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So far (after 1 day of private beta) this site seems to have attracted mostly people who learn languages as a hobby. That's visible in the nature of questions and answers. It's also visible in the commitment statistics — only 15% self-declared as professional or academic.
That's ok, but it does seem that something's missing. Where are the teachers? There isn't really such a thing as a professional learner, but surely the best people to help people learn a language are language teachers.
I'm wondering if the name “Language learning” is off-putting. Should the site's name be “Language teaching”, to put the focus on experts? I'm not a fan either: that does seem to exclude people who learn on their own, which is not good either. “Language teaching and learning” or “Language learning and teaching”? Quite a mouthful.
“Second Language Acquisition” was proposed before the site started. The outcome of the discussion is that while the term is technically correct, it's likely not to be understood by the bulk of the audience.
Well, now the site has started. What do participants think? What name would best represent the site, without seeming to exclude either teachers or self-learners? It would be especially interesting to hear from people who are in some way experts in language learning, such as teachers. | https://languagelearning.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/117/is-language-learning-the-best-name-for-this-site?noredirect=1 |
11 MAY 2018
Our firm operates globally. Can we find a name that suits international markets?
11 MAY 2018
We’re still in the early stages of development and funding. How important is finalizing a name right now?
11 MAY 2018
How will this name fit in with our other device names?
11 MAY 2018
Can you come up with a really short name so it fits on our hardware?
11 MAY 2018
I don’t have a large budget. Can we work together?
11 MAY 2018
We’re doing something that no one else does. How can a name help us communicate that we’re different?
11 MAY 2018
Can a company named A Hundred Monkeys develop a serious name for a serious company?
11 MAY 2018
Do you do naming for international audiences?
11 MAY 2018
How is cannabis naming different than beer naming? | https://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ufaqs/page/2/ |
in the minds of many visitors, KANDERSTEG is quintessential switzerland. ITS BROAD, FLAT VALLEY IS IDEAL FOR AGRICULTURE, WHICH, IN THE BERNESE ALPS, USUALLY MEANS THE PRODUCTION OF RICH, TASTY, MOUNTAIN CHEESE. WHERE THERE IS CHEESE, THERE ARE COWS. AND WHERE THERE ARE ALPS AND COWS, THERE ARE COWBELLS.
the mountains that surround kandersteg on three sides rise to 10,000 feet: a mile and a half above the town. hikers and climbers consider kandersteg as much an outdoor playground in the warm months as skiers do in the winter. yet the town itself is nearly as flat as a dry lakebed, with just a slight rise along bahnhofstrasse from the railway station into the center of town.
railway line that crosses through switzerland's main alpine spine via the 9-mile- long lÖtschberg tunnel just south of town, kandersteg is about midway between the swiss borders with germany and italy. this means that kandersteg — despite it small size and remote alpine setting — is a perfect base for day-touring throughout much of switzerland.
"One of our 5 best trips in 30 years of travel! We have not always enjoyed train travel in Europe, but Swiss Rail elevates service to a fine art — unbelievably good!"
Balcony view from Home At First apartment in Kandersteg, Switzerland. The view looks south into the Bernese Alps, the principal alpine spine that crosses Switzerland from southwest to northeast. Few roads cross these mountains. Along this alpine axis, Kandersteg lies about midway between the nearest north-south alpine passes crossed by road, themselves about 70 miles apart. Still, Kandersteg is beautifully situated as a base for touring both sides of the Alps — by train. The north portal of great Lötschberg Tunnel cuts through the Bernese Alps just south of Kandersteg — left of the leaning tree and above the middle geranium in the above photo. Nine miles further the south portal opens above the Rhone Valley. On the Kandersteg (north) side of the Bernese Alps, the weather is often cooler and wetter than the weather on the Rhone Valley (south) side. The Bernese Alps form more than a barrier to automobiles. On the north side weather fronts coming from the North Sea and the Atlantic hit a mountainous wall and drop their precipitation. On the south side, warm, dry weather from the Mediterranean and Africa create a different climate. Rainy day in Kandersteg? Take the train through the Lötschberg Tunnel to escape the wet weather and find dry adventures in southern Switzerland, or even in very-reachable, sunny Northern Italy.
NOTE: Photos on this page are taken from several Home At First apartments in Kandersteg.
HOME AT FIRST offers vacation apartments in several locations in the small town of Kandersteg. Most apartments are decorated and comfortably furnished in traditional Swiss alpine style. The apartments are clean, well cared for, and well-equipped. All are within reasonable, flat, walking distance to stores, services, several restaurants, and to the railway/bus station. Each apartment has secure entry, and Kandersteg is a safe, prosperous, residential community. Importantly, all HOME AT FIRST Kandersteg apartments come with caring, English-speaking hosting on-site or very close by.
come with private balconies or patios with alpine view. Apartments are of different sizes and capacities: 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments, sleeping from 2 to 7 persons.
FLOORS & ENTRIES: The apartments are on the ground, 2nd and 3rd floors. Reaching them requires climbing a flight or two of stairs. All our Kandersteg apartments are well-located, safe, and very livable. Kandersteg does not have through automobile traffic, so car noise is minimal. Kandersteg's excellent rail service — hourly trains to both sides of Switzerland's central spine of Alps from pre-dawn until late in the evening — is within easy walking distance from all HOME AT FIRST Kandersteg apartments.
2-bath apartment, 3rd floor with attic loft. Full kitchens with dining. Living rooms, & balconies with fine views of the main spine Bernese Alps.
station and all the town's shops & restaurants. Attentive on-site English-speaking owner/hosts.
3rd floor. One has bathroom with tub/shower; one with shower. Both have open-plan kitchens with dining areas, living rooms, & sizeable balconies with fine alpine views. 5-8-minute walk to Kandersteg's rail & bus station and all the town's shops & restaurants. Attentive on-site English-speaking owner/hosts.
2-bedroom (sleeps 2-4), 1-bath apartment.
Ground floor. Modern interior. "Chocolate Box"
dining with a fine view of the Bernese Alps.
station and the town's shops & restaurants.
1-bedroom (sleeps 2), 3rd-floor apartment.
have balconies with views of the Bernese Alps.
6-10-minute walk to Kandersteg's rail & bus station and the town's shops & restaurants. Attentive, English-speaking owner/hosts live close by.
CARE AND CLEANLINESS. The apartments have been thoroughly cleaned prior to your arrival, but are not maid-serviced during your stay. Apartments are non-smoking and do not permit pets. Basic starter kitchen and bathroom supplies are provided.
Open-plan living room/dining room of a multi-story Home At First Kandersteg apartment in Chalet Balmhorn. Lots of blonde wood from local alpine forests has been used inside the apartment in keeping with its Swiss regional character. This 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment has a small extra bedroom and a small loft lounge under the eaves upstairs, making it ideal for families of up to seven persons.
WELL-EQUIPPED: HOME AT FIRST's Kandersteg apartments have, as a minimum, at least one bedroom, 1 bathroom with a shower, living/dining room, and well-equipped kitchens. Bed, bath, and kitchen linens and towels are provided. Flat-screen TV and WiFi are included.
Open-plan living/dining/kitchen of a 2-bedroom (4-person capacity) apartment at Kandersteg's Chalet Balmhorn. Note that the apartments are not air conditioned — few vacation apartments in Switzerland have air conditioning. Kandersteg's altitude at almost 4,000' deep in the Bernese Alps means it rarely sees temperatures above 75°F even in July and August, when fresh snow can fall on the surrounding high mountain peaks. All Home At First Kandersteg apartments have central or in-room heating which may be needed any month of the year.
HOSTING: Importantly, all our Kandersteg apartments come with the welcoming, enthusiastic attention of your host &/or hostess, who is/are committed to making your stay in their accommodation delightful and problem-free. Your English-speaking host(-ess) meets you upon your arrival at Kandersteg's rail station and introduces you to your apartment and its operation. Your host(-ess) is available throughout your stay for any questions, problems, or emergencies, and to advise you when you wish to organize activities.
One-bedroom (2-person capacity) Home At First Kandersteg third-floor chalet apartment.
cool air on warm evenings in the Bernese Alps.
there can be times when traffic is busy, too.
HOME AT FIRST's Kandersteg vacation apartments are located in residential sections of the town. All are convenient — walks of 5 minutes or less — to Kandersteg's center where main street intersects station street, where most shops, services, and restaurants are concentrated.
Despite Kandersteg's small size and mountainous location, it is extremely well-served by public transportation. Three minutes along station street from the town center leads to Kandersteg's busy railway and bus station. From here, hourly rail services carry passengers north to Lake Thun, Bern (Switzerland's capital city), and beyond to distant parts of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland, and reach Germany in about 2.5 hours.
SOUTHBOUND PASSENGER TRAIN ARRIVING IN KANDERSTEG. Kandersteg receives excellent train services. Hourly trains in each direction depart Kandersteg starting at about 6AM daily. The last daily trains arrive in Kandersteg from the south at about 10:45PM and from the north at about 12:45AM. Fast, frequent rail service means Kandersteg is within day-trip reach of much of Switzerland as well as destinations in northern Italy and southern Germany. Popular Swiss day-trip destinations include Lake Thun, Bern, Zermatt, Montreux, Basel, Zürich, Luzern, Lake Brienz, Interlaken, and the Jungfrau Region.
Northern Italy in about 2 hours.
Kandersteg's central position on a major north/south rail line make it a convenient base from which to explore far and wide throughout Switzerland. But, Kandersteg's central position in the Bernese Alps make it a great alpine destination in itself, with much to see and do: walking, climbing, swimming, cycling, touring, and plenty of fine dining.
Buses from Kandersteg operate hourly north to neighboring Frutigen and mountainous Adelboden, and to Kandersteg's three outlying valley stations for cable cars up into the Bernese Alps (including to Oeschinen Lake, photo left). A fourth limited local bus service takes reserved passengers into the remote, spectacular scenery of the Gastern Valley.
Walkers of moderate fitness will find superb moderate hiking in the outstanding alpine scenery of Gastern Valley, or to the Oeschinen Lake, or between historic villages in the Lötschen Valley.
Adventuresome (and top-fit) visitors will want to consider hiking across at least one of the high passes from Kandersteg east to Griesalp, west to Adelboden, and south to the Lötschen Valley, or to the famous Gemmi wall and on to Leukerbad in the Rhone Valley. | https://homeatfirst.com/KANDERSTEG.HTM |
MANDATORY FEE SCHEDULE SET FORTH IN SECTION 440.34, WHICH CREATES AN IRREBUTABLE PRESUMPTION THAT PRECLUDES ANY CONSIDERATION OF WHETHER THE FEE AWARD IS REASONABLE TO COMPENSATE THE ATTORNEY IN WORKERS’ COMPENSATION CASES, IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS A VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS.
Castellanos v. Next Door Company, 41 Fla. Law Weekly S197 (Fla. April 28, 2016):
The plaintiff was injured during the course of his employment with the defendant, Next Door Company. With the assistance of an attorney, he prevailed on his workers’ compensation claim.
However, because section 440.34 limited a claimant’s ability to recover attorney’s fees to a sliding scale based on the amount of benefits obtained, the fee awarded to the attorney amounted to $1.53 per hour for 107.2 hours of work. Plaintiff had no ability to challenge the reasonableness of that rate, and both the JCC and the First District were precluded by section 440.34 from assessing whether the fee award was reasonable.
The Florida Supreme Court began its analysis starting back in 1935 when the legislature adopted workers’ compensation law to provide “simple expeditious” relief to the injured worker. It observed how in the 80 years since the enactment, the statutory scheme has become increasingly complex.
The supreme court was asked to consider the constitutionality of the 2003 amendments to the attorney’s fee statute, which deleted some of the subjective factors to determine the reasonableness of a workers’ compensation fee. Holding the statute was ambiguous, the court held that the plaintiff was entitled to a reasonable attorney fee.
In 2009, however, following that decision, the legislature decided to remove any ambiguity as to its intent, and deleted the word “reasonable” in relation to attorney’s fees. By removing any consideration of “reasonableness,” and removing any discretion from the JCC or the judiciary on review, the legislature created an unconstitutional violation of due process.
Thus, the mandatory fee schedule enacted by the legislature in 2009 is unconstitutional as a violation of due process, and the predecessor statute is still in place (when a judicial act strikes a new statute that automatically revives the predecessor statute unless it too would be unconstitutional).
A FATHER WITH A FELONY CONVICTION WAS DISQUALIFED FROM SERVING AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE.
In Re Estate of Butler, 41 Fla. Law Weekly D979 (Fla. 4th DCA April 20, 2016):
Section 733.301(1)(a) explicitly prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a felony from serving as personal representative of their child’s estate.
TRIAL COURT ERRED BY SETTING CASE FOR TRIAL BEFORE IT WAS AT ISSUE.
Melbourne HMA, LLC d/b/a Wuesthoff Medical Center v. Schoof, 41 Fla. Law Weekly D994 (Fla. 5th DCA April 19, 2016):
Pursuant to rule 1.440, an action is at issue after any motions directed to the last pleading served have been disposed of or, if no such motions are served, 20 days after service of the last pleading.
Once the case is at issue, a party may then file and serve a notice that the case is ready to be set for trial. Thereafter, if the trial court determines the action is ready for trial, the rule directs the trial court to enter an order fixing a date for trial no less than 30 days from the service of the notice. Thus, the rule prescribes a minimum interval of 50 days between service of the last pleading and commencement of trial.
Strict compliance with rule 1.440 is required. In this case, the trial judge set the trial a week before the minimum 50 days had elapsed.
The Fifth District granted the writ of mandamus, and struck the trial from the docket.
TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON’S PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT TO GIVE HIS OPINION ON THE INSURED’S NEED FOR FUTURE SURGERY, AND THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SURGERY.
State Farm v. Long, 41 Fla. Law Weekly D995 (Fla. 5th DCA April 22, 2016):
Plaintiff sustained a shoulder injury in a motorcycle collision and sued his UM carrier. The jury returned a verdict of $166,000, which included $116,000 for past and future medical expenses ($46,000 or so which had been stipulated to as past medical expenses).
In support of his damages claim, the plaintiff called a physician’s assistant to testify regarding his future medical expenses. The PA testified that shoulder issues make up a fair portion of his practice, that he knows the doctor he works with very well, and that 50% of his patients who present with shoulder problems ultimately need surgery. Also, he saw the patient approximately ten times in the five years he was treating.
The PA testified about his treatment, cortisone shots, and the cost of future shoulder surgery and associated expenses.
State Farm objected to the testimony, arguing that because he was not a surgeon, he was not competent to give his opinion on the need for future surgery or the costs associated with it.
Because the physician assistant testified that he is not a medical doctor, and does not have the authority to enter notes into the patient’s record without approval of the doctor, and that those notes must be counter-signed, plaintiff had the burden to establish by the preponderance of evidence the basis for the admissibility of the PA’s testimony.
While the court said it did not mean to imply that a physician assistant could never qualify as an expert, and in this case, he was certainly qualified to testify regarding the treatment and care he provided, but his ability to know how the orthopedic surgeon thinks is not sufficient to establish that he had the requisite knowledge or skill to make him competent to testify on the issue of whether the plaintiff required future surgery.
Because the testimony was not without significant impact on the outcome of the trial, and was used extensively to establish the claim for future damages, the court ruled that the error could not be harmless either, and reversed for a new trial.
WHEN THE ASSIGNMENT OF BENEFITS FROM THE INSURED TO THE PLAINTIFF IS CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS, IT IS ERROR TO ALLOW INTRODUCTION OF EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE TO DETERMINE THE MEANING OF THE AGREEMENT--THE ASSIGNMENT OF INSURANCE BENEFITS TRANSFERRED TO THE ASSIGNEE STANDING TO LITIGATE THE COVERAGE ISSUE RAISED BY THE INSURER WHEN IT DENIED THE CLAIM.
Restoration 1 CFL a/a/o White v. State Farm, 41 Fla. Law Weekly D998 (Fla. 5th DCA April 22, 2016).
ERROR TO DENY DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR REHEARING WITHOUT AN EVIDENTIARY HEARING, WHEN THE MOTION WAS SUPPORTED BY AN AFFIDAVIT AND EXCUSABLE NEGLECT.
Villas at Laguna Bay Condo Association v. Citimortgage, 41 Fla. Law Weekly D1001 (Fla. 5th DCA April 22, 2016):
After the court entered summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, defendant sought a timely motion for rehearing under rule 1.530, and contemporaneously filed an affidavit of excusable neglect. The court denied the motion without a hearing.
Because Florida courts have a preference for deciding cases on the merits rather than on technicality, and because the defendant association’s motion for rehearing was supported by an affidavit from its counsel establishing colorable grounds (a calendaring error) that excusable neglect occurred, the court held that the trial judge abused his discretion by denying the motion without an evidentiary hearing. | https://www.clarkfountain.com/blog/2016/may/the-week-in-torts-cases-from-the-week-of-april-22/ |
Aminiasi Tuimaba of Fiji charges forward against Australia (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Fiji and Australia have faced claims they were breaking the law with their ruck play leading into the title-deciding final leg of the HSBC World Rugby Series Sevens tournament in Paris this weekend.
Mike Friday, the USA head coach, raised the issue of what he believed was teams crawling on hands and feet through a ruck with Australia and Fiji, who contested the final in London on Sunday, singled out for this practice.
With Fiji just two points ahead of the USA at the top of the table, the problem was raised at today’s meeting of team coaches with referee chiefs Craig Joubert (World Rugby referee coach) and Paddy O’Brien (World Rugby referee manager). As a result, RugbyPass understands Joubert and O’Brien issued a “clear direction” to ensure this does not become a factor in the crucial final round of the Series at the Paris Sevens.
Friday first raised the tactics of the Fijians and Australians in an interview with FloRugby and this led to the claim being highlighted in the coaches meeting in Paris. Friday and his USA team have led the table throughout the Series until they were beaten 17-10 by Fiji in the London semi-finals with the reigning Olympic champions thumping Australia in a one-sided final at Twickenham.
USA were the first country to clinch automatic qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games Sevens in Tokyo and have been followed by Rio champions Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa in securing the four available places. The other eight places will be decided by regional qualification tournaments.
“We are pleased to have been the first men’s team to have achieved Olympic qualifications, which was our primary goal this season,” Friday told FloRugby. “To be going into Paris in control of our own destiny locked in a top of the table race with Fiji with only two points separating us exciting stuff.
“We have come so far in the last few years and it’s credit to all the hard work and sacrifice of the boy. It was a reasonable showing by us (in London) but we didn’t really get our attacking game playing consistently as we would like in the weekend and that is the challenge. There is lots to look forward to we have one last dance in Paris and we have an opportunity to go and get the Series which will be our aim one game at a time.”
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On Dec. 30, 1903, a spark from a stage light set Chicago's Iroquois Theatre ablaze. "The stage and the curtain and the rest caught fire," said Bill Carroll, grandson of the theatre's co-owner and adjunct professor of chemistry at Indiana University Bloomington. "There were insufficient exits, and it was terrible." Over 600 people died in the disaster — the deadliest single-building fire in U.S. history.
Nowadays, this probably wouldn't happen, because many modern materials are less combustible than they used to be. But what makes certain materials fireproof?
The term "fireproof" is actually a misnomer, because almost anything containing carbon, if hot enough, can combust and catch fire. "Fire resistant" and "flame retardant" are more accurate terms, Carroll told Live Science. When used properly, these fire protective measures can interrupt the burning process. For instance, typical plastic is combustible because it has a lot of carbon and hydrogen available to fuel a fire. Gasoline also has carbon and hydrogen available — and it's gaseous, so gasoline can evaporate easily, making it highly combustible.
In contrast, a fire resistant material is one that doesn't burn easily. One example of this is the artificial stone used in kitchen countertops, like the DuPont brand Corian. The plastic of a Corian countertop is filled with finely ground rocks made of hydrated aluminum oxide, a chemical compound that doesn't burn. These rocks lower the fuel value (the amount of carbon available for combustion) of the countertop, making it more fire resistant, Carroll said.
"The aluminum oxide brought water with it, so when you compounded the two together [the plastic and hydrated aluminum oxide], what you in essence had was rocks that on a microscopic basis were wet," he said. "And you had them in a plastic matrix, so it was really, really hard to get any heat generated from this."
Although the rock attracts and holds water molecules, it does not get wet enough to form a puddle. Water keeps the countertop cool and helps block heat from getting any fuel. If there were a heat source (for instance, a lit cigarette resting on a Corian countertop), it would need to boil away the water surrounding the aluminum oxide first in order to then heat up the fuel, or the plastic molecules, enough to burn. Moreover, countertops like Corian don't have much plastic — there's just enough to hold the rock together, Carroll said.
Fuel and heat are two sides of the fire tetrahedron, a triangular pyramid in which each side represents the elements necessary for fire. The other two sides are oxygen and a sustainable chemical reaction, Carroll explained. Most materials — aside from granite and asbestos, which are among the rare materials that are actually, literally fireproof — can be made more or less combustible only by eliminating one or more sides of the fire tetrahedron, he said.
Unlike fire resistance — the properties that make it hard for a fire to either start in the first place or keep going — chemicals known as flame retardants can help to slow or extinguish an already-burning fire. Chemical flame retardants contain chlorine, bromine, nitrogen, phosphorus, boron or metals.
One way flame retardants work is through the formation of a substance known as char foam. When a piece of toast burns, for example, a char forms on the outside, which insulates the undamaged bread on the inside. Once a fire starts on an object treated with a char foam-inducing flame retardant, a chemical reaction within the retardant bubbles up to create a rigid, inflammable foam out of the char from the initial burning. This char foam then insulates the fuel from oxygen and, to some extent, heat, Carroll said. "[The char] kind of builds its own cocoon."
Flame retardant use has mushroomed since the 1970s, but it has sparked a controversy over the past few decades because of its potential toxicity. Brominated fire retardant chemicals, banned in the U.S. since 2004, worked well at putting out fires, but weren't permanently bound to the material, for example a mattress, Carroll said. That meant the chemical could potentially leave the mattress and end up in the dust or air, where it could be inhaled or ingested. That's cause for concern, because these chemicals are linked to a slew of health problems; for instance they might disrupt thyroid function, interrupt the immune system and increase cancer risk, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
"New strategies for making fire retardants [are] to either bind the chemical to the mattress or make it another polymer [a long, repeating molecule chain], another absolutely huge molecule that doesn't migrate," he told Live Science. In contrast, brominated fire retardants are smaller molecules that can easily leave materials and objects.
Can fire resistant materials and flame retardants be relied upon for fire safety? They do work well, but think of them as the second line of defense, Carroll said. Although it may seem like rather simple advice, keep fire, such as candles, out of bedrooms and carefully tend to stoves and other fire sources in the kitchen. "Don't have a fire where you don't want a fire in the first place," he said. | |
General Planning Issues
Current Government planning policy states:
1. PLANNING AND CONSERVATION
1.1 It is fundamental to the Government's policies for environmental stewardship that there should be effective protection for all aspects of the historic environment. The physical survivals of our past are to be valued and protected for their own sake, as a central part of our cultural heritage and our sense of national identity. They
are an irreplaceable record which contributes, through formal education and in many other ways, to our understanding of both the present and the past. Their presence adds to the quality of our lives, by enhancing the familiar and cherished local scene and sustaining the sense of local distinctiveness which is so important an aspect of the character and appearance of our towns, villages and countryside. The historic environment is also of immense importance for leisure and recreation.
( from
PPG 15 - Department of the Environment, Planning Policy Guidance, Planning & The Historic Environment
)
Para 4.6 of the same document also states
"....The Courts have held that it is legitimate in appropriate circumstances to include within a conservation area the
setting of buildings that form the heart of that area (R v Canterbury City Council ex parte David Halford, February 1992; CO/2794/1991). "
This is of particular relevance in this situation, as the Greenbank Hotel's developers proposals affect the historic setting more than simply altering a listed structure (although they do intend to build on a listed structure).
Para 4.19 goes on:
"...The Courts have recently confirmed that planning decisions in respect of development proposed to be carried out in a conservation area must give a high priority to the objective of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the area. If any proposed development would conflict with that objective, there will be a strong presumption against the grant of planning permission...."
The map below shows clearly the fact that the proposed development is within a Conservation Area, facing across the river to another Conservation Area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is directly in front of a series of listed buildings.
Those buildings that are not listed in the immediate area, are mostly also regarded as "historic buildings". The listed area includes the Greenbank Quay, and parts of the old retaining wall (now overgrown).
The 'Cornwall County Council Structure Plan 2004', when referring to Conservation Areas and Areas of Natural Beauty, states
".... These sites and areas require the strongest protection from any adverse effects arising from development, including any cumulative impact".
In the specific part of this Structure Plan relating to Falmouth, it states
"....Development is constrained by the estuary of the River Fal, and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Locally important landscapes make it necessary to consider carefully the future growth of the urban area." | http://save-our-foreshores.co.uk/general-planning.htm |
- Firstly, the remarkable Dugong is a very large species of marine mammal. Furthermore, it is one of only four surviving species of the order Sirenia.
- In fact, it is also the only sirenian in its native range, which includes the waters of at least 40 countries
- The Dugong is also the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal. Quite sadly, a related species, the Steller’s Sea Cow, was hunted to extinction in the 18th century.
- Finally, due to a combination of factors, the IUCN currently lists the Dugong as Highly Vulnerable.
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Dugong Physical Description
Despite its quite impressive appearance, the Dugong remains a comparatively small marine mammal. This is due to its average length of only 9.8 ft (3 m), and a weight rarely exceeding 926 lb (420 kg).
Further, the Dugong does exhibit a moderate degree of sexual dimorphism. Because of this, females generally attain a somewhat larger size than males. In fact, the largest ever recorded was a female that reached 13.3 ft (4.06 m).
In addition, the body shape appears roughly cylindrical, and tapers at each end. Also, the skin in adults usually appears a brownish-gray, in comparison with the cream color at birth.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Sirenia
- Family: Dugongidae
- Genus: Dugong
- Species: D. dugon
Dugong Distribution, Habitat, and Ecology
Most notably, the Dugong principally resides in warm coastal ocean waters. It ranges from the western Pacific Ocean to the eastern coast of Africa and inhabits the warm waters along the coastline.
