of death information on death certificates and in the Electronic Death Registration System maintained by New York State.
Location
The Medical Examiner's Office is located in the town of East Meadow on the campus of Nassau University Medical Center.
Team of Staff
The Medical Examiner's Office is staffed by a team of physicians who are board certified forensic pathologists. In addition, we have DNA, toxicology, histology scientists, forensic pathology assistants, and forensic medical investigators who are all highly trained in their unique disciplines. | https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/1686/Medical-Examiner |
When I recently was invited to a special cooking event with Aboriginal TV Chef David Wolfman, I jumped at the chance to learn from one of our country’s most respected chefs. Ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Chef Wolfman opened my eyes to another horrific experience the children of residential schools had faced — nutrition.
At the event he explained how not only were the children taken away from their families but the food they were accustomed to eating were also denied. The residential school children were human experiments with what they were fed without their parental consent or knowledge of the Indigenous communities. Children were malnourished and became ill –many resulted in death. The experiments had a direct connection to shaping the Canada’s Food Guide.
“Food was used as a weapon in the residential school system as well as a weapon of colonization,” said Chef Wolfman. “Children also lost access to traditional foods and experienced food insecurities like hunger.”
Chef Wolfman also explained how the children also lost out on valuable teachings passed down from generations before them. From sacred and honoured gathering, learning to proper hunting and fishing skills within their communities — generations were impacted in so many ways.
Now he’s committed to involving youth and doing his part in bringing the new generation back into the fold — including this event where we cooked along side aspiring young chefs.
At the event, four main dishes were prepared by guests under the guidance of Chef David Wolfman. Many of the ingredients used in the dishes were, and still are, native to the lands on which Indigenous communities thrived on for many generations.
The intimate cooking event took place at DISH cooking studio to honour over 150,000 Indigenous children — the survivors, and the living and dead, who attended the residential schools.
With permission from Chef David Wolfman to share, this recipe is one that I will be making at home for my family as we continue to do our part to keep the discussions and learning going. PAN-FRIED QUINOA CAKES OVER CREAM AVOCADO SAUCE AND CHEESE CRISP
Makes approximately 30 appetizer sized Quinoa Cakes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup white quinoa, rinsed
- 1 cup canned white beans drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- 5 cloves garlic (2 minced, 3 whole)
- 2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
- 2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, finely chopped
- 8 – 10 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 ripe avocados
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup walnut oil
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
Garnish:
- 250 grams grated Romano cheese
- Creamy Avocado Sauce
- Mixed greens
Method:
1.Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the quinoa and simmer, covered over very low heat until the broth is absorbed and the quinoa is tender (about 15-20 minutes). Transfer the cooked quinoa to a shallow bowl to cool.
2.Mash the beans with a fork or potato masher in a large bowl. Add the minced garlic, thyme, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and stir with a fork to combine.
3.Add the breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, olives and cooled quinoa and stir to combine.
4.Using a 1/4 measuring cup, pack the mixture in level, and press mixture. Turn out onto table and reform them into patties for a total of 30 patties. Transfer patties to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
5.Heat oil in a skillet until shimmering hot. Carefully add a batch of 6 patties at a time to the pan and cook until browned on each side, flipping each once only (about 5 minutes). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat this step with the remaining batches, and adding additional oil as needed. Set aside.
For Cheese Crisps:
Heat oven to 375F.
Divide shredded cheese into 30 small mounds on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Slide cheese while still on parchment paper onto a cooling rack. Set aside.
For Advocado Sauce:
Blend peeled and pitted avocados, 3 garlic cloves, 1 1/2 tsp salt, water, cider vinegar, walnut oil, and maple syrup in a blender. Set aside.
Plating:
On each plate, smear some creamy avocado sauce and sprinkle greens on the smear. Then, take a quinoa cake and carefully slice half way through the top. Gently insert a cheese crisp.
Serve immediately.
TIP: You can also make larger sized quinoa patties and enjoy them as burgers! They are SO good!
About Chef David Wolfman:
An enthusiastic educator and entertainer, Chef David Wolfman is an internationally recognized expert in wild game and traditional Aboriginal cuisine. A member of the Xaxli’p First Nation in BC, David Wolfman is a classically trained Chef, Culinary Arts Professor at George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto (for over 20 years now), and Executive Producer and Host of the popular Cooking with the Wolfman™ television program. This show features David’s signature “Indigenous Fusion: Traditional Foods with a Modern Twist” and airs on FNX (First Nations Experience) and NativeFlix in the US. The show aired on APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) in Canada for 18 years.
A former independent caterer and food service industry head chef, David is the recipient of numerous educational and industry awards including seven Gold Awards in Culinary Olympics, an Excellence Award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, and a First Place National Healthy Menu Catering Award from Evian. Chef Wolfman exudes unbridled passion for cooking and sharing his knowledge of Aboriginal culture and is a highly sought after restaurant and menu consultant, cooking demonstrator, conference presenter and youth motivator. When asked how to cook moose, a bush rabbit or Gateau St. Honoré, the answer is always the same, “very carefully.”
Please visit Chef David Wolfman’s site here.
This event was hosted in partnership with TasteUSA and Produce Made Simple. The hands-on cooking event highlighted Indigenous growers, producers, and food businesses on both sides of the U.S. and Canadian border. | https://www.auburnlane.com/chef-david-wolfmans-recipe-for-quinoa-cakes/ |
Considering the deteriorating state of the infrastructure worldwide and the limited resources available for repair and rehabilitation of constructed facilities, it is imperative to find effective and economical techniques to revive the aging infrastructure. In this paper, the utilization of modern materials such as fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) for strengthening and rehabilitation of concrete and masonry structures is presented. Three different applications of FRPs will be discussed. In one application, composite plates are epoxy bonded to the soffit of girders to increase their ultimate strength. The results of an analytical and experimental study on ten 4.88 m long girders indicate that significant strength gains can be achieved with this retrofitting technique. In the second study, FRP straps are used as external confinement for enhancing seismic response of concrete bridge columns. Ten columns were subjected to simulated earthquake loading. The results of the hysteresis loops of retrofitted columns, when compared to those for unretrofitted control specimens, revealed gain in ductility level of up to four times. In the third study, composite fabrics were epoxy bonded to the faces of unreinforced masonry walls to improve their in-plane and out-of-plane responses during seismic loading. Significant improvements in the behavior were also observed for this technique. | https://arizona.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/extending-service-life-of-concrete-and-masonry-structures-with-fi |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) may not be effective in very old patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), according to an exploratory analysis of data from clinical trials.
“The present study findings suggest that CPAP treatment is not effective in patients over 80 years of age with OSA,” Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Garcia of Hospital Universitario y Politecnico La Fe in Valencia, Spain, and colleagues write in Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Martinez-Garcia and his colleagues conducted a post-hoc pooled analysis of two open-label, multicenter trials aimed to determine the effect of CPAP in 369 patients 70 years of age or above with an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of at least 15 events per hour. The patients were randomly assigned to receive CPAP or no CPAP for three months.
The researchers analyzed data from the 97 participants who were 80 years of age or older. The mean age in this group was 81.5 years; 47 received CPAP and 50 did not.
Participants who used CPAP did so for an average of 4.3 hours per night, and 53% of patients used the device at least four hours per night, which the researchers considered to be good adherence.
Patients in the CPAP group significantly improved snoring (-58%) and witnessed apneas (-35%), as well as AHI (from 41.9 to 4.9 events per hour). However, there was no clinical improvement in Epworth Sleepiness scale (ESS, -1.2 points), any domain of the Quebec Sleep Questionnaire, any neurocognitive test, depression or anxiety, OSA-related symptoms, or blood pressure.
“The frequency of very elderly patients with OSA suspicion has been increasing in the last years. We tend to treat them as we treat younger people, and this probably is not correct,” Dr. Martinez-Garcia told Reuters Health by email. “When a very elderly patient goes to the sleep lab with suspicion of OSA, the treatment should be individualized and cautious.”
Dr. Martinez-Garcia and his team would like to learn the clinical phenotype of very elderly patients who will benefit from CPAP. “To answer this important question, we are planning to conduct a large randomized controlled trial with more than 700 individuals over 80 years of age with OSA in over 40 centers.”
Dr. Beth A. Malow, director of the Sleep Disorders Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, cautioned, “People who may benefit from CPAP in terms of their health may not be offered CPAP because of these results. This is concerning.”
“It is important to keep in mind that, even though sleepiness did not improve in this group, the mean Epworth Sleepiness Scale score was below 10 (in the non-sleepy, normal range),” Dr. Malow, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health by email. “Had the sample shown a higher ESS score in the sleepiness range, it is possible that an improvement in sleepiness would have been detected. Similarly, if blood pressure measurements include those without hypertension, an improvement in blood pressure measurements may not be observed.”
“I would like to see more data on CPAP efficacy (in other words, the AHI during treatment, not only during the titration study),” she said. “Is it possible that patients had mask leak or other challenges that affected how well CPAP worked in their homes, that might have affected outcomes? With only 53% of patients using the device for more than 4 hours a night, it is not a surprise that stronger results were not seen.”
Dr. Atul Malhotra, a sleep medicine specialist and professor of medicine at the UC San Diego Health, in La Jolla, echoed the cautious note, saying, “It would be premature to overreact to one study.”
“In this study, treatment did not have benefits, but that does not mean the disease should be ignored,” he told Reuters Health by email. “Ideally, sleep apnea should be diagnosed earlier. Some patients benefit from alternative therapies for sleep apnea or need intensive support to tolerate CPAP well.”
“Sleep apnea is an important disease. In older adults, sleep apnea may affect memory, and its treatment may improve memory,” Dr. Malhotra added. “We need more data about the importance of sleep apnea in general and the ideal treatment for various age groups.”
“If you treat patients, consider asking them about diet, exercise, and sleep as the three pillars of health,” he advised.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3IHXGrR Sleep Medicine, online November 24, 2021. | http://shaeshop.com/2021/12/27/cpap-may-not-be-effective-in-very-old-patients-with-osa/ |
At 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level, the summit of Mount Everest, is arguably the most coveted and infamous bit of land on the planet. More than 200 climbers have died trying to reach Everest’s summit. But there’s more to Everest—and the other peaks towering nearby—than the human quest for the summit. There’s also snow and ice spilling from knife-edged arêtes and bowl-shaped cirques and becoming frozen rivers of ice as they flow into the valleys below. And there’s science happening at those glaciers.
The map above shows the outlines of glaciers around Everest, overlaid on a topographic map of the region based on digital elevation model (DEM) data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Progressively lighter shades of brown depict higher elevations of bare land; glaciers are shown with progressively lighter shades of blue (higher is lighter).
One of the primary glaciers draining Mount Everest and the highest glacier in the world, Khumbu, is visible in the center of the map. Ngozumpa, the longest glacier in the Himalayas, is visible to the west.
Casey knows firsthand how challenging it can be to study glacial debris. She has visited numerous remote glaciers, including Ngozumpa and Khumbu, to make measurements that can be compared with satellite observations. She shot the photograph above while passing through the Cho La pass, which separates the two glaciers.
To learn more about Casey’s research, read our feature story: “Painted Glaciers." | https://climate.nasa.gov/news/967/exploring-mount-everests-ice/ |
The popularity of Python as a developer’s choice has been on the rise since the past few years. The programming language has been ranked number one by IEEE Spectrum in 2017. If you are planning to build your career in technical field, this is the best time to learn Python as it is useful in web development, DevOps and data science.
The adoption of Python is mostly acknowledged in machine learning, data science, and related research. Python as a general-purpose language can effectively handle data mining and processing, machine learning/ deep learning algorithms and data visualization making it a go-to choice for data scientists.
Python has a hold within the data science community because of its rich repository of data science libraries. Important functions and objects for relevant tasks are bundled together in packages. Libraries are a set of such packages that are then imported in the scripts.
To get started with data science in Python, one must acquaint themselves with these libraries to perform everything from basic to the most advanced data science tasks. We have compiled a list of these libraries here that one must gain the working knowledge of. Further documentation on these libraries is available on the IPython notebook also known as the Jupyter Notebook.
Basic Libraries
NumPy
NumPy is a fundamental library for performing any kind of scientific computing. The main object of this library is multidimensional arrays with a set of routines that perform logical, statistical and mathematical operations. NumPy arranges all kinds of datatypes into arrays which makes it easy to manipulate and integrate well with databases. It can also perform Fourier transforms, linear algebra, random number generation, and matrix shape changing.
Many of the libraries use NumPy for the basic input and output functions. NumPy does not have powerful data analytics functionalities but lays a foundation for the same. Combined with SciPy and Matplotlib, it can be used for technical computations which are further explained below.
SciPy
SciPy stands for Scientific Python and is basically a library built on NumPy, suggesting that they are used together. To understand the functions of SciPy, it is essential to understand how the array shapes and data-types can be manipulated. SciPy comprises of task-specific sub-modules like scipy.linalg, scipy.fftback, etc. to perform high-level routines in linear algebra, interpolation, Fourier transform calculations, optimisation and so on. As machine learning tasks are heavily based on linear algebra and statistical methods, knowledge of SciPy is essential.
Pandas
Pandas is a core package that provides data structures to work on all kinds of data. It is one of the most powerful data analysis tools which is used in various domains like finance, economics, statistics, etc. It can effectively perform the basic functions on data from loading to modelling and analyzing.
Pandas can easily convert data structures into dataframes (2-D data) and manipulate data within them. Pandas facilitate easy handling of missing data and automatic data alignment as well. It performs functions like row or column adding, index resetting and deletion, pivoting and reshaping the data frames, among a few. At the end, pandas also allow exporting the table to Excel or any other SQL database.
Data Visualization
Matplotlib
As the name suggests, this is a plotting library where the submodule pyplot() is used extensively to plot the values obtained using ndarray package. The matplotlob.pyplot is a set of commands that perform 2D plotting as performed in Matlab. It is used for producing basic graphs which when combined with certain graphics toolkits like PyQt can produce more advanced looking graphs such as scatter plots, spectrograms, histograms, quiver plots, etc.
Seaborn
Seaborn is also a data visualization tool that is based on Matplotlib which creates attractive statistical charts and graphs. Matplotlib can also be used to customise the plots created by Seaborn. It has functions to fit and visualize linear regression models, plot time series data which internally performs operations on arrays and dataframes along with aggregation to produce the correct result plots. However, it is important to understand that Seaborn is not a replacement to Matplotlib, but a complement to it.
Bokeh and Plotly are also some powerful visualization tools that are independent of matlplotlib and are mainly web-based toolkits.
Machine Learning/ Deep Learning
SciKit-Learn
Scikit-learn is an essential machine learning library that allows performing supervised and unsupervised learning on medium-sized datasets. This library is built on SciPy. Both NumPy and SciPy need to be installed before one starts using sciKit. NumPy and SciPy focus on data wrangling or manipulation whereas SciKit is focused on modelling this data. All kinds of algorithms such as regression and classification, dimensionality reduction, ensemble methods, and feature extraction functions can be performed using scikit-learn.
Theano
Theano allows a user to define, optimize, and evaluate mathematical operations involving multi-dimensional arrays efficiently just like in NumPy. It is also a foundational library for deep learning tasks on Python. It is a powerful library that is a mathematical compiler which combines the native libraries like BLAS and C compiler to run on GPU and CPU. Theano for deep Learning is not used independently but is wrapped with libraries such as Keras or Lasagne to build models that improve the computation speed largely.
Keras
Keras is a library for modelling artificial neural networks which work on top of Theano or TensorFlow running at its backend. It was mainly designed for experimenting on deep neural networks and is not an end-to-end machine learning framework such as the SciKit library.
Keras can build a neural network in the form of a sequential model which is nothing but a stack of layers that a neural network is primarily made of. Data is prepared in tensors which are given at the input layer along with a suitable activation function and the last layer is considered the output layer. Keras has successfully simplified synthesis of ANNs.
Tensorflow
It is relatively a new library for machine learning and was developed by Google as an engine behind their environment for training neural networks. The high-profile Google applications like Google Translate was built using TensorFlow. It also improves computation on both CPU and GPU. TensorFlow competes with Theano in terms of the preference as a backend library where the pros and cons differ based on their applications. It has a multilayer node system that makes it easy to work on large datasets; however, the execution speed may be a little slower than Theano.
Natural Language Processing
Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK)
NLTK consists of a suite of libraries used for symbolic and statistical tasks involved in natural language processing (NLP). Natural Language processing is used where human-machine interaction is involved. NLP is primarily utilized for topic segmentation, opinion mining, and sentiment analysis, to name a few. NLTK allows a number of NLP tasks like tokenization, classification, tagging, parsing, semantic analysis of input data, etc. It helps to convert written words into vectors by structuring the input data and tokenization processes.
End Notes
There are several alternatives to the above-mentioned libraries for the tasks mentioned. However, these are the libraries that have gained popularity in the data science world. Apart from the above-mentioned libraries, data scientists must also know data mining libraries such as BeautifulSoup, Scrapy, Pattern for web crawling that was not explained here but are of much importance.
A data scientist or a machine learning expert must be adept with these primary libraries, and the best place to master them is to first understand their documentation. While the documentation will give a basic understanding of how they are used with examples, one must practice them with different datasets to get hold of the subject. After all, practice makes the man perfect. Isnt it? So, keep learning!! | https://www.analyticsinsight.net/python-libraries-get-started-data-science/ |
A total of 18 computer units had recently been installed with the Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosk Stations (STARBOOKS) digital library for the benefit of selected schools and Tech4Ed Centers in Zamboanga Sibugay.
Tech4Ed
The Technology Empowerment for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurs, and Economic Development (Tech4Ed) is a project that establishes centers that provide critical e-government and ICT-enabled services in technologically challenged and distant communities in the country.
From the mentioned total, 15 of these units now reside in centers throughout the province of Zamboanga Sibugay. Listed below are the centers that now house STARBOOKS-installed units:
1. Brgy. Tomitom Center
2. LGU-RT.Lim Center
3. Brgy. Ipil Heights Center
4. Brgy. Taway Center
5. Brgy. Timalang Center
6. LGU-Alicia Center
7. Brgy. Suclema Center
8. Brgy. Logan Center
9. Brgy. Bangkerohan Center
10. Brgy. Tiayon Center
11. Brgy. Maasin Center
12. Brgy. Doña Josefa Center
13. Brgy. Makilas Center
14. Brgy. Veterans Village Center
15. Brgy. Lower Taway Center
STARBOOKS
Continuing its deployment of STARBOOKS units, the Department of Science and Technology IX (DOST-IX) also included a number of schools in Tungawan Municipality, one of the recipient LGUs under the Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) Program of DOST:
16. Pioneer National High School Tungawan, ZSP
17. San Isidro National High School Tungawan, ZSP
18. Sisay National High School Tungawan, ZSP
The CEST Program empowers the poorest and most depressed communities in the country, via S&T interventions in health and nutrition, water and sanitation, basic education and literacy, livelihood/economic enterprise development, and disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
At present, a total of 107 schools and Centers have been installed with the digital library that allows users access to offline resources of over 500,000 local and foreign S&T resources in text, video, and audio formats, which include digitized journals, serial publications, reference materials, and other sci-tech resources found in the DOST-STII (Science and Technology Information Institute)'s libraries. DOST-STII is the developer of this innovative platform that received the Anvil Award and another international award given in the United States.
Local government units, non-government organizations, and educational institutions may avail of the free technology. Guidelines for interest parties are stated below:
• Make a formal request (Letter addressed to the DOST IX Regional Director)
• Ensure Compliance to requirements (IT and manpower components)
• Purchase equipment (specifications listed below)
• MoU signing
Minimum Hardware Requirements:
• 1 Terabyte of Hard Drive
• 2 Gigabytes of RAM
• Intel Core i3
• Motherboard (Compatible with Processor, RAM, and Hard Drive)
• Optical Drive (DVD-RW)
• Monitor
• USB Keyboard/ Mouse
• Headset/Speaker
• Operating System (Windows 7 or higher)
• Space Measuring 3mX4m (with specifications for physical set up of the kiosk)
• Mandatory 1-2 days training
• Focal Person (Preferably your organization's IT personnel, librarians or both)
• Provide training for clients’ designated focal person (IT, librarian or both)
The INSTALLATION of STARBOOKS and its kiosk is FREE. | https://region9.dost.gov.ph/news/674-dost-ix-serves-up-18-starbooks-units-for-schools-and-tech4ed-centers |
From August 11th – 19th, 2018, a group of students, staff, and faculty from ADU traveled to Tamarindo in Costa Rico on a mission trip to spread the healing ministry of Christ through medical service, teaching, facility maintenance, and giving their time and compassion to a population in need.
They landed in San Jose, Costa Rica and then made a five-hour drive to the small town of Tamarindo. The mission workers visited several sites to give aid – an orphanage, an elementary school, and the only government clinic in the province – in addition to several private, remote homes of residents that could not transport themselves to the clinic. The team also provided donations they had collected back at ADU, ranging from medical supplies to school supplies, as well as toys and clothing.
Members of Healing Touch Missions have made this trip yearly for over 10 years, expanding their outreach and services as more volunteers have joined each year. These trips bring hope and healing to an underserved population while lending to students’ experiential learning, global community service, and spiritual transformation. It offers the chance to experience circumstances far removed from what they are used to at home, where necessities like safe housing, food, and access to health care are expectations rather than privileges.
A student in ADU’s DPT program, Juan Madrid, SPT, recalled his experience encountering this disparity as one of the journeying missioners, “[It] was the single most impactful experience of my life. I saw a different side of life. A side that we all know about, but most of us do not pay any attention to. We are too busy with our daily routine and our ‘first-world’ problems.
The impact of this trip on the volunteers and the communities they served can be hard to capture through a second-hand retelling. Fortunately, Jadiel Alfonso, an ADU employee, joined the trip to contribute his talent of photo journalism, and Dr. Elizabeth, Clark, Associate Professor of DPT, contributed a personal description of the events in each photo. Her words and his images tell the story best.
More than one staff member recalled how Dr. Clark gave the shoes off her feet to a patient who needed more supportive footwear. Students took off their shoe laces and custom insoles to give to those who were in need. And the team of volunteers shared their own stories of how they were as impacted and changed by their patients as their patients were by them.
ADU’s mission trips are an invaluable opportunity to extend Christ’s healing values and practice healthcare as ministry. This was a true representation of compassionate, wholistic care. If you’re inspired to join Healing Touch Missions to serve on a future mission trip, visit their website to find out more information: Healing Touch Missions.
Feeling inspired? Come Join us. | https://www.ahu.edu/news/adu-mission-trip-brings-healing-and-hope-costa-rica |
First page number:
15
Last page number:
28
Abstract
During landing tasks, forces and moments are generated by the musculoskeletal system at surface contact to progressively decelerate the velocity of the body (Dufek and Bates, 1990; McNitt-Gray, 1993). When landing after a forward jump, the body’s downward velocity must be decelerated by an upward acceleration, while its forward velocity needs to be decelerated by a backward acceleration. Inappropriate landing patterns can cause excessive loading to the body, resulting in musculoskeletal injuries. The anterior cruciate ligament is commonly injured by abnormal landing patterns during athletic activities (Dai et al., 2015b; Krosshaug et al., 2007). Military training also involves jump-landing tasks such as parachuting, jumping off a vehicle, and traversing a ditch; all which increase exposure to jump-landing associated injury risk (Ekeland, 1997; Owens et al., 2007; Sell et al., 2010). Developing safe and effective landing strategies has implications for both injury prevention and performance training. Investigators have examined the effects of landing heights, distances, and techniques on performers’ motion, impact forces, and their associated risk of injury (Dai et al., 2015a; Dufek and Bates, 1990; McNitt-Gray, 1993). Lower extremity loading increases when the landing height and distance are increased (Dufek and Bates, 1990; McNitt-Gray, 1993; Zhang et al., 2000). Potential strategies to decrease lower extremity loading include landing on the forefoot, increasing knee and hip joint range of motion, and lengthening landing time (Dai et al., 2015a; Devita and Skelly, 1992; Zhang et al., 2000). However, previous findings are based on landing heights less than 1.5 m in combination with traditional landing techniques. An increased landing velocity resulting from a high landing height does not necessarily result in injury if appropriate landing techniques are utilized. As an example, Parkour is a form of acrobatic street gymnastics that has gained public popularity in the last decade (Puddle and Maulder, 2013). One important skill in Parkour is to land safely from high heights (>1.5 m) such as vertical walls. Novel landing techniques with the use of hands and rolling motions have been utilized by Parkour practitioners. Investigators have quantified the effect of Parkour precision and roll landings on landing forces from a landing height of 0.75 m (Puddle and Maulder, 2013). The biomechanics of how Parkour practitioners land from higher heights remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify the landing kinematics of Parkour practitioners landing from 0.9, 1.8, and 2.7 m utilizing the squat, forward, roll, and stiff landing techniques. It was hypothesized that the stiff landing would exhibit the least landing time and greatest change in vertical velocity during the early landing, while the roll landing would demonstrate the greatest landing time and least changes in vertical and horizontal velocities during the early landing for all landing heights. In addition, it was hypothesized that the four landing techniques would exhibit different lower extremity kinematics.
Keywords
Jump-landing; Impact; Injury; Performance; Lower extremities
Disciplines
Biomechanics
File Format
File Size
583 KB
Language
English
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Repository Citation
Dai, B.,
Layer, J. S.,
Hinshaw, T. J.,
Cook, R. F.,
Dufek, J. S.
(2020).
Kinematic Analyses of Parkour Landings From as High as 2.7 Meters.
Journal of Human Kinetics, 72
15-28. | https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/ahs_fac_articles/292/ |
Do Relationship Standards Change Once You Meet Someone?
New research explores differences between ideal and actual partner perceptions.
Posted August 23, 2018
All of us have traits that we're seeking in an ideal romantic partner. And research shows that several traits are universally desirable, such as warmth and physical attractiveness. But do our partners tend to match up with those ideals, and do our ideals or our opinions of partners change over time? A new study by researchers in the Czech Republic examines the extent to which people's romantic partners match up to their ideal standards, and how this matching might differ for new versus established couples.
If over time there is a closer match between our ideal romantic partner and the person we're with, that suggests two possibilities:
1. We might enter a relationship thinking that certain traits are important, but ultimately change our mind once we come to love someone who doesn't fit those ideals. For example, imagine a woman who thinks that a man's looks are especially important, but ultimately finds herself falling for an average-looking guy. She might decide that looks are not as important as she thought they were.
2. Another possibility is that we might change how we view our partners, so that they meet our ideals. So perhaps that woman meets a man she believes is less attractive than her ideal. But ultimately, as she falls for him, she starts to see him as more attractive than she did before.
In the new study, researchers surveyed 408 adults from English-speaking countries (mostly the U.S., but also Canada and the UK) and asked them to rate the extent to which various traits described their ideal romantic partner and their current partner. People who were single at the time of the survey were contacted again six months later and asked to rate their current partner, if they had entered a new relationship since the first survey. This gave the researchers 285 continually coupled individuals, 90 newly coupled, and 33 singles.
The participants rated their current and ideal romantic partners on four different trait categories:
- Warmth/trustworthiness: Empathic, kind, good sense of humor, honest
- Status/resources: Ambitious, professionally successful, well-educated
- Vitality: Physically strong, physically able to protect me, able to take charge of a group
- Physical attractiveness: Physically attractive, sexually appealing
First, the researchers examined differences between how participants rated their current partners and how important they felt those same qualities were in their ideal partner. Overall, continually coupled participants had a closer match between their ideal standards and their actual partners than the new couples. But was this because people changed their ideals, or because they changed how they saw their partners? The researchers found no differences in actual partner ratings between the established and the new couples, suggesting that how they viewed their partners did not change over time. However, when it came to ideals, the continually coupled participants had lower standards. Interestingly, among established couples, the length of their relationships was unrelated to either their actual or ideal partner ratings, suggesting that these adjustments to ideals take place very early in the relationship.
The authors raise the possibility that there was a closer match between ideal and actual partners among those in established relationships, because the continually coupled participants rated their actual and ideal partner in the same survey, while newly coupled individuals rated their actual and ideal partner six months apart. The researchers contend that this was not a serious issue, since the actual partner ratings were similar for the established and new couples. However, it is still possible that rating their partners and ideals in the same survey caused them to change their ideals, as they realized during the survey that there was a discrepancy and tried to minimize it. Even if that is the case, it still suggests that people are willing to move their ideal standards around in order to make them more consistent with how they see their partner.
Another interesting finding was that both types of couples tended to perceive their partners as falling short of their warmth/trustworthiness ideals. This could spell trouble, since other research has shown that having a partner who meets these ideals is especially important for relationship satisfaction. However, of all four ideal categories, warmth/trustworthiness was the highest rated, so it might be that there is almost no limit to how warm people want their partners to be, making it more likely that partners will fall short of such high standards. (The established couples actually rated warmth/trustworthiness as less important than the new couples, reflecting a change in standards.) Vitality was rated as the least important of the four ideals and the continually coupled participants actually rated their partners as exceeding their ideals in this area.
Our ideal standards seem to change, and this is likely part of the general tendency to see our romantic partners through rose-colored glasses. What's not clear from this research is why people change their ideals. Do they realize that the things they once thought were important are not as important as they seemed? Or are they merely convincing themselves that they don't care about those ideals as much as they thought they did and emphasizing other qualities in order to justify being with their current partner? Perhaps it's a bit of both. | https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/close-encounters/201808/do-relationship-standards-change-once-you-meet-someone |
Lafayette Place tells the story of three generations of the Kincaid family, capturing their triumphs and struggles.
The novel begins with the family preparing the Princeton family home for sale after the death of its patriarch, Alexander, a professor at the university. It then flashes back to the first American Kincaid, an indentured servant from Scotland, before returning to Alexander’s courtship of the artistic Swede Karin and his career. It subsequently follows their four children, mostly focusing on middle son James, a journalist who covers Reagan and Gorbachev’s nuclear negotiations in Iceland in the 1980’s, and James’ wife Julia, who has known the Kincaids since childhood.
The book dramatizes the tension between Alexander and Karin’s expectations for their children to pursue “intellectual,” upper-class careers and life-long marriages and their children’s life choices. Alexander’s son Beau joins the Army and divorces his first wife, while daughter Hanna becomes a landscaper. It also depicts family tragedies, showing the couple’s son Desmond (Des) struggling with mental illness and James and Julia’s marital troubles, among other issues.
The novel feels grounded in emotional reality, capturing the characters’ quiet but powerful inner turmoil. Beau struggles with his anger, arguing over politics and the military at a dinner party and creating an uncomfortable situation with a friend. Alexander suffers from public criticism of his latest book. The characters are thoughtful and reflect on themselves in first-person narrative and letters and emails.
Unfortunately, much of the novel lacks vitality, with the author telling rather than showing what is happening. For instance, Des’ life has some powerfully dramatic moments, yet they are often summarized, with others telling parts of his story, rather than brought to life. Additionally, characters give each other information that readers already know, which quickly becomes tiresome.
Still, readers looking for emotionally deep characters and an engaging story of family relationships will find rewards here.
Also available as an ebook. | https://www.blueinkreview.com/book-reviews/lafayette-place/ |
Impulsivity, specifically negative urgency, is associated with diverse health risk behaviours, yet relatively little research has examined factors contributing to negative urgency. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between childhood maltreatment, alexithymia and negative urgency. The sample was comprised of 410 undergraduate students who completed measures online. A series of regression analyses tested whether alexithymia mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and negative urgency. Results supported the hypothesized mediation model. Subsequent analyses examined effects of specific subtypes of maltreatment and alexithymia subscales. These analyses indicated that growing up in a punishing environment (e.g. being hit or beat; expected to follow a strict code of behaviour) was indirectly associated with negative urgency via difficulty identifying feelings, suggesting that excessive use of punishment during childhood may reduce the development of the ability to identify and label feeling states. This difficulty in emotional processing may in turn lead to acting rashly when emotionally aroused. | https://experts.nebraska.edu/en/publications/alexithymia-as-a-mediator-between-childhood-maltreatment-and-impu |
What is the relationship of expert systems and business decision support?
by Dan Power
Editor, DSSResources.com
Both expert systems and decision support systems attempt to use software to improve decision making. Expert systems were first developed by computer scientists; decision support systems by management researchers. Using a business decision support system is still looked upon skeptically by some managers. Using an "expert system" seems almost insulting to those managers. Hence it is easy for some to dismiss business expert systems as unnecessary, impractical, unreliable and even disrepectful. "Smart" computers are not and should not replace "smart" decision makers, but the technologies of "expert systems" can be useful in supporting decision makers.
Most sources view an expert system as a category of software that "attempts to reproduce the performance of one or more human experts, most commonly in a specific problem domain." Expert systems is a traditional subfield of Artificial Intelligence research in Computer Science.
A common question of students and managers is the relationship between DSS and Expert Systems (cf., Power, 2000). Both systems can help managers. Expert Systems provide one source of technologies for building Decision Support Systems -- I call those systems Knowledge-driven DSS. A Knowledge-driven DSS may still be a "scary" thought, but it seems somehow less intimidating and insulting. Integration of expert system technologies may occur in some other types of DSS.
What are the difference between the two?
DSS is a broad category -- Data-Driven, Model-Driven, Communication-Driven, Document-Driven and Knowledge-Driven DSS. Expert systems is a narrow category focused on specialized software tools.
Will the evolution of DSS end up in Expert Systems?
No, I don't think so. -- BUT Knowledge-Driven DSS or Suggestion DSS will become more common and more powerful. The tools are getting better. A good reference on integrating DSS and Expert Systems is El-Najdawi and Stylianou (1993).
According to El-Najdawi and Stylianou, DSS and Expert Systems "can be used to facilitate and improve the quality of decision making by reducing information overload and by augmenting the cognitive limitations and rationality bounds of decision makers." They concluded "A small number of systems have adopted the idea of DSS/ES integration." A major contribution is that El-Najdawi and Stylianou identify several forms of integration that have been discussed in the literature. The major approaches to integration are:
* Expert System integration into various DSS components,
* Expert System integration as a separate component of the DSS,
* DSS models and data access as a component of an Expert System.
Advantages of using expert systems technologies to support decision making include: 1) providing consistent answers for repetitive decisions, processes and tasks, 2) organizing and maintaining a significant amount of domain specific information, 3) encouraging managers to clarify the logic of their decision-making, and 4) remembering to ask all relevant questions.
Disadvantages of expert systems listed in Wikipedia include: 1) lacks common sense needed in some decision making, 2) cannot make creative responses as human expert would in unusual circumstances, 3) domain experts not always able to explain their logic and reasoning, 4) errors may occur in the knowledge base, and lead to wrong decisions, and 5) cannot adapt to changing environments, unless knowledge base is changed. Overall these five disadvantages are limitations rather than reasons not to use the technologies.
Expert systems and decision support systems were both conceived of as technology tools to help people make better decisions. Neither was or is intended to replace human decision makers. A broader tool set is used for DSS and business oriented expert systems may be classified as DSS, Knowledge-driven DSS.
References
El-Najdawi, M. K., and Anthony C. Stylianou, "Expert Support Systems: Integrating AI Technologies", Communications of the ACM, New York: Association for Computing Machinery, December 1993.
Power, D., "What is the relationship between DSS and Expert Systems?" DSS News, Vol. 1, No. 6, July 17, 2000.
Wikipedia, URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expert_system . | http://dssresources.com/faq/index.php?action=artikel&id=181 |
We start from the fact that each person is unique. However, sometimes we feel similarities with other people in the way they act or behave. In terms and concepts of personality, there is still much controversy about what is the unified description that defines personality. The problem with the lack of consensus is mainly due to the insufficiency of research instruments that help to demonstrate that what we might think would make sense, and also the lack of hypotheses. Among the most accepted descriptions of the term personality, there is one which considers that “personality is the individual difference that constitutes each person and distinguishes him/her from another”.
Personality models and AI
One of the most widely used methods to understand personality is the Goldberg Big-Five model, which categorises according to five personality dimensions. In addition, one of the questionnaires that continues to predominate in the field of Human Resources is the Myers-Briggs, which categorises and classifies according to 16 personalities.
In both models, several investigations have been developed together with AI. Among them, with the Goldberg personality model, The University of South Australia conducted a study with Deep Learning in which they demonstrated that there was a relationship between eye movements and personality traits.
Also with the Myers-Briggs model, based on the personality theory of Carl Jung and his archetypes, they have shown that together with Deep Learning it is possible to know personality traits.
How can technology support traditional psychology models?
We are in times of an evolution of the analysis of traditional psychology, and although for the most orthodox psychologists it sounds very distant, the truth is that the field of personality psychology is taking its first steps. It is moving towards a new analysis, a new way of approaching this problem, creating new hypotheses about what has always been known along with advances in technology and society.
It is known that models such as the Big-Five and the Myers Briggs that exist today, among others, will maintain their relevance. However, new dimensions of constructions are coming to light when we talk about personality and technology. And the truth is that within the parameters of personality, both the most nomothetic theories (which seek to know the universal, the common, the shared to all people), and the most idiographic ones (their focus is the human being in particular, the individual and the unique) of personality, can support applications such as the design of intelligent systems and products that adapt to the individual.
Probably, our cognitive capacity and related constructs go beyond what we know so far. Perhaps, these constructs can be adapted to the interrelationship of the person with technology. It may be due to the exponential progress of Artificial Intelligence, as well as a greater availability of data about the individual.
