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Everyone’s life is full of many activities to do such as working, studying, eating, playing, cooking, watching T.V and other various activities. So that, there are some people who are trying to sleep as little as possible to be able to achieve their other activities. There are many things which could seem to be more interesting than getting a few more hours of sleep, but just as exercise and nutrition are so essential for optimal health and happiness, so is sleep. The quality of your waking life, your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight; all of these are affected by the quality of your sleep. There is not any other activity that gives so many benefits with so little effort.
Sleep deprivation has a wide range of negative effects, as the lack of sleep could affect your judgment, coordination, and reaction times. In other words, sleep deprivation can affect you just as much as being drunk.
The effects and harms of sleep deprivation and chronic lack of sleep:
1. Concentration and memory problems.
2. Difficulty making decisions.
3. Inability to cope with stress.
4. Moodiness and irritability.
5. Weight gain.
6. Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.
7. Fatigue, lethargy, and lack of motivation.
8. Reduced creativity and problem-solving skills
9. Reduced immunity; frequent colds and infections
Learn how to know that you are sleep deprived:
1. If you get sleepy in meetings, lectures, or warm rooms.
2. When you feel that you are in need to take a nap to get through the day.
3. When you fall asleep within five minutes of going to bed.
4. Getting drowsy when driving or after heavy meals.
5. When you fall asleep while watching TV or relaxing in the evening.
6. Having a hard time to get out of the bed in the morning.
7. If you need an alarm clock in order to wake up on time or if you are relying on the snooze button. | <urn:uuid:803b461e-c7f6-47ab-89b2-43b112090d91> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.pouted.com/negative-effects-sleep-deprivation-chronic-lack-sleep/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572043.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814143522-20220814173522-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.965791 | 441 | 2.828125 | 3 |
A generation ago, students urged colleges to sell their stock in companies doing business in Apartheid South Africa. At least 155 colleges and universities, as well as 26 state governments, 22 countries, and 90 cities, partially or fully divested. One of the first private institutions to divest was Columbia University, whose trustees said in 1978 that they had done so “to maintain educational leadership,” which demanded “ethical and humane positions that give effective expression to our highest national ideals” (Columbia Spectator, June 8, 1978). In 1986, the University of California sold $3 billion in South Africa-related stocks, the largest public institution to do so.
In 1990, South African President de Klerk began negotiations to end Apartheid. By 1993 it had been largely dismantled and the next year universal suffrage in South Africa led to the election of Nelson Mandela. Desmond Tutu recently said that “We could not have achieved our freedom and just peace without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the Apartheid regime.” Two of the largest American investors in South Africa at the time of the divestment movement were U.S. oil companies Mobil and Caltex (a joint venture of Chevron and Texaco.)
Apartheid was not the only cause over which academic institutions and others have divested. Some, including Harvard and Haverford, CCNY and the University of California, as well as foundations, health organizations, insurance companies, and pension funds, sold their stock in tobacco companies. As Harvard president Derek Bok explained in 1990, the university did so because it did not want “to be associated with companies [whose] products create a substantial and unjustifiable risk of harm to other human beings.”
Today, scientists and many others recognize global warming as a far greater threat than Apartheid or smoking. According to award-winning Ohio State climatologist Lonnie Thompson, “virtually all of us are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization.”
Students and others, frustrated by science denial and inaction in Washington, have begun to urge colleges to sell their stock in fossil fuel companies. Here are ten objections global warming activists are apt to hear from trustees and college administrators, with my responses.
1. “Scientists disagree as to whether global warming is even real.” Among 33,700 authors of peer-reviewed scientific articles on global warming published between 1991 and November 2012, many of them scientists at American universities,only about one author in a thousand rejects human-caused global warming.
2. “Global warming is not a moral issue like Apartheid.” Apartheid was immoral because a class of better-off whites oppressed poor blacks. Global warming is immoral because the third world countries and foundering island nations who are the least responsible will suffer the most. Colleges who showed enough concern for Africans to divest over Apartheid should recognize that global warming is likely already worsening drought and famine in East Africa. Climate models project a future of increasing drought over most of Africa, southern Europe and the Middle East, most of the Americas, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
3. “Global warming is not a health issue like smoking.” A recent study in Health Affairs analyzed the health costs of six “climate change–related events” in the U.S. between 2001 and 2009. The events included ozone pollution, heat waves, hurricanes, infectious disease outbreaks, river flooding, and wildfires. The six accounted for $14 billion in lost lives and health costs (Knowlton et. al, Health Affairs, November 2011 vol. 30, 2167-2176). According to a study published in the medical journal Lancet: “Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” The lead author of the study said, “The impacts will be felt all around the world – and not just in some distant future but in our lifetimes and those of our children.”
4. “Colleges have no direct interest in preventing global warming.” Unlike Apartheid, global warming is already affecting colleges and students directly. The AAUP says that Hurricane Katrina caused “undoubtedly the most serious disruption of American higher education in the nation’s history.” Hurricane Sandy closed dozens of colleges and according to CNN, affected an estimated 1.2 million students. Even if scientists are unsure exactly how much global warming contributed to Katrina and Sandy—not whether they contributed—those two storms and other recent extreme weather events offer an ominous portent of what lies ahead. Colleges will not be immune from the coming heat, wildfire, drought, megastorms, and sea level rise. Today’s college graduates and their children and grandchildren will have to live in the greenhouse world that we are knowingly creating.
5. “We do not invest or divest for social causes.” But colleges did divest over Apartheid, selling their stock in oil companies doing business in South Africa. Harvard, for example , sold Mobil, Shell, and Texaco. Thus the question is not whether a college will divest from fossil fuel companies, but when divestment is justified. By threatening human health and even the future of civilization, global warming is a worse evil than Apartheid and a far greater danger than smoking.
6. “Our sole endowment objective is to maximize investment return.” The overriding obligation of those responsible for a college endowment is to ensure that future student generations benefit to the same relative extent as the current generation. Trustees achieve this balance by adjusting how much of endowment earnings they spend each year and how much they reinvest. But global warming puts a new slant on the matter. By investing in fossil fuel companies, colleges are using their current financial resources in a way that jeopardizes the quality of life of their future alumni. By any reasoned and humane interpretation, this violates colleges’ professed commitment to intergenerational equity.
7. “Selling stock in fossil fuel companies will lower investment return and cause the college to have to make significant budget cuts.” This is the same argument that some colleges made when faced with the issue of divesting over Apartheid, yet many went ahead and found little financial effect. One academic study from 1986 found that “Historical returns since 1959 indicate that the South Africa-free portfolio, diluted with Treasury bills to bring its risk in line with the NYSE, would have outperformed the NYSE by 0.187 per cent annually. ” (Financial Implications of South African Divestment, Blake R. Grossman and William F. Sharpe, Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Jul. – Aug., 1986), pp. 15-29.) When a college sells stock it has the exact same amount of cash as the market value of the stock at the time of sale, minus transaction costs (estimated at 0.4% in the study of South African divestment), and can reinvest that money. The immediate financial consequences are small and phasing in divestment over several years would ameliorate the long term consequences.
8. “Divestment is controversial and would hurt future fundraising.” Colleges did not let the fear of controversy stop them from divesting over Apartheid. Yes, donations from fossil fuel companies will decline, but gifts from donors who agree that global warming is a moral and a financial issue will rise, and there will be more of those donors. Colleges ought to do what is right, not what is expedient.
9. “Our most effective impact on climate change comes through our teaching, our research, and the careers of our alumni.” While colleges and universities have gone about their business during the second half of the twentieth century, CO2 emissions have risen by 40% over natural levels, enough to make a temperature rise of at least 2°C (3.6°F) during the rest of this century inevitable. In 2011, CO2 emissions rose by 3.2% to the highest level ever recorded. Business-as-usual by colleges has failed to curtail global warming and there is no reason to believe that more business-as- usual will produce a different result.
10. “Divestment won’t do any good.” It is true that divestment will have little financial impact on the fossil fuel companies. Instead, the impact will come from example and moral suasion. Divestment would have the benefit of asking colleges and their trustees, who include some of the most influential members of society, to address global warming and take a stand on an issue that directly affects colleges and their alumni. The publicity from a widespread divestment campaign would call attention to global warming and pressure fossil fuel companies to become part of the solution. In addition, divestment would provide colleges with the funds for a different type of investment. The top 500 colleges have over $400 billion in their endowments. Redirecting just 1% of that amount would free $4 billion for investment in companies that produce clean energy.
Humans have already emitted enough CO2 to ensure that global warming will not end in the lifetime of any person reading this essay. As the years and decades go by and its effects become ever more dire, global warming will grow into a perennial campus issue. It is not going away. Some colleges will take the lead and divest now; others will follow eventually. The question for each college is whether, on the most important issue of this century, it will be a leader or a follower.
To end as Elizabeth Kolbert ended her Field Notes from a Catastrophe, “It may seem impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing.”
James Lawrence Powell was Acting President of Oberlin College, President of Franklin and Marshall College, President of Reed College, President of the Franklin Institute, and President of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush appointed him to the National Science Board, where he served for twelve years. He has a PhD from MIT and DSc degrees from Berea College and Oberlin College. He is the author of nine books. His most recent print book is The Inquisition of Climate Science (Columbia University Press). Powell currently serves as Executive Director of the National Physical Science Consortium. | <urn:uuid:a37defa5-2d71-4cf4-bf88-bf77b2670fdb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.desmog.com/2013/01/24/james-lawrence-powell-divest-over-global-warming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.957143 | 2,169 | 2.328125 | 2 |
In un-certain economic times it can be easy to neglect your recruitment strategy. Companies can feel too busy trying to cut labour costs to think about investing in recruitment. This, however, can prove to be a big mistake.
It all boils down to talent: Candidates with natural aptitude and skills are equally, if not more, valuable to SMEs as they are to larger corporations. In fact, it can be argued that smaller organizations offer a more entrepreneurial, flexible working environment where these major players can excel. Larger multinationals often have a less personal relationship with customers as well as more formal processes. This can often be a stranglehold for highly talented staff whereas more agile businesses offer a more suitable environment.
In a smaller company, the corporate culture is more directly shaped by its staff, so recruiting the best talent can be, arguably, more urgent for small and mid-market companies.
Talent within a company can be defined as those who make a difference to organizational performance either through short-term or longer-term contribution. This applies as much to small businesses as it does to large enterprise – in fact the potential return can be much greater within a small company. In terms of retention, it is increasingly clear that the movers and shakers are looking to shape the future of their firms and large corporations often struggle to accommodate this.
Recruitment technology that supports talent management helps the recruitment teams engage more with talent pools by automating the processes and encouraging manual intervention at only the most important points.
Employer branding through effective recruitment website design and up to date recruitment channels not only helps to source new staff, but also to keep the workforce engaged with wider company goals.
Sometimes SMEs have to shout louder than their larger competitors to attract and retain talent. A powerful careers website that feeds out into all recruitment channels and social networking sites can be a key game changer. It not only streamlines tedious tasks such as paper-based applications, but it can communicate a company vision and culture to prospective employers. People are increasingly looking beyond salary when making employment decisions. They want to belong. | <urn:uuid:9eafe84c-e4aa-4128-8df9-e6513201e15f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://recsite.com/hiring-software/170-why-talent-management-is-for-the-small-fry-as-well-as-the-big-fish.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.964255 | 426 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The men and women who rush to the scene and rescue lands after disasters are definitely courageous as they take the dangers of placing themselves in danger to help others. At times, technology plays a very prominent part in creating a situation less harmful.
More importantly, below are a few examples of how robotics and drones are improving rescue operations.
1. Bringing aid to victims in flooded areas or bodies of water
Disasters such as hurricanes and floods may complicate rescue attempts. It is often difficult for rescuers to find out the chance of finding survivors in the water. In circumstances where circumstances make the water particularly demanding, they might not wish to take opportunities until they know for certain that pilots need assistance.
A firm named Hydronalix includes a product known as the Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard (EMILY) to help. A day after Hurricane Dorian struck Abaco Island in the Bahamas, rescue crews utilized EMILY to reach individuals who wanted supplies. EMILY is a remote-controlled, sonar-equipped water automobile that may demonstrate the submerged debris, which might likewise make navigation difficult.
2. Obtaining control of wildfires via a safer method
Wildfires are frequent occurrences for men and women that reside in areas like California. But a worrying trend is the wildfire season is getting longer, which places a strain on firefighting crews and raises the probability of having difficulty becoming victims punctually. 1 way of limiting the harm brought on by wildfires would be to fall chemicals on them to deliberately start modest fires which burn off and maintain wildfires out of continuing their rampage.
Nebraska-based firm Drone Amplified uses drones to begin those untoward fires without the threat. The company’s representatives say the typical ways would be to light those fires by walking throughout the region on foot, driving it onto a four-wheeler, or by utilizing helicopters. A drone named IGNIS provides another choice that the company claims brings itself to night operations.
It is usually too risky to fly a helicopter to place blazes during the night, as an instance, however, drones can handle the task without any issues, and they do not place humans in danger. The fires generated during the nighttime aid ground crews working the afternoon profit benefits which weren’t possible previously.
As specialists handle wildfires more effectively with assistance from drones, they can find the area secure enough for rescuers to go and examine the damage, providing help to survivors and beginning to evaluate how to encourage continuing recovery efforts to an affected place.
3. Tackling blazes in hard-to-reach places
Tanker trucks are crucial vehicles for firefighters, and selecting the ideal ones often means carrying a formulaic approach. By way of instance, before buying a fire department may calculate things such as the number of gallons per minute that the tanker must create, and just how much the vehicle would probably be out of a water resource.
Firefighters nevertheless use tanker trucks to douse the fires, but a few rely on robots, also. It is particularly beneficial to consider this strategy when fires are not readily accessible to people, or when the threat level is high that people go in securely.
It’s easy to envision a situation where the LUF 60 could begin fighting the fire at its worst. Then, once the conditions become less harmful, fire professionals can step in and complete the job when searching for survivors.
4. Navigating through restricted areas or rubble with snake-like precision
When earthquakes cause structures to fall, rescue attempts are usually slow and hazard-filled. Complications harvest up when rescuers locate debris that blocks their course, which might take time to eliminate. Or, a tragedy might cause individuals to have trapped in tight spaces. When rescuers can not reach those people to estimate their requirements, rescue attempts slow down.
Sarcos includes a snake-inspired robot called the Guardian S. The company claims its bot is perfect for situations involving toxic substances which may need rescuers to take readings of their environment before deciding whether to send in their own teams. Or, it transmits real-time information regarding high-risk attempts above and underground to individuals handling the restoration efforts from safer places. Afterward, rescuers could be informed while determining what actions to take following.
5. Separating survivors from casualties
Considering that drones fly and may shoot photos, they supply aerial views which may help rescue employees decide where to concentrate their efforts. By way of instance, the photos taken by a drone can be effective in finding survivors. China is one of the states using these for earthquake rescues.
Ireland-based DroneSAR is capitalizing on the capacity of drones to seek out survivors. It delivers an iPad program that improves the rescue-related software of commercially available drones. By way of instance, the program can produce custom grids and lead a drone to just search in these sections. Next, when the drone finds a survivor, the program lets share of the individual’s place to everybody in a group.
In a different example of what is possible — through this illustration isn’t yet commercially available — investigators developed a computer vision attachment to get a GoPro Hero 4 drone. It may detect the torso motion that occurs as people breathe. In laboratory tests, the scientists creating this technology put people lying on the floor in a variety of places among mannequins.
They reported the computer vision gadget on the drone differentiated between the people and the dummies. The investigators also expect to boost their work so the drone could function while analyzing individuals wearing camouflage clothes. If this effort pays off, this drone accessory may satisfy a demand in the military industry.
Reaching lands following a tragedy is normally challenging, and it is often hazardous for people. Due to those drone improvements, individuals could get reliable information about if the greatest amounts of survivors are, then send rescuers to all those areas. | <urn:uuid:d4d87833-f513-4838-9b2e-4cb2ca0976f5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://latablette.ca/how-drones-and-robots-are-changing-rescue-operations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.943032 | 1,191 | 3.03125 | 3 |
It didn’t take long for U.S. Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) to remind the audience at the Maritime Trades Department Executive Board meeting in Houston why he is such a close ally to the maritime industry. He made his views known right from the start in his February 14 address.
“I have forever supported the Jones Act,” Green said of the maritime law that ensures all cargo traveling between U.S. ports moves on American-built, American-flagged vessels with American crews and owners. The law serves as part of the backbone of the U.S. Merchant Marine and generates more than $100 billion in annual economic output and more than 500,000 American jobs.
“We don’t need one dent in those 500,000 jobs,” Green told the audience. “In fact, we need more of them.”
Despite these benefits, the Jones Act has been attacked repeatedly in Washington. Since his election to Congress more than 20 years ago, Green has remained a champion and advocate for the maritime industry and laws like the Jones Act.
“Over the years we’ve had some challenges (with attacks on the Jones Act),” Green said. “The Jones Act probably has the most challenges I’ve seen since I’ve been in Congress.”
Green also brought up the fight for the nation’s Food for Peace program. The 60-year program, which was recently renewed, ships food to starving people around the world and has been one of the country’s most successful foreign policy initiatives.
The food is grown on American farms, moved by American truckers and/or railroad personnel, loaded by American dock workers and shipped on American vessels. The cargo is marked so that lets those who receive it know it comes from the American people. This policy results in more than 44,000 American jobs, helps maintain a fleet of U.S.-flag vessels and improves America’s standing in the world. It also helps maintain a pool of American mariners who are available to crew military support ships.
“I cannot count the hundreds of millions of people our country has fed over the last 60 years,” Green said. “And when you see those bags with ‘Product of the USA’ on it, you know where they come from and the folks know where they came from.”
Lately, however, a movement has been underway to reduce the program into a cash giveaway that would send money instead of food. Green has been among the critics of that approach and argued that enacting such a policy would not only cost Americans their jobs, but would also lessen the chance that starving people get the food they so desperately need.
“I want to make sure the [food is] on U.S.-flag ships. I also want those products to come from our farmers to make sure we have that market,” Green said, adding that the program also plays a vital role in maintaining the U.S.-flag fleet for times of war or emergency.
Speaking more locally, Green touted the importance of the maritime industry and labor movement in his home state of Texas. He added that his district, which covers the eastern portion of Houston, is among the friendliest labor regions in the state.
Like many of the other speakers, Green highlighted the success of the Port of Houston and the recent addition of union representatives from the Seafarers and Longshoremen’s unions to the Houston Port Commission.
“We are a seafaring community here,” Green said. “And we would not have the success in the Houston area without the Port of Houston.”
Houston Port Commission Chairman Janiece Longoria, who also spoke to the MTD the previous day, said much of the port’s success had to do with the area’s congressional delegation. She specifically pointed to Green as someone who helped secure funding and promote policies that allowed the Port of Houston to thrive.
“He’s been very effective for the Port of Houston in helping us with federal support of our infrastructure, security needs, etc.,” Longoria said. | <urn:uuid:cd6d7cff-26b6-400d-b668-e3c5111c0262> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://maritimetrades.org/texas-congressman-calls-for-more-us-maritime-jobs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.973786 | 866 | 2.078125 | 2 |
When the technology of green screen is introduced to public years ago, hyper-realities and simulacrum have begun to top off human’s pseudo-worlds. [mhdc]
Even movies or the like are not the only factor in constructing consciousness and habits of this millineal generation, those have much contributed on the both.
World Economic Forum on ASEAN conducted virtually many years ago, which presented president Joko Widodo as one of speakers in such a special session in the forum, has also designated perspectives on how hiperrealities and simulacrum bring around humans’ imagery toward their world worldwide. We might question, actually, the relevance of entailing such the word Thanos and symbols produced by the final sekuel of Avengers. The presiden, at that time, delivered a speech by that way in a very gentle attitude and confidence.
The presidents audiences, on the other hand, even gave crowded applauses. As we wittness papers of the mainstrem track entitled their headlines with the president’s speech which was well delivered. Papers of the home and foreign countries wrote that in bold font.
In this review, I would like to highlight how green screen, which is well-applicated in Avengers Endgames, encourages perspectives to create hyper-realities and simulation. This, in the next level, brings about what Jean Baudrillard said as simulacrum or reality simulation.
What is simulacrum? By quoting Ecclesiastes, Bauddrilard opens his first chapter of “Simulacra and Simulation”: the simulacrum is never what hides the truth – it is truth that hides the fact that there is none. The simulacrum is true (Baudrillard, p. 2, 1994).
And, at the last edge of the 20th century, Baudrillard put forward Borges fables as such a simulation. The coming of new tools, technologies, mechinaries, and so forth into movie industries has also turn the perceptions, imaginations, and world view of their audiences. In the past periods, audiences were independetly creating their imagery realities, absolutely based on their understanding on fictional works. And, by the coming of these new era, audience’s independencies were merely dependent: they are intervened. The green technology helps simplifying all what was impossible.
Simulacrum strategy brings through actual reality to shove, then is substituted by psedo-reality, duplication, or sometimes even followed by pretences (Mohamadh).
According to Baudrillard (1994, p. 2), simulation is the present stage of simulacrum: no more mirror of being and appearances, and no longer specular and discursive. With it goes all metaphysics. The consequence is then clear: there is no en exact reference or independent territory. Reality is the long path of the world of hyper: there only be hyperreality.
Through green screen technology, supported by the current tools in multimedia technologies, Avengers Endgame puts on a simulation that is completely perfect.
Firstly, Avengers’ character. It is actually common in superhero movie that the main character is such the chosen one. They are such “can do no wrong”. Superhero is the representation of human’s imagery toward a perfect or completed world, so that there must be a perfect man to safeguard when an expected reality is gone. And, this heavy responsibility can only be held by anyone with an unadulterad talents or skills beyond anyone elsewhere.
Avengers’ characters are the toppest stage in human’s attainments that audiences could meet or witness in their daily life. On this point, and based on characters he or she plays, Avengers present giants for every character playing. Even the antagonist, Thanos, shows the strongest one on the planet. He can manipulate or even tracking time where all other people can not.
Secondly, the setting. It is rarely found that a movie would base the place setting on actual context, except only several views that is relevance to a plot addressed since the first time it is written to be. There be script writer’s intentions, market’s commodity, and so forth to purchase.
At least, these two mentioned above bring through tricks that comtemporary peoples ultimately create something that is supernatural, imageries or artificials, and even unplausible to such a reality (Virilio, 1991). So far, those tricks migh enable peoples to live in the world they create by themselves. Avengers’ characters are actually setting apart peoples or audinces from their real life.
A character such Thanos and other protagonist characters which are insusceptible are merely simulucrum. They, as well as their power or force, are only true in the movie, and the audience is absorbing messeges of the movie only as what the so-called ‘the ecstasy of communication’ (Baudrillard). | <urn:uuid:6e8ce58a-d636-47e4-8608-8d8a11a460b6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://hybernasi.com/simulacrum-in-avengers-endgame-green-screen-and-humans-world-imagery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.945736 | 1,028 | 2.125 | 2 |
The Positions on a Boys' Lacrosse Team
In boys' lacrosse, a typical full-scale game features one goalie, three defenders (2 at U9 & U11), three midfielders, and three attackers (2 at U9 & U11). The skills that are required to play these positions are as different as the kids who will be manning them for you. Starting from your own goal and working out, the following section outlines each position in boys' lacrosse.
This player positions himself between the goal posts, and his top responsibility is to stop the ball from going into the net. Good hand-Replace the en dash with a hyphen because it's a compound modifier?eye coordination and quick reflexes are musts for faring well in this position, because the goalie faces shots from all angles and at varied speeds.
Along with defending the net, goalies are counted on to perform other tasks, including the following:
- Communicating with the defense: When the team is defending an attack, the goalie must communicate to his teammates what is unfolding on the field (because the goalie has the best view of the field). He can also warn his teammates when picks are being set.
- Fueling the offensive attack: When your goalie stops a shot, he should be looking upfield to see whether a teammate is available to receive a clearing pass that begins an attack, catching the opponent out of position.
These players typically don't receive as much recognition as the attackers and midfielders because they aren't directly involved in the plays that produce the goals. But no matter how good your offense is at netting goals, if the team struggles at the defensive end of the field, it probably won't have a lot of success on game day.
Because a team must keep at least four players (including the goalie) on its defensive half of the field at all times, defenders rarely stray past midfield. Instead, their responsibilities include covering opposing players on the attack. Defenders rely on good footwork to shadow opponents all over the field, and they use a variety of checks. Good passing skills also enable defenders to ignite attacks by getting the ball to their midfielders and attackers running down the field.
Lacrosse is a sport of fast-paced transitions, and the midfielders' effectiveness on transitions has a big influence on the team's effectiveness on both offense and defense. Since midfielders cover the most territory of any position — they roam all over the field — the quicker they recognize situations, the more effective they'll be. For example, when a midfielder anticipates a teammate gaining control of the ball, the player can begin moving toward the opponent's goal to try to create a scoring opportunity.
Midfielders typically aren't counted on to provide a lot of scoring punch. The more important qualities for this position are good stick skills, accurate passing skills, and the stamina to stick with opposing attackers.
The responsibility for scoring goals falls on the attackers, who spend games roaming in the opponent's half of the field. Attackers must rely on the defenders to stop the opposition and the midfielders to feed them the ball.
The most productive attackers have more moves than a disco dancer. They must be able to spin free to score when they're closing in on the opponent's goal and defenders are bumping and stick-checking them.
Even though your attackers will score the majority of your team's goals, be sure to acknowledge all the efforts that led to the score. Every youngster plays an important role in the team's success, and it's up to you to make each child feel valued and appreciated for his efforts, whatever those may be. | <urn:uuid:dc02644d-a9d6-4d45-be9f-f8c18c8cd163> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.dudley-charltonyouthlax.com/Page.asp?n=87460&org=dudley-charltonyouthlax.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.971127 | 757 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Proper Nutrition is the cornerstone for your Health
A balanced diet is key to your health because your body needs proper nutrition to function effectively. Without the right nutrition, your body might experience fatigue, poor performance, and is more prone to disease and infection.
Dietary habits are typically established in childhood and carry on into adulthood, making it crucial to teach children the importance of eating a healthy diet early on.
A healthy diet will not only help you control your weight, lower your cholesterol, it can also improve your concentration, alertness, problem-solving skills, productivity and general well-being.
Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to reach and maintain a healthy ideal weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like diabetes, heart disease, cancer), and promote your overall health.
Good nutrition doesn’t start with counting calories. It starts with knowing which foods are healthy, learning how to swap bad foods for good foods and knowing your body’s specific nutrient requirements for your activity level.
Who needs proper nutrition advice?
Children and adults who suffer from:
- Malnutrition, anorexia, low weight & height gain; chronic energy deficiency, underweight, cachexia...
- Vitamin or mineral deficiency: vitamins A, K, D, E, group B; iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, ...
- Gastrointestinal disorders, constipation, diarrhea ...
- Metabolic disorders: Overweight, Obesity; Diabetes; Dyslipidemia; Hypertension; Osteoporosis, Gout; Cancer, ...
- Liver, Bile, Kidney diseases
- Reproductive health care for pregnant, postpartum women, breastfeeding mothers ...
- Nutrition rehabilitation after surgery
With its balanced screening and assessment program, our doctor aims to identify a patient's current nutritional status and to develop recommendations for his or her diet. The straightforward screening process allows to identify those who are at risk of malnourishment and might therefore be susceptible to disease. With that in mind, we created specific programs for different target clients.
Nutrition Screening and Assessment Programs
|ADULT NUTRITION SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT||CHILD NUTRITION SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT| | <urn:uuid:0c6376a8-2b91-4d6e-8c61-4838bd664d44> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.hfh.com.vn/ja/node/293 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.887208 | 470 | 3.3125 | 3 |
artists who painted on walls and ceilings while staying at the hotel, based on the concept “Beauty of Japan.”
Park Hotel Tokyo started a project in December 2012 in which an artist decorates an entire room. With 31 different artists decorating as many rooms with themes such as “sumo” and “zen,” turning the floor into the full-fledged “Artist Floor.”
Between August 7 and 27, three Artist Rooms will be open to the public every day. Not only staying guests but also visitors are welcome to visit the rooms.
General Manager Yoshiaki Hayashi said:
“We have completed the ‘Artist Floor’ where each Artist Room expresses different ‘Beauty of Japan’ through the eyes of each artist. We hope that guests will enjoy discovering different beauty of Japan expressed by different artists.”
Hotel Manager Atsushi Ono said:
“We are proud to announce that all 31 Artist Rooms are finally complete, each encapsulating Japanese beauty. We guarantee that guests will experience an exciting stay surrounded by powerful art in the Artist Rooms.”
Park Hotel Tokyo hopes that guests will enjoy “Beauty of Japan” created by these artists.
Click here to download PDF version. | <urn:uuid:46513880-f07f-46ea-9c20-36a89ea8cd71> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://parkhoteltokyo.com/press/artist-floor-completed-at-park-hotel-tokyo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.960354 | 266 | 1.570313 | 2 |
You may have seen the intimidating dark green leafy vegetable lurking with the rest of the veggies. Maybe read about it on the Whole Foods bag, or heard about it from your hippy friend.
Whatever the case, you should know that kale is a super-nutritious vegetable, with many varieties and various ways for preparation (my favorite—kale chips)!
According to WebMd, one cup of kale contains only 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, 15 percent daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6, 40 percent magnesium, 180 percent vitamin A, 200 percent vitamin C, and 1,020 percent vitamin K.
In addition to the vitamin content, kale is also a great source of important minerals like copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.
The Aggregate Nutrition Density Index (ANDI) is a nutritional scoring tool that uses mineral, vitamin and phytochemical content to measure a food’s nutritional value. The higher the ANDI score, the more nutritional content is available per calorie. According to the ANDI, kale receives the highest score possible — a whopping 1000!
The only other food that has a rank as high as kale is collard greens, a yummy but mostly unpopular green.
There are many wonderful kale recipes out there, but since kale is one of the unique veggies that can be made into an awesome chip, I’ll share that one!
1 bunch of kale
Salt, pepper, garlic powder
Kale chips are so easy, nutritious and delicious! Simply rinse and dry the kale, rip it off of the small stalks into pieces (a few inches in width will work), place on pan and drizzle with olive oil and spices and place in the oven at 350° for 10-15 mins.
Oftentimes the chips on the edges of the pan will get a little too crisp so it’s always good to check on them.
Careful with the salt and other seasonings, as they are intensified after the kale shrinks.
Don’t overestimate how many chips you’ll end up with! In the oven, the water will evaporate out of the kale, leaving behind small, but crunchy, delectable, and nutritious leafy snacks.
For another awesome recipe, try one of my very favorite kale salad recipes.
Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI). (n.d.). RD411.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from
Barclay, E. (2011, December 7). Superfood Kale In The Limelight : The Salt : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved January 9, 2012, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/07/143304131/superfood-kale-in-the-limelight
Zelman, K. (n.d.). The Truth About Kale: Nutrition, Recipe Ideas, and More. WebMD - Better information. Better health.. Retrieved January 6, 2012, from http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-kale
Reviewed January 11, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith | <urn:uuid:c6953bf5-246f-4e83-9786-193be7b49e44> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.empowher.com/wellness/content/case-kale-superfood-rescue | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.870868 | 766 | 2.140625 | 2 |
The last weekend in April, a circus with roots in Connecticut (P.T. Barnum, born in Bethel, became famous as an expert at bamboozling people, then a circus tycoon and later a Bridgeport mayor), was in Hartford. Music boomed, people cheered and laughed, tigers snarled. And then it ended. The trucks and the train rolled away. They will never come back to Hartford. The circus unit (the circus has two units) that played in Hartford then traveled to Providence where it closed on Sunday, and the other unit will end its run in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21. Then only memories and odd mementos and retired elephants will remind the world of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Greatest Show on Earth. The show is over. The show, 145 or so years old this year (the earliest days are somewhat hazy), holds memories of both joy and tragedy. The circus fire in Hartford on July 6, 1944, that killed 163 people, nearly ended the circus, and was remembered for decades afterward. And when the Greatest Show returned to Hartford, it was not under the canvas big top, which for Ringling was gone forever. Feld Entertainment, in announcing the closing of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, cited high costs and dwindling attendance, which more sharply dwindled after the retirement of the elephants to an elephant park in Florida. For years, animal rights groups had protested the use of elephants in the circus. It will be left to social scientists to find other explanations for the demise of the three-ring circus, invented by country\u2014not city\u2014boys. I was there for this last show in Hartford, remembering so many past circuses, remembering the many stories I wrote about the circus and the performers. At a certain time in the past, I spent a lot of time with the Ringling show and I once traveled for two weeks with the circus train. And forever implanted in my memory is the night I was a Christmas tree in the \u201cspec\u201d\u2014the opening procession which in the past, included elephants and just about every member of the cast. In Hartford, I was with a friend, Lisa Felber, who has a special knowledge of circus lore. Some years ago, Lisa was living in Branford and working as a magazine writer when she decided to run away and join the circus. She wound up at the Big Apple Circus, working as assistant to the general manager. She wanted to learn how the people of the circus live\u2014and discovered they live (more or less) like the rest of us; the train is their home, and there is school for children, and the circus tent for parties or weddings. In time, Lisa retired from the Big Apple and became a suburban mother\u2014but there\u2019s an expression , \u201cWhen you have sawdust in your shoes, you always come back to the circus.\u201d Lisa left the circus but her heart has never left. Today the Big Apple is dark\u2014it went into bankruptcy. However Lisa, who has circus contacts, reports that the big Apple Circus is scheduled for a comeback. So here we were\u2014Lisa, having driven to Connecticut from Maryland, where she lives, just to see a couple of final hours of the Big One, the Greatest Show on Earth...and here I was, my head jangling with memories, and wanting this last Ringling show I will see to be a great show. It was only sort of great. Of course, we knew that the spec without elephants would look a little thin, and it did. There were some sensational acts\u2014the high-wire act with the acrobats scampering on a wire 40 feet from the ground; cyclists spinning into the air and somersaulting from slanted platforms. There was an unusual bouncing act\u2014acrobats bouncing from a trampoline some 20 feet into the air, falling back, bouncing up, over and over. And there was a lovely act with showgirls, Sirens of the Sea, hanging from trapezes, and wearing silvery fishtails so that they looked like glamorous mermaids floating in an invisible pool. A nod, I thought, to a P. T. Barnum stunt \u2013he created rather gruesome-looking creatures made of the mummified torso and head of a monkey attached to half of a fishtail. He called it a Feejee mermaid, and said it had been caught off the Fiji Islands. There were cheerful obedient dogs (white poodles, but Lisa missed the typical mischievous dog who runs along the ring curb teasing his handler, and there were tigers, savagely beautiful. There were horses\u2014two elegantly groomed white horses, and a handsome sleekly black horse. Good looking horses, but they didn\u2019t do anything, they simply walked into the arena. No racing around a ring, no bowing. There were two-humped camels, ridden by showgirls; they did what camels do\u2014they walked around in circles, looking bored and a little grumpy. The Ringling show was famous for being a three-ring circus, and smaller mud shows have often imitated the three-ring format. This last show in Hartford wasn\u2019t a genuine three-ring circus\u2014acts sprawled over the arena floor, or sometimes only one act (like the trampoline act) took place at one end of the arena. In short, it was an enjoyable show, and there were shrieks and hollers of delight, but it wasn\u2019t in the class of top greatest shows. What makes something great? There was a \u201cspec\u201d quite a few years ago that I thought at the time was the most beautiful spec I had ever seen, and it today is still the most beautiful spec of my life. It is also the one where I became a circus performer. The spec was titled \u201cThe Four Seasons,\u201d and it ended with a line of Christmas trees created by performers wearing a kind of tent-like canopy over their shoulders and head; they could see through a small mesh peep hole. As the trees walked around the arena, bubbles fell, looking like snowflakes. Once the trees had circled the arena, they were plugged in, and all those trees lit up in many colors. It was the kind of beautiful moment that can bring tears. On one wonderful night I was a Christmas tree. A glowing tree. In the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Big One. And now that circus, with such a history\u2014a history of beauty and daring and excitement, of laughter and the giggles of children, and of terrible grief \u2014w ill soon be gone. Ended. Sand in our shoes won\u2019t take us back to the circus. Editor\u2019s note: Barbara Carlson is a freelance writer from Branford who ran away to the circus for one day. | <urn:uuid:22d7d760-2044-4449-bf97-fc7688f207b3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.registercitizen.com/opinion/articleComments/Column-Saying-goodbye-to-the-Greatest-Show-on-11964578.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.969474 | 1,477 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Iraqi insistence that the 130,000 U.S. troops, starting last July 1st, largely remain on their 300 bases, has caused many American commanders to conclude that there's not really much need for a large U.S. force in Iraq. The enemy is not completely destroyed, and the Iraqi government is as corrupt and dysfunctional. But this is a common situation in this part of the world. It's a rough neighborhood. If the Iraqis don't want the Americans to help out, and Iraqis are pro-American (by local standards), U.S. troops, and commanders, are suggesting that they all depart as soon as possible. The Kurds are still very pro-American, and nearly all Iraqis are very hostile to Islamic terrorism. Mission accomplished.
This was always the plan. It is, in fact, the standard approach to these situations. Once the enemy is defeated, and a new (friendly, or at least less hostile and warlike) government is able to defend itself, you go home. After World War II, the U.S. kept troops in Japan and Germany long after the fighting stopped, only because there was a new enemy (communist dictatorships) next door. But the Iraqis are content to depend on U.S. forces based in Kuwait next door. The Kuwaitis are glad to have the American presence, because many Iraqis still believe that Kuwait should be part of Iraq. Iran threatens all the Arab states in the Persian Gulf area, which is why all those countries are eager to have an American presence, preferably just warships and aircraft. The Iranians are a threat, but not well armed. No one is expecting an Iranian blitzkrieg, but does believe that the Iranians will continue to make threats. Having some American troops in the way is seen as the best kind of insurance. The local Arabs were quite impressed at how the Americans deal with Saddam's army, and the subsequent Islamic terror campaign. The Iranians have a long reputation as good fighters, but the Americans should be able to handle them.
Getting out of Iraq quickly is something that is already happening. Every day, trucks and combat vehicles head for ports in Kuwait and Jordan, there to be shipped home, or to Afghanistan. Little of this equipment is being given to the Iraqis, who have their oil own money, and have been told to buy what they need. Another reason for not leaving a lot of stuff for the Iraqis, is because much of it would be stolen.
While Sunni Arab terrorists make the most noise, with their continued terror bombings, the real danger is risk of civil war between Kurds and Arabs. If the U.S. decided to intervene there, it would mostly require air power, as the Kurds can outfight the Arabs on the ground.
Within the next year, all but about 50 of those 300 bases will be evacuated by American troops, and turned over to the Iraqis. There will still be a lot of thieving going on here, but it doesn't pay to haul away structures and camp infrastructure. By the end of next year, there will be 50,000 American troops in Iraq, and may less. The job is done, and there is no point lingering. | <urn:uuid:bd521cb8-f913-4775-a865-7f8ee4606ea5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htlead/20090921.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.978248 | 646 | 1.875 | 2 |
I'm new to R and I'm trying to make a MA plot from my DESeq2 results using ggplot2.
I have figured out how to make a MA plot using the following code:
plot_poly <- all_counts.poly.results %>% as.data.frame() %>% ggplot(aes(log2(baseMean), log2FoldChange) + geom_point(aes(color = pvalue < 0.05), cex = 0.1) + labs(title = "Poly Torin Treated vs Untreated")
Inside the all_counts.poly.results are EnsGeneIDs I'm interested in labeling on the graph, but there are too many to plot, so want to filter this against an excel file with specific EnsGeneIDs.
For example, I was thinking about setting it up like this with dplyr, but I'm not sure if this is correct.
# contains EnsGeneIDs I want to be plotted EnsGeneIDs <- read_excel("/Users/kylestangline/Desktop/geneIDs.xls") filtered_all_counts.poly.results <- all_counts.poly.results %>% filter(all_counts.poly.results$EnsGeneIDs %in% EnsGeneIDs) # filter only specific EnsGeneIDs
Then use these filtered EnsGeneIDs as labels on the MA plot I made above? | <urn:uuid:a81d95d7-9ca0-454c-8f0f-6a14780d727b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.biostars.org/p/494295/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.848456 | 311 | 1.882813 | 2 |
According to many historical beliefs, the hair on your head is meant for more than just looking good. Since the biblical story of Sampson and Delilah, hair has been equated with magical powers. From a yogic perspective, hair is an amazing gift of nature that can actually help raise the Kundalini energy – creative life force, which increases vitality, intuition, and tranquility.
Of course there are also the cultural aspects of hair. Think about it. How we choose to wear our hair is an expression of our individuality. Flappers in the 1920’s cut their women’s hair short to proclaim equality. Hippies of the 1960’s grew their hair out for peace. In fact, the hair on our heads is often used to make political statements. Whether you have long, natural hair, hair extensions, or a permanent, isn’t it amazing that something as simple as a hairstyle can speak for generational and cultural movements?
No matter the reason, long hair requires maintenance. If you have long women’s hair, you probably want to take care of it in the healthiest possible way in order to preserve your luxurious locks. Below are some helpful Boise hair salon tips and tricks that will help transform your tresses from drab to fab in no time:
Flipping your hair or vigorously drying it with a towel can be a hard habit to break. Often these drying habits can damage your hair which causes split ends. Rejuvenating oils can help replenish and strengthen your hair. We like Rusk products like Rusk Deepshine® Protective Oil Treatment. With its marine mineral-enriched argan oil treatment, it helps to eliminate frizz, improves elasticity, and leaves hair soft and manageable.
Never use a comb on wet hair
Your Boise hair salon stylist will explain that when hair is wet, it has the extra weight of water in it. Therefore, it stretches more and breaks easier. Wait for hair to dry or use a detangling brush because it holds less tension and safety untangles wet hair compared to combing through wet locks with a regular brush or comb.
Make sure to schedule regular trims with your Boise hair salon stylist
If you have long women’s hair, you probably don’t like cutting off any of your luscious locks but scheduling a regular trim every six to eight weeks with your Boise hair salon stylist is vital. Cutting of damaged ends helps hair from developing split ends.
Choose the right products
Choosing the right shampoo & conditioner that suits your hair is important. Often times, people tend to choose the wrong products depending on their hair type. If you have dull, dry hair, use a product that specifically caters to strengthening and moisturizing your long, women’s hair. Talk to your Boise hair salon stylist to see what products would work best for your hair type.
Don’t shampoo as often
Its important not to shampoo your hair every day. Hot water and over-shampooing strips your hair of its natural oils contributing to further moisture loss of your long locks.
Get your daily dose of vitamin E
Whether you take it orally as a supplement or rub it into your hair, vitamin E is proven to help maintain healthy hair and skin. Not only does it help to strengthen your long hair, it helps with split ends as well. | <urn:uuid:25ceb0c4-fb2d-4696-ab82-6444fdfe9aed> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.undonesalon.com/tag/permanent/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.952655 | 699 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Can eating garlic reduce knee pain?
Hello, my mother is 54 years old. She has severe knee pain. Every evening her pain starts and there is swelling also area around her knees. She cant move. This is mostly due to osteoarthritis. She takes medicine regularly. But doctor has said that this can't be cured. We are trying out different home care therapies also to ward off her sufferings. This arthritis does affect her lifestyle and she has started feeling isolated and depressed. I heard that garlic intake can reduce knee pain. Is it true? Please comment. | <urn:uuid:b17c10df-4b1f-4b8d-b8a0-b1fcc22baecc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://forum.reanfoundation.org:443/topic/823/can-eating-garlic-reduce-knee-pain | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.985397 | 118 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Symposium: Modernizing State Wildlife Management to Restore Wildlife Resiliency
Organizer: Kevin Bixby, Wildlife for All
Given at the 2022 North American Congress of Conservation BIologists, Reno Nevada, July 18,2022
Kevin Bixby, Wildlife for All, An Overview of State Wildlife Management and its Deficiencies
Michelle Lute, Project Coyote; Francisco Santiago-Ávila, Reforming Conservation Governance to Restore Resiliency and Multi-species Justice
Jeremy Bruskotter, The Ohio State University; Leeann Sullivan, Colby College,Social Changes Challenge Wildlife Conservation
Don Molde, Nevada Wildlife Alliance,The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners: Brief History, Current Status, Possible Changes
Video Presentation: It’s Time to Decouple Conservation from the Gun Lobby
This slide presentation by Kevin Bixby, Executive Director of Wildlife for All, was given to the Endangered Species Coalition based on his op-ed published July 11, 2022 in Truthout by the same name.
Webinar: The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation – Past, Present, and… Future?
Wildlife for All’s Executive Director, Kevin Bixby, and WildEarth Guardian’s Southwest Wildlife Advocate, Chris Smith, explain the history, successes, and major flaws of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. They discuss how this model continues to determine the trajectory of wildlife management throughout the United States and Canada, and provide some insight into the ways it has outlived its usefulness and needs to be revamped.
Transforming State Wildlife Management in the U.S.
Transforming State Wildlife Management to Protect Biodiversity in the U.S. features three distinguished panelists who have worked on and thought about state-level biodiversity conservation for a long time: Professor Adrian Treves, founder of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Louisa Willcox, co-founder of Grizzly Times and a passionate advocate of protecting grizzlies, wolves and other large carnivores; and Dr. Fred Koontz, field biologist and conservationist who retired after a 35-year wildlife conservation career working in zoo, field and university settings at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Trust (now “EcoHealth Alliance”), Columbia University, and the Woodland Park Zoo. The webinar is moderated by wildlife conservationist Kevin Bixby, founder and executive director of Wildlife for All. Kevin was the lead organizer of the first national conference on the topic of Reenvisioning State Wildlife Governance, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2018. | <urn:uuid:678de325-c1c3-4d39-8514-887b8f39a9b0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://wildlifeforall.us/media-room/library/webinars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.889132 | 546 | 1.65625 | 2 |
JOBS: How to Plan a Fruitful Workday
Have you ever felt that on some days even after doing a lot of work, you feel that you have not achieved what you had planned for? Such instances happen to most of us on a daily basis and it is up to us to find a way of correcting that mistake.
Every employee in an organization needs to master the art of planning for their day's task even before the day begins. In doing so you'll be able to save a lot of time and be able to handle much more tasks at ease.
In order to have a fruitful day, you need to do the following at least on a daily basis.
1. Start your preparation the night before
If you want to have a productive day, you should plan ahead of time. Make a to-do list before retiring for the night. However, make certain that it is feasible.
In doing this, ensure that you make a list of tasks that you need to do ahead and organize them according to urgency and importance.
Writing a to-do list. PHOTO FILE
If your goals are more ambitious, choose a lower number.
If you don't have any major tasks ahead of you, set four or five smaller goals. You could also jot down something.
In fact, if you work hard and stay productive, you will most likely surpass this list. The goal of making a list is to get a sense of what must be completed by the end of the day. Seeing your primary objectives written down can help you prioritize.
Also, you get to arrange your next day's outfit as discussed in our previous article;https://brightkenyanews.com/jobs-how-to-dress-in-a-work-environment.
2. Avoid any social media platforms immediately after you wake up
Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms can cause you to lose track of time. Do not check your social media first thing in the morning on your phone. Instead, direct your attention elsewhere.
A person waking up to social media. PHOTO FILE
Make a rule for yourself about when you can check social media for the first time. You can promise yourself that you will not check any social media until after breakfast.
If this becomes a serious issue for you, you can even block distracting websites on your computer/ phone.
You can begin by making your bed neat. This way, your mind is set that your day has begun and you will not be tempted to go back to bed.
Spreading your bed. PHOTO FILE
Next, you can say a word of prayer just before doing any other thing. You should at least pray for a successful day ahead and pray for God's guidance throughout the entire day.
After that, you can now go to the bathroom to clean up and prepare yourself for the day. You should always ensure that before going to work, you should be clean and ensure that you don't show up at your workplace smelly and untidy.
3. Drink a glass of warm water in the morning on an empty stomach
Drinking warm water on an empty stomach has numerous health benefits. Staying hydrated is beneficial to your skin, metabolism, and energy levels. There are even more advantages to drinking water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
Drinking warm water in the morning. PHOTO FILE
Drinking a glass of warm water in the morning boosts your energy even before you start off your day with the different tasks ahead.
4. Have your breakfast
A nutritious breakfast is essential for a productive day. There's a reason it's called the most important meal of the day.
Breakfast. PHOTO FILE
Breakfast improves your mood and energy levels, as well as your overall productivity. If you're pressed for time, grab something small on your way out the door. Even eating a banana on your way to work can increase your productivity.
5. Say 'NO' to requests that do not fit in with your priorities.
There's nothing wrong with saying "no," especially if you have a full day ahead of you and people ask you to do things you don't have time or energy to do.
If someone asks you to do something that does not fit in with your daily priorities, tell them you are unable to assist them.
6. Organize your workspace before starting your tasks
Nobody can work effectively in a cluttered environment. Take a few moments to tidy up before you start working. Organize any papers and discard anything unnecessary. Wipe away any dirt or dust on your desk as soon as possible.
Throw away any garbage you find. A well-organized workspace can help you become more productive.
7. Organize your tasks and deal with one thing at a time
Maintain your concentration on a single task at all times. Focusing on one thing at a time will increase your productivity because you will work more efficiently when you give a task your full attention.
Multitasking is actually detrimental to productivity. Trying to do three things at once will take much longer than doing one thing at a time.
Instead of switching between tasks, pick one, finish it, and then move on. Avoid doing things like checking your phone or email while you're attempting to complete a task.
8. Prioritize your tasks
If you are dreading a difficult or important task, complete it first. Important tasks will not be overlooked in this manner. You will also feel more relaxed after completing a large task, allowing you to go about your day with less stress. This can increase your productivity. You can refer to your list from the night before.
9. Take some breaks
Cutting yourself some slack on occasion is part of being productive. If you don't take breaks, you'll be exhausted long before the day is done. Time yourself while working and take a short break every 15 to 30 minutes.
10. Reflect on what you have done during the day
As the day comes to an end, ensure that you take some time and go through your list to identify what tasks have been completed and which ones have not been handled. In doing so, you are able to evaluate yourself and correct the mistakes that you have done. You will also be able to plan again on how you can best achieve your goals the following day.
When you start practicing the above on a daily basis, it slowly develops into a routine, and you'll notice that your work will start improving slowly and become fruitful.
Here are some bank job samples that you can apply.
JOB 1: Financial Reporting and Standards Manage at Co-operative Bank of Kenya
About Co-operative Bank of Kenya
The Co-operative Bank of Kenya Limited is incorporated in Kenya under the Company Act and is also licensed to do the business of banking under the Banking Act. The Bank was initially registered under the Co-operative Societies Act at the point of its founding in 1965.
Reporting to the Head of Financial Accounting the role holder will be responsible for Group Financial Reporting, audits, and accountability for reviewing existing, and new standards and any modifications to existing standards. He/she is also required to ensure that the Co-operative Bank Group is adhering to regulatory prudential guidelines, adherence to International Accounting Standards, and International Financial Reporting Standards.