But, large numbers will congregate in wide, shallow protected bays. Furthermore, it also appears in mangrove channels, and the leeward sides of large islands. This is due to the fact that all those areas offer the common presence of seagrass beds.
Further, different habitats play a role in different activities. For example, shallow waters are favorite sites for birthing as it minimizes the risk of predation. Also, deeper waters may provide a thermal refuge from cooler waters closer to the shore during winter.
The Dugong is commonly called a sea cow because its diet consists principally of sea-grass. When feeding, it typically ingests the entire plant, including the roots.
It willalso consume algae when seagrass is scarce. Finally, although the animal is indeed primarily herbivorous, it will occasionally eat small invertebrates. | https://www.ourbreathingplanet.com/dugong/ |
The Plant Engineering Internship is available to students majoring in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or environmental engineering required. You must have experience in Windows computers required or with Apple computers is a plus and able to work with hand tools and some power tools to be considered for this position. As an intern, you will learn along side our staff to interact with the guests in the galleries and the staff as required.
Earn a Scholarship today! | https://www.fastweb.com/career-planning/internships/171660-plant-engineering-internship |
A Disciplinary Contractor Bond is a legally binding agreement between an applicant and a prospective contractor. The terms of this bond will vary depending on the type of contract that is being applied for.
An applicant can obtain a bond by signing either an Affidavit of Indorsement or a bond. In addition to a typical bond, applicants may also be asked to submit additional documentation such as an Abstract of Financial Information or a Current Financial Statement.
It is very important that all applicants understand that the process of obtaining a bond will differ from state to state. Each state has different laws and requirements that must be followed. Many states require contractors to pay a particular amount of money upfront to assure that the application will go through.
At the same time, most states do not require contractors to pay any penalty or interest if the project is not approved. These two factors play a crucial role in determining whether or not an applicant’s bond will be accepted.
An applicant who is denied the opportunity to bid on a certain project because of poor workmanship will likely be required to pay additional costs to resubmit the bid. This can result in penalties, fines, or even loss of the bid.
If a contractor is found to have broken a state law during the bid process, it is possible that he or she will be permanently removed from a project. State law does not require that the contractor pays for legal expenses incurred during the bid dispute process.
The applicant is not removed from a project simply because he or she was unable to pay expensive legal fees. As previously mentioned, there are different types of contractor bonds that are available. For example, some employers allow candidates with only a high school diploma or GED to apply for general labor certification.
However, most employers prefer candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field. An applicant with a high school education that is still in high school may also be considered for a discipline certification exam. The candidate’s scores on this exam are used as part of the assessment process for qualification for the certificate.
There are several types of contractor bonds that candidates can apply for when applying for a position as a roofing expert. These various forms of contractor bond generally involve payment of a fee of between five hundred and one thousand dollars and usually cover liability and disciplinary actions.
Depending on the state where the job is located, a bond may be required by the local governing body in order to complete the construction project. If the project is outside of the applicant’s home state, an examination is typically conducted in order to determine whether or not the candidate is eligible to apply for a license.
Once eligibility has been verified the licensed applicant can begin looking for jobs. If the selected job does not materialize, the prospective candidate must reapply and the process begins all over again.
In order to ensure that the candidate’s bond is valid, the local governing body will require applicants to complete a contractor’s oath. This oath is typically considered a standard form of evidence in any legal proceedings and can serve as proof that the applicant is who he says he is.
Along with this evidence of the prospective candidate’s knowledge and skills, the bond often includes a provision stating that if the contractor engages in fraudulent activities, those activities will be held against the contractor and the bond.
It is very important to always follow the regulations closely when working as a roofing contractor and to always be honest with the customers. In addition to being licensed and having the right type of training, it is extremely important that the contractors pay any and all costs associated with the services that they provide.
Many states have various requirements when it comes to contractors who are seeking work. Some of these requirements include providing personal information that proves the applicant is who they say that they are, as well as undergoing a criminal background check.
Once the final analysis is completed, the local governing body will issue a final ruling and the bond will become a permanent seal of approval for the contractor.
When this bond becomes due for renewal, the local governing body will require that the contractor complete another review in order to reflect any changes that have been made since the initial determination of the contractor’s eligibility to obtain the license.
There are several other reasons that the local governing body will conduct an additional review in order to re-certify a contractor. If there have been significant changes to the business or the site since the original certification, the review process will be extended to show how those changes affect the organization’s ability to safely provide service.
Any changes to the structure of the project or the site that pose a threat to the safety of the public or the construction crew on the job site may require the review of the entire project.
In addition, in order to re-certify a company, the governing body will likely ask the company to submit new training plans as well as provide documentation on the type of equipment and tools that were used in the prior construction.
Any other requirement, the local governing body is looking for is likely based on the experience that the company already possesses and the manner in which it has handled complaints in the past. To get to know more specifics and essentials on disciplinary bond for contractors, please see this write-up on gust.com. | https://www.neilschildren.co.uk/essential-aspects-of-disciplinary-contractor-bond-a-guide-you-should-carefully-read/ |
Additional Resources
for Unemployment Insurance Customers
Many Rhode Islanders experiencing long-term unemployment have exhausted or may soon exhaust the maximum unemployment insurance benefits currently available. With this fact in mind, the Department of Labor and Training would like to inform you of other resources available to Rhode Islanders experiencing financial difficulties. Please note that even if you were considered ineligible for these services while you were collecting unemployment insurance benefits, you may become eligible when your benefits are exhausted.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)operated by the RI Dept. of Human Services
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as the Food Stamps Program, helps low-income people and families buy the food they need for good health. SNAP recipients qualify for benefits based on their income, the resources they have and the number of individuals in their household.
Individuals may pick up SNAP applications at RI Dept. of Human Services sites around the state. A complete list of DHS offices is available online at www.dhs.ri.gov/DHSOffices/index.php.
The Economic Progress Institute Guide to Assistance
The Economic Progress Institute - formerly The Poverty Institute - is a nonpartisan research and policy organization dedicated to improving the economic well-being of low- and modest-income Rhode Islanders.
Individuals may access information on various programs for individuals and families.
The netWORKri one-stop career centers system is a partnership of professional labor, training and education organizations that match job seekers with employers. Click here for locations of netWORKri offices.
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The Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner has compiled a list of health insurance resources, including HealthMate and RIteCare, under the heading "Insurance Options" under Consumers. There are also consumer alerts, frequently asked questions and information on controlling premiums.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides for premium reductions and additional election opportunities for health benefits under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, commonly called COBRA. Eligible individuals pay only 35 percent of their COBRA premiums and the remaining 65 percent is reimbursed to the coverage provider through a tax credit.
Rhode Island residents may have access to a FREE Prescription Drug Card program. Simply download and print a free RIRx card below from www.rirx.com/index.php. This program has “LOWEST PRICE” logic to guarantee that you pay the lowest price on your prescriptions (you pay the lower of a discount off the Average Wholesale Price-AWP, a discount calculated off MAC Pricing, or the Pharmacy Promotional/Retail price). RIRx is accepted at over 50,000 pharmacies around the country.
The local Community Action Programs (CAPs) provide Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) assistance from November 1st to March 31st to residents at or below 60 percent of the RI median income. They determine income eligibility (view the low income guidelines) and, based on household income, make direct payments on your behalf to your heating to help with energy bills or restore gas or electric service. Click here for a listing of CAP locations.
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program is the federal government’s major program for helping income-eligible participants afford safe, healthy homes in their community. The Housing Choice Voucher Program allows the individual or family to choose a home, including their present home, and use a voucher to obtain rental assistance. The landlord must agree to the terms of the program and the home must meet safety requirements. Click here to visit the "For Renters" web page.
| |
###### Strengths and limitations of this study
- This study contributes to the limited literature on smoking rates in remote Australian Indigenous communities which thus far has been based on considerably smaller samples of communities.
- This study is unique in estimating ecological associations between smoking rates and relevant community-level sociodemographic, geographic and climatic factors.
- Community smoking rates derived from health service data were linked with census, geographic connectivity and climatic information.
- Sample loss due to missing smoking information most likely indicates random deficiencies in health assessment at the local level, thus biassing results towards the null.
- Study results are generalisable to Australian remote Indigenous communities and may be broadly generalisable to remote-dwelling indigenous populations in other developed countries.
Introduction {#s1}
============
Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for a range of chronic health conditions including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.[@R1] Indigenous populations worldwide have higher smoking rates than non-Indigenous populations. Disparities in smoking prevalence are apparent in New Zealand (Maori 35.5%; New Zealand adults 14.2%), the USA (American Indians/Alaska Natives 29.2%; US adults 16.8%) and Canada (First Nations, off-reserve 26.8%; Inuit 48.9%; Canadian non-Aboriginal population 15.1%).[@R3] In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (hereafter Indigenous Australians) are 2.7 times as likely to smoke daily as non-Indigenous Australians, with age-standardised prevalence rates of 42% and 15%, respectively.[@R6] Tobacco-related conditions are estimated to account for half of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.[@R7]
Greater smoking in Indigenous Australians has been attributed to socioeconomic factors (low income, financial stress, unemployment, low education and housing (rental versus ownership, overcrowding)); sociocultural factors (smoking exposure and normalisation); social factors (boredom, or being: arrested; incarcerated; removed from family (or removal of a relative); a victim of violence or threats); and stress, including stress associated with a history of colonisation and dispossession (racism, marginalisation, family dislocation, disconnection from the land, loss of traditional diet and lifestyle and the adoption of Western habits and practices).[@R8]
Adult Indigenous Australian smoking rates vary from 39% in major cities to 49% in remote and 56% in very remote areas.[@R11] This is unsurprising given smoking varies by social disadvantage[@R9] and, in Australia, social inclusion and socioeconomic status lessen with distance from major metropolitan areas.[@R13] Thus, it is reasonable to anticipate greater smoking amongst Indigenous Australians in more remote regions.
Smoking rates also differ between remote Indigenous communities with one study reporting rates ranging from 59% to 80%.[@R14] This variation may be driven by community-specific factors. In research not focused on Indigenous communities, factors such as neighbourhood disadvantage, perceived crime and neighbourhood stress, and perceived acceptability of smoking have been linked to greater likelihood of an individual smoking.[@R15] Thus, variation in community exposures may shape differences in smoking behaviours between remote Indigenous communities, yielding differences in consequent disease outcomes. Specific to Indigenous smoking, geographic variation in smoking rates (ie, generally higher smoking rates in northern coastal regions) has been attributed to historical factors, with smoking behaviour introduced across the northern coastal region of Australia by Macassan fishermen[@R10] beginning around 1780.[@R19] Minimal research has investigated differences between Indigenous communities, despite geographic variations in smoking rates that likely reflect geographic variation in environmental predisposing factors.
A further potential influence on smoking prevalence is extreme weather, which is demonstrably 'more extreme' in remote Australian regions. Temperature extremes can vary from 34.8°C to 38.0°C in the Darwin (metropolitan) region, to 42.0°C to 46.3°C in the remote Rabbit Flat region.[@R20] Cigarette sales across the US demonstrate seasonality, increasing in the summer months,[@R21] with this pattern also evident within smaller geographic areas (ie, within New Jersey).[@R22] This apparent association between temperature (higher in summer months) and smoking may be the result of the relationship between extreme high temperatures and negative affective states, stress and violence,[@R23] as stress is well accepted as being linked to smoking.[@R9] Extreme high temperatures may influence smoking behaviour by increasing stress and anxiety levels.
Tobacco use is of major significance to the health gap affecting Indigenous Australians and is highest in socially disadvantaged populations in geographically remote locations. Few studies have assessed community exposures in relation to Indigenous smoking behaviour. This study assessed smoking rates for remote Indigenous communities in relation to community sociodemographic and climatic factors.
Methods {#s2}
=======
This study is part of the Environments and Remote Indigenous Cardiometabolic Health Project which aimed to identify community features related to the cardiometabolic health of Indigenous Australians living within remote communities across the Northern Territory and Queensland. This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethics approvals were obtained from multiple Human Research Ethics Committees (details in Ethics approval section).
Sampling {#s2a}
--------
This study used community health service records from the *One21seventy* program, applying protocols for auditing of preventive healthcare developed by the Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease (ABCD) Project.[@R27] The ABCD Audit Protocols defines community health service client records eligible for audit via the following criteria: (1) aged between 15 and 54 years; (2) a community resident for ≥6 months per last 12 months; (3) not previously diagnosed with diabetes, cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney disease; and (4) not pregnant or \<6 weeks postpartum. The audit sample was drawn from the identified eligible client records with sample size determined according to program recommendations.[@R27] Where there were more than 30 eligible records, records were randomly sampled with the size of the sample determined by a sliding scale based on the number of eligible records. Where the number of eligible client records was 30 or less, all records were sampled.
The current study accessed audit data according to the following inclusion criteria, the community was: (1) located within the Northern Territory or Queensland; (2) a 'remote' location[@R28]; and (3) a predominantly Indigenous community signed up to the ABCD National Research Partnership. Such communities were assigned a unique spatial identifier, allowing linkage with other datasets including Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data expressed for Indigenous Locations (ILOCs).[@R28] ILOCs are the smallest resolution at which Indigenous Census data are available, typically representing small (minimum 90 persons) Indigenous communities. Some (n=3) ILOCs include multiple nearby and associated very small communities. Communities belonging to such ILOCs were excluded from this study. Seventy communities met the above inclusion criteria and were included in this study.
Audit data for the years 2010--2014 were extracted for each community (total n=8561 records). Audit records were assessed for multiple client coverage using date of birth and sex, with the most recent record retained (n=5412). Records were excluded where the clients identified as 'Neither' an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person (n=337) and clients whose last health centre attendance was prior to 1 January 2010 (n=395), leaving 4680 records remaining. Audit data were aggregated by community.
Patient and public involvement {#s2b}
------------------------------
Due to the reliance of this study on audit data of health service record, patients and the public were not involved in the design or execution of this research. However, sampled communities were extensively consulted and voluntarily participated in the *One21Seventy* program from which health record audit data were sourced.
Measures {#s2c}
--------
### Dependent variable {#s2c1}
Community smoking rates were calculated from audit records. For each community, smoking rate was calculated as the count of clinical records documenting status as 'smoker' divided by the total records with a valid smoking status (ie, sum of 'smoker' and 'non-smoker'). Where smoking status was not recorded (ie, 'no record' or 'not applicable') the audit record was excluded (n=1991), leaving a final sample of 2689 records of Indigenous Australians with an identifiable smoking status.
### Independent variables {#s2c2}
Community-level Indigenous sociodemographic data were extracted from the ABS 2011 Population and Housing Census[@R29] and expressed at the ILOC spatial unit.[@R28] Data included: *population size* (all persons); *count of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander persons; age* (median); *overcrowding* (the percentage of dwellings requiring one or more additional bedrooms based on household demographics); and *income* (median household). Proportions of Indigenous persons were calculated from the Census data for *education* (grade 10 schooling or higher) and *employment* (aged 15 years and over in labour force).
*Geographic connectivity* was expressed as a count of other Indigenous communities within a 250 km road-network distance[@R30] (mainland communities only; n=56).
Climate profiles were obtained from surface maps sourced from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for the period 1961--2012[@R31]. Community-level climate measures representing *heat* and *heavy rain* were determined as follows. Heat was operationalised as the average of the annual sum of 'cooling degree.days' in each community. 'Cooling degree.days' is a standard measure[@R32] defined as the number of degrees by which a day's mean temperature exceeds 18°C. For example, a day with a mean daily temperature of 25°C would attract a cooling degree.days score of 7 degree.days, whereas as day with a mean daily temperature of 16°C would attract a score of 0 degree.days. *Heavy Rain* was operationalised as the mean of the annual number of days with greater than 25 mm of precipitation.
*Region* was determined according to the community geographic location within Australian Bureau of Meteorology Climate Zones,[@R33] with the climate zones 'Equatorial' and 'Tropical' collapsed to form the 'Coastal' Region, and the climates zones 'Desert' and 'Grassland' collapsed to form the 'Central' Region. Of the 70 included remote communities, 43 were classified as Coastal and 27 as Central.
Data preparation {#s2d}
----------------
Communities were classified as 'high' or 'low' based on the median community value for each variable except Region (classification defined above) ([table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). Alternative cut points were considered, such as the 25th and 75th percentiles;however, use of other cut points resulted in very small cell sizes, particularly within stratified cross-tabulations, such that some cells included zero counts.
######
Features of communities sampled (n=70)
Community feature Mean Median IQR Min Max
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- -------- ----------------- -------- ---------
Population size (Count of total persons\*) 522.9 331.5 210.0--686.0 111 2124
Indigenous persons (as proportion of total persons\*; %) 87.8 90.7 88.0--94.0 52.2 100.0
Indigenous persons:
Proportion who are smokers (% of audited records) 59.5 60.2 50.0--70.0 25.0 96.0
Age (median\*; years) 23.0 22.0 20.0--25.0 16.0 31.0
Income (median household\*; AUD/week) 952.41 912.00 722.00--1125.00 312.00 2111.00
Education (proportion with year 10 schooling or greater\*; %) 55.3 58.2 36.8--73.1 9.4 85.2
Employment (proportion in labour force\*; %) 38.3 34.6 27.6--52.0 10.7 73.5
Overcrowding (proportion of households requiring additional bedrooms\*) 44.8 43.1 31.1--60.0 11.6 84.4
Geographic connectivity (count of Indigenous communities within 250 km†-road network distance) 10.8 6.0 4.0--14.0 2.0 39.0
Heat (average annual cooling degree.days)‡ 2908.5 3178.0 2293--3353 1678.0 3644.0
Heavy rain (average annual number of days with greater than 25 mm of precipitation, days/year) 14.4 15.7 4.2--24.4 2.4 25.6
\*Data relate to the ILOC associated with the selected community.
†n=56 (mainland communities only).
‡Heat, cooling degree.days is calculated as the average of the annual sum of the number of degrees by which each day's mean temperature exceeds 18°C.
AUD, Australian Dollars; ILOC, Indigenous Locations.
Statistical analysis {#s2e}
--------------------
ORs were calculated by two-by-two cross-tabulations of counts of communities classified as high or low smoking rate and counts of communities with high or low classifications of sociodemographic and climatic variables. Additional two-by-two cross-tabulations stratified by community-level measures (sociodemographic measures, geographic connectivity and region) were conducted to assess potential confounding. Where the stratified groups were homogeneous (Breslow-Day test of homogeneity of ORs), adjusted pooled ORs were calculated using the mid*-p* method. Due to small counts within cells, 'exact' options (mid*-p* and mid*-p* 95% CIs) were used throughout.[@R34] All data preparation and analyses were conducted in SAS (V.9.4) and WinPepi (Compare2, V.3.85, J. Abramson).
Results {#s3}
=======
Features of communities are described in [table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}. Median population size was 332. Median population proportion identifying as Indigenous (ie, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) was 90.7%. Median smoking rate was 60.2% with a large range (25.0%--96.0%).
[Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"} reports the results of the two-by-two (presented highest to lowest magnitude of OR) and stratified two-by-two cross-tabulations. Relatively high population communities were more likely to have high smoking rates (OR 6.25, (95% CI 2.18 to 17.95), p\<0.001) compared with communities with low population size. Stratification into high and low conditions for sociodemographic measures and geographic connectivity revealed no differences in ORs between conditions (Breslow-Day test of homogeneity p\>0.05) and pooled ORs remained moderately large (ORs ranging from 5.35 to 6.88, p values \<0.01 or smaller) though with greater attenuation when accounting for region (OR 4.43 (1.47--13.92\], p\<0.01).
######
Associations between counts of communities with high levels of sociodemographic and climatic features, and high smoking proportion, accounting for potential confounders (n=70, 95% CIs calculated using exact methods (mid*-p*))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exposure OR (95% CI) Stratifying variable OR (95% CI)\ OR (95% CI)\ Breslow-Day test of homogeneity Pooled OR (95% CI)
(high condition or coastal region) (low condition or central region)
----------------- ---------------------------- ------------------------------ ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------- --------------------------------- ----------------------------
Population size 6.25 (2.18 to 17.95)\*\*\* Age 18.20 (2.96 to 139.00)\*\*\* 3.30 (0.80 to 13.92) 0.134 6.44 (2.27 to 19.81)\*\*\*
Income 4.27 (0.95 to 19.29) 7.65 (1.56 to 38.03)\*\* 0.589 5.35 (1.90 to 15.95)\*\*
Education 8.50 (1.65 to 47.26)\* 4.57 (0.98 to 21.87) 0.578 5.81 (2.01 to 18.11)\*\*
Employment 4.06 (0.92 to 18.84) 15.00 (2.55 to 113.26)\*\* 0.258 6.88 (2.36 to 22.19)\*\*\*
Overcrowding 5.11 (1.14 to 23.81)\* 9.33 (1.86 to 50.93)\*\* 0.584 6.41 (2.26 to 19.72)\*\*\*
Geographic connectivity† 2.92 (0.53 to 15.91) 16.00 (1.98 to 141.91)\*\* 0.192 5.66 (1.67 to 20.72)\*\*
Region 5.66 (1.36 to 23.67)\* 3.20 (0.41 to 23.38) 0.633 4.43 (1.47 to 13.92)\*\*
Education 3.67 (1.35 to 10.01)\* Population size 4.96 (0.97 to 27.80)\* 2.67 (0.56 to 13.04) 0.578 3.47 (1.18 to 10.79)\*
Age 3.78 (0.85 to 17.67) 4.50 (1.03 to 20.58)\* 0.868 3.96 (1.45 to 11.51)\*\*
Income 4.81 (1.01 to 25.98) 4.81 (1.01 to 25.98) 1.000 4.59 (1.59 to 14.62)\*\*
Employment 0.68 (0.12 to 3.43) 26.67 (3.03 to 621.30)\*\*\* 0.005 --
Overcrowding 4.36 (0.73 to 34.91) 11.90 (1.44 to 284.38)\* 0.485 6.45 (1.75 to 30.92)\*\*
Geographic connectivity† ∞ (2.68 to ∞)\*\* 1.00 (0.16 to 5.69) 0.016 --
Region 0.72 (0.13 to 3.25) 10.00 (0.56 to 307.27) 0.066 1.37 (0.36 to 4.86)
Heavy rain 3.67 (1.35 to 10.01)\* Population size 4.75 (0.93 to 24.21)\* 1.42 (0.28 to 6.70) 0.274 2.50 (0.85 to 7.44)
Age 18.20 (2.96 to 139.00)\*\*\* 1.29 (0.33 to 5.02) 0.016 --
Income 4.82 (1.06 to 22.78)\* 2.80 (0.65 to 12.18) 0.603 3.51 (1.28 to 10.05)\*
Education 0.57 (0.07 to 3.34) 10.50 (1.61 to 84.86)\*\* 0.020 --
Employment 1.28 (0.25 to 6.25) 9.50 (1.55 to 74.66)\* 0.089 3.12 (1.03 to 9.89)\*
Overcrowding 7.11 (1.24 to 54.83)\* 3.50 (0.71 to 19.50) 0.553 4.67 (1.51 to 16.28)\*\*
Geographic connectivity† ∞ (2.68 to ∞)\*\* 3.25 (0.56 to 18.53) 0.091 7.25 (1.86 to 33.39)\*\*
Region 0.64 (0.08 to 3.59) No data No data --
Income 2.86 (1.07 to 7.67)\* Population size 1.78 (0.37 to 8.28) 3.19 (0.66 to 15.71) 0.589 2.31 (0.80 to 6.83)
Age 2.57 (0.61 to 10.81) 3.10 (0.76 to 12.67) 0.852 2.74 (1.04 to 7.43)\*
Education 3.90 (0.82 to 21.18) 3.90 (0.82 to 21.18) 1.000 3.75 (1.29 to 11.93)\*
Employment 3.60 (0.84 to 15.69) 2.17 (0.52 to 8.97) 0.615 2.70 (1.01 to 7.41)\*
Overcrowding 2.60 (0.59 to 12.18) 4.67 (0.97 to 25.35) 0.589 3.33 (1.18 to 10.07)\*
Geographic connectivity† 2.75 (0.56 to 14.03) 3.14 (0.56 to 19.17) 0.909 2.81 (0.91 to 9.16)
Region 2.18 (0.57 to 8.34) 4.00 (0.54 to 35.79) 0.608 2.58 (0.89 to 7.80)
Heat 2.86 (1.07 to 7.67)\* Population size 1.50 (0.32 to 6.94) 4.96 (0.97 to 27.80)\* 0.277 2.59 (0.90 to 7.77)
Age 7.22 (1.28 to 55.09)\* 2.45 (0.57 to 11.30) 0.344 3.80 (1.31 to 12.04)\*
Income 2.31 (0.55 to 9.97) 3.94 (0.88 to 18.40) 0.606 2.90 (1.07 to 8.23)\*
Education 0.31 (0.04 to 1.72) 13.33 (2.30 to 79.93)\*\* 0.001 --
Employment 0.55 (0.10 to 2.66) 12.67 (2.06 to 98.54)\*\* 0.007 \-
Overcrowding 9.17 (1.82 to 50.20)\*\* 1.10 (0.27 to 4.43) 0.043 --
Geographic connectivity† ∞ (5.44 to ∞)\*\*\* 0.80 (0.15 to 4.25) 0.002 --
Region 0.15 (0.01 to 1.07)\* ∞ (2.61 to ∞)\*\* \<0.001 --
Employment 2.25 (0.85 to 5.94) Population size 1.63 (0.35 to 7.91) 6.00 (1.06 to 46.31)\* 0.258 2.88 (0.97 to 9.28)
Age 2.75 (0.65 to 11.89) 2.04 (0.51 to 8.16) 0.762 2.30 (0.88 to 6.19)
Income 2.80 (0.65 to 12.18) 1.69 (0.40 to 7.03) 0.615 2.18 (0.79 to 5.80)
Education 0.17 (0.01 to 1.35) 6.67 (1.20 to 39.16)\* 0.008 --
Overcrowding 2.73 (0.54 to 15.53) 2.73 (0.54 to 15.53) 1.000 2.65 (0.87 to 8.66)
Geographic connectivity† 6.67 (0.95 to 56.74)\* 0.79 (0.13 to 4.38) 0.091 2.05 (0.61 to 6.91)
Region 0.32 (0.04 to 1.63) 4.75 (0.37 to 53.66) 0.040 --
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\*\*\*p\<0.001; \*\*p\<0.01; \*p\<0.05.