“…knowing these categories could help us to adapt certain communication styles related to the person’s cognitive performance”
Is technology changing individuals’ personalities?
When we categorise with personality traits, we can predict people’s behaviour, but not in a deterministic way, as we have to take into consideration the difference between state and personality trait. Furthermore, knowing these categories could help us adapt certain communication styles related to the person’s cognitive performance, i.e. that the communication style can be adapted. Should we ask ourselves if technology is changing the individual’s personality? It is probably easy for traditional psychology to answer this question, but the truth is that the world is undergoing a strong change process and new concepts, new analyses and thus new hypotheses are emerging. Personality psychology must evolve to do it at the same time as society and thus contribute to it in an effective way.
At Erudit we want to help you taking care of your workers in these challenging times, monitoring their levels of motivation, burn out, stress and anxiety (without the need of applying a single survey) and finding ways to maintain a healthy and productive team of collaborators. | https://blog.erudit.ai/2020/09/24/can-artificial-intelligence-be-used-to-know-personality-traits/ |
to the next generation.
|Eukaryotic chromosomes contain numerous
replication origins, allowing for DNA synthesis to proceed
in parallel at many sites simultaneously. Each pair of
replication forks is referred to as a "replicon". Replicons
can be visualized as bubbles of replicated DNA that expand
in both directions. Eventually, all replicons merge into a
single large bubble, until replication terminates at the
telomeres.
|
The electron micrograph at right shows several replicons, each originating from a different origin (arrows).
Each replicon has two replication forks, moving in opposite directions. Ultimately, replication forks meet, until replication of each template strand is complete.
|
|
Displayed by hypertext link to http://bio3400.nicerweb.net/Locked/media/ch11/11_14-replication_bubbles.jpg
A series of experiments from Jack
Szostak's lab helped to define the critical components of
chromosomes. These experiments all had the same steps:
1. Transform yeast, deficient in Leucine production (Leu-) with an artificial construct
2. Isolate a colony on complete media (permissive conditions)
3. Grow in complete media for several generations
4. Transfer to minimal media without Leucine
5. Identify clones that grow without Leucine
|FUNCTIONAL
CHROMOSOMAL ELEMENTS: EXPERIMENT A - Origins of
Replication
|
If you transfect into yeast
a plasmid containing a selectable marker, in this case a
LEU gene (Leucine biosynthesis) into Leu-
yeast, the cells will not grow, even though you have
given them the correct gene. But if you randomly
clone yeast sequences into this same plasmid and
select on minimal media, you can recover a few clones
that are able to grow (ie. synthesize leucine).
The inserts contained in these surviving plasmids are
origins of replication, referred to in yeast as autonomously
replicating sequences (ARS).
|FUNCTIONAL
CHROMOSOMAL ELEMENTS: EXPERIMENT B - Centromeres
|
You might have noticed in the previous diagram that in the case of the ARS plasmid transformants, not all the daughter cells received the construct. Furthermore, in the absence of selection, even those cell lines may lose the construct. When yeast genomic DNA is randomly cloned into plasmids containing both a LEU gene and an ARS, some are stably inherited in the absence of selection. These plasmids happened to receive a fragment of DNA containing a centromere.
|Centromeres are sequences of DNA to which the
kinetochore proteins attach, and therefore to which spindle
fibres attach during mitosis. Without a centromere, the
construct has no guarantee of being passed on to both
daughter cells during cell division. They tend to include
repetitive sequences (satellite DNA), and also to not have
many nucleosomes. Presumably, that is to make spindle fibre
attachment during mitosis easier.
|
Detail of a positive staining centromere region of a C-banded human chromosome. (C banding preferentially stains constitutive heterochromatin). The fibrous organization of this region is still apparent but is either covered by, or embedded in, an amorphous matrix. Magnification x 64,000. Chromosomes and Chromatin, Vol. II (1988) Ed. K.W.Adolph. CRC Press. Fig. 14 pg. 67
|FUNCTIONAL
CHROMOSOMAL ELEMENTS: EXPERIMENT C - Telomeres
|
In the first two experiments, the researchers created what are now known as Yeast Artificial Chromosomes (YACs). Up to now, we've been getting away with creating artificial chromosomes by making them circular. In yeast, they function as completely independent chromosomes. But eukaryotic chromosomes are linear, and Experiment C below illustrates that linear chromosomes can't normally replicate without telomeres at each end.
Why is that? What function do telomeres serve that make them so necessary for linear chromosomes?
|The basic problem with linear chromosomes are the ends - specifically, the 5' ends of a new strand. DNA polymerases can synthesize from 5' to 3' only. While the leading strand can read right to the end of the template, the lagging strand cannot. What ends up happening is this:||Parent strands are in dark blue.
|
As you can see, the 5' ends of the daughter strands are short.
Now, for one replication, this might not matter so much. The
daughter cells would lose some DNA off the chromosome ends, but
not too much. Probably, function would not be affected. But what
happens in the next division, and the next? More and more DNA is
lost and the chance of losing part of an important gene is much
more likely. Put this way, a species with linear
chromosomes and without telomeres is unlikely to survive for more
than a few generations.
Circular chromosomes satisfy the requirement that there
must be an upstream DNA polymerase complex to remove RNA primers
and fill in gaps.
IN-CLASS EXERCISE: LINEAR AND CIRCULAR REPLICATION
Linear molecules will always have an unfilled gap upstream from the origin of replication closest to each end of the chromosome. Since this unfilled gap will always be a 3' protruding end, there is no way for DNA polymerase to "fill it in". Given that eukaryotes evolved so long ago, there must be a mechanism for dealing with this problem.
That solution is the telomere. Telomeric
sequences are composed of repeated motifs and extend the linear
eukaryotic chromosome. Think of telomeric sequences like a buffer
for loss of sequence. As long as you add roughly as many
nucleotides to the ends of chromosomes as they lose during each
round of DNA replication, there is no net loss of DNA at the ends.
Telomeric sequence data was first obtained in Tetrahymena
thermophilus, a cilliated protozoan. Tetrahymena
has two separate nuclei, a germinal micronucleus, which carries a
diploid complement of chromosomes, and a somatic macronucleus, in
which particular chromosomes or parts of chromosomes are present
in very high copy numbers. The rDNA genes are present on separate
chromosomes with about 104 copies. Because the rDNA
genes are located near the ends of the chromosomes, it was
therefore possible to directly sequence the termini of chromosomal
DNA using rDNA-specific primers. These studies revealed that
individual rDNA termini carry a variable number (~120-420bps) of C4A2/T2G4
repeats.
Other examples:These telomeric sequences are oriented so that the C-rich strand always runs 5'-->3' from the end towards the interior of the chromosome. In some cases, there are nicks, or gaps in the C-rich strand.
Oxytricha C4A4
Saccharomyces C2-3A(CA)1-3
Dictyostelium C1-8T
H. sapiens CCCTAA
Example: Oxytricha (ciliated protozoan):
end of chromosome to centromere -->
5' C4A4C4A4C4----------------------.....
3' OH-G4T4G4T4G4T4G4T4G4----------------------.....
Telomeres actually have two functions:
|Flourescent-labeled
DNA fragments containing telomeric sequences were
hybridized to metaphase chromosomes. Telomeric probe is
visualized in white. Chromosomal DNA is counterstained
with DAPI (blue).
|
Image displayed by hypertext link to The New Genetics, Chapter 2
RNA and DNA Revealed: New Roles, New Rules
Natl. Inst. of General Medical Science
http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/thenewgenetics/images/ch2_telomere.jpg
Telomeres prevent degradation, repair and recombination of chromosome ends
The overhang ends are still a problem, though. Typically, the end
of a linear DNA molecule would be recognized as a damaged piece of
DNA and "repaired", resulting in loss of sequence from the ends of
chromosomes, or fusion with other double-stranded DNAs. Eukaryotic
cells have mechanisms for protecting chromosome ends from repair
enzymes, which vary among eukaryotes. For example, telomeres of
ciliates and fungi are protected by telomere binding proteins
which effectively hide the telomeres from repair machinery.
|Mammals have a more elaborate D-loop structure, in which the double-stranded telomere DNA opens up to form a single-stranded D-loop (or T-Loop). The 3' protruding end can loop back to form a T-loop. The end of the T-loop can base pair with internal repeat units by non-Watson-Crick base pairing. The D-loop is maintained through additional proteins that bind both the T-loop and the D-loop seen in the figure.|
Telomerases carry a small RNA molecule which
acts as a template for elongation of telomeric repeats.
|Functionally,
the telomere is a 3' protruding end which can not be
elongated by DNA polymerase. Telomere terminal transferase
(telomerase) allows the telomere to function as a 3'
recessed end in the following way: The telomerase enzyme
carries an RNA molecule (blue) whose sequence is the
complement of the telomeric repeat. When the telomere (red) base pairs with this RNA,
the 5' end of the RNA extends beyond the end of the
telomere. This allows the RNA to act as template for
the addition of nucleotides (green)to
the telomeric 3' end, which acts as a primer. In the
example, an RNA template with the sequence 5'(ccccaaaa)n3'
codes for the actual telomeric repeat 5'(ttttgggg)n3'.
|
So, by extending the 3' ends of linear chromosomes with each round of DNA synthesis, telomerase provides a longer template for the lagging strand, which offsets the inevitable loss of DNA from the ends.
Is telomerase active in somatic cells? As it turns out, the answer depends on species is being observed, and stage of development. Below is an incomplete list of organisms along with telomerase activity in their somatic cells. Clearly there is much variation between eukaryotes when it comes to somatic telomerase activity.
|Is telomerase active in
somatic cells?
|
Unicellular eukaryotes - Telomerase is required in each cell division to maintain telomere length
Humans1 - Telomerase activity is usually only seen in stem cells or germline cells, and telomerase activity is usually not found in somatic cells. It is hypothesized that because of the long human lifespan, somatic suppression of telomerase activity occurs as a check on cell proliferation, which could otherwise result in cancer. This is not a perfect control, because ultimately as telomeres are lost, oncogenes near the telomeres begin to be lost as well, resulting in cancer.
Mice1 - Telomerase activity is often found in somatic cells in mice. This observation makes sense in contrast to the lack of telomerase activity in human somatic cells, because mice have very short life spans, and therefore would have less need for suppressing telomerase activity as a way of suppressing cancer.
Drosophila3 - doesn't use traditional short telomeric repeats elongated by telomerase. Instead, two retrotransposons, HeT-A and TART transpose specifically to chromosome ends, elongating the array of transposon repeats at the telomeres. (Weird or what?)
Tobacco2 - High levels of telomerase activity was seen in actively dividing cells (roots and flowers), with low levels of activity in stems, and no detectable activity in mature leaves. This is consistent with the hypothesis that telomerase activity is needed in rapidly dividing tissues.
1 Wong JMY and Collins K (2003) Telomere maintanence and disease. The Lancet 362:983-988.
2 Yang SW, Jin ES, Chung IK, Kim WT (2001) Expression of telomerase activity is closely correlated with the capacity for cell division in tobacco plants. J. Plant Biol. 44:168.
3 Danilevskaya ON, Traverse KL, Hogan NC, DeBaryshe GP and Pardue ML (1999) The two Drosophila telomeric transposable elements have very different patterns of transcription. Mol. Cell. Biol. 19:873-881.
Hinnebusch J, Tilly K (1993)
Linear plasmids and chromosomes in bacteria. Mol. Microbiol.
10:917-922
Volff J-N, Altenbuchner J
(2000) A new beginning with new ends: linearisation of
circular chromosomes during bacterial evolution. FEMS Microbiology
Letters 186:143-150.
Surprising, right? Why are we talking about prokaryotes - don't
they have circular chromosomes and therefore have no need for
telomeres? In biology, every rule has exceptions. There are a
number of cases in which prokaryotes have either linear
chromosomes, or linear plasmids. One well-known
example is bacteriophage Lambda, which is linear in its
encapsidated form, but circularizes, by annealing of its "sticky
ends", prior to replication as a circular molecule. However, there
are now many examples of linear chromosomes and plasmids,
including the spirochete Borrelia, the actinomycete Streptomyces,
and the plant pathogen Agrobacterium.
see Figure 1 from Volff and
Altenbucher, 2000.
https://academic-oup-com.uml.idm.oclc.org/view-large/figure/93321786/FML_143_f1.jpeg
While linear chromosomes or plasmids are rare amongst prokaryotes, their occurence in widely diverse species suggests that linearity has arisen independently numerous times over the course of microbial evolution. Two common schemes have been seen for linear chromosome replication: hairpins and invertrons. | https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~frist/PLNT3140/l12/l12.html |
This Website documents the KIV solutions of the VerifyThis Competition held at ETAPS 2021 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg (virtual event). All proofs for challenge 2 were done during the competition, the solutions for challenges 1 and 3 were completed after the event.
KIV-Projects always link to an overview which gives the dependency graph of specifications. Clicking on one specification gives its text, and links to a theorem base summary (which lists names of theorems) and a theorem base listing (which shows the full sequent for each theorem). From there individual theorems and the full details of each proof are accessible.
Challenge 1 (Challenge 1 - Lexicographic Permutations ⤓ (PDF)) provided a code snippet to be verified for generating all permutations of the elements of a array. It should be shown that the permutations are created completely and in lexicographic order (besides properties like termination and bounds checking). For this, we defined a lexicographic ordering on such arrays in our main specification challenge1. These are based on the oarray-sort specification from our library, so on the one hand we could fall back on predicates for sorted arrays as well as a predicate "perm" from specifiaction list-perm, which states whether 2 lists are permutations of each other. This was possible because the used arrays were based upon a list definition as seen in the Project Overview. Furthermore, we specified for permutations what it means to be a "next" permutation in the lexical order and to be the "last", i.e. maximal one. Thus, corresponding postconditions for the routine next# could be formulated. To show completeness, we introduced a predicate "min" describing what is a smallest permutation with respect to the lexicographic order.
The main proof obligation is permut-correct for routine permut# and next-proper-permutation for next#. All loop invariants and terms for termination are placed into the code of the routines.
A challenge for proofing next# was to show that the resulting array is indeed a next permutation. An important lemma is that the problem whether the output is the next permutation to the input can be reduced to the longest different suffix, i.e. a common prefix can be neglected. Finally, 3 main cases are distinguished, how a possible permutation P could look like, so that it would be between the suffix of input and output (in the following referred to as I and O):
The task definition can be downloaded from ETH Zürich: Challenge 2 - DLL to BST ⤓ (PDF)
We were able to solve all tasks of Challenge 2 during the competition because we could use our library for Separation Logic as seen in the Project Overview.
Here the heap is defined as an algebraic data type over references
r and objects
o with operations for allocation (
h ++ r), deallocation (
h -- r), and reading or updating objects at certain locations (
h[r] or
h[r, o] resp.).
The specification heap-sep defines the common Separation Logic operators like the separating conjunction or the separating implication as higher order predcicates over the heap.
The library also provides a heap-based definition of binary trees using generic nodes with left and right pointers.
We reused these nodes for our definition of doubly-linked lists.
The predicate
dll(r, x)(h) abstracts the content of a heap
h to an algebraic list
x starting from reference
r.
An auxiliary predicate
dlls(r, r0, r1, x)(h) is used to describe list segments in the heap, the references
r0 and
r1 point to the nodes to the left and right of the segment.
Thus,
dlls(r, null, null, x) is equivalent to
dlls(r, x).
Having abstractions of the heap content to algebraic lists and to algebraic trees allows to formulate the required properties using these algebraic data types.
The specification linked-tree-list defines the predicates
ordered≤(t) and
balanced(t) that in combination ensure that the algebraic tree
t is a balanced search tree.
An additional function
t.toList calculates a algebraic list for a tree
t that contains the same elements as
t and maintains the order of
t.
The algorithm for the construction of the binary search tree is implemented in the specification DLL2BST with the procedure
dll_to_bst#.
The auxiliary procedures
size# and
dll_to_bst_rec# are implemented in this specification as well.
Note that we used natural numbers instead of integers in the declarations since negative values are not relevant for the task.
First, we proved the correctness of the
size# procedure with the lemma dll-size-correct which states that if we have a valid doubly-linked list in the heap representing an algebraic list
x, the result in
count is the length
# x of the list.
The proof is by induction over the length of the list and was straightforward, however it was necessary to generalize the lemma by allowing a list segment separated from an arbitrary heap predicate
hP.
The main effort was to prove the contract for
dll_to_bst_rec#.
We have to ensure that, given a valid list segment
x in the heap, the execution of
dll_to_bst_rec# yields a heap that contains the list segment
x without its first
n elements (
restn(n, x)) and a balanced tree t containing the first n elements of
x (
t.toList = firstn(n, x)).
The contract can be proven by induction over
n, which again requires generalization to a heap with an additional separated heap predicate
hP.
After applying the induction hypothesis for both recursive calls it remains mainly to show that both subtrees and the new root node form a combined tree, see goal.
... (right0 => mknode(left0, b, root0) * tr(left0, t) * tr(root0, t0) * ...)(h2) ... ⊦ ∃ t. (tr(right0, t) * ...)(h2) ...This is done with a few interactions by choosing the algebraic tree
mkbranch(t, b, t0)for
tand applying some lemmas from the Separation Logic library. The balanced and same-elements properties for the combined tree are proven automatically using lemmas from linked-tree-list.
Finally, the main proof obligation dll_to_bst_correct can be proven by simply applying the contracts of the two auxiliary procedures:
dll(head, x)(h), ordered≤(x) ⊦ ⦉dll_to_bst#(head; h; root)⦊ ∃ t. tr(root, t)(h) ∧ t.toList = x ∧ ordered≤(t) ∧ balanced(t)Note that we did not have to prove in dll_to_bst_rec_correct that the resulting tree is
ordered≤. Instead,
ordered≤(t)follows directly from
ordered≤(x)and
t.toList = x(see this lemma).
We also solved the additional task and implemented an iterative version of
size#:
size_iter#.
The correctness proof dll-size-iter-correct could be performed analogously using induction over the length of the list and the correctness of the corresponding main procedure
dll_to_bst_iter# is again proven by using the contracts dll-size-iter-correct and dll_to_bst_rec_correct, see dll_to_bst_iter_correct.
A description of the callenge can be found at: Challenge 3 - ShearSort ⤓ (PDF) (external link to ETH Zürich)A sequential version of this challenge (with an optimization) was solved offline. (Update: an extension to a concurrent version is now available too). To find a solution two steps are crucial: First it is necessary to find out, how the 0-1-Principle must be applied to an algorithm. This is done by fixing an arbitrary element i and marking all elements as 0/1 that are less/greater or equal than i. Second the crucial argument, why one row- and then column sort halves the number of dirty rows must be understood and then formalized. Our formalization (see this link for an overview) uses the following main specifications and predicates:
|[Hagerup16]|| T. Hagerup
|
Course notes: Introduction to Parallel Algorithms
Used basic libraries:
Back to the overview of all KIV projects.
For general informations on KIV and a download site for the whole system refer to this page. | https://kiv.isse.de/projects/v9/VerifyThis2021/ |
And while Said's particular concerns revolve around a certain manifestation of this American penchant, namely what he calls "formulas of what not to do and read and what to consider culture and what not", I will be using it as a starting point for voicing another more general concern, in which the American society is but another society, albeit a one in which the symptoms are more apparent: the human tendency to seek an understanding of what is going on around.
One might be wondering, understandably, what can be of concern here. That will be got into in a bit, but at this point it is most appropriate to introduce the two concepts of Confirmation Bias (which belongs to a larger family of biases termed Cognitive Biases) and Cognitive Dissonance. The former describes the human tendency to seek what affirms one's narratives and views on life, and to ignore what does not, while the latter refers to a feeling of pain caused by holding contradicting ideas in the mind at the same moment.
By the mere act of evocation, a connection between the two phenomena is established, which is best viewed within an evolutionary framework. The human brain, it has been frequently shown, is more of a haphazard collection of heuristics and biases selected for optimal operation in a Savannah like environment, than a centralized logical inference machine designed to deal with the contemporary sweeping pour of data and information insulting its sensory receptors. From this chaotic brain constitution, what had been previously called a natural affinity for narrative construction arises.
The brain handles this aforementioned besiegement by the flux of information through constructing narratives (generalizations and chains of causality, which are not necessarily true), assessing these information against its own narratives, neglecting what do not get along (Confirmation Bias), but if the contradiction was intractable by means of ignoring, then Cognitive Dissonance ensues until the narrative is amended to accommodate or resolve the conflict.
This is a very simplified explanation of how a human brain perceives the world around it, but a one from which serious consequences flow. Most of the time what we perceive as reality is nothing more than a way for our brains to sift through and retain select parts of the world external to the senses.
That said, it does not mean that our understanding of the globe is flawed beyond redemption, but rather that we should always be critical of our own views and narratives as much as we can, challenging them on every possible occasion presented, reviewing our collective and personal pasts constantly and never committing ourselves to any idea or ideology, let alone venerating them.
Failing to do so, history has taught us by countless examples, is a menace, and no where this menace is capable of reaching devastating potentials than through the political agency and its sphere, both of which, alas, have been resting on nonsensical commitments and the emotional mobilization of masses ever since the first polis was formed! | http://www.haithamsaerie.net/2011/05/dont-listen-to-mama-be-iconoclast.html |
In recent weeks, I’ve talked with quite a few colleagues–faculty (full-time and part-time) and graduate students–who were nervous about teaching their first class, or their first class on this campus, the first session of a new course, or a new group of students. This concoction of stage fright, imposter syndrome, natural uncertainty about anything new, the preparations of an introvert in an extrovert’s role, and who knows what else is just one of the many types of anxiety experienced by those of us in higher education. We can count on this situational stress at least twice a year, but admittedly it’s one of our mildest sources of stress.
UCLA gives us good data on the amount and sources of stress for faculty, thanks to their Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) national survey conducted every three years. The most recent survey (conducted 2010-11, published fall 2012) reveals some of the highest and most constant sources of stress (“self-imposed high expectations” and “lack of personal time”) and a few that are consequences of the recent economic difficulties (“institutional budget cuts,” spiking especially for public institutions) (Hurtado, et al., 2012, p. 3). The details of the results are fascinating to parse,* but for now let’s acknowledge “it’s clear that faculty members have plenty that they worry about” (Jaschik, 2012)–evident both in the degree of stress they experience and the sources of that stress.**
I could cite any number of studies documenting the stress-reducing effects of mindfulness, but I’ll focus on just part of one that I especially like. Shapiro, Astin, Bishop, and Cordova (2005) looked at health care professionals—known for experiencing high levels of stress accompanied by depression and decreased job satisfaction—after an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction (MBSR) program. A variety of measures were given after the program, but here I’ll focus on just a few of their findings.
- 88% of the participants reported significantly decreased perceptions of their stress, averaging a decrease by 27%, while the control group drawn from the MBSR waiting list dropped by only 7% (p. 170).
- The participants also reported a sharper drop in job burnout (10% to the control’s 4%) and a greater satisfaction with life (19% to the control’s 0%).
The majority of mindfulness studies follow these multi-week MBSR courses, originally developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and typically involving guided instruction, group discussion, and home practice assignments. If you can’t sign up for one of these programs (here’s one in Nashville), don’t do nothing. Do what you can. Take UCLA’s six-week, self-paced online mindfulness course ($165). Find some of the curriculum (pieces $20-$40). Listen to UCLA’s guided mindfulness meditation podcasts (free). Use a mindfulness app on your smart phone (free to $1.99 to $17/year; I use the second one). Return to the practices you’re learning here (“simply breathing,” “the easy way & the easier way,” “the snow globe,” “the vagus nerve,” and onward). Two minutes a day.
Practice
This week’s practice, like last week’s, gives you something to exercise your attention. The vagus nerve connects your brain to your heart and all other major organs. Neurobiology tells us that specific kinds of breaths stimulate the vagus nerve to trigger the release of a neurotransmitter–“literally a tranquilizer that you can self-administer” to slows down your heart rate and blood pressure (Bergland, 2013). What are these magic breaths? Simple: “a few deep breaths with long exhales.” That’s it.
So here’s a portable, brief, easy practice for the next time you feel stressed.
- Wherever you are, no matter what you’re doing, take a few slow, deep breaths, and take a bit longer with your exhale.
- Visualize your vagus nerve, wandering from your brain throughout your body, to your heart–and to the butterflies in your stomach.
- If your mind wanders, simply notice that wandering and then bring it back to your vagus nerve, or your breath.
- Take another slow, deep breath with a longer exhale. Trust that this nerve is giving you a soothing tranquilizer with each of these breaths.
- Bring your attention to each breath, and then the path of this nerve.
You can take this one with you anywhere, anytime, in a crowd or in private, as you experience any of the common faculty stressors, including those reliable beginning-of-semester teaching anxieties.
—
* The study breaks down the reports of stress by institution type (those at public institutions are more stressed than those at private institutions), gender (women are more stressed than men), and race (Black faculty are the most stressed, significantly more so than the next groups [Latino/a, American Indian, Asian, and Multiracial/Multiethnic], with Whites reporting the least stress).
** I don’t find the popular comparisons of stress between professions useful (like this one on the most stressful jobs and this one on the least; Adams, 2013b, 2013a). Yes, there are plenty of careers that are more stressful than ours, for a lot of reasons, but I’m most interested in how we experience stress, and we don’t experience it comparatively. Knowing that someone else is more stressed than you doesn’t make you feel any less stressed.
—
References
Adams, Susan. (2013b, Jan. 3). The Least Stressful Jobs of 2013. Forbes.
–. (2013a, Jan. 3). The Most Stressful Jobs of 2013. Forbes.
Bergland, Christopher. (2013, Feb 2). “The Neurobiology of Grace Under Pressure.” Psychology Today: The Athlete’s Way.
Dembling, Sophia. (2013, July 9). “The Best Job for Introverts Is No Job (In Particular).” The Introvert’s Corner. Psychology Today.
Hurtado, Sylvia, Eagan, Kevin, Prior, John H., Whang, Hannah, & Tran, Serge. (2012). Undergraduate Teaching Faculty: The 2010-2011 Faculty Survey. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.
Jaschik, Scott. (2012, Oct 24). “Teaching, Stress, Adjuncts.” Inside Higher Ed.
Kreuter, Nate. (2012, Aug 20). “Walk Like a Duck.” Inside Higher Ed.
Shapiro, Shauna L., Astin, John A., Bishop, Scott R., & Cordova, Matthew. (2005). “Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Health Care Professionals: Results from a Randomized Trial.” International Journal of Stress Management 12.2 164-176. | https://my.vanderbilt.edu/themindfulphd/2013/09/reducing-stress/ |
The Hoosier Hospitality program, organized by International Student Affairs (ISA), connects international students with host families in Greencastle to promote cross-cultural exchange. This annual program pairs international students with families residing in Greencastle or surrounding areas in Indiana. Most of the applicants are first-year students because this program is meant to help with their cultural adjustment and build a supportive network in the new environment. Although the program only lasts one academic year, the actual time commitment depends mostly on the relationship of the host families with international students.
Miho Kato ‘26 said, “I'm glad to join this program. Although I didn't experience American culture with them, I hope we will experience it later. Besides, my Japanese friend is also in the same host family as me, so it becomes easier to exchange our culture for my host family. Not only sharing culture but also talking about DePauw's life is one of the things I love to do with my host family group.”
On Oct. 4, ISA hosted an initial meeting for international students with their matched host families in the Wallace-Steward Commons room in Hoover Hall, where they had their first conversations to learn more about each other. As they introduced themselves and exchanged personal stories, they also planned for their next meetings that were suitable for both students and host families.
While the program is a fantastic opportunity for local families to foster intercultural awareness, international students also get a deeper understanding and experience of American culture and food. Some host families would invite students to come to their houses for dinner or visit attractions such as the Newfields art museum in Indianapolis. The meetings, however, greatly depend on the preference of the host families and students; some families may meet more often than others, while some families meet during a long break.
First-year Anna Tran also had a positive experience through this program. “I really appreciate the meaningness of this program, it not only helps me adapt to the American culture but also develops my relationship,” Tran said.
Tracy Bui ‘26 excitedly shared a story about her meeting with her host family on Oct. 29 when the host family invited her and several friends to come over to their house for a bonfire. “This is the first time that I have eaten barbecue and made a campfire with marshmallows, it was so exciting. My host family is very caring and nice, they also invite me to come over during Thanksgiving,” Bui said. “I am so excited to know more about American culture and holidays, especially Thanksgiving because my country doesn’t have this holiday.”
With the diversity of the international students, they also exchange their culture with their host families, further fostering cultural connections from all over the world. | https://thedepauw.com/cross-cultural-exchange-through-the-hoosier-hospitality-program-2/ |
New ‘Viking Compass’ Webpage Outlines ECSU’s Fall 2020 Return to Campus Health and Safety Guidelines
As Elizabeth City State University prepares to return to campus in August, the university has launched a webpage and safety campaign that provides students, faculty and staff with all of the necessary information to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dubbed “Viking Compass,” the campaign and website will provide academic calendar information as well as safety measures that include social distancing guidelines, personal hygiene methods, and personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines.
“The safety and health of our campus community is our number one priority,” said Chancellor Karrie G. Dixon. “The Viking Compass campaign is the result of many hours of preparation by staff to prepare the Viking community for a safe return to campus for the fall 2020 semester.”
ECSU staff and faculty have been working to make necessary adjustments and modifications to ensure the safety and well-being of the campus community. One of those adjustments is a new academic calendar for fall semester.
The Aug. 11 start date is one week earlier than the original date. Combined with the elimination of fall break and the Labor Day and Veterans Day holidays from the academic calendar, these adjustments will allow the university to end fall semester before Thanksgiving.
Students will have an extended winter break before they return to campus in January for the spring 2021 semester. For employees, the university will observe Labor Day on Dec. 23 and Veterans Day on Dec. 28.
Aside from the adjusted fall 2020 academic calendar, the Viking Compass webpage will include all the information necessary for students to have a successful fall semester, such as:
- Community Standards to Protect You: Outlines a set of new campus health and safety guidelines and expectations that will keep all Vikings safe this fall.
- Academic Instruction & Related Services: Shares important academic information about the start and end of the fall semester, instruction, and other key related information.
- Returning to the Workplace: Provides the university’s strategy for campus operations.
- Enhanced Campus Cleaning: Describes our commitment to an increased focus on campus cleaning and disinfectant resources Vikings will have at their disposal this fall.
- Residential Housing and Dining:Explains the impact to dining operations and gives important information for moving into the residence halls at the beginning of the semester.
- Student Experience and Services: Communicates how to access key student services and our strategy for providing an effective student experience this fall.
- Self-Health Monitoring, Testing, & Contact Tracing: Illustrates the protocols for self-health monitoring, efforts around university testing, and contact tracing protocols.
- Quarantine Procedures: Gives insight into the university’s procedures, based on CDC guidelines, if an employee or student experiences a COVID-19 health concern.
The webpage will also feature updates as they are made available. To view the page, go HERE.
In addition to the Viking Compass webpage, informational signs, posters and flyers will be posted throughout the campus, identified by the newly designed Viking Compass logo. | https://newsroom.ecsu.edu/new-viking-compass-webpage-outlines-ecsus-fall-2020-return-to-campus-health-and-safety-guidelines/ |
Updated March 24 at 12 p.m.
The Town Crier will update this story and our lists of Los Altos and Mountain View businesses and their operating status as we find out more information.
We have added a handful of new restaurants since the original article ran. We have also included additional services being offered by previously mentioned eateries.
The Town Crier is checking in on businesses across town impacted by the county's shelter-in-place order announced Monday (March 16) due to the novel coronavirus. This is the second part of the series; it focuses on restaurants.
Data collected by the Town Crier shows that most restaurants in Los Altos remain open — just not in the ways many of them envisioned.
However, seven downtown eateries have shut down for now: Amandine, Aldo Los Altos, Bluestone Lane, Bumble, Fiesta Vallarta, Sweet Diplomacy and Tre Monti.
Fiesta Vallarta on State Street has no signs posted about being closed, but the restaurant was dark Wednesday afternoon (March 18). The restaurant's website and Facebook page did not reveal anything, either. As of March 24, the website had been taken down.
A call to Aldo Los Altos this week went to voicemail: “Thanks for the love and support during this crazy time we are all enduring,” the voice on the message said. “In light of the current situation with COVID-19, we are forced to close for the next few weeks. We hope to see you in April.”
An Italian by birth, Tre Monti owner and chef Mattia Galiano watched his country suffer from the virus before it exploded in the United States. Before the six-county order to shelter in place was issued this week, he shut down his Main Street restaurant, Los Altos Chamber of Commerce president Kim Mosley told the Los Altos City Council at its special meeting March 17.
Bumble’s website reflects that the owners chose to shut down on March 14, prior to the shelter in place order. Amandine closed following the order, and on its Facebook page has posted its Apple Music playlist that often plays through the bar.
“Please enjoy our playlist as you wash your hands and sanitize all surfaces,” the bar’s team jokes.
Sweet Diplomacy owner Melody Hu posted an emotional tribute to her shop’s closure on Instagram, describing the decision as difficult. Technically, because Sweet Diplomacy sells food and drinks, it could be considered an essential service allowed to operate during the order.
“I think of our team, I want to keep them on the payroll, God knows that's important for many. But then I think of them and their families and friends, I think of every friendly face we see, many came to support us in the past few days,” Hu wrote. “Today I can make a decision that will have an impact tomorrow. We will close all operations until a brighter day.”
To-go/takeout only
Other local restaurants are trying to make a go of it during uncertain times.
Rustic House Oyster Bar & Grill is only providing to-go service at this time, and from a reduced takeout menu. The Main Street restaurant is offering free cheesy garlic bread with every phone or online order. Servers will deliver orders to customers' cars.
Dittmer’s Gourmet Meat & Wurst-Haus on El Camino Real alerted regulars through Facebook that its sandwich bar is closed for safety purposes and store hours have been reduced to 9-4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays this month.
Cetrella has changed its hours of operation to 4-7 p.m. daily, offering a takeout service for dinner only. Customers can call the First Street restaurant to place an order for scheduled pickup. Dedicated spots behind the restaurant are available for curbside hand-off. Gift cards to the restaurant are available.
Pompeii co-owner Norma Gutierrez said March 17 she had been working with the restaurant’s website designer all day trying to get online payments up to date so that in the coming days, people could order online from a limited menu. Until that’s up and running, patrons are welcome to give their credit card information over the phone or pay when the server brings the check out to the car upon arrival.
Hours for service at the State Street eatery are still being determined — the owners are weighing either a noon to 8 p.m. schedule or only during their peak hours in that window — so they advise customers to call ahead. Gutierrez has placed tables between the host stand and the entry to ensure social distancing.
Sumika, a Japanese restaurant on State Street, is cooking food for takeout for short time during its typical restaurant hours, according to its Instagram.
“If you want to stay safe but also still want your Oyako dons and kushiyaki, we’ve got you covered!” the post reads. “Stay safe and wash your hands!”
Urfa Bistro owner Zubi Dugyu said that at least for the next few weeks, the Meditteranean restaurant will function as takeout only. He and his staff will be in the restaurant 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. to take phone orders. The menu will be limited for now, Dugyu said. Customers can also get the food delivered through the DoorDash and GrubHub apps.
Akane Japanese Restaurant on Third Street is only open for takeout orders until further notice, management said on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Orders can be placed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:30-7:30 p.m.
Red Berry Coffee Bar on Main Street remains open but only for takeout 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, according to the coffee shop’s Instagram page.
Los Altos Grill on Third Street is solely offering takeout, encouraging patrons to “enjoy a meal from them at home.” A ChowNow link is being created for the restaurant’s regulars.
State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria March 15 officially switched to takeout only. The restaurant’s new hours are 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, an attempt to “do their best to stay open for employees and the community,” said chef and co-owner Lars Smith.
Pickup and delivery
Opa! Los Altos offers curbside pickup at its Main Street location through its website and delivery through the DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats apps.
Teaspoon Los Altos is facilitating to-go orders at its El Camino Real shop, and its offerings are available for delivery on the DoorDash and UberEats apps through the “temporary shelter in place,” according to its Instagram page.
American Italian Delicatessen offers takeout and delivery at its Main Street shop 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. Orders can be placed by calling the deli.
In addition to its delivery option through DoorDash, LeBoulanger on Main Street is serves takeout to those willing to order online 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
For a limited time, Chef Chu is offering curbside pickup in addition to delivery through DoorDash, Postmates and Grubhub. The service, which debuted March 18, dedicates five spots in the back of the restaurant at San Antonio and El Camino Real for customers to park in after ordering ahead. Servers bring the food straight from the kitchen to the customer, mindful that it is one less point of contact than delivery.
Armadillo Willy’s can be picked up curbside from its North San Antonio Road restaurant or ordered through the DoorDash and Caviar delivery apps. Beer and wine are available for pick up as well.
La Scala owner Jan Unlu told the Town Crier that as of March 17, his Italian restaurant on First Street is offering both curbside pickup and delivery services, and hopes to install a drive-up window so that people can remain in their cars.
“We have the space,” Unlu said.
For now, customers will need to call to order and then pick up their food.
Lulu’s on Main Street isoffering its Mexican Food via carryout and delivery, according to a post on the chain’s social channels March 17. Lulu’s is also on DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats.
