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Бернабе-Ривера () — населённый пункт на севере Уругвая, на территории департамента Артигас.
География
Расположен в северной части департамента, к ю<|fim_middle|> Уругвая | гу от ручья Трес-Крусес-Гранде, на расстоянии приблизительно 45 километров (по прямой) к западу-северо-западу (WNW) от города Артигаса, административного центра департамента. Абсолютная высота — 77 метров над уровнем моря.
История
Основан в 1830 году и первоначально назывался Альенде. Позднее был переименован в Якаре. Своё современное название Бернабе-Ривера получил в 1924 году в честь Бернабе Риверы племянника Хосе Фруктуосо Ривера-и-Тоскана (первого президента Уругвая).
11 января 1956 было присвоен статус сельского населённого пункта (Pueblo).
Население
По данным переписи 2011 года, численность населения составляла 380 человек (193 мужчины и 187 женщин). Имелось 173 дома. Динамика численности населения посёлка по годам:
Примечания
Населённые пункты | 316 |
09h00 : You will be collected from Hanoi Old Quarter to take the highway to Dinh Vu Port, Haiphong where we arrive at around 11h30. You can take special tea at Orchid Cruise's lounge by warm welcome.
12h00: Transfer by tender to the Orchid Cruise Halong. On the way to the main boat, you will have a chance to see Cai Trap canal.
12h15: We welcome our guests onboard the cruise and then check in, enjoy Welcome Drink, receive cruise brief and safety instruction by crew member and Cruise Manager, anchored in the south of Hal<|fim_middle|> the bay in the area where the Toi Sang cave is situated. | ong Bay, one of the 'New Seven Wonders of Nature' in a worldwide survey. Halong Bay is steeped in culture from hundreds of years ago. The bay has remained unchanged for centuries, with beautiful seas and impressive islands.
12h40: Your Halong Bay Cruise boat proceeds to Da Chong islet, where you can see a lighthouse built by the French over 100 years ago. We have lunch before continuing our journey via the islets of Con Vit and Gia Luan. These amazing limestone karst formations rise up out of the sea in an impressive manner. This area is untouched, as not many cruise ships use the route via the Cat Ba Island – Thoi Quyt area – Coc Ngoi islet – through Cua Van to Ba Trai Dao area.
17h45: Returning your Halong Bay Cruise boat you can watch the magnificent sunset over the Gulf of Tonkin. Onboard you may join a traditional cooking class. Our chef will instruct you in the making of some Vietnam dishes. In the early evening the boat has its Happy Hour deal.
21h30: Enjoy the landscape of the bay at night up on the top deck. Relax whilst enjoying drinks from the bar. Try your hand at night squid fishing, watching a movie in the restaurant or register for our massage services. Overnight on Halong Orchid Cruise.
Day 2 : Halong Bay – Hanoi (Br+L).
9h45: Visitors then return to your Halong Bay Orchid Cruise boat for check-out procedures.
ORCHID CRUISE proceeds to Da Chong islet, where you can see a lighthouse built by the French over 100 years ago. Have lunch while passing via the islets of Con Vit and Gia Luan. These amazing limestone karst formations rise up out of the sea in an impressive manner. This area is untouched, as not many cruise ships use the route via the Cat Ba Island - Thoi Quyt area - Coc Ngoi islet - through Cua Van to Ba Trai Dao area.
Visit Bai Tu Long Bay, free kayaking and swimming at Ba Ham Lake area situated in the middle of a narrow, rectangular area, with the all four sides enclosed by vertical cliffs. (if the weather permit).
Why not rise early to witness the bay at its very best whilst enjoying an invigorating Tai Chi session on the sundeck; after which we serve light breakfast. Upon completing breakfast continue our journey and head out in canoes to explore | 521 |
The day has come! I'm finally sharing how I cut the hems off my jeans to shorten all the denim in my closet. I have no idea why it has taken me so long (apologies). Back in the day, I would get my jeans hemmed by my tailor (back when I lived in California). Ever since moving to Oregon I started to hem my jeans myself by cutting off the hems. I never found a tailor here, so I didn't give myself a choice. It's actually worked out for the best because I'm saving so much money, it allows me to shop more variety of denim, and I don't have to spend the time and energy of taking a new pair of jeans to the tailor every week.
I get so many questions asking how I know where to cut my jeans. Well, it takes some time to master it. I've cut SO<|fim_middle|> throw off your measurements. This is when you have to just eyeball a straight line. You can always use a book or magazine to help make the line straight.
8. Grab a sharp pair of scissors and cut along the line. I ask Mike to help with this, but you can do it on your own. He will cut and I will hold the jeans taut (not too tight, though).
9. As you can see, the dotted line was either not straight or we didn't cut a straight line, lol. It doesn't have to be perfect.
10. I only ever measure one side and cut it. Once I do that, I will fold my jeans and line them up as best as possible. Do this by lining up the waist and inseam. The area I'm holding in my left hand is the most important. I will then measure the distance from the bottom of the jeans to where I want to cut them. I will either draw a dotted line (if done alone), or Mike will just cut it from there.
11. As you can see, the cuts were very different. Jeans don't always come symmetrical, which is why measurements may be off. And sometimes we cut them wrong and one leg is higher than the other. After cutting so many pairs of jeans over the years, I've learned that, unless you cut your hem way too short and there's no going back, everything is very fixable.
12. Always try on your newly hemmed jeans to make sure you like the length and that you have an even cut.
13. Last and final step, wash your jeans. Wash and dry. This will give you a nice raw hem look, instead of the rigid cut look. I didn't get around to photographing these jeans after the wash, but just know it makes a huge difference. The look is more frayed and raw hem looking instead of looking like you just cut your jeans.
In terms of the fraying at the hem – I haven't had any issues with this over the years. I think only 1 pair of jeans started unraveling at the side seam, but I also wore those jeans to death for 5 years.
This is such a handy DIY, thank you!
I've been wanting to hem my own jeans, but terrified to do so haha. But thank you for this. Maybe one day I will try it out!
Do you wash your jeans before cutting them too?
Do you know if there is a more affordable option to your Gucci mules? They are so cute, but way too expensive for my budget.
Going to look at your previous pics of different jeans and where you cut them so I get a good idea what' length looks right. Thanks! | many jeans, I feel like I'm a pro now. I would recommend cutting a pair of old jeans first that you don't mind tossing out if you make a mistake. That way you get your first pair jitters out of the way. I'm detailing the entire process below and sharing tips along the way. If you still have questions, leave them in the comments below.
1. Equipment- You'll need a sharp pair of scissors, Tailor's chalk, and a measuring tape.
2. Try on your jeans. Make sure you arrange them to how you normally wear them. If your jeans are high waisted, like these, pull them up to how you would normally wear them.
3. Fold your jeans to wear you want to cut them. This is the tricky part. How do you know what a good length is. Fold the hems and walk around in front of the mirror, take your time. What looks best. Don't go too high and cut off your legs (when your legs too short), and don't go too short where it looks like you're wearing floods. A good frame of reference – go longer than culottes, but shorter than floods.
4. Put on shoes. What shoes will you wear with the jeans your cutting. Put them on and walk around. Does it look right?
5. Once you find a good length, mark your jeans with the Tailor's chalk. I mark right where it's folded and I'll do about 1 1/2″ line.
6. I will remove the jeans and measure the distance from the mark to the hem.
7. I will then measure the same distance along the hem to create a straight dotted line. Another tricky thing – something I've learned over time is that hems are not always even, so it will | 367 |
Cooperative<|fim_middle|>-largest magazine-publishing enterprise in the nation. | Living magazine got its start on November 1, 1943, as a publication titled Rural Virginia published by Southside Electric Cooperative. In October 1946, Mecklenburg and Northern Piedmont (which merged January 1980 with Virginia Electric to become Rappahannock Electric Cooperative) subscribed to Rural Virginia, and the publication was transferred to the state association. The magazine's name was changed to Rural Living on August 1, 1970. Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative edition's name was changed to Current Living on April 1, 1993. Then, in January 2000, both magazines were combined under one title, Cooperative Living. The magazine serves 12 of the 15 member cooperatives, with a combined circulation of over 500,000. According to an independent survey, the magazine is read by more Virginians than Reader's Digest, with 80 percent reading half or more of each issue.
Nationwide, there are 32 rural electric publications with a total circulation of over 9 million. That makes the electric co-op statewide publications network the third | 240 |
Strategy chief Andreas Krasser takes on CEO role at DDB Group Hong Kong
July 12 2019, 9:50 am | BY Kim Shaw | 1 Comment
Andreas Krasser has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer<|fim_middle|> DDB people culture. We believe in grooming entrepreneurial, talented, and big-hearted leaders."
Since joining DDB in Hong Kong six years ago, Krasser has led the strategic product on clients such as McDonald's, Hotels.com, and HKTB. He first joined DDB in 2011 as Lead Planner at DDB Group Korea following roles at Innocean and Edelman. Krasser's work is regularly recognised at local, regional, and international awards including Cannes Lions, Effies, the AMEs (Tangrams), and the WARC Prize for Asian Strategy. In 2013, he was named Campaign Asia's Planner of the Year for North Asia, and in 2017 he won Brand and Strategic Planner of the Year for Greater China. In the same year, Krasser was also listed among Creativepool's Global Top 100 Influencers. He is an avid writer for industry publications, and regularly lends his views on stage at international marketing conventions.
Krasser said, "I am really thankful for and inspired by the trust placed in me by our global and regional leadership, and most importantly by our team and clients here in Hong Kong. I believe we have tremendous potential to do big, bold, and really powerful marketing work both locally and internationally. We have big plans and want to be the most dynamic and results-driven creative agency in Hong Kong."
Douglas Faudet says:
Andreas you will propel DDB Hong Kong to greAter heights. You are a truly nice and talented leader. I wish you and the HK team every success. | of DDB Group Hong Kong, adding the new remit to his current role as Chief Strategy Officer.
Renowned for his strategic planning excellence, Krasser (pictured) is expected to drive an integrated, forward-looking, and creative marketing agenda for DDB Group Hong Kong. Over the past 18 months, Krasser has expanded his role and responsibilities from Chief Strategy Officer to also growing the agency's regional and MNC accounts and spearheading new business growth. Announced in June, DDB Group Hong Kong's new business success culminated in being named Creative Agency of the Year 2019 by Marketing Magazine. Krasser's team also won Campaign Asia's New Business Development Team of the Year 2018.
"We're very pleased to appoint Andreas Krasser as CEO of DDB Group Hong Kong," said David Tang, CEO of DDB Asia. "It's always such a joy when our top talent steps into leadership positions. Over the past six years, Andreas has certainly grown in stature and influence with clients, his team, and his work. This is a celebration of our | 222 |
The map shows the countries (red) whose parliamentarians have joined the Global TB Caucus.
Those<|fim_middle|> - requiring no financial input, and limited technical and logistical support, from outside entities.
Over time, we are confident that the National TB Caucuses that we have helped build will lead the global fight against TB.
Global TB Caucus
info@globaltbcaucus.org
© 2019 by Global TB Caucus | Privacy Policy | in white are yet to add their names in support.
The Global TB Caucus aims to accelerate progress against the global TB epidemic through targeted actions at the global, regional and national level.
Over 2300 Members of Parliament from 150 countries work individually and collectively to raise the political profile of the disease and enable cross-cutting policies to transform the response to TB at national, regional and global levels.
As parliamentarians, our members play a crucial role in holding governments into account and ensuring that commitments are delivered so the TB epidemic can be eliminated.
International Level
At the global level we work in partnership across countries to target groups such as the G20 with coordinated messaging and calls for action.
In 2017 and 2018, our global work focused on the G20, on building political momentum ahead of the Global Ministerial Conference in Moscow, and on ensuring that the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB is a success.
Regional Level
The Global TB Caucus has four regional networks (Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe) and a linguistic network (Francophone).
These networks bring together parliamentarians from across their regions to learn, share ideas, and agree on joint and individual actions that will enhance the response to TB in their nations and regions.
The map shows the location of the current National TB Caucuses.
At the national level, our focus is on building groups of parliamentarians to form a National TB Caucus. These national groups are the backbone of our advocacy.
They are supported by local stakeholders and therefore are sustainable | 315 |
Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Some Texas Showing & Sharing!
There has been some really great showing and sharing during my time in Texas!
Quilting is Big Big Big in this Big Big state ---and we are passionate about all things quilting, fabric & thread!
The photos I am sharing are from the past several days, starting with my time spent with the Greater San Antonio quilt guild and visitors!
Of course, Grand Illusion is making its presence known as quilters finish tops, and get them ready for quilting and binding.
I LOVE seeing each and every one of them!
This one is Irene's – ready for quilting!
Spit 9 patches, last year's Leader & Ender challenge!
This one has a special story and is made with many memory fabrics ---the receiver is a Texas Aggie fan – hence the claret! I love how the solids give the eye a place to rest amongst the wonderful scraps.
Another Split 9 patch, different layout! Wow!
Directions for this block are found under the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog!
And another Leader & Ender put together on the side!
I love how the light radiates from the center of this one -- -fabulous!
Scrappy Bargello in bright batiks!
Want to make one? Check that good ole Free Patterns tab again!
Here Irene is sharing her Roll Roll Cotton Boll!
You'll find this one in String Fling --- yes, we love our strings and the many ways to use them!
Celtic Solstice is coming together!
Another Leader & Ender quilt from squares and bonus triangles!
A donation quilt by the "Giver Bee!" shown at our Fredericksburg workshop!
Okay, I am in love with this setting! Isn't it awesome? As a bee,<|fim_middle|> with the Texan Love Shack Ladies. Great Show and Share. Beautiful Charity Quilts.
what a spectacular showing...thanks...now off to stitch!!!
loving the show share, lots of possible for donation quilts. My goal for this year.
Lots of awesome quilts. Love the ladies who make beautiful donation quilts. HOORAY for thoughtful, talented folks! | their goal is to make only GORGEOUS charity quilts ---no ugly quilts allowed. With the right design, they have achieved their goal!
How is this for a fabulous log cabin?
I do not have a pattern source for these ---just eye candy to share from my students.
A disappearing 9 patch wedding signature quilt!
You'll find this one also under the Free Patterns tab, and it uses 2.5" strips – so get sewing!
This top was made by her 85 year old mother, ready for quilting!
As you can see, the Hill Country Quilters packed their meeting place full and we had a great time. I'm looking forward to 2 days of Love Shack workshops here with the gals. Scrappy Happy Fun!
There are just a couple of days left in our Feathermate Table giveaway! Did you register yet? Click to THAT POST to read more, and leave your comment there to be entered to win! I'll be drawing when I return home Thursday evening!
WOWOW You did pack the house! I remember your being at a Guild here in TN, wowow was it soooooooooo much fun!
Show and Tell is FABULOUS! LOVE the quilts!
Have fun | 253 |
wallflowerdesign was established based on the artistic eye and creative flair of our founders, Victoria Hatfield and Sue Ortinau. In 2008 they founded wfd as a passion project that involved creating inspiring spaces both inside and outside of homes in the St<|fim_middle|> symbiotic relationship between art + craft + science. | . Louis area. The company has grown into a successful business with horticultural practices and relationship building at its core – where thoughtful landscape design ideas are translated into solutions that impact how our clients live, work, and play each day.
We are proud to be a women-owned, locally owned and operated business. And we are even prouder of our dedicated team of trained horticulturalists, project managers, and team members who bring a breadth of experience to the table and who work hard to showcase their passion for plants, design, and most of all, beautiful spaces.
wallflowerdesign is a horticultural services + garden design firm with a core focus on the craft of gardening. We are dedicated to incorporating proper horticultural practices into all aspects of our business – whether working on a design or focusing our efforts on garden management and maintenance for our discerning clientele. Our end goal is to improve our clients' outdoor space and to provide solutions that are aesthetically stunning with exceptional purpose. We are creating a | 205 |
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott Visits Irving ISD Elementary School
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott, an experienced teacher and principal, toured Thomas Haley Elementary School for a first-hand look at the instructional practices in Irving ISD. Irving ISD was recently recognized by Governor Abbott in his State of the State Address for earning the distinction as the 2015 National Advanced Placement School District of the Year.
"It is both rare and wonderful when students have the First Lady of Texas visit their school and spend time in their classrooms," says Irving ISD Superintendent Jose L. Parra, Ed.D. "That rare and wonderful experience took place today for the students of Thomas Haley Elementary School. It is not an exaggeration to say that First Lady Abbott's visit made a lasting impression on students due to her genuine interest and enthusiasm."
"Thank you to Dr. Parra and Principal Zavala for the warm welcome to Thomas Haley Elementary. I'm so proud of what you have achieved – Thomas Haley Elementary is home to the Irving ISD Teacher of the Year, and the school district was the National AP District of the Year," said Mrs. Abbott. "It was so wonderful to be back in a school today and have the opportunity to visit with teachers and students. As<|fim_middle|> reading fair in the school library; a kindergarten class; a first-grade, two-way dual-language class; and a fifth-grade, bilingual class taught by the Irving ISD Elementary Teacher of the Year Christine Scovill.
"We are grateful that the First Lady chose to make an impact on the lives of our students simply by giving of herself and her time," said Dr. Parra.
Texas Health HEB's Laboratory Receives Prestigious Accreditation | a former teacher and principal, I know that the path to success begins with education. Governor Abbott and I are committed to making sure that all Texas students have access to the best education possible, and we look forward to working with administrators, teachers and parents across our great state to create the best education system in the nation."
First Lady Abbott's tour of the school included a stop at the | 77 |
MHI Delivers Testing Equipment for Safety Demonstration of Nuclear Fusion Blankets for ITER in Southern France
July 6, 2022 by nancy No Comments
TOKYO, Jul 6, 2022 – (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has completed delivery of testing equipment to the Rokkasho Fusion Institute in Aomori Prefecture, part of Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), to confirm and demonstrate the safety of the "blanket," a core component of a nuclear fusion reactor. The blanket system being developed at this research center will be used as Japan's Test Blanket Module (TBM) for the ITER-TBM project, the world's first test of blanket systems in an actual reactor environment, at ITER(1), the experimental fusion reactor currently under construction in southern France. Following the delivery of testing equipment, MHI has strong intention to contribute to the development of a blanket system for the ITER-TBM project through providing other systems/components such as TBMs.
The testing equipment supplied by MHI comprises four systems, the High Heat Flux Test Equipment, In Box Water Eruption Test Equipment, Be-Water Reaction Test Equipment, and Flow Assisted Corrosion Test Loop. These testing systems will be used for various experiments aimed at developing a blanket system for the ITER-TBM project, and to confirm its safety. The blanket is one of the components that comprises the inner wall of the fusion reactor. It is a critical component that extracts the heat generated by the reactor, as well as provides for breeding and self-sustainment(2) of tritium, which is used as fuel.
ITER is an international megaproject to demonstrate, both scientifically and technologically, the feasibility of fusion energy. ITER-TBM is a project to conduct functional demonstration testing of different TBM systems, each developed independently by four of the seven participating parties (Japan, the EU, the U.S., Russia, South Korea, China, and India). Because the results from this project will influence the relative merits of blanket systems for commercial reactors in the future, each country is actively developing TBMs with demonstrated functionality and safety. In Japan, QST, as the domestic agency for the ITER Project, is leading the development of the country's blanket system.