†n=56 (mainland communities only).
High education communities were more likely to have high smoking rates (OR 3.67 (1.35--10.01\], p*=*0.010) than communities with low education. Stratification by geographic connectivity and employment revealed differences in ORs between the high and low conditions. Amongst communities with high geographic connectivity, high community-level education was associated with high smoking rates (OR ∞ \[2.68--∞\], p*=*0.002). This relationship was not statistically significant among communities with low geographic connectivity. Similarly, amongst communities with low employment, the odds of high education communities being high in smoking rate rose strongly (OR 26.67 (3.03--621.30\], p\<0.001) while there was no statistically significant association with the high employment condition. Pooled ORs for high education communities being high in smoking rate, after accounting for other measures, were small to moderate (OR 3.47--6.45, p\<0.05 or smaller), except when accounting for region when the association became null. This reflects the differing directions of associations between regions though the difference between groups did not quite reach statistical significance (Breslow-Day test of homogeneity p*=*0.066).
Communities with frequent heavy rain were more likely to have high smoking rates (OR 3.67 (1.35--10.01\], p*=*0.010). These odds were greater for communities with an older population (OR 18.20 (2.96--139.00\], p\<0.001) or low education (OR 10.50 (1.61--84.86\], p*=*0.006) while the odds became non-significant for communities with a younger population or high education. Pooled ORs remained of small to moderate strength when accounting for household income (OR 3.51 (1.28--10.05) p*=*0.014), employment (OR 3.12 (1.03--9.89\], p*=*0.043), overcrowding (OR 4.67 (1.51--16.28) p*=*0.007), and geographic connectivity (OR 7.45 (1.86--33.39) p*=*0.004). However, on accounting for population size the odds of communities with frequent heavy rain being high in smoking rate were non-significant. When stratifying by region, no central communities were classified as having frequent heavy rain and the association between frequent heavy rain and smoking was null for the coastal communities.
Community income was associated with smoking rate (OR 2.86 (1.07--7.67\], p*=*0.036). Stratification into high and low conditions for sociodemographic measures and geographic connectivity revealed no differences in ORs between groups, and pooled ORs were small to moderate (range 2.31--3.75) but were not statistically significant when accounting for population size, geographic connectivity, or region.
Heat was also associated with community smoking rate (OR 2.86 (1.07--7.67\], p*=*0.036) and the odds of a hotter climate community being high in smoking rose notably under the following conditions: low education (OR 13.33 (2.30--79.93\], p*=*0.001); low employment (OR 12.67 (2.06--98.54) p*=*0.004), high overcrowding (OR 9.17 (1.82--50.20\], p*=*0.004), high connectivity (OR ∞ \[5.44-- ∞\], p\<0.001), and central region (OR ∞ \[2.61--∞\], p\<0.01). Amongst coastal communities, high heat was associated with a lesser likelihood of being a high smoking community (OR 0.15 (0.01--1.07\], p\<0.05). Pooled ORs were small to moderate when accounting for average population age (OR 3.80 (1.31--12.04) p*=*0.013), and income (OR 2.90 (1.07--8.23) p*=*0.036) but there was no statistically significant association when accounting for population size.
Community employment was not associated with smoking rate (OR 2.25 (0.85--5.94\], p*=*0.103) but under the low community education condition the odds of high employment communities being high in smoking rose substantially (OR 6.67 (1.20--39.16\], p=0.026). Stratifying by location revealed ORs differing in directions. Amongst coastal communities, high employment rate was inversely associated with smoking rate (OR 0.32 (0.04--1.63)) while amongst central communities, high employment was directly associated with high smoking rate (OR 4.75 (0.37--53.66)). These region-specific associations, however, did not reach statistical significance. Pooled ORs accounting for other sociodemographic measures or geographic connectivity yielded small but statistically non-significant effects (ORs ranging from 2.05 to 2.88).
Discussion {#s4}
==========
This ecological study assessed Indigenous Australian smoking rates based on health-audit records, within predominantly Indigenous remote communities, in relation to community-level sociodemographic and climatic factors. We observed substantial variation in Indigenous smoking rates between remote communities, from 25% to 96%, a broader range than previously reported. Other studies reported rates as ranging between 59% to 80%[@R14] and 27% to 68%.[@R35]
Our observed variation may be, in part, due to the large degree of sample loss resulting from audit client records missing smoking information. Wright and colleagues[@R35] noted particularly small sample sizes available for some Indigenous regions which may impact on the precision of estimates and artificially inflate the range of smoking rates reported. To better understand geographic variation in smoking rate, its associated factors, and change in rates over time, better quality data are needed. Regardless, our findings align with previously identified substantial geographic variation in smoking between remote Indigenous communities. This variation has important implications for intervention strategies, suggesting the need for localised approaches targeting communities according to smoking prevalence. It is, however, important to note that regional variation in smoking rates has a basis in the history of tobacco usage among Indigenous Australians, with exposure to smoked tobacco (in contrast to the custom of chewing native, nicotine-containing flora) preceding Western colonisation and occurring in littoral regions of the Northern Territory and Queensland via trade.[@R10] This study stratified cross-tabulations by region in order to account for this previously established variation in smoking rates.
Our findings indicate smoking rate covaries with community-level features, notably, population size, education level, income, heat and frequency of heavy rain. Some effects varied given other community conditions. Communities with larger populations were more likely to have high smoking rates. This may reflect greater access to cigarettes as larger communities likely have more services including retail outlets for cigarettes. Relatively high-income communities were also more likely to have high smoking rates, suggesting greater ability to afford cigarettes. This association was nullified, however, by accounting for population size, geographic connectivity, and region (itself related to both population size and geographic connectivity), given that with greater population size and geographic connectivity comes greater income earning opportunity.
Communities with a relatively high education level were more likely to have high smoking rates, particularly if the community also had low levels of employment or high geographic connectivity to other Indigenous communities. The direction of this relationship is unexpected, as individual-level education and area-level SES are both inversely related to individual smoking in the Australian population in general, and Indigenous Australians in particular.[@R36] Greater education with lesser opportunity to apply that education through employment could, however, constitute a substantial stressor that supports smoking as a coping strategy.
It is possible that relationships observed between community smoking rate and sociodemographic features (population size and education level) reflect complex historic and ongoing social pathologies. Larger communities may consist of multiple displaced, and sometimes feuding, family groups forcefully relocated from their traditional homelands to a mission site.[@R38] Forced removal from traditional lands breaks the important connection that Indigenous Australians have to Country, a connection important to their well-being.[@R39] Moreover, forced dispossession and resettlement disrupted established traditional lifestyles and social systems whilst failing to provide an adequate alternate cultural system, resulting in reduced quality of lifestyle.[@R40]
This disruption of traditional structures and inadequate replacement with new structures, and the lack of acceptance into the western social system could lead to anomie and collective despondency, exacerbated by cultural bereavement.[@R41] It follows that such communities would have higher smoking rates amongst other social problems. Indeed, communities with a long history of receiving forcefully displaced groups and where maximum dysfunctional cultural change has occurred are most likely to exhibit social pathologies and disorder, including violence and self-harm.[@R40] We speculate that the unexpected association found in this study between high education and high smoking rate, particularly in communities with low employment, exemplifies the lack of social integration and acceptance into western social structures and resultant coping behaviour.
Relatively high community-level Western-style education may correspond to a reduced reliance on traditional social structures. Yet, higher levels of education may not overcome institutional racism and enable Indigenous individuals and groups to be truly accepted within the broader, non-Indigenous societal structures and take advantage of related opportunities. This latter point would be highlighted to the individual and the community by lack of employment. Smoking rate is likely a symptom of the broader issues faced by remote Indigenous communities and attempts to reduce smoking without considering these broader issues are unlikely to be effective. Interventions targeting proximal individual-level determinants of smoking need to be supported by efforts to improve distal community-level and societal factors.[@R44] Broad ecological approaches collaborating with local Indigenous representatives to facilitate local empowerment are needed with the focus on reducing the underlying social problems and ensuing social psychological states that predispose individual smoking behaviours.[@R26]
Regarding climatic exposures, the influence of weather on smoking has rarely been assessed, especially in Indigenous populations. We observed frequent heavy rain to be associated with high smoking rates, particularly where community residents had a higher median age. However, this relationship may be an artefact of the association between region and smoking, as frequent heavy rain occurred only in the coastal region, and coastal communities were more likely to be high in smoking rate. Heat was also associated with high smoking rates, particularly in communities with low education, low employment, high overcrowding, high geographic connectivity and central region. This supports our premise regarding heat as a stressor affecting smoking behaviour, an effect seemingly compounded by other adverse conditions. In particular, the strong positive relationship between high heat and smoking in the central region suggests the relationship between heat and smoking rate is not due to confounding by region. If stress due to ongoing, inescapable heat is indeed related to smoking, as our findings suggest, this supports the need for better quality, culturally appropriate housing to ameliorate such stress. It is possible, however, that the apparent association between heat and smoking rate is due to other factors not measured here. These associations are novel and warrant further exploration.
This study builds on and expands the literature on Australian Indigenous smoking as few studies have assessed smoking rates of remote Indigenous communities, especially in relation to community-level factors. It identifies relationships between community smoking rate and community features and provides a snapshot of smoking rates in remote Indigenous communities. Though specific to Australian remote Indigenous communities, these findings may be broadly generalisable to other remote-dwelling indigenous populations in high-income countries as such populations have similar characteristics and have experienced similar historical exposures. Some limitations should be noted. The cross-sectional nature of this study limits inference on the temporal direction of associations. Use of clinical audit data only captures information for individuals who accessed western healthcare services. Individual-level audit record sample loss due to missing smoking information may have introduced bias to the data and be indicative of deficient health assessment and data collection procedures at the local health service level. Similarly, the use of audit records creates a selection bias (eg, not including records with chronic diseases) hence our results likely under-estimate the prevalence of smoking. Limitations in the assessment of community-level smoking have been noted in other studies.[@R35] Potential confounding due to residential self-selection toward smaller and potentially healthier communities could not be accounted for. Given the small sample size and the desire to assess simple associations, the common and recommended[@R46] epidemiological approach of dichotomising the data at the median was utilised. We acknowledge that the categorisation of these data results in some information loss. Finally, this study is ecological and associations between community smoking rates and community factors should not be inferred at the individual level. The environmental correlates of smoking rates stand to differ from the predictors of individual smoking initiation and cessation.
Conclusion {#s5}
==========
This study found substantial variation in smoking rates between Australian remote Indigenous communities, and that community-level sociodemographic (relatively large population size, high education level and high income), and climatic factors (heat and frequent heavy rain) were associated with high smoking rates. Better data are needed to more accurately assess differences in community smoking rates, the ecological factors relating to these differences, and to track change in smoking rates over time. Further assessment of climatic factors, particularly heat, in relation to smoking is warranted. Community smoking rate is likely associated with adverse historical experiences and local pathologies. Efforts to reduce smoking rates should include a focus on improving local social conditions using a collaborative approach distinct from traditional forms of health education.
Supplementary Material
======================
###### Reviewer comments
###### Author\'s manuscript
The authors wish to acknowledge Veronica Matthews, Senior Research Officer, ABCD National Research Partnership for assistance in data provision. The development of this manuscript would not have been possible without the active support, enthusiasm and commitment of staff in participating primary health care services, and members of the ABCD National Research Partnership and the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement.
**Contributors:** SJC prepared the data, performed analyses, interpreted results and contributed to the drafting and revision of the manuscript. MJD performed analyses, interpreted results and contributed to the drafting and revision of the manuscript. RB conceived of and designed the study and contributed to the revision of the manuscript. MD conceived of and designed the study, interpreted results and contributed to the drafting and revision of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.
**Funding:** This work was supported by the Australian Research Council \[grant number DP120102482\] and drew upon data collected as part of the One21seventy project. One21seventy is a continuous quality improvement (CQI) program developed as part of the ABCD National Research Partnership Project (both the ABCD National Research Partnership Project and the Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Quality Improvement were funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council \[GNT545267; GNT1078927, respectively\] and the Lowitja Institute, and by financial and in-kind support from a range of Community Controlled and Government agencies). The Audit and Best Practice for Chronic Disease Extension (ABCDE) Project was supported by funding from the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. The funding sources had no involvement with study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, writing this manuscript or choice of journal.
**Competing interests:** None declared.
**Ethics approval:** Ethics approval for the present study was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of University of South Australia \[HREC Reference No. 31874\], Central Australian Human Research Ethics Committee \[HREC-13-182\], Human Research Ethics Committee of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research \[HREC 2013-2083\], and Far North Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee \[HREC/15/QCH/4-946\]. Ethics approvals for the ABCD National Research Partnership, for the geographic area pertaining to this study, were obtained from HRECs in the states and territories involved: the HREC of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Research (HREC-EC00153); Central Australian HREC (HREC-12-53); Queensland HREC Darling Downs Health Services District (HREC/11/QTDD/47); and the South Australian Indigenous Health Research Ethics Committee (04-10-319). Protocols for sharing deidentified client-level data by participating health services are managed by the ABCD National Research Partnership.
**Provenance and peer review:** Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
**Data sharing statement:** Data are available upon request.
**Patient consent for publication:** Not required.
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The Duke Street phase of the redevelopment project included forming a new staff entrance into the building below Edwards Mews and realignment of the HGV entrance ramp to the loading bays. However, the primary feature of the first phase of works was the insertion of a new 50m long 165 tonne steel-framed bridge structure, through the existing store, to improve HGV egress from the basement loading bays. This new structure is a braced steel tube linking the loading bay within the basement to Duke Street.
The structural works were designed to keep the loading bay active throughout the works, while staff access was maintained and retail operations continued within 1m to 2m of the structural works.
Design and execution of the structural interventions was made more complex by the limited existing building information, and numerous historical alterations that were discovered during the build, requiring modifications to be made to the new construction as it progressed on-site.
To maximise retail space for the client, the preferred routing of the egress ramp was tight to the perimeter of the building. This routing allowed the ramp to be partially supported on the existing steel structure, but necessitated the partial removal of three existing columns that then had to be re-supported on bespoke steel transfer girders integrated into the new ramp structure.
The routing of the ramp meant it would span over an occupied three-storey basement. To minimise disruption to these basement spaces, and to minimise the need for new foundations, support was taken from the existing 1920s steel structure along the northern edge of the ramp. On the southern edge of the ramp vertical support was limited to two new columns between which a new steel truss would span. The new columns were threaded down through the existing building and supported on new hand dug pad foundations.
Reuse of the existing 1920s steel frame on the northern edge of the ramp provided an economic solution. The existing steelwork comprised of built-up riveted sections which geometrically added complexity to the connections formed to the existing structure. However, the existing steel proved to be of a weldable nature and so site welded connections were adopted.
Where the new ramp is supported on existing steel columns, these were checked for a change in loading and restraint condition due to the removal of the ground floor beams. Some of the columns required strengthening but, as this was governed by buckling capacity, the columns could be strengthened relatively simply via the addition of welded plates to the existing sections to increase their stiffness. The size of the strengthening plates could be easily tailored to suit constraints on site and manual installation.
To allow the ramp to connect between road level and the loading bay within the basement a large slot was cut into the existing ground floor slab. The stability of the building is likely to be provided by a combination of frame action and some contribution from the masonry infilled building cores. The unquantifiable nature of the system meant the diaphragm action of the ground floor had to be maintained. This was achieved in the temporary condition via a temporary propping arrangement, and in the permanent condition by making connections between the existing ground floor frame and new ramp. The new ramp structure was then designed to transfer any diaphragm loads back to the existing retaining wall with steel members being tuned to provide an appropriate stiffness.
The two transfer structures used to re-support the columns above the ramp were deemed to experience vertical deflections exceeding acceptable limits for an occupied building. However, to negate the existing structure above experiencing these movements, an erection approach utilising jacking was adopted. This allowed the load from the existing column sections to be transferred into the new transfer structures in advance of the lower column sections being removed. The jacks were used to push the transfer structures down, realising the anticipated deflections before connections were made to the existing columns.
A key challenge in the construction of the new steel ramp structure was the fact that it was to be constructed within a live existing building. As the structure was to support HGV vehicles the steel forming the structure was of a scale that, although lighter than other forms of construction, could not be manhandled. The contractor team therefore developed a series of temporary works that spread the load of a spider crane across the existing suspended basement floor. The crane could then be safely driven into the space via the existing loading bay entrance without back propping through the levels below.
The creation of the new egress ramp was a highly complex piece of engineering design and construction successfully delivered by close collaboration between the whole team.
|Architect||Gensler|
|Structural Engineer||Expedition Engineering|
|Steelwork Contractor||William Hare|
|Main Contractor||Blue Sky Building and SRM JV|
|Client||Selfridges|
Judges' comment
The creation of this new egress ramp within an existing steel structure was highly complex, yet successful. A key challenge for the engineering design and construction was that the work was to be carried out in a live and busy existing building, with ongoing high-end retail operations being immediately adjacent to the work zone.
The outstanding success of this complex project was achieved through very close collaboration between the whole design and construction team. | https://steelconstruction.info/HGV_Egress_Ramp,_Selfridges,_London |
2 edition of Sustainable management of sediment resources found in the catalog.
Sustainable management of sediment resources
Published
2006
by Elsevier in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
.
Written in English
Edition Notes
|Statement||edited by Guiseppe Bortone, Leonardo Palumbo.|
|Classifications|
|LC Classifications||TD|
|The Physical Object|
|Pagination||xii, 209 p. :|
|Number of Pages||209|
|ID Numbers|
|Open Library||OL22741416M|
|ISBN 10||0444519637|
The book Reservoir Sedimentation Handbook: Design and Management of Dams, Reservoirs and Watersheds for Sustainable Use is a detailed source of information about the sedimentation process and provides a deep insight of the different sediment management strategies featured in seven case studies. To achieve a win-win situation, we need to change our mindset by thinking outside the box through advocating integrated and holistic approaches in managing our natural resources. This book presents a variety of sustainable strategies and/or approaches including use of GIS and Remote Sensing technologies, decision support system models Cited by: 2.
Sustainable Resource Management Master of Science (theslopelounge.com) The international master's program in Sustainable Resource Management is an inter- and transdisciplinary program devoted to a sustainable approach to natural resources, such as soil, water, air or biological diversity. Until now. Highlighting the important role that sediments play in the geoenvironment, Sediments Contamination and Sustainable Remediation focuses on sediment management for the purpose of environmental cleanup or management. It provides the in-depth understanding of the sediment-water environment needed to develop better management practices.
Sediment Quality and Impact Assessment of Pollutants (Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources Book 1) eBook: Damia Barcelo, Mira Petrovic: theslopelounge.com: Kindle StoreManufacturer: Elsevier Science. Written by two of the world’s leading experts on sediment management, Extending the Life of Reservoirs: Sustainable Sediment Management for Dams and Run-of-River Hydropower provides guidance on adopting sediment management practices for hydropower and dam projects.
Wheels on soft soils
Puangpaka Vertrees and Puangtip Vertrees
Moldy Feeds and Swine Diseases.
Organizing for neighbourhood development
Basic College Chemistry
Samuel Chase. Communication from the Court of Claims transmitting a copy of the findings of the court in the case of Samuel Chase against the United States.
Chemical hypersensitivity syndrome study
Collected poems, 1914-1947
The Persian Gulf
Massachusetts domestic relations
Teenage years
Some aspects of parliamentary procedure
Sweet seduction
Mindfulness for teens with ADHD
Japanese porcelain
Read the latest chapters of Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources at theslopelounge.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature. Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources.
Latest volume All volumes. Search in this book series. Sediment Risk Management and Communication. Edited by Susanne Heise. Volume 3, Pages () Download full volume. Previous volume. Next volume. Actions. Part of the "Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources" mini-series, this volume gives an overview on sediment treatment with a European perspective.
It provides an overview on the costs involved in sediment treatment. Buy Sediment Risk Management and Communication: Sustainable Management of Sediment Resources (SEDNET), Volume 3: Read Books Reviews - theslopelounge.comufacturer: Elsevier Science.
Sediment Management at the River Basin Scale reviews some of the key requirements and challenges facing scientists, river basin managers, and policy makers for sustainable sediment management at the river basin scale, and puts forward important recommendations.
Mar 01, · Sediment Management at the River Basin Scale (Sediment Management of Sediment Resources) [Phil Owens] on theslopelounge.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
Sediments are a natural part of aquatic systems and they are essential for the hydrological, geomorphological and ecological functioning of those systems. For society they are important and represent an important resource.4/5(1).
PDF | On Sep 1,Ulrich Förstner and others Sustainable management of sediment resources book P. Owens, Sustainable management of sediment resources. Vol. 4: Sediment management at the river basin scale | Find, read and cite Author: Ulrich Förstner.
Sustainable management of sediment resources: sediment management at the river basin scale Article (PDF Available) · January with Reads How we measure 'reads'. Written by leading experts from around the world, the 33 chapters in this book provide comprehensive information about different aspects of sustainable water resources management.
This book reviews various methods of data collection and describes available tools for hydrological modeling, with an emphasis on remote sensing and GIS. The set of journals have been ranked according to their SJR and divided into four equal groups, four quartiles.
Q1 (green) comprises the quarter of the journals with the highest values, Q2 (yellow) the second highest values, Q3 (orange) the third highest values and Q4 (red) the lowest values. This consumer-driven mentality is not a sustainable management of our resources and leads to serious environmental issues.
The population growth and economic growth of the last century was coupled to significant growth in consumption and extraction of natural resources, steering the world towards negative and damaging environmental impacts. resources (land, water, forest and biodiversity) and marine and coastal resources.
This paper focuses on the environmental challenges of sustainable development issues with particular attention to natural resource management, environment and climate change in the food and agriculture sector (including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry).
This book is about finding the best way to manage challenges emanating from accelerating natural resource use. The contributors in this book have vast expertise and experience in natural resources management. All the chapters suggest that sustainable natural resources management can only be achieved through use of system thinking to.
May 24, · Please note the following additional information concerning data protection: At our events you will be asked to wear a name theslopelounge.comrmore, at events organised by us photos might be taken or films shot, members of the press might attend, lectures might be transferred via Skype, there might also be video conferences or live streamings with or without recording.
Area Trials – sustainable management of natural resources in practice The purpose of the trials was to: • investigate what sustainable management of natural resources means within a local context. • think about how we apply our new duties under the Environment Act and the Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Jul 31, · Book Review; Published: 31 July P. Owens, Sustainable management of sediment resources. Vol. 4: Sediment management at the river basin scale.
Elsevierpp, EURISBN Cited by: 2. Sustainable Resource Management deals with the protection of all natural resources. If you major in this, you’ll learn how we use said resources, how we should use them (which isn’t always how we do use them), what affects them, and how they can be best protected and preserved.
Consequently, future costs, including dam decommissioning or retrofitting with sediment management facilities, would be regarded as nonfactors in an analysis.
CBAs have also historically failed to account for infrastructure and environmental impacts of sedimentation over time. Sediment Risk Management and Communication (Vol.3 in the SEDNET mini-series) is based on discussions that were held in the working group on "Risk Management and Communication" which was one of 4 working groups within the European Demand-Driven Sediment Research Network "SedNet".
It aims to analyse the current situation in Europe with regard to. Sustainable Land Management Sourcebook and findings become available on good land management practices.
This book will be of interest to project managers and practitioners working to enhance land and Remote-Sensing Tool for Water Resources Management.
Extending the life of reservoirs: sustainable sediment management for dams and run-of-river hydropower (English) Abstract. This book was developed to facilitate implementation of a programmatic approach using selected scientific methods for screening climate change and disaster risks, and integrating appropriate resilience measures into water, hydropower, and dam investment Cited by: 7.Achieving sustainable water management requires a multidisciplinary and holistic approach in which technical, environmental, economic, landscape aesthetic, societal and cultural issues are addressed.
Further research is required to guide the development of appropriate sustainable water management measures, strategies and policies.Good practise management of in-channel sediments; In most cases it is recommended that sediment is retained in the river channel because it is an intrinsic part of the functioning of the river system, contributes to diverse channel morphology, and provides vital habitats for aquatic organisms. | https://tiqenatihehirik.theslopelounge.com/sustainable-management-of-sediment-resources-book-18317ft.php |
The Wrong Square at Thunder Run 2018 - See You At The Finish Line
So my race didn't go to plan at Thunderrun this year. I was planning on doing at least 14 laps which I would use to make a 4 by 4 grid, one tile for the start, 14 laps, then one tile for the finish line.
But after just 13 hours my body had had enough and my brain had stopped working. I slept for hours then did a final lap in the morning. I don't think having a bed 10 meters from the course every 10km doesn't help my motivation!
Here's a quick video I shot before the race for instagram. It's me quickly showing my food and drink prep for the race...
Well enjoy the video. Next one will probably be shot during the Gritstone Grind. | https://www.nathanrae.co.uk/blog/ |
ARTEL DANCE: break the 4th wall
ARTEL is an event where the worlds of visual and performance art exist side by side. It is a chance to share audiences, to expose viewers to something new, and to stumble upon unexpected experiences. ARTEL 2015 showcased more performances than any previous ARTEL events. I should mention that I attend on a day that it was raining, so I was not able to see many of the performance works. Based on what I could observe, it was refreshing to happen upon crafted movements of the body amidst an installation art showcase.