Tin Pot Creamery on First Street serves its treats 1-7 p.m., but only through pickup and delivery orders on DoorDash. The shop continues to offer nationwide shipping, the ice cream shop's representatives announced on Instagram last week.
The Post’s Vickie Breslin told the Town Crier after the original publication of this article that the restaurant has added a small takeout and delivery service on top of its normal curbside pickup. Patrons can select cocktail kits, draft beers and bottles of wine on Breslin's website to accompany their entrees. The Post is offering gift certificate sales, 50% of which will go to helping her staff bounce back. Breslin gave her staff care packages after the dining room closed Sunday (March 15).
Related: Los Altos Chamber: Let’s all help to support our local restaurants
Mountain View Chamber: Restaurants are open and need your support | https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/coronavirus/62162-los-altos-restaurants-take-different-approaches-to-stay-in-business-in-wake-of-region-wide-order |
Chichen Itza - El Castillo
Edit: Well. It only took me four years to actually get back to this.
I have started this mega project again. Working on it in my after hours, so it is a lot slower than I would like. I am starting by replacing the original model with something more useful.
Here is the link to this model in sketchfab
https://skfb.ly/orsuM
As you can see I have taken some liberties with it.
I have never been to Chichen Itza and the reference photos I found
are misssing some details I was looking for.
End of Edit.
3 Years ago I built the city of Chichen Itza, I was in my early stages of 3D modeling and I was using Blender, though the project was finished the buildings suck and were not properly constructed. Each Model had an insane amounts of unnecessary materials and polygons that would make a professional cringe.
Fast forward to today, I have been doing tutorials, practicing, reading constructing in order to become better at what I do and although there is still a lot that I don't know, I can say that I have learned at least on thing or two.
This, is El Castillo, it is the first building of my reconstruction of Chichen Itza, I felt that with the old project I didn't do justice to this amazing city and I am here to correct my mistakes from the past.
The pyramid is constructed as a separate piece from the temple, so that you can use them indepently if you like.
If anyone has an issue with it, I ask you to kindly let me know, I will try my best to correct it, also, this is work in progress, so expect updates and finishing touches to come in a couple weeks.
It is uv unwrapped as best as I could, just give it a tiling texture and it should be fine. I recomend 1024 x 1024 textures. | https://opengameart.org/content/chichen-itza-el-castillo |
Employing 3D virtual reality games to develop ANN for device control: a pilot study.
Non-immersive virtual reality (VR) game scenarios were developed to aid in the collection of EMG parameters from the biceps and triceps while subjects performed a sequenced series of tasks in the virtual environment. For each subject the best ANN configuration (combination of hidden layers and transfer functions) was chosen, with the resulting optimized algorithms used to classify the sequence of contractions and the function type of the subjects while playing new game scenarios. The wide variety of individually configured ANN developed show why it is difficult to train new users of myoelectric devices with a single algorithm. The use of VR-based games shows promise as a training technique for individuals needing to develop control for prosthetic limbs.
| |
Color temperature is a convenient shorthand way of describing the color rendition capabilities of visible light that has blackbody temperature profiles, such as sunlight, candlelight, filament lamps, etc.
All objects that are hotter than absolute zero
The emissivity of an object is the ratio of how much heat the object can emit as radiation, as explained in Solar Reflectance and Material Emissivity.
Objects store heat as molecular vibrations. The molecules of objects stop vibrating at absolute zero. At temperatures greater than absolute zero, molecules vibrate and emit electromagnetic radiation.
A blackbody is an object, made of any material, with any shape, that has full (100%) emissivity. It has been discovered theoretically that such objects have a particular profile of how much of each wavelength of light will be contained in their electromagnetic (EM) radiation.
Such an object, called a blackbody, does not quite exist, but objects that come close to having perfect emissivity do actually emit radiation as if a blackbody.
The blackbody radiation of an object only depends on the temperature of the object (and on the object having full emissivity).
All objects with very high emissivity, at a given temperature, will convert heat to radiation emission of a predictable output per wavelength at that temperature, as if a blackbody, according to Plancks Law.
The peak wavelength of the radiation can be calculated with Wiens Displacement Law:
λpeak = (∼2897.772) / T
where λ is the wavelength in micrometers (µm) and T is the temperature in kelvins.
One kelvin equals 1° on the Celsius (Centigrade) scale. The only difference between Kelvin and Celsius is that Kelvin has its zero point at absolute zero
The color temperature of a light source describes its profile of wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. Emissions in nonvisible wavelengths are not accounted for in color temperature.
A light source with color temperature greater than sunlight will have more blue and violet wavelengths.
A light source with color temperature lower than sunlight will have more yellow and red wavelengths.
The human circadian rythm expects longer wavelengths of light at night, and shorter wavelengths during the day when the Sun emits huge amounts of blue light that we cannot see but which are nevertheless sensed by cells in our eyes.
Thus, light sources with longer wavelengths (lower color temperature) are better at night. | https://alternativeuniversity.net/aec/archit/reflect-emit/color-temp/ |
Lysley Tenorio’s debut short story collection, “Monstress,” astonishes with its brilliance and profound insight into the human experience. Tenorio also places emphasis on truthfully depicting the complications of American and Filipino identities, and the struggle to unite them with a hyphen. Through his melodic prose, Tenorio — also a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford — portrays the intricate psychologies of characters on the outskirts of society, creating stories that hold intense emotive weight in their thematic exploration and ultimate unravelling of what “identity” even means.
These eight stories are accessible and poignantly moving, with narratives that emerge out of the traditional borders of representation in fiction. Many of Tenorio’s characters — all Filipino American — struggle with loyalties to their families and themselves, the Philippines and the United States, and to tradition and modernity, a constant tug of war that informs the collection as a whole. In each work, Tenorio skillfully delves into the subjectivity of their experiences, nudging readers to sympathize with — and perhaps even find humor in — the chaotic mental and physical realities of quirky characters who are often alienated “outsiders looking in.”
But as approachable as these stories are in terms of language and readerly insight into the characters’ shifting central desires, Tenorio never shows a didactic, morally ‘right’ answer. Tenorio places his characters in unquantifiable moral gray spaces, oxymoronically expanding upon their worlds through his careful shaping of absence, which adds further significance to what remains. He subtly interweaves details that contextualize and ground the characters in their sociohistorical settings, amplifying the tension and emotive power of his characters who struggle to root themselves in new soil.
And the stories in order, from the table of contents:
“Monstress”: In the first and titular short story, amateur actress Reva Gogo — best known for monstrous roles like “The Squid Mother” and “Bat-Winged Pygmy Queen” — and her B-movie director and lover Checkers leave the Philippines for the United States to work with a Hollywood director, hoping he will jumpstart their careers. However, Reva contends with her own burgeoning ambitions and her lover’s growing homesickness that fuels his hurtful taunts of her acting, which ultimately leads her to leave Checkers and permanently stay, even though this decision later brings her sorrow.
“The Brothers”: Perhaps the most evocative short story in the collection, Edmond and his conservative Catholic mother bury his transgender sister Erica, even though their mother refuses to acknowledge Erica’s gender transition. Meanwhile, Edmond attempts to reconcile his understanding of the sister he never really knew with the help of Raquel, Erica’s former drag sister. Even on the level of the title, “Brothers” signifies Edmond internal inability to recognize his sister Erica’s new gender identity, with Edmond grappling with his physical complicity with helping their mother bind Erica’s breasts. Portrayed without authorial judgment, Tenorio viscerally highlights the mother’s grief that emphasizes her imperfect humanity, even as Edmond grudgingly aids, and later flees in horror at, his mother’s actions which drive him to tearfully confide in Raquel.
“Felix Starro”: The titular character, a third-generation inheritor of the name, assists his grandfather in the “family business” of faith healing, which involves a certain amount of fraud with chicken livers and fake blood. While he meditates on competing impulses between his family legacy and his search for individuality, eventually he must decide: return to the Philippines with his remaining family, or hide away in the United States with a new name and career. However, either choice will force him to leave part of his identity behind, and he must decide which aspect of himself he can live without.
“The View from Culion”: This piece depicts a young woman who bonds with and dreams of love with another American in a leper colony, far removed from the Philippines and her home in the United States. With conversations unveiled only through the comfort of the shadows, they find temporary consolation in each other, which manifests in her art. Nevertheless, perhaps driven by a desire to see her friend home, she sorrowfully works to instigate his removal by whatever means necessary, made especially heartbreaking by her inability to leave the colony herself.
“Superassassin”: A schoolboy seeks power to protect himself from his bullies and shield his mother from the perceived threat of her lovers, writing a report on his cherished “Green Lantern” comics which strengthens his courage. However, though he starts with the best of intentions, he ultimately spirals into a similar trajectory as his favorite hero, resorting to violence with disastrous results. Even as his narrative voice retains a childlike innocence, as he describes his mother’s alcoholism and his own exploits, his inability to distinguish fiction from reality soon reflects his troubled and slowly evaporating sanity.
“Help”: The narrator’s uncle recruits his cousins and him in an airport skirmish to defend the honor of Imelda Marcos, then First Lady of the Philippines, after the Beatles purportedly insult her. Spiced with Tenorio’s characteristic humor, the narrator wrestles with his fanboy desire for the Beatles’ autographs and his hesitant allegiance to his uncle’s orders, while subconsciously reflecting upon the global reach of Western culture which had ensnared his mother, who never returns to her family again.
“Save the I-Hotel”: Centering on the iconic International Hotel (I-Hotel), an originally low-income residency that housed Filipino and Chinese immigrants in Manilatown, San Francisco, an elderly man named Fortunado reflects on his unspoken romantic love and shared life with his male neighbor and best friend who lives down the hall, both on the cusp of eviction. Fortunado nostalgically recalls tender moments from their past that slowly build to his one-sided romantic realization, interspersed with vignettes in the present showing his continued care for his dementia-stricken partner, demonstrating the longevity of love in its many forms.
“L’amour, CA”: Retrospectively told through the eyes of a third-grader and recent immigrant to Lemoore, California, the protagonist narrates his initial excitement at moving to a military base with his family, and their struggles to assimilate into American society. This last story ends in uncertainty in the midst of a family crisis, yet is cloaked with the youthful brilliance of hope and the protagonist’s desire to make this new land his home. With the title’s play on words between the fanciful “l’amour” and the more downtrodden Lemoore, the inherent disillusionment and continued perseverance also makes this story a fitting end to the collection.
And considering the homonyms of “monstress” and “monstrous,” even Tenorio’s title suggests the clash of Filipino and Western worldviews from the level of phonetic pronunciation, reflecting how the expression of language colors how we view the lives led by this rich cast of characters. In these stories, every word matters, with intricacy upon intricacy of detail finally coalescing into stories that illuminate the Filipino American experience, the complexities of crafting an identity and the universal human yearning to belong.
Ultimately, this outstanding collection demonstrates Tenorio’s mastery over the short story form, signalling the debut of an unforgettable new voice in the literary landscape. | https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/24/monstress-melds-the-marvelous-and-melancholic/ |
How To Effectively Teach Adding Integers for Seventh Grade Math
Do you have students that are struggling to add integers?
Today's article will show you a math intervention lesson on adding integers using integer chips that will take your students from beginning to mastery in no time flat.
This article is part one in a four-part series of helping struggling students through the addition of integers and the full scaffolded learning progression.
7.NS.A.1b Understand p + q as the number located a distance |q| from p, in the positive or negative direction depending on whether q is positive or negative. Show that a number and its opposite have a sum of 0 (are additive inverses). Interpret sums of rational numbers by describing real-world contexts.
Add integers using counters
Add integers using number lines
Integer addition rules
Add integers
In this first step, you will be learning how to teach your students how to add using integer chips.
This lesson contains six sections. We'll be walking through each one
Introduction
Guiding Question
Teacher Modeling
Independent Practice
Assessment
Teacher Tip
Introduction
Review academic vocabulary
As the teacher, you can begin this lesson with a review of the academic vocabulary:
integer
positive
negative
sum
Discuss
Then give each student a set of 10 integer counters. Explain to the students that the red side is negative and that the yellow side is positive. If there's any confusion with that, you can take a permanent marker, write plus/minus on each of them for the positives and negatives. It does help.
Display one negative counter in the top box of the ten frame, display four positive counters at the bottom of the ten frame, then explain how pairs of counters counteract or cancel one another out to form zero pairs.
Ask the students
If the zero pair is removed, what is the remaining counterbalance?
Guiding Question
"How do zero pairs help visualize integer addition?"
Let the students talk and share ideas based on the previous knowledge of addition and subtraction and how a number minus its opposite equals zero.
Teacher Modeling
Say: "I'm going to model an addition sentence with integers, -4 + 2 =?
" I will represent each number with counters as I go. Show. Place four integer counters red slide up in a row. Place two yellow counters directly below them.
Say: "A pair made of one positive counter and one negative counter has a zero value.
Show: Because pairs of positive and negative counters have a value of zero, you can remove each pair from your model. Two negative counters should be left in your model.
Say: "The answer to this problem, -4 + 2 = -2."
Ask: What do you think or know about positive and negative integers after seeing this demonstration?
Listen: Students may respond with words like they cancel each other out or they make zero pairs.
Say: "I'm going to model another edition sentence with integers, 4 + -2 = ?" This time you will represent each number with counters as I go.
Listen and observe: Students should place four integer counters yellow side up in a row and place two red counters directly below them. Once their model has been established, they should indicate that canceling or creating zero pairs by removing them from the table. The remaining integer counters should be two positive counters.
Repeat with the following addition sentences:
-3 + 4 = 1
4 + -3 = 1
5 + -3 = 2
This model is going to require a little additional explanation as there's no canceling or zero pairs, so you'll want to make sure to put some clarity on that if some of your learners are struggling.
Independent Work Time
Give the students a set of integer chips and a practice worksheet. Read the worksheet instructions allowed reminding the students that the highlighted words are the instruction words, then ask the students to read the highlighted words with you and define their meaning. The students will complete the differentiated worksheet with or without the manipulative assistance based on their current level of understanding.
Adding Integers Mini-Lesson Printable Pack
Teaching Tip #1: Mark the Chip with Positive and Negative Symbols
If your integer chips or counters don't have positive and negative symbols on them, use a permanent marker to add symbols for further clarity to the students who may be confused by just the color.
Teaching Tip #2: Play Integer Games in the Classroom
My students go nuts every time I bring out integers games and the competition is fierce. They play for 30 minutes twice a week as part of a differentiated math intervention group on adding and subtracting integers. I have multiple sets so the groups are small for the fastest game play and the number of cards each student can process. The change in how they look and interact with integers has been amazing to watch.
Top student choice classroom integer math games for middle school
Things I wish I had invented are a long and growing list, but I wanted to make sure and share both of these classroom integer games with you for classwork with integers.
Assessment
The assessment worksheet is differentiated so that it contains four skill-specific questions, oversized fonts, and graphics, highlighted text, proficiency scale for fast feedback. As a release from the scaffold of the manipulatives, students will not be given the integer chips on the assessment, but can doodle them on their page, if needed.
The proficiency scale is based on a four-tier model:
Beginning
Practicing
Emerging
Proficient
As we bring this lesson to a close, if you’re interested in learning more about my lesson planning or the printed materials – the worksheet, the assessment, anything that goes along with it – please click through the link below.
If you are interested in receiving the next video in this four-part series, head on over to YouTube and hit the subscribe button and ring that bell to get notified as soon as we post. | https://www.theteacherdollarstore.com/post/how-to-effectively-teach-adding-integers-for-seventh-grade-math |
One of the first things you learn when studying astrology is that you cannot make snap judgements based on one or two factors in a person’s natal chart. While popular perception of astrology in the Western world is formed primarily through superficial and generalised Sun sign horoscopes, those who have been studying it for some time know that making sweeping statements is not a correct way to approach this profound art and science.
A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma. His horoscope is a challenging portrait, revealing his unalterable past and its probable future result. But the natal chart can be rightly interpreted only by men of intuitive wisdom; these are few.Sri Yukteswar
The issue with humanity is not that we make assumptions. Everyone does that to some degree. Forming generalised statements is a type of security mechanism that allows people to detect possible dangers and to quickly assess a situation at hand. For instance, when we meet a stranger that behaves suspiciously, we can make an assumption that he or she may pose a danger to our health and well-being. Whether our perception is true or not, we are better off trusting our first impression. The problem is that many people make assumptions in non-threatening situations and later on fail to investigate whether their judgements were free from error. They simply do not bother to gather right information and compare different viewpoints. They are content with superficial impressions, which are never fully accurate.
It is impossible to approach astrology in this manner, unless you want to make a page with memes about Sun signs. The more charts you carefully examine, the more open-minded, empathetic, and compassionate you become. Learning and doing astrology makes you realise that human beings are complex creatures. As an example, a superficial reading of someone’s horoscope might suggest that a debilitated planet makes that person literally doomed or incurably stupid and unable to manage their life effectively. When you learn more about planetary strengths (Shadbala) and conditions (Avasthas), as well as analyse divisional charts in greater depth, you may discover that the native in question possesses many positive character traits or skills that help him combat that unfortunate debilitation. Consequently, you become less fault-finding in real life, because you begin to understand the complexity of human behaviour. Realising that outer appearances can be deceiving, you are more likely to ask questions and delay your judgements until you get to know someone or something better.
This is the magic of studying Vedic astrology. Since I have started delving deeply into this God-given, celestial science of counselling, I have become more peaceful, compassionate, and considerate of other people’s inner states. I have found more efficient ways to be there for my friends and well-wishers. When it comes to those who are not particularly fond of me, I have learned to treat them with understanding. They too have their own struggles and even though I find it wiser to keep them at bay, I try to understand what factors have shaped their behaviour. This makes it easier for me to forgive them for what they have done.
Wishing you much tranquillity and goodness, | https://celestialtrail.com/2021/05/21/how-studying-astrology-teaches-you-compassion/ |
For HBS alumni who are interested in the topic.
The following resources can be a starting point for the information research.
ABI/ProQuest - A database of articles and reports on various topics, including business opportunities, risks and strategies for addressing cimate change.
American City Business Journals - A database of articles from local business journals.
OECD iLibrary - A database useful for finding books, papers, reports, and statistics on climate change related topics. Tip: begin a search with keywords climate risk and opportunities, "business models" with quotation marks, or browse by theme "environment"
Statista - A database useful for quick statistics, studies, infographics and more.
HBS Working Knowledge - keep updated about Harvard Business School faculty on issues including science-based businesses, environmental sustainability, and climate change.
HBS Open Knowledge - by HBS Digital Initiative, this open forum is current based on courses in session. It aims to build community and expertise around digital transformation and technology at HBS and beyond. It gather and share perspectives from the HBS student community. Searchable within selected course of your interest.
Global Impact Investing Network - Investors should take note with this website.
Climate Bonds Initiative - An international investor-focused non-profit organization devoted to mobilizing the $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.
Climate Policy Initiative - An independent non-profit organization whose mission is to help governments, businesses, and financial institutions drive growth while addressing climate risk. Reports and a blog are available on the site.
Sustainability & Resource Productivity - by McKinsey & Company, this website provides some articles from McKinsey Quarterly and McKinsey Global Institute.
Technology Innovation Management Review - an open source journal with a particular focus on topics of technology and entrepreneurship in small and large companies, such as machine learning, impact investment, etc. Many of the articles address environmental issues.
Email [email protected] to request assistance from Baker Librarians. We can help identify useful resources and recommend search strategies. Or have Baker Library conduct research for you using our premium B4B research service. | https://asklib.library.hbs.edu/faq/261027 |
Predictive and scenario analysis
In today’s uncertain world, unexpected shifts can play havoc with plans.
To help your clients cope, our economists create forward-looking analysis that draws on forecasts and alternative scenarios.
We use economic models to predict and develop alternative scenarios of investment trends, consumer demand, industrial patterns, trade flows, and other macro or micro economic conditions. We can provide these forecasts and scenarios on a global, national, or city basis.
Our economists forecast trends and impacts through use of NiGEM, a sophisticated globally integrated model used by European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the IMF, and other leading international organizations. They also build bespoke models geared to the needs of the assignment, drawing on diverse sets of data from public and primary sources. | https://thoughtlabgroup.com/predictive-and-scenario-analysis-2/ |
Gothic, Colorado near the wildflower capital of Colorado (Crested Butte).
We quantify plant fitness and traits to ask whether climate change
could disrupt long-standing patterns of local adaptation, and to test
whether phenotypic plasticity will enable populations to persist in the
short-term. We perform large-scale reciprocal transplant experiments
to examine patterns of adaptive evolution and natural selection in
contemporary landscapes. Since fall 2013, we have planted >150,000
seeds and seedlings into five experimental gardens ranging in elevation
from 2500 m to 3340 m (8202 feet to 11000 feet). Our summer research
involves intensive monitoring of these experimental plants to record
data on germination success, survival, growth, reproductive success,
as well as life history and morphological traits. We conduct most of
our work in the field, with a small proportion of indoor lab work.
Undergraduate students are eligible for this REU position. If you will
graduate prior to field work, please consider applying to our field
technician positions.
The successful candidate will assist with ongoing fieldwork. In addition,
there are many opportunities for students to develop independent
projects associated with our overall objectives, including studies on: 1)
population divergence in ecologically-relevant traits, especially drought,
UV tolerance, and herbivore resistance; 2) phenotypic plasticity at
multiple spatial scales; 3) population density and species composition
of the herbivore community that attacks Drummond¡¯s rockcress; 4)
flower color polymorphism; and 5) the importance of maternal effects in
biological responses to climate change.
We are offering a stipend of $500/week for a full time REU student (40
hours/week) for 10 weeks. The exact start and end dates are flexible. We
will cover room and board at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
and reimburse travel expenses up to $500. Fieldwork will involve hiking
to experimental gardens through rough terrain (1-3 miles one-way daily).
The University of Georgia is committed to maintaining a fair
and respectful environment for living, work, and study. We celebrate
diversity in human identity, experience, and perspective. Collectively,
we excel when we learn from each other and when we remain open to new
points of view. We seek to cultivate an inclusive lab culture, open to
people of all racial, socioeconomic, religious, cultural backgrounds,
family structure, gender identities, and sexual orientations, and to
people with disabilities. To this purpose, we encourage applications from
individuals excited to study evolutionary ecology in nature. Members of
the Anderson field team are expected to be masked and maintain social
distancing in public locations as detailed in RMBL and Gunnison county
public health guidelines (covid19.gunnisoncounty.org). Vaccinations
against COVID-19 are strongly encouraged but not required.
The application consists of a cover letter listing your qualifications,
a CV/ or r¨¦sum¨¦ and contact information for two references, all of
which can be emailed to Dr. Jill Anderson at: [email protected].
Applications are due by March 25th, 2021
Feel free to contact Dr. Anderson if you have any questions about
the position. Additional information about our work can be found at: | https://eeb.uconn.edu/2021/03/15/rockymountainbiologicallab-reu-plantevolutionaryecol/ |
For the official entry in the Armed forces. One will have to clear at least 3 phases of the selection process to become a part of the service. Here in this article, we will be discussing CDS entry which is after graduation, and will tell you the complete details about this entry like its Exam Pattern, Selection Process, and required eligibility criteria to apply for the vacancy. To get complete information about the CDS Exam and upcoming CDS 2 2020 Exam Notification, check the complete article below.
According to the UPSC Celender. The Combined Defence Service Examination is going to be held in the month of August 2021. Here are some important dates about the CDS 2020 Exam.
Now let’s see the complete selection process and required eligibility Criteria which is mandatory to have to apply for the vacancy.
All the things are going to be the same as it was earlier. You might know that through the CDS Examination, Candidates are selected for the Air force, Navy and Army, etc. So, the required eligibility criteria may differ. To get details of eligibility Criteria, check below:
This is the required eligibility criteria for each respected force. You must choose your wings and prepare accordingly. Now let’s see the complete selection process and after that, we will see the CDS 2 2021 Exam Pattern.
The Selection of the candidate is done in three phases and it is the same for all the forces either it is Army, Navy or Air force, etc. A candidate will need to clear the Written Examination which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and after clearing this, All the qualified candidates will appear for the Service Selection Board Interview and then Medical Exam, etc. The Selection will be like:
As per the Defence experts, The Written Exam is not tough to clear as compared to the SSB Interview. Let me tell you the complete Written Exam Pattern which may help you to understand better.
This is the exam pattern for IMA, AFA, and INA, etc. One will need to prepare three subjects that are given below:
| |
Subjects
|Total Number of Questions||Marks|
|English||100||100|
|General Knowledge||100||100|
|Elementary Mathematics||100||100|
|Total marks 300|
The Exam Pattern of OTA (officers Training Academy) will be a bit different. A candidate who will apply for OTA only. He/she will not have to give the Elementry Mathematics paper. The Exam Pattern will be like:
| |
Subjects
|Total Number of Questions||Marks|
|English||100||100|
|General Knowledge||100||100|
|Total marks 200|
This is the Written Exam Pattern of the CDS 2 2020 Exam. There are many free online platforms are available by which you can have better preparation for your exams. Take the help of online study material, practice paper, and mock tests, etc to get prepared well.
First focus on clearing the Written Examination and then think off of the SSB Interview. To get more information about the CDS Examination and other defense vacancies keep visiting the sites. I will update as soon as any new changes made in the selection or on any other side. | https://www.ssbcrack.co/notification-cds-2-2021-out-exam/amp/ |
7.3 Endangered Languages
In the next century, linguists say that over half of the world’s 7000 languages will disappear. They will no longer have any speaker. Why do languages die? And what is lost when they do?
Throughout human history, the languages of the most powerful groups have spread, while those of smaller, less powerful groups have become extinct. As those dominant languages spread, children grow up using that language instead of the language of their parents. Over time, a language can disappear completely. Although this has always been the case, there has been a huge increase over the last 100 years or so in the rate at which languages are disappearing forever.
Do you think it matters if languages disappear? Why or why not?
Conduct some research to see if there are endangered languages near you. How many speakers are left? Is the language being recorded and documented? Are children being encouraged to speak the language?
[Teacher Notes: Since language and culture are intimately intertwined, the loss of language can mean the loss of culture. Words that describe certain cultural practices or classifications or ideas may be lost in translation. Many endangered languages have not been written, so with the loss of language, and entire culture, including its history, stories, and songs is not easily transmitted to the next generation. Also, a lot of what we know about language is encoded only in oral languages. “Indigenous groups that have interacted closely with the natural world for thousands of years often have profound insights into local lands, plants, animals, and ecosystems—many still undocumented by science. Studying indigenous languages therefore benefits environmental understanding and conservation efforts. Studying various languages also increases our understanding of how humans communicate and store knowledge. Every time a language dies, we lose part of the picture of what our brains can do.” (from The Enduring Voices project:
key words: world languages, endangered languages, bilingualism
Here is this lesson as a pdf. | https://www.explorelanguage.org/73-end-lgs |
Effective pulmonary host defense is orchestrated by complex interactions between pulmonary surfactant and alveolar macrophages. Pulmonary macrophages fulfill diverse roles in surveillance and inactivation of inhaled pathogens and in regulating surfactant homeostasis. Pulmonary surfactant proteins have innate protective activity and influence macrophage function. Mutations in genes that alter surfactant proteins, surfactant production or catabolism in the lung have been linked to human disease and are associated with abnormal macrophage function or alternative activation of pulmonary macrophages. Manipulation of the analogous genes in transgenic and gene targeted mice replicate aspects of macrophage related pulmonary disease. The genetic mouse models have been used to investigate the molecular pathogenesis and progression of acute and chronic lung disease of infancy, familial interstitial lung disease and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis.
Regulation of Macrophage Homeostasis
Page: 14-36 (23)
Author: Tracey L Bonfield
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
Macrophages contribute to both initiation and resolution of inflammatory processes. These cells of diverse functional activity participate as both effectors and affectors in host tissue development, homeostasis and response to injury. Survival and function of the macrophage is dependent on colony stimulating factors granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF). These colony stimulating factors play a significant role in defining the phenotype and activity of macrophages through regulating the expression of transcription factors PU.1 and peroxisome proliferator activator receptor gamma (PPARγ). Recent data suggests that alveolar macrophages are not passive participants in immune responses and that the status of “macrophage activation” defines the phenotype of the ensuing innate and adaptive responses. The status of alveolar macrophage activation, including cytokine production, phagocytosis, and antigen presentation, orchestrates the intensity and duration of the immune response. This chapter summarizes the perspectives of colony stimulating factor regulation of macrophage activity in immunity and pulmonary homeostasis.
Macrophage Functional Plasticity: Implications for Cancer Progression and Therapy
Page: 37-51 (15)
Author: Robert D. Stout and Jill Suttles
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
Macrophages contribute significantly to the development and progression of chronic lung diseases and lung cancer [1-3]. Persistent stimulation by airborne irritants promotes recruitment of blood monocytes into the lung and also disrupts homeostatic control of interstitial and alveolar macrophages [1-3]. Both resident and recruited macrophages contribute to increased oxidative stress and to the production of inflammatory, fibrotic, and angiogenic cytokines that promote the hyperplasia and fibrosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as well as the growth and metastasis of lung tumors [1,2,4-13]. These studies raise several broad questions. Why do the functions of resident macrophages change? Alveolar macrophages function predominantly in particle clearance and are considered to have “restrained” inflammatory and cytotoxic activity [14,15]. The functional activities displayed by macrophages in COPD and lung cancer are very diverse, including production of both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and expression of both tissue destructive (e.g., oxidants, metalloproteinases) and tissue reparative (e.g., angiogenic and growth factors) activities [1,2,4,5,7,8,13,16]. How are they converted to produce inflammatory mediators and matrix destructive proteinases [2,11-13]? How are these apparently antagonistic activities expressed simultaneously in diseased tissue? The following sections will provide insight into the answers to these questions, emphasizing the importance of tissue homeostatic mechanisms, microenvironmental influence on macrophage function, and macrophage functional plasticity. Macrophage biology will be discussed in the context of lung cancer, but given the similarities between macrophage contributions to cancer and COPD progression, the potential for therapeutic targeting of macrophage functional plasticity and tissue: macrophage interactions should apply to both diseases.
Critical Clearance: Alveolar Macrophage Recognition of Apoptotic Cells
Page: 52-61 (10)
Author: Carol Anne Ogden
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
Apoptotic cell clearance is a vital process by which the body rids itself of unwanted cells, whether they become unwanted due to age, senescence, tissue remodeling and repair, or even damage. Efficient clearance of apoptotic cells depends upon the ability of the phagocyte to recognize and quickly engulf the effete cell before the apoptotic cells can progress to a state of secondary necrosis, spilling out phlogistic and possibly auto-immunogenic contents into the tissue. Removal of apoptotic cells in the lung by alveolar macrophages results in the maintenance of homeostasis, and alveolar macrophage recognition factors control process of clearance.
Defective Clearance of Apoptotic Cells (Efferocytosis) in Chronic Lung Diseases
Page: 62-75 (14)
Author: Sandra Hodge
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
Repair of airway epithelial injury and resolution of inflammation are highly regulated processes. Inefficient clearance of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) has the potential to cause an accumulation of apoptotic material and the subsequent development of secondary necrosis and perpetuation of chronic inflammation. Alveolar macrophages have the major role in effectively clearing excess apoptotic cells in the airway. Several studies have identified defective efferocytosis in the airways of subjects with chronic pulmonary diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung cancer and cystic fibrosis. These defects have been shown to at least partially relate to reduced levels of soluble mediators including mannose binding lectin (MBL) and collectins (surfactant proteins A and D), as well as dysregulated expression of various macrophage surface receptors and molecular pathways. These defects in macrophage function are potential targets for new therapeutic interventions for chronic lung diseases.
Role of Macrophage Phagocytosis of Bacterial Pathogens in Chronic Lung Disease
Page: 76-87 (12)
Author: Abigail E Taylor and Louise E Donnelly
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of inflammatory lung disease is becoming a major heath burden. Chronic inflammation is a key feature of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis. These patients are prone to bacterial pathogens that contribute to disease worsening. The reasons for this are unclear but may reflect defective pathogen clearance by alveolar macrophages. For example, alveolar macrophages from patients with COPD have a educed capacity to phagocytose bacteria and hence promote pulmonary bacterial colonisation. In cystic fibrosis macrophages are also defective in removing bacteria and this coupled with reduced acidification of the phagosome implies that macrophages contribute to ineffective bacterial uptake and subsequent killing. Bacteria can also employ diverse strategies to subvert the macrophage phagocytic pathway. For example, the capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae prevents opsonisation by complement proteins and therefore is not removed efficiently by macrophages. Understanding the mechanisms underlying exacerbations of lung diseases will provide novel treatment strategies that will be of benefit for the patients in the short-term but could also prevent the acceleration of the disease process that is often associated with frequent exacerbations and ultimately improve the quality of life for patients already living with debilitating disease.
The Impact of Oxidative and Carbonyl Stress on Cell Function: Functional Consequences for Macrophages
Page: 88-98 (11)
Author: Paul Kirkham
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that products of oxidative stress, namely carbonyl adducts, play a major role in chronic inflammation as well as age-related diseases. Their involvement crosses a broad spectrum of medical conditions encompassing airway diseases, such as asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) , neurodegenerative disorders like alzheimers , the cardiovascular disease atherosclerosis , and the arthritic diseases rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis . Several good reviews exist highlighting the importance of carbonyl adducts in disease [6-8]. Not only do carbonyl adducts act as simple markers of tissue damage by oxidative stress, but they are able to participate in disease pathogenesis. This is accomplished through post-translational modification of protein, be it intra- or extra-cellular, the net effect being to alter cell function with the eventual tissue damage that follows [9-12].
The Effects of Chronic Alcohol Ingestion on Alveolar Macrophage Function
Page: 99-106 (8)
Author: Pratibha C. Joshi
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
Chronic alcohol abuse causes discrete changes in the alveolar macrophages that render the lung susceptible to serious infections such as tuberculosis. Many studies done in relevant animal models have identified common mechanisms by which alcohol abuse targets not only the alveolar macrophage but also the alveolar epithelium, thus resulting in lung injury. One of the mechanisms by which chronic alcohol ingestion results in oxidative stress is by decreasing the levels of the antioxidant glutathione within the alveolar space. Other studies have focused on depletion of essential micronutrients such as zinc that is also linked to oxidative stress mediated cellular dysfunction. These changes in the pulmonary microenvironment adversely affect granulocyte/ macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) signaling in the alveolar macrophage, and thereby, dampens its function. Although the oxidative stress related changes are often subclinical and only lead to lung impairment when challenged by an acute insult such as trauma or sepsis, macrophage dysfunction at the cellular and the molecular levels is often evident in otherwise healthy alcoholics. In addition, chronic alcohol abuse increases the frequency and severity of ventilator-associated pneumonia, and increases susceptibility to viral infections such as HIV/AIDS. Thus, an understanding of the effects of chronic alcohol abuse on the function of alveolar macrophage has significant potential to identify new innovative treatments that could reduce the increased morbidity and mortality in this vulnerable population.
Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Improve Efferocytosis for Pulmonary Disease
Page: 107-117 (11)
Author: Paul N. Reynolds
PDF Price: $15
Abstract
There is growing appreciation for the potential role of defective clearance of apoptotic cells by macrophages in disease pathogenesis. This has naturally lead to the consideration that therapies directed towards improving phagocytosis may have therapeutic utility. Some of these candidate therapies are already in use, although their initial rationale was for reasons other than improving phagocytosis. Examples are macrolide antibiotics, which are known to have antiinflammatory activities beyond their antimicrobial roles. In certain conditions (panbronchiolitis) these agents have become first-line therapy. Subsequent studies have revealed that at least part of their beneficial effects may be mediated via improvements in macrophage function. Statins and glucocortocosteroids also appear to act in part via improved phagocytosis. More recently, strategies are being pursued that are more specifically directed towards macrophage function, such as the use of mannose-binding lectin, but the initial rationale was to improve phagocytosis of microorganisms – the potential role in effercytosis has been realised subsequently. We have conducted a number of human and animal studies which support the potential role for improving phagocytosis as a therapeutic strategy for airways disease. A number of new strategies are emerging which show clinical promise.
Index
Page: 118-119 (2)
Author: Sandra Hodge
Abbreviations
Page: 120-120 (1)
Author: Sandra Hodge
Introduction
This Ebook is edited by Sandra Hodge, a recognized expert in the field of macrophage dysfunction in chronic lung disease. The book consists of 8 chapters which provide a full coverage of macrophage function in both healthy and chronically diseased lungs, starting with the regulation of macrophage homoestasis to altered macrophage recognition and clearance of pathogens and apoptotic cells in the lung before moving on to macrophage targeted treatment options for chronic lung diseases. The important problem of oxidative and carbonyl stress in the lung and its impact on macrophage function is discussed. Additional chapters deal with the role of disordered macrophage function in cancer progression and the role of chronic alcohol ingestion of macrophage function. Importantly, the book integrates both respiratory cell biology and clinical medicine. The concept of failed macrophage function with regard to chronic lung disease has recently been the topic of intensive research. Key advances in our knowledge of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in defective macrophage function have paved the way for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. For this reason the book can be recommended without reservation to a wide spectrum of readers including students, respiratory cell biologists and respiratory clinicians.
