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Fighting Judicial Corruption with Constitutional Measures: the Albanian Case
On 22 July 2016, during the early morning hours, Albania’s parliament adopted a long-awaited judicial reform, after 18 months of technical work and days of tense and political negotiations. Changing 46 articles of the 1998’s constitution, the judicial reform package adopted by Albania’s parliament on Friday is one of the most radical changes in legislation that the country has seen in 25 years.
The Albanian Constitution was approved in 1998. Since then it has been amended three times: first in 2007 in order to extend the office mandate of the local government bodies. The second amendment, which is more significant, occurred in 2008, to the effect of changing the way of election of the President of the Republic, the procedure for the vote of confidence of the government, and the office mandate of the Prosecutor General. The third amendment in 2012 reduced the immunity of senior state officials against criminal prosecution.
In the 18-year period of its application, the Constitution has generally managed to ensure the functioning of a democratic state in Albania, although failures have not been missing. Thus, for instance, the ‘98 Constitution did not manage to insulate independent institutions against political majorities and to ensure a true and effective supervision by the Parliament over the Government. Its most significant failure, however, was its inability to establish an independent, accountable, and efficient justice system. According to the Expert Group at the ad hoc Parliamentary Commission on Judicial Reform, these problems have been caused by the missing quality and coherence of the constitutional and legal regulations, by the high level of corruption among the ranks of judges and prosecutors, by the low professional level of judges and prosecutors, by the absence of efficient mechanisms of control and a lack of clear division of powers among the bodies governing the justice system as well as a disproportional impact of politics on justice.
Different governments have tried to address these problems (and the reasons underlying them). They failed because the proposed legal interventions have been fragmentary and in any case did not affect the constitutional level.
According to the Expert Group the constitutional and legal framework in Albania for the disciplinary liability of judges and prosecutors is a failure. The competence to investigate cases of suspected corruption among ordinary judges is shared between High Council of Justice and Ministry of Justice in a confusing and ineffective way. The competence to adjudicate corruption cases involving top state officials is exclusively held by the High Court (Art. 141 of the Constitution) in first and last instance – a Court whose judges are nominated and appointed by exactly the same politicians they are supposed to watch over. It is hardly surprising that no high ranking official has ever been convicted for corruption offences!
Another obstacle until now has been the particular immunity those officials enjoy under the current constitution. In response to that the new constitutional amendments establish a decentralized Prosecutor’s Office with the power to independently investigate organized crime and corruption. To this end, constitutional changes were required to make sure that a prosecutor of a lower level will be able continue prosecution if the case is dismissed by the higher prosecutor. This is the minimum requirement to fight judicial corruption.
There will also be special anti-corruption units within the Prosecutor’s Office to make the fight against corruption more efficient. These units will be responsible for the prosecution of judges, prosecutors and senior officials, provided by the law. Their cases will be tried by special courts for corruption cases They will be assisted by the National Bureau of Investigation, which will conduct investigations under their direction.
These units are established directly by constitutional law. That will shield them not only from the influence of the Prosecutor General but also from changing political majorities. Also, the provision in the Constitution shows the priority that Albania gives to the fight against corruption as one of the main criteria for its accession to the EU.
The second major aspect of this reform is the reevaluation process (known as vetting process) all judges and prosecutors and their legal advisers have to undergo. This process will be realized by a first instance commission and an appeal chamber outside of the existing ordinary court system, since the judges are subject of assessment themselves. These institutions will be monitored by an International Monitoring Operation, composed of judges and prosecutors selected by different EU member states, since there is a lack of public trust in national institutions. The international observers shall have access to the files of judges/prosecutors and shall supervise the entire decision-making process. In order to ensure the process but also reduce the possibility of corruption within the Commission, its members will have a special treatment for themselves and their family. They will also be guaranteed special protection from the state.
The re-evaluation process will include comprehensive control of judges and prosecutors in three important aspects: the assets of judges and prosecutors, the detection or identification of their links to organized crime and ultimately the evaluation of their work and professional skills. If the final outcome of these three tests is negative or insufficient, the Commission will come up with a decision that varies from the obligation of a judge or prosecutor to brush up his skills at the School of Magistrates for a year up to his removal from office. This three-fold examination aims not just to clearing the judiciary of elements related to crime but also of incompetent officials who owe their carreer to political connections or financial corruption.
There have been many efforts in new democracies in Europe to realize this sort of process, since not only Albania faces with high level of corruption in the judiciary. Recent opinions of the Venice Commission about qualification processes and lustration for Ukraine provide the necessary details about this kind of process. The transitional process in Ukraine was considered inappropriate but as a concept it was not rejected. The opinions expressed some basic concepts that must be followed by an assessment of qualification for judges and prosecutors. The joint opinion made clear that an assessment of qualification for incumbent judges must be „wholly as a specific case and be made under more rigorous safeguards to protect those judges who are eligible to exercise their duty.“
Albania is in a very specific situation. Albania is a candidate country for the European Union, but it has a pronounced distrust in its judicial and prosecution system which has been unable to self-regulate at all levels. With regard to the extraordinary measures to vet judges and prosecutors, the Venice Commission found these not only justified but necessary for Albania to protect itself from the scourge of corruption which, if not addressed, could completely destroy its judicial system (see Venice Commission Final Opinion on Draft Constitutional Amendments in Albania, 11-12 March 2016).
The judicial package, which is considered crucial for the fight against corruption and political influence, amended almost 1/3 of the constitution and passed several laws creating new justice institutions. The reform was hailed by party leaders as marking a new beginning that will also open the way towards closer ties to the European Union. With an unprecedented convergence of political will on judicial reform and substantial international support, at this moment in history the Albanian justice system undergoes a deep and comprehensive reform.
The high degree of corruption in the Albanian judiciary, the low quality of its work and the failure of existing mechanisms to control judges and prosecutors is no more a matter of perception in Albania. Even the judges themselves accept that the justice system is not free from external influences. A recent survey of Albania’s judges found that 25% of judges consider the system as corrupt, while 57% of judges admit that the judicial system is not free or partly free from political influence. Further, the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest reviewed the declaration of all 399 judges, High Court judges and Constitutional Court judges. Based only on their declarations, 73% of Albanian judges have declared family assets of over 14 million ALL (or about 100,000 Euro). 35% of those declared assets of over 35 million ALL (or about 250,000 Euro). Some of them have declared millions.
It should be noted that in the 2014 CEPEJ evaluation of Albania, net annual judicial salaries range from only 5,747 Euro to 12,030 Euro. The State Department Report on Human Rights 2013 describes the Albanian justice system as inefficient and subject to political pressures, fraud and corruption. Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe in the report of 2014 stated that in Albania „the high level of corruption in the justice system seriously impedes the functioning of justice and reduces public confidence in justice and the rule of law“. A Freedom House Report of 2014 also describes the Albanian justice as a system that suffers from chronic corruption, political interference and nepotism.
After the adoption of the constitutional amendments, the Albanian Parliament will have to enact the necessary laws to implement them, which it will be a real challenge since there is a strong resistance from corrupted or unprofessional judges, prosecutors and their political supporters.
The so far consulted models are the USKOK Croatia and Romania with the DNA model. The model that is supported more in discussions with expert groups is the Romanian model for the establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Prosecution.
See Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission and the Directorate for Human Rights (DHR) of the Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law (DG) of the Council of Europe Convention on the Law on the Judicial System and Status of Judges and Changes in Law the High Council of Justice of Ukraine, the Venice Commission’s Opinion no. §§71-81 801/2015 (23 March 2015), Document no. CDL-AD (2015) 007 and the basic principles set out in the Final Opinion on the Law on Clean Government (Law on lustration) of Ukraine, the Venice Commission’s Opinion no. 788/2014 (19 June 2015), Document no. CDL-AD (2015) 012
The Joint Opinion of the Venice Commission no. §74 801/2015
Corruption in Albania, Perception and Experience, Institute for Development Research and Alternatives, Pg. 22-24 (2009).
Survey of Albanian Judges, Center for Transparency and Freedom of Information (2012). In the 2013 Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer, the judiciary was listed as the most corrupt institution in Albania.
Human Rights Report, Albania United States Department of State, Pg. 1, 7 (2013).
Nations in Transition, Freedom House, Pp. 49, 59 (2014). | https://verfassungsblog.de/fighting-judicial-corruption-with-constitutional-measures-the-albanian-case/ |
ISLAMABAD: An earthquake of 5.8 magnitude jolted several parts of the country, including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday, resulting in the death of at least 23 individuals and injuries to hundreds.
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed grief over the losses whereas AJK prime minister cut short his Lahore and rushed back home after the earthquake wreaked havoc in Kashmir.
According to US Geological Survey, the quake hit 22 kilometres (14 miles) north of the city of Jhelum along the boundary separating the agricultural heartland of Punjab and Kashmir.
Pakistan Meteorological Department’s earthquake centre said the earthquake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale and its depth was at 10 kilometres.
Local disaster management officials told Al Jazeera they were still gathering reports from the site of the earthquake but had received word of damage to infrastructure.
“We have reports of cracks in the roads there,” said disaster management official Ammar Raza Shaikh.
Tahir Mahmood, a senior police official in Rawalakot, about 80km (50 miles) from Mirpur, said that “there is a lot of damage to infrastructure [in Mirpur].” He added, “No casualties as yet. Roads seem to have developed cracks and sunk down. Lots of vehicles were thrown around.”
AJK Deputy Commissioner Raja Qaiser said that emergency has been imposed in hospitals. He further said that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) have been directed to carry out rescue operations and gather data on the damage done.
“Rescue teams have reached the affected area, adding that the situation is not the same as in 2005,” he added.
Meanwhile, the military troops have also been despatched to the area to help the civilian administration in relief activities.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major Asif Ghafoor said that upon the instructions of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, an “immediate rescue operation” had been launched “in aid of civil administration”.
“Army troops with aviation and medical support teams dispatched,” the military spokesperson tweeted.
Though Mirpur was the worst-affected city, several cities of Punjab, including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Taxila, Wah Cantt, Sialkot, Sargodha, Jhang, Khoshab, Raiwind, Attock, Gojar Khan and Gujrat, were hit by the earthquake, with people, panicking, rushing out of their houses and offices.
Tremors were felt as far away as the Indian capital of New Delhi (more than 800km (500 miles) away.
Indian news agency the Press Trust of India reported that people rushed from their homes and offices in panic in several places, including in Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.
AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, who was in Lahore since Monday to attend Kashmir-related events, cut short his visit and rushed to Mirpur “to supervise rescue, relief and rehabilitation services”, his office said in a statement.
“The prime minister has directed all government departments to leave no stone unturned in helping out victims of this […] natural disaster,” the statement added.
PM TELLS NDMA TO SPEED UP RELIEF ACTIVITIES:
Prime Minister Imran, who is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, “expressed his profound sorrow over the damage and loss of precious lives” caused by the earthquake, a statement issued by his office said.
The premier has instructed the relevant departments to provide all possible assistance for relief in the disaster-struck areas.
The National Disaster Management Authority has also been instructed to speed up its relief operations in all areas hit by the earthquake.
AFTERSHOCKS EXPECTED:
The NDMA warned that aftershocks could be expected within the next 24 hours in the earthquake-hit areas.
In a statement, the authority said that all the protective measures should be taken to lessen the impact. It further urged the public to share any losses or damage to the authority.
Meanwhile, according to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), the turbines at the Mangla Dam powerhouse were being restarted after they were shut down earlier due to an earthquake-related safety scare.
The Mangla Dam and its powerhouse were safe and the turbines at the reservoir’s powerhouse had been shut down as part of the precautions.
In October 2015, a magnitude 7.5-quake in Pakistan and Afghanistan killed almost 400 people, flattening buildings in rugged terrain that impeded relief efforts.
The country was also hit by a magnitude-7.6 quake on October 8, 2005, that killed more than 73,000 people and left about 3.5 million homeless, mainly in AJK. | |
1. When was the last time EMU won their conference in football?
A) 1976
B) 1987
C) 2005
D) 1994
Answer): B, the 1987 EMU Football team celebrated a 10-2 record under head coach Jim Harkema to achieve a MAC championship.
2. Who is the tallest Female basketball player ever at EMU?
A) Autumn Hudson
B) Denise Allen
C) Kathy Hart
Answer: A. The 6’ 5” Hudson averaged 4.7 ppg and amassed 12 blocks during the 2019-2020 Basketball season.
3. When did the eagle become EMU’s mascot?
A) 1989
B) 1980
C) 1991
D) 2000
Answer: C. EMU had already been nicknamed “the Eagles.” The Board of Regents adopted the mascot to replace the existing nickname and logo of “the Hurons.”
4. Which of the EMU sports teams has the most national championships?
A) Baseball
B) Men’s swimming and diving
C) Men’s cross country.
Answer: B. men's swimming and diving have amassed five championships total (NAIA - 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971; NCAA Division II - 1972).
5. How many sports (men and women combined) does EMU play at a division 1 level?
A) 15
B) 12
C) 14
D) 11
Answer: A. EMU Athletics has 15 combined division 1 level sports teams, six men’s teams and nine women’s teams.
6. Rynearson stadium has grey turf field for which of the following reasons:
A) It creates a better competitive environment by cutting down haze greater than that of green turf fields.
B) It matches EMU’s color scheme.
C) It represents EMU outworking their opponents.
Answer: C. EMU Football coach Chris Creighton announced in June 2014 that the stadium would be renovated with the grey turf and the nickname “The Factory.”
7. Which of these programs was cut from EMU in 2018?
A) Men’s Lacrosse
B) Women’s Tennis
C) Men’s Tennis
D) All of the above.
Answer: B. Women’s Tennis was one of the sports that caused the Title IX lawsuit to be filed against Eastern in 2019.
8. EMU football coach Chris Creighton coached in the Euro League for American football for the Limhamn Griffins. I am going to read off four different team names. Three of them are from the Euro league and one of them is fake. Is it:
A) London Beefeaters
B) Szombathely Crushers
C) Düsseldorf Beer Kegs
D) Straubing Spiders
Answer: C. Düsseldorf does have a team, but it is named the Düsseldorf Panthers.
9. On what day was the first episode of the Factory Report RECORDED?
A) February 21st, 2020
B) February 18th, 2020
C) March 3rd, 2020
D) March 1st, 2020
Answer: A. The introductory episode of The Factory Report was supposed to be a test run, but producer Ronia liked it so much that it was published.
10. How many Articles have you, Caleb Burlingame, written in total for the Eastern Echo, sports, opinion or anything excluding Podcast web articles. Is it:
A) 15
B) 24
C) 27
D) 32
Answer: B. Caleb Burlingame has written 24 illustrious articles for the Eastern Echo with takes ranging from sports opinions to lifestyle takes. | http://www.easternecho.com/article/2020/07/the-factory-report-emu-sports-trivia-2 |
At the foot of the High Atlas mountains approaching those of the Sahara, we find an unexpected place, the Valley of the Roses where, in spring, the whole area is dressed pink and breathes a wonderful smell. It is a delight for both sight and smell.
On the route of the Kasbahs, about 90 kilometres from Ouarzazate, in the middle of the Dades valley, is a fortified village known by the name of Kelaat M’Gouna, the main access to this beautiful valley and one of the last oasis in The south before reaching the infinite sand of the Sahara. Although this village is the starting point for hiking trails and excursions, it is, above all, the Moroccan capital of the rose.
The valley extends from Kelaat M’Gouna to Boutaghrar, which continues about 30 kilometres of uninterrupted rose cultivation. The rose found in this valley, called damascene rose, is resistant to cold and drought, and one of the most perfumed and quoted species in the world. According to the legend, it was introduced by chance in one of the caravans of pilgrims that returned from Mecca about 300 years ago.
Harvest:
The period of flowering of the roses is, depending on the climatic conditions, from mid-April to mid-May. At dawn, women collect one by one these precious flowers, a task that is not difficult, but rather exhausting. They are taken to the kasbahs for a first selection and, according to the final destination, the petals are allowed to dry for a few days or they are taken to the distilleries to begin the industrial process. To give you an idea of the task of harvesting, it takes more than an hour to harvest a kilo of roses and it takes a ton of petals to produce a kilo of rose essence. In favourable weather conditions, up to 4,000 tons of roses per year can be harvested.
In Boutaghrar, from the magnificent and imposing Ksar of Boutaghrar, which overlooks the beautiful oasis, you can admire the show of gathering in the morning.
Rose petals are mainly used to make rose water, soaps and cosmetics. Much of this water is sold to foreign perfume companies. In Kelaat M’Gouna there are shops dedicated to its production and sale and, if requested, also explain the process of distillation. Visiting distilleries and buying rose water or other products are possible at any time of the year.
Gathering in the Valley of the Roses:
The Feast of the Roses
After the harvest, usually the second weekend in May, one of the most popular festivals in Morocco, the “Feast of the Roses” is celebrated. For three days, from Friday night to Sunday, visitors arriving from neighbouring villages and crowds of tourists, meet in Kelaat M’Gouna to enjoy the music and the colourful: balconies, terraces, gardens and streets are Flooded with flowers.
The festival includes shows and concerts by Berber outdoor groups, exhibitions of agricultural and craft products, mainly jewellery and carpets, and competitions. Also, the Queen of the Roses is chosen for which the most beautiful women of the zone dance in the streets dressed in their best caftans and adorned with petals. | https://www.travelatmorocco.com/en/roses-valley/ |
The International Conservation practice is thrilled to welcome Kathleen Flower, joining the team as a Senior Associate. She brings more than fifteen years of experience in the natural resource management field, with expertise in conservation, international development and capacity building.
Kathleen has substantial work experience in North America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. She has successfully implemented multi-year conservation and development projects for international NGOs in all three regions, led marine capacity building and research initiatives in the Coral Triangle, improved rural inland aquaculture in Cameroon as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and built her own business and client base as an independent international conservation consultant.
As part of her research for her Ph.D. in biology, Kathleen led a field-based independent project in South Africa that provided data to improve the management of a small-scale fishery important for food security among rural communities.
She is passionate about planning, designing, and leading projects that improve species and ecosystem health and sustainably advance human well-being.
Using her expertise in capacity development, learning, and communications, Kathleen will support several facets of the International Conservation practice area, including the Measuring Impact project for USAID and new business development.
Kathleen is based in Maputo, Mozambique, where she has lived for the past two and a half years. Her current location and substantial experience in Africa and Asia grounds her in the realities, opportunities, and challenges of conservation in a development context.
Southern Africa is witnessing growth in the fields of protected area management, environmentally sustainable economic development, and combating wildlife trafficking. The conservation community’s focus on these three conservation strategies is likely to provide new opportunities for engagement for Environmental Incentives, and its partners, in the near and longer term.
Please join us in welcoming Kathleen! | https://enviroincentives.com/blog/international-conservation-practice-welcomes-kathleen-flower-senior-associate/ |
This clinician is not accepting new patients at this time. If you are a current patient, please contact the office.
Kenneth Hung, MD, MS, is a gastroenterologist hospitalist, which means he treats patients who are admitted to the hospital with acute gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.
“We are skilled at taking care of all inpatient issues. We see a wide variety of conditions, including actively bleeding blood vessels that need to be treated with injection, cautery, clipping, or sprays to stop bleeding,” Dr. Hung says. “We take care of patients with a variety of issues including constipation and other conditions that can be managed as an outpatient to more serious conditions that require care in the intensive care unit.”
Being hospitalized, Dr. Hung acknowledges, is understandably stressful for patients. “We have a team of people who are here to help patients,” he says. “And patients should be asking questions, too.”
An important part of his job, Dr. Hung says, is educating patients. “We counsel them on their disease condition, the risks and benefits of any procedure, and try to involve them as much as we can to help them determine what path they want to choose,” he says. “Because every procedure and medication have risks and potential benefits, we explain everything as thoroughly as we can, so that patients can make informed, personalized decisions.”
His research interests include quality improvement in GI bleeding, which can be caused by ulcers, certain medications, and Helicobacter pylori,a type of bacteria.
Does this provider accept my Insurance?
YES! This insurance is accepted.
Sorry This insurance may not be accepted.
Please check for your insurance on the list below. | https://www.westerlyhospital.org/physicians/kenneth-hung |
Access to Innovation: Optimizing Health for Patient Populations
All stakeholders in life sciences are pursuing innovation with the ultimate goal of changing patients’ lives for the better. While discussion often focuses on innovation, this can overlook the fundamental need to demonstrate value that is relevant to patients. Arguably, value is only delivered when an innovation reaches patients and provides benefits in terms of outcomes. Therefore, measures of innovation should also consider efforts to ensure that access requirements are met, and treatments are delivered in a way that assures health outcomes are delivered to those who will benefit most.
Payers, who have been concerned with measuring health outcomes for many years, are now considered to be the dominant stakeholder in most major healthcare markets. Budgets are, of course, finite and COVID-19 is likely to increase the pressure on future healthcare funding. The term “innovation” is considered by payers to be overused, describing anything from cures to “me too” drugs. Instead, value, and more explicitly value for money, is required by payers for access. As a result, value-based assessments are an essential requirement that drug developers must be able to navigate. The UK is seen as a leader in this field.
Some have argued that the UK is lagging in the adoption of innovation but this is changing. This panel explores the aspirations laid out in the life sciences vision to foster a vibrant life sciences industry which includes rewarding innovation. It will explore some of the mechanisms in the UK that can limit or promote access, and how stakeholders can work together to ensure that patient populations gain access to innovation. It will also consider what companies need to do to ensure their products offer value for money and ultimately reach eligible patients who will benefit.
Join us to discuss the impact and implications of recent initiatives designed to create a more favourable environment for sustainable access to innovation in the UK. Questions that panellists will address include:
- What is NHS England doing to improve access to medicines in a way that maximises public health benefits?
- How is NICE adapting its approach to maximise population health and align with the UK life sciences vision?
- How are payer approaches in the UK perceived internationally? What lessons are being transferred abroad?
- How might Innovation Passports facilitate faster and more efficient drug development processes and patient access?
- How does the UK government incentivise industry sponsored research to ensure alignment with public health priorities?
- When should developers consider payer needs and how can these be built into programs to assure patient access at launch? | https://prixgalien.co.uk/introduction/forum-2022-panel-2/ |
David Robertson In the case of genetically modified crops, opponents will not accept any level of risk. This controversy is really an ideological and political battle in a wider war against unfettered free trade, globalisation and multinationals. You do not win such battles with science. You win them with propaganda. (New Scientist editorial, 22 May 1999) Public campaigns opposing genetically modified crops and foods, promoted uncritically – and almost universally – by the media, are already affecting international trade flows and threatening the future of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which means the rules-based multilateral trading system. Some European governments have introduced bans on imports of agricultural commodities that may contain GM varieties, while EU environment ministers have introduced a de facto moratorium on new trial plantings of GM crops until new rules authorizing them have been approved. These could be delayed until 2002. In Japan new food labelling laws have been introduced for 30 foods, while in Australia new labelling regulations are being considered for foods that may contain GM constituents. The outcry by non-government organizations (NGOs) against GM foods has caused food retail chains in many European countries to remove popular brands of widely used processed foods from their shelves (for example, tomato paste, soya breads and so on). These decisions will affect trade in due course. The storm over GM crops and foods has blown up suddenly in the past year. North American farmers and consumers had accepted their introduction with equanimity since early in the 1990s. Substantial proportions...
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A Joint Reflection on the events of September 11th by the National Council of Synagogues and the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs
The events of September 11 fill us with sadness. We mourn the tragic loss of innocent lives. We join in prayer for those who died and extend our collective support for those they leave behind. We are strengthened by the many heroic individuals who have reached out to save lives and selflessly offer comfort and solace.
As people of faith we are reminded anew of the fragility of human life and of the terrible harm that can be caused when people turn our God-given talents to wicked and perverse ends. As leaders of religious communities we are reminded, as well, that even religious faith and piety can be twisted to destructive ends when fanatics pervert religious teachings and invoke them to justify barbaric acts.
No act of terrorism, which by definition targets civilians precisely because they are innocent, can be justified. Even a just end cannot justify evil means. Basic to the moral norms governing the use of force is the immunity of civilians. Every human life is precious whether they be civilians working in the World Trade Center or eating in a restaurant in Israel. Terrorism intentionally directed against civilian populations, no matter what the cause, is always unjustifiable.
We note with sorrow that some have seized on these events to suggest the futility of interreligious conversations. We, on the contrary, see in recent events a reminder of the urgency of dialogue in order to foster mutual understanding and respect.
In the face of this massive tragedy, we are encouraged by Muslim communities around the world which have condemned the terrorism and reclaimed their tradition from the extremists who attempted to take it hostage. We applaud their denunciation of terrorist action against innocents everywhere. Our prayers and support are with them.
We are concerned about acts of prejudice directed against Muslim and Arab members of our society. We condemn them and call on all of our fellow citizens not to let our shared grief lead us to act in ways that dishonor the greatness of heart that has caused America to be a beacon to all the world. We applaud those, beginning with President Bush, who have spoken clearly about the need to reject all prejudice and discrimination in viewing our fellow citizens.
We are equally concerned with what appears to be an alarming escalation in anti-Jewish rhetoric from some who have adopted the libelous language against Jews used by antisemites over the centuries. Such scurrilous attacks on a religious tradition and community have no place in civilized discourse.
Often in the intensity of grief and rage, nations take actions that they later regret. As we enter our battle against the forces of terror, we raise the caution that a general expansion of law enforcement powers beyond those necessary to fight terrorism cannot be justified if such an expansion comes at the expense of core civil liberties principles of privacy, due process, and freedom of association. Such a Faustian bargain compromises the very idea of freedom, the idea which our adversaries have attacked, and which we are pledged to defend.
Now our nation finds itself in conflict with the forces of terrorism and hatred. We come from traditions that recognize the necessity of a conflict such as this one that is fought in self-defense and to protect innocent lives. Nevertheless, we are reminded that our traditions of just war do not give permission for limitless violence. Instead, they demand that even just wars be fought with concern for the lives of innocents and for the safety and well being of noncombatants and their property. We call on our government to be guided by these constraints as it prosecutes the battle in which we are now engaged.
Our prayers are joined for the safety and success of the men and women of our nation who fight this war on behalf of the security of our land and its people. We pray that the triumph over forces of hatred and destruction will be swift and complete. And we pray for the security innocents everywhere whose lands are now engulfed in violence and peril. May the day come soon when they --and all the men, women and children of our planet --will be able to "sit under our vines and under our fig trees with none to make us afraid." [Micah 4:4]
___________________________________________________________
Filled with Sadness, Charged with Hope is the seventh statement issued by the Catholic-Jewish Consultation since it was formed in 1987 as a follow-up to the meeting in Miami between Pope John Paul II and U.S. Jewish leaders. Other statements issued by the consultation, which meets twice a year, have dealt with public education, pornography, Holocaust revisionism, the death penalty, religious hatred, the environment, and the new millennium.
Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore, episcopal moderator for Catholic-Jewish relations for the U.S. Catholic bishops, is the Catholic co-chair of the consultation. Rabbi Joel Zaiman of the Rabbinical Assembly and Rabbi Michael Signer of the Central Conference of American Rabbis are the Jewish co-chairs. | https://ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/interreligious/bceia-ncs/ncs-bceia2001sept11-2 |
Léri-Weill Dyschondrosteosis is a rare disorder which results in dwarfism.
Thanks for the response. I appreciate you taking the time. Like you, I've had to do A LOT of my own research into this condition for my daughter. Although she does have a hand/wrist ortho who is very familiar with it, and will do surgery if/when she needs it (still waiting to see how the deformity progresses). But figuring out all the other issues she has, and if they're related to the Leri-Weill has been a struggle. Do you have a lot of wrist pain? Have you had any surgeries? Another one of the Leri-Weill issues still to deal with for my daughter is her height as she is definitely shorter. I wonder, do you mind if I ask how tall you are? Right now, my daughter is 15th percentile, which is really pretty good, so we're not sure whether or not do start growth hormone. Her Endo projects she'll be 4'8" - 5'0" adult height w/out hormone treatment. Thanks again.
My experience has not included a large number of sprains, fractures, etc. I definitely have joint pain (primarily my knees) and I do have some type of issue there. Of course I also have the wrist/arm issues. :) When I was diagnosed (25+ years ago), it was recommended a see a specialist for my knees and for the MD, but really since then all I've learned has been through my own research. At the time, the doctors treated it as "here's what it's called and there's nothing we can do about it, so good luck to you". I know this doesn't really help, but wanted to respond regardless. :)
I would like to know if others with leri-Weil have joint and bone issues beyond the wrist deformities. My 9 yo daughter has had numerous fractures, sprains, and subluxations, and general aches and pains. We are trying to determine if its related to the LWD or something else. Would LOVE to hear from others w LWD.
CoRDS, or the Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford, is based at Sanford Research in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It provides researchers with a centralized, international patient registry for all rare diseases. This program allows patients and researchers to connect as easily as possible to help advance treatments and cures for rare diseases. The CoRDS team works with patient advocacy groups, individuals and researchers to help in the advancement of research in over 7,000 rare diseases. The registry is free for patients to enroll and researchers to access.
Enrolling is easy.
After these steps, the enrollment process is complete. All other questions are voluntary. However, these questions are important to patients and their families to create awareness as well as to researchers to study rare diseases. This is why we ask our participants to update their information annually or anytime changes to their information occur.
Researchers can contact CoRDS to determine if the registry contains participants with the rare disease they are researching. If the researcher determines there is a sufficient number of participants or data on the rare disease of interest within the registry, the researcher can apply for access. Upon approval from the CoRDS Scientific Advisory Board, CoRDS staff will reach out to participants on behalf of the researcher. It is then up to the participant to determine if they would like to join the study.
Visit sanfordresearch.org/CoRDS to enroll.
Someone figuring out how to live with dyschondrosteois
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Community leaders are active users that have been touched by the rare disease that they are a part of. Not only are they there to help facilitate conversations and provide new information that is relevant for the group, but they are there for you and to let you know you have a support system on Rareshare. | https://rareshare.org/communities/leri-weill-dyschondrosteosis |
For a small island, Eigg is a place that continually reveals new treasures. The more I wandered the island, the more of these places I found. Though the island is famous — and justifiably so — for its seascapes, I found countless undiscovered and tucked – away spots that stunned me with their beauty. I could understand why Bruce Percy chose the Isle of Eigg for his photography workshops; the natural splendor of the island combined with its mercurial weather was the stuff of a photographer’s dream.
September 2017, focus stacking from 2 images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 6 seconds, ISO 64, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
Beyond Eigg’s misty coastlines, I found myself most drawn to the island’s caves. The island’s caves feel like secret, mystical places — the kind of places where legends are born. They feel ancient, as if, upon entering the caves, I stepped out of the present age and into a time far beyond memory. You can sense the stories they contain.
One of the island’s caves — the Cave of Frances — spawned one of Eigg’s most violent tales. A long-ago feud between rival clans ended when one of the families trapped the other inside the cave. They lit thatch at the cave’s entrance then dampened the flames so that the tiny cave filled with smoke. According to the often-told story, hundreds of people were trapped and died inside the cave. Human remains have been discovered there in recent years, suggesting that even if the story isn’t altogether accurate, something ominous happened inside the cave.
But I wasn’t interested in bloody feuds. I found another cave, this one so small that I had to wedge myself inside, my shoulders pressed against the stone walls. It wasn’t an ideal location for a photographer; it was barely big enough for my camera and tripod. But the cave was unexpectedly lovely. A small waterfall, fed by some unknown source, coursed down the cave’s dark, innermost wall. Its waters formed a stream that ran gently over ancient moss and rocks, leading to the cave’s narrow entrance.
I wasn’t prepared for the wet environment, and my shoes soon filled with water, but the scene was so lovely that I didn’t mind. The shot that I got inside the cave was one of my favorites from Eigg. It captures the mystical character of the island that I came to love.
Storm is Coming, Isle of Eigg
I spent as much time exploring the Isle of Eigg as I could. The island offered me my first view of Scotland and it was enchanting. Much of Eigg was the rugged, green countryside that comes to mind when you think of Scotland. But as I wandered the island, I found more of its hidden-away and secret places, and revealed a different facet of the island’s character.
September 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 61 seconds, ISO 31, 10-stop ND filter, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
To give you an idea of the remoteness of Eigg, there is just one road on the island, which is home to fewer than one hundred souls. At the end of the road is a home that once was a place to stay for J.R.R. Tolkein. There has been a long standing local story that Tolkien stayed in it in the 1930s or 1940s and that the views of Rum had inspired him in writing Lord of the Rings. The island — especially its more distant corners — has a mystical, fantastical quality. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a sorcerer emerging from one of the island’s caves. Your imagination tends to venture into ancient worlds in a place like Eigg.
In my exploration of the island I found a place along its pebbled coastline. The morning was heavy with rain and in the distance the Isle of Rhum was already shrouded by clouds and was barely visible. The place seemed far away from the more people — if they can be called that — parts of the island. Here, civilization seemed very far away and the clouds that hung over Rhum seemed to portend something more ominous than a storm.
I wanted to capture the way that moment felt in that place. I wanted to capture — somehow — the mystical, otherworldly atmosphere of the island’s coast. Using a very long exposure, I focused on the receding waves to emphasize that ethereal quality. I included the pebbles on the beach as a contrast to the white mist. The result is a photograph that encapsulates the feeling I had on that day, standing at the edge of Scotland.
Sandy Beach, Isle of Eigg
One of the things that made Scotland such a special place to photograph was the way that its weather was ever-changing. I’d never experienced a place whose moods could change as rapidly as Scotland’s. A sky that seemed to promise only rain and leaden clouds could crack open and sunlight would stream through.
September 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 61 seconds, ISO 31, 5-stop ND filter, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
Occasionally, the two things happened at once, and an ominous gray sky and brilliant sunlight could briefly coexist in a moment of unexpected beauty. In all of my travels, I’d never experienced the unlikely coupling of those two extremes, but in Scotland it seemed to happen daily. The juxtaposition was fascinating and lovely.
My first photographs on Eigg had focused more on the brooding quality of the Hebrides — the foreboding that sometimes creeps along the edges of your consciousness on a stormy day. But as the days progressed, I sometimes caught glimpses of a different Eigg. It was an island of paradoxes, after all; the same craggy landscape that witnessed bloody feuds was also trod by the feet of earnest missionaries who brought their faith to the rugged outpost of a continent.
I wanted to capture in a photograph that paradox — the transitory, ephemeral nature of light on the Isle of Eigg, which, in my mind, suggested something of the island’s contradictory history. The shot that best encapsulates this for me is of puddles I found along the shore on a day that — like many on Eigg — was foggy and overcast. But I was fortunate that day and happened to see them as they were pierced by sunlight, which revealed the undulations in the sand under the surface. Only the slightest bit of sunlight touched the water’s surface, but it was enough, and the sand sparkled like gold.
The result is a very moody shot, but it’s a different kind of mood that in earlier photographs of the island. The light can change quickly on Eigg, and I was lucky to witness that rare moment of contradictions.
Rocky Beach in the Evening, Isle of Eigg
One of the things that I love about photography is that there is always the possibility for improvement, that no matter my level of experience, I can always learn new techniques to improve my craft. Recently, I was fortunate to be able to attend a workshop with acclaimed photographer Bruce Percy on the Isle of Eigg, off the coast of Scotland.
September 2017, focus stacking from 2 images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 10 seconds, ISO 31, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
There are many people who are skilled in a particular area and many others who are skilled as teachers; it’s rare to find someone who is both. Bruce is something of a rarity: he is both a highly skilled photographer and a fantastic teacher and mentor. The opportunity to learn from someone as talented as Bruce and in an environment as spectacular as the Isle of Eigg was one of the highlights of my career.
Eigg is one of the Inner Hebrides, islands located off the western coast of mainland Scotland. Craggy and sparsely populated, the jagged cluster of islands is dotted with Iron Age sites and traces of the earliest Christians to see this part of the world. The islands have a greater percentage of Gaelic speakers than anywhere else in Scotland, save their neighbors to the west, the Outer Hebrides. In many ways, walking along the rocky coast of Eigg was a bit like stepping out of the twenty-first century and into some distant point in the past.
Although Eigg is largely unknown as a travel destination, it’s a popular and well-documented location among photographers, primarily because of Bruce’s workshops. The challenge I gave myself was to try and capture something new and unique about the island. I was, after all, seeing it with a newcomer’s eyes.
The trip to Scotland — the rough and rugged edge of Europe — was a first for me. I was amazed daily by the rapid changes in the weather: the same sky that was gray and ominous one moment could become illuminated with brilliant sunlight the next. There were days when it seemed we could experience all four seasons in the span of a few hours.
But in my memory, Eigg exists largely in the grays and heavy blues of impending storms. When I photographed the rocky beach along Eigg’s coast, I used long exposure and ND filter to capture those mood and the sense of something imminent on the horizon.
Namibian Nights
After a day spent walking and climbing the dunes at Sossusvlei, I set up camp with other photographers roughly 70 km away. It’s the nature of being a travel photographer that sleep is often difficult. You exhaust yourself during the daylight hours, but when you try to rest your brain won’t always cooperate. I find myself going over and over the places I’ve seen that day, the shots that I got and the ones I wish could have been better. My mind wanders.
May 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/4, shutter speed 30 seconds, ISO 6400, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
As it turns out, it’s a good thing to be a sleepless photographer in Namibia. As beautiful as the country is during daylight hours, I found it to be even more striking by night. The Namib Desert is one of the best places in the world to see the night sky. There’s little electricity in this part of Namibia, meaning there is virtually no light pollution. When you look up at the night sky in Namibia, you see it the way the ancients saw it.
People don’t look up at the night sky anymore. We go through life continually distracted, and because we’re rarely ever in places that are really, truly dark, most of us simply don’t notice what goes on above us. But in Namibia’s desert, you can’t help but look up. It’s such a vast, calm expanse — and mostly devoid of people — that it’s an ideal place for stargazing. It’s one of the darkest skies in the world.
I keep coming back to the idea of insignificance, but if Namibia in the daytime makes a person feel small, being in the desert at night convinces you very quickly that you are of no consequence in the grand span of time and space. It was humbling, and incredibly beautiful.
I took many photographs in Namibia at night. But can anyone really capture the beauty of one of the last truly dark places left on earth?
Dunes of Sossusvlei, Namibia
I learned something more about insignificance when my travels took me to Sossusvlei. In Namibia I’d seen stark, desolate landscapes and ancient plant life that was blackened and bare from centuries in the sun. I expected that I’d seen the most remarkable landscapes the country had to offer, but even after exploring the alien landscape of Deadvlei, I was amazed by Sossusvlei.
May 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 112mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 1/15 second, ISO 64, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
By now, my eyes were beginning to adjust to the starkly contrasting colors of Namibia — the rich terra cotta earth against a brilliant blue sky. I had even, to a degree, become accustomed to the strange, weathered trees that I seemed to encounter at every destination. My eyes were used to these things. At Sossusvlei, what I found most breathtaking was the sheer enormity of the place.
Sossusvlei is famous for its massive sand dunes, which are believed to be the tallest in the world. The biggest of them, known as Big Daddy, is roughly 325 meters high. Their striking red color is a result of the iron in the sand, and the contrasting colors, combined with the dunes curving, feminine lines make it one of the most photogenic destinations in Namibia. Like myself, photographers are drawn to the place because of its incredible beauty, but then — also like me — they find themselves feeling tiny and inconsequential in the face of its majesty.
Climbing the dunes — which is what most people come to Sossusvlei for — reveals a landscape that words and photographs can’t adequately describe. There’s more life here than you would imagine, and it says something of the resilience of living things that so many plants and insects have adapted in order to survive here.
But I found plenty to amaze me from the ground. I set up my tripod, framed the shot, and tried my best to capture some of the incredible beauty of Sossusvlei.