While the presence of dance is stimulating, there was a disconnect between the artistic intention of visual and performance work presented at ARTEL. The visual art created immersive environments that invited viewers into the room to be a part of the space, and thus the audience became a part of the installation. The installations held a different metaphysical response, and allowed the viewer to feel included as a participant rather than an observer beyond the 4th wall (a term frequently used in Theater to describe an imaginary line in the proscenium theater between the stage and the audience). The performance work presented at ARTEL drew lines for the audience to sit behind, created mini stages, and put up curtains, making their performances less immersive, and reverted the space to the set up of a traditional theater.
One hotel room was filled with the expansive movement of five young girls. It was impressive to watch the daringness of the performers as they rolled and whipped into frenzied turns that had the audience fearing for their safety in the small room. Then the performers would come to a strong and stable position and address their body’s movements with clarity and attention to the internal response of the physical action. They informed the audience that the work was about the 5 stages of grief at the end of the performance, but they did not utilize their proximity to the audience during the performance to share the emotional topic through personal connections with the viewers. The room and installation had no effect on their artistic intention, and the work looked as though it was designed for a much larger space.
There were very few performances that spent time developing their installation other than a work by Liliana Gomez. In this work, the viewer entered a room covered in newspapers, and walked through a time portal to the back room where Gomez performed amidst a sea of newspapers. The papers were involved in every element of the work. The newspapers created a visual claustrophobia and a sonic destruction from the tearing and crinkling. The paper was utilized as a prop as the performer would turn her back to the audience, and resume her task of shredding the paper, creating nostalgia in the passing of time.
Tyler Hooten’s hotel room also made use of a prop. A flashlight was used to illuminate the body amidst a blackened room. An elbow would be revealed, and just as the music would hit a pulse the light would be thrown to the face to reveal expressions of exhaustion and curiosity. Hooten’s back would be revealed by the light to expose a white moist back, slowly rippling through the spine, making the performer less human, and more creature-like.
My favorite part of being an audience member at ARTEL was never knowing what I was going to find. Every room I entered, I expected to have a different experience. Perhaps this is why I felt underwhelmed by the dance performances ability to create profoundly new experiences. I wanted to feel more included, and be more surprised by the way in which the performances utilized their space and their audience. | https://www.nuebox.org/single-post/2015/05/19/artel-dance-break-the-4th-wall |
Empowering citizens with basic verification skills key to fighting political misinformation ― ExpertsBy Niyi Oyedeji on March 12, 2022
EMPHASIS has again been placed on the need to empower the citizens with basic verification skills in order to fight against political misinformation and disinformation that could mar Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
This call was made by experts on Friday during an interactive Twitter Spaces hosted by The FactCheckHub.
In her words, Bamas Victoria, the Editor of The ICIR stated that one of the ways to fight misinformation is to teach the citizens how to interact with any information they come across, particular by indulging in the basic verification process.
“One way we can help as fact-checkers and journalists is to engage the public and teach them media literacy and critical thinking,” she said.
Also speaking, Kemi Busari, the Editor of Dubawa decried how political parties and actors usually contribute to the spread of misinformation during the electioneering period. He said it is important to put some sanctions in place to curb such attitudes from undermining the country’s electoral process.
“There needs to be a sort of deterrence, particularly from the in-house workings of the political parties. A sort of self-regulation has to be in place by these parties to curb misinformation,” he noted.
He also reiterated the need for journalists to go beyond collecting press releases from politicians without subjecting them to proper scrutiny.
“The general public should also be armed to differentiate between genuine information and misinformation,” Busari added.
Speaking on the need to stop disinformation from posing threat to national security, especially in an election year, Dr Akintunde Akanni, the acting Head of Journalism Department, Lagos State University, said that it is important for journalists to always ethically report only what is true to avoid throwing the country into chaos.
“An average journalist who has undergone training must have been told early in the course of his training that ethically, you must learn to report only what it is true because of the impact it might have on national security,” he opined.
Similarly, Hannah Ajakaiye, the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) Knight Fellow (Nigeria) said there is a need to acknowledge the fact that a whole lot of Nigerians rely on social media to get their news due to the fact that the trust they have in the traditional media has diminished.
“This is why it is important to invest in media literacy. We need to sensitize social media users to be able to distinguish what is real and what is fake and the need for them to trust credible media platforms, rather than blogs or social media influencers,” she explained.
Speaking on the need for fact-checkers to be non-partisan, David Ajikobi, the Nigeria Editor of the Africa Check stated that fact-checkers need to realise that their job is to make sure that the quality of the information in the media space is accurate to enable people to make an informed decision at the poll.
He also reiterated the need for people to always check the news they are consuming to ensure they are not falling for parody accounts.
“If people can do a simple verification process on their own, it will save them from falling for all forms of misinformation,” he reiterated.
In his submission, Ajibola Amzat, the Managing Editor of The ICIR said it is almost impossible to stop people from sharing misinformation, adding that “misinformation is, in fact, getting its way into the mainstream media.”
“Journalists, perhaps out of ignorance or poor fact-checking process also share misinformation,” he said.
Amzat added that since it is not possible to stop misinformation, which he said has been in existence from time immemorial, there is a need to improve the quality of information that is being churned out.
“Our goal should be to always counter misinformation with quality and adequate information as fast as possible,” he noted. | https://factcheckhub.com/empowering-citizens-with-basic-verification-skills-key-to-fighting-political-misinformation-%E2%80%95-experts/ |
REACH Equity Research Scholars Development Program is intended to support early-stage investigators (trainees, postdoctoral students) who are interested in conducting health disparities research.
Scholars work with a faculty mentor (identified by the trainee) to develop a research proposal and complete a project over one or two years. While in general, we expect that scholars will identify a faculty mentor based on their area of interest or current/ongoing mentoring relationship, applicants may contact Cheryl Miller ([email protected]) to speak to REACH Equity staff about identifying a mentor if needed.
In addition to the research, scholars have the opportunity to participate in REACH Equity research education and training activities to the extent possible, including the Health Disparities Research Curriculum, the Research Works in Progress (RWIP) seminar series, and other interdisciplinary programs designed to enhance skills, collaborations, and networking.
In general, we expect proposed research projects to be small in scope and to make use of the expertise and resources of faculty mentor (chosen by applicant). Proposals may include any research method (quantitative, qualitative, etc.) and may include any diagnosis, clinical setting, stage of illness, or age group.
However, the proposed research should clearly focus on issues related to addressing racial and ethnic disparities or improving health of underrepresented racial and ethnic populations by impacting the clinical setting.
We plan to fund awards of up to $5,000 each for one or two year project beginning July 2019. Proposals may include expansion of ongoing or currently funded work of the mentor or small stand-alone project.
Enter Access Code “DOM” then select the “REACH Equity Research Scholars Development Program 2018” funding opportunity and follow the instructions. | https://sites.duke.edu/reachequity/funding-opportunities/research-scholars-development-program/ |
The impacts of short break provision on families with a disabled child: an international literature review.
There are widespread assumptions about the potential impacts of short breaks on family carers and disabled children. This review aims to evaluate the existing international research evidence concerning the impacts of short breaks on families with a disabled child. Electronic literature searches were conducted using ASSIA, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Web of Science, and requests for information were sent to selected email lists. Of 60 articles or reports identified for inclusion in the review, the vast majority of studies were cross-sectional, with only eight studies using quasi-experimental pre-post designs or longitudinal designs. Nonetheless, the consistency with which some findings have been reported suggests that short breaks appear to have the potential to positively impact on not only the well-being of carers, but also the children receiving short breaks and their families as a whole. Additional research is warranted in a number of areas. First, research needs to consider the impact of short breaks on fathers. Second, there is a need to consider in more depth how short breaks can impact on the siblings of disabled children. Third, research could consider how best short breaks can be combined with other interventions to maximise the impact for disabled children and their families. Fourth, research needs to look at the longer term impact of short breaks on outcomes for disabled children and their families. What is needed is evidence on what type of short breaks are best for children and families with particular characteristics at particular times during the course of the child's maturation towards adulthood.
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The Glorious Antiphonal ExhibitionThe State Library of South Australia's official 1998 Adelaide Festival of Arts exhibition highlights one of the Library's most beautiful treasures. The Antiphonal, its history and the story of its conservation will delight and inspire you. The Antiphonal will be on view to the public between February 6 and April 26 in the State Library of South Australia's Exhibition Space. The most highly prized item in the State Library of South Australia's fascinating, Rare Books Collection - The Antiphonal - has been described as the "ancient star" of the 1998 Adelaide Festival of Arts. Viewers will be taken on a journey across 600 years and half the globe, with a work of sacred art that joins two worlds.
The 13th century, illuminated, music manuscript book, created in a central Italian monastery, was acquired for the Collection in 1945 by the Friends of the State Library.
Over the last five years the State Library has, with the assistance of Artlab, combined traditional craft with the latest in technology to painstakingly restore this beautiful book of Gregorian chant for posterity.
While the 180 leaves were individually restored on a flat surface
using vellum and stereoscopic technology, the Library also took
the opportunity to create high quality, photographic images of
each page. Those images have been digitised and can now be
shared with the world via the Internet.
The exhibition will tell the original story and explain the meaning of The Antiphonal, including its creation and daily performance by the monastic choir; reveal the skills and processes of its contemporary conservation; and allow viewers to 'turn' each precious page of the manuscript in virtual reality on a dedicated computer in the exhibition.
At the heart of the exhibition will be the "ancient star"
in all its glory.
The Internet site:
The site contains over 730 pages. One series of 359 contain images
of individual pages of the Antiphonal combined with a transcription
of the original Latin whilst another series of 359 provide images
and an English translation of the text. Additional pages provide
such information as the history and perceived highlights of the
Antiphonal.
Transcription & Translation Pages
The authors of the site have tried to follow the textural colouring
and layout as far as was feasible. Actual text is coloured black
whilst instructions are red and author's notes are blue.
Each
transcription page has a file designator of orig[number].htm form,
with orig1.htm being page 1 of the transcription. Translation
pages have a similar designator with trans1.htm being the translation
for page 1, therefore if a particular page is sought, please type the appropriate file number into your browser's location field. From within the transcription or translation sections it is possible to navigate forward or backwards one
page or from transcription to translation page, by means of the
appropriate button or link.
The site is under continuous development and now includes a multi-media presentation of the choir performance. | https://antiphonal.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/information.htm |
The full text of this item is not available at this time because the student has placed this item under an embargo for a period of time. The Libraries are not authorized to provide a copy of this work during the embargo period, even for Texas A&M users with NetID.
Linking Multi-Year and Multi-Sensor Land Cover Data to Water Yield in the Nueces Headwaters Watershed of Texas
Date2018-11-19
Author
MetadataShow full item record
Abstract
The stress on water resources is more critical in drylands due to ecological and climatological changes. Because upscaling the findings of paired-catchment studies to larger watersheds is difficult, hydrological models like the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were oftentimes used to investigate the impact of land use and land cover changes (LULC) on water yield. Such modeling studies first require the accurate estimates of LULC change using remote sensing images, which has been hindered by the presence of shadows in these images. Also, the data used in many previous modeling studies didn’t have the extent of variations in LULC and other variables including climatic conditions comparable to the simulation scenarios. The objectives of this study are to classify LULC types in the shadow areas of aerial images; to evaluate the complement between LULC data and ancillary data; to estimate LULC change; and to assess the impact of the LULC change on the water yield of the Nueces River Headwaters watershed using multi-year and multi-sensor LULC data and the SWAT model. More than 99% of the shadow area was identified with a 92.68% average accuracy. This outcome indicates that LULC types of shadow area on higher-resolution images can be classified successfully with a straightforward method incorporating the multi-sensor LULC classification schemes. The high accuracy of multi-year and multi-sensor LULC maps revealed the benefits of ancillary data use in remote sensing image classification. LULC change detection analysis was conducted using higher-resolution maps for precise quantification. There was at least an 8% reduction in juniper cover from 2008 to 2014 in the watershed. To account for variations in LULC, 2008, 2012 and 2016 maps were used to set up multiple SWAT models. Although satisfactory model performance statistics obtained from calibration, model performance was degraded for the validation period. This indicated that the model couldn’t sufficiently assess the variation in LULC and weather for a relatively brief period in the specific karst watershed. This study may be the first study conducted in a large karst watershed in the Edwards Plateau which accounted for the watershed-wide LULC changes for the entire modeling period.
SubjectSWAT
NAIP
Landsat
LULC
karst watershed
Ecohydrology
HRU
Citation
Doner, Yavuz (2018). Linking Multi-Year and Multi-Sensor Land Cover Data to Water Yield in the Nueces Headwaters Watershed of Texas. Master's thesis, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from http : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /174589. | https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/174589 |
Work along local fashion designers, modelling agencies, alternatively, work as a brand coordinator for famous Asian luxury brands or leading fashion medias. You’ll be using your technical skills and your leadership and interpersonal skills to complete various fashion projects.
Participating in an fashion design Internship typically involves working on sketches or sewing. While Being a fashion designer is obviously one of the most visible roles you can have in the industry, it’s a huge industry and there are a multitude of fashion internships available such as Fashion Merchandising / Sales and Marketing, Production Management, Visual Presentation / Styling, Public Relation, or fashion journalist.
Learn hands-on with one of HK most talented designer, who has worked in New York under none other than Vera Wang herself. You will be working daily under her guidance and explore various aspects of what it is to launch your own brand. From meeting clients, to designing, to attending fashion events and work on innovative marketing ideas, you will be learning a great deal about the industry.
The staff was friendly and helpful. The cleaning was done well. | https://www.nextstepconnections.com/guaranteed-internship/fashion/ |
An apportunity to rent a well presented one bedroom house with a large garden and allocated parking space.
The accomodation briefly comprises of a sitting/dining room a well equipped kitchen, a double bedroom and a bathroom with shower over bath .
Double glazing throughout and gas central heating
A well behaved pet may be considered at the landlords discretion at an extra £10 per month
Sitting/Dining Room
The front door opens into a lovely living area with patio doors to the garden, there is laminate flooring for easy cleaning an archway leads to the kitchen and stairs lead to the first floor.
Kitchen
Modern wall and base units with wood effect worktops, a gas hob and electric oven, space for a washing machine and fridge/freezer and useful under stairs storage. The gas boiler is situated in the kitchen.
Stairs and landing.
Stairs lead from the sitting room to the first floor
Bedroom
A double room with window overlooking the front of the property
Bathroom
A white suite comprising of shower over bath hand wash basin and wc and obscured window.
Garden
This property has the advantage of a generous garden with patio area and steps to the lawn. Fenced on all sides with a small shed for gardening equipment.
Parking
There is an allocated parking space for one car.
Services
Mains Electricity
Mains Gas
Mains Water
Council Tax Band A
Okehampton
Okehampton is found on the fringes of the beautiful Dartmoor National Park offering miles of unspoilt stunning scenery. The town benefits from many local and national businesses, shops, supermarkets (including a Waitrose), primary and secondary schools, restaurants, public houses and leisure facilities including a challenging golf course and leisure centre with swimming pool. Okehampton is ideally situated within close proximity to the A30 dual carriageway allowing an easy commute to the Catherdral City of Exeter with its inter city rail links, international airport and Motorway networks beyond. A short journey west bound leads to the county of Cornwall with its glorious rugged coastline and sandy beaches.
Permitted Payments
Holding Deposit: One week's rent. This is to reserve a property. Please Note: This will be withheld if any relevant person (including any guarantor(s)) withdraw from the tenancy, fail a Right to Rent check, provide materially significant false or misleading information, or fail to sign their tenancy agreement (and / or Deed of Guarantee) within 15 calendar days (or other Deadline for Agreement as mutually agreed in writing).
Security Deposit: Five weeks' rent.
This covers damages or defaults on the part of the tenant during the tenancy.
Unpaid Rent: Interest at 3% above the Bank of England Base Rate from Rent Due Date until paid in order to pursue non-payment of rent. Please Note: This will not be levied until the rent is more than 14 days in arrears.
Lost Keys/Security Devices: Tenants are liable to the actual cost of replacing any lost key(s) or other security device(s). If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord any other persons requiring keys will be charged to the tenant. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s) or other security device(s).
Variation of Contract: £50 (inc. VAT) per agreed variation. To cover the costs associated with taking landlord's instructions as well as the preparation and execution of new legal documents.
Change of Sharer: £50 (inc. VAT) per replacement tenant or any reasonable costs incurred if higher. To cover the costs associated with taking landlord's instructions, new tenant referencing and Right-to-Rent checks, deposit registration as well as the preparation and execution of new legal documents.
Early Termination: Should the tenant wish to leave their contract early, they shall be liable to the landlord's costs in re-letting the property as well as all rent due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenancy. These costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy.
Tenant Protection
Howes Estates Ltd is a member of Propertymark, which is a client money protection scheme, and also a member of The TPO, which is a redress scheme.
You can find out more details on the agent's website or by contacting the agent directly. | https://www.howesestates.co.uk/properties/12908041/lettings |
The International Academy of Educational Services (IAES) is a not for profit organisation which was established in the 1950's in America and Europe as an international organisational partnerships and memberships for institutions and individuals for the Humanities, Education, Medicine and Social Sciences.
The IAES has membership officers from over 20 countries worldwide, and works for memberships and partnerships between international organisations, and individuals. Its operations and activities are undertaken in various countries, where committee members and partners are based, which include, Italy, Malta, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, USA and others.
The operations of the activities of the IAES worldwide since 1952 are governed by its By Laws Articles of operations and IAES Policies. It is established to sponsor research in Education, Social Sciences and Health-Care, with the overall aim of promoting excellence in research and education worldwide. Since its establishment in the 1950s, the membership of IAES has been growing, and during the IAES Committee meeting in August 1974, it was agreed that IAES’s operations would be expanded into the UK from late 1990s into the 21st Century.
During the meeting of the IAES Committee in 1987 and 1997, it was agreed that IAES would be a company registered by guarantee in the UK by 2007 in order to provide more support for sponsorships of projects in healthcare and education in the UK. In addition to its well established international partnerships and memberships since 1952 in America and Europe, its registration was also ratified by the UK Secretary of state in November 2007, with company registration number in England and Wales as 6427549, firstly under the name of International Academy of Education Services Limited.
The IAES Committee continues to approve the expansion of IAES activities into developing countries and some parts of Eastern European countries in order to continue the promotion of excellence in research and education.
OBJECT OF THE ACADEMY
MISSION
The mission of IAES is to foster and promote research and education in all areas. It supports medical and healthcare research and applied clinical research. It encourages the exploitation of research findings for educational benefits.
Reflecting the profound impact today’s research will have on society, the IAES also seeks to raise awareness of the legal, ethical and social implications of research and promote dialogue between scientists, the public and policy makers
AIMS OF THE ORGANISATION
HISTORY OF THE IAES
The IAES has a very long history stretching back from the late 1940s. Details of the history of the IAES can be obatined from our Legal Services at [email protected]
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Please contact: [email protected]
FOR THE UK COLLABORATING COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS:
International Academy of Educational Services (IAES)
27 Old Gloucester Street
London WC1N 3AX
England, United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]
Websites: www.iaes.org.uk and www.iaeservices.org
If you have any queries or wish to make an appointment, please contact us:
[email protected]
Or use our contact form. | https://www.iaes.org.uk/about-us/ |
Debra L. Hutchings
Debra Hutchings focuses her practice on marketing law, e-commerce, data privacy and data security management. She advises clients regarding advertising and promotions in traditional, digital and emerging media. Ms. Hutchings reviews advertising and marketing materials for legal compliance, and negotiates and drafts domestic and international marketing agreements including Client-Agency agreements and those involving spokespersons, celebrity talent, music licensing, sponsorship, joint marketing and co-promotions, and brand licensing, among others. She also reviews and negotiates general commercial contracts for software licenses, consulting services, and purchase and sale transactions, among many others.
In the data privacy realm, Ms. Hutchings counsels clients regarding website privacy policies, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA (including its security breach obligations), PCI compliance for retailers’ credit and debit card transactions, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and its Red Flags Identity Theft Regulations, as well as numerous states’ security breach laws and regulations concerning data privacy and security. She is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Ms. Hutchings has worked with the Friedman Law Group since 2009.
Past Experience
Ms. Hutchings began her career in the law department of Navistar, and later served as an associate at the Reed Smith, LLP law firm, where she provided counsel primarily to two of that firm’s clients, Leo Burnett Advertising and AT&T.
She also served as a Judicial Extern for the U.S. Federal Judge Ronald Guzman (Northern District of Illinois) as well as for Illinois Circuit Judge John Madden (Illinois Circuit Court, Cook County, Chancery Division). | https://www.marketing-law.com/people/debra-l-hutchings |
In addition to playing roles in the genesis and progression of cancer, mutant p53 also appears to play a significant role in the response to cancer therapy. In response to chemotherapy and radiation, two mainstays of cancer treatment, most cancer cells harboring p53 mutations show a reduced sensitivity compared to cells lacking p53 or those with wild type p53. However, there are also many instances where mutant p53 has shown no effect or enhances cellular sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation. Similar to the in vitro cellular studies, the majority of clinical studies show a correlation between the presence of mutant p53 in patient tumors and adverse outcomes following treatment with chemotherapy agents or radiation in comparison to tumors with wild-type p53. However, it still remains unclear whether the presence of mutant p53 in tumors can serve as a reliable prognostic factor and aid in treatment planning. Thus, as genomic analysis of patient tumors becomes more cost effective, the role of mutant p53 in tumor responses from cancer therapy ultimately needs to be addressed. This chapter will discuss current mechanisms of how p53 mutations affect cellular responses to chemotherapy and radiation and discuss patient outcomes based on p53 status. | https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/mutant-p53-and-the-response-to-chemotherapy-and-radiation |
Results of a phase II clinical trial suggest that the PARP inhibitor rucaparib can stabilize and in some instances even improve disease of patients with somatic or germline mutations of BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2.
5–8 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer have pathogenic mutations in BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 that may either arise in the germline or occur somatically. Mutations in these genes often coincide with increased sensitivity towards platinum-based chemotherapy. The current therapy standard is therefore a maintenance therapy of platinum-containing chemotherapy regimens. Prolonged treatments are, however, associated with cumulative toxicity, so this approach often becomes unsustainable.
Application of PARP inhibitors
PARP inhibitors have activity in multiple BRCA-induced cancer types, an example of which is the maintenance therapy of platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. Rucaparib is a substance of this class, and is approved as a maintenance treatment for patients with recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer who respond to platinum-based therapy. A clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting now suggests that rucaparib might also be feasible for BRCA- or PALB2-mutated pancreatic cancer.
The ongoing single-arm phase II clinical trial will be conducted in 42 patients with advanced platinum-sensitive pancreatic cancer with confirmed somatic or germline mutations of BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2. More than 80 percent of patients evaluated so far are women, the median age is 61 years. Patients receive a platinum-containing chemotherapy for at least four months. Subsequently, patients are treated with 600mg rucaparib twice daily as a single agent until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary endpoints of the study are progression-free survival and overall response rate.
Good response, few side effects
In the interim analysis presented recently, the data of 19 patients were evaluable for PFS. In those, maintenance therapy with rucaparib with prior induction chemotherapy achieved a reduction of the tumor volume in 41.1 percent of patients – with no drastic side effects.
One patient had a complete response. The disease control rate, consisting of complete and partial response, and stable disease for at least eight weeks, was 89.5 percent. Eight patients remained on therapy for at least six months, two have been receiving rucaparib for more than one year.
Side effects were generally mild. The most common treatment-related adverse effects included nausea, dysgeusia (a distortion of the sense of taste) and fatigue. No grade 3–5 adverse effects were seen in the trial. »Although this is very preliminary data, the fact that we’re seeing sustained clinical responses in some of these patients is very exciting,” first author Kim Reiss Binder, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology Oncology at The Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania, noted. »Several patients had complete or partial responses with rucaparib treatment, suggesting that this therapy has the potential not only to maintain the disease, but also to shrink the tumors in some instances,” she added. As a limitation she noted that the here presented interim analysis was unplanned: »The study is still ongoing, the results require substantial further validation.”
Mutations to be tested broadly in pancreatic cancer
Instead of applying chemotherapy in a maintenance setting that leads to cumulative toxicity, this study proposes to limit chemotherapy to four months, and then begin a maintenance therapy with rucaparib. Reiss Binder suggests to test patients with pancreatic cancer for BRCA- or PALB2-mutations to identify the candidates that would benefit most probably from this therapy.
Rucaparib is therefore one of two agents that seem successful in the BRCA-mutated group of pancreatic cancer. At the end of February 2019, successful results of the randomized, double-blind phase III clinical trial POLO were announced showing that the PARP inhibitor olaparib may improve progression-free survival of patients with platinum-sensitive tumors and germline mutations of BRCA in a clinically significant fashion.
Reference
Reiss Binder KA et al., A Phase II, single arm study of maintenance rucaparib in patients with platinum-sensitive advanced pancreatic cancer and a pathogenic germline or somatic mutation in BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2. Abstract CT234
More from this topic: | https://medonline.ch/innere-medizin/onkologie/krebshilfe/aacr-2019/2019/10027714/aacr-2019-successful-maintenance-therapy-for-brca-palb2-mutated-pancreatic-cancer/ |
African dance is so fun and cool. It’s no wonder there are African dance studios and lessons all over the world. The traditional dances and music from Africa found their way into much of the culture in North America, South America and the Carribean when slaves and immigrants came from Africa to the new world.
With the great drum beats and rhythms, many traditional African dances have continued or have morphed with other dance influences to form completely different styles of dance. From salsa to hip hop, you can find African dance influences everywhere.
Check out the performance by these students. Besides being a lot of fun, dance is also a great workout. There is a style or type of dance form for everybody - just experiment with different styles until you find the one you like best. | http://www.fitforafeast.com/dance_cultural_african_dance_styles.htm |
Reflexive Monitoring in ActionReflexive Monitoring in Action (RMA) is an interactive methodology to encourage reflection and learning within groups of diverse actors that seek to contribute to system change...
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Participatory VideoParticipatory video is a form of participatory media in which a group or community creates their own film. The rationale is that making a video is easy and accessible, and is a...