Indexed In
Scopus, EBSCO. | https://www.eurekaselect.com/ebook_volume/930 |
A new provision of Public Health Law Article 28 will address the primary healthcare needs of patients who are no longer able to travel to receive care. The law, which takes effect on March 28, 2017, will allow hospital outpatient clinics and diagnostic treatment centers (D&Ts) to provide off-site primary care services that are ordinarily provided by the clinic or D&T. These off-site primary care services may only be provided to patients:
- with a pre-existing clinical relationship with the clinic or D&T; and
- who are unable to leave their residence without unreasonable difficulty to receive services at the clinic or D&T.
These services cannot be services such as nutritional services, homemaker services or any other home care services as defined in PHL 3602(1).
Patients who are unable to travel to see their physicians may be lost to follow-up and are at risk for a change in condition going unnoticed or untreated. With this new provision, physicians will be able to provide continuity of care for these patients, which in turn, may prevent hospitalizations, reduce readmissions and reduce potential liability exposures. | https://www.mlmic.com/blog/physicians/new-york-law-permits-off-site-primary-care |
Reese Witherspoon made her dazzling return to the spotlight, just 10 weeks after giving birth to her third child, at a charity gala in California last night.
The actress looked gorgeous in a chic Elie Saab dress teamed with black Christian Louboutin stilettos when she stepped out at the Children’s Defense Fund of California’s 22nd Annual Beat The Odds Awards.
REESE WITHERSPOON STYLE HIGHS AND LOWS
Looking in tip-top shape less then three months after giving birth to her son, Tennessee, the 36-year-old struck a pose like a pro at the event last night.
Born September 27, Tennessee is the third child for Witherspoon and her first with husband Jim Toth, whom she wed back in March 2011.
The Oscar winning actress also has a daughter Ava, 12, and son Deacon, 8, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. | http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity-news/reese-witherspoon-makes-stunning-red-carpet-return-10-weeks-after-giving-birth-133844 |
- Ilan Morgenstern, Bass Trombone
...and CUT!
Updated: Jan 22, 2021
With the proposal from Ithaca College to remove the Master of Music Performance from their curriculum (https://theithacan.org/news/ic-releases-draft-proposal-for-faculty-and-program-cuts/?fbclid=IwAR18ltuf8rtTgRhA6dxQasYLVunGtLnjPkkMex0QWxOsidPE6a9qtD1_85I), and last year’s decision by Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a small college near Vancouver, to no longer admit students into its music program (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kwantlen-polytechnic-university-music-program-cuts-new-students-1.5043635), I wanted to share a couple of thoughts about my educational experiences on both sides of the perceived fence of Higher Ed.
I think it’s clear to anybody who reads this blog that I have some skepticism towards much of what higher education has to offer at times. While I often think we can do much better than we collectively do, and I certainly think it’s important to examine openly our priorities and approach, I also do not, in any way, think the solution is to eliminate programs altogether. Far from it.
In my mind there’s a reason for music programs to exist at a variety of institutions and settings. Urban, rural, big, small, conservatories, universities, liberal arts colleges, religious institutions: They all have a place and a student that is the right fit for them and will have the ability to thrive in those environments.
When I use the word thrive I mean not only a happy or content student, but also one that is growing in their educational path and is an active participant in it.
We all learn differently and therefore might thrive in different environments. I say this because in my experience as a teacher, it is not always easy to predict how a student might perform at a given institution. From the institution’s perspective, the tools we have: high school transcripts, recommendation letters, essays, the live audition, are extremely incomplete. I certainly remember instances where I recommended a student who was taking a trial lesson with me attend one University or another that I was teaching at, often based on how much personal attention I thought they might need or be able to get. Some students don’t need to be surrounded by lots of great players to find motivation, some students don’t need the grade to find a reason to practice, and some aren’t yet sure if music is their future. Students of course have even fewer tools with which to evaluate the institution.
As an integral part of the learning experience, I think it is very important that institutions provide students with peers of a variety of backgrounds, both personally and educationally. Just as we all learn differently and are motivated differently, having a plurality of perspectives is key to a complete education.
Without getting into the politics of affirmative action and the complicated feelings around that issue, an issue that I am hardly an expert on, it is not lost on me that in a country as economically and geographically divergent as the US, in my mind it’s really important for students to interact with students they might not otherwise even meet. I sincerely believe that our world is made richer because of the people in it, and as artists and educators it is vital to our collective future we interact with as many people, of as many backgrounds as possible. In other words, as performers we can’t afford to choose our audience, thereby excluding those who might not have sufficient background to fully appreciate what we do. As educators, how can we be expected to relate to people who’s background or opportunities differ from our own?
Aside from economic and other social divides, I think it’s important to also recognize educational differences. I often feel the most effective studios I’ve had had a good mix of younger and older students. I say this because, in all reality and whether I sometimes like it or not, students teach each other just as much as I teach them. Especially as a part time teacher who’s often not available on campus, I really feel that part of fostering a healthy, collaborative, learning process starts with the humans involved.
And it is those students we should discuss. The strong players, with a grounded background, financial support, access to great information, and a clean bill of physical and mental health, those are students that will do well in many environments. Students who have a background that is less well-off in some way, those are the students who challenge us, those are the students who I think it is most vital to accommodate, and from whom I learn the most. If pluralism and growth aren’t part of higher-ed, what are we all really doing anyway?
It is in this context that I am most concerned with the decision to potentially eliminate the Master of Music Performance degree from the curriculum at Ithaca College. Taking away younger students’ role models will by definition make their educational offerings leaner. To me, this is as important to future music educators as it is to future performers. After all, who wants a music educator who hasn’t had a chance to develop good taste and musicianship? Who can’t appreciate the work that goes into making a pretty sound? Who hasn’t had an opportunity to collaborate with an older peer or hasn’t watched others learn how to learn?
All students are important building blocks in each other's journeys: music education majors, performance majors, administration majors, undergrads, and graduate students alike, from all social backgrounds and levels of ability: they all learn from each other, teach each other, and grow together, and I really feel that is how our music schools work best. | https://www.ilanmorgenstern.com/post/and-cut |
Figure 4.9 Performance comparison of comparable bell, aerospike, and ideal nozzles in the earth's atmosphere (the ideal nozzle as in Figs. 4.6 and 4.8).
stagnation pressure po to the ambient pressure pa. The data are for the same values of the effective ratio of the specific heats, y = 1.25, and of the area ratio Aex/A* = 50 that were used to construct Figs. 4.6 and 4.8. The curve labeled "ideal nozzle" represents the case of one-dimensional flow of an ideal gas without losses.
Including all losses, typical thrust ratios of aerospike and of bell nozzles are shown in Fig. 4.9 for comparison with the ideal nozzle. The improved performance in the atmosphere of the aerospike (and, similarly, of the expansion-deflection nozzle) in comparison with the bell nozzle is evident.
Also indicated in Fig. 4.9 is the performance at sea level. In this case, an upstream stagnation pressure of 2200 N/cm2 (the combustion chamber pressure of the U.S. Space Shuttle main engines) is assumed. It may be noted for comparison that if the same rocket motor and nozzle were operated in the atmosphere of Mars (ambient atmospheric pressure at Mars mean radius = 4.9 mbar = 490 N/m2, hence about 0.5% of the pressure at earth sea level), the thrust of a bell nozzle would be close to 99% of the vacuum thrust.
When bell nozzles are used in launch vehicles, the throat-to-exit-plane area ratio needs to be chosen as a compromise between what would be optimal for performance in the lower atmosphere and optimal for the higher atmosphere or in vacuum.
At the earth's sea level, for the ideal bell nozzle of Figs. 4.6 and 4.8 and a combustion chamber stagnation pressure of 2200 N/cm2, the thrust would
Annular throat
Nozzle base
Inner free-jet boundary
Outer free-jet boundary ~~
Figure 4.10 Flow field of an aerospike nozzle in the atmosphere. From Ref. 2, Huzel, D. K. et al., "Modern Engineering for the Design of Liquid Propel-lant Rocket Engines." Courtesy Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International. Copyright © 1992, AIAA—reprinted with permission.
Annular throat
Nozzle base
Inner free-jet boundary
\ Secondary flow
Primary flow
Outer free-jet boundary ~~
Subsonic recirculating flow
Trailing shock —
Figure 4.10 Flow field of an aerospike nozzle in the atmosphere. From Ref. 2, Huzel, D. K. et al., "Modern Engineering for the Design of Liquid Propel-lant Rocket Engines." Courtesy Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International. Copyright © 1992, AIAA—reprinted with permission.
be 86% of the vacuum thrust. At the density scale height of the atmosphere (i.e., at 9290 m altitude), the thrust would already be 96% of the vacuum thrust.
Again taking as an example the Space Shuttle main engines, their nozzle exit pressure is about 0.08 atm. They do not approach the ideal expansion condition until an altitude of 18 km is reached. The loss of thrust at sea level compared with vacuum is about 20%. This loss of thrust of the main engines is tolerable because the solid-propellant boosters (which are designed for low-altitude performance) provide 80% of the liftoff thrust.
Aerospike nozzles have a more complex flow pattern, as indicated schematically in Fig. 4.10 for the case of an axially symmetric configuration. The combustion gas exits from the annular combustion chamber and throat to form a jet that is bounded partially by the surface of the spike and partially by the separation surface formed with the atmospheric air. The deflection of the combustion gas by the spike produces Mach compression cones that then coalesce into an oblique shock cone. The pressure of the gas on the spike contributes substantially to the total thrust.
Depending on altitude and vehicle velocity, the flow pattern changes and adapts to the variable air pressure. Because the combustion chamber and the throat have a large diameter, the aerospike nozzle tends to be somewhat heavier than a corresponding bell nozzle with its smaller throat diameter. Nevertheless, the aerospike nozzle is often preferred because of its superior adaptability to different atmospheric pressures. Truncation of the aerospike saves weight but produces a wake region with some attendant losses. With proper design, this loss can be kept small.
Expansion-deflection nozzles (Fig. 4.7) have configurations that are intermediate between those of bell and aerospike nozzles. The flow tends to close quickly behind the plug, creating a low-pressure wake. This reduces the thrust significantly, unless either gas from the turbo-pump system or air is bled into the wake.
Solid-Propellant
Solid-Propellant
Extendable exit cones (Fig. 4.11) have already been mentioned. They are suitable for ablatively or radiatively cooled nozzles; regenerative cooling as illustrated in Fig. 4.2 is evidently not practical.
Engines that are designed exclusively for operating in space in principle would require testing in a vacuum chamber. Because of the practical impossibility of providing ground test facilities with the required pumping rates, large space engines therefore must be tested at atmospheric conditions. If the nozzles designed for space operations were used in such tests, the nozzles might operate in a strongly overexpanded mode with internal shocks and flow separation. It may then be necessary to ground test the engines with nozzles that have an exit-plane-to-throat area ratio smaller than the design value and to rely on analytical methods to predict the thrust that will be obtained in space.
4.7 Two- and Three-Dimensional Effects
The occurrence of internal shocks in the nozzle at high overexpansion was already mentioned in Sect. 4.4.4. The discussion there, however, was only qualitative. In fact, rather than a normal shock, there tends to be flow separation, coupled to one or more oblique shocks. Wakes at approximately ambient pressure will be formed downstream of the line of separation so that the nozzle will no longer flow full (Fig. 4.12). The flow will be unsteady, with a separation line that oscillates and with shocks and wakes that often rotate. The engines cannot be operated in this range of overexpansion,
not only because of the drastic loss in thrust but also because of the often destructive engine vibrations that are induced by the nonsteady flow.
An empirical relation, applicable to bell nozzles, states that flow separation in the nozzle is likely to occur when
where a varies from about 0.25 to 0.35. This condition is known as the Summerfield criterion. The range for which it applies at typical operating conditions is indicated in Fig. 4.8.
Of lesser practical significance are the two- and three-dimensional flow patterns downstream of the nozzle exit plane. If the flow is underexpanded, the plume will contain a series of Mach cones (the characteristics of the hyperbolic equation that governs the flow) that interact with each other and reflect at the gas-air boundary. In the overexpanded case, oblique shocks, combined with expansion and compression Mach cones, occur that interact with each other and reflect at the jet boundary, forming an approximately diamond-shaped pattern. The gas in the plume may have cooled to the point where, because of partial condensation of the combustion gas, the shocks become visible.
At or near the vacuum condition, parts of the plume near the nozzle exit may be so strongly deflected that they impinge on nearby surfaces of the spacecraft. The resulting contamination by the combustion gas can increase the absorption of solar radiation, thereby raising the temperature of the spacecraft. Often more critical is the contamination by the plume of the surfaces of optical scientific instruments and of spacecraft components such as earth sensors.
An estimate of the effect can be obtained by using well-known results from the continuum, supersonic flow of the turning of a gas at the edge of a boundary. Figure 4.13 illustrates this case for an assumed nozzle exit plane Mach number of 2.00 and a ratio of the specific heats of 1.25. When
- Stream Lines N
Mach Lines ^
.V Nozzle
Exit Plane
Was this article helpful? | https://www.astronomyclub.xyz/solar-radiation/info-cgs.html |
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abstract: 'Text classification is one of the most critical areas in machine learning and artificial intelligence research. It has been actively adopted in many business applications such as conversational intelligence systems, news articles categorizations, sentiment analysis [@SEN09], emotion detection systems [@EMO08], and many other recommendation systems in our daily life. One of the problems in supervised text classification models is that the models’ performance depends heavily on the quality of data labeling that is typically done by humans. In this study, we propose a new network community detection-based approach to automatically label and classify text data into multiclass value spaces. Specifically, we build networks with sentences as the network nodes and pairwise cosine similarities between the Term Frequency-Inversed Document Frequency (TFIDF) vector representations of the sentences as the network link weights. We use the Louvain method [@LOU08] to detect the communities in the sentence networks. We train and test the Support Vector Machine and the Random Forest models on both the human-labeled data and network community detection labeled data. Results showed that models with the data labeled by the network community detection outperformed the models with the human-labeled data by 2.68-3.75% of classification accuracy. Our method may help developments of more accurate conversational intelligence and other text classification systems.'
author:
- Minjun Kim
- Hiroki Sayama
title: 'The Power of Communities: A Text Classification Model with Automated Labeling Process Using Network Community Detection'
---
Introduction
============
Text data is a great source of knowledge for building many useful recommendation systems, search engines as well as conversational intelligence systems. However, it is often found to be a difficult and time-consuming task to structure the unstructured text data especially when it comes to labeling the text data for training text classification models. Data labeling, typically done by humans, is prone to make mislabeled data entries, and hard to track whether the data is correctly labeled or not. This human labeling practice indeed impacts on the quality of the trained models in solving classification problems.
Some previous studies attempted to solve this problem by utilizing unsupervised [@YOU00; @ZHO14; @AND15] and semisupervised [@DOR16] machine learning models. However, those studies used a pre-defined keyword list for each category in the document, which provides the models with extra referential materials to look at when making the classification predictions, or included already labeled data as a part of the entire data set from which the models learn. In case of using unsupervised algorithms such as K$-$means and LDA [@ZHO14; @AND15], it is very much possible that frequently appearing words in multiple sentences can be used as features for multiple classes. This leads the models to render more ambiguity and to result in a poor performance in classifying documents. Also, the number of distinct classes ($K$) to be made is not determined systematically using the data, but heuristically by trying out many different values of $K$ which is not a reliable optimization.
Although there are many studies in text classification problems using machine learning techniques, there have been a limited number of studies conducted in text classifications utilizing network science. Network science is actively being adopted in studying biological networks, social networks, financial market prediction [@KSM17] and more in many fields of study to mine insights from the collectively inter-connected components by analyzing their relationships and structural characteristics. Only a few studies adopted network science theories to study text classifications and showed preliminary results of the text clustering performed by network analysis specially with the network community detection algorithms [@SAN08; @MIK18; @GER18]. However, those studies did not clearly show the quality of community detection algorithms or other possible useful features. Network community detection [@FOR16] is graph clustering methods used in complex networks analysis from large social networks analysis [@KAR08] to RNA-sequencing analysis [@KAN19] as a tool to partition a graph data into multiple parts based on the network’s structural properties such as betweenness, modularity, etc.
In this paper, we study further to show the usefulness of the network community detection on labeling unlabeled text data that will automate and improve human labeling tasks, and on training machine learning classification models for a particular text classification problem. We finally show that the machine learning models trained on the data labeled by the network community detection model outperform the models trained on the human-labeled data.
Method
======
We propose a new approach of building text classification models using a network community detection algorithm with unlabeled text data, and show that the network community detection is indeed useful in labeling text data by clustering the text data into multiple distinctive groups and also in improving the classification accuracy. This study takes the following steps (see Figure \[fig:diagram\]), and uses Python packages such as [NLTK]{}, [NetworkX]{} and [SKlearn]{}.
- Gathered a set of text data that was used to develop a particular conversational intelligence system from an artificial intelligence company, Pypestream. The data contains over 2,000 sentences of user expressions on that particular chatbot service such as \[“is there any parking space?", “what movies are playing?", “how can I get there if I’m taking a subway?"\]\
- Tokenizing and cleaning the sentences by removing punctuations, special characters and English stopwords that appear frequently without holding much important meaning. For example, \[“how can I get there if I’m taking a subway?"\] becomes \[‘get’, ‘taking’, ‘subway’\]\
- Stemmizing the words following a suffix stripping algorithm [@POR06], and adding synonyms and bigrams of the sequence of the words left in each sentence to enable the model to learn more kinds of similar expressions and the sequences of the words. For example, \[‘get’, ‘taking’, ‘subway’\] becomes \[‘get’, ‘take’, ‘subway’, ‘tube’, ‘underground’, ‘metro’, ‘take metro’, ‘get take’, ‘take subway’, ‘take underground’, …\]\
- Transforming the preprocessed text data into a vector form by computing TFIDF of each preprocessed sentence with regard to the entire data set, and computing pair-wise cosine similiarity of the TFIDF vectors to form the adjacency matrix of the sentence network\
- Constructing the sentence network using the adjacency matrix with each preprocessed sentence as a network node and the cosine similarity of TFIDF representations between every node pair as the link weight.\
- Applying a network community detection algorithm on the sentence network to detect the communities where each preprocessed sentence belong, and build a labeled data set with detected communities for training and testing machine learning classification models.
![**Analysis process.** **a.** preprocess the text data by removing punctuations, stopwords and special characters, and add synonyms and bigrams, **b.** transform the prepocessed sentence into TFIDF vector, and compute pair-wise cosine similairy between every sentence pair, **c.** construct the sentence networks, and apply the Louvain method to detect communities of every sentence, **d.** label each sentence with the detected communities, **e.** train and test the Support Vector Machine and the Random Forest models on the labeled data.[]{data-label="fig:diagram"}](diagram_revised){width="0.96\linewidth"}
Data, Preprocessing and Representation
--------------------------------------
The data set obtained from Pypestream is permitted to be used for the research purpose only, and for a security reason, we are not allowed to share the data set. It was once originally used for creating a conversational intelligence system (chatbot) to support customer inquiries about a particular service. The data set is a two-column comma-separated value format data with one column of “sentence" and the other column of “class". It contains 2,212 unique sentences of user expressions asking questions and answering to the questions the chatbot asked the users. The sentences are all in English without having any misspelled words, and labeled with 19 distinct classes that are identified and designed by humans. Additional data set that only contains the sentences was made for this study by taking out the “class" column from the original data set.
From each sentence, we removed punctuations, special characters and English stopwords to keep only those meaningful words that serve the main purpose of the sentence and to avoid any redundant computing. We then tokenized each sentence into words to process the data further in word level. For words in each sentence, we added synonyms of the words to handle more variations of the sentence as a typical method of increasing the resulting classification models’ capability of understanding more unseen expressions with different words that describe similar meanings. The synonyms we added to the data are not context-specific synonyms, but all predefined synonyms of particular words. Although we used the predefined synonyms from the Python NLTK package, one might develop it’s own synonym data to use under the context of the particular data to achieve better accuracy. We also added bigrams of the words to deal with those cases where the tokenization breaks the meaning of the word that consists of two words. For example, if we tokenized the sentence “go to Binghamton University" and process the further steps without adding bigrams of them, the model is likely to yield lower confidence on classifying unseen sentences with “Binghamton University" since the meaning of “Binghamton University" is lost in the data set [@BEK04].
With the preprocessed text data, we built vector representations of the sentences by performing weighted document representation using the TFIDF weighting scheme [@KAR12; @TRS14; @HUA08]. The TFIDF, as known as Term frequency inversed document frequency, is a document representation that takes account of the importance of each word by its frequency in the whole set of documents and its frequency in particular sets of documents. Specifically, let $D = \{d_1, \dots, d_n\}$ be a set of documents and $T = \{t_1, \dots, t_m\}$ the set of unique terms in the entire documents where $n$ is the number of documents in the data set and $m$ the number of unique words in the documents. In this study, the documents are the preprocessed sentences and the terms are the unique words in the preprocessed sentences. The importance of a word is captured with its frequency as $tf(d,t)$ denoting the frequency of the word $t \in T$ in the document $d \in D$. Then a document $d$ is represented as an $m$-dimensional vector $\vv{{t_d}}=(tf(d,t_1),\dots,tf(d,t_m))$. However, In order to compute more concise and meaningful importance of a word, TFIDF not only takes the frequency of a particular word in a particular document into account, but also considers the number of documents that the word appears in the entire data set. The underlying thought of this is that a word appeared frequently in some groups of documents but rarely in the other documents is more important and relevant to the groups of documents. Applying this concept, $tf(d,t)$ is weighted by the document frequency of a word, and $tf(d,t)$ becomes $tfidf(d,t) = tf(d,t)\times log\frac{|D|}{df(t)}$ where $df(t)$ is the number of documents the word $t$ appears, and thus the document $d$ is represented as $\vv{{t_d}}=(tfidf(d,t_1),\dots,tfidf(d,t_m))$.
Sentence Network Construction
-----------------------------
With the TFIDF vector representations, we formed sentence networks. In total, 10 sentence networks (see Figure \[fig:threshold\_00\] and Figure \[fig:community\]) were constructed with 2,212 nodes representing sentences and edge weights representing the pairwise similarities between sentences with 10 different network connectivity threshold values. The networks we formed were all undirected and weighted graphs. Particularly, as for the network edge weights, the cosine similarity [@HUA08; @LIB13] is used to compute the similarities between sentences. The cosine similarity is a similarity measure that is in a floating number between 0 and 1, and computed as the angle difference between two vectors. A cosine similarity of $0$ means that the two vectors are perpendicular to each other implying no similarity, on the other hand, a cosine similarity of $1$ means that the two vectors are identical. It is popularly used in text mining and information retrieval techniques. In our study, the cosine similarity between two sentences $i$ and $j$ is defined as below equation.
$$SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_i}}, \vv{t_{d_j}}) = \frac{\vv{t_{d_i}} \cdot \vv{t_{d_j}}}{|\vv{t_{d_i}}| |\vv{t_{d_j}}|}$$
where:
$\vv{t_{d_i}} = (tfidf(d_i,t_1),\dots,tfidf(d_i,t_m))$, $the$ $TFIDF$ $vector$ $of$ $i$-$th$ $sentence$
$\vv{t_{d_j}} = (tfidf(d_j,t_1),\dots,tfidf(d_j,t_m))$, $the$ $TFIDF$ $vector$ $of$ $j$-$th$ $sentence$
$d$ $=$ $a$ $preprocessed$ $sentence$ $in$ $the$ $data$ $set$
$t$ $=$ $a$ $unique$ $word$ $appeared$ $in$ $the$ $preprocessed$ $data$ $set$\
To build our sentence networks, we formed a network adjacency matrix for 2,212 sentences, $M$, with the pairwise cosine similarities of TFIDF vector representations computed in the above step.
$$M = \kbordermatrix{
& d_1 & d_2 & \dots & d_{2212} \\
d_1 & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_1}},\vv{t_{d_1}}) & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_1}},\vv{t_{d_2}}) & \dots & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_1}},\vv{t_{d_{2212}}})\\
d_2 & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_2}},\vv{t_{d_1}}) & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_2}},\vv{t_{d_2}}) & \dots & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_2}},\vv{t_{d_{2212}}}) \\
\vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\
d_{2212} & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_{2212}}},\vv{t_{d_1}}) & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_{2212}}},\vv{t_{d_2}}) & \dots & SIM_C(\vv{t_{d_{2212}}},\vv{t_{d_{2212}}})
}$$
Network Community Detection and Classification Models
-----------------------------------------------------
The particular algorithm of network community detection used in this study is the Louvain method [@LOU08] which partitions a network into the number of nodes - every node is its own community, and from there, clusters the nodes in a way to maximize each cluster’s modularity which indicates how strong is the connectivity between the nodes in the community. This means that, based on the cosine similarity scores - the networks edge weights, the algorithm clusters similar sentences together in the same community while the algorithm proceeds maximizing the connectivity strength amongst the nodes in each community. The network constructed with no threshold in place was detected to have 18 distinct communities with three single node communities. Based on the visualized network (see Figure \[fig:threshold\_00\]), it seemed that the network community detection method clustered the sentence network as good as the original data set with human-labeled classes although the communities do not look quite distinct. However, based on the fact that it had three single node communities and the number of distinct communities is less than the number of classes in the human-labeled data set, we suspected possible problems that would degrade the quality of the community detection for the use of training text classification models.
![**A sentence network and its communities.** The sentence network with no threshold on the node connectivity has 18 distinct communities including three single node communities.[]{data-label="fig:threshold_00"}](threshold_00){width="0.6\linewidth"}
### Quality of Network Community Detection Based Labeling
We checked the community detection results with the original human-labeled data by comparing the sentences in each community with the sentences in each human-labeled class to confirm how well the algorithm worked. We built class maps to facilitate this process (see Figure \[fig:community\_labels\]) that show mapping between communities in the sentence networks and classes in the original data set. Using the class maps, we found two notable cases where; 1. the sentences from multiple communities are consist of the sentences of one class of the human-labeled data, meaning the original class is splitted into multiple communities and 2. the sentences from one community consist of the sentences of multiple classes in human-labeled data, meaning multiple classes in the original data are merged into one community. For example, in the earlier case (see blue lines in Figure \[fig:community\_labels\]) which we call Class-split, the sentences in [COMMUNITY\_1]{}, [COMMUNITY\_2]{}, [COMMUNITY\_5]{}, [COMMUNITY\_8]{}, [COMMUNITY\_10]{}, [COMMUNITY\_14]{} and [COMMUNITY\_17]{} are the same as the sentences in [CHAT\_AGENT]{} class. Also, in the later case (see red lines in Figure \[fig:community\_labels\]) which we call Class-merge, the sentences in [COMMUNITY\_7]{} are the same as the sentences in [GETINFO\_PARKING]{}, [GETINFO\_NEARBY\_RESTAURANT]{}, [GETINFO\_TOUR]{}, [GETINFO\_EXACT\_ADDRESS]{}, [STARTOVER]{}, [ORDER\_EVENTS]{}, [GETINFO\_JOB]{}, [GETINFO]{}, [GETINFO\_DRESSCODE]{}, [GETINFO\_LOST\_FOUND]{} as well as [GETINFO\_FREE\_PERFORMANCE]{}.
![**A class map between detected communities and human-labeled classes.** The class map shows a mapping (all lines) between communities detected by the Louvain method and their corresponding human-labeled classes of the sentence network with no threshold.[]{data-label="fig:community_labels"}](community_labels){width="0.8\linewidth"}
![**Nine sentence networks with different connectivity thresholds.** Each node represents a sentence and an edge weight between two nodes represents the similarity between two sentences. In this study, we removed edges whose weight is below the threshold. **a.** network with threshold of 0.1 has 29 distinct communities with 11 signle node communities. **b.** network with threshold of 0.2 has 45 distinct communities with 20 single node communities, **c.** network with threshold of 0.3 has 100 distinct communities with 58 single node communities, **d.**network with threshold 0.4 has 187 distinct communities with 120 single node communities, **e.** network with threshold 0.5 has 320 distinct communities with 204 single node communities, **f.** network with threshold of 0.6 has 500 distinct communities with 335 single node communities, **g.** network with threshold of 0.7 has 719 distinct communities with 499 single node communities, **h.** network with threshold of 0.8 has 915 distinct communities with 658 single node communities, **i.** network with threshold of 0.9 has 1,140 distinct communities with 839 single node communities. Based on the visualized sentence networks, as the threshold gets larger it is shown that each network has more distinct communities.[]{data-label="fig:community"}](community_threshold){width="1.0\linewidth"}
The Class-split happens when a human-labeled class is divided into multiple communities as the sentence network is clustered based on the semantic similarity. This actually can help improve the text classification based systems to perform more sophisticatedly as the data set has more detailed subclasses to structure the systems with. Although it is indeed a helpful phenomenon, we would like to minimize the number of subclasses created by the community detection algorithm simply because we want to avoid having too many subclasses that would add more complexity in designing any applications using the community data. On the other hand, the Class-merge happens when multiple human-labeled classes are merged into one giant community. This Class-merge phenomenon also helps improve the original data set by detecting either mislabeled or ambiguous data entries. We will discuss more details in the following subsection. Nonetheless, we also want to minimize the number of classes merged into the one giant community, because when too many classes are merged into one class, it simply implies that the sentence network is not correctly clustered. For example, as shown in Figure \[fig:community\_labels\] red lines, 12 different human-labeled classes that do not share any similar intents are merged into [COMMUNITY\_7]{}. If we trained a text classification model on this data, we would have lost the specifically designed purposes of the 12 different classes, expecting [COMMUNITY\_7]{} to deal with all the 12 different types of sentences. This would dramatically degrade the performance of the text classification models.
![**Optimal connectivity threshold point based on Class-split and Class-merge mertics** The normalized Class-split score (blue line) increases as the threshold gets larger. On the other hand, normalized Class-merge (red line) decreases as the threshold gets larger. The optimal connectivity threshold is the point where both scores are minimized which is 0.5477.[]{data-label="fig:class_map"}](class_map_revised){width="0.7\linewidth"}
In order to quantify the degree of Class-split and Class-merge of a network, and to find out optimal connectivity threshold that would yield the sentence network with the best community detection quality, we built two metrics using the class map. We quantified the Class-split by counting the number of communities splitted out from each and every human-labeled class, and the Class-merge by counting the number of human-labeled classes that are merged into each and every community. We then averaged the Class-splits across all the human-labeled classes and Class-merges across all the communities. For example, using the class map of the sentence network with no threshold, we can easily get the number of Class-split and Class-merge as below. By averaging them, we get the Class\_split and Class\_merge scores of the sentence network, which is 2.7368 and 2.8333 respectively.
$$Class\_split = [2,1,4,5,1,2,2,1,1,4,1,9,1,1,4,2,2,2,7]$$
$$Class\_merge=[1,1,1,1,4,1,2,1,2,4,1,9,2,1,1,1,6,12]$$
We computed the normalized Class\_split and Class\_merge scores for all 10 sentence networks (see Figure \[fig:class\_map\]). Figure \[fig:class\_map\] shows the normalized Class-split and Class-merge scores of the 10 sentence networks with different connectivity thresholds ranging from $0.0$ to $0.9$. With these series of Class\_split and Class\_merge scores, we found out that at 0.5477 of connectivity threshold we can get the sentence network that would give us the best quality of community detection result particularly for our purpose of training text classification models.
### Detecting Mislabeled or Ambiguous Sentences in Human-made Data Set
Using the Class\_merge information we got from the class map, we were able to spot out those sentences that are either mislabeled or ambiguous between classes in the original data set. This is extreamly helpful and convenient feature in fixing and improving text data for classification problems, because data fixing is normally a tedious and time consuming task which takes a great amount of human labor. For example, by looking at the class map, in our sentence network with no threshold, [COMMUNITY\_5]{} contains sentences appeared in [GETINFO\_EXACT\_ADDRESS]{} and [CHAT\_AGENT]{} classes. We investigated the sentences in [COMMUNITY\_5]{}, and were able to spot out one sentence \[“I need to address a human being!"\] which is very ambiguous for machines to classify between the two classes. This sentence is originally designed for [CHAT\_AGENT]{} class, but because of its ambiguous expression with the word ‘[address]{}’, it is together with sentences in [GETINFO\_EXACT\_ADDRESS]{} in [COMMUNITY\_5]{}. After fixing the ambiguity of that sentence by correcting it to \[“I need to talk to a human being!”\], we easily improved the original data set.
### Classification Models
Once we got the optimal connectivity threshold using the Class\_split and Class\_merge scores as shown in previous sections, we built the sentence network with the optimal threshold of 0.5477. We then applied the Louvain method to detect communities in the network, and to automatically label the data set. The network with the threshold of 0.5477 has 399 communities with 20,856 edges. Class\_split and Class\_merge scores of the network were 22.3158 and 1.0627 respectively. We finally trained and tested machine learning based text classification models on the data set labeled by the community detection outcome to see how well our approach worked. Following a general machine learning train and test practice, we split the data set into a train set (80% of the data) and a test set (20% of the data). The particular models we trained and tested were the Support Vector Machine [@DRU99] and the Random Forest [@WUQ14] models that are popularly used in natural language processing such as spam e-mail and news article categorizations. More details about the two famous machine learning models are well discussed in the cited papers.
[ | p[4.5cm]{} | P[1.5cm]{} | P[2.5cm]{} | ]{} Data Labeling & SVM & Random forest\
Human Labeled & 0.9572 & 0.9504\
\[1pt\] Network Community Labeled & 0.9931 & 0.9759\
\[1pt\]
\[table:accuracy\_plot\]
Result
======
Table \[table:accuracy\_plot\] shows the accuracy of the four Support Vector Machine and the Random Forest models trained on the original human-labeled data and the data labeled by our method. The accuracies are hit ratios that compute the number of correctly classified sentences over the number of all sentences in the test data. For example, if a model classified 85 sentences correctly out of 100 test sentences, then the accuracy is 0.85. In order to accurately compute the ground truth hit ratio, we used the ground truth messages in the chatbot. The messages are the sentences that are to be shown to the chatbot users in response to the classification for a particular user query as below.
$$input \hspace{0.1cm} sentence \rightarrow detected \hspace{0.1cm} class \rightarrow output \hspace{0.1cm} message$$
For example, for a question of “[how do I get there by subway?]{}", in the chatbot, there is a designed message of “[You can take line M or B to 35th street]{}" to respond to that particular query. Using these output messages in the chatbot, we were able to compute the ground truth accuracy of our classification models by comprehending the input sentences in the test sets, the detected classes from the models and linked messages. In our test, the Support Vector Machine trained on human-labeled data performed 0.9572 while the same model trained on the data labeled by our method resulted in 0.9931. Also, the Random Forest model trained on human-labeled data resulted in an accuracy value of 0.9504 while the same model trained on the data labeled by our method did 0.9759.
Discussions and Conclusion
==========================
In this study, we demonstrated a new approach of training text classification models using the network community detection, and showed how the network community detection can help improve the models by automatically labeling text data and detecting mislabeled or ambiguous data points. As seen in this paper, we were able to yield better results in the accuracy of the Support Vector Machine and the Random Forest models compared to the same models that were trained on the original human-labeled data for the particular text classification problem. Our approach is not only useful in producing better classification models, but also in testing the quality of human-made text data. One might be able to get even better results using this method by utilizing more sophisticatedly custom-designed synonyms and stopwords, using more advanced natural language processing methods such as word-embeddings, utilizing higher n-grams such as trigrams, and using more balanced data sets. In the future, we would like to expand this study further to use the network itself to parse out classifications of unseen sentences without training machine learning models.
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| |
In Let’s End the Peril of a Nuclear Winter, Alan Robock and Owen Toon argue that America should unilaterally reduce its nuclear arsenal from around 7,000 weapons to 1,000. Their argument, however well-intentioned, has serious weaknesses. One fundamental problem is that they fail to show how it follows from the desirability of greatly reducing the number nuclear weapons on the planet that unilateral reduction is wise.
From the early days of the nuclear revolution, proponents of nuclear deterrence have argued that atomic weapons have the capacity to reduce the probability of conventional war (Brodie 1946; 1947). Reflecting on the Cold War, some scholars argue that this is indeed what happened: despite dozens of crises and several proxy wars, the United States and USSR avoided a direct military conflict because each feared that matters might escalate to nuclear war (Gaddis 1986, 1987; Waltz 1990, 1993, 2000). Unlike conventional deterrence in previous eras, nuclear deterrence is extremely robust because even irrational or unintelligent leaders are likely to recognize the exceedingly high cost of nuclear war. Thus, proponents of nuclear deterrence claim with a high degree of confidence that “the probability of major war among states having nuclear weapons approaches zero” (Waltz 1990, 740).
when there is symmetry and both states possess nuclear weapons, then the odds of war precipitously drop.
So not only does it seem intuitively reasonable that the threat of mutually assured destruction might deter war between the superpowers, there appears to be empirical evidence of such deterrence.
Having claimed that nuclear weapons have not been a deterrent to war, Robock and Toon proceed to assert that if they were a deterrent, one would suffice for deterrence. If you think the thousands on hand now do not deter, why assume that if they do in fact deter, a single nuclear weapon would deter as well? Again, no justification is offered, a serious lack given that on the face of it, if America had just one nuclear weapon against the Russian arsenal of thousands, that one might not provide a credible deterrent. How would it prevent the Russians from threatening to attack, and if America did not give in, actually attacking (perhaps after evacuating Moscow and Leningrad)?
... the research into the destructive potential of a war involving nuclear weapons has continued.