MHI was previously awarded contracts from QST for manufacture of core components for ITER, including five (of a total of 19) toroidal field (TF) coils(3), four of which have been shipped, and six units of the divertor outer vertical targets(4), which are currently being manufactured. MHI will continue to actively support the ITER project to develop this technology, which will be vital to the stable development of the world, and contribute to the realization of fusion energy.
(1) Fusion is the energy source that enables the sun to keep shining. The ultimate goal is achieving fusion on Earth. Fusion reactions fuse light atomic nuclei (deuterium and tritium) in a plasma environment into the heavier element of helium. Fusion reactions emit zero carbon dioxide, and their source of fuel can be extracted from seawater in virtually unlimited quantities (lithium from which tritium is derived, and deuterium). Fusion energy is expected to provide fundamental<|fim_middle|>, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense. MHI Group combines cutting-edge technology with deep experience to deliver innovative, integrated solutions that help to realize a carbon neutral world, improve the quality of life and ensure a safer world. For more information, please visit www.mhi.com or follow our insights and stories on spectra.mhi.com.
Tags: blanket, equipment, fusion, project, test | solutions to many of the world's energy and environmental problems.
(2) Fusion reactors use deuterium and tritium as fuel. Neutron irradiation of a lithium compound in the blanket is used to produce and supplement the tritium that is consumed in the reaction process (self-sustainment).
(3) For details on the TF coils for ITER that QST ordered from MHI, see the following press release. www.mhi.com/news/210524.html
4For details on the divertor outer vertical targets for ITER that QST ordered from MHI, see the following press release. www.mhi.com/news/211213.html
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group is one of the world's leading industrial groups, spanning energy | 163 |
Members Only | September 21, 2021 | Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Durham indictment isn't about justice. It's about sending a 'stop snitching' message
Snitches might get indicted.
John Durham.
Yeah it might be all that you get
Yeah I guess this might well be it
But heaven knows I've tried
—"Ted Lasso" theme
Last week, Special Counsel John Durham secured an indictment against an obscure cyber-lawyer and Democratic insider named Michael Sussmann for allegedly lying to the FBI about who his clients were when he relayed a tip about possible digital communication between the Trump Organization and Russia. Durham was appointed by Donald Trump to delve into the origins of the Trump/Russia investigation. Sussmann's indictment appears to be the culmination of that probe, which has already dragged on for more than two years.
A grand jury only hears the prosecution's side of the story. Hence the truism that a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. With the five-year statute of limitations running out, Durham sought to indict while the indicting was good. At least now he can say he got a Clinton lawyer. This means a lot to the QAnon base, but it won't mean much to a jury.
The indictment is also an excuse to air details about the Clinton Camp's rather tame opposition research efforts. These details feed Trumpland's narrative that Obama, the Democrats and Big Tech spied on him in 2016.
Sussmann is charged with lying to FBI general counsel Jim Baker in a one-on-one meeting during the dying weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Baker didn't take notes. One of his underlyings later took notes on Baker's recollection of the conversation. Those notes say that Sussmann wasn't acting on behalf of any client, but the next words are "works for the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Foundation." So Baker knew that Sussmann was coming to him from the beating heart of the Democratic establishment. It's not like he was pretending to be some guy off the street with a bunch of white papers about the Trump Organization and Alpha Bank. Such an act wouldn't have been very convincing to Baker, who took the meeting with Sussmann on the basis of their long-term professional acquaintance.
The whole case hangs on whether Baker correctly understood and accurately remembered what Sussmann told him. Sussmann denies that he lied to Baker, and we already know that Baker's memory of that exchange is tenuous. Baker testified in 2<|fim_middle|> an indictment of a senior figure from ClintonLand. This prosecution also sends a strong "stop snitching" message: Don't give tips to the FBI about a Republican presidential campaign's possible misdeeds because you'll be the one facing federal charges.
The indictment is also an excuse to air details about the Clinton Camp's rather tame opposition research efforts. These details feed Trumpland's narrative that Obama, the Democrats, and Big Tech spied on him in 2016. This indictment has nothing to do with justice. It's all about feeding Trump's "stabbed in the back" narrative.
Lindsay Beyerstein covers legal affairs, health care and politics for the Editorial Board. An award-winning documentary filmmaker, she's a judge for the Sidney Hillman Foundation. Find her @beyerstein. | 018 that he didn't remember whether Sussmann said he was there on behalf of any client. The standard in a criminal case is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and here's reasonable doubt staring us in the face: The only two people who were at the meeting disagree about what was said, and one of them has already testified under oath that he doesn't remember. This case is so flimsy that it raises serious ethical questions about why Durham is bringing it at all.
In any case, lying to the FBI would only be a crime if the lie were material to the investigation. A material lie is a claim that would tend to influence the course of an investigation. But there's no evidence that the FBI would have done anything differently if they'd known that Sussmann was representing the Clinton campaign and some tech executive, as opposed to the DNC and the Clinton Foundation. At least, one would hope the FBI wouldn't have acted any differently. If the government is implying that the FBI would have blown off a perfectly good tip because it came from someone in the Clinton camp, that's a much bigger problem.
You might wonder why Durham bothered to seek an indictment for a case that's likely to self-destruct in a courtroom. No doubt, he felt pressure to justify the existence of his probe by delivering | 264 |
Hello there, I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and I am excited to share with you news about my brand new radio show designed to enhance you branding and marketing.
The show is called "Ask Those Branding Guys," and I am co-hosting with my long time friend Dave Hayduk, That Marketing Guy from HK Advertising. The show will be aired weekly on the radio<|fim_middle|>, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we'll see you next time. | and also streamed live via the internet. We are going to put brands "on the couch" to help them solve their branding problems. You, as a listener, are going to learn a lot about how to enhance your brand as well.
One segment of the show is called On The Branding Couch, where we will talk in depth with a brand manager or owner of a company about their brand and see if we can create smart recommendations to enhance that brand.
Another segment is News & Views where we will recap activities going on every day, all over the world, focused on branding and marketing. The Building Your Brand segment is where we provide knowledge, strategy, tactics and try to inspire you to market and brand every day.
In Shining Brightly, we will rate brands that are doing an exemplary job. Lastly, we have Ask Those Branding Guys, where you can text or e-mail us with branding questions that we will answer on the air.
Listen to our radio show every Monday at noon MDT on KVSF Voice of Santa Fe 101.5FM or, go online to www.santafe.com key word "voice" and you will be able to hear our shows live no matter where you are in the world. Every show will be recorded so you can tune in later to one of our podcasts.
We looking forward to you tuning in every week to "Ask Those Branding Guys" and we hope you will share this with your friends online, the more the merrier.
I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy | 312 |
Rupert Murdoch vs. The Web
Are the fights that matter just the ones between giant companies? Doesn't the health of the Net and the Web matter more than any commercial battles?
These questions came to mind when I read How Murdoch Can Really Hurt Google And Shift The Balance Of Power In Search in TechCrunch recently. In that piece Mike Arrington supported Jason Calacanis' suggestion that Murdoch stick it to Google by cutting an exclusive search deal with rival search engine Bing. Even Jay Rosen took the same side. (Though perhaps in jest.)
Find more background at TechCrunch, from Dan Kennedy and in this New York Times piece, which makes the necessary distinction between wars among businesses on one hand, and what's good for the Net on the other. On the matter of the latter, the Times sources Craig Newmark, but still frames Craig's remarks in support of Google's side. In other words, the Times is still covering vendor sports here.
Defending the Web and the Net from collateral damage are Tim O'Reilly, Chris Messina, Anil Dash — and Dave Winer, whose whole oeuvre is thick with warnings about subordinating the Web and the Net to narrow personal or corporate interests. (He also offers positive advice: "Ask not what the Web can do for you, ask what you can do for the Web".)
But most of us aren't listening. We're Pompeians, Krakatoans, Montserratans, building cities and tilling farms on the slopes of active volcanoes. Always suckers for stories, we'd rather take sides in wars between competing volcanoes than build civilization on more flat and solid ground where there's room enough for everybody.
Google and Bing are both volcanoes. Both grace the Web's landscape with lots of fresh and fertile ground. They are good to have in many ways. But they are not the Earth below. They are not what gives us gravity.
They also create enormous dependencies. Much as I appreciate them, I am especially concerned about all the free graces we enjoy (maps, docs,<|fim_middle|> sense of its many directory paths. Since everything to the right of the first single / in every URL comprises a giant disorganized haystack, ways were found to locate needles there. Those ways, however, are extremely complex and now entirely in private hands. One can look at this and accept it, or come up with a sane public solution. This is what free and open source developers are good at. I'm betting that one or more of ya'll will come up with a solution eventually.
Meanwhile, we need to get our priorities straight.
Here's one of mine. Soon as Rupert Murdoch and company do a deal to keep their "content" out of anybody's search engine, I'll cease renewing my subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal — both online and in print.
[Later...] Just added some more context over here. | books, etc.), thanks to Google's abundant success in the advertising business. What happens when that business goes away? Or what happens when we wake up and realize that we don't need search engines?
Let's face it: search engines are excellent kluges, invented to deal with a flaw in the Web's original design: the lack of an easy way to make | 73 |
Jordy Dazz reveals reason behind hiatus and announces upcoming releases
By Staff Team
For many years, Jordy Dazz has grown into one of the industry's biggest household names but during the past several months, the Dutch DJ and producer has<|fim_middle|>y Dazz has become relatively quiet since his last single called "The Cube". However, he recently broke out of silence after a lengthy post on social media.
Jordy Dazz explained the reason behind his time off, stating that he needed to reevaluate his entire career and personal life. He said that he has unfortunately lost track of why he loved making music and wanted the same passion back again. He kept feeling that he needed to please everyone around him and this led him to seek new inspirations for producing tracks, which he found in his own company named LastBlast – Show Creations. Jordy Dazz credited this venture with his friend Bart by saying:
"Because of this way of working with audio and meeting new people in the industry, I felt insanely inspired to go back where it all began for me; by creating the music I like. Nothing more, nothing less. Without expectations and without pressure. As Jordy Dazz, I solely want to focus on bringing heavy, dope club-tracks. And that's exactly what I have been doing lately."
Jordy Dazz also announced that he will be returning to his musical journey with a couple of new, upcoming releases. His first planned single is titled "Stamina", which is set to release on Musical Freedom on November 14th. He will also drop a remix of Bethesda's "Dishonored 2" game soundtrack and a collaboration with BLOQSHOT. Another major revelation from this post is that Jordy Dazz is also geared to launch his own record label.
Showing his appreciation to his loyal fans, Jordy Dazz concluded with:
"So I haven't left or anything, I just grabbed some time to get things in perspective. Thanks to everyone who is enjoying my music, and has been following and supporting me throughout the steps I make. It's humbling to read all of those great reactions on Stamina so far. It means the world to me."
Check out the preview of Jordy Dazz's "Stamina" below:
Tags: Announcement, Jordy Dazz, Musical Freedom, Preview, Stamina | been on hiatus. Best known for his incredible releases on Hardwell's Revealed Recordings, Jord | 20 |
The College Stethescope and Literary Index
November 28, 2017 May 22, 2018 presspass
The College Stethescope, and Literary Index, No. 1, 3 January 1828 (©CSG CIC Glasgow Museums and Libraries Collection: The Mitchell Library, Special Collections, Mitchell (AL) 890768)
Like The Athenaeum, this magazine was founded by and for the students of the University of Glasgow (see 'Additional Notes' below). The idea to start a periodical was raised at a student meeting presumably in late 1827. There are four issues of this weekly magazine, each of which is only four pages. It is unknown if further issues were produced after January 1828.
The students voted unanimously to start a magazine that would contain their original contributions. The difficulty they had was deciding what they would call it. The first issue reports on the discussions that ensued and the few suggestions that were offered, including the 'Stethescope and Literary Index'. The stethoscope being, apparently, mostly unknown, and the student defines it to his colleagues as he was told it by an acquaintance, a medical student:
'…that it was an instrument, used to detect disease in the internals, by an application of it to the bared breast of the patient, I judged that this would be a most original title for our work, and withal, superlatively suitable' ([Editorial], The College Stethescope and Literary Index, No. I, 3 January 1828, p. 1).
The Chairman then laid out the purpose of the magazine as follows:
'…it will take cognizance of the<|fim_middle|>68
See also The Athenaeum: An Original Literary Miscellany.
The Dickenson Road Magazine of the Rusholme Wesleyan Mutual Improvement Society
The College News, A Quarterly Magazine | whole internal arrangement of the University, the Lord Rector, Principal, Professors, and the various classes of students, in the several departments of Divinity, Law, Literature and Medicine, in order that, in cases where diseases shall be found to exist, it may by a timely application of purgatives and correctives, prevent further devastation of the College frame.
As a Literary Index, it will embrace original productions of every kind, whether in prose or verse, serious criticisms, or humorous sketches; in short, every species of writing, except polemical divinity' (Ibid).
The magazine was priced at 1d, which was to cover the printing and delivery costs. Generally, each issue has the same layout: there are one or two articles followed by one or two poems or songs, with the correspondence column at the very end. The articles are anonymous and presumably by the Editor/s, but the poetry and songs are signed with the contributors' initials.
Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine
(Students of the University of Glasgow)
Date of Existence
3 Jan. 1828-?
Date of Magazine
Number of Issues
Manuscript/Published Magazine
Contents and Contributions
Articles (non-fiction); Correspondence column; Editorial; Essays; Poems (original); Reviews; Songs
Mitchell Library Special Collections
Mitchell (AL) 8907 | 289 |
Angela Duckworth is Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. She studies grit, self-control, and other attributes that predict success in life. Angela received a BA in Neurobiology from Harvard in 1992 and, as a Marshall Scholar, a Masters in Neuroscience from Oxford. She completed<|fim_middle|> in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her career in research, Angela founded a non-profit summer school for low-income children which won the Better Government Award for the state of Massachusetts and was profiled as a Harvard Kennedy School case study. Angela has also been a McKinsey management consultant and, for five years, a math teacher in the public schools of San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York City. Angela recently co-founded the Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development in children. | her PhD | 2 |
Over 100 people attended the ceremony, held on soggy turf under a tent that had been set up to keep out a cold, relentless rain. But the dreary weather didn't dampen the enthusiasm expressed inside.
The speakers, including Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and state Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, touched on the long journey it had taken to get the project to this point, and the effect the two-story, 20,000-square-foot structure is expected to have on the region.
The innovation center, also considered to be a key to the 52-acre, mostly vacant business park's development, is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2019.
The workforce development center will include training facilities, biotech wet space, clean rooms, and office and event space for small- to medium-size companies in the region. The structure is intended to<|fim_middle|> that the groundbreaking would take place. | support economic growth, jobs and private investment in the Berkshires.
"The measure of its success will be when the next generation of individuals who graduates stays here because the opportunity is here," said Polito, referring to the number of young people who leave the Berkshires for better job opportunities.
Pittsfield High School senior Trista Dearstyne and second-year Berkshire Community College student Shawna Axenroth, who is majoring in engineering, told the gathering how much the innovation center will mean to their future employment prospects in the region.
"It's comforting to know that I won't have to travel to Boston anymore to get the training that I want," Dearstyne said.
The city of Pittsfield originally received a $6.5 million state earmark toward the building of a life sciences-related structure in the Stanley Business Park in 2008. But the project didn't move forward until six years later, when the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center provided an additional $3.2 million, bringing the project's total cost to $9.7 million.
Construction was scheduled to begin in 2015, but the project was delayed after the original bids came in $3 million higher than expected.
A public-private partnership of state, local and private sector officials finally resolved the funding issue this year, with help from an additional $2.3 million from the state.
Baker touched on those ups and and downs during his remarks, but he said officials at the state level were determined to see the project through.
Ash said Stephen Boyd, chairman of the innovation center's nonprofit board of directors, played a key role in making sure that the project went through.
Boyd, who also is president and CEO of Boyd Technologies in Lee, didn't join the project until 2014. He never doubted | 369 |
is sarms a steroid
SARMS, or selective androgen receptor modulators, are a class of drugs that have same effects to anabolic steroids, but with fewer side effects. They are becoming increasingly well-liked among bodybuilders and athletes, as without difficulty as those looking to insert their monster express or fight the effects of aging. In this article, we will cover everything you craving to know about SARMS, including what they are, how they work, and their potential bolster and risks.
SARMS are a class of drugs that bind to androgen receptors in the body, similar to how anabolic steroids do. However, unlike anabolic steroids, SARMS are selective in their actions, meaning they by yourself endeavor specific receptors in sure tissues. This allows them to have same effects to anabolic steroids, such as increased muscle buildup and strength, without the thesame level of side effects.
SARMS bind to androgen receptors in the body, which are found in various tissues, including muscle, bone, and fat. next they bind to these receptors, they mimic the effects of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone. This leads to an growth in muscle deposit and strength, as without difficulty as a halt in body fat. Additionally, SARMS can moreover urge on improve bone density, which can be beneficial for people at risk of osteoporosis.
Increased muscle increase and strength: SARMS can incite you construct muscle and mass your strength, which can be beneficial for bodybuilders and athletes.
Decreased body fat: SARMS can after that support you lose body fat, which can be beneficial for those looking to intensify their mammal appearance.
Improved bone density: SARMS can put up to put in bone density, which can be beneficial for people at risk of osteoporosis.
Despite their potential benefits, SARMS next arrive similar to some risks. The most significant risk is that they are not recognized for human use by FDA. Long-term use of SARMS can furthermore lead to side effects, such as:
Furthermore, SARMS are not well-studied, and the long-term effects of these drugs are not known yet. It is important to remember that SARMS are nevertheless considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to abundantly comprehend their effects.
A guide to the different Types of SARMS
We will guide you through the<|fim_middle|> the supplement. Additionally, it's critical to follow a proper training and nutrition plan, comprehend the proper dosage, and cycle SARMS for bodybuilding. | every other types of SARMS reachable and what you craving to know nearly each one.
Ostarine, also known as MK-2866, is one of the most well-liked SARMS on the market. It is known for its execution to increase muscle accumulation and strength, as capably as fall body fat. It is with used to treat muscle wasting and osteoporosis. Ostarine is considered to be one of the mildest SARMS and is well-tolerated by most people.
Ligandrol, as well as known as LGD-4033, is unorthodox popular SARM that is known for its triumph to bump muscle buildup and strength. It is plus used to treat muscle wasting and osteoporosis. Ligandrol is considered to be slightly stronger than Ostarine and may have slightly more side effects.
Andarine, with known as S4, is a SARM that is known for its attainment to lump muscle mass and strength, as skillfully as fade away body fat. It is as a consequence used to treat muscle wasting and osteoporosis. Andarine is considered to be one of the stronger SARMS and may have more side effects than Ostarine or Ligandrol.
Testolone, afterward known as RAD-140, is a SARM that is known for its feat to lump muscle growth and strength. It is with used to treat muscle wasting and osteoporosis. Testolone is considered to be one of the strongest SARMS and may have more side effects than extra SARMS.
YK-11 is considered to be a further type of SARM, and it is known for its finishing to addition muscle growth and strength. It is moreover used to treat muscle wasting and osteoporosis. YK-11 is considered to be one of the strongest SARMS and may have more side effects than new SARMS.