Specifically, the successful jobholder will be required to:
- Champion the implementation of the Financial Accounting and Reporting best practices within the Group and Bank while acting as a center of excellence for International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Practices.
- Champion external audits within the Group and Bank to ensure full compliance with regulatory and International Accounting Standards, and International Financial Reporting Standards, and Practices whilst ensuring adherence to timely completion of the external audit within the set audit plan.
- Work closely with the Finance units, Portfolio Management, and other units within the Group to ensure full adherence with International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards and Practices.
- Review any new standards, or changes in standards and champion the implementation of the standard in the Bank’s systems ensuring full compliance with International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Practices.
- Review application of existing standards, identify gaps, and recommend any opportunities to improve financial reporting of the Bank and Group.
- Review Group and Bank’s Financial statements and ensure full compliance with International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Practices in all aspects.
- Review the Group and Banks Annual report and integrated report and recommend improvements in line with international Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and Practices and assist in applying for the annual financial reporting standards awards in conjunction with the investor relations team.
- Keep abreast with new and emerging global and regional Banking regulatory requirements and reporting standards.
- Carry out training of the new standards to Finance and other related departments.
- Oversee the accounts receivable function and other Financial Accounting functions that may be allocated from time to time.
Skills, Competencies, and Experience
The successful candidate will be required to have the following skills and competencies:
- A degree in Business, Finance, economics, or business-related course equivalent from a recognized institution/ University with a minimum of 3 years experience in external audit and Financial Accounting Advisory especially within the Banking Industry and/or in Consultancy.
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA(K) or ACCA and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (ICPAK) in good standing.
- CISA qualifications and experience in information systems will be an added advantage.
- Excellent understanding of auditing concepts and excellent knowledge of International Accounting Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, and CBK prudential guidelines.
- Excellent attention to detail, strict adherence to deadlines, and organizational skills.
- Analytical ability both qualitative and quantitative to draw sound conclusions coupled with demonstrated knowledge and proper application of judgment.
- Excellent report writing & presentation skills, influencing skills, communication, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate complex issues clearly and succinctly to a non-technical audience.
- A good grasp of lending policies and principles and experience in Credit Audit engagements will be an absolute advantage.
Method of Application
If you are confident that you fit the role and person profile and you are keen to add value to your career, then please forward your application enclosing detailed Curriculum Vitae to [email protected] indicating the job reference number FRSM/FSD/2022 by 30th June 2022.
JOB 2: Bancassurance Officer at Family Bank Ltd
About Family Bank Ltd
Family Bank (formerly Family Finance Building Society) was registered as a Building Society in October 1984 in Kenya, under the Building Societies Act and commenced operations in early 1985. Family Bank converted into a fully-fledged bank in May 2007 and the main driver for our conversion was the need to offer a wider range of products and services to our customers.
- Acts as the contact and relationship officer between the branch staff and the Bancassurance department in the head office
- Provide administrative support for queries related to Bancassurance.
- Liaise with different departments within the bank on various queries related to insurance.
- Ensure that payments for all Renewal business is received.
- Reconciliation of premiums received.
- Work closely with other bank departments to increase service delivery to our customers.
- Update the system with sales/revenue from various branches.
- Placing covers upon receipt of all documents.
- Attending to customers and redirecting them to the right person for further assistance
- Act as a front office officer/customer care officer.
- Delivering covers to customers upon their request.
- Any other duties that may be assigned to you.
- Renewal of policies.
- Selling of all insurance products.
- Sending daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly reports.
- Calling renewal clients on a daily basis.
- Sending renewal reminders to customers.
- Managing and ensuring full compliance with Family Bank’s Policies and Procedures.
- Role Models for the Brand and Corporate Values of the Bank in the internal and external market environment
- Checking and verifying the accuracy, and completeness of the documents against checklists provided according to product lines; KYC/AML compliance requirements.
- Any other official duty that may be allocated by management from time to time.
The ideal candidate must possess the following:
- A holder of a university degree from a recognized university in Insurance, Business, Finance, or another related field.
- Professional qualification in any Insurance related field will also be an added advantage
- Certificate of Proficiency(COP)
- At least two years of active working experience in direct sales in a bancassurance environment of the Insurance industry.
- Exposure to Bancassurance processes and procedures will be an added advantage.
Key Competencies and Attributes:
- Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish new client relationships and generate new and Cross-sell business
- Full understanding of all products, sound knowledge of the bank processes and procedures
- Excellent knowledge of Insurance products, underwriting processes, and emerging market/industry trends
- Proven ability to develop and maintain effective work relationships with internal and external partners.
- Team working skills with the ability to deliver and exceed targets
- Excellent business development and client relationship management skills.
- Exposure to Insurance products in the bank set-up with knowledge of the Bank’s set standards, policies, and operating manual, with sound knowledge of bank products.
- Practical understanding of the relevant regulatory environment
Method of Application
ALL applicants MUST apply online to the email; [email protected]; the closing date is 27th June 2022. Canvassing will automatically disqualify the candidate. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
JOB 3: Senior Relationship Manager-Large Local Corporates and Public Sector at Absa Bank Limited
About Absa Bank Limited
Absa Bank Limited (Absa) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited. Absa offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as bancassurance. Barclays Africa Group Limited is 62.3% owned by Barclays Bank PLC and is listed on the JSE Limited.
Overall Job Purpose:
The primary objective is to maximize sustainable Economic Profit derived from a portfolio of Large Local Corporates & Public Sector Kenya via effective Business Development & Risk Management at an individual and team level.
Customer Sales and service: -45%
- Identify potential sales opportunities with new & existing Customers and subsequently sell and deliver.
- Identify the opportunity to introduce Product Specialists to Customers and subsequently ensure delivery and sales.
- Formulate business development strategies and objectives to meet changing market needs.
- Monitor the level of complaints and quality of handling of those complaints.
- Support efforts to research competitive threats/opportunities within the bank's marketing/geographical area.
- Communicate all key messages to customers including agreed service standards, negotiated pricing, relationship contact points (including the introduction of new personnel), and new product changes.
- Keep customers advised on the expected ‘delivery date’ for product/credit applications.
- Commitment to understanding customer requirements: striving to ensure requirements are met and taking the responsibility for solving problems.
- Rising to and achieving stretching targets; focusing on adding value to the Bank and customers; communicating opportunities for others to achieve results.
Credit and Operational Risk Management: 45%
- Primary responsibility for the control and management of credit risk within own portfolio of corporate customers.
- To maximize economic profit on own customer portfolio and team bases.
- Manage own performance against key financials (risk-adjusted contribution) sales, service, and operational targets.
- To ensure service delivery and support functions provided customer-oriented service within the stipulated service level agreements.
- Develop and implement customer relationship plans for all customers.
- Work with Corporate Credit Managers, to assess and recommend credit facilities for customers.
- Collaborating with and assisting others; working as a team; being proud and working in the interest of the Bank.
Developing yourself and others: 10%
- Being receptive to feedback and constantly striving to develop new skills and knowledge.
- Work to enhance the capability of the organization by getting the best out of people.
- Identify own strengths and weaknesses in skills and attributes, review self-development plans, and ensure cleaning and development are accommodated.
- Support the implementation of the AML program amongst the CIB Team and the wider Bank.
Required Performance Imperatives.
- Responsible for directly meeting the business's annual revenues, volumes, customer acquisitions, and cross-sell opportunities for the portfolio.
- Responsible for the marketing initiatives, assessment, and maintenance of transactions/relationships falling within the portfolio.
- Acquisition of new business – new to bank
- To develop and build relationships with key customers (both internal and external) at various levels within the customer organization.
- Manage organizational complexities to create a “win-win” situation for the Customer and Absa. Continue to focus on creating operational dependency with their front/bank-end processes with Absa’s front/back-end processes.
- To seek and solicit customer views on the customer satisfaction survey and to maintain these at satisfactory levels.
- To continuously develop and enhance the business focus and target market of the key areas of the business in this sector.
- To maintain a momentum of calling on existing and prospective customers for the bank.
- To develop an understanding of areas of business that requires credit focus and maintain the understanding of industry dynamics of these sectors with a view of keeping the cost of credit low
Controls and Compliance:
- To ensure that the overall success of the Credits, in terms of ongoing line reviews and audits. In addition, to ensure that the client portfolio is in line with the expectation of the bank’s AML and KYC policies.
- To ensure effective communications sent to customers on a regular basis to position Absa as a constant force in the provision of banking services to clients.
Education and experience required
- University, college degree, or other relevant
- (3) years (Technical/Managerial) experience
- Experience in understanding the business dynamics, especially pertaining to the awareness of Large Local Corporates & Public Sector Kenya requirements. (Over 5 years)
- Experience in managing Large Local Corporates & Public Sector Kenya clients with varied product needs and complexities including Corporate & Project Finance in addition to TB and Markets product set.
- Understand how the various areas of the Bank are positioned to meet the challenges of Large Local Corporates & Public Sector Kenya customers.
Knowledge and skills:
- Advanced knowledge of Banking
- Basic knowledge of Bank’s lending criteria in the Business and Personal sectors
Method of Application | <urn:uuid:1ba7baaa-9b65-4371-b4a2-e335015e36bb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.brightkenyanews.com/post/jobs-how-to-plan-a-fruitful-workday | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.927983 | 3,920 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, stenography, office machine operation, and filing.
- Employment growth and high replacement needs in this large occupation will result in numerous job openings.
- Prospects should be best for those with knowledge of basic computer applications and office machinery.
- Part-time and temporary positions are common.
|Education||High School diploma| | <urn:uuid:60d368a2-0b7d-417e-b8a0-90ddaaeb7953> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.jobsmadereal.com/jobs/office-clerks.html?video=Mn4CUdS0juI | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.867507 | 177 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Posted by Literary Titan
Malik is smart. He loves school, and he runs–he has to. He is teased by kids just like him for loving learning. Malik knows this is unfair, and he is tired of living this way. He isn’t alone. His friend, Keisha, knows how he feels. She and Malik have been there for each other through many difficult days. Matt is their friend, too. Not unlike Malik and Keisha, Matt’s days are spent running from trouble in his own way. One afternoon, while the three friends are gathered at Keisha’s house, the doorbell rings and things change in a way none of them could have guessed.
My Black Life Matters, by Michael A. Brown, is the story of young Malik and his friends, three African American elementary students who explain how they deal with the abuse and bullying endured on a daily basis. Malik, Keisha, and Matt live with mistreatment on many levels, the most painful of which comes from their own peers and family members. Readers of all ages will find Malik’s story relatable, and teachers and parents will recognize many children in Keisha and Matt. They represent a large part of the African American population all of whom deserve to have their voices heard.
Author Michael A. Brown brings to light the incredibly challenging lives of children across the country. In making sure that their lives matter, he gives them voices through his vibrant and engaging characters. Brown’s book is a must-have for school counselors. Brown deals with triggering content in a tasteful way that parents and counselors can easily incorporate into important personal discussions. Kudos to Brown for giving readers a story grounded in real-life with a positive and uplifting message.
Pages: 44 | ISBN: 1735604194
Tags: african american, author, book, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books, books to read, bullying, childrens book, ebook, education, elementary school, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, kindle, kobo, literature, Michael A Brown, My Black Life Matters, nook, novel, parent, read, reader, reading, story, teacher, writer, writing | <urn:uuid:b6329758-b6de-4830-9318-bc55b57dc373> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://literarytitan.com/tag/my-black-life-matters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.967656 | 465 | 2.28125 | 2 |
United States Policy On Eritrea: Any Prospects for Change?
The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a subcommittee hearing titled ‘Eritrea: A Neglected Regional Threat’ on September 14, 2016. Participating in the hearing were a two-member panel of witnesses representing the State Department and a three-member panel of expert witnesses. Post-hearing reviews and analyses coming out of the Eritrean diaspora focused mostly on testimonies given by members of the second panel. Not surprisingly, they reflected the dichotomy of Eritrea’s contemporary political thinking: Government supporters applauded the testimony of an American researcher sympathetic to the regime, while opposition groups hailed those given by two Eritrean intellectuals on the same panel.
Lost in the ensuing political cheerleading and posturing by contending forces has been the importance of getting a handle on some critical aspects of the hearing: What motivated it? What goals had it set for itself? What dictated its timing? Obviously, evaluating panelist inputs becomes meaningful only if conducted in the context of the hearing’s objectives. After all, the value of a testimony is ultimately determined by the extent to which its contents are utilized.
This article attempts to explore possible factors that impelled Congress to hold a hearing on Eritrea. It also ventures an informed guess on what policy objectives the hearing was intended to serve.
Contextualizing the Hearing
The hearing was conducted with just the subcommittee chairman and the ranking member in attendance. A hearing that goes unattended by the convening subcommittee’s own members is unusual and cannot be high in importance in the pecking order of issues dealt with in Congress.
The low level of importance apparently assigned to the hearing, its vague title and the lack of clarity on its rationale do raise fundamental questions about the nature and ultimate fate of results expected from it.
In his opening remarks, the chairman cited “quiet contacts” made with Eritrea’s government and civil society to find ways to help tackle the problem of refugee flight from the country, and declared: “Today’s hearing will examine how such contacts have developed.” Thus, addressing “migration and human rights violations in Eritrea” seems to have been the hearing’s unstated objective although this does not answer the ‘Why now?’ question.
On the whole, subcommittee’s questions were not of the type that challenge the status quo, provoke fresh perspectives and solicit bold proposals on Eritrea’s policies and external relations. Consequently, the hearing broke no new ground in terms of opening up opportunities for fresh policy initiatives. But then again, there is no indication that such was the intent either! Indeed, the hearing ended in a subdued note with the chairman, who sounded more like a political activist than a legislator, declaring: “We will… continue pressing; I hope the new administration … [makes respect for human rights in Eritrea] a very serious foreign policy…” — No promise to take the case to the full house and push for a resolution on it! This was in stark contrast to the determined tone with which he had earlier announced: “Yesterday we introduced H.RES. 861 and we are planning a series of hearings on Ethiopia…”
Status of U.S.-Eritrea Relations Reviewed
The U.S. Administration was represented at the hearing by a panel comprising the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs and the Director, Office of East African Affairs (OEAA). The latter was brought in apparently on account of his recent, two-month stint as an interim Chargé d’affaires to Eritrea. Obviously, a serious hearing eager for the insights of a seasoned diplomat would have invited Mr. Louis Mazel who served as Chargé in Asmara for a two-year period that ended only last July. During his tenure there, Mr. Mazel was a political wheeler-dealer whose role in a range of ‘stakeholder activities’ had earned him a celebrity status.
In her testimony, the Assistant Secretary enumerated the same set of reforms that the U.S. held out for nearly a decade as a condition for improving relations with Eritrea, and which the latter has contemporaneously rejected and ignored. America’s decision not to let up in its requirements for normalization, therefore, indicates that Washington is not about to shift policy or soften position vis-à-vis Asmara anytime soon.
The Assistant Secretary frequently turned to the OEAA Director for answers to some of the subcommittee’s questions, and promised to follow up in writing with answers to a couple of others. It was particularly remarkable to watch the official repeatedly utter the name “Ethiopia” when she actually meant to say Eritrea during an exchange with the chairman – a spectacle that finally led her to exclaim in dismay at her own gaffes! This bizarre episode revealed that, even at a “hearing on Eritrea”, it was perhaps the current situation in Ethiopia – not prospects for improved relations with Eritrea – that was uppermost in her mind.
Interplay of National-interest Imperatives of States
It is public knowledge that the United States is deeply concerned about the current chaotic situation in Ethiopia. Indeed, it may already be taking steps to control and stabilize the situation so as to protect its strategic interests in the region. Such an intervention may require the U.S. to find ways of assisting the regime to introduce reforms and reassert its authority. Alternatively, it may involve pushing for an orderly political transition in favor of a more inclusive system. In either case, it would seem imperative for the U.S. to keep at bay destabilizing forces who may exploit the situation and extremist elements who may try to gain a foothold in the country.
On Eritrea’s part, there are political realities that had influenced expectations about the hearing as well as reactions to its outcome. It is no secret that Eritrea’s government, its supporters and its lobbyists – which include such Washington insiders and old hands at the diplomatic game as former Ambassador Herman Cohen – continue to seek improved relations with the United States. As an enthusiastic apologist for the government, Ms. Bronwyn Bruton of the Atlantic Council and one of the three expert witnesses at the hearing has long been calling for U.S. engagement and improved relations with the regime.
Given these realities, it was astonishing to see the staunchly pro-regime Organization of Eritrean-Americans (OEA) vehemently opposing a congressional hearing on Eritrea. To have done so, OEA must have been tipped off by its Washington insiders about the true nature and aims of the hearing. Having possibly concluded the hearing held no potential gain for Eritrea, they understandably turned against an event they believed will only expose the regime’s transgressions.
Eritrea in the Geopolitical Dynamics of the Horn
Certainty is elusive when it comes to predicting political developments or ascribing intent to political events. Anything is possible in politics – any number of events can happen anytime in the near term to push U.S.-Eritrea relations in any imaginable direction. But looked at in totality, the nature of the recent congressional hearing and the circumstances of the countries concerned do present a clear picture of inter-state relations. That picture is dominated by American geopolitical interests that seek to retain Ethiopia as a client state with or without its current government. And Eritrea is but one piece in the jigsaw puzzle of an evolving U.S. regional strategy aimed at protecting those interests.
The hearing is therefore part of America’s broader political maneuver that views Eritrea as crucial not just in its own right, but also as a potential mitigating or complicating factor in U.S. handling of the Ethiopian crisis. Specifically, the hearing may be a political gimmick aimed at:
- convincing the world that the U.S. is taking a holistic and even-handed approach as it resets its strategy for the East Africa-Horn region in response to developments in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia and elsewhere.
- dangling in front of Eritrea “hints” of U.S. engagement, development assistance and ending sanctions to secure its acquiescence in getting the new regional strategy to work. This means having Eritrea (i) refrain from political and military actions that could further destabilize Ethiopia, and (ii) restrain Ethiopian armed groups who operate out of bases in its territory.
For now, the prospect of “a congressional delegation to Eritrea” which Ms. Bruton proposed – and the chairman promised to consider seriously – gives everyone involved something to take home from the event! It affords the subcommittee a face-saving semblance of accomplishment; gives regime supporters a glimmer of hope for speedy U.S. engagement; and promises the opposition movement possible revelation of additional evils of the regime. | <urn:uuid:c7e06ade-bbb5-401c-9c46-ec110488d296> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://awate.com/united-states-policy-on-eritrea-any-prospects-for-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.962953 | 1,828 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Modern vehicles are very advanced & equipped with electronic enhancements. In that regard, Engine parameters are well controlled by Modules, Sensors and Actuators. So Engine & Electronic error can be captured easily as feedback gets interrupted.
This interrupted functionality of any system can be initially indicated as Check Engine Light. If We do further investigation by scanning tool to remove this check engine light, then It is a chance of getting any type of fault known as DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code).
Code P0131 is a code which indicates a Low Voltage signal from O2 Sensor (Bank1-Sensor1). It means a lost of feedback from O2 sensor (Air-fuel Sensor). This sensor helps the ECM to determine air – fuel ratio.
Sensor’s Failure has reasons and also signs that you should know to get an information related with how to fix it. So In this article, We have given symptoms & causes of a Code P0131.
Symptoms of Code P0131 –
Code P0131 has following symptoms by which you could actually understand fixing procedure with the help of scanning tool.
• Check engine light
• Rough idle
• Poor fuel economy
• Acceleration Fault
• Engine stall (Intermittent)
• Starting failure
Causes of Code P0131 –
You have to consider the causes of Code P0131 otherwise you can’t get the fixing procedure in a right manner. Following are the causes of Code P0131.
• Faulty O2 sensor
• Faulty O2 sensor connector
• O2 sensor circuit failure
• Faulty engine coolant temperature sensor
• Intake or Exhaust leaks
• ECM Failure (Internal Issues)
How to fix a Code P0131
You can eliminate any code just by working on causes. These causes and fixing procedure you can get after scanning the Engine Module. Eliminate previous errors (DTC) if present, then go for fixing the Code P0131.
If you liked this article, P0131 Code Meaning, Symptoms & Causes, leave your opinion in a comment box… | <urn:uuid:e23a4b36-aa44-493b-8c08-da82e8cc2b27> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://findcarsolution.com/p0131-symptoms-causes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.88401 | 435 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Nigerians have been warned that smoking shisha might leave them with a serious medical condition.
Scientists in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi have found that Shisha pipes posed more serious medical problems compared to cigarettes.
Ms Ayesha Mohammed, a chemistry lecturer at the University of Sharjah and the lead author of the study, said, “Traditional medwakh and Shisha pipes have no filters.
“So toxic metals can quickly enter the lungs, causing different diseases, such as lung and 0ral cancers, 0ral infections and cardiovascular diseases.
“I will never recommend dokha (medwakh) and Shisha smoking because both don’t have filters, so trace elements can easily enter human body and cause harm compared to cigarettes and cause several cancers.”
Published in Oxford University Press’s Journal of Analytical Toxicology, the latest study looked at 13 medwakh tobacco products and three shisha products, analysing their properties to determine metal concentrations.
The levels were then compared with cigarette tobacco to establish which was more likely to pose health risks.
Levels of nickel, a known carcinogen in medwakh and shisha were found to be particularly high compared to those in cigarettes, while iron levels were found to be roughly the same.
The research was co-authored by Prof. Mohamed Al Hajjaj of the University of Sharjah; Abdus Khan of Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi; and Shabber Mohammed and Masrath Mohammed, both of Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year, Ms Mohammed and several co-researchers released a study that reported much higher levels of nicotine and tar in medwakh than in cigarettes, while those in shisha levels were similar to those in cigarettes.
Dr Noordin Wadhvaniya, a respiratory medicine specialist at the Canadian Specialist Hospital in Dubai, said that people who smoke shisha would inhale 26 times the recommended limit of uranium.
“Contrary to the general belief, uranium that is inhaled will most likely damage your kidneys rather than your lungs.
“However, it does damage the respiratory tract, creates respiratory irritation and accumulation of fluid in the lungs as well,” he said.
Wadhvaniya added that with one puff, shisha smokers inhaled the same amount of smoke as they got from a whole cigarette.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Shisha smoke, also called hookah or water pipe, is a way of smoking tobacco, sometimes mixed with fruit or molasses sugar, through a bowl and hose or tube. | <urn:uuid:7d355e44-f1f0-4223-a1ce-75e431981b6e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://codedwapng.com/2019/01/if-you-smoke-shisha-you-must-read-this-health-warning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.95877 | 542 | 2.90625 | 3 |
How old are roosters when they start growing?
The age a rooster will first crow varies, but generally speaking, he will begin crowing at about four or five months of age, at about the time he begins to look like a mature rooster. A rooster starts GROWING the second they're born.
Join Alexa Answers
Help make Alexa smarter and share your knowledge with the worldLEARN MORE | <urn:uuid:ccfa8e3e-17b3-4a81-ad57-499520b34020> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://alexaanswers.amazon.com/question/3bP4qgaxr9RNRDmFH95tqn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.927773 | 90 | 2.125 | 2 |
St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s educational studies program presents Lori Dodson ’04, Sandra Duval, and Anne Marie Foerster Luu for a book discussion on “Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers & Undocumented Students,” on Monday, Feb. 19, 5 p.m. in Daugherty-Palmer Commons on the College’s campus.
The realities faced by DREAMers and undocumented students impact the work of all educators. The discussion will focus on transformative practices for working with students and their families. Educators are invited to join the discussion and find out what they can do to support undocumented children and youth in pre-K through university education.
Lori Dodson has taught in pre-K through fifth grade for 13 years. She currently serves as an ELL national professional training instructor for the National Education Association (NEA). She has also served as a board member of her local TESOL (formerly Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) affiliate. She is a 2004 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Sandra Duval, Ed.D, works in pre-K through university classrooms, leadership, and curriculum development, and is a teacher education professor in university and school district settings. Her bachelor’s degree is in sociology and secondary education. Her master’s degree from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, is in bilingual education. Her doctorate from the George Washington University is in special education with an emphasis on bilingual education.
Anne Marie Foerster Luu, NBCT, has taught in pre-K through12th grade settings for 19 years. She is an adjunct faculty member (focused on assessment as an advocacy tool) of McDaniel College’s TESOL program. She was honored by TESOL International as their Teacher of the Year 2013. | <urn:uuid:b88eb66c-f353-4d5d-9f7f-8e9f7c3e2b10> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.smcm.edu/news/2018/02/st-marys-colleges-educational-studies-program-presents-book-discussion-teaching-practices-undocumented-students/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.966639 | 395 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Indian Journal of Science and Technology
Year: 2016, Volume: 9, Issue: 48, Pages: 1-5
J. Janani Deekshidha* and S. Kamakshi
Objectives: Congestion is one of the major threats that we experience while transferring the data in WSN (Wireless Sensor Network). It occurs when the incoming rate of the packets to the sensor exceeds its outgoing rate which leads to queuing delay and packet loss. Since the energy consumed is proportional to the amount of data being transmitted, energy consumption can be reduced by minimizing the unnecessary transmission of data. Methods: During congestion it leads to exhaustion of energy and decreases the efficiency of the node. In the existing method DAlPaS algorithm is used to increase the network life time by reducing energy depletion at the sensors along a single path by finding alternative path when more than one flow is initiated through the same path. Alternate path selection could be done either by soft stage scheme or by hard stage scheme. In soft stage, the node that receives more than one flow and has the risk of buffer overflow or low power status, advises one of the sending nodes to change the path and it continues to forward the packets for that flow till the sending node finds alternate path and changes the path. But in hard stage, the availability status of this neighbor node is set as false in the sending node’s neighbor table, so that the sending node is forced to find an alternate path before it sends the next packet. When more than one path exists, the sender will select the neighbor based on priority. The priority of a node is based on the distance from the sender and residual energy in the node. Findings: In the proposed method priority based dynamic alternative path selection algorithm is used to increase the network lifetime, to avoid network partition and packet loss due to energy depletion and to utilize the node’s energy efficiently. Applications: Some of the major applications of Wireless Sensor Networks are security surveillance, environmental data compilation and tracking of sensor node. Sensor network applications are wide in range and they vary significantly in the mode of deployment, modality of sensing or the power supply.
Keywords: Congestion Control, Delay, Dynamic Alternate Path, Energy Efficiency, Packet Delivery Ratio, Wireless Sensor Networks
Subscribe now for latest articles and news. | <urn:uuid:9238d793-2ead-436b-9bbf-47a85f868dec> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://indjst.org/articles/design-of-priority-based-energy-productive-protocol-for-controlling-congestion-in-wireless-sensor-networks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571538.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812014923-20220812044923-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.918621 | 471 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The European Championship is revamped for the 2020 edition. We are sure that you might have already planned your entertainment for the whole Euro 2020 month but are you aware of the changes that have taken place this season?
Currently, Euro 2020 is delayed by a year to 2021 due to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Watch all soccer live scores and the latest soccer highlights with high quality at 55goal!
Here we are going to explain what all changes are made to the European Championship for 2020.
The changed participant limit
For Euro Cup 2020, instead of 20 participants, 24 teams clashed through the qualifying process from March to November 2019 to reach the competition. For the first time in its history, Finland has qualified for the tournament.
The final four spots
The final four sports of the UEFA European Championship will be taken by the teams who stay atop the League playoffs. The 16 teams will be divided into four groups (A to D). The winner of each group will be playing the in plays off, progressing to the one-legged semifinal matches and the winners battling in the final.
The semifinal matchups of the national league are as follows:
Group A: Iceland vs. Romania, Bulgaria vs. Hungary,
Group B: Slovakia vs. Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Northern Ireland
Group C: Scotland vs. Israel, Norway vs. Serbia
Group D: North Macedonia vs. Kosovo, Georgia vs. Belarus
What are the ‘forbidden matches’?
Due to the ongoing political tensions between some participating nations, UEFA has ruled out clashes between these teams. For instance, Ukraine and Russia are at war, which is why chances are these teams might not have to face each other. Same goes to Kosovo that is in political conflicts with Serbia, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
That being said, these forbidden matches are only banned at the group stage. In knockout, if the nations in conflict come to face each other, the UEFA Emergency Panel, headed by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin can make last-minute changes.
Where the matches will be hosted?
Euro 2020 is going to be the first pan-European championship. It is slate to be played at 12 venues across 12 European countries. While the semifinals and finals will be hosted at Wembley Stadium in London, group stage matches will be at Rome and Baku (Group A), St Petersburg and Copenhagen (Group B), Amsterdam and Bucharest (Group C), London and Glasgow (Group D), Bilbao and Dublin (Group E) and Munich and Budapest (Group F).
The plan to host a pan-Europe championship is the brainchild of former UEFA President Michel Platini who wanted to make the 60th anniversary of the tournament “Euro for Europe” event.
It was not an easy decision to make as many nations were interested in hosting Euro 2020 as usual. Turkey submitted the bid, and so did Ireland, Scotland & Wales and Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Is it a good idea to spread tournament across the continent?
If some critics are to be believed, spreading Euro 2020 over 12 locations will hamper the atmosphere European Championship is known to generate when hosted by a single nation. The distance between the venues is also a problem that will divide the fan base.
We hope now you have all the information about the uniqueness of European Championship 2020. | <urn:uuid:2ffd077f-2cd6-4ce9-bfcd-15550ec9249b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://mentalitch.com/why-uefa-european-championship-2020-is-unique/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.94682 | 690 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Small form-factor (SFF) machines have predominantly used 5W - 45W TDP processors. The introduction of the mini-STX form-factor standardized a compact form factor for systems with processors having a TDP up to 65W. However, the mini-STX form-factor along with the associated cooling system is still too bulky for certain use-cases. Shuttle's XPC slim line aims to serve the market segment requiring standard desktop processors in a compact form factor. These computers are a fit for a variety of business and commercial use-cases. Today's review takes a look at the Shuttle XPC slim DH370, a barebones PC platform that can accommodate the Intel 8th Gen. desktop processors.
ASUS on Tuesday released new BIOS versions for Intel’s 300-series motherboards, adding support for Intel’s not-so-secret upcoming Core i3/i5/i7 9000-series processors. With the addition of ASUS, now all of...7 by Anton Shilov on 8/8/2018
GIGABYTE has released new BIOS versions for its motherboards based on Intel’s 300-series chipsets, which add support for the upcoming 9th Generation Core i3/i5/i7 processors. The release reaffirms that...12 by Anton Shilov on 8/6/2018
GIGABYTE has released a version of their most popular mini-ITX motherboards on the market with the H370N WiFi - a small form factor board designed to offer users a...26 by Joe Shields on 6/21/2018
In light of the B360 Gaming already being shown to us at EVGA’s suite at Computex, cue another interesting surprise in the H370 Stinger. The key headline for this...6 by Ian Cutress on 6/6/2018
ASUS has announced the latest addition to its mining motherboards with the H370 Mining Master. This ATX sized board will support up to a mind-boggling 20(!) graphics cards via...17 by Joe Shields on 6/1/2018
The march from Intel for everything to be under the ‘8th Gen Intel Core’ branding is now at its climax: today is the official launch of several new 8th...124 by Ian Cutress on 4/3/2018 | <urn:uuid:e613ba11-8944-4c72-80f5-ec2362103e98> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www1.anandtech.com/tag/h370 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572043.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814143522-20220814173522-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.925484 | 487 | 1.515625 | 2 |
What to Do When You Don’t Want to Be Apart: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Separation Anxiety
The latest addition to the popular What to Do Guides for Kids series addresses separation anxiety, a common developmental phase. This workbook introduces kids and parents to cognitive behavioral therapy-based strategies that can help them understand and cope with any type of separation anxiety. Like the other books in this series, it includes activities designed to change kids’ perspectives on being separated. Includes an introduction for parents and caregivers about how to most successfully use the book.
Illustrated by: Janet McDonnell
Published by: Magination Press | <urn:uuid:6f636baf-834b-488b-b178-bd708e781fc9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.cbcbooks.org/cbc_book/what-to-do-when-you-dont-want-to-be-apart-a-kids-guide-to-overcoming-separation-anxiety/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571911.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813081639-20220813111639-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.895128 | 153 | 2.734375 | 3 |
After establishing in the original article that it is forbidden to practice mutah and that the prohibition was related by several companions, we will move on to studying the opinions of other companions, for our opponents argue that a large portion of the companions did not believe in the prohibition of mutah.
The positions that will be studied include that of Ibn Abbas, Jabir bin Abdullah, Ali bin Abi Talib, Omar bin Al-Khattab, Abdullah bin Omar, Abdullah bin Mas’ud, Imran bin Husain, Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri, Mu’awiyah, Samura bin Jundub, Imran bin Sawadah, Salama bin Al-Akwa’, Zaid bin Thabit, Amr bin Huraith, Salama bin Umayyah, and Rabi’a bin Umayyah.
As readers will notice, a few of the names above have narrated narrations in prohibition of mutah. However, opponents clutch at straws whenever they can in order to strengthen their arguments. We shall together study these opinions.
The actions of companions are not binding evidence for the legality of these actions, especially with the existence of clear cut prophetic-narrations in prohibition.
In this case, if a companion were to practice mutah, it does not mean that mutah is permissible. Similarly, the companions that practiced adultery or consuming intoxicants never believed in the permissibility of these actions.
As for those that clearly stated that mutah is permissible, then their opinions are trounced by the opinions of those who spoke of prohibition, since their evidence lies in authentic prophetic traditions. Those that preached the permissibility of mutah were not able to attribute it to the Prophet – peace be upon him – except by saying that it was practiced at his time.
It goes without saying that this is not sufficient evidence, since some people were consuming intoxicant and engaging in adultery at the time as well. It holds nowhere close to as much weight as the clear evidences for the prohibition of mutah.
1- Ibn Abbas
Perhaps the strongest advocate for mutah amongst the companions was Ibn Abbas. The narrations in which Ibn Abbas has narrated for the permissibility are usually general. However, it is important to recognize that Ibn Abbas’ ruling does not suggest the permissibility of mutah in all situations.
In Sunan al-Bayhaqi al-Kubra 7/204, we find that Abu Jamra narrated:
Ibn Abbas was asked about mutah, so he said it was permissible. A servant of his said, “That is during a time of war when there are not a lot of women and situations like that?” Ibn Abbas said, “Yes.”
The opinion of Ibn Abbas here is that mutah is only to be performed in situations that are similar to the situations in which mutah was first made permissible. The situation mentioned above is similar to that which Ibn Mas’ud described in Saheeh Muslim #3396:
We were on a military expedition with the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him -, without any women. So we said, “Shall we castrate ourselves?” He forbade us from doing so, then permitted us to get married for a stipulated time, at the price of a garment.
The reasoning of Ibn Abbas is a mystery. One can only speculate as to why he stuck to his opinion when the majority of the companions sided with the clear evidences for the prohibition of mutah. Perhaps the most reasonable possibility is that Ibn Abbas accepted that the Prophet – peace be upon him – prohibited mutah, but since he permitted it more than once it meant that it can be permitted during dire conditions. Of course, this ijtihad has no weight since the text from the Prophet – peace be upon him – is clear, and the text always takes precedence over ijtihad.
2- Jabir bin Abdullah
Jabir is perhaps the second companion who is most often cited as to have gone against the prohibition of mutah. In Saheeh Muslim #2498, Abu Nadhra said:
I was at Jabir bin Abdullah’s when a man came saying, “Ibn Abbas and Ibn Al-Zubair different when it came to the two (types of) mutah,” Jabir said, “We performed them with the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him – then Omar prohibited us from them, and we never returned to them.”
Ibn Hajar in Fath Al-Bari comments that the last statement by Jabir suggests that he sided with the consensus, which is that mutah is prohibited, for if it was permissible, then he would have taught the permissibility of it after the death of Omar.
Ibn Hajar is correct for Jabir lived for another five decades after Omar and never returned to what was supposedly permissible, nor was he known to having preached the permissibility of mutah. This is evidence that he accepted the prohibition of Omar, since the prohibition of Omar has supporting evidence from the traditions of the Prophet – peace be upon him – as we have proven in a previous article.
3- Ali bin Abi Talib
One narration is provided in order to prove that Ali believed in the permissibility of mutah and it is the narration of Al-Hakam bin Abi Utaibah (Tafseer Al-Tabari #9042). Al-Hakam, however, was born after the death of Ali according to several scholars. See his biography in Tahtheeb Al-Tahtheeb.
Furthermore, the narration that Al-Hakam attributes to Ali is identical to the authentic narration to Ibn Abbas, in Musanaf Abd Al-Razaq #14021, through an authentic chain, where he says:
“If it were not for his prohibition (Omar), then only a vile person would perform adultery.”
It is obvious to the objective reader that Al-Hakam made a mistake in attributing this narration to Ali, who opposed mutah, instead of Ibn Abbas.
4- Omar bin Al-Khattab
In Tareekh Al-Madinah #1190, by Ibn Shibbah, we find a narration in which Omar suggests that he used to practice mutah and that it was his ijtihad that causes him to reject mutah. However, this narration is weak due to it being narrated solely by Zam’a bin Salih. This narration also goes against the authentic narration that Omar rejected mutah because of the Prophet’s narration and asked for witnesses with evidence that it was permitted after its prohibition.
5- Abdullah bin Omar
Ibn Omar is mentioned to have made mutah permissible. Authors of a Shia website provide Sunan Al-Tirmithi #832. However, the narration clearly states that Ibn Omar was referring to the mutah of the pilgrimage, so this has nothing to do with mutah marriages. It was narrated from Ibn Omar that he rejected temporary marriage and described as an act of indecency.
6- Abdullah bin Mas’ud
Ibn Masu’d narrated (Muslim #3396): We were on a expedition with the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him -, without any women. So we said, “Shall we castrate ourselves?” He forbade us from doing so, then permitted us to get married for a stipulated time, at the price of a garment. Then, Abdullah recited, “Do not prohibit the good things which Allah has made lawful to you and do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors.”
Some scholars commented that Ibn Mas’ud’s recitation of the verse suggests that people transgressed by making mutah forbidden.
However, Ibn Al-Qayyim in Zad Al-Ma’aad (p. 405) provides another possible interpretation. He said:
He wanted to use this verse in order to respond to those that say it is completely permissible and that he is a transgressor since the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him – only allowed it out of necessity and need, during military expeditions, without there being women, and with extreme need for women. So, whoever legalized it in towns, which have an abundance of women and the ability for one to get married, is a transgressor, and Allah does not like transgressors.
It seems that this explanation is more likely. This is because in the Mustakhraj of Abi Awana of Saheeh Muslim (#3319), there is an addition, at the end of this Hadith where Ibn Mas’ud says: “Then it (mut’ah) was forbidden.” Ibn Hajar, in Al-Fath, when quoting Al-Isma’eeli in the explanation of hadith #4686 in Al-Bukhari adds that similar additions have been narrated from Ibn Uyayna and Ma’mar.
7- Imran bin Husain
A narration that is often used to support the attribution of this view to Imran bin Husain is the narration of Al-Bukhari #4156 where he says that the verse of mutah was revealed in the book of Allah and it was practiced by him with the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him -, and that nothing forbidding it was revealed until his death, but then a man banned it.
The narration can be found in the chapter of the pilgrimage, which leads us to believe that this is not about the mutah marriage, but the mutah of the pilgrimage.
This is supported by a hadith in Saheeh Muslim #2158 that states that this is the mutah of the pilgrimage.
Thus, the burden of proof lies upon opponents to prove that this is about mutah marriages.
As for the verse that Imran bin Husain is talking about, then it is verse 196 from Surat Al-Baqara.
8- Asma’ bint Abi Bakr
Asma’s words regarding mutah has been explained in details in an old article. See here.
The clear conclusion is that Asma’ never had temporary marriage and this was mistakenly attributed to her, rather her narrations are regarding the Mutah of Hajj.
9- Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri
The narration in which Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri talks about mutah is in Musanaf Abd Al-Razzaq #14022. Ata’a says, “It was told to me by whomever you wish that Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri said…” The narration describes that saweeq was used as a mahr.
The narration by Abi Sa’eed simply describes the details of mahr back in the time when mutah was permissible, and there is no issue with this. It does not suggest that he believed that mutah was prohibited by Omar, nor that it was left as permissible by the Prophet – peace be upon him.
Furthermore, the hadith is weak since Ata’a does not mention who his teacher is.
The narration of Abd Al-Razaq in his Musanaf #14026 suggests that Mu’awiyah performed mutah during the time of the Prophet – peace be upon him. Like Jabir, Amr bin Huraith, and others, it seems that he was not aware that mutah was prohibited by the Prophet – peace be upon him. The personal actions of a companion of the Prophet – peace be upon him – cannot be used to legalize an act if there is clear evidence of prohibition.
11- Samura bin Jundub
No such narration can be found attributed to Samura bin Jundub. However, those that have included Samura in this list did so because Ibn Hajar said in the biography of a companion named Sameer, “This may be Samura bin Jundub.”
Ibn Hajar goes on to quote Ibn Mandah in Al-Isaba 1/771 which says that, “We used to perform mutah at the time of the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him.”
Even though there is nothing problematic about this, since there is an agreement that the companions used to practice mutah back then. However, it seems that Ibn Hajar or a scribe who wrote Al-Isaba made a mistake, since all other sources say, “We used to narrate hadiths during the time of the Messenger of Allah – peace be upon him.” See Usd Al-Ghaba 2/344, Al-Jami’ lama fil Musanafat Al-Jawami’ 3/90, and Ma’rifat Al-Sahaba by Abu Nu’aym 2/1442.
The word يتمتع yatamata’ (to perform mutah) is similar in its characters to يستمع yastami’ (to hear), so such a mistake does happen from time to time.
12- Imran bin Sawadah
A narration in Tareekh Al-Tabari 2/749 says that Imran bin Sawadah debated Omar on the permissibility of mutah. Omar simply responds that the conditions during the time of the Prophet – peace be upon him – required mutah, but they don’t require it anymore.
The narration comes through the path of Eisa bin Yazeed bin Da’b. He is considered to be munkar al-hadith and a liar. See his biography in Lisan Al-Mizan. Therefore, this narration is rejected and cannot be used as evidence that Imran bin Sawadah believed in the permissibility of mutah.
13- Salama bin Al-Akwa’
It is narrated in Musnad Al-Royani #1170 that Salama bin Al-Akwa’ stated that there is no evidence for the prohibition of mutah from the Qur’an or the traditions of the Prophet – peace be upon him.
However, the narration is weak since it comes from the path of Harun bin Abi Eisa.
Al-Uqaili criticized him in his book of weak narrators for narrating traditions that are not corroborated.
More importantly, Salama bin Al-Akwa’s narration of the prohibition of mutah was related by Muslim as we’ve pointed out in our original article on evidences for the prohibition of mutah.
14- Zaid bin Thabit
There are no narrations that suggest that Zaid bin Thabit believed in the permissibility of mutah. Though, a shortlist of five companions was compiled by the third century historian Mohammad bin Habeeb Al-Baghdadi that include Zaid.
Mohammad bin Habeeb included this shortlist on p. 289 of his Al-Muhabbar, but did not provide any proof that this was Zaid’s opinion. It is, therefore, rejected.
15- Amr bin Huraith
In Musanaf Abd Al-Razaq #14021 we find a narration that explicitly states that Amr bin Huraith practiced mutah during the time of Omar. Like Jabir bin Abdullah, Amr bin Huraith was unaware that mutah was made forbidden during the time of the Prophet – peace be upon him.
Amr continued to live on for another six decades after the death of Omar, and it was not known that he ever practiced mutah or spoke of the permissibility of mutah after the death of Omar.
16- Rabee’a bin Umayyah
In Muwatta Malik #995, we find Khawla bint Hakeem accusing Rabee’a bin Umayyah bin Khalaf for mutah during the time of Omar.
Ironically, Rabee’a was also known for drinking alcohol. He eventually leaves Islam and becomes a Christian. See his biography in Al-Isaba by Ibn Hajar 1/607.
Perhaps opponents will one day argue that drinking alcohol is permissible as well since this was an act practiced by Rabee’a.
It is needless to say that the actions of a man who eventually leaves Islam cannot be used as binding evidence against Muslims.
17- Salama bin Umayyah
The inclusion of Salama bin Umayyah as one of those that practiced mutah during the time of Omar can be found in Musanaf Abd Al-Razzaq #14024.
The most obvious excuse that can be given is that he was not aware that it was prohibited. There is also another possibility, which is that he was included in this narration accidentally since his story is very similar to the story of Amr bin Huraith. Though, do note that the chain is weak. See Tareekh Al-Madinah #1193.
This is as far as the evidence the opponents use for the permissibility of Mutah, as the reader can see their evidence is very weak and problematic as opposed to the clear authentic narrations by several companions that declare its prohibition from the Hadith of Rasul-Allah (saw). | <urn:uuid:92292c2b-a29d-41fa-8ac6-b4a5973d62f7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.twelvershia.net/2015/02/19/companions-believed-mutah/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.97246 | 3,668 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Results of extensive simulations of swell evolution within the duration-limited setup for the kinetic Hasselmann equation for long durations of up to 2 × 106 s are presented. Basic solutions of the theory of weak turbulence, the so-called Kolmogorov-Zakharov solutions, are shown to be relevant to the results of the simulations. Features of self-similarity of wave spectra are detailed and their impact on methods of ocean swell monitoring is discussed. Essential drop in wave energy (wave height) due to wave-wave interactions is found at the initial stages of swell evolution (on the order of 1000 km for typical parameters of the ocean swell). At longer times, wave-wave interactions are responsible for a universal angular distribution of wave spectra in a wide range of initial conditions. Weak power-law attenuation of swell within the Hasselmann equation is not consistent with results of ocean swell tracking from satellite altimetry and SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data. At the same time, the relatively fast weakening of wave-wave interactions makes the swell evolution sensitive to other effects. In particular, as shown, coupling with locally generated wind waves can force the swell to grow in relatively light winds.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Geochemistry and Petrology | <urn:uuid:78894958-df86-4abe-8900-9de136a61a69> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://experts.arizona.edu/en/publications/ocean-swell-within-the-kinetic-equation-for-water-waves | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.892078 | 274 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Report your concerns in confidence.
Adoption is a when you provide a permanent family for a child who can not live with their birth parents.
Find out more about your childcare options.
Fostering is about caring for a child in your own home for a few days, a few weeks or longer.
Benefits, support, heath and wellbeing.
Term/holiday dates, admissions, school meals, school transport. | <urn:uuid:861d1964-03a2-496e-bb0e-58dd5e850fa2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://northtyneside.gov.uk/category/592/families-parents-and-carers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.937531 | 104 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Drawing on the lessons learned from the recurrence of crises and the persistence of conflicts in the sub-region due to the inability of states to establish lasting stability and security, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has initiated a project entitled "Security Dialogues in the Sahel-Sahara region : Rethinking the Security in the sub-region" with a view to promoting national and sub- regional dialogue on cross-border issues and challenges as well as the interdependence between North Africa and West Africa.
Most of the countries in the Sahel-Sahara region are facing political, economic, social and environmental difficulties. This is due to the material weakness of the State and failing governance, the difficulty of controlling the national territory, the porosity of the borders and the increasing presence of gray areas. In addition, their economies are fragile, despite substantial natural resources, since they are subject to low levels of industrialization due to a combination of an almost total lack of foreign direct investment and difficult weather conditions.
Beyond the national peculiarities, the countries of the region are all preoccupied by the same challenges and threats. Regional actors must adopt new strategies in the North as well as in the South of the Sahara. Threats are cross-border and non-state actors are multiplying and benefiting from the fragility of border areas. The Sahel-Sahara region is on the verge of becoming a transit point for hybrid security threats. In Libya and Mali, for example, territories are occupied by extremist groups that set up and form recruitment unit. Similarly, the strengthening of cultural identities on the domestic front threatens to undermine feelings of national belonging, potentially culminating in internal conflicts.
The human security threats and challenges are interdependent and require a common approach through national, regional and international mechanisms to promote stabilization and development in the Sahel-Sahara region around the state.
The project aims to foster regional dialogue while bringing together countries from the Maghreb and the Sahel region mainly Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia.
What is the project approach?
The multi-annual project runs from 2015 to 2019 and is organized cyclically. The first cycle of the project which is currently in the closing phase consist of:
The second cycle will consider workshops, conferences and publications to disseminate policy recommendations and introduce them into the policy processes of the countries of the sub-region and their political partners (EU, AU, G5, ECOWAS, UMA).
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P.O. Box 15 416
Point E, boulevard de l’Est villa n°30
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Monday, January 22, 2018
Pale File online reading group, Week Two
Two Cedar waxwings, very much alive, pass a berry during courtship. Creative Commons photo by Minette Layne of Seattle, Washington.
This week. let's read "Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos." It's a few more pages than we're ordinarily going to do, but it makes no sense to me to break up John Shade's autobiographical poem. Then we can get into the heart of the book, Charles Kinbote's analysis of the poem.
The poem begins with two well known lines:
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
By the false azure of the windowpane;
Did you see Supergee's post parodying those lines? “I was the fookin shadow of the waxwing slain. I only said Shade was the shadow of the waxwing slain to be nice.”
The poem begins with vivid images of the death of a bird, and as we read the poem, says Brian Boyd in his book about Pale Fire, "we learn more about Shade's lifelong attempt to understand a world where life is surrounded by death."
Andrea Pitzer in the book The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov calls Shade a "very decent poet" and says Nabokov created "a quintessential American writer whose work lives in the shadow of Robert Frost." Frost is mentioned on page 426 of the post. Nabokov did readings with Frost, once opening for Frost at an event in Boston, Pitzer says.
Boyd identifies where the words "pale fire" come from: Shakespeare, in the play Timon of Athens.
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun:
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears: the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
From general excrement: each thing's a thief:
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheque'd theft.
(From Act IV, Scene III, lines 472-480)
As Boyd notes, Nabokov tells you the source of the name is Shakespeare: Line 960.
Anybody up for a coincidence? As I was working on this post, about a poem that describes a young woman who dies walking on the surface of a thawing, icy lake (Canto Two), I was interrupted by a work phone call. I had to stop working on this blog post, so I could do a quick newspaper story about ice fishermen being rescued after they fell into the water.
I read the poem again Sunday. Let's read the poem together and discuss in the comments. By the way, comments are still being posted for last week's initial post. | <urn:uuid:36790d82-ddfd-43a4-b026-6bb88e03ec6b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.rawillumination.net/2018/01/pale-file-online-reading-group-week-two.html?showComment=1516834585444 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.958704 | 613 | 2.484375 | 2 |
My bones (Skelly) love berries because that means summer. Do you adore the summer as I do? Spending time with friends at the beach and getting lots of bone-building sunshine. And eating plenty of brilliant fresh summer berries.
Even though berries are tiny, they pack a powerful punch when it comes to your bones. Their beautiful reds, blues, blacks, and purples tell you that they are full of natural antioxidants. Yet they have such a short shelf-life.
There is a trick keeping your berries mold free.
Before I go into keeping your berried mold free….
You know by now that your cells are constantly under attack from free radicals. These “oxidants” are waste products that result when your cells do their important work. But free radicals are also produced when you’re exposed to stress, sun, pollution, chemicals, alcohol, processed foods, and cigarette smoke.