Acacia Trees of Deadvlei, Namibia
Namibia left me awestruck on a daily basis. Each day that I was in the country, I encountered landscapes and scenery unlike anything I’d seen anywhere else in the world.
May 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 35mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 1/20 second, ISO 64, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
Kolmanskop gave me an idea of what the world would look like if humanity vanished, and the Quiver Trees made me feel that I’d stepped into a landscape conjured in a child’s imagination.
I thought I’d seen the most otherworldly of Namibia’s landscapes, but I was unprepared for the Deadvlei Trees. A place like this reminds you that we are all powerless against nature. It also gives you some perspective of just how insignificant humans are in the grand passage of time.
Deadvlei was once under water. It’s believed that roughly one thousand years ago, the Tsauchab River flooded, creating shallow pools with a clay pan underneath. In the shallow lake formed by the flooding, acacia trees flourished. But approximately two hundred years later, the climate changed. The area became dry and drought-stricken, and the massive dunes cut the area off from the river.
Looking at the area now, it’s difficult to imagine that there was ever water here. Deadvlei — its name means “Dead Valley” — reveals an earth devoid of water, its clay surface baked white and crackled from centuries of heat. Oddly, the acacia trees that flourished when Deadvlei was awash with water are still here. Believed to be several hundred years old, they remain; scorched black from centuries of sunlight. The air here is too dry for them to decompose; instead, they stand like blackened monuments to the passage of time.
What I had seen so far of Namibia left me eager to see more of this eerily beautiful country.
Quiver Forest in the Morning, Namibia
The first day in the Quiver Forest was about getting my bearings in a strange, new place and letting my vision adjust to the strangely beautiful landscape there. And like the first day in any overseas trip, it was also spent largely in a foggy mental state, the result of travel fatigue and jet lag. Most of the photos from that first day were disappointing and didn’t see the light of day.
May 2017, panorama from 3 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 15 seconds, ISO 200, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
By the second day, Namibia started to feel as comfortable as an old friend. The Quiver Forest was still ethereal and otherworldly, like something conjured from a child’s imagination, but it was welcoming; I no longer felt like a visitor there. Among the forest’s chimerical inhabitants, I already had favorites; trees whose unique profile against the horizon captured my attention. I found myself returning to the same trees and compositions again and again, mesmerized by their lines and colors.
It wasn’t only the trees that made the place special; it was a sensory experience, and I took in all of the sounds and smells. I reminded myself often that I was walking in a field of volcanic boulders among trees that in some cases, were two or three hundred years old. The stories they could tell. The world does this here and there — spreads an ancient landscape out before us, simply to remind us of our small place in the order of things.
As I walked among the quiver trees I gradually became aware that we photographers were not alone there. I didn’t notice them on the first day, but on the second day in the forest, just at sunrise, small animals — hamster-like and no bigger than kittens — emerged from underneath the rocks and began to scurry about. I’d never seen them before and I didn’t know what they were, but somehow, they seemed the perfect inhabitants of this place, as if the same child who imagined the quiver trees into existence filled her fanciful landscape with playful creatures who come to life with the sunrise.
Quiver Trees at Dawn, Namibia
Like all travel photographers, I’ve always been captivated by the world. It’s a wonder, this orb we call home, and I never tire of its mysteries. The man-made structures are frequently beautiful and capable of leaving me slack-jawed with amazement; I defy anyone to spend some time wandering through the Hagia Sofia or Westminster Abbey and not feel humbled by those structures and the human spirit that went into strike of a hammer or chisel.
May 2017, single image, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 24mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 3 seconds, ISO 64, tripod.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
But it’s the natural world that continually intrigues and beguiles me. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to far-flung destinations around the world, and I don’t think the world’s natural beauty will ever lose its hold over me.
So I was thrilled for the opportunity to visit Namibia — a first for me. Like anyone with a case of wanderlust and a passport constantly in need of new stamps, I had seen enough photographs of Namibia to know the country is unlike any other place in the world, its landscape one that defies words.
My first day in Namibia did not disappoint. I traveled with a group of photographers to the Quiver Forest, a place for which the photographs had not prepared me.
The Quiver Forest is actually privately-owned land — the Guriganus Farm — and the “trees” which make up this otherworldly forest are not actually trees at all, but plants. It’s a minor distinction because once inside this alien landscape, details such as that simply don’t matter. Their fibrous trunks are easy to hollow out and were once widely used as quivers for arrows, but again, that’s a detail that doesn’t really matter.
The trees are only naturally found in this one relatively small part of Africa, and typically grow alone, like curiously-formed sentinels guarding the landscape. That’s why the Quiver Forest is special — it’s the only place where the trees have clustered together to form a forest, and the result left me speechless. Seeing the forest at dawn with a pale pink sunrise breaking over the horizon was a moment of unspeakable majesty and wonder for me. It was only my first full day in Namibia, and already I was entranced by the country. And I thought of the words of the English artist and explorer Thomas Baines, who sketched the Quiver Trees and wrote afterward, “I confess I can never quite get over the feeling that the wonderful products of nature are objects to be admired, rather than destroyed.”
Plitvice Lakes Waterfalls, Croatia
In a Tolkenian natural environment, high-fantasy legends were murmuring at our ears, while we drove to the waterfalls on one of the Plitvice Lakes trail. Vibrant greens, algae, moss and a fresh wet atmosphere surrounded us.
June 2014, single image, focal length 75mm, aperture f/8, shutter speed 1/60 second, ISO 125, handheld.
You can buy this photo as Fine Art Print >>
This very fragile complex of fauna and flora has inspired writers of all times. The story of the Black Queen, who created the 16 lakes after citizens of Plitvice prayed and prayed for rain to fall, that she finally sent thunder and storms until the entire area had become a green lush. Still nowadays it is called the “Devil’s Garden”.
I wanted to explore myself this extraordinary scenery, and chose to do so on an next morning, although clouds had developed and rain started to drizzle for a while. The family breakfast that Volodimir served us was far behind already!
Diving in the oasis of untouched forest, I felt like I was walking in a real life movie where elves and magic Queens would come out from the frame. The smooth movement of the water falling on the rocks, contrasted with the pinkish and grey skies in the background. | http://blog.ansharphoto.com/category/landscape/ |
The more colors in the design, and the more complicated it is, the more areas you'll have to isolate for the preparation stage of separating. You should save a complicated design with every major area in it as a separate layer whenever possible. This method can simplify the use of the Curves menu in isolating and separating. Neglecting to save a complicated design can lead to many hours of work to correctly select specific areas for color extraction. For this reason, the curves method is sometimes a less efficient way to separate artwork. The most common issue at the beginning stages of isolating a design for separation is selecting image areas. Each design is different, but a good way to approach this issue is to first address the theory behind the curves method and the supporting concept of tonal range.
The Curves menu depicts tonal range with the absolute black point on one corner and the brightest white point on the opposite. The function of an effective tonal range is to demonstrate a noticeable division between the values on a typical grayscale. Many screen shops fight to save the tonal range from dot gain, moiré, screen-washout issues, and printing inconsistencies. What commonly occurs from tonal-range problems is tonal compression or the loss of the ability to differentiate between values in the highlights, midtones, or shadows.
When you look at a basic gray-scale generated on the computer next to a grayscale that is damaged by tonal compression, you will note the loss in the midtones and highlights first (Figure 1). You'll have trouble discerning where the 50-60% line is because the midtones and highlights tend to merge together. To avoid this issue, use a pure grayscale depiction of a specific color value that you can then isolate to produce a superior final separation set. The idea is to first isolate a selection of color and then create an ideal grayscale from it that can then be depicted in the separation set. | http://screenweb.com/content/using-curves-separate-grayscale-images?page=0%2C1 |
Vlerick is Belgium’s most prestigious international business school – and welcomes students and professionals from all over the world. Since 2014, we’ve been working with Vlerick to promote their leading programmes and cutting-edge research.
Each month we work closely with the marketing team to produce the school’s thought leadership newsletter. It goes out to business people, alumni, students and corporate partners across the world.
The newsletter is an important part of Vlerick’s communications. It performs several roles – showcasing the business school’s investment in learning innovation, sharing insights from faculty and research projects and giving a snapshot of campus life.
The majority of articles link to in-depth thought leadership pieces on the Vlerick website. So the newsletter has to be concise, interesting – and ultimately, encourage readers to click through.
Want to learn more about how we approach copywriting projects? Read our FAQs or check out our pages about copywriting for marcomms and copywriting for education. | https://wordtree.com/case-study/vlerick-newsletter-copywriting/ |
City, architects release design concepts for Sudbury’s Junction East project
The City of Greater Sudbury in conjunction with designers WZMH Architects have released design plans for the Junction East project.
The 62,000-square foot building in downtown Sudbury is proposed to include a new central library, the Art Gallery of Sudbury, and potential future partners, the Sudbury Theatre Centre, and the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association.
The design of the facility was based on an extensive engagement campaign by the city and the designers that included feedback from the community and key stakeholders.
Scheduled for completion in 2024, the facility is planned to be located on the east side of Shaughnessy Street, but the project has run into difficulties since it was first proposed. In 2018, staff estimated the project would cost around $46.5 million to build. Last week, a staff report to council projected the cost would increase by 21 percent due in part to soaring construction prices, and changes to the building’s footprint.
The city and the designers have opened a virtual open house for the design plans. That event occurs on July 21. The community can also view and provide feedback on the design through July 30.
Sudbury is also considering a companion Junction West project that, if built, would include event space to attract large-scale conventions and trade shows, arts/culture performances, and
meetings and community celebrations. The facility is proposed to be a 60,500-square foot building with 19,500 square feet of rentable space, and 13,000 square feet of free span main plenary that can host more than 850 delegates.
Development of the west facility is still very much in the early stages. | https://link2build.ca/news/articles/2021/july/city-architects-release-design-concepts-for-sudbury-s-junction-east-project/ |
Aimed at professionals working with men who are challenging the boundaries of society or any man who feels frustrated by his life, the book offers detailed illustrative case studies, structured exercises and topics for discussion, which can be used by the individual or in a group context.
R U Listenin'? challenges men to reflect on their personal and emotional behaviour and uses prison life as an analogy to help them rethink their perspectives.
Aimed at professionals working with men who are challenging the boundaries of society or any man who feels frustrated by his life, the book offers detailed illustrative case studies, structured exercises and topics for discussion, which can be used by the individual or in a group context. These features are identified in the text by pictorial icons, making the book easy to navigate. The exercises are imaginative and challenging, encouraging men to develop social and communication skills and an understanding of how the structures of society work. The author also suggests exercises and techniques for dealing with challenging groups, which are ideal for use by group facilitators.
This book provides positive guidance for troubled men and is an essential tool for professionals working with young offenders and men with challenging behaviour. | https://www.jkp.com/can/r-u-listenin-2.html |
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Electromagnetics - Code Developer (Experienced)
Sandia National Laboratories
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: We are seeking a R&D Electromagnetics Software Engineer who will support the development, verification, and validation of computer models to simulate complex physical processes associated with electromagnetic phenomena\. Key functions of this role include, but are not limited to: + Contribute to the development of novel algorithms and physics models for efficient electromagnetic simulations over a broad range of applications+ Contribute to development of advanced computational models and their implementation in new applications designed for next\-generation hardware \(e\.g\., Intel Xeon Phi MICs and NVIDIA GPUs\)+ Help to ensure application compatibility and scalability \(high\-thread concurrency\) in an MPI\+X environment+ Contribute to the development of a state\-of\-the\-art electromagnetic code to run on flagship \(Trinity, Sierra, El Capitan, and others\) high\-performance computing platforms+ Work in a highly integrated and complex programmatic environment that includes researchers from multiple Sandia organizations+ Report on research results via publications and conference presentations+ Team with other code developers; as well as analysts and experimentalists to evaluate code performance Required: + BS in applied mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering, or closely related discipline+ PhD in applied mathematics, computer science, physics, engineering, or closely related discipline+ Experience with development and application of advanced scientific modeling and simulation software in high\-performance computing environments+ Strong physics background for development of analytical models+ Experience with applications of electromagnetic theory: analysis, modeling, and simulation+ Experience with an advanced scientific programming language, such as Fortran, C, C\+\+, or Python+ Good communication skills as evidenced by a history of publication of results in peer\-reviewed journals and external presentations at appropriate scientific conferences+ Ability to obtain and maintain a DoE Q clearance Desired: + Strong C\+\+ and object\-oriented programming software development skills and experience utilizing software libraries for scientific software development+ Knowledge of parallel programming, threading, distributed memory, and/or SIMD+ Experience in use of MPI, OpenMP, and Cuda+ Experience with Agile methodologies, git version control, CMake, Jenkins, Doxygen, and TeX+ Experience with visualization, data analysis, post\-processing, and debugging in a high\-performance computing environment+ Ability to work with others and collaborate effectively in an interdisciplinary team environment+ Experience with both command\-line Linux and Windows platforms+ Willingness to develop expertise in different areas of electromagnetics, numerical methods, or software development+ Willingness to be flexible in job assignments Department Description: The Electromagnetic Theory department \(1352\) is engaged in the development of advanced theory, modeling, simulation and analysis techniques for use across a broad spectrum of electromagnetic and plasma\-physics environments\. Capabilities developed in the Electromagnetic Theory department support long\-term research in electromagnetics, plasma physics, pulsed\-power sciences, and also enable the near\-term delivery of toolsets and high\-fidelity analysis that can be used for addressing the wide array of SNL mission needs\. About Sandia: Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting\-edge work in a broad array of areas\. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs: + Challenging work withamazingimpact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide+ Extraordinary co\-workers+ Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world+ Career advancement and enrichment opportunities+ Flexible schedules, generous vacations,strongmedical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance\* _World\-changing technologies\. Life\-changing careers\._ Learn more about Sandia at: http://www\.sandia\.gov \*These benefits vary by job classification\. Security Clearance: Position requires a Department of Energy \(DOE\) granted Q\-level security clearance\. Sandia is required by DOE directive to conduct a pre\-employment drug testing, and a pre\-employment background review that includes personal reference checks, law enforcement record and credit checks, and employment and education verifications\. Applicants for employment must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q\-level security clearance, which requires U\.S\. citizenship\. Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance\. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by the DOE, rendering the inability to perform the duties assigned and resulting in termination of employment\. EEO Statement: Equal opportunity employer/Disability/Vet/GLBT
Internal Number: 17E6E4FA820941458AF7FA17B84E77D4
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About Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation with major facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Livermore, California. We are a world-class team of scientists, engineers, technologists, post docs, and visiting researchers all focused on cutting-edge technology, ranging from homeland defense, global security, biotechnology, and environmental preservation to energy and combustion research, computer security, and nuclear defense. To learn more, please visit our website at www.sandia.gov. We are searching for a Manager for the Semiconductor Device Sciences Department for the Albuquerque facility. Must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Security Clearance.
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- Audio-Technica has posted the first videos in a new series exploring different aspects of mic technique, mic placement and more.
- Utilizing Audio-Technica products such as the 40 Series, Artist Elite, 20 Series and others – these videos illustrate various tips and tricks for using mics in real-world applications.
- The first videos focus on recording basics (11 videos, including vocals, guitar and percussion), and drum miking techniques (11 videos) and can be viewed in two playlists on Audio-Technica’s YouTube channel. More videos will be posted covering other topics in the future. | https://www.avnetwork.com/avnetwork/bose-professional-now-shipping-four-new-freespace-amps |
Q:
How to store each sentence as an element of an array?
So, suppose I have an array (program asks me to write some text):
char sentences[] = "The first sentence.The second sentence.The third sentence";
And I need to store each sentence as an array, where I can have access to any word, or to store the sentences in a single array as elements.
(sentences[0] = "The first sentence"; sentences[1] = "The second sentence";)
How to print out each sentence separately I know:
char* sentence_1 = strtok(sentences, ".");
char* sentence_2 = strtok(NULL, ".");
char* sentence_3 = strtok(NULL, ".");
printf("#1 %s\n", sentence_1);
printf("#2 %s\n", sentence_2);
printf("#3 %s\n", sentence_3);
But how to make program store those sentences in 1 or 3 arrays I have no idea.
Please, help!
A:
If you keep it in the main, since your sentences memory is static (cannot be deleted) you can simply do that:
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char sentences[] = "The first sentence.The second sentence.The third sentence";
char* sentence[3];
unsigned int i;
sentence[0] = strtok(sentences, ".");
for (i=1;i<sizeof(sentence)/sizeof(sentence[0]);i++)
{
sentence[i] = strtok(NULL, ".");
}
for (i=0;i<sizeof(sentence)/sizeof(sentence[0]);i++)
{
printf("%d: %s\n",i,sentence[i]);
}
return 0;
}
In the general case, you first have to duplicate your input string:
char *sentences_dup = strdup(sentences);
sentence[0] = strtok(sentences_dup, ".");
many reasons for that:
you don't know the lifespan/scope of the input, and it is generally a pointer/a parameter, so your sentences could be invalid as soon as the input memory is freed/goes out of scope
the passed buffer may be const: you cannot modify its memory (strtok modifies the passed buffer)
change sentences[] by *sentences in the example above and you're pointing on a read-only zone: you have to make a copy of the buffer.
Don't forget to store the duplicated pointer, because you may need to free it at some point.
Another alternative is to also duplicate there:
for (i=1;i<sizeof(sentence)/sizeof(sentence[0]);i++)
{
sentence[i] = strdup(strtok(NULL, "."));
}
so you can free your big tokenized string at once, and the sentences have their own, independent memory.
EDIT: the remaining problem here is that you still have to know in advance how many sentences there are in your input.
For that, you could count the dots, and then allocate the proper number of pointers.
int j,nb_dots=0;
char pathsep = '.';
int nb_sentences;
int len = strlen(sentences);
char** sentence;
// first count how many dots we have
for (j=0;j<len;j++)
{
if (sentences[j]==pathsep)
{
nb_dots++;
}
}
nb_sentences = nb_dots+1; // one more!!
// allocate the array of strings
sentence=malloc((nb_sentences) * sizeof(*sentence));
now that we have the number of strings, we can perform our strtok loop. Just be careful of using nb_sentences and not sizeof(sentence)/sizeof(sentence[0]) which is now irrelevant (worth 1) because of the change of array type.
But at this point you could also get rid of strtok completely like proposed in another answer of mine
| |
Luggage and carry-ons should comply with the following regulations: (1) Passengers must not obstruct other passengers with their carry-on luggage, and must stay by its side at all times; (2) The size of any carry-on object may not exceed 165cm on its longest side, and the sum of its length, width and height may not exceed 220cm. however, this regulation does not apply to wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, strollers, bicycles, surfboards, and other carry-on objects approved by the TRTC; (3) The maximum number of balloons allowed onto the trains is 5 per person. The longest side of any balloon may not exceed 50cm. (4) Vehicles, electric wheelchairs, electric scooters or other similar motorized tools are not allowed within Taipei Metro premises. However, passengers holding disability ID or with prior permission from the TRTC may use assisted devices such as regular or electric wheelchairs, to travel at speeds below 5kmph within the stations; (5) Bicycles are not allowed in stations or trains unless they are foldable and properly packaged (including traditional bicycles and power-assisted bicycles, which must be switched off. The size of the bicycle may not exceed 165cm on the longest side, and the sum of the length, width and height may not exceed 220cm), or conform to the “Stipulations for Passengers with Bicycles”; (6) Carts and other similar tools are not permitted on the Taipei Metro; (7) Carry-on surfboards may not exceed 180cm on the longest side. Tail rudders, foot ropes, and other protruding items must be removed and stowed away during the journey. Surfboards between 165 and 180cm long are only admitted on the Taipei Metro during public holidays. Passengers with surfboards should travel on the first and last carriages only, and should not use the escalators.
Best viewed with IE 5.0 or higher with 800 x 600 resolution. Copyright 2004-2010 Taipei City Government
No.1, City Hall Rd., Xinyi District, Taipei City 110204, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
For international callers, please dial 886-2-2720-8889. | https://english.gov.taipei/News_Content.aspx?n=ADAE9018C6CFA1FE&sms=5B794C46F3CDE718&s=9FABE38F6A968669 |
Mbabane in may: average Weather, Temperature and Climate
You wish to visit Mbabane in Swaziland in may : check how are the weather and seasonal norms on this page.
Weather in Mbabane in may 2022
The weather in Mbabane in the month of may comes from statistical datas on the past years. You can view the weather statistics for all the month, but also by clicking on the tabs for the beginning, the middle and the end of the month.
Average weather throughout may
perfect weather
Weather at 6am
58°F
Clear/Sunny
73% of time
18%
4%
3%
Weather at 12pm
74°F
Clear/Sunny
74% of time
17%
6%
2%
Weather at 6pm
58°F
Clear/Sunny
59% of time
13%
11%
10%
Weather at 3am
52°F
61%
20%
12%
5%
Evolution of daily average temperature and precipitation in Mbabane in may
These charts show the evolution of average minimum/maximum temperatures as well as average daily precipitation volume in Mbabane in may.
The climate of Mbabane in may is perfect
the weather in Mbabane in may is quite dry (with 1.1in of rainfall over 2 days). The weather is better from the previous month since in april it receives an average of 3.3in of precipitation over 5 days.
The climate comfortable in this location this month. Temperatures are up to 74°F. In the morning the temperature drops to 58°F. Thus, the mean temperature average on this month of may in Mbabane is 65°F. Note that seasonal normals are in contrast with those observed in Mbabane in may with a maximum record of 92°F in 2019 and a minimum record of 40°F in 2020. You can plan to have about 28 days with temperatures over 65°F, or 90% of the month.
On this month of may, day length in Mbabane is generally 10:50. Sunrise is at 06:27 and sets at 17:17.
With a good weather, may is recommended to go in this city in Swaziland.
Seasonal average climate and temperature of Mbabane in may
Check below seasonal norms These datas are generated from the weather statements of the last years of may.
|May|
|Outside temperature|
|Average temperature||65°F|
|Highest temperature||74°F|
|Lowest temperature||58°F|
|Highest record temperature||92°F|
(2019)
|Lowest record temperature||40°F|
(2020)
|Number of days at +86°F||1 day(s)|
(3%)
|Number of days at +65°F||28 day(s)|
(90%)
|Wind|
|Wind speed||11km/h|
|Wind temperature||58°F|
|Precipitation (rainfall)|
|Rainfall||1.1in|
|Number of days with rainfall||2 day(s)|
(5%)
|Record daily rainfall||0.8in|
(2017)
|Other climate data|
|Humidity||72%|
|Visibility||9.03km|
|Cloud cover||20%|
|UV index||5|
|Daily sunshine hours||9|
|Sunrise and sunset|
|Time of sunrise||06:27|
|Time of sunset||17:17|
|Length of day||10:50|
|Our opinion about the weather in may|
|Our opinion at whereandwhen.net||perfect|
How was the weather last may?
Here is the day by day recorded weather in Mbabane in may 2021:
54°F to 56°F
49°F to 59°F
52°F to 63°F
50°F to 70°F
54°F to 76°F
56°F to 70°F
56°F to 70°F
56°F to 70°F
56°F to 63°F
52°F to 72°F
54°F to 74°F
56°F to 81°F
58°F to 74°F
58°F to 83°F
56°F to 79°F
58°F to 79°F
54°F to 65°F
56°F to 68°F
54°F to 79°F
56°F to 79°F
59°F to 77°F
52°F to 58°F
49°F to 61°F
50°F to 72°F
52°F to 74°F
54°F to 74°F
54°F to 76°F
56°F to 77°F
56°F to 72°F
50°F to 61°F
49°F to 61°F
Map: other cities in Swaziland (Eswatini) in may
Cities near Mbabane:
|Lobamba in may||perfect weather|
|Pigg's Peak in may||perfect weather|
|Manzini in may||perfect weather|
|Nhlangano in may||good weather|
|Big Bend in may||perfect weather|
Click over cities on the map for information about the weather in may.
Weather data for Mbabane in may:
Weather data for Mbabane for may are derived from an average of the weather forecast since 2009 in Mbabane. There is a margin of error and these forecasts are to be considered as general information only. The weather in Mbabane can vary slightly from year to year, but this data should limit surprises. So you can pack your bags or check for the best time in year to go to Mbabane. | https://www.whereandwhen.net/when/africa/swaziland/mbabane/may/ |
In total there are about 17 city walks for you to discover within the region of United Kingdom. To get a first glimpse of what’s awaiting outdoor enthusiasts like you in United Kingdom, we created a short highlight list:
Discover the best city walks in the United Kingdom
City WalkingLondon City sightseeing
moderate
7.7 km
2:00 h
71 m
51 m
Take your time to enjoy the sights of London City on this leisurely walking tour.
from Lorenza Keck, Outdooractive Editors
City WalkingExploring Exeter Quay
2.2 km
0:30 h
9 m
9 m
Explore the Quay, one of Exeter's most popular areas, enjoyed by both residents and visitors in the summer and winter!
from Jessica Mooney, Visit Exeter
City Walking · Glasgow CityWest End Loop Walk from Macs HQ
3.7 km
0:59 h
35 m
41 m
A short loop walk through Finnieston and the West End taking in the best of what area around Macs HQ has to offer.
from Catherine Allan, Macs Adventure
City Walking · CambridgeByron's pool , Cambridge
2.5 km
0:35 h
3 m
9 m
from Subhasri Gopalsamy, Outdooractive Editors
City Walking · OxfordOxford long walk
17.6 km
4:16 h
23 m
20 m
Magdalen Road Donnington Bridge River walk to University Parks Port Meadow with Wolvercote stop Back to Westgate
from Jeremy Mason, Community
City Walking · Crewe and NantwichNantwich Loop
7.9 km
1:55 h
34 m
33 m
from Sally Thompson, Macs Adventure
All regions
- England 16 city walks
Similar activities for this region
Get more inspiration
‹
›
/: | https://www.outdooractive.com/mobile/en/city-walks/united-kingdom/city-walks-in-the-united-kingdom/1432846/?i=1432846 |
Do you want to stay productive even when you’re tired? Well, there are ways to do so. But one thing you have to understand is that it is absolutely normal for people to feel tired and experience the drops in productivity after the long-hour work.
We’re human, but not superhuman. And our brains are wired to distract us after we pay attention to work over a long period.
The thing is that sometimes we feel tired and exhausted, but yet we still have to work and get things done.
Successful people who created outstanding results in their lives are people who understand how to manage their productivity well. They seem to be able to maintain their focus and energy for long hours and manage to get things done even when they are tired.
Feeling tired and lack of energy for one day is absolutely fine. But if this prolongs and continues every day, it can greatly affect your life.
Like smoking. You don’t see the effect in the short-term. But if you continue to smoke for 10 or even 20 years, you are slowly killing yourself.
Hence, learn to manage your own productivity.
No matter who you are, be it whether you are a student trying to cram your study before exams or an entrepreneur wanting to solve some critical problems in your business, you can improve your focus and make yourself more productive.
So how exactly are you going to do that? Here are 7 ways that can quickly restore your energy and make you productive again when you’re tired.
1. Do a brain dump and then focus
One of the best ways to be productive when you’re exhausted it to do a brain dump. A brain dump is simply an exercise to write down everything that is in your mind. Hence, the word, “brain dump”.
Put down every thought you have in your mind. You can choose to write down your thoughts on papers or simply type them out in your computer.
You can list down everything that you need to do, everything that you worry about, whatever.
Once you have completed this exercise, you will feel lighter and relief. You are letting go of everything.
The next thing you want to do then is to pick the most important task that you need to do, your priority, and focus on doing it.
This exercise is extremely effective when you’re overwhelmed with your to-do’s and too many things to tackle.
When you feel overwhelmed, you will feel lost and stuck. It makes you feel tired and exhausted. And this will be the best time to do a brain dump.
If you want to learn more about brain dump, read this article from Little Coffee Fox.
2. Take a quick and short break
What better thing can you do when you’re tired? Just take a short and quick break. There is no point to press on and continue working when your brain is stuck.
Whenever I’m feeling tired and exhausted when writing articles, I will just stop, take a quick break for a few minutes, and then come back to my writing again.
In 2011, a study was carried out by professor Alejandro Lleras from the University of Illinois to determine the effect of prolonged work or study without breaks.
Professor Alejandro divided his 84 subjects into 4 groups:
- The control group was asked to work non-stop for the 50-minute duration
- The switch group and the non-switch group memorized four numbers before the work period began, and both groups were told to inform the research team if any of these digits appeared on their computer screen during the 50-minute duration.
- The numbers appeared twice on the computer screens of those in the switch group, but they never appeared on the screens of those in the non-switch group.
- The digit-ignored group was also shown the same set of numbers, but told to simply disregard them if they appeared on their screens.
Researchers discovered that for the control, non-switch, and digit-ignored groups, their performance progressively declined until the 50-minute mark.
However, the switch group remained sharp and on-task for the entire duration.
And professor Alejandro concluded that the switch group that performs better because they were allowed 2 brief diversions when they perform the task.
In other words, you need to take breaks to distract yourself from over-focusing on your task at hand.
This is why technique such as the Pomodoro and the 50-10-50 methods work.
It is easy to understand. You work for 50 minutes, and then you take a 10 minutes break.
You want to keep your mind fresh and avoid being overwhelmed by putting too much attention until you feel exhausted and can’t focus.
Hence, whenever you’re feeling tired and exhausted, stop your work and take a short break. You can come back to your work later once you feel more refreshed.
3. Move your body
So what do you do when you’re taking a break? Exercise a little bit, do some simple stretching, and move your body.
When you’re feeling tired, your body may become stiff and ache. Perhaps, you’re not taking enough sleep, or maybe you’re sitting for way too long in front of your computer screen.
So what you need to do then to restore your productivity is to do some simple exercise.
You don’t have to exercise until you sweat excessively. You just need to move around and stretch your body a little. Or if you want to, just stand up, walk and bounce around.
According to a study, stretching can boost your cognitive flexibility by 27% and improves your processing speed by 10%.
When you move around and exercise, you improve the blood and oxygen flow in your body to your brain. It makes you more alert and at the same time, refreshes you.
Hence, don’t just sit and not moving at all. Try to move your body from time to time. It will make you feel better.
4. Take a power nap
What if you’re feeling really tired and sleepy? Well then, just take a power nap.
A power nap is a short nap that aims to boost your productivity and refresh you after the nap. It is meant to be short, usually within 15 to 30 minutes.
You don’t want to sleep for an hour or two. If you take a sleep, you may fall into the deep sleep mode and when you wake up, you will feel weak and groggy.
According to this article from Michael Hyatt, the best-selling author, he said:
“The secret to becoming more productive is not managing your time but your energy.”
And Hyatt went on to give some examples of extraordinary people who have made power nap their habits.
- Leonardo da Vinci took multiple naps a day and slept less at night.
- The French Emperor Napoleon was not shy about taking naps. He indulged daily.
- Physicist Albert Einstein napped each day—on top of getting ten hours of sleep each night.
- Though Thomas Edison was embarrassed about his napping habit, he also practiced his ritual daily.
- Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, used to boost her energy by napping before speaking engagements.
- Oil industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller napped every afternoon in his office.
In short, taking power naps can restore your alertness, prevent burnout, and also make you more productive.
You may think that taking a nap is a waste of time. No, it is not.
I’ve been taking power naps whenever I need to in the afternoon whenever I feel needed. And I can tell you that it works well for me. After I wake up, I feel refresh and have the energy to tackle my work again.
There is no point to work when you’re tired because you’re only going to take longer to complete the task. And not to mention that the work you produce when you’re exhausted is usually sub-par work.
5. Drink a cup of coffee
I guess I don’t have to explain much about this. Coffee has been proven to increase our alertness and productivity.
In today’s world, coffee is not just a drink, but a social event. People enjoy coffee in so many ways now – hazelnut, macha, double chocolate, pumpkin-spiced, you name it.
When you’re tired and you want to stay productive to get the work done, just make yourself a cup of coffee.
However, you have to be careful and not to drink too much coffee. I believe in moderation. Getting yourself a cup of coffee or two a day is good enough. You don’t have to pour the caffeine into your body like drinking water.
You will hurt yourself and destroy your health this way. Thus, be moderate.
6. Change your work environment
If coffee is not the way you’re looking for, then here’s a great hack you may want to use to boost your productivity when you’re feeling exhausted.
Just change your work environment.
For instance, when you’re feeling tired, just grab your laptop and work somewhere else. When you change your environment, you will change your mood.
It makes you feel fresh and able to concentrate better.
You don’t have to go out of the office if you don’t want to. For example, you can sit and work on the heavy task in the morning. And when you’re tired, just can grab your laptop and work on a standing table. Or simply work from the couch.
The key is to change the workplace or to switch to a different environment.
Research has shown that using a standing table can improve your productivity and make you more engaged with your work.
So you might want to consider to invest in a standing table and make it your secondary workplace.
You can choose to work on the standing table for more creative work that requires your brain power. Plus, the standing table can also be a great solution when you’re feeling tired.
7. Get rid of all distractions
Distractions are time and energy drainers. They take away not just your attention, but also eats up your willpower and make you feel tired quickly.
How can you stay focused and be productive to get things done when you have more than 10 tabs open?
Notification is another big productivity killer.
Imagine that when you’re working attentively, you’re on the flow, but suddenly, you receive a notification and you can’t help but check it out. Only to discover that it is a forwarded text. And so you ignore it and get back to your work. But you have distracted your flow. The creative juice stops flowing and you can’t get the oomph back.
In short, distractions will destroy your momentum.
The situation is worse when you’re tired and exhausted. You already find it difficult to focus and you don’t have much energy to pay attention. Yet, you have to deal with distractions.
And when you’re tired, your tendency to procrastinate becomes higher. It will take even more energy and willpower to resist the temptations that are right in front of you.
Therefore, stop all distractions and never let yourself being interrupted, especially when you need to focus the most.
Choose to pay attention and do just one thing at a time, especially on tasks that require your creativity and thinking power.
When you’re working, cut off all possible distractions. Take away your phone or switch it off. Lock yourself in the room.
And once you get your work completed, you can then enjoy your play. You can get distracted in any way you want.
Remember, when you’re tired and you’re constantly getting distracted, it will make you even less productive.
Conclusion
It is normal for you to feel tired and find it difficult to focus on your work, especially when you don’t get enough sleep or after taking a heavy lunch.
But you don’t have to let the rest of your day ruins and wasted just because you’re feeling tired. Apply the 7 methods above and do something about it.
You can still be productive even when you’re tired. The key is to handle your state properly. Just like what Tony Robbins wisely said: | https://stunningmotivation.com/be-productive-when-tired/ |
Autism is a wide spectrum that looks differently for different people. However, one commonality often seen in individuals with autism is sleep difficulty. Some children with autism may struggle with falling asleep, staying asleep, or may sleep in unusual ways.
One prevalent sleep disturbance commonly reported by parents of children with autism is sleeping on the floor. As a parent, you may wonder why they do this, if it is ok for them to sleep this way, and what, if anything, you should do to help make sure they are getting the best night's sleep possible for optimal functioning.
Read on to learn more about this phenomenon and what you can do to address this with your own children.
Sleep is often something taken for granted by people who do not suffer from sleep disturbances.
Your child with Autism has a 40 to 80% likelihood of suffering from sleep difficulties, based on a 2010 literature review by Cortesi et al. To further compound the concern, sleep disturbances in children with autism have been correlated with maternal stress and sleep disruption, emotional regulation difficulties, increased aggression, hyperactivity, and reduced social abilities.
If you are concerned about any aspect of your child’s sleep, you are not alone! And you’re in the right place to learn more about how to approach this bedtime challenge.
If your child has sleep challenges, you likely have concerns regarding the impact that sleeping on the floor could be having on them, from their moods, ability to focus, behavioral concerns, energy levels, or even their communication and social skills.
So, why do they like to sleep on the floor? The answer is complex because again, every child is different and there is no one simple answer for all individuals.
Let’s explore some common reasons why:
That comfy cozy blanket set and perfectly soft pillow you thought your child would love (because you probably do!) may actually feel incredibly uncomfortable to them.
Hyper and/or hyporeactivity to sensory stimulation are included in the DSM’s diagnostic criteria for an ASD diagnosis, as sensory issues are exceedingly common.
The sensory input from a floor is significantly different than the input obtained from sleeping on a bed, depending on the bed surface and the type of flooring.
For some children with autism and/or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), a smooth and cool surface may simply feel better than the sensory overload caused by the soft bed, fluffy blankets and pillows, sitting up high on a raised surface, and the warmth under the covers.
It should be noted that because autism is such a wide spectrum, some children with autism may prefer the soft bed instead.
Many children with autism struggle with effectively communicating their wants and needs and advocating for themselves. Because of this, they may be unable to communicate specific aspects of the bed that are uncomfortable to them and request modifications to better meet their needs. For example, a neurotypical sibling may say “mom, this bed is itchy, can you get me different sheets?”, or “dad, these heavy blankets make it too warm for me to sleep.”
A child with autism may be unable to communicate what about their bed or their current sleeping arrangement is making them uncomfortable and may make themselves comfortable wherever they can instead, resulting in sleeping on the floor.
We’ve covered some of the reasons children may sleep on the floor, and some statistics on the correlations between sleep disturbances and autism.
Now, is this something that you should be concerned about or is it a harmless quirk about your loveable little one?
Let’s cover possible concerns about this sleeping pattern:
Studies suggest a heightened sensory perception may be a contributing factor. Sleeping on the floor may suggest that they are struggling with the sensory input that they are experiencing during the night. Common sleep disturbances include insomnia, inability to stay asleep, unusual sleep patterns, etc.
Studies have demonstrated that lack of quality sleep compounds certain symptoms of autism including social skills, emotional regulation, and severe repetitive behaviors. Further research is needed to identify whether these issues stem from a lack of quality sleep, contribute to the lack of sleep, or a combination of both. Sleep disturbances also have an adverse effect on the well-being of caregivers. It’s difficult to be the best version of yourself when you’re sleep-deprived! With all of these factors in mind, any unusual sleep variations are worth evaluating further.
Kids are resilient and seem to be great at bouncing back from wild sleep positions. However, the possibility of back/body pains from sleeping on the floor should be considered. This concern may be further compacted when considering that children with autism may be unable to communicate pain or discomfort. They may also be unable to identify that the cause of their pain is from sleeping on the floor.
Does your child have environmental allergies like dust mites and mold? Sleeping on the floor may actually increase their exposure to these allergens, which could further reduce their quality of sleep.
If your child prefers to sleep on the floor, but gets a great night of sleep and there are no concerns that their sleep is being impacted by sleeping on the floor, they may simply prefer the sensory experience of the floor. In this case, forcing the bed or pushing other options may not be necessary or beneficial. You know your child best!
Sensory processing is a large component of Autism Spectrum Disorder. An Occupational Therapist can conduct an assessment to identify Sensory Modulation Disorders and may have more specific recommendations for your child’s individual sensory needs at bedtime.
It may not be the bed in particular, but other components of the bedtime environment. Is the lighting too bright or too dark? Adjust the lighting. Is it too loud or too quiet in the room? Cut out any background noise or add a white noise machine (or natural white noise like a fan).
Try one modification each night and record in a notebook what change you tried and what, if anything, appeared different in their sleep that night. Taking data will help you to pinpoint what needs to be changed sooner than later.
Discard the idea that your child has to sleep in a bed. Consider alternatives that may be more pleasing to your child. You could try bean bag chairs. Perhaps a chill space in the corner of their room with their favorite pillows and blankets. A floor bed could also be a great alternative, especially if the height of the bed is a contributing sensory consideration.
Some other ideas include a hammock, a reclining chair, a futon mat, or an air mattress. Again, what works for one child may not work for another, so you may need to try a few things before finding the perfect setup for your child!
If your child experiences sleep disturbances beyond simply preferring to sleep on the floor, a sleep study may be necessary. Talk to their Pediatrician about whether that would be a possibility. Conducting a traditional sleep study in a clinical setting with all of the attachments is oftentimes too overwhelming for a child with autism.