Even with the reduced nuclear arsenals that the United States and Russia agreed to in 2010, we have the ability not only to set off instantaneous destruction, but also to push global temperatures below freezing, even in summer. Crops would die and starvation could kill most of humanity.
More modern and advanced climate modeling has confirmed the initial findings and shown that the effects would last for more than a decade. The reason is that smoke from nuclear conflagrations would rise as high as 25 miles into the atmosphere, where it would be protected from rain and take at least 10 years to dissipate.
Our calculations, based on how crops grow in different weather, showed that wheat, rice, corn and soybean production could be reduced by 10 percent to 40 percent overall for five years.
Robock and Toon ignore the possibility that such consequences of using nuclear weapons, however horrible, might offer the best hope for avoiding far more disastrous effects of unchecked global warming. The human race shows little sign of being sufficiently wise and mature to make the extreme changes needed to control escalating climate change. Though almost no one wants to face up to it, the fact is that if we prove incapable of radically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the most effective means we know of to put a stop to catastrophic warming is a relatively mild nuclear winter such as might result from nuclear war between India and Pakistan. Not only would such a war result in significant cooling, resulting crop failures and starvation would likely bring about a substantial reduction in the planet's population (the incessant growth of which is another problem we have failed to control). The result might be a sustainable population, with greenhouse gas emissions reduced to an acceptable level. Obviously this would not be the ideal way to stop global warming, but if no other solution can be achieved, it might be better than the alternative.
Clyde Haberman's Global Warming Gives Science Behind Nuclear Winter a New Purpose (NYT, April 3, 2016) and the accompanying video provide an introduction to the history of thinking about nuclear winter and a brief discussion of the possibility that nuclear winter (or related geo-engineering) might counteract global warming. | http://imps.yousa.net/Nuclear+Winter?structure=Home&page_ref_id=242 |
An agreement has been reached between Iran and the IAEA to allow international inspectors to service surveillance cameras at Iran’s sensitive nuclear sites and to continue filming there. The agreement, announced Sunday, averts a diplomatic showdown this week.
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Israel’s defense Minister Benny Gantz to foreign diplomats that Iran is now only ten weeks away – if it decided to move forward – from enriching sufficient quantities of uranium to weapon-grade level, so that it would have available the fissile material needed for a nuclear weapon.
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A longstanding interest in radiation’s effects on metals has drawn Michael Short into new areas such as nuclear security and microreactors.
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A team of Sandia National Laboratories engineers developed a new testing capability in support of the lab’s nuclear weapons mission. The new weapons testing capability produces richer data, and saves time and cost. “Superfuge” test combines multiple environments on a full-scale weapons system.
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China watchU.S. Concerned About Report China is Expanding Missile Silos
Using images provided by the satellite imaging company Planet, researchers found that China is building 119 silos in the desert of the northwestern province of Gansu.The expansion of the number of launch silos for China’s arsenal of intercontinental range ballistic missiles raises fears that nuclear weapons will become a new issue of contention between Washington and Beijing.
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Iran’s nukesIran Says It Foiled “Sabotage Attack” on Nuclear Building
State media said the attack occurred near Karaj, some 40 kilometers west of Tehran. Iran has experienced a series of suspected sabotage attacks targeting its nuclear program in recent months.
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As of about June 14, Iran had reportedly produced 6.5 kg 60% enriched uranium (hexafluoride mass) or 4.4 kg uranium mass only. Iran has produced 60% enriched uranium at an average daily rate of 0.126 kg/day since May 22. Iran’s activity must be viewed as practicing breakout to make enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons.
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BOOKSHELF: Mutually Assured DestructionThe Cold Comfort of Mutually Assured Destruction
Decades after the end of the Cold War, scholars have begun to cast doubt on what has been taught about nuclear weapons in graduate schools – especially the notion of “nuclear revolution,” that is, that the condition of mutually assured destruction (MAD) would promote stability among the great powers. If nuclear weapons-based deterrence is not robust, but rather delicate, then “This is a book that the field of security studies will need to grapple with, since it overturns much of what scholars believe about nuclear deterrence,” Jasen Castillo writes.
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A new report finds that despite an overall decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2020, more have been deployed with operational forces. The nine nuclear-armed states together possessed an estimated 13 080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021, a decrease from the 13 400 at the beginning of 2020, but the estimated number of nuclear weapons currently deployed with operational forces increased to 3825, an increase from 3720 last year.
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Researchers have taken a closer look at how nuclear weapon blasts close to the Earth’s surface create complications in their effects and apparent yields. Attempts to correlate data from events with low heights of burst revealed a need to improve the theoretical treatment of strong blast waves rebounding from hard surfaces. | https://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/topics/nuclear-weapons |
Bangor University's publications on medieval Arthurian literature c.
1350-1550, in particular on French and English medieval romances, have
impacted on the local, national and international cultural life and
heritage, economic prosperity of local tourist attractions, the
enhancement of the theatrical audience experience (the Royal Shakespeare
Company) and creative practice (King Arthur's Labyrinth). Dr Radulescu's
work was vital to international TV and radio programmes on the Arthurian
legend, and in 2011-13 to the development and enhancement of reading
materials for the educated general public and developments in creative
writing.
Context and early research
In the last 50 years Bangor has established its reputation as a global
centre of excellence in Arthurian studies. Prof. P. J. C. Field (at Bangor
1964-2004) is internationally known for his work on Thomas Malory's Morte
Darthur, and his revised edition of the Works of Sir Thomas
Malory (Oxford: Clarendon, 1990) has long been recognised and used
as the standard edition of Malory's Morte Darthur. Since her
appointment at Bangor in January 2005 (Lecturer 2005-, Senior Lecturer
2008-, Reader since 2013) Dr Raluca Radulescu's international standing in
Arthurian studies has derived mostly from her work on Sir Thomas Malory,
in particular her monograph on the social context in which Malory's
Arthuriad was read (3.1), a collection of essays she edited, to which
leading Malory scholars contributed (3.2) and other essays and chapters on
Malory (3.3, 3.4 and 3.5). Radulescu's research reputation builds on and
develops further Prof Field's establishment of Arthurian studies at
Bangor.
Wider research
Dr Radulescu's expertise, like Professor Field's before her, extends
beyond Malory studies to Arthurian literature in the medieval period. In
particular it links with the cultural context in which it was written and
read and represents further landmarks in the study of both Malory and
other late medieval Arthurian romances in Middle English. Radulescu's
research extends into manuscripts containing the tradition of the Middle
English 'Brut' chronicles, published in her edited collection `Readers
and Writers of the `Brut' Chronicles' (Trivium' 26,
2006) and into links between genealogy and propaganda as broader concerns
around the reading of Arthurian literature (Genealogical Literature in
Late Medieval Britain and France,'Brepols, 2008). All of this work
has fed into Dr Radulescu's profile as an international expert in the
cultural and socio-political context in which Arthurian literature was
written and circulated, and led to her being invited on a number of public
activities (outlined in section 4). Radulescu's three chapter-length
studies of Malory's version of the Grail Quest, the first to return
attention to the topic in many years (3.3, 3.4, 3.5) and recently
published monograph (3.6) have established her expertise in the
sword-in-the-stone motif, related both to King Arthur and the pre-eminent
Grail knight, Galahad, leading to public impact (outlined under 4).
Dr Radulescu's scholarship has led to her election, in July 2011, as
officer of the international committee of the International Arthurian
Society (whose membership stands at over 2,000 personal and institutional
members), the most prestigious specialist group in this field
internationally, and Editor of the new Journal of the International
Arthurian Society (JIAS) and the Annual Bibliography of
the International Arthurian Society (BIAS). The first issue
of JIAS was published in November 2013. Dr Radulescu's election
for this position, in particular being charged to spear-head the
establishment of JIAS as a stand-alone publication since 2011, is
the result of her recognition in the field of Arthurian studies, following
from her longstanding position on the committee of the British Branch of
the same society, and continuing Bangor's international reputation in this
area through her predecessor, Prof. Field. Former President of the
International Arthurian Society, 30Field's work continues to command the
attention of the international community. Field's biography of Sir Thomas
Malory (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1998), established the identity of the Morte`s
author as a member of the gentry imprisoned during the Wars of the Roses.
His 1990 edition of Malory's work has been adopted by the international
scholarly community since it was published and in 2013 his new edition of
Malory's Le Morte Darthur (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, November 2013)
is set to replace this and will offer the final established text of
Malory's Morte.
3.1 Radulescu, Raluca L. The Gentry Context for Malory's
`Morte Darthur' (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2003). Submitted to
RAE 2008. A copy of this output can be made available on request
3.2 Radulescu, Raluca L. "Oute of measure": Violence and
Knighthood in Malory's Morte Darthur', in Re-viewing Le Morte Darthur:
Texts and Contexts, Characters and Themes, eds K. S. Whetter and R.
L. Radulescu (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2005), pp. 119-31. Submitted to
RAE 2008. A copy of this output can be made available on request
3.3 Radulescu, Raluca L. `"Now I take uppon me the adventures
to seke of holy thynges': Lancelot and the Crisis of Arthurian
Knighthood', in Arthurian Studies in Honour of P.J.C. Field, ed.
Bonnie Wheeler, Arthurian Studies 57 (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2004),
pp. 285-95. A copy of this output can be made available on
request
3.4 Radulescu, Raluca L. `Malory and the Grail', chapter 22 in A
Companion to Arthurian Literature, ed. H. Fulton (Maldon, MA and
Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), pp. 326-39. A copy of this output can
be made available on request
3.5 Radulescu, Raluca L. `Malory's Lancelot and the Key to
Salvation', Arthurian Literature 25 (2008), 93-118. A copy of
this output can be made available on request
3.6 Radulescu, Raluca L. Romance and Its Contexts in
Fifteenth-century England: Politics, Piety, and Penitence
(Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2013). Submitted to REF 2014 (REF Identifier
2919)
Dr Radulescu's work on Arthurian legends and her analyses of Malory's
text have influenced public understanding and education on medieval
literature and its relevance to the modern literary experience. Groups
affected by her research include the international audience of the
National Geographic TV Channel, local communities in Wales and the wider
public in the UK. Significant impact has been achieved through substantial
contributions of her expertise and research to, for example, the following
key activities:
1. Impact on public engagement and understanding of legends &
English literature through national media
Known for their expertise in Arthurian studies, Radulescu (and Field) at
Bangor have been contacted by, and worked with, numerous programmes as
advisors and contributors over the years. Dr Radulescu has been consulted
on a number of radio programmes in relation to the Arthurian legend. For
example, Radulescu has often been consulted on topics such as Tennyson,
medieval literature, and pilgrimage for BBC radio programmes (eg. `The
Idylls of the King', aired July 12th 2009 and
rebroadcasted July 7th 2013). In 2011 she was contacted by the
National Geographic TV Channel with an invitation to contribute to the new
planned series `The Ancient X- files' [5.3]. This internationally
acclaimed series (the first series was aired successfully in the UK and
internationally in 2009/10) consists in documentaries based on uncovering
evidence about artefacts and events in the past which remain unresolved.
The contributors to the series are academics known for their expertise in
the field directly relevant to the episode. The documentary that Dr
Radulescu was invited to contribute to was `Sword in the Stone'; it
explored the origins and development of the legendary weapon associated by
tradition with King Arthur. Dr Radulescu was both one of the main
contributors to the research content of the programme, and the presenter
of the storyline, thus directly participating in the dissemination of
information to the wider public. The documentary, aired on the National
Geographic TV channel in July 2012 [5.4], also led to articles in the
Welsh press and an interview on BBC Radio Wales, on the Roy Noble show (12
July 2012) [5.5]. Through this program, Radulescu's expertise directly
reached an audience of millions in the UK and abroad. The episode
continues to be viewed and shared on YouTube, further evidencing the
ongoing significance of Radulescu's contribution to public education on
Arthurian legends.
2. Impact on the preservation and presentation of cultural heritage
In 2010 the Royal Shakespeare Company produced the first-ever successful
staging of Malory's Morte Darthur. Written by Mike Poulton, the
celebrated author of the sell-out RSC touring adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales, this new production was the result of Gregory Doran's
commission of the work based on Malory's text. The RSC Malory show was
sold out for the whole summer season within weeks, with the audience
experience being enhanced through a week-long series of public events
organised by the RSC culminating at the end of that week (27 June 2010)
with an event open to the public titled `Authoring Arthur' [5.6]. This
event was conceived as a panel discussion starting from the Arthurian
legend, and more specifically Malory's version of it, that was written and
re-written in the medieval period and beyond. The only three members of
the panel discussion for this event were Mike Poulton, the script writer,
Dr Raluca Radulescu, the academic expert on Malory and the context in
which he wrote his story, and Gillian Bradshaw, author of popular novels
loosely based on Arthurian legends. The event was sold out — 81 members of
the general public were involved in the discussion, which included topics
such as Malory's life and contemporaries, but also issues related to
editions, both scholarly and popular, of his work, through the centuries.
According to the RSC, Radulescu's "knowledge and insight were
fundamental in achieving the purpose of the event, which was for
audiences to consider and appreciate the text and its dramatisation in
new ways, and to understand the enormous, unique significance Arthurian
literature has in British culture. Dr Radulescu's authority on the
subject and the reputation Bangor University has as a centre for
Arthurian studies, ensured the quality of the event" [5.1]. The
intensity of these discussions left a deep understanding of the context in
which the Arthurian legend was written with the public and a lasting
impact of Radulescu's expertise on the knowledge of this audience.
3. Impact on the quality of tourist experience, economic prosperity
and creative practice
In 2011 Dr Radulescu's research led to a collaborative project with the
local tourist attraction `King Arthur's Labyrinth', based at Corris,
Powis, and her role as consultant on the development of materials
(critical as well as creative, in the form of short stories) to be used
with audiences ranging from school children to adults. The impact of this
collaboration is important: King Arthur's Labyrinth receives 40,000
visitors annually; the attraction includes an audio-visual journey
underground, a `bardic journey' overground, an exhibition, and a bookshop,
in which publications relevant to the Arthurian legend (from popular
retellings of the legends to popular studies of the origins of King
Arthur) are sold. All of these aspects of the exhibition have been
significantly enhanced with the materials developed based on Radulescu's
advice including a timeline of developments in the Arthurian legend and
market research on children's and young adults' literature which could be
sold in the bookshop. In addition Dr Radulescu's work inspired the writing
of a series of short stories on the Arthurian legend for a young adult
audience before 31 July 2013; these will be printed and sold through the
bookshop at this tourist attraction [5.2].
Following from these activities, Radulescu was invited, in January 2013,
to give an in-depth and intimate guided literary tour of North Wales on
the topic of medieval Arthurian literature. The event took place on 14
September 2013. The deep impression the tour made on the select audience
is clear from interest and requests for further reading and enthusiastic
comments afterwards.
4. Impact on higher education and the scholarly community
Demonstrating the importance of her work for the content of higher
education throughout the UK, Dr Radulescu's monograph (3.1) has been
adopted on reading lists at undergraduate and postgraduate level at
Universities throughout the UK, (e.g. Universities of Cambridge,
Birmingham, Manchester, Durham, Liverpool) [5.7], thereby extending the
reach of the impact of her work significantly to a national higher
education audience. | https://impact.ref.ac.uk/casestudies/CaseStudy.aspx?Id=25252 |
Chiron Technology Services, Inc. currently has a Computer Scientist III career opportunity in the Annapolis Junction, MD area. United States Citizenship and an active TS/SCI w/Polygraph Clearance are required for this position.
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This Post is a Collection of Travel Guides by Travellers on Things to Do and Places to Visit in Venice coupled with Free Pubic Information about Venice, Historical Facts & Background, Top Landmarks, Top Sights & Attractions etc.
Public Facts About Venice
Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers (more exactly between the Brenta and the Sile).
In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historical island city of Venice (centro storico) and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.
Learn About Venice in this Travel Video Guide by Expedia
The Italian city of Venice is a city like no other, rising from the waters of Venice Lagoon. Follow us through the historic streets – and canals – and see why Venice should be firmly on your bucket list! Begin your Venice Vacation in the central district of San Marco. Journey along one of the world’s great aquatic thoroughfares, The Grand Canal. Glide past elegant palazzos; today many of these palaces house important museums and galleries. Known as The City Of Bridges, Venice has hundreds to discover. The Academia Bridge offers some of the Grand Canal’s finest views. The oldest of the Grand Canal’s four crossings is the Rialto Bridge, which serves as the gateway to the Rialto Markets. The most famous of all is the Bridge of Sighs, which connects Doge’s Palace to the historic prison. Venice is a city to get lost in, so put away your map and let her surprise you. Just remember, this city smiles upon those who linger. So stay for a few nights, or #explore for a month, and savor every moment she has to offer. For now, we hope you enjoy watching this #travel #guide as much as we enjoyed making it.– Venice Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia
Expedia Venice Travel Video Guide
The Importance of Venice During Middle Ages
The name Venice is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice for over a millennium, from 697 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as an important centre of commerce—especially silk, grain, and spice, and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. The city-state of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial centre, emerging in the 9th century and reaching its greatest prominence in the 14th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.
Learn About Historical Background and Best Places to Visit in Venice in the Following Rick Steve’s Travel Video Guide
After sorting through the monuments of Venice’s powerful past, we’ll trace its decline from Europe’s most powerful city to its most hedonistic one. We’ll cruise the Grand Canal, luxuriate in a venerable café, and savor fresh fish canal-side with Venetian friends. Becoming as anonymous as possible in this city of masks, we’ll be dazzled by masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance and get intimate with the city of Casanova…on a gondola in the moonlight.– Rick Steve’s Europe
Rick Steve’s Travel Guide to Venice
Unification with Italy
For centuries Venice possessed numerous territories along the Adriatic Sea and within the Italian peninsula, leaving a significant impact on the architecture and culture that can still be seen today. The sovereignty of Venice came to an end in 1797, in the hands of Napoleon. Subsequently, in 1866, the city became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
The Famous Phrases for Venice & Lagoon – A UNESCO World Heritage Site
Venice has been known as “La Dominante”, “La Serenissima”, “Queen of the Adriatic”, “City of Water”, “City of Masks”, “City of Bridges”, “The Floating City”, and “City of Canals”. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork.
Role of Venice in Artistic Movements
Venice is known for several important artistic movements—especially during the Renaissance period—and has played an important role in the history of instrumental and operatic music, and is the birthplace of Baroque composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi. Although the city is facing some challenges (including an excessive number of tourists and problems caused by pollution, tide peaks and cruise ships sailing too close to buildings), Venice remains a very popular tourist destination, a major cultural centre, and has been ranked many times the most beautiful city in the world. It has been described by The Times as one of Europe’s most romantic cities and by The New York Times as “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man”. | https://travelfoodculture.com/travel/italy/venice/the-history-background-culture-of-venice/ |
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Diabetes is a widespread disease that affects people of all ages, races and genders across the U.S. According to the American Diabetes Association, about 25.8 million Americans have diabetes, which makes up 8.3 percent of the country's population.
Coronary artery disease (C.A.D.), also called coronary heart disease, or simply, heart disease, is the No. 1 killer in America, affecting more than 13 million Americans. Interim HealthCare has experience in helping individuals and their families live with CAD.
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UK Regulators Seek Views on Policy Options for Diversity and Inclusion
A discussion paper from the UK regulators (BoE, PRA, and FCA) sets out policy options to improve diversity and inclusion in the financial sector. The paper is focused on the use of targets for representation, measures to make senior leaders directly accountable for diversity and inclusion in their firms, linking remuneration to diversity and inclusion metrics, and the regulatory approach to considering diversity and inclusion in non-financial misconduct. It is also focused on the importance of data and disclosures to enable firms, regulators, and other stakeholders to monitor progress. The paper, in Appendix 1, sets out a list of questions for seeking feedback, which is requested until September 30, 2021. The feedback and data received will be used to develop detailed proposals, with a joint consultation planned for the first quarter of 2022, followed by a policy statement in the third quarter of 2022.
The discussion paper sets out the role of the regulators, the existing requirements, and expectations from firms. The paper explains why good data are critical and discusses the importance of measuring progress and reporting to improve progress on diversity and inclusion. The UK regulators are seeking feedback on how they should define success measures for the desired outcomes; the paper discusses data and other levers, such as accountability, that the UK regulators believe are essential to be able to support change and monitor progress. To assess progress in this area, the authorities are proposing collecting data from firms about their workforce. Prior to this, there will be a one-off, pilot survey later this year, which will help to develop the proposals set out in the discussion paper and test how firms can provide data with a view to considering regular reporting in the future. The regulators are also seeking views on how any changes could be tailored to specific categories of firms to ensure it that the expectations are proportionate.
The paper outlines different policy initiatives that could be effective for driving and supporting change. These generally build on existing requirements and the regulators’ wider policy and supervisory frameworks. The regulators are working together to clarify their regulatory approach to diversity and inclusion in pursuit of their statutory objectives and having due regard to their Public Sector Equality Duty. This discussion will support engagement with stakeholders and policy development, helping to determine which interventions could have the greatest impact. Contributions are welcome from all parts of the financial sector, including firms, industry groups and trade bodies, consumer groups and individual consumers, policy makers and other regulatory bodies, industry experts and commentators, academics and think tanks, and organizations representing the interests of groups of people. Stakeholders are also encouraged to provide examples of positive industry practices that can be learned from. Given the different legal and supervisory frameworks for financial market infrastructure firms, BoE plans to separately consider how to develop proposals to promote diversity and inclusion for these firms.
Related Links
Comment Due Date: September 30, 2021
Keywords: Europe, UK, Banking, Insurance, Securities, Diversity and Inclusion, ESG, Reporting, Proportionality, PRA, FCA, Social Risk, BoE
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Moonlight has won best picture at the Oscars - but only after an onstage gaffe where La La Land was initially declared as the winner.
PriceWaterhouseCooper, the accountancy firm responsible for counting the ballots, apologised for the mix-up.
La La Land still ended up the biggest winner of the night, taking home six Oscars including a best actress award for Emma Stone.
Moonlight's surprise best picture win took its haul to three, the low-budget film having earlier won the adapted screenplay award and a best supporting actor prize for Mahershala Ali.
Casey Affleck was named best actor for Manchester by the Sea, while Viola Davis was named best supporting actress for Fences.
Damien Chazelle, La La Land's 32-year-old director, became the youngest film-maker to win the best director Oscar. | https://www.srilankamirror.com/entertainment-mirror/2077-oscars-best-picture-onstage-gaffe-video |
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2020 revenue). The company has more than 100,000 employees serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services.
In the UK, we service our clients from our offices in London, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, and Southampton.
At CBRE, we take our leadership role in the real estate industry to heart. So we’ve made responsible practices the foundation of our global operations. Our global Ethics & Compliance organization enables our people, businesses and partners to act ethically, stay in compliance with our policies and the law, and live by our RISE values. We do this by creating and sustaining best practice programs and procedures that enhance CBRE’s brand as an ethical company.
Named One of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the Nineth Consecutive Year. CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE) has been recognized as one of the 2022 World's Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.
Job Title: Compliance Administrator
Location: London, Henrietta House
This role is a maternity cover for our EMEA Compliance Administrator with an expected duration of 12 months.
As a key member of our EMEA Compliance team, the successful candidate will administer and coordinate various compliance matters throughout EMEA. The objective of the role is to provide daily administrative support and assistance to EMEA Compliance Team (based in London and Warsaw), and to liaise directly with our Compliance Officers around the region. It will be necessary to cover our Team Secretary role as and when needed.
This is an ideal role for someone with solid administrative experience, who is comfortable working in a small team and taking a large degree of independent responsibility. The successful candidate will need to be confident with Excel and able to quickly acquire skills on new IT platforms. Most importantly, you will share a personal commitment to CBRE’s corporate values of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence, have high personal standards of professionalism, excellent attention to detail and the initiative to solve problems or to ask questions when facing challenging tasks.
We offer a challenging role with international exposure and experience working with a key regional and global corporate function.
Key Responsibilities
Preparing/formatting compliance training enrolments and manual training materials
Tracking mandatory compliance training completion and responding to queries related to training
Liaising with global training team and compliance managers to schedule eLearning in EMEA
Generating compliance training reports for country compliance officers and senior business leaders
Running training reports for audit or investigation purposes
Managing/updating Intranet Pages/Portals
Managing/monitoring EMEA compliance inbox
Preparing communications to the CBRE Compliance community for launch via email and the CampaignLogic marketing platform.
Assisting with administrative and ad-hoc tasks, such as room booking, diary management, printing, intranet page amendments in addition to PowerPoint and Word formatting etc.
Contributing to other Compliance Department programs and projects, such as the annual Compliance Risk Assessment, and monitoring of the CBRE Affiliate network.
Person Specification/Requirements
Essential
Undergraduate degree (or equivalent)
Computer and office equipment literate (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Excellent written & verbal communication
Excellent attention to detail
Good organisational and prioritising skills
Fluent English is required
Admin experience
Working towards deadlines
Team player
Good at problem solving and can-do attitude
Respect for other cultures
Flexibility
Desirable
Further qualifications related to compliance/or administration
Experience in using Microsoft Teams, Power BI, and SharePoint Platform
Experience working in a Legal/Compliance administrative role and/or a role with international stakeholders
Used to work with confidential information
Ability to work with variety of skills and personalities
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
We are an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age.
Don’t see a fit at this time? | https://careers.cbre.com/en_US/careers/JobDetail/Compliance-Administrator-FTC-12-months/70519 |
The parasite is involved in a type of symbiotic relationship. A symbiotic relationship is one involving two organisms of a different species having a close relationship. Parasitism is the relationship between two organisms where one benefits from the relationship at the expense of the other. This is typically a closely associated relationship lasting for a long period of time. Lice is a human parasite, benefiting at the expense of its human host.
The Three Types of Lice
Lice, singularly known as louse, are found in every country and continent. There exist over 3,000 different species of these wingless insects. The most common include three types of lice that infect humans; including:
- Head lice (pediculus humanus capitis)
- Body lice (pediculus humanus corporis)
- Pubic lice: Also known as crab lice (phthirus pubis)
Lice: Physical Characteristics
The physical characteristics of all three types of lice are very similar. All are approximately 2 millimeters in size, although the crab louse is the smallest and the head louse the largest. All lice are wingless, incapable of flying or jumping, and flat. Lice have six legs, three pairs, specifically located behind the head. These legs have sharp claws, used for the purpose of attachment to items and hair. Lice use these claws to pierce the skin, using specially designed mouthparts for sucking blood. While sucking blood, the lice secrete saliva, increasing the overall sensations of itching. Typically, lice are gray in color. This color may change to be considerable darker after a recent feeding.
Lice and Nits
The egg of a female louse is known as a nit. One healthy adult female louse is capable of producing 3 - 4 eggs per day. These nits are attached to the human hair through the use of specialized saliva. This saliva is produced by the louse and is responsible for the creation of bonding the nit to the hair. Nits are typically pale white in color when alive. If the nit appears a brown color, it is dead. Nits require approximately a one month maturation period, which is made up of three stages. All stages of maturation are associated with the need for blood as a food source.
Lice and Your Skin
Lice are specially designed for the infection of a specific host. Lice are limited in their capabilities of infection to specific areas of the body, as the need for hair is a necessity. Lice are dependent upon their host for survival, and because of this fact, lice have developed many characteristics to help maintain this close relationship. Lice feed on blood, which must be obtained through damage to the skin. Head lice are limited to the scalp. The scalp provides the necessary shelter, food, and reproductive environment required by the lice. Hair keeps the temperature consistent and warm, and is the location for nit placement. Food is found in the form of blood, and is readily available on the scalp. The itching created by this feeding is caused by the secretion of saliva by the lice.
Sources: | https://www.hellolife.net/head-lice/b/lice-a-human-skin-parasite/ |
A press release from a conservative think tank criticizing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) provides crucial insight into how the organization works -- and helps illustrate that while ALEC says its purpose is to facilitate an exchange of "practical, state-level public policy issues," it instead sells policy to the highest bidders. The release documents how the "exchange" that happens at ALEC is more like a stock exchange than a free marketplace of ideas.
The Massachusetts-based Pioneer Institute issued a press release on November 29 criticizing ALEC for refusing to adopt a resolution opposing the federal K-12 educational curriculum standards known as "Common Core." The Pioneer Institute and others on the right oppose Common Core because they believe that creating national standards for math and English limits state control over the educational system. "The model law [opposing the standards] is in furtherance of preserving federalism, supposedly one of ALEC's founding principles," said Emmett McGroarty of American Principles Project, one of the model's sponsors and its original drafter.
But for ALEC, principles take a back seat to dollars, according to the Pioneer Institute. The internal ALEC dispute over the Common Core standards reveals how ALEC, which promotes "model" legislation for introduction across the country, operates as a pay-for-play rather than an exchange of ideas.
Pioneer describes how ALEC allows its deep-pocketed members to control the terms of the discussion and the ultimate outcome of the "model" bills that ALEC sets as priorities for its legislative members. The group details how ALEC structured a decision-making discussion about the Common Core standards, after most legislators said they were not familiar enough with the standards to endorse or oppose Common Core:
ALEC planned to host a debate on the topic at the December meeting and at different times asked each side to come up with amounts between $25,000 and $40,000 to sponsor the debate.
According to the Pioneer Institute, the ALEC members who were Common Core opponents could not afford the sponsorship. But State Farm Insurance Company -- whose business has nothing to do with education -- paid tens of thousands of dollars to sponsor the ALEC debate on the Common Core standards. Why? According to Pioneer:
A top State Farm executive sits on the board of Achieve, Inc., one of Common Core's leading proponents and developer of one of the national tests.
Pioneer says that State Farm initially rejected the inclusion of two prominent Common Core opponents in the debate.
The group also claims that other Common Core supporters paid big to influence the discussion.
The lunch that preceded the debate was sponsored by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, a leading Common Core proponent.
As CMD has documented , the Foundation for Excellence in Education is funded by many of the same for-profit education companies that bankroll ALEC, but does not appear to receive funding from the ideological think tanks that are ALEC members and oppose Common Core.
The lunch's keynote speaker was Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, another prominent supporter. Bennett's speech included advocacy for Common Core.
And the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which "alone has invested more than $100 million in developing and disseminating the standards," according to Pioneer, "gave ALEC $376,635 to support education public policy and advocacy efforts" in 2011. One of its advisors was also reportedly given access to the ALEC Board that Common Core opponents were denied.
In April, after controversy surrounding ALEC's role in promoting Stand Your Ground legislation, the Gates Foundation announced it would not renew its grant to ALEC. But the investment by Gates and other Common Core supporters apparently paid off. Though the ALEC Education Task Force approved a resolution in opposition to Common Core standards at two separate meetings, the ALEC Board of Directors refused to endorse it.
Such are the perils of ALEC's pay-to-play system of producing bills and setting the agenda to change the law. | https://www.prwatch.org/print/11888?page=0 |
The Greater Sydney Commission recently set out a strategy to reimagine Sydney as three cities – an eastern “Harbour City”, a central “River City” and a western “Parkland City”.
At its heart, this plan aligns with Resilient Sydney’s approach to building Sydney’s resilience, which in turn will strengthen the city’s liveability, economy and productivity to help make it fit for a bright future.
This article considers a number of related issues, such as the importance of green infrastructure, growing vulnerability to stresses and shocks, changing energy requirements and creating a water-sensitive city, drawing on lessons outlined in our recent report, Making Sydney Brilliant: A Manifesto for Sydney at 8 Million People.
Sydney’s resilience is likely to be tested by external threats
Sydney has always been prone to extreme weather events, including heatwaves, storms and bushfires. Climate change will exacerbate this problem and increase demand on energy and water supplies and affect public health, while potentially disrupting infrastructure. Furthermore, the potential for cyber-attacks or shocks to Sydney’s huge financial sector increase systemic risks that could affect all Sydneysiders. Sydney should promote collaboration among all stakeholders to better understand and manage underlying vulnerabilities and stresses, interdependencies and risks and to improve the collective wellbeing of the city.
Next-generation corridors
In planning for a resilient city, Sydney needs to build multimodal connected corridors that allow the movement of people, water and resources, not just vehicles. We need to reimagine future transport corridors as next-generation corridors enabling connectivity and driving high-quality urban development. They should meet the strategic needs of a city beyond core functions like providing transport, water and sewage services, and by also providing recreational and environmental benefits.
A fast-changing energy mix
Electricity generation and storage is becoming more distributed, while public transit and even private cars are becoming more electrified, adding to the demand and complexity in providing an adequate electricity supply. It would be beneficial for Sydney to optimise its electricity market in real time, using smart meters and sensors to manage performance and gain insights from data. Better demand management and response will empower people to better manage their energy, leading to improved asset utilisation and network reliability. Off-peak charging of electric cars and incentivising the use of electric car batteries as a storage mechanism to support the grid will provide additional benefits, such as reducing demand for liquid fuels.
Valuing green infrastructure
Despite providing habitat for urban wildlife, cooling buildings, intercepting rainfall and filtering air pollution while reducing energy use and making cities more appealing, too often green infrastructure is treated as a cost and not an opportunity to improve liveability. Urban trees are under threat due to the pressures of growth. We are therefore calling on government to fully value the benefits of green infrastructure through such measures as recognising green infrastructure as an asset class and including it in the state infrastructure strategy.
Creating a water-sensitive city
As Sydney grows, so too will the task of providing adequate water, especially during droughts. In addition, heatwaves can have deadly results, and the community of Western Sydney is especially vulnerable. The key to coping with these challenges is to create a water-sensitive city, and to encourage the responsible use of water while helping to cool the city. This can be done through a number of ways, as outlined in our manifesto, including increasing connectivity to our waterways for heat respite, recreational and commercial uses.
Adam Davis is technical director, sustainability & resilience at AECOM. | https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/we-need-to-increase-sydneys-resilience-heres-how |
At Greenmeadow Primary School every individual is important and matters. Every person is included as part of the Greenmeadow ‘family’. We aim to encourage pupils to respect themselves and other people.
We hold consistency through the school as the ideal situation. To that end all staff are expected to set a good example and to deal with aspects on pastoral care, discipline, dealing with property, uniform and attitudes in a similar manner.
We endeavour to promote positive values and attitudes through rewards, sanctions and discussing issues either with individuals, at a classroom level or through school assemblies.
We aim to realise the best a child can do, providing opportunities wherever possible to discover each child’s strengths and weaknesses. Relative strengths are then acknowledged and achievements celebrated whilst weaknesses are supported.
We encourage a sense of corporate identity and acknowledgement of equality and pride through our school uniform.
The curriculum, other experiences and extra curricular activities all contribute to providing for the children’s spiritual, moral, cultural, social, educational and physical education.
We take seriously our responsibility to safeguard pupils’ well being in its broadest sense.
Vision
“In our school it is our expectation that we will all be respectful, reflective and contribute positively to our society.
We endeavour to work together to achieve the best possible education for all, so that individuals can maximise their personal attributes and achievements and enjoyment.”
September 2015
- To participate in building and supporting an atmosphere where respect, kindness, trust and loyalty is shown.
- To create a ‘Can Do/High Expectations’ culture where everyone is given equal opportunities and confidence and enthusiasm to surprise themselves with what they can achieve.
- To continue to develop a supportive environment, where all children and staff are actively involved and take responsibility for the process of their learning, enabling them to become reflective and creative thinkers.
- To continue to foster a positive partnership with parents, carers and the community, in order to enhance the educational and social opportunities and achievements of pupils.
- To provide the opportunity for everyone to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes required to contribute as healthy positive citizens whilst taking responsibility for themselves, the school and the wider environment.
September 2015
Our Values
Our school community includes Children, Parents, School Staff and Governors and working colleagues.
The values that our school community sees as being important in school and life are based on respect:
Ourselves
We value ourselves as unique human beings who are able to develop and enjoy achieving things that we thought were impossible.
Relationships
We will show respect and kindness for others and will value trust and loyalty in our relationships.
Society
To work towards a better world, we will show that we are responsible citizens, who believe in truth, honesty, justice and the difference between right and wrong – the law.
The environment
We are committed to look after our surroundings both inside and outside. We appreciate the beauty and wonder of life and the world we live in.
September 2015
Our school rules
Our School rules are based on respect
- I will listen to the person who is speaking.
- I will follow directions straight away.
- I will keep my hands, feet and unkind words to myself.
- I will learn as well as I can and help others to learn.
- I will take care of equipment, materials and the school environment. | https://www.greenmeadow-pri.swindon.sch.uk/parent-carers-and-visitors/aims-and-values |
Design a workshop for a social care setting of your choice detailing at least TWO creative arts activities. It must be submitted through Turnitin.
The plan should be typed under the following headings.
Section A: Pre-Planning
Section B: The proposal
Section C: The Implementation
Section D: The Evaluation
The workshop should include all these sections along with poster presentation.
Total Word Count: 2000 words
Percentage Weighting 60%
Workshop Plan for Autistic Children Aged 12-18 Years
Pre-Panning
Considering a workshop for autistic children requires an appropriate welcoming space focused on avoiding a sensory overload at the event. There are some possible challenges of while planning activities for autistic children as strong smells, bright and flashing lights and loud music and noise can be disturbing for them. Therefore, a quiet place like Portarlington square is selected to conduct the workshop. Their place is made visually clear with adequate paper ‘footprints’ indicating places children should stand or walk. An appropriate lighting that is not too bright is maintained while defining some a separate quiet area where children can calm down during the event. Parents and children were made aware of these areas to make themselves comfortable whenever the need to calm down arise.