It's important to note that SARMS are nevertheless considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to sufficiently comprehend their effects. Additionally, SARMS are not qualified for human use by FDA and the long-term effects of these drugs are not known yet. If you're in imitation of using SARMS, it's important to consult taking into account your doctor first and weigh the potential risks and benefits.
The Science of SARMS Dosage: How Much to say yes for Maximum Results
it's important to remember that SARMS are nevertheless considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to fully understand their effects. One of the most important aspects of using SARMS is settlement the proper dosage. In this article, we will probe the science of SARMS dosage and how much to admit for maximum results.
The optimal dosage for SARMS can rework depending on the specific type of SARM, as skillfully as the individual's goals and tolerance. In general, most SARMS are taken at a dosage of 10-30 milligrams (mg) per day. However, some SARMS, such as Testolone (RAD-140) may require well along doses of up to 20-30 mg per day. It's important to follow the recommended dosage of the specific SARM you're using and not to exceed it.
It's along with important to note that SARMS are not endorsed for human use by FDA. Therefore, there's limited research on the long-term effects of SARMS, including the effects of high dosages. Additionally, taking too much of a SARM can guide to side effects such as suppression of natural testosterone production, accrual in cholesterol levels, and liver toxicity. Therefore, it's important to consult taking into account your doctor in the past starting any SARM cycle and to monitor your body's appreciation to the supplement.
Furthermore, it's important to note that taking SARMS for a long time of times can lead to suppression of natural testosterone production. Therefore, it's important to cycle SARMS, meaning taking them for a become old of grow old and later taking a break. Additionally, it's important to announce the timing of your dosage. For example, taking your dosage in the morning or in the past your workout can be more dynamic than taking it at night.
In conclusion, SARMS can be an working tool for increasing muscle growth and strength, as skillfully as decreasing body fat. However, it's important to comprehend the proper dosage for maximum results and to avoid taking too much, which can lead to side effects. It's furthermore important to remember that SARMS are yet considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to thoroughly understand their effects. It's indispensable to consult considering your doctor past starting any SARM cycle and to monitor your body's reaction to the supplement. Additionally, it's valuable to cycle and get older your dosage to minimize the suppression of natural testosterone production.
One showing off to maximize the results of SARMS is by stacking them, which means combining oscillate types of SARMS to accomplish specific goals. In this article, we will consider the ultimate lead to SARMS stacks and how to maximize your results.
A SARM stack is a amalgamation of rotate SARMS taken together to reach specific goals. The most common point of a SARM stack is to layer muscle lump and strength, as with ease as terminate body fat. The most well-liked SARMS stacks include:
Ostarine (MK-2866) and Andarine (S4): This stack is commonly used for bitter and decreasing body fat.
Ligandrol (LGD-4033) and Testolone (RAD-140): This stack is commonly used for bulking and increasing muscle growth and strength.
It's important to note that SARMS are yet considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to sufficiently understand their effects. Additionally, SARMS are not endorsed for human use by FDA and the long-term effects of these drugs are not known yet. Therefore, it's important to consult gone your doctor previously starting any SARM stack and to monitor your body's tribute to the supplement.
When creating a SARM stack, it's indispensable to comprehend the properties and potential effects of each SARM you're using. For example, Ostarine (MK-2866) is known for its expertise to increase muscle addition and strength, while Andarine (S4) is known for its success to end body fat. Combining these two SARMS can have enough money a balanced effect of both muscle gain and fat loss.
Additionally, it's valuable to understand the proper dosage for each SARM in the stack, as competently as the timing of the dosage. For example, taking Ligandrol (LGD-4033) in the daylight or in the past your workout can be more effective than taking it at night.
SARMS for Bodybuilding: The Ultimate lead to achievement Muscle
Bodybuilding is a sport that requires dedication, discipline, and a proper training and nutrition plan. However, some bodybuilders and athletes are looking for an other edge to urge on them get muscle and supplement their performance. SARMS, or selective androgen receptor modulators, are a class of drugs that have thesame effects to anabolic steroids, but next fewer side effects. They are becoming increasingly well-liked in the course of bodybuilders and athletes as a pretension to gain muscle and tote up performance. In this article, we will explore the ultimate guide to using SARMS for bodybuilding and how to get muscle.
SARMS feat by binding to androgen receptors in the body, which are found in various tissues, including muscle, bone, and fat. following they bind to these receptors, they mimic the effects of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone. This leads to an lump in muscle addition and strength, as skillfully as a end in body fat. However, it's important to recall that SARMS are nevertheless considered experimental drugs and that more research is needed to sufficiently understand their effects. Additionally, SARMS are not endorsed for human use by FDA and the long-term effects of these drugs are not known yet.
Ostarine (MK-2866): Ostarine is known for its achievement to lump muscle enlargement and strength, as skillfully as fall body fat. It's considered to be one of the mildest SARMS and is well-tolerated by most people.
Ligandrol (LGD-4033): Ligandrol is choice well-liked SARM that is known for its achievement to accrual muscle accumulation and strength. It is considered to be slightly stronger than Ostarine and may have slightly more side effects.
Testolone (RAD-140): Testolone is a SARM that is known for its skill to enlargement muscle enlargement and strength. It is considered to be one of the strongest SARMS and may have more side effects than additional SARMS.
When using SARMS for bodybuilding, it's vital to follow a proper training and nutrition plan. A proper training plot should swell a amalgamation of weightlifting, cardio, and rest. Additionally, it's necessary to consume sufficient protein to preserve muscle growth, as with ease as to acquire plenty carbohydrates and healthy fats to fuel your workouts.
Additionally, it's essential to understand the proper dosage for the specific SARM you're using and not to exceed it. For example, the recommended dosage for Ostarine is usually together with 10-30 milligrams (mg) per day, while the recommended dosage for Ligandrol is usually together with 5-10 mg per day.
It's then important to cycle SARMS, meaning taking them for a times of times and then taking a break. This is to minimize the suppression of natural testosterone production and to avoid any potential side effects.
In conclusion, SARMS can be an full of life tool for increasing muscle growth and strength, as well as decreasing body fat. However, it's important to remember that SARMS are not credited for human use by FDA and that more research is needed to adequately understand their effects. It's critical to consult behind your doctor back starting any SARM cycle, and to monitor your body's reply to | 2,067 |
School in the Middle Ages
Formal education has its roots very early in the Middle Ages, in the 800s under Charlemagne of France. Charlemagne was a shrewd leader, and understood that in order to maintain political and economic power in the ever-expanding world, he would need a resourceful and educated populace to continue to<|fim_middle|>accuracy and one wonders if this is an intentional distortion made by feminists for creating indignation in female students. The fact is that only upper-class males could afford education. Other sites parked around this one show that only about 5% of people could read and write during the Middle Ages. Educated women were rare, but some existed. This sort of distortion on an educational site is remarkable and perhaps evidence of an unhealthy bias that harms actual education and the wisdom that should result from it. | make technological and philosophical advances. Formal schooling afforded several other benefits as well, allowing religious indoctrination, instilling obedience, and teaching youth about not only history but plans for the immediate future.
Influence of the Church
For the most part, education was overseen by religious entities. The Church organized the education of youth, established the curriculum, devised testing, and guided students into particular fields of study or work based upon their noted skills and aptitudes. Some scholars were selected to continue studies past their standard formal education at universities, which began to be established in large cities later in the Middle Ages.
As arbiter of the curriculum itself, the Church had a vast influence on the attitudes, philosophies, and beliefs of the citizens exposed to its teachings. Curriculums included grammar, astronomy, logic, and mathematics, but also included philosophy and, of course, religion. The Church had a great deal of room to push its own agenda onto students, essentially indoctrinating them to the faith and ensuring the Church's own continued power and success for another generation.
School was taught by both bishops at cathedrals and monks in monasteries. During the Dark Ages, few resources were devoted to scientific exploration or previous works of art, literature, or science. However, even during dark times, those afforded the opportunity to receive even a church-based education were at a substantial advantage over those who had no such chance, as only in school would students be taught how to read and write Latin, the universal language of the time.
Importance of Arts
Churches and monasteries have always placed tremendous value on artistic expression. Paintings are a way to visually depict stories from the Bible in a way that is accessible and easy to understand, even for those who cannot read. Students who showed aptitude in the arts were trained in technique and offered the chance to improve their skills with work in designing churches or painting frescos and murals as decorative works within cathedrals. Artistic students could also be called upon to illustrate books or learn calligraphy in order to create books.
Middle Ages Roots in Modern Education
Over time, a standardized course of study was developed. Students studied, at length, seven specific disciplines. Arithmetic, geometry, grammar, rhetoric, logic, astronomy, and music were the seven basic disciplines in which successful students were expected to receive a well-rounded education. Those who displayed a particular proficiency for any particular discipline could continue their studies at university.
Successful completion of a university course of study offered one the title of Master of Arts, a title we still use today for those who have demonstrated great knowledge in their particular areas of study. Further education was made available at the university level in theology, medicine, law, and philosophy. Students completing these studies were awarded the title of Doctor, not unlike today's medical doctors or doctors of philosophy.
The robes, or gown, and mortarboard, or caps, so customary at graduation ceremonies the world over also have their roots in school in the Middle Ages. Upon completion of their studies, students dressed up and attended ceremony in order to receive formal acknowledgement of their accomplishments and mastery.
Women and Schooling
Even noblewomen were not given the chance to attend school. Education was for boys and men only, regardless of class, wealth, social standing, or natural aptitude. The work women of all classes performed in their daily lives did not require extensive education, and women were not expected to build professions outside their homes or earn income from crafts or trades.
Convents frequently offered small amounts of education to the girls in their ranks. However, this education was not scientific so much as rooted in a thorough understanding of religious texts and rigorous discipline.
Women were rarely taught to read or taught basic fundamentals of mathematics. However, women's roles in society and in their homes often forced them to learn rudimentary accounting skills, management skills, and the basic tenets of several different trades in order to efficiently run their homes. Because young girls were not sent to school, they instead remained at home during their early years, apprenticing under their mothers, who were their primary source of any education they may receive.
Medieval Universities
Again demonstrating the enormous influence of the Church in every aspect of life, universities in medieval times came about as a direct result of increasing urbanization and a resulting requirement for more professionally trained and skilled clergymen. Well-educated clergy were better able to interact with the public and enact broader social change than those who simply rose through the ranks over time without any formal training, background, or education except that which they learned during the course of their work.
Eventually, universities designed to train those with inclinations toward clergy work began offering courses in more advanced studies such as medicine, law, and philosophy as well. Universities were established in large cities, and students were generally found within those cities or the immediately surrounding areas. The focus on providing a rudimentary education to the youth in well-developed areas created, over time, a more intelligent and highly skilled population, which may well have contributed directly to the enormous scientific, artistic, and philosophical advances of the Renaissance right around the corner.
Rural children and those in small fiefdoms or villages, however, often did not receive such opportunities for to attend school in the Middle Ages and thus, no opportunity for advanced studies either. Due to their inability to receive early education and the distance between their homes and the major urban areas' universities, such children frequently followed in the footsteps of their own parents, learning from parents or masters the skills they would need to survive or the tricks of a trade they could engage in to afford a higher standard of living.
Science in the Middle Ages
Religion in the Middle Ages
1 thought on "School in the Middle Ages"
The statement about boys being able to attend school regardless of class or aptitude is a remarkable in | 1,180 |
Part 3 is double crochet visual and written for beginner crocheters.
Make any number of chain stitches, and make two more than the number of stitches (such as, you will need 32 stitches for a 30 chains. Wind the yarn around the hook. Insert the hook from the front to back into the 4th chain from the hook.
Wrap yarn around<|fim_middle|> the top of the turning chain of the previous row.
Continue to work in this way for the number of rows you need. Fasten off.
Note: Since the double crochet is a much longer stitch than a single crochet, it is necessary to work three turning chains at the beginning of every row.
Work the last stitch of every row into the top of the three turning chain of the previous row to keep the edge straight, and to prevent pulling the work out of shape at the side edge. | the hook once (this is called a "yarn over") and draw through a loop. You should have 3 loops on the hook now.
Wind the yarn around the hook and draw it through the first two loops on the hook. Two loops remain on the hook.
Wind the yarn around the hook and draw it through the last two loops on the hook. One double has been made.
Work one double in the same way into each chain to the end of the row.
Now you are ready to turn it around and double crochet the next row. To turn the row which make 3 chain stitches. The three chains count as the turning stitch and are equal in height to one double crochet stitch. Skip the first stitch. Work the first double into the second stitch.
Work into each double to end, working the last double into | 167 |
Tiger Woods Lawsuit Allegations Highlight Importance of Responsible Service, Brand Culture
by David Klemt |
Image: William_Potter / iStock / Getty Images Plus
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Tiger Woods on Monday, May 13, one week after he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His girlfriend Erica Herman and the restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, are also named in the lawsuit. Herman is the restaurant manager.
Woods received the medal on Monday, May 6 after he won his fifth Masters title at Augusta National Golf Club. Seven days later, the family of Nicholas Immesberger filed the lawsuit for wrongful death.
Whether the allegations prove to be true or not is a matter for the courts to decide. This lawsuit should be viewed by hospitality business professionals as a serious lesson in liability and culture. Owners, operators and managers are not only responsible for the safety of their guests, they're responsible for the safety of their employees.
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The lawsuit alleges that Immesberger, who was a bartender, was over-served after his shift at The Woods Jupiter on December 10, 2018. His shift reportedly ended at 3:00 p.m. Immesberger was 20 miles away from the restaurant when he crashed his Corvette, purportedly because he had been allowed to consume<|fim_middle|>.
Read this: Regaining Control: Substance Abuse in the Hospitality Industry
Operators, managers and employees must understand how the laws in their jurisdictions apply to the over-serving of alcohol. It's unfortunate to have to consider the law, liability and the importance of asset protection when someone has died, but it's the reality inherent to this type of lawsuit. Business owners, managers and employees should be empathetic and understand the gravity of serving alcohol. But owners must also understand the importance of protecting themselves and their businesses—and therefore their employees and guests.
I encourage operators and managers to meet with their attorneys and their teams to discuss this lawsuit. Not in terms of the guilt or innocence of any parties named in this particular lawsuit but to reinforce the importance of responsible alcohol service and guest and coworker safety. I also encourage operators and managers to show they care about their employees by letting them know they can come to you if they feel they're struggling with alcohol issues.
News Industry News Bar Industry News Restaurant Industry News Nightclub Industry News Responsible alcohol service Responsible Service Beverage alcohol training Substance abuse Operations Bar operations Restaurant operations Nightclub operations On-premise operations Management Bar Management Restaurant management Nightclub Management Liability Lawsuit Asset protection Tiger Woods Erica Herman The Woods Jupiter
Playing music in your bar? Here's what you need to know.
Music is one of the best ways to tie together your space, engage employees, and delight customers. Here are six keys to making sure it's working for your bar.
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Kickstart(er) My Heart: Crowdfund These Canned Whiskey Cocktails
Consumers can't get enough of innovative, quality canned adult beverages. Here's your chance to crowdfund three new canned cocktails.
by David Klemt Jul 15, 2019 5:00am
How Outspending the Competition can Deliver a Healthy ROI
You've heard the phrase, "You have to spend money to make money." But there's a key component missing from that quote.
by Louie La Vella Jul 16, 2019 5:00am
David Klemt
Editor, Nightclub & Bar Media Group | too much alcohol. The single-car accident occurred around 6:00 p.m.
According to a police report and the civil complaint filed against Woods, Herman and the restaurant, Immesberger was traveling about 70 miles per hour and his BAC was .256 at the time of the crash. That's a BAC of more than three times the legal limit.
The complaint alleges that The Jupiter Woods employees knew he had been involved with an alcohol-related wreck in November of 2018, the month prior to his death; employees were aware that Immesberger "had a habitual problem with alcohol" and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings; Woods and Herman knew Immesberger was struggling with alcoholism; Woods and Herman consumed alcohol with Immesberger days before his crash on December 10; and that both restaurant management and employees encouraged drinking by employees.
Woods could be found liable in the wrongful death suit even if he wasn't physically at the restaurant. In fact, according to Florida law, Woods, Herman and restaurant are all potentially liable if someone with a known history of alcohol abuse suffers a foreseeable injury or death due to being over-served, whether Woods and Herman were on property or not.
Today, the attorneys who filed the lawsuit accused the restaurant of destroying video evidence. They allege that video proof existed of Immesberger drinking at the bar after his shift. The alleged destruction of evidence shows that "somebody knew something had gone wrong and they wanted to get rid of that evidence," according to attorney Spencer T. Kuvin.
Woods addressed the lawsuit earlier today. "We're all very sad that Nick passed away," said Woods. "It was a terrible night, a terrible ending. And we feel bad for him and his entire family. It's very sad."
Understanding that responsibility and reinforcing its crucial importance comes down in part to company culture. If what the lawsuit alleges proves true—that employees were encouraged to consume alcohol by coworkers and management—that's a problematic culture. There's nothing wrong with having a good time but encouraging excessive drinking and ignoring problem drinking behavior is unsafe and irresponsible.
Another lesson this unfortunate death and the lawsuit filed against Woods highlights is how employees who struggle with addiction are treated by employers and coworkers. Respectful, open-minded conversations must be had between management and employees who have alcohol issues—within the confines of the law—to understand their challenges and how they would like to be treated at work. People facing this type of struggle shouldn't be shamed, marginalized or ignored | 508 |
Nursing: RN<|fim_middle|> students are required to attend a mandatory nursing information session in order
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History Formerly Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, Covenant School of Nursing is located in Lubbock, Texas. Founded in January of 1918, Covenant School of Nursing is the oldest nursing school in the
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Alexandrina Freeman
1 Nursing: RN Program BSN Why Choose Nursing? Nursing is the largest health care profession with workforce shortages anticipated for the next two decades. Earnings are above average, particularly for advanced practice nurses who have additional education and certifications. Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at Ferris are eligible to write the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to become a registered nurse. Registered Nurses (RNs) with the BSN degree are preferentially hired in a variety of health care settings because they are prepared to provide nursing care for a wide variety of patient populations. The Registered Nursing BSN program at Ferris prepares nurses to promote health, prevent disease and to help patients cope with a variety of health problems. RNs with a BSN degree can anticipate opportunities in hospital nursing with positions to include medical, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, psychiatric, emergency or intensive care units. RNs can also work in a variety ambulatory care settings such as clinics, emergency medical centers, surgicenters and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or in long-term care settings caring for the elderly. In addition, BSN prepared RNs can also expand their clinical practice to community settings such as Public Health, home care, hospice or school nursing. BSN prepared RNs are also educated to assume entry level management positions in the health care system. Students in the Ferris Nursing program engage in a learner-centered approach to the study of nursing theory and skills in the classroom, online and state of the art nursing skills laboratories while also having the opportunity to practice direct patient care in hospital and community settings under the guidance of clinically expert faculty. The nursing program at Ferris is a six semester professional sequence that follows the equivalent of one year of pre-requisite coursework and is intended for traditional students who have not earned a college degree. Graduates are eligible to write the licensure exam to become a Registered Nurse. In addition, graduates of the BSN program can continue their education in the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program at Ferris or at another University setting. Career Opportunities Due to the current and projected nursing shortage, faster than average growth is expected through the year 2020 and beyond. This increased need is based on industry growth and the projected replacement of existing practicing nurses. Average full-time RNs earn $22 - $45 per hour nationally. The median annual salary for a full time staff RN in 2014 was $57,000. Advanced practice nurses with education beyond the BSN can earn salaries ranging from $90,000 to $100,000 per year, depending on the specialty and location of employment.