However, there may be alternatives such as a sleep tracking bracelet that the child could wear at home for a period of time.
You know your child better than anyone. We know you’re their biggest advocate. Take these ideas into consideration and determine the best course of action for your family.
If you are ever questioning your child’s sleep habits, but unsure whether they are harmless or a sign of something more significant, it’s always best to reach out to their doctor, another trusted medical professional, or their care team to seek guidance. There is never a silly question when you’re advocating for your child’s well-being. | https://www.fortahealth.com/resources/why-does-my-child-with-autism-sleep-on-the-floor |
In 2015 Max Cooper and Architecture Social Club collaborated to create a 3 dimensional audio-visual installation in which music manifests itself through space and light.
The installation plays on our intrinsic and emotional relationship to the forms, colours and sounds all around us. In the same way that we have a natural connection with music that creates emotional responses without us really knowing how, Aether was built as a tool for experimenting with connecting light and sound to the emotions of those in the space.
The project accentuates our connections with physical form; engulfing the viewer in a rich, sensory experience you can’t quite touch. It’s mass grows, rolls and splinters, reacting in unison to the audio surrounding you, amplifying the sensual impact of the music.
Aether is an emotional instrument that communicates stories through visual and sonic mapping of abstracted form. | https://www.architecturesocialclub.co.uk/aether |
The 50 million barrels of oil that President Joe Biden said the country would release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be the biggest release in U.S. history and almost twice as much as the largest previous release.
The release, which Biden announced Tuesday, is about 8 percent of the 621 million barrels in reserve, according to data from the Energy Department.
Before 2017, there had been only three emergency sales from the reserve, spurred by disruptions like the Gulf War in 1991, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Libyan civil war in 2011.
Since then, Congress has put sales mandates in the last several budgets, in part to modernize the reserve system itself. And exchanges — in which the government in essence lends oil to companies, who then must return the same amount plus interest — were used to offset disruptions from Hurricane Harvey in 2017, as well as hurricanes Isaac, Gustav and Ike.
While the amount Biden is releasing is unprecedented, the methods to withdraw oil have become more common, as lawmakers use the reserves to balance the budget — and offset disruptions from hurricanes.
The move prompted criticism. Dan Brouillette, who was energy secretary during the Trump administration, told CNBC on Wednesday, “It’s not a supply emergency, and the only emergency I can … see in this case is a political emergency.”
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that the release was “an important policy Band-Aid” for rising gas prices but that it does not solve “the self-inflicted wound that shortsighted energy policy is having on our nation.”
The 50 million barrels will be released two ways: 32 million barrels will be exchanged, while the remaining 18 million barrels will come from a sale Congress approved in the 2018 budget, which earmarked 15 percent of the reserve for future sale. In 2017, President Donald Trump wanted to sell half of the reserves to bolster the budget.
U.S. refineries typically produce about 19 to 20 gallons of motor gasoline and 11 to 12 gallons of ultra low-sulfur distillate fuel oil (diesel) from one 42-gallon barrel of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
Exchanges and sales used to be rare.
The first sale was a test sale of 5 million barrels in 1985, and the second was in 1990, when President George H.W. Bush sold 5 million barrels to test the readiness of the system.
The following year, he authorized the first emergency sale of 17.3 million barrels of reserve oil after the launch of Operation Desert Storm. The reserve was created as a direct response to the oil crisis of the 1970s after the Arab-Israeli War.
In 1996, a pipeline blockage prompted the first exchange of nearly 1 million barrels. Since then, exchanges have been used more to combat disruptions, like hurricanes. | https://amsnbc.com/bidens-oil-reserve-release-is-the-biggest-in-u-s-history/ |
Bouma, L. G., Hartman, J. D., Brahm, R., Evans, P., Collins, K. A., Zhou, G., et al. (2020). Cluster Difference Imaging Photometric Survey. II. TOI 837: A Young Validated Planet in IC 2602. Astron. J., 160(5), 20 pp.
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Abstract: We report the discovery of TOI 837b and its validation as a transiting planet. We characterize the system using data from the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, the ESA Gaia mission, ground-based photometry from El Sauce and ASTEP400, and spectroscopy from CHIRON, FEROS, and Veloce. We find that TOI 837 is a T = 9.9 mag G0/F9 dwarf in the southern open cluster IC 2602. The star and planet are therefore 35(-5)(+11) million years old. Combining the transit photometry with a prior on the stellar parameters derived from the cluster color-magnitude diagram, we find that the planet has an orbital period of 8.3 days and is slightly smaller than Jupiter (R-p = 0.77(0.07)(+0.09) R-Jup). From radial velocity monitoring, we limit M-p sin i to less than 1.20 M-Jup (3 sigma). The transits either graze or nearly graze the stellar limb. Grazing transits are a cause for concern, as they are often indicative of astrophysical false-positive scenarios. Our follow-up data show that such scenarios are unlikely. Our combined multicolor photometry, high-resolution imaging, and radial velocities rule out hierarchical eclipsing binary scenarios. Background eclipsing binary scenarios, though limited by speckle imaging, remain a 0.2% possibility. TOI 837b is therefore a validated adolescent exoplanet. The planetary nature of the system can be confirmed or refuted through observations of the stellar obliquity and the planetary mass. Such observations may also improve our understanding of how the physical and orbital properties of exoplanets change in time.
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Jenkins, J. S., Diaz, M. R., Kurtovic, N. T., Espinoza, N., Vines, J. I., Rojas, P. A. P., et al. (2020). An ultrahot Neptune in the Neptune desert. Nat. Astron., 4(12), 1148–1157.
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Abstract: About 1 out of 200 Sun-like stars has a planet with an orbital period shorter than one day: an ultrashort-period planet(1,2). All of the previously known ultrashort-period planets are either hot Jupiters, with sizes above 10 Earth radii (R-circle plus), or apparently rocky planets smaller than 2 R-circle plus. Such lack of planets of intermediate size (the `hot Neptune desert') has been interpreted as the inability of low-mass planets to retain any hydrogen/ helium (H/He) envelope in the face of strong stellar irradiation. Here we report the discovery of an ultrashort-period planet with a radius of 4.6 R-circle plus and a mass of 29 M-circle plus, firmly in the hot Neptune desert. Data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite(3) revealed transits of the bright Sun-like star LTT 9779 every 0.79 days. The planet's mean density is similar to that of Neptune, and according to thermal evolution models, it has a H/He-rich envelope constituting 9.0(-2.9)(+2.7) % of the total mass. With an equilibrium temperature around 2,000 K, it is unclear how this `ultrahot Neptune' managed to retain such an envelope. Follow-up observations of the planet's atmosphere to better understand its origin and physical nature will be facilitated by the star's brightness (V-mag = 9.8). | https://ficpubs.uai.cl/search.php?sqlQuery=SELECT%20author%2C%20title%2C%20type%2C%20year%2C%20publication%2C%20abbrev_journal%2C%20volume%2C%20issue%2C%20pages%2C%20keywords%2C%20abstract%2C%20thesis%2C%20editor%2C%20publisher%2C%20place%2C%20abbrev_series_title%2C%20series_title%2C%20series_editor%2C%20series_volume%2C%20series_issue%2C%20edition%2C%20language%2C%20author_count%2C%20online_publication%2C%20online_citation%2C%20doi%2C%20serial%2C%20area%20FROM%20refs%20WHERE%20author%20RLIKE%20%22Burke%2C%20C%5C%5C.J%5C%5C.%22%20ORDER%20BY%20first_author%2C%20author_count%2C%20author%2C%20year%2C%20title&client=&formType=sqlSearch&submit=Cite&viewType=Print&showQuery=0&showLinks=0&showRows=20&rowOffset=&wrapResults=1&citeOrder=&citeStyle=APA&exportFormat=RIS&exportType=html&exportStylesheet=&citeType=html&headerMsg= |
The EU is on the verge of a full redesign of its electricity market. Market rules need to be updated to the reality of a much more decentralised system where renewables and the consumer are king. This is the essential next step in the European energy transition. It is an opportunity for policymakers to shape the future. What will they do? Based on leaked documents and conversations with Brussels insiders, Sonja van Renssen explains what choices and changes are ahead.
On 15 July, the European Commission will take a concrete step towards fleshing out its vision for an Energy Union for Europe. It will for the first time unveil its thinking on how the European electricity market should look in future and according to what rules it should function. We expect two strategy papers, one dedicated to the wholesale market, the other to the retail market.
Drafts of both papers have been leaked in the past few weeks (see the wholesale and retail drafts on EU twitterer Alice Stollmeyer’s blog). A look at these documents provides a good insight into what the EU intends to do next. Note that they are the start, not the end of Europe’s electricity market redesign, however. The wholesale paper is indeed a consultation that comes with a long list of questions to stakeholders. Legislative proposals are due next year.
What is reassuring is that many of the Commission’s draft recommendations tally nicely with those of varied stakeholders and experts of late. A raft of new studies and position papers has appeared, including from the European Wind Energy Association, EWEA (a position paper on market design), the German branch of the World Energy Council, WEC (an analysis of the benefits of further electricity market integration), FTI-CL Energy, a team of energy experts from FTI Consulting and its subsidiary, Compass Lexecon (more recommendations for an electricity market redesign, on behalf of six energy companies) and the Institut Francais des Relations Internationals, Ifri (a study on EU electricity networks and the energy transition). Energy Post also hosted the launch of a previously internal EDF analysis of the European energy system with 60% renewables.
The goal of the redesign is that of the Energy Union: to see through a successful transition to a more secure, affordable, sustainable energy system. “In the 1990s, it was all about market integration. Now the policy priorities are decarbonisation and security of supply. Market design needs to evolve to give incentives for those priorities,” explains Fabien Roques, co-author of a new study from FTI-CL Energy (see box) called “Toward the Target Model 2.0: Policy recommendations for a sustainable EU power market design”. This was launched in Brussels on 29 June.
“Historically, power market development has focused on day-ahead energy market coupling,” continues Roques. “It was the right focus ten years ago. But now, it should be about markets closer to real-time such as the intra-day market, long-term investment signals, and services beyond energy supply such as balancing.” The EU’s 2009 renewable energy directive led to a surge in renewables that has left conventional generators, grid operators, and indeed regulators and policymakers scrambling to catch up.
Today’s electricity market faces two new kinds of integration challenge: 1) renewables and 2) consumers. In its draft papers, the Commission gives an idea of how it believes these should be tackled – then asks stakeholders what they think.
*Should renewables providers take on balancing responsibilities?
*Are prices that reflect actual scarcity important?
*Should the EU consider legal means to align fragmented balancing markets?
*What is the role of long-term contracts to drive investment in new supply?
*Should national support schemes be more coordinated or opened up to others?
*Should “regional security coordination initiatives (RSCIs)” such as Coreso take on operational work? Could energy security be a regional responsibility?
*Should it be compulsory to offer an end-user demand response?
*What is the role of distribution system operators (DSOs) in data handling and privacy?
*Should there be a European approach to distribution tariffs?
*Should there be a harmonised methodology to assess generation adequacy?
*Would it be useful to create reference models for capacity remuneration schemes and cross-border participation?
Short-term cross-border markets are core to the redesign, says the Commission. The value of operational flexibility, so important when variable renewables start to dominate, is best captured by these markets. Balancing zones will have to be bigger than today. “Most importantly, an EU-wide system for cross-border intra-day trading needs to be set up,” the Commission writes.
Long-term price signals are equally important (on the decarbonisation front, this will also come from a reformed EU Emission Trading Scheme, ETS, the Commission notes). These signals should be market-based and available to all energy market players, whether demand or supply side, to drive new investments where they make sense. Part of this means letting the electricity price shoot upwards when demand peaks, the Commission says. But a wholesale price peak does not have to translate into a retail price peak, it adds. Market players can use a suite of financial products to protect customers from price swings and translate uncertainties into predictable revenues. This boils down to a transition to a market design that complements marginal pricing with some mechanism to support fixed cost recovery. Long-term contracts can help mitigate investment risk for renewables in particular, but must conform to competition law.
The big question is: will the market be able deliver a wholesale price that is sufficient to remunerate existing investments and drive new ones? Some, such as Hans ten Berge, secretary general of Eurelectric, believe the market can deliver and even without long-term contracts. “Do you need a long-term contract when you can find solar panels in IKEA?” he asked in Brussels this week. Ten Berge admitted that utilities have to completely rethink their business model and will face competition from new players, but insisted on a market-led approach.
A successful redesign also depends on getting the grid right. More interconnections will allow for a smoothing effect between the weather patterns in different countries for example. The Commission will come forward with a strategy next year for reaching a 15% interconnection target for 2030, it says. The MEP leading work on this issue meanwhile, has called for the target to be reassessed on the basis that it is an extension of an earlier target dating from before the era of renewables and climate policy. Green MEP Peter Eriksson wants the Commission to “assess the setting of regional, complementary targets and to find better qualitative and quantitative benchmarks, such as peak flows and bottlenecks, that highlight how much interconnection is needed”. In other words, he’s not convinced by the blanket target.
Market integration must be extended to the retail level so that consumers have “the possibility of active and beneficial participation in the EU’s energy transition”, says the Commission. Its priorities for the retail market are: 1) consumer empowerment 2) smart homes and networks and 3) data management and security. It is considering turning to legislation to push these priorities through.
First, the Commission will next year consider legislation to enforce ten minimum smart meter functionalities it recommended back in 2012 (member states’ roll-out plans include these just half the time). Second, it will consider legislative proposals to give consumers access to, and full use of, a smart meter if they want one. Third up is a threat to revise legislation to “strengthen minimum requirements on comparison tools and switching” – customers aren’t switching energy supplier often enough. It will complement this with a code of conduct for advertising offers to make it easier for consumers to compare competitors. The Commission also wants to give consumers easier and more frequent access to consumption data (most get it just once or twice a year now) and it wants to instigate a review of what’s included on bills.
Phasing out price regulation is still very much on the agenda and the Commission plans to draw up fresh guidance for member states on a “phase-out roadmap” albeit “with targeted measures to protect vulnerable consumers”. A new study on energy poverty, published on 25 June, shows that less than a third of member states explicitly recognise energy poverty. The authors make numerous recommendations for how especially through energy efficiency measures targeted at vulnerable consumers, policymakers can best address it. The Commission plans to launch an EU-level observatory for energy poverty this year.
Consumers are entitled to “price signals that reward flexible consumption” as a way to cut their energy bills, the Commission says. This can mean contracts that distinguish between peak and off-peak periods, or dynamic pricing linked to wholesale prices for example. Dynamic pricing should be extended to network costs, suggests the Commission. That means consumers would pay less if they cut consumption when networks are congested. Consumers should also be able to sell their “flexibility” to balancing and wholesale markets. The Commission plans to work with national regulators to draw up principles for commercial demand response and examine how to improve access for households. This includes checking out the effect of current laws on aggregators and energy service companies (ESCOs).
Self-consumption “should not be prohibited by measures such as obligations to sell domestically produced electricity to a third party, nor should unjustified or disproportionate financial charges be imposed on self-consumed energy”, the Commission says. Yet Spain’s new “sun tax” appears to do exactly this! It slaps charges on micro-generation. What might happen to it in future is unclear; the Commission stops short of proposing to mandate its recommendations on self-consumption.
On the ICT and energy front, the Commission intends to update its guidance to member states and industry on how to carry out an impact assessment of data protection in the energy sector in 2016. It will report on best practices and best available techniques for mitigation cyber-security risks in smart grids.
Finally, the role of distribution system operators (DSOs) is up for debate. Most renewables will be plugged into the distribution grid. DSOs will not only have to make grids smarter, but actively operate and balance them. For this, authorities will need to give them the right incentives and tools. “DSOs should be neutral market facilitators to enable the development of market-based services to consumers by third parties,” the Commission says. It adds: “The DSOs increasingly face similar challenges and share common interests with TSOs.” The Commission will launch a forum for dialogue between the two to push cooperation. It will also work with energy regulators to define “common procedures for the management of local constraints in the distribution networks”.
The EU is going regional on many fronts. One that has been coming to the fore of late and that is evident in the leaked redesign drafts is a more regional approach to renewables development. The Commission has long pushed for more cooperation on renewables, but with little success. This was in part because countries had no problems meeting their national renewable targets.
In its recent biennial renewables progress report however, the Commission calls for an increase in cooperation. This could be one country buying surplus renewable energy from another or the development of joint projects or even joint support schemes. At an EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) in June, Commission director for renewables Marie Donnelly said cooperation was the natural alternative to nationally binding renewables targets in an integrated European market. Europe has an EU-wide target of 27% renewables for 2030, but no national targets anymore.
The Commission is also mulling a “framework for cross-border participation in support schemes”. Any attempt to harmonise support schemes has been met with serious opposition in the past, however. During EUSEW, a Commission official reportedly suggested that renewable energy subsidy auctions could be a path towards convergence. He spoke at the launch of an EU-backed research project on auctions, which are already favoured under new EU state aid guidelines adopted last year. Many argue however, that auctioning will kill off smaller, citizen-led projects. The European Renewable Energy Federation (EREF), which unites national renewables associations, took the Commission to court last September calling for the state aid requirement to phase in technology-neutral, auction-based subsidy schemes to be annulled. For this, it invoked nothing less than member states’ right to choose their own energy mix under the EU Treaty. The case is in progress (T-694/14).
“There is a political constraint to better spatial distribution of renewables,” explains one EU source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Only much better regional cooperation on agreed legal frameworks is a way around this. We should agree these frameworks before discussing renewables locations. Principles are much easier to agree on than where to spend money.” The North Sea is the furthest along on this front, he added.
Despite better functioning short and long term markets and in particular peak prices that work as investment signals, some member states foresee insufficient generation capacity going forward, notes the Commission. They have introduced, or plan to, capacity mechanisms which mean “making separate payments for available capacity rather than paying for electricity delivered”. France, Italy, the UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Ireland all offer capacity payments of some sort, the Commission says. It’s quick to add that these are often costly, distort the market, and run counter to the idea of phasing out fossil fuel subsidies – never mind all subsidies – in the long term.
In the past, the Commission has already asked public authorities to regularly undertake a generation adequacy assessment. This is currently done very differently in different member states, it says. This should be standardised. The Commission also proposes to “lay out a reference model for a capacity mechanism (or a limited number of mechanisms) for use on a regional basis” to facilitate cross-border participation. The current sector enquiry into capacity mechanisms can help develop this template, the Commission says.
At the same time, some, such as Michael Hogan at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a group of independent energy experts, argue that the “entire price problem” in the European wholesale electricity market today can be explained by a surplus of generation capacity. The FTI-CL study mentioned above suggests this is a structural not a temporary problem. Part of the case for investment in the energy market may therefore be made by the retirement of existing generators. Germany took a step in this direction on 1 July with the decision to put 2.7GW of lignite capacity into a capacity reserve. More may be put in over time. This gives the country an insurance policy for energy security and helps it cut CO2 emissions.
Europe is at the start of a long and complex process to overhaul its electricity market. This will involve plenty of legislative action going forward, from a revision of the EU’s electricity security of supply directive to a new renewable energy law next year. Coming up with a vision for how the electricity market should look and work, is the first step. Market models are not system neutral, or neutral regarding the types of choices governments can make. The market will become more European and more elaborate. But as long as national politicians remain politically responsible for their citizens, Brussels will have to fight hard for change.
Interesting information. expected of this is the achievement of energy efficiency in accordance with what is needed and can cut the existing budget. It is interesting to see how it can provide the best solutions for the needs of electric energy, especially for the benefit of households and communities can be accessed by any circles. very interesting. great post.
Very interesting article. The electrical market is evolving. It is really important to give consumers easier access to consumption data. Now there is an unclear information on the bill that is not clear to the average consumer. I Hope this problem will be solved in the future. Best regards! | https://energypost.eu/eu-electricity-market-redesign-protean-moment/ |
The re-use of some object-oriented code has caused tactical headaches for Australia's armed forces. As virtual reality simulators assume larger roles in helicopter combat training, programmers have gone to great lengths to increase the realism of their scenarios, including detailed landscapes and - in the case of the Northern Territory's Operation Phoenix, herds of kangaroos (since disturbed animals might well give away a helicopter's position).
The head of the Defense Science & Technology Organization's Land Operations/Simulation division reportedly instructed developers to model the local marsupials' movements and reactions to helicopters. Being efficient programmers, they just re-appropriated some code originally used to model infantry detachment reactions under the same stimuli, changed the mapped icon from a soldier to a kangaroo, and increased the figures' speed of movement.
Objects are defined with certain attributes, and any new object defined in terms of an old one inherits all the attributes. The embarrassed programmers had learned to be careful when reusing object-oriented code, and the Yanks left with a newfound respect for Australian wildlife."
"Computer animators have been using cellular automata in their crowd scenes for ages, granting the dancers in the "Hunchback of Notre " and the Orcs in "Lord of the Ring" the liberty to autonomously determine the fine details of their movement, creating realistic mob scenes that appear to contain a cast of thousands. The problem is, as the programming for the automata gets more sophisticated, they start to express non-linear behavior.
In the climax for "The Return of the King", the animated forces of evil kept running away from their enemies.
'For the first two years, the biggest problem we had was soldiers fleeing the field of battle,' Taylor said.
'We could not make their computers stupid enough to not run away.' "
Updatering: ... mest av allt är det ju förstås Lems "Cyberiad" igen: se Medvetandets fälla!
När jag hörde historien om kengururna (stavas det verkligen så?), kastade de badbollar, eftersom det vad objektens defaultvapen. | http://kornet.nu/blindhona/arkiv/000713.html |
The subject of this thesis originates from an interest for the concept of empathy. In the thesis it is examined how one might understand, and study, good management and empathy, and to what extent empathy is important in contemporary management.The thesis is based on a constructivist reasoning. Thus, the objective is not to achieve any conclusive truths about what good management is, what empathy is, and whether empathy is important to the good manager. However, the thesis takes an explorative approach and attempts to delve into some of the stories that are told on these subjects.The thesis is supported by various contemporary and older theories on management, empirical research in form of both various reports and articles and two interviews with managers, which will assist in the further study of the concepts.In a managerial context, many practitioners and theorists put focus on empathy and emotional intelligence in management. Whether these more emotional qualities are abilities that are important in the making of a good manager is undoubtedly a subject to which there exist some diversity of opinion. This is presumably linked to the dissension on exactly what the emotionally intelligent manager can and cannot do. Often, a clear partitioning is set up between the more dynamic manager and the manager that endeavours to focus on the more ‘soft’ side of management. Applying this either/or approach might explain why some people regard being a manager with focus on emotions as something less positive. Considering many of the contemporary research findings, debates, articles, et.al, it appears that there is an on-going rebellion with the argument that being an empathetic manager implies that it is not possible to be a dynamic manager, and that the empathetic manager is incapable of making difficult decisions and dealing with a given conflict. Some of the gratitude to this development is undoubtedly owed to Daniel Goleman who, with his book ‘Emotional Intelligence’, to a high degree has added the more emotional skills to the agenda.The analysis of the thesis reveals many tendencies pointing in the direction of empathy being essential to contemporary management. In other regards empathy is granted very little significance, and again in other empathy does not appear to be a part of the discussion about good management at all. However, the thesis concludes that many managers, employees, authors, etc. consider empathy in management as being very important. | https://research.cbs.dk/en/studentProjects/c4ea8e95-fd45-4939-bee9-767d809cd9a8 |
Among the many thousands of islands on which one of the largest republics of Southeast Asia – Indonesia is located, there is a small island of Komodo, located east of the island of Java. Now its name is known to all geographers and zoogeographers of the globe, since the rarest and most mysterious animals have survived and live here – the descendants of prehistoric predatory lizards that died out on earth 160 million years ago. These are the largest amphibious giant lizards – monitor lizards.
The first to tell the astonished world about the world’s largest lizards, unknown to science, was a pilot who made an emergency landing on Komodo Island in 1912. Then it turned out that dragons also inhabit the neighboring islands of Rinja and Padar, as well as the tip of the large island of Flores across the strait (giant lizards easily swim across this strait).
Despite its impressive size, the Komodo dragon is surprisingly fast and agile. Wild boars, deer, feral horses and even buffaloes become its prey. But they are by no means squeamish about carrion. Possessing a highly developed sense of smell, they find it very quickly and here again gather in large groups. The dragon has a difficult relationship with a man. For the most part, monitor lizards invariably turn aside and give way when they meet. However, the captured monitor lizard behaves completely differently. The animal is ferocious and can easily knock down a person with its tail blows, and cause serious injuries with its terrible jaws. According to the testimony of the inhabitants of one small village in the eastern part of Komodo, there were cases of a monitor lizard attacking a person: the monitor lizard attacked three boys walking from the village and, having overtaken, killed one of them. Another time, a monitor lizard attacked two adult men, carrying a dead deer, and one of them was badly wounded. However, such cases are rare. When kept in captivity, giant monitor lizards quickly get used to humans and become completely tame. One of them, who lived in the London Zoo, responded to the nickname, took food from the hands of a person and ran on the heels of his overseer.
According to allcitycodes, the only population on the island is a fishing village called Komodo, whose inhabitants, in addition to fishing, are engaged in breeding goats, which are used as food for monitor lizards.
Komodo is now a national park. In addition to lizards, rare species of birds, deer, wild boars are found here. The sea surrounding Komodo Island is famous for its crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches and abundance of fish.
LOMBOK
Lombok is a small island to the east of Bali, separated from it by a narrow strait. Lombok, like Bali, belongs to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Lombok Island is one of the best resort islands in Indonesia. The landscapes of Lombok with its jungles and thickets, coral islands and long clean beaches are beautiful.
Lombok is where the transition from western to eastern Indonesia begins, with its flora and fauna changing more and more as you move further east. The northern part of the island is hilly and covered with greenery of tall trees and shrubs. South – barren, arid land, savannah. The dry seasons are getting longer here, so corn and sago are replacing rice as the main ingredient in most dishes. The name Lombok comes from the local chili pepper (lombok).
Most of the population is made up of Sasaks, people from northern India who inhabited Indonesia centuries ago. The inhabitants there also lead their traditional way of life, and in the south of the island you can visit picturesque villages. The main difference and advantage of Lombok is that there are much fewer tourists than in Bali. Nature lovers will be delighted with the scenery of the southern coast of the island and the beauties of Mount Rinjani (volcano with a crater lake). On Lombok, the rhythm of life may seem somewhat slow, the service in rare restaurants is less efficient, but it is here that you can hear the sound of silence in the mountains, feel peace and tranquility.
Lombok can be promoted as a place of pilgrimage for honeymooners. This type of hotel is quite common here as a boutique hotel – a completely isolated accommodation, just for those who want to enjoy each other’s company. Or villas in which there is a separate access to the beach, to the pool, and their own servants. In general, the level of hotels is very high, quite comparable to Bali.
Lombok – Known as a virgin island, ideal for travel and relaxation, white sandy, quiet beaches, mountains, pristine villages, tropical vegetation and the rich culture of Indonesia.
The three main cities of Lombok – Ampenan, Mataram and Chakranegara – are located close to each other, within a six-kilometer strip stretching from the western coast of the island to the east. Of all the cities, Chakranegara, which lies a little further to the east, is rightfully considered the most interesting. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the royal capital, and today it serves as the main market center of Lombok.
Nestled near Lombok are the three tiny Gili Islands, famous for their dazzling white sand beaches, crystal clear water coves and coral reefs. The rhythm of life on these islands is so leisurely that the only mode of transport here is pony-drawn carriages. | https://www.ehealthfacts.org/komodo-and-lombok-indonesia.html |
Washington D.C. [USA], Oct 13 (ANI): As cats move from kitten phase to maturity, they tend to put on weight until they are eight years old on an average, a study found.
According to the team of researchers, until now, pet owners and veterinarians didn't know for sure. Now University of Guelph researchers has become the first to access data on more than 19 million cats to get a picture of typical weight gain and loss over their lifetimes.
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, reveal that even after cats mature from the kitten phase, their weight still creeps up until they are, on average, eight years old.
Researchers suggest that the latest findings provide important baseline information for vets and pet owners about cat weight changes.
"As humans, we know we need to strive to maintain a healthy weight, but for cats, there has not been a clear definition of what that is. We simply didn't have the data. Establishing the pattern of cat weights over their lifetimes provides us with important clues about their health," Theresa Bernardo, the IDEXX Chair in Emerging Technologies and Bond-Centered Animal Healthcare asserted.
As part of the study, the team of researchers analyzed 54 million weight measurements taken at vets' offices on 19 million cats as part of his Ph.D. research. The research team broke down the data to stratify any differences over gender, neutering status, and breed.
They found male cats tended to reach higher weight peaks than females and spayed or neutered cats tended to be heavier than unaltered cats. Among the four most common purebred breeds (Siamese, Persian, Himalayan and Maine Coon), the mean weight peaked between six and 10 years of age. Among common domestic cats, it peaked at eight years.
As well, the team noted that the mean weight of neutered, eight-year-old domestic cats increased between 1995 and 2005 but remained steady between 2005 and 2015.
"We do have concerns with obesity in middle age, because we know that can lead to diseases for cats, such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, and cancer," said Adam Campigotto, lead author of the study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The team noted that 52 per cent of the cats among the study group had only one bodyweight measurement on file, which may suggest their owners did not bring the animals back in for regular vet checkups or took them to a different veterinary clinic. | https://www.nepalnews.net/news/262730362/cats-continue-to-gain-weight-till-maturity |
Tbilisi Courtyards.
news: watch the documentary film 'Ezos' (Courtyards) by Fabio Petronilli and Stadslab
“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind--no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be--there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”
[Jane Jacobs]
Following the ideas, so well-formulated by the American-Canadian journalist and activist Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), we believe that a city needs vibrant streets and sidewalks, and a diverse but cohesive social structure to flourish. When restoring the physical aspects of old cities, often these intangible qualities are overlooked and the result might be shining but dull and potentially unsuccessful and unsafe neighborhoods. The aim of the workshop was to research and analyse Tbilisian courtyards along D. Agmashenebeli Avenue. The courtyards are important elements of the city, which during centuries have played an important role in everyday life of the citizens and can be found both in old and later developed parts of Tbilisi. We believe that researching these courtyards and discovering their historical role in shaping the neighborhood community and finding their role in the future city is an important aspect both for Tbilisi and other cities in Georgia.
The case study was chosen based on the recent renovation of Agmashenebeli avenue, where a small semi-commercial and traffic loaded street was turned into a luxurious commercial and pedestrian area. This intervention into daily routine left the neighborhood with a new habitat, and further alienated the intimate semi-private spaces of the courtyards from the newly renovated busy street.
Master Class (May 17-21, 2017)
An international group of 17 participants determined the characteristics and qualities that constitute these courtyards. The Master Class participants developed a multitude of strategies for social and spatial design to rejuvenate these courtyards and rethink their role in the Tbilisi of the 21st century. The goal was to reconsider the social and cultural value of the Tbilisi historical courtyards and to propose urban redevelopment and place-making strategies for these sites; creating a basis for the research and planning method to be used in other districts of old and new Tbilisi in the upcoming years. In just 4 days the teams developed proposals and produced an exposition in a vacant shop on the Agmashenebeli Avenue, where residents, passers-by and professional planners and architects could see the results and engage in lively debates with the designers.
The Master Class was supervised by Lorenz Dexler, landscape architect and managing partner at Topotek1 in Berlin and Marc Glaudemans (Stadslab founding director). They have been supported by local Research Group ‘Urban Experiments’ (Nino Nadareishvili, Shota Saganelidze, Nutsa Kandelaki) and Irakli Zhvania, Architect, Urban Planner and Visiting Professor at the Ilia State University. | https://fontys.edu/Stadslab-European-Urban-Design-Laboratory/Projects/2017-Tbilisi-Georgia-1.htm |
Reviews reflect patients' level of satisfaction with the care they received from this provider. Dr. Paul Lenkowski Jr xhas an overall rating of 4.4.
About
Dr. Paul Lenkowski Jr, MD is a Doctor primarily located in Salem, VA, with another office in Roanoke, VA. He has 12 years of experience. His specialties include Otolaryngology. He speaks English.
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Dr. Paul Lenkowski Jr has the following 12 areas of expertise and 1 specialty.
Otolaryngology
An otolaryngologist is more commonly referred to as an ENT, someone that can treat medical issues you may be having with you ears, nose, or throat. This is a physician who is specially trained to diagnose and treat conditions of the ear, nose, sinuses, larynx (voice box), mouth, throat, head, and neck. These doctors treat patients through both medical and surgical means. For instance, an otolaryngologist may treat an obstruction of the nasal passage, caused by malformation of the nose, through rhinoplasty.
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Millennials Make Progress: A Conversation with Layla Zaidane
Find out more about the millenial dialogue here.
On June 16, 2016, The Young Transatlantic Network (YTN) of The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Brussels hosted Layla Zaidane, the managing director at Generation Progress, to discuss millennials’ engagement in our modern democratic and voting systems. Generation Progress is the youth advocacy arm of the Center of American Progress. The organization educates, engages, and mobilizes young people around the issues that matter most to them, ranging from higher education and immigration reform to the economy and women's rights.
The discussion tackled the reasons why millennials are becoming increasingly disengaged with politics. Millennials express broad distrust toward institutions and often feel that political parties no longer represent their opinions. Additionally, there is an overall lack of civic education as well as a shortage of communication between traditional politics and young voters, which leads to a lack of interest toward politics. During the session, the audience engaged in addressing issues such as the generation gap, how to promote millennial ideals in the work place and in which way political parties could get back the attention and support of young citizens.
Several interesting points were made. First, while many people tend to only vote during their major national elections, it is at the local level that they can really see the direct impact of their votes. Making voters, especially millennials, aware of this connection can increase voter turnout. Second, encouraging local engagement will make youth aware of their power to make a change: what politicians ultimately care about is votes, therefore the more engaged people are with voting and the more vocal they are about their concerns, the more likely politicians will adapt their positions toward issues which will garner them the most support.
The conversation concluded with the realization that there are in fact very few differences between generations. Rather, it is just a matter of pulling both sides toward a point of common understanding. When it comes to the public policy field the most important skills are still a desire to make change, a sense of public service, and the drive to move an issue. | https://www.gmfus.org/events/millennials-make-progress-conversation-layla-zaidane |
At Moravia Middle School, each aspect of our program is designed to meet not only our students’ unique academic needs, but their social and emotional issues as well. Our goals could only be achieved by...
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Bruce MacBain, Jeff Green, and Rebecca Burtram
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Show What You Know: From PBL to Digital Portfolios
One student's enthusiasm can open new doors to teaching and learning.
My son's birthday party this year was at one of those bounce house places with children hopped up on orange soda and birthday cake. In the midst of the chaos, one of the workers approached me—not with the news...
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Amber Chandler
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Why Awaken the Middle School Voice?
Middle school voices are not always what their teachers want to hear. Those voices can be high-pitched and rowdy, full of criticism and negativity, whining with complaint, or bent on distracting others, destroying...
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Elyse S. Scott
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Teach Like You Tweet!
We can never underestimate the power of belonging and relationships. As middle level educators, we know the correlation between establishing relationships and student achievement, but have we considered the need to...
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Brent Armstrong, Susanne Long
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The Apprenticeship Approach
Tailor-made for the Middle Grades
The middle grades are notoriously challenging for youth. This is the period when some students can start to disengage. Gallup conducts an annual poll of students that measures, as they categorize it, their hope,...
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Jason Cascarino
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Engineering Brighter Futures
An after-school program that heightens students' curiosity about STEM and makes learning fun
Every day after school, in the 9 Dots Community Learning Center (named for the 3x3 puzzle that challenges one to think outside the box) in Los Angeles, underserved middle school and elementary students are defining...
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Laura Staich
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Student Leadership is Fundamental to Positive School Climate
Engaging students in shaping school climate improvement pays off
There is growing research demonstrating that students perform better academically, socially, and emotionally when they are meaningfully engaged, contributing members of a school with a positive, caring, equitable...
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Betty Edwards
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Creating Makers, Not Spaces
Move the desks out of the way, pull up a piece of rug, and invent something using the engineering process and leftover parts. Just like anything else, the Internet provides a plethora of ideas to define and design...
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Frank Pileiro, Frank Rudnesky, Peter Davis
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Increasing Participation through Random Calling
How can we encourage reluctant students to participate without humiliating them?
Every teacher has students who never participate unless called upon. And while randomly calling on students to respond, instead of taking volunteers, can dramatically increase both attention and participation, it can...
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Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program
Students develop as leaders and advocates for positive change.
In 2012, I incorporated the Lead2Feed Student Leadership program into my classes because of its focus on leadership and service learning. In 2016, I decided to use Lead2Feed as the curriculum during our enrichment...
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Suzie Melton
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The effectiveness, scope and depth of our Service and Support teams have and will continue to be a competitive advantage for the company. The core strategy of our customer facing teams across the company is to make it easier for our customers to do business with us. We thrive for aligned and connected global processes, systems and teams to cater for our Division Customers, clinical and strategic needs.
Customer Care Service plays a vital role in strengthening and enabling commercial success, shapes the global Enterprise Services Customer Care strategy; enables strategy implementation, drives process alignments across the remote teams, hand in hand with the Global Service and Support Division leaders.
As a Service Parts Supervisor, you will be responsible for the North America spare parts team in Instrument Enterprise Services (IES) which focuses on Service Parts Administration. You will be driving internal and external customer experience and delivering operational efficiency in key transactional areas that are critical to the success of the IES division in NA (North America). You will partner with our internal teams to shape and implement digital transformation projects and lead the change management of our teams.
The Service Parts Supervisor for our CMD division will support plans to improve processes while working towards corporate revenue and customer allegiance goals in a call center environment and support, service parts, accessories, consumables, software, upgrades for our customer base. The supervisor will support the necessary strategic and tactical ability to grow and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and operational performance as part of the Unity Lab Services organization.
KEY ACTIVITIES
Direct supervision of 10 - 15 Service Parts employees
Set clear goals for employees to ensure prioritization of work utilizing Tier I communications
Supervise day to day department operations
Enforce and update all SOP’s and work instructions in Master Control for ISO requirements
Understand and enforce all departmental functional procedures and work instructions through Master Control
Provide training programs for personnel on department functions and operations
Monitor employees in assigned group by hosting 1: 1 monthly reviews with employees utilizing monthly scorecard for development towards employee PMD’s
Assist Manager with Interviewing, hiring and new personnel
Work with Manager to resolve employee performance issues and conflicts
Authorized to generate request for credit memo per manager or finance recommendations
Ability to identify specific problems, determine desired end result, and the necessary tasks needed to solve the problem
Maintains our departmental expense budget in accordance with overall department yearly budget goals
Leads/participates in project and PPI teams as identified to improve business performance
Represent the company in a positive, professional manner in all dealings with Thermo Fisher Scientific employees, customers and representatives. Assures the highest level of customer satisfaction with Thermo Fisher Scientific products and services
All other duties as assigned by manager
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS :
High school diploma and 5 years relevant work experience with Thermo Fisher Call Center
Supervisor experience 1-2 years required. Specific and significant company experience (5+ years) may be substituted for Bachelor degree or Supervisor experience requirement
BAAN knowledge
SAP knowledge
Past leadership experience in projects
EXPERIENCE:
Proficiency with technology, especially computers, software applications, and phone systems
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
Strong understanding of company products, policies, and services
Ability to coach, train, and motivate employees and evaluate their performance
Excellent problem solving, leadership, and customer service skills
Familiar with Microsoft Teams
Analytical, efficient, and thorough
Ability to remain calm and courteous under pressure and navigate tense situations, especially during busy hours
Ability to work independently and be accountable for day to day decisions to assist the team
Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Watch as our colleagues explain 5 reasons to work with us (https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/5-reasons-to-work-at-thermo-fisher-scientific) . As one team of 100,000+ colleagues, we share a common set of values - Integrity, Intensity, Innovation and Involvement - working together to accelerate research, solve complex scientific challenges, drive technological innovation and support patients in need. #StartYourStory at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives are valued.