Along with the above preparations, it is important to focus on some of the observations and questions important to run a session with autistic children. These are:
Further, the pre-session planning is based on looking for some amazing activities focusing on small-group activities, using props like bubbles, blocks etc. and communicating clearly through display pictures so that children know what to expect at the workshop. Small group activities ensure that children are not physically cramped. It was ensured that we pre-plan some activities where children can be given the roles in which they can be successful. To ensure this it is important to check the details of participating children beforehand to understand who will be comfortable in collecting materials, who is more interested in distribution of material or arranging the props, etc. A thorough study of the participants during the pre-planning stage will help in better running of the session.
As we are planning a dance party, proper equipment in the form of parallel bars, mirrors and sound equipment will be required to clear steps defined to be followed during the dance session.
The Plan:
The workshop:
This one-day workshop provides participants an opportunity to develop language and Life skills through interactive activities especially designed for autistic children between the age group 12-18 years. The focus is on receptive language as well as expressive language skills of autistic children. The intervention programs will help in improving the communication skills and stronger social functioning by responding in an appropriate and favorable manner to music and other sensory stimuli.
|Condition||Age Group||Intervention/treatment|
|Autism Spectrum Disorder||12-18 years||Behavioral: Music Therapy Sessions|
Workshop Objectives:
Agenda and activities
|Time||Activity||Purpose||Outcome|
|10 AM||Introduction to the Workshop:||To introduce and make parents aware about the purpose of the workshop|
|10:45 AM||Small Game with play cards with the participants||To make children comfortable and calm while knowing each other|
|11:00 AM||Music Therapy Activity||It is an established form of creative art therapy where music is used as a key mode of communication, expression and adapting it to the abilities and needs of individual autistic child. The focus is on using the therapy to be beneficial for activation and supporting of mental and psycho-physical behavior. ||Develop Language Skills|
|1:00 PM||Lunch Break|
|2:00 PM||Dance Party||Dance Therapy contribute towards the overall quality of life by reducing the severity of autistic spectrum. It brings in all senses to integration thereby improving the underdeveloped motor skills||Develop Sensory Integration Skills to improve communicative behaviors|
|3:00 PM||Refreshment Break|
|4:00 PM||Dance Party continues….||Continuing the party for repetitions|
|5:00||Wrapping up the workshop|
Music is proven as a key strength among autistic people giving several benefits in the form of modification of brain and behavior, improving social interaction and communication and improving the language skills among autistic children and adults (Sharda et al., 2018). Therefore, music therapy is considered as a key intervention under this workshop providing an opportunity to participants to communicate and express themselves. As the first intervention, a song was composed using the target words. These words were selected from the functional vocabularies that the children between age group of 12-18 years can use effectively in everyday communication. A criterion to include the vocabulary were considered to select the words based on names of familiar objects and people, functional action words and words related to emotions. Along with this there was incorporation of inherent musical structures and organized musical patterns allowing patients to reflect on the activities of music therapy when they are asked to sing the song in small groups. To make the activity interesting some novelty in the form of silly voices and sound effects were be added to ensure that children remains interested when they appear fatigued or find it difficult to remain engage during the session. Such an activity help in reinforcing musicality of language to advance understanding as well as naturalize the flow of words (Alvin and Warwick, 2008).
A key component of the activity was to help children tap their hand to a beat with each syllable to work on speech imitation. This acted as Auditory-Motor Mapping Training (AMMT) intervention aimed at promoting production of speech directly through training the relationship between sounds and articulatory actions through the inclusion of bimanual motor activities (Wan et al., 2011). This intervention stimulates a network of brain regions that generally remains dysfunctional in autism. The therapy is said to improve social-emotional reciprocity and enhance non-verbal communication skills thereby improving the social adaptation skills of autistic children (Geretsegger et al., 2014)
Another activity is related to sensory integration as speech therapy for autistic children. Here, it is to be noted that in case of any kind of hearing or vision processing impairment, language skills generally remain highly underdeveloped. Such disruptions become horrible when autistic people have sensitivities towards particular frequencies (Amos, 2013). There are cases when children can’t hear a sound at all, or a simple rubbing can result in discomfort. So, a dance party is planned under the workshop with proper mirrors, parallel bars and sound equipment. Children were given an opportunity to follow the steps in small groups where four repetitions of pre-defined activities were the target. These activities include single-leg and double-leg squatting, weight shifting, spinning and anteroposterior spreading of lower limbs. These activities associated with moving of upper limbs in a ballroom dance style was develop imitation of gestures thereby training the sensory integration among autistic children. Providing clear instructions to follow repetitive movements will help in reversing the delayed behavioral maturity through integration of several attention systems thereby help in developing the social communication ability among them (Dewey et al, 2007). Such an activity will help individuals to demonstrate their cognitive, behavioral, social and communicative behaviors while improving the body balance and dynamic motor skills of children.
Evaluation
During the workshop children responded in a positive manner as I made sure to keep the interaction with participants positive and keeping the distractions to minimum. Both the activities were attractive, and children made the required attempt to understand the activity, its purpose and perform in an expected manner. At the same time working in small groups made sure that children are not over-burdened and learn to work along with team members. This acted as a stimulant to interactions and communications among the group members thereby helping in achieving the objectives of the workshop. They were able to understand nonverbal communication gestures and were comfortable while engaging in dance and music groups. Children were seen to be more attentive and focused at the end of the workshop. They made friends and able to express their ideas and feelings with each other while understanding each other’s emotions. A conversation among participants at the end of the workshop helped in identifying the improvement in their conversation skills and peer interaction through vocabulary development.
While working with my participants, I realized that future workshops should be organized with some fresh goals targeting the struggle of autistic children with expressions, cues, feelings, values and perceptions. Future goals of visual-auditory processing and training must be followed to make people with ASD actually see the conversation and diagnose how they can follow the conversations socially. This will help them to explore questions on semantics or meaning or words in literal and relative sense. | https://www.abcassignmenthelp.com/workshop-for-a-social-care-setting-language-skills-among-autistic-children |
The Mfangano Community Health Field Station represents a training and research collaboration between the University of Minnesota in the United States, Maseno University in Kenya, and a community-based organization on Mfangano Island called the Ekialo Kiona (EK) Center. Since 2010, this collaboration has implemented a series of health, agriculture, and livelihood interventions on Mfangano Island alongside longitudinal community-based research. A trusted health information source in the community, the EK Center is a community-owned initiative that has served as an administrative hub for numerous community education campaigns focused on issues such as HIV/AIDS, childhood nutrition, sanitation, obstetric emergencies, and other health concerns facing this remote population.1 Uniquely, the EK Center also features a local radio broadcast studio, home to EK-FM Suba Radio Station, an important platform for local community health education programming.
In 2019, our collaboration initiated the MOMENTUM Study (Monitoring Maternal Emergency Navigation and Triage on Mfangano), a rolling cohort study to assess barriers and delays faced by families seeking emergency obstetric and neonatal care at 9 remote health centers on Mfangano Island.2,3 Ongoing data collection was interrupted however in March 2020 with the emergence of the initial COVID-19 surge. In response, our group shifted from research activities to focus on supporting a locally tailored COVID-19 education campaign. Later in 2021 with the onset of the Delta surge we reactivated the education modalities and designed an additional vaccine mobilization campaign.
The target population for this program included the island communities of Mfangano Island Division (including Mfangano, Remba, Takawiri and Ringiti Islands) with a total population of approximately 26,000.4 Residents of Mfangano live in remote fishing villages that accessible from the mainland only by a 1-2 hour boat ride, and face considerable poverty and health challenges.5 Mfangano Island Division is served by a fragmented network of under-resourced health facilities, and remains one of the most HIV-impacted population on the planet with approximately 25% of the general population infected,6 making this community especially vulnerable the impacts of COVID-19.
Here we describe the design processes and rationale behind our chosen COVID-19 education strategies, basic outputs, and perspectives from local staff regarding strengths and challenges. It should be noted that this report is not intended to provide quantitative or qualitative evidence regarding the efficacy of a COVID-19 intervention. This report is limited by the inability to compare outcomes with a similar control population, as our group was not resourced to implement an evaluation of this scope. Moreover, as we have articulated in our recent publication, Rethinking our Rigor Mortis,7 our work on Mfangano is grounded in emerging “slow research” methodologies8 that prioritize local adaptivity, place-based commitment, and inclusivity. While our experience may not apply broadly to all rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa, we assert that global health implementation has been restricted by an overemphasis on specific types of research methodologies that lend themselves more readily to generalizable conclusions, systematic reproducibility, and quantitative analysis. As such, we believe that our groups experience responding to COVID-19 in Western Kenya provides insights and lessons that could be selectively adapted and incorporated by other place-based research enterprises facing unanticipated public health threats.
PROGRAM DESIGN
The initial Mfangano COVID-19 Response Program was designed to address community member concerns including lack of accurate health information, frequently changing guidelines, and confusion and fear among the Mfangano Island population amidst rapidly rising caseloads in Western Kenya. The program relied heavily on remote collaboration, local leadership, frequent team meetings and responsive communication between our international and local teams. Later in 2021 with the onset of the Delta Surge and as vaccines became available, we also identified a need to mobilize community leaders specifically to promote vaccine uptake.
Based on prior experience and local feedback, we initially identified two parallel strategies for community education and engagement: 1) printed factsheets for local distribution at high-frequency community meeting points, and 2) vernacular radio broadcasts on the local EK-FM radio station. In addition to these primary education modalities, we supported a network of community handwashing stations that were maintained by local Health Navigators previously involved in maternal health programming through EK Center. We also supported the local MoH in obtaining PPE including masks, gowns, gloves, and sanitizing solutions. In 2021, we developed an additional strategy: 3) targeted vaccine mobilization through community opinion leader outreach. These 3 primary strategies are summarized and described further in Table 1.
Community education: factsheets and radio programming
Awareness of the program was raised through the EK Center social media channels, word of mouth, SMS messages to local health workers, and EK-FM announcements. Specific topics for education and dissemination were identified through a participatory process involving a working group of local EK Center staff, community health volunteers, MoH officials, and international investigators. In addition to input from this working group, topics were adapted based on continuous community feedback through word of mouth, on-air EK-FM call-ins and surveys, and social media. Based on this adaptive format, factsheets and radio programming were developed address the following 10 community-driven topic areas in sequential order.
-
Covid-19 Containment measures: Prevention of COVID-19, handwashing, and social distancing.
-
Exposure, isolation, and treatment of COVID-19
-
Home Based Care for sick people with COVID-19
-
Preventing stigma from COVID 19 and domestic violence during lockdowns
-
Addressing common COVID 19 misconceptions and myths
-
Strengthening the health sector to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic
-
Mfangano Health Navigation Ambulance Boat protocol for COVID-19 transfers
-
COVID-19 vaccines and accessibility.
-
COVID-19 variants
-
Importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as scheduled.
For each topic, printed factsheets included pertinent graphics and culturally relevant language. Factsheets were reviewed by the local MoH and printed in both English and Dholuo. These factsheets were then given to local community health workers and Health Navigators who posted them in highly visited areas of the community, such as churches, beach offices, markets, schools, chief’s barazas, and hospitals. Handwashing stations were identified as highly trafficked locations, with over 73 users per day on average, and ideal for factsheet posting. In total, 13 factsheets were designed and distributed in 2020, and subsequently 7 more to address emerging topics, namely vaccines and variants, in 2021. All graphics utilized were public domain clipart, free from copyright, and freely available on the internet. Websites for all information sources were also listed on each of the factsheets. All factsheets were printed and maintained at locations across Mfangano Island. Subsequently, these sheets were endorsed by the US Embassy in Nairobi and made accessible for national dissemination. Please see Online Supplementary Document, Appendix I and II for examples of printed factsheets.
For each topic, a corresponding radio script was also created and included in the regular programming of the EK-FM radio station multiple times throughout the week. Radio programming was delivered in English, Dholuo and Suba languages. Programming also featured expert guest speakers including public health specialists from the University of Maseno and MoH representatives. An estimated 200,000 people around Homa Bay County and beyond tuned into the radio episodes. It is worth noting that the EK-FM radio station reaches populations beyond Mfangano Island which accounts for the high participation rate in the radio programming. Please see Online Supplementary Document, Appendix III for example of radio program script.
Vaccine promotion
In addition to these educational measures, a COVID-19 vaccination mobilization campaign was initiated in 2021 with the goal of encouraging local leaders to get vaccinated to demonstrate safety and efficacy of vaccines. Importantly, local staff communicated to community partners that the EK Center was not coordinating a mass vaccination campaign, but rather facilitating vaccination efforts with the local MoH for key leaders and vulnerable community members in order to promote future vaccination uptake. Due to national vaccination guidelines and limited resources, vaccination mobilization was focused on EK Center staff, the Suba Council of Elders, key community leaders, and vulnerable community members. EK staff members invited local leaders to scheduled vaccination sessions at the EK Center by utilizing long-standing existing relationships with the local government, the Suba Council of Elders, Beach Management Units, and the local MoH. Community opinion leaders included church leaders, Suba Council of Elders, village elders, teachers, beach management union leaders, traditional birth attendants, and health care workers. Local MoH staff traveled to the EK Center, a trusted community site to administer all vaccines. Ultimately all 23 EK staff members were fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca, and 227 against the initial target of 200 community opinion leaders were fully vaccinated with Moderna.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVES: Strengths
According to the local leadership team, it was the community-informed approach that contributed most to the sustainability of the COVID-19 program. Most of the ideas and topics of concern came from the community expressing needs as at the time of implementation. In response, the implementation team was able to address concerns in real-time using daily radio updates, one-on-one dialogues with community leaders, and regular communication from health facilities taking part in the COVID-19 response.
According to local staff on the ground, the main strengths of the Mfangano COVID-19 response program were based on the community-driven approach supported by virtual, interdisciplinary collaboration from the international team. Local staff at the EK Center led all aspects of the program design and implementation. EK staff also coordinated the relationship with MoH, allowing them to obtain up-to-date statistics and reports regarding local COVID-19 transmission and new guidelines. Frequent Zoom meetings, WhatsApp discussions, and responsive communication in both directions were essential in creating timely and accurate content as both international and local guidelines and recommendations evolved. Despite distance and virtual interactions, the friendship that emerged between Kenyan and U.S. graduate students, Kenyan and U.S. physicians, and EK Center staff in Mfangano Island created a strong alliance that allowed the team to respond and adapt to the needs of the community at each stage of the COVID-19 response. The ability of the team to rapidly gather English-language information from multiple sources, quickly translate these materials into local Dholuo dialect, and then prepare both printed and spoken word content, ensured maximum accessibility and outreach. Large numbers of community members were reached with the translated posters, WhatsApp messages shared to the EK staff and radio broadcasting team. Instant feedback shared by the community about the COVID-19 responses, could be addressed quickly, since the local staff had wider understanding of how they were implementing the responses on the ground. With detailed understanding of community cultural practices, the local staffs were able to reach many persons with accurate information and interventions in response to the pandemic.
Regarding vaccine mobilization, the inclusion of prominent community leaders was especially important. Through targeted outreach by EK Staff, local Suba Council of Elders representatives, religious leaders, and other civic leaders agreed to publicly endorse vaccinations and received the vaccines themselves. As a result, community opinions regarding vaccination rapidly shifted and demand increased exponentially over the course of a few weeks. In the end, these targeted invitations proved to be one of the simplest but most effective aspects of the program. The EK Center staff took the initiative of being the first persons to be vaccinated on the island, to communicate the next steps which the community should take. In addition, the local staff, in connection with the MOH and with support from the US-based team, created a sustainable model which ensured availability of vaccines at the EK center. Further, the local staff were able to influence the community to best participate in the vaccination program, because of their good networking and rapport with the community.
The Mbita sub-county MOH helped in review of episodes and factsheets. They also availed vaccines and staff for administration of those vaccines. Further, they provided a call center number for coordinating/reporting covid -19 suspected cases and getting other related information.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVES: Challenges
Regarding the distribution of accurate information about COVID-19, a major challenge of this community response program was the constant change in COVID-19 guidelines and the need to quickly update the factsheets that had previously been distributed. Thus, each printed factsheet was ultimately paired with ongoing radio episodes in an attempt to ensure that out-of-date printed information could be addressed through other formats. Radio episodes were continually updated as new information was available. Another concern was the possibility of creating confusion by adding more information to an already saturated topic that may conflict with misinformation circling in the community.
During program implementation, a knowledge gap became apparent within Mfangano Island Division, with the communities on East and South being more knowledgeable about COVID-19 than the remote West and North communities. This was because of the existence of Health Navigators in East and South who could provide in-time response to concerns at the community level. Lack of understanding of the COVID-19 information presented may have exacerbated existing disparities. Some community feedback did indicate confusion from this educational material, particularly related to COVID-19 vaccines. To mitigate this confusion, EK-FM provided opportunities for community members to provide feedback or ask questions about the information being shared.
Furthermore, remote coordination and the need to connect with MoH frequently presented a challenge in how quickly the team was able to develop educational materials. Local travel restrictions created challenges for coordinating the distribution of materials. Consequently, copies of factsheets did not reach all targeted areas and fewer numbers of factsheets were distributed than initially planned. This was the result of limited resources available to facilitate the program, and the inaccessibility of some areas. It is worth noting that most of the information on factsheets could only be read by literate members of the community, underscoring the importance of additional pictorials that could be easily internalized by those who could not read English or Dholuo, as well as corresponding radio episodes that could be understood by all.
In regard to COVID-19 vaccine promotion, local staff initially reported high levels of confusion, fear, and hesitancy among participating communities regarding vaccination. However, through targeted invitations, hundreds of local community leaders agreed to be publicly vaccinated to promote safety and uptake. The success of this effort created an unintended challenge in that local demand for vaccines quickly exceeded the available MoH supply on Mfangano. Although it was communicated that the EK Center was not coordinating mass vaccination efforts but helping MoH with their vaccination efforts of key leaders and vulnerable populations, many community members were frustrated with their inability to receive a vaccine. As more and more community members were encouraged to get vaccinated, it became difficult to clearly communicate with the community why the EK Center was not able to coordinate vaccinations for everyone on Mfangano Island. Community members had difficulty understanding why they needed to go to other local MoH facilities to schedule vaccination appointments when others could be vaccinated at the EK Center. There were also challenges of sustaining functional hand washing facilities at the community level in ensuring security and continuous supply of water and soap. In addition to that, based on high poverty index within the Island, over expectations of continuous supply of reusable nose mask to the community which EK couldn’t sustain because of limited budget.
Ultimately, EK staff and Health Navigators were able to provide information and resources on active MoH locations where community members could go to receive a vaccination when eligible.
DISCUSSION
Like many other community-based research collaborations around the world, our team faced considerable disruptions to our research agenda with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, given a decade of experience conducting community-based research among the island communities of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya, we also recognized that our team was uniquely positioned to respond, and thus had a responsibility to support local COVID-19 education and mobilization efforts in this remote population. This transformation required a conscious effort to pause our formal data collection agenda, and together focus on an adaptive information dissemination and resource coordination campaign. By focusing on culturally relevant written and spoken modalities, we were able to support our community in a time of need with up-to-date information. We were also able to catalyze a rapid shift in perceptions regarding COVID-19 vaccination through targeted outreach to our network of community leaders.
Given the highly specific nature of our locally tailored programming, as well as the inability to compare outcomes with similar control populations, it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy or broad generalizability of our approach. At the same time, we highlight several aspects of our program that hold valuable lessons for similar rural communities facing COVID-19 surges, including enthusiasm for vernacular radio and integration of community leaders into vaccine mobilization efforts. Ultimately, for our group, the pandemic conditions led to a reorganization of priorities, engagement strategies, and management structures, that had a positive impact on our partnership and wider research mission. Moreover, as global health partnerships around the world likely to be tested in the future from recurrent COVID surges and other emerging public health threats, it is critical that we continue to reexamine how we can harness these experiences to resharpen organizational focus, eliminate unnecessary and vestigial decision structures, and meet the moment for communities in need.
Despite the myriad public health and economic problems generated by the novel coronavirus within the communities we serve, our group was also surprised to recognize several positive outcomes for our collaboration as a result of the pandemic. Above all, we appreciated the ways in which the pandemic disrupted our normal “chain of command” and decision tree, creating new opportunities for empowerment of local research staff as primary intervention designers and executive decision-makers. While capacity building has long been an explicit goal of our group, the pandemic necessitated and accelerated a pragmatic shift, enabling our group to more fully walk the empowerment talk. As we look forward to a return to travel and face-to-face collaboration, we remain committed to sustaining these crucial transformations. This experience has reminded us that community-engaged scholarship requires an evolving reassessment of priorities, the ability to adapt to the community calendar in real-time, and a commitment to harness the hard lessons learned through crisis towards a more equitable partnership.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge all our community and international partners who supported this Mfangano Community Health Field Station effort, including the Ekialo Kiona Center and Research Department staff and volunteers, the Organic Health Response Board of Directors and staff, the Community Health Volunteers of Mfangano Island, and the EK Community Advisory Group. We thank the Kenyan Ministry of Heath staff, and all Mfangano Island community leaders for their partnership over the years. The Ekialo Kiona Center would like to thank all local and international partners who have supported the Ekialo Kiona Radio Station and Health Navigation programs which helped coordinate this effort, particularly the Improving Chances Foundation and Craig Newmark Philanthropies. We would also like to thank our collaborators at the University of Maseno, the University of Minnesota Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, and Humphrey School—Masters in Development Practice Programs. We want to acknowledge the University of Minnesota and University of Maseno ethical review committees who provided IRB approval for the MOMENTUM study associated with this report. The authors declare that there are no competing interests with regard to this report.
Funding
None
Authorship contributions
All authors contributed to the manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available upon request from the corresponding author), and declare no conflicts of interest.
Correspondence to: | https://www.joghr.org/article/38509 |
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Equity in Vaccination: A Plan to Work with Communities of Color Toward COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond
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Seven months into the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the United States, nearly 50% of the American population has been vaccinated. While this is a monumental accomplishment, there is still much work to do.
In the coming months, the country will face a series of vaccination challenges including serving groups with persistently low vaccine uptake (due to, for example, low/no access, vaccine hesitancy, or a combination of factors), expanding COVID-19 vaccination to children (particularly those whose parents may be less willing to vaccinate their children than to get vaccinated themselves), and orchestrating a potential booster dose campaign (with its own hesitancy issues). As the COVID-19 vaccination campaign continues, lessons from the vaccine rollout to date can help provide direction moving forward.
One challenge that deserves closer attention and more refined solutions is the campaign’s limited success at delivering vaccines to low-income persons and communities of color. During the pandemic, these populations have experienced significant physical, financial, and psychological harms at a disproportionate rate. The continued emergence and spread of new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants and the resumption of routine social, commercial, and educational activities across the country amplify the risks that COVID-19 poses to these groups.
This report provides specific guidance on adapting COVID-19 vaccination efforts to achieve greater vaccine coverage in underserved populations and, through this, to develop sustainable, locally appropriate mechanisms to advance equity in health.
In the first half of the report, we outline findings from local, ethnographic research conducted within Black and Hispanic/Latino communities in Alabama, California, Idaho, Maryland, and Virginia. Since January, local research teams have been assessing community infrastructure; listening to community members, public health officials, and government leaders; and coordinating engagement activities to understand how best to promote awareness of, access to, and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines. In the second half of this report, we present the policy and practice implications of the local research. The Working Group on Equity in COVID-19 Vaccination—an advisory body of community advocates, public health experts, and social scientists—developed the recommendations, eliciting local team feedback.
Naming vaccine hesitancy as “the problem” obscures a more complex set of realities
The now popular term “vaccine hesitancy” glosses over diverse concerns about vaccines, COVID-19, and health authorities. Rather than a perceived moral failure of being “hesitant” or “noncompliant,” a lack of vaccination is often an external reality related to lack of access to vaccines. The same socioeconomic and structural forces that contribute to the disparate impacts of COVID-19 have also created persistent barriers to accessing vaccines. A myopic focus on vaccine hesitancy can conceal access issues, including those due to structural racism. Vaccine decision making is ongoing, dynamic, and interpersonal, rather than a straightforward process of an individual, alone, digesting educational materials and then moving to action.
Assuming communities of color are homogeneous is a critical error
Common experiences among communities of color do exist, particularly the shared burden of economic and racial inequalities. Where the communities live can also create similar experiences; for example, urban areas often have more developed internet and transportation infrastructure compared to frontier and rural locations. Despite these similarities, differences between and within local communities make them unique and result in different experiences. Black and Hispanic/Latino persons experience racism differently due to factors such as language, culture, and historical experiences with certain institutions (eg, immigration and law enforcement). Within communities, demographic characteristics like age, gender, and political party affiliation greatly influence and differentiate individuals’ experiences and perspectives.
Hyperlocal responses to the pandemic result in better health outcomes
Community led, organized, and advocated measures have closed COVID-19 response gaps. Grassroots groups already have the trust of community members and understand the socioeconomic and cultural realities of their lives. Governmental public health agencies and healthcare systems do not always have such assets to the same extent or depth. Such trust is important. Vaccination moves at the speed of public trust; without trust, education campaigns, national messaging campaigns, and other pro-vaccination efforts fall flat.
Humanize delivery and communication strategies for COVID-19 vaccines
To reverse the vaccination campaign’s current slowdown and persistent unevenness in vaccine coverage, the campaign should support more peer-led and neighborhood-based opportunities for community conversation and for convenient vaccine access. Health systems and health departments should develop and/or strengthen their collaborations with community-based organizations (CBOs), FBOs (faith-based organizations), and community health workers (CHWs) and, importantly, commit to maintaining these relationships after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. CBOs, FBOs, and CHWs should play a key role in identifying reasons for low vaccination coverage and should be involved in developing interventions to address those issues, such as providing vaccines at locations community members perceive as safe, familiar, and convenient. Groups and people communicating about COVID-19 vaccination should target as many social settings as possible—in person, on air, and on screen—to create multiple opportunities that prompt peer-to-peer conversations about vaccination. Individuals do not make their decision alone, even if they make the final decision about getting the vaccine.
Anchor COVID-19 vaccination for hard-hit areas in a holistic recovery process
First, public agencies, hospitals and health systems, nonprofit social service providers, CBOs, FBOs, and CHWs should align themselves around a “whole person” model of recovery to meet underserved communities’ self-identified needs (eg, food, housing, jobs, mental health support) and to multiply the benefits of each vaccination encounter. A wraparound service approach provides the sense of safety and security important to informed health decision making. Second, local and state jurisdictions should take immediate steps to plan for long-term recovery and community resilience by: (a) convening a cross-sector council of stakeholders, including Black and Hispanic/Latino leaders, CBOs, FBOs, and CHWs to apply a whole-of-community, whole-of-government approach; and (b) engaging existing data-driven coordinating bodies that already facilitate disaster recovery, economic development, and other long-range planning.
Develop a national immunization program to protect people throughout the life course
During the COVID-19 vaccination effort, public health authorities and government leaders at federal and state levels should capitalize on an already highly successful national immunization program for children, building out systems to provide broader coverage for COVID-19 vaccines and the 13 other vaccines recommended for some or all adults. Tasks include reconfiguring funding systems to support a life-course (versus childhood-only) approach to immunization, facilitating the integration of adult immunization with other health systems and priorities, and developing systems to monitor program progress and measure social and economic impacts. The funding support must be adequate to ensure health departments have sufficient staffing to oversee progress in enhancing adult immunization uptake and can take corrective actions if progress is judged to be inadequate.
Rebuild the public health infrastructure, properly staffing it for community engagement
Political leaders at all levels should allocate steady core funding for the public health infrastructure, sustaining its capacity to respond to future emergencies and address prevalent health challenges (eg, diabetes, heart disease) that affect communities of color in greater numbers. A mandatory national investment of $4.5 billion per year in a public health infrastructure fund will ensure a predictable minimum capacity at state and local levels. State and local officials should provide steadfast support to agencies that protect the health of their populations. Furthermore, state and local health departments should commit to the strategic goals of promoting equity in their ranks at every level, including their boards of health, and strengthening human-centric competencies through the recruitment of more social and community proficient professionals, such as health educators/promoters, risk communicators, language translators, social media strategists, and sociobehavioral researchers.
Stabilize the community health system as the backbone for equity and resilience
Federal, state, and local leaders should take steps to formalize and finance the country’s struggling, but promising, community health system. Through community roots and shared experiences, CHWs build trust with clients while navigating health and human services systems, bridge client and provider cultures to adapt service delivery and better meet needs, and advocate for system-level changes that will improve clients’ access to care and overall health. In consultation with local, regional, and national CHW networks, federal and state officials should create sustainable financing strategies (including Medicaid reimbursement) for community health work on disease prevention, health promotion, and social determinants of health. To generate opportunities and a career ladder, state legislators should authorize a CHW workforce development plan; public health officials should work with human resources systems to create positions at varying levels of experience. To acknowledge the deep social assets and community organizing abilities of CBOs, FBOs, and CHW-led organizations, public and private funders should provide grants directly to these entities, adapting funding processes and eligibility criteria to create an environment where communities with the greatest need benefit from funding first. | https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/publications/carrying-equity-in-covid-19-vaccination-forward-guidance-informed-by-communities-of-color |
At its core, a DevOps engineer seeks to streamline the life cycle of software, applications, and systems development through quality assurance, continuous evaluation, and collaborative practices. Using the services of a DevOps engineer, companies are more quickly able to introduce new applications and upgrades, release new features, improve user experiences, and integrate systems.
As one who plays an integral part in the development and operations of software and other IT systems (development and operations = DevOps), a DevOps engineer is typically schooled in various areas of IT. Preparation for this career usually means studying and likely obtaining at least a four-year degree in computer science, computer engineering, information technology, or a related field.
DevOps Engineer Degree
One of the most popular degrees obtained by aspiring DevOps engineers is the bachelor of science in computer engineering. Studies in this field tend to address concepts in designing, testing, and implementing various components of integrative computer hardware and software systems. You could expect to learn about operating systems design, computer programming, digital system design, electronic circuits, data structures, and computer networks in this program.
Introductory courses in software engineering and engineering design could also be taken. The curriculum of a BS in computer engineering program is also focused on math and science courses, including calculus, physics, discrete mathematics, and chemistry.
Other relevant degrees one might pursue to begin a career in DevOps engineering are bachelor of science in computer science, bachelor of science in software engineering, bachelor of science in software development, bachelor of science in information technology, or bachelor of science in electronics engineering technology. You might also pursue a bachelor’s degree program with a relevant area of emphasis. For example, you might study for a BS in information technology with an emphasis on software development.
Courses common to these types of programs that would help in the development of a DevOps engineering career include:
- Database Design
- Linear Circuits
- Data Programming
- IT Management
- Computer Architecture
- Computer Organization
- Application Development
- Information Systems Security
- Principles of Computer Systems
- Concepts of Programming Languages
With its managerial responsibilities, a position in DevOps engineering could, in some cases, require a master’s degree. At the least, some companies might require that one hold a master’s degree for advancement purposes. Examples of relevant graduate degrees are:
- Master of computer science
- Master of software development
- Master of science in computer science
- Master of science in computer engineering
- Master of science in software engineering
- Master of science in information technology
- Master of science in computer and information science
In these master’s degree programs, you could expect to take courses addressing cloud computing, database management, data analytics, software architecture, artificial intelligence, advanced programming concepts, and decision science. Many schools offer these degrees online, allowing for the flexibility sought by professionals who wish to maintain their current obligations while pursuing an advanced degree.
What is a DevOps Engineer?
With a focus on software and applications development processes, a DevOps engineer generally works with teams within IT operations in coding, systems development, software updates, and application maintenance. They might be involved in creating software prototypes, running tests on new and upgraded software, integrating systems, and ensuring data security.
DevOps engineers work closely with other IT professionals in this collaborative role, such as coders, software developers, programmers, and systems administrators. DevOps engineers draw on knowledge of project management practices, automated processes, reporting, security, and overall IT infrastructure in their daily tasks.
Over the years, the responsibilities of a DevOps Engineer have grown to encompass cloud architecture, various automation processes, artificial intelligence, micro-services, and machine learning as these new technologies are adopted and incorporated into many IT operations.
While DevOps engineers do not necessarily create code, they should understand coding, scripting, and programming languages. They must also be adept at using software development and testing tools, configuration management tools, applications software, storage devices, and information security systems.
With statistics showing a 24 percent increase in job demand for DevOps engineers over the next few years, opportunities should be plentiful in this field. Some noted skills that are expected to help candidates stand out in the coming years include Linux Scripting, cloud-based OpenShift and OpenStack, Gradle (an automation system), and the NoSQL database platform.
How to Become a DevOps Engineer
The knowledge of programming languages, coding processes, software development, and IT operations needed to work as a DevOps engineer is most often obtained by completing a four-year degree program. Once a bachelor’s degree has been earned in computer engineering, software engineering, information technology, or computer science, one can pursue employment as a DevOps engineer.
Online and in-person, full- or part-time tech bootcamps are effective ways to build the programming and software engineering skills required to work as a DevOps Engineer. In a relatively short period, usually between eight and 36 weeks, you can master skills in scripting, coding, back- and front-end software development, mobile app development, integration, configuration, and product management. Bootcamps can be run by technological companies, professional associations, software manufacturers, computer consulting firms, trade schools, or certification course providers.
Bootcamps, for which you can usually obtain scholarships and loans as you would any educational program, can be used to build initial skills for beginners or further develop abilities for current engineers. In some cases, you might be able to land a job as a DevOps Engineer after completing a bootcamp and demonstrating mastery of skills needed for the position. Still, you may be required to obtain a bachelor’s degree after securing employment.
Professional certifications allow you to demonstrate your expertise in and dedication to DevOps engineering. The DevOps Institute, a global association, founded in 2015, offers certifications that “enhance your professional credibility” and help you “stand out from other applicants.” The DevOps Leader (DOL)® certification validates your abilities in organizational leadership, change management, DevOps tools, innovation, IT agility, and applications architecture.
Certifications in individual systems or technologies also carry weight for DevOps Engineers. Some examples are:
- Docker Certified Associate
- Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
- Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)
- AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
- Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
DevOps Job Description
Once you feel confident that you’ve strengthened the skillset needed to pursue a career in DevOps engineering, you could search for employment as a DevOps Engineer, DevOps Support Engineer, Systems Engineer, or DevOps Architect.
Based on an actual posting, a job description for a DevOps Engineer might look like this:
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s (Preferred)
- Azure: 1 year (Preferred)
- AWS: 1 year (Preferred)
- Kubernetes: 1 year (Preferred)
Full Job Description
- Understanding customer requirements and project KPIs
- Implementing various development, testing, automation tools, and IT infrastructure
- Planning the team structure, activities, and involvement in project management activities.
- Managing stakeholders and external interfaces
- Setting up tools and required infrastructure
- Defining and setting development, test, release, update, and support processes for DevOps operation
- Have the technical skill to review, verify, and validate the software code developed in the project.
- Troubleshooting techniques and fixing the code bugs
- Monitoring the processes during the entire lifecycle for its adherence and updating or creating new processes for improvement and minimizing the wastage
- Encouraging and building automated processes wherever possible
Education
- Bachelor’s (Preferred)
- You might begin as a Junior DevOps Engineer. As such, as shown in the job listing below, you would work in more of an “assisting” role:
Responsibilities
- Assist in implementing, documenting, and maintaining a clouded infrastructure strategy with appropriate standards
- Assist in designing, implementing, documenting, monitoring, and maintaining a reliable, scalable infrastructure (including databases) with multiple, sometimes ad-hoc, production, development, testing, and staging environments
- Assist in designing, implementing, and maintaining an infrastructure that can be adapted to scale and change quickly
- Assist in designing, implementing, documenting, monitoring, maintaining, and testing infrastructure backup plans and systems
- Work with developers to help build and improve existing pipelines and infrastructure that promote automated, continuous integration and accelerates delivery of new products and services
- Assist in implementing, documenting, monitoring, maintaining, and testing a secure network infrastructure using reasonable best practices in the cloud and at our local place of business
- Assist in procuring, setting up, and maintaining employee devices, network connections, and permissions
- Help negotiate and coordinate procurement and setup of products and services with vendors.
- Assist in identifying, recommending, procuring, and installing appropriate products and services to implement approved infrastructure improvements and strategy
- Other tasks and duties as assigned
Other career titles that you might start with as you pursue a career as a DevOps Engineer are software developer, applications developer, software release manager, software tester, or cloud engineer.
DevOps Salary
Based on statistics published by PayScale.com in December 2021, DevOps Engineers earn an average annual salary of $97,098. Entry-level DevOps Engineers earn just under $75,000 per year, while those with 20-plus years of experience can realize a yearly wage of $130,847. Salaries for DevOps Engineers above the national average are seen in such cities as San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. | https://techguide.org/careers/devops-engineer/ |
Billions of birds migrate between northern breeding grounds and southern wintering areas. As they fly under the cover of darkness, many songbirds produce quiet flight calls. The function of these short calls has puzzled scientists for more than a century.
“An astute listener will realize that many species produce very similar flight calls, even unrelated species,” according to Zach Gayk, a flight call researcher and a PhD candidate at University of Windsor. “This raises the question: why do some songbirds have similar-sounding flight calls, while other species sound quite different?”
A new study published today in the journal Evolution unveils some of the mystery around the flight calls of migratory songbirds.