2 Admission Requirements Students must be admitted to the University. To be qualified to enter the professional sequence of the program, a student must have at least a 2.7 cumulative GPA with a minimum grade of B- in the following courses or their equivalent: MATH 115 or MATH 117, BIOL 108, BIOL 205 & CHEM 114. Students must also complete the following courses or their equivalent with a grade of C or higher: ENGL 150, COMM 105 or COMM 221 or COMM 121, COHP 100, COHP 101, and COHP 102. Students must also complete one course in each of the categories of Social Awareness and Cultural Enrichment before entering the professional sequence of the program. To assure all students of quality education in the classroom, laboratory and clinical instructional practice, enrollment is limited based on guidelines set forth by the MI State Board of Nursing. Students who have met or will meet the program's qualification criteria by the end of the Spring semester are required to apply to the program's professional sequence between March 15 and March 30 of the year prior to the academic year they wish to start the program in the Fall (August) or Spring (January) semester in the order they qualify. Graduation Requirements Graduation requires a minimum of 2.0 GPA overall. Students must earn a grade of "C" or higher in all major (NURS) and core courses and meet all the general education requirements as outlined in the General Education website. If a student interrupts progression in the professional sequence of the program, re-entry cannot be guaranteed due to space limitations in laboratory and clinical placement sites. More Information College of Health Professions Ferris State University 200 Ferris Drive Big Rapids, MI This program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN.) The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing publishes a variety of nursing and nursing education materials, including a list of nursing programs and information on student financial aid. For a complete list of ACEN publications, please direct your request to: Communications Department Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing 3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850 Atlanta, GA Phone:
3 FAX:
4 Required Courses Credit Hours
5 BIOL 108 Medical Microbiology 3 BIOL 205 Human Anatomy-Physiology 5 CHEM 114 Intro to General Chemistry 4 COHP 100 Orientation to Medical Vocabul 1 COHP 101 The U.S. Health Care System 3 COHP 102 Safety Issues in Health Care 1 COHP 350 Statistics in Health Care 3 COHP 450 Evidence-based Health Care 3 COMM 105 Interpersonal Communication 3 COMM 121 Fundamentals-Public Speaking 3 COMM 221 Small Group Decision Making 3 ENGL 150 English 1 3 ENGL 250 English 2 3 ENGL 321 Advanced Composition 3 Social Awareness Elective 9 Cultural Enrichment Elective 9 NURS 240 Concepts Prof Nursing 4 NURS 241 Technical Skills Lab 2
6 NURS 242 Health Assessment Lab 1 NURS 243 Clinical Foundations 1 2 NURS 250 Health Promotion in Nursing 4 NURS 251 Pharmacology in Nursing 3 NURS 252 Clinical Foundations 2 2 NURS 253 Clinical Integrat Foundation 1 NURS 300 Pathophysiology Nurs Practice 3 NURS 340 Community Nursing 3 NURS 341 Nursing Theory 1 4 NURS 342 Clinical Nursing 2 4 NURS 343 Clinical Integration 1 NURS 351 Nursing Theory 2 4 NURS 352 Clinical Nursing 2 4 NURS 353 Clinical Integration 2 1 NURS 440 Leadership in Nursing 3 NURS 441 Nursing Theory 3 4 NURS 442 Clinical Nursing 3 5 NURS 443 Clinical Integration 3 1 NURS 450 Nursing Capstone 3 NURS 451 Nursing Theory 4 4 NURS 452 Clinical Nursing 4 5
7 NURS 453 Clinical Integration 4 1 Total Program Credits Required: 122 Note: A grade of B- or better is required in all BIOL, CHEM and MATH courses. A grade of C or better is required in all CCHS, ENGL, COMM and NURS courses.
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NURSING DEPARTMENT OFFICE Nichols Hall 256, (707) 664-2465 Fax: (707) 664-2653 www.sonoma.edu/nursing DEPARTMENT CHAIR Deborah A. Roberts ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Ana Munoz Kristi Nellman Faculty *Liz Close
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Department of Nursing NURS 301 (501) 569-8081 fax (501) 371-7546 ualr.edu/nursing Chairperson: Molsbee, C. Preston, Associate Professor Associate Professors: Gilbert, Cynthia K. Assistant Professors: Benton,
Nursing.is this the career path for me??
Nursing.is this the career path for me?? WHAT do nurses do? Manage emergencies Identify health changes Monitor vital signs Collaborate with other health professionals Teach about health and wellness Listen
COLLEGE OF NURSING UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA 2011-2012 UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG. Undergraduate Nursing Program
Undergraduate Nursing Program General Information The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, One DuPont Circle, NW Suite 530, Washington, DC, 20036, (202) 887-6791, and
Partnership: Covenant School of Nursing Lubbock Christian University
Partnership: Covenant School Lubbock Christian This partnership aligns perfectly with Covenant s mission of teaching future nursing students to care for the whole person body, mind and spirit and by working
NURSING PROGRAMS. Take a Closer Look 128 HIGHLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS TO BE MET BEFORE APPLICATION TO THE PROGRAM: ADMISSION PROCESS
NURSING PROGRAMS Associate of Applied Science in Nursing (ADN) Practical Nursing Certificate (PN) ADMISSION PROCESS All | 7,820 |
DNotes Pay
DNotes 2015 Year in Review
By admin January 7, 2016 February 22nd, 2017 Blog
2015 was a busy year for DNotes. The company saw to the creation of multiple savings plans to help either retired persons or attending university students. It is also seeking to create a new business entity that fully integrates the blockchain, and DCEBrief has set out on a mission to provide solid, no-nonsense stories regarding DNotes and the world of digital currency in general. When all is said and done, DNotes clearly has a lot on its plate, and this is JUST THE BEGINNING…
December – DNotes Announces Company Launch and Book for Small Business Owners for 2016
<|fim_middle|> students and clubs alike will be eligible to join in on the action. They'll be apportioned specific and unique codes, which they can use to get their hands on special gifts of up to 500 DNotes, the cryptocurrency that is slated to grow beyond measure in the next five years.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/digital-currency-student-debt-solutions-094800790.html;_ylt=AwrBJR9uShlVcxQAZ_zQtDMD
February – DNotes Launches New Retirement Plan Set to Help the Underfunded and Unbanked
The plan is set to offer up to 12 percent annual returns for participants. In today's economy, many are underserved by the traditional methods of modern-day banks, and it's becoming harder to save for retirement. DNotes is aiming to change all this through its own digital currency, which is not only completely secure, but is slated to grow heavily in value.
http://bitcoinprbuzz.com/bitcoin-alternative-dnotes-digital-currency-retirement-savings-plans-provide-12-annual-interest-relief-for-underfunded-retirement-accounts-and-the-unbanked-worldwide/
Bitcoin Alternative DNotes Announces Company Launch and Book for Small Business Owners in 2016
Website: DNotesCoin.com
Company Website: DNotesGlobal.com
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© 2020 DNotes.
DNotes Newsletter
Receive DNotes updates in your email. | DNotes today announced the early 2016 release of a book for small business owners. The announcement comes on the heels of October's revelations about the company's plans for the launch of a new for-profit enterprise next year. DNotes officials have confirmed that the new company launch and the planned book release are part of an ongoing strategy to differentiate the DNotes ecosystem and better serve partners and customers throughout the cryptocurrency industry and beyond.
http://dcebrief.com/bitcoin-alternative-dnotes-announces-company-launch-and-book-for-small-business-owners-in-2016/
November – Cryptopia Starts Adding DNotes & DNotes Video Series Launched
Based in New Zealand, Cryptopia is setting out to create the simplest and most effective uses for cryptocurrency users. In November, the company offered DNotes a pleasant surprise when they started adding the DNotes cryptocurrency to its platform, thereby helping to solidify DNotes' reputation as the digital money of the future.
https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/Exchange?market=NOTE_BTC
Timothy Goggin, director of CRISP for Students, launched the first of a series of DNotes videos. The DNotes video series provides an introduction to digital currency, its advantages, DNotes projects and services, and our plans to harness the potential of payment protocol to become a prominent and competitive money transfer processor in the near future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsXO8ttmSxw
October – DNotes will Launch New Company in 2016 that Integrates the Blockchain, the DNotes Currency and a New Payments Systems
The DNotes team will create a new company that will focus on the DNotes cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and the payment system in 2016. DNotes the currency will have 25 percent ownership in the company to start, subject to dilution, as the company is expected to grow heavily over time. Company founder Alan Yong believes that the new structure is likely to bring about more social benefits than even the Internet itself.
http://dcebrief.com/bitcoin-alternative-dnotes-announces-new-company-launch-in-2016-to-integrate-the-currency-payment-system-and-blockchain/
September – DNotes Launches DCEBrief News Site & DNotes Listed on Cryptsy Exchange
DNotes launches DCEBrief, allowing readers the opportunity to learn more about what's happening in the world of DNotes and cryptocurrency. The site is designed to give business owners, decision-makers, and others who have a say in the world of finance and digital currency unbiased, to-the-point information regarding today's most important cryptocurrency-related stories without any "fluff or filler."
http://thebitcoinnews.com/bitcoin-alternative-dnotes-launches-dcebrief-com-digital-currency-executive-brief-news-portal-3/
After some time the DNotes team and supporters made a push to have DNotes listed on Cryptsy, and finally got listed in September. This was a win for the DNotes community demonstrating their strength.
https://www.cryptsy.com/markets/view/NOTE_BTC
August – DNotes Offers Free Bitcoin Education App
In an attempt to show the general public that one doesn't need to be fully "tech savvy" to understand digital currency, DNotes launched an education app via Google that features how-to guides, definitions, links and even a quiz to assure everyone is learning about the money of the future. Cryptocurrency is looked at as something that will likely affect how business is done all over the world, and DNotes wants to make sure everyone is familiar with how it will work.
http://bitcoinprbuzz.com/free-bitcoin-education-google-play-app-launched-by-dnotes/
June – DNotes Presents at Nasdaq in New York & Alan Yong is Interviewed by CoinTelegraph
The Silicon Dragon Event, which took place at the Nasdaq in New York, featured Alan Yong and DNotes making an appearance on the panel alongside Francesco Rulli of bitLanders and Sarah Martin of the Digital Currency Council. Yong is a cryptocurrency and technology entrepreneur that has been innovating in the technology field for over three decades.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-currency-dnotes-to-present-at-nasdaq-in-new-york—builds-on-bitcoins-shortfalls-300098845.html
Yong was also interviewed by cryptocurrency news platform CoinTelegraph. During the talk, Yong spoke on a number of topics, including what it was about bitcoin that influenced him to create DNotes and how cryptocurrency could potentially solve the country's debt crisis. Yong refers to DNotes as a "currency with a purpose."
http://cointelegraph.com/news/114557/dnotes-will-be-known-as-the-currency-with-a-purpose
May – DNotes Launches World's First Cryptocurrency Employee Incentive Plan
DNotes has launched an employee incentive benefits plan. Employees must register for the program using a single form. From there, they are issued a dashboard that provides information regarding their specific and unique activity. Their employer is then able to send them DNotes accordingly. The program is built to help employees build long-term goals for before and after retirement.
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-alternative-dnotes-launches-worlds-first-digital-currency-employee-incentive-benefits-plan/
March – DNotes Offers Help with Student Debt through Cryptocurrency
DNotes launches CRISP for Students, a new savings plan designed to help university attendees alleviate some of the debt and financial ailments they're likely to experience after graduation. Schools, | 1,159 |
Head's distinguished U.S. Air<|fim_middle|> lead of an expert pilot.
The appendices include Boelcke's chronology, the aces Boelcke trained (including the Red Baron), a detailed evolution of the Albatros fighter, and four of Boelcke's contemporaries who also wrote their views on aerial tactics. | Force career involved flying several combat aircraft and several assignments in Vietnam. His work on Boelcke reflects Head's insights on how aerial combat assumed a definitive role thanks to Boelcke's leadership and legacy.
The book is a leisure read, covering aviators, the physical flying environment, and the rewards associated with combat aviation.
The formation and evolution of Germany's air service is interweaved with Boelcke's life. Information on aeroplanes is covered in detail, particularly the Fokker Eindecker models and Albatros series that replaced it.
Most important is the discussion of Boelcke's Dicta, the foundation of formal German fighter tactic principles he wrote in 1916 that still apply today (although not always attributed to him). Boelcke's concept of deploying fighters in squadron formation produced higher effectiveness and protection especially when flying together under the | 176 |
This time of year<|fim_middle|> something that offers a complimenting look without the tacky graphics and slogans that make their way on retail shelves during the holidays. While reindeer sweaters can be adorable and warm, they surely do not belong on every holiday clothing design! Indulge in the true art of the Christmas season with the wonderful world of Marisota fashion! | brings out the luscious reds, the deep greens and the brightly colored blues to the fashion runways and clothing lines. Plenty of shoppers utilize the opportunity to purchase festive sweaters and adventurous accessories that showcase their holiday spirit. For plus size women, the holiday season is the time of year to showcase the love of fashion and the power of great accessories. This makes finding the perfect one-stop shopping resource almost imperative during this time of year. However, the public has spoke and there has been plenty of buzz about Christmas plus size fashion by Marisota In fact, this clothing line has become an online phenomenon amongst women all over the country. You know how it goes, one satisfied customer spreads the word to five loyal shoppers … and so on and so forth! The next thing you know, everyone who is anyone, is shopping at the same great places!
Whether you are giving or treating yourself this holiday season, keep in mind that the full-figured woman wears her clothes with confidence and style – even when it comes to pajamas. Holiday wear can be a fun and entertaining way to share the holidays with friends and family while creating quality memories for years to come – all for the love of fashion! Marisota offers women plenty of the two favorites "D's" – designs and discounts! With a full line of sweaters, camisoles, hats, accessories and sweats, the holiday catalog offers one of the largest Christmas plus size fashion available each year.
Let's start with a full line of clothing for all seasons, followed by the perfectly accommodating accessories and the perfect scent to complete the outfit! Now take an additional 40% off your entire purchase – how does that feel? With plenty of coupons and discounts available, shoppers can take advantage of more styles, more savings and more fond memories with the Christmas plus size fashion line. The clothing line that truly compliments any fashion preference for plus size women. Not quite sure what you are looking for or what sizes best compliment your body structure? Allow the customer service team to help guide you through the catalog and find you the best possible holiday arrangement for yourself or your loved ones.
Reliable Service – The clothing catalog can accommodate several delivery methods to ensure your order is received in time for the holidays. In many cases, same day shipping is available at affordable prices, including ground and overnight shipping.
An Abundance of Styles & Designs – With over 75 styles to choose from in the holiday catalog alone, how could you go wrong?
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Free Gifts & Surprises – Marisota frequently offers delicious free gifts such as gourmet chocolate and baskets with eligible purchases. It is not uncommon for shoppers to receive a free gift with their order to showcase the company's appreciation for their loyalty and support.
Holiday Gift Ideas – With over 20,000 gift ideas to choose from, the catalog offers convenience and pleasure in the holiday shopping experience with a little something to match everyone's taste.
Why make your holiday shopping harder than it has to be – whether for yourself or your loved ones! Shopping for the plus size woman can be quite difficult in the traditional stores that showcase anything but the proper fashion respect. In fact, it takes a strong fashionista to find the best Christmas plus size fashion that provides the dream shopping experience plus a great deal on fresh styles and gift products. It is no surprise that any plus size fashion diva knows about the Marisota clothing line, especially during the holidays. When it comes down to wire and the race of the last minute shoppers, this clothing catalog accommodates the holiday shopping rush right down to the day before Christmas Eve!
Everyone loves to get into the holiday spirit, but often times it can be difficult to find | 808 |
The brilliant reason why Plymouth submarines fly the Jolly Roger
Boats were branded 'underhand, unfair and damned un-English' in the run up to the Great War
Andy GreenwoodAgenda Editor
The potency of the submarine as a weapon of warfare was etched in history during the Second World War.
But 25 years earlier, at the outbreak of the First World War the submarine service was just 13 years old and had yet to prove its true worth in conflict.
Some in the Admiralty that remained stubbornly sceptical about the burgeoning technology.
Years more roadworks for Tavistock Road have just been announced
And such was the cynicism, top brass in the Royal Navy dismissed the new submarines as "underhand, unfair and damned un-English" in the<|fim_middle|>bones in the modern era are not exclusive to submarines – and they were not universally accepted within the Submarine Service," George Malcolmson, archivist at the RN Submarine Museum in Gosport, said.
The crew of HMS Conqueror with their Jolly Roger
"The Admiralty certainly took a disliking to the flag – at the time it was keen to distance our 'good' submarines with German submarines which were 'bad'."
The Royal Navy would go on to claim that Horton's flag flying was a one-off although other successful boats did copy his lead.
And the tradition would be revived a generation later – providing the boat had achieved a success on patrol.
Health secretary pledges £20k 'golden hello' for new GPs in rural and seaside areas
Crews simply "chalked up" the number of ships they had sunk. But numerous embellishments were developed – aircraft (for downed planes), daggers (for 'cloak and dagger' operations), a sheep's head (for ramming an enemy vessel) and lifebelts (for seamen plucked from the ocean).
However, the Admiralty only permits the flag hoisted when it reached the boom at the edge of a naval base. It can only be flown until sunset.
It is a tradition that is maintained to this day. HMS Conqueror is the last submarine to raise the standard after sinking a ship, the Belgrano in the Falklands.
HMS Trafalgar runs up the Jolly Roger as she sails into Plymouth
Devonport-based HMS Trafalgar flew the skull and crossbones in Plymouth Sound after being revealed as the first British submarine to fire a missile on Afghanistan.
HMS Turbulent and Triumph also hoisted the Jolly Roger following operations against Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi respectively to mark not torpedoings but successful Tomahawk missile strikes against targets hundreds of miles away.
The tradition was honoured by the crew of HMS Astute – the latest generation of the hunter-killer class – on her maiden patrol three years ago.
"The Jolly Roger sets the Submarine Service apart from our surface brethren," Commander Gareth Jenkins said at the time. "It is a symbol of the camaraderie and fighting spirit that characterise us.
"Though we have made huge technological advances in the Service, embodied by Astute herself, we will never forget the history of the submarines that have served before us."
The Falklands | run up to war.
Crews were branded as pirates who deserved hanging.
It wouldn't take long for them to be proved wrong – and for submariners to remind of them of their ignorance.
Commanding Officer Commander Andy McKendrick with the Jolly Roger flag on HMS Turbulent in 2003 (Image: PO(Phot)John Clews/Navy)
In September 1914, His Majesty's Submarine E9 surfaced off the German fortress island of Heligoland.
As the cruiser Hela emerging from the morning mist and drizzle, E9's captain Lieutenant Max Horton fired two torpedoes at a range of just 600 yards.