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FEAST (Feed Assessment Tool)Feed for livestock is often cited as the main constraint to improved productivity in smallholder systems. Overcoming this constraint often seems an elusive goal and technical...
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InPaC-SThe InPaC-S Participatory approach and methodological guide (Portuguese for Integração Participativa de Conhecimentos sobre Indicadores de Qualidade do Solo, or Participatory...
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River Basin Game (aka The Water Marbles Game)The River Basin Game is an effective simple-to-operate common-pool game using glass marbles and a sloping table or board. It promotes mutual understanding of different people’s...
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Humidtropics Situational Analysis ChecklistThere are 3 primary objectives for the Humidtropics situational analysis (SA): 1. To characterize broadly all important system aspects that are relevant to the CRP within the...
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COMPASS (Co-innovation and Modeling Platform for Agro-eco System Simulation)"The COMPASS (Co-innovation and Modeling Platform for Agro-eco System Simulation) framework that integrates modeling tools at field, farm and landscape scales has been developed...
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ICRAF Local Knowledge Toolkit (AKT5)Over recent years, there has been increasing awareness that local knowledge and practices should be recognised in developing initiatives aimed at sustaining and improving the...
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Livestock Geo-WikiThe Livestock Geo-Wiki is an online geo-data tool, that allows not only for visualisation of geo-data but also allows for crowd-sourcing. The Geo-Wiki is used to provide a...
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Nile GobletNile Goblet is a software that allows stakeholder to introduce suitability ranges for agricultural practices for several criteria (layers), the software then return suitability...
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Happy StrategiesThe Happy Strategies game is a participatory communication tool to engage discussion and learning around integrated rainwater management. It can be adjusted to be played with...
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Humidtropics Similarity AnalysisThe Humidtropics program of the CGIAR, aims to help poor farm families in tropical Africa, Asia and Americas to boost their income from integrated agricultural systems’...
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CCAFS Climate Analogues toolScientific evidence gathered in the last couple of decades suggests that climate conditions are changing rapidly and that this trend will likely continue and even accelerate....
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TOA-MD (TradeOff Analysis for Multi-Dimensional Impact Assessment)The Tradeoff Analysis Model for Multi-dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) is a parsimonious, generic model for analysis of technology adoption (e.g. adaptation strategies),...
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EXTRAPOLATE (EX-ante Tool for RAnking POLicy AlTErnatives)EXTRAPOLATE (EX-ante Tool for RAnking POLicy AlTErnatives) arose out of the need for a decision support tool to assess the impact of different policy measures. By disaggregating...
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Gender and Value ChainWe have developed and used a quasi-experimental design and index to measure women's intra-household bargaining position. We hope this tool can capture women's perceived...
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Livestock and Fish Site Selection GuidelinesThe Livestock and Fish site selection guideline provide a framework to select the site within the selection value chains in a consistent way across all countries we work in. The...
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Value-chain Assessment ToolsThis tool is a producer level for Value Chain Assessment as part of the diagnostic phase of the Value Chain Development theme of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and...
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Innovation PlatformsWhat is an innovation platform (IP)? How is it relevant to agricultural problems? What does it bring to the table that other approaches do not? How does one go about setting up,...
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CLEANED-RThe CLEANED (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for Improved Nutrition, a Secured Environment and Sustainable Development along Livestock and Fish Value... | http://data.ilri.org/tools/dataset |
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This video uses a tire swing as a pendulum to demonstrate the law of conservation of energy. The swing's energy changes between potential energy and kinetic energy as it moves, with friction changing some of its mechanical energy to thermal energy.
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Q. I am researching Dorothea Dix. Do you have anything of interest?
Houghton Library has original manuscript material by Dorothea Dix and letters written by and to her. The finding aid for our Dorothea Dix collection is available online and includes links to the digitized daguerreotypes of Dix and a few digitized letters to her.
Before consulting original materials, however, we suggest that you look at some books about Dorothea Dix written by scholars who have studied many of the manuscripts and letters here. One of the most thorough of the more recent books about Dix may be available at your local library or through Interlibrary Loan (ask your librarian): Brown, Thomas. Dorothea Dix : New England Reformer, Harvard Historical Studies 127 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998). | https://ask.library.harvard.edu/houghton/faq/231816 |
PODCAST: Everything You Need to Know About Preparing for the Interview Process
Are you beginning your transition out of the military and wondering where to start? Brian Henry, former Marine Corps Officer and current Senior Vice President of Recruiting at Orion Talent, joined our From the Battlefield to the Boardroom podcast to discuss what you can do to prepare for the interview process, including how to research yourself, building a library of stories to help sell yourself during the interview, and how to answer any question successfully with the STAR format.
“Around six months out from your separation, start spending time researching yourself,” Brian advised. “This exercise will help you know and understand your performance history.” List out any skills, strengths, and experiences that you feel are valuable to a potential employer. “Organize your experiences into common interview topics, like leadership, problem solving, process improvement, strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments,” Brian added. This serves two main purposes - it prepares you for handling interview questions, and also reveals what area you should focus on as a career path.
This list will help you to build up a library, or a list of stories and experiences, that will help you in the interview process. Focus on examples on where you had the most impact, and then match up your list with example interview questions. “This will help to make sure that you have an example for each question, and to help figure out any gaps in your interview preparation,” Brian advised.
Now that you have thoroughly researched yourself and have a good list of stories about your job performance, the next step is to organize these examples into the STAR format. The STAR format stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Results, and is an excellent guide to help convey job experience and performance in an interview setting.
“To begin each job performance story, paint a picture for your employer about where you were, who you were with, and the situation that was going on,” Brian advised. “When you set the scene, your audience will be able to understand and relate to your experience.” Only 7% of the U.S. population has served in the military, so being able to accurately capture your military experience is essential to a successful interview.
“The next step is to describe the task - what mission you were assigned to complete, and what problem you were facing,” Brian stated. From there, describe what steps you took to solve the problem. “Be specific, and don’t speak in generalities. You want to make what you did personally very clear during the interview,” he added.
From there, you can lead into a quantified and positive result. “These well organized and concise stories will highlight your job performance and experience,” Brian said. “Focus on the best examples, and avoid those that don’t translate well to a civilian employer.”
Lastly, Brian stated the importance of communicating a few excellent examples of solid job performance. “You can overcome a lack of specific skills or experiences by being able to demonstrate a proven record of past performance, coupled with the ability to learn quickly and adapt, as well as a drive to succeed,” Brian stated. “Above all else, companies are looking for top performers, and past performance is an indication of future success.”
Listen to the full podcast:
For more interview help, including interview types, common mistakes, and more, visit our military and veteran job seeker transition resources page. | https://www.oriontalent.com/recruiting-resources/blog/221/podcast-everything-you-need-to-know-about-preparing-for-the-interview-process |
.
Checklist
Use this reading checklist before starting to write your literature review.
Authority
- Who conducted the research?
- Is the author an authority in their field of study?
- What evidence is there to support this?
- Research can find information from many sources, e.g. volumed journals to company reports. At all times, you must check the authority of who has written the research. The internet has given people access to huge amounts of information. Some of this is valid, other parts are not. You cannot simply accept that all information/research available on the internet, e.g. through Google, is valid. Many university libraries, such as the RMIT library, subscribe to online, referenced journals, which provide current academic writings.
- Google is a great source of information, though you may be cautious in using this approach for all your research. The Learning Lab's page "Why can't I just Google it?" has more.
Validity (of research and sources)
- Where has this research come from?
- Is it from a valid source, e.g. an educational institution?
- Is it peer reviewed or been passed by an editorial panel, e.g. is it in a refereed journal?
- If it is from a website, does it contain details of the author, is it from an '.edu' site, does it have a publication date?
Many libraries, including the RMIT library, have access to electronic journals and databases. These contain qualified, academic writings. Be careful of doing a google search that brings up unqualified sites.
Accuracy
- What is the literature about?
- Is the literature accurate and how do you know? One way to find out is to check if the same research is referred to in other sources, or is it inconsistent with other findings?
- What makes the literature believable? Is the literature from credible sources?
Objectivity
- Is there evidence of bias in the article? For example, would you trust research from a cigarette manufacturer claiming that smoking does not damage your health?
- Do the statistics match those in other publications? If not, is the argument (method, research design, etc.) on which they are based convincing?
- How do you know the data is true? What other supporting data is there?
Currency
- What is the publication date of the material?
- Is it likely that more current information is available?
- Have you found any more recent research that casts doubt upon or refutes some findings?
- Have you checked for more recent information/research? It is advisable to have references that are current.
Coverage
- Is the information complete? Based on your research so far, does the information appear to cover the area being studied?
- What is the sample size? Is it adequate?
- Is there any further research that has not been mentioned or deliberately omitted from the findings?
Location
- In which country was the article written?
- Is the location relevant/important to your research?
Final check
When you have considered all the questions above, ask yourself:
- What does this all mean? | https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/checklist |
The Grammys may have been last night, but the Oscars of children's and YA literature, the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards, happened this morning. Avid readers, librarians, and publishers were so psyched about it they crashed the ALA website.
The awards were announced live at 8 a.m. ET in Philadelphia and via webcast. YA favorites like Marcus Zusak and Rainbow Rowell were recognized — with the former winning the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young adult writing — but like all of our favorite awards ceremonies this season, the ALA awards had some surprises and upsets.
Though there are 18 total award categories, some with several winners and additional "Honor Books," the most famous awards are the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, the winners of which are often considered the most distinguished author and illustrator, respectively, of children's books published during the previous year. While the likely front-runner for the Newbery Medal, Kate DiCamillo's Flora & Ulysses, took home the prize, the other two awards were largely considered upsets, at least according to the industry folks posting on Twitter. DiCamillo earned her second Newbergy Medal for her story of an unlikely superhero; her first was The Tale of Despereaux in 2004. Because of Winn-Dixie gained DiCamillo her first Newbery Honor, the award given to runners up, in 2001.
However, the 2014 Printz Award and Caldecott Medal weren't as likely choices.
The Printz Award went to Marcus Sedgwick for Midwinterblood , published by Roaring Book Press, an imprint of Macmillan. Though widely recognized as one of the best YA books of 2013 — including being listed as a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book of 2013 and Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2013 — it had some of its spotlight stolen by a Printz Honor Book. The award can name up to four Honor Books, and it used all four slots for women: The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal (Candlewick), Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Candlewick), Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (Random House), and many people's expected winner, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Macmillan). Rowell's story of two star-crossed misfits was considered a shoo-in for a Printz Honor Book, though many thought it deserved the award. Across Twitter, celebration for Rowell's story, which has already won several awards this season, overshadowed Sedgewick's win:
The Printz Honor was Rowell's second Honor nod of the morning. Eleanor & Park also received an Odyssey Honor, awarded to outstanding audiobooks for children and young adults.
For the Caldecott Medal, some industry insiders on Twitter noted that the win, by Brian Floca for Locomotive , was a bit of an upset — but a well-deserved one.
The runners-up for this award, dedicated to gorgeous and unique illustrations, included Journey, written and illustrated by Aaron Beckerand (Candlewick); Flora and the Flamingo, written and illustrated by Molly Idleand (Chronicle Books); and Mr. Wuffles!, written and illustrated by David Wiesnerand (Clarion Books).
First-time YA author Stephanie Kuehn won the William C. Morris Award for a debut book for Charm & Strange.
The ALA Youth Media Awards also give an opportunity to books sometimes overlooked in other award categories in order to shine a spotlight on underrepresented authors and themes. The Coretta Scott King Book Award honors children's and YA titles by African American authors. This year, the awards were given to P.S. Be Eleven, written by Rita Williams-Garcia (Amistad), for winning author and Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me, illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown and Company) for winning illustrator.
Schneider Family Book Award is awarded to a children's or young adult book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience. It is given in three age groups, and the winners were, for children 0-10: A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Knopf) — which received a massive ovation from the crowd in Philadelphia; for children 11-13: Handbook for Dragon Slayers, written by Merrie Haskell (HarperCollins); for young adults: Rose under Fire, written by Elizabeth Wein (Hyperion).
The Stonewall Book Award is given to children or YA titles of exceptional merit relating to the LGBT experience, first awarded in 1971. There were two 2014 winners: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, written by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (Flux) and Fat Angie written by e. E. Charlton-Trujillo (Candlewick).
For the full list of awards, you can visit the ALA website.
This article has been updated. | https://www.bustle.com/articles/13765-ala-youth-media-awards-were-full-of-upsets-and-surprises |
issued by a licensed medical doctor.
I am protected under Prop 215
Prop. 215 explicitly covers marijuana possession and cultivation (H&SC 11357 and 11358) for personal medical use. Hashish and concentrated cannabis, including edibles, (HSC 11357a) are also included. Transportation (HSC 11360) has also been allowed by the courts. Within the context of a bona fide collective or caregiver relationship, SB 420 provides protection against charges for possession for sale (11359); transportation, sale, giving away, furnishing, etc. (11360); providing or leasing a place for distribution of a controlled substance (11366.5, 11570)
These statements/opinions are based off of my own life experiences and experiences of some of my close friends, in which I have witnessed first hand.
HEALTH DISCLAIMER
Statements or information regarding Alternative and/or Complementary remedies, herbs, cannabis, essential oils, etc. have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition.
This video/discussion provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this video, or in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice, nor is the information a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment.
If you or any other person has a medical concern, you should consult with your health care provider or seek other professional medical treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something that have read, watched or heard on this channel or in any linked materials. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or emergency services immediately.
The opinions, personal research and views expressed on this channel have no relation to those of any academic, hospital, health practice or other institution.
FAIR USE NOTICE This video may contain copyrighted material; the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available for the purposes of criticism, comment, review and news reporting which constitute the fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. Not withstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, review and news reporting is not an infringement of copyright.
Copyright Disclaimer:
Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. | https://dankdelivery.co.uk/2021/02/06/beautiful-morning/ |
Newcastle vs Southampton prediction: Newcastle is making fans feel insecure after the results of the past matches. An extremely slow start in the Premier League, Newcastle did not receive high praise from experts. Meanwhile, Southampton is also very thirsty for 3 points.
MATCH INFORMATION:
- Match date: 02:00 p.m – 2021/08/28
- Event: Premier League
- Stage: Matchday 3rd
- Location: St James’ Park
NEWCASTLE VS SOUTHAMPTON PREDICTION: TEAM COMPARISON & TIPS
ASIAN HANDICAP
Newcastle has the advantage of playing at home St James’ Park. However, the Southampton team did not show any fear of this trip.
Newcastle’s form in the last 5 matches: D W W L L
Newcastle’s preparation before the new season is full of positives. Specifically, considering 3 friendly matches played, Newcastle did not lose a single match. Instead, they won 2 wins and 1 more draw. The last win that Newcastle has earned is beating Norwich 3-0. However, the Warbird’s confidence was soon extinguished when entering the Premier League 2021/22.
Up to now, Newcastle has not won a single point in the Premier League. After both rounds, this team had to admit defeat. On the opening day, Newcastle lost 2-4 to West Ham at St James’ Park. Most recently, coach Steve Bruce and his team came to be a guest of Aston Villa. Despite playing very hard, Newcastle still lost 0-2 in the end.
Southampton’s form in the last 5 matches: W W L L D
Southampton has not been able to bring much joy to the fans after the past matches. If only counting the last 5 matches of Southampton, the number of victories that this team earns is 2. It is worth mentioning that those are 2 victories from friendly matches that do not have much meaning. Immediately after defeating Levante 1-0, coach Ralph Hasenhuttl’s students had 3 consecutive games without winning. Of which, they lost 2 times.
Only in the Premier League arena, The Saints have not been able to earn a victory. In the first round match, they came as guests of Everton. After 90 minutes of play, Southampton had to receive a 1-3 defeat. Recently, when returning to St Mary’s in the second round, Southampton only earned 1 point against Man Utd. The final result is 1-1.
Select: Newcastle FT.
EUROPEAN BET
From 1993 until now, the total number of encounters between the two teams is 42. In general, the two teams are creating quite a balance. 8 is the total number of matches that ended in a draw. Newcastle is the team with the better result when earning 18 victories. In contrast, this number of Southampton is 16.
Until the last 5 matches, Newcastle is having a strong dominance. There have been 4 matches Newcastle won. The win rate is up to 80%. The last time they faced each other, Newcastle won 3-2.
Select: Newcastle FT.
OVER/UNDER
Newcastle needs to improve their defense if they want to earn their first point. Considering the past 2 rounds, Newcastle had to receive 6 goals. Thus, on average, in a battle, they lost 3 goals. On the contrary, the attack played round with 2 goals.
Matches between these two teams always have many goals appearing. With 42 encounters, the total number of goals scored is 132 goals. Thus, the corresponding scoring efficiency is 3.14 goals. Therefore, the next match is not except for the possibility of explosive goals.
With Over/Under 2.5, Newcastle’s last 5 matches have won 3 Under times, corresponding to a rate of 60%. On the side of Southampton, Under won twice in the last 5 matches they attended.
Select: Over 2.5 FT.
Newcastle vs Southampton Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Southampton FT (1-1 H1).
The above is information about the prediction in the 3rd match of Premier League between Newcastle vs Southampton on 2021/08/28 of the CMD368 bookie. | https://top10bettinglist.com/newcastle-vs-southampton-prediction/ |
The Mining Software Repositories (MSR) field analyzes the rich data available in software repositories to uncover interesting and actionable information about software systems and projects. (Source: http://2019.msrconf.org/) The course provides students with basic understanding of MSR. In particular, students get insight into typical and current scenarios of MSR and corresponding methods and techniques. The students learn how to perform research in the MSR field. This entails competencies in the phases data extraction, data synthesis, and data analysis with a combined research and engineering approach.
Dates
- Monday: 4:00pm, E 016.
Schedule (Draft)
- An Introduction to MSR Research
- Refresher - Parsing
-
- Assignment 1 (see Organizer)
-
- Traceability
- Design Pattern Detection
- Refresher - Creating Statistics with Pandas
- Analyzing Technology Usage in Repositories
-
- Assignment 2
-
- Mining Community Knowledge in Stackoverflow
- Developer Profiling
- Process Mining
- Mining Software Repository Evolution
-
- Assignment 3
-
More topics will be announced eventually.
Assignments
- Assignment 1 (Paper study)
- Assignment 2 (Software Pattern Detection)
- Assignment 3 (TBA)
Examination
There is neither an oral nor a written examination.
Instead, students work on assignments over the semester and present their results regularly in class.
A similar scheme has been successfully applied in softlang courses over the last few years. | http://www.softlang.org/course:msr19 |
Washington, DC — One of the top entomologists within the U.S. Department of Agriculture is fighting a suspension for publishing research about adverse effects on monarch butterflies from widely-used neonicotinoid insecticides (or “neonics”). He is also being punished for a travel paperwork irregularity for when he made an appearance before a panel of the National Academy of Sciences. His legal challenge is in the form of a whistleblower complaint filed on his behalf today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Dr. Jonathan Lundgren is a Senior Research Entomologist and Lab Supervisor for the USDA Agriculture Research Service based in South Dakota. His cutting-edge research has drawn national attention and international recognition. He has worked for USDA for eleven years with great success—until recently.
On August 3, 2015, the USDA imposed a 14-day (reduced from 30 days) suspension on him in connection with two events:
- Publication of a manuscript by Dr. Lundgren on the non-target effects of clothianidin on monarch butterflies in the scientific peer-reviewed journal The Science of Nature; and
- An error in Dr. Lundgren’s travel authorization for his invited presentation to a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as to a USDA stakeholder group.
“Having research published in prestigious journals and being invited to present before the National Academy of Sciences should be sources of official pride, not punishment,” stated PEER Staff Counsel Laura Dumais, who today filed Dr. Lundgren’s whistleblower retaliation complaint with the Merit Systems Protection Board, the federal civil service tribunal. “Politics inside USDA have made entomology a high risk specialty.”
Lundgren’s suspension followed his lodging a formal complaint last fall of violations of the agency’s Scientific Integrity policies. His complaint detailed attempts by USDA managers to block publication of new research, bar discussion of results with the media, and disrupt his lab’s operations. The agency initially rejected his complaint as not meriting an investigation. His appeal of that decision is still pending.
“It is USDA policy that political suppression and manipulation of science are not to be tolerated, but it is empty rhetoric,” Dumais added, noting that USDA is refusing to even consider a PEER petition that it strengthen its Scientific Integrity policy by adopting provisions from the similar policies of sister agencies. “Dr. Lundgren is suffering the proverbial professional death by a thousand cuts precisely because of the implications his scientific work for agribusiness.”
Dr. Lundgren’s whistleblower complaint triggers sworn depositions and other discovery leading up to an evidentiary hearing. The resulting ruling can be appealed to the three-member Merits Systems Protection Board and from there to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. | https://peer.org/usda-scientist-punished-for-pollinator-research/ |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an analysis system which uses personal digital assistants (PDAs), reduces its cost and space, simplifies time-consuming processes such as user authentications, and manages and analyzes distributed data sets to be analyzed.
SOLUTION: The analysis system is provided with units of an analyst computer 1, an analyzing main apparatus 3 and the PDA 5. The analysis system can be configured by using each one unit, but is preferable to use a plurality of analyzing main apparatus 3 and required number of analyst computers 1 and PDAs 5 with respect to the analysts. The analyst computer 1 which is disposed on a desk of the analyst and operated freely and personally by the analyst, has a user authentication informing section 7, an analysis information outputting section 9 and an analysis data receiving section 11, as well as a display device, a keyboard and the like. Information of the user authentication output from an authentication information outputting means of the analyst computer 1 is received by a first receiving means of the PDA 3, and analysis information output from the analysis information outputting section is received by a second receiving means of the PDA. Therefore, the analyst is not required to carry out the user authentication manually at each analyzing main apparatus. It is only required to output the information of the user authentication from the PDA.
COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI | |
The Australian Energy Market Commission and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise cooperation on the broad program of work currently underway to facilitate innovation in Australia’s energy markets.
The MOU sets out a framework for coordination and information sharing to underpin collaborative projects such as the Distributed Energy Integration Program which aims to maximise the value of customer investments in distributed resources such as solar PV and battery storage.
More broadly the AEMC is contributing to ARENA’s work to promote renewable energy technologies by providing input into proof of concept trials to help us understand potential changes to rules and regulations that will be needed to accommodate a future with more renewables and demand response. At the same time, ARENA is sharing its expert insights with us as renewable energy technologies evolve and new business models develop. Information gained through ARENA’s proof of concept trials helps the AEMC’s consideration of potential changes to the regulatory framework and market development advice.
ARENA’s recent demand response trials with AEMO have shown that short procurement lead times can make it challenging for demand response providers to participate in the market’s strategic reserve mechanism. These findings informed the Commission’s conclusions to reinstate the long-notice RERT and are also being considered as part of the AEMC’s assessment of a proposal to enhance the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT).
The Chief Executives of the AEMC and ARENA will meet at least every six months.
Media: Prudence Anderson, Communication Director, 0404 821 935 or (02) 8296 7817
Background
To improve the operation of the national energy markets and promote communication and coordination, the AEMC has agreed a number of memoranda of understanding with other organisations that are active within the energy sector. These include MOUs with: | https://www.aemc.gov.au/news-centre/media-releases/memorandum-understanding-between-australian-renewable-energy-agency-0?utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=Twitter&utm_campaign=ARENA-MOU |
(iv) whether there is any defect or lacuna in the extant rules or instructions or the procedure for proper accountable and periodical check and supervision and if so, how such defect or lacuna should be removed.
(v) Preliminary enquiries may take several forms, depending on the judgment of the vigilance officers and the nature of complaints.
(vi) The Vigilance Officers may ask for explanations from the concerned employees; they may make physical inspections of work; they may seek evidence from other departmental employee or from persons outside the department (though most serious charges involving outside persons will be referred to other investigating agencies like the Special Police Establishment), they may examine records.
(vii) In some cases, preliminary inquiries may be closed with the examination of the explanations submitted by the accused officers. Very often, however, the veracity of such explanations will be verified with the help of other methods of investigation.
II. Types of cases that are entrusted to the C.B.I.
(i) Allegations against a Government servant involving offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, like bribery, forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust, corruption, falsification of records etc.
(ii) Possession of assets by a Government servant beyond his known sources of income.
(iii) Allegations which involve inquiries from non-official persons or non-Government records; and
(iv) Cases of complicated nature which call for expert investigation,
(v) Once a case is referred to the C.B.I. departmental authorities may not undertake departmental investigation in the matter.
III. Consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission (C.V.C.)
i. Advice is tendered by the C.V.C. at two stages, viz. - First Stage Advice -The first stage advice indicates the nature of action to be taken against a public servant involved in cases having vigilance angle.The Commission may advice
(a) closure of the case; or
(b) prosecution; or
(c) major or minor penalty proceedings; or
(d) administrative action, e.g., warning, displeasure, etc. or
(e) procedural improvements or review of existing rules and issue of administrative instructions. Where the advice is for initiating major penalty proceedings, the Commission may recommend the name of a Commissioner for Departmental Inquiries for appointment as the Inquiry Authority by the concerned Disciplinary Authority.
2. Second Stage Advice- The second stage consultation is necessary before a final decision is taken by the Disciplinary Authority on the report of the Inquiring Authority. The Commission considers the Inquiry Report and advices the Disciplinary Authority on the nature of the penalty to be imposed. The Commission may advice the Disciplinary Authority to impose a major penalty or a minor penalty or even exoneration. However, the advice is not binding on the Disciplinary Authority.