Apply today! http://jobs.thermofisher.com
Thermo Fisher Scientific is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.
Accessibility/Disability Access
Job Seekers with a Disability: Thermo Fisher Scientific offers accessibility service for job seekers requiring accommodations in the job application process. For example, this may include individuals requiring assistance because of hearing, vision, mobility, or cognitive impairments. If you are a job seeker with a disability, or assisting a person with a disability, and require accessibility assistance or an accommodation to apply for one of our jobs, please submit a request by telephone at 1-855-471-2255*. Please include your contact information and specific details about your required accommodation to support you during the job application process.
*This telephone line is reserved solely for job seekers with disabilities requiring accessibility assistance or an accommodation in the job application process. Messages left for other purposes, such as not being able to get into the career website, following up on an application, or other non-disability related technical issues will not receive a response
Thermo Fisher Scientific is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status. | https://mass-veterans.jobs/boston-ma/call-center-service-parts-supervisor-us-remote/CD7A22E5D2BD4768B334300724FDD70A/job/?vs=28 |
Horizon Europe, the long-awaited successor to Horizon 2020, and the world’s largest transnational research and innovation programme, is finally ready to take off!
The programme is designed to support European competitiveness by creating new growth and jobs based on scientific knowledge and technological development, all the while tackling societal challenges and helping to sustain European socio-economic models and values.
So, how does it work concretely?
The programme has been built on three main Pillars, each of them having a different objective:
Pillar II “Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness” has a budget of EUR 53.5 billion (out of EUR 95.5 billion) for 2021-2027, Pillar 2 holds the lion’s share of the programme funding.
Pillar II supports research projects carried out (mostly) by international and inter-disciplinary consortia. The projects address specific pre-defined topics proposed by the EC which fall into six different clusters, each of them foused on specific societal challenges, namely (1) Health, (2) Culture Creativity and Inclusive Society, (3) Civil Security for Society, (4) Digital Industry & Space, Climate, (5) Energy & Mobility, and (6) Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment.
Calls for these projects consist of very specific topics – each topic defines a research or innovation challenge to be addressed by the project, including scope and expected outcomes in a “top-down” approach. The type of project, budget, deadline and evaluation procedure are also specified for each topic.
The projects are carried out by international consortia that bring together not just research organisations, but also private companies, public authorities, non-governmental organisations and others – all actors that are needed to tackle the (often complex) topic. The participation of potential users of project results (companies, hospitals, public authorities, civil society, farmers, etc. – depending on the topic) is especially important.
All the calls will be written into a document called ‘work programme.’ Each cluster publishes its own work programme on a biannual basis; for example, the calls for 2021-2022 were published in June 2021. The best way to find calls for proposals is to visit the European Commission’s official page, the EC Funding and Tenders Portal. It helps to already have a pretty good idea what you are looking for when you connect to the portal, as over 1800 calls have been published for the next 2 years!
There are a number of different types of “actions” under Pillar 2, each with their own specificities. The three main types of actions are:
The theoretical minimal requirement in RIA and IA is the participation of at least 3 legal entities from 3 different countries (EU member states or countries associated to Horizon Europe). However, in practice, successful consortia usually consist of 8 – 20 or even more partners (depending on the scope and overall funding of the topic). CSA can be theoretically carried out by a single legal entity, however in practice, these projects are usually also carried out by large consortia as the scope can be quite wide.
What about European Partnerships?
In addition, Horizon Europe plans to simplify the landscape of various initiatives launched in Horizon 2020 and previous research framework programmes (Joint Programming Initiatives, Joint Technological Initiatives, Flagships, Public to Public Partnerships, ERA-Nets, etc).
The European Partnerships will bring together the European Commission on one side and on the other side private stakeholders (e.g. international associations of businesses in certain sectors) and/or public (e.g. member state ministries, national funders) interested in a certain topic/field to avoid the duplication of investments and coordinate strategic planning – the partnerships sometimes launch their own calls for research proposals and sometimes influence topics to be funded by Horizon Europe.
There will be 3 types of European Partnerships:
Finally, European research and innovation missions aim to deliver solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our world. In order to more effectively address selected societal challenges, the European Commission has adopted a mission-oriented approach to drive part of the next Horizon Europe Framework Programme. While acknowledging the added value of the Framework Programme for supporting European research, numerous past studies and evaluations have called for stronger strategic orientation and better coordination of the various funded activities. Adding a mission component within Horizon Europe is an unprecedented attempt to respond to this imperative. Missions represent one of the main novelties of Horizon Europe, in the form of high-ambition, high-profile portfolios of projects and initiatives which will put forward concrete solutions to challenges facing European citizens and society.
To date, five mission areas have been defined.
In conclusion, there is something for everyone within Pillar 2 of the Horizon Europe framework programme! Over the next 7 years, this 9th Framework Programme will bring together Europe’s leading research organisations, academic institutions, private companies, public authorities, and NGOs to respond to the world’s most pressing research questions.
While it can sometimes seem tricky to identify the right opportunities for your project, build your consortium and develop a successful proposal, consultants can help you navigate throughout the whole process. As a matter of fact, many structures - public and private – offer a complementary range of services adapted to your needs in the different phases of preparation and definition of a project's set-up and submission. Identifying and mobilising the right support structure at the right time is one of the key success factors for successful access to European funding programmes.
To find consultancy companies with expertise in the field of European-funded projects and whose professionalism is duly recognised, please consult the list of EAIC’s members.
Article courtesy of EAIC member, FI Group.
Leave a Reply. | http://www.eaic.eu/news/pillar-ii-the-largest-share-of-horizon-europe-funding |
Street Maintenance Technician
Job Description:
The Town of Woodstock is seeking an energetic and hard-working individual to join the Public Works Department as a street maintenance technician. This position performs intermediate, semiskilled work maintaining Town streets, grounds, rights-of-way, buildings, and related work as apparent or assigned. The work is performed under the general direction of the streets crew leader.
The Town is seeking a candidate who has some knowledge of the materials, methods and practices essential to the maintenance and repair of streets, storm drainage, sidewalks, and related infrastructure; some knowledge of street signage and marking; some knowledge of traffic laws and regulations governing equipment operation; some knowledge of safe driving practices and occupational hazards of the work; some knowledge of tree care, grounds maintenance, pesticides, and other landscaping functions; skill in operating construction and maintenance equipment; the ability to understand oral and written instructions; and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates and the general public.
A high school diploma or GED and minimal experience in street and ground maintenance and repair, or equivalent combination of education and experience is required. A valid Virginia driver’s license and a good driving record is required. The selected candidate will be required to obtain a Virginia Class B commercial driver’s license within six months of employment.
The position is at-will, full-time, with some night, weekend, and holiday commitments. The pay range is $13.30/hour – $20.62/hour and is classified as an FLSA non-exempt position. Anticipated hiring range is $13.30/hour – $15.73/hour. The Town offers an excellent benefits package in addition to on-the-job training. The successful applicant must be able to pass a pre-employment, post-offer drug screening and background check. The position packet is available at the Town of Woodstock Municipal Office, 135 North Main Street, Woodstock VA 22664 or www.townofwoodstockva.gov/jobs. The position is open until filled, and first review of applications begins is anticipated for Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. | https://www.vml.org/job-listings/street-maintenance-technician/ |
We are currently accepting submissions for work themed on ‘Transition’.
Each submission period we will accept a maximum of (1) creative nonfiction submission and/or (2) poetry submissions from each submitting author. However, in order to promote a variety of voices, please note that we currently accept a maximum of one submission per author for each issue.
Regarding artwork, at this time, we are only able to review five submissions per artist.
Authors who have had work accepted in previous issues of Epoch are welcome to submit again in any subsequent issue.
Writing
Epoch has no set minimum or maximum length, but we recommend keeping your piece below 6,000 words.
All prose submissions must:
1) include a word count in the top right corner;
2) be written in English;
3) use Times New Roman or similar 12pt font;
and 4) be formatted with double spacing.
All poetry submissions must be written (primarily) in English.
*Our editors appreciate the inclusion of Content Warnings whenever possible.
**Please note that should your work include images or photographs, by default we will print them B&W unless you specifically state otherwise and are willing to pay the fee for colour printing.
Artwork
Artwork must be submitted as .jpeg files, with a resolution of 72 dpi and dimensions of at least 595 x 841 pixels. Before submitting, please ensure that you are able to provide images as .tiff tiles with a resolution of 300 dpi and dimensions of at least 2480 x 3508 pixels for continuous-tone art and a resolution of 1200 dpi and dimensions of at least 9921 x 14032 pixels for line art. In the event that your work is selected, work which does not meet these criteria will not be eligible for publication.
In the body of your submission email, please include full caption information for each piece: title, year, medium, dimensions, any relevant ‘courtesy of’ information, and the name and contact information of models featured in any photography.
Submissions that do not include proper caption information cannot be processed.
Music
Musical submissions must be submitted in a .mp3 or .wav file, and accompanied by a .docx file containing all lyrics (when applicable). Additionally, in the email body, please include a short bio and blurb about your work (50-100 words).
We have no minimum or maximum requirements for musical submissions.
Because we review anonymously, we kindly request— especially if a piece relates to sensitive subjects— that our contributors only submit work that relates to their own lived experience.
How to Submit
Please send your best written work to [email protected], your best artwork to [email protected], and your best music to [email protected].
1. Please confirm that your submission is creative nonfiction by putting CNF in the subject line, along with the theme of the current issue.
2. A brief paragraph in the body of your email detailing any information about yourself that you feel informs your work. This paragraph will be included as a note with your submission, and shared with our editors. We also appreciate the inclusion of your pronouns, but this is optional.
Note: Your submission will still be reviewed anonymously, and as such we aren’t able to include your name or any previous publications in the notes attached to your submission. Author bios will be requested upon acceptance.
3. Attach your submission(s) to the email as a .docx file for written submissions, a .jpeg file for art submissions, and an .mp3 or .wav file for music submissions. If submitting multiple pieces, please attach each piece as a separate file.
4. Please name files: FirstLast.Title-of-Submission (ex: CherylStrayed.Tiny-Beautiful-Things)
5. Do not include your name or other identifying information anywhere within the written piece itself, with exception of signed artwork. We review anonymously.
Accepted Submissions
You will be notified within two weeks of the closing date for submissions– although we aim to respond within 6-8 weeks. If your work is accepted, you will need to sign a publishing agreement granting Epoch the non-exclusive right to publish your work. This agreement requires our contributors to confirm that their submission: 1) includes accurate information that has been verified by reasonable sources; 2) takes care to avoid inadvertent error; and 3) does not deliberately distort any circumstances or facts which took place. You will retain copyright for your work, but subsequent publications must include a credit line indicating that your piece first appeared in Epoch literary journal, with the appropriate issue and year. | https://epochpress.org/submission-guidelines/ |
JEAN-PIERRE CASSIGNEUL Signed Original Lithograph 53/130:
About this artwork: This is a beautiful lithograph hand signed and numbered limited edition. The dimensions are Approx. 25.5″ x 19.5 (small variances can occur).
About the artist: Jean-Pierre Cassigneul is a French painter known for his serene portraits of women in hats that recall the French Post-Impressionist avant-garde, including the works of Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. He was born on July 13, 1935, in Paris, France and studied at the École des Beaux Arts before holding his first solo exhibition there at the age of 17. A year later, he was appointed a member of the Salon d’Automne. From 1956 to 1960 he studied under the French painter Roger Chapelain-Midy, and from 1965 onwards he exhibited at the Gallery Bellechasse in Paris. Since then he has exhibited across Europe, Japan, and the United States, and has also illustrated several books, among them Le Tour de Malheur by Joseph Kessel. | https://auctiondaily.com/item/jean-pierre-cassigneul-signed-original-lithograph-53-130/ |
Mammograms: Are we overdiagnosing small tumors?
An analysis of breast cancer data revealed that many small breast cancers have an excellent prognosis because they are inherently slow growing, according to Yale Cancer Center experts. Often, these cancers will not grow large enough to become significant within a patient’s lifetime and subsequently early detection could lead to overdiagnosis, said the reseachers. In contrast, large tumors that cause most breast cancer deaths often grow so quickly that they become intrusive before they can be detected by screening mammography, they note.
The study, published June 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine, questions the value of breast cancer early detection.
“Our analysis explains both how mammography causes overdiagnosis and also why it is not more effective in improving outcomes for our patients. More importantly, it questions some of our fundamental beliefs about the value of early detection,” said Donald R. Lannin, M.D., professor of surgery at Yale School of Medicine and lead author on the paper.
The research team analyzed invasive breast cancers diagnosed between 2001 and 2013 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and divided them into three prognostic groups based on biologic factors: grade, estrogen receptor (ER) status, and progesterone-receptor (PR) status. The three biologic categories were defined as favorable, intermediate, and unfavorable.
The team, which also included Shiyi Wang, M.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, then used the expected rate of overdiagnosis of 22% to model the types of breast cancers and patient age ranges that likely account for the majority of overdiagnosis. The results showed that most overdiagnosis occurred in older patients with biologically favorable, slow-growing tumors.
“Until now, we thought that the lead time, or time until a cancer becomes problematic for a patient, for most breast cancers was about three or four years. This paper shows that lead times vary widely depending on the tumor type. A large portion of aggressive cancers have a lead time of two years or less, whereas another large portion of breast cancers grow so slowly that the lead time is 15 to 20 years,” Lannin explained.
“It is important that we educate physicians, patients, and the public on the indolent, slow-growing nature of some breast cancers. This knowledge will allow us to individualize treatment options, provide ‘personalized medicine,’ and avoid the major harms of overdiagnosis, which can result in overtreatment and the anxiety and fear that a cancer diagnosis causes,” Lannin said. | https://news.yale.edu/2017/06/07/mammograms-are-we-overdiagnosing-small-tumors-0 |
INTRODUCTION
============
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), repeated stimulation of the left vagus nerve through implanted electrodes, is an empirically based treatment method for epilepsy. Although VNS induces changes in brain electrophysiology, metabolism and neurochemistry in animals and humans, its mechanism of action remains unknown. VNS has been used in epilepsy patients who are refractory to standard medical treatments and unsuitable candidates for resective or disconnective surgery. Due to the possible unfavorable effects of multiple anti-epileptic drugs on development, VNS is of particular interest in children and adolescents; over 25% of the approximately 30,000 patients receiving vagus nerve stimulator implants to date have been children and adolescents younger than 18 yr of age ([@B1]). Moreover, VNS has shown a higher degree of efficacy and tolerance in children than in adults ([@B2]).
Here we report our experience in this relatively new technique, including its long-term efficacy by seizure type, etiology, and seizure duration, as well as its safety, in pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
=====================
The subjects consisted of 28 pediatric patients with intractable epilepsy, defined as uncontrolled seizures on two or more anti-epileptic drugs, in whom vagus nerve stimulators had been implanted at the Epilepsy Centers of Sanggye Paik Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Severance Hospital in Korea, from July 1999 to March 2005. All 28 patients had multifocal or generalized epilepsy, and were therefore not eligible for epileptic surgery. Patients had various seizure etiologies, seizure types, and/or epilepsy syndromes. All subjects were followed up for at least 12 months, and, in 26 of 28 patients, their regimen of antiepileptic drugs was not changed during the first 6 months.
The device used for VNS stimulation was purchased from Cyberonics (Houston, TX). Each stimulation was for 30 sec, initially at 0.25 mA output current, 30 Hz frequency, and 500 µs pulse width, with 5 min between stimulations; parameters for each patient were adjusted in accordance with the manufacturer\'s guidelines ([Fig. 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). We prospectively recorded seizure frequency and severity at 3, 6, and 12 months after implantation, and at last follow-up (up to 6 yr), as well as all adverse events. Quality of life parameters were measured using the Korean version of the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy questionnaire (K-QOLCE) ([@B3]).
SPSS version 13.0 was used for all statistical analyses. Differences in dependent, categorical and continuous variables were evaluated using two-tailed chi-square and Student\'s t-tests, and multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate independent variables. A *p*-value\<0.05 was regarded as statistically significant.
RESULTS
=======
Of the 28 patients, 16 were boys and 12 were girls; their mean (±SD) age at the initiation of VNS was 9 yr 4 months (±3 yr 10.2 months) (range, 2 yr 5 months to 17 yr 10 months). Of these 28 patients, 14 had Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), 2 had generalized seizures, one had severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy, and 11 had partial seizures, including one patient with gelastic seizures originating from a hypothalamic hamartoma. Their mean (±SD) seizure duration before VNS implantation was 6 yr, 11 months (±4 yr, 0.3 months) (range, 1 yr, 5 months to 17 yr, 10 months); and the mean (±SD) follow-up after implantation was 31.4 (±19.4) months (range, 12 months to 6 yr, 7 months). Their detailed clinical profiles are summarized in [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}.
VNS resulted in a \>50% reduction in seizure frequency in 15 children (53.6%), with 9 (32.1%) achieving a \>75% reduction in seizure frequency at last follow-up. We did not detect any positive correlation between the length of the stimulation period and the treatment effect. There were no significant differences in the seizure type, etiology, mean age at starting VNS therapy, or the mean seizure duration before VNS implantation between children with a \>50% and \<50% reduction in seizure frequency ([Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"}). We found, however, that the seizure reduction rate tended to be inversely related to seizure duration before VNS implantation and to the mean age at the start of VNS therapy.
A \>50% reduction in seizure frequency was observed in 7 of the 11 patients (63.6%) with partial seizures and in 8 of the 17 patients (47.1%) with generalized seizures. One patient with complex partial seizures resulting from tuberous sclerosis complex showed a consistently favorable response, with a \>90% reduction in seizure frequency during VNS therapy. The one patient who had gelastic seizures from hypothalamic hamartoma did not have a favorable response to VNS therapy.
Although the duty cycle was adjusted from 10% to 35% in 5 patients who did not attain a satisfactory response, this adjustment did not result in the anticipated reduction in seizures, necessitating a return to the previous duty cycle. When these 5 patients were subjected to rapid cycling (longer on-time and shorter off-time), 1 showed a \>90% reduction in seizure frequency.
We compared quality of life (K-QOLCE) variables at baseline and at follow-up, (minimum, 12 months). Of the 28 patients, 9 (32.1%) showed improved memory, 12 (42.9%) each showed improved mood and alertness, 11 (39.3%) showed improved behavior, 6 (21.4%) showed improved achievement, and 8 (28.6%) showed improved verbal skills ([Fig. 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}).
Adverse events included hoarseness in 7 patients, dyspnea at sleep in 2 patients, wound infection in 1 patient, and drooling in 1 patient. All these adverse events were well tolerated or could be controlled by adjustment of output currents. In one patient, wound revision was required. No adverse side-effects such as bradycardia or arrhythmia were observed during implantation and testing of the device inside the operating room.
DISCUSSION
==========
In our evaluation of the long-term outcome and tolerability of VNS in a group of Korean children with intractable epilepsy, we found that VNS resulted in a \>50% reduction in seizure frequency in 53.6% of these children and a \>75% reduction in 32%. These results were similar to those of earlier studies, in which 30% of patients had a \>75% decrease in seizure frequency 6 months after VNS implantation ([@B1]) and 45% achieved a \>50% reduction ([@B2], [@B4]-[@B6]). Although not statistically significant, we found that this reduction in seizure rate tended to be inversely related to seizure duration before VNS implantation and to the mean age at starting VNS therapy ([@B2], [@B7]). VNS also tended to be tolerated better and to be more effective in younger patients. This may be due to the degree of neuronal plasticity in the early years of life, before long-standing epilepsy can cause permanent brain damage.
In agreement with previous findings, we also observed that the efficacy of VNS therapy was not dependent on the seizure type or seizure etiology ([@B1], [@B8]). One patient in our series with tuberous sclerosis complex experienced a \>90% reduction in seizure frequency, in agreement with findings that 5 of 10 patients with tuberous sclerosis complex experienced a \>90% seizure reduction ([@B9]). Contrary to a previous report ([@B10]), we found that our single patient with gelastic seizure due to hypothalamic hamartoma did not respond favorably to VNS therapy. Due to the limited number of patients in our study as well as their heterogeneous epileptic syndromes and underlying etiologies, we could not stratify our patients relative to the seizure type or etiology. Our findings suggest, however, that VNS therapy is effective regardless of the seizure type or etiology. Although the effectiveness of VNS has been reported to correlate positively with the length of the treatment period ([@B11], [@B12]), we observed no correlation between the duration of stimulation and treatment effect.
In addition to reducing seizures and seizure intensity, VNS was associated with improvements in quality-of-life measurements, including mood, alertness, verbal skills, memory, and school/professional achievements, in many patients. In contrast to previous findings ([@B11], [@B13]-[@B16]), these effects were not related to the anti-epileptic effects of VNS. For example, we found that 2 of the 16 patients who experienced improvements in quality of life measures showed no reduction in seizure frequency. The nonpharmacologic aspects of VNS therapy make it particularly attractive for use, particularly in pediatric patients, due to the side effects and cognitive impairments associated with anticonvulsants, accompanied in many cases by mental retardation and delayed development ([@B17]).
The adverse events reported by VNS patients, including voice alterations, coughing during stimulation, and drooling, also occurred in our pediatric population ([@B1]). Several patients reported increases in hyperactivity, a side effect unique to this age group ([@B14], [@B18]). We also noted complications such as hoarseness and dyspnea at sleep. Most of these side effects, however, were transient or could be controlled by adjusting the current output. However, most of these children were mentally retarded and could not actively describe their discomforts.
In summary, our results indicate that VNS is a nonpharmacologic option in treating children with intractable epilepsy. It possesses several advantages, such as a lack of adverse effects on cognitive functions, which are a major drawback of antiepileptic drugs in pediatric patients undergoing critical stages of neural development. Our findings indicate that VNS can be used as adjunctive treatment in children and young adults with medically refractory seizures not amenable to resective surgery.
{#F1}
{#F2}
{#F3}
######
Demographics and clinical characteristics of the subjects
SD, Standard deviation; HH, hypothalamic hamartoma.
######
Relationship of seizure reduction rate to clinical and demographic parameters
VNS, Vagus nerve stimulation.
| |
"Deck the halls with boughs of Holly...."
Come and join me at a unique workshop at the Chateau des Lys in Picardie (as featured in Channel 4's escape to the chateau diy). We will decorate the beautiful piano room together with traditional Christmas decor and props ready for a gala dinner cooked by a guest chef. We will create an ambience that will encourage fun along with fabulous food and our hosts will look after us well. You will learn how to make Christmas decorations such as garlands, door wreaths etc. No vase arrangements or hand tied bunches in this class ! You can come for the weekend or just the Saturday including the dinner. I would love to see you there, I will bring out the floral decorator in you. No previous experience in flowers needed at all. | https://www.thelocal.fr/noticeboard/359 |
The negative job- and health-related implications work insecurity is wearing your organization While using increased effort of agencies to remain competitive while also reducing costs, downsizing automobile pool is a huge recurring motif in company enterprise. Because of this, feelings of job low self-esteem within an business are developing.
The a shortage of an appropriate respond to job insecurity among staff only plays a role in the job low self-esteem faced by many people employees. There is also a tendency among managers to consider task insecurity a psychological issue only the employee, him or herself, can mediate. While this concern isn’t uncommon, it should be noted which the implications of this line of pondering are hazardous to the worker and the corporation as a whole.
The article, Who Suffers More from Job Low self-esteem?, authored by Grand H. -L Cheng and Darius K. -S Chan, reveals the outcomes of a metaanalytic review (the Review) within the effects of work insecurity intended for an employee and then for the organization. Major of the Review is the different effects work insecurity has on employees with differing company tenure, grow older, and gender. Their objective was to discover if the abovementioned demographics are usually more or less prone to job insecurity.
Outside of an improved knowledge of which staff are more or less afflicted with job insecurity, this Review further developments the appropriateness of management response to employee-felt job low self-esteem. Developing a satisfactory response to workers who experience concern relating to their organizational position is instrumental in reducing unfavorable implications just like turnover intention and drawback cognitions. At the bottom of these unfavorable implications is job low self-esteem as a stress factor. It is the presence of the stressor that invokes in an worker a wish to rid the job frustration. Knowing which employees are more vulnerable to job insecurity can allow a manager to formulate an appropriate response the job stress factor.
To demonstrate the effects of job low self-esteem, Cheng and Chan employed a total of 133 research (published and unpublished) that provided 172 independent selections, involving 132, 927 employees. These studies measured the subjective experience of job insecurity of utilized people. (Cheng and Chan, 280) The authors from the study included a number of correlated variables within their Review. Amongst these variables were company commitment, yield intention, function performance, work involvement, internal health, and physical overall health.
Two raters (graduate mindset students) coded each sample within every study. The coding included detailing different sample characteristics such as test composition and sample size. The programmers also discovered the associations recognized in each of the Whom suffers even more from task insecurity? tudies. The relationships included all those between job insecurity and correlated factors like task satisfaction and trust.
The correlations had been further fixed by way of an additional meta-analytic approach so to are the cause of measurement problem on the correlations identified in each put together study. The results with the Review suggested that work insecurity was negatively linked to job pleasure, organizational dedication, work overall performance, and job involvement. It was further figured job insecurity was positively related to proceeds intention. While many of the a conclusion from the Review may seem obvious to members of management, the effects of the related variables in differing demographics is what could be of big surprise.
In regards to grow older, job insecurity and its romantic relationship to turnover was heightened in terms of youthful employees. However , job low self-esteem had a small effect on the psychological and physical overall health of this same demographic. This could be due to the fact that younger employees believe they may have the capability to find comparable positions within other organizations and so view turnover as a great optimal solution. As a aspect note, organizational commitment and work performance did not vary among age group demographics when ever employees overall were encountering job low self-esteem. It was also revealed that gender differences had no impact on job insecurity.
Both men and women consider job insecurity an uncomfortable and unwanted stress factor in the workplace. Males and females alike are affected negative implications due to not really feeling secure in their organizational position. Focusing on the third demographic of the Assessment, it was identified that task insecurity and turnover intention was more positively related in personnel with short tenure. Shorter tenured staff may believe that they have invested less time into the organization and therefore decide that leaving an organization won’t have implications longer tenured staff believe that it will eventually. Longer tenured employees might feel a stronger link to the organization and thus departing is not really a viable alternative.
Taking health into consideration, for a longer time tenured employees and older employees are definitely more prone to experiencing healthrelated concerns due to feelings of task insecurity. Longer tenured employees and old employees your threat of unemployment even more heavily than those of a younger generation and a youthful tenure. Chen and Chan conclude that the could be due to the increase in family obligations that is certainly typical of any longer tenured employee or perhaps an older generation. Also, longer tenured workers are often even more committed to all their organization than are short tenured personnel. Having a long-lasting relationship with an organization improves feelings of obligation toward the organization.
This kind of doubt can be manifested in a negative mental implication that does impede the health of the employee. While it can be quite a difficult project unraveling an employee’s feelings of task insecurity, one particular thought holds true. If managing can study that workers are the majority of impacted by task insecurity, they can begin to minimize the adverse implications these feelings provide. Helping for a longer time tenured or older workers feel as if their very own tribal knowledge is useful to the company is a single specific action managers may take to impact performance and attitudes.
As well, institute coaching between elderly and modern employees and so both truly feel a better sense of organizational determination. Finally, the main action management can take is usually addressing how a company communicates layoff/reduction to employees. The not knowing is the worst part who, when, or how various.
However , discovering the causes of insecurity that workers feel about their particular positions is the first step managing can take in assisting to make employees feel less insecure. Also, having a comprehension of how come certain demographics experience differing effects due to job low self-esteem is essential. This understanding will help managing prepare their approach and, in the long run, improve the relationship involving the employee and the organization. | https://mmsoftek.com/job-insecurity-essay/ |
Gene flow is the movement of individuals among populations and can be estimated indirectly through isozyme analysis as the number of migrants per generation (Slatkin and Barton 1989) or by analysis of "private" alleles—those limited to a single species or population. Different species usually have highly differentiated allele frequencies and a higher number of private alleles compared to individuals from a single panmictic population. The computer program popgene, among others, can perform this type of analysis.
Applications of isozyme analysis to epidemiology have included monitoring the spread of specific genotypes of Phytophthora infestans (Goodwin et al. 1995; Legard and Fry 1996), determining the influence of various evolutionary forces on the composition of inoculated populations of the barley scald pathogen Rhynchosporium secalis (Goodwin et al. 1994), and estimating the size of and boundaries between individuals of the puffball Lycoperdon pyriforme on decaying logs (Huss 1993).
The first real attempt to use isozymes to analyze the genetic structure of fungal populations was for Neurospora intermedia by Spieth (1975). That analysis revealed a high level of genetic variation within but low differentiation among populations. Spieth's pioneering work was followed by additional studies within a decade and this has accelerated during the 1990s. Many of these studies have had similar results and demonstrated high gene diversity within but low differentiation among populations of a wide diversity of fungi (Andrews et al. 1988; Goodwin et al. 1993; Huss 1996; Tuskan et al. 1990). Other authors have found varying degrees of subdivision among populations, usually among host-associated forms (Harvey et al. 2001; Leuchtmann and Clay 1989; 1990) and, more rarely, among physiological races (Welz et al. 1994).
Gene flow analysis of isozyme markers also can indicate when taxa have become sufficiently isolated reproductively to be considered separate species. Existence of separate species was shown conclusively for several closely related groups in the genus Phytophthora (Goodwin et al. 1999; Man in't Veld et al. 2002; Nygaard et al. 1989) which could not have been discovered without the use of molecular markers. A similar approach identified distinct biological species within the mushroom Pleurotus eryngii (Urbanelli et al. 2002).
Phytophthora infestans (Spielman et al. 1991; Tooley et al. 1985). Populations of fungi infecting conifer hosts in the western United States also appeared to be highly clonal and specific clones are characterized by fixed heterozygosity (Otrosina et al. 1992; Vogler et al. 1991).
Differences in levels of genetic variation among locations can help identify the center of origin of a species. The most diverse populations genetically should occur at or near the center of origin, as these populations will have had the longest time in which mutations can accumulate; derived populations usually will contain only a subset of the total species diversity. This idea has been combined with isozyme analysis to indicate that the edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus may be indigenous to North America (Kerrigan and Ross 1989) and that Phytophthora infestans, P. palmivora, and P. megakarya probably originated in central Mexico (Tooley et al. 1985), southeast Asia (Mchau and Coffey 1994), and central Africa (Nyasse et al. 1999), respectively. Very limited genetic diversity indicated that the plant pathogens Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, Phytophthora cinnamomea, and Dilophospora alopecuri had only very limited introductions into Australia (Burdon et al. 1982; Old et al. 1984; Riley et al. 1998), although the original source populations for the introductions could not be identified for certain. | https://www.progressivegardening.com/biological-control/population-biology.html |
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National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropología) is in Chapultepec Park off Calz. Mahatma Gandhi, facing the n. side of Paseo de la Reforma (M: Chapultepec, line 1 or Auditorio, line 7). A must-see stop for any Mexico City visitor, this is one of the world's finest museums. The halls (salas) devoted to Mexico's early civilizations exhibit every conceivable type of artifact, including temple reconstructions, stone carvings, sculptures, ceramics, antique furniture, jewelry, masks, decorative objects, and arts and crafts. Dramatic lighting accentuates the remarkable artistry of the larger sculptures. Upstairs exhibit areas focus on the country's Indian cultures, showcasing musical instruments, traditional costumes and giant papier-mâché dolls. Guided tour tickets can be purchased in the main entrance hall, which also has a bookstore selling English-language museum guides and a theater where a 20-minute orientation film is shown. Most exhibit labeling is in Spanish; newer exhibits also include an English translation. The museum is very crowded on Sundays, when admission is free to Mexican nationals. English language audio guides are available. Wheelchairs are available. Flash photography and tripods not permitted. Guided tours are available. Food is available.
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70 pesos (about $3.50 U.S.). Audio guide 75 pesos. The fee to use a personal video camera is 45 pesos.
20 pesos per hour.
Hours: Tues.-Sun. 9-7. One-hour guided tours are given Tues.-Sat. at 10:30, noon, 3 and 5; stop at the information desk near the main entrance . Allow 3 hours minimum. | http://www.aaa.com/travelinfo/distrito-federal/mexico-city/attractions/national-museum-of-anthropology-540457.html |
As Trump Talks Up the Working Class, U.S. Unions Fade: QuickTake
Their influence is felt from factory floors to major ports and modern newsrooms. Politicians either condemn their demands or crave their endorsements. And their membership today sits at a historic low. Ever since the U.S. industrialized in the late 1800s, unions have been organizing workers in search of better wages, benefits and employment conditions, and scholars have been arguing about their social and economic impact. Do they enhance or impede productivity? Strengthen or distort labor markets? Improve state and local governments, or saddle them with debt? As American workers face stagnant wages and widening income inequality, those debates are intensifying.
The Situation
In 2017, 10.7 percent of wage and salary workers in the U.S. belonged to a union. That’s almost half the rate in 1983. It’s also low compared with peers: Among 31 OECD countries reporting union membership rates in 2012, the U.S. ranked 27th. So-called right-to-work laws, which ban any requirement for employees to pay union dues or fees, are in place in more than half the states, including the traditional union strongholds of Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. In the public sector, where the membership rate has hovered at about 35 percent, unions are feeling pressure to agree to pay, pension and health-care cuts. And it’s a time of uncertainty as members disagree on how President Donald Trump’s pro-working-class rhetoric will translate into action. In December, the Trump administration called on the U.S. Supreme Court to let millions of public-sector workers refuse to pay union fees. The Supreme Court had deadlocked in 2016 over whether government workers should be compelled to pay union fees even if they aren’t members, leaving intact a previous ruling that lets more than 20 states continue to require public-sector workers to help fund union representation. Yet there have been a string of recent successful unionization campaigns by journalists at the Los Angeles Times, Vox Media and MTV News.
The Background
Mass production technology transformed American workplaces, widening the power gap between labor and management and inciting workers to unify in their push for shorter working hours, safer workplaces and higher pay. At steel mills, coal mines and rail yards, strikes devolved into bloody riots, drawing meager, if any, gains for workers. It wasn’t until 1935 that the National Labor Relations Act codified workers’ rights to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. As the U.S. emerged from the Great Depression, unions grew in strength and number. By the time the American Federation of Labor, established in 1886, merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO in 1955, more than 1 in 3 American workers had union jobs. But as the U.S. economy shifted from manufacturing to services, unions gradually lost ground. Their membership took a blow in 1981 after President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers for violating federal laws against striking. That began a slump in workplace walkouts. From 1970 to 1980, there were an average of 280 work stoppages per year in the U.S. involving 1,000 workers or more; in 2016, there were 15.
The Argument
Union workers earn about $200 more per week on average than non-union workers, and have better retirement pay and health insurance. These compensation premiums hold up even after controlling for factors like age and education. Studies have shown that unions also help raise pay for non-union workers by setting a higher prevailing wage. This has caused some economists to link today’s wage stagnation, broadening income inequality and lack of economic mobility to the decline in unions. Critics of unionization say that the inflated salaries of union members come at the expense of fewer overall jobs, and that the outsized pensions and benefits of public-sector union employees have drained state budgets. They say that seniority-based raises and work rules often outlined in union contracts hamper productivity and protect incompetent employees. Supporters counter that unions build workplace trust and transparency to reduce employee turnover and enhance performance. And unions help shrink the gender wage gap. In 2016, women who were union members made an average of 90 percent of men’s weekly earnings, while women not represented by a union made 81 percent.
First published Oct.
To contact the writer of this QuickTake: Jordan Yadoo in Washington at [email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this QuickTake: Anne Cronin at [email protected]. | |
My thoughts are with you and your loved ones during these uncertain times. Like so many of us, I have a heavy heart as I hear each day about the impact of COVID-19 on us all. I am sincerely inspired as I see our local communities, our nation and the world coming together to fight this pandemic.
As we know, our best lines of defense right now are to thoroughly and frequently wash our hands, keep surface areas clean, stay home, practice social distancing, and be mindful of our own self-care.
To make it easier and safer to support your nutritional supplement needs we are currently providing:
Please know that I am part of your community and dedicated to supporting you through this unprecedented time. Stay safe and know that we will get through this together.
To our health,
If you often get up in the morning feeling like a bunch of water balloons stuck together, this blog is for you (and the countless other individuals who constantly feel puffy, stuffy, and bloated too).
You’ve gotten more sleep. You eat a ton of fiber. You cut back on your alcohol and sugar and drink clean water. You’ve dealt with the dust and mold. If you have allergies, they aren’t overwhelming you. Nevertheless, the puffiness persists.
Could being more mindful of the fats you eat and how well you digest them help soothe the stuffiness and banish the bloat? When I commissioned the clinical trial for my program in Glow15, the women who participated, reported real results in this area including better digestion, less bloating, less puffy-feeling skin. Read on to learn about some critical fats and foods that support the digestion of fat to boost a high-fat, and ketogenic lifestyle.
Focus on reducing chronic inflammation to fight puffiness. Consider these fat-centric methods:
Boost your omega-3’s by consuming:
But what about the * other * kinds of bloating? Let’s explore critical ways to reduce gas and bloating in your bowels when choosing a high fat and high fiber keto diet.
Choose raw, cooked, and fermented fibers in your diet and chew them thoroughly. Don’t avoid eating plant foods- just be mindful to take your time with them. If your digestion is extremely difficult, stick with fermented foods and cooked fiber until you can handle more raw foods. Chewing adds digestive enzymes to your digestible starches and breaks up indigestible fibers, getting them ready to nourish your body or feed your probiotics (the good bacteria that live in your colon). An understated benefit of my Glow15 program is to place these chewing-intensive foods with your evening meal when you can give chewing the time and focus it deserves.
Choose fermented foods daily like sauerkraut, kimchi, traditional pickles, or organic miso soup to seed your colon with the good guys. Nourishing your microflora (probiotics) is a fabulous way to reduce gas and bloating over time. The more “good guys” you get into your colon to thrive on the fiber you cannot digest, the more of the fatty acid butyrate they will make from the fiber you eat. Butyrate fuels your colon cells to help them multiply and repair and reduces inflammation in both your colon and brain! If you want to glow, help your microflora flourish!
Don’t forget the nourishing fats listed above. Rebuild cell membranes with monounsaturated fats and boost your anti-inflammatory potential with foods rich in omega-3s. Reducing systemic inflammation supports the entire digestive tract, allowing it to repair and heal itself.
Choose medium-chain triglycerides, like organic MCT oil. MCTs do not need the elaborate digestive course taken by most dietary fat. Instead, they go straight to the liver and support your stamina right away. More energy for you, less fat storage, enhanced brain cognition, and far less wear and tear on your digestive tract.
Boost your Bile Flow. Bile binds fat and makes it soluble in water, much like you use soap to bind grease and wash it down the drain. Bile binds to fats in your small intestine and supports their digestive journey. If you don’t have enough bile and you eat a lot of fat, that fat may not be well digested and can end up causing bloating and cramping. Poor bile flow can also cause heartburn because the slower you digest fat, the slower your stomach empties, and digestion can slow down. You also use bile to bind fat-soluble toxins and excrete them in stool, which is very important when you lose fat mass. Fat is where toxins we can’t easily excrete are stored! Furthermore, some individuals, who have had their gallbladders removed entirely, are further compromised in how much bile is stored and ready for a high-fat meal. Choose foods that promote the flow of bile (cholagogues) often and with high-fat meals, such as:
Try eggs with dill weed, a coconut milk curry made with turmeric and cabbage, radishes lightly sauteed in olive oil with rosemary leaves and a dash of cayenne, or beets tossed and roasted in tea seed oil with sage. Enjoy the detoxifying and digestive benefits!