When Horton resurfaced, after an hour dodging the German counter attack, the warship was gone. It was the first German ship lost to a British submarine and the first success of Silent Service.
Sex attacker who targeted woman in a wheelchair is still at large, say police
Horton claimed the "pirate" tag as his own – getting his signaller to produce a Jolly Roger which was flown from the periscope as the boat returned to base in Harwich.
The act of defiance would give birth to a Silent Service tradition, although not immediately.
"The skull and cross | 260 |
Someone who follows food news knows that butter is back. What's really in is cooking oil.
In 2010, while Americans consumed 4.9 pounds of butter a year per capita, they consumed 53.6 pounds of cooking oil. From commonly used oils like canola and olive to others like avocado and hempseed oil, there are a ton of oils out there to use for culinary purposes. With so many kinds of oils, choosing the right one for cooking can be daunting.
Health benefits aside, the key factors you need to consider are heating temperature and flavor. Oils break down at a certain temperature, which is known as their smoke point. The smoke point for oils is always a rough estimate, because the breakdown happens gradually and not at a precise moment, and also because smoke points depend on how refined the oil is. Regular olive oil is more refined than extra virgin olive oil, and there might be varying degrees<|fim_middle|> should soon change. In 2012, the use of edible soybean fell to 12.3 billion pounds. | of refinement for various peanut oils.
Here are 11 common cooking oils, and how to choose the right one for your recipes.
What it is: Olive oil comes from pressing whole olives. While it's used all over the world, it is the primary cooking oil used in the Mediterranean. It is high in good-for-your-heart monounsaturated fatty acids.
What it's good for: Extra virgin olive oil has the richest flavor because it is made without any heat or chemicals, which makes it good for salad dressings and drizzling. Refined olive oil is good for sautéing.
What it is: Canola oil is low in saturated fat, with only seven percent saturated fat — compared to sunflower oil, which has 12 percent, and olive oil, which 15 percent saturated fat. It has a neutral flavor, high smoke point and is also relatively inexpensive.
What it is: Vegetable oil refers to any plant-based oil, which may include any or a combination of the following: soybean, sunflower or safflower oil. Most vegetable oils have a high smoke point and neutral flavor, which make them great for baking.
What it is: Peanut oil has a mild flavor and high smoke point, which makes it great for deep-frying and a range of other cooking. It's made from pressed steam-cooked peanuts and is popular in Asian cooking.
What it is: Grapeseed oil is versatile — it has a somewhat neutral flavor and medium-high smoke point. It can be used in salad dressings, but also works for sautéing and baking. And it's a by-product of wine-making!
What it is: Sunflower oil's high smoke point and light flavor make it a favorite for frying, but it is also good oil for baking. It is made from pressed sunflower seeds, is high in vitamin E and low in saturated fat.
What it is: Safflower oil has a neutral flavor and the refined kind has a very high smoke point, which makes it great for searing and deep frying. It comes from the seeds of a safflower plant (which is related to the sunflower).
What it is: Coconut oil is having a moment right now — it's the darling of vegan cooks, who often use it as a replacement for butter in baking. It's turning up in vegan recipes and products all over the place. Extracted from the meat or kernel of a coconut, the oil has a distinct, sweet flavor — the natural sweetness makes it good for baking sweet treats and also for certain sautéed dishes. It is high in (not-good-for your-heart) saturated fat — specifically a kind called lauric acid, which some consider a healthier fat source.
What it is: Sesame oil has a very distinct flavor and is popular in Asian cooking. Light sesame oil has different uses than dark sesame oil.
What it's good for: Light is good for deep-frying and dark sesame oil is better for stir-frying and dipping sauces and used more for the flavor that it gives off.
What it is: Corn oil is made from corn kernels and its high smoke point makes it good for frying. It's a favorite of fast food chains — almost 70 percent of fast food restaurants make French fries with corn oil. It's also used to make margarine. The oil is high in saturated fats and low in so-called good fats, which is why it's often considered one of the unhealthiest oils (GMO content oil).
What it is: Soybean oil has a stronger flavor and aroma and is commonly used in processed foods. In 2007, NPR reported that almost 80 percent of oil used for cooking and baking in the U.S. came from soybeans. Because it has a short shelf-life, soybean oil often gets treated with hydrogen gas, which creates trans fats. In 2005 we were consuming 15.5 billion pounds in 2005 and about half of that was partly hydrogenated, the New York Times reports. With the government's ban on trans fat, that statistic | 841 |
Carter Stepped Away Before the Slow Fade : After a Few 'Signs' He Realized, 'It Was Definitely Time to Leave'
By MIKE DiGIOVANNA
Gary Carter could have hung on for another season, extended his National League games-caught record, added a few more hits, homers and runs batted in to make his portfolio a little more attractive to Hall of Fame voters.
And as August was about to turn to September in 1992, Carter, who had returned to the Montreal Expos for his 18th major league season, had thoughts of a 19th tour of duty.
Then his wife, Sandy, was broadsided by a driver who ran a stop sign near their home in Palm Beach, Fla. Sandy escaped serious injury, but the family's car was nearly totaled.
A few days after the accident, Hurricane Andrew swept through Florida, threatening but not severely damaging Carter's home.
Carter was shaken.
So were his priorities.
"Here I am in Montreal thinking, 'Gosh, what am I doing up here?' " Carter said. "I had thought about retiring, but at that point, I felt God had given me enough signs. It was definitely time to leave."
Soon after this divine intervention, Carter said 1992 would be his last season. In his last at-bat, Carter doubled in the game's only run in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the Expos' home finale. Montreal retired Carter's No. 8.
"They say you're only as good as your last at-bat, and mine was a game-winning double," said Carter, the former Sunny Hills High School three-sport standout who will be inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday.
"But both my knees were shot and it was tough to perform at the level I was used to. I figured rather than go through a mediocre year, I'd go out on a high note. It was a wonderful run while it lasted. . . . I feel I achieved what I hope is good enough to land me in Cooperstown."
Carter's accomplishments will, at the least, warrant Cooperstown consideration. He had a career batting average of .262 with 2,092 hits, 324 home runs, 1,125 RBIs and 1,025 runs. He's third on the career games-caught list with 2,056, behind Carlton Fisk and Bob Boone.
He was named most valuable player in the 1981 and 1984 All-Star games and played in nine others. He caught every inning of the 1986 World Series and helped the New York Mets defeat the Boston Red Sox in a memorable seven-game affair.
Carter is one of four catchers in major league history with 2,000 hits, 300 homers, 1,000 RBIs and 1,000 runs. The others are Hall<|fim_middle|>, batting .255 with 24 homers and 105 RBIs and finishing third behind Mike Schmidt and Glenn Davis in the National League MVP voting.
He struggled in the NLCS against the Houston Astros, going 1 for 21 before his game-winning, 12th-inning single off Charlie Kerfield in Game 5 gave the Mets a 3-2 advantage. Carter then had two hits in New York's pennant-clinching, 16-inning, 7-6 thriller in Game 6.
Carter had nine RBIs in the World Series--the second highest total ever by a catcher--and hit two home runs in Game 3 at Fenway Park to lead the Mets, who had lost the first two games in Shea Stadium, to victory.
But his finest World Series moment came in Game 6, with the Mets trailing, 5-3, in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Red Sox one out away from a world championship.
Carter started a rally with a two-out single, moved to second on Kevin Mitchell's single and scored on Ray Knight's single.
Mitchell scored the tying run on Bob Stanley's wild pitch, and Knight scored the winning run when Mookie Wilson's chopper went through Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's legs and into World Series history.
The Mets won Game 7 the following night for their first World Series championship since 1969.
"I've had a lot of proud moments--a seven-RBI game against the Braves (in 1986), a five-for-five game against Greg Maddux and the Cubs (in 1990), two All-Star MVP awards," Carter said. "But, shoot, nothing tops a World Series title."
Gary Carter in the Major Leagues
Year Team Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI 1974 Montreal .407 9 27 5 11 0 1 1 6 1975 Montreal .270 144 503 58 136 20 1 17 68 1976 Montreal .219 91 311 31 68 8 1 6 38 1977 Montreal .284 154 522 86 148 29 2 31 34 1978 Montreal .255 157 533 76 136 27 1 20 72 1979 Montreal .283 141 505 74 143 26 5 22 75 1980 Montreal .264 154 549 76 145 25 5 29 101 1981 Montreal .251 100 374 48 94 20 2 16 68 1982 Montreal .293 154 557 91 163 32 1 29 97 1983 Montreal .270 145 541 63 146 37 3 17 79 1984 N.Y. Mets .294 159 596 75 175 32 1 27 106 1985 N.Y. Mets .281 149 555 83 156 17 1 32 100 1986 N.Y. Mets .255 132 490 81 125 14 2 24 105 1987 N.Y. Mets .235 139 523 55 123 18 2 20 83 1988 N.Y. Mets .242 130 455 39 110 16 2 11 46 1989 N.Y. Mets .183 50 153 14 28 8 0 2 15 1990 San Francisco .254 92 244 24 62 10 0 9 27 1991 Dodgers .246 101 248 22 61 14 0 6 26 1992 Montreal .218 95 285 24 62 18 1 5 29
Hall of Fame Induction Facts
What: 13th Orange County Hall of Fame induction ceremony
Where: Gate 6, Anaheim Stadium
When: 11 a.m., Sunday
Highlights: Ceremony inducting Bert Blyleven, Gary Carter, Maurice (Red) Guyer, Hal Sherbeck, Jerry Shipkey and Ray Willsey will take place outside Anaheim Stadium. The public can then gain admission to the newly opened Hall of Fame for $3.
Mike DiGiovanna
Mike DiGiovanna is a sports writer who contributes to the coverage of the Dodgers, Angels and Chargers for the Los Angeles Times. He won Associated Press Sports Editors awards for feature-story writing in 2017 and game-story writing in 2001 and Orange County Press Club Awards for feature and game-story writing in 1996 and 1997. A native of East Lyme, Conn., and a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, he began writing for The Times in 1981. He has been covering Major League Baseball since 1995 and spent 19 years as the paper's Angels beat writer and two on the Dodgers.
Facing harassment as a female mayor
Hours after San Luis Obispo's mayor posted about the online harassment she receives, a man was arrested trying to force his way into her office. | of Famers Yogi Berra and Johnny Bench, and Fisk, who is considered a lock for the Hall of Fame.
But they don't choose Hall of Famers by position. Carter may have been one of the premier catchers of his time, but his Cooperstown prospects, like those of so many players with outstanding statistics, will depend on the competition on the Hall of Fame ballot.
"It would be a great honor, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it," said Carter, 39, who is a color commentator on Florida Marlin telecasts. "I paid my dues, accomplished a lot--hopefully, it's enough to get me there."
If not, Carter can at least be proud of being inducted into two other sports halls of fame, Palm Beach and now Orange County. Carter grew up playing numerous youth sports in West Fullerton, and by the time he was a junior at Sunny Hills, he was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams.
Carter signed a letter of intent to UCLA, and the quarterback had every intention of pursuing a college football career until a knee injury in his senior year steered him toward baseball.
A third-round pick of the Expos in 1972, Carter signed after graduating from high school and played three minor-league seasons before being called up to the majors in September, 1974.
His 10-year Montreal career (1975-84) included many individual highlights--his best season was 1984, when he batted .294 with 27 homers and a league-leading 106 RBIs.
But with the exception of strike-shortened 1981, when Montreal beat Philadelphia in the National League East Division playoff series and lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, the Expos were not regular pennant-race participants.
While Carter was a hero north of the border--one of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's favorite luncheon one-liners was: "I'm certainly happy that I don't have to run for reelection against Gary Carter."--his exploits often were unnoticed in the United States.
That all changed after the 1984 season, when Carter was traded to the New York Mets.
The Mets just missed overtaking the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East in Carter's first season in New York, but the Mets won the division, the pennant and the World Series in Carter's second year, 1986, and won another division title in 1988.
"The trade to New York really enhanced my career," Carter said. "Montreal had four beat writers, three who spoke French and one English. In New York, the coverage was like 10-fold. When you're a successful team in that kind of media capital, you get a lot of good press."
Some thought Carter went too far out of his way for good press. This was a guy who always seemed to play with a smile, who never cursed and rarely showed anger, who went by the nickname, "Kid."
He had a Steve Garvey-like, Mr. Clean image, but some teammates thought he hogged the spotlight a little too much.
"It was jealousy more than anything else," Carter said. "They felt this guy was too good to be true, but I was the same as a rookie as I was the last day I took my uniform off."
Carter was universally loved by the fans, though, and for good reason. He never seemed to tire of signing autographs, he returned every letter with an autographed picture, and he regularly mingled with fans before games.
He was the Congenial Catcher.
"In my early days as a Little Leaguer, I admired big leaguers so much," Carter said. "I knew the impact they had on younger kids and realized how much autographs meant to them. We don't have a lot of role models today, but I felt (accommodating the fans and reporters) was part of the responsibility of being a big-league player."
The rewards of being a big-league player came to Carter in 1986. Carter was a key player on the Mets' world championship team | 867 |
In my book, Jesus,<|fim_middle|> man, of an anger rooted in mercy; and as displayed in the face of those who hated mercy.
Jesus stood in the face of his plotting enemies, and Baruch was captivated by the drama, thinking about nothing else as he returned to Jerusalem (pp. 8-9). | in the Face of His Enemies (available at the TEI Webstore), I write the first half through the eyes of the honest teacher of the law in Mark 12:28-34, whom I call Baruch. He is looking for the kingdom of God, and all his perspectives are faithful to that of a first century rabbi.
The major drama is during holy week leading up to Passover, and in it Jesus draws his sworn enemies into the freedom to ask him their toughest questions, to trip him up if possible. This level field proves to be the authority by which Jesus becomes the blameless Lamb of God, able to atone for the sins of humanity.
The goal of the book, and visually, the film, is to place us inside the storyline of Jesus in the face of his enemies, in the face of all the participants, and in his ministry to the poor and needy. The quality of his human relationships as Son of God and Son of Man sets the proper understanding of his Passion.
At present (December, 2013), a proposal by a successful film producer is being reviewed, for making the book into a docudrama, made for television and/or movie theaters and/or a television mini-series. When a working agreement is in place, the TEI will seek investors.
Then, glancing back one more time, Baruch saw Jesus and his disciples also heading toward town, and as soon as his colleagues noticed the same, they halted, and recalculated their direction to keep close at his heels. Jesus went into a local synagogue to teach, and as the Pharisees followed in, they saw a man standing there with a shriveled hand.
Jesus looked at the assembly, searching for expectation and hope, and likewise into the eyes of the crippled man. This man, if he were to be identified as a follower of Jesus by the religious authorities, could be expelled from the synagogue. He could be thrown out of his social network that helped provide for his needs, given his handicap in working and providing for himself.
Jesus looked into the eyes of the Pharisaical band, and posed a question. But Baruch now stood off to the side, identifying more as an onlooker than a Pharisee despite his attire.
Jesus continued to look straight at them, they moved their feet nervously as they averted the eye contact, and thus, "they remained silent." The pregnancy of the moment of conflict draped the room, and indeed, the whole assembly was motionless, breathless, awaiting the words of Jesus.
Baruch had never seen such intensely heated eyes in a | 533 |
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Exclusive Interview with Dr. David Rhew, Chief Medical Officer of Samsung Electronics America
By MedGadget on Feb 5, 20<|fim_middle|> Health Solutions Provider to Earn URAC Telehealth Accreditation | 18 7:11:37 PM
This article originally appeared in MedGadget and is reposted with permission. You can read other telemedicine-related articles on MedGadget here.
During our time at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, we noted that large firms, previously known for their consumer products and services, are jumping into the healthcare space. Samsung may be the best example of this, as over the past few years it has expanded its offerings to include even high-end ultrasound machines.
We had a chance to sit down with Dr. David Rhew, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Healthcare and Fitness at Samsung Electronics America, and ask him a bunch of questions about how contemporary technology can improve medical care, help individuals monitor their health, and improve clinical outcomes while lowering overall costs.
Medgadget: Thank you for having us. When did Samsung create the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) position?
David Rhew, MD: About five years ago. A little background on myself. I'm a physician. I've been in healthcare technology for the past 20 years. I've spent a large part of my time thinking about how technology can be used to improve outcomes, so access to care, quality of care, thinking of ways you can improve the efficiency of care and reduce cost and improve that overall patient experience. My semi-early research was around how you could build technology solutions that could inform individuals.
I started really in the provider space looking at something which today is now known as clinical decision support but back then in 1990s, no one really knew what CDSS was. It was just about alerts, medication alerts, but what we realized was that there was a huge opportunity to build this into the electronic health record. I really started spending a lot of time.
I have a computer science background. I do a lot of programming and artificial intelligence and essentially created a startup that was owned by Cedars-Sinai. That startup started doing pretty well, started integrating to the EHRs. I should say we started doing well outside of the EHRs and then Cedars acquired us. Next thing I knew I'm in the whole health IT space and really building these technology solutions that are well integrated into the clinician workflow.
As you know healthcare is really moving outside of the hospital and so much of what we're seeing today is the need to engage patients and consumers' families, so the opportunity to apply that same approach, providing the right information at the right time, we need to have a different type of infrastructure. It's not about an EHR or even the patient portal, it's about use of technologies that patients and consumers and families would use every single day. Smartphone, wearable, TV, home appliance, sensors around the home, newer things, things that are embedded in you, all that. That is a really exciting new area and Samsung was very interested. Obviously it has a very strong footprint in the consumer space and they had been looking for quite some time to really help understand this a little better. I'd say over the past five years we've been looking at how a lot of the Samsung technologies could be used to really address and improve these outcomes.
We were looking at it in two fronts. One was from a pure consumer perspective. If we launch a new product, how can consumers readily use this and take advantage of the benefits? But also on the enterprise side, which is where I sit, which is looking at how can enterprise organizations like hospitals, health systems, payers, medical device companies use these to deliver on their specific business objectives, which in many cases are the exact same things. It is improving the quality, reducing cost, but at the same time growing the business around it.
We work with both groups. We have solutions that I have really been spending a lot of time looking to make sure they're vetted because we really want to make sure these are validated and things that work well. We look to launch them and we launch them with small, medium, and large-size companies.
Medgadget: Have you acquired any start ups that help you in this?
David: There has been some M&A activity. We have I would say for the most part a bit been doing more partnerships and I would say we've also been doing a lot internal development, so there's a lot of innovation that occurs on the device itself. As we look at wearable, we have talked quite acceptedly about what are the features on the wearable that need to be improved upon to make this a much more marketable device not just for the broader consumer, but also for healthcare. If we look at the phone and what are the features on that, what are the capabilities and how does one address security in all of this?
It's interesting because a lot of the same things that we see in other industries, the same challenges, are really the same challenges we have in healthcare, a special issue with to deploy it. Is this device secure? Can you do mobile device management around it? Can you customize the user experience on this? How do you rapidly deploy it? Things like that so we've been thinking a bit about enterprise and then specifically around healthcare.
Medgadget: You mentioned security but also there is a regulatory process. Do you have any concerns about the FDA regulatory process in terms of … I remember 10 years ago, there was concern among companies who were developing for example software for a cell phone to process glucometry readings. There was no clear guidance from the FDA at the time, whether it falls under their jurisdiction or not and what the regulatory requirements are. Are you working with FDA?