Preliminary investigation may end in informal corrective action instead of formal disciplinary proceedings. In some cases, preliminary investigation may disclose doubtful degrees of culpability on the part of officers accused of irregularities. In some others, preliminary investigation may make out a prima facie case for the complaint but the irregularity involved may not be of substantial character. Stray instances of slackness in the performance of official duties, failure to observe the proper administrative channels for official communications are examples of such relatively minor official lapses. These are the cases where the officers accused of irregularities cannot be exonerated from the allegation and yet full-dressed disciplinary proceedings under the Service Rules for the further testing of the complaint may be considered by the disciplinary authority as unnecessary under the circumstances. In such situations, the disciplinary authority would rather like to adopt a via media course by closing the complaint with an informal corrective action administered on the concerned officer than to take up the complaint to the further state of formal disciplinary proceedings. | http://www.iproamh.com/2021/07/conduct-disciplinary-rules-27-article.html |
“Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.” –Genesis 4:2-5
For millennia, readers of the Bible have puzzled over this passage in Genesis. Why does Yahweh accept Abel’s offering of meat, but not Cain’s of fruit? What accounts for the seeming capriciousness of the Almighty’s favor?
The most popular interpretation is that the brothers presented their gifts with two different attitudes: the scriptures mention that Abel brought the “firstlings” of his flock, but don’t apply that designation to Cain’s yield, leading to the conclusion that the former gave the best he had, while the latter offered inferior gleanings.
That’s not the only theory on the matter, however.
Noting that Abel’s name is mentioned first, despite his being the younger brother, some scholars, like Hermann Gunkel, have posited that God simply has a preference for him, and more broadly, for his vocation, arguing that “The narrative maintains that Yahweh loves the shepherd and animal sacrifice but wants nothing to do with the farmer and fruit offerings.”
Why would the Lord (or the author of Genesis) prefer shepherds over farmers?
In the Jewish historian Josephus’ interpretation of the tale, the brothers’ divergent occupations breed divergent sets of virtues.
As a shepherd, Abel followed the “way of simplicity,” wandering where he pleased, and being content with “what grew naturally of its own accord.” As a result, he was “a lover of righteousness” and “excelled in virtue.”
Cain, on the other hand — whose name means “possession” — was a “covetous man” who was “wholly intent on getting.” His desire for gain led him to look beyond what grew spontaneously and to invent the practice of farming — to “force the ground” to bear fruit. The more he grew, the more he wanted, and the more desirous he became to protect that which was his. Cain became “the author of measures and weights” and the founder of commercialism, ownership, and divisions between public and private life. He “set boundaries about lands; he built a city, and fortified its wall, and he compelled his family to come together to it.”
His progeny in turn further established a more settled existence, and invented things like metallurgy and music.
But in tandem with this “civilizing” process, Cain and his subsequent lineage became more and more sinful. The original farmer “only aimed to procure every thing that was for his own bodily pleasure, though it obliged him to be injurious to his neighbors.” His love of luxury developed a moral softness in himself and in his posterity, so that each generation became “more wicked than the former.”
In other words, Josephus theorizes that Cain’s offering was rejected by Yahweh, because it was the offering of a farmer, and farming would lead to commercialism and civilization, and civilization would bring both greater complexity and greater temptation and depravity. Farming symbolizes the beginning of vice — a fall from the innocence, generosity, and primitive simplicity represented by pastoralism.
Greater civilization can not only be seen as leading to a weakening of moral virtue, but a weakening of distinctly masculine virtue as well.
In fact if you look at the story of Cain and Abel from another angle, it becomes a kind of explanatory tale in which two archetypes — shepherds and farmers — symbolize two types of manhood, and the way in which the latter inevitably kills off the former.
Shepherds vs. Farmers
Agriculturists and pastoralists historically found themselves in conflict, as they lived two very different lifestyles, which called for the development of two very different sets of traits:
Shepherds Wander and See More of the World; Farmers Lead a More Settled and Constricted Existence
The main difference in the resources shepherds and farmers tend/produce, is that the former’s move (and can be moved), while the latter’s are literally rooted in one spot.
Early shepherds lived a life of great openness; they often didn’t legally own the land they let their livestock range upon, nor did they fence pieces of land in. They didn’t reside the entire year in one place, but rather took their herds to pasture in different locations, depending on the season. Because of the necessity of this travel, shepherds saw more of the landscape, met more people, and explored more of their world.
Since a farmer’s crops were rooted in a single location, so was his whole life. He planted his crops in the ground, and there they remained to be cultivated and harvested. A farmer could build his homestead with a sense of finality, and he and other farmers formed towns that were equally permanent. Land was parceled out and marked off. Fences were built. Life was settled down.
Shepherds Live a Harder and Simpler Life; Farmers Live a Softer and More Complex Life
Because farmers knew they’d be living in the same place for a long time, they were able to create homes that were more permanent, elaborate, and comfortable. The intermittent, seasonal nature of farm work also permitted time to pursue other interests, while well-established, well-populated towns allowed for greater specialization. From agricultural communities, then, grew advancements in knowledge and technologies.
The farmer’s life was softer and more complex, but also more artful.
The life of shepherds was harder and evinced a kind of primitive simplicity.
Because they moved so much, shepherds had to travel light. And while pastoralism required less intensive, hands-on work, tending sheep necessitated more constant vigilance, and left less time for innovating in arts and other fields. The work itself demanded fewer tools, and thus less technological innovation. Greater emphasis was placed on improvisation, on making do with less. The shepherd’s life, if it subsequently rarely rose above a subsistence level, was also more Spartanly stripped down; he neither had much, nor needed much.
Shepherds Have Bigger Families and Wider Patrilineal Ties; Farmers Have Smaller, More Insular Families
One of the most crucial differences between farmers and shepherds was the portability — and thus vulnerability — of the latter’s resources. It’s much easier to steal a flock of sheep than a field of crops. Shepherds thus had to direct much of their energy to guarding their livestock against theft, and this need for vigilance informs nearly everything about pastoral culture.
For one thing, it encouraged having large families, full of ties that bound not only the nuclear family but the extended one as well. The more male brothers, sons, uncles, and cousins who were part of your clan, the more men you could count on to guard your flock, and thus the larger, and more prestigious, your flock could be. Not only was a deep, wide patrilineal line a major asset to a shepherd, his network didn’t end with branches born of blood; he also made alliances with men with whom he was not biologically related, adopting these “kin” into his “family.” A shepherd needed to be part of a large, loyal tribe to survive, thrive, and gain and maintain power.
While the farmer’s life was certainly organized within a patriarchal structure as well, he wasn’t as motivated to have a large family, or cultivate wide-ranging ties, because he didn’t need as much help working the land. Further, land was not infinitely dividable as an inheritance for a farmer’s sons and was a more finite resource. Farmers’ families were thus smaller and more insular.
Shepherds Co-Exist With Wild Nature; Farmers Tame and Cultivate Nature
A central difference between shepherds and farmers was their relationship to nature: shepherds tended to it, while farmers cultivated it.
Shepherds co-existed with nature, while farmers transformed it. Shepherds were immersed in its wild state, while farmers tamed that wildness — pushing the perimeter between their homes and the rawness of nature further and further out.
Shepherds Are Impulsive and Daring; Farmers Are More Patient and Controlled
The key qualities to a farmer’s success were prudence, self-control, patience, diligence, and a propensity for long-term planning; he greatly needed the ability to delay gratification. He had to plant and tend to crops that wouldn’t be ready for harvest until months after seeding time. Every day the chores of farm work awaited, and had to be completed over and over again. He had to be patient with his lot, and patient with the weather as well — with whatever the season would bring. The farmer had to set a stoic face to the forces of fate and nature; an overweening ego could not survive the buffeting of such uncontrollable forces.
The key qualities of a shepherd’s success were bravery, toughness, strength, cleverness, and cunning. Status and prestige came in growing the size of your flock, and this growth partly came by stealing sheep from the flocks of others (the point of stealing sheep was not to gain sheer numbers, but as we’ll see, to convince the victim to ally with you). These raids were risky, stealth operations necessitating courage and prowess in navigating a mountain at night, and making off with livestock without being caught and physically attacked.
Such theft attempts were common and did not violate the shepherds’ code of ethics; rather, they were almost ritualistic and constituted a reciprocal competition based on mutual respect — a way to test and earn manhood and honor. A shepherd gained honor by demonstrating his adeptness at raiding another’s flock and by defending his own; skill in these areas earned you a reputation — which you outwardly expressed with a heated pride — which deterred others from messing with you and your flock. You showed weakness by letting someone steal your sheep, and not trying to steal them back, plus some. Such weakness made you a greater target. This was honor at its most basic: if you get hit, you must hit back. Eventually, if one shepherd showed his superiority in raiding another’s flock, and thus gained his admiration, an alliance between the two men would be formed, allowing the successful raider to increase the protection, and thus the size, of his own flock.
Two Necessary Archetypes of Manhood
Farmers thought of themselves as superior to shepherds, who they viewed as lazy, shiftless, morally inferior, uncultured, socially backward rubes. Farmers saw themselves as smart, civilized, and morally disciplined — the masters of man’s highest aim: to be in control of your own land.
Shepherds believed themselves superior to farmers; they thought agriculture was safe, effeminate “women’s work,” and saw it, and the towns it birthed, as filled with a bourgeois culture that was sedentary and corrupt. Shepherds were proud of their rangy toughness, nimble simplicity, closeness to nature, and bold bravery. Though they didn’t own the land they lived upon, they believed their freedom made them the true kings of it.
While real shepherds and farmers saw their lifestyles as part of an irreconcilable dichotomy, when viewed as symbolic archetypes, perhaps we can see them as neither good nor bad, but two necessary parts of manhood.
Farmers represent the idea of being a good man: having self-control, dignity, foresight; being a patient creator and builder.
Shepherds represent the idea of being good at being a man: embodying the core virtues of masculinity — courage, honor, mastery, and strength.
The task for modern men is not to be one or the other, but to embrace the ethos of the farmer, while not entirely letting go of the way of the shepherd.
In The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis, Leon Kass points out: “Though He respected Abel’s offering, God speaks only to Cain; Cain seems to hold more interest, being both more promising and more problematic.”
Cain symbolizes farming, and thus civilization, which holds both sticky pitfalls and rich potential. From civilization can come many great developments in philosophy, morality, art, technology, and knowledge. But it can also make men too comfortable — too soft, too decadent, too settled. Within the confines of civilization, men can lose their sense of boldness, toughness, adventure, and risk-taking. The fruits of civilization can be sweet, but only if they don’t come at the price of enervating vice, and at the expense of one’s essential masculinity.
After God rejects Cain’s sacrifice, he is angry and downcast, and Yahweh counsels him:
“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
Of course, Cain doesn’t do what is right; he slays his brother Abel. In reaching for culture, for progression, for comfort and convenience, he sees no other choice than to kill the symbol of that which is more “barbaric,” more primal.
Rather than mastering his desires for the fruits of civilization, and letting his flintier, more strenuous side act as a check on its excesses, he buries that blood and heedlessly pursues decadence.
Perhaps we instead must learn to be the keeper of our brother, to preserve the ethos of the shepherd. Perhaps in order for the sacrifice of our lives to be accepted, we must maintain a wild heart.
________________________
Insights on the intersection of shepherding, farming, and manhood, as well as the distinction between being a good man and being good at being a man, from The Poetics of Manhood by Michael Herzfeld. | https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/manly-lessons/shepherds-vs-farmers-two-necessary-masculine-archetypes/ |
Since coming on board as Workday’s CIO last spring, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our IT organization can keep innovating in the decade ahead. One big question I ask myself: What skills do we need, in the near future and beyond?
Despite living in an age of specialization, the skills required of individuals in an IT organization need to become even broader. IT in today’s world can have many layers, including infrastructure as code, security by design, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and personalization—just to name a few examples. Systems of engagement are becoming intertwined with systems of record. Everything we do becomes increasingly digital and oftentimes interdependent.
All of these shifts alter the ideal mix of skills and knowledge needed in a successful IT organization. Let’s take them one by one.
The “how” matters. Building a strong culture and emphasizing the importance of positive collaboration is as important as hard and soft skills for how we get our work done. Hiring and retaining people with strong skills around communication and collaboration, both analog (face-to-face) and digital, are especially important as digitally native Gen Zers enter the workforce; it’s vital that all generations be able to communicate with each other in a way that’s comfortable for all involved.
While each employee brings key skills and innate behaviors, we need to be sure to constantly invest in our No. 1 asset: people. Ongoing training—not just what we do, but how to do it in a constructive, positive way—won’t go out of style anytime soon.
Digital dexterity. As IT leaders we must keep striving to build teams with a mix of skills that reflect a deep understanding of the ever expanding technology landscape. IT leadership shouldn’t think of things like security or AI as bolt-ons; they should be interwoven through the enterprise architecture (and here at Workday, security and AI/machine learning are foundational building blocks of our solutions). Your employees, customers, and partners who interact with your systems want the same simple approach they get with consumer technologies. Because of this, it becomes more important than ever that our team members have a good understanding of how to evaluate architecture within respective solutions, and engineering knowledge to design in technologies like AI and security in from the start.
Data in context. Understanding where data sits within an enterprise—how it’s used, who is using it, when it’s used, and the list goes on—has become a first-level need. The IT team must be able to continuously do a fundamental mapping, tracking, and safekeeping of every data element that provides context to a user, an interaction, or a series of events. How companies will access this data and how they'll be permitted to use it to create value-added experiences for customers adds additional layers of complexity—complexity the IT team must be able to understand and manage. This is why IT must understand how to build context into the transaction whenever it helps, but avoid when it further confuses.
Bias for action. Technology is evolving in nanoseconds, so it’s important that while we don’t become reactionary to every new trend, we’re always on the lookout for trends and technologies that can give the business a competitive advantage. As IT teams, we always want to be demonstrating progress, whether that means refining something we already have or implementing something new. Quick action helps us gain credibility with our internal stakeholders, because it shows we understand that as a company, we’re navigating constantly-changing customer demands as well.
None of this is the final word or the complete truth—I’m sure I’ll continue to learn from other IT leaders and from all my colleagues. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to spending my time here at Workday building an IT organization that keeps innovating for the business, so that the business can deliver best-in-class solutions and technologies for our customers. | https://blog.workday.com/en-us/2020/building-it-organization-drives-change.html |
When we discuss ‘students’ and ‘learners’ we automatically assume to be talking about the average adolescent, backpacks tightly strapped to both shoulders, lunchbox in hand, ready to start another hard day of education and awkward social interactions at the local public school. However, what about the adults who have put a hiatus on their education for a few years, and then decide to pick it back up. Who is the adult learner?
Adult learners are a diverse group,”usually 25 and older…” (pierce.edu) with a wide range of educational and cultural backgrounds, adult responsibilities and job experiences. They typically do not follow the traditional pattern of enrolling in postsecondary education immediately after high school…”They’ve delayed entering college for at least one year following high school…” (pierce.edu). They return to school for a wide range reasons, to stay competitive in the workplace, prepare for a career change, or perhaps to raise their IQ by a few points. Whatever the reasoning, they usually study on a part-time basis, taking one or two courses a term while maintaining work and family responsibilities, which is the biggest difference between adolescent and adult learners.
Our society functions through the tough burdens of being an adult, and the duties they carry out everyday. Adult learners face many challenges that do not concern young learners. Through my research I investigated the different, detailed aspects behind adult learners and the common struggles they face by trying to juggle their list of tasks apart of learning. Along with my research, three adult learners were interviewed and observed in order to answer what kind of specific hardships they independently accept and how they use their age and wisdom to their learning advantage.
Due to my status as being a traditional learner, I hold the position of an outsider, making it crucial that I ensure my full comprehension of the subjects at hand before interviewing by furthering my grasp of the general idea of adult learners, although each of my subjects are unique.
Andragogy is a learning theory that assists with identifying adult learners. Malcolm Knowles defines andragogy as “the art of helping adult learners” (elearningindustry.com). The andragogical model shows that adult learners: 1) are self-directed; 2) enter educational programs with a great diversity of experience; 3) become ready to learn when they experience a need to know or do something; 4) are life-centered, task centered or problem-centered; and 5) are motivated by internal self-esteem, recognition, better quality of life and self-actualization.
There are many common misconceptions about adult learners, one of them being that adult learners need a lot of assistance and guidance. As this may be the case for some students, most adult learners strive through means of self-directed learning. Self-directed learning allows students to take control of their own educational experiences, which pushes them to act in unique ways that help to maintain their personal motivation levels (eleducation.org).
It is also important to evaluate the site of the subculture. I conducted my research at AWC, a community college that I attend part time. Although adult learners take up the highest population of elearners (cael.org), it would make perfect sense for adult learners to take up a couple real life community college courses instead of online or at a university. In addition to misconceptions about adult learners, there are plenty of preconceived notions about community colleges as well. A great majority views community college as an easier path than a standard university, and only people who did not get accepted to universities settle for community college. Thus, it can be speculated that adult learners may face plenty of stigma and bias.
A key characteristic distinguishing reentry adults from other college students is the high likelihood that they are juggling other life roles while attending school, including those of worker, spouse or partner, parent, caregiver, and community member. These roles may be assets, both through the social supports they provide and through the rich life experiences that may help adult learners make meaning of theoretical constructs that may be purely abstract to younger learners. Yet more often, these multiple roles present challenges in students’ allocation of time for both academic study and participation in campus-based organizations and activities. A 2003 NCES report titled Work First, Study Second indicated that at least 56 percent of students over age twenty-four who were included in the 1999–2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study saw themselves as workers first and students second, while 26 percent identified themselves as students who work. Only 18 percent did not work while enrolled (Berker and Horn 2003, 5). This report also noted that those students who considered themselves employees first were also more likely to be married, leaving them with at least three life roles to manage while attending school; this group was also less likely to complete a degree in six years.
Reentry adults” appear to be a student population that is here to stay. Increasingly, higher education institutions have attempted to create programs and services that are responsive to adults’ life and learning preferences. This effort has challenged college faculty and administrators to think beyond traditional ways of teaching and delivering educational programs. A large number of institutions or program units have a long history of adaptation to the adult learner student population.
Research and knowledge about adult learners is important in order to create suggestions for improving adult learning now and in the future. were around more financial investment, more adult education opportunities, as well as more flexible provision (in terms of delivery and times) to suit those with in work and with complex circumstances. Others suggested that the value of learning for personal pleasure should be promoted as it can have a significant impact in terms of wellbeing.
The aim of the study was to scope the need, reach and areas for policy and practice development for adult education concerning disadvantaged adults. Four key research questions emerged: Why did you decide to go back to school/what was your goal? What are the difficulties about being an adult learner? How do you use your age and wisdom to your advantage when going to school? How does going back to school affect your current job?
Aside from researching information, I collected evidence by interviewing two adult learners to get first hand accounts about the life and hardships of an adult learner. By drawing on these two varied primary sources, the aim has been to develop a full picture of the struggles related to adult education for individuals. Research on adult learners help employers and communities focus on what works well and what needs to be improved to make best use of the resources available for adult education, particularly in addressing the needs of those most disadvantaged in our society.
Based on the conducted research and observations, the idea that adult learners deal with issues that do not concern the traditional student is supported. In one of my college classes I was able to conduct an interview with Matilda Espinoza, a single mother of two. My other subject is Jamie Dungeon, a 21-year old man. Both subjects have taken a break from school for several years, but ultimately decided to return. I was able to compare their accounts with the information gathered from online sources to determine the truth about adult learners.
One quick observation I noticed with the two was that they were much more organized and prepared for class than anyone else, including myself. Each of them had their computers handy, as well as any additional materials needed. They also did not constantly check their phones or focused on anything besides the task at hand. It was interesting to notice the juxtaposition between the clearly bored, juvenile students and the adults, who appeared almost starving for new knowledge.
Matilda shared that her reasoning behind furthering her education career was motivated by her desire to give her children a more comfortable life. She states, “I’m hoping to build up my resume, develop new skills, apply for higher paying jobs, and hopefully by the end I’ll be able to provide my family with a more stable income.” This confirms the idea that many adult learners go back to school to enhance their quality of life. However, Jaime’s motives are quite different. He explained that he took a couple “block” years to do some self discover and soul searching before jumping right back into school again. He asserted that he would not consider himself trying to elevate his current situation by going to school again because continuing his education was always apart of his plan- just not on everyone else’s timeline.
Both of them share similar difficulties by being an adult learner. One challenge they share is struggling to make ends meet and pass their classes at the same time. Jaime shares, “I have to support myself and drive up here for two hour long classes at the same time. Sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough time in the day, and rent isn’t cheap.” Both subjects have to find time to take care of their responsibilities. By speaking to Matilda about her struggles with being a mom and a student, it was made clear that her top priority does not lie in being returned student, but in being mom. The same is true about many adult learners. As seriously as they take their education, it’s difficult to put it ahead of the rest of their livelihood.
Jaime and Matilda both found having a job and going to school a challenge, but they have adapted and gotten more comfortable with their busy schedules. “…it’s..it’s tough, but managing multiple aspects of my life has taught me to keep organized, focus on the task at hand, and work as efficiently as possible.” Just as my research suggests, adult learners are proven to be very driven and task-oriented.
Both subjects agreed that attending university was not an option for them given their financial status. Matilda’s view on community college is that the education is just as good as any, if not better because of the smaller class sizes. She proudly took out the new computer she bought herself with the money she wasn’t “shoveling over to those fancy colleges.”
Adult learners show advanced time managed skills. Diligence and self-discipline when it comes to schooling. One major difference between adult learners. And traditional learners, especially children, is that one is motivated by self-determination and future goals. While the other is most likely required to attend by the government. “As I’ve grown older, I stopped focusing on the distractions. The time I spent away from school really matured me. My time invested at school is strictly goal oriented,” Jaime shared. Matilda wholeheartedly agreed. She described how she spent her time at school back when it was free. And how much more of a developed and effective learner she is now that she’s older, “I did not understand the importance of school. Now that I do, I don’t look at classes as a chore anymore.” With age comes with more realistic world views along with distinguishing what’s important and what is not.
Several conclusions can be made based on the research and interviews conducted. It is no doubt that adult learners are plagued with two major hardships; school and life responsibilities and cost, among many others. Except unlike children, adult learners are much better at weighing the importance of school. Unlike children, adult learners already have a set of values and preconceptions about the world they live in. Adult learners are actively involved in the learning process such that they make choices relevant to their learning objectives.
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He was the recipient of the 1994 Golden Spikes Award, given to the most outstanding amateur player in the nation. No No No Has it filed a Form 990-T for this year? One mission of The Mia Foundation reflects around Bone Marrow Disease Research. I once helped a Navy corpsman who got shot in the face in Iraq. North Carolina won 4 national championships with Mia Hamm. In 1998, Hamm organized the first annual fundraising event, the Garrett Game, in honor of her brother. Without the support and kindness of our friends and partner organizations, we could not continue to raise awareness and much-needed funds.
She has become an advocate for cancer awareness, beginning as a spokesperson for the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations. The Silver Anniversary Award annually recognizes distinguished individuals on the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their college athletics careers. Nation al Marrow Drive Program: Partnered with Nike, The Mia Foundation developed a National Marrow Drive Program to educate the public about bone marrow disease research, how they can take part in this worthwhile cause, and Mia's commitment to it. And just to be able to pay back somebody who has risked his life and almost died in war is something that for me is truly meaningful. We took a guy that was down on his luck and really not doing well and just helped him, and I think it has changed his life. No No Did the organization operate one or more hospital facilities? Leslie was the unanimous 1994 National Player of the Year. Hamm announced her impending retirement on May 14, 2004, at the age of 32.
Hamm also has a passion for providing young women opportunities in sports, not just soccer. The academics there are second to none. The gold medal in Athens and our special farewell game was an unforgettable way for me to wrap up my career. She was named the U. You can also mail items or money to the organization.
Synopsis Born Mariel Margaret Hamm on March 17, 1972, in Selma, Alabama, Mia Hamm is largely considered the best female soccer player in history. As commandant, he was responsible for creating warrior-scholars who have a superior ability to develop, evaluate and employ air power as a component of military force in support of national objectives. Hamm's brother Garrett died of aplastic anemia, a bone-marrow disease. Yes Yes The number of employees reported on Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, filed for the calendar year ending with or within the year covered by this return 0 0 Did the organization file all required federal employment tax returns? She probably still plays for fun, but she no longer plays soccer for the U. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www. It creates more chances to participate but it does not create chances for every girl. No No Did a donor advised fund maintained by the sponsoring organization have excess business holdings at any time during the year? She played with the U.
Yes Yes Did the organization engage in direct or indirect political campaign activities on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office? I wanted to have an impact. He loves to see me win in life, and I am able to be the best wife, mom and entrepreneur I can be because of his love and support. Does Mia Hamm still play soccer? I am inspired to help causes that are near and dear to me. By her retirement in 2004, Hamm's 158 goals made her the record holder of international goals among both male and female soccer players. A Message From Mia I want to begin by thanking you all for your continued support throughout the past 18 years. During his professional career, he was a two-time World Series champion and a three-time American League All-Star. Even with school, my free time is spent reviewing boots and writing about soccer.
Mia Hamm Back to Back to Back to Mia Hamm is one of the most prolific soccer players of all time. Mia also played for the women's professional team the Washington Freedom from 2001 to 2003 where she scored 25 goals in 49 appearances. In 2007, the Foundation began hosting an annual All-Celebrity Soccer Challenge that brings many notable professional athletes and celebrities together to play in a 7-on-7. No No Did the organization provide a grant or other assistance to an officer, director, trustee, key employee, substantial contributor or employee thereof, a grant selection committee member, or to a 35% controlled entity or family member of any of these persons? S Soccer Player of the Year, she won Olympic Gold Medals in the 2004 and 1996 Summer Games, adding a Silver Medal in the 2000 Games. In Her Own Words My time at North Carolina made me the player and person I am today. No No Did the organization include with every solicitation an express statement that such contributions or gifts were not tax deductible? He is a member of the national engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, and the national aerospace engineering honor society, Sigma Gamma Tau. She has pushed forward by providing more chances for young women to find success in their career.
No No Did the organization, directly or through a related organization, hold assets in temporarily restricted endowments, permanent endowments, or quasi-endowments? In 1999, she formed the Mia Foundation to heighten awareness for such diseases and to promote opportunities for young women in sports. At 15 she became the youngest woman to ever make the U. The sport of soccer has been so good to me, and I only hope that I have left it in a better place than when I started playing years ago. Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra, popularly known as Mia Hamm, is a former American soccer player who won the Women's World Cup twice and is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist. No No Was the organization a party to a business transaction with one of the following parties A current or former officer, director, trustee, or key employee? Mia founded her Foundation in 1999 following the death of her adopted brother Garrett from complications of aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease.