Gayk and his collaborators at the University of Windsor measured the flight calls, migratory behaviours, and evolutionary relationships of many species of North American warblers. They found that closely-related species share similar flight calls. What was surprising, however, was that they also found that the flight calls of migratory songbirds were more similar when species shared migration routes and timing.
“Blackpoll warblers and Connecticut warblers, for example, both have nearly identical flight calls, and they both travel nonstop across the ocean between Canada and South America,” Gayk said. “In contrast, Nashville warblers and Blackburnian warblers have very different flight calls, and they travel between very different regions.”
The researchers analyzed the acoustic structure of 864 calls from 36 species of warblers. They then compared the acoustic similarity of their calls to the geographic overlap in the birds’ breeding ranges, migration zones, and wintering areas. They also measured the similarity in timing of their migratory flights.
“Our analyses reveal, for the first time, that flight calls are acoustically similar among species that make similar migratory journeys. Although other ecological factors likely also play a role, we believe this is a step towards understanding the function of flight calls,” said Gayk.
The investigation suggests that similar flight calls enable cross-species communication between migratory birds, said ornithology professor Dan Mennill, the senior author of the study.
“Our research has implications for understanding acoustic communication and its importance to bird migration.”
This new investigation helps to unravel the function of nocturnal flight calls. | https://www.uwindsor.ca/dailynews/education/2021-01-25/birds-migrate-together-whistle-same-tune-study-finds |
Proprioception Exercises to Avoid Injuries
Proprioception is the brain’s ability to know the exact position that the parts of the body have at all times. It’s about being aware of joint movement, speed, and detecting movement force. In this article, we’ll explain some proprioception exercises you can use to improve this skill.
First, let’s explain briefly how the proprioceptive system works. The brain and spinal cord are constantly receiving information from the tension receptors that we have in different parts of the body (in the ligaments, tendons, and muscles).
These receptors continuously send signals to the central nervous system and report on the exact position they’re in at all times. For example, when a muscle stretches or contracts, they send this information to the CNS.
If the receptors are in a situation which they interpret to be dangerous, such as excessive tension or muscle stretching that’s no longer adequate, the brain will send a response with a certain command to make the necessary adjustments. The goal here is to avoid the perceived risk that can lead to injury.
The components of the proprioceptive system
Let’s look at the various components that allow the body to carry out these functions:
Muscle spindles
Muscle spindles are proprioceptive sensory receptors located within the muscle structure. They respond to a stretching stimulus. These sensory receptors are responsible for measuring the length of the muscle, the level of mechanical stimulation, and the speed in which the stretch happens.
Their main function is the inhibition of the antagonistic muscles. In the event that there’s a rapid movement that involves an excessive increase in the length of the muscle, the brain sends the order to activate the myotactic reflex; this reflex generates a response by contracting the muscle when it experiences abrupt or excessive stretching in order to avoid an injury.
Golgi tendon organs
These are the sensory receptors located in the tendons. They’re responsible for measuring the tension developed by the muscle. Golgi tendon organs inform the cerebral cortex of the level of tension in the muscles.
The GTOs send a neurological impulse that activates the reverse myotactic reflex. When a muscle exceeds the tension limit, this reflex serves as a defense mechanism to prevent muscle damage, such as a tear or loss of the tendon insertion.
Joint capsuloligamentous receptors
We can find them in the joint capsule and ligaments. These types of receptors inform the cerebral cortex about the position and movement of the joint.
Vestibular proprioceptors
They’re located in the inner ear and report on the position of the head and its movements. These proprioceptors have a close relationship with a sense of balance.
Proprioception exercises and injury prevention
Through proprioceptive training, the athlete can learn to take full advantage of this mechanism. Reflexes (stretching or myotatic) that can appear in an unexpected situation, such as an ankle sprain, can manifest correctly (helping the body to recover its joint position) or incorrectly (a more severe sprain).
You can use proprioceptive training to eliminate basic incorrect reflexes and optimize your body’s response to avoid an injury.
When we suffer a joint injury, the proprioceptive system deteriorates and there’s a deficit of information that reaches the CNS. That’s why it’s harder to perceive and be aware of the position and movements of the affected structures after an injury.
In turn, this will make it harder for the body to send an adequate response, and it’ll be more prone to relapse. For this reason, it’s essential to restore this altered neurological function by re-educating the movement after an injury.
What kind of proprioception exercises can you do?
You can train the proprioceptive system through specific exercises that lead to improved strength, coordination, balance, and reaction time in certain situations. These exercises also help to compensate for the loss of sensations caused after a joint injury and to avoid the risk of it happening again.
There are countless exercises you can use to work on your proprioception. However, the exercises you choose will be different depending on whether you’re a professional athlete, an amateur athlete, or unfamiliar with regular physical exercise.
Proprioception exercises
Below you’ll find suggestions for exercises that’ll help to improve the proprioception sense for your lower body. It’s important to note that the exercises can serve as a progression guide for a healthy individual.
This means that you can use them as a reference, but not as a guideline; the characteristics of each individual person must always be taken into account before designing an exercise routine.
To get started, you can perform several movement variations in which you maintain your balance on one foot:
- Maintain your balance for a few seconds without putting your foot down.
- Pass a ball from one hand to the other.
- Combine passing the ball with bouncing it on the floor.
- Bounce the ball on one side and pick it up with the hand on the opposite side.
- Pass the ball from one hand to the other, then throw the ball against a wall with one hand and catch it with the opposite hand.
- Bend your hips and knee (in other words, do a one-leg squat).
- Pass the ball behind your support leg and over the leg that’s not on the floor.
Dynamic proprioception exercises
- Move forward and perform a frontal jump while landing on just one foot. Try to maintain the position for a few seconds with proper joint alignment.
- Slide sideways and use only one foot to stop yourself. Pay special attention to your knee-ankle alignment.
- Jog in a diagonal line and stop from time to time while standing on one foot.
- Repeat the previous exercises, but this time try to catch a ball whenever you stop on one foot.
- Combine side, frontal and diagonal movements along with standing on one foot when you stop.
- Try to throw and catch a ball while performing the previous exercise.
Working on your proprioception is worth it
Proprioception exercises can be a great tool to decrease the risk of injuries. However, you have to remember that there are other factors that you can’t control. The possibility of an injury will always be there.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that unstable platforms can provide other types of stimulus and more exercise variety, but they aren’t essential either. However, if you do own a balance trainer, don’t hesitate to use it.It might interest you... | https://fitpeople.com/health/injury-and-prevention/proprioception-exercises-to-avoid-injuries/ |
Wang will study the effectiveness of his techniques using automated methods to block the massive phishing attacks with clear malicious signals while delivering the small portion of uncertain messages to users for further investigation. To improve the user ability of phishing detection, he will investigate fundamental techniques to translate machine learning results to human-interpretable semantics to assist users' decision-making. The crowdsourced user results will then be aggregated to produce real-time phishing alerts for the broad Internet community. | https://eng.vt.edu/media-center/articles/2018/wang-careeraward.html |
Chemistry is an incredibly fascinating subject, and one that can be difficult to understand even for those with a degree in the subject. In this article, we will be looking at one particular chemical reaction – the melting of sodium. We will go through the steps involved in this reaction, and discuss what happens when sodium melts.
How do we know that the melting of the ice caps is a result of climate change?
The melting of the ice caps is one sign that climate change is happening. The ice caps are made up of a bunch of different types of ice, and when they melt, it leads to water being added to the oceans. This water changes the way that the coastlines look and can lead to bigger storms.
What are some effects of climate change?
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a significant rise in global temperatures. The Earth’s average surface temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius), which is significantly more than the 0.8 degree Fahrenheit (0.4 degree Celsius) increase that was expected based on preindustrial levels of atmospheric CO2. The primary cause of this warming trend is human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere.
As the Earth’s atmosphere warms, it allows more sunlight to penetrate to the ground, leading to an increase in plant growth and a corresponding release of CO2 from plants into the atmosphere. This process loops back, amplifying further warming as more CO2 enters the atmosphere and is released again as vegetation dies and decomposes.
The rapid melting of Arctic ice has also had an impact on climate change. The ice cover not only reflects sunlight back into space, but it also helps to moderate Earth’s temperature by trapping infrared radiation emitted by the Earth’s surface. As Arctic ice melts, more sunlight is able to penetrate to the ground and warm up the planet’s surface, contributing to global climate change.\
How has the melting of the ice caps changed over time?
The melting of the ice caps has been a long-standing and ongoing global phenomenon. The first reports of the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets date back to the 1800s.
Today, scientists are still observing and monitoring the changes that are taking place in these regions. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the most important findings from recent studies on the melting of the ice caps.
First, it is worth noting that despite a number of headlines claiming otherwise, there is no general consensus among scientists about how quickly the ice sheets are melting. A 2007 study found that while there is widespread agreement on certain aspects of global warming (such as its existence), there was less certainty about details such as how quickly emissions of greenhouse gases will cause average surface temperatures to rise.
Second, much research has been conducted into how climate change affects water availability and ice sheet melt. Recent studies suggest that increased precipitation in regions near the poles is helping to slow down or even halt the rate at which ice sheets are melting. This is likely due to two factors: 1) Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air does, so raindrops can contain more water when they fall close to the freezing point
What does this mean for our environment?
The melting of sodium is accompanied by the release of a large amount of sodium chloride, an environmentally harmful mineral. Sodium chloride is a corrosive and toxic salt that can harm aquatic life and contribute to coastal erosion. Ingestion of high levels of sodium chloride can also lead to dehydration, shock, and death.
What can we do to help mitigate these effects?
The melting of sodium is accompanied by the release of salt and water vapor into the atmosphere. In response to this, many companies are now producing “salt-free” products in an effort to mitigate these effects. Some measures that can be taken to help mitigate these effects include: reducing intake of processed foods and drinks, using natural sources of salt (like herbs and spices), and avoiding excessive sweating.
Conclusion
The melting of sodium is accompanied by the release of water vapor. This can cause problems for electrical equipment and other devices that use liquid or gas to operate, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and automobiles.
FAQ
What is the melting point of sodium?
The melting point of sodium is 2,148 degrees Fahrenheit. | https://answerprime.com/the-melting-of-sodium-is-accompanied-by-the/ |
Ricci, Seymour de. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1935-1940 (3 vols). Supplement: New York: Bibliographical Society of America, 1962. A finding list of Western manuscripts created before 1600 that are owned by institutions and private collectors, arranged by state, city, institution or collector, with indexes at the back of volume 3. Not intended to be definitive (and many of the manuscripts in private collections have since changed hands), but this is still an important starting point for locating medieval and early modern manuscripts. Available as an ebook from the American Council of Learned Society's (ACLS) ebook collection. UCSD's print set is at SRLF; there is also a set at SDSU's Love Library.
Location Register of 20th-Century English Literary Manuscripts and Letters. Maintained (as funding permits) by the University of Reading Library. The printed edition doesn't have the post-1988 updates that the database does, but may still be useful: Reference Z 6611 .L7 L63 1988 (2 volumes).
Includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented, ArchiveGrid helps researchers looking for primary source materials held in archives, libraries, museums and historical societies.
The Online Archive of California (OAC) provides free public access to detailed descriptions of primary resource collections maintained by more than 200 contributing institutions including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California and collections maintained by the 10 University of California (UC) campuses.
National Union Catalogu of Manuscript Collections
British Library Manuscripts Catalogue
Searches in WorldCat may be limited to Archival Resources in its advanced search mode. For example, entering the author Brainard, Joe and limiting to Archival Materials will lead to catalog records (but not detailed finding aids) for collections containing his manuscripts, art works, and correspondence located in other writers' archives.
All manuscript collections at UCSD, including those formerly located at the Scripps Institution Of Oceanography's Library, are housed in Special Collections & Archives, located in the West Wing of the main (second) floor of Geisel Library.
A small number of separate manuscripts, such as a single letter from one author to another that are not part of a larger archive, are cataloged separately in Roger, and there is no finding aid for these. However, the bulk of the manuscript collections are fairly extensive collections, consisting of from one to over one hundred archival boxes of materials, and each of these collections is accompanied by a finding aid that describes the scope and arrangement of the collection and provides a box-by-box, folder-by-folder (but not item-by-item) listing of the contents of the collection. To see an alphabetical list of these manuscript collections' finding aids, along with another list arranged by major collection strength (e.g. Archive for New Poetry or Baja California), click here.
Because of the irreplaceable nature of manuscripts and their fragility, users of manuscripts must fill out a registration card before consulting them. Signing this card also commits you to following rules for using them and, where copying is permitted, requesting any copies. Read these Rules for Readers here and details of our Duplication Policy here.
American Literary Manuscripts: A Checklist of Holdings in Academic, Historical, and Public Libraries, Museums, and Authors' Homes in the United States. 2nd ed. Comp. by J. Albert Robbins et al. Athens: U. of Georgia Press, 1977. A guide to the location of manuscripts of approximately 2800 American writers in approximately 600 institutions. Although this book is old, manuscripts typically don't leave an institution once they're there, so the information is still accurate except for the addition of manuscripts to institutions since about 1975. Reference PS 88 .M6 1977
Women's History Sources: A Guide to Archives and Manuscript Collections in the United States. Ed. Andrea Hinding and Ames Sheldon Bower. NY: Bowker, 1979, 2 vols. Although not strictly a guide to literary manuscripts, a considerable number of the entries in this guide are to archival materials of women writers. 6th floor: HQ 1410 .W64 1979
As with every other topic, there are standard Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) to help you discover finding aids to manuscripts and archival collections as well as books ABOUT manuscripts and archives. Here are some examples: | https://ucsd.libguides.com/c.php?g=123619&p=809163 |
construct that should be examined hermeneutically. For sociologist Georg Simmel (18581918 culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history." 32 As such, culture in the sociological field can be defined as the ways of thinking, the ways. In this field researchers often concentrate on how particular phenomena relate to matters of ideology, nationality, ethnicity, social class, and/or gender. The concept of material culture covers the physical expressions of culture, such as technology, architecture and art, whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as principles of social organization (including practices of political organization and social institutions mythology, philosophy, literature (both written and oral and. In the context of cultural studies, the idea of a text includes not only written language, but also films, photographs, fashion or hairstyles : the texts of cultural studies comprise all the meaningful artifacts of culture. Culture repositioning means the reconstruction of the cultural concept of a society. Feminist movement involved new practices that produced a shift in gender relations, altering both gender and economic structures. It has been estimated from archaeological data that the human capacity for cumulative culture emerged somewhere between 500,000170,000 years ago. This strain of thinking has some influence from the Frankfurt School, but especially from the structuralist Marxism of Louis Althusser and others.
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35 36 In the United States, cultural studies focuses largely on the study of popular culture ; that is, on the social meanings of mass-produced consumer and leisure goods. In a Marxist view, those who control gay escort forum the means of production (the economic base ) essentially control a culture. For example, hamburgers, fast food in the United States, seemed exotic when introduced into China. Retrieved July 26, 2015. Cultural Anthropology Tutorials, Behavioral Sciences Department, Palomar College, San Marco, California. 25 In the process, he redefined culture as a diverse set of activities characteristic of all human societies. Lindlof, Thomas R; Taylor, Bryan C (2002). Isbn Articles External links. The Sage dictionary of cultural studies. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene. Cicéron, Marcus Tullius Cicero; Bouhier, Jean (1812).
Gay sex contact Lindenholt, Gay sex afspraak Leusden, Gay zoekt sex Capelle aan den IJssel, | http://obsdeboet.nl/90472-homo-massage-den-haag/ |
Feelings of doubt about yourself, indeed often appear on various occasions, one of which is related to one’s own abilities. Then, are you one of those people who are currently having doubts about their abilities? If this feeling of doubt has arisen too often, of course, it will be very disturbing and make it difficult for us to make decisions. Therefore, here are some important steps from the bioenergy code that you must take to overcome doubts about your own abilities.
Accept yourself doubts about your own abilities first
The most basic and first step is to accept the doubts that arise first. Remember, don’t fight these doubts. Why? Because, the more you are opposed to this feeling of doubt, the stronger the feeling of doubt is. It is as if you are asserting that you do not have this ability. Accepting doubts does not mean being passive or simply giving up. On the contrary, by learning to accept you will also make peace with yourself. After that, you will likely be better able to find solutions and your confidence will also slowly increase.
Write clearly and in detail, what are the things that make you doubt your abilities
Don’t let the voices that make you doubt just cross your mind. Write down what are the things that make you doubt in a clear and detailed way. Remember, the more detail, the better. Because here you will try to explore what are the causes of this doubt. That way, you can begin to find bright spots of doubt that have been holding you back from growing.
Don’t forget, do things that can improve your abilities appropriately
It is not enough to analyze and find the causes of self-doubt. We recommend that you immediately take action or do anything that can positively help you to improve your abilities. Because often doubts about one’s own abilities are caused by one’s own abilities that still need to be honed. Now, if your abilities are well developed and trained, then automatically doubt about your abilities will slowly disappear. | http://www.cgjhouston.org/overcome-doubts-about-your-ability/ |
Responsible for overseeing project management & process management of products in development & pre-development pipelines for GNC private label products. Responsible for the training, development and supervision of directly reporting team members in regards to project management and processes of the department.
Managerial
Manage all aspects of Product Development Projects & Tasks, including supervision of team members.
Ensure work is accurate, on time and fulfilling the goals of the department and company.
Provide guidance/training, trouble shooting and career development where applicable
Project Management & Process Management: Products in the pipeline
Create project timelines & prioritization measures and ensure projects meet all requirements
Track & report project status to all cross functional partners as needed
Conduct cost analysis
Facilitate every step in the process (project initiation, formulation review, quote approval, assist with flavor testing/approval, packaging specifications, label/artwork review, quality control review, shipment/transportation)
Continuous follow up & communication on project status
Seek to develop improvements to processes or create processes where applicable
Pre Development: Raw Materials and New Product Concepts
Oversee processes & workflow for pre-development functions
Communication & Reporting
Oversee timely & accurate completion of executive reports requested by Director on weekly and monthly basis.
Conduct vendor meetings via phone conference to obtain project status
Conduct internal meetings to report project status to the internal customer
Maintain accurate records of project details
Inform management immediately of any interruption/delay of the project’s timeline.
Create & circulate necessary reports to various business units
All other duties as assigned
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Responsible for supervising multiple projects.
Responsible for supervising a team of employees.
Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Art, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the key accountabilities of the job required
Advanced degree (MBA, Master’s) preferred
8+ years of business experience plus proven ability to supervise/manage subordinates and provide guidance/training
8+ years of specific experience in project management/ product development for private label consumer packaged goods
5+ years in a leadership role (direct or indirect)
Prior managerial/supervisory experience preferred
Interest in health and wellness products and lifestyle
High degree of proficiency MS Office Suite, Outlook & Internet applications
Strong analytical, prioritizing, interpersonal, problem-solving, presentation, budgeting, project management (from conception to completion), & planning skills
Strong verbal and written communication skills (including analysis, interpretation, & reasoning)
Solid understanding and application of mathematical concepts
Ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships with peers and colleagues across the organization, as well as, internal and external clients
Ability to work well autonomously and within a team in a fast-paced and deadline-oriented environment. | https://careers.usacares.org/pittsburgh-pa/project-manager-global-product-development/E15155305D464342890EF29F1B095670/job/ |
We are interested in the entire human life span, from prenatal and early life events to ageing, and aim at providing accurate scientific information on the developmental aspects of human growth – be it emotional, interpersonal, cognitive or physical growth. Currently, the main focus of our work is on how prenatal and early life events influence later psychological and physical well-being. We collaborate intensively with other academic research groups around the world, as well as Finnish hospitals and institutions. We are currently involved in several research projects.
ITU is a research project on fetal programming and risk factors in early pregnancy, and their association with child outcomes. We are currently recruiting pregnant mothers and their families to participate.
Predo is a multicenter study on preeclampsia, prenatal stress, and fetal programming of child’s psychological development. We are currently following up on the school-age participants.
The EU Horizon 2020 funded RECAP Preterm project is a collaboration of 13 countries and over 20 institutions aimed at building an innovative, collaborative research platform, hosting data from multiple cohort studies and nordic country registers. The data will then be analyzed to predict universal protective factors and successful treatment interventions for preterm and very low birth weight populations.
This Norface project will investigate what factors provide protection and increase resilience for preterm children’s life course outcomes. It will consider protective/resiliency factors at the individual (such as specific educational skills), micro-system (including parental socio-economic status, quality of parenting, and peer relations) and macro-system level (including differences regarding the countries’ educational systems, welfare systems, and income inequality). By studying transitions at all stages of the life cycle up to old age, the project is crosscutting the themes of the call. The collaborative study brings together four research groups based in the UK, Finland, and Germany across the disciplines of Psychology, Economics, and Public Health covering complementary strengths. The results will inform the future design of interventions to promote the health, prosperity, and wellbeing of those born preterm at all stages of their lifecycle.
HBCS is a large collaborative study, which focuses on the long term health influences of early growth and living conditions. Our group is involved in assessing early life psychological risk factors and aging in a cohort of over 2000 men and women born in Helsinki in 1934-1944.
The Helsinki Study of Very Low Birthweight Adults (HeSVA), otherwise known as Pikku-K, is a longitudinal study on infants born with very low birth weight (<1500g), and followed into adulthood. The study is conducted in collaboration with Helsinki University Hospital and the National institute for Health and Welfare.
Our group is also involved in several other projects, including the Arvo Ylppö Longitudinal Study (AYLS), PPP-Botnia and VIDI. | https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/developmental-psychology/research |
At the beginning of the 20th century, Gustav Mahler wrote long, large-scale symphonies. His Eighth Symphony, for example, was composed in 1906 and is nicknamed the "Symphony of a Thousand" because of the forces required to perform it. The 20th century also saw further diversification in the style and content of works that composers labeled symphonies (Anon. 2008). Some composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Carl Nielsen, continued to write in the traditional four-movement form, while other composers took different approaches: Jean Sibelius' Symphony No. 7, his last, is in one movement, whereas Alan Hovhaness's Symphony No. 9, Saint Vartan—originally op. 80, changed to op. 180—composed in 1949–50, is in twenty-four.
There remained, however, certain tendencies: symphonies were still almost always orchestral works. Designating a work a "symphony" still implied a degree of sophistication and seriousness of purpose. The word sinfonietta came into use to designate a work that is shorter, of more modest aims, or "lighter" than a symphony, such as Sergei Prokofiev's Sinfonietta (Kennedy 2006; Temperley 2001).
There has also been diversification in the size of orchestra required. While Mahler's symphonies call for extravagant resources, Arnold Schoenberg's two Chamber Symphonies, opp. 9 (1906) and 38a (1906-39), and the Chamber Symphonies by Franz Schreker (1916), George Enescu (1954), Edison Denisov (1982, 1994) and John Adams (1992) are scored for chamber groups.
The American composer Roger Sessions wrote nine symphonies. The first was composed in 1927, the ninth in 1978.
The Argentine composer Alberto Williams wrote nine symphonies. The first was composed in 1907, the ninth in 1939.
The Austrian-British composer Egon Wellesz wrote nine symphonies. The first was composed in 1945, the ninth in 1970–71, the fourth, op. 70 (1951–53), is subtitled "Austriaca".
The Austrian composer Franz Schmidt (referred to in Fischer 2003,, as "second only to Mahler in importance"), wrote four symphonies between 1896 and 1933, of which the Second and Fourth were not in the traditional four-movement form (although both of these symphonies made explicit reference to it).
The Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote twelve symphonies. The first was composed in 1916, the twelfth in 1957.
The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů wrote six symphonies. The first was composed in 1942, the sixth (subtitled "Fantasies symphoniques") in 1953.
The English composer Peter Maxwell Davies has written eight symphonies, and is completing a ninth in 2012. The first was composed in 1974–76, the eighth (subtitled "Antarctic") in 2000.
The English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji wrote, alongside orchestral and orchestral-choral symphonies (none of which had been performed by the end of the century), symphonies for organ in the French tradition, as well as seven symphonies for solo piano: six numbered ones and a Symphonie nocturne (Rapoport 2001).
The French composer Henri Dutilleux wrote two symphonies. The first was composed in 1951, the second (subtitled "Le Double") in 1959.
The German composer Karl Amadeus Hartmann wrote eight symphonies. The first was written in 1950, the eighth in 1960–62.
The German composer Hans Werner Henze wrote ten symphonies. The first was written in 1947 (revised in 1963, 1991, and finally, renamed Kammerkonzert in 2005) the tenth in 1997–2000. Between the fourth (1955) and fifth (1962) he also composed a Vokalsimfonie (1955) derived from his opera König Hirsch.
The Mexican composer Carlos Chávez wrote six symphonies. The first (Sinfonía de Antígona) was written in 1933, the sixth in 1961–62.
The Polish composer Witold Lutosławski wrote four symphonies. The first was written in 1941–47, the fourth in 1988–92.
The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote seven symphonies. The first was written in 1916-17, the seventh in 1951-52.
The Russian composer Alfred Schnittke wrote nine numbered symphonies. The first was written in 1969-74, the ninth in 1996-97.
The Spanish composer Tomás Marco has composed six symphonies. The first was written in 1976, the sixth in 1992.
The Swiss composer Arthur Honegger wrote five symphonies. The first was composed in 1930, the fifth (subtitled "Di tre re") in 1950.
In the 20th and early 21st century symphonies have been written for wind ensemble and band. Notable examples are Paul Hindemith's Symphony in B-flat for Band from 1951 (Hansen 2005, 95), and Alan Hovhaness's Symphonies No. 4, op. 165, No. 7, "Nanga Parvat", op. 175, No. 14, "Ararat", op. 194, and No. 23, "Ani", op. 249—composed in 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1972 respectively—which are symphonic works for school and college wind bands. Hovhaness is also notable for having written 67 numbered symphonies, whilst Englishman Havergal Brian wrote 32.
Read more about this topic: Symphony
Famous quotes containing the word century: | https://www.liquisearch.com/symphony/20th_century |
For accommodations information, please contact Jonathan Canning at 312-915-7606 or [email protected].
In partnership with the CNADC, LUMA will expand iLUMAnations—a program that takes people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners on tours of LUMA’s galleries designed to engage the mind in new ways while providing an emotional support network. The frequency of sessions and the number of docents at each session will increase in order to accommodate more couples, and additional interactive components will be introduced in order to enhance the sessions. Currently, all participants are CNADC patients who are preselected based on specific criteria to ensure the program is rewarding and helpful. With support from the CNADC, LUMA will explore developing tools and resources in order to replicate a version of this program to be made available to the public in coming years.
LUMA will begin producing materials for people who have low vision, including large print materials that will be kept at the front desk and accessible electronic formats that can be emailed to guests upon request. This will include materials for the permanent collection as well as all temporary exhibitions. LUMA’s graphic designer will prepare the new formats so they are available at the opening of the next temporary exhibitions on May 23rd, 2015, and all subsequent exhibitions and permanent collections. LUMA will continue offering alternate formats, and make other adjustments to print and web materials, within budget, to improve the guest experience. This will include reviewing guest feedback and conducting self-assessments to identify additional changes that can be implemented.
The Curator of Education will undergo extensive training on disability etiquette and awareness in order to teach this to all staff and volunteers, or find a suitable consultant to conduct these sessions. He/she will commit to: perform these sessions annually to ensure all staff and volunteers are adequately trained; continuously attend sessions and check forums in order to integrate new concepts on disability etiquette and awareness into these sessions; and train docents to use more descriptive language during their tours in order to enhance the experience for guests who are blind or have low vision. These trainings will become mandatory for all staff and volunteers on an annual basis. The materials taught will be continuously updated to reflect current best practices, trends, and advancements in disability etiquette and awareness.
The Loyola University Chicago Museum of Art is dedicated to exploring, promoting, and understanding art and artistic expression that illuminates the enduring spiritual questions of all cultures and societies. LUMA reflects the University’s Jesuit identity and is dedicated to helping people of all creeds to explore their faith and spiritual quest. | http://archive.ada25chicago.org/partners/loyola-university-museum-of-art/ |
Early last year a review by Numbeo.com had listed Hamilton, Bermuda as the most expensive city in the world. However, presenting a starkly different view is a recently published survey is Mercer- a leading HR consultancy that claims Hong Kong to be the priciest place to live in, at least as far as expatriates are concerned.
The survey published on Wednesday outlines the rise of Asian cities as the most expensive with 8 out of the 10 ten names in the list belonging to the continent. The surprising dominance of Asia in the top ten is majorly owed to its strong housing markets. In Hong Kong alone, high demand and short supply have driven property prices as ‘unaffordable’ in the past few years. The review pointed out a noticeable decline in UK cities marked by a simultaneous rise of the USA in the list of the most expensive cities for expats working there. Similarly, the least pricey places belonged in Pakistan, Namibia, Tunisia and Uzbekistan with Tunis being the cheapest.
Find below the complete list of the Top 10 most expensive cities in the world for expatriates: | https://luxurylaunches.com/travel/these-are-the-10-most-expensive-cities-for-expats-in-2019.php |
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HMGB1 review: HMGB1 and Rheumatoid arthritis diseases research
28 Apr
Introduction
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, etiology of inflammatory synovitis-based systemic disease. It is characterized by hand, small joints of the joints, symmetry, invasive joint inflammation, often associated with external organ involvement and serum rheumatoid factor positive, can lead to joint deformity and loss of function. At present, its main treatment program is to reduce the symptoms of RA and patients with signs, still lack of radical treatment of RA. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibition plays a dramatic role in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and have led to “congenital” more comprehensive evaluation of the immune system.
HMGB1, which was initially identified as part of the septic shock response and was recently rediscovered as a new proinflammatory cytokine. The levels of HMGB1 in sera and synovial fluid of RA patients were significantly higher in RA patients. The highest level of serum HMGB1 was found in early stage of RA. HMGB1 can also be induced by intra-articular injection of mice. Application of HMGB1 monoclonal antibody can reduce the severity of collagen-induced arthritis in mice.
These abnormal expressions of HMGB1 through a variety of molecular mechanisms in the pathogenesis of arthritis in several links to play a role in mediating the persistence of chronic inflammation and local tissue erosion damage. Blocking and inhibiting the role of HMGB1 can significantly reduce and improve Arthritis symptoms. This provides a new idea for elucidating the pathogenesis of RA and provides a new target for the treatment of RA.
Related Research
YinY, LiW, DengM, et al. Extracellular high mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 promotes drug resistance by increasing the expression of Pglycoprotein expression in gastric adenocarcinoma cells. Mol Med Rep, 2014, 9(4):1439–1443.
Source: https://www.spandidos-publications.com/mmr/9/4/1439
In this study, the effect of extracellular release of HMGB1 by tumor cells on the expression of the chemotherapy resistance-related transporter proteins was analyzed in gastric adenocarcinoma cells. In addition, the effects of HMGB1 on resistance to anticancer drugs was determined.
Figure. Comparative computed tomography was used to determine the effect of various concentrations of HMGB1 on the expression of MDR1 in gastric adenocarcinoma cells. | https://antibodyplus.com/hmgb1-rheumatoid-arthritis/ |
There is no more meaningful assessment of the impact of The MBC’s Beyond Trauma: Youth Music Therapy program than the first-hand observations of teachers, students and staff.
"I feel more like myself when I'm playing music,” explains one middle school student. “Being able to play again here, makes me feel at ease, peaceful. I feel like I get to really express myself with music. I've gone to therapy and counseling and it never really worked for me, but this is one of the best therapies I've gotten. It feels like home."
At the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in New London, CT, a multi-age Special Education teacher shares that “The music therapy program has been a wonderful addition to our school day. My students have been given a way to express their feelings and emotions in a safe and creative way. Music therapy is the highlight of their week! Such an amazing program!!”
A colleague, the school’s social worker, adds that the program "has provided an opportunity for students to access a different part of their brain, that is normally not used throughout the day. It allows for students to communicate their needs, thoughts and feelings in an alternative way that may be more comfortable for them."
The impact of the program is nothing short of remarkable, and recent examples, as related by their music therapist, abound:
- A 7th grade student who has had difficult relationships with past therapists has started opening up with the music therapist in the last few sessions. It has taken a while to get to this point, but this is an exciting step for her to be able to deal with her trauma.
- A 7th grade student who has major challenges in self-esteem due to her trauma, has expressed feeling proud of herself because of things she has been able to do in music therapy, such as songwriting and piano playing.
- An 8th grade student who was a part of the program last year just rejoined the program as she had been a distance learner for most of the year. When she came into the room for the first session, she sat down, sighed, and said, “This is the best part of school, and I am so happy to be here!”
- A 7th grade student who lost her mother to illness last spring has been using piano, voice, and songwriting to help deal with her grief. She has been able to start finding her voice again after she felt it was lost because singing was something she enjoyed doing with her mother.
The music therapy program’s palpable impact on student participants is unmistakable. The music therapy room is often referred to as a “safe space,” underscoring the healing power of music and the potential the program offers, as it expands, to reach more young people who can benefit from such life-changing pathways to personal progress. | https://www.michaelboltoncharities.com/index.php/newsletter/summer-2021/student-success-stories-summer-2021 |
The transformative power of building self-esteem and having the opportunity to experience success at school is highlighted in this story about McClelland College’s Chris Young. The story was published by the local Frankston Weekly.
A McCLELLAND College student has credited a hands-on learning method with turning his life around and inspiring his decision to pursue a career as a chef.
Chris Young told the Weekly that just three years ago he was spending most of his school hours in the library because of disruptive behaviour.
“I was one of the bad kids. I had to go to the library until recess and then I had to go home. I didn’t make the right choices,” he said.
Chris, now 16, said his outlook changed when Hands on Learning teacher Simon Church introduced him to the program, which focuses on social, trade and life skills.
“On my birthday he took me down to Hands on Learning to have a go on a billycart. It was very fun and that’s where it started. I’ve changed so much since then, I’m not getting into any fights.”
Chris has learned trade skills, including those necessary for building and bricklaying, but most enjoyed the cooking element of the program.
His speciality was chocolate chip scones and he is now working towards a career as a chef.
“I would definitely recommend it. It is a great experience, you get to make a lot of new friends and it is a great pathway to a career in a trade.”
Mr Church, a cabinet maker, said that at his worst Chris was “quite dangerous” but had improved dramatically.
“I thought there has got to be something more for Chris. For nearly 12 months he wasn’t interacting with other students and he struggled with finding an appropriate way to engage. Now we can leave him alone with power tools or in the kitchen cooking.”
McClelland College acting principal Amadeo Ferra said the program enhanced social skills, self-esteem, life skills and improved attendance.
The students cooked for each other, ate together and were in charge of shopping on a budget as well as preparing lunches, while considering allergies and tastes.
“They sit down around a table they built themselves. It is for kids who like to learn in a tactile way and it’s about keeping kids engaged.”
Mr Ferra said the school did not receive government funding for the Hands on Learning program but believed it was worth the hefty price tag in wages, as it had a five to one student/teacher ratio.
The program operates in 24 Victorian schools and has sparked interest internationally. | http://handsonlearning.org.au/the-power-of-hands-on-success/ |
Business travel may seem like a fun event. It breaks up the monotony of the daily grind and gets you out of your normal environment.
However, there are some who don’t look forward to these trips in the least. One of the biggest reasons is that they find it difficult to sleep.
The change in environment is too big, time zones are different, and the fast-paced travel is stressful.
If your job requires you to travel, you need to learn a few tips and tricks that allow your body to unwind and your mind to lull itself into a deep sleep.
Here are seven ways to do just that:
1. Adjust to the Time Zone Before You Land
Depending on where you are going, you may be landing in an area that is several time zones ahead or behind your home.
Instead of waiting until you get there to adjust, do so incrementally the week before.
If you are going somewhere that is hours ahead of you, try to adjust your bedtime earlier by an hour each night. If your destination has a time zone that is later, try staying up a little later each night.
The same rule applies to the flight there. If you are arriving in a location that will be sleeping when you arrive, try sleeping on the plane.
If it would normally be your bedtime, but at your destination, it will be in the middle of the day, do your best to stay awake on the plane.
2. Unless The Trip is 2 Days or Less
If your trip takes you through a few time zones, but you’ll be home in less than 48 hours, all that adjustment just wouldn’t be worth it. You’ll just send your internal clock into confusion.
In instances where you have a quick trip there and back the next day, it is best to stick to your normal home routine, no matter what the locals are doing.
3. Bring the Essentials
Whatever you use to help you sleep at home, you should bring with you when you travel for business. Our sleep patterns are very habitual. That is why it can be difficult to fall asleep when you switch things up.
If you use a white noise machine or a sleep mask at home, use it when you travel. If you sleep on the left side of the bed, sleep on the left side of the bed in the hotel. Resist the urge to take up the whole bed.
If you need a completely dark room, try to find a hotel with blackout curtains. It also doesn’t hurt to have melatonin and magnesium on hand as a sleep aid.
4. Fit in a Workout
Exercise is an amazingly good way to tire out a body that doesn’t want to sleep. If you often find yourself too jittery to sleep while traveling for business, this may very well be your cure.
Try to fit in a thirty-minute sweat session each day that you are on the road to help you get your zzz’s at night.
If you are in a hotel with a gym, you already have everything you need. If not, check out this easy hotel workout.
5. Put The Devices Away
Business professionals have a bad habit of being glued to their laptops or smartphones.