Glow15 takes a deeper dive into choosing healthy fats in a healthy way, minding your microflora, reducing inflammation, dealing with difficult digestion, and banishing the bloat! | https://www.naomiwhittel.com/puffy-and-bloated-eat-these-foods/ |
The art of the Native American flute / by R. Carlos Nakai and James DeMars ; with additional material by David P. McAllester, Ken Light.
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Berklee College of Music.
Current holds
0 current holds with 1 total copy.
|Location||Call Number / Copy Notes||Barcode||Shelving Location||Holdable?||Status||Due Date|
|Stan Getz Library||MT358.N38 N352 1996||37684000974293||Library Stacks||Copy hold / Volume hold||Available||-|
Record details
- ISBN: 0964788608
- ISBN: 0786628987 :
- Physical Description: vii, 121 p. : ill., music ; 28 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: Phoenix, Ariz. : Canyon Records Productions ; c1996.
Content descriptions
|General Note:||
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Distributer from label.
|Bibliography, etc. Note:||
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-) and discography (p. ).
|Formatted Contents Note:||
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Part I. The Native American flute -- Part II. Native American flute melodies -- Part III. The music of R. Carlos Nakai.
Search for related items by subject
|Subject:||Nakai, R. Carlos, 1946- > Criticism and interpretation. | https://catalog.berklee.edu/eg/opac/record/54450?locg=1 |
Liotrix is a synthetically derived thyroid hormone replacement preparation. It consists of levothyroxine sodium (thyroxine, T4) and liothyronine sodium (triiodothyronine, T3) in a 4 to 1 ratio by weight. Liotrix was developed when it was believed that serum levels of both T4 and T3 were maintained by direct thyroidal secretion. It is now known that the thyroid gland secretes approximately ten times more T4 than T3 and that 80% of serum T3 is derived from deiodination of T4 in peripheral tissues. Administration of levothyroxine alone is sufficient for maintaining serum T4 and T3 levels in most patients and combination hormone replacement therapy generally offers no therapeutic advantage. In fact, administration of T3 may result in supratherapeutic levels of T3.
Hypermetabolic state indistinguishable from thyrotoxicosis of endogenous origin. Symptoms of thyrotoxicosis include weight loss, increased appetite, palpitations, nervousness, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, sweating, tachycardia, increased pulse and blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, tremors, insomnia, heat intolerance, fever, and menstrual irregularities.
(R)-warfarin Liotrix may increase the anticoagulant activities of (R)-warfarin.
(S)-Warfarin Liotrix may increase the anticoagulant activities of (S)-Warfarin.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine The risk or severity of adverse effects can be increased when 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine is combined with Liotrix.
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylthioamphetamine The risk or severity of adverse effects can be increased when 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylthioamphetamine is combined with Liotrix.
3-isobutyl-1-methyl-7H-xanthine The serum concentration of 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-7H-xanthine can be increased when it is combined with Liotrix.
3,5-diiodothyropropionic acid The metabolism of 3,5-diiodothyropropionic acid can be decreased when combined with Liotrix.
4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine The risk or severity of adverse effects can be increased when 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine is combined with Liotrix.
4-hydroxycoumarin The metabolism of 4-hydroxycoumarin can be decreased when combined with Liotrix.
5-androstenedione The metabolism of Liotrix can be decreased when combined with 5-androstenedione.
5-fluorouridine The therapeutic efficacy of Liotrix can be decreased when used in combination with 5-fluorouridine.
Iron and calcium may interfere with absorption. Space doses at least one hour before or after iron or calcium intake. | https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB01583 |
Bone exostosis is defined as a benign overgrowth of bone tissue of unclear origin. Rarely, bone exostosis might develop following soft tissue graft procedures like mucogingival surgical interventions (eg, FGG or subepithelial CTG). This aberration has been mainly associated with surgical trauma or fenestration of the periosteum but is still a matter of debate. The present paper (1) presents a clinical case with clinical, radiographic, and histologic findings at 30 years following application of an FGG to increase the gingival width and (2) provides a short literature review on this particular clinical condition. At the clinical examination, the FGG was firm to palpation, and the 3D images showed an area of increased radiopacity. Histologic analysis revealed localized thickening of the bone with an overlaying connective tissue covered by keratinized epithelium. The bony tissue was vital, had a convex shape, and contained many osteocytes and resting lines, demonstrating some moderate signs of bone remodeling. The connective tissue and keratinized epithelium displayed a regular thickness without any signs of inflammation. Taken together, the histologic findings failed to reveal any pathologic signs except for the presence of vital bone formed outside the bony envelope. It can be concluded that: (1) the development of a bone exostosis following a mucogingival procedure is a rare clinical sequela of uncertain etiology, and (2) surgical removal of the exostosis may be indicated accordingly with patient symptoms.
Subscribe to free %s now: | https://www.quintessence-publishing.com/gbr/en/article/2046119/international-journal-of-periodontics-restorative-dentistry/2021/04/development-of-bone-exostosis-following-the-use-of-a-free-gingival-graft-a-30-year-case-report-and-literature-review |
In a recent interview posted on The Dirt, the Texas-based landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck talked about what she considers the "beauty of drought." In a profession that likes to celebrate lush and glamorous projects with hefty budgets, Ten Eyck has distinguished herself as a designer with the rare ability to create beautiful, award-winning landscapes using minimal financial and natural resources. In her world, design means conserving water. "Because of my experience in Arizona," she says in the interview, "I’ve learned to appreciate every drop of water and look for every little way to honor that memory of water in the landscape." Although she works primarily in Texas and the Desert Southwest, where water use is a huge issue, her way of thinking can—and should—be applied most anywhere.
"We need to come up with a new kind of beauty," she says, "a resilient, tough landscape that has a harsh beauty unique to its region." This message, that beauty needs to be redefined to meet changing conditions, is refreshing, resonant, and, in this era of climatic unpredictably, critically important. As we head toward a future where access to an abundance of water cannot be guaranteed—in any region—we need more people, especially landscape architects (and their clients), thinking the same way.
The impact of humans on the landscape has always involved the manipulation of water in some form. This was first as a necessity for survival, and then, over time, it became an element of ornamentation in increasingly civilized societies. Water has been inextricably linked to both the designed landscape and the profession of landscape architecture. Fountains, pools, ponds, and other water features became signs of wealth—think Versailles, the Alhambra, or picturesque English estates, and markers in civic spaces such as Piazza Navona and Trafalgar Square. It didn't take long for water features to become ubiquitous features in cities and neighborhoods around the world.
It is important to note that landscape architects have been leaders in sustainable design since long before it became a hot topic. Environmental stewardship is a core value of the profession, and designing with water in a responsible and beautiful manner is what we do. As the world's natural resources become depleted, however, I can't help but wonder if we are helping our clients adapt fast enough to keep up with the changing landscape.
This fall, at the annual conference of the American Society of Landscape Architects, I attended a session on the use of water in three high-profile projects: the U.S. Embassy in London, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Campus in Seattle, and the Native Plant Garden at the N.Y. Botanical Garden in the Bronx. All three are great projects that use water in a very sustainable manner in terms of collection, treatment, and reuse—all well in line with currently accepted best practices for site design. It did, however, bother me a little that no one even mentioned the potential impact of drought or the unpredictability of climate change on these spaces that seem to have no fallback plan if the water runs dry.
Of course London, Seattle, and New York are not in danger of running out of water any time soon, but that is not my point. I just question whether we are past a time when building huge water features should be accepted as the norm—regardless of how little potable water they use. Municipal restrictions and regulations may be dictated at the local and/or watershed level, but we need to be thinking at a grander scale, since natural resources are, more than ever, globally integrated.
Landscape architects play an obvious role in designing the changing world, but it is civic leaders who are going to have to make the really tough decisions. Los Angeles is a prime example of this—both good and bad. Telling celebrities not to water their lawn is a good start, but then turning the restoration planning for the Los Angeles River—an environmentally-driven landscape project if there ever was one—over to an architect who has shown little interest in landscape or ecology in his work, is just mind boggling. Aesthetics certainly matter in cases such as this, but only when rooted in sound ecological practice.
In this country alone, there are already thousands of urban water features using billions of gallons of water—some more responsibly than others. Perhaps we should take the time to evaluate the future of these instead of designing a bunch of new ones. I love water, really, and I fully understand the value it brings to the landscape. It can be cooling, soothing, pretty to look at, fun, etc. But I also like fresh produce and clean drinking water. A balance will need to be struck between the needs and the wants at some point—it is already way beyond that in many parts of the world.
One of my favorite works of modern landscape architecture is Fountain Place in Dallas, designed by Dan Kiley. With over two acres (one million gallons!) of water and hundreds of jets spewing water into the evaporating Texas heat, it does exactly what it was intended to do: Create a cool oasis in the heart of the hot, concrete-laden downtown. It certainly made a lot more sense in the 1980s than it does today. Cultural significance aside, how can we continue to justify maintaining landscapes that use such a ridiculous amount of water?
I have no doubt they are going to have to turn the tap off at Fountain Place at some point…and the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas, and many other places like that. It's just too irresponsible not to. Cities are going to have to prioritize water use, and it is likely going to affect golf courses, suburban lawns, and urban water features first. El Niño has offered temporary relief to some drought-stricken parts of the country, but it is not likely to last.
Retrofitting and redesigning water hogs such as Fountain Place will someday be a big challenge assigned to landscape architects, who are uniquely qualified to do it right. I can only hope they hire ones who think like Christy Ten Eyck. | https://www.planetizen.com/node/83187/lets-talk-water |
Canberra is usually referred to as being a designed and/or planned city. Sadly this boast is becoming a thing of the past given all the recent bad planning and development decisions.
Despite these on-going errors, there are core aspects of Canberra that we can still be proud of, that deliver the amenities we love and are the reasons we live here.
The issue is – what next? The city desperately requires design leadership to guide the complex integration of landscape design, architecture, planning urban development, housing and more.
Last week the ACT Government announced the appointment of Catherine Townsend as the new ACT Government Architect.
I am sure there was dancing in the streets by residents who have been calling for Design to be a top priority in the decisions about our urban spaces and suburbs. Maybe the ACT Government will now care for how the city will look in the future rather than leaving it to the developers to do what they wish. Well maybe not!
Is there any chance that having an ACT Government Architect will deliver a better city? And just what is a government architect?
There are optimistic expectations around such a role – given the title. Unfortunately based on the history of the outside influences on the planning and development agencies, I suspect anyone in this position will have an uphill battle on their hands.
It is a big ask for any one person to influence the current bureaucracies and their political chiefs and to get them to accept that ‘Design’ should underpin the city’s planning and development.
Go back a century and the role of government architect was quite powerful. They designed and oversaw the building of significant buildings – here’s an example – click here.
This is definitely not the situation across Australia today. While the roles vary from state to state, government architects are now more advisory with limited influence on the real outcomes.
You can read here what the architects think the positions are about. They have lofty ambitions and fairly high-minded statements about how the world would suffer without architects providing design leadership for our cities. OMG! A world without architects – who could imagine that?
In general since the role reappeared about a decade ago within state and territory governments there has been very little evidence of improvements to how our cities are being developed. One has only to glance at the quality of most of the new suburbs and the quality of those towers popping up within the inner city areas.
In Canberra the role of the government architect is housed within the infamous planning and development departments – who are seen to be heavily influenced by the voices of the property lobbies. Best of luck with that!
The Minister said in his statement that they ‘may’ ask for advice from the government architect. In other words, advice is all it is – and then only when it is deemed necessary.
To date we have seen no change in how a government architect has influenced the ACT Government to place any priority on residential issues such as neighbourhood character, climate change, green infrastructure and the future of open spaces – especially parks.
The government architects have probably attended loads of committee meetings. But what has been achieved? Not much except that they attended a load of meetings.
But – there is a ray of hope in all this doom and gloom.
I know of panels where Catherine Townsend, the lucky person just appointed as ACT Government Architect, led discussions on complex topics. She inspired others with her wit and her expertise. And then there is her statement quoted in the press: “How do we capture the citizen voice?”
So maybe – and I am being optimistic – maybe the new ACT Government Architect could somehow extend her levels of influence and – maybe – she could bring about a design led revolution to the way planning and urban development happens here in Canberra.
And while I am at it – maybe she could also get the ACT Government to understand the value of aesthetics – which is something that current politicians and their consultants, such as architects, seem unable to deal with.
Maybe she could get the government to understand the value of community engagement.
Maybe we could see climate change issues actually addressed in planning and urban redevelopments. (no more green wash)
Is all this too much to hope for?
It is spring – so why not! | http://the-southern-cross.com/government-architect-whats-that/ |
To build a bridge from a template, you need to have a clear idea of what you want. To make the job easier, there are 5 steps you can take to build a model mockup for a bridge and get the job done.
First: know the rules
You need to be very clear on what you want to achieve with the bridge project. If it will be a small, long and thick bridge, only ornamental or representing a time like the victorian bridges that we see in the photos accompanying this post.
Everything they want should be defined in their own words, so that they can achieve it successfully.
Second: design the bridge
To design a model bridge, you must be clear about the charging points. Then you can make your own model or choose a pre-made one.
It is advisable, at this stage, to draw the bridge project to scale, so that they can see the real situation and the dimension in which the bridge will be when completed.
Third: Gather the materials
Before starting to work on the project, define a work area where they can be quiet, and collect the instruments to be used, in addition to the raw material to make the model, which is usually wood.
Fourth: Build the bridge
Building the bridge takes some expertise, that’s right, and for those who have to build their model from scratch and are a bit confused, this will be very useful. have a complete instruction manual. As soon as you are done building your bridge, evaluate it by tilting it, loading it, and moving it.
Fifth: Test
As I said before, the evaluation stage is very important for check that the bridge remains firm in place all the time. Although this is a dummy bridge and not for actual use, the bridge should still be in good condition.
Tips for building a model bridge
- -When the model is going to be built in woodYou have to keep in mind that the humidity is quite large, therefore, this weighting effect should be considered in creating as it can seriously affect the overall weight problem.
- -During the construction of the bridge, it is good that you always have your clean hands. It doesn’t matter what kind of material you create it with, but at any moment you can stain the material and make it very difficult to remove, which would not make it possible to have a clean and beautiful deck like you would. wish.
- -Surely in your first few times you will not get a perfect bridge and you have to keep going test to finally get what you want and how you want it.
- -As for the process of preparing the construction of the bridge model, you should take into account thatThe bridge will be built little by little, With what, it is normal that it seems to you at the beginning that you cannot give it the shape that you want. As you walk forward and see the whole pieces and placed in their places, you will achieve what you are able to create with them.
- -At the time of the to the size, it’s good that you do this job twice. This means that you take a ruler and try to verify that the measurements you have taken are correct as wrong dimensions could ultimately mean that you cannot reach the expected time and get the desired bridge model.
- -When you have finished building a bridge, make a small record the actions you have taken and the actions you have taken. This will help you if you want to do the same bridge again in the future or if you want to perfect your own technique.
- -Always be very careful when using tools like scissors or a cutter cut because if you are not careful they could injure you. | https://woodme.site/everything-you-need-to-know-to-create-bridge-models/ |
The Community Foundation is privileged to work with all the key groups that make up our ecosystem of local philanthropy – from individual donors and volunteers to local nonprofits and funders.
Together, we believe we can leverage our collective strengths and amplify our impact. This is why we are committed to hosting events and opportunities that help forge connections, stimulate innovative thought, and push us towards greater alignment and collaboration.
Our learning agenda is designed to:
Below you will find a list of our upcoming learning opportunities. If you have ideas for future topics or convenings, please share them with us at [email protected].
We are committed to developing high-quality courses that are responsive to the needs of local nonprofits and help them build strength from the inside out. Through a combination of engaging instruction and peer support, participants will gain the skills, connections and strategies they need to guide their organizations to greater effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
View Nonprofit Leadership & Excellence EvenTS
We believe that people are at the center of change. Join us to explore how people, businesses or organizations can become more deeply engaged in the community and use their influence to advocate for issues they care about most. Our programs – often hosted in collaboration with other community partners – are designed to help participants develop a personal plan for action, join community conversations that allow for diverse perspectives, or learn how our collective commitment to strong civic culture leads to stronger communities.
View Civic Engagement/Action Events
Understanding the Issues Shaping Our Region
Individually and collectively, our ability to make a lasting difference is enhanced when we are well-informed about the people, policies and projects shaping our region. Join us to dive into several key issues where the Community Foundation is investing its leadership and financial resources to help our region move towards equity. We will hear perspectives from state and local experts, examine the decisions and patterns that have led to widening opportunity gaps, and discuss potential solutions for improving systems and helping more individuals and families achieve upward economic mobility. | https://www.cfrichmond.org/Leadership-Impact/Upcoming-Events |
This report on Responsive School Systems is the second in a series of thematic comparative reports bringing together findings from the OECD’s School Resources Review. Evolving educational objectives, changing student needs and demographic developments require school systems to be highly responsive to new patterns of demand and adapt their provision accordingly. The organisation of school facilities, sectors and programmes plays a key role in doing so and in providing students with a high-quality education where they need it. The report aims to assist governments in organising school infrastructures and services to achieve their education policy objectives and to ensure that resources are used effectively and equitably. It offers a systematic analysis of the governance of school networks, their adaption to demographic changes and student needs in urban, rural and remote areas, as well as the vertical and horizontal co-ordination of education services to improve students’ transitions.
English
Adapting the school network to changing needs in urban, rural and remote areas
This chapter analyses strategies to enhance the efficiency of school networks by adapting or restructuring them in response to changing patterns of educational demand. It provides an overview of contextual trends affecting the organisation of school networks as well as the regional heterogeneities in their structure, the populations they serve, and their socio‑economic context. Since rural and urban school networks tend to face different challenges and opportunities related to demographic and social trends, the chapter takes a territorial perspective and describes strategies that countries have used in both contexts in turn. First, it discusses challenges and policy options for schools in rural and remote areas, many of which are confronted with declining student populations. Then, it turns to challenges and policy options for urban school networks, which are often faced with rising student numbers and increasing student diversity. | https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/responsive-school-systems/adapting-the-school-network-to-changing-needs-in-urban-rural-and-remote-areas_9789264306707-7-en |
Join the Field Museum’s Distinguished Service Curator, Lance Grande, for a four-week intensive practicum in paleontology in Chicago and Wyoming. Go into the field and behind the scenes at The Field Museum to learn how fossils are collected, analyzed, and conserved, as you work alongside museum scientists in the lab and in the field.
In Chicago, Dr. Grande and other Field Museum scientists will take you into the labs and galleries where they work and study as they introduce you to important concepts in geology, paleontological methods, stratigraphy, and earth history. You will also learn about basic techniques for the study of evolutionary biology including comparative skeletal anatomy of fishes and other freshwater animals. You will examine methodological concepts such as fossil preparation, illustration, and description. Through this, you will acquire the fundamental scientific background needed to discover and understand the significance of fossils in the field.
In Wyoming, you will experience what life in the field is all about when you join the ongoing Field Museum expedition in the Green River Formation. This site is one of the world's most productive fossil sites and contains an entire 52 million-year-old community of extinct organisms.
You can see part II and part III of the video on YouTube.
Previous expeditions to the Green River Formation have led Grande and his team to uncover thousands of fossils, including plants, insects, mammals, crocodiles, birds, lizards, turtles, and fishes, many of which are currently on display at the museum.
Spend your mornings and late afternoon digging for fossils from the Cenozoic Period and interpret them in a way that allows you to incorporate fossils into studies of living animals and plants. In the early afternoon and evenings, you can go into town for provisions, help prepare meals for your fellow diggers, and sit around the campfire with the museum's researchers and their families. When you return to Chicago, you will conserve, catalog, and analyze your new discoveries in the museum's preparation labs, using the same techniques and equipment that the museum's own staff uses.
The Field Museum is considered one of the finest natural history museums in the world, with top-notch collections and a strong research team. The museum exhibits a wide range of prehistoric life, from dinosaurs like the famous T.Rex., "Sue," to early mammals, birds, and fish. It is one of the few museums in the world to maintain regular fossil-hunting expeditions in search of prehistoric remains. Stones and Bones gives you a unique opportunity to participate in the paleontological study carried out by the museum.
Study basic geology (including rocks and minerals, stratigraphy, earth history, and mapping skills), evolutionary biology (including comparative skeletal anatomy of fishes and other freshwater animals, large-scale evolutionary patterns of these animals, and how the 50-million-year-old ecosystem of the Fossil Lake Range was established and functioned), and methods of specimen-based research. This course provides the fundamental scientific background needed to discover and understand the meaning of fossils as they are preserved, as well as gain actual field experience in Wyoming. Students go “behind the scenes” at the Field Museum to examine previously collected fossils and learn how to prepare, conserve, and analyze specimens. The textbook-Grande, L. 2013. The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. University of Chicago Press, 440 pp., is available on Amazon.
Eligibility: Current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, who are at least 14 years old. Classes in high school biology or geology is recommended, with a B or better.
Class Start Time: 10:00 A.M.
Class End Time: 4:00 P.M. | https://summer.uchicago.edu/programs/stones-and-bones |
Mainstreaming local energy will come in many different shapes and sizes. Some will be far-reaching like recent changes to Ontario planning legislation which will require local governments to embrace climate and energy policies. Others will be small tweaks that bring familiarity. For instance, I have often wondered whether we should have used the term “Local Energy Master Plan” – just like a Water Supply Master Plan, Transit Master Plan, Transportation Master Plan, or Recreation and Parks Master Plan. Maybe, with time, this will happen.
A simple tweak happened last week with some colleagues as we discussed the process for a community energy plan in two communities.
The first step in many community energy planning exercises has been to engage key stakeholders. That made sense ten years ago. Stakeholders had to be convinced just to get the data to start a conversation.
However, this is not how local governments usually work. They make sure they have as much data possible first before they begin engaging people.
Take for example, when a municipal water department wants to engage their community in developing a water conservation and efficiency strategy. The department will know how much water is currently used by local homes and businesses. They will have data on how much water is consumed during a heat wave compared to the middle of winter. And they will have a pretty good idea how much more water they will need in the future and what it will cost. That will be their starting point for a conversation with the community.
Bottom-line, they don’t sit down with the community and say – “hey, I wonder how much water we use”. They know. That is their job.
Except for energy.
It is time for local governments to put good data in front of community energy planning.
Local governments must step up to ensure good data is available in advance of a community energy planning exercise. The good news is that many are stepping into this role.
Residents and businesses should first learn where and how their community uses energy, how much it costs everyone and how many of those energy dollars leave the community. This should be the starting point. Not only is this a more practical approach, it is more respectful of the time and contribution of community members and represents a clear role for local government in mainstreaming local energy. | https://karenfarbridge.ca/blog/mainstreaming-local-energy |
It's an extraordinary time for the energy sector. A time of complex challenges and unprecedented opportunities.
At AGL we have the scale, resources and ambition to take the lead and make real the possibilities the future holds. We're renewing and expanding our portfolio of sources and products to make them more sustainable, reliable, affordable and useful for all Australians.
That's what we call progress. To achieve it, we're bringing together people with unique stories, perspectives, and talent - and we need yours too.
At AGL, we believe progress is powered by our people. Let us empower you to make a positive difference and help bring progress to life.
About the Role
At AGL, we have an opportunity for an experienced Privacy professional to join the team in Melbourne as the Senior Manager, Group Privacy & Governance. This role will report to the GM of Group Risk & Compliance and lead a small team of high performing privacy professionals.
This is a crucial role that will act as the SME responsible for providing privacy expertise across group wide projects and for influencing the development and integration of best practice governance frameworks pertaining to privacy, modern slavery, anti-bribery and corruption, along with other key areas of corporate governance.
Your key responsibilities will be:
- Lead implementation of AGL's Privacy framework and policy
- Assist business in implementing AGL's Privacy framework in future state processes/system
- Provide subject matter expertise and advice to all AGL business units relating to privacy and data governance
- Provide timely and expert advice in relation to the management of privacy related risks and incidents
- Proactively engage with business operations regarding the storage and sharing of data and information
- Provide critical support to FB&T in building and improving AGL's Data and Information Governance Frameworks
- Lead development and implementation of appropriate incident management and escalation protocols and procedures, including in relation to data breach notification obligations
- Lead implementation of AGL's business resilience framework to anticipate, protect, respond, recover and adapt to material uncertainties and disruption events
- Review and enhance AGL's business continuity management program and the escalation criteria for incidents through the business continuity management hierarchy
- Develop, deliver and maintain enterprise-wide governance programs, which include (but is not limited to) Privacy, Modern Slavery, Trade sanctions, Anti-Bribery, Corruption and Fraud, and Conflicts of Interest
About You
To be successful, you will have:
- Previous experience in a Senior Leadership role relating to Privacy & Governance
- Strong knowledge of privacy, data and related legislation, with a proven ability to support large organisations implement leading practice data and information governance frameworks
- Extensive experience in the practical application and development of Compliance and Risk Management frameworks
- Detailed understanding of corporate governance concepts and requirements
- Experience in working with and presenting to all levels of an organisation, including up to Executive level
- Excellent presentation, communication (verbal and written) and negotiation skills
- Proven ability to deliver, drive positive outcomes, and bring about change within a large, diverse organisation
- Passion for driving change and continuous improvement
About Us
Proudly Australian for more than 180 years, AGL operates a diverse generation portfolio supplying energy to 3.7 million customer accounts. We have a passionate belief in progress and a relentless determination to make things better for our communities, customers, employees, the Australian economy and our planet.
Our goal is to make energy simple, fair and transparent and we're continuing to innovate to enhance the lives of Australians now and into the future. It's an extraordinary time for the energy sector and we need extraordinary people to meet the challenges.
We're bringing together people with unique stories, perspectives, and talent - and we need yours too. Let us empower you to make a positive difference and together we'll bring progress to life.
At AGL, we're committed to diversity and inclusion, so we encourage applications from Indigenous Australians, people with disability, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
Click the "Apply" button to submit your application. | https://au.work180.co/job/139812/senior-manager-group-privacy-and-governance |
UNITED Colleges of Education in Bulawayo (UCE) for the first time hosted Tertiary Institution of Arts in Zimbabwe (Tifaz), an annual festival where tertiary institutions come together to showcase productions in both performing and visual arts.
The acting director of tertiary education programmes in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Mrs Dephine Zivanayi, said the aim of the festival was to grow the talent that is there in the tertiary centre and to show that production can be entrepreneurial.
“Culture is both an enabler and driver of economic growth therefore we need to preserve and practice our cultural heritage in order to grow our creative economy. Generally, the creative arts sector usually contributes up to 10% of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs more people aged 15 to 29 than any other sector. Hence the need for more sustained support of this sector in strategic national development,” said Mrs Zivanayi.
She said the ministry was ready to support by putting resources towards supporting creativity and innovation in the country.
Founding chairperson of Tifaz Mr Atanas Ruzive said the festivals came after they realised that there was the need for them to promote arts and cultural heritage preservation.
“We looked at areas that are underplayed in national development and that are facing extinction and we realised that traditional dance is becoming extinct due to imperialism as they were regarded as uncivilised and evil,” he said.
He added that they created this platform for sustenance of cultural practices and to motivate talent and skill for students who have exceptional ingenuity to showcase their works.
At the festival students showcased dance, theatre, marimba, mbira, electric dance and art works from hairdo, dress designs to modelling. The festival started on Thursday and it ended on Friday and most teachers’ colleges and polytechnical colleges attended. | https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/tertiary-institutions-showcase-performing-visual-arts/ |
At the start of the day, Professor Andrew King introduced the first speaker, Dr Siv Vingill, a Postdoctoral Research Scientist from the Wade-Martins Group. Her talk addressed α-synuclein, a presynaptic neuronal protein that is linked genetically and neuropathologically to Parkinson's. Siv's team is trying to establish a model where they can look at how α-synuclein is transmitted in human dopamine neurons and with the modifications that are present in human patients. Having created the model, "we've looked at how α-synuclein is transported and we're looking at the difference between different patient mutations and control cells." (Dr Vingill).
Anna hoerder-suabedissen: SNAP25 cKO impacts late steps in circuit formation but not early axon outgrowth and targeting
Next up was Dr Anna Hoerder-Suabedissen, a Postdoctoral Research Scientist working across the Szele and Molnar labs. Anna's team uses a particular model to observe the effects of knocking out the protein SNAP25 on the developing brain. Her talk delivered the key message that many of the processes understood to require cellular activity in the developing brain do not appear to require it to the extent as initially thought. She demonstrated that "SNAP25 was known to be very important in excitatory neurons for synaptic transmission, but there were lots of complications saying it's not involved at all in interneurons in any way shape or form, and our supplementary material showed that you can very much interfere with synaptic transmission in interneurons by knocking out SNAP25, which is a big conceptual shift in the field." (Dr Hoerder-Suabedissen).
Strikingly, the first two talks of the day were linked by alternative perspectives on the role of α-synuclein. In Parkinson's, α-synuclein aggregates are shown to damage the neurons, whereas Anna mentioned that some of the impairment caused by reduction in or misfolding of SNAP25 protein can be ameliorated by higher levels of α-synuclein (Ref: Sharma et al., 2012).
aaron allen: Inferring cellular identity and physiology by single-cell transcriptomic analysis of Drosophila male and female central nervous system
The third talk of the day was delivered by Dr Aaron Allen, a Postdoctoral Researcher from the Goodwin Group. His talk described how he is looking at how many different types of cells there are in the nervous system and whether we can see any differences between the male and female nervous system. "Hopefully, based on what that tells us, we can look and see how might that nervous system be differentially set up between males and females to lead to differences in behaviour". (Dr Allen).
jackson smith: Information limiting correlations in simultaneous V1 and V4 responses in binocular disparity stimuli
After a short break, the audience reconvened to hear Postdoctoral Research Scientist Dr Jackson Smith from the Parker Group. Jackson explored the basic question of how the brain passes information accurately from one area of the cerebral cortex to another. He studied how neurons in the macaque visual cortex support the perception of stereoscopic depth. He noted that if the brain contains noise it can't get rid of, then a person's ability to see depth may be diminished. "The results I presented suggest that the brain might have a mechanism for cleaning up noisy, correlated signals. Such a mechanism would mean that we see a much more accurate depiction of depth than might otherwise be the case. It appears that the brain may be able to overcome some of the limits that might be imposed by correlated noise." (Dr Smith).
samuel nayler: Dissecting and directing cerebellar ontogenesis—towards an organoid model for understanding disease of the cerebellum
The audience next heard from Oxford Nuffield Medical Fellow and Becker Group member, Samuel Nayler. Samuel's main goal is to make a cerebellum-like tissue from human induced pluripotent stem cells. His talk demonstrated that growing human stem cells together in the right conditions with the right growth factors allows them to self organise into an organ-like tissue known as an organoid. Having validated that there are human cerebellar neurons present in these organoids, he is using single-cell sequencing of the organoids to see which genes are expressed in each cell, enabling him to trace them back to learn the identity and maturity of each cell. Commenting on the talk, group leader Associate Professor Esther Becker said: "By doing that he has shown that you really get all major cell types of the cerebellum in these organoids that started out as stem cells. This is amazing as that's something that usually happens in utero in the developing foetus. It is a major achievement by Sam that we can start to recreate this process in the lab."
BRADLEY ROBERTS: Striatal GABA transporter activity governs dopamine release: implications for Parkinson’s disease
Next up was Bradley Roberts, a DPhil student working in the Cragg Group, who discussed his work looking into how dopamine release in the brain region called the striatum is controlled. In Parkinson’s dopamine release is reduced and causes debilitating motor symptoms. "Through my DPhil research we have found that extracellular ‘ambient’ GABA in the striatum can inhibit dopamine release and that the levels of this ambient GABA are controlled by astrocytes. Astrocytes are another cell type in the brain (they are not neurons) and surround themselves within dopamine release sites. Within this role they work to hoover up this extracellular 'ambient' GABA in striatum through GABA transporters which they express. Strikingly, we have found that in Parkinson’s disease models that these astrocytes are dysfunctional and lose their ability to hoover up this GABA, which results in maladaptive increased inhibition of dopamine release. We are excited by these findings as they could present a novel therapeutic avenue for up-regulating dopamine signalling in Parkinson’s disease." (Bradley Roberts).
francis szele: Adult Neurogenesis and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
After lunch, the audience heard from Prof Francis Szele, Associate Professor of Developmental Biology, who gave a talk discussing the brain changes involved in Schizophrenia and Autism disorders, and introduced new research from his group identifying the biggest neural change in these two diseases.
ANDREW SHELTON: Exploring the ‘hidden space’: structure and function of the mouse claustrum
Next, Graduate Student Andrew Shelton from the Butt and Packer groups presented his work looking at the Claustrum, which he explained is one of the most heavily interconnected structures in the brain and yet we still know relatively little about it. "My project overall is to address the connectivity and cell types in the claustrum to gain a better idea of how they might be contributing to cortical processing". (Andrew Shelton).
alex ivanov: Exploring the ‘hidden space’: structure and function of the mouse claustrum
The next speaker was the Walker and King groups' Alex Ivanov, a Graduate Student who, as part of the auditory neuroscience group, studies how we perceive sounds and how we adapt to sounds in health and disease. Alex's topic focuses on using computational and experimental approaches to try and understand how we adapt to environments which have different amounts of echo (reverberation). "We’ve done that by first building a model of the adaptation process, then testing our model using different experimental approaches in ferrets, and we are hoping to also carry out a human psychophysics task to validate our findings. In terms of the impact, I think it would be quite relevant for helping us to improve hearing aids and speech recognition algorithms, because they all suffer when the environment becomes more echoic." (Alex Ivanov)
johannes dahmen: Connectivity and function of cortico-recipient auditory midbrain neurons
Senior Postdoctoral Research Scientist Johannes Dahmen from the King Group followed with a presentation, during which he discussed data suggesting that there is a pathway in the auditory system that is specialised for the detection of novel sounds, and that is separate from the main auditory pathway. "This specialisation for the detection of novel sounds may be independent from the cerebral cortex and arise from subcortical structures in the midbrain or even brainstem." (Dr Dahmen).
Cristina Blanco Duque: Sleep spindle quality as a measure of stability and synchrony within cortical networks
The penultimate speaker was Wellcome Trust doctoral student Cristina Blanco Duque from the Vyazovskiy Group. She discussed her study of brain oscillations called sleep spindles, which are one of the most common forms of brain activity during sleep. "It is believed that these oscillations are important to protect sleep from external disruption and to consolidate memories during sleep. However, results regarding the functional role of spindles are not conclusive and are often inconsistent. One fundamental problem is that the traditional approaches to study sleep spindles use arbitrary parameters. I am exploring new ways of defining, detecting and manipulating sleep spindles, which take into account their complex dynamics, and can help us to better understand their biological function, both in health and disease." (Cristina Blanco Duque).
sarah de val: athena swan in dpag
Athena SWAN Academic Lead Associate Professor Sarah De Val was our last speaker of the day, reminding the Department's Researchers of the Athena SWAN initiatives in place and how these can help and support them. She also encouraged everyone to get involved with the newly established departmental working groups designed to enrich staff and student experiences at DPAG. | https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/news/postdoctoral-researchers-and-students-shine-at-neuroscience-theme-day/neuroscience-theme-day-talks-and-photos |
- These courses are not influenced by any theosophical or new age schools. We are free thinkers, so it is important that the student is open-minded.
- We recommend having basic knowledge about chakras, aura and energetic definitions.
- The tutor is not a native english speaker, we appreciate your patience
This is a practical course of shamanic healing.
We teach the basics of reiki energy, just as we teach how to activate the energy.
Having developed the energy, we will immerse ourselves in the spirituality of the Peruvian Inca Indians and add the use of the typical Inca symbol of the Chakana in our therapy.
We also study the concepts of shamanic healing and learn to use the 4 elements of nature for the purpose of healing.
Students can receive the certificate at the end of the course both in theory and in practice and they will always have the support and tutoring from the Instructor Karen Prieto.
Who this course is for
- Holistic therapists or people who wish to become therapists
- People who desire self-awareness
The mystical Inca shamanism
Before the Spanish conquest, in South America there was a very special mystical culture.
This mystique was more intuitive and naturalistic. There were three ways to connect with divinity:
- Through meditation
- Through the dance
- Through the use of entheogenic plants
Shamanic journeys or astral journeys were an important pillar for the connection with divinity.
The Inca Empire is the result of three previous cultures and civilizations:
- The Tiahuanaco culture
- The Nazca culture
- The Moche culture
The great legacy that the Incas left to humanity is the concept of order of the empire.
They had a very harmonious order, as a result of their vision of existence through the principles of the chakana, a symbol that synthesized their way of organizing their life, being in full harmony with the universe and nature.
The Spanish conqueror Mancio Serra de Leguizamon (1589), left a will before he died, where he related the order of the Inca empire with these words:
We found these kingdoms in such good order. The Incas ruled them in such a wise way that among them there was neither a thief nor a vicious nor an adulterer nor was a bad woman admitted among them, nor were there immoral people. The men have useful and honest occupations, the lands, forests, mines, pastures, houses and all kinds of products were regularized and distributed in such a way that each one knew his property without another person taking it or occupying it, nor were there demands about it. The reason that compels me to make these statements is the liberation of my conscience since I find myself guilty because we have destroyed with our evil example. The people who had such a government that was enjoyed by their natives, were so free from imprisonment or crimes or excesses, men and women with the same rights, the indian who had 100,000 pesos in gold or silver value in his house left it open merely by leaving a small stick against the door as a sign that the owner was outside, with that according to their customs no one could enter or take anything that was there, when they saw that we put locks and keys on our doors they supposed it was because of fear of them but not because they believed that someone could steal the property of the other, so when they discovered that we had thieves between us and men who sought to make their daughters commit sins, they despised us.
The Inca trilogy & Machu Pichu
One of the foundations of the Inca cosmovision is its trilogy, composed of:
- The snake – the wisdom that hides in the bowels of the earth, the power and energy of our root and navel chakras.
- The puma – the fierce warrior, the power and energy of our solar plexus.
- The condor – the wisdom exposed in the sky, the power and energy of our chakras: cardiac, throat, third eye and crown.
Man is located between these three energies, and can unify all of them in his heart, through the activation of his cardiac system.
Machu Pichu among other cities, manifests the man-nature connection that the Inca empire sought to capture in its legacy. Here stands the Intihuatana, the Inca calendar that means the mooring of the sun.
This calendar was essential to connect the Inca with all the rhythm of nature, especially with the seasons. This was taught to all the Incas from an early age.
The Intihuatana was an object of worship, adoration and also pedagogical.
The mystical journey was made by strong warriors, capable of resisting a very powerful expansion of consciousness.
The warriors were prepared, with meditative practices in nature and executed the mystical journey with the help of a shaman, in a place of power like Machu Pichu for example. In this way, the warriors managed to get the soul out of their body, to travel in a metaphysical bubble to every corner of the universe, between space and time.
Through this experience, the warriors managed to return from the trip with an expanded perception of reality, understanding the energy of the emptiness from which the universe and all its creatures emerged, a practice of spiritual growth, so that they would remain integral and never fall into injustices or evil. | https://www.alienmeditation.com/shamanic-inca-reiki/ |
Member communities like Mission Investors Exchange, Toniic and CREO have been crucial to growing the impact investing ecosystem. Upstart Co-Lab believes the creative economy needs a cohort of pioneering impact investors to step forward, demonstrate what’s possible, and be its ambassadors and evangelists. The Upstart Co-Lab Member Community is designed for:
- Art lovers wanting to understand impact investing through the creative economy; participate in learning opportunities like expert meetings and site visits; and begin to consider impact investment opportunities in ethical fashion, sustainable food, social impact media and other sectors of the creative economy.