Your body naturally produces a supply of antioxidants to neutralize these free radicals. But when your body can’t keep up, damage from free radicals builds up. It can break down healthy cells, and damage DNA, proteins, and fats. Eventually this damage can lead to poor immunity, increased aging, and chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and even osteoporosis.
To boost your body’s natural supply of antioxidants it’s important to eat antioxidant-rich foods like berries. Antioxidants from berries help absorb free radicals and knock them out of commission.
That can help protect bones from osteoporosis.
In one animal study, blueberry powder fed to rats helped prevent bone loss. The researchers believe that polyphenols – a type of antioxidant in berries – help slow the rate of bone turnover, saving the bone.
Research shows that berries protect bones from oxidative stress even in smokers who have a lot of free radical damage that leads to bone loss. In one study researchers worked with a group of post-menopausal smokers.
They divided the smokers into three groups. Every day, one group ate 45 grams (about ½ cup) of blueberries, and another group ate 45 grams of blackberries. The third group didn’t eat any berries.
After nine months, the smokers who ate no berries saw their bone mineral density drop significantly more than the smokers who ate the berries. In other words, the berries protected bone mineral density from free radical damage even in smokers.
Without enough vitamin C your body makes more osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone. At the same time it slows down the growth of osteoblasts, the cells that form new healthy bone.
That means that low vitamin C levels can lead to fractures. Studies show that older patients who break bones have significantly lower levels of vitamin C.
Adding bone-loving berries to my oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt, and salads keeps my Skelly happy. And of course, they’re great all by themselves for a sweet treat.
But here’s the thing. Berries are very perishable. Have you ever purchased a pint of mouthwatering local raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries to find them growing mold the next day? Total bummer!
Here’s a simple tip to protect your berries from getting moldy that works like a charm;
The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that may linger on the surface of the berries.
Add the vinegar and water to a large bowl.
Place your berry beauties in the mixture and swirl them around gently.
Drain the berries thoroughly. You don’t even have to rinse them because the vinegar bath is so diluted that you can’t taste it.
Place your “bathed” berries in the fridge in a covered container.
Raspberries will last a week or more – really! Strawberries last almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.
One last thing. Please buy organic berries. Strawberries in particular are heavily sprayed with pesticides and are listed on the Dirty Dozen List you can find here: Dirty Dozen.
Also try this thirst quenching summer beverage:
When it comes to choosing the right foods to optimize your bone health, what is the single biggest challenge, frustration or problem you’ve been struggling with?
Please let me know so I can write content that meets your needs.
Plus I have wonderful alkaline salad dressing waiting for you on the other side to thank you for your time 🙂.
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In 1878, an explosion destroyed the largest grain mill in the world and killed 22 people. The cause of the tragedy was grain dust.
One hundred-and-forty years later and dust is still a major issue for the milling and baking industries.
“Substances regularly used in industrial cooking and baking, including flour, sugars and various powders, all have the potential to explode,” says Andrew Darby, UK sales manager at dust control solutions supplier Dustcheck. “When substances are finely ground inside baking and cooking appliances they can create a dust cloud. This dust, when suspended and mixed with air, can cause large and even fatal explosions.”
Alongside the risk of explosion is the impact flour dust can have on health.
“Bakeries and biscuit manufacturers are not what immediately spring to mind when we think of Britain’s most dangerous places to work and yet they are where workers are most susceptible to developing debilitating health conditions, such as occupational asthma,” says Warren Pennington, manufacturing inspector at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
According to HSE figures, between 2007 and 2016, the average rate of new reported cases of occupational asthma among bakers was 37 per 100,000 per year, versus just 0.4 across all occupations.
To put it another way, these figures suggest the odds of getting occupational asthma if working as a baker is about one in 270. But HSE points out this doesn’t take into account under-reporting, and that the actual risk may be more like one in 100.
“Repeated or long-term exposure to flour dust and associated bread improver enzymes are respiratory sensitisers and can cause asthma if regularly breathed in,” explains Pennington.
As well as asthma, exposure to flour dust can also cause irritation to the eyes and nose or occupational dermatitis, resulting in itching and blistering of the skin.
And frequent low-level exposure to flour dust might not create symptoms for up to 30 years, according to Dustcheck. Once diagnosed, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be life-threatening – at the least, it will impair the quality of life going forward.
“All work with fine powders creates dust,” says Darby. “This isn’t exclusive to bakeries, in fact most food industry and agricultural feed operations will use ingredients that have/or create dust – flour, sugar, starch, nuts and seeds or cocoa powder, for example – anything that is ground down into a powder or small particles.”
Bakeries and biscuit manufacturers are not what immediately spring to mind when we think of Britain’s most dangerous places to work and yet they are where workers are most susceptible to developing debilitating health conditions, such as occupational asthma
He points out that operations such as sieving and ingredient dispensing, conveying, blending, bulk silo filling, mixing, milling and bag filling/emptying all generate dust as the product is moved from one place to another.
“Imagine pouring flour into a mixing bowl. Opening the bag, pouring the flour into a bowl, closing the bag, mixing the flour with other ingredients – all of these things create a level of dust. Even cleaning the dust away has the potential to displace the dust into the air again.”
While it is impossible to eliminate dust in a bakery, action can be taken to reduce dust (see panel above) and protect workers.
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) require employers to ensure exposure is either prevented or reduced to a level as low as reasonably practicable. HSE views that 2mgm3 (based on an eight-hour, time-weighted average) is a reasonably practicable level of exposure and expects employers to meet this.
Failure to protect workers adequately can cost a business dear, as East Yorkshire-based Coopland & Son (Scarborough) Ltd found out in court last December after pleading guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. The business was fined £159,080 with £4,594 costs after an HSE investigation found there was no effective method of control to prevent dust becoming airborne and employees being exposed to breathing it in.
Following the case, the bakery explained it had been undertaking health surveillance and monitoring flour dust levels as required under the law, but was subsequently found to be operating under incorrect advice.
“Measures have since been introduced to address the issues raised,” it added. “We regret that we have fallen short of our usual high standards after 133 years with an unblemished health and safety record.”
To limit dust levels, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) equipment can be installed (see panel above). Meanwhile, dust levels can be monitored through static testing in and around the work area, or by using personal monitors.
“Personal dust monitors may be purchased, or a consulting company can be used with the equipment and expertise,” suggests Mike Fox, technical sales director at ventilation systems supplier Exeon. “Monitors should have a lapel-mounted filter and portable pump to extract a representative amount of air close to the operator’s breathing zone, then exposure levels of respirable dust should be measured and calculated.”
Staff should also wear the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) or respiratory protection equipment if this is required.
“In high-risk areas it is essential staff follow the health and safety guidance from their employer,” says Darby. “If they feel this is not satisfactory, they can get advice on the correct PPE from the HSE or even report their employer for failing to keep them safe.”
Like early starts and rising costs, flour dust is something bakers cannot avoid. But with the correct procedures in place, it can be prevented from harming either your staff or your business.
Reducing dust exposure
While eliminating flour dust from a bakery operation is virtually impossible, there are steps that can be taken to reduce exposure.
The most effective is eliminating or substituting dust where possible, suggests the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This could include:
- Substituting the use of wheat flour as a lubricant by replacing it with food-grade oil instead, non-stick coatings on conveyor belts, greaseproof paper on trays or rice flour
- Using improver pastes or liquids instead of powders
- Using low-dust wheat flour.
In the case of the latter, Goodmills Innovation supplies a low dust-release flour called Tip-Top.
Available in various varieties including wheat and rye flour, as well as conventional and organic, it has been hydrothermally treated to reduce the amount of fine dust. Goodmills claims that, as well as the benefits of reduced dust, it is also more efficient than standard dusting flours and can reduce consumption by up to 70%.
Where wheat flour must be used, the HSE says there are “simple and cost-effective working practices” that can minimise dust release into the atmosphere. While not an exhaustive list, these include:
- Separating dusty processes, such as sieving, weighing and mixing, from other production areas
- When tipping flour, minimise the tipping height in as enclosed a space as possible
- Disposing of empty flour sacks by rolling them from the bottom while tipping, avoiding the need to flatten or fold empty bags
- Preventing dust clouds when using flour as a lubricant or when dusting by avoiding the hand throwing of flour and by using dredgers or sprinklers
- Using dust extraction or respiratory protective equipment for dusty tasks
- Cleaning up, using an industrial-type ‘vacuum cleaner or by using wet methods.
CASE STUDY: Action on dust allergy
A 51-year-old maintenance fitter worked at a bakery for about 20 years.
Although he did not smoke or have a history of asthma before he started work, he complained of breathlessness, wheezing and coughing that had been getting gradually worse.
At work, his eyes often became red and watery, and he had sneezing attacks. He noticed his symptoms improved when he was away from work.
He contacted a trade union representative, who suspected occupational asthma, and tests showed the worker’s lung function was considerably better at weekends and on holiday. Further tests indicated a flour dust allergy.
As a result, management arranged for him to work in less dusty areas of the plant. They improved the dust extraction and issued him with suitable respiratory protective equipment (RPE). He remains at work using RPE to reduce his exposure, and medicine to improve his symptoms. However, his general respiratory health is poor because of chronic asthma, for which he receives disablement benefit.
Investigations revealed two further cases of flour dust allergy were detected, and they are likely to suffer from breathing problems for the rest of their lives.
Source: Health & Safety Executive
What an LEV system can do for your firm
Dust extraction is one way a business can control the risks from hazardous substances, as required under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
A local exhaust ventilation (LEV) system takes dusts, mists, gases, vapour or fumes out of the air.
Properly designed, a LEV will:
- Collect the air that contains the contaminants
- Make sure they are contained and taken away from people
- Clean the air (if necessary) and get rid of the contaminants safely.
A LEV system comprises a number of components, including a hood to collect airborne contaminants, ducts to carry the airborne contaminants away from the process, an air cleaner to filter and clean the extracted air, a fan that must be the right size and type to deliver sufficient ‘suck’ to the hood, and a discharge for safe release of cleaned, extracted air.
Trade associations may be able to provide advice on LEV systems, and the Health and Safety Executive has developed a free internet tool that includes information on LEV (see box right).
It is essential to keep LEV systems properly maintained. The Federation of Bakers points out that the most common fault with dust extraction is that, with time, it does not work as efficiently as when it was first installed.
Most LEV systems need a thorough examination by a competent person and test once each year to ensure it works well.
Free-to-use digital resources to support the campaign to help businesses and workers know the risks, plan their work and use the right controls when working with dust.
Free Health and Safety Executive internet tool that provides practical advice on how to control risk of exposure (including information on LEV).
Key COSHH advice for bakers.
See the Federation of Bakers’ document A Baker’s Dozen: 13 Essentials for Health & Safety in Bakeries.
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The most used practice by companies to keep a fresh impression among consumers for their products is changing the way in which they sell their products, for example, by "adaptation to the season". Oreo is a good example. In every holiday season, Oreo’s packaging design will have some changes, highlighting the tastes and colors specific to the holiday. It may be in red, orange or yellow, so the consumers can easily tell they have the right Oreo specially offered for the season.
Especially in the past few years, environmental protection has become a responsibility of respectable enterprises, and consumers are generally more likely to buy products which make them feel they have made some contribution to the protection of the Earth. This trend is particularly evident in the bottled water industry. Arrowhead, for example, is using recyclable water bottles for their new products. These recyclable water bottles contain plastics 50% less than previous models. They have found that these bottles are of lower costs and easy to produce, and more importantly, they are environmentally friendly.
“This company knows me!” is the first impression created by localization. “Absolut Vodka” advocates this approach. With localized and artistic advertising, it has successfully launched products around the world. It is not easy to make consumers pay, so “Absolut Vodka” pays attention to every detail: They conduct detailed market research in terms of the age, gender and culture of the locality and its people, and move consumers with targeted packaging design.
Packaging technology is evolving quickly. Technology is useful in attracting consumers, but it is always uneasy to secure technical edges. A tip is “retro”, as many people have this sense of nostalgia. While many companies do not use retro design in their packaging, General Mills is attempting to turn “retro” into a design element of modern packaging. With "retro" design, they present the origins of products to consumers. The retro practice has created a unique and lasting effect and won good reputation.
By following these four tips for packaging design, you are likely to design packaging meeting consumer expectations. Remember, these are just a few design principles, and your wisdom must be unique.
Product packaging design usually
gives the first impression of the brand,
which is why those successful companies have been striving to adopt innovative, compelling and unique packaging design.
From the elements of packaging design collected on huaban...
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Millennium Circuits Limited (MCL) has been supplying custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) for medical devices for more than 15 years, and we’ve consistently ensured every board meets the highest quality standards for the medical community. Our quality assurance standards include various requirements around specialty materials, cleanliness, stringent processes, and support for a host of product types.
Printed circuit boards for medical devices are designed specifically for your medical instrumentation needs and a wide range of care settings, lab settings and testing scenarios. Precision is the core focus of medical instrumentation PCB fabrication from MCL, and our customers are always pleased with our results.
If you’re interested in PCBs for the medical industry, find out more about their main challenges and applications. Also, learn more about the core factors you’ll need to consider when designing medical grade PCBs and how we can help you.
Challenges of Medical Industry PCBs
PCBs for the medical industry must meet a few different requirements to ensure they’ll deliver the performance required. A few of the main challenges a PCB provider must be aware of when sourcing medical PCBs involve ensuring their PCBs meet compliance, size and reliability standards. Review some more information about the primary challenges PCB manufacturers must address with their PCBs below:
- Compliance: One challenge for companies looking for medical devices is that they need to work with PCB manufacturers who can manufacture to Class 3 electronic requirements. Since medical devices and equipment fall under this class, a company with expertise in producing Class 3 electronics will be more likely to produce PCBs meeting compliance standards. PCB manufacturers must also keep detailed records, with lot tracking being especially important. Medical industry PCBs must also adhere to installation qualification, operation qualification and process qualification standards.
- Size: Due to the trend of companies wanting smaller and smaller electronics, medical industry PCBs often have to have a miniature construction to fit in smaller medical devices. A good PCB provider will know how to properly craft tinier PCBs that still provide top-tier performance.
- Reliability: Since medical equipment outfitted with PCBs is often used for lifesaving purposes, they need to be reliable. Medical devices and the PCBs in them are often exposed to extreme temperature, liquid and shocks. Due to this possible exposure, medical PCBs must be able to work in potentially dangerous environments and deliver reliable results.
Factors to Consider When Designing Medical Grade PCBs
As you look for the right PCBs materials and specifications for your medical equipment and devices, you’ll have many different options to consider. By selecting the right PCB specifications for your medical device, you can receive the best performance possible. Check out some of the main PCBs used in the medical field and some of the top factors that make particular PCBs a good choice for certain applications below:
- Flexible PCBs: Flex PCBs are a top choice for many medical devices. Since medical devices are often placed in locations requiring flexibility, the malleable nature of flex PCBs makes them a great option. When a medical device will be folded and wrapped, turn to flex PCBs.
- Flexible aluminum PCBs: While flex PBCs are appropriate for many electronic medical devices, some high-power devices need a more powerful PCB. Flexible aluminum PCBs are perfect for high-power applications as they feature heat transfer qualities. Some top applications for these boards include scanning and surgical lighting applications.
- PCB microcircuits: Another factor you might want to consider is whether you want to utilize flexible PCB microcircuits. Like flex PCBs, PCB microcircuits are malleable, but they separate themselves by allowing you to utilize even smaller PCBs with greater performance. Due to their design, PCB microcircuits are often used in small medical devices, such as industrial sensors, wearable technology and hearing aids.
- Polyimide PCB material: As you look for the right base material for your PCB, polyimide is often a great choice. Polyimide PCB materials feature excellent tensile strength and flexibility. These materials are also highly durable, very thermally stable and chemically resistant, making them perfect for some medical devices, such as prosthetics and implants.
- Ceramic PCBs:Ceramic PBCs are a great choice for organizations using medical devices with circuits featuring a low coefficient of thermal expansion and high thermal conductivity. These PCBs can operate in extremely high temperatures, provide incredible high-frequency performance, easily implement high-density tracing and offer tough chemical erosion resistance.
- Rigid-flex PCBs: A rigid-flex PCB combines the benefits of flex circuits with the durability of rigid PCBs. The flexible materials sit in between rigid layers with conductors and are plated through holes to link them with other layers. These boards offer more durability than flex boards without the weight and size of rigid boards, presenting more design versatility. They’re common in applications like consumer electronics, lighting, contract manufacturing, instrumentation and more.
At MCL, we regularly help engineers and designers of medical instrumentation by providing complete medical device PCB fabrication and engineering support to bring your product to life. Our ability to generate high-frequency and high-density interconnect PCBs can be applied to medical devices.
Find out more about how our PCB capabilities can help you go from concept to market below:
- Prototyping: When you have a new product or design revision, MCL can help by providing you with PCB prototypes to test the design and PCB prior to going into production.
- Engineering support: Our team at MCL regularly provides engineering support services to customers, consulting with them to ensure PCB specs fit the budget and end application. Some of our top engineering solutions include Design Rule Check, Design for Manufacturability, cost consulting, stackup design, surface finish consulting and laminate and raw material considerations. All of these services mean we can help you craft PCBs to meet both your financial and quality needs.
- Fabrication: Alongside helping our customers by giving them engineering solutions and prototypes, we can oversee the fabrication process. Since the PCB manufacturing process is complicated, we have long-standing, strategic partnerships with domestic and overseas PCB facilities capable of providing our customers with high-quality products at an affordable rate. Boards are always produced by a best-fit factory for the type of PCB, complexity, and technology involved.
- Lifecycle: Once your PCB has gone through the engineering and fabrication processes, you can still expect MCL to help you once your PCB hits the market. Since we’re committed to assisting you throughout your entire PCB’s lifecycle, we’ll be there for you after a sale if your has PCB any issues or needs analysis. We also put any PCB we sell through several quality assurance measures to minimize the risk of future PCB issues. MCL is able to manage customers revisions to the board so our customers don’t have too.
Get a Free Quick Quote.
Medical PCB Applications
Due to the many types of PCBs, you can find them used in various applications in the medical industry. As you determine if you need PCBs, take a moment to review some of the top medical PCB applications below:
- Diagnostic devices
- Cochlear implants
- Smartphones and tablets for mobile health applications
- Imaging devices
- 2D and 3D sensors
- Implanted defibrillators
- Magnetic resonance imaging equipment
- Dental equipment
- X-ray computed tomography
- Infusion fluid controls
- Response neurostimulators
- Blood glucose and pressure monitors
- Monitoring devices
- Digital X-ray equipment
- Flex and rigid-flex interconnects for sensitive equipment
- Ultrasound equipment
- Flow rate and dispensing systems
- Body temperature monitors
- Imaging equipment
- Electrical muscle stimulation equipment
- Wearable medical devices
- Ultra-HDI circuit boards and cables
Choose MCL for Medical Device Printed Circuit Board Fabrication
MCL provides unprecedented service and flexibility for any medical device PCB. No order is too small to begin your concept prototyping or too large to help you bring it to market. We offer full engineering support to bring your medical device printed circuit board fabrication to life in the most cost-effective manner possible.
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Interior Delists Gray Wolf
On Thursday, the Department of the Interior announced it has removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list, signaling a successful recovery under the Endangered Species Act. The gray wolf spent more than four decades on the endangered species list, and federal officials say the population is now thriving in the lower 48 states. With Thursday’s decision, state and tribal wildlife management agencies will now be responsible for the management and protection of the gray wolf.
“Oregon’s wolf population grew over 15% last year, and meanwhile, wolves continue to kill livestock in the area under federal management, with little recourse for local ranchers," said eastern Oregon representative Greg Walden. "Today’s action by the Trump Administration to officially delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List is long overdue. This move will allow our state wildlife officials to manage the wolves more effectively by allowing for a single management plan under local control."
“The gray wolf is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said Central Washington Representative Dan Newhouse. “By empowering states to manage gray wolf populations, the federal government is recognizing the effectiveness of locally-led conservation efforts, basing management decisions on sound science – instead of politics, and providing certainty to families, farmers, and rural communities in Central Washington and throughout the country. This action is one of the many steps the Trump Administration is taking to modernize the Endangered Species Act and protect American wildlife, and I look forward to continuing to build upon these efforts in Congress.”
“WCA applauds today’s Department of the Interior announcement regarding the removal of all gray wolves from the list of ESA-protected species,” said Ashley House, Executive Vice President of Washington Cattlemen’s Association. “We have tremendous confidence in the science that informed this important decision and thank Secretary Bernhardt for his leadership on this matter… We would especially like to extend sincere gratitude to Congressman Dan Newhouse for all his efforts that were undoubtedly instrumental in bringing forth the delisting and for his continued support of ESA reform. We are hopeful that this decision will guide our Washington state policy and policymakers towards a similar statewide decision towards management of the gray wolf population here locally. As ranchers, we remain optimistic that we will be able to protect our livelihoods and ability to produce a safe, affordable, domestic food supply while working in tandem with wildlife managers for balanced management and realized success. We commend the administration for this terrific work.”
“This is great news for Washington state where our wolf population has reached recoverable levels,” said Mike LaPlant, President of the Washington Farm Bureau. “We are very thankful for the work of President Trump, Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Director Aurelia Skipwith, and Congressman Newhouse for all their work to make this happen. It’s time to end the federal/state split management of wolves in Washington and allow our state wildlife managers to manage wolves in conjunction with all other species.”
“This is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall. “The gray wolf joins more than 50 other animals, including the bald eagle, as an example of how careful management and partnerships between federal and state agencies can result in the successful recovery of a once-threatened species. The gray wolf population is now thriving so it is appropriate to turn management over to the states, which can oversee the species in a way that is most appropriate for each region.”
Over 1,600 species remain on the federal threatened and endangered list.
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Thank you very much. This is great now. Appreciate all your help and revisions. Thank you once again! You did a wonderful job.
The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on the hazards that may affect your community and identify those with the most severe consequences.
Write short answers to the following questions. (A few sentences or bullets for each question is sufficient.)
List five natural or technological hazards that could affect the county in which you live based on your jurisdiction’s published source (hazard analysis, emergency operations plan, etc.). Use the correct APA Style in-text citation format that you learned in Assignment 1 to reference sources.
Select one hazard and assess the risk it poses to your community:
Haddow, G.D., Bullock, J. A., & Coppola, D. P. (2011). Introduction to emergency management (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.
Read Chapter 2: Natural and technological hazards and risk assessment
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Beneficial Drinking and Alcohol Policy
- What is your stand on addiction and pleasure?
- Does alcohol damage your brains?
- Are there any positive effects of drinking alcohol?
- I turned 21; should I drink?
- Want to read a really sick suggestion for teen drinking?
- What is the optimal level of drinking for living longer?
- Would legalization of alcoholic drinks to minors decrease or increase underage drinking? | <urn:uuid:efd6b710-c7ee-4234-90f9-fc74a8c354ee> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.peele.net/faq/index17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.904342 | 87 | 1.671875 | 2 |
An Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 tail at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). Image from AUH.
This post was written by Steve Fulton, Technical Fellow at GE Aviation for AirlineReporter.com. Steve has been nuts about airplanes for as long as he can remember, working in high school in the antique airplane restoration business and trading work time for flying time in a PT-17 Stearman and Piper J-3 Cub. As a Technical Fellow, Steve spends his time meeting with GE customers to interpret their needs and translate that into innovative products and services, and he is continually seeking new ways to improve the air transportation industry.
It isn’t your imagination: more people are flying than ever before. The FAA predicts that air travel in the U.S. alone will double in the next 20 years, and will reach one billion passengers by 2021. Unfortunately, the finite amount of airspace to handle all of this air traffic is not being used as efficiently as current technology and methods would allow.
In an effort to improve this situation, I have spent the past 20 years working to accelerate the global adoption of a new air travel system that is characterized by predictability. This system, which I have likened to an interstate highway system in the sky, will help make air travel more efficient, providing numerous time, cost and environmental benefits. In fact, the impact of deploying this system at 46 regional airports across the United States could conservatively save an estimated 12.9 million gallons of gas and reduce 274.6 million pounds of CO2 emissions, not to mention slice off two years of time spent in the air.
In addition to allowing flights to depart precisely on time by better managing the flow of air traffic in and out of airports, highways in the sky will also allow aircraft to fly more accurate trajectories by shifting from ground-based navigational aids to a satellite-based system. Because pilots are no longer reliant on ground-based aids, it is now easier to maneuver aircraft in constrained mountainous regions, improving access to remote locations and increasing global connectivity.
Each country, airline and route has its own unique infrastructure, and therefore requires a specialized approach when working to solve the global airspace congestion issue. The work being done at Abu Dhabi International Airport, for example—where Airbus is collaborating with Etihad Airways to roll out optimized trajectories that shorten the approach paths to the runway—is different from the work in the mountainous airspace between Cusco and Lima. It is important to find a solution that is tailored to the distinctive needs of one challenge, while assuring its interoperability with other air traffic management systems on a regional and worldwide scale.
Making more efficient approaches can save time, money and the environment. Image from GE.
A significant effort along these lines is SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research), a collaborative initiative to reform the European airspace and unite all of the varying systems of its countries under a singular air traffic management program. Last month I attended CANSO’s World ATM Congress, where the consistent theme was enhancing the performance of airspace and doing so by all stakeholders working together. CANSO is committed to collaborating with its partners and stakeholders and is working to make sure all of the talk and proposals of the event are converted into actions and deliverables. A good example of this is CANSO’s commitment to work with IATA and its member airlines on the implementation of ICAO’s System Block Upgrades on the aircraft, further rollout of Performance-based Navigation and the implementation of ADS-B worldwide. These are important elements necessary for deployment of highways in the sky across the globe.
Ultimately, it is a puzzle with many unique and intricate pieces, and many players working to fit them together. Thanks to David’s invitation to allow me to speak to the passionate, informed community that he has worked to cultivate, in my coming posts I hope to discuss some of the regional efforts to implement a revolutionary technology that is improving the way we travel. I hope to provide informative and interesting insight into how the aviation industry is working together to accommodate the rising demand in air travel, and ensuring sustainable growth.
The GEnx-1B engine, that is used on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Image from GE.
This story was written by Steve Csonka, Director Environmental Strategy & ecomagination, GE Aviation for AirlineReporter.com.
As you may have inferred from Dale Carlson’s comments in an earlier blog post, many of us at GE Aviation are excited about our roles. I have been passionate about aviation since my teenage years when I took up general aviation flying – learning my “stick and rudder†skills in a Cessna 172 while living in the panhandle of West Virginia. I‘ve spent 27 years in the commercial aviation industry with airlines and with GE Aviation, and in my current role, I am focused on improving the sustainability of aviation so future generations can experience the same passion.
The value of the aviation enterprise is interwoven into the fabric of our worldwide society – providing fast, safe, and dependable transportation of people and goods. In fact, it is estimated that aviation is currently responsible for more than $2.2 trillion in global economic impact, or 3.5% of total worldwide gross domestic product.
However, we recognize that with our successes come additional challenges –noise around airports, local air quality emissions, greenhouse gases, and inflation of customer operating costs with rising fuel costs. The good news is that we continue to make progress in tackling these challenges using advanced technology. At GE, we call these efforts ecomagination – striving to deliver operating and environmental performance with technology. At GE Aviation, our sustainability efforts align with industry goals and focus on three pillars of improvement: operations, infrastructure, and technology.
For operational improvement, GE Aviation offers services that help customers make flight routes more efficient, schedule engine maintenance and “ClearCore†engine washing, and decide how much fuel to load on planes for peak operating performance. Every one of these procedures is critical for saving fuel and, in turn, costs and emissions.
On the infrastructure side, GE Aviation is looking beyond making efficient engines and is working with customers and regulatory authorities to make efficient flight paths. Stay tuned for more on this from GE Aviation’s Steve Fulton!
For the technology pillar, my colleague Dale explained in his guest post how GE Aviation researches and develops new, efficient technology. Whether it is the GEnx on the 787 and 747-8 (which just entered service), or CFM’s LEAP engine for the next generation single aisle transcontinental aircraft, GE’s technology enables our customers to burn less fuel, shrink the noise footprint around airports, and dramatically lower NOx emissions.
One innovation I’m excited to talk about is drop-in, renewable Jet fuel that, once commercialized, will enable the industry to achieve up to 80% reductions in net carbon emissions versus petroleum based fuel. The industry is also looking for alternative fuel sources that use a range of raw or waste materials that do not need to compete with food production or land use. So far, the industry has identified two pathways for the production of renewable Jet fuels, and is in the process of evaluating and validating at least five more.
Can you imagine a world where fuel comes from the waste stream and other biomass? I can. GE Aviation was one of the first companies, along with CFM, to test a biofuel-powered engine in flight. At last year’s Paris Air Show, GE Aviation showed an engine that was powered by 15 percent biofuel, and we will continue to discuss our biofuel-powered engines at this year’s Farnborough Air Show. Watch a video about our most recent renewable Jet fueled demonstration flights below, which, along with several other commercial flights, flew into Rio de Janeiro during the recent Rio+20 activities in June:
Renewable fuel development is occurring around the world, and we expect commercial production to commence over the next 2 years.
With all these innovations in operations, infrastructure and aircraft technology (including biofuels), I believe we have ample opportunity and reason to be passionate about the future of aviation. Stop by GE Aviation’s exhibit at the Farnborough Air Show this week to explore more of our sustainable tech: Booth #7, Hall 4.
This story was written by Dr. Dale R. Carlson, Advanced Technology and Preliminary Design, GE Aviation for AirlineReporter.com.
I’ve been passionate about aviation for as long as I can remember. So, as a leader of technology development for GE Aviation, I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in the world.
My team and I get to experiment with and investigate technology that will be used in the aviation industry decades from now … exciting things like electric and hybrid propulsion, self-healing materials and blended wing bodies. What most people don’t realize is the amount of time it takes to develop these complex, game-changing technologies.
It’s not like the consumer electronics world of computers and smartphones where new models become obsolete within six months. In our aviation world, developing new technology takes time, sometimes 30 years (or even more!).
Why does it take so long? Because we need to prove that every new technology does not negatively impact flight safety. You wouldn’t want it any other way!
Let’s take the introduction of composite materials – including carbon fiber – into a commercial turbofan engine, for example. We began working on composites development in the 1970’s through a NASA program, tested it in the 1980’s for the unducted fan engine, and finally commercially introduced it a decade later on the GE90 engine powering the Boeing 777 aircraft. This was a 25+ year process. Check out the video below for more information about the research and development of our composites.
As you can imagine, this exciting technology takes a lot of time, money and people to develop. GE spends more than $1 billion in R&D year over year.  To get a better picture of how such an extensive R&D team works, see our new infographic of our global network of scientists and experts working to bring engines from concept to “first flight.â€
GE Aviation RD Infographic. Click for larger.
Luckily, we also have tools today that enable us to build products more efficiently. Sometimes we can even use digital engine models with computer simulation as a means for certification testing (where appropriate). We also conduct module rig tests and individual component tests prior to testing the engine as a system. Watch the video below to see our flight test airplane in action.
In fact, we used these digital testing tools to certify the GEnx, our newest and most fuel-efficient jet engine yet. The GEnx will be on display at this year’s Farnborough Air Show next week, in addition to other military, systems and services offerings. I can’t wait to see what everyone else will be highlighting at the exhibition this year. | <urn:uuid:a4a2a1bf-e699-43c1-8017-1d17f27bb508> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.airlinereporter.com/tag/ge-aviation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.941883 | 2,360 | 2.671875 | 3 |
It is the minority of university graduates who knows specifically what they are capable of and what they want at the graduation point. A way to get a better idea of it is to identify your competences. Specifically you can discover:
This way you can organize and form an idea of your competences and use them in your CV and application, in connection to job interviews, or in presentations of yourself at company visits.
Academic competences are competences, qualities, qualifications, specialist areas, etc. that you have enhanced through your education and/ or via relevant work experience. To put it bluntly you can distinguish between field competences and method competences.
Competences linking to a specific field or industry like "Chemist analyst who can work with validation and implementation of analyses methods in GC, GC/MS, etc. in using GLP for computer systems". In other words competences linking to a specific field.
Competences with a more general character and that can be used in several types of task solving, like analysis, data processing, quality control, project management, risk assessment, etc. Especially this type of competences can be worth schematising and emphasising, since these are often rather useful when you are searching for a job outside your field.
Personal competences are defined by your fundamental human qualities, opinions, self-knowledge and experience. They influence how you solve tasks and cooperate with others. You might be analytical, organised, social, detail-oriented, coordinating, work independently, etc. These are all examples of clichés and empty words. It is therefore beneficial to put these competences into context with how you solve tasks. For instance you can have a fellow student or previous colleague to evaluate your personal competences or do a DiSC test for free online (for instance at JobIndex).
There are several ways to identify your competences, for instance by using JobIndex Archive and LinkedIn.
Jobindex has an archive function if you click on ”More search options" and then "Posting date", where you can search for older adverts. You can search on titles, companies, etc. This way you can have a look at what competences the companies previously have been looking for.
On LinkedIn you can search on other profiles within the same field as you and have a look at their personal descriptions, their previous work and tasks, etc.
There are countless of exercises for identifying your competences. This one works with identification, prioritising and targeting.
1. Identification: Be aware of your competences
Pair up with a friend who knows you well. Have him/ her ask you about your strengths - both personal and professional including how you solve your tasks. Write them down in bullets or full-text.
2. Prioritising: Strengthen you competences
3. Targeting: Where and how can you use your competences? | <urn:uuid:5b2fae40-10b5-40ea-9df5-7ca51e0f8992> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://studerende.au.dk/en/studies/subject-portals/studies/career/inspiration-for-your-job-search/identification-of-competences | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.941621 | 607 | 2 | 2 |
Decision Under Stress Training
People are often more impulsive and less deliberate when in stressful contexts, this is especially problematic for police officers. I was asked to create a low-cost tool to help practice controlled responses to threatening situations.
DUST uses a custom controller that measures diaphragm expansion to sense breathing and heart rate variability (HRV). This information about their physiological state is fed back to the player as a restriction of the visual field and a variety of other audio/visual cues.
Inside a controllable yet stress inducing context like a zombie shooter, DUST proved effective at both training the physiological control of police trainers in a stressful context and also extracting meaningful behavioral metrics. | <urn:uuid:adf96aeb-e131-4566-b05d-1a0c233672c5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.kenkoontz.com/dust | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.92933 | 143 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Oct 20, 2001
The new, improved W. — LA Weekly
It isn’t just that George W. Bush seems like a more competent leader in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks; he actually is doing a better job, even if not by choice, says Harold Meyerson. The terrorist attacks and the retaliatory campaign have “forced Bush to repudiate nearly every aspect of his pre-September 11 nutzoid unilateralist foreign policy,” says Meyerson. Before Sept. 11, the administration isolated itself by opposing nearly every international treaty under consideration. Now the same administration is making nice with all those nations it had previously dismissed. The about-face “illustrat[es] the not-quite-maxim that a globalist is a nationalist who’s been mugged by an international terror network.”
Spare US government hiding in hills — Cleveland Plain Dealer
Vice President Dick Cheney has been working from secret outposts beyond Washington DC since shortly after the attacks, reportedly to ensure “continuity” should anything happen to the president. But he isn’t alone, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Some officials of the Department of the Interior are also working in secret bunkers originally created during the Cold War in case of nuclear attack. According to experts, as many as 200 federal employees from various agencies have been sequestered in secret locations since Sept. 11. According to one expert, President Bush’s apparently random flights around the country in the hours after the terrorist attacks were also dictated by the emergency continuity plans, and not (as Press Secretary Ari Fleischer initially indicated) because there was a specific threat against the White House or Air Force One.
Oct 19, 2001
Bush creams Clinton in leadership poll — Zogby International
According to a new Zogby International poll, even registered Democrats prefer having George W. Bush running the country to Bill Clinton right now. Pollsters asked 300 people who they would “rather have sitting in the White House during this time of crisis – George W. Bush or Bill Clinton?” Seventy-two percent of the respondents chose Bush, compared to twenty percent for Clinton. Broken down along party lines, the poll results show that more than half of the Democrats in the sample prefered Bush to Clinton.
The money trail from bin Laden to Midland — In These Times
Last month, President Bush ordered US banks to freeze the assets of terrorists and their supporters, and forbade American companies from doing business with those suspected of financially backing the bin Ladin terror network. But, says Wayne Madsen in In these Times, Bush “hasn’t always practiced what he now preaches, writing that “Bush’s own businesses were once tied to financial figures in Saudi Arabia who currently support” bin Ladin. Madsen reports that in 1979 George W. Bush accepted $50,000 from family friend James Bath in exchange for a 5 percent stake in Arbusto Energy. At that time, Bath was the sole US representative of Usama bin Ladin’s Saudi-based brother, Salim bin Ladin. Rumors persist, Madsen points out, that the $50,000 came directly from Salim bin Ladin; however, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, the White House denied the connection, and Bush himself denied even knowing Bath (he later admitted he knew Bath and knew of the Saudi connection). “In fact,” writes Madsen, “Bath has extensive ties, both to the (bin Ladin) family and major players in the scandal-ridden Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) who have gone on to fund (Usama bin Ladin).”
Oct 18, 2001
Has the recount story been spiked? — Joshua Micah Marshall
There seems to be some confusion about the fate of the highly-publicized audit of ballots cast in the 2000 presidential election in Florida, commissioned by a consortium of US media heavyweights. The Toronto Globe and Mail reported last week that the consortium — which includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and others — had unanimously decided to kill the story. “By ‘spiking’ the story,” opined John Ibbitson in the Globe and Mail, “they have raised questions about whether the country’s biggest media conglomerates are suppressing news that potentially could tarnish the image of Mr. Bush in the midst of the President’s war on terrorism.” But The Washington Post’s own Howard Kurtz says the consortium has not cancelled the project, only delayed it because of the journalistic burden of covering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In fact, says Kurtz, the consortium has not even analyzed the results of the audit yet, so “no journalist has a clue if they favor Bush or Al Gore.” Kurtz says the audit results will be reported by year’s end. But Web pundit Joshua Micah Marshall says Kurtz doesn’t give enough evidence to allay concerns that there may be ulterior motives at work in the delay. “[C]onsidering the importance of the matter at hand, it still seems to me that the media outlets in question are being deliberately vague,” Marshall says. If the consortium plans only to delay the report, then a joint press release to that effect is in order, Marshall suggests.
Bush administration’s mixed anthrax messages — BBC
In his “Letter From America,” the BBC’s venerable Alistair Cooke chides the Bush administration for fueling confusion and fear about anthrax by sending vague, divergent and often misleading messages to the public. First, Attorney General John Ashcroft has warned Americans to be on alert for biological attacks. Then, Cooke points out, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, “gave a gung-ho, reassuring, ‘all is fine’ address to the nation, saying the United States had on hand plenty of vaccines to take care of any biochemical attack that might happen.” Aside from being untrue (there’s not even enough vaccine for US soldiers, let alone the whole civilian population), Cooks says Thompson’s statement was “a wild statement, ill conceived as a reassuring one,”
Bush’s ‘women of cover’ and opportunistic feminism — Boston Globe
Twice in his White House press conference last week, President George W. Bush referred to Muslim women in the United States as “women of cover.” It may have been a cutesy speechwriter’s attempt at morphing the term “women of color” with a knowing nod to the traditional head scarf (hijab) worn by many Muslim women. Or it may be just another slip of Bush’s infamously inept tongue. In any case, columnist Derrick Z. Jackson suggests, Bush’s show of concern for American women of any stripe in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks is worth noting, since “before the war Bush was trying to put America’s women under the covers.”
Oct 16, 2001
GAO: Voting problems were massive, widespread — Stateline.org
Anyone still remember the last “story of the century” — the 2000 presidential election? The folks at the General Accounting Office, Congress’ research arm, do; they’ve just released their much-anticipated survey of voting irregularities nationwide in the election. The agency found “major problems” in more than half of all voting precincts nationwide.
Bush back to keeping money in politics — Associated Press
Despite his duties as commander-in-chief, George W. Bush is managing to find time to do a little political fundraising next week. The national Republican and Democratic committees halted fundraising after the September 11 terrorist attacks, but both parties lifted that ban in early October. Accordingly, the president is scheduled to headline a campaign event for the Republican Governors Association in Washington. Tickets start at a mere $2,500.
Oct. 15, 2001
Bush must avoid ‘petty,’ ‘petulant’ instinct — Boston Globe
Thomas Oliphant says Bush’s reactive approach to dealing with the complex problem of how to fight terrorism is occasionally self-defeating. While Bush can sometimes reassure the public by admitting that he is as confused as the rest of us by the virulence of anti-American sentiment, he also “gives in to urges” to be “petty” and “petulant” — like last week when he briefly cut Congress out of the top-secret security loop, and urged networks not to air videotape of bin Ladin. “At a minimum, an administration that needs international and domestic unity to accomplish its objectives should not even appear to be frustrating efforts to understand this evil better. But it has. … [W]e need to understand the enemy better, and that demands more information and more sharing of it, not less. The messy mechanics of American democracy are, ultimately, our most powerful weapon.”
Bush’s inadequate Islam adviser — The New Republic
David Forte has gained the ear of the Bush administration on matters Islamic, even though he isn’t a Muslim and doesn’t speak Arabic. In fact, he’s a US constitutional law expert. But Bush has cribbed from his writings about al Qaida’s brand of militant Islam, and his books are highly sought after in the State and Defense Departments these days. Why? According to Foer, Forte is a staunchly pro-family values Catholic whose writings have been aggressively promoted by the Heritage Foundation and another conservative think tank. “Forte is a less than reliable source,” writes Foer. “The problem isn’t just his weak background in modern Islamic politics; it’s his ulterior ideological motive. Forte doesn’t just want to redeem Islam from its critics … he wants to redeem religious orthodoxy itself — or, at least, cleanse it of the extremist stain.” | <urn:uuid:f0be01bf-7c3c-49f2-b05a-624a71d38219> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://practice.motherjones.com/politics/2001/10/bush-files-10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.955544 | 2,119 | 1.53125 | 2 |
always have an exit plan. Before investing, establish “Guardrail Rules.” Guardrails don’t stop you from crashing; they stop you from going over the cliff. That is the concept of Guardrail Rules. It doesn’t mean you will never suffer a loss, be it on paper or in the wallet, but it does mean that you will not suffer a catastrophic loss. Complacency caught me napping when I first started investing. I bought a stock and never looked at it again. I had several thousand shares of the stock and the company suffered a devastating fire at it main plant and the company went bankrupt. I lost tens of thousands of dollars. Had I established a stop-loss guardrail rule, I would have been able to salvage some of my capital. I was blindsided and got caught in the “it will come back” trap.
Asa part of my series about “Investing During The Pandemic”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ken Rupert.
Ken Rupert is an author, an educator, a strategist, and someone who lives by the principles and strategies he teaches in his Financial Self-Defense Training course. He provides strategic financial coaching for individuals through his Financial Self-Defense training sessions and offers Financial Self-Defense seminars for small and medium size businesses. He is the author of the Financial Black Belt Academy’s Financial Self-Defense Training Guide, a 2nd Degree Financial Black Belt and the owner and founder of the Financial Black Belt Academy.
Thank you for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance industry?
In2001, my wife and I welcomed our first (and only) child into the world. The birth of a child is always a life changing event, but my wife and I went from being new parents to being caregivers for a child with special needs. Our son was born with a rare genetic disorder known as Soto’s Syndrome, complicated by a birth trauma that resulted in Cerebral Palsy. It didn’t take long before we realized that he would need some level of intervention for the rest of his life. As the reality of our situation set in, I realized that I would no longer be saving for our retirement, I would be saving for my son’s care forty years after our deaths. How do you plan for an economy that is not yet known for needs that are yet to be determined? This reality drove me to learn everything I could about investing and personal money management. As a martial artist, I have worked my way through the ranks to 1st Degree Black Belt. As a self-made millionaire, I understand the financial principles, strategies, and goals that turn an income into wealth. These two worlds seemed to fit together perfectly and my Financial Self-Defense process was born. Today, I teach others the financial principles, strategies, and goals of the Financial Black Belt. My goal is to increase the financial acumen of others using the “belt system” of HapKiDo to help them achieve financial stability.
Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
The most interesting thing that has transpired since beginning this journey of being a personal financial wellness coach happened on April 18, 2019. I went back to my alma mater, Hood College in Frederick, and participated in a pitch competition. Up until that moment, I wasn’t sure if the entrepreneurial idea of Financial Self-Defense would be viable. As the night went on, I was blown away by the level of competition. As my wife, son and I sat in the participant’s seats, I was unsure of the outcome, but my wife was confident I would win. That night, my Financial Self-Defense business model was awarded First Place. That experience literally launched the Financial Black Belt Academy and my personal financial wellness program known as Financial Self-Defense. Earlier that same day, I received word that my Financial Self-Defense Training Guide was published on Amazon. So, April 18th has become a special day for me and my program.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am working on developing an app that will put the power of the Financial Self-Defense program in the hands of everyone. We are in the early stages and are working out all of the details, but it’s a pretty exciting process. The idea of the program is that as a person becomes proficient in the belt level financial principle, strategy, and goal, he or she is promoted to the next belt level. So, someone who has achieved the level of Financial Orange Belt, which is having an Emergency Fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses, will have to pay off all of his or her consumer or unsecure debt in order to be promoted to Financial Green Belt. The app will track a person’s progress and promote him or her when all belt level curriculum has been met.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
So, my greatest helper has to be my wife. One should never underestimate the power of having a spouse that supports you in a dream, even when that dream is not his or hers. I have the privilege of being married to my editor. I love to write. I have written everything from self-help books, to books about God, to poetry, and of course financial strategies. I have 13 published books (2 are out of print) and I would not have one book published if it were not for her ability to edit. Mind you, she doesn’t necessarily enjoy reading my manuscripts, but she supports my writing by editing every manuscript. I can honestly say that she has read every book I have ever written. It is pretty special when someone is committed to your success as much as you are. When she first agreed to edit my books, I would get upset when she suggested I change the way I phrased a thought or a concept. However, after a while I began to see how she was trying to make the book more “readable”. I knew what I was writing, but she wanted the reader to understand it. That helped me to think things through and see my material from the perspective of the reader. I have sold a number of books over the years and I have a great deal of gratitude for the time and energy she has committed to editing my work. On top of this, she is a great mother and caregiver to our disabled son. Her support allows me to spend hours teaching others the principles of Financial Self-Defense, whether I have to travel to a face to face meeting or I have hours of on-line coaching sessions. For her, I am truly grateful.
Let’s shift a bit to what is happening today in the broader world. Many people have become anxious from the dramatic jolts of the news cycle. The fears related to the coronavirus pandemic have understandably heightened a sense of uncertainty and loneliness. From your experience, what are a few ideas that we can use to effectively offer support to our families and loved ones who are feeling anxious? Can you explain?
One of the tools that many businesses have turned to, and I have started to employ in my own coaching practice is online meetings. I used to only coach face to face because I like the personal interaction. But with the current circumstances, I have moved to holding all coaching sessions on Zoom. From a personal perspective, get your family to sign up for Zoom and schedule some time to meet via computer. It’s a great way to stay in touch when you cannot be there face to face. My parents are both in their 80s so I check in on them every couple of days via phone or text message just to make sure they are doing alright. They are not able to use the technology as well as I can so I have not tried to hold a Zoom meeting with them, but I think the key is to check in with them often. From a business perspective, being able to conduct on-line meetings is critical at this juncture. As I indicated before, I prefer face to face meetings. However, being able to hold on-line meetings allow me to see my clients, share my analytic tools, and actually see how they are doing. Sometimes being able to see someone’s face can reveal that person’s level of anxiety. Presenting a calm, knowledgeable, and reassuring tone can help reduce the level of fear and anxiety about the current situation and what is to come in the days ahead.
Ok. Thanks for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. As you know the stock market and the economy in general have become extremely volatile and uncertain. Many people “dollar cost average” and put aside a monthly sum into a long term savings plan for retirement, college, or a home purchase. If a loved one or a client came to you and said, “I have been saving and investing $500 every month in an S&P 500 index fund. Over the next few months until the dust settles, should I be doing something else with my money?”, what would you say to them?
I would start by asking questions. I am not one to just give advice or direction without first understanding where the person is with goals, risk tolerance, and his or her collective financial health. If the person has only been investing in the S&P 500 index fund, I would encourage him or her to consider diversifying some of his or her assets in a different direction. I would resist selling off any of the existing investment since there is no reason to make a paper loss a realized loss. However, going forward I would work with the person to develop a new strategy and redirect future contributions towards a sector and industry that has become attractive at the new market lows. If the person has a higher than average risk tolerance, I would introduce the person to alternative investments designed to take advantage of a market rebound. I would also teach how to increase cash flow by introducing options trading. However, if the person has a lower risk tolerance, I would help the individual identify good companies at discount prices. All of this is done through the eyes of my proprietary analytics process. Of course, the first thing I would want to see is the overall financial wellness of the person. As I said, I would start with questions to get a more comprehensive picture of the person’s financial health. The key to a person’s financial success is the measure of his or her financial strategies and goals. If you set the right goals in the current environment and develop and employ the correct strategies for navigating the current environment, you will come out on the other end in much better shape.
Eventually the economy will recover and rebound. Certain sectors, like travel and hospitality might be hurting for a while. But other sectors, like technology and healthcare, might do very well. If someone wanted to prepare today to take advantage of the future recovery, what would you suggest they do?
I use a proprietary analytics process for identifying sectors, industries, and individual stocks that have a higher propensity to excel in a recovery. The key to any recovery is understanding the specific driver of the market correction, bear market, or recession. It is obvious that hospitality and entertainment stocks are going to be the last to recover, but even in the worst types of market conditions, there are performers. I would also say airlines will also be hit hard and find recovery very difficult. The differentiator between traditional financial planning and the Financial Self-Defense process is the former does the investing for the client, the later teaches the individual how to analyze and identify market opportunities in any market condition. I also would advise that anyone seeking to begin or continuing to invest during a vicious bear market to establish investing rules that limit risk. During times of uncertainty, Consumer Staples and Utilities are usually solid performers since everyone needs food and personal care products, running water, and power. Tech, telecommunications, and bio-tech are good recovery industries since 5G is on the doorstep and the current search for a treatment and vaccine are paramount.
Are there sectors that provide exciting and lucrative investment opportunities today, specifically because of the volatility and uncertainty?
This is where you need to think outside the box. I have analyzed everything associated with food distribution and retailers. As an example, I like the Consumer Staples — Food & Staples Retailing sector/industry. I look for stocks that will have increased EPS, revenues, and strong forward guidance due to the current circumstances. With people panic buying, these stocks stand to have improved same store sales. I also like the Information Technology — Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment. 5G stocks and the semiconductors required to make 5G work will be a good recovery play. I also believe that Health Care — Pharmaceuticals will be big. However, a word of caution here. Trying to pick the winner in the Health Care — Pharmaceuticals sector/industry will prove to be difficult. Therefore, I would stick with the bigger, more established companies and leave the speculation to the risk takers. I would also keep in mind that Health Care — Pharmaceuticals might fade as soon as the volatility decreases and a treatment/vaccine is identified and the threat is reduced. Now, more so than the specific investment you choose to buy is how you choose to buy it. This is where developing a strategy is important. In Bear Market conditions I tend to lean more towards using an options strategy when seeking to purchase shares of a company. I can’t go into all of the detail here, but using options to eventually purchases shares of stock reduces initial risk, secures winning positions at the strike price, & delays a sure purchase for up to 4 weeks. Once you have performed the technical analysis and identified your target stock, use options to enter the position.