David: Absolutely. In fact, I just met with Bakul Patel who leads the digital health component of the FDA yesterday. We engage with the FDA regularly on several initiatives. I'm not sure if you heard that there was a program that was launched. It's a pre-certification program with start-up companies we selected. I have a pool of [unintelligible] that we're looking to basically do sort of a TSA Precheck, where you go and get this vetting and then all of the solutions that we launch are fast-tracked through the FDA.
We really want to find ways to work with the FDA to be able to bring some of these really highly innovative solutions to market. I think the FDA has also signaled in many different ways their eagerness to be able to do that as well.
Medgadget: Are you working with other big tech companies on strategy?
David: Absolutely, yes. It's funny again, just yesterday, I've had meetings with some of the big-time tech players as well as small, medium, and large. We have found that a lot of innovation occurs in players that are a little more niche specific, so if you want a specific type of solution that will address readmissions in the home, there's a great solution provider named Vivify Health. Vivify Health has a very broad market share in terms of that and they've created a wonderful opportunity to be able to use that. We work with large payers, United Health Group. We just launched a major initiative using our wearables within their corporate wellness program. Across the board, we work with different size companies and different partners.
Medgadget: What are the areas you see the most growth in in terms of just the tech itself and then also in the EHR healthcare clinical side?
David: If you look at the industry as a whole, there's been a lot of innovation that's occurring on the sensor side for whether it's the phone, the wearable, or even other types of devices. We're going to continue to see a lot of really interesting things come out there and some of which blend over into some of what we call the medical space, so a lot of these medical devices that are classically FDA certified devices. We're already seeing today that you can show the data but where we're actually heading, this is a large part of what we think a lot about, is how could you actually change the entire consumer experience or the patient experience so that it's not just watching it on it but actually managing it on your smartphone or your watch? That's going to be really transformative when you really have the ability to control all the things in your body, outside your body, and around your environment with your smartphone or with your smartwatch. I think we're getting there.
One of the reasons why this has been top of mind to a lot of folks at Samsung as well as the device companies ties into security, because right now security is not adequately addressed in many industries. In healthcare, if you look at the number of cyber attacks that occur, 84% of them are occurring at the app layer, so it's not about having a device that you can brick which is the current solution. It's about being able to have that protective layer. It's almost like a super antivirus that protects the applications as they're functioning.
What we have recognized is that if you're going to do that, you're going to need to create a hardware-software protective layer called Knox, which is what we call it, I should say. `We've created one and it enables the data to be secured both at rest and in transit. It's been rated by Gartner over the past two years as the most secure enterprise platform. It's being used by government agencies extensively and it's also being used by the financial organizations, the large, big ones… JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs.
What we recognize is that this security platform is on a Samsung device so most people historically have figured Android has got a lot of vulnerabilities, this has actually turned that weakness into one of our greatest strengths because now we actually have something that is vibrated by Gartner, even more secure than BlackBerry devices which is pretty remarkable when you think about how we have evolved in terms of our thoughts, in terms of what these devices can do. At the same time as we think about where healthcare is going, a lot of as you start integrating some medical devices and the data on there, that has to be secured.
Whether it's on the watch, whether it's on the phone and so we've leveraged the Knox platform with all our Galaxy phones, our wearables, tablets and we continue to push that. That's the reason why for us we think that there's a great opportunity to be able to leverage some of the things that we've got here on the Samsung side.
Medgadget: In terms of the wearables, is there anything large that you guys are working on? I read about this Simband a couple years ago in 2014, that's kind of died down and the rumors that is coming back is that because of the sensor functionality.
David: Yes it never died. That's good news. The funny thing is as we look to build this out and we actually had fully functional models that were working. It worked great, the only problem was it was just too darn expensive.
There was a non-market viable solution. What we realized is we're going to really have to think not just through the sensors but what makes sense in terms of putting it onto a device and how do you position or market that device because, as you all know, there's a balance, there's a trade-off between all the great things that you can do on a SmartWatch and the battery. It drains the battery, the more you do all these different things and so we've really been thinking about target specific use cases for which things and how do we leverage that. You'll see either components or sets of components from the Simband and other types of things that we've been working on being brought into our product roadmap as we launch new products.
The quick answer is "yes" there's a lot of some really exciting stuff, probably stuff that were related to Simband and other things because we've been thinking a lot about sensor technology. We will probably start seeing that come out in some of the later version things of the different wearables.
Medgadget: How about the data that you collect from the sensors and stuff? Do you have a system similar to some of the studies going on like the Baseline study with Google and then NIH has also has one where they're trying to collect all the patient data and Samsung trying to partner with one of those?
David: Yes we've been talking to healthcare organizations. We talked pretty extensively to a lot of organizations that are interested in this from data collection, population health management of assessing trends, assessing a detection of unusual activity, arrhythmias and things like that. A lot of interest in and all of that because we think that there's really great potential for that, and I would say that is one path that we're looking at. The other path that we're looking at is how can you use a wearable, like consumer grade wearable to improve the health of a specific individual.
This isn't just about, oh you help me diagnose Afib or whatever and I didn't know. I'm talking about I just had a heart attack, I'm in the hospital, I've been asked to undergo cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiac rehabilitation is a six to eight week program. The doctor is telling me that I have to come in three times a week, spend 30 to 45 minutes there. I've got kids, I've got a job, I live far away, I live in cold weather, it's icy. How am I going to be able to make this and what we see traditionally is that people will start off because this has been recommended, and then they'll just drop off. The completion rates for these programs are really low. I mean 10-40% or so nationwide.
We digitized that whole cardiac rehab program on the smartwatch and we tested this at clinical facility and we've actually had incredible results. We doubled, we went from 40% to over 80%. We nearly double that. When we asked the cardiologist what that meant, the clinicians that were involved they said according to the systematic reviews and med analysis on cardiac rehab, for every four patients that complete this program, one, you're saving a life.
We're recognizing that the opportunity is real in terms of true clinical practice. You can virtualize care on a smartwatch, put it into a program, deploy it, and have tremendous help, improvements in care and obviously in terms of quality and cost as well.
Medgadget: I think wearables have been around long enough now that there's a wearable fatigue and things like that. When you put a smartwatch on someone they might be compliant for the amount of time it takes to do this study but after that do you have any methods that you're trying to push for it?
David: Yes that's the big challenge today. I think if you look at wearables, there's a certain group of people that will take wearables and readily use them and get good health benefits from it, but the majority of folks will either not use it or they'll use it very briefly and then give up. For those you really do need a mechanism to incentivize them and to keep them well supported. We've been looking at both angles. United Health Group incentivizes their employees to use this through the fit program, which they basically get paid to achieve certain activity goals both in terms of frequency, the intensity, and the total number of steps they do.
When they achieve those they get more money. I mean it's a great program, but it is one that obviously is tied into the financial incentive. There is also an element around support and social support, and we see this and this ties into that cardiac rehab program I talked about. A large part of the reason why that works, no one was getting paid for it, the reason they're doing is because on the back end you've got the clinician, you got the groups basically saying, "Hey I noticed that you're really not tracking your activity today." Give them a phone call and they know that there's somebody there supporting them, or in other cases somebody needs help and then you push your button and then you guide a back end.
You'll be hearing today, if you're able to attend, we launched a new product with mobile health, it is a wearable that is specifically designed for seniors. What we wanted to do was, back to the earlier point about wearables and adoption, if you take a wearable and give it to a senior and you say that this is your new purse device. It's got 4G connectivity, well they'll be like it's got so many apps, they're so small, what do I do? So you have to simplify it. We made it real simple, there's a big button there that says help.
And the other thing that we learned is that when somebody calls, when you answer it you have to go and swipe it, that's another step. We reconfigured the watch so that when the emergency call comes in it automatically answers after this sequence of help because that's a sequence that we know you do not need to have them answer. We had to reconfigure using Knox and a variety of other tools for the device to be able to do that. That's the commitment that we're making and we have great consumer devices that can be used for a lot of fun and exciting things, but if you're going to look at specific conditions in certain scenarios we're going to need to think about the security, the customization, the mobile device management, all of this and that's the type of stuff that we spend a lot of time working on.
Medgadget: Do you think Samsung will be moving into implantables one day?
David: We are working very closely with medical device companies that are doing implantables. So through partnerships, the answer will be yes. Whether we ourselves do that I guess that's TBD. I would say for the time being much of our focus is on focusing on specifically how we can change the consumer experience outside of the implantable, whether it's a continuous glucose monitoring or neuromodulation, all of those things today require a certain amount of FDA approval to go through as well as surgery and all the other things.
There are many groups that do that very, very well. It's not our goal to be able to change that but at the same time as we think about how that experience extends outside of the body, we're kind of now when we tie to the hip to create a solution that works well. I think it's not just about sending it to a smartwatch and watching it. It's really now about the entire work flow so that's the reason why we spend a lot of time thinking about it. It's more than just simply viewing the data.
Medgadget: We know that Samsung is a big company in terms of semiconductors. Do you know how to improve some of the implantables from that perspective, their functionalities from inside?
David: It could be. It's not an area that we've been spending too much time looking at. Mostly through partnerships, we're relying very heavily on the established medical device companies. They could be medium or large sized ones, they don't necessarily have to be all the big ones.
Medgadget: How does Samsung as such a large company manage all these things. Do you have incubation teams or a lot of different teams focusing on different targeted areas of healthcare and fitness?
David: Yes, we do. I would say there's really two groups that are spending time thinking a lot about healthcare. I manage the group that is the Samsung Electronics America. We're more of a commercial arm. We look at solutions that are already vetted or need to be vetted. And we figure out ways that we can work together and make those adjustments to make this a market viable solution. We go to market and plan that.
On the other side, there is a large number of, again, R&D labs. We're constantly doing innovation with other partners, we're learning more about what needs to be done and we're trying to think of what's the next great innovation? You're going to probably hear more about this in the coming months because there's been a lot of-exciting stuff being done.
I would say, the third, which is really becoming a big area of focus for us is around the overall platform that allows us to be able to capture consumer/patient health data that will then allow the patient or consumer to share that with certain individuals to do virtual care. Samsung Health, aka S-health, is an application that used to be just on smart phones and that would allow you to be able to track your own fitness. We added it to the watch, its about you taking care of yourself. Then you could share it with your family, then you could share it with your physician.
What we realised is that if we go to the point where we actually want this to be meaningful, we had to go beyond simply just creating a little portal where people can send it. We had to create a way that the physician could help provide the guidance of what needs to be done. That initial consultation should be done through that platform as well. We partnered with American Well to essentially create that first opportunity for interaction, whether it's urgent care visit or it's part of a chronic disease management or a specialty care. As part of that we started to define these programs through this platform, Samsung Health, so that consumers can capture data and then share it with a third party which could be your healthcare provider, it could be maybe a yoga specialist, it could be someone who really provides this.
It's exciting because right now we have about 240 million users globally with Samsung Health. In the United States, it's much lower like tens of millions, so what we found is that we have really some work to do here in the United States to be able to help create a marketplace and a platform that allows the people to be able to access it.
We're also getting good traction, like New York Presbyterian, we have a clinic, Anthem… they've all been eager and are signing up. We're starting to create opportunities for the consumers to be able to access the care and other services.
Medgadget: I guess the final question, you are a clinician and now you are working in business, basically. I see a lot of clinicians interested in start ups or being involved in business. Do you have any recommendations for them, or ideas, how they can contribute too?
David: Yes, One, I'm excited to see that there are more clinicians that are getting more involved in this because we absolutely do need the clinical input. Many folks have said that that's the missing ingredient because we have a lot of technology, but it's not done in the context of how it fits into our existing work flow. Specifically the clinical work flow. I'm excited to see that. I think that many of the folks- it's rather unfortunate, by the time they realize they want to do this, they've already down a path so far along, that they have to go back and do some retraining or they literally start from scratch.
I would really like to see this starting earlier where people in college, or even high school start thinking about this as a career path. In order to do that, you're going to have to think about a few things. It's not just about the clinical side, there's obviously a technology piece to it. There's also a business side to it and that's where I think a lot of folks have- especially if you're looking to be an entrepreneur and start that, they don't have as much experience and knowledge around how that works.
I was rather fortunate because when I started out, I was able to experiment in the time in which I was still under faculty. I was able to do things. Nowadays, it's a little risky. You're basically dropping out and doing all the stuff and doing it on your own. You're placing the big bet. I know it's a little challenging nowadays, but if you want to do something that's really rewarding you sometimes need to take that leap of faith. Don't be afraid to do what you feel is really the thing that you see your passion. If you love it, do it, but make sure that you not only think about the clinical side, which I know most of them aren't really strong. I know people are thinking about the tech, and also think about the business side. How would you actually build a company? What's the business model? Who's going to pay for it? Prove it. Start with a reference client, build that, and continue to grow it. From there, depending on a lot of factors, you might get the next great company or product.
A lot of people think that the digital health opportunity is so large that it is going to transform the way that we think about healthcare because it will be about all of the stuff we're seeing here at CES, and all the different things that people could be doing at home. Wearing things that's going to help a lot of them self manage it but support it through clinical care. Virtual care will be a big part of it. I'm excited. I think that there are a lot of things that Samsung can do to contribute to it and hopefully, we can get more young recruits, a lot of good talent, especially on the clinical side, into this space.
This interview was conducted by Medgadget's Dr. Michael Ostrovsky and Dr. Alice Ferng.
Written by MedGadget
Since 2004, Medgadget has been reporting on medical technology from around the world. We cover the latest medical devices and approvals, technology breakthroughs and discoveries, conduct exclusive interviews with med tech leaders, and file reports from healthcare conferences.
Will Medicare Choose to Lead on Pharmacy Quality?
AbleTo Becomes the First Behavioral | 5,290 |
Congratulations PS11 Scientists for another great year of scientific inquiry!
All of the participating STUDENTS for their hard work and their FAMILIES for supporting them.
Our wonderful school: Mr. Roylance (we wish you the best!), Ms. Griffith, Ms. Rosevear, and Mr. Bender for inspiring, questioning, and organizing us.
The Science Fair Committee, parent volunteers, Yasmine Mahdavi and Ann Yonetani for all their determination in making this all happen.
Our dedicated judges who volunteered their time to read (so many!) reports and interview the scientists.
To contact us, please email PS11Sciencefair@gmail.com.
With her video explaining<|fim_middle|>.
This book highlights the contributions of fifty notable women to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics from the ancient to the modern world. | "relativity and the equivalence of reference frames" 17-year-old high school student Hillary Diane Andales from the Philippines won the grand prize of $250,000 for this year's Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
Consider some of the science and technology stories that made 2017 a great year! See what Popular Science noted!
Space observations and probes will be launched. Gene editing is expected to move further into medicine. And immunotherapies for treating cancer need to be evaluated. Read about seven stories to watch in 2018!
A must see ....Brian Green, professor of Astrophysics at Columbia University explains and demonstrates gravitational waves!
was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.
was divided, one half awarded to Rainer Weiss, the other half jointly to Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.
was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
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When it lands on Mars in November of 2018, NASA's InSight lander will be carrying several science instruments -- along with hundreds of thousands of names from members of the public. Here's a chance to add your name!
Podcasts are an incredible medium for kids. Audio is imaginative, easy to consume, and you don't need to "make time" to listen to a podcast — prime listening time is when you're in a car. Enjoy listening, learning, exploring!
A "teachable moment" turned into a science fair win for an eighth-grader in Ontario, Canada, who based his project on a classroom activity from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
100 tales of invention and scientific discovery to astonish, bewilder, and stupefy.
Inspiring story of a girl in Ohio who is putting her scientific skills to practice.
A true story of four African-American women who confidently and courageously stepped into the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NASA) to provide mathematical calculations that would help increase airplane production and eventually send the United States into space!
Researchers discover genetic evidence of bacteria that could prove a new source of new antibiotics, anticancer treatments, and other natural therapeutics.
Orange-avocado material that could keep crops hydrated during droughts, places 1st at the Google Science Fair.
Ways to advocate for better and continuous funding and support to train and retain young scientists | 545 |
If your PC repeatedly tries to install updates each time it's shut down, it's most likely because a Windows update has failed. Microsoft created the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows 7 because of an inconsistency in the Windows servicing store which may prevent the successful installation of updates, service packs, and software.
Download and install the Update Readiness Tool. When you run it, it will take a few minutes to check your PC and attempt to fix any problems preventing your updates from automatically installing. If the Update Readiness Tool is unable to fix the problem, you'll need to identify which updates are failing and manually install them.
To view your PC's updates, in Control Panel's System and Security group, select Windows Update. In Windows Update select View update history. In the update history window, check Status column. The updates should be indicated as Successful in the Status column.
You may need to scroll down to find the update that has failed. Look at the Name of<|fim_middle|> Base download page will alert you to this. Use this process to fix any other failed updates. After all updates are successfully manually installed, automatic updates should be able to function properly. | the failed update, it should have a Knowledge Base number at the end. Go to the Microsoft Download Center and enter the Knowledge Base number in the search box. You will be taken to a page where you can download and install the update.
Some updates require that a previous update be installed successfully. The Knowledge | 61 |
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Shea Nut Butter provides extraordinary organic skin care and body healing due to its richness in precious constituents, which include unsaturated fats with a large proportion of "unsaponifiables" components, essential fatty acids, phytosterols, vitamin E and D, provitamin A and allantoin. All these natural elements make Shea Nut Butter a superfood for your skin (and hair), moisturising and smoothing simultaneously.
Moisturising: The concentration of natural vitamins and fatty acids in Shea Nut Butter make it incredibly nourishing and moisturising for skin. It is often used to remedy dry skin and to help protect the skin's natural oils. It is known for soothing dryness, itching, eczema<|fim_middle|> It is readily absorbed, making it a wonderful moisturiser. | and burns and for fading acne marks and scars.
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This oil contains vitamins A and E and is used to nourish, balance and lubricate the skin. Rich in protective palmitoleic acid, this butter penetrates the skin quickly for deep hydration. Macadamia Nut Butter has a smooth consistency that spreads easily, gliding onto the skin. | 133 |
Milacron issues first quarterly results since IPO
Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
Milacron LLC executives on Aug. 11 reported increased sales and "substantial margin improvement" in the second quarter of 2015 — during the Cincinnati-based machinery manufacturers' first financial report since the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange on June 25.
Milacron reported second quarter sales of $301.3 million, up 1.8 percent from sales of $295.9 million in the year-ago period. But that sales gain was 8.2 percent after excluding unfavorable currency impacts that totaled $18.8 million in the second quarter.
In a second-quarter conference call with financial analysts, CEO Tom Goeke and Chief Financial Officer Bruce Chalmers painted a picture of a global company — balanced between machinery and "consumables" of hot-runners and controls, mold bases, aftermarket parts and services and metal cutting fluids. Consumables account for 61 percent of total sales last year, Goeke said. New machinery generated 39 percent of total sales.
Goeke and Chalmers said the long-term goal is delivering 5 percent in annual organic sales growth and generating more than 20 percent of growth from new products. Another goal: 20-plus percent EBITDA margin (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), from cost-cutting actions that will happen over the next several years.