Although it is understandable, since these technological devices are the very thing that we work on, there is a time and place for everything.
To allow your body to sleep, you should put all screens in time out at least one hour before bedtime. This includes the television.
This hour would be a good time to do some light reading from a paperback (no tablets), perhaps some light stretching, a personal hand massage, or whatever you do to wind down.
6. Limit Caffeine Intake
When we are tired and need a little pick-me-up, we often reach for a cup of coffee or an energy drink. Although in moderation this is fine, you shouldn’t rely on caffeine too much.
One or two cups of coffee in the morning is ok but when you drink caffeine in the afternoon or evening it can disrupt your ability to sleep.
Try to limit your caffeine intake to the mornings and don’t overdo it.
7. Use Down Time for Sleep Time
Without enough sleep, our ability to stay productive on a business trip dips exponentially. Even if you fail to get enough sleep during the night, you may still be able to find golden minutes of nap time during the day.
These power naps can be just the thing you need to perform at your best on this business trip. You will then remain productive and complete tasks like these.
Conclusion
Traveling for business can be difficult. If you can’t sleep well, it can be downright unpleasant. Use these tips above to stay fresh and bright-eyed during your next business trip and perform at your best. | https://cupertinotimes.com/how-to-get-enough-rest-when-youre-traveling-for-business/ |
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer develops when the body’s normal control mechanism stops working. Old cells do not die and instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells. These extra cells may form a mass of tissue, called a tumor.
However, according to CDC, in 2015, the latest year for which incidence data are available, 1,633,390 new cases of cancer were reported, and 595,919 people died of cancer in the United States. For every 100,000 people, 438 new cancer cases were reported and 159 died of cancer. Figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that a total of 2,000 Ghanaian women were diagnosed of breast cancer in the year 2012.
Furthermore, breast cancer starts when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control. These cells usually form a tumor that can often be seen on an x-ray or felt as a lump. The tumor is malignant (cancer) if the cells can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women.
Types of Breast Cancer
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of cancer that often does not cause a breast lump or mass. As seen in this photo, it often causes thickening and pitting of the skin, like an orange peel. The affected breast may also be larger or firmer, tender, or itchy. A skin rash or reddening of the skin is common. These changes are caused by cancer cells blocking lymph vessels in the skin. Inflammatory cancer of the breast typically has a fast growth rate.
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
Invasive (or infiltrating) ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most common type of breast cancer. About 80% of all breast cancers are invasive ductal carcinomas. Invasive ductal carcinoma refers to cancer that has broken through the wall of the milk ducts and has invaded the breast tissues. Invasive ductal carcinoma can spread to the lymph nodes and possibly to other areas of the body.
Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS)
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered to be a non-invasive or pre-invasive breast cancer. Ductal means that the cancer starts inside the milk ducts, carcinoma refers to any cancer that starts in the skin or other tissue (including breast tissue) that line or cover the internal organs, and in situ means “in its original place.” The difference between DCIS and invasive cancer is that in DCIS, the cells have not spread through the walls of the milk ducts into the surrounding breast tissue.. DCIS is considered a ‘pre-cancer’, but some cases can transform into more invasive cancers.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
Invasive (or infiltrating) lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common type of breast cancer after invasive ductal carcinoma. Lobular means that the cancer started in the milk-producing lobules, which empty out into the ducts that carry milk to the nipple. Invasive lobular carcinoma refers to cancer that has broken through the wall of the lobule and begun to invade the breast tissues. Invasive lobular carcinoma can spread to the lymph nodes and possibly to other areas of the body.
Mucinous Carcinoma
Mucinous (or colloid) carcinoma of the breast is a rare form of invasive ductal carcinoma. In this type of cancer, the tumor is composed of abnormal cells that “float” in pools of mucin, part of the slimy, slippery substance known as mucus. Mucus lines most of the inner surface of our bodies, such as our digestive tract, lungs, liver, and other vital organs. Breast cancer cells can produce some mucus. In mucinous carcinoma, mucin becomes part of the tumor and surrounds the breast cancer cells. “Pure” mucinous carcinomas make up only 2-3% of invasive breast cancers. Approximately 5% of invasive breast cancer tumors have a mix of mucinous components in addition to other types of breast cancer cells.
Triple-Negative Breast Cancers
Testing negative for estrogen receptors (ER-), progesterone receptors (PR-), and HER2 (HER2-) on a pathology report means the cancer is “triple-negative”. These negative results indicate the growth of the cancer is not supported by the hormones estrogen and progesterone, nor by the presence of too many HER2 receptors. Therefore, triple-negative breast cancer does not respond to hormonal therapy (such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors) or therapies that target HER2 receptors, such as Herceptin. However, other medicines can be used to treat triple-negative breast cancer.
Paget’s Disease of the Nipple
Paget’s disease of the nipple is a rare form of breast cancer in which cancer cells collect in or around the nipple. The cancer usually affects the ducts of the nipple first then spreads to the nipple surface and the areola. A scaly, red, itchy, and irritated nipple and areola are signs of Paget’s disease of the nipple. One theory for the cause of Paget’s disease is that the cancer cells start growing inside the milk ducts within the breast and then break through to the nipple surface. Another possibility is that the cells of the nipple itself become cancerous.
Causes of Breast Cancer
Certain genes control the life cycle—the growth, function, division, and death—of a cell. When these genes are damaged, the balance between normal cell growth and death is lost. Normal breast cells become cancerous because of changes in DNA structure. Breast cancer is caused by cellular DNA damage that leads to out-of-control cell growth.
Genetics & Mutations
Inherited genes can increase the likelihood of breast cancer. For example, mutations of genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers) can inhibit the body’s ability to safe-guard and repair DNA. Copies of these mutated genes can be passed on genetically to future generations, leading to a genetically-inherited increased risk of cancer.
Environment
Breast cancer may be caused by environmental exposure. Sunlight can cause DNA damage that leads to breast cancer through ultraviolet radiation. So can air pollutants like soot, wood dust, asbestos, and arsenic, to name just a few.
Behavioral (lifestyle)
Lifestyle choices can lead to breast cancer as well. Eating a poor diet, inactivity, obesity, heavy alcohol use, tobacco use including smoking, and exposure to chemicals and toxins are all associated with a greater breast cancer risk.
Medical Treatment
Medical treatment with chemotherapy, radiation, or immunosuppressive drugs used to decrease the spread of cancer throughout the body can also cause damage to healthy cells. Some “second cancers”, completely separate from the initial cancer, have been known to occur following aggressive cancer treatments.
Breast Cancer Symptoms
Breast cancer may or may not cause symptoms. Some women may discover the problem themselves, while others may have the abnormality first detected on a screening exam. Common breast cancer symptoms include the following:
• Non-painful lumps or masses
• Lumps or swelling under the arms
• Nipple skin changes or discharge
• Noticeable flattening or indentation of the breast
• Change in the nipple
• Unusual discharge from the nipple
• Changes in the feel, size, or shape of the breast tissue
Breast Cancer Prevention
- Breast Self-Exams
Experts recommend that women be aware of their breasts and notice any changes, rather than performing checks on a regular schedule. Women who choose to do self-exams should be sure to discuss the technique with their doctor. Note: A breast self-exam is a way to check your breasts for changes such as lumps or thickenings. Early breast cancer detection can improve your chances of surviving the disease. Any unusual changes discovered during the breast self-exam should be reported to your doctor.
Ultrasound
Sometimes a breast ultrasound is ordered in addition to a mammogram. An ultrasound can demonstrate fluid-filled cysts that are not cancerous. Ultrasounds may also be recommended for routine screening tests in some women at a higher risk of developing breast cancer. During a breast ultrasound a small amount of water-soluble gel is applied to the skin over the area to be examined. Then, a probe is gently applied against the skin. You may be asked to hold your breath, briefly several times. The breast ultrasound takes about 10 minutes to complete.
Ultrasound Breast MRI
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is a technology that uses magnets and radio waves to create detailed, 3D images of the breast tissue. Before the test you may be injected through an intravenous line, in the arm, with a contrast solution (dye). The contrast solution will allow potential cancerous breast tissue to show more clearly. Radiologists are able to see areas that could be cancerous because the contrast tends to be more concentrated in areas of cancer growth.
Nevertheless, during a breast MRI the breasts are exposed as the patient lies flat on a padded platform with cushioned openings for the breasts. A breast coil surrounds each opening and works with the MRI unit to create the images. MRI imaging is a painless diagnostic tool. The test takes between 30 and 45 minutes.
Remember that the majority (about 80%) of breast lumps are not due to cancer. Cysts, benign tumors, or changes in consistency due to the menstrual cycle can all cause benign breast lumps. Still, it’s important to let your doctor know about any lumps or changes in your breast that you find.
Breast Cancer Biopsy
A biopsy is the most certain way to determine whether a breast lump is cancerous. Biopsies may be taken through a needle or through a minor surgical procedure. The results can also determine the type of breast cancer that is present in many cases (there are several different types of breast cancers). Treatments are tailored to the specific type of breast cancer that is present.
Needle Biopsies
A needle biopsy uses a hollow needle to remove tissue or cell samples from the breast. A pathologist studies the samples under a microscope to see if they contain cancer. There are two types of needle biopsies: core need biopsy and fine needle aspiration (fine needle biopsy).
Core Needle Biopsy
If a lump can be felt in the breast (palpable mass), a core needle biopsy may be performed. The doctor will use a small amount of local anesthetic to numb the skin and the breast tissue around the area. The doctor will insert the needle and remove a small amount of tissue to be examined.
Ultrasound-Guided Core Needle Biopsy
This is one type of biopsy for lumps or abnormalities that cannot be felt (nonpalpable mass). A core needle is placed into the breast tissue and ultrasound helps confirm the exact location of the potential cancer so the needle is placed correctly. Tissue samples are then taken through the needle. Ultrasound can see the difference between cysts and solid lesions.
MRI-Guided Core Needle Biopsy
For this test, you will be given a contrast agent through an IV. Your breast will be numbed and compressed and several MRI images will be taken. The MRI images will guide the doctor to the suspicious area. A needle will be used in the biopsy device to remove tissue samples with a vacuum assisted probe.
Stereo-tactic Biopsy
If the lump is non palpable you could be also given a stereotactic biopsy. Using a local anesthetic, the radiologist makes a small opening in the skin. A needle is placed into the breast tissue, and imaging studies help confirm the exact placement. Tissue samples are taken through the needle.
Surgical Biopsies
A surgeon makes a cut (incision) in the breast to remove tissue.
Open Excisional Biopsy
This surgery removes an entire lump and the issue is examined under a microscope. If a section of normal breast tissue is taken all the way around a lump, it is called a lumpectomy. In this procedure, a wire is put through a needle into the area to be biopsied. The X-ray helps to make sure it is in the right location and a small hook at the end of the wire keeps it in position. The surgeon uses the wire as a guide to locate the suspicious tissue.
Incisional Biopsy
An incisional biopsy is very similar to an excisional biopsy, but less tissue is removed. Local anesthetic will be used and you will also get IV sedation. An incisional biopsy removes part of the tumor, which means that more surgery may be needed to remove the remaining cancer.
Note: Breast cancer is not just a woman’s disease. It is quite possible for men to get breast cancer, although it occurs less frequently in men. If any of the above symptoms is identified kindly visit your doctor. Thanks and Good luck.
By Okoene Chinenye Cynthia
Sponsored by
Elipidia Foundation.
Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI).
Youth for Human Rights Africa (YoHRA). | https://elipidiafoundation.com/w/2019/10/20/breast-cancer-and-its-prevention/ |
Q:
Existence of a function whose limits go to infinity almost everywhere
In the past few months I've come across some problems that seem to suggest the existence of a (not necessarily continuous) function $f: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ such that $\lim_{x\to k} \, f(x)= \infty \,\,\,\forall \, k \in \mathbb{R}\backslash\mathbb{Q}$. Does such a function exist? If so, can we construct an example?
A:
We can construct $f$ such that whenever $(q_n)_n$ is a sequence of rationals converging to an irrational $x,$ then $(f(q_n))_n$ tends to $\infty.$ But we cannot have a function $f$ such as you ask.
For $n\in \mathbb N$ let $$S_n=\{x\in \mathbb R \backslash \mathbb Q: |f(x)|<n\}.$$ Take $n_0$ such that $S_{n_0}$ is uncountable. (If every $S_n$ were countable then the set of irrationals would be a countable union of countable sets, and hence would be countable.)
There exists $x\in S_{n_0}$ such that $x$ is a limit point of $S_{n_0}$ \ $\{x\}.$ But that implies there exists a sequence $(x_j)_j$ of members of $S_{n_0}$ \ $\{x\}$ converging to $x,$ and for each $j$ we have $|f(x_j)|<n_0.$ So it is not the case that $\lim_{y\to x} f(y)=\infty.$
Note. To show that an uncountable $S \subset \mathbb R$ has an accumulation point: Take $n\in \mathbb Z$ such that $S\cap [n,\infty)$ is uncountable. Let $$y=\sup \{q\in \mathbb Q \cap [n,\infty): [n,q)\cap S\; \text { is countable }\}.$$ We have $y<\infty.$ And the set $$([n,y)\cap S)\cup \;\{y\}\;=(\cup \{[n,q)\cap S:q\in \mathbb Q \cap [n,y)\})\;\cup \;\{y\}$$ is only countable . But by def'n of $y,$ if $\epsilon \in \mathbb Q^+$ then $[n,y+\epsilon)\cap S$ is uncountable. So $(y,y+\epsilon)\cap S$ is uncountable and hence not empty, for every $\epsilon \in \mathbb Q^+.$ So $y$ is an accumulation point of $S.$
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Here is very basic recipe of burger patties made from Chicken Mince, this recipe is from the famous Pakistani chef, Shireen Anwer’s book.
I tried it out yesterday and I found it out to be a really simple one. The best thing about this recipe is that the patties can be frozen and kept for several weeks in the freezer and can be taken out whenever required.
I fried a few of them again in the morning and put them in buns and made quick burgers for my kids’ lunchboxes. Do try out the recipe and let me know how you liked it!
What You Will Need Is:
Chicken mince 1/2 kg
Ginger / garlic paste 1 tsp
Salt to tasteBlack pepper crushed 3/4 tsp
Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp
Thyme powder 1/2 tsp
Oregano powder 1/2 tsp
Egg beaten 1
Bread slice 1
Milk 1/4 cup
For the Batter:
Flour 3 tbsp
Water as required
Corn flour 1 tbsp
Baking powder 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Dry self raising flour to coat as required
How To Make Dry Self Raising flour: 1 cup plain flour (Maida) + 1 tsp baking powder + 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt. Mix all 3 ingredients, store in an airtight jar. Use this in any recipe that requires self raising flour.
What You Will Do Is:
- Put chicken mince in chopper with ginger garlic paste and chopperize.
- Now add salt, black pepper, sauces, thyme, oregano, beaten egg, bread slice and milk.
- Mix all of them very well together with your hands.
- Now shape them into thick or thin kebabs as required.
- Dip in prepared batter and then roll them in the self raising flour you have prepared.
- Keep all patties on a tray and freeze.
- Once set, fill up a box of them and take out when needed.
- Shallow fry and then toss them in a bun.
- Add cucumber slices, tomato chunks, sliced onions, grated cheese or whatever you wish to add to give your burger a richer taste.
For Batter, mix together flour, corn flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and make into a thick batter with water. | http://www.randombytesfromlife.com/recipe-of-burger-patties-from-chicken-mince-by-shireen-anwer/ |
I was a bit surprised at the feedback from my last post on Newsletters, not at the amount of feedback, as much as how black and white the issue seems to be. People were either in agreement with me, or were baffled by my conclusions. I asked those who responded in disbelief that newsletters could be bad, to provide me with longer thoughts, and there’s one article I think encapsulates the position in favor of newsletters well.
First, a point of clarification though: I used the term newsletter without specifying what the hell I meant. An error on my part. I simply mean an email newsletter that is filled with original content. What I don’t mean is emails, like this site’s daily email, alerting readers to new posts — in other words automated newsletters aren’t what I am talking about.
With that clarification out of the way, let’s look at an article titled “The Newsletter Brain Dump” by Hugh MacLeod. His post is excellent as it walks through the most common complaints I have heard from newsletter haters, and about social media in itself. Unfortunately MacLeod’s post further convinced me that I am right on this issue and he is not — that newsletters aren’t all that.
In the first part of the article, MacLeod talks about the most common weapon against newsletters, which is the idea that people have too much email coming in.
Most of the time your snail-mailbox is flooded with “demands” i.e. bills, jury duty summons, junk mail and people generally asking you for time, money and energy.
But occasionally you’ll get something really special, say, a handwritten letter from your beloved, a sweater that Granny knitted you, or that extra-super rare comic collection from Amazon. And you’re delighted when that happens.
I personally love the analogy to the physical mailbox, as I hate that as much as I do email, but more than that — I think it is a spot on analogy. I think people who regularly check their mailboxes are also apt to do the same with email. The problem with using mailboxes as a defense for newsletters is just what is said above: both are a shit show. Most of the time the things coming to your email or your mailbox are things you don’t really want coming there — sure you might need those things (like bills, or notes from your boss) but you sure as hell would rather just not deal with them.
The idea then that newsletters are good because of the fact they represent a nice little surprise, or gift, is absurd. To me this is like saying that I should love going to the Post Office, or the DMV because they are having a raffle and I could win something. It really doesn’t matter what that something is, because it won’t be worth it. And I’m not an email hater, my inbox is at zero every night before I go to bed, and I use email a lot.
Email is where important shit, and irrelevant shit happens, it’s not where I want entertainment. I got over than in the 90s with chain letters.
It’s a nice sentiment to put something quality in people’s inboxes, but you are doing it at the risk of people never seeing it. And I know that your analytics may show otherwise, but that is not taking into account how wildly inaccurate email analytics are.
It might be a nice surprise to get an email newsletter, but I still have to go to something which most people loathe in order to get it. I still have to wade through all the bills to see the nice note, and knowing that I am less likely to make looking at the mailbox (email or otherwise) less often.
MacLeod then moves over to talking about using social media to share you work instead of email:
So now, instead of a place where the world’s great ideas get to spread, social media has become a big machine that makes the world seem a lot more trivial than it actually is.
On this point we wholly agree. Everything he says about social media is spot on, and one of the reasons I largely have stopped bothering with promoting individual posts and only promoting the site as a whole. Tweeting a link to any one article I write is worth about 300 hits (based on what I did before turning off analytics), on an average day that was maybe a 15% boost in traffic. Maybe.
But then MacLeod moves on to these two lines which are baffling to me:
Which is why over at gapingvoid, we spend most of our social calories writing the email newsletter, with less time on social media.
Which is why our list has tens of thousands of people, far more than the number of people who read the blog, even back in the glory days.
This is such a one off data point to use as proof of anything. I can flip that right around: my RSS feed has 8,200 subscribers and my newsletter has 390. So RSS is king then right? Don’t use numbers for anything web related like this, they are a wild guess on the best of days. If you have 10,000 subscribers but only 800 are engaged, is that better or worse than having 800 subscribers, but 800 are engaged?
Further did you start with the newsletter or the site? Does your site direct to the newsletter or the the newsletter to the site? Does one or the other make the other irrelevant? Now I’m just talking gibberish, but you get my point.
And, it’s in the last section where I think MacLeod presents some of the most damning arguments against newsletters (keep in mind, he is arguing for newsletters). In talking about the original mailed newsletters he says:
Of course, the Newsletter owners weren’t writing just any old thing. They had specialist knowledge, like financial and stock market information. The model only worked because the stuff was seen as rare and valuable.
Yes. Exactly. This is part of the issue with newsletters. They came out as highly niche publications which contained information that could not be had elsewhere, and were distributed as newsletters because that was the simplest and safest way to distribute the information for money.
But that’s not the case now.
The easiest way to do that now is a membership website. Instant access to everything, harder to share (it’s easier to forward an email than a pay walled website).
And every newsletter I’ve subscribed to is a not a niche set of knowledge. Instead it is a potpourri of stuff with advertising in it for the person sending it. In other words, it can be nice to read on occasion, but it’s mostly not worth paying for.
Which brings us to MacLeod’s last thought:
Though I’d take it one step further. If gapingvoid has something important to say, we put it in an e-book AND THEN put the e-book in an email. Even better.
Wait. Wait. Wait. Your entire article is about how email newsletters are the bees knees and then, at the last possible moment, you admit that the seriously best thing to do to is email a link to an ebook? I can’t be the only person who sees the contradiction here.
“Email newsletters are the best way to engage people, of course when I have something I really want people to read I put it on my website and then email them a link to it.”
I’m all for using email as a marketing tool: emailing people links to recent posts, or updates about your online business, but it’s not where your original content should be going. Put the original content on a website. Once on a website it is easy to move around hosts, it is easier to charge for it, and it is far easier to make it look fantastic on all devices.
Newsletters with links are a-ok. Newsletters with original content are a waste of original content. Just get a blog, and start writing there.
Note: This site makes use of affiliate links, which may earn the site money when you buy using those links. | https://brooksreview.net/2016/01/newsletter-follow-up/ |
This study explored resilience among South Asian (SA) immigrant women who were survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Eleven women participated in in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted using constant comparison. We identified five cross-cutting themes: resources before and after the turning-point (i.e. decision to confront violence), transformations in self, modification of social networks, and being an immigrant. Women drew upon their individual cognitive abilities, social support, and professional assistance to move beyond victimization. All women modified their social networks purposefully. The changes in individual-self included an increased sense of autonomy, positive outlook, and keeping busy. The changes in collective-self occurred as women developed a stronger feeling of belonging to their adopted country. This hybrid identity created a loop of reciprocity and a desire to contribute to their community. Women were cognizant of their surmountable challenges as immigrants. SA immigrant women IPV survivors sought multiple resources at micro, meso and macro levels, signifying the need for socio-ecological approaches in programs and policies along with inter-sectoral coordination to foster resilience. | https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/31787 |
Situated a few kilometres north of Paris in Saint Denis, the stadium took three years to build and cost €290m before being opened in January 1998, ahead of the 1998 World Cup. Stade de France is home to France’s football and rugby teams, and is the largest of the all the Euro 2016 venues. The tournament kicks off here on 10th June, and proceedings will come to a close here a month later.
Unlike most modern stadiums, Stade De France has no under soil heating, but does have a retractable stand that reveals an athletics running track.
You can reach Stade de France by the A1 motorway, which connects to Paris city centre and the périphérique ring-road.
Metro Line 13 will take you there from Montparnasse to Saint-Denis Porte de Paris in about 25 minutes. It’s a short walk south from there, across the canal.
The Saint Denis fanzone will be located at the Parc de la Légion d’Honneur, around a 15 minute walk north of the Stade de France (near to the Saint-Denis Porte de Paris Metro station). Opening times and dates are still to be confirmed. | http://fsf.org.uk/ground-guide/international/saint-denis-euro-2016/stadium-and-fanzone/ |
Portugal win Euro Cup despite Ronaldo heartbreak
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, bottom, celebrates with team mates winning the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2016. AP Photo - Thanassis Stavrakis
SO the one-man team become European champions, defeating the host nation without the one man they apparently could not win without.
Portugal, for the first time, claimed a major title by defeating France in Paris, silencing the Stade de France with Eder's extra-time goal in a game that had been memorable only for Cristiano Ronaldo's tears after being stretchered off midway through the first-half.
Ronaldo ended the game, left knee heavily strapped, prowling the technical area as though he were the Portugal coach, this victory meaning so much to the former Manchester United forward.
And twelve years after suffering defeat as a host nation to Greece at Euro 2004, Portugal and Ronaldo claimed redemption as France froze on the biggest stage in front of their own supporters.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo holds the trophy after winning the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2016. AP Photo - Thanassis Stavrakis
Having spent so much effort in the searing heat of Marseille to overcome Germany in the semi-final on Thursday evening, France needed the backing of a raucous crowd inside the Stade de France to inject energy in Deschamps' players.
The France coach had justifiably complained about his team's schedule ahead of this game, insisting that just two full days of recovery was insufficient for game of this magnitude, but if the victory against the Germans sapped French physical strength, it certainly energised the nation.
But could the feelgood factor carry Les Bleus over the line against a resilient Portugal team that, for all its inability to put opponents away, had reached this final without losing a game?
As well as physical and mental fatigue, France also had to shrug off the pressure of emulating the teams of 1984 and 1998, which won the European Championships and World Cup respectively on home soil in Paris.
So who would achieve their destiny? Would France claim a unique hat-trick of home victories or would Ronaldo inspire Portugal to their first major title?
Well the game was only eight minutes old before it became clear that Ronaldo would not be single-handedly carrying Portugal to victory.
Having received the ball on the halfway line, Ronaldo was flattened by a clumsy, and reckless, challenge by Payet which went unpunished by referee Mark Clattenburg.
The Portugal captain was clearly in discomfort, rolling on the turf while clutching his left knee, which had taken the full force of the impact.
France's Antoine Griezmann, Blaise Matuidi and Adil Rami pause after losing the Euro 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Sunday, July 10, 2016.AP Photo - Thibault Camus
The French crowd booed and whistled, treating Ronaldo like the pantomime villain he has become in the eyes of opponents, but the Real Madrid forward was not milking the moment.
Treatment followed, but Ronaldo could only limp and shuffle around the pitch before going down in tears ten minutes later. Strapping was applied to his left leg, but it was a futile attempt to keep the 31-year-old on the pitch.
On 24 minutes, Ronaldo signalled to the bench that his game was up. More tears flowed as he was stretchered off, this time to applause from the whole stadium.
No true sporting fan will have relished his exit from the action, but for the second major final at the Stade de France, it ended badly for a Ronaldo - with Cristiano suffering the same miserable fate as his Brazilian namesake in 1998.
Prior to Ronaldo's departure from the game, Portugal had struggled to contain the hosts, so their challenge now became even more difficult without their talisman.
With the exception of a Nani volley, from Cedric's pinpoint pass on four minutes, Portugal barely threatened Hugo Lloris in the France goal, but Deschamps' team could not find the breakthrough which would have put them in control.
Moussa Sissoko was France's biggest attacking threat in the first-half, with the Newcastle midfielder shooting goalwards on three occasions.
Antoine Griezmann also sent an effort flashing into the side-netting, but Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio was proving to be in fine form, producing a stunning fingertip save to push a Griezmann header over the crossbar before saving well from Olivier Giroud
With Ronaldo gone, Portugal turned to his replacement, Ricardo Quaresma, and Nani to test the French, but chances were thin on the ground.
And the only mark left on France by Portugal in the first-half was a heavy one, with Cedric booked for leaving his knee in the back of Payet - a retaliation strike for Ronaldo, perhaps.
Portugal, without their talisman and inspiration, were there for the taking, but France appeared cowed by the prospect of going on the front foot.
Their lack of pace up-front played into Portugal's hands, with Pepe marshalling the defence superbly alongside Jose Fonte, but Deschamps did not gamble on a change until he 57th minute, when he replaced Payet with the pacy Kingsley Coman.
The ineffective Giroud remained, however, and the Arsenal forward continued to find Pepe an unbreachable barrier.
France were crying out for creativity and guile from midfield, but Paul Pogba was quiet and Blaise Matuidi too busy keeping close to the Portugal teenager Renato Sanches.
But with Portugal happy to sit back and soak up pressure, displaying little invention or ambition of their own, this final was drifting into the territory of two teams preparing to take it to penalties.
Had Griezmann headed home from Coman's cross on 65 minutes, the game, and France, would have been transformed, but in keeping with the match - and the tournament as a whole - the Atletico Madrid forward headed over from six yards.
Coman's introduction made a difference, with the Bayern Munich winger teeing up Giroud, whose left foot shot was saved by Patricio.
Hugo Lloris was then force into his first save of the game on 80 minutes when he kept out Quaresma's scissor kick, but the game was destined for extra-time once Gignac's effort hit the post and rolled away from danger.
France continued to struggle in extra-time, though, and it was the Portuguese who showed the greater desire to win the game before penalties/
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I wrote about this a while ago in an olllddd blog post, but seeing as it’s pretty important and it’s been on my mind a lot lately in relation to my own life, it’s time for it to resurface.
Here’s a cold, hard truth about life:
Your thoughts don’t matter. Your intentions don’t matter. The things that you want to do don’t matter.
All that matters is what you do. Your thoughts and intentions may impact what you do, so in that sense, they matter to you. But as far as real-world impact, how you are perceived by other people, and who you are as a person, what you think doesn’t matter. Other people can’t tell what you’re thinking.
Your thoughts only make a difference in the world if they impact your words and actions.
Now, where I’m going with this is that it doesn’t matter one tiny bit what you think your priorities are.
Your priorities are the things that you put the most time and effort into.
According to Google, priority means “the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important.” Now, if you claim that you value reading more than you value watching YouTube, but you spend way more time watching YouTube than you do reading, then YouTube is your priority because you are treating it as more important by spending more time on it.
Make sense?
Following that line of reasoning, any time you say, “I don’t have time,” what you’re really saying is, “that’s not a priority right now.”
From now on, any time the words, “I don’t have time for X” leave your mouth, I want you to rephrase that as, “X is not a priority right now.”
You’ll force yourself to be more honest about your actions and excuses.
Sooo... now what?
Align Your Actions With Your Priorities
You’re going to feel a little silly saying, “eating healthy isn’t a priority right now,” but that is exactly what you’re saying any time you say that you don’t have time to eat healthy right now.
Saying “working out isn’t a priority right now,” forces you to confront your excuses. Because, chances are, taking care of your body is a priority. (Granted, there are times in life where fitness, healthy eating, and other things that we generally see as important have to take a back burner for a bit, like during particularly busy times at work or school, or when caring for a baby. But if you’ve been saying “I don’t have time,” for the last five years, then this article is about you.)
How do I align my actions and priorities?
Well, first you have to know what your priorities really are.
Take some time—a day or two, even—to really think about your priorities. Write them down. Think long-term, think short-term, maybe even do a life audit. Where do you want to go? Who do you want to be? If you were to envision your ideal self, how would that self spend their time day-to-day?
What I don’t want you to worry about right now is the kinds of actions that it’s going to require to get to those places. We’ll deal with that later. First, focus on who you want to be. Think of your future self as your best friend. What kind of life do you want them to live?
When you have your priorities figured out and written down, order them from most to least important. You likely don't have time to focus on all of them right now, so it’s important to know which ones matter most.
Once you know what your priorities are, start aligning your actions to your priorities. But rather than using willpower to push your way through that all of the time (which is exhausting) there are some steps you can take to facilitate these changes.
Don’t try to overhaul your entire life overnight.
The changes that you make to your life should feel easy. Start smaller than you think you need to start. You may be feeling pumped up and full of motivation now (or maybe not), but that feeling won’t last forever. Even if you can make big changes for a week or two, you’ll have better luck sticking to your new lifestyle if it happens incrementally.
Your current habits and lifestyle weren’t built in a day. They’ll take more than a day to change. Look for the smallest changes that you can start making today. Add in a ten minute walk around your neighborhood after dinner every day. Once you can keep that up for a week or two, add in another small habit.
Make incremental changes to your life at a slow enough pace that it feels easy to maintain those changes. Day by day, step by step, you’ll build a new lifestyle that aligns with your priorities, and it will be sustainable.
Make your new lifestyle changes as easy as possible.
Working out doesn’t have to be a grueling two hour weightlifting session that starts at 5 a.m. Working out can be a walk each evening, and a quick few minutes of yoga before bed. It doesn’t have to feel painful and exhausting to be effective. Workouts that are easy and enjoyable are still valid and still do your body good.
You are allowed to enjoy your workout. In fact, I strongly encourage you to find a workout that you like, because then you’re more likely to stick to it.
In fact, if you’re coming from a fairly sedentary lifestyle, starting with gentle exercise will help prevent injuries and help you build up the strength and stamina for harder stuff—should you choose to go that route. You don’t have to.
If you’re trying to read more, choose books that appeal to you. You don’t have to read Shakespeare and Mark Twain just because someone says you should. Find books that suck you in and it will be much easier to read regularly.
To make it easier to eat healthily, try out meal prepping. Having nutritious, balanced meals prepared ahead of time means you don’t have to worry about what to eat when you come home from work exhausted. If you have some fruit prepped for a snack, you’ll have a much easier time choosing it over chips.
Making your habits convenient is one of the best things you can do when trying to build new habits that stick. Whatever change you’re making, find a way to fit it easily into your existing routine in a way that you enjoy.
Be honest about your time.
What’s the last thing that you wished you had time for? For very many people, it’s working out. For plenty of others, it’s cooking healthy meals.
Both of those things can be done in 20 minutes. You know what else takes 20 minutes? An episode of The Office on Netflix. Or, depending on where you live, getting dinner delivered can take 20 minutes. In the time it takes you to do one of those things, you could've done a quick workout or made your own healthy dinner.
Working out, eating healthy, keeping your home clean, meditating, and most of all of those other healthy-lifestyle habits don’t take all that long, especially if you’re starting small like I recommended and only taking on one thing at a time. Swap one of your daily Netflix episodes for a 20 minute workout—or watch Netflix on the treadmill.
There are so many workouts out there that take less than 10 minutes, and they will make a difference. Rather than taking a 20 minute shower, do a 10 minute workout, and take a 10 minute shower.
You’ve got way more time than you think you do, but you have to be honest about it. Work past your excuses and mental blocks, and start getting uncomfortable. As someone said to me recently, excuses don’t stand up to a well-formed plan.
Practice mindfulness.
Now, if you’re prone to zonking out on the couch after work and scrolling on your phone for three hours without even realizing it, then the first step here is going to be noticing that you’re doing that. You can’t stop yourself from flopping onto the couch if you don’t put any thought into flopping onto the couch in the first place.
Building the skill of mindfulness is the long-term solution to this. As you build mindfulness, you’ll spend more and more time consciously aware of your actions and the world around you. It’s incredibly valuable to remain present in this moment, rather than letting your mind drift off to other places for hours. You’ll have an easier time modifying your actions once you’re aware of them.
In the meantime, as you’re building mindfulness, you can try tracking your time. You can go all out like I did and track every single minute, or you can do a little experiment to track your activities.
First, make a list of things that you do often. It doesn’t have to include every single thing that you do every day, but it should cover most of them. Include on that list things that you’d like to be doing regularly, even if you don’t currently do them. Aim for 20 to 30 items. The list should be fairly comprehensive but not so long that you can’t remember what’s on it.
Arrange the full list in order of priority with the highest priority items at the top of the list and the lowest at the bottom. Even if scrolling through Instagram is your lowest priority, keep it on the list and put it last.
Then, any time you do any of the things on the list, add a tally beside it. You went for a walk? Add a tally beside “exercise.” You cooked your own dinner? Add a tally beside “ate healthy.” Watched YouTube? Tally it.
Do this for a day or three. After that, evaluate the list. There’s a decent chance that you are actually working toward some of the things that you value and not giving yourself credit for it. I know that I’m guilty of this. I tend to write off all of the hard work I put into things and dwell on the moments that didn’t go so well. That’s part of why I’m keeping track of my monthly accomplishments.
No matter the outcome, you now have a better idea of where your time is going. Not only can you use that information to start making incremental changes as you move forward, but this experiment will help you build mindfulness. You can’t mark off an activity that you're doing if you don’t realize you’re doing it, so you inherently have to be mindful to complete the experiment. Having this goal in mind will incentivize you to maintain awareness.
Another little perk to this experiment is that I know I made better choices when I was monitoring and tracking my actions, so the experiment on its own may help you align your actions with your priorities.
Plan it out.
You didn’t think you were going to get through this article without me mentioning calendar blocking, did you?
In all likelihood, you really don’t have time to work on every single one of your priorities right now. I know I don’t. But you do have time to work on the top few.
Choose your top 3 to 5 priorities, determine what small first steps you can take toward each of them, and calendar block it out! You’re much more likely to meal prep if you block out a time on Sunday afternoon to go shopping and do the meal prep. We all know how things turn out when we say, “I’ll just do it sometime this weekend.” Spoiler: they don’t happen.
Speaking of Sundays, your Sunday reset is a great time to do this planning each week! You can also use that reset to do some of the new habits that you’re taking on. I find my Sunday reset especially helpful when it comes to keeping my apartment clean and doing those annoying little tasks like checking the mail.
For those habits that are too small to bother blocking out time for, I recommend something like Habitica. Habitica helps me keep track of those smaller things that I need to do each day, like my Duolingo and Memrise lessons and filling in my bullet journal. Plus, checking off those checkboxes is satisfying.
I want to wrap this up with a little note about maintaining balance.
You can’t spend 100% of your time on your priorities, and I realize that. Sometimes it’s necessary to do things that we don’t feel are important. It’s also likely that a lot of your priorities take a decent amount of energy. Trying to spend too much time on them will lead you to burn out.
Taking time regularly to rest and recover will help you to have the focus and energy that you need to go after what you want. I know that I put down YouTube and scrolling on your phone earlier, but a little bit of downtime every day is important. I’m not advocating for working yourself to the bone.
The thing is, there’s a huge difference between mindlessly binging 6 episodes of The Office at midnight, and taking an intentional hour to watch something that you’ve been meaning to watch. You are free to spend your time however you’d like to spend it, but make sure that your actions are intentional—that’s how you align them with your priorities.
Recommended Reading: | https://www.lifebygrit.com/post/how-to-align-your-actions-with-your-priorities |
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