- Experienced impact investors wanting to align their portfolios with art, design, culture, heritage and creativity; help develop new investment vehicles making it easier to target impact capital to the creative economy; and share their experience investing with a creativity lens through public speaking, media interviews, and conference events.
Curious to learn more? Please scroll vertically to view the PDF. | https://upstartco-lab.org/learn-more-member-community/ |
Situated on a popular sought after cul-de-sac in Eccles, five minutes from Monton village and the transport network of bus; tram; train and motorway network. Easy reach to all local primary and high schools (both independent and public) and all local amenities. Salford Royal Hospital is less than a ten minute walk and close by is Media City; Trafford Park; Manchester City Centre.
The property comprises: spacious welcoming hallway; two reception rooms and fitted kitchen to the ground floor. Two double bedrooms with fitted wardrobes; a single room with fitted storage and family three piece bathroom suite to the first floor. The second floor has the fourth large double bedroom with fitted wardrobes and storage and Velux windows. There is double glazed units throughout the property; gas central heating. There are gardens to the front and rear elevation and enough space for four vehicles. The rear garden area also houses large storage facilities.
This is a rare opportunity to purchase a four bedroom within this area and we highly recommend early viewings.
The property is offer NO ONWARD CHAIN with VACANT POSESSION. This is a leasehold property.
For all enquiries or arrange viewings please email: or
Hallway - 4.21 x 2.18 (13'9" x 7'1") -
Living Room - 4.10 x 3.47 (13'5" x 11'4") -
Kitchen - 2.71 x 2.18 (8'10" x 7'1") -
Dining Room - 3.71 x 3.47 (12'2" x 11'4") -
Bedroom 1 - 4.09 x 3.47 (13'5" x 11'4") -
Landing - 2.83 x 2.18 (9'3" x 7'1") -
Bathroom - 2.02 x 2.18 (6'7" x 7'1") -
Bedroom 2 - 2.88 x 3.47 (9'5" x 11'4") -
Bedroom 3 - 2.66 x 2.19 (8'8" x 7'2") -
Bedroom 4 - 3.62 x 5.75 (11'10" x 18'10") -
Property Disclaimer - PLEASE NOTE: Murphy Waldron Estate Agents have not tested the services and appliances described within this document (including central heating systems), and advise purchasers to have such items tested to their own satisfaction by a specialist. All sizes quoted are approximate. Making an offer: if you are interested in this property, please contact us at the earliest opportunity prior to contacting a bank, building society or solicitor. Failure to do so could result in the property being sold elsewhere and could result in you incurring unnecessary costs such as survey or legal fees. Most of our clients require us to advise them on the status of potential buyers, who make an offer to purchase, therefore you are strongly advised to make an appointment at this stage.
BrochuresBrochureBindloss Avenue, Eccles, Manchester
Energy Performance CertificatesEE Rating
Bindloss Avenue, Eccles, Manchester
NEAREST STATIONSDistances are straight line measurements from the centre of the postcode
- Eccles Station0.3 miles
- Ladywell Tram Stop0.3 miles
- Eccles Tram Stop0.4 miles
About the agent
Murphy Waldron is an independent estate agency offering the following services:
- Residential Sales
- Residential & Commercial Lettings
- Property Management
- New Build/Land Developments
- Mortgages
We strongly believe that first impressions count and thus have built the business and our agency around this ethos. Our aim is to be more customer service orientated whilst delivering a service with a more cutting edge
Industry affiliations
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Disclaimer - Property reference 30655322. The information displayed about this property comprises a property advertisement. Rightmove.co.uk makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the advertisement or any linked or associated information, and Rightmove has no control over the content. This property advertisement does not constitute property particulars. The information is provided and maintained by Murphy Waldron Estates Ltd, Salford. Please contact the selling agent or developer directly to obtain any information which may be available under the terms of The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 or the Home Report if in relation to a residential property in Scotland.
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What is BSE Index? How does the Index function?
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is an Indian stock exchange body located in Mumbai. It was set up in the year 1875, much before National Stock Exchange was established. BSE is also Asia’s first stock exchange and world’s fastest stock exchange trade and 11th largest in the world.
BSE index, Sensex, is simply an indicator, which gives a fundamental idea when the equity shares or stocks have gone up and down,illustrating the performance of the stock and share market.
These indices are used in economic research by financial analysts to assist better ways to increase the market capitalization and also steady the stock market performance.
In the global economic scenario, indices are chiefly used in risk management.
The prices of the stocks of the most of the major companies on the list of BSE have gone up if the Sensex goes up and the stock price of most of the major stocks on the BSE list have fallen down if the Sensex drops down.
How is the Sensex calculated?
In the first place, the market capitalization of the 30 companies on the BSE list consist of the Sensex is first calculated. This is done by multiplying the price of their respective stocks with the number of shares issued by that particular company of the financial market.
Next, the attained market capitalization is multiplied by the free-float factor. This gives the free-float market capitalization. This is calculated based on the information given by all the companies to the BSE. The value of free float is generally between 0.05 and 1.00.
As a final point, the free float market capitalization of the Sensex is divided by a number, which is known as the Index Divisor. This is the only connection to the original base period value of the index.
This value provides the assessment of the index over the given period of time. For Sensex, the base value period is 1978-79. The Sensex reflects the presence of the Indian stock market. If the Sensex is growing, it reflects that the Indian economy is going to grow in its near future, therefore attracting more investment from diverse sources. | https://enrichbroking.in/bse-index-functions |
Bold, dynamic, vibrant, Dawn Okoro’s artwork explores themes of self-reflexivity and identity. Graduating from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2009, it was not until 2016 that Okoro decided to pursue an artistic career full time. Since emerging on the art scene, Okoro’s work has captivated viewers internationally and in 2020, Okoro even captured the attention of multinational company, PepsiCo, launching a Black Art Rising series with their daughter company LIFEWTR. In the wake of her growing success, we examine the reasons fuelling Okoro’s popularity and discover why less than 10 years into her career she has already been featured in Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Architectural Digest and more.
DAWN OKORO
Born and raised in Lubbock, Texas, Okoro grew up in a small town. Turning to magazines for exposure to the wider cultural world, Okoro became fascinated with the diversity and dynamism of fashion photography and illustration, and this continues to influence her work to this day. Rendering figures in negative space, Okoro’s work pays homage to fashion through the dynamic poses of her sitters and the compositions of her works. Okoro also cites a plethora of other sources for her inspiration, including design, punk music, fine art photography and textiles, making her work as diversely influenced as it is personal.
Okoro’s Nigerian-American heritage is central to her art. Throughout her life, Okoro notes that she has struggled with her identity and art has helped her explore and overcome this. Born in Texas to an American mother and Nigerian father, Okoro’s father moved back to Nigeria when she was a baby, meaning that she grew up exclusively immersed in American culture. Reconnecting with her father in 2014, Okoro began to embrace her Nigerian heritage and consequently, themes of identity became paramount to her practice. Depicting African-American figures, often in traditional clothing, Okoro uses her artwork as ‘a tangible way to express herself’ and her identity.
Okoro is known for her figurative paintings, often depicting African American female figures that are partially obscured with metallic leaf or vibrant paint. Using sacred colours like gold or purple to partly cover her sitters, Okoro liberates her figures from the male gaze, whilst championing their sanctity through her considered choice of colour palette. Her work celebrates both the beauty of the female form as well as the inner strength of women, and in an industry that is dominated by men, both Okoro’s canvases and her career is something to be celebrated.
DAWN OKORO, THE THREE GRACES, 2018
In an interview with The Curator’s Salon, Okoro notes that at the beginning of her artistic career she would ‘take a white model from the magazine and paint her as a black woman’, stating that she ‘was painting what [she] wanted to see’. In many ways, Okoro’s artwork can be seen as a call for revolution, with the artist physically depicting the change she wants to see in the world. With the artist reportedly stating that she feels a strong responsibility to ‘impact her environment and spark change with what [she puts] out’, Okoro’s work is much more than just paint on canvas. | https://maddoxgallery.com/news/204-how-dawn-okoros-colourful-canvases-won-over-everyone-we-outline-the-reasons-fuelling-mixed-media-artist/ |
There are two seeding methods: In rows and in plots
Whichever configuration you select, be sure to mark your planting site so you can find your seedlings later! Tie some easily visible ribbons to branches or paint blazes on trees near the chosen site so you can spot them easily, whatever the season. It is important to remember that the seedlings will only come up a year after planting and that wild leek seedlings are only visible for about one month a year, in May. The seeding techniques suggested here can serve as a guide, but are no substitute for experience… It is important that you adapt them to the selected site.
In rows
Simple to carry out, seeding in rows makes it easy to monitor plant growth. Several furrows should be readied to distribute the seeds evenly in their new habitat. Mark the placement of each, then separate the seeds into packets of 50 and sow one packet in each furrow. The ideal length for a row is one metre. First push the litter to one side and then dig a narrow channel with a rake or a trowel (2 or 3 cm wide and 1 cm deep). Place a marker at each end of the row (the small coloured plastic markers provided in the pots sold at nurseries). Then sow the seeds along the row and cover them with a thin (1 cm) layer of soil. After patting the soil down lightly, replace the litter. If, after a few years, you see that the plants are too close together, it will be easy to transplant some of them elsewhere in your woodlot without disturbing the colony.
Sowing in plots
Sowing in small plots allows the wider distribution of a batch of seeds in the potential habitat, but seedling growth becomes more difficult to track. First, establish a transect line: put down a 10-metre-long ribbon and lay out small plots every metre. Each10 cm X 10 cm square plot can accommodate a dozen seeds. Put a small plastic marker into the corner of each plot and push the litter to one side with a trowel, then loosen the surface of the soil and distribute the seeds. Cover with a thin layer of soil (1 cm), pat down lightly and replace the litter. | https://m.espacepourlavie.ca/node/5767?lang=en |
Please contact Dr. Swindler for ideas of how to incorporate the Multiple Intelligences Inventory into your program or curriculum. Details to charting the inventory can be included into mathematics curriculum when presenting lessons on charts, graphs, decimals, percentages, etc.
The Multiple Intelligences Inventory © 1999 Walter McKenzie, The One and Only Surfaquarium
Educational systems currently focus on learners who use only two intelligences, linguistic and logical. Howard Gardner, a professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero, espouses a theory of multiple intelligences that incorporates several types of learners, instilling a cry for a more balanced system of instruction that could benefit all types of learners. The possible impact on education is huge, providing the multiple intelligences theory is accepted. Gardner is the author of more than twenty books. Here is a brief description of the intelligences in his theory:
IT'S NOT HOW SMART YOU ARE - IT'S HOW YOU ARE SMART!
VISUAL/SPATIAL: learning visually and organizing ideas spatially; seeing concepts in action in order to understand them. This intelligence is the ability to "see" things in one's mind in planning to create a product or solve a problem.
VERBAL/LINGUISTIC: learning through the spoken and written word. This intelligence was always valued in the traditional classroom and in traditional assessments of intelligence and achievement.
MATHEMATICAL/LOGICAL: learning through reasoning and problem solving. This intelligence is highly valued in the traditional classroom where students were asked to adapt to logically sequenced delivery of instruction.
BODILY/KINESTHETIC: learning through interaction with one's environment. This intelligence is not the domain of "overly active" learners. It promotes understanding through concrete experience.
MUSICAL/RHYTHMIC: learning through patterns, rhythms and music. This includes not only auditory learning, but the identification of patterns through all the senses.
INTRAPERSONAL: learning through feelings, values and attitudes. This is a decidedly affective component of learning through which students place value on what they learn and take ownership for their learning.
INTERPERSONAL: learning through interaction with others. Not the domain of children who are simply "talkative" or "overly social." This intelligence promotes collaboration and working cooperatively with others.
NATURALIST: learning through classification, categories and hierarchies. The naturalist intelligence picks up on subtle differences in meaning. It is not simply the study of nature; it can be used in all areas of study.
EXISTENTIAL: learning by seeing the big picture: "Why are we here?" "What is my role in the world?" "What is my place in my family, school, and community?" This intelligence seeks connections to real world understandings and applications of new learning. | http://drswindler.com/intelligence.php |
One of the most powerful tools you can use to share public policy is your voice; your story.
Watch this space for announcements of PFA initiatives and new opportunities to contact your US Senators and US Representative urging them to support the new legislation or administrative action impacting the PF community!
To contact your Congressional representatives – or, if you plan to attend one of their Town Hall Forums – please ask them to support legislation, appropriations and regulatory initiatives that will enhance pulmonary fibrosis research.
To find your Members of Congress use the button below. Links will be provided so you can submit a note of encouragement using the official form. | http://pfadvocates.org/advocate-toolkit/become-advocate/ |
Raleigh, North Carolina. September 12-16, 2009.
News
Congratulations to Mohit Tiwari, Shashidhar Mysore and Timothy Sherwood, winners of the PACT09 Best Paper Award, for their paper titled "Quantifying the Potential for Program Analysis Peripherals."
PACT09 is now over, and PACT 2010 will be held next September in Vienna, Austria.
About PACT
PACT is a multi-disciplinary conference that brings together researchers from the hardware and software areas to present ground-breaking research related to parallel systems ranging across instruction-level parallelism, thread-level parallelism, multiprocessor parallelism and large scale systems. PACT solicits novel, unpublished papers on a broad range of topics that include, but are not limited to, the following: | http://pact09.renci.org/ |
Objective: The aim of this dissertation was to evaluate specialized yoga interventions for populations with complex chronic health conditions involving chronic pain and limited mobility. Method: Three research trials were conducted at two rehabilitation hospitals in Toronto. In Study 1, participants (N = 10) admitted to Bridgepoint Health were recruited to participate in an 8-week, Hatha yoga program. In Study 2, participants with spinal cord injury (SCI, N = 12) were recruited to participate in an 8-week, Hatha yoga program at the Lyndhurst Centre. In Study 3, participants with SCI (N = 23) were randomized to a 6-week, Iyengar yoga group (IY, n = 11) or to a wait-list control group (WLC, n = 12). Questionnaires on pain, psychological variables, and mindfulness, were collected at two or three points in time. Results: In Study 1, repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a main effect of time for anxiety, self-compassion, and the magnification aspect of pain catastrophizing, such that anxiety and pain catastrophizing decreased and self-compassion increased from pre- to post-intervention. In Study 2, there were no significant changes in the quantitative measures but qualitative analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed main themes regarding benefits along emotional, mental and physical domains. In Study 3, linear mixed effects growth models were conducted to evaluate main effects of group at T2, controlling for T1 scores. Depression scores were lower and self-compassion scores were higher at T2 in the IY group compared to the WLC group. The two groups were combined and analyzed across time by comparing pre- and post-intervention scores. Main effects of time were found for depression scores, self-compassion, mindfulness (total score and subscale scores for mindful observing and mindful non-reactivity), such that depressive symptoms decreased and self-compassion and the various facets of mindfulness increased from pre- to post-intervention. Discussion: The results from these studies show that a yoga program reduces depressive symptoms and increases self-compassion for individuals with SCI, and may also decrease anxiety and pain catastrophizing, and increase mindfulness for populations experiencing pain and limited mobility. | https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/35452 |
Incorporated Society since 2005 Charitable Trust Status since 2009
All members of the Doyle Academy participate in fund-raising to help pupils attend competitions both here in New Zealand and internationally, to encourage technical development and raise awareness of Irish Culture.
C.E.S.D.A.I.D.I. is a non-profit charitable society formed in 2005 to support fund-raising events and ensure the aims and objectives of the society are adhered to.
Our charitable status is held with the NZ Charities Commission and our details, along with our rules can be found here: www.charities.govt.nz
The Executive Committee of C.E.S.D.A.I.D.I. meets monthly to co-ordinate fund-raising events and develops ideas to expose the wonderful art form of Irish Dancing here in New Zealand. The committee is made up of 7 parents and the principles of the Doyle Academy.
Every year the committee works towards helping pupils attend major competitions in Australia, America and the UK and the majority of the students attend the New Zealand Championships. They also assist with gaining exposure for Irish Dance through performances by the Academy dancers.
Regular fund-raising events include garage sales, sausage sizzles and dance performances. C.E.S.D.A.I.D.I. also produces the bi-annually the Christmas Show.
We would like to extend our thanks to those who have helped support the development of Irish Dance and Culture through C.E.S.D.A.I.D.I. since 2005. | https://www.doyleacademy.co.nz/fund-raising/ |
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Brazil Producer Prices Change
2021 Data | 2022 Forecast | 1951-2020 Historical
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Producer Prices in Brazil increased 33.10 percent in August of 2021 over the same month in the previous year.
source:
Getulio Vargas Foundation
Producer Prices Change in Brazil averaged 207.47 percent from 1951 until 2021, reaching an all time high of 6719.66 percent in April of 1990 and a record low of -4.77 percent in October of 2009. This page provides - Brazil Producer Prices Change - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Brazil Producer Prices Change - values, historical data and charts - was last updated on October of 2021.
Producer Prices Change in Brazil is expected to be 45.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. In the long-term, the Brazil Producer Prices Change is projected to trend around 12.00 percent in 2022 and 11.00 percent in 2023, according to our econometric models.
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Brazil
Last
Unit
Reference
Previous
Highest
Lowest
Producer Prices
155.15
points
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152.45
576.38
0.00
Producer Prices Change
33.10
percent
Aug/21
35.00
6719.66
-4.77
Brazil Producer Prices Change
Producer prices change refers to year over year change in price of goods and services sold by manufacturers and producers in the wholesale market during a given period.
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Trading Economics welcomes candidates from around the world. Current job openings: | https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/producer-prices-change |
WIP Weekend: Mountain Landscape
This is a digital painting that I’m working on just for fun. I’m using it as a technical challenge, to force myself to paint a subject with really deep atmospheric perspective because it’s something that I think I need to improve.
My reference is a photo that I took a few years ago in Colorado. I’ve spent most of my life in the Midwest, so I’m easily impressed by big mountains and so took about twenty photos out the car window on this trip because Big! Pointy! Mountains! In this painting I’m trying to work on really pushing the mountains back, opening up the sky, and overall conveying the sense of space. To that end I need to sharpen up the foreground more than it is in the photo—one of the hazards of taking photos from a moving car.
The thing that makes this a little more tricky, in my opinion, is that I’m trying to keep the style fairly loose and painterly so I’m trying to figure out how to all of the above while keeping my hand visible and not producing what is essentially a clone of of the photo reference. You can see that I’ve moved things around a bit, cropped the composition down, and also upped the overall saturation of the colors from what is visible in the photo.
I’ve put approximately 1.5 hours into this painting so far, and I could probably keep picking at it indefinitely as that’s what I tend to do on projects without deadlines. I wouldn’t call any section finished yet, but the foreground and the clouds are the two areas that definitely need some more work, I think, before I can call this done. | https://madartlab.com/wip-weekend-mountain-landscape/ |
At number 2731th in the list of Australian suburbs ordered by increase in median house value over the last year, Calala, 2340 is in the BOTTOM 40% with a property value increase of 1.60% recorded in median house prices.
Comparing Calala,2340 ‘s 5year and quarterly average capital gain offered to property investors, it performed less well across the longer period
Our latest figures would indicate that property sellers in Calala are currently offering property investors an average price cut of -4.86% below the asking price at the moment.
Situated 297.04km from the CBD, Calala is one of Tamworth Regional localities in the postcode 2340.
This is could only be written in a bubble market
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A stash of fifth-century gold coins worth millions has been found buried in a pot under an Italian theatre.
Builders demolishing the former Cressoni theatre in Como were stunned to discover the cache last Wednesday.
The Roman coins will be examined and dated before ending up in a museum, officials said.
Discovery: A priceless stash of fifth-century gold coins has been found buried in a pot under an Italian theatre
The Roman coins will be examined and dated before ending up in a museum, officials said
According to Italian media, the coins could be worth millions of euros.
Local archaeologist Luca Rinaldi told Qui Como: 'We cannot speak of a precise value because they are not a marketable commodity, but certainly it is an exceptional find and therefore of inestimable value'.
He said the coins dated from the fifth century, adding: 'The state of conservation so good that even dating should be fast enough.'
Minister of Culture, Alberto Bonisoli, said: 'We do not yet know in detail the historical and cultural significance of the find.
'That area is proving to be a real treasure. The discovery fills me with pride.'
The theatre, which was inaugurated in 1870 and later became a cinema before closing in 1997, was due to be demolished to allow the construction of a luxury residence.
Authorities now plan to suspend work at the site to allow further excavations, according to local media.
| |
The Interlock, a $750 million award-winning mixed-use district in West Midtown, is partnering with eWaste ePlanet, a privately owned company working to promote electronics recycling, to serve as a secure and free electronic recycling drop-off location during a three-day event.
Individuals can bring unwanted electronics to G1 of the parking deck at The Interlock so that eWaste ePlanet can responsibly dispose of them using environmentally sustainable practices with zero waste to landfills and 100 percent data security.
Acceptable items include monitors, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets and peripherals. Other items will also be accepted that may require an additional fee.
Jan. 25 – 26 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Jan. 27 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. | https://allgreenrecyclingservices.com/electronic-waste/jan-25-the-interlock-partners-with-ewaste-eplanet-to-serve-as-secure-and-free-electronic-recycling-drop-off/ |
Abstract: Access to mobile technologies has been on the rise in Nigeria and developing countries alike. Schools embrace the use of technology more than before. However, there were not enough technology professional needs across all levels of education. In this roundtable session, the presenter will present to the attendees an advanced design of a technology professional development app that educators could use to develop their technological pedagogical and content knowledge. The presenter would seek feedback in these areas: development of a prototype, the design of analytics tools, identify beta-testers, release, how to capture metrics, and upgrade. | https://academicexperts.org/conf/site/2019/papers/54086/share/ |
12th June 2019
A few months back we attended an NHS Employers event in Leeds where the focus was on the national NHS Staff Survey. There we had the opportunity to speak with colleagues working in HR, OD, Workforce and People roles.
The talk of the town was very much the workforce challenges faced by each organisation, both in recruitment and retention. That challenge is one that has dominated most events we have attended in recent times – solving it, it would seem, is the number one priority in the NHS. As such, attention has turned to improving the staff experience. To do that, workforce leads are turning to digital solutions that can both measure the staff experience and provide guidance on where to begin improvement efforts.
With that in mind, we asked the audience gathered in Leeds, ‘What are the challenges that any digital solution needs to overcome’? Here’s a summary of what we heard, concluding with the four ‘must haves’ for staff experience software.
Access was one of the main barriers identified, and this manifested itself in different ways. Many attendees commented on the lack of access to computers on wards. When people did have access to a computer, they tended to be swamped with emails – which would suggest that invitations to participate via email would be a) hard to find and b) risk getting lost amongst other messaging. It was also noted that invitations to participate, to date, have been delivered via one or two methods (e.g. email, intranet etc.) whereas the workforce, given the choice, would prefer a wider range of delivery or access methods – the ones that suit them and their daily routines. Our attendees also pointed out that a large proportion of NHS staff are mobile, i.e. not based at one location or building but constantly on the move. As such, access to software can be difficult. Finally, we were told that there is still a wide variance in how comfortable staff are with software and technology in general. As such, access could be restricted by staff perceiving software as too complicated to use.
A willingness to persist with software was compromised by the second major issue identified by our attendees – a lack of time. Put simply, the majority of the NHS workforce do not have the time to complete lengthy staff experience exercises. Neither do they have the time to digest extensive reports relating to their and their colleagues’ input – especially when published a considerable time after they gave that input. A lack of time was also an issue for the administrators/moderators tasked with collecting, analysing and responding to staff experience feedback. For most, this will be one task of many that they have responsibility for and, as such, only a certain amount of time can be given over to it.
We were also told any software solution for staff experience would have to show results and quickly. Our attendees acknowledged that there is a certain amount of scepticism amongst staff when it comes to requests for their feedback or viewpoint. It was suggested this comes from a lack of results or ‘next steps’ – something to show what has happened with the feedback received. Staff have become used to providing input, only for that never to be heard of again. As such, a staff experience software solution would have to overcome this scepticism by proving its benefit.
So, with this in mind, these are the four things (we would argue) that are required for any digital staff experience solution to be effective:
- It needs to be accessible – the software should remove barriers by being accessible anytime, anywhere (online and mobile etc.). It should be something that everyone can use.
- It needs to be easy to use – to combat restrictions on time and patience, the user interface should make it simple to give feedback and see results. For administrators, feedback should be easy to respond to and analyse.
- The benefits need to be obvious – the system should promote transparency so staff can see what’s being done with their feedback and how it’s being responded to. The system should encourage a free-flow of conversation between respondent and administrator (rather than a feedback cycle that takes months to complete) and make it easy for both to engage in that conversation.
- It needs to be anonymous.
The fourth point on anonymity was one raised in Leeds by our partners from FHIntuition, Anne Frampton and Andrew Hollowood. From their experience at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, anonymous feedback is a crucial element as it “levels the field”. It takes away concerns about hierarchy and line management structures and enables staff to give honest, unfiltered responses. It is these type of responses that identify areas of improvement, and where real enhancement in the staff experience can be made.
The lesson from Leeds is that when looking to procure digital software to help improve your workforce experience, make sure the solution has considered (and can demonstrate that it meets) the challenges identified. | https://www.civica.com/en-au/container---insights-library/the-4-things-required-from-software-when-improving-nhs-staff-experience/ |
The Nobel Prize And The Rule Of Three
This week, Peter Higgs and Francois Englert received the Nobel Prize for developing the theory known as the Higgs-boson particle in 1964. But distinguished as they are, Higgs and Englert are just two of six scientists who developed the theory and because of the Nobel committees rule of three; that no single prize can go to more than three individuals, most of these scientists missed out on winning the Nobel, including Carl Hagen, a University of Rochester physics professor.
He's gracious enough, however, to join us from the studios of WXXI in Rochester, New York. Thanks so much for being with us.
CARL HAGEN: It's my pleasure to be here.
SIMON: Is this a tough week for you?
HAGEN: October was a tough month, let's say. October 8th was a day they made the announcement and although my colleagues and I had more or less reconciled ourselves to the fact that it was not going to be a good day for us, that was the time the other shoe dropped and they made their announcements.
SIMON: Do you not refer to it as the way we just referred to it in introducing you?
(LAUGHTER)
HAGEN: You're quite correct in that. It's very ironic that the name, which is ascribed most commonly to it and I'll say it, the Higgs-boson, was brought about here in Rochester. Back in the '60s we had a particle physics conference and there was a physicist there by the name of Ben Lee and he talked a lot to Peter Higgs, who was at that same conference.
And so when he referred to it in subsequent work he's say the Higgs mechanism or the Higgs-boson. Somewhat later, distinguished physicist, Leon Letterman, a Nobelist, came along and wrote a book which he called the "The God Particle." I found it much more convenient to use that whenever I give a public talk. I'm going to say that the bulk of the physics community deplores the use of this word.
SIMON: Deplore the use of the word God, you mean?
HAGEN: Yeah, that's right. They figure, best to keep the two issues of science and theology completely disentangled. But I always say quite freely that I would rather give credit to the deity than to one of my competitors.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMON: It's often pointed out that Mahatma Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize; Tolstoy, Ibsen, Mark Twain never won the Nobel Prize for literature. Isn't there almost an equally distinguished group of scientists who never won the Nobel?
HAGEN: Without a doubt. And let me just interject an observation made by the late, great Richard Feynman who maybe well known to your audience in connection with the Challenger disaster inquiry. He said that Nobel did two bad things in his life. He invented dynamite and he invented the Nobel Prize. And there are many people who would say that the Nobel Prize is counter to the ethos of physics, which is concern with discovery of physical principles and not with rewarding individuals.
SIMON: Carl Hagen, professor of physics, and a great one, at the University of Rochester. | |
In our society, although many organizations continue to grapple with issues of diversity, in a multitude of businesses, including retail, fashion, media, entertainment and sports, diversity is reflected at many levels. Still, at this time it is clear that there is still more to be done as people realize that there continues to be a lack of communication and understanding on certain levels within our society.
Everyone who participates in a common endeavor as part of a collective is simply a citizen of that collective. This of course applies to businesses. All within the collective have different experiences, which contribute positively and are generally interesting and useful to others within the collective. Studies have shown that when each individual is allowed to provide his unique perspective to the collective, the result is better than expected solutions to problems being addressed. All would agree that beautifully harmonic music is preferable to a monotone.
Of course, there continue to exist issues of access, racism, prejudice, bigotry, egalitarian treatment, etc. “Racism in the United States continues to be so pervasive and systematic that, in August 2014, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) published a report that examined racial equality and justice in the US. CERD noted that black Americans disproportionately face economic and social disparity and urged the US to halt not only the excessive use of force by police, but also broader racism. “This is not an isolated event and illustrates a bigger problem in the United States, such as racial bias among law enforcement officials, the lack of proper implementation of rules and regulations governing the use of force, and the inadequacy of training of law enforcement officials,” said Noureddine Amir, CERD committee vice chairman.“Racial and ethnic discrimination remains a serious and persistent problem in all areas of life from de facto school segregation to access to health care and housing.” This should not be for companies and businesses in the United States of America in this day and age. As a successful admissions expert, with over 20 years of experience and an enviable acceptance track record, my exposure to and experience with racism is not new, but has been and continues to be the norm (par for the course). These experiences and my continually being viewed as different and inferior (and, at times, unqualified) have paradoxically empowered me, as an admissions advisor, to help my clients stand out and gain admissions to their top-choice private schools, colleges and universities!
Racial, ethnic, generational and cultural differences have always been America’s greatest assets! They have collectively been the glue that has made America great! Diversity was a necessary precondition to our democracy and has provided the impetus for engagement in the full kaleidoscope of “American culture.” Furthermore, it has produced an enviable position that other nations strive for in our world.
- Diversity in business and commerce: In today’s globalizing, fast-changing, highly-competitive and networked world, the capacity to turn diversity to one’s advantage is critical and necessary. It is not just a nice thing to do for racial and ethnic minorities; it is a MUST. As the world evolves dramatically, cultural, ethnic and racial immersion has become a widespread organizational imperative – from Google to IBM.
- Research shows that diversity usually trumps familiarity, insularity and ability. Diverse teams are much better at problem-seeking and problem-solving. They bring different cognitive, intellectual and experiential tool kits and ways of approaching a problem to the table. Diverse teams see customers, products, and market opportunities in creative, new and unforeseen ways. Even among the most well-meaning, a homogeneous team comes with a limited outlook, whereas a diverse team often yields nuanced deliberated decisions made from multiple perspectives and experiences that result in deeper and wider considerations and probable outcomes and results.
- A report entitled, “Innovation, Diversity, and Market Growth” found that when teams have one or more members who represent the gender, ethnicity, culture, generation, or sexual orientation of the team’s target end user, the team is as much as 158 percent more likely to clearly understand that target subject. This difference significantly increases the team’s likelihood of creating successful programs or products for their target subject.
- The American Sociological Association has demonstrated that in organizations with diverse teams there is a 9% rise in sales revenue and significant increase in business performance. In contrast, monolithic and homogeneous thought within a group makes a cohesive team, but one that will happily and repeatedly agree on the same mistake as the rest of world evolves.
- Wall Street financial firms have recognized that in “superforecasting” (forecasting and predicting future market shifts) the wisdom and judgement of diverse teams can broaden knowledge base and focuses more on constantly updating probabilities rather than a non-diverse team that is involved in group think.
- Former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, the American Economic Association’s president, and other prominent economists have said a lack of diversity limits how the economics field analyzes issues and crafts policies that affect broad swaths of people.
- Diversity decreases mistakes: Individuals with different backgrounds and styles approach problems differently. Research published by an MIT professor exploring past literature, found that diverse teams tend to be less susceptible to groupthink, which can drastically reduce the likelihood of making avoidable mistakes.
- A 2014 study of Columbia University showed that ethnically diverse trader teams priced assets more accurately, avoided conformity, and thwarted bubbles.
- A study by Rocio Lorenzo and Martin Reeves: “How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance”, in the Harvard Business Review of 1700 companies in eight countries, found that diversity among managers was associated with greater organizational innovation and profitability.
- A McKinsey & Company research report: “Why Diversity Matters,” revealed that of 366 public companies analyzed, those in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above national industry medians. In the United States, there is a linear relationship between racial and ethnic diversity and better financial performance: for every 10 percent increase in racial and ethnic diversity on the senior-executive team, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rise 0.8 percent.
Racial and ethnic difference is not just a good idea and good for society, it’s good for business. We should continue to embrace and acknowledge our differences for its importance in contributing to business, cultural and academic success that has made the United States of America the shining example that many other countries have attempted to emulate.
We look forward to learning more about your family and discussing how we can be most supportive during this time.
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An image of the future: Innovations in imaging research
Lawson Health Research Institute (Lawson) has long been a leader in biomedical imaging. The first Canadian magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a human occurred at St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s). The country’s first positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) scanners were also installed at St. Joseph’s. New developments in imaging research continue to enhance the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of a wide range of diseases, from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder.
On May 23, Lawson hosted a Café Scientifique event where a panel of Lawson Imaging scientists discussed their cutting-edge work. Guests had the opportunity to ask questions as part of an open-forum discussion to gain insights from the speakers, and from one another.
In celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary as a nation, this event is the first of a two-part series focusing on the future vision for health care in Canada and the legacy that research at Lawson will leave.
Imaging of the heart: Seeing the cause of chest pain more clearly
By Dr. Ting-Yim Lee, Lawson scientist, Medical Physicist at St. Joseph’s, professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and scientist at Robarts Research Institute
When patients with chest pain arrive in the emergency department, they are given an electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood test. These diagnostic tests determine if the pain has a non-cardiac cause (such as heart burn), if it is caused by a heart attack, or if the patient has angina (plaque formation in the coronary arteries that either reduces or temporarily cuts off blood flow to the heart) but did not have a heart attack.
If a patient has angina, they are then given additional diagnostic testing to see whether a blood clot has formed and where it is located. This is determined by two different imaging techniques: x-ray imaging (angiogram) and nuclear imaging. This process is invasive and means that patients must be scheduled for two different exam days. Using two techniques also means that there can be image misalignment, and the images often provide poor detail.
Dr. Ting-Yim Lee’s lab has pioneered a Computed Tomography (CT) method for imaging blood flow to the heart muscle (CT Perfusion), which can help patients avoid unnecessary tests and treatment, as well as reduce health care costs.
“CT imaging is a non-invasive imaging technique that uses x-rays to create high-detail cross-sectional images of the body. Using this method, we can evaluate the degree of blockage in coronary arteries – with one diagnostic test instead of two,” says Dr. Lee.
Using light and sound to improve breast surgery
By Dr. Jeffrey Carson, Lawson scientist and associate professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
“Most women diagnosed with breast cancer undergo surgery, and months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They must deal with the discomfort, side-effects, emotional stress and financial burden of treatment. Almost one in four surgeries for breast cancer must be repeated, meaning many women have to go through this all over again,” says Dr. Jeffrey Carson.
In breast conserving surgery, there is a high chance of repeat surgery as the surgeon must see and remove 100 per cent of the tumour in order for it to be successful. They are not able to determine whether the entire tumour was removed until after the surgery has been completed.
Dr. Carson and his team at St. Joseph’s have developed a technology called Intraoperative Photoacoustic Tomography (iPAT), which has the potential to reduce the chance of repeat surgery for breast cancer. The technology is able to image surgery specimens in the operating room during surgery, allowing surgeons to determine whether the whole tumour has been removed before the surgery is complete.
How imaging can improve the management of epilepsy
By Dr. Udunna Anazodo, postdoctoral fellow at Lawson
Most patients with epilepsy are effectively treated with antiepileptic drugs. However, 36 per cent will not respond to the drugs. For these patients, surgery on the area of the brain that is causing seizures is the standard of care – if patients are good surgical candidates.
“If patients with epilepsy are to undergo surgery there must be a good indication of where the seizure focus is and it must be possible to determine that removing this portion of the brain will not affect brain function,” says Dr. Udunna Anazodo.
To see whether they are good candidates for surgery, patients must undergo an invasive procedure called intracranial monitoring, where electrodes are placed on the brain.
Dr. Anazodo has been studying how PET/MRI can be used to map seizures with the goal of minimizing the need for invasive intracranial monitoring. This technique makes it possible to locate areas in the brain that cause seizures and to see if the seizures affect brain functions.
See photos from the event on Lawson’s Facebook page.
Above: Café Scientifique presenters (from left to right): Drs. Jeffrey Carson, Frank Prato (moderator), Ting-Yim Lee and Udunna Anazodo. | https://www.lawsonresearch.ca/news/image-future-innovations-imaging-research |
Nearly everyone has experienced heartburn at some point in their lives. It’s that burning sensation one feels in the chest region from time to time that leaves one feeling queasy. So what exactly is heartburn? Technically, heartburn or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) is problem of the digestive system that occurs when the food and/or the digestive acids in your stomach travel the wrong way back into your esophagus.
When that happens, you experience chest aches along with a burning sensation, sometimes along with halitosis, or bad breath. It can be quite unpleasant, and most people would you do anything to get rid of that feeling. Fortunately it is easy to prevent heartburn or GERD, or at least reduce their frequency by following these easy tips.
A common question you may ask is how to avoid heartburn completely? Now it is impossible to eliminate this aliment completely, but you can definitely reduce both its intensity, and the frequency with which it occurs by following these guidelines:
1. Eat small meals frequently
The food that we eat is more than often the main culprit for the occurrence/recurrence of GERD symptoms. Eating meals till your stomach is really full may lead to the LES (Lower Esophageal Sphincter- a valve-like structure between your stomach and esophagus) to relax. When that happens, the stomach acids may be pushed back up into your esophagus, resulting in a heartburn.
Eating several small meals through the day is one of the many ways to reduce heartburn. Change the norm of having a heavy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Also, avoid having your dinner right before your bedtime, as that can cause heartburn to flare up periodically.
2. Avoid eating too fast
There is a reason why we are always advised to eat slowly. Gobbling up food too fast makes it harder for your system to digest it normally. That makes you prone to suffer from poor digestion, which in turn amplifies your chances of experiencing heartburn.
Try some of the following tips to slow down your eating speed:
- Keeping your fork or your spoon down on the plate in between two morsels
- Chew your morsel fully before you swallow it
- Chew at least 20 times before your next morsel
- Eat smaller portions in every bite
3. Avoid foods that can potentially set off a heartburn
Heartburn occurs when: (a) The LES loosens up when it should not, causing the acid to back up in your esophagus, (b) When too much acid is produced in the stomach
Some of the foods that help relax the esophagus and must be avoided are:
- Greasy food (includes food that is fried)
- Meat that is high in fat content
- Sauces with creamy bases
- Dairy products made using whole-milk
- Foods containing chocolate
- Foods containing peppermint
- Beverages with caffeine in it (like soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa, etc)
Some of the foods that trigger acid production in the stomach include:
- Beverages high in caffeine
- Carbonated beverages like soda pop
- Alcoholic beverages
- Hot, spicy food
- Citrus fruits and citrus juice (e.g., orange, grapefruit)
- Tomato-based products
4. Avoid going to bed right after eating
Never go to sleep right after you eat. Doing so causes the undigested food in your stomach to press against the LES. This increases the chances of food to reflux back into esophagus.
You can avoid it by:
- Going to bed two to three hours after your meal
- Shunning from late night snacks
- Having heavy meals at dinner. If unavoidable, have a heavy meal at lunch instead.
5. Lying flat when you sleep
Lying down flat when you sleep causes the contents in your stomach to press against the LES. Keeping your head at a higher level than your stomach helps to bring down this pressure, as gravity automatically drags the food down. So, use a pillow that is shaped like a wedge under your head and shoulders.