For the first half of 2015, Milacron generated sales of $580.5 million, which was up less than 1 percent from the year-earlier first half but a gain of 5.6 percent, after excluding $35.4 million of unfavorable currency effects.
The company had a net loss of $43.1 million in the first half.
Milac<|fim_middle|> | ron is including numbers for adjusted net income — a measurement that removes some non-recurring items such as amortization expenses, debt costs acquisition integration costs and shareholder fees — and that totaled $24.6 million for the second quarter, up from $11.7 million in the second quarter of a year before.
"We are pleased with the strong revenue growth and substantial margin improvement we achieved in the second quarter," Goeke said. "These results are a testament to our strategy and reflect our leading position in markets with strong fundamentals, and our lifecycle sales approach."
Goeke said Milacron has initiatives in place to cut run-rate costs by 30 percent. The company has already achieved $8 million toward that goal, he said.
And, he said, "We continue to seek tuck-in acquisitions to grow our consumables business."
Milacron reported the Advanced Plastic Processing Technologies business — which includes machinery and aftermarket business, generated $169.9 million in the second quarter and $321.3 million for the first half of 2015, both increases from a year ago. Equipment sales were strong in North America, Europe and India. Aftermarket parts and service also showed strong growth, the company said.
"We've had very good progression throughout the year and throughout the quarter with our order book," Goeke told analysts.
The Melt Delivery and Control Systems segment reported $101.8 million in second-quarter sales, down 3.2 percent from the year-ago quarter, but a gain of 4.6 percent adjusted for constant currency revenue. For the first half of 2015, sales were $201 million, flat compared to the year-ago timeframe but up 6.3 percent adjusted for currency. Sales were driven by growth in all geographic regions for hot runners, mold assemblies and spare parts. Automotive, consumer goods and medical were particularly strong, officials said.
Fluid Technologies had $29.6 million on sales in the second quarter.
Milacron's IPO raised about $265 million, which the company used to pay down debt from its term loan and an asset-based lending facility. Both of those debt instruments were part of a debt restructuring done by the company.
Milacron is owned by CCMP Capital Advisors LLC, which continues to own a majority of the common stock after the IPO. Also, underwriters partially exercised an option to buy additional shares on July 29, Chalmers said.
Milacron had an IPO target price of $20 per share. The stock closed Aug. 10 at $15.58. | 541 |
THERE IS POWER IN A UNION West Virginia music teacher Nicole McCormick will be in Portland July 23 to talk about the dramatic and successful 11-day statewide teachers strike.
Nicole McCormick, 33, is a mother of four, an elementary school music teacher, and one of the leaders of a West Virginia strike that shut down schools state-wide for nine days. West Virginia teachers have no state law recognizing collective bargaining rights, and yet, bargaining with their feet, they<|fim_middle|> has true power for change, and that it belongs to me — that was and is still amazing.
HEAR HER SPEAK: Monday, July 23, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Portland Association of Teachers office, 345 NE 8th Ave., Portland, sponsored by Portland Association of Teachers and the Portland Rising project of Portland Jobs With Justice. | wrangled a 5 percent raise out of a hostile Republican legislature, and sparked a teacher strike wave that spread to at least three other states. Since the strike, McCormick and other West Virginia teachers have traveled as far as Mexico, Italy, and the United Kingdom to tell other union workers about what they experienced. Monday evening, July 23, McCormick will speak at the teachers union headquarters in Portland. Labor Press reporter Don McIntosh spoke with her by phone July 12.
It's against the law in West Virginia for public employees to strike, but you struck anyway. How were you able to do that?
Well, we had clear open communication with each other. We were very clear what the issues were. We had an escalation campaign. We started out with informational pickets, like on the weekends, we would hold signs and hand out information to folks, and invite the media so we could tell the local news and the newspaper what the problem was. We escalated things, and it came to the point where some of the southern counties decided to go ahead and walk.
We knew we wanted to walk. Our leadership actually stepped up and said if these demands are not met by such and such a date our teachers and service professionals will be out.
Then they took the strike vote, and everybody was included in that vote, whether they were members or not. We all needed to be able to walk together. We took a vote. It was secret ballot.
We found out that we had an overwhelming amount of people that were willing to walk. It was announced at a big rally with 10,000 people.
It didn't matter if it was illegal, because what were they going to do? We had 727 teacher vacancies that were being filled by uncertified people or not at all. And we never have enough subs. So what are they going to do?
Our state attorney general tried to get county school boards to file lawsuits saying that we needed to be ordered back to work, and nobody would get on board with it.
What was the impact of the strike?
We shut down every single county school for nine days. That was the immediate impact of it. But longer term, the impact was a sense of solidarity, and a new willingness of people to speak openly of their anger and dissatisfaction and their worries. The common theme was, "I can't afford to stay." It's bad enough when you're 10 years into your teaching career, you've got a masters degree and you're making $40,000. But what if you're head cook and you only make $19,000? Those are poverty wages.
How do you feel differently about the union today than you did a year ago?
I think I was like most people, even though I was more active. I just felt like they were kind of there for insurance purposes, and if I had an issue, I could get help filing a grievance. And that was it. And of course most people I know that weren't active in the local felt that it somehow magically worked on its own — that you would just pay your dues and somehow five or eight people in Charleston were going to magically make things better. So seeing people actually want to take an active role in the union gives me hope that it can be stronger, that we can actually get things done, because people are realizing that they are the union, and that they are the union bosses, that we pay our dues and we pay those people's salaries to serve us.
People all over the country were paying attention to the West Virginia teachers strike. What do you think was the most important lesson you learned that union members elsewhere could benefit from?
That my labor belongs to me. I always felt like that I owed something to everybody. That I owed it to my coworkers to be there, my administrators, my students, parents. And the realization that withholding your labor | 797 |
There are several services with terrific prospective that stop working because of the lack of understanding the creators have concerning marketing or in fact making a sale. It does not matter just how great your product or the solution is if you do not know the best ways to transform your introduce conversions. It is similar to an auto sale without a salesperson.
There will certainly be several site visitors who come to see the autos, however without that added press, there will certainly be no sales. A site without a sales channel is the same, which is why you have to purchase Click Funnels to get the most number of sales feasible.
What does Clickfunnels Discount Coupons January 2019 do?
Click Funnels supply you with a pre-designed as well as well-curated sales channel which will certainly take your visitors via a convincing trip that will certainly make them buy your product<|fim_middle|> Funnels have actually been created by sales and marketer with years of experience in really making sales. They operate under the slogan, "Take the power back from the tech individuals", because throughout the past years approximately the growth of web sites has actually been completely dominated by programmers as well as designers without a proper expertise of making a sale. Click Funnels guarantee that the cash which you invest in the design as well as development of the internet site is not fruitless. This is why Click Funnels Pricing is a lot more important considering that you are not just paying for a plain website but a completely operating on the internet store that assists you transform each as well as every customer into a sale. Adhering to are a few of the pre-designed sales funnels that you can pick at the Click Funnels.
You can choose these funnels inning accordance with the industry you are functioning in, the kind of solutions that you offer as well as exactly what kind of a sales process that you desire your potential clients to experience. There are examples of all these funnels that you could have a detailed take a look at and experience the very same funneling procedure that your site visitors will experience when you use that channel.
All the designs and sales funnels that you get in the Click Funnels solution are really much personalized. You could utilize your own shade themes, pictures and messages taking into consideration the suggestions that Click Funnels offer to obtain the very best outcomes. The changing and also editing process is a straightforward drag as well as drop approach making any person, also without any type of web layout experience, to create the sort of site that you constantly dreamed to have for your organisation. | at the end. This last purpose can be various depending on the item that you sell or the service that you use. Nevertheless, Click Funnels have actually created a series of sales funnels that can lead you to achieve your objectives by taking your visitors with a well believed out sales funnels. Following are a few of the objectives which could be met by a sales funnels.
A sales channel positively influences the mind of your site visitors making the choice to move forward with your objective. This is basically considering that little push a sales representative would certainly give up a physical shop to ultimately compose the state of mind to go on with a purchase.
Exactly How Do Clickfunnels Discount Coupons January 2019 help enhance your earnings?
A site is similar to an online store, and also the function of putting a huge investment into making a web site is to eventually aid enhance the earnings of your service. Many people, specifically the start-ups as well as the business owners that are new to the online service world emphasis way too much on the looks of the layout to think about whether it works sufficient to actually make a sale.
This is why you need to get Click Funnels. Complying with are the four main things that a well selected and also positioned sales funnels do.
Bring in new site visitors to the web site is the very first and also among the most crucial tasks that a sales funnel does. This is the mouth of the channel. The bigger the variety of site visitors drew in to the website, the more active consumers there will certainly go to completion. This is done by appealing designs and templates of websites, user-friendly user interfaces and very easy social media sites showcases that aid amazed visitors to spread out the word. The conversion process is when a mere visitor becomes a prospective consumer, which is a lead. This phase is narrower and also in the next step of the funnel as well as must be well preserved because they are likely to make an acquisition in the following few stages as long as you keep them pleased.
Closing is the last phase of a funnel where a lead becomes a client. They actively make the order as well as buy your product, register for your e-newsletter or essentially do just what you intended them to do by developing the funnel. Next level is customer retention or keeping them pleased with your product or the purchase, so they come to be return customers.
Clickfunnels Discount Coupons January 2019 Pricing: Is it actually worth it?
Exactly what is a Sales Funnel Clickfunnels Discount Coupons January 2019?
If you are a shopping organisation proprietor, obtaining a great expertise of sales funnels and also transforming a lead to a consumer is one of the most fundamental points you should know from the start. To put it merely, a sales funnel is the process that a prospective buyer goes via from being a visitor/lead to lastly acquiring the item or the solution.
Initially, Click Funnels Pricing might make you believe if it deserves it, however you will certainly require it to make a quick progress and also understanding among the consumers particularly in the first few phases of running an organisation. This solution particularly aids the startups and also the business owners who are not very familiar with the marketing as well as sales process to obtain the ideal out of their advertising and marketing strategies by converting visitors efficiently to be buyers.
When you pay a normal internet developer to create a site for you, the final result could be visually pleasing, however they frequently do not pay attention to making a sale through the platform. Click Funnels has put together a number of internet site layouts that are composed of a full sales funnels from the welcome screen to the last Thank You screen.
Click | 747 |
Q: C# Compare a string to a Sql<|fim_middle|> if (ex.InnerException is SqlException)
{
int errorNo = ((SqlException)ex.InnerException).Number;
if (errorNo == 2627)
{
errorTitle = Resources.DuplicateEntryErrorTitle;
errorText = Resources.DuplicateEntryErrorMessage;
}
}
ex = ex.InnerException;
}
MsgBox.Show(errorTitle, errorText,
string.Format("{0}{1}StackTrace:{1}{2}", initialEx.Message, Environment.NewLine, initialEx.StackTrace),
MsgBoxButtons.OK, MsgBoxImage.Error);
}
return saved;
}
| Extension I am currently working with SQL on my C# asp.net page.
I insert a value into the Database, but then if the ID is duplicate I get this exception:
{"Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint 'PK_Section'. Cannot insert duplicate key in object 'dbo.Section'.\r\nThe statement has been terminated."}
What I want to do is to treat the exception doing something like:
if(exception=={"Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint 'PK_Section'. Cannot insert duplicate key in object 'dbo.Section'.\r\nThe statement has been terminated."})
//update values instead of insert
My problem is that I can't compare exception(which is a string) with that long "string" that I get from trying to duplicate the IDs.
Is there anyway that I can compare this so that I can properly work on a solution to this error?
A: You should catch the SqlException (which will probably be the InnerException of your exception) and check its Number property to identify the exception.
See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.data.sqlclient.sqlexception.number.aspx
A: I would use a try catch block to check for a SqlException. Something like this:
private bool SaveDocument()
{
bool saved = false;
try
{
Save();
saved = true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
string errorTitle = Resources.SaveErrorCaption;
string errorText = Resources.SaveErrorText;
Exception initialEx = ex;
while (ex.InnerException != null)
{
| 318 |
Walking out from Shenavall Bothy
Geoff's adventures into the bothy world began during his student days in the late 1980<|fim_middle|> all the background material – the vast majority of fieldwork undertaken using his trusty bike and public transport.
With the luxury of time, Geoff was able to rediscover the country at a slower pace and get a deeper feel for the history that has played out across the landscape over millennia. The Scottish Bothy Bible was finally published in March 2017 and, to his complete surprise and deep satisfaction, the book has become a popular and respected reference text.
Geoff's second publication, Scottish Bothy Walks, is a natural companion to his first book, showcasing some of the best bothies in the country using these unique shelters as a focal point. The walks range from a stroll along the cliffs above Rackwick Bay to the Old Man of Hoy on the Orkney Archipelago, to a challenging traverse of the 'Bad Step' on Skye. As well as including all the essential technical details, each entry offers a taste of what makes the area special, from its unique geology, wildlife and flora, to the intriguing history and culture of its people.
Glenpean Bothy
Guirdil Bothy, Rùm
The books have been a real labour of love for Geoff, who is thrilled to be sharing all his knowledge and experience to a wide audience. His aim has been to tempt you out into Scotland's rugged and beautiful landscape, whatever your level of ability...
Walking in to Strathchailleach Bothy
Scrambling up 'The Bad Step', Skye
Glen Dubh-Lighe Bothy | s, when he became an enthusiastic member of the Edinburgh University Mountaineering Club. In his second year of study, Geoff became bothy secretary for the club hut at Glenlicht, tucked away beneath the mountains of Kintail, and had begun to seek out bothy locations. At the time, these were closely guarded secrets, held only by a knowledgable few.
One of his first discoveries was the Mountain Bothy Association (MBA) bothy at Camban which sits on the lonely pass between Glen Affric and Glenlicht. Geoff vividly remember staring up at the mist-laden Munros surrounding the bothy, not quite believing that this isolated refuge was free to use by anyone who had the wherewithal to get there.
Camban Bothy
Through his love affair with bothies, Geoff developed an intimate relationship with the Scottish Highlands, a bond that has only intensified since the autumn of 2011, when he hit upon the idea of producing a countrywide bothy guide. Without the use of a car, it took five years to complete the survey and research | 223 |
desertrandy1963 January 20, 2023 COVID-19 and Healthcare
The Coronavirus Exposed. Part 4: More Updates
I know COVID has been around a while, so now even my third part is acting very sluggish. So I will start a 4th part. The previous three sections will remain all accessible for viewing, though they will now function as an archive. https://common-sense-in-america.com/2022/07/15/the-coronavirus-exposed-part-three-a-new-start/
(Update 11/2/2022)
-COVID rebounds aren't definitively linked to Paxlovid—here's what we know
-Doctors Sue Biden Admin, Big Tech Over COVID Censorship
-COVID-19 took a unique toll on undocumented immigrants
-What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns
-One of Long COVID's Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood
-Is the COVID-19 pandemic over?
-Could COVID-19 trigger depression?
-'Speed of Science' — A Scandal Beyond Your Wildest Nightmare
-COVID-19 can interfere with your period in many ways. Here's how.
-COVID-19 can ruin your sleep in many different ways—here's why
-Is COVID-19 Even Real?
-Severe COVID could cause markers of old age in the brain
-Why does COVID-19 cause brain fog? Scientists may finally have an answer.
-How do you know if you have long COVID?
-Omicron variant XBB.1.5 is the most contagious yet
-CDC Investigating Possible Link Between COVID Vaccine and Increased Risk of Stroke
-COVID-19 Leads to an Alarming Rise in Heart Attacks
COVID rebounds aren't definitively linked to Paxlovid—here's what we know
When Anthony Fauci announced in June that he had experienced a "rebound" case of COVID-19—testing positive mere days after a negative test result—many Americans were shocked this could happen. But in the intervening weeks, a growing number of people have suffered a rebound themselves or encountered others in similar straights, including another high-profile case just last week of President Joe Biden.
"It's hard to ignore the anecdotal evidence of rebounding peppered throughout social and mass media," says Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas School of Public Health who writes the popular blog Your Local Epidemiologist.
A rebound occurs when a person tests positive for COVID-19 or suffers a recurrence of symptoms between two and eight days after recovering from the initial infection and testing negative, according to a health alert for physicians issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May. In many cases, the rebound is happening in people taking an antiviral medication, which is recommended for individuals at high risk of progressing to a severe form of COVID-19, ending up in the hospital or dying from the infection.
Those are the known facts. Everything else about rebound is currently subject to speculation.
"There's a lot we don't know right now," Jetelina says. "We don't know how often this is happening, and we don't know what's causing it." And while the phenomenon is often linked to antivirals, more than one factor may be involved.
How frequently are COVID-19 patients rebounding?
Pfizer's official clinical trial for its antiviral Paxlovid took place when the Delta variant was predominant in the U.S. That trial reported that fewer than 2 percent of people taking the medication—which involves two pills taken twice daily for five days—experienced rebound.
But doctors who have prescribed Paxlovid in more recent months say that figure is likely now a woeful undercount.
Scott Roberts, an infectious diseases physician at Yale Medicine, says his experience puts the number closer to 5 percent. That tracks with a study posted online but not yet peer-reviewed in which researchers from Case Western Reserve University evaluated rebound cases following courses of Paxlovid and Lagevrio—the Merck antiviral generically known as molnupiravir—between January and June 2022.
Paxlovid is the more widely prescribed antiviral, with three million courses given since its emergency authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last December. By contrast fewer than half a million courses have been administered for Lagevrio.
In the Case Western Reserve research, some 3.5 percent of Paxlovid takers rebounded after seven days; for those taking Lagevrio, the number was close to 6 percent.
With the latest Omicron variant, BA.5, dominant in the U.S. since early July, some doctors think today's rebound numbers are not only higher but will continue to rise. Aftab Khan, an internal medicine physician in Davenport, Florida, says that about a quarter of his elderly Paxlovid patients have rebounded, and he expects a further increase because this wily subvariant is likely even better at evading antibodies.
Is rebound linked to antiviral treatment?
Though the rate of rebounds seems to be higher in those taking antiviral medicine, there isn't enough data to definitively say that there is a link between the two.
In the Pfizer Paxlovid trial, patients taking placebos rebounded at rates similar to those getting the drug. The CDC states that a brief return of symptoms "may be part of the natural history" of COVID-19 in some people, whether or not they've received an antiviral. For this reason, the CDC calls the phenomenon COVID-19 rebound rather than the more widely used term Paxlovid rebound.
But Yale's Roberts says that while symptoms did reappear in some cases before the antivirals were authorized, this was very rare.
What causes COVID-19 to rebound is another issue that's currently unclear. According to Jetelina, it's possible the drug doesn't sufficiently clear the virus in some people, so once the patient stops taking it after the fifth day, the microbe can start multiplying again.
It may also be that rebound happens when treatment is started too early; current recommendations call for initiation as soon as possible, ideally within the first five days, but that may not give the immune system time to mount a full response. It's also possible that some people had been reinfected after their illness ended, although this wouldn't explain rebound cases in people who hadn't had any additional exposure after recovering.
According to Pfizer spokesperson Kit Longley, rebound is not caused by the virus becoming resistant to Paxlovid, although he notes that the company continues to monitor the data. In a report posted online in June but not yet published in a medical journal, Pfizer researchers describe details from their original study, in which rebound was not linked to any mutations occurring in the virus in people taking the drug.