Olympic Gold In 1991, at the age of 19, Hamm was the youngest teammember in history to win the World Cup. Funds generated at the annual event are donated to bone marrow research organizations. No No Is the organization a school described in section 170 b 1 A ii? At 15, she was the youngest woman to play on the United States women's soccer team and led squads to an Olympic gold medal in 1996, a World Cup championship in 1999 and an Olympic silver medal this year. She was also named to the board of the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014. Mia's skill allowed her to score while double and triple teamed by some of the best defenders in the world.
Thursday, April 26 at the Music City Center. At SoccerGrow, we love covering all of the foundations that support the beautiful game in some aspect. She founded the Mia Hamm Foundation after her adopted brother Garrett died in 1997 due to aplastic anemia, a rare blood disease. I graduated from high school, and two days later my parents left for Italy for six years. No No Did the sponsoring organization make any taxable distributions under section 4966? Although my iPhone has taken its place, my calendar, alarms and to-do list are still the keys to my success. | http://beinkind.com/mia-hamm-foundation.html |
When radioactive uranium 235, which accounts for less than 1% of natural uranium, collides with a neutron, radioactive uranium becomes unbalanced and split, which results in a release of heat. Furthermore, fission of uranium also results in the production of a new neutron, which will then collide with more radioactive uranium and produce another fusion reaction and more heat.
Radioactive uranium produces this chain reaction when predetermined conditions are met. At a nuclear power plant, this chain reaction is gradually carried out in sealed containers to produce heat and results in the production of plutonium.
There are also several forms of plutonium produced by nuclear reactors, but along with uranium 235, plutonium 239 is particularly prone to fission.
The fuel utilized in nuclear power generation is approximately 3-5% concentrated radioactive uranium 235, while uranium used for a nuclear bomb is concentrated to more than 90%. Since plutonium 239 is also prone to initiating fission, it could be used as an ingredient for a nuclear bomb as well.
There are several kinds of atomic bombs; the one dropped on Hiroshima was a uranium atom bomb, and the one dropped on Nagasaki was a plutonium atom bomb.
152. The number after radioactive substances indicates the sum of protons and neutrons
When it comes to radioactive substances, a number (e.g., 100 or 200) is placed after them, as in cesium 134 or 137 and uranium 235 or 238. This article is going to explain what these numbers indicate.
All materials are composed of small particles called protons, neutrons, and electrons. When the numbers of each type of particles are unbalanced, the substance as a whole becomes unstable and is called a radioactive substance.
The numbers after the names of radioactive substances indicate the total number of protons and neutrons. For example, cesium 137 is composed of 55 protons and 82 neutrons for a total of 137. Furthermore, the names of radioactive substances, such as cesium and uranium, are determined by the number of protons in their core, regardless of the number of neutrons. The number of protons is the same for every type of cesium; therefore, cesium 134 contains 55 protons and 79 neutrons.
In the same vein, uranium 235 contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons, while uranium 238 contains 92 protons (the same number of protons as uranium 235) and 146 neutrons.
The nature of a substance varies depending on the balances of these numbers of particles. Radioactive substances have unbalanced numbers of particles; they emit excessive protons, neutrons, electrons, and energy to stabilize themselves. These emitted substances are radiation.
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The Japanese version of the manuscript was originally published in Fukushima Minyu, a local newspaper in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on 3rd and 11th November 2017 was reproduced for MRIC Global under the author's permission. | https://www.mricg.info/single-post/2020/02/17/dr-tsubokuras-radiation-lecture-vol76 |
During the holiday season, many businesses in Georgia, such as retailers, shipping companies, hotels and restaurants, hire part-time, temporary and seasonal employees. These employees are essential to helping them deal with the increased customer traffic and business. Further, places like Christmas tree lots and Christmas stores, which are open for a limited period of time each year, rely on these workers to do business.
What happens when these workers are injured or suffer a work-related illness? Do they have the same right to workers’ compensation as full-time, salaried employees have?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration does cover work-related illnesses, injuries and fatalities for part-time workers. Under Georgia law, most businesses that have at least three employees who work full or part time or seasonally must carry worker’s compensation insurance.
Temporary workers may be covered by the agency that they work for. Generally, the contract between these temporary agencies and the company for which they provide workers specifies who pays workers’ compensation benefits in the event that one of their employees suffers a work-related injury or illness.
All employees, regardless of their status, have certain rights under both state and federal law. If you have been injured on the job or have become ill, don’t let your employer tell you that you aren’t entitled to workers’ compensation because of your employment status. Workers’ compensation can be a necessity to getting the medical treatment that you need to heal and to helping support your family if you are unable to work because of your illness or injury. Find out what your legal rights are.
Source: FindLaw, “Part Time, Temporary, and Seasonal Employees,” accessed Nov. 27, 2015
Looking for Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Midtown Atlanta To help with your case, call us today for a free consultation. | https://tillmanassociates.com/blog/2015/11/are-holiday-employees-eligible-for-workers-compensation/ |
There are a number of protocol layers involved in data transfer over a broadband line, each of which adds some overhead.
The actual line carries data using a protocol called ADSL. This includes layers of data framing and control information which we do not have to consider. What matters is the line rate that is quoted. This is what your ADSL router will quote on its management interface as the sync rate and is what BT quote to us in line tests, etc. This is the headlineline rate and it is this rate which can get up to 24Mb/s on ADSL2+ for download.
This rate is actually the ATM data rate – the rate at which the bits that make up the 53 byte ATM cells can carry. So 24Mb/s is 24,000,000 bits per second carrying ATM cells.
ATM cells are 53 bytes long. So at 24Mb/s it is possible to transfer 56,603 cells per second. Each cell contains 48 bytes of payload data and a 5 byte header. So in terms of transferring payload a 24Mb/s line can manage 21,735,849 bits/second.
ATM cells are used to carry PPP frames. These are placed in the cells one after the other using 48 bytes. At the end there is wasted space at the end of the cell. The last cell has a fixed 8 byte AAL5 trailer so only holds 40 bytes of payload. This means a 1,502 byte PPP frame would take 32 cells.
PPP frames carry IP frames using typically a 2 byte header. So a 1,500 byte IP packet takes 1,502 bytes at PPP. The Ip header (for IPv4) is at least 20 bytes so this means that payload of the IP is only 1,480 bytes in a 1,500 byte IP frame. Note we meter usage at the IP level, i.e. a 1,500 byte IP frame is metered as 1,500 bytes.
Applications often report bytes per second rates not bits per second rates for speed of download. A byte is 8 bits.
On 20CN lines, BT also have a system whereby they rate limit traffic to one of a number of pre-set limits. This could mean as much as 1Mb/s less data throughput that you may expect (½Mb/s for rates under 8Mb/s, ¼Mb/s for rates under 2Mb/s).
So considering the throughput of TCP on a line syncing at 24Mb/s.
So, as a rough guide, take the line rate and divide by 10 for byte rate for TCP data transfer and that is likely to be an absolute maximum.
There is also a low level 135K BRAS profile which is normally an indication of a serious problem with a line. For ADSL2+ there are BRAS rates of 9Mb/s to 21Mb/s in 1Mb/s steps. | http://blog.rustyice.co.uk/694-2/ |
Arminda is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker with experience providing individual, family, and group therapy services. She focuses on the strengths, resilience, and intuition of individuals to support the unique goals of each client and relationship. Committed to building strong therapeutic rapport to support effective collaborative work, she strives to empower individuals to share and explore their own stories and experiences. Safety, validation, authenticity, humor, and flexibility are qualities that she brings to the therapeutic space.
Arminda has worked with clients with diagnoses of ASD, ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD. She has also supported individuals and families in exploring gender identity and processing experiences of systemic injustice. She is open to applying her respectful and person-centered approach to a broad range of identities and experiences.
Outside of work, Arminda likes to read, write, drink tea, and spend time with her loved ones. | https://www.elliementalhealth.com/team-members/arminda-brooks |
On March 15, 2019, The Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Merrifield v. Canada (Attorney General), reversing a trial decision in which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had recognized the existence of a common law “tort of harassment”.
The plaintiff’s claim was based on conduct that he had experienced during his employment with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which he claimed amounted to bullying and harassment. He complained about several unit reassignments, an investigation into his work-related expenses, and an assessment of a potential conflict of interest.
The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge erred in recognizing a free-standing tort of harassment, which had not previously been available as a cause of action in Canada, noting:
“Common law change is evolutionary in nature: it proceeds slowly and incrementally rather than quickly and dramatically…” .
In determining whether or not to recognize the tort of harassment, the Court of Appeal looked to Bhasin v Hrynew, which affirmed the duty of good faith contractual performance in 2014, and Jones v Tsige, which recognized the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion” in 2012. However, the Court of Appeal determined that the usual factors supporting a common law development were not present, including, among others:
- An existing degree of recognition of the tort or duty among trial courts
- Support in the content or underlying principles of Canadian or provincial legislation
- Support in academic scholarship
- Similar concepts being accepted in jurisdictions outside of Canada
- Changing societal circumstances that compel sudden action (e.g. the threats of new technology)
- The presence of societal needs that require vindication, or facts that “cry out for a remedy”, but would otherwise be left without recourse
Not only did the Court of Appeal in Merrifield determine that the facts did not cry out for a remedy, but also, it found that the tort of harassment was merely a less onerous version of the tort of “intentional infliction of mental suffering” (IIMS), as is plain in a comparison of some of their factors:
|IIMS||Harassment|
|Requires flagrant and outrageous conduct||Would require only outrageous conduct|
|Requires a subjective intention to cause harm||Would require an intention or objectively-defined reckless disregard to cause harm|
|Requires conduct that is the proximate cause of a visible and provable illness||Would require conduct that causes severe or extreme emotional distress|
However, despite its clear rejection of the tort, the Court did not close the door on its future development, if such could be supported by the factors noted above.
Apart from the tort of IIMS noted above, Ontario employees already enjoy protections against workplace harassment under human rights legislation and occupational health and safety legislation. Moreover, many Ontario employees may seek compensation for the effects of workplace harassment, so long as in accordance with the terms of worker’s compensation legislation and policy or applicable disability insurance policies.
In our view, the Merrifield decision should therefore not be seen as a huge setback for employee rights. Nor should it lead to complacency on the part of employers in matters of workplace harassment, which must continue to be treated seriously and in compliance with existing laws. | https://www.globalworkplaceinsider.com/2019/03/ontario-court-of-appeal-decides-against-recognizing-tort-of-harassment/ |
April Falls Day Fall Prevention Month
This month we are highlighting fall prevention particularly in the elderly. April Falls Day is on the 4th and it aims to increase awareness of the key factors that contribute to falls such as malnutrition, dehydration and delirium.
Older people can experience serious consequences to their health if careful attention is not paid to their nutrition, levels of hydration and strength.
Avoiding unsteadiness and dizziness is a big factor in reducing the incidence of fall-related injuries which can devastate an older person’s quality of life.
What Can You Do?
Have a look around and be that extra pair of eyes!
Does the elderly person have a lot of uneven surfaces to walk upon?
Are there stairs and slopes?
Are they familiar with their environment or do they forget where they are?
Is there a plan in place in case of a fall? Who will be notified?
Can you create a plan in case of a fall?
How to Prevent Falls and What to Look Out For
A balanced diet is vital in maintaining protein levels in the muscles which staves of muscle wasting or a loss of strength. Unintended weight loss or being undernourished may lead to a visit to hospital which may increase the likelihood of falls, hip fractures or osteoporosis.
Older people with confusion or dementia have increased risks of dehydration or being undernourished.
The elderly may not be able to think ahead in relation to what and when they eat. They may have constraints around their finances or may be isolated or unable to drive. Medications may also have an affect on their awareness of hunger or appetite.
Challenges in using cutlery or even swallowing could adversely impact upon their levels of nutrition.
Exercise and activity can contribute to better well being for the elderly as well as minimising the risk of falls. Taking up a gentle exercise that concentrates on balance and strength such as Tai Chi can increase the feeling of well being and confidence in moving around.
Below are some resources addressing nutrition and exercise that can help prevent falls and keep the older people in our lives feeling safer on their feet and confident in maintaining their mobility. | https://www.liverpooldaysurgery.com.au/april-falls-day-fall-prevention-month/ |
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Serum hepatitis B virus DNA: relationship with the e-antigen and anti-e status in chronic carriers.
The relationship between serum Hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA) and the Hepatitis B e-antigen/ anti-Hepatitis Be (HBeAg/anti-HBe) serological status in Malaysians was studied. 212 cases of asymptomatic HBV carriers were recruited for this study. 92 cases were positive for the HBeAg at the point of recruitment. 85 (92.4%) of these patients tested positive for HBV-DNA, of whom 55 (64.7%) had levels over 100pg/ml of serum. Three of the remaining 7 HBeAg positive cases who were negative for HBV-DNA subsequently seroconverted. The other 4 cases remained negative for HBV-DNA for periods of 6-12 months. Out of 113 cases who were anti-HBe positive, 12 (10.6%) gave a positive HBV-DNA result. 2 of these 12 patients were recent seroconverters; the remaining cases had transiently increased viral replicative activity which later subsided. 7 out of the 212 carriers were in the e-window period; all 7 tested negative for HBV-DNA. Our data confirm a high frequency of HBV-DNA in HBeAg positive carriers and a negative correlation between HBV-DNA and anti-HBe. An atypical profile of anti-HBe associated with HBV-DNA was observed in 10.6% of the carriers. An inverse relationship between serum HBV-DNA levels and age was also observed.
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Background
==========
Long-term observational studies with reliable HIV-1 seroconversion dates are a good tool to assess the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) at the population level \[[@B1]\]. They use calendar period as a proxy for actual HAART use to circumvent confounding by indication \[[@B2]\]. Just after the introduction of HAART in 1996, such studies showed a protective effect of HAART on time to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) \[[@B3]-[@B5]\]. Thereafter, continuous decrease on time to AIDS has been reported, coincident with the widespread uptake of HAART \[[@B6]-[@B8]\]. However, with ageing of the HIV-infected population, long-term exposure to treatment, varying adherence, emerging resistance and complications to therapies, there is a need to monitor regularly the effectiveness of HAART at the population level. Furthermore, the introduction of new drugs may have contributed to slowing down the disease progression in more recent times.
In Germany, HIV surveillance is regulated by the national Protection against Infection Act since 2001 \[[@B9]\]. Newly diagnosed HIV infections are reported to the Robert Koch-Institute (RKI), the national institute for diseases surveillance and control. However, in this surveillance system, the date of HIV infection is often unknown. To supplement the mandatory reporting system, the RKI set up in 1997 the HIV-1 Seroconverter study, which allows estimating the time of infection, leading to a reliable determination of AIDS incidence, risk factors for AIDS and time to therapy initiation.
This paper aims to present the results of the German HIV-1 Seroconverter study, covering more than 13years of surveillance, in order to monitor at the population level the progression to AIDS and associated risk factors over calendar periods.
Methods
=======
Study design
------------
The German HIV-1 Seroconverter study started in 1997 as a national multicenter observational cohort study including HIV-infected persons for whom the date of seroconversion is known or could reliably be estimated. Study participants are recruited by more than 22 outpatient clinical centres, 40 medical practices specialised on HIV/AIDS and seven local health authorities all over Germany, mainly in German metropoles. All HIV infected patients aged 18years or older (at the time of study enrolment) are eligible to be included in the cohort if their date of seroconversion can be reliably estimated, either as acute or as documented seroconverters, which has been described in detail elsewhere \[[@B10]\]. Briefly, acute seroconverters included individuals with laboratory evidence of seroconversion and those with an interval of maximum three months between the last negative and the first positive HIV-antibody test (mid-point between the dates is used to estimate the time of infection). Documented seroconverters included individuals with a last negative and a first positive HIV-antibody test within a maximum three-year interval (mid-point between the dates is used to estimate the time of infection).
Data collection
---------------
On the basis of a baseline standardized paper-based questionnaire, demographic (including sex, age, and HIV exposure category), clinical (including CDC-status and current therapy regimes) and laboratory data (including viral load, CD4+ and CD8+ counts) are collected by physicians. Yearly follow-up questionnaires include CDC-status and current therapy regimes. Questionnaires are sent to the RKI where they are reviewed and integrated in the HIV database, and checked for completeness and plausibility. If data inconsistencies cannot be resolved, the institutions are queried.
Statistical analyses
--------------------
We analysed the time from seroconversion to AIDS via Cox proportional hazard model, a method that allows for late entry and inclusion of retrospectively ascertained seroconversion \[[@B11]\]. Since the objective of these analyses was to measure the effectiveness of HAART at the population level, calendar year at risk was divided into five calendar periods, according to the availability of new anti-retroviral drugs in Germany: 1) the era before HAART (pre-1997), 2) limited use of HAART and use of two Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTI) with one Protease-Inhibitor (PI) or one Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTI) (19972000), 3) introduction of Lopinavir/Ritonavir as boosted PI in one co formulation (20012004), 4) introduction of secondary PI generation (20052006), and 5) the introduction of Chemokine Coreceptor 5 (CCR5) antagonists and integrase single strand transfer inhibitors (20072010). Calendar period was included as a time-dependent covariate so that each individual contributed to the analyses with all time periods they had been at risk. Time was always measured from date of seroconversion so that comparisons across calendar periods were only based on seroconverters who had been infected for the same length of time. The second calendar period (19972000) was used as reference period in the Cox proportional hazard model.
Individuals were censored either by the day of the last medical visit or by the date of the first AIDS-defining event, defined in accordance with clinical criteria from the 1993 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) case definition \[[@B12]\]. Individuals with pre-AIDS mortality were censored as AIDS free at the moment of death. Lost to follow up was defined as the number of last medical visits in each calendar period. Due to a delay of reporting, last medical visits in 2010 were not considered as lost to follow up but as unknown status.
Adjustment was done for sex, HIV exposure category, age at seroconversion and short HIV test interval (already defined as acute seroconverters). HIV exposure categories included, in the following order of priority: injecting drug users (IDU), men who have sex with men (MSM), heterosexuals, other (including blood transfusion and occupational acquisition), and unknown. Among heterosexuals, a new group including people originated from high prevalence countries (HPC) was created. To investigate whether the effects of these determinants changed over time, we included interaction terms between each determinant and the calendar periods at risk. Interaction was tested using likelihood ratio tests. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to determine the expected survival probability (remaining AIDS-free) in each calendar period and Log-rank tests for equality of survivor functions. All p-values are two-sided, and a p-value of 0.05 or less was considered significant. All data were analysed using STATA 11.0 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA).
Ethics
------
The Seroconverter study was approved by the local ethics committee of the Charit (University hospital) in Berlin and reconfirmed in 2010. Informed consent was obtained for each participant of the study.
Results
=======
Study population
----------------
By the end of 2010, a total of 2162 eligible patients were enrolled in the study and included in the analysis. Of these, 214 patients were retrospectively included, namely having a date of seroconversion before 1997. Both the number of included patients and follow-up increased largely after 2001, when the study was better established. The overall median age at seroconversion was 33years (IQR: 2739) without major changes over calendar periods (Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). The main exposure category was MSM, representing 85.5% (1838/2162) of the study population and resulting in a low proportion of women in the cohort (137/2162; 6.3%). The MSM proportion increased as a proportion of enrolled seroconverters in later calendar periods (65.0% in pre-1997 to 87.6% in 20072010). The second main HIV exposure category was heterosexual contacts, representing 9.0% (195/2162) of the patients. IDU represented only 2.6% (55/2162) of the seroconverters and were decreasingly enrolled over time. 1.5% (32/2,162) of the patients originated from high prevalence countries. More than 40% of the study population had a short HIV test interval and this proportion increased over time. For those including in the documented seroconverters (HIV test interval bigger than 3months), the HIV test interval was between 3 and 12months.
######
Description of the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort by the end of 2010
**Calendar year of seroconversion**
------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ -------------
Sex, female, n (%) 32 (15) 13 (7.0) 32 (5.6) 29 (6.2) 31 (4.2) 137 (6.3)
Age at seroconversion, (year) \[median (IQR)\] 30 (2638) 32 (2736) 33 (2738) 33 (2840) 33 (2740) 33 (2739)
HIV exposure category \[n (%)\]
men who have sex with men 139 (65.0) 152 (82.6) 500 (88.2) 406 (87.7) 641 (87.6) 1838 (85.0)
Injecting drug users 32 (15.0) 5 (2.7) 10 (1.8) 5 (1.1) 3 (0.4) 55 (2.6)
heterosexuals 34 (15.9) 16 (8.7) 40 (7.1) 41 (8.8) 64 (8.8) 195 (9.0)
people from high endemic country 6 (2.8) 6 (3.2) 9 (1.6) 5 (1.1) 7 (1.0) 33 (1.5)
others\* 0 (0) 2 (1.1) 2 (0.4) 1 (0.2) 4 (0.6) 9 (0.4)
unknown 3 (1.4) 3 (1.6) 6 (1.1) 7 (1.5) 13 (1.8) 32 (1.5)
Short HIV test interval , n (%) 33 (15.4) 53 (28.7) 206 (36.3) 208 (44.7) 401 (54.9) 901 (41.7)
Seroconverters, n (Follow up) 214 (520) 185 (837) 567 (1201) 465 (1259) 731 (5090) 2162 (8906)
AIDS events, n, (rate) 36 (6.9) 22 (2.6) 23 (1.9) 47 (3.7) 68 (1.3) 196 (2.2)
Pre-AIDS mortality, n (rate) NA 5 (0.6) 4 (0.3) 4 (0.3) 14 (0.3) 27 (0.3)
Lost to follow-up, n (rate) 2 (0.4) 85 (10.2) 169 (14.1) 126 (10.0) 303 (10.5) 685 (10.2)
\* Occupational and blood transfusion.
† Defined as 3months between last negative and first positive HIV test, or with laboratory evidence of seroconversion.
‡ Follow up in person-year.
± Rate calculation: number of events/100 person-years.
IQR: Interquartile range; NA: Not available.
AIDS-defining events, incidence rate and survival
-------------------------------------------------
Over the 8906 person-years (PY) of follow up (median=2.8years; range 1day 23.9years), 196 first AIDS-defining events were reported, leading to an overall AIDS incidence rate of 2.2 per 100 PY (95% CI, 1.9-2.5). The AIDS incidence rate per 100 PY decreased significantly from 6.9 in pre-1997 (95% CI, 4.9-9.6) to 2.6 (95% CI, 1.7-4.0) in 19972000, 1.9 (95% CI, 1.3-2.9) in 20012004, 3.7 (95% CI, 2.8-5.0) in 20052006 and 1.3 (95% CI, 1.1-1.7) in 20072010 (Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). Among the 196 reported AIDS-defining events, opportunistic infections (139/196, 71%) were the most prevalent, followed by Kaposi\'s sarcoma (21/196, 11%), lymphoma (15/196, 8%), HIV encephalitis (11/196, 5%) and cachexia (10/196, 5%).
The proportion of patients developing AIDS within 2 and 10years decreased significantly (p=0.0001) from 14% and 50% in pre-1997 to 4% and 33% in 19972000, respectively (Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). The two following periods did not show a decrease in the proportions of patients developing AIDS within 2 and 10years in comparison to 19972000. In the last period (20072010), these proportions further decreased significantly (p=0.0129) to 4% and 11%, respectively.
{#F1}
Pre-AIDS mortality and lost to follow-up
----------------------------------------
Death without AIDS, which accounted for 27 of the cases, had a relatively stable rate over calendar periods after 1997 (as this information was not retrospectively collected for the pre-1997 period), from 0.6 per 100 PY in 19972000 to 0.3 per 100 PY in the following periods. The lost to follow up rate was also relatively stable over the calendar periods, except for the pre-1997 period where it was lower (0.4 per 100 PY) (Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}).
Calendar periods and prognostic factors
---------------------------------------
In the multivariable model adjusted for sex, age at seroconversion, HIV exposure category and short HIV test interval, two periods i.e. 19972000 and 20072010 were statistically associated with a reduction in the risk of AIDS, accounting for an overall reduction of 80%. Compared to 1997-2000, hazard ratios were 2.6 (95%CI, 1.6-4.8; p=0.000) in pre-1997 and 0.5 (95%CI, 0.3-0.8; p=0.007) in 20072010 (Table [2](#T2){ref-type="table"}). Both the 20012004 and 20052006 periods did not show significant differences in the risk of AIDS compared to the 19972000 period, but only a slight non-significant increase in 20052006.
######
Adjusted Hazard Ratios of progression to first AIDS-defining event in the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort, 2010
**HR†** **95%CI** **p-value**
----------------------------------- --------- ----------- ------------- -------
Calendar Period
Pre-1997 2.6 1.6 4.8 0.000
1997-2000 1.0 1.0 1.0 \-
2001-2004 0.7 0.4 1.2 0.191
2005-2006 1.3 0.8 2.2 0.316
2007-2010 0.5 0.3 0.8 0.007
Sex, women 1.2 0.6 2.3 0.544
Age (per 10years increase in age) 1.3 1.1 1.5 0.001
HIV exposure category
men who have sex with men 1.0 1.0 1.0 \-
Injecting drug users 1.4 0.8 2.7 0.229
heterosexuals 0.8 0.4 1.5 0.479
people from high endemic country 2.3 1.0 5.3 0.053
others\* 1.1 0.2 8.0 0.910
unknown 1.6 0.6 4.4 0.340
Short HIV test interval ‡ 1.3 1.0 1.8 0.056
\* Occupational and blood transfusion.
† adjusted for calendar period, sex, age at seroconversion, HIV exposure category, short HIV test interval.
‡ defined as 3months between last negative and first positive HIV test, or with laboratory evidence of seroconversion.
HR: Hazard Ratio; CI, confident interval.