Smoking not only causes recurring heartburn, but may also lead to cancer. It increases the frequency and/or intensity of the heartburn by:
Reducing the production of saliva
Since the human saliva is alkaline, it automatically neutralizes the acid content in your stomach. Saliva also reduces heartburn by coating the esophagus, thus minimizing the effects of acid that is refluxed into the esophagus, by driving it back to the stomach.
Increasing the production of stomach acid
Smoking intensifies the production of stomach acid. Smoking is also responsible for the movement of bile salts from the intestine to the stomach. This in turn makes the stomach acids more dangerous.
Hinders the functioning of the LES
Smoking relaxes down the LES, thereby causing the stomach contents to reflux back up into your esophagus.
Causes damage to your Esophagus
Smoking may damage your esophagus, making it more susceptible to damage from acid reflux.
GERD, without a doubt, is extremely unpleasant to experience. While eliminating it is impossible, you can cut down its frequency and/or its severity by implementing the tips mentioned above in your daily routine. If you experience severe heartburn, you can always use medications for heartburn like antacids, that are conveniently available over-the-counter (OTC) in your local pharmacy. They can also be easily ordered through any online pharmacy. In certain cases, heartburn may persist even after taking these OTC medications. In that case, you must seek the help of your physician immediately. | https://www.alldaychemist.com/blog/6-easy-habits-to-avoid-heart-burn/ |
# Google Assistant
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike the company's previous virtual assistant, Google Now.
Google Assistant debuted in May 2016 as part of Google's messaging app Allo, and its voice-activated speaker Google Home. After a period of exclusivity on the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, it was deployed on other Android devices starting in February 2017, including third-party smartphones and Android Wear (now Wear OS), and was released as a standalone app on the iOS operating system in May 2017. Alongside the announcement of a software development kit in April 2017, Assistant has been further extended to support a large variety of devices, including cars and third-party smart home appliances. The functionality of the Assistant can also be enhanced by third-party developers.
Users primarily interact with the Google Assistant through natural voice, though keyboard input is also supported. Assistant is able to answer questions, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings on the user's device, show information from the user's Google account, play games, and more. Google has also announced that Assistant will be able to identify objects and gather visual information through the device's camera, and support purchasing products and sending money.
At CES 2018, the first Assistant-powered smart displays (smart speakers with video screens) were announced, with the first one being released in July 2018. In 2020, Google Assistant is already available on more than 1 billion devices. Google Assistant is available in more than 90 countries and in over 30 languages, and is used by more than 500 million users monthly.
## History
Google Assistant was unveiled during Google's developer conference on May 18, 2016, as part of the unveiling of the Google Home smart speaker and new messaging app Allo; Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained that the Assistant was designed to be a conversational and two-way experience, and "an ambient experience that extends across devices". Later that month, Google assigned Google Doodle leader Ryan Germick and hired former Pixar animator Emma Coats to develop "a little more of a personality".
### Platform expansion
For system-level integration outside of the Allo app and Google Home, the Google Assistant was initially exclusive to the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. In February 2017, Google announced that it had begun to enable access to the Assistant on Android smartphones running Android Marshmallow or Nougat, beginning in select English-speaking markets. Android tablets did not receive the Assistant as part of this rollout. The Assistant is also integrated in Android Wear 2.0, and will be included in future versions of Android TV and Android Auto. In October 2017, the Google Pixelbook became the first laptop to include Google Assistant. Google Assistant later came to the Google Pixel Buds. In December 2017, Google announced that the Assistant would be released for phones running Android Lollipop through an update to Google Play Services, as well as tablets running 6.0 Marshmallow and 7.0 Nougat. In February 2019, Google reportedly began testing ads in Google Assistant results.
On May 15, 2017, Android Police reported that the Google Assistant would be coming to the iOS operating system as a separate app. The information was confirmed two days later at Google's developer conference.
#### Smart displays
In January 2018 at the Consumer Electronics Show, the first Assistant-powered "smart displays" were released. Smart displays were shown at the event from Lenovo, Sony, JBL and LG. These devices have support for Google Duo video calls, YouTube videos, Google Maps directions, a Google Calendar agenda, viewing of smart camera footage, in addition to services which work with Google Home devices.
These devices are based on Android Things and Google-developed software. Google unveiled its own smart display, Google Home Hub in October 2018, and later Nest Hub Max, which utilizes a different system platform.
### Developer support
In December 2016, Google launched "Actions on Google", a developer platform for the Google Assistant. Actions on Google allows 3rd party developers to build apps for Google Assistant. In March 2017, Google added new tools for developing on Actions on Google to support the creation of games for Google Assistant. Originally limited to the Google Home smart speaker, Actions on Google was made available to Android and iOS devices in May 2017, at which time Google also introduced an app directory or application directory for overview of compatible products and services. To incentivize developers to build Actions, Google announced a competition, in which first place won tickets to Google's 2018 developer conference, $10,000, and a walk-through of Google's campus, while second place and third place received $7,500 and $5,000, respectively, and a Google Home.
In April 2017, a software development kit (SDK) was released, allowing third-party developers to build their own hardware that can run the Google Assistant. It has been integrated into Raspberry Pi, cars from Audi and Volvo, and smart home appliances, including fridges, washers, and ovens, from companies including iRobot, LG, General Electric, and D-Link. Google updated the SDK in December 2017 to add several features that only the Google Home smart speakers and Google Assistant smartphone apps had previously supported.
The features include:
Third-party device makers can incorporate their own "Actions on Google" commands for their respective products Text-based interactions and many languages Users can set a precise geographic location for the device to enable improved location-specific queries.
On May 2, 2018, Google announced a new program that focuses on investing in the future of Google Assistant through early-stage startups. Their focus was to build an environment where developers could build richer experiences for their users. This includes startups that broaden Assistant's features, are building new hardware devices, or simply differentiating in different industries.
### Voices
Google Assistant launched using the voice of Kiki Baessell for the American female voice, the same actress for the Google Voice voicemail system since 2010. From 2016 until present day, the Assistant's default voice is portrayed by Antonia Flynn.
On October 11, 2019, Google announced that Issa Rae had been added to Google Assistant as an optional voice, which could be enabled by the user by saying "Okay, Google, talk like Issa". Although, as of April 2022, Google Assistant response with "Sorry, that voice isn't available anymore, but you can try out another by asking me to change voices", if the command is given.
## Interaction
Google Assistant, in the nature and manner of Google Now, can search the Internet, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings on the user's device, and show information from the user's Google account. Unlike Google Now, however, the Assistant can engage in a two-way conversation, using Google's natural language processing algorithm. Search results are presented in a card format that users can tap to open the page. In February 2017, Google announced that users of Google Home would be able to shop entirely by voice for products through its Google Express shopping service, with products available from Whole Foods Market, Costco, Walgreens, PetSmart, and Bed Bath & Beyond at launch, and other retailers added in the following months as new partnerships were formed. Google Assistant can maintain a shopping list; this was previously done within the notetaking service Google Keep, but the feature was moved to Google Express and the Google Home app in April 2017, resulting in a severe loss of functionality.
In May 2017, Google announced that the Assistant would support a keyboard for typed input and visual responses, support identifying objects and gather visual information through the device's camera, and support purchasing products and sending money. Through the use of the keyboard, users can see a history of queries made to the Google Assistant, and edit or delete previous inputs. The Assistant warns against deleting, however, due to its use of previous inputs to generate better answers in the future. In November 2017, it became possible to identify songs currently playing by asking the Assistant.
The Google Assistant allows users to activate and modify vocal shortcut commands in order to perform actions on their device (both Android and iPad/iPhone) or configuring it as a hub for home automation.
This feature of the speech recognition is available in English, among other languages. In July 2018, the Google Home version of Assistant gained support for multiple actions triggered by a single vocal shortcut command.
At the annual I/O developers conference on May 8, 2018, Google's SEO announced the addition of six new voice options for the Google Assistant, one of which being John Legend's. This was made possible by WaveNet, a voice synthesizer developed by DeepMind, which significantly reduced the amount of audio samples that a voice actor was required to produce for creating a voice model. However, John Legend's Google Assistant cameo voice was discontinued on March 23, 2020.
In August 2018, Google added bilingual capabilities to the Google Assistant for existing supported languages on devices. Recent reports say that it may support multilingual support by setting a third default language on Android Phone.
Speech-to-Text can recognize commas, question marks, and periods in transcription requests.
In April 2019, the most popular audio games in the Assistant, Crystal Ball and Lucky Trivia, have had the biggest voice changes in the application's history. The voice in the assistant has been able to add expression to the games. For instance, in the Crystal Ball game, the voice would speak slow and soft during the intro and before the answer is revealed to make the game more exciting and in the Lucky Trivia game, the voice would become excitable like a game show host. In the British accent voice of Crystal Ball, the voice would say the word 'probably' in a downwards slide like she's not too sure. The games used the text to speech voice which makes the voice more robotic. In May 2019 however, it turned out to be a bug in the speech API that caused the games to lose the studio-quality voices. These audio games were fixed in May 2019.
On December 12, 2019, Google rolled out its interpreter mode for iOS and Android Google Assistant smartphone apps. Interpreter mode allows Google Assistant to translate conversations in real time and was previously only available on Google Home smart speakers and displays. Google Assistant won the 2020 Webby Award for Best User Experience in the category: Apps, Mobile & Voice.
On March 5, 2020, Google rolled out its article-reading feature on Google Assistant that read webpages aloud in 42 different languages.
On October 15, 2020, Google announced a new ‘hum to search' function to allow users to find a song by simply humming, whistling or singing the song. According to Google, when a user hums a melody to search, the machine learning models will automatically convert the audio into a number-based sequence, which represents the song's melody.
### Google Duplex
In May 2018, Google revealed Duplex, an extension of the Google Assistant that allows it to carry out natural conversations by mimicking human voice, in a manner not dissimilar to robocalling. The assistant can autonomously complete tasks such as calling a hair salon to book an appointment, scheduling a restaurant reservation, or calling businesses to verify holiday store hours. While Duplex can complete most of its tasks fully autonomously, it is able to recognize situations that it is unable to complete and can signal a human operator to finish the task. Duplex was created to speak in a more natural voice and language by incorporating speech disfluencies such as filler words like "hmm" and "uh" and using common phrases such as "mhm" and "gotcha", along with more human-like intonation and response latency. Duplex is currently in development and had a limited release in late 2018 for Google Pixel users. During the limited release, Pixel phone users in Atlanta, New York, Phoenix, and San Francisco were only able to use Duplex to make restaurant reservations. As of October 2020, Google has expanded Duplex to businesses in eight countries.
#### Criticism
After the announcement, concerns were made over the ethical and societal questions that artificial intelligence technology such as Duplex raises. For instance, human operators may not notice that they are speaking with a digital robot when conversing with Duplex, which some critics view as unethical or deceitful. Concerns over privacy were also identified, as conversations with Duplex are recorded in order for the virtual assistant to analyze and respond. Privacy advocates have also raised concerns of how the millions of vocal samples gathered from consumers are fed back into the algorithms of virtual assistants, making these forms of AI smarter with each use. Though these features individualize the user experience, critics are unsure about the long term implications of giving "the company unprecedented access to human patterns and preferences that are crucial to the next phase of artificial intelligence".
While transparency was referred to as a key part to the experience when the technology was revealed, Google later further clarified in a statement saying, "We are designing this feature with disclosure built-in, and we'll make sure the system is appropriately identified." Google further added that, in certain jurisdictions, the assistant would inform those on the other end of the phone that the call is being recorded.
## Reception
PC World's Mark Hachman gave a favorable review of the Google Assistant, saying that it was a "step up on Cortana and Siri." Digital Trends called it "smarter than Google Now ever was".
## Criticism
In July 2019 Belgian public broadcaster VRT NWS published an article revealing that third-party contractors paid to transcribe audio clips collected by Google Assistant listened to sensitive information about users. Sensitive data collected from Google Home devices and Android phones included names, addresses, and other private conversations after mistaken hotword triggering, such as business calls or bedroom conversations. From more than 1000 recordings analyzed, 153 were recorded without 'Okay Google' command. Google officially acknowledged that 0.2% of recordings are being listened to by language experts to improve Google's services. On August 1, 2019, Germany's Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has initiated an administrative procedure to prohibit Google from carrying out corresponding evaluations by employees or third parties for the period of three months to provisionally protect the rights of privacy of data subjects for the time being, citing GDPR. A Google spokesperson stated that Google paused “language reviews” in all European countries while it investigated recent media leaks. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Assistant |
Chapter . The Starting Line
Things move faster every day. To keep up, we must stay on our toes and adapt, change, and learn at every opportunity. Every day. All the time.
And we are not alone. Organizational entities— from entrepreneurial start-ups to international megacorporations—also must find ways to learn continuously or they too will be left at the station. Becoming a learning organization is one surefire way to stay on track, on time, and ahead of the competition.
We can think of most organizational strategies as roads that lead to some destination. For example, we may want to reengineer a process to increase productivity. Once that process is fixed, the initiative is over. Even if we continuously improve the process, we can see that this ...
Get 16 Steps to Becoming a Learning Organization—Organizational Development now with O’Reilly online learning.
O’Reilly members experience live online training, plus books, videos, and digital content from 200+ publishers. | https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/16-steps-to/759602/ch01.html |
The invention discloses a cool cola soda water type salad dressing and a production method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of food production. The pasteurized frozen egg liquid is adoptedas the raw material, the formula is unique. The salad dressing is prepared through the processes of separate premixing and stirring of oil phase and water phase, multiple oil injection, vacuum homogenizing, homogenizing cooling, etc. The product has the characteristics of caramel color in appearance, ice-cold and mellow taste, no greasiness, refreshing, normal-temperature storage, long shelf life,low fat and no sucrose, etc. According to the invention, the application range of the salad dressing in food is widened, the edible safety of the salad dressing is improved, which is beneficial to the promotion of light food prospects, the raw material cost is reduced, and the flavor quality of the salad dressing is improved. | |
As per the guidance from the New York State Office of the Attorney General, all SUNY schools are advised to require students to affirm enrollment and accept financial responsibility.
Each semester, students must indicate their commitment to their registered schedule for the upcoming term. Students who fail to complete the Affirming Enrollment process will be subject to cancellation of their course registration in order to maximize seating space in those classes for other students. Accepting Financial Responsibility represents the student’s agreement that they are solely responsible for payment of all charges associated with their student account. The student is also acknowledging their agreement to receive all billing statements electronically ("eBills") via their Brockport email address, as well as their understanding that they will not receive a paper billing statement.
Purpose/Scope
The purpose of the Affirming Enrollment / Accepting Financial Responsibility Policy is to allow students to complete the registration process, and attest to the College their understanding and agreement that they are solely responsible for paying all assessed tuition, fees and other associated costs of attending during a specific academic term, in accordance with published payment deadlines.
Applicability
This policy applies to all students.
Definitions
Enrolled Student — One who has registered for courses and has accepted responsibility for payment of all associated charges. The College refers to this as Affirming Enrollment and Accepting Financial Responsibility.
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) — A membership organization of universities and other institutions involved in American higher education.
Policy Procedures
Each semester, you must indicate your commitment by affirming your enrollment online, via SUNY Brockport's Web Banner (www.brockport.edu, Quicklinks, Web Banner), on or before the affirm deadline; in doing so, you are verifying your agreement to pay all charges associated with your student account by the stated tuition payment deadline (generally, the last business day prior to the first day of the term).
How to Affirm your Enrollment:
• Access Web Banner
• Log in using your Net ID and Password
• Click on Student Services
• Click on Registration
• Click on Affirm Enrollment
• Click on the drop down menu to select the term you are affirming enrollment for
• Click on Submit
• Read the statement in the “Affirming Enrollment and Accepting Financial Responsibility” box
• Click the radio button next to Accept (or Decline)
• Click Submit
• Once submitted, click Exit button to log out of Web Banner
Links to Related Procedures and Information
Verifying Enrollment — Information page
Contact Information
Office of Registration and Records
History (in descending order)
|Item||Date||Explanation|
|Next Review Date||2024-07-21||Three-year review|
|Revision Date||2021-07-21||Policy updated|
|Adoption Date||2008-08-01||Policy Adopted|
Approval
This policy is approved by: | https://brockport.edu/support/policies/adopted/af_accounts_affirm_enroll_accept_financial.html |
2. To balance the production process of various manufacturing activities based on MOST Study.
3. To implement lean concept across organization
4. Training of people on MOST, LEAN, 5S, Kaizen, TPM, World class manufacturing practices.
5. Redefine process flow / material flow, better material handling techniques, inventory control through lean principles, measurement of OEE and OLE of manufacturing process. | https://m.timesjobs.com/mobile/job-detail/manufacturing-amp-assembly-jakson-group-kathua-0-3yrs-jobid-6kUV__SLASH__BRxocpzpSvf__PLUS__uAgZw== |
Q:
What is the preferred behavior of form validation?
What is really the preferred behavior of form validation? When should the validation take place?
When the user clicks "save"
When the input field is out of focus
As the user types
Is the preferred way the same on long vs. short forms, wizards and so on?
What do you think?
(The form will be on desktop platform only)
A:
Generally,
The way in which validation should be implemented varies based on the
unique needs of the form. However, in general, if the user’s input is
incorrect, the system should inform the user by providing an
identifiable and clear message that aids in correcting the error.
from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/indicators-validations-notifications/
More to the point,
The right time to inform about the success/failure of provided data is
right after the user has submitted the information. Inline
form validation that immediately informs users about the correctness
of provided data results in an increase in the conversion rate.
from https://designmodo.com/ux-form-validation/
Working a lot with forms, I believe the least annoying way is to do it when the input field is out of focus until the user fixes the error.
When the user clicks "save" => It is a bit too late for validation
When the input field is out of focus => It is just the right time
As the user types => It is a bit too early for validation
Twitter has it quite right
A:
Validation should be done per input field:
when the user has finished entering his answer: when the field is focused out or after a specific timeout that you consider the user finished typing (as suggested here)
while on focus, the entered information does not validate and extra characters won't make the validation proceed: for example, the user enters an invalid character that won't make the field pass validation
A:
Edit:
For critical forms such as Login, Online transactions, providing any type of information it is necessary to use server validations over https that will execute when users hit the Submit button.
For field level validations such as email, tel, number we can take advantage of client-side validations but with fallback for browsers that have disabled JavaScript;
Native client-side validations take place when the condition is met / as the user types.
Looking at the new values in type attribute <input type="email" />,
and the best implemented in almost all browsers Pattern attribute <input type="tel" pattern="^\d{4}-\d{3}-\d{4}$" >
We are experiencing form validations as the user types / conditions are met [ HTML5 client-side form validations ]. The program/code doesn't send a request to server to validate the information, browsers are taking care of it.
Examples:
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When you have so many gorgeous-looking shoes, you cannot blame yourself for not being sure if the one you picked was really the best.
Often, your mind will go back to that other pair, and you will feel the urge to exchange your pair for the alternative you left in the store.
This can happen weeks after you have worn the new shoes. You may even wear the shoes and find that they do not fit as well as you expected. In some cases, you may have landed into this mess after ordering the shoes online, and then once they are shipped, you discover they are not true to size.
If you are in this situation and are wondering if you can clean the shoes enough for them to be accepted when you return them, we have good news for you.
We are here to show you how to clean the bottom of shoes to return them. Here is how:
There are several ways of cleaning the bottom of your shoes to look new. Let us explore them here:
- Washing with a Mixture of Detergent and Baking Powder
- Clean all the loose dirt from the shoes. You can remove this dirt by slapping the soles of the shoes on your floor. Use a toothbrush to remove the dirt still lodged on the grooves of the outsole. A bristle brush such as a wire brush may damage the shoes’ bottom and make them unsuitable for return.
- Put 2 tablespoons of baking powder and a tablespoon of baking soda in a basin. Add water and stir until you form a thick paste. Apply the paste on the bottom of the shoes with a clean, old toothbrush and rub gently.
- Rinse the brush and apply another coat, then wipe with a clean wet cloth. Repeat the process until the shoes are sparkling clean.
- After removing all the dirt, wipe the shoes with a clean cloth and dry them with a soft dry cloth. Once they dry, the shoes are ready for packing and shipping.
- Cleaning the Shoes Using a Mixture of Warm Water and Dish Washing Powder
- Scrap off any loose dirt, paying attention to the furrows on the bottom of the shoes. A soft brush or an old toothbrush should help you do this. They will not scratch the shoes’ bottom. Scratch marks may make the vendor fail to accept the shoes you are returning.
- Look for a bucket where you can place the shoes without them bending. Put enough lukewarm water in the basin to cover the soles of the shoes but not the upper part of the shoes. Add 2 spoonfuls of dishwasher powder and stir.
- Soak the bottom of your shoes in this water for about 15 minutes. Ensure the top part of the shoes is not soaking in water. Dishwashing powder may not be friendly to some of the materials used to make shoes upper covers.
- Remove and wipe the shoes with a clean dry cloth. They will be as clean as new, and you can pack and ship them once they dry.
- Cleaning the Shoes Using White Toothpaste
- Clean the shoe to get rid of the loose dirt using a soft brush or a toothbrush. As you scrub the loose dirt from the shoes, be careful not to leave conspicuous scratch marks that your vendor may see and refuse to accept back the shoes.
- Apply a thick coat of white toothpaste and spread evenly. Rub the toothpaste on the shoes for about 3 minutes.
- Wipe the toothpaste with a rag.
- If the shoes are not yet clean, reapply the toothpaste and rub it again. Repeat this procedure until you are satisfied the shoes are clean.
- Remove any residue left by the toothpaste until the shoes are fit for boxing and shipping.
- Before packing the shoes, inspect the side of the outsole to ensure you did not smear it with toothpaste.
- Cleaning Shoes’ Bottom Using Vinegar
- Ensure there is no loose dirt on the bottom of your shoe, including inside the creases on the outsole.
- Take a clean piece of cloth and soak it in white vinegar
- Rub the shoe with the cloth until there is no more dirt.
- Leave the shoe to dry naturally.
- Pack the shoes neatly and ship them to your vendor.
- Cleaning the Shoes Bottom Using Nail Polish Remover
This method will backfire if the bottom of your shoes is colored. It will also not work if the part you want to clean is muddy or has loose dirt.
- Once you have removed all the loose dirt from the bottom of the shoes, wipe them clean with a soft clean rag.
- Dry the shoes and then apply a coat of nail polish remover. Do not apply unless the bottom of the shoe is white, as the nail polish remover may interfere with the color of the shoes’ bottom.
- Rub the nail polish remover onto the shoes with a cotton bud. Change the soiled cotton bud and use a clean one to continue rubbing. If some parts have stubborn stains, apply more nail polish remover and continue to rub until the shoes are clean.
- Use a dry clean cotton ball to wipe the nail polish remover and any residue until the shoes are clean.
- Let the shoes dry before boxing neatly and shipping them.
Conclusion
If you bought shoes and now want to return them for whatever reason, you can clean their bottom for them to look as good as new. You can clean them using a mixture of detergent and baking powder or warm water and dishwashing powder.
Some people use toothpaste and some white vinegar with perfect results. Nail polish remover is also helpful, but only on white-colored shoes’ bottoms.
Whatever method you choose, ensure you do not scrub the shoes vigorously. Using a bristle brush can also leave scratch marks that the vendor may use to reject your returned shoes. Follow the steps we have outlined for you to clean the bottom of your shoes to return. | https://fashionandmash.com/how-to-clean-the-bottom-of-shoes-to-return-them/ |
For the past 18 years, seventh grade students in Calvert County have been assisting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S.F.W.S.) and the Virginia Institute for Marine Sciences in a bay-wide study of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). These underwater grasses play a critical role in the health of the bay as a filter for nutrients and sediment which can be detrimental to the health of the environment.
Students complete a variety of projects at Windy Hill Elementary. Projects vary from grade to grade. In social studies and science classes, teachers discuss ways in which students can be responsible for helping out in the community.
Our service-learning projects are linked to our school-wide character education program. Students learn about a different character trait each month. The meaning and examples of each trait are discussed during an assembly and back in the classrooms. Every teacher also picks a student each month that frequently demonstrate the featured trait in their classroom. The child's picture is taken and displaced on a bulletin board.
In December 2006, we emphasized the trait of Caring. As a school, we carried out a food drive to help a family in need for the holiday and demonstrated the trait of caring.
- and creating t-shirts and friendship bracelets for children in John Hopkins Children's Center as part of Caring means Sharing.
Students in a Family Consumer Science class created quilts to be sold as part of a fundraising activity for a local hospice.
20 8th grade math students planted a buttefly garden in the school courtyard. The students found the area of the courtyard and created scale drawings to indicate where to plant the plants. We were aiming to beautify the school grounds.
In this service-learning activity, students and the teacher were involved in an aluminum can recycling drive. The first period classes held a contest in which the class that brought in the most cans by weight won a juice and doughnut party to recognize and celebrate their success.
The most memorable experience I have had engaging my students in service-learning was accompanying them on the CHESPAX canoe trip. This trip allows the students to collect data in hands-on activities that is later analyzed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Students record types of submerged aquatic vegetation present in a local creek, as well as the wildlife species found in the area. This activity provides CHESPAX and the U.S.F.W.S. with valuable information to help work towards solutions to help save the Chesapeake Bay. Prior to the trip, students partake in activities that provide them with the knowledge necessary to effectively understand this service. In addition to the collaborative efforts of teachers, CHESPAX, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, I designed a preparation and reflection activity to further enhance their knowledge. This activity allowed me to incorporate service-learning into a math graphing unit. Having the same students for math and science further enhanced the effectiveness of this task. After the trip, students are engaged in a number of reflection activities. One activity requires them to analyze their data and write a letter reporting their results to the U.S.F.W.S. The organization utilizes this information to determine the overall health of the bay. The U.S.F.W.S. writes letters in response to the students' findings thanking them for the valuable service they provided. The look of pride on the students' faces was priceless. Teaching children with special needs can, at times, be difficult and always challenging. Through this program, I have seen students so enthusiastic and engaged. Their response further validates the need for such service-oriented, hands-on experiences.
My team serves all organizations under the umbrella of the United Way. Activities vary from teacher to teacher and class to class. Students are responsible for identifying a community need and a planning for its resolve. Students brainstorm, discuss, evaluate, contact, and implement the plan. Assessment and reflection is continual and reevaluated often.
We introduce students to service-learning through a variety of projects. We have been reducing solid-waste to prolong the life of our landfill and began a school beautification project.
I am the service-learning coordinator for students at my school. I help students create an action plan and select service-learning projects on which to work.
Students in the Northern High School Key Club serve the community in a variety of ways from acting as student aides at the elementary school to establishing and sponsoring service clubs a two of the county's middle schools. The Key Club is the primary vehicle for transfer students to Northern to meet their service-learning graduation requirement. | http://marylandpublicschools.org/programs/Pages/Service-Learning/LEA/Calvert.aspx |
A few hundred bacteria rest atop a lone grain of sand. Suddenly, a gust of wind scoops up the particle and its occupants, hurtling them toward an unsuspecting plant. The impact causes a tiny abrasion on a leaf and the bacterial passengers disembark to colonize their new home.
The plant is ready to defend itself—approximately 15 percent of its genome is dedicated to immune responses. Microscopic pores will clamp shut to prevent bacteria from entering the plant. Proteins will guard particularly valuable molecular targets. Leaves and stems will sacrifice diseased cells to prevent the microbes from spreading.
The bacteria won’t back down without a fight, however. They pack syringe-like weaponry that injects dozens of toxins directly into plant cells. These molecules will shut down the plant’s immune system and take control of its cellular machinery. What initially seemed like a quick and easy conquest for the bacteria could go either way.
Every day, plants are confronted by a daunting array of pathogens, from microscopic viruses to single-celled protozoa. Generally, the plant emerges victorious. But when it doesn’t, the food supply can be hit hard. “Disease and insects account for up to a 30 percent [agricultural] yield loss globally,” says HHMI-GBMF Investigator Sheng Yang He at Michigan State University. “Every year you can just count on it.”
Preventing even a portion of those crop losses is a critical goal for feeding our expanding global population. Much of what occurs in the plant-pathogen arms race is a black box, but slowly, researchers like He are uncovering the details to learn how to enhance plant resistance to invaders. Some of the facts they’re unearthing are already being used to help protect the world’s crops.
Cellular Sentries
Unlike animals, plants do not have armies of circulating immune cells to fend off invaders. Instead, each cell of the plant must face down every intruder it encounters. As a result, much of the research that goes into boosting plant immunity centers on the events that occur inside the cells that are under attack.
|This video shows what happens to Arabidopsis plants when they are inoculated with Pseudomonas syringae (left pot) or water (right pot) over a five-day period. Video courtesy of Bian Kvitko, Jin Chen, Alec Bonifer, and Sheng Yang He.|
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Pathogens typically invade by breaching a plant’s outer protective “skin” through surface wounds or via pores called stomata—tiny, mouth-like pores that regulate the exchange of gases between the plant and the atmosphere as part of photosynthesis. These entry points lead to cavities between the cells where gas exchange occurs. It is here that the pathogen encounters the plant’s first line of defense—a series of sentinel-like molecules called pattern-recognition receptors that stand watch on the surface of the plant cell. Jutting from the cell’s membrane, these proteins detect general biological characteristics of pathogens. Known as “microbe-associated molecular patterns,” or MAMPs, the telltale traits can be anything from the sugar molecules that make up a bacterium’s cell wall to the flagellin proteins that form its whip-like tail.
“MAMPs are compounds that plants, for the most part, don’t make,” explains Fred Ausubel, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School. “So [plants] can use these molecules to differentiate their own cells from pathogen cells.”
After spotting a pathogen’s MAMP, the pattern-recognition receptors will sound the alarm by sending signals to the interior of the plant cell. What follows is a series of events—known as MAMP-triggered immunity—aimed at preventing the invading pathogen from colonizing the plant.
For example, stomata, which coat the underside of leaves, close to keep additional microbes from entering the plant. Generally, stomata are closed at night but open during the day, when they provide a perfect entry point for opportunistic microbes. Using the plant model organism Arabidopsis thaliana, Sheng Yang He and his Michigan State team showed that the cells that form stomata contain pattern-recognition receptors in their membranes. When they detect a pathogen, these “guard” cells swell, closing up the pore. He’s group is doing genetic screens to pinpoint the proteins that control this opening and closing, with the aim of eventually fortifying the response in plants.
Cristian Danna, a postdoctoral fellow in Ausubel’s lab, recently discovered another MAMP-triggered cellular defense tactic. The presence of bacterial flagellin causes plant cells to suck nutrients out of their apoplastic space—the area between cells. “This makes sense when you think about the mode of infection of most bacterial pathogens,” says Ausubel. “They don’t actually enter plant cells. They grow and multiply in the apoplastic space where they are dependent on the plant for nutrients to grow.” By turning on amino acid and sugar transporters, the plant can starve the bacteria by removing nutrients from where the bacteria live.
A Clandestine Campaign
If starvation tactics and stomata on lockdown were enough to deter all pathogens, researchers would have a pretty easy time fortifying plant defenses to boost crop yield. However, that’s not the case. In the late 1990s, He and other researchers discovered that some bacteria, such as Pseudomonas syringae, contain a syringe-like apparatus for injecting toxic proteins into plant cells. Called the type III secretion system (T3SS), this impressive machine is also found in animal pathogens. It consists of about 20 proteins assembled into a hollow complex that stretches from a bacterium’s cytoplasm, through its membranes, across the plant’s thick cell wall, and into the plant’s plasma membrane. The resulting channel allows a wave of toxic foot soldiers, known as “effectors,” to march directly from the bacterium into the plant cell’s cytoplasm.
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Each of the roughly 15 to 30 effectors that bacteria deliver into the plant cell carries a tag that directs it to a certain cellular location—for example, the plasma membrane, chloroplasts, nuclei, or mitochondria. “It’s like a zip code that gets them to the various places,” explains plant biologist Brian Staskawicz. His group at the University of California, Berkeley, was the first to identify a bacterial effector. Once deployed, the effectors set about terminating MAMP-triggered immune responses, diverting nutrients, and making it easier for the pathogen to colonize the rest of the plant, often by mimicking or inhibiting the cell’s functions. Several effectors from P. syringae target the MAMP receptors at the plant cell membrane. Another effector, called HopM1, goes after an Arabidopsis protein that ups a plant’s defenses, possibly by moving antimicrobial compounds to the cell wall.
T3SS may be the chink in a pathogen’s armor that researchers have been looking for. Taking out the syringe-like structure could effectively halt the delivery of all toxic proteins into the plant cell. Many research groups are screening libraries of chemical compounds that could inhibit T3SS. He’s team is taking a different approach, screening 4,000 medicinal plant extracts to see if any affect this particular weapon. “You would think that if the T3SS is so important, and if plants are smart, they would have evolved something to target it for defense,” He says. “The hypothesis may be wrong, but I think it’s worth trying.” If he’s right, his extracts could yield a very effective pesticide.
The Permanent Arms Race
Once their primary blockades have been breached, plants have a second line of defense: They unleash a squad of “resistance” proteins that disarm the invading effectors. Scientists now have a good handle on the identities of many of these molecules.
“People have been selecting for disease-resistant plants since the dawn of agriculture,” explains Jeff Dangl, an HHMI-GBMF investigator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “What in fact they were selecting for, and what’s been bred into all of our food, are disease-resistance genes.” These plants have allowed our crop yields to remain high in the face of pathogen invasion, explains Dangl. With the genes that produce disease-resistance proteins in hand, scientists like Dangl hope to deploy them in a more targeted fashion to improve crop yield.
Most disease-resistance genes code for a family of molecules called nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptor, or NLR, proteins. These proteins are found in everything from moss to tomatoes. NLR proteins detect effectors. In some cases, they do it by sensing the action of the pathogen effector on its host target, like a surveillance antenna. In other cases, they bind directly to the effector. Both cases activate the NLR protein, producing a suite of cellular responses that block pathogen replication. “There’s a permanent arms race between the pathogen and the plant,” explains HHMI-GBMF Investigator Jorge Dubcovsky. Pathogens are constantly evolving new effectors and effector combinations that are not detected by NLR proteins, and plants are continuously evolving new NLR proteins that recognize the novel effectors.
Dubcovsky, who uses genetics to build stronger varieties of wheat, is entering this arms race. A major project in his University of California, Davis, lab focuses on helping wheat build its defenses against rust fungus. In the 1950s, an outbreak of the fungus wiped out about 40 percent of the U.S. wheat harvest. Scientists have since bred disease-resistant wheat cultivars (strains), but a new race of rust able to defeat the deployed defense genes showed up in Uganda in 1999. The new rust variant, called Ug99, has now spread to South Africa and Iran, among other countries.
“This is kind of personal because when I released my first wheat variety as a breeder, the very next year it was destroyed by rust,” explains Dubcovsky. Since then, he’s developed several varieties of wheat containing combinations of resistance genes that protect against current rust races. He’s also cloned two wheat genes—Yr36 and Sr35—that confer resistance to rust. The Yr36 gene, cloned in 2009, has already been added to several varieties of wheat released in California and other parts of the world. Dubcovsky published the identity of the Sr35 gene in Science in August 2013. In the same issue of the journal, Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation reported on the identification of another Ug99 resistance gene. Both genes can now be bred into wheat to decrease the chances of a new strain of Ug99 from cropping up.
“The combination of rust resistance genes is similar to the AIDS strategy where you attack the pathogen with a cocktail of things that target different viral pathways,” explains Dubcovsky. “It’s very unlikely that the pathogen can mutate simultaneously at all these pathways.”
Staskawicz, at Berkeley, is hoping to create a similar cocktail to protect tomatoes against bacterial spot disease, one of the most destructive pathogens affecting field and greenhouse crops. His team is searching for effectors that are conserved in several strains of the bacteria and using them to find the corresponding disease-resistance genes. They’ve also taken a bacterial spot resistance gene from pepper plants and placed it in tomatoes. Field tests in Florida showed promising results. Eventually, farmers growing these modified plants will not have to use harmful copper-based pesticides to protect tomatoes against bacterial spot disease.
Tactical Defense
Although plant breeders have been tweaking disease-resistance genes to boost plant immunity for over a hundred years by using the simple rules of genetics, exactly how their NLR proteins stop effectors remained a mystery until about 13 years ago. Plants have far fewer disease-resistance proteins than bacteria and other pathogens have effectors, so it’s unlikely that each NLR protein recognizes just one specific effector. In 2001, Dangl and Jonathan Jones, a plant biologist at the Sainsbury Laboratory in the United Kingdom, proposed an alternative theory.
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Currently, Dangl’s team is involved in what he refers to as a “big funnel approach” to defining a huge diversity of effector targets in Arabidopsis. “The idea is to find out what really happens when a pathogen infects a plant,” explains Petra Epple, a research associate in Dangl’s lab.
Epple and her colleagues in the Dangl lab mapped the Arabidopsis targets for two pathogens—the Gram-negative bacterium P. syringae and the fungus-like pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis—and discovered that they seem to converge on a set of core cellular proteins involved in MAMP-triggered immunity. “That can’t be random,” says Dangl, “and statistical analyses back us up.” His team plans to figure out how each effector interacts with these core proteins.
Damage Control
Once activated, a plant’s NLR proteins unleash a surge of antimicrobial molecules and cell death signals that help the surrounding tissue resist the invading pathogen and minimize damage to the plant. This response, termed effector-triggered immunity, is a shorter, faster version of the immunity caused by MAMP molecules.
Xinnian Dong, an HHMI-GBMF investigator at Duke University, discovered that one way a plant controls the spread of effector-triggered immunity is through the production of salicylic acid (the active ingredient in aspirin) at the infection site. By interacting with different receptors, salicylic acid promotes death in infected cells and prevents it in healthy ones.
Dong also made the surprising finding that the circadian clock regulates pro-cell death genes. “We were really puzzled by this for a long time,” she admits. That is, until she looked at the life cycle of H. arabidopsidis. This pathogen forms spores in the evening and sends them out to colonize plants when the sun rises. In response, the plant anticipates infection in the morning and enhances its resistance accordingly.
Dong has a hunch that plants also have a humidity-controlled circadian clock that triggers cell death when threat of invasion is high. “Humidity is very important for pathogen infection,” she explains. “We know that when something gets wet, it gets moldy.” Perhaps plants can anticipate humidity changes and will ramp up their cell death genes to prepare for high mold counts when the air is moist.
These circadian connections underscore the fact that plants don’t grow in isolated, controlled environments in which they are attacked by a single pathogen. With this in mind, many plant immunologists are taking a more holistic approach to their research and incorporating a plant’s surroundings in their studies. For example, He and Dangl are looking at how plants interact with the collection of microbes that grow in and around them.
Piecing together the information from inside and outside the plant, scientists are slowly beginning to understand how plants ward off pathogens, and they are applying that information to agriculture. “I think we are at a point where we have enough knowledge now to effectively deploy the plant immune system,” says Dangl. By helping plants stay mean and green, farmers may no longer have to relinquish a portion of their crops to disease.
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WEB EXTRA
Scientists are learning more about the beneficial relationships between plants and bacteria. | https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/winter-2014/defenses |
The formation of the Temiskaming Rift Valley was a singularly defining event for this region.
The following text is taken from "Impressions of Temiskaming", by Michael Werner, 2013
Temiskaming is built on the same Archean basement rock that underlies almost all of Canada, the Precambrian or Canadian Shield. It also lies within an ecoregion known as the Boreal Forest, which covers almost 60% of Canada’s land area, forming a continuous belt from the east coast to the Rockies. Scientists call the area where the Canadian Shield and the Boreal Forest overlap the Boreal Shield, the largest of Canada's 15 terrestrial ecozones.
Newly emerged from the glacial might of the ice ages after the retreat of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet only 10,000 years ago, the mere blink of an eye in geological time, it is an extremely young landscape. Though the rock is unimaginably old, formed one to two billion years ago, the current surface features have been so influenced by the recent continental glaciations that it almost seems as if nothing that came before matters. From Newfoundland in the east to British Columbia in the west, there is a commonality to the physical geography of the landscape that, in some enigmatic but distinct way, tells you that you are standing in some part of the vastness of Canada's Boreal Shield country.