Are there alternative investments that you think more people should look more deeply at?
Yes, however, rather than alternative investments taking on the form of stocks, I look towards derivatives; that is investments that derive their value from other investments. These can be as simple as trading option contracts or as complicated as trading leveraged ETFs. Times of high volatility create times of high opportunity. Volatility is a friend to those who are well versed in option and leveraged ETF trading and is a foe to those who live by the buy and hold mentality. The great thing about volatility is that an investor can use both Calls and Puts to profit. Timing is key so trading options or using leveraged ETFs is not for the faint of heart. And one does not want to cut his or her teeth on options and leveraged ETFs in the middle of a highly volatile time. These things are better learned in bull markets. However, once a person is proficient in options trading and how leveraged investing works, he or she can do quite well in the heart of a bear market.
If a person in their thirties and forties came to you today and said that they have $10,000 that they want to put away today for a long term investment what would you advise them to do with it?
First, I would ask if that person had an emergency fund. If he or she did not have an emergency fund, I would tell him or her to get a money market account and put it there. If he or she had an emergency fund, I would ask that person if he or she has any outstanding debt. The financial condition of a person dictates his or her ability to invest. Investing takes personal discipline, willful commitment, extreme patience, unwavering tenacity, intestinal fortitude, and unrelenting endurance. If a person has problems in the most basic personal financial behaviors, he or she should not be investing. Investing begins with having extra financial resources that are not required at the immediate moment. If obligations, necessities, and commitments require all of a person’s income and then some, the person should use the money to reduce those expenses first. Assuming that the person has his or her personal finances in order and does not have an immediate need of the money, I would recommend that the person put the money in a Roth IRA. Of course there are IRS limits for a person in his or her thirties or forties, but I would start there. Then I would suggest he or she put the rest of the money in a brokerage account. In the Roth IRA, I would help the person identify a good dividend paying stock that is undervalued by teaching him or her how to identify these types of opportunities. In the brokerage account I might suggest finding a strong preferred stock that can be used to generate additional cash to invest. Again, it all depends on the person’s goals, risk tolerance, and his or her collective financial health.
Ok, thank you! Here is a more general finance question. You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 non intuitive essentials for smart investing what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each?
First, do your analytics. All the information an investor needs is available today on the web, but knowing where to get the information and understanding what the information means are two different things. Even if a person works with a traditional financial advisor, the person should still know market dynamics and how to analyze the numbers. This is a critical point. Most people wouldn’t hand over the keys to their $30,000 vehicle to a neighbor down the street, but they will hand over tens of thousands of dollars to an unknown fund manager and hope that person makes the right decisions. And in a bear market, all bets are off. Fund managers are notorious for bragging about gains in a bull market, but are quick to say “No one can predict the market” in the throes of a bear market. So, yes, know where to find the numbers, but also understand what the number are saying.
Second, don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. Blind investing has destroyed many portfolios. I have a process for analyzing a person’s 401k that helps that person understand what options are available and how to decide which investments can best meet his or her goals. I teach individuals how to deconstruct the mutual funds within the 401k to identify redundancy and dilution. And the worst investments in a 401k are the targeted date funds. These are nothing more than mutual funds of mutual funds that take advantage of the average employee. However, if after understanding what these products are and how they are invested the investor still wants to invest in these types of products, he or she will at least be making an informed decision.
Third, always have an exit plan. Before investing, establish “Guardrail Rules.” Guardrails don’t stop you from crashing; they stop you from going over the cliff. That is the concept of Guardrail Rules. It doesn’t mean you will never suffer a loss, be it on paper or in the wallet, but it does mean that you will not suffer a catastrophic loss. Complacency caught me napping when I first started investing. I bought a stock and never looked at it again. I had several thousand shares of the stock and the company suffered a devastating fire at it main plant and the company went bankrupt. I lost tens of thousands of dollars. Had I established a stop-loss guardrail rule, I would have been able to salvage some of my capital. I was blindsided and got caught in the “it will come back” trap.
Fourth, neutralize financial threats and seize financial opportunities. These two are directly related. The premise of my Financial Self-Defense program focuses on applying this principle from my martial arts training. In martial arts, the principle is to recognize the threat and neutralize it. Then, seize the opportunity created by stopping the attack. It is a defense / offense concept. My book Financial Black Belt Academy’s Financial Self-Defense Training Guide discusses how this principle is realized. When a person acts in a threatening manner, you must recognize if the threat is directed or could be directed at you. If it is, you must prepare to neutralize it by attacking the attacker when the threat escalates to a physical altercation. Once you neutralize the attack, you strike back to end the attack. How this applies to investing is easy. In December I wrote about a NASDAQ bubble (see article on LinkedIn). I anticipated a bubble popping after the first of the year. In December I moved most of my assets to cash. I saw the threat, recognized it was focused on me, and I neutralized it. Now, I am positioned to capitalize on one of the worst bear markets in recent history and that is what I have been doing.
Finally, be financially creative. There are no limits to how a person can create wealth. I have taken advantage of so many opportunities to create wealth it is hard to give just one example. One of my favorites has to do with my time spent in the practice of numismatics. I used to buy Silver Eagles from the United States Mint. My driver was to have a complete set of uncirculated and proof strike Silver Eagles. In 1995, the United States Mint celebrated the Silver Eagle program by introducing a special five-piece 10th Anniversary Eagle proof set. The 10th Anniversary set was comprised of four Gold Eagles and a special one-ounce proof Silver Eagle bearing the [W] mint mark. The 1995-W would be the first Silver Eagle to bear the W mint mark and would have the lowest mintage for any Silver Eagle ever produced by the U.S. Mint. Knowing that this issue would be limited to 25,000 sets, I paid the $1,000 for the set just to get the special 1995-W Silver Eagle. I sold the gold coins almost immediately for $900 and kept the Silver Eagle at the cost of $100. In 2003 I sold the 1995-W Silver Eagle for $4,000. A coin that cost me $100 was sold for $4,000 in just 8 years. That is financially creative.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This is an interesting question on which to end our conversation. And I guess if it is not too self-promoting, I would like to use a quote from my book Poetry and Proverbs: Thoughts of a Creative Intellectual. “The level of personal output must be met or exceeded by a greater level of input for equilibrium to be maintained, for every investor knows that when an investment loses 50% of its value, it requires a 100% gain to break even.” As a parent of a special needs child, who is now 19 years old, I know what it means to have an empty physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual tank. My best days are those days when people pour more into those tanks than my circumstances take out. It also reminds me that there are those around me who need their tanks filled and I can be the one to do that. Life is akin to cash flow. A positive cash flow means more comes in than goes out. In this, life can be a positive experience when a person has more love, more empathy, and more hope flowing into him or her than he or she has being taken out. And as the statement says, when a person losses 50% of his or her positive inflow, he or she will need a 100% gain in order to break even. Life is an exhausting experience for some. Sometimes, things don’t work out the way you would want them to. I know, life as a caregiver to a special needs child is isolating, exhausting, and worrisome. Moments that fill the heart and replenish the soul are few and far between. So if you have what someone else needs, and you have the ability to give it away, do so; without hesitation, without reservation, and without requiring repayment.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
The movement I would most like to inspire is a personal financial wellness renaissance through the use of my Financial Self-Defense program. I would like for people to pursue their individual Financial Black Belts. Anyone standing outside a martial arts training studio doesn’t think, “I know how to throw a punch and kick my legs. I think I will go inside and challenge the 7th Degree Black Belt to a fight.” That person doesn’t think that because, even though he or she might be able to throw a punch and kick his or her leg, he or she instinctively knows that the master is more effective and efficient at neutralizing a threat and seizing an opportunity. Yet people believe that because they can earn an income and pay their bills (even if it’s not on time), they can manage personal finances effectively and efficiently. The problem is, many lack the financial acumen necessary to become prodigious accumulators of wealth. Average people can become extraordinary wealthy if they just knew how to take advantage of the financial opportunities that exist. I would love to inspire the Financial Black Belt designation as a standard for financial planners. The 1st Degree Financial Black Belt is a Net-Worth Millionaire. The 2nd Degree Financial Black Belt is a Financial Assets Millionaire. And so on and so on up to the level of 9th Degree Financial Black Belt. By requiring a financial planner to be a Financial Black Belt, he or she would have to live the process from Financial White Belt to the Black Belt levels. The cool thing about martial arts is that those who train can achieve the rank of Black Belt. I earned my 1st Degree Black Belt in HapKiDo at the age of 55. I will be 57 when I test for my 2nd Degree. Shout out to Global Martial Arts Academy in Hampstead MD and Master Joe Borucki who is my HapKiDo mentor. My point is this. Anyone can BECOME a Financial Black Belt if he or she is willing to TRAIN, just as I was able to become a 1st Degree Black Belt at 55 after 4 years of training. I believe with my whole heart that if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. The fish I offer is Financial Literacy. I don’t want to manage other people’s money. I want to teach them how to manage their own money. My passion is to have hundreds of thousands of Financial Martial Artists neutralizing financial threats and seizing financial opportunities.
Thank you for the interview. We wish you only continued success! | <urn:uuid:dc9fea5b-7510-4a10-9f54-c0da569452cd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://thriveglobal.com/stories/always-have-an-exit-plan-establish-guardrail-rules-with-jason-hartman-ken-rupert/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.973428 | 5,603 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Year of Publication
Martin School of Public Policy and Administration
High rates of poverty and low levels of educational attainment have plagued the Appalachian region throughout history. The Robinson Scholars Program was created in 1996 as part of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees’ plan to support economic and community development in Appalachian Kentucky.
The Robinson Scholars Program is a scholarship and student support program that serves first-generation college and college-bound students from twenty-nine Eastern Kentucky counties with historically low rates of college attendance. The Program’s mission is to empower students to complete baccalaureate degrees and thereby add to the educational capital of their communities. The first class of Robinson Scholars was selected as eighth-graders in 1997. Since its inception, the Program has named approximately 540 students as Robinson Scholars.
The Robinson Scholars Program likely affects not only the Scholars themselves, but also their families and communities. The visibility of Robinson Scholars in their communities, including those who have graduated from the University of Kentucky and returned to the area to pursue their careers, may inspire others in the community to pursue higher education as well. The purpose of this study is to investigate this phenomenon by collecting and analyzing empirical data to determine if such a “peer effect” or “role model effect” does, in fact, exist. The existence of an effect will highlight indirect and unintended benefits of the Program in addition to the benefits enjoyed by the Scholars themselves. The following research questions were explored:
- Did implementation of the Robinson Scholars Program have the effect of increasing high school graduation rates in the 29-county service area?
- Did implementation of the Robinson Scholars Program have the effect of increasing college matriculation rates in the 29-county service area?
To answer these questions, a panel data set for 171 of Kentucky’s 176 school districts was used first to estimate two simple linear regression models and then to estimate two fixed effects models. The dependent variables in the models were district high school graduation rate and college matriculation rate in school year t, for t from 1994-1995 to 2004-2005. The fixed effects models were determined to be preferred to the simple linear regression models.
The results of the fixed effects models show no statistically significant effect of the Robinson Scholars Program on high school graduation and college matriculation rates in the service area. Though there is no evidence that the Program is having an effect, the results suggest that the model estimation could be improved by using individual level data. Such a data set could potentially control for omitted variables, which may be biasing the coefficients of the models presented here.
Tabeling, Carla S., "Spillover Effects of the Robinson Scholars Program in the Service Area" (2007). MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects. 177. | <urn:uuid:78be8d4e-cc18-4f59-9abd-2ffdcb724393> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://uknowledge.uky.edu/mpampp_etds/177/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.950623 | 597 | 2.609375 | 3 |
RUSSIAN NAVY DECLASSIFIES ITS ALIEN UNDERWATER ENCOUNTERS
USO’s: Unidentified Submerged Objects or Underwater-UFOs or UFOs leaving water or entering water are an underreported phenomenon. The Russian navy has declassified its records of encounters with unidentified objects technologically surpassing anything humanity ever built, reports Svobodnaya Pressa news website. The records dating back to soviet times were compiled by a special navy group collecting reports of unexplained incidents delivered by submarines and military ships. The group was headed by deputy Navy commander Admiral Nikolay Smirnov, and the documents reveal numerous cases of possible UFO encounters, the website says. Vladimir Azhazha, former navy officer and a famous Russian UFO researcher, says the materials are of great value. “Fifty percent of UFO encounters are connected with oceans. Fifteen more – with lakes. So UFOs tend to stick to the water,” he said.
On one occasion a nuclear submarine, which was on a combat mission in the Pacific Ocean, detected six unknown objects. After the crew failed to leave behind their pursuers by maneuvering, the captain ordered to surface. The objects followed suit, took to the air, and flew away. Many mysterious events happened in the region of Bermuda Triangle, recalls retired submarine commander Rear Admiral Yury Beketov. Instruments malfunctioned with no apparent reason or detected strong interference. The former navy officer says this could be deliberate disruption by UFOs. “On several occasions the instruments gave reading of material objects moving at incredible speed. Calculations showed speeds of about 230 knots, of 400 kph. Speeding so fast is a challenge even on the surface. But water resistance is much higher. It was like the objects defied the laws of physics. There’s only one explanation: the creatures who built them far surpass us in development,” Beketov said. Navy intelligence veteran, Captain 1st rank Igor Barklay comments: “Ocean UFOs often show up wherever our or NATO’s fleets concentrate. Near Bahamas, Bermudas, Puerto Rico. They are most often seen in the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, in the southern part of the Bermuda Triangle, and also in the Caribbean Sea.”
Another place where people often report UFO encounters is Russia’s Lake Baikal, the deepest fresh water body in the world. Fishermen tell of powerful lights coming from the deep and objects flying up from the water. In one case in 1982 a group of military divers training at Baikal spotted a group of humanoid creatures dressed in silvery suits. The encounter happened at a depth of 50 meters, and the divers tried to catch the strangers. Three of the seven men died, while four others were severely injured. “I think about underwater bases and say: why not? Nothing should be discarded,” says Vladimir Azhazha.“Skepticism is the easiest way: believe nothing, do nothing. People rarely visit great depths. So it’s very important to analyze what they encounter there.” NOTE: The above image is a rendering.
KEN PFEIFER WORLD UFO PHOTOS AND NEWS
THANKS TO UFO SIGHTINGS HOTSPOT | <urn:uuid:73a762ad-869c-444e-b9d5-f6566bcd3f00> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://worldufophotosandnews.org/?p=6340 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.939295 | 679 | 2.125 | 2 |
Mould in your home can be caused by condensation or damp. Condensation is often mistaken for damp but they are very different.
Condensation is produced by normal every day activities like cooking, bathing or showering.
Damp is caused by a defect in the structure of your home such a leaking pipe or sink, or slates missing from your roof.
Even though condensation and damp are different, you are likely to have problems with mould unless action is taken to remove the cause.
Find out what you can do about:
You can also find how our Transforming Homes programme is helping tenants. | <urn:uuid:7a0a91fa-cd65-411a-a589-f2eb61fff431> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/damp-and-mould/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.970564 | 125 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Design Characteristics of Venturi Aeration System
Anamika Yadav1, Avinash Kumar2, Sudipto Sarkar3
1Anamika Yadav, Research Scholar, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Triguna Sen School of Technology, Assam University Silchar, Assam -788011, India
2Avinash Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Triguna Sen School of Technology, Assam University Silchar, Assam -788011, India
3Sudipto Sarkar, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Triguna Sen School of Technology, Assam University Silchar, Assam -788011, India
Manuscript received on 03 September 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on 22 September 2019. | Manuscript published on 30 September 2019. | PP: 63-70 | Volume-8 Issue-11, September 2019. | Retrieval Number: J99290881019/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijitee.J9929.0981119
Open Access | Ethics and Policies | Cite | Mendeley | Indexing and Abstracting
© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The crucial phenomenon of air and water mixing together is called aeration. The venturi aeration is mainly responsible to transfer air directly through the atmosphere into the flowing water attribute to its simplicity and reliability. A water tank of 1000 litres capacity having dimensions 100 × 100 × 100 cm3 was used to conduct the experiments for aeration for the purpose of studying the characteristics of venturi aeration system design. Venturi having three significant sections i.e. inlet, constricted and outlet section, used as a differential pressure producer basis on Bernoulli’s theorem where the middle section of the venturi often called as constricted section is responsible for the energy conversion, which transfers oxygen by aspirating air into the constricted section and producing interfacial area between the air and water. On the basis of dimensional analysis, non-dimensional numbers associated with geometric, dynamic and process parameters were analysed. The non-dimensional geometric parameters like throat length (tl), hole distance from beginning of throat (hd), throat hole diameter (th) were optimized and additionally conducted at constant flow rate (vw=0.396 m/s). To assess the performance of designed venturi, the selection of different tl as 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mm, with varying number of holes inserted, depends on the tl and keeping th constant at 2 mm. The SAE values were initiated more with increasing tl . The maximum SAE values was obtained with maximum number of holes open as 6.200 × 10-3 kg O2/kWh for 100 mm tl . A constant flow rate was maintained to construct the equations for the prediction of venturi aeration system’s characteristics via simulations. For the purpose of simulations different geometric conditions of the venturi design system were considered. The simulation equations developed for tl based on the Re and Fr are subjected to 12.655 × 10-5 > Re > 2.531 × 10-5 and 1.251 < Fr < 6.256, respectively. It was also concluded that from the nondimensional study, the simulation equation developed for NDSAE based on the tl be valid and subjected to 3.890× 103 < NDSAE <0.215× 103 .
Keywords: Dissolve oxygen, Froude number, Reynolds number, Standard aeration efficiency, Venturi.
Scope of the Article: | <urn:uuid:b5463520-3db8-4137-942f-d43ae1ffc190> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ijitee.org/portfolio-item/j99290881019/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.906595 | 790 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Pyramid shaped age concentrator can bring three times the amount of light to solar panels
Visit: Alibaba cloud “shadowless cloud computer” supports enterprises to quickly realize home office
Research authors Nina Vaidya and Olav solgaard said in their peer-reviewed papers that this new technology called “axially graded index lens” (Agile for short) shows a way to improve the efficiency of static solar panels, and the same is true under diffuse light conditions.
In the laboratory, the prototype lens array has successfully concentrated light into a 1/3 small area, and can maintain 90% efficiency under the best condition.
Even when the incident angle of the light is more biased, this scheme is far better than the traditional basic concentrator (sometimes at the expense of light intensity / but focusing more on the applicable angle).
These concentrating schemes don’t sound new. After all, concentrators such as Fresnel lenses or planar mirrors only have moderate receiving angles. In contrast, the pyramid shaped concentrator rendered in the new article looks more charming.
Nina Vaidya measures the performance of the prototype concentrator under the artificial solar simulator
It is reported that the research team has formulated a three-step plan. On the basis of the pyramid concentrator originally made of bonded glass, they have also created a version with aluminum side walls. If all goes well, this technology is expected to be directly put into use in the production line of photovoltaic panels. | <urn:uuid:0c3ab32a-13ac-43f4-969b-48a6431314e7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.yqqlm.com/2022/07/pyramid-shaped-age-concentrator-can-bring-three-times-the-amount-of-light-to-solar-panels/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.915176 | 305 | 2.6875 | 3 |
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Do you know the four stages of weak current construction?
At the beginning of receiving a weak current engineering project, the weak current new people may be at a loss what to do. In fact, the new project is the best training opportunity for the new people, who can understand the whole life cycle of the weak current engineering project from beginning to end.Before doing a weak current project, we should first know which stages the project is divided into, which is helpful to improve the efficiency of the project, and tease out how to prepare for each stage of construction in advance.
The construction of weak current engineering can be generally divided into four stages: construction preparatory stage, construction stage, commissioning stage and completion acceptance stage.So do you know what to look out for in these four stages?
First, pre-construction preparation:
1. Learn and master the construction specifications of weak current projects;
2. Learned drawings, familiarized with and reviewed drawings;
3. Determine the construction schedule according to the construction period;
4, technical disclosure, clear characteristics of the construction task;
5, good construction budget and organizational design.
Second, construction phase:
During the whole construction process, we should carry out every inspection in strict accordance with the quality inspection and evaluation standards of the project.Upon completion of the project, the construction quality needs to be inspected and evaluated and materials prepared to ensure that the project is delivered in accordance with the design requirements and meets the customer's functional requirements.
Third, commissioning phase:
In this phase, the debugging of a single device or component is usually carried out first, and the debugging of the whole system is finally carried out.The specific debugging depends on the actual situation of the system.
Fourth, the completion acceptance stage: this stage is the last step, but also the most important step.
1, the weak current engineering project acceptance, here should pay attention to three steps: concealed engineering acceptance, project acceptance and completion of the project acceptance;
2. Completion acceptance documents shall be submitted in categories, and all completion technical documents shall be installed according to specifications.
The above is the relevant content of several stages of weak current engineering construction that should be paid attention to. I hope it will be helpful to you
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Contact Person: Mavis | <urn:uuid:e7086d1a-1a80-4d08-a978-260e145577d3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ethernet-lancable.com/china-cat5e_utp_network_cable_305m_1000ft_lan_cable_network_cable_5e-13648624.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.866429 | 731 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Radon Test Kits to Prevent High Radon Concentrations
Radon is among the naturally occurring radioactive gases caused by uranium breakdown in soil, water, and rock. As a gas substance, radon slowly comes out from beneath the ground, water, certain building materials such as tiles, gyproc, bricks, and concrete containing tiny amounts of uranium. The breakdown of radon gas is its means to form more radioactive particles namely progeny or radon daughters, which can be breathed inevitably by the lungs.
In Canada, radon is one of the major health threats that have been causing lung cancer even to non-smoking citizens. It has also been founded that every particle of radon that enters into the human body by breathing can cause underlying conditions as an effect of cellular disturbances. In other words, a tad exposure to radon could actually change the wcellular perspective of a human body. However, given enough time to abstain from even a tiny bit of radon exposure would be vital to draw the effect out of the system and thus, put the regular cellular arrangement back in place.
Radon is seemingly impossible to be felt. It joins the air naturally giving it easy access to the human body as it breathes air with the lungs. It is not visible, nor does it smell. Chemists even say that basing from the particular form and composition of radon, it would perhaps be tasteless. However, it is in fact detectable with the use of various radon test kits.
In a radon testing kit, there are different types of apparatuses, each unique in detecting the presence of radon in different platforms. For one, there’s the water testing apparatus that contains a radon sample in a vial, essential for further laboratory findings. This helps determine whether the radon in the surroundings are of high, compromising concentration or still at a viable level. Then there’s the radon siren that sets off an alarm sound whenever the concentration of the radon in the area is going beyond the safe line. There are other testing involved, including scintillation, short term and long term radon tests.
Like the seasons, radon levels change. And usually the cause of that are the changes in the season. Radon concentrations drastically rise usually during the summer and winter seasons. The time of the day is also a factor that changes the concentration levels, like when the night releases more radon than the daytime. The reason behind that is the simple things that we do, from closing and opening the doors, and the adjustments we do to the blinds, windows, and generally the ventilation system of the area. In those acts, outdoor air intake is usually curbed while radon build-up rises.
Guidelines for Indoor Air Radon
In Canada, there are strict guidelines to be followed in order to avoid the undermining effects of radon. First of all, frequent measurements should be taken in every dwelling. That way, families would be able to avoid exceeding the 200 becquerels per cubic meter (200 Bq/m³) for every average area of occupancy. The immediacy of the action taken is also proportional to the level of concentration detected in an area. Therefore, the higher level of concentration, the more immediate remedial action should be taken – from the radon testing to the clearing.
To stress the importance of testing applications, radon when breathed into the lungs releases alpha particles, which in turn immolate the cells depreciating the entire functionality of the human organs as oxygen intake becomes less scarce by the moment. So in order to play safe and to keep your family away from radon related hazards, be keen in the act of radon testing. | <urn:uuid:e5c8c92a-2b26-4e28-a509-a3cb168cfaef> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.maekhawtom.com/radon-test-kits-to-prevent-high-radon-concentrations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.938069 | 770 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Angkor Wat Photos
Angkor Wat means “City of Temples” in Khmer and you would be hard pressed to come up with a more fitting name for it. As the largest religious monument in the world (over 10 million square feet!) it is impossible to not feel blown away by it’s immensity. It is equally futile to resist stopping and exclaiming over the intricacy of the bas-relief friezes that adorn every wall and pillar of the galleries.
Angkor Wat is a very popular place to watch the sunrise, but after our overcrowded sunset experience we decided to miss the typical Angkor Wat photo opportunity. Instead, we visited Angkor Wat from 11:30-1:30pm hoping that everyone else would be out to lunch during this time. Happily our plan worked, and we only had to share the sprawling area of the temple with a few other tourists, some lazy monkeys and some very industrious Wat Grannies.
All of the temples of Angkor Wat are still used as active religious sites today. The Wat Grannies are the fairy godmothers of Angkor; older women, usually widows, who have taken monastic vows and maintain the temples. They keep the incense burning, the draped robes on the statues dust free and the whole temple ready and waiting to be used as an active center of Buddhism.
It is hard to imagine what went into clearing such a large area of dense, seemingly impenetrable, jungle over 800 years ago. The back breaking labor of the moat being planned and dug. The feat of cutting, transporting and fitting the huge stones. Of the years and years of embellishing the massive walls and corridors with carvings. It seems almost impossible that humans created this. I would be less surprised to hear that Angkor Wat came to exist gradually and organically over eons, like a mountain or a continent.
I am sure Angor Wat is a magical experience at sunrise, but I would venture to say it’s just as awe-inspiring when everybody else is out to lunch.
Our Angkor Temple Visiting Plan
Visitors are encouraged to see temples as a “small loop” or a “large loop.” It worked better for us to just look at a map of the temples and have some in mind that we wanted to see. We then chose times that we imagined the temples would be the least crowded and asked a tuk-tuk driver to drive us to that specific temple at that time. Specifically, this is how we used our 3-day pass:
Took a taxi out to see the farther away temples of Banteay Srei & Beng Mealea in the early morning and were back in our hotel room by 10:00 am.
Visited Angkor Wat while everyone else was out to lunch, went back to the hotel to relax until 4:00pm and then visited Bayon Temple in the golden hours of the afternoon until sunset.
Ta Prohm Temple from 6:30 am – 8:00 am
Visiting the temples “our way” ends up costing a bit more as we hired taxis for several round trip visits to the temples. The extra cost was worth it for us as we preferred seeing the temples with less people and we do better going on shorter outings to one specific temple than we do on exhausting full-day temple excursions. We think this helped us appreciate each temple more as we weren’t too hot, tired, or “templed out” to marvel at the uniqueness and beauty of each one. | <urn:uuid:90a1a5c4-f1e2-4384-8bda-dfd80c0b7251> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://tillthemoneyrunsout.com/angkor-wat-in-photos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572043.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814143522-20220814173522-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.959468 | 767 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Alberto Janes(13 March, 1909 - 23 October, 1971)
Alberto Janes was born on March 13, 1909, in Reguengos de Monsaraz, youngest son of Maria do Carmo Fialho and Armando Janes. His father was a pharmacist, owner and technical director of the Farmácia Moderna, at the same location. The Janes family lived in the building that also housed the pharmacy. Alberto had an older brother, Carlos, who died prematurely, victim of pneumonia.
Since he was very young, Alberto Janes demonstrated a special interest and ability for music and writing, but during his school days, at the Évora School, he also experienced the taste for the chemistry and pharmaceutical field.
Alberto Janes engaged the pharmaceutical area at the Lisbon University, at the old “Quinta da Torrinha” and, after, moved to the Oporto Pharmaceutical University, where he eventually completed his studies in the mid 30s.
The classmates characterized Janes as a "student rich with money-pocket", a musician and poet, not gifted for the study of pharmaceutical issues and more focused on further readings and going out. It's at the end of the course that Alberto Janes integrates a team of students to perform a farewell recital. This musical show became known as “As pílulas do Sr. Doutor”, (The pills of Mr. Doctor) and all the writing and music was done by Alberto Janes, who turned out to play, in an exemplary way, the “compére” role.
After graduation he returns to Reguengos de Monsaraz and, due to the death of his father, becomes the owner and technical director of the family pharmacy. In 1936 marries Maria de Lourdes Figueiredo with whom he has two children.
During his life in Reguengos de Monsaraz, in the 40s and 50s, he spent long nights at the Café Central of Reguengos, at gatherings where he improvised playing and composing. During these decades, Alberto Janes was often alone at the piano to compose and write. It was then that he wrote the famous song “Foi Deus”, which he said “It was a fado for Amália."
According to an interview given by Amália Rodrigues, Alberto Janes came to her house and told her that he was a pharmacist with a pharmacy in Reguengos, but that his great passion was music, to be an artist and that he had a fado for her. Amália found then his written words and music and performed it with great success throughout her career.
In the 60s, Alberto Janes family moved to Lisbon and stayed in Oeiras. Amália had already recorded other musical themes written by Alberto Janes, such as “As rosas do meu caminho” and “Fadista Louco”. In fact, at this point, the composer and lyricist only wrote to Amália Rodrigues. In this decade, there are other works such as “Um fado nasce” and “Vou dar de beber à dor”, the last a highly successful in her career that led to the recording of versions in other Latin languages.
The Janes family kept a close contact with the family of Aluísio Marques Leal, his former classmate, who made part of a company in the pharmaceutical industry to which belonged the pharmacy Estácio, in downtown Lisbon. At this time, the pharmacy needed a pharmacist and Alberto Janes was interested in returning to the pharmaceutical business, so he started to lead this pharmacy.
In 1970 Amália sings “É ou não é?” and launches a long version on a vinyl, entirely with Alberto Janes’s compositions, including among others: “A Rita Yé, Yé”, “Vai de roda agora” and “Lá na minha Aldeia”. “Oiça lá Ó Senhor Vinho” is recorded in 1971, a success that gave name to a new vinyl of Amália Rodrigues, the last that Alberto Janes assisted.
Alberto Janes died suddenly on 23 October 1971, aged 62, after a second myocardial infarction. However, its contribution to the record heritage of Amália Rodrigues was not over yet, Amália will edit one more of his works, which she called “À Janela do Meu Peito”.
The influence of Alberto Janes on the Portuguese fado continued to be felt in the 70's and 80's with songs like “Caldeirada”, “Ao poeta perguntei”, Il mare é amico mio”, and many other songs sung by the performers like Francisco José, Fernando Machado Soares, Hermínia Silva or Alfredo Marceneiro.
In 1981 his family and friends paid him tribute unveiling a plaque at his home in Reguengos de Monsaraz. Also the Reguengos City paid him tribute giving his name to a street on that location, on the 25th April 1984.
Alberto Janes em criança
Alberto Janes, sem data
Alberto Janes com Amália Rodrigues, 1966
Alberto Janes, Faculdade de Farmácia do Porto, década de 1930
Foi Deus Amália Rodrigues (Alberto Janes) | <urn:uuid:5d8e9a67-dfd0-4319-8fd9-1c573f8b93b9> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.museudofado.pt/index.php/en/fado/persolanity/alberto-janes-en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.97203 | 1,195 | 1.945313 | 2 |
AREN 4365. STRUCTURAL WOOD DESIGN. 3 Hours.
Covers material grade and properties of wood, design criteria using structural lumber, glue laminated lumber and structural panels. Design of bending and compression members, trusses and diaphragms. Building codes, National Design Specification for Wood Construction (NDS) specifications, material specifications, test methods, and recommended practice documents. Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in AREN 3341; Admission to the AREN Professional Program. | <urn:uuid:a4668d23-1ebc-4ec6-9d33-e5d636206b66> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://catalog.uta.edu/search/?P=AREN%204365 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.786496 | 106 | 1.703125 | 2 |
How to develop¶
This chapter is dedicated to developers, and will guide you through code organization, design choices, etc. This is not a tutorial to python, nor to git. It will provide pointers and explanation, but will not teach you how to program.
Details about libraries¶
Elasticsearch is a big beast. It has a lot of features and it can be scaring. We can suggest this elasticsearch guide. The python library for elasticsearch, elasticsearch-py, is quite simple to use, and has a nice documentation.
Fsdb is a quite simple “file database”: the main idea behind it is that it is a content-addressable storage. The address is simply the sha1sum of the content.
Flask is a “web microframework for python”. It’s not a big and complete solution like django, so you’ll probably get familiar with it quite soon.
We will assume that you are familiar with virtualenvs. If you are not, please get familiar!
Inside a clean virtualenv, run
python setup.py develop
You are now ready to develop. And you’ll find two tools inside your
libreant-manage. The first is a webserver that will run the
web interface of libreant, while the second is a command-line tool to do basic
operations with libreant: exporting/importing items, searching, etc.
Download, setup and run the virtual machine:
You will then find in /liberant the installation of liberant, you can login to the vagrant box with:
This section is devoted to get a better understanding on why the code is like it is, the principles that guides us, and things like that.
- few assumptions about data
- We try to be very generic about the items that libreant will store. We do
not adhere to any standard about book catalogation, nor metadata
organization, nor nothing like that. We leave the libraries free to set
metadata how they prefer. There is only one mandatory field in items,
language. The reason it is this way, is that it’s important to know the language of the metadata in order for full-text search to work properly. There are also two somewhat-special fields:
actors; they are not required, but are sometimes used in the code (being too much agnostic is soo difficult!)
- no big framework
- we try to avoid huge frameworks like django or similar stuff. This is both a precise need, and a matter of taste. First of all, libreant uses many different storage resources (elasticsearch, fsdb, and this list will probably grow), so most frameworks will not fit our case. But it’s also because we want to avoid that the code is “locked” in a framework and therefore difficult to fork.
setup.py is the file that defines how libreant is installed, how are
packages built, etc.
The most common reason you could care about it, is if you need to add some
dependency to libreant.
libreantdb/ is a package containing an abstraction over elasticsearch.
Again: this is elasticsearch-only, and completely unaware of any other storage,
or the logic of libreant itself.
webant/ is a package; you could think that it only contains web-specific logic,
but this is not the case. Instead, all that is not in
libreantdb is in
webant, which is surely a bit counterintuitive.
The web application (defined in
webant.py) “contains” a Blueprint called
agherant. Agherant is the part of libreant that cares about “aggregating”
multiple nodes in one single search engine. We believe that agherant is an
important component, and if we really want to make libreant a distributed
network, it should be very reusable. That’s why agherant is a blueprint: it
should be reusable easily.
manage.py is what will be installed as
libreant-manage: a simple
command-line manager for lot of libreant operations.
meant to be a tool for developers (reproduce scenarios easily) and sysadmins
(batch operations, debug), surely not for librarians! This program is actually
based on flask-script, so you may wonder why we use flask for something that
is not web related at all; the point is that we use flask as an application
framework more than a web framework.
templates/ is… well, it contains templates. They are written with jinja
templating language. The render_template function
PEP8 must be used in all the code.
Docstrings are used for autogenerating api documentation, so please don’t forget to provide clear, detailed explanation of what the module/class/function does, how to use it, when is it useful, etc. If you want to be really nice, consider using restructured-text directives to improve the structure of the documentation: they’re fun to use.
We care a lot about documentation, so please don’t leave documentation out-of-date. If you change the parameters that a function is accepting, please document it. If you are making changes to the end user’s experience, please fix the user manual.
Never put “binary” files in the source. With ‘binary’, we also mean “any files
that could be obtained programmatically, instead of being included”. This is,
for example, the case of
Unit tests are important both as a way of avoding regressions and as a way to document how something behaves. If your code is testable, you should test it. Yes, even if its behaviour might seem obvious. If the code you are writing is not easy to test, you should think of making it more easy to test. We use nose suite to manage tests, you can run all the tests and read coverage summary by typing:
python setup.py test
- We usually follow these simple steps to add new tests:
- create a directory named
testinside the package you want to test
- create a file in this folder
- write test functions inside this file
- create a directory named
We prefer not to have one big file, instead we usually group tests in different file with a representative name. You can see a full testing example in the preset package.
if you are testing a new package remember to add the new package name in
cover-package directive under
[nosetests] section in /setup.cfg file.
libreant? You can help!
We have a bugtracker, and you are welcome to pick tasks from there :) We use it also for discussions. Our most typical way of proposing patches is to open a pull request on github; if, for whatever reason, you are not comfortable with that, you can just contact us by email and send a patch, or give a link to your git repository. | <urn:uuid:08aa4623-bb58-4eab-9d7c-5bd5a5658624> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://libreant.readthedocs.io/en/v0.6/developer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.89358 | 1,613 | 2.375 | 2 |
Pregnancy and parenting education programme (PPE)
We have partnered with the Parents Centre Aotearoa to bring you these interactive antenatal classes in Ashburton. They are shaped to give you the information you want and need for pregnancy, labour, and life as a new parent in a supportive, safe, non-judgemental environment. We also set up your coffee group so that you have on-going support and friendship!
We will continue to offer Canterbury District Health Board-funded spaces, for Community Services Card holders and people who meet other eligibility criteria. Alternatively, the cost for the classes is $200.
If cost is a barrier for you or there are other challenges to accessing these classes, please email firstname.lastname@example.org for support to attend these classes free of charge.
Antenatal classes follow the Ministry of Health’s recommendations for pregnancy and parenting education, and each class is run by qualified facilitators.
Topics covered include:
- labour and birth
- stages of labour
- choices during and after birth
- pain relief options
- infant feeding, and
- newborn care. | <urn:uuid:2b8ab937-8e4a-4659-babc-cfdad1f5f87f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://plunketppe.org.nz/courses/canterbury/ashburton | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.931004 | 235 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Life is unpredicatable. People are often worried about who will take important decisions on their behalf if they are not in a state where they can make decisions – admitted in hospital or stuck in a faraway destination. A power of attorney is a legal document that a person creates to give power to another person to act on their behalf in case they are unable to make decisions. The trusted person, then, will be eligible to make financial, estate, healthcare, and other decisions on behalf of the other person.
However, this document is not legally binding unless it is notarized. When the person takes the document to a notary public, the notary will sign and stamp the document to indicate that the document is genuine. In this article, we’ll discuss how to get your legal document notarized. But before that, let us talk about the two common types of power of attorney – or the two common methods through which you can assign the other person to act on your behalf.
Types of Power of Attorney
The two widely common types of power of attorney are: springing power of attorney and durable power of attorney.
Under durable power of attorney, the legal document goes into effect immediately after it is signed or at a date specified on the form. The trusted individual who is named in the document doesn’t have to prove a person’s limitation to act or make decision to act on their behalf.
Under springing power of attorney, the trusted individual gains power after a certain event. A person can assign a person who may act on their behalf after they are incapacitated by an accident or injury.
How to Notarize a Power of Attorney
1. Preparing a Power of Attorney
To ensure that your document doesn’t have any loophole, consult a lawyer for a draft. It is also important to know that every state has a distinct power of attorney form. In this regard, the lawyer will also help you find the correct power of attorney form.
2. Find out the State Laws
Many states require the person to sign the document in the presence of a notary. On the other hand, some states don’t follow such strict regulations. Before finalizing your document, check what your state laws require.
3. Call the Location
Before physically visiting the office, make a call to the notary office to find out if they provide notarization services of a power of attorney. Ask them about the fee they charge. [Almost all notary offices stamp the document against a nominal, affordable fee].
4. Visit the Office
Even if your state doesn’t have strict laws regarding the signature on the document, it is better to keep an unsigned document with you when you visit the office.
5. Finalize the Office
Meet a notary and sign the document in front of them. The officer will then sign and stamp the document to make it legally binding.
A power of attorney document will have no legal standing if you don’t get it notarized in a timely manner. To ensure that you don’t face any legal problems, visit the notary immediately and get your important document notarized. | <urn:uuid:271ba3a0-db6b-4270-b19f-138580969c1d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://slonotary.com/how-to-notarize-a-power-of-attorney/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.944403 | 657 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Thurmond lies deep in the New River Gorge on the main line of the C&O (now CSX) Railroad, in the heart of Fayette County's once fabled coalfields. With just enough level land for necessary tracks and switching operations, coal cars from surrounding mines were assembled here into longer trains for the main-line run to market. The town became an important revenue center for the C&O, and in 1910 the railroad's receipts from Thurmond tallied more than those from Cincinnati and Richmond combined.
Although Thurmond was never a coal company town per se, it was an equally monopolistic enterprise. Its founder, W. D. Thurmond, eventually built more than thirty houses that he rented to railroad employees and others. Within his town limits, the proprietor enforced a policy of prohibition, but across New River, the wealthy McKells of Glen Jean did not. Their 100-room Dun Glen Hotel, opened in 1901, hosted a fourteen-year diversion that Ripley's Believe It or Notis said to have labeled “the world's longest lasting poker game.”
In spite of W. D. Thurmond's efforts, both his town and the McKells' unincorporated settlement on the opposite shore became the playground of the New River coalfields. When P. H. Kelly became mayor in 1911, he was praised by The Fayette Journalfor his willingness to “send big, little, old, young, black, white, foreign born or any other kind to the town lockup.” Unlike nearby Mount Hope, Thurmond never boasted of its Sunday school attendance.
The railroad provided Thurmond's only access to the outside world until 1921, when a road was built to connect it to Glen Jean. The glory days ended in a blaze when the Dun Glen Hotel burned in 1930. By the 1950s, when the railroad changed from coal-burning steam engines to diesels, Thurmond was almost moribund. Although still a ghost town, it has become a center for white-water rafting on the New River and a major tourist attraction in the New River Gorge National River. Enough of its fabric remains to provide a haunting idea of what it once was like.
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning. | <urn:uuid:9701b611-3d01-4877-b8cf-09ae6895639a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://sah-archipedia.org/essays/WV-01-0001-0005-0007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.967157 | 592 | 1.890625 | 2 |
LED floodlights are becoming increasingly popular for sports lighting and can be seen on many pitches and courts around the country. Furthermore, this lighting style is now widely employed in business entities and the exteriors of warehouses. They are a good choice for floodlight installation because of their outstanding illumination and brightness levels, long-lasting lighting, and energy economy.
Although purchasing LED flood lights from reputable vendors is a vital step, it is not the only way to assure optimal use. The installation process might be tricky if you don’t know the appropriate procedures. Here are five ideas to ease the floodlight installation procedure.
Ensure that power is connected correctly before installation
This is a common step, yet it is surprising how many people fail at it. Whether your installation is for residential or commercial use, you must verify that electricity is connected before installation. There might be an issue or defect with the wiring farther down the line, causing installation delays.
It is also ideal to adjust the proper lighting angle before the system is mounted and fully linked up. The rationale for this rule is simple: waiting until after installing LED lights flood lights to attach electricity may cause the light to be wrongly positioned since you are working without testing. You may avoid these issues if the power is off before installation. You will practically see everything that may go wrong while you are still working.
The correct placement of the light is crucial
The LED floodlight should be used more efficiently if it is strategically placed. LED flood lights should be positioned exceptionally near the roof or in the corners of the home. Although putting LED floodlights near the ground may appear more accessible, given your height and ease of access, it is not ideal if you want optimum utilization and more excellent coverage.
Consider the surrounding area and keep an eye out for obstacles such as trees, poles, building roofs, and other towering things. Floodlights should be placed in dark places to provide maximum coverage to dissuade evil doers from approaching since most of their operations occur in dark corners.
Ensure you are working with the appropriate current
LED lights are specifically designed to use less energy than incandescent bulbs. The issue develops when more than one LED flood light and more than one incandescent light are connected to the same source. If you are working on a system that includes both types, ensure separate outlets power them.
If the floodlights are installed from a single power source, a power drain between the incandescent and LED lights is possible. The increased energy demand and consumption would cause the LED lights to overheat.
It is crucial to realize your limit; always ask for assistance where needed
When installing for business purposes, the lights must frequently be installed higher. People afraid of heights would have a tough time installing in such instances. This is because they will have to climb ladders to get their hands to the installation location.
In most circumstances, a standard ladder will be insufficient. You will most likely need to utilize extension ladders that can reach heights of 20 feet or more. Ascertain that your ladder is securely placed on a flat area.
Keep testing throughout installation for safety
Throughout the LED floodlight installation procedure, ensure that the LED bulbs perform to the proper standard and are not defective. Also, before you finish your task, it is strongly advisable to test to ensure that the LED light is correctly placed and operating well.
Making adjustments after you have finished sealing becomes tricky and hazardous. You don’t want anything to be dangerous, so play it carefully and test everything before final sealing. This should assist in alleviating the need to re-access system areas during maintenance.
LEDs have an exciting history that dates back over a century. Despite their lengthy history, it is noteworthy that the use of floodlights has just lately been extended. However, the trend has been established, and LED floodlights are gradually replacing conventional floodlights. Why? For the same reasons, many individuals prefer to replace their light bulbs at home or places of business with LED lights. | <urn:uuid:f91de522-d216-4733-b279-4cc8cff12ab2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://vyoon.com/5-effective-led-floodlight-installation-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.954745 | 815 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The Centre for Predictive in vitro Models (CPM) was established in 2020 as a virtual centre bringing together research across Queen Mary. The centre has already delivered the following key achievements:
- Multidisciplinary Membership and Collaboration
The CPM brings together a core of 40+ academics developing and using predictive in vitro models across the faculties of Science & Engineering and Medicine and Dentistry.
- Industrial Engagement
The CPM industrial affiliates includes 30 representatives from industry and other stake holders providing opportunities for collaboration and impact generation.
- Research Funding
CPM academics hold over £6M of live grants in the area of predictive in vitro models .
- Organs-on-Chips Centre and 3D Bioprinting Facilities
The CPM includes the Queen Mary+Emulate Organs-on-Chips Centre, providing access to the Human Emulation platform, and the CREATE 3d bioprinting facility.
- Research Publications
Members of the CPM are actively publishing in vitro models research in high quality journal papers.
- PhD and Early Career Researcher (ECR) Training
The CPM includes a mini Centre for Doctoral Training in Predictive Models for Medical Innovation and Research (PreMMIR) and organises training and networking events.
- Leadership of the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network
The Directors of the CPM have lead the hugely successful UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network (2019-2022) supporting the development of the UK organ-chip community.
- UK Organ-chip Symposia programme and other events
The CPM runs the biannual UK Organ-on-a-chip Sympossium series and organises other collaboration events and research sandpits for CPM members and industry affiliates.
- Policy Shaping and Public Engagement
The CPM is actively involved in policy shaping for UK government, funders and other stake holders and interested parties. CPM members are helping to raise public awareness of organ-on-chip technology including running a major interactive at the Science Museum Lates, partipating in the QMUL Festival of Communities and generating widespread media coverage. | <urn:uuid:2bad0e79-30df-40de-8a05-ffdaa74cb6cc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.cpm.qmul.ac.uk/achievements/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.872823 | 449 | 1.648438 | 2 |
How Do I Lower The Cyanuric Acid Level In My Saltwater Pool
When your stabilizer level is too low, you run the risk of requiring more chlorine which increases your costs and makes your salt chlorinator work harder. When your stabilizer level is too high, it can overpower the chlorine and reduce its effectiveness to sanitize the water.
The only way you can quickly lower the cyanuric acid level of your pool is to drain water and then refill the pool with fresh water to dilute the stabilizer levels.
Of course, you also run the risk of lowering other aspects of water chemistry such as chlorine and salt if you have to drain significant water.
How To Lower Cyanuric Acid In Your Pool
There is a very effective way to lower the cya levels immediately. You need to partially drain your pool and refill it with fresh water.
However, if you still think that the levels are too high, you can stop adding cyanuric acid or stabilized chlorine to your pool.
When cyanuric acid levels are high in a pool, it can cause a yellowish discoloration and an unpleasant odor.
Here are the necessary steps to lowering the presence of cya in your pool:
- Test the Pool WaterTo check if the cya levels are between 30 and 50 ppm, you have to use test strips. If the levels are 100 or higher, you need to start lowering them. If you dont have test strips with such high levels, your local pool supply store can offer one.
- Stop using Stabilized ChlorineCheck the label of the chlorine. If it includes potassium dichloroisocyanurate or trichloroisocyanurate, then you are using stabilized chlorine with cyanuric acid in your pool. Try switching to a pool stabilizer or pool conditioner that doesnt contain cya.
- Dilute the Pool WaterWhen the cya level amount is higher than 100 ppm, you have to dilute the pool water. Drain some of the water using a pool pump, and then refill your pool with fresh water. Still, you wont need to drain the entire pool. A general rule is to drain as much water as the % of cya that is off the chart. If the cya levels are 10% too high, then replace only 10% of your water.
How Do You Add Cya To A Pool
CYA is a pretty strong acid on its own, so the best way to add it is to dissolve it in a bucket of warm water. Then go all around and pour the solution just inside the edges of the pool. For safetys sake, wear gloves and goggles when you mix it.
You can often add CYA solution or even undiluted CYA to the skimmer which will allow the pool pump to do all the mixing. But be sure to read the instructions on the package first to make sure its safe.
The rest of the year, if you use trichlor, youre adding a combo of chlorine and CYA, so no further addition of straight CYA should be needed. That being said, you need to keep testing your stabilizer levels to make sure its not becoming so high that it inhibits the chlorine from doing its job.
There are a couple ways to test the CYA. One is via a complete pool testing kit, in which you can test all the essential pool chemicals. But there are also test kits specifically for CYA alone like this one from Blue Devil.
Read Also: Calcium Nodules In Pool
Note On Testing Cyanuric Acid Levels
If youre using liquid cyanuric acid to raise the cyanuric acid levels, this will mix quickly with the water and raise the levels within a couple of hours.
The granular form may take several days to a week as it takes time to dissolve fully. So dont get alarmed and add more stabilizer if the levels havent gone up straight away. If the stabilizer wont dissolve, check out our article: How to Dissolve Pool Stabilizer | Stabilizer Not Dissolving
What Is Cya And Why Keep It To A Minimum
CYA, also known as stabilizer or conditioner in the pool industry, protects chlorine from degradation from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. CYA can be very beneficial up to a point, but becomes increasingly detrimental to the pool beyond that. Figure 1 below illustrates this:
Figure 1: The relationship of chlorines staying power and CYA
Figure 1 shows us that roughly 20-30 ppm of CYA is enough to give us 95-98% protection from sunlight in the first hour, assuming this chart is accurate. This chart does not account for non-living organics or nitrogen compounds that chlorine still has to oxidize. Figure 1 just shows the relationship of sunlight, chlorine and CYA after one hour. As you can see, the benefits of CYA yield a diminishing return the higher you go. Granted, more CYA can give your chlorine more protection from sunlight for longer, but at what cost? For that, lets look at the work of the US Centers for Disease Control and their research on CYA.1
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Best Stabilizer And Conditioner
Rx Clear Stabilizer and Conditioner will reduce chlorine loss caused by the UV radiation from the sun. Adding stabilizer in the spring greatly increases chlorine effectiveness and will actually cut chlorine consumption. Rx Clear Stabilizer Contains 100% Cyanuric Acid. Order from Amazon using the link below:
How Much Stabilizer Does Your Pool Need
Opinions vary a little among experts about the proper level of CYA a pool should have, but as a general rule, it should not dip below 30 ppm or rise above 50 ppm.