Older age at seroconversion was associated with an increased risk of AIDS (HR, 1.3 per 10year-increase; p=0.001). Compared to the group of MSM, the risks among people originating from HPC and IDU were not significantly increased, with HR of 2.3 (95%CI 1.0-5.3; p=0.053) and 1.4 (95%CI, 0.8-2.8; p=0.229), respectively. Heterosexual transmission had a similar risk as compared with homosexual male transmission (HR, 0.8; 95% CI 0.4-1.5; p=0.479).
To investigate whether the prognostic effects of these covariates had changed over time, we included interactions between calendar period and each of the covariates in the Cox model. To reduce model instability, we collapsed the calendar periods to pre-1997, 19972006 and 20072010, and excluded 9 patients with occupational exposure and 36 with unknown exposure. There was no evidence of a change over time in the effect of age (p=0.1287) although we noticed a decrease in the HR from 1.6 to 1.0 over the calendar periods (Table [3](#T3){ref-type="table"}). There were no significant changes in the effect of sex and short HIV test interval. Although HIV exposure categories did not change over time (p=0.5575), the risk of AIDS decreased less among IDU than for the other HIV exposure categories over the calendar periods.
######
Interactions between prognostic factors and calendar periods in the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort, 2010
**Calendar periods** **P-value for interaction**
----------------------------------- ----- ------------ ----- ---------------------- ----- ----------- -----------------------------
Sex, female 1.0 0.2-4.6 1.7 0.8 3.7 0.7 0.1 4.5 0.6509
Age (per 10years increase in age) 1.6 1.1-2.2 1.4 1.2 - 1.8 1.0 0.8 - 1.4 0.1287
HIV exposure category
men who have sex with men 1 1 1
Injecting drug users 0.8 0.3 - 2.6 1.9 0.9 4.1 1.4 0.2 11.1 0.5575
heterosexuals 0.2 0.04 - 1.4 1.1 0.5 - 2.4 0.5 0.1 - 2.1
people from high endemic country 2.7 0.6 12.7 2.1 0.7 - 7.0 1.6 0.2 13.8
Short HIV test interval\* 1.4 1.0 1.9 1.1 0.7 - 1.8 1.7 1.0 2.8 0.3956
\*defined as 3months between last negative and first positive HIV test, or with laboratory evidence of seroconversion.
† To ease the interpretation we show all hazard ratios in comparison to the MSM risk of the respective calendar period.
HR: Hazard Ratio; CI, confident interval.
Therapy/time to therapy
-----------------------
While mono and dual NRTI therapy were mostly used before 1997, main combinations of HAART included 2 NRTI/PI till 2001 and a mixed of 2 NRTI/PI and 2 NRTI/NNRTI after this date. While the proportion of PY spent on antiretroviral therapy was 51% for the whole cohort, this proportion changes over the calendar periods, from 13% in pre-1997 to 48%, 59%, 45% and 54% in 19972000, 20012004, 20052006 and 20072010, respectively. The median time from seroconversion to therapy initiation was 1.3years \[interquartile range (IQR), 0.5-2.8years\]. The temporal trend of this median showed first a decrease from 1.6 in pre-1997 to 0.8 and 0.4years in 19972000 and 20012004 respectively, followed by an increase to 1.4 and 1.9years in 20052006 and 20072010 respectively. More precisely, this trend was confirmed when analysing proportions of person-years spent on treatment over total follow-up time, stratified by calendar period and categorised by the proportion initiating treatment within 2years, between 2 and 5years, and more than 5years (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). Whilst the proportion of person-years on treatment within 2years after seroconversion decreased since 1997, the proportion of patient-years on treatment 5years and more after seroconversion increased from 25% in pre-1997 to 82% in 20072010. The proportion initiating treatment between 2 and 5years after seroconversion was more constant and varied between 53 and 69% since 1997.
{#F2}
Discussion
==========
By using the data from the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort, we estimated the risk of AIDS in calendar periods with different HAART regimens as well as during mono and dual antiretroviral therapy (pre-1997). We found an overall reduction of 80% in the risk of AIDS over the calendar periods, which was not linear but included two main drops, one after 1997 and one after 2007. This is the first study to our knowledge showing a reduction in AIDS risk after 2007. However, these results might be influenced by the fact that the study population includes a large proportion of MSM who are more likely to be closely monitored by HIV specialists and may therefore not be representative of the entire German population infected by HIV. A similar cohort study in Spain reported significant reduction in the risk of AIDS over calendar periods in comparison with the pre-HAART era, but there were no differences between the calendar periods in the post-HAART era \[[@B8]\]. However, the last observed calendar period was 20002003 and there were more IDU in the composition of this cohort than in our study. In another study combining 22 cohorts of people living with HIV-1 from Europe, Australia and Canada, the authors showed an even bigger reduction in the risk of AIDS, with a relative risk of 0.46 and 0.13 after 1997 and after 2001, respectively \[[@B6]\].
Our results showed an overall increase in HAART uptake, which likely parallels the decrease in AIDS risk. These trends have also been seen in the UK, where the proportion of patients being treated by antiretroviral therapy increased from less than 2% in pre-1996 to 58% in 20042006 \[[@B7]\]. The decrease in HAART uptake in 20052006 in our study, associated with an increase in AIDS risk and AIDS incidence in the same period, supports the hypothesis of this association between HAART uptake and AIDS risk. Increasing HAART uptake benefits could have been balanced by an increasing prevalence of Transmitted Drug Resistance (TDR) over the calendar periods. However, one previous study in the same cohort of seroconverters indicated a stable prevalence of TDR over the time \[[@B13]\]. Other factors related to the improvements in drug quality, including safety and galenic formulation easing intake, together with increases in HIV-knowledge among health professionals have probably also contributed to the decrease in AIDS risk.
We observed a trend towards initiating treatment later following seroconversion in later calendar periods. This could be explained by the different recommendations in Germany since 1997. Following the Vancouver Conference \[[@B14]\] and the increasing uptake of HAART, the main attitude in Germany was to hit hard and early \[[@B15]\]. In 2002, following the large proportion of people with antiretroviral therapy side effects/toxicity, the German AIDS Society recommended to start therapy below a threshold of 200 CD4+ cells per L \[[@B16]\]. This recommendation might partially explain the slight decrease in HAART uptake and consequently, the slight increase in AIDS risk for the period 20052006 in our study. In 2008, recommendations were revised to initiate the antiretroviral therapy below a threshold of 350 CD4+ cells per L \[[@B17]\]. Surprisingly, this last recommendation was not associated with an increase, neither in the median time to treatment initiation nor in the proportion of people being treated less than 2years and between 2 and 5years after seroconversion. However, this last period was associated with a decrease in AIDS risk, indicating that factors other than time to treatment initiation may play a more important role in disease progression.
The main determinant that affects disease progression in our cohort was age at seroconversion. This factor, together with duration of infection, was already known to be a crucial determinant of HIV disease progression in developed countries before the introduction of HAART \[[@B5]\]. However, age disparities seem to diminish over the calendar periods in our cohort, as already shown in another study including 22 cohorts \[[@B6]\].
Our results did not show an effect of sex on AIDS risk. This result contrasts with recent studies that reported a slower disease progression among women than men \[[@B8],[@B18]\]. However, the number of women in our study population was too small to detect any potential differences.
Comparing disease progression rates between transmission risk groups in our study was difficult, considering the large proportion of MSM compared to the other transmission groups. However, the trend over the calendar periods showed that IDU had a smaller reduction in AIDS risk as compared with the others risk groups. This result is supported by Porter et al., reporting a smaller reduction in AIDS risk in the post- HAART era among IDU \[[@B6]\]. However, other causes of mortality, such as hepatitis C, could confound this result. People from high HIV prevalence countries had at higher, although non-significant risk for progression to AIDS. Furthermore, the risk seems to decrease with the calendar periods. This result should reflect a heterogeneous population and be interpreted with caution because of the small number of people in this group. Nevertheless, access to health services, health insurance status, poor adherence to treatment \[[@B19]\] and other co-morbidities could have played a role and may require special attention for this group.
The presence of seroconversion illness, typically characterized by flu-like symptoms, has been reported to be associated with a more rapid disease progression \[[@B20],[@B21]\]. In order to avoid recall bias, short HIV test interval has been reported to be a good proxy for the presence of seroconversion illness \[[@B21]\]. In our study, short HIV test interval factor showed a slight effect, which appears to increase over time. However, this result depends on the quality of the tests used and on the time interval chosen to define a short test interval.
This studys principal strength is its good quality data on date of seroconversion, permitting reliable approximation of AIDS incidence and risk. This study also has the advantage of providing data for more than 13years of prospective follow-up from different settings, representing roughly 10% of all new HIV diagnoses reported to the national HIV surveillance since 2004. However, some limitations have to be raised. First, the data for the pre-1997 period are retrospective and may not be as reliable as the data from the prospective period. Patients in this period were included regardless of their AIDS outcome; a survivorship bias might have been introduced as patients have to sign an informed consent at study entry. Regarding the pre-AIDS mortality, this bias might have been limited as the pre-AIDS mortality rates were relatively stable and at a very low level during the prospective periods. Regarding the lost to follow up, rates were relatively stable over the time periods but were at a high level. If lost to follow up subjects have a more rapid progression, the pre-1997 period in our study might underestimate the risk of AIDS in comparison to the other periods but our results remain conservative to this regard. Alternatively, we might have overestimate the first decrease in the AIDS risk if lost to follow up subjects have a slower disease progression. Considering only the periods after 1997, a bias might have been introduced if lost of follow up subjects differ between the periods. Further analyses (e.g. competing risk analysis) should be performed to better answer that issue. Another issue is that women are largely underrepresented in this study (6.2%) in comparison with the national reporting system, in which women accounted for as many as 20% of all new diagnoses between 1997 and 2010. This proportion does not allow us to analyze the effects of sex and HIV transmission categories with enough power. Finally, we assumed continuous HAART intake after treatment initiation. This limitation might be important for the interpretation of the proportion of people being treated by calendar period. However, this does not change the interpretation of the effectiveness over time. The treatment was considered to be HAART (i.e., three or more drugs that are from two or more classes, or that contain abacavir) in every calendar period from 1997 onwards, even if this might not be the case for one or two percent.
Conclusions
===========
HAART effectiveness has improved in the German HIV-1-Seroconverter Cohort. After a main reduction in the risk of AIDS in 19972000, a second significant decrease occurred in 20072010. However, elderly may require particular monitoring in view of their faster progression to AIDS.
Abbreviations
=============
AIDS: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; CDC: Centres for Disease Control and Prevention; HAART: Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy; HPC: People from high HIV prevalence countries; HR: Hazard ratio; IDU: Injecting drug users; IQR: Interquartile Range; MSM: Men who have sex with men; NRTI: Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NNRT: Non- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; PI: Protease inhibitor.
Competing interests
===================
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Author contributions
====================
All authors were involved in asking the research question presented in this manuscript. MA was responsible for statistical analyses together with MadH. MA wrote the first draft of the paper. All authors reviewed the final manuscript.
Source of funding
=================
The German HIV-1 Seroconverter Cohort is funded by the German Ministry of Health.
Pre-publication history
=======================
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:
<http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/12/94/prepub>
Acknowledgments
===============
The authors thank all the participating collaborators of the German HIV-1 Seroconverter Study Group. They thank Parvin Ghassim and Christian Kollan for the development of the data base and their administrative assistance. They thank Manuel Dehnert for his support in the statistical analyses and Johanna Rankin for her English editing.
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Part of David Guinn’s Seasons series, the artist took advantage of two walls to create a scene with two different street perspectives. The idea for snowscape came from a Pieter Breughel (1525-69, Flemish) painting entitled Hunters in the Snow. The soft, organic shapes of the trees, based on the trees in the Breughel painting, were added to balance the hard geometry of the rest of the composition.
Although Guinn plans the basic structure of murals ahead of time, he likes to invent on the wall, saving decisions about the exact shape and color of his faceted squares until he is actually painting them to absorb the neighborhood colors. Guinn added the skier because he felt the composition needed an emotional center. Guinn lightened and warmed the colors at the end of the central street in response to the building colors nearby (orange and yellow). | https://www.muralarts.org/artworks/crystal-snowscape/ |
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued its leadership in CSR at the local and international levels as one of the most significant supporters of humanitarian and development initiatives including educational, environmental, cultural, human rights and relief activities.
Among the most distinguished issues undertaken by the ministry in this regard, is supporting human, family and children rights, reduction of climate change, advancement of education, empowerment of persons with disabilities and special needs, establishment of justice, equality and transparency values, relief actions and rehabilitation of refugees, cultural diversity, food security, participation in national events and other activities.
Human rights… a strategic choice
MOFA considers the promotion and protection of human rights a strategic option for Qatar, and works for its establishment on solid foundations at the national level, and through regional and international efforts.
Qatar adopted several legislative measures related to the promotion and protection of human rights, including, for example, the issuance of legislations regulating entry and exit, and residence of expatriates. These legislations enhance the legal protection of the foreign workers rights in accordance with international standards and the agreements signed by the government.
Freedom of religion and conscience
Qatar has confirmed that the positive exercise of the right to freedom of “religion or belief”, and “of opinion and expression,” can contribute to the promotion of each other. And Qatar is keen to adopt this approach during the construction of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue efforts. This came in the speech of Qatar at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council under the title “interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief”, where the State of Qatar confirmed its commitment to respond decisively to hate speech and militancy and extremism in all its forms and sources, and to maintain tolerance on violence, hatred, fanaticism and contempt for religions and their adherents.
Peace, justice and fairness
The Diplomatic Institute at MOFA, in collaboration with the National Committee for Education, Science and Culture, “UNESCO ambassadors” program, organized at two secondary schools; “Shaimaa” for girls and “Ahmad bin Hanbal” for boys, with the participation of 22 boy students and 15 girl students from different schools of Qatar.
The program presented lectures on peace, justice, equality concepts, and the efforts of international organizations in maintaining global peace and security, and the role of Qatar in that.
The program aims to give students the necessary knowledge and skills to represent the State of Qatar in the forums at local, regional and international events, and to spread awareness of Qatar’s vital role in the international field, particularly in protecting peace and security, and its outstanding role as a mediator to defuse crisis. Also, to educate the students about the tasks and responsibilities of international and regional organizations and their mechanisms. | http://qatarcsr.org/en/view/8 |
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Associate Professor
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Office: Monell 101
Phone: 215.571.3709
Email:
[email protected]
Website: CONQUER Collaborative
Hasan Ayaz, PhD, is an Associate Professor at Drexel University, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Philadelphia, PA and in the Department of Psychology at the Drexel University College of Arts and Sciences, a core member of the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research Collaborative and with affiliations at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He received his BSc. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Türkiye with high honors and MSc. and PhD degrees from Drexel University where he developed enabling software for functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy based brain monitoring and FDA approved medical devices. His research interests include neuroengineering in human computer interaction and neuroergonomics, as well as clinical and field applications of optical brain imaging.
Dr. Ayaz’s research involves understanding the neural mechanisms related to human perceptual, cognitive, and motor functioning with a focus on real-world contexts, utilizing mobile neuroimaging, and deploying neuroengineering approaches for neuroergonomics applications. His research aims to design, develop, and utilize (i.e. to measure->elucidate->enable) next generation brain imaging for neuroergonomic applications over a broad spectrum including aerospace to healthcare. His research has been funded by federal agencies, corporate partners and foundations, and with 200+ publications in international journals and conferences.
Dr. Ayaz serves on the editorial board of multiple international journals (PLOS One, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Applied Sciences, and Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience). He is also a frequent reviewer on 50+ other journals. He served as the co-chair of the inaugural and second International Neuroergonomics Conferences, as well as chair/co-chair/keynote speaker for various other conferences and symposiums.
More information can be found at Google Scholar, Frontiers Loop, ResearchGate, Pubmed, Publons, and Orcid. | https://drexel.edu/biomed/faculty/core/AyazHasan/ |
More and more people in China are evincing interest in Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violent movement as his teachings form an integral part of curriculum from pre-school to university, says a Chinese scholar.
Quanyu Shang, who has translated former Indian diplomat P A Nazareth's 'Gandhi's Outstanding Leadership' into Chinese, says Gandhi is studied among varied groups in his country.
"Earlier, only Chinese scholars knew about Gandhi but today, more and more people in China know about his movement during the freedom struggle and are interested in his teachings of non-violence," Shang told PTI.
The professor of School of Foreign Studies in South Ching Normal University feels everyone in China studies Gandhi in some form or the other as the education curriculum includes the Mahatma's teachings from pre-school to university levels.
"We have lessons on Gandhi in the form of drawings for children in pre-school, then we have war history in middle school which contains at least one chapter on Gandhi's struggle through non-violent means.
"I was once invited by the University of Beijing to deliver a lecture on Gandhi. Participants of Gandhi studies are expanding than ever before there," Shang, who has done his doctoral thesis on Gandhi and Nehru, says.
Shang was here for the release of the Chinese edition of Nazareth's book, which was first published in 2006 in English and later translated into Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Odiya and Spanish.
Asked whether a book on an Indian leader will see a good response in China, Shang says many books on Gandhi have already been published there.
"And this one will be like a moral beacon for China which would provide new thoughts on leadership qualities to Chinese," he says.
He is of the view that Nazareth's book gives a very unique perspective on Gandhi.
"Worldwide many books have been published on him and most of them are on truth, non-violence, his achievements, but few talk about his leadership.
This is the first book which talks about his leadership in such a comprehensive manner," he says.
The book presents the components, nature and global impact of Gandhi's leadership and his transformation from a timid young man into a leader.
Nazareth says he had compared Gandhi with other leaders of modern period starting with Napoleon. "The book also presents him as the ideal leadership model for all those aspiring to be leaders in diverse professional and other fields."
Nazareth had decided to write the book after the Babri Masjid incident to "counter the intense communal hatred that had been deliberately aroused with Gandhiji's enlightened approach to religion and patriotism".
At the release of the book here, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sent a message which read, "I am confident that the Chinese version of the book will bring the father of our nation and the ideals he stood for closer to more than a billion people in China and help forge deeper understanding between our two great nations".
The book, which has covered eight Indian and foreign languages so far, is expected to come out soon in seven more languages including Malayalam and Kashmiri. | https://www.deccanherald.com/content/319470/gandhis-teachings-taught-pre-school.html |
I want to follow-up on Jim’s latest drone post–and go back to Greg Miller’s article on drones–to look at the the approval process. A lot of readers of Miller’s article noted this passage, revealing that JSOC continues to avoid the kind of (minimal) oversight that CIA gets.
There is no comparable requirement in Title 10, and the Senate Armed Services Committee can go days before learning the details of JSOC strikes.
But read the whole passage in context.
Within 24 hours of every CIA drone strike, a classified fax machine lights up in the secure spaces of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spitting out a report on the location, target and result.
The outdated procedure reflects the agency’s effort to comply with Title 50 requirements that Congress be provided with timely, written notification of covert action overseas. There is no comparable requirement in Title 10, and the Senate Armed Services Committee can go days before learning the details of JSOC strikes.
Neither panel is in position to compare the CIA and JSOC kill lists or even arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the rules by which each is assembled.
The senior administration official said the gap is inadvertent. “It’s certainly not something where the goal is to evade oversight,” the official said. A senior Senate aide involved in reviewing military drone strikes said that the blind spot reflects a failure by Congress to adapt but that “we will eventually catch up.”
The disclosure of these operations is generally limited to relevant committees in the House and Senate and sometimes only to their leaders. Those briefed must abide by restrictions that prevent them from discussing what they have learned with those who lack the requisite security clearances. The vast majority of lawmakers receives scant information about the administration’s drone program.
In addition to the long-standing problem of JSOC avoiding oversight (and, implicitly, that this notice apparently comes after the fact, when CIA sends a fax over, which is a little late for the Intelligence Committees to weigh in, IMO), Miller lays out the following:
- No one–not the intelligence committees or even the Gang of Four–gets enough insight into the drone programs to understand how JSOC’s practices differ from CIA’s (this is consistent with what the Gang of Four said about Anwar al-Awlaki’s killing, given that they said they never saw the kill lists)
- As is typical, the intelligence committee overseers can’t share information from briefings with their colleagues not read into the program (this is how the Bush Administration gutted intelligence committee oversight of the torture and illegal wiretap programs)
But don’t worry, a senior Administration official says, this time, this secrecy is not designed specifically to avoid oversight.
Apparently, this SAO’s interlocutors don’t agree, because the WSJ’s Adam Entous and Siobhan Gorman have a similar story out today, just three days after Miller’s, quoting “current and former administration, military and congressional officials” complaining about oversight gaps.
While few U.S. lawmakers question the effectiveness of the targeted killing campaigns, some top lawmakers complain about what they see as excessive White House secrecy about how targets are chosen and how the administration justified the killings, particularly of American citizens.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, has been publicly and privately pressing the Justice Department to let his committee review the secret memorandum prepared by Justice Department lawyers that endorsed the legality of killing U.S. citizens abroad.
Similar qualms have come from members of the House and Senate armed services committees, who have also sought more information in particular about the CIA’s drone program (they have some oversight over the drones run by the Defense Department).
We’ve seen this movie already. The refusal to release OLC opinions to DOJ’s oversight committee(s); the use of committee jurisdictional oddities to avoid oversight; the appeal to secrecy. All of this comes directly from the Bush script on hiding illegal programs from Congress.
And yet all of the people presumably bitching–folks like Pat Leahy, Carl Levin, John McCain, Buck McKeon, and Adam Smith presumably–just passed language leaving the Administration’s authority to use deadly force while pretending to try to detain American citizens with a drone intact.
Hey Congress! With Bush you were usually most successful forcing more transparency by refusing to pass legislation until you got that transparency. Maybe you should have tried that here?
In any case, Obama’s anonymous leakers poo poo the entire notion of functional Congressional oversight.
Current and former officials say the White House wants to keep a tight hold on classified information to avoid unauthorized disclosures.
The demand for lawmakers outside the intelligence committees to have access to details on the covert drone program, said one U.S. official, “just doesn’t hold water.”
[snip]
Administration officials say the drone programs run by the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command are carefully monitored by top officials at both agencies and by the White House National Security Council.
Hey Congress! John Brennan (or some information hypocrite like him) just suggested that demands for functional Congressional oversight, “just [don’t] hold water.” And yet the same Administration that is refusing to pay you due respect out of feigned secrecy concern is, at the same time, selectively leaking about their drone strikes, going so far as to boast about the one that is supposedly covered by state secrets. Not to mention the fact that the contractors presumably know what you don’t (though that, too, is like the illegal programs of the Bush Administration).
At one level, this story is about how yet another Congress is allowing themselves to be treated with disdain by the President, refusing to do the things to coerce the information they need to do their jobs out of the Administration.
At another, though, there’s the unanswered question about the underlying dispute. While “officials from” (not members of) the intelligence committees claim, in the WSJ piece, they do adequate oversight, someone, somewhere, is running around begging for the ability to tell his or her Congressional colleagues details about the drone program they’re not currently privy to.
And given what we do know–the contractors’ involvement that makes the strikes illegal and inaccurate, the way our “allies” game the system to eliminate rivals, the unacceptable numbers of dead civilians–what we don’t know may well be horrible indeed. | https://www.emptywheel.net/2011/12/30/we-request-to-inform-you-that-you-inform-us-we-killed-another-drone-target/ |
Sum up your creative process in one word/phrase, and explain why.
I’m usually inspired by a mood that I’d like to express. This focus really evolved from my love of color and the way people responded to my early work using emotional words. They would talk about how a piece makes them feel. Now start with a feeling or mood and choose colors and compositions that will capture it.
Were you always an artist, even as a child? What was your path to becoming an artist?
Always. I have a charm bracelet given to me by my grandmother. The very first charm she gave me, when I was six, is an artist’s palette.
My path was not direct. I fought it, kept it in the background. I took art classes “on the side” through college, my first job, even in grad school studying business. Everyone who knew me knew it was my great love but I never thought it possible that I could BE an artist.
In my late 30s, I was miserable in a corporate job, no family, and frustrated as hell. I asked myself what I’d do if time and money were no objects. “Go to art school” popped up in my mind. So I applied to an art school in Oakland, CA, quit my job and jumped in. After a year of studio classes, I decided my money was better spent on tools and materials than tuition, so I set up a home studio and just took specific short courses when I needed to learn a new skill.
What is your medium of choice and what drew you to this particular medium?
I work in encaustic. It’s a phenomenal cross between painting and sculpture, and sculpture is my true love. It’s very immediate (more than glass and metal, which I studied in art school,) and is infinitely versatile in carrying color and texture in different ways.
Is there any particular experience, person, place, or thing that inspires you to create? Tell us about that.
My great inspirations for mood and use of color and volume are the pastel artist Wolf Khan, an Enamelist named Judith Schwarcz and Mark Rothko. While in art school I met Mark Perlman, an amazing encaustic artist whose world blew me away. So I guess he was the true catalyst. I’d never have tried it if not for him. It still took about 10 years for me to try it and then I fell in love.
During this quarantine period, I’ve found myself working with a little more contrast and with brighter colors. Instead of, or maybe as a response to, fear and discouragement, I find myself wanting to express hope and optimism.
What is it like showing your work to people and what do you hope people take away from it?
It was very scary at first. It felt presumptuous. Now it’s tremendously thrilling. There’s nothing like seeing a person walk up to a piece of work and start talking about how it makes them feel, unprompted, almost as though no one was watching.
I hope people feel a sense of beauty, mystery, and hope when they see my work. I want it to elevate their mood, or intrigue them in a way. Boredom would be the worst response.
What did winning the Award for Excellence mean to you?
This award was the very first public acknowledgment of me as an artist. It was so affirming, so encouraging, to stay on the path.
What advice do you have for other artists who may be looking to get their work exhibited?
Try lots of things – publish online, participate in exhibitions and shows. Submit work to competitions. Someone will see your work and offer you a gallery spot or a commission. In any case, you’ll get feedback on your work. It will reinforce your confidence in your identity as an artist. | https://canvas.conceptionarts.com/artist-interview-linda-frueh-2/ |
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