Because of this common glacial history, Temiskaming shares a great deal of its character with the rest of northern Canada. And yet in the underlying details there is still much to distinguish her. Though the glaciers have certainly left their mark, the geological phenomena that have conspired to produce the most distinctive landform endowment of Temiskaming began much, much longer ago.
About 450 million years ago, near the end of the Ordovician period, a series of already existing, even older faults were reactivated along a weak zone of the North American tectonic plate. As the underlying tectonic forces attempted to stretch the plate, these parallel faults resulted in a block of land subsiding by about 300 meters to produce a deep rift valley 50 kilometers wide and 400 kilometers long. The Temiskaming Rift Valley was born.
The Temiskaming Rift Valley, or Temiskaming Graben, is the northern extension of the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, which is part of the Saint Lawrence rift system.
The development of the Temiskaming Rift Valley was a singularly defining event for this region. It has had a controlling influence on all of the surface processes that followed, including even the glaciers themselves. It was not, however, a simple, one-time occurrence. The full geological picture is somewhat more complicated and spans hundreds of millions of years. The Temiskaming Rift Valley is actually a succession of nested rift valleys, assembled along several series of parallel fault lines, each becoming progressively deeper the closer they are positioned to the centre of the main formation. The deepest, and perhaps most recently active, is a long trench about 3 kilometers wide that forms the deepest parts of Lake Temiskaming.
In addition, during some of the later subsidence events, there remained raised blocks between some of the subsiding blocks. The ridge from Dawson Point to Earlton, down the centre of which runs a section of Highway 11, is one such block that remained raised when blocks on either side of it subsided further. This limestone escarpment, a remnant of Paleozoic sedimentary sea-floor deposits, is itself a portion of the dropped block from the earlier main subsidence event. All Paleozoic sediments on the surrounding landscape, for 225 kilometers in every direction, that were not protected as part of this subsided block within the Temiskaming Rift Valley, have long ago eroded away into complete oblivion.
The ancient faults that delimit the Temiskaming Rift Valley and its substructures are still active today, and recent studies of the post-glacial sediments at the bottom of Lake Temiskaming indicate that there has been significant and ongoing faulting and subsidence within even the last few thousand years. The magnitude 6.2 Temiskaming earthquake of November 1, 1935, the magnitude 5.2 Kipawa earthquake of January 1, 2000, and the magnitude 5.0 earthquake centred 60km northeast of Ottawa on June 23, 2010 are all associated with the release of stresses along this same system of faults. These faults form part of a zone of earthquake activity known as the Western Quebec Seismic Zone, the most seismically active area in eastern North America. Indeed, the Temiskaming Rift Valley, and associated rift valleys along the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, seem to represent a persistent weak zone in the otherwise rigid North American plate.
The formation of the Temiskaming Rift Valley 450 million years ago is responsible for much of that which distinguishes Temiskaming District from the rest of northern Ontario today. From the agricultural plains of the Little Clay Belt to the mineral deposits that have given us such a rich mining history, this system of faults and rifts has provided an enduring and unique legacy. There are "kimberlite pipes" within the rift valley that are considered to be diamond bearing.
A rift valley is a linear-shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. A rift valley is formed on a divergent plate boundary, a crustal extension or spreading apart of the surface, which is subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion. When the tensional forces are strong enough to cause the plate to split apart, a center block drops between the two blocks at its flanks, forming a graben. The drop of the center creates the nearly parallel steeply dipping walls of a rift valley when it is new. That feature is the beginning of the rift valley, but as the process continues, the valley widens, until it becomes a large basin that fills with sediment from the rift walls and the surrounding area. | https://temiskamingriftvalley.ca/about/the-geology/ |
This study presents empirical evidence on the effects of incentives on industrial productivity in China's food industry. Data covering the 1990-1996 period were collected from 30 food enterprises in Guangdong Province. The empirical results support the use of bonus schemes to motivate enterprises to achieve higher levels of productivity. Moreover, the study indicates an important variable affecting productivity: the proportion of temporary workers in the total labour force. It was found that flexibility in the use of temporary workers could produce a positive effect on enterprise productivity. This finding strongly supports the need for flexibility in employment policies. When compared to state-owned and collective-owned enterprises, their counterparts, e.g. foreign ventures and joint-stock enterprises, were relatively more efficient in production. | https://research.polyu.edu.hk/en/publications/industrial-productivity-in-china-the-case-of-the-food-industry-in |
A study conducted on 2,496 adults at least 51 years of age experiencing insomnia symptoms by American Academy of Sleep Medicine on nearly 2,500 adults in sleep journal predict that having trouble falling asleep is the main insomnia symptom led to cognitive impairment 14 years later.
Insomnia involves difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, or regularly waking up earlier than desired, despite allowing enough time in bed for sleep and include symptoms like fatigue or sleepiness; feeling dissatisfied with sleep; having trouble concentrating; feeling depressed, anxious, or irritable; and having low motivation or energy.
‘Having trouble falling asleep predicts cognitive impairment in later life.’
“While there is growing evidence for a link between insomnia and cognitive impairment in older adults, it has been difficult to interpret the nature of these associations given how differently both insomnia and cognitive impairment can present across individuals,” said lead author Afsara Zaheed, a graduate student in clinical science within the department of psychology at the University of Michigan.
As sleep health and sleep behaviours are modifiable so regular screening for insomnia symptoms may help with tracking and identifying people with trouble falling asleep at risk for developing cognitive impairments later in life. | https://dbanews.xyz/2021/06/10/insomnia-an-intervention-target-for-dementia-prevention/ |
The municipality may be establishing a new advisory committee to oversee planning issues in Prince Edward County.
Councillors supported a motion that would establish a planning advisory committee and terms of reference during last week’s committee-of-the-whole meeting. The motion goes to council on Nov. 14 for approval.
The move was initiated as a result of Bill 73, the Smart Growth for Our Communities Act, being given Royal assent and enabled in part by regulations which took effect July 1, 2016, a staff report presented to councillors last week says. The bill made several changes to the Planning Act, including issues related to Official Plan policies and administrative procedures, such as a requirement for a PAC.
“It is mandatory to have a planning advisory committee and staff are recommending a group of your current advisors put together a group with a couple of councillors and members of the public to act in an advisory capacity with no actual approval-granting authority,” said engineering, development, and works commissioner Robert McAuley.
The report says current advisory committees such as the agricultural advisory committee and the heritage advisory committee are acknowledged as advisory committees, but a formal resolution would have to be passed by council to that effect and would necessitate changes to the committees’ terms of reference.
“When we looked at that as staff, the concern was that those other committees are structured for a specific purpose — for example the agricultural advisory committee — and to alter them to also deal with planning policy might be a bit of a problem for those that are there with an agricultural desire and less of a planning or legislative desire,” McAuley said.
The new committee must consist of at least one local resident who is neither a councillor or County employee. Recommendations from the committee would not be binding on council decisions.
The report outlines a number of options related to the structure of the committee. However, staff recommended the committee comprise members of other advisory committees along with other appointees from council to function as the new planning committee.
“You would get each of the disciplines represented at the planning advisory committee as opposed to changing one of your current advisory committees,” said McAuley.
The report says the new committee could provide feedback to council or staff regarding ongoing policy-related matters such as small homes, second units, and short-term accommodation rentals. The committee wouldn’t have any planning decision-making authority of its own.
While the majority supported the motion, there were a few councillors who did not. Councillor Janice Maynard said the municipality has some strong committees that already deal with many planning issues.
“If we can indeed cover the requirements by using our existing committees, I really don’t see the need to form a new committee,” she said.
She said while the report doesn’t specify what the actual cost might be, there will be a cost. She said the new committee will also increase the workload and meeting schedule for volunteer members. | https://www.pictongazette.ca/2017/11/01/county-moving-forward-with-mandatory-planning-advisory-committee/ |
The MIT Senseable City Lab has unveiled their “Favelas 4D” project, dedicated to mapping the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using 3D laser scanning technology to analyze the urban landscape of Rocinha, the project seeks to understand and quantify the architectural logic of one of Brazil’s famous informal settlements.
Brazil’s favelas consist of dense, multilayered, informal settlements that dot the hills of large cities such as Rio de Janeiro; their urban chaos contrasting starkly with the planned neighborhoods surrounding them. This spatial complexity makes the favelas a difficult terrain for typical open-source mapping tools such as satellite imagery and Google Street View, leaving much of their labyrinthine cityscapes unmapped and misunderstood.
n the importance of mapping these informal settlements, the MIT team explains; “The global trend of urbanization is not limited to shining downtown districts and masterplanned developments: of the roughly 4 billion people who live in cities worldwide, almost 1 billion reside in informal settlements constructed without official urban planning. These settlements are built spontaneously and competitively, resulting in a complex urban morphology. People living in informal settlements are largely excluded from city infrastructure and services—exposing them to a variety of public health and security challenges—but they continue to absorb new generations of residents as the world’s exploding urban population outpaces the availability of official affordable housing.”
For Favelas 4D, the MIT team led by architect and professor Carlo Ratti used point-cloud data from LiDAR scans taken at street level in the favela, forming an ultra-high resolution 3D digital environment. The advantage of using LiDAR over other mapping methods for the study lies in its unparalleled precision; using laser pulses to measure distances and map miniscule points in digital space. LiDAR mapping of the favela’s form can reveal patterns of unregulated construction, identify logic among the informality, and reveal insights that can guide interventions and policies to improve safety and welfare in Rocinha and other favelas.
For the complete article on Favelas 4D CLICK HERE.
Note – If you liked this post click here to stay informed of all of the 3D laser scanning, geomatics, UAS, autonomous vehicle, Lidar News and more. If you have an informative 3D video that you would like us to promote, please forward to [email protected] and if you would like to join the Younger Geospatial Professional movement click here. | https://blog.lidarnews.com/favelas-4d-uses-lidar-analyze-brazils-settlements/ |
Loose, watery and soft stools are symptoms of Diarrhoea. Stomach cramps, pressure and abdominal bloating are seen in Diarrhoea patients. It can be diagnosed by the symptoms itself and no tests are prescribed. However, in severe conditions, few blood tests and stool culture may be prescribed. The patient needs to stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids to ease the symptoms. Electrolyte solutions are very helpful in Diarrhoea. Eating banana, rice, toast are good.
Diarrhoea occurs when the digestive system is weakened. According to Ayurveda its usually by excess pitta. To get rid of this we need to pacify pitta and kindle Agni.
Diet:
The diet should include simple and nourishing foods. Also, drinks which have cooling effects such as, cilantro, mint, fennel, coconut should be consumed. Avoid spicy food, salty food caffeine, alcohol, sour food items, fermented food.
Home remedies for Diarrhoea:
· Take 1tsp of isabgol powder(psyllium husk) in one cup of fresh yogurt and mix well. Take this after food at bedtime.
· Take 1/4tsp of ginger powder and mix it in 1tsp of pure ghee. Add 1/2tsp of sugar and take this three times a day for 3-4 days.
· Mix 1/2tsp of fennel powder with 1/2tsp of ginger powder and take this 2-3 times a day.
Below are a few specific food preparations to treat Diarrhoea:
· Banana: Take 1-2 bananas and slice them in small pieces. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and add a teaspoon of warm ghee to it. Take this twice a day.
· Buttermilk: Blend ½ cup of curd with 1cup of water in mixer also add grated ginger and drink this twice a day.
· Rice and Yogurt: Mix 1 cup of cooked rice in yogurt and add a tsp of ghee to it and eat this.
· Apple: Chop 1 apple and add 2 cups of water. Add a pinch of cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, salt, and some warm ghee. Cover and cook till mushy. Take this every day once.
Ayurvedic treatment for Bedwetting
Bed wetting means urinating in bed at night unknowingly. Few children gain control over the bladder at the age of 3-4 years and stop urination in bed. But, for few this mechanism is weak, and they pass urine in bed. For few it continues till 15-20 years and creates embarrassing situation in teenagers.
Cause:
- Physical factors like, shyness, fear, conflicts between parents, problems in school, feel insecure.
- Emotional factors can also cause bedwetting.
- Infection in the urinary system.
- Structural defect in the tract.
- Thread worms in the stool
Home remedies:
- Mix sarso powder(sarshapa) in a cup of milk and give at night before going to bed.
- A teaspoon of honey should be given before going to bed.
Ayurvedic treatments:
Below medicines are recommended by Ayurveda practitioners to treat Bedwetting. Although most of the ayurvedic medicines are safe, we highly recommend taking advise from a qualified practitioner before trying below mentioned medicines.
- 1-2 tablets of Neo can be given twice a day for 2-3 months.
- ½ tablet of Chandraprabha vati can be given twice a day.
- ½ tablet of Shilajitvadi vati can be given with some warm milk.
Do’s and Don’ts:
- Go for evening walks.
- No oral liquids should be taken after 4pm.
- Urinate before going to bed.
- Spicy and fried food items should be not given as these cause gas.
- Do not scold the children before going to bed.
Piles or hemorrhoids are small painful swellings comprising of enlarged blood vessels. It is just inside or outside the anus and is commonly known as internal or external piles. Piles are common during pregnancy.
Causes:
- Constipation and other bowel disorders
- Poor diet habits
- Sitting on hard seats for long time
- Lack of exercise
- Obesity
- Heredity
- Mental tension
Symptoms:
It causes severe pain during passing stools. Pain while sitting, discomfort and itches.
Home remedies to treat Piles:
- Make juice of ripe Bael fruit adding sugar, black pepper and cardamom powder. Take this juice twice a day.
- Take out the juice of radish. Add some salt and drink it twice a day for about a month.
- Take 30-50 ml of decoction of sonth once a day.
- Take buttermilk twice a day after food.
- Soak 2-3 dry figs in water and take this on empty stomach in the morning. Take this in the evening also. Continue it for 3-4 weeks.
- Make onion juice and add some sugar as per taste. Take this juice for about a month daily.
- Juice of bitter gourd juice is also very helpful. Mix this juice with a glass of butter milk and drink in the morning.
- Sprinkle some salt on Jambul fruit and eat this every morning for 2-3 months.
- Mango seed powder can be taken with honey.
- Isabgol or Psyllium husk are very good for getting rid of constipation. That helps in preventive measure of piles. Many ayurvedic piles medicines are also based on isabgol.
Ayurvedic Medicines for Piles:
Ayurveda practitioners generally prescribe below medicines to treat Piles. Although most of the ayurvedic medicines are safe, we highly recommend taking advice from a qualified practitioner before trying below mentioned medicines as medicine recommendation can change based on type of ‘dosha‘ body the patient has.
- 30 ml of Abhayarishta syrup should be taken with lukewarm water before going to bed.
- 2 pills of Arsha Harivati can be taken twice a day with butter milk or warm water for 40 days.
- Triphalachurnam should be taken regularly to cure constipation. Take 2 tsp of this powder with warm water before going to bed.
Diet:
Avoid spicy food. Eat easily digestible food. Drink enough water. Adopt fruit diet for few days as fruits are rich in fibre.
Jaundice is very common in new born babies. But it can also happen to people of all age groups. It forms yellow tinge in the skin and whitens the eyes. Body fluids may also be yellow. Jaundice is a sign of disorders of the liver and gall bladder. The patient may feel extremely weak and sudden loss of appetite.
Causes:
Below are few reasons which cause jaundice.
- Gallstones can cause jaundice.
- It also happens when large amount of bilirubin is produced by the breakdown of red cells.
- Hepatitis or chronic malaria due to liver damage may result to jaundice.
Home remedies for Jaundice:
- Barley water can be given to patients with diabetes to cure jaundice.
- 20gms of Triphala powder mixed in a glass of water can be given twice a day.
- Mix 20ml of fresh neem juice with 20ml of pure honey. Add 3gms of pepper powder to this. This can be taken twice day.
- Plenty of sugarcane juice can be taken.
Ayurvedic Medicines for Jaundice:
Below medicines are generally recommended by Ayurveda practitioners to treat Jaundice. Although most of the ayurvedic medicines are safe, as many times medicines differe based on body ‘dosha’ type, we highly recommend taking advice from a qualified practitioner before trying taking below mentioned medicines.
- Take Livpar 1-2 tab twice a day.
- 1 tab of Punarnava Mandoor can be taken thrice a day for 2-3 weeks.
- 125g of Navaras Loh can be given thrice a day.
- 10ml of jaundex syrup can be given thrice a day along with one tab of Nirocil.
Diet:
The patient should be hydrated which is most important. Drink plenty of water. You can mix lime juice or grapefruit juice to water. Eat lot of fruits and vegetables. Grapes, lemon, papaya, melons, yam, pumpkin, tomatoes, spinach are good to eat during jaundice. Avoid high calorie food.
Ayurvedic treatment for Hiccups
Hiccups are very common and not a disease. It irritates a lot when lasts for longer time. It is a repeated noisy intake of air. It generally lasts for more than a few minutes sometimes.
Causes:
- While smoking and eating chewing gum also a person can swallow air and end up with hiccups.
- Acid reflux caused due to side effects of medicines can also lead to hiccups.
- Eating and drinking too much.
- When eating too fast a person can swallow air and it causes hiccups.
- Stress, worry, anxiety are also some reasons.
- Swelling, infection, or masses in liver can cause irritation of the diaphragm, which leads to hiccups.
- Crying and coughing can cause hiccups for babies.
Home remedies for Hiccups:
- Sit quietly and hold the breath.
- Place a paper bag over the mouth and breath in and out for some time.
- Kulatha in form of soup or dal is very effective.
- If it persists for longer time, seek medical aid.
Ayurvedic Remedies for Hiccups:
Below medicines are recommended by Ayurveda practitioners to treat hiccups. Although most of the ayurvedic medicines are safe, we highly recommend taking advise from a qualified practitioner before trying below mentioned medicines.
- Mayura Chandrika Bhasma should be taken 5gms, six times a day with honey.
- Sukumar Ghritham can be taken 1 tsp thrice a day with milk.
- Mix cardamom powder with honey and suck it twice a day.
- Crush 1-2 tablets of Eladivatti, mix it with honey and have 4-6 times a day.
Intestinal worm is very common in children. It is also seen in Adults. This is caused due to poor sanitation, personal hygiene and contamination of food and hygiene. Hook worms, tape worm, round worms, giardia are different types of worm seen in human intestines.
Causes:
Contaminated food and water.
Improperly cooked food and meat.
Drinking unclean water.
Symptoms:
The symptoms occur according to the presence of type of worm. Hook worms suck and blood and further causes Anaemia. Cough, vomit, and loss of appetite are the symptoms of Round worms. Some patients also suffer with fever, urticaria and bronchitis.
Home Remedies for Intestinal worms:
- Mix 1 tsp of honey with coconut water and take this twice a day.
- Mix 5gm ajwain with a pinch of salt. Take this on empty stomach for a week.
- Take 2-3 tomatoes with a pinch of black pepper and salt on empty stomach for about 2 weeks.
- Take an apple a day.
Ayurvedic Medicines for Intestinal worms:
Below medicines are generally recommended by Ayurveda practitioners to treat Intestinal worms. Although most of the ayurvedic medicines are safe, we highly recommend taking advise from a qualified practitioner before trying below mentioned medicines.
- Take Krimi Har Ras tab once a day for about 2 weeks.
- 1 tablet of Krimi Kalanal Ras twice a day for a week.
- 1 tablet of Krimi Mudgar Ras thrice a day.
Diet:
Avoid food which is difficult to digest. Take food which is bitter in taste. Like, bitter gourd, neem flower, drumstick. Avoid sweets. Avoid sleeping during day time. Do not eat junk food, fast food.
Hair fall, to both man and woman specially, is a big matter of concern when the sight of a hair brush or comb is full with hairs. It can cause mental distress and emotional breakdown.
A person can lose up to 100 strands of hairs per day. But, losing more hair can cause baldness. Anyhow, this is not a life-threatening condition and there are various remedies available to prevent and stop hair loss.
Causes:
There are many causes for hair loss. The most common reason is Stress. People with vitamin B and folic acid deficiency also lose hair.
However, with proper diagnosis and intake of these vitamins and food containing these vitamins, hair grows normally.
Few diseases like, Thyroid, Typhoid, Chronic cold, Anaemia also cause hair fall.
Unclean scalp also weakens the hair roots and causes hair fall. Dandruff is one of the most common reasons of Hair fall.
Home Remedies for Dandruff:
- Keep your comp clean and sanitized. A host of germs grow in unclean combs. Try to keep separate combs for each members of the family.
- Do not wash hair too often. It removes the healthy oily substance created by body for hair and scalp making it too dy.
- Clean the Hair 2-3 times a week with a mild shampoo. Do not get cheated by advertisements with strong shampoo which can cause adverse effect on your scalp and hair health.
- Take some need bark and boil it in water to prepare a decoction. Apply it half an hour before washing hair.
- Neem oil and camphor are also found to be effective in treating dandruff. Take a mixture of both and apply on hair before washing hair.
- Freshly extracted lemon juice with pure coconut oil can be applied on scalp to get rid of dandruff.
Home Remedies for Hair fall:
Below are few best home remedies which will help you from hair loss.
- Take a handful of fresh neem leaves and boil it will 2 cups of water. Cool it and filter it. Rinse your hair with this water.
- Soak methi(fenugreek) seeds overnight, grind it and make a paste. Apply this paste on hair and wash it after 20 minutes.
- Apply fresh Aloevera juice on scalp and wash it after 30 mins. Repeat twice a week.
- Grind 1-2 Onions and squeeze out the juice. Apply this to scalp and wash after 20 minutes.
- Apply fresh lemon juice in scalp and hair and wash hair after 30 minutes.
- Mix 1tsp honey and 1tsp olive oil in 2 egg white. Apply this from root to tips. And wash after 20 minutes.
- Soak 2-3 tea bags in 1-2 cups of hot water. Gently massage your head and rinse with water after an hour.
- Mix 2tsp of yoghurt in 1tsp of honey and 1tsp of lemon and apply this on the scalp. Rinse with cold water after 30 minutes.
Ayurveda Medicines:
Below medicines are recommended by Ayurveda practitioners. We highly recommend to take advise from a qualified practitioner before trying Ayurveda medicines.
- Bhringaraj Tailam is recommended to apply on the scalp.
- Khadirarista which is known as a blood purifier is also recommended to cure dandruff. 20 ml of this mix with water is prescribed to patients.
- Brihat Haridra Khanda is recommended to take with water. Its known as one of the best medicine to control dandruff.
- Often Gandhak Rasayana 60 mg is prescribed to chronic patients of dandruff and fungal infection
- Septilin is recommended in case of scalp infection diagnosis.
Passing air or farting is a natural process and something that everybody does. However, doing it a lot is not a sign of good health. Moreover, what if it happens in public? Embarrassing, right? You sometimes think that it would not make any noise, but it does. Sometimes, you even believe that others will not sense the foul smell, but when you see that people around you become uncomfortable with the foul odor, you feel like hiding your face. Many people reading this can relate to this.
More than 30% of people around the world suffer from problems related to flatulence – and most people choose to ignore. This is because they think it is a natural thing that is bound to happen. It is true to a certain extent, but beyond that point, it is indeed a matter of concern and requires medical help.
Many people feel embarrassed to discuss this with their doctor’s as well. However, it is best to treat this naturally. Ayurveda has effective treatments for people suffering from excessive flatulence.
What Exactly is Flatulence?
Flatulence (Aadhyaman in Sanskrit) is the accumulation of gas in the alimentary canal. Excessive flatulence can lead to the urge of farting frequently. The gas can be passed from the anus or the mouth, and both are considered to be a breach of etiquette. It may or may not come out with a sound and may or may not have a bad odor. The gas so expelled is called flatus.
Flatulence is natural. If it does not happen, then there is something wrong with your digestion system. However, if it happens all day long, and you have no control over it, it needs to be treated.
Causes of Flatulence
According to Ayurveda, excessive flatulence is the result of the presence of abnormal Agni in your body. Agni, as you probably know, means fire. A healthy person is someone who has normal Agni in this body. When the amount of Agni increases, it makes the person unhealthy.
At times, the Agni gets vitiated, and some of the reasons behind it can be the following:
- Prajnaparadha or any offence against wisdom – one part of your body insists on doing something that is detrimental to the other parts
- Kaaliparinama or unexpected change in weather conditions
Asatmyendriyarthasamayoga or incorrect coordination of the various sense organs and their objects
- Any one of these three factors can damage your Pitta dosha, a situation known as amala pitta.
Humans tend to take in the air while doing a lot of daily activities. For example, you take in a considerable amount of air while drinking water. This air can also lead to flatulence, urging you to pass wind. This wind is always odourless and does not make a sound as well. Certain types of foods are known to produce more gas when consumed like beans, cauliflower, turnips, etc.
Antibiotics and improper placement of dentures can also cause flatulence indirectly. Dentures fitted incorrectly do not let you chew your food properly. Flatulence can be genetic as well.
Symptoms of Flatulence
A healthy individual passes wind at least eight to ten times a day. Excessive flatulence can be due to some deep-rooted gastric or intestinal problems. If that is so, a detailed medical investigation is recommended. If passing air is accompanied by pain, it can be due to ulcer or tumours. Visit a doctor immediately, if you are experiencing something like this.
Symptoms That You Need to be On the Lookout For
Repeated, uncontrolled, and frequent urge to pass wind. This is an urge that the nerve endings of the anus feel and gives you a single.
In case of excessive flatulence, sometimes the person mistakes the signal for defecation as the signal for passing wind leading to accidental defecation, something common when suffering from diarrhoea.
Foul-smelling gas as the gas contains methane, due to undigested food.
Passing the air is accompanied by noises, as the gas creates pressure over the anal sphincter.
Flatulence is accompanied with constipation or diarrhoea.
Ayurveda has effective natural remedies for treating flatulence. It recommends the use of some common kitchen herbs that work like magic when it comes to treating flatulence and its symptoms. Let’s take a look at them in detail.
Ayurvedic Remedies for Flatulence
Ayurveda follows three steps while treating flatulence viz.
Use of carminative for the treatment or Deepana
Use of digestives for the treatment or Paachana
Use of gas expellers for treatment or Vaatanulomana
Carminatives have antispasmodic properties and prevent stomach cramps and pain. It helps to reduce the pain while passing air.
Digestives break down complex foods and make digestion easier. Gas expellers, as the name suggests work by expelling the gas in an enormous quantity at one go.
Ayurveda recommends using a wide variety of herbs for treating flatulence. They are:
- Ajamoda or Celery is excellent for flatulence. A powerful carminative, the oil extracted from the seeds of celery helps in reducing abdominal pain and cramps.
- Dalchini or Cinnamon is another useful carminative. Soak cinnamon sticks in a glass of water for few hours and drink that water to take out the foul smell from your flatus.
- Ajwain or Bishop’s Weed is another choice that you have. One of the most remedies by Ayurvedic doctors, ajwain is an effective carminative.
Dhania or Coriander contains linoloom, a chemical that increases digestive secretion. It is an excellent gas expelled.
- Bahera or Belleric Myrobalan helps in proper bowel movements and helps indigestion.
- Haldi or turmeric is excellent for the stomach and ensures that it’s working correctly.
- Elaichi or cardamom reduces gas formation. Menthol or water extract of cardamom helps in eliminating the offensive odour from flatus.
- Kala jeera or caraway has carminative properties. On steam distillation, caraway gives oil called carvone, and this is what a carminative is.
- Harad or chebulic myrobalan has excellent laxative properties. It is a good carminative and aids in digestion.
- Lavanga or clove reduces the bad odour from flatus.
- Rusmari or rosemary is stomachic and carminative.
- Methi or fenugreek is antispasmodic and helps to expel flatus easily
- Saunf or fennel helps in digestion. It cools your stomach after a heavy meal and acts a mouth freshener as well.
- Sunthi or ginger helps in digestion and has anti-carminative properties. It works by stimulating the gastrointestinal tract.
- Sowa or Indian dill is another carminative. It also contains carvone.
Kesar or saffron is stomachic and is mild. So, it is used in treating digestive problems in children.
- Vacha or sweet flag reduces flatulence and helps in digestion. It is also an excellent carminative.
Some of the Ayurvedic preparation that helps in treating flatulence is Madhu YashtayadiChurna, Agastya Rasayana, AbhayadiModaka, and PanchaSakarachurna.
Preventing Flatulence
Prevention is better than cure. Let’s look at some effective tips that help prevent the formation of gas in the alimentary canal according to Ayurveda:
Avoid Food That Causes Flatulence: Some of the foods that you definitely need to avoid are beans, whole grain cereals, fatty foods, eggs, potatoes, dairy products, fermented foods like bread and dosa, fruits like prunes, banana, and apples, fried food, pulses like Bengal gram and black gram, sauces, and chutneys. All these increase the formation of gas in your digestive system.
- Chew the Food Properly: It is important to chew the food properly before ingesting. Foods high in carbohydrates get digested with ease, while you are chewing them.
- Say No to Slurp: Slurping while you are drinking tea or coffee results in consuming a lot of air. This air is expelled as gas.
- Do Not Use Straws: Straws also lead to intake of a lot of air with the liquid you are taking in, as it works by building suction pressure.
- Avoid Aerated Drinks: The sugar content is very high in aerated drinks. On top of that, they contain carbon dioxide that you took in and expelled in the form of gas. This is the reason; many people drink soda after a heavy meal to eliminate gas.
- Eat Slowly: Eat slowly and chew your food properly. This would help in digestion and make your stomach acquainted with the food you are taking in.
- Brisk Walk: Take a brisk walk or do some exercise after a heavy meal. This would help in easy digestion and prevent flatulence.
- Meditate: Meditate and keep your stress level down. Overworking can slow down the digestion process and lead to the formation of gas.
Diet You Need to Follow
Following the right diet is one of the most important things that you need to do, if you want to reduce flatulence. Keep the following points in mind:
Refer to the list mentioned above and make sure to avoid all the foods that cause flatulence. Eliminate them one by one. This would ensure that your body is getting all the required nutrients.
- Drink at least 2-3 litres of water in a day. Water helps in converting the gas toxins into liquid toxins, and this gets eliminated with urine or sweat. You can also add a drop of peppermint extract in the water you drink to eliminate the foul odour from flatus.
- Do not overeat. Do not eat to the full that your stomach can take in. This slows down digestion and causes flatulence.
- Eat little amounts several times a day, if you are suffering from excessive flatulence. This would ensure that your system digests appropriately.
Follow these to keep excessive flatulence at bay.
With many people trying to look young and glowing, various companies have come up with an effective line of products which claim to give you younger looking skin and have anti-aging properties. However, those products are usually made of chemicals and are highly harmful to your skin in the long run. Instead of using those products you can try the Ayurvedic way, and herbal anti-aging treatment is accepted worldwide by numerous people. In addition to that, Ayurveda is a very popular way of treating various types of diseases and conditions. There are three areas in a person’s body on which Ayurveda concentrates- Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. As per Ayurvedic experts, a perfect balance in three of them is the secret to young looking and staying healthy.
One of the Most Effective Ayurvedic Treatments
Rasayana is one of the most effective Ayurvedic treatments. It has two major faculties Vatatapika and Kutipravesika. The names may sound very strange but are easily understandable. For example, Kutipravesika is a unique methodology where the person getting treated should stay in a small shelter with only one door. The housing will have tiny holes for the air to pass through.
The goal of Ayurveda and the Herbs Used
The goal of Ayurveda is not only slowing down the aging process but also to make the bodywork in the best possible way and to bring peace and vitality to individuals. A total of 12 different types of herbs are used in the Ayurvedic treatment or Ayurveda anti-aging herbs, and they are:
Amla or Emblica Officinalis
This herb is of special attention in the Charak Samhita literature. It is full of natural vitamin C that helps in rejuvenating bodily systems.
Turmeric Rhizomes or Haldi
Turmeric rhizomes are found in the form of curcuminoids, curcumin, and tetrahydrocurcuminoids that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The Ginger Family
The herbs from the ginger family are the rich source of antioxidants and have ingredients that increase the blood flow to the peripheries. It also helps in reducing inflammation at the cellular level.
Frankincense, Bosiwellia
This herb is also known to fight arthritis. The pure form of this herb is used for anti-aging products.
Galangal (Also Called Chinese Ginger)
This herb contains gingerol, essential oils, and diarylheptanoids. Diarylheptanoid is also known as anti-arthritic. Pure Galanga extract helps in fighting oxidants, inhibit tyrosinase and absorbs UV radiation.
The Clove Family
This herb is used to relieve pain from toothache and muscle aches. It also contains anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Rosemary
Containing carnosic acid, rosemarinic acid, rocciferone, amyrenones, oleanoic acid, seco-hinokiol, diterpenes ursolic acid and carnasol, this herb exhibits strong antioxidant, tyrosinase-controlling, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Vitis
Attributed to the grape family, Vitis has anti-aging abilities with antioxidant properties. Resveratrol is concentrated in the grape skin while procyanidins are abundant in the seeds.
Neem
This herb is well recognized for its ability to control insects and bacteria. It also has anti-malarial, hypoglycemic and wound healing properties. It has antioxidant properties and radical freeing properties as well.
Licorice
It helps in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It has active ingredients glabrol, liquiritins, glabridins, glycyrrhizin, and glycerrhetinic acid.
Pomegranate
It contains ellagic acid, punicalagins, gallagic acid, and punicalins. All of the substances present in pomegranate are proved to be effective in freeing radicals and neutralizing oxidants.
Andrographis
This herb has a strong potential to control the aging of the skin as per research. It is taken from the Adrographis herb and is helpful in giving younger looking and youthful skin. | https://ayurveddoctor.com/author/ashamadhu |
At its core, planning and strategy is about generating and selecting options to close gaps between objectives and current realities. Put simply – where are you, where do you want to go and how are you going to get there? It is about the creation and allocation of resources to the right place, in the right way and at the right time to achieve your mission, vision, objectives and goals whilst maintaining your values.
Your task as the leader is to lead the team in creating and selecting the most effective set of strategic options that will get you from where you are now to where you want to go.
A big part of strategy is identifying and playing to the business’s strengths relative to its competitors and matching these to the changing environment and the subsequent opportunities and threats this may create.
The following six-step process will allow you to create a complete and robust strategic plan. For a more detailed journey through strategic planning for leaders visit…..
- Set the aspirational destination – no journey can start without knowing where you want to go. This should be derived directly from the company’s mission and values. This step should come before looking at the current state. Starting with the end in mind encourages bigger ideas.
- Assess the facts of the current reality and develop future scenarios. – the next step is to understand where are you know? This involves reviewing the 5C’s (Customers, Collaborators, Capabilities, Competitors and Conditions) as well as understanding the current opportunities and threats the business faces – i.e. the creation of a SWOT.
The next part of this is to develop scenarios – these originate from the PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Legal, Environmental) exercise mentioned in previous blogs. If we do this well we can predict what may happen in each different scenario and therefore which strategic option could be preferable.
- Identify options to bridge gaps between reality and aspiration – Here we determine which strategic options might create additional value for the organisation. Be creative, thinking outside of the box so you can come up with a range of options that can potentially address the issues and move the organisation forward. For more information read “The goal posts have changed”. If you are stuck here we have a number of innovation models we can undertake with you to help.
This is a good time to get stakeholder input. Your stakeholders may also have good ideas. Keep in mind you are not looking for decisions, just input and options.
- Evaluate the options under different scenarios – In this step determine which options create the most value for the organisation over time, under different scenarios and different assumptions. Evaluate scenarios and options leading to a range of forecasts based on clear and referenceable assumption. Again, at this point, involve stakeholders to understand and to help improve the components of the valuation assumptions.
- Develop detailed plans – with your strategic choices in place, develop a detailed plan that addresses the strategic, operational and organisational actions that are needed to implement the selected option. Consider here resource requirements and allocation, critical business drivers, deadlines, roles and responsibilities, and measures and goals.
- Act, measure, adjust repeat – Once the plan as started continually monitor its progress against your stated goals to ensure what you thought would happen is happening in a timely manner. | https://www.incrementa.co.uk/blog/planning-for-first-time-leaders/ |
Allender Center provides. Dr.
Allender’s simulcast covered the introduction to the curriculum taught at The
Allender Center. After sharing his personal testimony, Dr. Allender went on to
talk about how each and every one of us has a story. He explained that the main
events of our stories, both the triumphs and traumas, shape who we are today.
However, all too often in our culture, we sweep the traumas of our life under
the rug and move on. This can especially be true of Christians. It’s a common
tendency among believers to say, “I had some bad stuff happen in my past, but
Jesus has healed me of that and now everything is ok!” Dr. Allender would say
that, while that is technically true, becoming a new creation in Christ doesn’t
mean that the traumas in our past never happened. And it certainly doesn’t mean
that the scars from our past don’t still affect us today. This is where The
Allender Center comes in.The
Allender Center’s website describes their purpose as follows:Story is the heartbeat of God, the primary form for revealing who we
are, who God is, how the world is broken, and how God intends to restore us and
the world. We believe, too, that no one escapes harm over the course of their
lifetime. Therefore we all have stories that need healing and restoration.
Unfortunately, there are very few contexts in which the full extent of harm and
heartache in the human experience can be explored in a way that brings healing.
Many therapists are not equipped to address the narrative dimensions at the
heart of human brokenness, and many churches and communities avoid the conversations
out of fear, discomfort, or lack of training. So we live in a world of silos
where narrative therapy, inner healing, and spiritual warfare are seldom
integrated for the hope for restoration.Our purpose is to step into this gap to offer story exploration
experiences and to train more leaders to address harm and tragedy with informed
care and holistic engagement, identifying the emotional, spiritual, and
relational impacts of our core stories of neglect, loss, betrayal, or outright
abuse and violence. And in this process, something truly transformative
happens: we find the hope of redemption. Courageously stepping into stories of
pain and harm is the very place that true healing and restoration occurs.After
Dr. Allender’s simulcast and a brief intermission, Cathy Loerzel gave an
in-person seminar diving deeper into the finer points of Dr. Allender’s
presentation. Cathy specifically spoke more about how failing to properly work
through the trauma of our past can affect our future behavior. She also spoke
about how our personalities are made up of three different Biblical archetypes:
The King, The Priest, and The Prophet.These
three archetypes have different characteristics. The King plans and organizes,
The Priest cares for people’s needs, and The Prophet speaks truth and teaches.
While we all have different combinations of these archetypes in our
personalities, some archetypes are more pronounced than others. These three
archetypes are generated by different aspects of life: Love, Faith, and
Hope respectively. And when these tenets of life fail us, we take on the
opposite persona of our archetype. The King becomes a widower (or The Queen
becomes a widow), The Priest becomes an orphan, and The Prophet becomes a
stranger. Cathy taught that it’s important to try to identify our prominent
archetypes so that we can better understand how we process the traumas in our
life and how we fit into the body of the Church. (If you want to learn more
about these archetypes, please check out this matrix published by The Allender
Center: http://theallendercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Faith-Hope-Love-Matrix.pdf. It
was great to have Cathy and her team present at Faith. The presentations,
both Cathy’s and Dr. Allender’s, were very insightful. While we were given an
introductory course in the span of one day, The Allender Center offers full
semester courses through the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, both
online and in-person.To learn more about The
Allender Center and its mission, click HERE.
Jacob Hardman is an intern at Faith Church working with the worship ministry and high school students specifically. He is also currently working as a part-time fullstack developer and working towards completing his degree in software engineering.At Faith, Jacob loves leading worship for the youth ministry and helping with Sunday morning worship services. He also loves helping with other creative ministries at Faith such as the Perspective and the online blog.In his spare time, Jacob loves writing music, watching movies with his newlywed wife, and playing video games. | https://www.faithchurchfortcollins.org/story_gospel_shaped_story |
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