Some experts argue that it will be okay up to 80 ppm, but I disagree.
Most of the time, levels above 50 ppm cause chlorine lock, which is where you have added plenty of chlorine but your tests are reading 0.
Youâll still need to monitor your available chlorine levels with your chlorine stabilizer at 50 ppm or lower you can do this with consistent water testing.
A good rule of thumb is to keep your sanitizer levels at round 7.5 percent of your stabilizer. So, doing the quick math, if your pool conditioner is 50 ppm, you should shoot for free chlorine levels between 3 ppm and 4 ppm.
You should use about 4 lbs of CYA per 10,000 gallons of water for every 30 ppm it needs to be raised. Some product instructions vary, though, so be sure to read the label for proper dosage.
Most of the time, you will need to add CYA at the beginning of swim season and wont have to mess with it much after that.
P.S. this handy little calculator helps with dosage calculations for your pool chemicals.
Recommended Reading: Cya Reducer For Pool
Shocking Your Pool When Using The Clear Comfort System
When shocking your pool with a Clear Comfort system it is important to understand when and how much shock you will need to use for best results. It is also important to know when your pool is chlorine free and safe to swim. Only shock the pool as needed this will be the case during the hot summer months or during periods of high use. During winter months or low bather load periods, the Clear Comfort system alone will keep your pool clear and clean without shock.
Only shock at dusk or night and leave the cover off. Ensure your pH is in the appropriate range of 7.2-7.4. It is important to run pump and filter the water for one hour after shocking the pool and vacuum the debris that falls to the pool floor after the shock the following morning.
For residential pools, measure the cyanuric acid level prior to shocking your pool as cyanuric acid will hold onto the chlorine delivered by shock. Add chlorine shock, in the form of calcium hypochlorite or bleach, and allow chlorine to dissipate overnight while no one is swimming. By morning, chlorine will be gone allowing you to swim in a chlorine free pool.
This can only be achieved with little or no cyanuric acid in the water. High levels of cyanuric acid will not allow for chlorine levels to quickly dissipate back to zero. If there is a high level of cyanuric acid in the pool water , use sodium monopersulfate as the shock of choice.
Recommended Reading: How Much Water Is In My Pool
Why Low Cyanuric Acid Is Bad News
Yes, cyanuric really is that important. Heres what low CYA in the water will do to your pool water:
- Increased chlorine consumption. Chlorine is naturally destroyed by sunlight, and an entire pools worth can be decimated in a matter of hours. Low CYA levels wont adequately protect it, which means youll be constantly feeding the pool more chlorine to keep it sanitized.
- With chlorine becoming less present in the pool due to sunlight consuming it, sanitation suffers. This allows pollutants, viruses, and bacterias in the water to take up space and even replicate.
- Green pool problems.A green pool is caused by a lack of clean water, which leads to algae growth. Depending on your situation, you can also develop pink slime or black algae, both of which leave your pool a nasty shade of ugh!
- Water chemistry imbalance. With low CYA not protecting chlorine, the chlorine level drops. This drop makes it inadequate for keeping the water clean, causing a chain reaction that affects other areas of the water chemistry such as the pools pH level and total alkalinity.
- Nasty pool smell. When free chlorine binds to ammonia pollutants such as sunblock, sweat, and urine in the water, it becomes combined chlorine . Not only is this form of chlorine a much less effective sanitizer, it also kicks up a pungent chlorine smell.
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How Often Do You Add Cyanuric Acid To A Pool
The good thing about CYA is that it doesnt get used up like other chemicals. Once you put it in, it stays at pretty much the same level unless you have to do a water change or have a big splashout or a lot of evaporation. Any dilution as a result of adding water, even from rain, will lower the CYA concentration.
Most often, the only time youll need to add any significant amount of CYA is when you open your pool for the summer. After that, if you use stabilized chlorine each week, youre adding a little CYA every time. Unless theres a significant water addition or loss, thats all the CYA youll need to add throughout the year.
Chlorine Becomes Less Effective
When cyanuric acid bonds with chlorine, the chlorine doesnt work as well plain and simple. Up to a certain point, this reduced effectiveness is more than balanced out by the fact that the chlorine doesnt just degrade and completely stop working in an hour or two. However, when too much cyanuric acid completely overpowers the chlorine, problems occur.
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How To Lower Cyanuric Acid Levels
When your cyanuric levels are too high, you have three options:
- Purchase a cyanuric acid reducer
- Drain and refill with new pool water .
For diluting, you dont have to use an exact science, but basically, if your cyanuric acid level is 5% too high, then you need to remove about 5% of the pool water.
Dilution is always the best solution, but if the cyanuric acid levels are extremely high, it will be much easier to purchase a cyanuric acid reducer to bring it down, then top off with fresh water.
What Chlorines To Add When Your Pool Cyanuric Acid Level Is High
If your pool CYA level is too high, it also means free chlorine in your pool wont be effective. So youll have to add even more chlorine just to get to the normal free chlorine level.
In such a case, you wouldnt want to add chlorine tablets or dichlor shock because those are both stabilized.
Instead, you want to add liquid chlorine or cal-hypo shock since those arent stabilized.
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What Levels Of Cyanuric Acid Are Optimal
Even a small amount of cyanuric acid is good for your pool, so if youre afraid of going overboard, you can opt for adding trace amounts.
But the optimum level is considered 30-50 ppm .
Any higher and it will keep the chlorine from being killed by the sun, but it will lose virtually all effectiveness in killing bacteria.
How To Bring Cyanuric Acid Back Down
In cases where your CYA level is way above 50 ppm, youll need to take some steps to lower it so you dont end up with a whole new set of pool problems.
There are 3 ways you can do this:
- Water dilution. This method requires you to drain the pool and refill it, and doing it slowly through multiple partial drains is recommended. While this will make the process take longer, it will protect your pool from potentially popping out of the ground which will be very costly to resolve!
- CYA reducer. Products like Bio-Active are inexpensive, easy to add to the pool, and its safe to swim right after its application. The only drawback is you have to wait at least 1 week if you need multiple applications.
- Reverse osmosis system. RO is basically a specialized filter that purifies and recycles the pool water, so youre not wasting it. An added benefit is that RO also reduces calcium hardness and total dissolved solids in the water. The downside is its a very expensive treatment option at $500 a pop.
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How To Use Cyanuric Acid And Muriatic Acid To Your Advantage
Maintaining your pools cleanliness is important. Apart from the cleanliness, the acidity level of your pools should be kept stabilized. Most personal or industrial pools use certain chemicals to maintain both aspects. Commonly, chlorine is a chemical added in swimming pools. Adding chlorine is essential to help kill bacteria however, it might harm swimmers.
Businesses that have swimming pools and Jacuzzis always keep an eye out on the chlorine levels present. Too little of the chemical wont help kill bacteria while too much may cause health issues. Some of the very common health issues would be the itchiness of the pool water. But just like any other chemical, its power degrades after a certain period or under certain circumstances. So, how do household or industries maintain the chlorines effectiveness?
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Does Baking Soda Raise Cyanuric Acid
4.1/5baking sodabaking sodaraiseCYANURIC ACID
Baking Soda is used for raising the total alkalinity of the pool, which is the key to keeping the ph in balance. Itâs not a stabilizer. Thatâs cyanuric acid.
Secondly, what does baking soda do to a pool? Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate is naturally alkaline, with a pH of 8. When you add baking soda to your pool water, you will raise both the pH and the alkalinity, improving stability and clarity. Many commercial pool products for raising alkalinity utilize baking soda as their main active ingredient.
In this way, how does baking soda raise your pH?
To take baking soda internally, mix ½ to 1 tsp of baking soda in a glass of water and drink periodically throughout the day . You want to get your pH to a range between 7.35 and 7.45, which you can test using urine strips or a blood test.
What raises cyanuric acid in a pool?
Use test kits or strips designed to measure cyanuric acid, so you can determine how much acid to add to your pool. To significantly raise levels, dissolve powdered cyanuric acid or add a liquid version. You can also add stabilized chlorine for regular maintenance.
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How Much Stabilizer Do You Need
Before you begin adding a stabilizer to your pool, you must determine how much CYA you already have.
We provide two convenient options for testing CYA levels in your water. For example, our testing strips are a straightforward way to gauge your CYA levels.
And the iopool Eco pool monitor allows you to see the levels of each chemical in your pool from your mobile phone no test strips required.
Your CYA levels should be between 30 ppm and 50 ppm.
But if you own a saltwater pool, you will need greater levels of CYA. Saltwater pool manufacturers recommend you keep CYA levels between 60ppm and 80 ppm.
Too much CYA decreases the chlorines effectiveness leaving you with a cloudy, green pool. And too little CYA allows UV rays to break down the chlorine.
Note: More CYA doesnt mean more protection from the sun.
What Does Cyanuric Acid Do
Cyanuric Acids primary function is to protect chlorine from the sun often called the chlorine stabilizer. It acts as sunscreen for your chlorine. The UV radiation that passes through the water and into your pool evaporates the chlorine in your water, causing rapid breakdown. With the right amount of Cyanuric Acid in your pool, this process is slowed down, and chlorine can do its job better.
The more Cyanuric Acid in your pool, the longer it takes for chlorine to dissipate. At least 30 ppm of CYA should be maintained in highly chlorinated pools, while lower-chlorinated pools may get by less. The exception to this rule is if you have a saltwater pool or an SWG, you want no CYA because it inhibits the efficiency of your equipment.
Cyanuric Acid also prevents damage from free radicals when chlorine oxidizes contaminants in your water, including sweat, urine, and other organic materials.
Simply put: without CYA, these contaminants would oxidize your chlorine very quickly, rendering it useless.
In addition to keeping your chlorine from disappearing at record speed, Cyanuric Acid also prevents damage from free radicals, which cause scale and etching marks in plaster or vinyl liners. This is why a high level of CYA is important in pools with painted surfaces.
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Coventry Very Light Rail
Coventry Very Light Rail is a research and development project, using the latest automotive expertise in the region to develop an innovative track design and vehicle, and deliver an affordable light rail system, for Coventry and beyond.
Alongside a package of measures, Coventry Very Light Rail will provide an alternative to the car, help to improve air quality and reduce congestion.
Why Coventry Very Light Rail is needed
Where conventional light rail (tram) systems can cost upwards of £25 million per km to install, and as much as £100 million per km in city centres, Coventry Very Light Rail aims to deliver a solution that provides the benefits of a conventional tram but at a much-reduced installation cost.
The project will create the technology to provide a reliable, frequent, environmentally friendly, hop-on hop-off transport system in Coventry and other cities and towns at a lower cost than conventional light rail and still provide its benefits.
Installation of the system will secure local investment, provide local, high-skilled jobs, and put Coventry at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.
The vehicle and track
Pioneering world firsts, the Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle and track have been designed to meet the transport needs of Coventry.
The vehicle has been developed to be autonomous, allowing it to operate at a high frequency to provide a turn-up and go service. It is battery-powered, eliminating the need for overhead wires. It has an innovative turning system allowing it to handle 15m radius curves, meaning it can be installed in tight corners in the existing highway. The vehicle will be comfortable and have low floors to enable passengers to embark and disembark easily.
The new track is laid just 30cm within the road’s surface, minimising the need to relocate pipes and cables which is time-consuming and expensive. It achieves this by taking advantage of cutting-edge materials science, while still making use of standard rail parts to ensure ease of manufacturing.
Research, development and testing
Plans for the first route are under development, and will connect major employment and education sites with the city centre and integrate with the bus and railway stations. Coventry Very Light Rail will form part of the wider public transport network and connect with existing buses. The long-term vision for Coventry Very Light Rail is to develop an integrated transport solution which may be commercially available to other cities across the UK and globally
Work to deliver the scheme is well underway and falls into four main areas:
- design, construction and testing of a vehicle prototype
- design, development and testing of a new innovative low-cost form of track
- business case and development of a design for the first route in Coventry
- design, planning and delivery of an operations and maintenance strategy
The Council is working with the Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre in Dudley for testing the integrated system.
The Very Light Rail National Innovation Centre will allow for testing and development of Coventry Very Light Rail vehicles in the West Midlands. This will include a test track and workshop space to support research and development.
Images are indicative.
Accessibility along the Coventry Very Light Rail route
The Council will ensure there is sufficient provision for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled alongside the first and subsequent routes of Coventry Very Light Rail. We plan to engage with all stakeholders to develop proposals to mitigate concerns.
Partners and funding
Coventry Very Light Rail is being funded by a number of partners: the West Midlands Combined Authority, the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership the Council, and the project is part of Coventry's bid to the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.
The Council is collaborating with a number of partners on the development of the project, including WMG at the University of Warwick, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and the black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation to drive forward the research, development and testing of the system.
Take a virtual tour of what the vehicle might look like
Please send any questions or comments to email@example.com
Very Light RailAddress: PO Box 15 | <urn:uuid:fe8fea2a-2b90-4aaf-8621-eb894323bed5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.coventry.gov.uk/verylightrail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.923068 | 867 | 2.609375 | 3 |
There are many recipes for alfredo sauce, using ingredients from pesto and soy milk to low-fat milk and cream cheese. What is the gold standard for alfredo? What properties indicate a traditional
Italian-style alfredo sauce? What type of pasta is it traditionally paired with?
According to Cooking The Roman Way by David Downie, Fettucine Alfredo is a traditional Roman recipe called "pasta del cornuti" (cuckold's pasta). What either Alfredo Di Lelio III, or Mario Mozzetti, depending on whom you believe, invented in 1914, was the dramatic tableside preparation of Fettuccine Alfredo, which is what made the dish a hit with visiting Americans in the 20's and 30's.
The tableside preparation is really what makes Fettuccine Alfredo what it is: the hot pasta is tossed with the butter and cheese in front of the diner, and then served to them immediately.
Again, according to Downie, the only ingredients of Fettuccine Alfredo are egg fettuccine, lots of butter, lots of Parmegiano-Reggiano, and (if necessary) a little salt.
Recipes which add cream or milk are Americanized recipes designed to allow restaurants to hold orders of Alfredo for a long time under heat lamps (and turn it into a gooey pasty mess). Italians, from my experience visiting Italy, rarely put cream or milk on pasta (a real Italian could speak up here).
Downie has a fun 3-page digression about the ongoing lawsuits between the Roman families who claim to own the name. It's worth a read.
Alan Davidson, predictably, says nothing about Fettuccine Alfredo. The Glorious Pasta of Italy likewise does not cover the dish.
Wikipedia supports Downie's story, except only attributing Di Lelio, and adding the tidbit that Di Lelio apparently called it "Fettuccine al burro" (fettuccine with butter), and the Alfredo name was appended later when it was copied in the USA. Wikipedia also says butter and cheese only, on fettuccine pasta.
So, to answer your question and the questions asked in the comments:
- Fettuccine Alfredo is an Italian dish, if more popular in the USA than in Italy.
- It is a variation of a traditional Italian dish.
- In its traditional form, it has only egg pasta, butter, and cheese.
- The pasta for Alfredo is egg fettuccine.
Now that we've established it's a modern American dish, I, an American, will tell you that authentic alfredo is cream, butter, parmesan, black pepper, and fettuccine.
It is made by melting butter in a pan, adding heavy cream and bringing to a simmer, adding cooked and drained fettuccine, tossing in grated parmesan and a few generous pinches of freshly ground black pepper, and serving immediately it's reduced to your desired saucy thickness.
Anyone who adds garlic or cream cheese is going to food purgatory! ;-) Or just enjoying a lovely variation of a creamy white sauce on noodles. | <urn:uuid:a98714ae-81a4-4b1a-b673-fa55d2d6d254> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/21871/what-are-the-hallmarks-of-a-traditional-alfredo-sauce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.93541 | 678 | 2.140625 | 2 |
- Meeting report
- Open Access
Perspectives in immunotherapy: meeting report from the “Immunotherapy Bridge”, Napoli, November 30th 2016
Journal of Translational Medicine volume 15, Article number: 205 (2017)
The complex interactions between the immune system and tumors lead the identification of key molecules that govern these interactions: immunotherapeutics were designed to overcome the mechanisms broken by tumors to evade immune destruction. After the substantial advances in melanoma, immunotherapy currently includes many other type of cancers, but the melanoma lesson is essential to progress in other type of cancers, since immunotherapy is potentially improving clinical outcome in various solid and haematologic malignancies. Monotherapy in pre-treated NSCLC is studied and the use of nivolumab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab as second-line of advanced NSCLC is demonstrated as well as first line monotherapy and combination therapy in metastatic NSCLC studied. Patients with HNSCC have immunotherapeutic promises as well: the FDA recently approved moAbs targeting immune checkpoint receptors. Nivolumab in combination with ipilumumab showed acceptable safety and encouraging antitumor activity in metastatic renal carcinoma. HCCs have significant amounts of genomic heterogeneity and multiple oncogenic pathways can be activated: the best therapeutic targets identification is ongoing. The treatment of advanced/relapsed EOC remain clearly an unmet need: a better understanding of the relevant immuno-oncologic pathways and their corresponding biomarkers are required. UC is an immunotherapy-responsive disease: after atezolizumab, three other PD-L1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nivolumab, durvalumab, and avelumab) were approved for treatment of platinum-refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy is associated with a modest response rate in metastatic breast cancer; the addition of chemotherapy is associated with higher response rates. Immunotherapy safety profile is advantageous, although, in contrast to conventional chemotherapy: boosting the immune system leads to a unique constellation of inflammatory toxicities known as immune-related Adverse Events (irAEs) that may warrant the discontinuation of therapy and/or the administration of immunosuppressive agents. Research should explore better combination with less side effects, the right duration of treatments, combination or sequencing treatments with target therapies. At present, treatment decision is based on patient’s characteristics.
Traditional treatment for advanced cancer, like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or targeted agents, have direct action on tumors to inhibit or destroy them. These modalities, along with surgery, are mostly palliative, with toxicity and only modest improvements in survival in patients with advanced solid tumors. Accordingly, long-term survival rates for most patients with advanced cancer remain low, thus there is a need for cancer treatments with favorable benefit and toxicity profiles that can potentially result in long-term survival.
The immune system plays a critical role in the recognition and eradication of tumor cells (“immune surveillance”), and immunotherapies based on this concept have been used for decades with some success against a few tumor types. However, most immunotherapies were limited by a lack of either substantial efficacy or specificity, resulting in toxicity.
Understanding of the complex interactions between the immune system and tumors leads the identification of key molecules that govern these interactions. This information reported the interest of scientific community in immunotherapy as an evolving treatment modality using immunotherapeutics designed to overcome the mechanisms broken by tumors to evade immune destruction. Immunotherapies have potentially complementary mechanisms of action that may allow them to be combined with other immuno therapeutics, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or other traditional therapies.
Tumor cells feat multiple complex mechanisms to escape recognition and destruction by the immune system. Tumor cells can actively dysregulate immune cell activity (notably, T cells and natural killer cells, NK cells) through mechanisms including the activation of T cell inhibitory (checkpoint) pathways, such as Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen4 (CTLA-4), Programmed Death-1 (PD-1), and Lymphocyte Antigen Gene 3 (LAG-3); inhibition of T-cell activation pathways (e.g., CD137, OX-40, CD40, GITR, HVEM) and/or suppression of NK cell activity. Furthermore, the tumor microenvironment contains various immunosuppressive factors from different sources that may be exploited by tumor cells to escape the immune system.
CTLA-4 is an immunomodulatory molecule that down-regulates T cell-activation. Ipilimumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that blocks CTLA-4 was the first successfully developed drug of a new class of therapeutics named immune checkpoint inhibitors.
PD1 is another immune checkpoint target expressed on activated T-cells mediating immunosuppression. Its ligands PD-L1 (B7-H8) and PD-L2 (B7-DC) are expressed on many tumour cells, stroma cells and other cell types including leucocytes. The immunosuppressive action of the PD1 receptor is activated in the effector phase of the interaction between T lymphocytes and tumour cells, and the blockade of this receptor seems to be more effective towards T-cell-activation than CTLA-4 blockade.
Anti-CTLA4 agents will act in the priming phase of immune response by inhibiting the interaction between the CTLA4 on T cell and B7 on antigen-presenting cell, while anti-PD1 agents will act on the effector phase by inhibiting mainly the interaction between the PD1 on T cells and PDL1 on tumor cells.
Nivolumab (formerly known as BMS-936558) is a genetically engineered, fully human IgG4 monoclonal antibody with high affinity and specificity for human PD-1. It is engineered to avoid the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity that can lead to T-cell apoptosis and subsequently depletion of activated T-cells. By binding to the PD-1 receptor, it blocks its interaction with PD-L1 and PD-L2 present on the surface of tumor cells and other immune cells notably APC, thereby preventing T-cell inhibition and restoring antitumor immune response.
Pembrolizumab (formerly known as MK-3475) is an engineered humanized IgG4 antibody that also selectively targets PD-1 and has two parts: a variable region sequence of a very high-affinity mouse antihuman PD-1 antibody and a human IgG4 immunoglobulin to avoid antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity.
The second Immunotherapy Bridge meeting focused on various cancer types including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell, breast and ovarian carcinoma, and discussed mechanisms of action of single agents and combination strategies and prediction of clinical responses.
Checkpoint inhibitors in advanced melanoma
After the substantial advances in melanoma, the focus of cancer immunotherapy has expanded to include many other type of cancers, but what we learned from melanoma is essential to progress in other type of cancers, since immunotherapy is potentially improving clinical outcome in various solid and haematologic malignancies.
Presently, targeting immune checkpoints, which normally terminate immune responses after antigen activation, is the focus in the treatment of advanced melanoma.
The long-term survival observed for ipilimumab-treated patients with advanced melanoma was investigated in a pooled analysis of Overall Survival (OS) data from multiple studies: among 1861 patients, median OS was 11.4 months (95% CI 10.7–12.1 months), which included 254 patients with at least 3 years of survival follow-up; median OS was 9.5 months (95% CI 9.0–10.0 months), with a plateau at 21% in the survival curve beginning around year 3; a plateau in the survival curve, beginning at approximately 3 years, was observed and was independent of prior therapy or ipilimumab dose. These data demonstrated the durability of long-term survival in ipilimumab-treated patients with advanced melanoma.
See also Table 1. A first consideration can be drawn after these results. OS is considered the golden standard in oncological clinical trials. However, it is appropriate to ask if this could still be true with therapies which prolong so much survival and it could take years before the phase III trial can be completed to confirm that. Besides, giving the number of new drugs under development for melanoma, competition for scarce number of patients to be enrolled is ongoing . Which can be the best surrogate primary endpoint? Long-term progression free survival (PFS) (1- and 2-year PFS) demonstrated to be a strong surrogate for long-term OS, not confounded by post-progression therapy and predicting long-term benefit .
A further lesson learned from melanoma is that immunotherapy targets the immune system not the tumor and therefore offers the potential for activity across multiple tumor types.
Pembrolizumab demonstrates broad antitumor activity in melanoma (N = 655) , non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) (N = 262) , head and neck tumor (N = 132) , urothelial (N = 33) , gastric (N = 39), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) (N = 32) , Hodgkin Lymphoma (N = 29) , mesothelioma (N = 25) , ovarian (N = 26) , Small-cell lung carcinoma (N = 20) , esophageal (N = 23) carcinoma.
Immunotherapy also offers unique safety profiles, although, in contrast to conventional chemotherapy, boosting the immune system leads to a unique constellation of inflammatory toxicities known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs) that may warrant the discontinuation of therapy and/or the administration of immunosuppressive agents.
The use of these agents is set to increase due to their dramatic impact on survival in a variety of advanced-stage cancers, thus, it is relevant to be well versed with the heterogeneous presentations of irAEs in terms of recognition and management. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are essential to minimize life-threatening complications. Unless an alternate etiology has been identified, it is required to consider all signs and symptoms, and systemic high-dose corticosteroids may be required for severe events, with or without additional immunosuppressive therapy.
The most frequent irAEs regard pulmonary district (pneumonitis by PD1 antibodies), endocrine system (hypopituarims, hyper/hypothiroidism, hypoadrenalism), liver district (hepatitis, transaminitis) and gastrointestinal district (diarrhea, colitis, pancreatitis) and finally the cutaneous district (dermatitis, rash, pruritus, vitiligo). However, real world experience (Italian expanded access programme of ipilimumab) demonstrated the safety profile of ipilimumab was consistent with those found in clinical studies and hospitalization due to adverse event being related to the experience of the sites: more experience less hospitalizations .
As far as melanoma treatment is concerned, grade 3–4 adverse events are in the range of 13% (nivolumab) , 34% (ipilimumab 10 mg/kg) and 56.5% for nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab . The rate of patients who permanently discontinued for any grade adverse events ranged from 6% (nivolumab) to 31% (ipilimumab 10 mg/kg) or 38.7% in case of combination nivolumab/ipilimumab .
Treatment guidelines report that managing irAEs early enables completion of 12-week induction cycle. IrAEs are managed with product-specific treatment guideline and generally following a 3-step approach (Fig. 1).
Time to and durability of response in patients who discontinued due to toxicity was reported in previously untreated patients with unresectable stage III or IV melanoma to nivolumab alone, nivolumab plus ipilimumab, or ipilimumab alone . They have been shown to have complementary activity in metastatic melanoma: a total of 38% of patients in the combination treatment discontinued due to toxicity, and 68% of them continued to respond even after the stopping of the treatment.
Besides, a statistically significant OS difference was noted in all patients (N = 143) in the combined cohorts who experienced any irAE versus those who did not (p = < 0.001), with greater OS benefit noted in patients who reported 3 or more irAE events (p = < 0.001) compared to those with none or only 1 irAE event .
Immunotherapy is also effective as adjuvant therapy (i.e. additional treatment given after the primary treatment for melanoma to reduce the risk of relapses) for patients with completely resected stage III melanoma at high risk of recurrence: median recurrence-free survival was 26.1 months (95% CI 19.3–39.3) in the ipilimumab group versus 17.1 months (95% CI 13.4–21.6) in the placebo group (HR 0.75; 95% CI 0.64–0.90; p = 0.0013); 3-year recurrence-free survival was 46.5% (95% CI 41.5–51.3) in the ipilimumab group versus 34.8% (30.1–39.5) in the placebo group . The rate of OS at 5 years was 65.4% in the ipilimumab group, as compared with 54.4% in the placebo group (HR for death, 0.72; 95.1% CI 0.58–0.88; p = 0.001), and the rate of distant metastasis-free survival at 5 years was 48.3% in the ipilimumab group, as compared with 38.9% in the placebo group (HR for death or distant metastasis, 0.76; 95.8% CI 0.64–0.92; p = 0.002) . Finally, the role of critical dosage is being addressed. The phase III CA 184–169 study directly compared two doses of ipilimumab in metastatic melanoma. Ipilimumab at 10 mg/kg every 3 weeks led to better overall survival (median = 15.7 months) than 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks (11.5 months; HR = 0.84; p = 0.04). Three-year survival rates were 31% versus 23%, respectively. Virtually all subgroups benefited from the 10 mg/kg dose, with the most impressive results seen for BRAF-positive patients (without prior treatment with a BRAF inhibitor), whose HR was 0.65. median PFS, however, was not improved with the higher dose, being 2.8 months in each arm; similarly, the objective response rate (15% vs. 12% for 10 mg/kg vs. 3 mg/kg, respectively) and disease control rate (32% vs. 28%) .
If the antibody-dependent cell cytotoxicity mechanism is more dose-dependent than other mechanism is still not clear: hypotheses have been proposed regarding an innate or adaptive resistance mechanism or a long-term sensitivity.
Finally, immunotherapy offers possibilities of combinations with other immunotherapies, target therapies, chemotherapy, radiotherapy to maximize the clinical benefit.
Among previously untreated patients with metastatic melanoma, nivolumab combined with ipilimumab resulted in significantly longer PFS than ipilimumab alone, with no new safety signals or drug-related deaths observed with the combination [17, 19].
The research should go further in exploring better combination with less side effects, the right duration of treatments, combination or sequencing treatments with target therapies.
At present, treatment decision must be based on patient’s characteristic: disease history (e.g., autoimmune disease), performance status, tumor burden, organ system function, especially cardiac function, patients’ preferences and lifestyle factors, LDH level, mutational status (Fig. 2).
Checkpoint inhibitors anti PD1/PDL1 in metastatic NSCLC
Great advance has been achieved in lung cancer like with EGFR activating mutation (erlotinib, gefinitib and afanitib or simertinib), ALK traslocation (crizotinib, ceritinib and alectinib), EGFR WT/ALK non squamous/squamous and platinum-based chemotherapies alone or in combination with bevacizumab. EGFR TKIs increased the median OS from 8–14 to 20–30 months with EGFR, ALK targeted treatments.
To date, two programmed death-1 inhibitors, namely nivolumab and pembrolizumab, have received the US FDA approval for the treatment of advanced NSCLC that failed platinum-based chemotherapy.
Several PD-L1 (atezolizumab, durvalumab, avelumab) and PD-1 (nivolumab, pembrolizumab, pidilizumab) inhibitors are currently under development. Phase I, Phase II, Phase III and concurrent clinical trials in 2–3 line for advanced disease versus adjuvant setting are ongoing.
Monotherapy in pre-treated NSCLC: second-line of advanced NSCLC
Nivolumab is indicated for metastatic squamous-cell NSCLC with progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy (CheckMate-017) . It is the first PD-1 inhibitor to demonstrate survival benefit versus standard of care docetaxel in previously treated patients: 41% reduction in risk of death (HR 0.59, p = 0.00025), 1-year OS equal to 42% versus 24% and median OS equal to 9.2 months versus 6.0 . Nivolumab demonstrated superiority over docetaxel also in all secondary end-points: the response rate was 20% with nivolumab versus 9% with docetaxel (p = 0.008); the median PFS was 3.5 months with nivolumab versus 2.8 months with docetaxel (HR for death or disease progression, 0.62; 95% CI 0.47–0.81; p < 0.001) . Its benefit was independent of expression of the PD-1 ligand (PD-L1). Severe toxicity occurred less frequently with nivolumab (7% vs. 55%).
Nivolumab demonstrated superior OS versus docetaxel in patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC after failure of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy: 27% reduction in risk of death (HR = 0.73. p = 0.0015). PD-L1 is predictive of benefit, started at the lowest expression level (1%): median OS nearly doubled with nivolumab versus docetaxel and no differences in OS were observed when PDL1 was not expressed in the tumor. Response Rate (ORR) nearly tripled in PDL1 expresser . Nivolumab safety profile was favorable versus docetaxel and consistent with prior studies. Nivolumab also demonstrated superior OS (median OS 12.2 months in nivolumab group vs. 9.4 months in docetaxel group) and median PFS (2.3 months in nivolumab group vs. 4.2 months in docetaxel group), in patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC after failure of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor .
In the KEYNOTE-010 study, the efficacy of pembrolizumab for patients with previously treated, PD-L1-positive, advanced NSCLC was assessed: pembrolizumab prolonged OS and had a favorable benefit-to-risk profile in patients with previously treated, PD-L1-positive, advanced NSCLC, introducing pembrolizumab as a new treatment option for this population and validate the use of PD-L1 selection . In the total population, mOS was 10.4 months with pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg, 12.7 months with pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg and 8.5 months with docetaxel . OS was significantly longer for pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg versus docetaxel (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58–0.88; p = 0.0008) and for pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg versus docetaxel (0.61, 0.49–0.75; p < 0. 0001) . No significant difference in PFS for pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg versus docetaxel (0.88, 0.74–1.05; p = 0.07) or for pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg versus docetaxel (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.66–0.94; p = 0.004) . Among patients with at least 50% of tumor cells expressing PD-L1, OS was significantly longer with pembrolizumab 2 mg/kg than with docetaxel (median 14.9 months vs. 8.2 months; HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.38–0.77; p = 0.0002) and with pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg than with docetaxel (17.3 months vs. 8.2 months; 0.50, 0.36–0.70; p < 0.0001). Grade 3–5 treatment-related adverse events were less common with pembrolizumab than with docetaxel .
Atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) is an engineered mAb that inhibits the PD-L1/PD-1 and PD-L1/B7. OAK data represent the first Phase 3 study results for a PD-L1-directed antibody. Atezolizumab improved OS in all patients: median 13.8 versus 9.6 months (HR 0.73); OS benefit was seen regardless of PD-L1 expression levels (HR 0.75 in < 1% PD-L1 expression population; 0.41 in ≥ 50% TC or ≥ 10% CI expression population); OS benefit was consistent across subgroups, including different histology (HR 0.73 for both), patients with CNS metastases (HR 0.54) and never smokers (HR 0.71) . Atezolizumab was well tolerated with a favorable safety profile compared to docetaxel; no new safety signals were identified; the rate of immune-mediated AEs was low .
A recent meta-analysis assessed the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors as second-line therapy in EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC . The three included studies compared nivolumab [n = 292], pembrolizumab [n = 691] and atezolizumab [n = 144] against docetaxel (n = 776): the immune checkpoint inhibitors significantly prolonged OS over docetaxel alone (n = 1903, HR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.61–0.77, p < 0.0001) and in the EGFR wild-type subgroup (n = 1362, HR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.58–0.76, p < 0.0001) but not in the EGFR-mutant subgroup (n = 186, HR = 1.05, 95% CI 0.70–1.55, p < 0.81; treatment-mutation interaction p = 0.03). Likely, mechanisms of acquired resistance to first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy should be elucidated to guide selection of second-line treatment for these patients.
First line monotherapy and combination therapy in metastatic NSCLC
Nivolumab represents a standard of care in the second-line treatment of advanced NSCLC and in the first line setting nivolumab showed a promising response rate in a phase I trial in advanced NSCLC patients with 1% or greater PD-L1 expression in their tumour cells. However, greater patient selection may be needed for first line nivolumab to improve PFS over chemotherapy in advanced lung cancer, as the CheckMate 026 trial gave negative results in a broad group of patients expressing PD-L1 in their tumour cells.
In fact, the phase III CheckMate 026 trial investigated the efficacy of first line treatment with nivolumab compared to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC and PD-L1 positive tumours (defined as present in 1% or more tumour cells) . In the 423 patients with 5% or greater PD-L1 expression, PFS was 4.2 months with nivolumab and 5.9 months with chemotherapy (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.91–1.45, p = 0.25) . OS was 14.4 months for nivolumab versus 13.2 months for chemotherapy (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.80–1.30). Among all treated patients, any and serious treatment-related adverse events were 71 and 18% with nivolumab, and 92 and 51% with chemotherapy, respectively . Nivolumab did not meet the primary endpoint of superior PFS compared with chemotherapy but OS was similar in the nivolumab and chemotherapy arms, and both compared favorably with historical controls (60.4% of patients in the chemotherapy arm received subsequent nivolumab); safety results were consistent with the known safety profile of nivolumab; there were fewer treatment-related grade 3–4 adverse events in the nivolumab versus chemotherapy arm.
A very relevant phase III trial (KEYNOTE 024) explored pembrolizumab as first line treatment compared to standard of care with platinum-based chemotherapy in untreated patients with advanced NSCLC and high PD-L1 expression (defined as expression in at least 50% of tumour cells) . Patients with EGFR activating mutations and ALK translocations were excluded from recruitment to find better options than chemotherapy for these patients . Patients in the chemotherapy arm who progressed were eligible to crossover to pembrolizumab as second line treatment (44% of these patients). The investigators found that pembrolizumab significantly improved the primary endpoint PFS by approximately 4 months compared to chemotherapy (10.3 months vs. 6.0 months, HR 0.50). The secondary endpoint OS was also significantly prolonged, and 80% of patients on pembrolizumab were alive at six months compared to 72% on chemotherapy (HR = 0.60). The significant improvement in OS with pembrolizumab was remarkable given that more than 40% of patients crossed over from the control arm to pembrolizumab after progression of the disease . Pembrolizumab was associated with a higher overall response rate compared to chemotherapy (45% vs. 28%), a longer duration of response, and lower incidences of all and serious (3/4) adverse events.
Immunotherapies may show a benefit as first line treatment. Pembrolizumab in combination with carboplatin and pemetrexed is superior to carboplatin and pemetrexed alone as first-line therapy for advanced non-squamous NSCLC: ORR nearly doubled by adding pembrolizumab to chemotherapy: 55% versus 29% . Risk of progression or death nearly halved: HR of 0.53 for PFS, with median PFS for pembrolizumab + chemotherapy exceeding 1 year. Similar OS between arms: 92% survival at 6 months in both arms . The combination of pembrolizumab + carboplatin and pemetrexed is tolerable and has a manageable safety profile .
In the Phase 1 CheckMate 012 study nivolumab plus ipilimumab is well tolerated: frequency of treatment-related AEs leading to discontinuation was similar to nivolumab monotherapy (11–13%) . There were no treatment-related deaths. Nivolumab plus ipilimumab has promising efficacy (39–47% ORR); median duration of response was not reached. Efficacy with nivolumab plus ipilimumab is enhanced with increasing PD-L1 expression:
≥ 1% tumor PD-L1 expression: 57% ORR; 83–90% 1-year OS rates.
≥ 50% tumor PD-L1 expression: 92% ORR .
Nivolumab 3 mg/kg Q2W plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg Q6W schedule is being evaluated in further studies, including the ongoing phase III CheckMate 227 trial evaluates nivolumab monotherapy and nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination regimens versus PT-DC in patients with chemotherapy-naïve stage IV or recurrent squamous and non-squamous NSCLC .
No PD-L1 inhibitors have yet been approved for the treatment of NSCLC. Atezolizumab (MPDL3280A), durvalumab (MEDI4736), and avelumab are among the most advanced in clinical development.
A phase III trial with Atezolizumab in NSCLC as single agent in 1-line and combined to chemotherapy is ongoing.
Finally, neoadjuvant immunotherapy (i.e. additional treatment given before the main treatment, usually surgery) with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab was assessed as safe and feasible prior to surgery for early lung cancer, in patients with untreated, resectable, stage I-IIIA NSCLC underwent pretreatment tumor biopsy and then received two doses of nivolumab .
Survival benefit with PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors is independent of histologic subtype. However, some unsolved questions need answers: duration of therapy (1, 2 years, until progression of disease), use of single agent or combinations (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, other immunotherapy i.e. nivolumab + ipilimumab, pembrolizumab + ipilimumab, others), treatment strategy (upfront, maintenance), potential role in stage III, potential role in adjuvant setting.
Further research on the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in subgroups such as EGFR/ALK-positive and current/former smokers is warranted. Further investigation of PD-L1 as a predictive biomarker is also required: PD-L1 appears predictive of response to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors in some settings; PD-L1 low/no expressing patients can still benefit from treatment. Continued research to identify potential biomarkers beyond PD-L1 is needed, for example smoking status, mutational landscape, other immune parameters, like tumor-infiltrating immune cells, immune-gene signatures, and ‘Immunoscore’.
A clinical consensus about several aspects is highly required: harmonization of all different IHC PD-L1 expression tests, new lab predictive factors (including results from liquid biopsy), treatment duration (i.e. until progression disease versus definite number of cycles), role in first-line as single agent and combined to chemotherapy, role in maintenance strategy, combination of immunotherapies, trials on Medium level of priority in the research can be given to studies on predictive role of IHC (produced by DAKO) PD-L1 expression for all anti PD-1 and anti PD-L1 inhibitors CT scan at definite time versus CT scan at clinically indication, neoadjuvant setting and combination with targeted therapies. Smokers plus former smokers versus never smokers can be targeted as low priority research.
Head and neck cancer
The term head and neck carcinoma encompasses all malignancies arising in the nasal and oral cavities, pharynx, larynx and the paranasal sinuses. Majority of these (approximately 95%) epithelial cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCCs) are characterized by phenotypic, etiological, biological and clinical heterogeneity and can originate from the paranasal sinuses, nasal cavity, oral cavity, pharynx and larynx. The major known risk factors of HNSCC are consumption of tobacco and alcohol, as well as human papillomaviruses infection. Multiple studies have elucidated the specific genetic background of HNSCC, establishing subclasses of tumors alongside HPV infection and/or TP53 mutations. Tumor characteristics vary between patients of different ages.
Prognostic biomarker indicates the likely course of the disease in untreated patients (or regardless of treatment); predictive biomarker identifies subpopulations of patients who are most likely to respond to a given therapy. A variety of biomarkers have been reported in literature with a promising potential but these are still in the need of clinical validation. Table 2 reports the list of current biomarkers validated in the head and neck cancer.
Early detection in head and neck cancer has been shown to dramatically increase survival rates when compared to detection at later disease stages, being the most important variable leading to positive outcomes . Moreover, there are few screening tools and markers to discriminate the patients who are to be benefited by adjuvant therapy. Among biomarkers, HPV, especially HPV16, is considered one of the causing factors for HNSCC. HPV DNA has been found in 15–25% of HNSCC and the association differs depending on the site of the tumor; HPV DNA is detected in 45–67% of cases of cancers of the tonsil, in 13–25% of hypopharyngeal cancer, in 12–18% of the cancers of oral cavity and in 3–7% of carcinoma larynx and it may be associated with prognosis of disease, especially in tonsillar cancers.
Recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC treatment options include chemotherapy or immunotherapy, re-irradiation, salvage surgery, best supportive care. Development of effective therapies for metastatic HNSCC has been challenging. Since the 80s when methotrexate and combination of cispaltinum and fluororuracil were used, new treatments arrived only in 2006 with cetuximab and in 2014–2015 with the approval of PD-1 inhibitors for solid tumors.
Tumor progression depends on acquisition of traits that allow cancer cells to evade immune surveillance and an effective immune response. HNSCC is an immunosuppressive disease, with lower absolute lymphocyte counts than those found in healthy subjects, impaired natural killer cell activity, and poor antigen-presenting function, impairment of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes . In addition, suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been linked to HNSCC tumor progression. Tregs secrete suppressive cytokines such as TGFβ and IL-10, express CTLA-4 and correlate with tumor progression. Therefore, immunomodulatory therapies that overcome immune suppressive signals in patients with HNSCC have therapeutic promise. The FDA recently approved moAbs targeting immune checkpoint receptors, including anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1, hopefully increasing the patients’ benefit from immunomodulatory therapies.
Only 3 studies have been currently completed and reported.
Nivolumab resulted in longer OS than treatment with standard, as single-agent therapy in patients with platinum-refractory, recurrent HNSCC . In the CheckMate 141 study, an open-label, phase 3 trial (N = 361), the median OS was 7.5 months (95% CI 5.5–9.1) in the nivolumab group versus 5.1 months (95% CI 4.0–6.0) in the group that received standard therapy. OS was significantly longer with nivolumab than with standard therapy (HR for death, 0.70; 97.73% CI 0.51–0.96; p = 0.01), and the estimates of the 1-year survival rate were approximately 19% higher with nivolumab than with standard therapy (36.0% vs. 16.6%). The median PFS was 2.0 months (95% CI 1.9–2.1) with nivolumab versus 2.3 months (95% CI 1.9–3.1) with standard therapy (HR for disease progression or death, 0.89; 95% CI 0.70–1.13; p = 0.32). The rate of PFS at 6 months was 19.7% with nivolumab versus 9.9% with standard therapy. The response rate was 13.3% in the nivolumab group versus 5.8% in the standard-therapy group. Treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or 4 occurred in 13.1% of the patients in the nivolumab group versus 35.1% of those in the standard-therapy group. Physical, role, and social functioning was stable in the nivolumab group, whereas it was meaningfully worse in the standard-therapy group .
Pembrolizumab was well tolerated and demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumour activity in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC, PD-L1 expression . The proportion of patients (N = 104) with an overall response by central imaging review was 18% (95% CI 8–32) in all patient, it was 25% (95% CI 7–52) in HPV-positive patients and 14% (95% CI 4–32) in HPV-negative patients. Pembrolizumab was well tolerated, with 17% of patients having grade 3–4 drug-related adverse events and 45% experiencing a serious adverse event .
The preliminary results from the phase 2, non-randomized KEYNOTE-055 study evaluating pembrolizumab after progression on platinum and cetuximab in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC, showed that, on the first 50 patients enrolled (median follow-up time was 6.8 months), 12% patients experienced grade 3-5 treatment-related adverse events; the stable disease rate was 18.0% .
Several anti PD1 and vaccine studies are currently ongoing on HNSCC. We just want to mention the phase III studies regarding the anti-PD1 and currently recruiting. A first line study (Keynote 48) with, pembrolizumab versus pembrolizumab + platinum/5-FU versus Cetuximab + Platinum/5-FU is ongoing. In recurrent/metastatic NHSCC patients after 6-month curative therapy; PFS was the primary endpoint. A further study, including anti-PD1 and antiCTL4 regarded durvalumab versus durvalumab + tremelimumab versus cetuximab/platinum/5-FU (KESTREL study); PFS and OS were the end-pointsAnti-PD-1 pembrolizumab versus cetuximab, methotrexate or docetaxel is under evaluation in platinum refractory/metastatic HNSCC (EAGLE study)Durvalumab versus durvalumab + tremelimumab versus standard of care in platinum refractory R/M HNSCC < 6 months from therapy containing platinum PD-L1+ is also ongoing.
Kidney and prostate cancer
Prior to the advances in therapeutics seen over the last decade, the mainstay of treatment for metastatic kidney disease was cytokine-based treatment with high dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-alpha (IFN-α) after their FDA approval in the 1990s. Although this therapy regimen produced objective responses, there were significant toxicities, treatment benefit was only seen in 5–15% of patients, and outcome for most patients was poor. Since 2004, the advances in target-based therapy and immunotherapy modalities have created a paradigm shift in the treatment of renal carcinoma. These agents have had a remarkable effect on patient outcomes with increased PFS rates; however, virtually all patients eventually progress. The high likelihood of disease progression remains a challenge due to therapeutic resistance. Refractory disease is currently being managed with sequentially changing therapy, but morbidity and mortality remain high.
The agents approved for the first-line treatment of metastatic renal carcinoma has rapidly developed over the years and now includes the small-molecule VEGF Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI)-sunitinib and pazopanib, a monoclonal antibody targeting VEGF-bevacizumab in combination with interferon, and a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor-temsirolimus, as well as high dose IL-2. In the recent past, the approach to the treatment of patients with mRCC entailed sequential employment of agents targeting VEGF or mTOR pathways. Agents with anti-angiogenesis properties have become the mainstay of initial therapy for advanced renal carcinoma due to their preferable efficacy and toxicity profile. The current level 1 recommendation from ESMO is the use of oral, multi-target, TKIs—specifically sunitinib and pazopanib—in the first-line setting (Table 3) .
Metastatic renal carcinoma is highly immunogenic. Immunotherapy involves the activation of endogenous immune system to target cancer at cellular level and enable checkpoint inhibition in two-principle immune signaling mechanisms: CTLA-4 and PD-1. Anti-PD1/PDL1 is the backbone of future combination immunotherapies and anti-PD1/PDL1 combination therapies are expected to disrupt the current treatment paradigms in kidney cancer.
From a study on 821 patients with advanced clear renal carcinoma, receiving previous treatment with one or two regimens of antiangiogenic therapy receiving nivolumab or everolimus, the OS was 25.0 months (95% CI 21.8 to not estimable) with nivolumab and 19.6 months (95% CI 17.6–23.1) with everolimus, with an HR for death with nivolumab versus everolimus of 0.73 (98.5% CI 0.5–0.93; p = 0.002). The median PFS was 4.6 months (95% CI 3.7–5.4) with nivolumab and 4.4 months (95% CI 3.–5.5) with everolimus (HR, 0.88; 95% CI 0.75–1.03; p = 0.11) (CheckMate 025 study).
Studies on combinations and immunotherapy in first line are ongoing. Nivolumab in combination with ipilumumab showed acceptable safety and encouraging antitumor activity in metastatic renal carcinoma with most responses ongoing . More recently, the CheckMate 214 was designed as phase 3 study of Nivolumab + Ipilimumab versus Sunitinib in previously untreated mRCC, with then Nivolumab 3 mg/kg solutions until documented disease progression, discontinuation due to toxicity, withdrawal of consent or the study ends . A phase II study on atezolizumab, an engineered anti-PD-L1 Antibody as monotherapy or in combination with bevacizumab compared to sunitinib in untreated advanced RCC has failed to demonstrate an improved PFS over sunitinib, but shows promise PDL1 positive subsets. The phase III trial is still ongoing.
Updated ESMO renal cancer 2016 guidelines reported no current evidence that new checkpoint inhibitors should be used in first line, although numerous ongoing trials are exploring their role, either as monotherapy or in combination (with either VEGF inhibitors or other checkpoint inhibitors), mostly on cabozantinib. Second-line treatments have recently been dramatically modified by the report of two large trials showing improvement in OS with nivolumab and cabozantinib over everolimus: both trials showed very significant improvement in OS and response rate, while PFS was improved only in the cabozantinib trial. In both trials, patients could be treated after either one or two TKIs [41, 45, 46].
A further management strategy is conservation. Because of the toxicity and non-curative nature of current systemic therapy, selected patients may benefit from initial surveillance only. Metastatic renal cancer patients can be safely observed for a period before starting systemic therapy. This was demonstrated in a prospective phase II observation trial in pts with mRCC prior to initial systemic treatment. Median months of observation until start of systemic therapy was 14.1 months with periodic CT assessment. Initiation of systemic treatment was discretionary, according to tumor size, location or number of metastases .
Nevertheless, how long should be the schedule and length of treatment, which other combination can be investigated, Other Immune Checkpoints (CTLA4,LAG3, Kir,..) use, agonist (Ox40, GITR..) and vaccines use, TME modifiers (VEGF TKI, MSDC/Treg depletion, IDO Inhibitors) and adoptive/CAR T-cell therapy remain open. Finally, several trials evaluating PD1 and PDL1 inhibitors in the adjuvant space are accruing.
Immunotherapy in advanced hepatocarcinoma
Advanced Hepatocarcinoma (HCC) (Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer, BCLC stage C or stage B no longer suitable for locoregional treatments) patients with cancer related symptoms (symptomatic tumors, ECOG 1–2), macrovascular invasion (either segmental or portal invasion) or extrahepatic spread (lymph node involvement or metastases) bear a dismal prognosis, with expected median survival times of 7–8 months or 25% at 1 year. In 2006, there was no approved first line treatment for patients with advanced HCC. This scenario changed because of data showing survival benefits in patients receiving sorafenib—a multi tyrosine kinase inhibitor—in patients with HCC not eligible for surgery or locoregional treatments. These results represented a breakthrough in the management of HCC: median OS was significantly longer in the sorafenib group than in the placebo group (10.7 months vs. 7.9 months; HR in the sorafenib group, 0.69; 95% CI 0.55–0.87; p < 0.001). At 1-year sorafenib provided significant survival benefit representing a 31% relative reduction in the risk of death. Sorafenib resulted effective and well tolerated for the treatment of advanced HCC also in patients from the Asia–Pacific region: median OS was 6.5 months (95% CI 5.56–7.56) in patients treated with sorafenib, compared with 4.2 months (3.75–5.46) in those who received placebo (HR 0.68 95% CI 0.50–0.93; p = 0.014) .
Based on promising activity in their second-line phase 2 study Bruix et al. evaluated regorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor, in patients with intermediate or advanced HCC who had disease progression on sorafenib . Adults with HCC BCLC stage B or C received sorafenib until radiological progression and were then randomized to regorafenib. The regorafenib group had a 38% reduction in the risk of death (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.50‒0.78; p < 0.001); median OS (regorafenib vs. placebo) was 10.6 versus 7.8 months; there was a 54% reduction in the risk of progression or death with regorafenib (HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.37‒0.56; p < 0.001); median PFS (regorafenib vs. placebo) was 3.1 versus 1.5 months . Based on these results, very recently the FDA expanded the indications of regorafenib to include the treatment of patients with HCC previously treated with sorafenib.
The last 9 years have seen novel therapeutic contenders struggle to improve outcomes and remove sorafenib as front-line therapy. This is due, in part, to liver dysfunction (cirrhosis) shown in many HCC patients as well as other comorbidities resulting from infection with hepatitis B or hepatitis C, and/or occurrence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Noticeably, systemic therapies such as sorafenib are limited to patients with a good liver function (Child–Pugh A). Patients with impaired liver function (Child–Pugh B or C) may not tolerate current therapeutic options and generally receive only best supportive care. Even those with reasonable liver function may struggle to tolerate combination therapies that include sorafenib as a backbone. Thus there is a great need of a novel efficient and tolerable agent to include more patients.
Hepatocarcinogenesis is a multistep process depending on a sequence of epigenetic and genetic alterations leading to activation or inhibition of p53, WNT, β-catenin, MYC, the ErbB family, as well as chromatin modifications. Unlike other solid tumors, the specific sequence of genetic events that mediate hepatocarcinogenesis is not known. HCC development depends on mutations in approximately 140 genes belonging to 12 signalling pathways regulating cell fate, cell survival, and genome maintenance. HCC usually progresses from chronic hepatitis, to cirrhosis, to dysplastic nodules (low- and high-grade), and finally to malignant tumors. Gene expression studies identified MYC and TLRs as important mediators of malignancy. Nevertheless, specific genetic variants were not associated with HCC . Personalized medicine in HCC needs first to identify and validate molecules required for HCC growth or progression and develop specific inhibitors of these factors. For example, WNT and RAS are activated in 25 and ~ 50% of HCCs, respectively, but specific inhibitors have not entered trials for HCC. HCCs have significant amounts of genomic heterogeneity and multiple oncogenic pathways can be activated. Studies are needed on large numbers of tumor specimens, to identify the best therapeutic targets .
Pathogenesis and the survival of patients with HCC impacts the failure of the immune system to prevent HCC and to halt its progression. Thus, immunotherapy aiming at increasing HCC-specific immune responses is considered a promising treatment approach. HCC is typically an inflammation-associated cancer and can be immunogenic . Besides, the association of hepatitis C and hepatitis B infection with upregulation of PD-1 has also been demonstrated, so that PD-1 expression could be utilized as a potential clinical indicator to determine the extent of virus replication and liver injury .
Upregulation of PD-1 and the PD-1 immune checkpoint ligand, PD-L1, in HCC is associated with poor outcomes: circulating PD-1/PD-L1 expression was associated with severity of diseases in patients with HCC; moreover, PD-1/PD-L1 expression was associated with clinical parameters as tumor size blood vessel invasion and BCLC staging . Patients with higher expression of circulating PD-L1, as well as circulating PD-1, had a significantly shorter OS and tumor-free survival than those with lower expression. A multivariate analysis confirmed that circulating PD-L1 could serve as an independent predictor of OS and tumor-recurrence survival in HCC patients after cryoablation . Blockade of PD-1 with monoclonal antibodies combined with immunostimulatory monoclonal antibodies extended survival [54, 55]; immune checkpoint inhibition (anti-CTLA-4) has shown encouraging activity in an early clinical trial in HCC .
Nivolumab in advanced HCC showed durable OR, irrespective of viral infection (HBV, HCV), increasing OS rates, maintaining a good safety and RR not correlated with tumor PD-L1 expression .
The CheckMate-040 Phase I/II trial was initiated to evaluate the safety, tolerability, dose-limiting toxicities, and maximum tolerated dose of nivolumab in (1) uninfected HCC subjects, (2) HCC patients with hepatitis B, and (3) HCC patients with hepatitis C. Patients had advanced HCC, with a Child–Pugh score of ≤ 7 (dose escalation) or ≤ 6 (dose expansion). Exclusion criteria was active HBV infection and patients with a viral load were required to be on antiviral therapy with a viral load of < 100 IU/mL. Subpopulations of patients were nivolumab-naïve and nivolumab-refractory . In October 2016, interim data were presented for 48 patients treated in the dose escalation cohort and 214 patients in the dose-expansion cohort . 25% of patients experienced Grade 3/4 or greater adverse events; hematologic liver parameters were considered manageable and did not result in hepatitis. EQ-5D index scores did not show differences in first- or second-line patients and were stable from baseline to week 25. Thus, the relatively mild toxicity profile of nivolumab monotherapy in these pretreated HCC patients was encouraging.
In second-line nivolumab-experienced patients, 37 patients were evaluable in the escalation cohort and 145 were evaluable in the expansion cohort. ORR were 16.2 and 18.6% in the escalation and expansion phases, respectively, including Complete Response (CR) rates of 8.1 and 2.1%. The duration of response was 17.1 months in the dose escalation cohort and had not been reached in the dose expansion cohort. The median OS of the dose escalation cohort was 15.0 months; it was 13.2 months in the dose expansion cohort. At 9 months’ follow-up, 67 and 71% of patients were alive in the escalation and expansion cohorts, respectively. In the escalation cohort, 46% of patients were alive at 18 months. In the dose expansion nivolumab-naïve cohort (69 patients), 21.7% had an objective response (all partial). 6- and 9-month OS rates were 87 and 77%, respectively. Expression of PD-L1 did not correlate with response to nivolumab in either patient population .
Results from the CheckMate-040 trial were very promising. Based on these encouraging results, in November 2015, a randomized global Phase III head-to-head trial (CheckMate-459) of nivolumab versus sorafenib initiated. The trial is recruiting treatment-naïve, Child–Pugh A advanced HCC patients in the United States, EU, Asia and Australia. Another ongoing Phase III trial (Keynote-240, NCT02702401) is investigating pembrolizumab versus best supportive care in relapsed/refractory HCC.
Immunotherapy in ovarian cancer
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death for gynecological cancer. Despite the recent introduction of new drugs in the therapeutic armamentarium (PARP inhibitors, antiangiogenic) the rate of recurrence is still high (70%) and overall prognosis remains globally severe. Ovarian cancer is considered an immunogenic tumor that can be recognized and attacked by the immune system . The analysis of gene profiling of high grade serious ovarian cancer identified immunoreactive tumors associated to better prognosis. The Cancer Genome Atlas project has analysed has analyzed the DNA sequences of exons IN 489 high-grade serous ovarian adenocarcinomas from coding genes in 316 of these tumors and reported that high-grade serous ovarian cancer is characterized by TP53 mutations in almost all tumors (96%) .
Although tumor-infiltrating T cells have been documented in ovarian carcinoma, a clear association with clinical outcome was not established until 2003: the five-year OS rate was 38% among patients whose tumors contained T cells and 4.5% among patients whose tumors contained no T cells in islets; after CR with chemotherapy, only patients with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) survive or are in remission long-term .
Sato et al. demonstrated that intraepithelial CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and a high CD8+/regulatory T cell ratio is associated with favorable prognosis in ovarian cancer: patients with higher frequencies of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells demonstrated improved survival compared with patients with lower frequencies (median: 55 vs. 26 months) . A meta-analysis of studies (N = 1815 patients) evaluating the prognostic value of TIL on survival confirmed TILs are a robust predictor of outcome in ovarian cancer and define a specific class of patients .
Different histotypes are observed that looks like epithelial cells; two groups of epithelial ovarian cancers have been distinguished: type I low-grade cancers that present in early stage, grow slowly, and resist conventional chemotherapy but may respond to hormonal manipulation and type II high-grade cancers that are generally diagnosed in advanced stage and grow aggressively but respond to chemotherapy . Type I cancers have wild-type p53 and BRCA1/2, but also mutations of Ras and Raf as well as expression of IGFR and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway; type II cancers have mutations of p53 and BRCA1/2 .
Others immune factors correlated with bad prognosis are presence of Treg in the tumor [63,64,65,66], accumulation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells [67,68,69] presence of immunosuppressive macrophages expressing B7-H4 , low level of circulating lymphocytes (< 1.0 × 109/L) .
The expression of PD-L1 in ovarian was explored since 2006: a significant inverse correlation was observed between PD-L1 expression and the intraepithelial CD8+ T lymphocyte count, suggesting that PD-L1 on tumor cells directly suppresses antitumor CD8+ T cells; the expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells and intraepithelial CD8+ T lymphocyte count are independent prognostic factors. Thus, the PD-1/PD-L pathway can be a good target for restoring antitumor immunity in ovarian cancer [72, 73].
Nivolumab showed to mediate tumor regression in a substantial proportion of patients with ovarian cancer in phase II trial and it currently also demonstrated durable anti-tumor response in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer: complete response patients were alive (2 out of 20) without tumor relapse after they had completing the 1 year the trial .
Avelumab is a fully human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 antibody wth antitumor activity in bladder, lung, gastric and other malignancies as demonstrated in preclinical models. In patients previously treated, affected by recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer, single-agent avelumab showed an acceptable safety profile and clinical activity: overall, median PFS was 11.3 weeks (95% CI 6.1, 12.0) and median OS was 10.8 months (95% CI 7.0, 16.1) . The potential relationship between biomarkers, such as germline BRCA mutational status, and the probability of response is under investigation. The phase III trial of Avelumab in combination with and/or following platinum-based chemotherapy, in patients previously untreated and affected by advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube cancer, or primary peritoneal cancer candidates for platinum-based chemotherapy is currently ongoing (JAVALIN OVARIAN 100 Study). Its primary purpose is to demonstrate that avelumab as single agent efficacy in the maintenance setting, following frontline chemotherapy or in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel, is superior to platinum-based chemotherapy alone NCT 02718417).
Since PD-L1 was found to be overexpressed in ovarian cancer and can contribute to malignancy. Pembrolizumab was initiated in patients with PD-L1+ advanced solid tumors and demonstrated that 23% of patients experienced a decrease in target lesion (KEYNOTE-028NCT02054806 phase Ib trial) demonstrated .
There is a lack of validated predictive biomarkers of response in EOC. Expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells is not a reliable predictive of benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors. Heterogeneous techniques in the measurement of PD-L1 and different timing of assessments subgroups may benefit more from immune checkpoint inhibitors: somatic and germline BRCA mutation carriers . BRCA1/2-mutated high grade serious ovarian cancer may be more sensitive to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors compared to HR-proficient high grade serious ovarian cancers. BRCA1/2-mutated tumors exhibited significantly increased CD3+ and CD8+ TILs and elevated expression of PD-1 and PD-L1 in tumor associated immune cells compared to HR-proficient tumors. Besides, BRCA1/2-mutation status and number of TILs were independently associated with positve outcome. HR proficient with low number of TILs group showed very poor prognosis and BRCA1/2-mutated tumors with high number of TILs group showed very good prognosis .
Furthermore, clear cell ovarian cancer is characterized by an intrinsic chemoresistance: studies of immune checkpoint inhibitors in ovarian cancer have demonstrated isolated responses in tumors with cell ovarian cancer histology. Cell ovarian cancers are frequently associated with MicroSatellite Instability (MSI) leading to a higher number of CD3+ TILs and PD-1+ TILs . Cell ovarian cancers have a high rate of alterations in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, that correlates with an increased expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells in NSCLC .
Based on few clinical trials available, platinum-resistant EOCs, which are characterized by unfavorable prognosis and general chemoresistance, seem a reasonable target. Patients with lower tumor burden, which usually identifies platinum-sensitive disease, may be more favorable in terms of arming immune system against cancer.
Combine checkpoint inhibitors with other systemic therapy can increase clinical benefit. Platinum-derived compounds increase the release of TAAs and stimulate the immune response. Why this does not improve survival is on studying: the cytokine release syndrome has ongoing trials evaluating the addition of celecoxib or ASA to cisplatin and PD-L1 blockade.
Ovarian cancer is known to have an angiogenic phenotype: VEGF has an immune suppressive effect on T cells activation and inversely correlates with TILs infiltration: the association between checkpoint inhibitors and antiangiogenic drugs appears reasonable . A phase III trial is ongoing to evaluate atezolizumab in combination with carboplatin–paclitaxel–bevacizumab in untreated patients with ovarian cancer (NCT03038100).
In conclusion, the treatment of advanced/relapsed EOC remain clearly an unmet need. In fact, immunecheckpoint inhibitors may improve clinical outcome, but before considdering them therapeutic options several questions need to be addressed: what are reliable predictors of response in EOC? Are there subgroups more likely to benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors? Is it better to use checkpoint inhibitors alone or in association with other agents?
Emerging role of immunotherapy in urothelial carcinoma
Urothelial carcinomas (UCs), also known as transitional cell carcinoma, is the most common histological subtype of carcinomas in the urinary tract. It arises from the urinary tract anywhere from renal pelvis, ureter, urethra and bladder. There are other, but much less common (~ 5%), histological subtypes of urinary tract cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and mixed histology of UC plus any of these.
In the United States, approximately 75,000 new cases of bladder cancer are estimated to be diagnosed in 2017, making it the fifth most common cancer among adults . Worldwide, approximately 500,000 cases are diagnosed annually . Several environmental risk factors such as cigarette smoking, occupational exposures, and infectious agent, have been identified. The presence of high rates of somatic mutations may enhance the ability of the host immune system to recognize tumour cells as foreign owing to an increased number of antigens. However, these cancers may also elude immune surveillance and eradication through the expression of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1; also called CD274 or B7-H1) in the tumour microenvironment .
Cisplatin-containing combination chemotherapy with GC (gemcitabine/cisplatin), or MVAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, adriamycin and cisplatin) has been the standard systemic treatment for metastatic urothelial carcinoma for several decades [82,83,84]. GC has better safety profile and tolerability than MVAC . MVAC is better tolerated with the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) [83, 84]. In the United States, there has not been a standard systemic therapy for patients who progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy until the US FDA approval of atezolizumab in May 2016. In Europe, vinflunine, a third generation vinca alkaloid, is an EMA approved second-line therapy for patients who progressed after platinum-containing therapy. The approval was based on the data showing an improvement of median overall survival by 2.6 months (6.9 vs. 4.3 months; p = 0.036) in the eligible patients although the survival analysis in the intent-to-treat population did not meet the statistical significance .
A major limitation in systemic treatment of advanced UC is that approximately 30 to 50% of patients are medically unfit to receive the standard, cisplatin-containing combination chemotherapy [85, 86]. This is because UC is largely a disease of the elderly, hence patient have impaired renal function related their age and disease, and poor performance status. For patients unfit for cisplatin, therapeutic options are limited and survival is poor. Gemcitabine and carboplatin combination therapy is commonly used in this setting based on the EORTC study 30,986 showing 36% confirmed ORR and 9.3 months median OS. However, the regimen is still associated with significant toxicity with 21% having to discontinue treatment due to toxicity . On this grim landscape, the emergence of FDA’s approved immunotherapy for treatment of metastatic UC represents a paradigm shift.
In April 2017, the FDA has granted an accelerated approval to atezolizumab as frontline treatment for cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC (mUC). This approval was based on data from the single-arm phase II IMvigor210 trial. In a study cohort of 119 cisplatin-ineligible, treatment-naive patients, the ORR with atezolizumab was 23% (n = 28; 95% CI 16–32), including a CR rate of 6.7% . Median response duration was not reached. Responses occurred across all PD-L1 and poor prognostic factor subgroups. Median PFS was 2.7 months (2.1–4.2). Median overall survival was 15.9 months (10.4 to not estimable). Tumour mutation load was associated with response. Treatment-related adverse events that occurred in 10% or more of patients were fatigue (30%), diarrhoea (12%), and pruritus (11%). One treatment-related death (sepsis) occurred. Nine (8%) patients had an adverse event leading to treatment discontinuation. Immune-mediated events occurred in 14 (12%) patients.
There is an ongoing phase III study, IMVigor130 trial to study atezolizumab as monotherapy and in combination of platinum-based chemotherapy with or without atezolizumab (NCT02807636). Primary efficacy outcome measures are progression free survival by investigator, and overall survival.
Clinical activity of pembrolizumab, anti-PD-1 antibody, was also evaluated in a phase II study, KEYNOTE052 trial in the same patient population. This was reported in 2017 GU ASCO by Balar et al. . The study showed the ORR (95% CI) of 27% (22–32%) among pts with ≥ 4 month follow-up (n = 307) with CR of 6%. Among the ≥ 4 month follow-up group, median (range) time to response was 2.0 (1.6–4.8) month; median (range) duration of response was not reached (1 + to 14 + month). 78% of responders had a response for ≥ 6 month (KM estimate). PFS and OS rates at 6 month were 31 and 67%, respectively (KM estimate).
A phase III study, KEYNOTE-361 is also ongoing for patients with advanced, metastatic UC as frontline therapy. This study compares pembrolizumab monotherapy versus platinum-based chemotherapy with or without pembrolizumab in chemotherapy naive patients (NCT02853305). This study is powered for two co-primary endpoints, PFS using RECIST assessed by blinded independent central review and overall survival.
Durvalumab, anti-PD-L1 antibody, is currently being evaluated in a randomized phase III trial, DANUBE. This study investigates the efficacy and safety of durvalumab as monotherapy and in combination with tremelimumab (ant-CTLA4 antibody) versus standard of care first-line chemotherapy in treatment naïve patients with stage IV urothelial carcinoma (NCT02516241).
Atezolizumab marked the first-in-class immune checkpoint inhibitor approved for advanced urothelial carcinoma. As noted above, on May 18, 2016, atezolizumab was granted an accelerated approval for second-line treatment of patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma . This approval was based on data of a single-arm trial in 310 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had disease progression after prior platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients received atezolizumab 1200 mg intravenously every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary efficacy measures were ORR by Independent Review per RECIST 1.1, and duration of response. With a median follow-up of 14.4 months, confirmed ORR was 14.8% (95% CI 11.1, 19.3) in all treated patients. Median duration of response was not reached and response durations ranged from 2.1 + to 13.8 + months. Of the 46 responders, 37 patients had ongoing response for ≥ 6 months. The most common adverse reactions (≥ 20%) were fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, urinary tract infection, pyrexia, and constipation. Infection and immune-related adverse events also occurred, including pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, endocrine disorders, and rashes. A phase III trial, IMvigor211, is currently ongoing to compare atezolizumab versus investigator’s choice of chemotherapy which included vinflunine, paclitaxel or docetaxel in patients with previously treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma (NCT02302807). The primary outcome measure is overall survival. This study is intended to confirm the findings of the phase II IMvigor210 study.
In February 2017, the FDA approved the second immune checkpoint inhibitor for bladder cancer. Nivolumab, anti-PD-1 antibody, was granted an accelerated approval by the US FDA for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease has progressed during a period of up to 1 year after first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. The approval was based on a single-arm study, CheckMate-275 study, in 270 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who experienced disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or whose disease progressed within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy . Patients received nivolumab, 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks, until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The objective response rate was 19.6% (53 of 270 patients; 95% confidence interval, 15.1–24.9). The estimated median duration of response was 10.3 months. Responses were confirmed by an independent radiographic review committee using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1. Confirmed objective response was achieved in 23 (28.4%, 95% CI 18.9–39.5) of the 81 patients with PD-L1 expression of 5% or greater, 29 (23.8%, 95% CI 16.5–32.3) of the 122 patients with PD-L1 expression of 1% or greater, and 23 (16.1%, 95% CI 10.5–23.1) of the 143 patients with PD-L1 expression of less than 1%. The most common adverse reactions (reported in 20% or fewer patients) were fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, and decreased appetite. Fourteen patients died from causes other than disease progression. These patients included four who died from pneumonitis or cardiovascular failure attributed to nivolumab. Adverse reactions led to dose discontinuation in 17% of patients. The recommended dose and schedule for nivolumab for the above indication is 240 mg intravenously every 2 weeks.
The clinical activity of nivolumab was first studied in a phase I/II study, CheckMate-032 study as a monotherapy and in combination with ipilimumab . Sharma et al. published the safety and clinical activity data of nivolumab as a monotherapy in 86 patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma . Patients received nivolumab 3 mg/kg IV every 2 weeks. A confirmed investigator-assessed objective response rate was 24.4% (95% CI 15.3–35.4). CheckMate032 study also evaluated clinical safety and activity of nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab. The preliminary data of the ongoing phase I/II study of CheckMate032 showed that nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab is active and well tolerated among patients with previously treated metastatic UC. The study evaluated two different doses of ipiliumab and nivolumab. The combination of nivolumab 1 mg/kg and ipilimumab 3 mg/kg showed an ORR of 38.5% (95% CI 20.2–59.4), whereas the doses of nivolumab 3/mg/kg plus ipiliumab1 mg/kg led to an ORR of 26.0% (95% CI 17.9–35.5).
On May 1, 2017, durvalumab (IMFINZI, AstraZeneca UK Limited) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy . The indication reported is the same as the other PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitors. The approval was based on an updated data of a phase I/II multicenter, open-label study, Study-1108 of 182 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease progressed after prior platinum-containing chemotherapy. Durvalumab was administered at 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks for up to 12 months, or until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. Confirmed ORR as assessed by blinded independent central review per RECIST 1.1, was 17.0% (95% CI 11.9, 23.3). At the data cutoff for the ORR analysis, median response duration was not reached (range 0.9 + to 19.9 + months). ORR was also analyzed by PD-L1 expression status as measured by VENTANA PD-L1 (SP263) Assay. In the 182 patients, the confirmed ORR was 26.3% (95% CI 17.8, 36.4) in 95 patients with a high PD-L1 score and 4.1% (95% CI 0.9, 11.5) in 73 patients with a low or negative PD-L1 score. This finding did not limit the indication of durvalumab to patients with high PD-L1 score.
To date, avelumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody, is the latest addition to the armamentarium for the treatment of platinum-refractory urothelial carcinoma. In a single-arm, open-label JAVELIN Solid Tumor trial, avelumab showed the overall response rate of 13.3% (95% CI 9.1–18.4) among 226 patients who had been followed for at least 13 weeks. Patients received avelumab, 10 mg/kg intravenously, every 2 weeks until radiographic or clinical progression or unacceptable toxicity. All patients received pre-medication with an anti-histamine and acetaminophen prior to each avelumab administration. Confirmed overall response rate in patients who had been followed for at least 13 weeks was 13.3% (n = 30) (95% CI 9.1, 18.4), and 16.1% (n = 26) (95% CI 10.8, 22.8) in patients who had been followed for at least 6 months. Median time to response was 2.0 months (range 1.3–11.0). The median response duration had not been reached in patients followed for at least 13 weeks or at least 6 months, respectively, but ranged from 1.4 + to 17.4 + months in the two groups. Deaths due to an adverse reaction occurred in 6% of patients, who experienced either pneumonitis, respiratory failure, sepsis/urosepsis, cerebrovascular accident, or gastrointestinal adverse events. Serious adverse reactions were reported in 41% of patients. The most frequent serious adverse reactions reported in 2% or more of patients were urinary tract infection/urosepsis, abdominal pain, musculoskeletal pain, creatinine increased/renal failure, dehydration, hematuria/urinary tract hemorrhage, intestinal obstruction/small intestinal obstruction, and pyrexia. The recommended dose of avelumab is 10 mg/kg as an intravenous infusion over 60 min every 2 weeks. Unlike the other immune checkpoint inhibitors, avelumab requires premedication with an anti-histamine and acetaminophen prior to the first four infusions.
To date, pembrolizumab remains investigational for urothelial carcinoma. The FDA approval is currently pending. Nevertheless, pembrolizumab is the first PD-1 inhibitor that has demonstrated a survival benefit over a standard chemotherapy in patients with platinum-refractory advanced urothelial carcinoma . The study, KEYNOTE-045 was a randomized phase III study comparing pembrolizumab at a dose of 200 mg IV every 2 weeks with the investigator’s choice chemotherapy with paclitaxel, docetaxel, or vinflunine. The coprimary end points were overall survival and progression-free survival. The study showed statistically significant difference in the median overall survival in the total population 10.3 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.0–11.8) in the pembrolizumab group, as compared with 7.4 months (95% CI 6.1–8.3) in the chemotherapy group. The hazard ratio for death was 0.73; 95% CI 0.59–0.91; p = 0.002). Interestingly, the median OS among patients who had a tumor PD-L1 combined positive score of 10% or more was 8.0 months (95% CI 5.0–12.3) in the pembrolizumab group, as compared with 5.2 months (95% CI 4.0–7.4) in the chemotherapy group (hazard ratio, 0.57; 95% CI 0.37–0.88; p = 0.005). No significant difference was seen in the second co-primary endpoint, progression-free survival in the total population (HR: 0.98; 95% CI 0.81–1.19; p = 0.42). Fewer treatment-related adverse events of any grade were reported in the pembrolizumab group than in the chemotherapy group (60.9% vs. 90.2%); there were also fewer events of grade 3, 4, or 5 severity reported in the pembrolizumab group than in the chemotherapy group (15.0% vs. 49.4%). The study data is currently under review for the FDA approval.
The clinical activity of pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma was first evaluated on a phase Ib study, KEYNOTE-012. In that study, patients were required to have at least 1% PD-L1 expression detected on the tumour cells or in tumour stroma, as determined by immunohistochemistry. Patients were given 10 mg/kg intravenous pembrolizumab every 2 weeks until disease progression, unacceptable toxic effects, or the end of the study (i.e., 24 months of treatment). Among 27 response evaluable patients, after a median follow-up of 13 months, an overall response was achieved in seven (26% [95% CI 11–46]) of 27 assessable patients, with three (11% [2–29]) complete and four (15% [4–34]) partial responses. None of the four deaths occurring during the study (cardiac arrest, pneumonia, sepsis, and subarachnoid hemorrhage) were deemed treatment related.
UC is an immunotherapy-responsive disease. Since the first approval of atezolizumab in May 2016, three other PD-L1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nivolumab, durvalumab, and avelumab) have received accelerated approvals for treatment of platinum-refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma, based on the data from their respective phase I/II studies demonstrating an ORR ranging from 13 to 19%. Pembrolizumab, pending approval by the FDA, has shown statistically significant survival difference of 2.9 months (10.3 months in the pembrolizumab group, as compared with 7.4 months. Additionally, atezolizumab has also recently received another clinical indication as a frontline therapy for patients who are unfit to receive cisplatin-based first line chemotherapy, based on a phase II study data demonstrating ORR of 24%. Despite these advances, objective responses are seen only in a fraction of our patients. Additionally, no biomarker tests are available to choose appropriate patient population and to choose PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitor to use. PD-L1 expression status does not reliably predict response or resistance to a PD-L1/PD-1 inhibitor. Future studies are needed to expand the clinical activity of these agents to a broader population by discovering new therapeutic targets and by combining with other immune therapy or conventional therapy.
Role of immunotherapy in breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, and over 1.7 million cases are diagnosed each year globally . Approximately 15% of breast cancers are triple-negative, defined as tumors which lack expression of ER, PR, and HER2 and thus do not benefit from available targeted therapies. TNBC is more frequently seen in those of African and Hispanic ancestry, and is associated with an earlier age at diagnosis, an advanced stage at diagnosis, and a worse clinical outcome as compared to non-TNBCs. TNBC continues to represent an important clinical challenge, and new treatment strategies are urgently needed.
A number of observations over the past several years have led to the initial investigations of immunotherapy for the treatment of TNBC. Using TCGA data, Mittendorf et al. demonstrated that TNBCs have higher levels of PD-L1 mRNA expression (n = 120) as compared to non-TNBCs (n = 716), with 19% of TNBC tumors (n = 105) expressing PD-L1 by IHC .
Gene expression profiling has identified 6 TNBC subtypes, including an immunomodulatory, in addition to 2 basal-like (BL1 and BL2), a mesenchymal, a mesenchymal stem-like, and a luminal androgen receptor subtype . The immunomodulatory subtype, which accounts for some 20% of TNBCs, is characterized by the elevated expression of genes involved in T cell function. Compared to other forms of breast cancer, TNBC has the most robust tumor immune infiltrate, suggesting that a subset of TNBCs are immunogenic .
PD-L1 expression has also been noted in hormone receptor positive breast cancer (HR+). HR+ breast cancer accounts for over 50% of all breast cancers, and 4–20% of HR+ breast cancers express PD-L1.
A handful of clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced breast cancer have been reported to date, including trials of both PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy. KEYNOTE-012 was a multicenter, phase Ib trial of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced PD-L1-positive (expression in stroma or ≥ 1% of tumor cells by immunohistochemistry) TNBC, gastric cancer, UC, and head and neck cancer. Among the 111 patients with TNBC prescreened for this study, 58.6% had PD-L1-positive disease. Thirty-two women (median age, 50.5 years; range 29–72 years) were enrolled and assessed for safety and antitumor activity. Common toxicities were mild, and similar to those observed in other tumor cohorts (e.g., arthralgia, fatigue, myalgia, and nausea); 15.6% patients reported grade ≥ 3 toxicity and one on study death, likely related to rapid disease progression. Among the 27 patients who were evaluable for antitumor activity, the overall response rate was 18.5%, the median time to response was 17.9 weeks (range 7.3–32.4 weeks), and the median duration of response was not yet reached (range 15.0–47.3 weeks) .
Preliminary results of the hormone-receptor positive (HR+) cohort of the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial were presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Of the 261 patients with HR+ advanced breast cancer prescreened for this study, 19.4% had PD-L1-positive disease. Among the 25 patients enrolled, 12% had a response to pembrolizumab monotherapy, 16% had stable disease, 60% had disease progression, and the remaining were unevaluable for response. The clinical benefit rate (response rate plus stable disease) was 20%; responses were durable in this group, with all 3 responders remaining on therapy in response for greater than 6 months .
Atezolizumab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody, has also been investigated as monotherapy in advanced breast cancer. It has been tested in metastatic TNBC as part of a multicenter Phase Ia study . Tumors were determined to be PD-L1-positive if > 5% of tumor-infiltrating immune cells (IC) expressed PD-L1 (using the SP142 antibody). Fifty-four patients were enrolled in the TNBC cohort (median age 53 years, range 29–82 years), and 21 were evaluable for response at the time of initial presentation. Sixty-nine of those enrolled had PD-L1 positive tumors. Treatment-related AEs occurred in 63% of pts, most frequently fatigue (15%), pyrexia (15%), and nausea (15%). Eleven percent of patients experienced grade 3–5 related adverse events, and there were 2 study-related deaths. Among 21 efficacy-evaluable PD-L1-positive patients, the progression on their initial imaging evaluation, and subsequently went on to experience a durable shrinkage of both target and new lesions. Response duration ranged from 18 to 56 weeks, with the median not yet reached .
Adams and colleagues studied atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel in metastatic PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative TNBC . In this phase 1b study, 32 patients received concurrent treatment with nab-paclitaxel and atezolizumab. The primary endpoint of the study was safety, with key secondary endpoints of ORR, duration of response, and progression-free survival. The median age of patients in the study was 55.5 years, and all patients had an ECOG PS 0-1. Patients could have received up to 3 prior systemic therapies for metastatic breast cancer, with 9 of the 24 evaluable patients receiving treatment in frontline metastatic setting. Eighty-seven percent of patients had previously received a taxane, for either early or advanced stage disease. At the time of the data cut-off, all 32 patients were evaluable for safety, and 24 patients were evaluable for efficacy. Grade 3/4 adverse events occurred in 56% of patients, with the most common including neutropenia (41%), thrombocytopenia (9%), and anemia (6%). Across all lines of therapy, the confirmed ORR was 41.7%, with a complete response rate of 4.2%. An additional 20.8% had stable disease, for an overall disease control rate of 62.5%. At the time of data cutoff, 11 of the 17 responses (65%) remained ongoing. In the second-line setting, the confirmed ORR was 25%, and in the third-line and beyond the ORR was 28.6%. In patients with PD-L1-positive TNBC, the ORR was 77.8% and the stable disease rate was 22.2%; in the PD-L1-negative group, the ORR was 57.1% and the stable disease rate was 42.9% .
The JAVELIN trial explored the efficacy and safety of the anti-PD-L1 antibody avelumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer . This study enrolled 168 patients with MBC unselected for PD-L1 expression. Fifty-eight patients had TNBC, 72 had HR-positive/HER2-negative disease, 26 had HER2-positive disease, and 12 patients had unknown receptor status. Avelumab was given at 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The overall response rate was low at 4.8% across the entire study population. Response rates in HR-positive, HER-2 positive and TNBC were 2.8, 3.8, and 8.6%, respectively. Response rates to avelumab were higher in those with PD-L1-positive tumours (defined as > 10% of immune cell hotspots), with 33% of those having PD-L1-positive disease experiencing a response. Furthermore, 5 of the 9 patients (44.4%) with PD-L1-positive TNBC had a response to therapy. The safety profile of avelumab was acceptable, with grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse events only occurring in 13.7% of patients.
In conclusion, anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy is associated with a modest response rate in metastatic breast cancer. The addition of chemotherapy is associated with higher response rates. Response rates appear to be higher in those with PD-L1-positive tumors, in at least in some of the studies reported thus far. The trials, however, have used different antibodies and cutpoints for determining PD-L1 positivity, and a uniform method to define PD-L1 positivity in breast cancer is needed. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are safe and tolerable, and most of side effects are mild and easily managed. Future studies will investigate combination strategies, with the goal of building on the modest response rates observed with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy. Trials studying immune checkpoint inhibitors in combination with other targeted agents, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are ongoing. Many large randomized phase 2 and phase 3 registrational trials are ongoing, and results will be available in the near future.
ALK: anaplastic lymphoma kinase; APC: antigen presenting cell; CI: confidence interval; CNS: central nervous system; CT: computed tomography; CR: complete response; CTLA-4: Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Antigen4; EGFR: epidermal growth factor receptor; EOC: epithelial ovarian cancer; GC: gemcitabine/cisplatin; GITR: glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor; G-CSF: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor; HR: hazard ratio; HNSCC: head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; HCC: hepatocarcinoma; HVEM: herpesvirus entry mediator; HR+: hormone-receptor positive; HER: human epidermal growth factor receptor; irAEs: immune-related adverse events; IHC: immunohistochemistry; LAG-3: lymphocyte antigen gene 3; mTOR: mammalian target of rapamycin; MVAC: methotrexate, vinblastine, adriamycin and cisplatin; MSI: microsatellite instability; NK: natural killer; NSCLC: non-small-cell lung carcinoma; ORR: objective response rate; OS: overall survival; PD-1: programmed death-1; PD-L1: programmed death ligand-1; PFS: progression free survival; Tregs: regulatory T cells; TNBC: triple-negative breast cancer; TIL: tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes; TKI: tyrosine kinase inhibitor; UC: urothelial carcinoma.
Atezolizumab: anti-PD-L1 IgG1 humanized monoclonal Ab; Avelumab: anti-PD-L1 IgG1 human monoclonal Ab; Durvalumab: anti-PD-L1 IgG1 κ human monoclonal Ab; Ipilimumab: anti-CTLA-4 IgG1 human monoclonal Ab; Nivolumab: anti-PD1 IgG4 human monoclonal Ab; Pembrolizumab: anti-PD-1 IgG4 κ humanized monoclonal Ab.
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PAA prepared the manuscript collaboratively with input of BD, HH, VH, JK, LL, RN, SP. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The meeting was supported by Fondazione Melanoma Onlus and the Society of ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (SITC). A special thanks to 3P Solution of Napoli for their support and cooperation in organizing the meeting and especially to Lucia Politi.
Paolo A. Ascierto (PAA) has/had a consultant/advisory role for BMS, Roche-Genentech, MSD, Array, Novartis, Amgen, Merck Serono, Pierre Fabre, Incyte. He also received research funds from BMS, Roche-Genentech, and Array. He is also Section Editor for Combination Strategies for Journal of Translational Medicine. Bruno Daniele (BD) reports personal fees and non-financial support from Bayer, personal fees from Eli Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Bristol Myers Squibb, Blueprint Medicine, personal fees and non-financial support from Celgene. Hans Hammers (HH) has/had an advisory role and/or research support for BMS, Exelixis, Pfizer, Eisai. Vera Hirsh (VH) has participated in advisory boards of Amgen, Novartis, Celgene, Bayer, Eli Lilly, Astra-Zeneca, Roche, Pfizer, BMS and Boehringer-Ingelheim. Joseph Kim (JK) and Sandro Pignata (SP) reports no competing interests. Lisa Licitra (LL) served as a consultant or advisor for and received research funding from AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Debiopharm, Eisai, Merck Serono, MSD Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Roche, and Sobi; she has also received travel compensation from Bayer, Debiopharm, Merck Serono, and Sobi. Rita Nanda (RN) has/had a consulting or advisory role for Corcept Therapeutics, Genentech, Merck, Novartis, Puma Biotechnology Research funding: Corcept Therapeutics, Celgene, Merck.
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Ascierto, P.A., Daniele, B., Hammers, H. et al. Perspectives in immunotherapy: meeting report from the “Immunotherapy Bridge”, Napoli, November 30th 2016. J Transl Med 15, 205 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-017-1309-2
- Solid tumors | <urn:uuid:83411e2a-85ef-4d57-a1aa-a36801ba7d8e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-017-1309-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.901425 | 28,538 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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Hover Vessels are a great and cheap way to explore the planet and transport items early on. This can be especially helpful when mining. It is recommend to build at least some rudimentary transport device too allow for increased speed, storage capacity and utility.
Constructing a working Hover Vessel is easily doable in the first 10 minutes on a planet. You need
The simplest HV
The structurally least interesting and cheapest hover vessel requires
- 3 Ground Repulsor Engines (Less will impact the driveability negatively)
- 1 small HV Generator and small HV Fuel Tank
- A Cockpit
- A Hover Vessel Starter
Start construction by putting down the starter and add two Ground Repulsor Engines at the front or back and the last one on the opposite side. The Engines must not be placed above any other block or your HV will not function properly - Make sure to add them on the side or bottom of your vessel. Place your cockpit, generator and fuel tank. Add any fuel, take a seat and start the vessel with the Y key (by default).
The Vessel described in the former chapter works, but it isn't really useful yet. For helpful functionality try adding one of the following
- A HV Detector will allow you to find POIs and Ore Deposits, which are further away than a handheld detector.
- HV Rotation Control Systems will greatly improve the comfort of driving.
- Adding Gatling Guns and Minigun Turrets increases the combat capabilities of a HV. Note that Gatling Guns must be used by the pilot, though Minigun Turrets can attack enemies themselves.
- A single Fuel Tank can hold more fuel than two small Fuel Tanks, so it pays off using these instead.
- The Generator is better at producing energy than its smaller counterpart. Use these if you want to use parts with a high energy consumption (e.g. a polarized hull shield)
- An HV O2 Station allows to refill your suit's oxygen on the run.
- Powered Fridges will hold your food fresh and stop it from spoiling.
- Cargo Boxes can hold some items for transport. If you want to transport larger amounts of materials, you might want to use a Container Controller and some Container Extensions.
There are many other blocks that have similar or completely different uses. If you can't craft one of the above, check whether you have unlocked it yet and what constructor is need for crafting in the Tech Tree first. There you can also find general information about HV blocks.
If you don't want to build a Hover Vessel yourself, browse the Steam Workshop for a design that you like and obtain it in game by using the Blueprint Factory.
Vessels with full storage or larger size need stronger engines to lift their increased weight. This can be done by using Hover Engines instead of Ground Repulsor Engines. Hover Engines have increased hovering capabilities but don't provide directional thrust. This means you need to add thruster to your vessel to be able to move. Similarly to Small Vessels, It is recommended to have a thruster for every direction, but Hover Vessels do not need to have a downwards and upwards thruster.
Dedicating Hover Vessels
If using only a singe Hover Vessel large parts may interfere with each other and decrease the overall usability. It is therefore recommended to build multiple Hover Vessels dedicated to a purpose. Because of their mobility, armament and defensive capabilities, Hover Vessels might be the best vessels for planetary combat. Combat Steel Blocks can be placed as part of them, allowing for very durable armouring. They have modules for resource gathering, like drills and can be used to repair damaged bases and vessels.
Controlling a Hover Vessel
Hover Vessels are all-terrain vehicles, that can climb rough and hilly terrain. With enough thrust they can even cross ditches and mountains. Although they can move across many kinds of terrain, expect them to crash if undertaking too risky manoeuvres! It is also recommended to search for gaps in a mountain range or natural trails in trenched terrain, even if piloting a well-fitted vessel.
Tips & Best Practice
There is no “ideal design”, but some optimizations to improve handling and usability of your Hover Vessel.
- The hover engine needs to be distributed for stability of the vessel and in order to minimize bumping issues when climbing steep hills or crossing trenched terrain.
- Think of them as kind of virtual wheels.
- Put them where you would expect the most "ground contact".
- 2. HVs can raise and lower their nose (ARROW or MOUSE UP/DOWN) and WILL adapt to any terrain automatically, but don’t add a lot of cube blocks on the lower front of the cockpit to minimize terrain bumps when climbing hills.
- 4. A hover vessel should look more like a pyramid or a lying rectangle when looked at from the back/front to minimize tipping over at steep ramps or uneven terrain.
TIP: Use the Building-helper menu (default button N) and activate the Center-of-Mass and Center-of-Vehicle overlays to help balance out your HV!
Tip: Building high “box” or “Pencil” (box-shaped or pencil-shaped) vessels might result in tipping over more frequently on uneven, hilly or trenched terrain (like in real life).
- 5. Adding additional hover engines will improve the suspension and reduce bumping-issues (blue line).
Tip: *Heavy vessel + more hover engines = less ground-bumps when going fast on uneven/trenched terrain or when jumping/moving downhill. *Additional hover engines also help when trying to climb a mountain, sliding downhill or crossing trenched terrain by stabilizing the maximum flight height: 'terrain bumping" often is a result of drops in the maximum flight height!
- 6. Hover vessels have a max 3m flight level. Make use of it! There are only a few obstacles, like stone piles, that are higher than 3m. A higher flight level will also help when trying to climb steep hills and avoid terrain bumps when crossing uneven terrain.
SPACE = raise the flight level gradually to a max of 3m C = lower the flight level gradually
- 7. If the Hover Vessel tips over, hit SHIFT once and the vessel will roll back to the standard position! The hover vessel needs a RCS equipped to use this feature!
- 8. Hit SHIFT+Space to do a quite HIGH jump. This will help with some obstacles, crossing deep canyons and when climbing hills. To do this, you need at least ONE Hover Booster added to your vessel. Add more if it's a heavy vessel.
- 9. To get a Hover Vessel to move, ONLY a minimum of 4 thrusters is needed (6 are minimum for SVs): Front, back, left, right. How many you need depends on what you aim to achieve. If you want to climb hills, you might need to add more thrusters than usual!
Tip: *Directional Thrusters are sufficient for movement! *Add more or other types of thrusters (like in the picture above) for additional thrust. This won’t increase the maximum speed on a planet, though (40 mph)
Hover Vessel - Q&A
Q: The turrets of my hover vessel won’t shoot at enemies?
A: Are your turrets switched ON? If yes, check the targeting options and the distance info on the bottom right corner.
Q: Does my suit O2 get used when sitting in the cockpit?
A: There are 4 modes: (neither of them are bugs, but intended to work like this)
When sitting in a cockpit with..
- .. helmet on: you will use the suit's O2
- .. helmet off: you will use the suit's O2 as well (think of the suit releasing O2 to fill the cockpit)
- .. helmet off and the HV (or SV) has an oxygen tank equipped with some bottles added: you are using the vessel O2 tank's oxygen, not your suit's O2.
- .. helmet on and the HV (or SV) has an oxygen tank equipped with some bottles added: you are using the O2 of your suit.
Q: Is there any way to see how much O2 my ship has (aside from looking into the O2 tanks)?
'A: Hit P. The console menu displays the remaining O2 in the lower right corner. One O2 tank can hold 400 units of oxygen (Two oxygen bottles). | <urn:uuid:66257562-68cd-49e9-95c7-0d40e5657fda> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://empyrion.fandom.com/wiki/Hover_Vessel_(Guide) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.903862 | 1,843 | 2.171875 | 2 |
If John Wayne was Hollywood’s most romanticized soldier (upright, strong and decent), Lee Marvin was among its grittiest. In writer-director Sam Fuller’s remarkable film he pastes his blue collar, vaguely criminal looks on combat, which is by all accounts is largely blue collar and vaguely criminal. Fuller’s film endures as flamboyant monument not only to Marvin’s abilities, but also to a willingness to make a World War II film with the kind of hard knocks previously limited to the Vietnam War, which Hollywood transformed into a soul-searching exemplar.
Fuller’s story traces the forays of a Marvin-led squad of the 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed the Big Red One (the red numeral emblazoned in the uniform). Since Fuller won both the Silver and Bronze Stars for combat heroism in Europe, who better than him to put Sarge Marvin through the paces? They begin with black and white flashbacks to Marvin as a World War I private forced to make peace with no peace, and unfairness. He stabs dead a German soldier who is trying in vain to tell him the war is over.
By the outbreak of World War II, now-Sarge is in charge of a rifle company — “The Sergeant’s Four Horsemen” — trudging through North Africa, Sicily, into France on Omaha Beach, and finally to a concentration in Czechoslovakia. Private Zab (Keith Carradine) narrates the day-to-day, but Sarge is the whole heft, with Fuller constantly working to put combat in the context of a job, a means to an end, and not a psychopathic vocation. (“We don’t murder, we kill,” insists Sarge).
But Zab remains cynically grunt-like: “You know how you smoke out a sniper? You send a guy out in the open and you see if he gets shot. They thought that one up at West Point.” Here’s a working class movie about working class stiffs called soldiers. Before issuing hosannas to Spielberg-powered Private Ryan and the later TV “Band of Brothers,” smoke this. | <urn:uuid:d3e3967c-5155-4db3-918d-71b0621ec315> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://theamericanmag.com/the-big-red-one/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.948335 | 467 | 1.523438 | 2 |
By the waning years of the 1960s, the musical space of rock had been well explored. The Beatles had made rock music internationally popular and opened the floodgates for rock music to wash over the mainstream. The Rolling Stones had become the archetypal image of a rock band with all of their hedonistic implications. Jimi Hendrix had injected psychedelia into rock music, showing that virtuosic talent could be paired with rock music. However, on Jan. 12, 1969, a new band would define the sound and look of rock and roll in the 1970s and beyond with their debut album: Led Zeppelin.
The band Led Zeppelin was formed by pairing already established studio musicians with a couple of relatively unknown, local musicians. The group emerged from the ashes of guitarist Jimmy Page’s old band, The Yardbirds, naming themselves The New Yardbirds before eventually changing the name to the now iconic Led Zeppelin. Besides guitar savant Jimmy Page, the new lineup consisted of the underrated yet genius session bassist John Paul Jones, the powerhouse drummer John Bonham and an at-the-time unknown singer named Robert Plant, who became recognized as perhaps the greatest voice in rock history .
The band’s self-titled debut album, canonically referred to as “Led Zeppelin I” to avoid confusion with the band itself, was released on Jan. 12, 1969. The album finds a young Zeppelin distorting their blues influences with a heavy rock sound, covering a number of blues staples along the way.
Two excellent examples of Led Zeppelin’s reinterpretation of blues classics lay in “You Shook Me” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby.” Both are covers of songs by blues pioneer Willie Dixon, turned into proto-heavy metal songs with Plant’s wailing vocals front and center on each cover. While other blues-influenced bands at this time, such as Cream, had covered blues songs with more distorted instrumentals, no band had the powerhouse vocalist that Plant was. The slow instrumentals of these blues tracks allow for all the other members of the band to sit back while Plant displays his vocal prowess. “You Shook Me” also allows for Jones to show his organ playing in a breakdown section that also features a Plant harmonica section and a Page guitar solo.
In sharp contrast to the slow-burn blues of “You Shook Me,” the majority of “Led Zeppelin I” showcases a bold and brash sound that set the stage for future metal and hard rock. Within the first second of the album, “Good Times Bad Times” explodes with a sturdy guitar riff tailed by intense drumming.
Similarly, “Communication Breakdown” catches the listener off guard after the peaceful instrumental “Black Mountain Side,” brandishing a more rhythmic and repetitive style of guitar. This riffing is reminiscent of many metal tracks and was even quoted as core inspiration by the guitarist Johnny Ramone of legendary punk rock group Ramones.
Classic rock radio staple “Dazed and Confused” stays in line with the heaviness of the other tracks but in a slower manner. Wailing guitars and vocals substitute for riffing, establishing a loud and warbling soundscape that spontaneously erupts into a killer guitar solo.
While many groups offered their unique approach to rock music, Led Zeppelin’s debut effort was particularly successful, owing to their successful modernization of the blues without compromising on its emotional intensity. Album highlight “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” starts off acoustic, with Plant painfully singing about anticipating a breakup. As the track progresses, Plant’s sadness becomes anger, as his shouts and wails ring out through dramatic guitar and crashing symbols. By the end of the track, Plant has advanced through all five stages of grievance, as he cries, “I’ve got to go away … Baby, baby, baby … that’s when it’s calling me back home.”
It may be surprising to modern listeners that “Led Zeppelin I” was not well received by contemporary critics. The group’s musical artistry was frequently regarded as inferior to that of Jeff Beck, another member of The Yardbirds, the group that Page had been a part of. Plant’s voice was disparaged as a poor imitation of Rod Stewart’s raspy style, and the group’s writing as a whole was criticized as underdeveloped. However, the album had found a place in listeners’ ears, earning a gold certification by July 1969 that evolved into eight-times platinum certification by the present day.
Led Zeppelin’s debut album stands out within the modern musical canon, as it perfectly captures and amplifies the emotional intensity of blues within its rock compositions. While certain albums may be historically significant in inspiring other artists or subgenres of music, “Led Zeppelin I” was monumental in redirecting the entirety of rock music’s trajectory to be louder and more exciting than ever before. | <urn:uuid:6670f6f3-a31c-423b-b4ad-97bc2d81edd8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.mp3bump.info/2022/07/02/record-recap-53-years-since-led-zeppelins-explosive-debut-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.960232 | 1,064 | 1.851563 | 2 |
McCandless’s self-reliance is a big part of identifying him as transcendentalist. In the short story, “Death of an Innocent”, Chris says, “I've decided that I'm going to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is just too good to pass up.” McCandless feels that life should not be wasted doing what you do not love, and shows this by traveling and living off the land every chance he gets. Transcendentalists take in all of what nature has to give them by becoming one with it; like McCandless does throughout the story.
He desired to live off the land and travel across North America. One explorer who is similar to chris is Reinhold Messner. Explorers are motivated to leave their life behind and go on an adventure because of them being the center of their own existence, their mistakes turning into misery and them rejecting the established norms in society. McCandless had exceptional reasons for leaving home and taking on the life of a homeless person living in the wild. McCandless wanted to experience this type of individuality and to experience the life that Henry David
Family, friends, and possessions pressure individuals through the imposition of values that contribute to identity; we are told that we obtain our qualities simply by inheritance and association. The environment one chooses to surround themselves reflects similar learned behaviors and thought processes. Deviating from the norm is often contemptible, but natural, according to author Jon Krakauer. Realizing that he did not want to become a carbon copy of his parents and environment, Christopher McCandless wandered the American West for two years, as a nomad, to reject society as he knows it―his family, friends, and possessions. He burns his money, abandons his car, and cuts all ties with his family on an identity crisis that would lead to his death in the inhospitable Alaskan tundra.
Lastly, the real reason for this quest and that being a strong will of survival. Pi has to find land to save not only his life, but to find out if his family or any of the animals survived as well. The sad reality was he never did find his family, but he was gifted with the wisdom and the strength of his family or even possibly his religion to save himself from a certain
Some would say “Life on the road is suited for everyone”, others such as for myself, would disagree. Life on the road is not suited for everyone, because not everyone can throw away their normal life and go on the road or the wilderness and survive like Chris McCandless. Some would think, Chris McCandless, was on a suicide mission but he was only following his dreams and he actually did, unlike many people. Chris McCandless inspired so many people to move out, leave their old lives, and have a fresh start at their life. Chris McCandless was a independent person and he was trying to get away from civilization because he felt like he never fit into it.
Thoreau’s purpose is to live a simple life. He doesn't want to live the fast life, he wants to see every detail there is and obtain everything life offers. Thoreau wanted to die knowing he lived what life was meant to be. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” This is an antithesis because Thoreau supports his decision on going into to the woods by saying if he didn't, he would regret it.
Going into the wild and abandoning all that you know and love is such a hard task to do. Chris McCandless is a brave soul for going on that journey to find himself and discover who he truly is. Living in complete solitude with nature was his solution to his personal issues at home and inside his head. He longed for complete happiness and believed he could discover it on his journey to Alaska. Anthony Storr, a noted psychiatrist explains, "creative attitude and the ability to have peak experiences depends upon being free of other people...", and I agree with this idea.
Chris Mccandless was a smart, able and talented guy, he wanted to break away from society, live off the land and survive on his own, and find himself. He did, but at the cost of his life, and with one simple mistake he died in the Alaskan wilderness. Mccandless hoped to gain one thing from his life in the brush, and that was autonomy, a sense that he, Christopher Mccandless, could survive, all by himself in the wilds of America. One of his goals, in his search for the self, was to “Become Lost in The Wild” (163) and live off whatever kind of lands he found himself in. Chris accomplished this in his 2 years among strangers, tramps, and eventually new friends.
(Shteyngart). This quote describes how at the end of the story the son ended up sticking to his native culture even though he had the opportunity abandon it, he came to that decision because he realized his culture is what made him who he was and that his family is the only thing he has. Shteyngart’s and Yezierska’s short story demonstrates there is not just one version of the American dream, the American
He wasn’t afraid of not coming back alive. So when he went into the wild in Alaska, Chris felt like he was for sure going to come back and publish the book that he has written throughout his journey to show others that taking risks like this is totally okay. Unfortunately for Chris it wasn’t okay. I believe that he did not intend to “kill himself” for going into the wild with basically nothing.
At the end of Chapter 3, Krakauer says, “Driving out west of Atlanta, [Chris McCandless] intended to invent an utterly new life for himself... He was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny” (Krakauer 23). These assertions are believable as McCandless cut off his past by creating a new identity for himself and ceasing communication with his family. McCandless introduced himself as Alex to all of the people he met on his odyssey and he rarely spoke about his past before hitchhiking. McCandless introduced himself as “Just Alex” (Krakauer 4) to Gallien and as Alex when he worked for Wayne Westerberg in Carthage, South Dakota.
Michael rushed out of the car to try to help the man which once he guided him out turned out to be only 14. Michael let him borrow one of his oxygen tanks from when he was scuba diving in San Francisco and told him to breath in it to help him. He then asked him if he was out of his mind why he was in the middle of the fire. He then said “To save this little guy.” And then pulled out a little rabbit he had in his jacket.
It contributing the mood in the book. Santiago was finally at the pyramids, and was digging the hole that he had chosen, but he found nothings. Later, some figures stole his gold and start to beat him because they thought Santiago had more than that. Santiago was finally in the Pyramids, but he found nothings. He already sacrificed staying with Fatima and he gave all his money away, he had nothing but felt near death.
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”-Albert Einstein. Chris McCandless had to find out who he truly was as an individual by leaping out into the wild and isolating himself. The inspirations of Jack London, Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy guided Chris into the wild of the unknown to search for true bliss and meaning to his life. He believed that that in order to be one with oneself you must remove yourself out of society and push yourself physically and mentally to take in and comprehend the fullest understanding of life. Chris grew up never worrying about money, easily relating to Tolstoy in the sense of their family being well supported.
The American dream is something that we all strive for in one way or another. Whether it’s being equal to the people around you, or having freedom to be successful in whatever you want in life. But for the characters in Of Mice and Men it is the dream of owning land and being independent from everyone else. But the American Dream is not something that is given to you, it includes work ethic, knowing that the dream may be impossible and the sacrifice that may have to be made. These are all things that George and Lennie and other characters in the book have to do to eventually reach the American dream. | <urn:uuid:c6fba0b0-013c-4ab8-8402-f8463840468b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ipl.org/essay/Chris-Mccandless-Transcendentalism-P3HE9MHESCF6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.988231 | 1,855 | 2.921875 | 3 |
This last week I came down with the worst cold ever. Don’t worry, this post isn’t about that or what I did to get over it. Instead, once the fog began to clear I started to beat myself up for laying around for over a week and for my lack of any productivity. Rather than practice what I now understand to be self-compassion, I jumped into criticizing myself for too many naps, too much television, and not one bit of exercise. I even berated myself for getting sick in the first place. Now maybe I’m the only one who ever does this, but ever since then I’ve been exploring how and why I tied my personal value (not to mention my health) to such an absurd goal. What I’ve since discovered is that all too often our sense of self-esteem is a big part of the problem.
A goal for most people I know is to live a well life. But what does that really mean? If we don’t pay attention, stay conscious and strive to be proactive, it’s likely that we are creating our life by default rather than by design. In other words, we end up reacting to whatever is happening in the world around us—in our families, our workplace, or with our health—and if it’s good, we are happy. But if any of those outward circumstances takes a nasty turn, we veer off track and end up in the bushes. Only when we consciously choose to design our life, can we claim the reality of a well life.
Fortunately there is help. A new book by Briana and Dr. Peter Borten titled, The Well Life offers dozens of ideas and practices to help us structure a life filled with balance, happiness and peace. Even those of us who have read hundreds of books on self-empowerment, spirituality and positive living can benefit by many of the suggestions offered in the book. And with a New Year just around the corner, who among us can’t use a few pointers to ensure that our design is a creation we hope to experience in the days to come? | <urn:uuid:499c3a8d-5f22-48ac-9884-b11817697b3e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.smartliving365.com/tag/self-worth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.968673 | 443 | 1.601563 | 2 |
to the Times
to the Times
Schools shouldn't bar enduring stories just because they carry religious trappings.
That was the case with "A Big Family," the tale of two brothers vying for their father's love and going out to seek their fortunes. First-grader Zachary Hood chose the story when it was his turn to read to his classmates in Medford, N.J. But the teacher apparently turned three shades of pale when she saw Zachary open "The Beginner's Bible."
The brothers were Jacob and Esau. Granted, the story was a simplified version of the events described in Genesis 28-33, probably leaving out a lot of the greed and scheming that sets the tale in motion.
According to the Associated Press, it never mentioned God or made other overtly religious references. It did describe some of Jacob's ramblings as he makes a life for himself in faraway Padanaram, where, according to Genesis, he works for his uncle as a hired man, learning the value of hard work and fair dealing, and some skill at politics. Because of his faith, his herds and his family all multiply.
The brothers' tearful reunion makes for a happy ending. Jacob had felt guilty the whole time he was away, but his brother, embracing him, tells him not to worry about it.
But the story apparently didn't matter - only the book cover with the glaring word "Bible." Zachary was not allowed to read the story.
His parents objected, a long court case ensued, and Zachary's story surfaced again last week because the Supreme Court declined to take the case, leaving intact district court rulings that affirmed the school's right to control the content of lessons.
We agree the school has that right, indeed, that responsibility. But the issue in this case mistakenly became separation of church and state. It should have been literary appreciation.
The principal said reading the story would be "the equivalent of praying," an understandable caution in this hyper-sensitive age, but too narrow and literal an interpretation. There is little legal basis for prohibiting children from choosing or writing stories - even with blatant religious content - if they meet the teacher's other academic goals.
Proselytizing would have become an issue only if the first-grader made a career of it. While their intention was to stay legally safe and avoid offending others, school officials overreacted. They could have avoided the controversy by taking a five-minute refresher course in children's literature.
It's a story about a family's troubles. There's colorful description. Animals. A life lesson. A happy ending. | <urn:uuid:1a3d6582-7d71-49ae-9537-509a9b29c361> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2001/07/14/columnists/51004174007/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.978487 | 580 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Pearson’s 2021 annual report section on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion touts the company’s top score for LGBT workplace inclusion and further describes the company’s outreach efforts to recruit more LGBT specific employees. For “social impact”, Pearson committed to “continue its partnership with Career Accelerator, an LGBT+ Youth Mentoring Programme.”
In 2019, Tennessee Commissioner of Education, Penny Schwinn, announced that the state would finalize a 5 year contract with Pearson to take over the annual student assessment program called TNReady. One news outlet projected the Pearson contract to cost $93 million dollars by the 2023-2024 school year.
Getting in on the growing industry of companies and foundations peddling gender influence to students, Pearson, the self-described “world’s leading learning company,” was a “champion” sponsor of Gender Spectrum’s 2020 training.
According to its mission statement, “Gender Spectrum works to create gender sensitive and inclusive environments for all children and teens”. They list a broad range of “clients” who presumably share Gender Spectrum’s objectives.
Gender Spectrum’s 2022 annual training for “professionals” who have contact with children and/or work to influence the systems which provide services to children, including schools, convened last week on July 14-15, featuring a wide range of speakers promoting the full spectrum of gender diversity including transgenderism, at any age. One speaker presented “Gender Justice in Early Childhood” while another session featured the creators of “Gender Inclusive Classrooms” one of whom is a second grade teacher, teaching about establishing “Rainbow Clubs” for K-5 students.
“Rainbow Clubs” are “an elementary school version of a GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance).” GSAs are “student-run organizations that unite LGBTQ+ and allied youth to build community and organize around issues impacting them in their schools and communities. GSAs have evolved beyond their traditional role to serve as safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth in middle schools and high schools, and have emerged as vehicles for deep social change related to racial, gender, and educational justice.”
The bottom line is that GSAs work to turn students into LGBTQA+ activists and to normalize everything on the growing alphabet of perceived gender.
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is a centralized national organization serving a variety of functions including helping to establish and support state chapters starting GSAs in schools. Tennessee’s GLSEN chapter sponsored the “East Tennessee Diversity Prom” in Knoxville.
GLSEN has a wide ranging set of leadership positions. To no great surprise, the board is led by a representative of the National Educators Association and senior advisors include representatives from Disney and TikTok.
Counted among GLSEN’s leadership is Michael Rady, the Rainbow Library Program Manager who describes himself as “a queer educator, organizer, and reader” who just also happens to have migrated from the Northeast, to Nashville, Tennessee.
Lyndsey Godwin is GLSEN’s Manager of Network Capacity Building who also has made an imprint in Tennessee.
GLSEN is another organization offering professional development for educators including tools for librarians regardless of whether they are community or school-based. One of GLSEN’s recommendations is for the librarian to provide meeting space for a GSA or, “better yet, become a sponsor of the club!” This is the same recommendation being promoted in the National School Library Standards.
Pearson UK is forthright about its efforts to promote LGBT+ to students, parents and educators, as an “inclusion” issue and says they have devoted employee resources to “explor[ing] all identities represented by the ‘plus’ symbol.” The glossary will be helpful to anyone who has not yet discovered that the “+” includes labels such as “quadgender”, “two-spirited” and “gray-ace”.
It requires a little more probing to reveal Pearson US advocacy for LGBT+ education and materials but it is definitely part of US product line.
At Connections Academy, we provide a LGBTQ inclusive education, giving students the space to gather and get to know one another, which helps in so many ways. Students learn that they are not alone and that they can depend on one another. Because so many students come to Connections Academy after feeling like they didn’t belong in their brick-and-mortar schools, our teachers and students go the extra mile to make all kids feel accepted and valued.
The Gay Straight Alliance Network can offer support and guidance to anyone interested in starting a group at a brick-and-mortar school for LGBTQ students and their allies.
We can change the world if we provide LGBTQ inclusion in schools, and create a space where students feel welcomed and valued.
Pearson’s Tennessee Connections Academy is located in White House, Tennessee.
It goes without saying that no student or adult for that matter for any reason whatsoever, should be bullied. At the same time, institutional providers like Pearson, schools, educators, and therapists should begin respecting the diversity of opinions, beliefs and practices across the full spectrum of students and families. | <urn:uuid:3a15f84b-acaf-451e-b620-f6be0187cfe3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dailyrollcall.com/pearson-publishing-company-champion-sponsor-of-the-gender-spectrum-professionals-training/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.95386 | 1,123 | 1.90625 | 2 |
The essence of the serene prime location of Manali is the snow-capped peaks, ponderous streams, charming villages and towns, and a peaceful rhythm of life. Manali, located approximately 270 km north of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, is among the most prominent tourist spots in India. The splendid Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar ranges are curled up on either side of it, and the magnificent Beas river flows through it. But to thoroughly prepare for your travel plans, be sure to check the weather conditions of the place. Here’s a list of all the places in Manali that you can visit to have a memorable trip.
10 Best Places to Visit in Manali
1. Solang Valley
The beautiful Solang Valley rests about 14 km northwest of Manali, seen between the villages of Solang and Beas Kund. It offers stunning views of snow-capped mountains and glaciers. An ideal destination for adventurous activities in summer and winter, adrenaline junkies can choose from paragliding, zorbing, skating as well as skiing. Furthermore, several tourists visiting Solang Valley venture out of its adventure by exploring the Shiva temple just above the village, wanting to witness a bit of culture.
2. Rohtang Pass
Of all of the other travel destinations in Manali, by far the most famous is Rohtang Pass. Situated around 51 km from Manali on the highway to Leh at an altitude of 3980 m, it opens yearly from June to October and provides stunning panoramic views of the snowy peaks and mountains surrounding it. Dassaur Lake and Beas Kund are close. The Sonapani glacier and the twin Geypan peaks are also visible from there.
3. Beas Kund
The incredible Beas River flows swiftly across Manali and offers lots of good opportunities in its streams and along its banks for recreational activities. It is a holy place for Hindu devotees, as the legend says that within this lake the legendary sage Vyas took his daily bath. Many of the most impressive and amazing mountain views are offered by the Beas Kund. Maybe the most famous short trek in the area, the Beas Kund trek, along the river and then through the serene Solang valley, boasts beautiful scenery of the splendid snow-covered peaks.
4. Old Manali
You’ll discover the fairly quiet settlement of Old Manali, scattered with simplistic old architecture, uphill above the bustling city of Manali town. One of its noteworthy attractions is the Manu Maharishi Temple, dedicated to the legendary saint, Manu (from whom Manali originally comes). Old Manali is a quiet sanctuary that still preserves the unique attributes of a mountainous area, and it is this special beauty that renders it one of Manali’s most fascinating destinations.
5. Hadimba Temple
Devoted to Hadimba, Bhima’s bride in Mahabharata, this historic shrine is constructed around a natural cave in the pagoda fashion and surrounded by the majestic Dhungri Van Vihar forest. Elaborate wooden carvings portraying mythical deities, celestial dancers, and animal imagery decorate the inner surface of the temple. In addition, each year, a spectacular three-day temple festival is held here in mid-May, and people can come to witness it from all around the country.
6. Manali Nature Park
If you are a nature enthusiast and want to dwell on the brilliant nature sceneries a bit more, Manali Nature Park is the best hangout spot. Manali Nature Park’s enormous trees provide such a thick barrier against the outside worlds, giving a mysterious, surreal vibe to the park. If you’d like to continue to explore the scenic beauty of the place, there is another popular park, Van Vihar Park, with an entrance adjoining Manali town.
Located approximately 3 km from Manali, on the riverbank of Beas, the resort town of Vashisht is famous for its unique hot sulfur springs. Contemporary bathhouses have been constructed where visitors can indulge in the hot waters’ soothing properties. Hot water is continuously channeled to the Turkish-style baths from springs. The pyramid-shaped stone temple on the central square of the town, devoted to the local patron saint, the historic sage Vashisht Muni, is another noteworthy destination of Vashisht.
8. Jogini Falls
The Jogini Falls are among the best destinations to visit in Manali, a 2 km hike north from the town of Vashisht. It allows for an amazing adventure to see the waters cascading down from the mountain ranges. The journey travels a picturesque path with beautiful scenery of the mountains and pine forests around it. Hidden away in nature’s lap, this is a miraculous getaway into tranquility. There seem to be a couple of local establishments and guesthouses along its way, so you can stop for a meal.
The scenic Naggar village, situated some 20 km from Manali, was really the capital of the Kullu empire in the sixteenth century. A majestic stone-and-wood building, the Naggar Fortress has since been renovated into a heritage hotel offering a breathtaking view of the Kullu valley. The Jagati Patt temple, the Gauri Shankar temple, and the ChaturBhuj temple, and the Roerich art gallery are some popular destinations here. The famous Naggar fair is hosted every year here, in April.
10. Buddhist Temples
Merely south of Manali town, there is indeed a comparatively tiny Tibetan settlement that is worth a visit because of its peaceful and relaxing Buddhist temples and stores selling Tibetan handmade items and carpets. The Himalayan Nyingmapa Gompa, one of the temples, is home to an immense gold statue of Lord Buddha. At dusk, the shrine is stunningly illuminated.
Manali is indeed an ideal holiday destination. It is perfect to spend time outdoors here, among nature’s best views, surrounded by soaring mountains and glaciers, and lots of other scenic spots to visit while there. These places also host some of the most amazing outdoor activities which you can try. Comment below in the comments section and tell us about your experience of this beautiful place.
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- Top 10 Most Expensive Bike in the word | <urn:uuid:afc7de9a-7473-4993-b1d9-590cef36934a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://duniakagyan.com/places-to-visit-in-manali/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.939385 | 1,415 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Hello HRI Members,
One of the most important factors for staying in long-term recovery is connection – being connected to others in recovery, being connected to a support group, or being connected to the world in knowing what is going on to handle stress or anxiety.
During this time of distancing ourselves from each other, many groups and organizations are providing services online or conference calls to provide support to those in recovery. Below are some resources listed for you to check out.
From Mental Health America of Greater Houston
Mental Health American of Greater Houston encourages you to continue taking care of yourself and your mental health. Below are trauma-informed strategies and other suggestions for your wellbeing, though this is not an exhaustive list.
- Create predictability through routines and rituals
- Come together for collective healing
- Limit exposure to media
- Discuss your emotions with trusted individuals
- Focus on breathing through breathing exercises
- Practice mindfulness
- Visit our website for more information and local resources: mhahouston.org /mhanational.org
- Obtain virtual therapy—some organizations are providing free sessions.
- Find social media accounts and people to follow that support BIPOC and LGBTQ+ mental health (@ indicates Instagram accounts)
– BIPOC Mental Health
– Black Mental Health information
– The Steve Fund /@thestevefund
– DRK Beauty / @thisisdrkbeauty
– Therapy For Latinx / @therapyforlatinx
– Therapy for Black Girls / @therapyforblackgirls
– Therapy for Black Men / @therapyforblkmen
– Decolonizing Therapy: @decolonizingtherapy
– Melanin & Mental Health / @melaninandmentalhealth
– Black Girls Smile / @blackgirlssmile
– AAKOMA Project / @aakaakomaproject
– Healing Black Women / @healingblackwomen
12 and 12 Friends of Bill Wilson
We are a group of men and women dedicated to the beliefs of Alcoholics Anonymous and to the legacy that our founders left us.
Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. We have open discussions about recovery and weekly & monthly topics. Welcome to our forum.
1 Day at a Time
10 pm EST / 7 pm PST
7 Days a Week, SMTWTFS
We feature English speaking group members from all around the world.
Come along with us!
We offer audio/video meetings and feature a 15-minute speaker or topic followed by a group discussion 7 days a week. All are welcome. Great for newcomers, long-timers, and everyone in-between.
Join Zoom Meeting
You may also call in:
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 773 878 425
12 Step Online
Online AA meeting place and discussion forum
every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm EST
The room will remain open for general recovery chat 24/7 during non-meeting times.
494 Lunch Bunch Group
Open Discussion meeting – At the 494 Lunch Bunch Group, all are encouraged to join and share. Topics vary daily but always focus on solution-based sobriety and recovery. Our group strives to provide a welcoming, supportive, and friendly environment.
Zoom Audio Meetings @ 12 pm Monday-Saturday
1. To join, call: (415) 762-9988 or (646) 568-7788
2. Enter the meeting ID [714 499 3468] followed by the # key
3. When asked to enter your participant ID – simply press the # key
You can also join by following the URL: https://us04web.zoom.us/J/7144993468
Personal Meeting ID: 714 499 3468
Email Contact: firstname.lastname@example.org
For Veterans seeking recovery support while sheltering in place and in the world of social distancing, see the link below:
Zoom/Conference Call Meetings
|Meeting Name||Meeting Time/Day||Zoom Meeting Address & Meeting ID||Phone Meeting Number|
|Phoenix Group Rising|
From the ashes of COVID-19 to fly online
|7:30 PM Tues & Thurs||https://zoom.us/j/825994704|
Meeting ID: 825994704
|Third Coast||7:30 PM Wednesdays||https://zoom.us/j/3337234519|
Meeting ID: 3337234519
|Women of NA||12:00 PM Saturday||https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2405621683|
|Sunday Starters||9:30 AM Sunday||https://zoom.us/j/284491364|
Meeting ID: 284491364
|UTHealth HEROES Recovery Support||Wed. 3:00 PM|
Thurs. 1:00 PM
Meeting ID: 15#
Meeting ID: 284481598#
|Pause A While AA meeting||1:00 PM every day||425-436-6360
Access code: 422932#
|Daily NA Recovery Meetings||12:00 PM|
Meeting ID: 803331430
Meeting ID: 348726030
|Digital All Recovery Meetings||Daily 8 AM, 11 AM, 2 PM, 8 PM||https://Unityrecovery.zoom.us//my/allrecovery| | <urn:uuid:020f22f3-e354-4edd-af3c-f62aa410fca6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://houstonrecoveryinitiative.org/resources/covid-19-support/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.804052 | 1,400 | 1.523438 | 2 |
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation—and may He extol the Messenger in the highest company of Angels, and grant him peace and security—likewise to his family, Companions and true followers.
[04/12/2021] Lesson 1: Prophetic Morals – With Advice & Guidance for the Muslim Woman – by Abu Khadeejah ‘Abdul-Wāhid حفظه الله.
Some of the points discussed in this lesson: [Lesson 01]
– Chapter: Smiling
– Smiling in the face of your brother/sister.
– The excellence of Jarīr b. ‘Abdillāh (رضى الله عنه).
– The balance between hope and fear.
– Chapter: Laughter
– Tremendous advice from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) regarding excessive laughter.
– The great danger of the death of the heart and the means of giving life to the heart.
– Welcoming new sisters to the masjid.
– Having good manners and not being miserable and impatient.
Polite Request: We have made these audios freely available ― We request that you donate the amount of just £2 or $2 (or more) as a Sadaqah to the Salafi Bookstore and Islamic Centre so they can continue their work to print and distribute free audios, leaflets and booklets to aid the da’wah of Ahlus-Sunnah and Hadīth across the world. And please make du’ā to Allah that He continues to aid and strengthen this blessed da’wah.
Please leave a comment below after listening to this audio, and make sure to share. May Allah bless you. | <urn:uuid:48620abd-e21c-4ac6-958b-d27e418f9769> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.salafisounds.com/lesson-1-prophetic-morals-with-advice-guidance-for-the-muslim-woman-by-abu-khadeejah-abdul-wahid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.891652 | 392 | 1.765625 | 2 |
How to Study Visual Images
What follows here is an outline of one particular method. If you are interested in pursuing this area of study further, the article in Screen Education, reproduced as a PDF will provide a good deal more of the thinking that lay behind the original analysis.
The quality of the images in the article is poor but shouldn't affect the points I was trying to make.
There is also a PowerPoint presentation which may be helpful. (BERA paper 2019)
It was the discovery that there was an area of study called 'semiotics' - the study of signs - that enabled me to think systematically about visual images. Of the various texts available (see the Reading List) it was the work of Roland Barthes, especially his Rhetoric of the Image which proved the most helpful. He proposed three levels of meaning: a linguistic, a literal (or denoted) and an interpretative (or connoted) message. Barthes' approach, though novel, tended to be applied to one image at a time. What I wished to do was analyse many images and see what patterns could be detected, what kind of cultural picture emerged.
I took Barthes levels of meaning as a starting point for the work on Images Of Woman, adding a stylistic level. Thus, each (still) image comprises
A stylistic message
A literal or denoted message
An interpretative or connoted message
+ (often) a linguistic message
Style influences how we see a picture. To take a most obvious example, we view a black and white photo differently to a colour one, a sepia image is different again. A soft focus will engender different reactions to sharp focus, and so on.
The literal message is simply, ‘What is there; what does the picture contain?’
The interpretative message asks, ‘What do the items in the picture connote?’ This is the most interesting area and the one most difficult to pin down. Our cultural knowledge and experience will shape our interpretations. To take inanimate objects (i.e. props) as an example: a flame may connote warmth but it may also connote danger. The context and any linguistic message will push the viewer towards a particular interpretation.
A linguistic message (e.g. the title of a painting, the caption to a photo or the slogan in an advert) may well serve the purpose of anchoring (or attempting to anchor) a visual message.
The meanings attributed to style and the connotations of content can be subjective so it is important to be explicit about one's inferences so that readers may judge for themselves. Sometimes an association will be specific; for example, barbed wire around a head indicates ‘keep out, untouchable’. Other associations are more open-ended, like the flowers which appear in both a deodorant advert and in one for tissues, which indicate a generalized freshness or naturalness.
What follows is a system of classification which enabled a close analysis of display advertising in magazines and would be applicable to most still photographic images – and perhaps, also, to paintings and other visual representations.
The System of Classification
CONSIDERATIONS of STYLE
The study of images in other areas may well include forms as diverse as oil painting to an image projected onto a wall. However, the form which the image takes in display advertising from the late 60s onwards is fairly standard, i.e. a photograph plus text. Previously line drawings, including cartoon strips, were widely used but are rarely seen today.
Within this form, though, many different techniques are employed. I whittled them down to seven.
• Focus -soft / sharp
• Distance – close-up / middle distance / long shot
• Colour – full colour / monochrome
• Lighting – when used to illuminate the subject(s) in a particular way
• Cropping - when used to exclude parts of a picture you would normally expect to see
• Angle – when used to create an effect, i.e. not taken from approximately eye-level.
• Special effects – such as montage, superimposition
In addition to the ‘mechanical’ techniques employed by the photographer and art director, each image involves a presentational technique, sometimes more than one. The way in which these techniques work varies. One advert may simply present the product while another may use images to convey its alleged qualities, such as flowers to suggest a natural quality.
These four cover the majority of display advertising.
Presentation does just that: shows a tube of toothpaste or a pack of pasta. A development from this is product transformation, e.g. the wool is the product but has been transformed into a garment, or the product is a shampoo but hair is what is depicted.
Typification works through a sense of the reader understanding what attributes the actor represents or typifies. This will range from an actor whose role is specific, e.g. a nurse or doctor to one which is general, e.g. young girl or mother. A specific role will have specific connotations; in the case of
nurse these will involve caring, professionalism and a certain kind of knowledge. A general role works by asking the reader to see the image of a mother and understand that it stands for ‘all mothers’.
Association works through the qualities of one thing being transferred to another, as in simile or metaphor in language. Metaphor is common in advertising images. A good example is the hand in an oven glove holding a bottle of hot sauce; the glove is communicating the quality of heat without there necessarily being any text to say so. Synecdoche is a related rhetorical device reworked in visual form when a part of something represents the whole thing, a branch representing a tree, for example.
Hyperbole, or exaggeration, is a device which deserves its own category. In Images of Woman, I used the term ‘Supervisual’ to describe a situation where the power of the image overwhelms all else. However, hyperbole seems to be as good a descriptor and has the advantage of being a well-known rhetorical device.
CONSIDERATIONS of CONTENT
The four elements of the advertisement can be taken as product, props, setting and actors. Some adverts will have all four, some only one.
Props were divided into functional and metaphorical. A glass in an advert forwhisky would be functional; a hat and a riding crop would be metaphorical. A cut glass tumbler might be considered both as it is functional but also indicates status, wealth, good taste…
The setting is the background, the context in which the action takes place. There is more variation here than one might expect. Settings can establish a mood, convey meaning, so it is important to take them seriously. One obvious division is outdoor/indoor but within these there are a number of sub-categories, from urban to rural, familiar to exotic in the case of exteriors and from traditional to modern in the case of interiors. Thus:
Outdoor: the distinctions urban / rural and familiar / exotic were combined to cover most eventualities. Hence urban + exotic would describe Montmartre or the Kasbah, rural + familiar would cover English fields and woods.
Indoor settings are either domestic or non-domestic, such as places of work. The latterare rare. Domestic settings were classified as traditional, ritzy, mod, conventional or camp. Some of these descriptors seem inappropriate now. In summary, traditional would involve heavier, darker furniture, leather bound books, candlesticks and gilt frames. Ritzy (or ‘upmarket’?) would include some of the previous elements but with a little more glamour and less ornamentation.
Top left: Setting: indoor, domestic: upmarket; Relationship: divergent
Bottom left: Setting: outdoor, rural / familiar; Relationship: separated
Mod settings featured streamlined furnishings, bold colours and simple geometric shapes. IKEA comes to mind. Conventional settings had a comfortable look: nothing ostentatious, bright but not too bold. Camp settings featured older furniture painted or otherwise refurbished, objets trouves, brass bedsteads and wicker chairs… Self-consciously ‘arty’, which might be a better descriptor.
This is a huge area and includes not only who is in the picture but what they are doing, their expression, clothes, direction of attention and relationship with others…
Where there are two or more actors in the picture, there will be a relationship between them. It may be reciprocal (each person is the centre of the other’s attention); divergent (they are focusing on something different); object-related (an object has their attention) or separated (one actor is focused on the other but the second actor’s attention is elsewhere.) In Images of Woman I termed this ‘semi-reciprocal’ but that now seems an oxymoron: something half reciprocated isn’t reciprocal at all.
The action in an illustration depends very largely on what or who the actor’s attention is focused. It may be on people (see above), an object, him- or herself, the reader or middle distance. Rarely, it may be that the object of attention is invisible to the reader.
Another dimension of attention is touch. The quality of tactility is applicable to any part of the body and the receiver of tactile attention might be the self, an object or objects or people.
Appearance - Expression
An actor’s appearance is difficult to categorize but essential in an analysis of this sort. Facial expression is crucial. Having looked at dozens of examples, these were the categories I distilled for female expressions:
Soft/introverted; cool/level; seductive; narcissistic; carefree; kittenlike; maternal; practical; comic and catalogue.
Soft/introverted: eyes often shut or half-closed, the mouth slightly open/pouting, rarely smiling; an inward-looking trance-like reverie, removed from earthly things.
Cool/level: indifferent, self-sufficient, arrogant, slightly insolent, aloof, confident, reserved; wide eyes, full lips, straight or slightly parted, and obtrusive hair, often blonde. The eyes usually look the reader in the eye, as perhaps the woman regards herself in the mirror. (See the image to the left which is also an interesting example of metaphor.)
Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many ways, the eyes less wide, perhaps shaded. The expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions might include a slight smile.
Narcissistic: similarities to the cool/level and soft/introverted looks rather closer to the latter: a satisfied smile, closed or half-closed eyes, self-enclosed, oblivious, content.
Carefree: nymphlike, active, healthy, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward flowing hair, often smiling or grinning. (See the image to the left.)
Kittenlike: coy, naïve (perhaps in a deliberate, studied way), a friendlier and more girlish version of the cool/level look, sometimes almost twee.
Maternal: motherly, matronly, mature, wise, experienced and kind, carrying a sort of authority; shorter hair, slight smile and gentle eyes; mouth may sometimes be stern but eyes twinkle.
Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth close, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown, hair often short or tied back.
Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.
Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, waxlike; features may be in any position, but most likely with eyes open wide and smiling – but the look remains vacant, personality has been removed.
Male actors have expressions which are fairly direct parallels with these: carefree, practical, paternal, seductive, comic and catalogue. Two other expressions, thoughtful and self-reliant, have similarities to the female introverted and cool, though the thoughtful is far less introverted and the self-reliant more smug than aloof or reserved.
The categories derived from the material were:
Composed/controlled; carefree/active; narcissistic; dramatic/unusual; relaxed/leisurely; functionsl; seductive; dummy.
Composed/controlled: akin to the controlled relaxation of a cat, an impression of balance and potential force; legs often slightly apart, hands together and head level or raised.
Carefree/active: engaged in some physical activity or movement, the arms and legs lead outwards and the head is often tipped back.
Narcissistic: self-caressing, limbs lead back to the body, often in a sitting or crouching position, head tilted downwards.
Dramatic/unusual: strange or exaggerated poses, unnatural, rarely encountered except in drama, poses intended to attract attention. (See the image to the left, which also shows exotic clothing on the woman, very smart on the man.)
Relaxed/leisurely: an attitude of comfort, rest, recuperation, being ‘at ease’; limbs drooping or supported; usually sitting, leaning or lying.
Functional: the body is object-directed, with limbs arranged to expedite the exercise in hand, to carry out a specific purpose.
Seductive: the come-hither pose; often sitting or lying, legs curled up or stretched out together; arms held back from the body, or one shoulder pushed forward, head erect.
Dummy: neutral, wax-like, stiff, lifeless – like a shop-window mannequin.
Male poses correspond to these fairly closely though lacking the narcissistic and seductive. Are these omissions significant?
Exotic, snazzy, office-wear, informal, dirty-wear, uniform, product, none. ‘Snazzy’ now seems an outdated term but the explanation should clarify the meaning.
Exotic: the unusual, very glamorous; long evening dresses, extravagant party dresses, fancy dress, foreign costumes.
Snazzy: smart and very fashionable in a respectable and expensive way; suits of impeccable cut, elegant dresses, hats and gloves. (The term ‘snazzy’ seems outdated now. ‘Smart’ would probably work as well, or perhaps ‘very smart’.)
Office-wear: neat, quite fashionable, clothes to suit a multitude of informal social occasions; dresses, skirt and blouse, a little jewellery perhaps.
Informal: worn about the house or garden, for walks in the country; comfortable and casual; jeans and T shirt, slacks and jumper.
Dirty-wear: clothes worn for cleaning/messy jobs, protective clothing, overalls, apron, old clothes.
Uniform: defined vocational dress.
Product: where the clothes being worn are the product of the advertisement.
None: wearing no clothes or very few.
Male clothing: Men are both far less common in the adverts and also exhibit less variation in dress, though the above are close enough classification except that the exotic and ‘none’ are absent.
In the 1960s and 70s hair was much more of a key indicator than today. The categories used were free-flowing, shaped and moulded. For men, there was a difference as the concept of untidy hair never occurred in relation to women. Thus: short/tidy, medium length/slightly unruly, long/untidy.
Analysis: Using the classifications
Thus one can build up a matrix of data based on the detailed inventory of actors, props and settings. It is a laborious process and perhaps why it has not been done often. In the process of analyzing the data the researcher continually returns to consideration of the meanings expressed by each and by the image as a whole, involving as it does, the meanings and connotations of the actors, props and the setting and the relationship between them. The researcher is then on his or her own. The meaning of an image, given all the multifarious elements enumerated above, might result in several pages of analysis. In recording such meanings, the researcher must bring into a play an awareness of the common culture shared by the producers of and the readers of the image. For example, to derive the meaning ‘authority or punishment’ from a bowl of oranges because of some connection in the researcher’s mind is not justifiable, whereas to derive the same meaning from a large desk and a cane can be substantiated.
Most of the images from adverts in women’s magazines are not, though, hugely complex. They are also widely available and anyone may take a look and see if one’s conclusions are wide of the mark.
Text anchoring meaning
In most images, whether adverts or oil paintings, there is a text which serves to anchor the many possible meanings of a picture. This is especially the case with the adverts in question. The advertiser seeks to draw attention to a particular meaning which is in its interest. However, there may be other interpretations to be drawn from the image – and these may be deliberate or unwitting. Either way, it is the researcher’s job to consider all possible meanings rather than the one(s) intended by the advertiser. See the example to the left. Here the visual metaphor cannot really work on its own and needs the caption 'Unzip a new skin feeling that lasts'.
As in any serious analysis, it is important not to draw conclusions from small samples. It is the cumulative accretion of small pieces of data which give rise to larger patterns. If one or two images for shampoo show women outdoors with a dreamy expression, it’s hardly significant. When such combinations begin to show up repeatedly, something interesting is revealed. This is why Images of Woman took such a lot of trouble to look for patterns and correlations which could be backed up by evidence.
Go to: Conclusions | <urn:uuid:2dcdcf0f-2949-4a30-9420-8fa464fee862> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.readingpictures.co.uk/methodology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.947986 | 3,840 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Super rich investor Warren Buffet said he pays a lower rate of tax than his secretary; a comment that for some proves the point that, along with enjoying huge wealth, the very rich pay much less tax than ‘mere mortals’.
Is this really true? While certain lurid stories surface from time to time about wealthy people stashing money in offshore funds and foreign bank accounts to lower their tax burden, on the other hand the richest 1% of taxpayers in the UK for example pay more than a quarter of all income tax collected.
Of course wealth and ‘being rich’ is defined in more ways than purely how much money is earned through salary or other sources. Overall, wealth takes into account assets such as property and investments.
This is perhaps why wealthy people like Warren Buffet pay a lower rate of tax (not less tax) than those earning much less than they do – such as his secretary.
While income may be taxed reasonably heavily, other contributors to wealth such as property and investments attract a lower rate in terms of capital gains tax when a profit is realized on them; for example, when selling an investment property or when a stock portfolio increases in value.
So the super rich will likely have the majority of their wealth in assets as opposed to readily taxable annual income. Ironically some asset-rich people, those owning properties with plenty of equity in them for example, may not have much liquid wealth in terms of income so may even have to borrow money from time to time.
The Tax “peak”
It’s true that it’s hard for tax authorities anywhere to collect what the average person might think of as a ‘fair’ amount of tax from the super rich, mainly because their wealth is a hybrid of assets and income.
In general, wealthy Americans (those in the millionaire class) do pay tax at a higher rate than lower earners based on annual incomes. Those earning between $2 and $5 million a year fall into the highest taxed earners with nearly 30% of their income going to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) so leaving an average tax bill of just over $875,000.
That said, higher earners than this – those with incomes over $10 million – are taxed at a lower rate of just over 26% but average tax revenue per person is much higher at over $7.5 million.
All in all though, wealthier people – those earning over $250,000 per year – pay more of the taxes overall with their contributions making up over 50% of the total tax revenues per year. This is in line with the US Office of Tax Analysis saying the tax system should be ‘highly progressive’ in that the largest shares of income should be paid by a smaller group of higher earners.
The Loopholes Helping the Super Rich
Because the super rich invariably have wealth tied up in other assets and investments, various tax loopholes combine to help the very highest American earners – those with an income over $110 million – pay tax at a rate often below 15% (significantly less than the rates discussed above).
There aren’t many people in this bracket though; of the 400 of America’s top earners about one in three are paying tax at this lower rate.
Holding on to What They’ve Got
While many people – whether high earners or not – will do their best to pay as little tax as possible, many do it through legitimate means as in tax avoidance compared to the tax evasion methods deployed by some who you’d think were wealthy enough not to need to stoop so low. | <urn:uuid:39d858ec-976a-40ca-82fe-01defdf6a180> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://moneyminiblog.com/taxes/rich-famous-tax-secrets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.976364 | 739 | 2.65625 | 3 |
The amount of money states spend on public education varies widely, and spending more often produces better learning outcomes, according to education reports.
While there is by no means a standard amount of funds allocated to public education in the U.S., the amount spent on grades K-12 rose nationally by over $18 billion from 2014 to 2015, according to a National Center for Education Statistics report. Increases in expenditures per pupil during that period were highest in Alaska, California, Texas, Illinois and Maine.
New York spent more money per pupil than any other state, dishing out $23,060 per student — almost three times greater than Idaho’s $7,858 per pupil.
New York, Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Wyoming and the District of Columbia spent the most money on public education, surpassing the average national spending per pupil by 40 percent or more. (RELATED: White House Budget Cuts $4.4 Billion In K-12 Education Funds)
Of these states, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and New York rank among the best-performing 10 states in public education, according to 2017 State Report Cards. New Hampshire, Maryland, Connecticut, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island make up the rest of that list.
The District of Columbia, New York and Massachusetts also rank as the nation’s best charter schools, according to the Center for Education Reform. D.C. ranked first, and New York ninth followed by Massachusetts in 10th. Alaska, Virginia, Kansas, Maryland and Iowa received failing grades.
Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Nevada, Mississippi, Idaho, Alabama, Arizona and Florida spent the least on public education. Of this group, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and Nevada rank as America’s worst performers. New Mexico, Louisiana and California are also on the list of the U.S.’s worst performers in public education.
While increased spending on public education does not guarantee improved performance, research studies indicate that increases in spending positively correlate with increased college attendance.
The 74 also wrote an article detailing public education by state.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:f21e6488-d335-460f-bc31-8b2cfe172c6d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dailycaller.com/2018/06/02/how-much-states-spend-on-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.922803 | 478 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Real Transformation in the Real World
By: Karen Hoyos
Everyone on this planet has a purpose, millions are looking for it, many others are pursuing it and very few are actually living it. I have worked with thousands of graduates of my seminars and witnessed their extraordinary transformation. During this time, I have seen people start fully committed to a life of growth but after some time just quit to go back to their comfort zone supported by a thought out excuse. I have also had the gift to facilitate the transformation and empower brave leaders to step up against any obstacle and fulfill their mission. For all of them, I am deeply grateful.
What does it take for people to transform their life in every area and fully live their purpose? I am not just talking about some aspects of their life or a temporary change that they might get in their church, temple or even in a workshop. This is not just having the concept of inner transformation in their mind, this is the real deal.
In fact, many people live in the illusion of two worlds, the “spiritual” and the “real” world. In their spiritual world, they do acts of kindness. Many of them are admired by others because their business and charity work are in alignment with contribution. However, they believe in their subconscious mind that it is ok to take a break from transformation. They believe they do so much, they must have the right to cheat in other areas of their life. They negotiate their values and find people that will support this unconscious behavior. Of course these people are also not fulfilled. Behind closed doors they suffer from the impact of their inauthenticity not knowing that the key to get out of that state is CONGRUENCY.
Congruency is the top value of any spiritual journey. This is the secret to unveil the illusion of separation of the two worlds created by the ego, bringing them together as an eternal present from the essence of our being. Many will prefer to walk away or judge others that dare to do what they are not choosing. It is easier to find an excuse then to take responsibility and really take a stand for the genuine transformation of this world that begins with each of us.
How can you bring congruency to your life when it may be so challenging?
Here are the principles that you can apply to make congruency your daily practice:
- CLARITY: Clarify why you are on this planet. You have a purpose. If you don’t know what it is ask yourself this question: If you had all the money in the world and all the time to enjoy it what would you do with your “time’? When you let go of your attachment to money all that is left is your calling.
- CHOOSE POWERFULLY: Make a powerful choice from your heart and not from your head that you will truly live your life’s purpose NOW and not in the future. Make your purpose an emergency because it is.
- CLEAN YOUR SPACE: Let go of the people, circumstances, habits, events and actions that are not CONGRUENT with your inner transformation. It may feel challenging in the beginning but it will be the best gift you will give to the manifestation of your purpose on this planet.
Karen Hoyos is a Global Transformational Leader, Celebrity coach-Speaker & Author. Her message has reached millions of people through her seminars, top television show appearances and bestselling products.Find out more about Karen Hoyos here: http://www.KarenHoyos.net http://www.facebook.com/karenhoyos – Twitter: @KarenHoyos | <urn:uuid:57e25a1e-bb34-47f2-bebb-6f4e36d2e2f6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://karenhoyosvip.com/mentions/karenhoyos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.96683 | 752 | 1.5 | 2 |
Dr. Eleni Bastéa, UNM
May 14, 2017
Most travel to Greece, actual or imagined, includes visits to museums and archaeological sites. Deep inside, we all yearn to come closer to the country’s ancient and celebrated past, to be transported to the legendary ages of Minos of Crete, Pericles of Athens, or Alexander the Great of Macedonia. But then what? What about the present? Can we also learn about the present by visiting museums of history and archaeology? In this illustrated lecture, we will visit some of the country’s best museums, ranging from large and famous, like the Acropolis Museum, to lesser known ones, like the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki and the Palace of the Grand Master on the island of Rhodes. Together, we will visit the buildings that house these museums and consider how the exhibit designs bring the past to life. At the same time, we will reflect on how we, as visitors, influence and are influenced by these presentations and interpretations of historical epochs. At the end of our journey, we will come to understand better how the past, venerable though it is, always depends on today’s context for its interpretation.
Dr. Eleni Bastéa is the Regents’ Professor of Architecture and Director of the International Studies Institute at the University of New Mexico. A native of Thessaloniki, she holds a BA in art history from Bryn Mawr College, a Master’s of Architecture, and a Ph.D. in architectural history, both from the University of California at Berkeley. The recipient of several grants and awards, she lectures internationally on memory and architecture, cities and literature, and modern Greece & Turkey. Bastéa is the author of The Creation of Modern Athens: Planning the Myth (Cambridge University Press, 2000), also published in Greek in 2008 (author’s translation). She is the editor and a contributing author of the anthology Memory and Architecture (University of New Mexico Press, 2004). Her first book of poetry, Venice without Gondolas, was published by Finishing Line Press, 2013. She has appeared in two English-language documentaries: Smyrna: The Destruction of a Cosmopolitan City, 1900-1922 and From Both Sides of the Aegean, both directed by Maria Iliou, Proteus production, 2012.
Supported by Sandia National Labs, Haverland Carter Lifestyle Group, and Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union | <urn:uuid:865b7bba-bd0a-46a1-8681-3efcbb8454c7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.abqinternational.org/the-unbearable-heaviness-of-antiquity-museum-architecture-in-modern-greece/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.930247 | 513 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Product certification is becoming ever more critical as consumers realize the impact of their spending power on consumer markets. With more options for products and services, customers can “vote with their dollar” and choose brands and businesses that align with their values. Moving to more conscious spending leads people to look for businesses that put quality, safety, environment, quality and conformance at the forefront. This creates a more competitive marketplace and can be a motivating factor for businesses to look into product, process, and services certification as a way maintain a competitive edge. ISO/IEC 17065 – Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes, and services, benchmark for product certification, is implemented by certification bodies in more than 120 countries.
What is ISO/IEC 17065?
ISO/IEC 17065 is an international standard developed by the ISO Policy Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO). It defines requirements for the competence, consistent operation, and impartiality of product, process, and service certification bodies. Certification provides confidence that a product, process, or service fulfills specific requirements. The value of certification comes from the confidence and trust established by having an impartial and competent third party body that demonstrates fulfillment of specified requirements. Those that have an interest in certification can include:
- The clients of certification bodies
- The customers of the organizations whose products, processes, or services are certified
- Governmental authorities
- Non-governmental organizations
- Consumers and other members of the public
Certification by competent certification bodies combines the ISO/IEC 17065 requirements for the evaluation of products, processes, or services with the specified certification scheme requirements. Certification may include evaluation (testing, auditing, inspection) of the products, processes, or services, or any combination of evaluation techniques, as well as sampling to review of the certification activities, results, and decision.
Why Use ISO/IEC 17065?
Having ISO/IEC 17065 certification can be advantageous for a business. One benefit is consistency. Impartial testing/inspection/auditing and surveillance from a third party can ensure that there is reliable quality and conformance associated with the product or service and that it is consistent throughout its production or delivery. With this, the standard also better safeguards the company’s liability with dependable practices in place, and it reduces risk and increases safety for consumers.
Another advantage is that with more variety and competition, businesses or consumers often look for or prefer products or services to be certified. When marketing, certification can be a point of differentiation that can attract more business.
Product certification can bring an advantage on a regulation level as well. Some states or municipalities have regulations in place for specific products. With more awareness in the marketplace, product/process/services certification can be incredibly valuable to companies and consumers as it reduces risk for both sides.
Learn More About ISO/IEC 17065
To learn more about the requirements of product certification with ISO/IEC 17065, register for the ANAB training course, Product Certification: Understanding the Requirements and Concepts of ISO/IEC 17065 or self-paced training Overview of ISO/IEC 17065:2012.
Find an Accredited Product Certification Body
ANAB accredits product, process, and service certification programs in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065. Please note that ANAB does not accredit or certify products, processes, and services, but rather accredits the organizations that issue these certifications. If you’re seeking certification, you can find a list of ANAB-accredited product certification bodies here: Product Certification Accreditation Program – Accreditation Directory. | <urn:uuid:7d9ecdb3-bb06-43e3-8786-0a17f7101138> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://blog.ansi.org/anab/benefits-of-product-certification/?amp=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.933087 | 744 | 1.921875 | 2 |
“Cutting Stone” the Art & Life of RI Black Sculptress Nancy Elizabeth Prophet. A talk by Amalia Amaki, foremost scholar on Prophet. This free event takes place Thursday, March 13, 2014 at 6:00pm, at the Newport Art Museum, 76 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI. Prophet, RISD’s first Black graduate in 1918, attended École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where she lived nearly a decade, and had tenure at the historically Black Spelman College, where she created a degree program in 3-D art.
In 1932 Prophet exhibited at the Newport Art Museum winning Best in Show. See a special exhibit and learn about her fascinating life here and in Paris. this weekends exhibit includes two of Prophet’s sculptures and her portrait. Both events are funded by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and sponsored by Opera Providence.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet (1890-1960) was from Warwick, RI. Few of her sculptures survive, including three at the RISD Museum, two at RI Black Heritage Society, and one at the Whitney Museum.
Amaki, an African-American artist, art historian, educator, film critic, and curator is a Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. She co-authored Hale Woodruff, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, and the Academy.
Project Director Ray Rickman says: “Prophet is one of those great Rhode Island icons that time and historians have mostly forgotten. This project reintroduces her to the public in new and exciting ways.” | <urn:uuid:30568fbe-27c6-47a1-83cf-e04d082dad35> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gallerynightprovidence.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/nancy-elizabeth-prophet-risds-first-black-grad-a-talk-at-newport-art-museum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.951608 | 329 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Council is developing a Climate Change strategy - share your views in person or online
East Lothian Council is developing an ‘East Lothian Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy’, which will set out a coordinated approach and action plan to contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions.
A series of Climate Change Events are taking place around East Lothian, to coincide with Climate Week 2018. These will be public drop-in consultation events to enable people around the county to feed into the development of the Strategy.
Cabinet member for Environment, Cllr Norman Hampshire, said: “These events offer an opportunity to find out more about what the council is already doing to reduce carbon emissions and the impacts of climate change. They will also help to identify what else we can all do – both from the council’s perspective, and working in partnership with local communities, groups and businesses around East Lothian. Many local groups and organisations are already making a difference in our communities, and we can all achieve more by working together on this important agenda.”
“As a public body, East Lothian Council is expected to lead by example in reducing carbon emissions and acting sustainably. But we can’t act alone. I would encourage local residents to come along to one of the consultation events, and give your views on what the council, and the wider East Lothian community, can do to reduce our carbon emissions, be more sustainable, and prepare for the future effects of climate change.”
- Dunbar: Monday 24 September, 4pm–6pm (in Bleachingfield Centre)
- Port Seton: Tuesday 25 September, 4pm–6pm (in Port Seton Centre)
- Tranent: Wednesday 26 September, 4pm–6pm (in Loch Centre)
- Haddington: Monday 1 October, 4pm–6pm (in Buffet Room, Town House)
- Musselburgh: Tuesday 2 October, 4pm–6pm (in Musselburgh East Community Learning Centre)
- North Berwick: Thursday 4 October, 4pm–6pm (in St Andrew Blackadder Church Hall)
An online consultation will also be available on the Consultation Hub (eastlothianconsultations.co.uk ), and will run from 24 September to 14 October 2018. | <urn:uuid:c2a893e6-5fa9-4f4f-8315-fcdad20a6518> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/news/article/12861/council_developing_climate_change_strategy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.929367 | 488 | 2.03125 | 2 |
19th Gender Summit – Global for SDGs
The UN SDG Agenda: Research and Interventions Agenda for the next 10 Years Seoul, August 2020
Guest of Honour and plenary speaker Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the UN
19–20 August 2020
N.B. Due to COVID19, GS19 will now be a virtual event
In August 2015, the participants in the 6th Gender Summit – Asia Pacific in Seoul (the 6th event in the series and 1st in Asia-Pacific) discussed a wide range of gender issues influencing quality of outcomes in research, innovation and development measures. Significantly, in expectation of the announcement in September of that year of the UN Sustainable Development 2030 Agenda, the participants at GS6 adopted The Seoul Gender Summit Declaration and Call for Actions to Advance Gendered Research, Innovation and Socio-economic Development12. Furthermore, they recommended that a letter is sent from the Gender Summit to the UN with the recommendations that all SDG targets, and not just SDG 5, should be viewed from a gender perspective to ensure that the outcomes of the implementation measures benefit women and men equally.
The actions taken in Seoul, were followed in the 10th Gender Summit – Asia Pacific, which took place in Tokyo in 2017. This was the second GS in the Asia Pacific region. The participants in Tokyo adopted the BRIDGE Tokyo Recommendations (Better Research and Innovation through Gender Equality) calling on all actors in science endeavours to integrate gender equality objectives into the implementation efforts to achieve the targets of all 17 SDGs.
At the 16th Gender Summit on 28-29th August 2019 in Singapore, the Centre for Gendered Innovation in Science and Technology Research (GISTeR) based in South Korea announced the plan to host the GS19 - Global for SDGs, in Seoul on 24-25th June 2020, with the goal to review from a gender perspective the research for SDGs in first five years of the implementation of SDG targets, to assess the progress made and to agree on where new gender research and implementation measures are still needed, and how to improve both the gender knowledge and its translations into effective practices.
GS19 – Global: Target participants, goals and outcomes
The primary goal of GS19 is to bring together key player organisations that are actively advancing knowledge and practice for effective implementation of SDG targets, and identify topics where gender is not given the priority it should. Example organisations that are being targeted include: research performing members of the UN Sustainable Solutions Network (SDSN); members of the International Science Council (ISC); multilateral institutions such as OECD and UNESCO; funders of research for development such as the International Development Research Centre in Canada; and capacity building programmes such as the collaborative GREAT (Gender-responsive Researchers Equipped for Agricultural Transformation) project involving Cornell (USA) and Makerere (Uganda) universities.
The target participants are acknowledged technical and gender experts and practitioners from across the different global regional familiar with SDG-related themes as well as with gender knowledge and experience relevant to different SDG targets.
The format of GS19 will follow the standard applied to all Gender Summit events, namely promoting evidence- and consensus-based dialogue between scientists, gender scholars, and policy makers, as well as stakeholders in science endeavours, innovation and development, leading to concrete recommendations for making improvements, and who should take action.
GS19 – Global: Programme
The programme of GS19 will be made up of a collection of sessions, each dedicated to a cluster of SDGs that offer the best opportunities for advancing impactful research, with panels of speakers representing the different sectors: research, innovation, development, policy, publishing and communiucation. The task of each session will be to offer an expert review and assessment of how gender issues have been addressed in individual and clusters of SDGs during the first five years of the implementation activities. The outputs will include advice showing where good progress has been made and where it has been lacking; where important still gaps in knowledge act as barriers to effective implementation; and where sufficient gender knowledge is available and can be applied to develop better and more sustainable interventions to enhance impact.
It is expected that the programme will include keynotes by leaders, and around 60 international expert speakers, with 200 participants from 40 countries, and the main output will be an evidence and consensus-based roadmap for integrating gender-sensitive approaches into research for SDGs, and applying existing gender knowledge into the programme of developing intervention measures for achieving SDG targets.
It is also expected to hold gender training workshops as part of the event for researchers and policy makers on how to integrate dimensions of gender into SDG-related research and intervention measures.
GS19 - Call for Partners
The framework for the GS19 content and outputs will be shaped and realised by GISTeR and Portia in partnership with the partnership of leading key player organisations.
We invite organisations from across the globe whose mission and core interests include research, innovation, or development agenda for the UN SDG 2030 Agenda to join the GS19 Partnership to help ensure that the next SDG implementation phase will benefit more fully from adopting excellent gender knowledge to guide intervention design and implementations for the benefit of all.
The role and responsibility of the Partners includes:
• Contribution to GS19 budget, which can be financial (e.g. a grant) or in-kind (e.g. providing a venue, sponsoring a reception/travel/accommodation for speakers)
• Contribution to GS19 programme, e.g. by nominating a topic for session and/or sponsoring important speakers
• Using own networks and channels to disseminate and promote the goals and outputs from GS19 Providing expertise/staff to record proceedings and produce the roadmap
• Carry out post-GS19 activities to help implement the roadmap and monitor progress.
To express interest in joining the GS19 Partnership please contact email@example.com | <urn:uuid:10d5dfdf-47de-425f-9e03-0b11de7ee003> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gender-summit.com/past-summits/gs19-2020-seoul/about-gs19 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.923204 | 1,227 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Red lipstick in a green packaging, tubes and crucibles, which are entwined with flowers and leaves – the range of products, the “promise of a natural” beauty, is rising steadily.
But how much nature is actually in natural cosmetics? And it really is healthier for the skin?
These questions can not answer. Because terms such as “of natural origin”, “natural” or “pure” are not protected by law. “Bio” is in the field of cosmetics, unlike food – not regulated by the state. Consequently, once any manufacturer can advertise with these names, is to benefit from the growing demand for eco-products.
However, Not only for natural cosmetics, but cosmetics in General, consumers should not be deceived. So already in 2012, was a major German manufacturer of court, for a care series with “pure & to advertise natural”, although the use of chemical additives were included in the product. To Judge it like this, noticed the deception, however, in the case of the relevant product monitoring. “The Supervisors, but only samples,” Silke Schwartau of the consumer Hamburg.
Water is considered a natural ingredient
Since September of 2017, the ISO is in addition standard for natural and organic cosmetics, which defines among other things criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products and allows to calculate the share of natural substances. Mandatory however, it is not. Consumer activist Schwartau considers the Standards too low, misdirection and deception would even support it.
“In accordance with ISO standard water is among the natural ingredients,” she criticizes. “On the market, more and more products, which may contain up to 95 per cent water and, as natural cosmetics awarded.” The established natural cosmetics manufacturers put the in an uproar. “You feared that the market will be diluted in the truest sense of the word.”
Another Problem is that The individual ingredients do not need to be listed in cosmetics as a percentage. “If you eat raspberry yogurt, it must be on it, how much per cent, raspberries, raspberry preparation, or powder in the yogurt are included,” the consumer activist. “In the case of cosmetics this is not the case.” Although the ingredients are lined up based on weight after decreasing in quantity. In the front of the stands, which is a lot. But whether Aloe Vera creams now a measly percent of the Plant’s in there or more, is not apparent.
It is often so difficult to understand, how much the naturalness of a product. In the following, we answer the most important questions in order to find in the thicket of green cosmetics orientation.
What legal rules apply to natural cosmetics?
For natural cosmetics in the European cosmetics regulation – how for cosmetic General. You are guaranteed the safety of cosmetic products. A special natural cosmetics law, there are several private seal. Many of them restrict the use of some substances, which are allowed in conventional cosmetics. “As soon as there are indications of possible risks for the environment or health, can not be used with certain ingredients or techniques from caution,” says industry expert Elfriede Dambacher, the district annually publishes the “natural cosmetics industry monitor” and for 15 years the natural cosmetic company advises. However, the Standards are certified as natural cosmetics are different.
Consumer activist Schwartau criticized that there is no single government-funded seal of approval. “In the current Label confusion, the certifying agent earn especially,” she says, and would have no interest in more transparency and uniformity. She therefore calls for “a unified Logo for all with transparent criteria”. Also Dambacher would be in favour of such a state seal, but only “on the level of current certified natural cosmetics”.
What are the natural cosmetics label are there and what do they say?
Among the most famous labels Natrue, BDIH or Ecocert. Since 2017, there is also the Cosmos-Standard. Five European natural cosmetics label organisations-the BDIH, Ecocert, Cosmebio, ICEA and Soil Association – have joined together to agree on minimum standards.
All natural cosmetics certifications have in common that their raw materials are mostly of natural origin. This means that the ingredients are oil-based, silicones, genetically modified organisms, and synthetic fats, Oils and fragrance substances are taboo. “In the case of organic cosmetics in addition, a certain – and, depending on the Label a slightly different high – proportion of ingredients from organic farming,” says Schwartau.
An Overview of some of the common seal and the importance of which can be found on this side of the consumer.
- An Overview of critical substances and their designation can be found in a retrievable listing of the consumer.
- Ingredients are listed according to the international nomenclature of cosmetic ingredients, in short, INCI, on the product. Micro-plastic is for the consumer, it is often difficult to detect. It hides itself behind the following words: Polyethylene, Nylon, Polypropylene, Polystyrene or polyurethanes.
- The FEDERAL government has released a shopping guide, in which he lists the products that the micro-plastic. However, a number of products with liquid art materials, which are also good for the environment, strictly speaking but are regarded as micro-plastic.
- Are hormonally active substances in the product? With an App, “Toxfox” of the FEDERAL check.
- When you Decode the ingredients on the App code check helps.
- More information can be found in 2018 by Ökotest published book on the topic of “natural cosmetics”.
What controversial substances do not occur in natural cosmetics?
Mineral oils and mineral oil derivatives such as Paraffin are derived from petroleum, in several steps, cleaned and processed. So Oils, petrolatum or waxes, maintain in cosmetics, cleaning or water-repellent effect. They are vegetable oils a cheap Alternative, however, in the production of little eco-friendly. In addition, they can contain critical substances, such as aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH). A part of these substances is suspected, cancer and genetic damage. According to Stiftung Warentest, you have to look in the body, but are absorbed through lipsticks and lip balms. Other Oil constituents can accumulate permanently in the body, they may lead to inflammation in the organs such as the liver.
Mineral oils are allowed in cosmetics. Certain Standards are adhered to in the processing and limits, the Federal Institute for risk assessment (BfR), according to the current state of knowledge, to expect no health effects. “Mineral oils are used for more than a hundred years in cosmetic products,” writes the Institute. “Health effects of cosmetic products are, so far, in spite of their widespread use, however, not occurred.” However, the BfR also notes that data gaps exist – for example for absorption through the skin. Who wants to go as a consumer, you can resort to natural cosmetics. Mineral oils are not used in certified products.
This is also true for other problematic substances, which are approved according to the European cosmetics regulation, the natural cosmetics manufacturer but without. “In the traditional Make-Up Foundation, silicones are often in there,” says industry expert Dambacher. You put in water-proof Mascara or ensure that the lipstick is smooth to apply. These liquid substances are harmless to health, they are in the waters, however, difficult to degrade, and therefore in natural cosmetics are not allowed.
Parabens are commonly used preservatives, in contrast to other preservatives have a low Allergy risk and are well tolerated by the skin. Some representatives, however, are in the criticism, as they proved in the animal experiment as a hormonally effective. For the EU-Commission, therefore, maximum limits. In natural cosmetics are as well included such as emulsifiers from the group of polyethylene glycols, the short PEG, the skin barrier to weaken and possibly also pollutants, make it more permeable. Other problematic substances, such as micro-plastic, aluminum (as a color pigment in lipsticks, eye shadow and Make-up included) or the antibacterial and controversial substance Triclosan does not come in the crucible and Tube.
Natural cosmetics is always better for the health?
It is not to say. “Even natural ingredients can cause allergies – essential Oils such as tea tree oil,” says Julia Welzel, chief physician at the clinic for dermatology and Allergology, Klinikum Augsburg Süd. “Marigold, wool waxes or natural fragrances can be, in this respect, is also problematic.”
“In natural cosmetics can also put the skin irritating and sensitizing substances,” stressed consumer activist Schwartau. “Some of the aggressive chemical substances, such as certain preservatives are not included. Ecologically sweet almond oil is in any case better than a mineral oil,” says Schwartau.
The skin is sensitive, do not need to be equal to that of a harmful substance is in the product. The skin type plays a role in the tolerance to the substance is good, the other. Dermatologist Welzel emphasizes: “Whether Nano-or micro-plastic: Hard facts, that controversial substances are for the health of the people is harmful, is still missing often.” Conceivable, however, it should be.
Can natural cosmetics compete with conventional cosmetics?
“The products are now very good,” says Dambacher. She admits, however, that it can be in the hair styling, the hair wash and decorative cosmetics to better. Because certain surfactants are absent, it is foamed, for example, the natural shampoo less. Powder without micro-waxes-mineral oil is not as smooth to spread and adheres less strongly. And a water-resistant Mascara is not found in natural cosmetics.
Summary: terms such as “natural” and “organic” are not defined in the cosmetics industry. Different private labels guarantee different Standards, such that no synthetic and hazardous substances contained in the product. But also natural ingredients such as tea tree oil can cause allergic reactions. If you can tolerate a product also depends on the skin type. | <urn:uuid:13fe78b9-2a97-42b9-a21b-1e9f1759ea04> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://meltingood.com/health-news/natural-cosmetics-really-is-better-for-the-skin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.95135 | 2,213 | 1.78125 | 2 |
- This event has passed.
iNatural—Citizen Scientist: There’s an App for That
April 2, 2020 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pmFree
Would you like to be a Citizen Scientist and help collect information about the natural world around us? Jonathan Marchal from the North Carolina Arboretum will present, “iNatural—Citizen Scientist” at the Transylvania County Library’s Discover Natural Transylvania program on April 2 at 6:30pm.
Smartphones are quickly becoming a valuable tool to aid in exploring the natural world. Participants will learn about the functions of several of these mobile applications to aid in exploring our natural world and share observations and experiences with others. Apps available for both Apple and Android devices will be covered, with a special emphasis on iNaturalist. Marchal will share how to use this worldwide network of naturalists to become a citizen scientist and aid researchers in learning more about the flora and fauna that call Western North Carolina home.
Light refreshments are provided by the Friends of the Library who support the Discover Natural Transylvania program series on the first Thursday of most months. For additional information contact Marcy at 828-884-1820 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:cac7e855-2acf-4862-9be4-b8fe0e2fda03> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.boldlife.com/event/inatural-citizen-scientist-theres-an-app-for-that/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.884073 | 273 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Variation in foliar water content and hyperspectral reflectance of Pinus patula trees infested by Sirex noctilio
AbstractThe remote detection and quantification of symptoms associated with declining forest health is critical for the introduction of proper pest monitoring and control measures. Sirex noctilio, the Eurasian wood wasp, is one of the major pests responsible for declining forest health in pine forests located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Researchers have shown that stress induced by S. noctilio causes a rapid decrease in foliar water content, with the foliage of the tree changing from a dark green to a reddish brown hue. This study examined if the variation in foliar water content due to S. noctilio infestation can be remotely detected. Foliar water content and in situ hyperspectral measurements were obtained from Pinus patula trees experiencing varying levels of stress induced by S. noctilio. Subsequently, foliar water content was correlated to selected spectral variables consisting of known water absorption features, spectral indices and continuum-removed absorption features. Results showed that the variations in foliar water content across the varying levels of S. noctilio infestation were strongly linked to the variation in hyperspectral reflectance. Except for water absorption features located at 970 nm and 1200 nm, there was a strong correlation between the majority of the spectral variables and foliar water content. Of the spectral variables tested, the water index (WI) provided the strongest linear correlation (r = 0.84) with foliar water content. Ultimately, results obtained from this study provide the foundation for the detection and monitoring of S. noctilio infestations at a landscape level using airborne or spaceborne hyperspectral platforms.
Keywords: absorption features; continuum-removed absorption features; foliar water content; hyperspectral; Sirex noctilio; spectral indices
Southern Forests 2010, 72(1): 1–7 | <urn:uuid:e3f20544-bd8a-45c1-ba46-d127c998143d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sfjfs/article/view/54093 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.899473 | 412 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The Beguines of Medieval Paris
Gender, Patronage, and Spiritual Authority
Series: The Middle Ages Series
- ISBN: 9780812224115
- Published By: University of Pennsylvania Press
- Published: March 2018
Beguines—women who took no official religious vows yet lived lives of chastity, poverty, and in imitation of Christ—have long fascinated their contemporaries and historiographers. Tanya Stabler Miller’s work is an excellent study of the beguines of medieval Paris that helpfully extends the historiographical account of these women, providing not only a synthesis of earlier scholarship, but also expanding it in crucial ways. The book attends with great care to the “flexibility and dynamism” of beguine life as manifest in the demography, spirituality, social networks, and participation in economic life of the city by various beguine communities (2).
Following the path-breaking work of Walter Simons’s 2001 study, Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities of the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565 (University of Pennsylvania Press), Miller synthetically studies—through archival examination of diverse material including tax rolls, property records, sermons, and exempla—the texture of beguine life, not only in terms of their spiritual friendships, relationships with male clerics, and religious ideals, but also their occupations, financial obligations, and patronage by the crown.
Although the book focuses on late medieval Paris, Miller demonstrates the complex regional networks—spiritual, institutional, and economic—in which beguines participated. Thus, like Simons, Miller argues that economic structures and spiritual seeking are bound together. In its portrayal of “interaction and collaboration” in these networks, The Beguines of Medieval Paris also follows a current trend in women’s historiography by refusing to be a lachrymose history that portrays beguines as continuously persecuted and marginal figures whose liminal status necessarily consigned them to the suspicion and violence of their contemporaries (13).
Chapter 1 reconstructs King Louis IX’s foundation of the Paris beguinage on the model of the court beguinages of the Southern Low Countries in the late 1250s. Miller shows how Louis’s support of beguines was a component of his desire to be a just and moral king, and the ways in which his desire to live a life closely aligned to the ideals of the apostolic life (simplicity, charity, penance) while remaining in his position as king both echoed beguine ideals and subjected him to similar criticism and approbation as the beguines whom he patronized. In other words, Louis’s interest in the beguines was profoundly personal.
Chapter 2 takes the reader inside the beguinage, demonstrating the way in the which the beguine vocation had appeal for women from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Unlike nuns, beguines were not required to hand their property over to the community. Miller shows the variety of ways that wealthy beguines used their property, arguing that this circulation was a source of both strength and difficulty for the community.
Chapter 3 examines the profound interconnections between the beguines of Paris and the burgeoning silk trade in the city. Beguines, Miller demonstrates, were important players in the rise of this industry, including some who owned workshops in which they employed other beguines. This industry enabled beguines not associated with the beguinage to pursue their vocation despite the seeming difficulties of being unenclosed and single.
Although the close relationship between beguine communities and mendicant orders has long been a topic of historiography, chapter 4 wonderfully examines the relationship between the beguinage and the clerics of the Sorbonne, founded by the great supporter of the beguines, Robert of Sorbon, in whom Louis IX also found a defender. Robert represented the beguines as models for the spiritual aspirations of university clerics and fostered the relationship between the two communities. Although the beguines were attacked by priests like William of Saint-Amour—an attack that would culminate in the trial, condemnation, and execution of the beguine Marguerite Porete, who was judged by twenty-one Parisian theologians, six of whom would then help compose the decrees negatively attacking beguines at the Council of Vienne in 1311—Miller demonstrates that there were many positive links between Sorbonne clerics and beguines.
Chapter 5 turns to sermons created by beguines themselves, as well as those that discuss them, in order to elaborate on the arguments of chapter 4 regarding the relationship between the university and the beguinage. Notable in this regard is Miller’s use of six excerpts from sermons preached by the mistress of the beguinage, who used the pulpit as an opportunity to recast and resist the portrayal of beguines by male clerics who attended primarily to external manifestations of beguinal piety.
Chapters 6 and 7 examine the effects of Marguerite Porete’s trial and the Vienne decrees on the Parisian beguines. The lingering esteem for Louis IX by his successors protected the beguinage, which continued to receive royal patronage and was made officially exempt from the Vienne decrees (the beguinage remained in operation until 1471). There was, nevertheless, a rise in the 14th century of attacks on the beguine community by clerics, who increasingly spoke of them as devious presences veiled by the semblance of false devotion. Miller charts the deleterious effect of these attacks over time.
The use of multiple disciplinary perspectives and sources make this book an important contribution to the history of medieval beguines. It is persuasive in its argument for the importance of beguines to 13th and 14th-century Paris and of Paris to beguine culture more broadly. In its balanced representation of the tribulations and successes of Parisian beguines, it provides a nuanced portrait of these communities in their spiritual, financial, and social engagements.
Rachel J. Smith is Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University.Rachel J. SmithDate Of Review:June 26, 2018 | <urn:uuid:a77b868d-374a-4fe9-ad83-47db48e6aab4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://readingreligion.org/9780812224115/the-beguines-of-medieval-paris/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.956336 | 1,293 | 2.5 | 2 |
A prenatal nurse is an expectant mother’s best friend. As a prenatal nurse, you will be the person who teaches pregnant women how to care for themselves and their baby before the baby is born. Everything from birthing options to prenatal diet will be your domain. Caring for expectant mothers from the positive pregnancy test through the birth of their child can be a very rewarding career.
Education for Prenatal Nursing
Because prenatal nursing is a specialized field, it requires a bit more education than being a CNA or LPN. You must first obtain your RN certification and then earn a master’s degree or post grad certificate for the prenatal field. This means that the road to becoming a prenatal nurse will include in depth general nursing training plus specific training regarding caring for pregnant women. Earning this certification will require a lot of hard work and dedication.
Responsibilities of Prenatal Nurses
The duties of a prenatal nurse include ordering tests, reading lab results, physical examinations, fetal development monitoring and parental education. You may provide support during pregnancy through the birthing process. Being a prenatal nurse is a career that could keep you in contact with your families from conception through the first weeks of the new baby’s life.
Income for Prenatal Nurses
As with all nursing positions, there is a great deal of job security and projected growth over the next decade. With the population constantly increasing there is always a demand for skilled nurses. Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t have specific salary information for prenatal nurses, the average annual salary for an RN was $67,490. Specialized certification, experience, and job setting can cause this number to vary across the country.
Would You Make a Good Prenatal Nurse?
There are certain characteristics that you will need to be a successful prenatal nurse.
- Attention to detail
- Documentation skills
- Communication skills
- Able to work long hours
- Calm under pressure
- Able to make quick decisions
- Love for babies
Do you have the passion and skills it takes to learn to be a prenatal nurse? If so, it can be an amazing and rewarding journey to a fantastic career. | <urn:uuid:4cc62770-cd49-4a9b-8984-fd9b1356e903> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.givenus.com/career-in-prenatal-nursing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.933696 | 464 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Word on the street is that Apple has started working with TSMC or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on the “A11” processors that we’ll see in the company’s 2017 devices. The A11 is reportedly based on the 10nm manufacturing process, meaning that the chips will provide more power while being more efficient. The new chips are said to utilize TSMC’s integrated fan-out and wafer-level packaging technologies.
Samsung has previously been a supplier of A-series chips but Apple has gradually been shifting its business to TSMC. It can’t be said for sure at this point in time if Apple is going to rely on Samsung as well for its A11 processors.
Nothing has been officially confirmed by Apple as yet, but it’s likely that the new chips will be powering the 2017 iPhones. Apple is expected to introduce a major overhaul for the iPhone next year. It may finally make the shift to OLED displays as well.
This is one of the reasons why it’s believed that the iPhones due next month are going to be an incremental update because Apple is saving all of the good stuff for 2017. It’s been a while since the company introduced major updates to its smartphone and a powerful 10nm processor will certainly open up a world of possibility on an overhauled iPhone. | <urn:uuid:49a6b90f-9b8a-4c4a-b7ef-1a09ed505de6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/08/apple-reportedly-working-with-tsmc-on-10nm-a11-processors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.956958 | 277 | 1.914063 | 2 |
That drew a sharp rebuke from Putin's spokesman, who called the accusation "absurd." Throughout the years, the Kremlin has always dismissed the notion of political killings with scorn.
But Putin’s critics couldn’t help drawing parallels with the unexplained deaths of other Kremlin foes. "I have an impression — I hope it’s only an impression — that the practice of killing political opponents has started spreading in Russia," said Gennady Gudkov, a former parliamentarian and ex-security services officer, to the Moscow Times.
Here are some outspoken critics of Putin who were killed or died mysteriously.
Boris Nemtsov, 2015
In the 1990s, Nemtsov was a political star of post-Soviet Russia’s "young reformers." He became deputy prime minister and was, for a while, seen as possible presidential material — but it was Putin who succeeded former president Boris Yeltsin in 2000. Nemtsov publicly supported the choice, but he grew increasingly critical as Putin rolled back civil liberties and was eventually pushed to the margins of Russian political life. Nemstov led massive street rallies in protest of the 2011 parliamentary election results and wrote reports on official corruption. He also was arrested several times as the Kremlin cracked down on opposition rallies. In Feb. 2015, just hours after urging the public to join a march against Russia's military involvement in Ukraine, Nemtsov was shot four times in the back by an unknown assailant within view of the Kremlin. Putin took "personal control" of the investigation into Nemtsov’s murder, but the killer remains at large.
Boris Berezovsky, 2013
A self-styled tycoon who become a fixture in Yeltsin's inner circle in the late 1990s, Berezovsky is believed to have been instrumental in Putin's rise to power (including a media campaign that smeared Nemtsov). But Berezovsky was unable to exert the influence under the new president he had hoped. His falling out with Putin led to his self-exile in the United Kingdom, where he vowed to bring down the president. He also accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the killing of Alexander Litvinenko, a former intelligence officer and whistleblower poisoned to death in 2009. Berezovsky was found dead inside a locked bathroom at his home in the United Kingdom, a noose around his neck, in what was at first deemed a suicide. However, the coroner’s office could not determine the cause of death.
Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, 2009
Markelov was a human rights lawyer known for representing Chechen civilians in human rights cases again the Russian military. He also represented journalists who found themselves in legal trouble after writing articles critical of Putin, including Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya, who was slain in 2006. Markelov was shot by a masked gunman near the Kremlin. Baburova, also a journalist from Novaya Gazeta, was fatally shot as she tried to help him. Russian authorities said a neo-Nazi group was behind the killings, and two members were convicted of the deaths.
Sergei Magnitsky, 2009
Lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in police custody in November 2009 after allegedly being brutally beaten, then denied medical care. He had been working for British-American businessman William Browder to investigate a massive tax fraud case. Magnitsky was allegedly arrested after uncovering evidence suggesting that police officials were behind the fraud. In 2012, Magnitsky was posthumously convicted of tax evasion, and Browder lobbied the U.S. government to impose sanctions on those linked to his death. The sanctions bill bears his name and has since been applied to rights abusers in other cases.
Natalia Estemirova, 2009
Natalya Estemirova was a journalist who investigated abductions and murders that had become commonplace in Chechnya. There, pro-Russian security forces waged a brutal crackdown to weed out Islamic militants responsible for some of the country's worst terrorist attacks. Like fellow journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Estemirova reported on civilians who often got caught between these two violent forces. Estemirova was kidnapped outside her home, shot several times — including a point-blank shot in the head — and dumped in the nearby woods. Nobody has been convicted of her murder.
Anna Politkovskaya, 2006
Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian reporter for Novaya Gazeta whose book, "Putin's Russia," accused the Kremlin leader of turning the country into a police state. She wrote extensively about abuse in Chechnya, and once or twice appeared on radio shows in Moscow with me. She was shot at point-blank range in an elevator in her building. Five men were convicted of her murder, but the judge found that it was a contract killing, with $150,000 of the fee paid by a person whose identity was never discovered. Putin denied any Kremlin involvement in Politkovskaya's killing, saying that her "death in itself is more damaging to the current authorities both in Russia and the Chechen Republic ... than her activities."
Alexander Litvinenko, 2006
"Alexander Litvinenko was a former KGB agent who died three weeks after drinking a cup of tea" laced with deadly polonium-210 at a London hotel, as Business Insider wrote a year ago. "A British inquiry found that Litvinenko was poisoned by Russian agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, who were acting on orders that had 'probably been approved'" by Putin. Russia refused to extradite them, and in 2015 the Russian president granted Lugovoi a medal for "services to the motherland." After leaving the Russian Federal Security Service, Litvinenko became a vocal critic of the agency, which was run by Putin, and later blamed the security service for orchestrating a series of apartment bombings in Russia in 1999 that left hundreds dead. Russia's invasion of Chechnya followed later that year — and with it, the rise to power of Putin. Berezovsky was suspected to be complicit in at least part of the plot to bring Putin to the Kremlin, but he later sought to implicate Putin for Litvinenko's killing. Litvinenko also accused Putin ordering the murder of Politkovskaya.
Sergei Yushenkov, 2003
The affable former army colonel was a favorite of parliamentary reporters in the early 1990s, when I was learning the trade for the Moscow Times. Sergei Yushenkov had just registered his Liberal Russia movement as a political party when he was gunned down outside his home in Moscow. Yushenkov was gathering evidence he believed proved that the Putin government was behind one of the apartment bombings in 1999.
Yuri Shchekochikhin, 2003
As a journalist and author who wrote about crime and corruption in the former Soviet Union when it was still very difficult to do so, Yuri Shchekochikhin once joined me on a police raid of crack houses in Philadelphia in 1988. He was investigating the 1999 apartment bombings for Novaya Gazeta when he contracted a mysterious illness in July 2003. He died suddenly, a few days before he was supposed to depart for the United States. His medical documents were deemed classified by Russian authorities.
Editor's note: This post originally contained two sentences describing Alexander Litvinenko that should have been attributed to Business Insider. That attribution has been added. | <urn:uuid:1513347b-c582-4064-9ef0-1198a89e2ed6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/23/here-are-ten-critics-of-vladimir-putin-who-died-violently-or-in-suspicious-ways/?utm_term=.873c5dea7940 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.984125 | 1,528 | 1.726563 | 2 |
I’m doing creative writing this semester and today in class we did an interesting exercise in which we each were allocated two random words, and with those two words we had to make up a new concept, an invention of the sort.
The two words I got were ‘ant’ and ‘table’, and as you can guess from the title, I ended up creating ant-tables, a particular type of creature that used to live in the Ice Age. The exercise was so fun for me that I’ve decided to share word for word what I wrote during class here.
A feeling of wonder took over me as I bent down to examine the fossil closely. We’d just discovered a new species: the ant-table. It used to live in the Ice Age, but it became extinct soon after that.
A creature, the size of your thumb, armed with four straight legs and skin as rough as wood. Ant-tables would freeze their body in hibernation during the harshest winters. They were resilient and would live as long as a century. | <urn:uuid:5e45e6ac-599f-437e-b3eb-48533dec37df> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://evilnymphstuff.wordpress.com/tag/creative/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.98902 | 234 | 1.867188 | 2 |
On a sunny Sunday in summer we set out to explore our surroundings a little more. Our day trip took us to Seligenstadt, a small town on the Main, which is located about 25 km southeast of Frankfurt.
Table of contents
Things to know about Seligenstadt
Seligenstadt is a town in the district of Offenbach in Hesse, with a population of about 21,000 and has a history of more than 1900 years. The former Roman castle on the Limes has now become a very interesting city, which – especially on beautiful summer days – is a real tourist magnet: a historic old town, small cobbled streets and restored half-timbered houses characterize the image of the city.
A walk on the banks of the Main
With a delicious ice cream in hand, we started our city tour on the Main and observed the hustle and bustle on the shore. The Main ferry “Stadt Seligenstadt” brought countless tourists and locals from the Bavarian main side in a few minutes on the Hessian side.
Directly at the ferry pier you can see the Palatium, the ruins of a Staufische Electoral Palatinate from the 12th century. Today, only the Mainfront with double and triple arcades and red sandstone arches remain of the profane building. The main front of the Palatium was originally integrated into the city wall built in the 12th century. In total, the city fortification consisted of four gate towers and six bulwark towers – to date only the Steinheimer Tor and three bulwark towers have been preserved.
The old town of Seligenstadt
The old town of Seligenstadt is characterized by small alleys, historic buildings and colourful (partly listed) half-timbered houses from the 17. and 18th century. For this reason, Seligenstadt is located on the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße, which combines unique landscapes, historic locations and lovingly restored monuments over a length of around 3,500 km.
The central point in the old town is the large market square, where most two- to three-storey half-timbered houses are located. The town hall from 1823 is the only neoclassical building on the square. The tower, which rises from the town hall, comes from a former parish church, which was demolished in earlier years. We particularly liked the Einhard House from 1596 on the market square, which has a particularly beautiful half-timbered decoration and a beautifully designed Eckerker.
The former monastery Seligenstadt
Seligenstadt Abbey was a Benedictine monastery that existed from the 9th to the 19th century. During this time, monks lived and worked behind the monastery walls according to the rules of St. Benedict until the monastery was dissolved in 1803 as part of a secularization. Today it is one of the few almost completely preserved monastery complexes in Hesse. We really liked the 30,000 m2 monastery garden, which was reconstructed according to its historical structure and planting. On the plant you will find various useful and ornamental plants as well as a generously laid out pharmacist’s garden.
The church of St. Marcellinus and Peter was originally the church of the monastery Seligenstadt and after its secularization was converted into a Catholic parish church.
The Water Castle Klein-Welzheim
From the monastery we walked the footpath on the Main for about 20 minutes to the east until we arrived at the Wasserburg Klein-Welzheim. The water castle was built shortly after 1700 by the Seligenstadt abbot Francis II Blöchinger. Initially it served as a garden house for the festive culture in the garden of the Seligenstadt abbots. About 100 years later, the water castle came into state ownership through secularization. Since 1972 it has been privately owned and has been restored to the list. | <urn:uuid:d23101f4-d278-44e9-80f4-593b6127054f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://one-million-places.com/en/germany/seligenstadt-travel-guidesig-sights-photo-spots | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.970687 | 807 | 2.25 | 2 |
Table of contents
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Data Pipeline?
A data pipeline is an automated or semi-automated process for moving data between disparate systems. Data pipelines can execute simple jobs, such as extracting and replicating data periodically, or they can accomplish more complex tasks such as transforming, filtering and joining data from multiple sources.
Example Use Cases for Data Pipelines
Data pipelines are used to support business or engineering processes that require data. This could mean ‘manual’ data exploration, a dashboard that updates with fresh data, or triggering a process within a software application.
Typical business scenarios that are supported by data pipelines include:
- Business intelligence: In order to give businesses stakeholders access to information about key metrics, BI dashboards require fresh and accurate data. A data pipeline can pull data from multiple sources or APIs, store in an analytical database such as Google BigQuery or Amazon Redshift, and make it available for querying and visualization in tools such as Looker or Google Data Studio.
- Centralizing data from different sources: Siloed data marts are problematic when you want to make sure different departments (such as Sales and Marketing) are looking at the same data. In order to create a single source of truth, the data pipeline needs to centralize and normalize the data in a single unified repository such as a data warehouse or a data lake.
- Data-driven applications: Many modern software applications are built on driving automated insights from data and responding in real-time. This could include algorithmic trading apps, identifying suspicious e-commerce transactions, or programmatically choosing which ad to display to ensure high click-through rates. These apps require fresh, queryable data delivered in real-time – which is where continuous data pipelines come in.
- Improving data warehouse costs and performance: Data warehouses are crucial for many analytics processes, but using them to store terabytes of semi-structured data can be time and money-consuming. Data pipelines can be used to reduce the amount of data being stored in a data warehouse by deduplicating or filtering records, while storing the raw data in a scalable file repository such as Amazon S3. You can read more about this use case in our data warehouse benchmark report.
- Data science and machine learning: Effective model training and deployment requires consistent access to structured data. Machine learning pipelines typically extract semi-structured data from log files (such as user behavior on a mobile app) and store it in a structured, columnar format that data scientists can then feed into their SQL, Python and R code.
How to Build a Data Pipeline
Every data pipeline you need to build is essentially a build vs buy decision. Data engineers can either write code to access data sources through an API, perform the transformations, and then write the data to target systems – or they can purchase an off-the-shelf data pipeline tool to automate that process.
As with any decision in software development, there is rarely one correct way to do things that applies to all circumstances. For very simple projects, purchasing an additional system might be overkill; for ultra-complex and custom ones, you might not be able to find a complete packaged solution and will need to use a mix of hand-coding, proprietary and open-source software.
However, the broadly-accepted best practice is to focus engineering efforts on features that can help grow the business or improve the product, rather than maintaining tech infrastructure. In cases where you find a data pipeline tool that can solve your problem at a lower or similar resource cost, you should consider making this investment in order to free up engineering talent to focus on innovation.
Data Warehouse vs Data Lake Pipelines
The rise of cloud data lakes requires a shift in the way you design your data pipeline architecture. ELT (extract-load-transform) has become a popular choice for data warehouse pipelines, as they allow engineers to rely on the powerful data processing capabilities of modern cloud databases.
However, a data lake lacks built-in compute resources, which means data pipelines will often be built around ETL (extract-transform-load), so that data is transformed outside of the target system and before being loaded into it. Read more about data lake ETL.
While Apache Spark and managed Spark platforms are often used for large-scale data lake processing, they are often rigid and difficult to work with. Organizations that prefer to move fast rather than spend extensive resources on hand-coding and configuring pipelines in Scala can use Upsolver as a self-service alternative to Spark.
How to Use the Data Pipeline Examples on this Page
At the top of this page you’ll find different examples of data pipelines built with Upsolver. You can run through the interactive example to learn more about types of data pipelines and common challenges you can encounter when designing or managing your data pipeline architecture. You can also start working with your own data in our free-forever Community Edition. | <urn:uuid:b8a54884-019e-4b23-99c6-fd67b2cb8e5d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.upsolver.com/data-pipeline-examples | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.917913 | 1,018 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Contributes to the growth of distributed energy through solar and in the future wind and other forms of renewable energy through installations based in and around population centers utilizing existing spaces. This approach reduces a communities’ carbon footprint, environmental impacts and infrastructure costs and advances energy security by spreading the risk of energy failure over a greater number of power generation centers.
Addresses historical and current barriers to the participation of low-income and people of color from the business sector and green economy. The “Imani” in Imani Energy means faith and is one of the principles of Kwanzaa. Imani is about a better future, fairness, and healing for our world.
Addresses the historic and ongoing disinvestment in people of color and low-income communities with the resultant economic disparities.
Integrates 25 years of community organization experience in low-income and community of color communities into a private sector model to generate business and deepen customer education on environmental issues and opportunities for citizen action.
On October 10, 2010, Imani Energy president, Jeffrey Richardson joined Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, actress Ellen Page (Inception, Juno), 350.org, Sierra Club, Greenpeace andothers at the campaign to “Kick Coal out of Los Angeles.” The focus was to raise awareness of the city’s dependence on fossil fuels and the consequences, and to turn back fossil fuel industry sponsored Propositions 23 and 26 on election day, November 2nd. These Props respectively aim to dismantle and defund AB32, the most comprehensive climate law in the nation.
Imani Energy, President and CEO, Jeffrey Richardson, participated in an event entitled, the Solar Leadership Roundtable, organized by the Los Angeles Business Council to bring together a cross-section of key solar leaders to present their ideas on the potential of a 600 Megawatt (MW) “CLEAN-UP LA” Solar Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program. The program is designed to move Los Angeles into national leadership in the deployment of solar power to sustain the environment and generate jobs for a strong green economy.
The paper La Opinion, interviews Imani Energy President, Jeffrey Richardson:
In Spanish. Speaking on the important moment in the US regarding what the Obama administration has done and the increased consciousness and willingness for people to hear and act on the environmental issues at hand. Jeffrey also spoke about the importance and opportunity to include communities that are typically not included in these areas of change, like low-income or people of color communities. It is essential to ensure that we include these communities as this green economy develops. The goal is that all people in all communities have an opportunity for healthy and sustainable growth. | <urn:uuid:16c9232e-1c8c-49ae-ba69-040e6cadb4ee> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://imanienergy.com/author/admin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.935048 | 560 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Powerful tool for cleaning and optimizing memory on your computer.
TweakRAM Personal License
TweakRAM is a handy memory optimizer tool that will keep your computer running faster and efficiently. It increases your system performance by making more memory available for your applications and the operating system.
TweakRAM defragments your computer’s memory, increasing the efficiency of your CPU and Motherboard caches, recovers memory leaks from poorly behaved applications, flushes unused libraries temporarily out to disk and so on. By all this optimization tricks your favorite applications and games will run faster and efficiently even on old computers.
Using this RAM optimizer utility your computer will achieve superior performance. There is no need to buy additional expensive memory for your computer. TweakRAM will defragment system memory for faster access time. TweakRAM doesn’t modify your system in any way and your system will be even more stable with TweakRAM installed.
No matter how much physical memory you have, TweakRAM will help keep your computer running faster and efficiently.
Tags: memory manager, optimize memory, memory optimizer, memory optimization, dodje ram, dodje memory, free ram, ram idle, free memory, memory booster, memory defragmantation, cleaning memory, unloading of unnecessary libraries | <urn:uuid:df97c89b-6a5a-44d7-9630-7e7d7c44a9a0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://pole-image-nordpasdecalais.com/tweakram/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.877875 | 264 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A giant power outage in Turkey paralyzed the country’s transportation system on Tuesday,forcing confused locals to ride the bus instead of the tramway and metro.
Blackouts crippled dozens of cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara.
Local media said this was Turkey’s biggest power outage in over a decade.
It started shortly after 10:30 in the morning local time, closing down tram and metro lines, switching off traffic lights and causing traffic jams.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it could be just a technical glitch but that all possible causes were being examined, including terrorism.
The blackouts have forced millions of locals to find alternative itineraries, and the energy ministry has set up a crisis centre to look into the problem. | <urn:uuid:02a33b9e-e735-4201-aabe-99543f0209ab> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.euronews.com/2015/03/31/giant-blackout-cripples-turkey-s-transport-system | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571911.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813081639-20220813111639-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.953236 | 153 | 1.59375 | 2 |
- Course Code: UKVC20PBN
- Location: Online
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Cost: £99.00
- Qualification: All modern browsers and devices
- Course Access: 12 months
- Exams Included: Yes
- Compatibility: All major browsers and devices
When it comes to losing weight or attaining fitness goals, the food you eat plays a very important role. As a fitness trainer, poor eating choices can hold your clients back from shedding weight or improving their sports performance.
Six-packs, abs and strong biceps are first made in the kitchen before they can be developed in the gym. Therefore, it’s important to familiarise yourself with the basics of healthy nutrition, so that you are able to counsel your clients in terms of non-prescriptive dietary advice.
Fitness trainers can encourage their clients to change their dietary preferences in accordance with the government dietary guidelines. You can provide general nutrition advice, to support their fitness goals.
What You Will Learn in This Course:
This course on plant-based nutrition provides the following useful information to aspiring fitness trainers:
- The science of nutrition and important macro and micronutrients
- Functions and benefits of carbohydrates, fats and proteins
- Functions and benefits of vitamins and minerals
- Information and tips on healthy eating, as provided by PHE (Public Health England)
- The difference between saturated and unsaturated fats
- How a plant-based diet can benefit you
- How plant-based nutrition can enhance sports performance and aid in healthy weight loss
The Benefits of This Course:
- You can better guide your clients regarding healthy food choices
- You can help your clients reduce or eliminate their consumption of unhealthy, over-processed foods, by explaining the possible negative effects
- You can support your clients in their endeavours and motivate them to achieve their fitness goals
- You will be in a better position to explain the benefits of eating plant-based foods over meat-based diets
- You can encourage clients to maintain a food journal and use government dietary guidelines, to check if they are obtaining adequate healthy nutrition
Who can take the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate course?Anyone who has an interest in learning more about this subject matter is encouraged to take the course. There are no entry requirements to take the course.
What is the structure of the course?The course is broken down into 2 individual modules. Each module takes between 20 and 90 minutes on average to study. Although you are free to spend as much or as little time as you feel necessary on each module, simply log in and out of the course at your convenience.
Where / when can I study the course?You can study the course any time you like. Simply log in and out of the web based course as often as you require. The course is compatible with all computers, tablet devices and smart phones so you can even study while on the move!
Is there a test at the end of the course?Once you have completed all 2 modules there is a multiple choice test. The questions will be on a range of topics found within the 2 modules. The test, like the course, is online and can be taken a time and location of your choosing.
What is the pass mark for the final test?The pass mark for the test is 70%.
What happens if I fail the test?If you don’t pass the test first time you will get further opportunities to take the test again after extra study. There are no limits to the number of times you can take the test. All test retakes are included within the price of the course.
When will I receive my certificate?Once you have completed your test you can log in to your account and download/print your certificate any time you need it. If you would prefer us to post you a certificate to a UK address, there will be an admin charge of £10 (certificates sent internationally may cost more).
How can I pay?You can either use your Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Solo cards or PayPal account to pay for the online course. Our site uses the latest SSL encryption to ensure your safety. All payments are handled securely by PayPal.
How long after payment can I begin the course?You can begin the course immediately after your payment has been received. You will create your login details during the checkout process. We will also send you an email confirming your login details.
How long does it take to complete the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate course?We estimate that the course will take about 1.5 hours to complete in total, plus an additional 30 minutes for the end of course test.
How long is my certificate valid for?Once you have been awarded your certificate it is valid for life. The certificate does not expire or need renewing. | <urn:uuid:71d2d03c-66f2-44cb-9e95-6b43f62afc99> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://igrowacademy.co.uk/course/plant-based-nutrition-certificate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.933404 | 1,043 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Parker David Robbins.
In the 1850 census of Gates County: John Robbins, 55, wife Mary, 37, and children Parker, 16, laborer, Augustus, 8, and Maranda, 4. In the 1860 census of Bertie County: Parker Robbins, 26, mechanic, wife Elizabeth, 18, and brother Augustus, 18.
Parker D. Robbins. Sgt. Maj., 2 Reg’t U.S. Col’d Cav. Field and Staff Muster Roll. Joined for duty, 1 Jan 1864, Fort Monroe, Virginia, for 3 years.
Parker David Robbins. Died 1 November 1917, Magnolia, Duplin County. Colored. Married. Born 1834 in Duplin County to John A. Robbins and an unknown mother.
For more about Parker Robbins: http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/678/entry/
On January 16, 2012, the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Program unveiled a marker in Duplin County dedicated to Robbins. http://www.ncmarkers.com/Results.aspx?k=Search&ct=btn
In the 1820 census of Warren County: Cuffie Mayho listed as head of household of 4 free colored people. In the 1840 census of Granville County: Cuffie Mayho listed as head of household of 7 free colored people. In the 1850 census of Tar River, Granville County: Cuffy Maho, 35, blacksmith, wife Glatha, 35, and children Mary, 21, Parthenia, 14, Angeline, 12, Sarah, 6, Randelia, 4, and William, 3. In the 1860 census of Oxford, Granville County: Cuffee Mayo, 57, painter, wife Juliann, 36, and children Sarah, 16, and Ludelia Mayo, 15, plus Thomas Hawley, 19, farm laborer.
James Henry Harris.
In the 1850 census of Tabs Creek, Granville County: Charles T. Allen, 28, wife Elizabeth, 28, and children Benjamin, 8, Julia, 7, and Virginia Allen, 4, plus James Callahan, 12, Thomas Avery, 7, and James Harris, 17.
For information about all of North Carolina’s free-born and freed delegates: http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/collateral/articles/F08.african.american.political.pioneers.pdf | <urn:uuid:f333f520-444c-41da-b147-3a6502a8bccb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ncfpc.net/tag/constitutional-convention/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.834041 | 519 | 2.0625 | 2 |
January 29, 2019
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Tuesday it had concluded that U.S. soybeans can be used in biofuels in the European Union, part of the bloc’s push to improve strained trade relations with the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in July not to impose tariffs on EU car imports while the two sides explored ways to boost trade including a possible deal to remove tariffs on non-auto industrial goods and to boost EU imports of U.S. soybeans and liquefied natural gas.
The Commission said in a statement the recognition of U.S. soybeans for use in biofuels was valid until July 1, 2021, but could extend beyond that date as long as they met sustainability criteria set in new EU rules in the 2021-2030 period.
“Today’s decision is new proof that the European Union is delivering on our commitments,” a Commission spokesman said.
The Commission, which negotiates trade deals for the 28-nation EU, has said the July agreement led to a 112 percent rise in U.S. soybean imports in the second half of 2018. The U.S. share of the EU market is now about 75 percent.
The increase has been driven by a slide in the U.S. soybean price, which slid after China imposed higher tariffs on U.S. beans in its trade row with Washington, rather than because of any concerted action by the EU, analysts said.
The EU imports about 14 million tonnes of soybeans per year as feed for animals.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by David Evans) | <urn:uuid:74eede04-12d5-4257-9384-b5101f9dbcd6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://rpn.agency/eu-calms-u-s-trade-ties-by-accepting-u-s-soybeans-in-biofuel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573193.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818094131-20220818124131-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.958256 | 346 | 2.109375 | 2 |
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