This is consistent with research published in June by a team at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. That team performed detailed antiviral sensitivity and neutralizing antibody testing on a single rebounding patient. They concluded the relapse was not caused by drug resistance or by impaired immunity, but instead likely resulted from the virus having insufficient exposure to the drug.
Who is at greatest risk of rebounding and what should you do?
Who might rebound—and what they should do about it—are also open questions.
In the Case Western Reserve research, people with the most serious medical conditions, such as organ transplant recipients, those on immunosuppressant medicines, those with comorbidities like heart disease or diabetes, and tobacco users were most prone to COVID-19 rebound.
Of course, this is also the group most likely to reap the benefits from taking an antiviral.
Taking an antiviral also seems to be especially important for high-risk individuals over age 65, according to an Israeli study of more than 2,000 people that has not yet been reviewed by other scientists. People in that age group treated with antiviral therapy were 67 percent less likely to be hospitalized and 81 percent less likely to die than those not taking the drug, a finding not found for the younger study subjects.
If someone does experience rebound, the CDC says they should assume they're infectious and begin another round of five-day isolation, followed by five days of masking. However, the agency admits that no one knows yet whether a person's infectiousness during rebound differs from that during their initial bout.
Some doctors say rebound patients can leave their homes as soon as an antigen test again comes back negative. But Yale's Roberts thinks it's imprudent to end isolation early no matter the test results. "Testing errors are frequent, and the lower sensitivity of rapid antigen tests would make me nervous if someone leaves isolation before the allotted time," he says.
Fortunately, most cases of rebound have been mild. Rebound led to hospitalization in fewer than one percent of cases, according to a CDC study published in June. This makes sense, Roberts says, "since the virus is starting at a lower amount, and the initial drug course allowed time for immunity to build."
Some doctors are prescribing a second round of Paxlovid—something Fauci says was given to him—but there is no evidence yet to support this expanded regimen. Pfizer's Longley says the company is currently working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to finalize a study protocol evaluating whether this is beneficial.
It's also possible that a longer course of the initial antiviral medication, such as seven or 10 days instead of five, might be more effective at blocking replication of the BA.5 Omicron subvariant, which generates higher viral loads than its predecessors, says Jill Weatherhead, an infectious diseases expert at Baylor College of Medicine. She notes, though, that such a protocol would need to be studied before physicians might start prescribing it.
Uncertainties surrounding rebound should not prevent people who could benefit from antivirals from taking them, Roberts insists, even though some patients have told him they want to avoid the drug for this reason.
"This is a dangerous and misguided strategy," he says. The purpose of an antiviral is to prevent hospitalization and death, not to keep someone from needing to isolate longer.
Doctors Sue Biden Admin, Big Tech Over COVID Censorship
A group of doctors has filed a lawsuit against several big tech companies, claiming that Twitter, Google, and Facebook worked with the government to censor criticism of federal and state COVID policies in violation of the First Amendment.
The case, State of Missouri v. Joseph R. Biden, involves a group of prominent physicians and epidemiologists who were critical of the government's restrictive COVID policies, including lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccine mandates. The doctors made Freedom of Information Act requests related to the White House's public statements in 2021 about working with Big Tech to suppress COVID misinformation. As a result of those FOIA requests, they claim to have found emails and documentation that can prove that the CDC and the Department of Homeland Security asked Google, Twitter, and Facebook to take down certain social media posts and to suspend certain accounts for questioning COVID policies. The lawsuit is arguing that at that point, these companies were no longer acting just as private entities, but as arms of the government. If true, their actions would be unconstitutional. New Civil Liberties Alliance's press release states in part, "This insidious censorship was the direct result of the federal government's ongoing campaign to silence those who voice perspectives that deviate from those of the Biden Administration. Government officials' public threats to punish social media companies that did not do their bidding demonstrate this linkage."
Tech Response
The tech companies could deny they were acting as a result of government pressure, as part of the Communications Decency Act, known as Section 230, gives Big Tech some special protection from civil liability. Kara Frederick, director of the Tech Policy Center at the Heritage Foundation, told Morning Wire that will likely be their defense.
(Update 9/2/2022)
*Note it looks like that my Covid Vaccine article has reached a critical mass, and since the Covid related updates have slowed down substantially I will be just adding all of these updates to this posting. So the vaccine posting can now be considered to be a archived file along with the three main Covid postings as well.
COVID-19 took a unique toll on undocumented immigrants
The pandemic compounded barriers to accessing medical care—and many continue to delay or forgo treatment.
Imelda fled sexual violence at the hands of drug cartels in rural Puebla, about two hours outside of Mexico City, and arrived in New York City in 2013. She had no health insurance, barely spoke English, and as an undocumented immigrant, she avoided situations that required revealing her identity.
So in March 2020, even as the city became the national epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, Imelda, who asked that her surname not be used due to risk of deportation, resisted going to the hospital for her escalating fever and fatigue. "When the symptoms began, I wanted to go," Imelda says, but her fears outweighed her desire for treatment.
Since arriving in the U.S. Imelda had visited a hospital only once, for the birth of her second daughter. But in addition to worries about revealing her immigration status, she was afraid of incurring medical bills that exceeded what she earned cleaning houses. Delaying or forgoing care for COVID-19 was a decision that Imelda and many other undocumented immigrants made due to the unique healthcare challenges they face in America—challenges of inequality that are having nationwide consequences.
The U.S. is home to more immigrants than any other country in the world: Per the latest estimates, 46.7 million foreign-born individuals reside in America, making up nearly 14 percent of the national population. About 11 million of these people are undocumented, but they've filled critical jobs that citizens often don't want, including working in agricultural fields, the service industry, and in healthcare facilities, while paying billions in taxes each year.
According to a December 2020 report from the bipartisan political organization FWD.us, 69 percent of undocumented immigrant workers in the U.S. held jobs that were deemed essential during the pandemic—and they were 50 percent more likely to get COVID-19 than U.S.-born workers. For many, that's meant surviving a public health emergency while working low-paying jobs (often on the frontlines) that don't offer benefits; it can also mean being ineligible for free or subsidized public health insurance. To compound these problems, countless workers are unaware of their coverage options or fear accessing them.
A 2017 study found that about half of the undocumented immigrants living in America lacked necessary health insurance. That often leaves a large proportion of this community delaying care, which could result in health complications or an advanced illness and a greater reliance on emergency rooms. "When they're unable to pay those costs, the money goes into uncompensated care costs, raising the debt in the healthcare system," says Drishti Pillai, director of immigrant health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization focusing on national health issues.
For those like Imelda living in the shadows, the COVID-19 pandemic once again revealed the deep-seated inequities to accessing medical care in America. Even today, people in this underserved community continue to suffer, often with little help.
Too little care, too late
In addition to medical costs and insurance access, a sustained lack of trust has dissuaded the country's growing immigrant population from engaging with the healthcare system. This mistrust arises in part from the discrimination immigrants have experience based on how they look, where they're from, or their inability to speak English. "It's really hard," Imelda says.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric has also kept the undocumented community from accessing timely care. At the Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York City, which caters largely to New York City's low-income immigrant population, "we've watched our volume dip at times when there are national discussions about immigration and whether it was good or bad for the country," says Stuart Kessler, one of the hospital's emergency medicine physicians.
In Houston, researchers noted that Latina immigrants delayed their first prenatal care visit and reduced the number of visits overall during their pregnancies after July 2015, when rhetoric around deportation intensified in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.
That fear of accessing healthcare in a climate of growing anti-immigrant sentiment continued through 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and further exacerbated already existing barriers between the healthcare system and this underserved population.
"We just didn't realize our systems of care were this fractured, and that so many people could fall through the cracks because the cracks were just so huge," says Jairo Gúzman, president of Mexican Coalition, an advocacy group for child and family rights based in New York.
That was true for Imelda in March 2020. With no one to consult and no place to isolate, she endured her COVID-19-like symptoms for a week in the three-bedroom apartment she shared with seven others—including her husband and two kids. As she found herself struggling to breathe a hospital visit became an urgent necessity.
She went to a hospital and, at an overwhelmed emergency room, nervously waited for an online interpreter so she could talk with the medical staff and find out if she had COVID-19. "Five minutes is all I got," she says, which wasn't enough for her to explain all her symptoms while also answering the doctor's questions and noting his instructions about next steps.
The medical team didn't give her a COVID-19 test because a chest x-ray showed no irregularities. Instead a nurse gave her Tylenol to reduce her fever and, within a few hours, Imelda was sent home with the assurance that she'd receive check-in phone calls and could return if her symptoms worsened.
But no calls came, and Imelda's health continued to deteriorate. Over the next four weeks, her breathing became increasingly difficult and her body was consumed by extreme exhaustion. "I would walk a little and I'd be gasping for breath, and on some days I couldn't stand up at all," she says. "I thought I was done—this was it."
A $400 bill from her initial ER visit deterred her from seeking further care. (The hospital later reduced her bill by half because she had lost her cleaning job.)
Recalling these struggles brought Imelda to tears when we met at her home in May 2022. She is aware that the consequences of delaying care could have been fatal, and she knows others who are still batting lingering symptoms without seeking medical help.
COVID-19 hits those living in the shadows
Even now the true impact of COVID-19 on undocumented immigrants, especially in the early months of the pandemic, remains murky.
One of Susan Rodriguez's patients in New York—an 88-year-old Ecuadorian women—lost her son to COVID-19, possibly because they waited too long to seek medical care. They were both undocumented and uninsured and decided to treat his symptoms at home. Eventually, they had no choice but to call 911 and take him to a hospital. But the medical interventions came too late. He passed away two days later, leaving his mother distraught and unsure how to cope.
"She had never sought therapy in her life," says Rodriguez, a clinical social worker and a licensed therapist. "She came with a lot of guilt," and wished she had known she could have applied for emergency Medicaid to cover the costs.
"We heard of cases where people stayed at home or delayed care for COVID-19 almost every day," adds Don Garcia, medical director at Clínica Romero, a community health center in Los Angeles that primarily serves Latino and immigrant populations. Some of these people narrowly escaped death.
Antonio, who asked that his full name not be used due this immigration status, was one of them. He is undocumented and had arrived in Oxnard, a city in the Greater Los Angeles Area, from Mexico in 2019. Terrified of revealing his personal details, the 40-year-old restaurant worker remained uninsured and unvaccinated. He got infected in December during the Omicron wave and his condition deteriorated rapidly.
"By the sixth day I was so desperate that I wanted to go to a hospital," he says, but he decided against it because of his immigration status. "There were three days when I was completely lost, barely conscious, I had no clue if I was alive," he says, overwhelmed with emotion as he shifts in his chair and grabs a tissue to wipe away tears.
Embarrassed, Antonio apologizes and looks around the conference room at the nonprofit Mixteco Indigena Community Organization Project's office in Oxnard in April this year. After a pause, Antonio recalls how he begged his boss to take him back after missing work for almost 22 days; he was behind on rent and had a family to support. "I think it's very different to have COVID as an immigrant in this country," he says.
Those who did turn to the medical system sometimes experienced discriminatory behavior in the form of being treated rudely or disrespectfully for not speaking English, or they felt that they weren't being heard.
"People in the healthcare system can come with a biased lens," says Mireya Vilar-Compte, a public health professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey with expertise in healthcare inequities. She stresses a need for more doctors, nurses, and administrative staff from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds as one part of the solution.
More than two years into the pandemic, undocumented immigrant populations still feel they have few places to turn as they battle the aftereffects of the disease that disproportionately impacted them. With little help, some are enduring long COVID symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, and breathing and sleeping difficulties, as well as anxiety and depression.
In Los Angeles, Ana, who asked that her last name not be used fearing deportation, has been self-medicating to manage the fatigue and body pain that has lingered for months after her COVID-19 infection last summer. She has been avoiding a visit to a doctor because she's uninsured and undocumented, so the 38-year-old part-time house cleaner uses painkillers that she buys from street vendors in downtown L.A.
"It has gotten to a point where I feel depressed that I'm going to have to take these pills for life," she says. "I need to work fast, but I do get tired."
Fortunately for Imelda, who despite being vaccinated has contracted COVID-19 twice since her March 2020 diagnosis, New York expanded its healthcare-for-all program to her borough, Queens, in September 2020. Called NYC Care, this city-funded program guarantees low-cost and no-cost services to all New Yorkers who don't qualify or can't afford health insurance, irrespective of immigration status.
Since then Imelda has been seeking healthcare to cope with her heart palpitations, trouble sleeping and breathing, and post-COVID depression. She's had MRIs, cardiac screenings, and has been seeking physical and psychotherapy.
Nationwide, though, such programs are rare, Pillai says. Today, seven states and the District of Columbia offer some type of healthcare coverage for some or all age groups of the undocumented population, but she says the effort should be expanded nationwide. When individuals can use primary and preventative care, they rely less on emergency medical services, which are extremely expensive. "Economically, in the long-term, it's not the best idea to prevent some groups from accessing benefits to which a lot of them already contribute," Pillai says.
But such an effort would require addressing the existing bias and discrimination in the medical system. Despite now being insured, Imelda says "I don't feel like they see me the same way as they see someone who's American." Especially when it comes to healthcare, "I wish everyone was treated the same."
What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns
Restrictions on social contact stemmed disease spread, but weighing up the ultimate costs and benefits of lockdown measures is a challenge.
A man walks across a deserted highway in Wuhan, China, in February 2020, during the city's first lockdown. Credit: Getty Images
In March 2021, a doctor in Brazil named Ricardo Savaris published a now-discredited research paper that went viral on social media.
It had been a year since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic forced governments to apply the desperate measures collectively known as lockdowns — cancelling sporting and cultural events, closing retail outlets, restaurants, schools and universities, and ordering people to stay at home. At the time, countries were once again dialling lockdown policies up or down, as the Alpha variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 surged in different places.
Lockdown measures did what they were supposed to. When they were enforced rigorously enough to reduce people's social contacts sharply, they shrank COVID-19 outbreaks; several studies had demonstrated this.
But Savaris, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, tried a fresh analysis together with three colleagues (who worked in statistics, computer science and informatics). They compared 87 locations around the world, in pairs, to see whether a lower rate of COVID-19 deaths correlated with greater time spent at home, assessed using anonymized cellphone data released by Google. In most cases, their paper in Scientific Reports concluded, it didn't.
The paper was highlighted by prominent lockdown sceptics and some news sites and swiftly gained notoriety. "The findings were quite remarkable, on the face of it," says Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia. As he and others would show, the results were wrong, because of errors in the paper's choice of statistical methods.
Within a week, Scientific Reports added an 'editor's note' to the paper, alerting readers to criticisms. Nine months later, the journal published two letters that laid out the paper's errors. A week after that, it retracted the work, although neither Savaris nor his co-authors agreed with the retraction. (Scientific Reports is published by Springer Nature; Nature's reporting is editorially independent of its publisher.)
The retracted paper is not the only one to contend that lockdowns failed to save lives. But these analyses are out of step with the majority of studies. Most scientists agree that lockdowns did curb COVID-19 deaths and that governments had little option but to restrict people's social contacts in early 2020, to stem SARS-CoV-2's spread and avert the collapse of health-care systems. "We needed to buy ourselves some time," says Lauren Meyers, a biological data scientist at the University of Texas at Austin.
At the same time, it's clear that lockdowns had huge costs, and there is debate about the utility of any subsequent lockdown measures. School and university closures disrupted education. Closing businesses contributed to financial and social hardship, mental ill health and economic downturns. "There's costs and benefits," says Samir Bhatt, a public-health statistician at Imperial College London and the University of Copenhagen.
Scientists have been studying the effects of lockdowns during the pandemic in the hope that their findings could inform the response to future crises. They have reached some conclusions: countries that acted quickly to bring in stringent measures did best at preserving both lives and their economies, for instance. But researchers have also encountered difficulties. Analysing competing harms and benefits often comes down not to scientific calculations, but to value judgements, such as how to weigh costs that fall on some sections of society more than others. That is what makes lockdowns so hard to study — and can lead to bitter disagreement.
Tricky calculation
There's a fundamental difficulty with analysing the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns: it is hard to know what would have happened in their absence.
Lockdowns do reduce viral transmission, as the shutdown of Wuhan, China, showed when SARS-CoV-2 first emerged. Even in countries that didn't emulate China's all-in approach of closing borders, ordering citizens to stay at home and isolating people with COVID in central facilities, lockdown measures still cut disease spread. In May 2020, for instance, Bhatt and others analysed lockdowns in 11 European countries and extrapolated from the fall in viral transmission that these measures alone had saved more than 3 million lives.
That paper's methodology has also been questioned, however. One issue is that it could have overstated the size of the benefit because it assumes that without lockdown mandates, people wouldn't have reduced their social contacts. In reality, rising deaths would probably have changed people's behaviour.
That happened in Florida, for instance, where data show a reduction in mobility during the first wave about two weeks before lockdowns, says health-policy researcher Thomas Tsai at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. "People were watching the news in New York and Boston and seeing how severe COVID could be," he says.
One analysis5 by political scientist Christopher Berry and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, Illinois, supports this. It suggests that US states' shelter-in-place orders did little to further reduce COVID-19 cases and deaths, not because social distancing doesn't work, but because people were already avoiding contact before the orders were imposed.
Other researchers have tried instead to compare whether countries with stricter lockdown policies performed better than those with more relaxed ones on measures such as disease transmission rates or deaths. This isn't simple, either: enforcement, levels of government aid and compliance with official policies differed from one region to another — as did cultural context and a host of other factors, including population densities, levels of social contact and viral prevalence.
Take Sweden, for instance, which imposed relatively light restrictions in early 2020, keeping schools open for all but the oldest students. It experienced a lower rate of excess deaths in 2020 than did many other western European nations. But it is also a country where many people live alone (the average household size in Sweden is the lowest in the European Union), and where people have high trust in government, making it much easier for official recommendations alone — rather than mandates — to reduce social contacts and slow disease spread. Far from carrying on life as normal, Swedes reduced their mobility, as shown by mobile-phone data. Even so, its Nordic neighbours that imposed lockdowns performed better in 2020: age-standardized mortality rates show that Denmark, Finland and Norway experienced fewer deaths than normal that year, whereas Sweden experienced slightly more than usual. (As in other countries, Sweden also failed to prevent the most vulnerable people, such as those in elder-care homes, from dying of COVID-19.)
"It wasn't really clear what is the best way of estimating the effectiveness of [lockdown] measures," says Peter Klimek, a data scientist at the Medical University of Vienna. Still, by tracking the stringency and timing of government policies in more than 100 countries, researchers at the University of Oxford, UK, and their colleagues did find that the more stringent a nation's containment policies, the more successful it was at averting deaths from COVID-19.
It is even harder to tease out subtler insights, such as which of the grab bag of lockdown policies — from closing schools to ordering people to stay at home — had the most effect, especially because policies were often announced in quick succession.
After the first wave of COVID-19, Klimek's team analysed thousands of government interventions. The group noted that some measures seemed effective according to one modelling approach, but not according to others, and that their effectiveness estimates came with wide uncertainty ranges. But the researchers were able to produce an overall ranking (see 'How effective were COVID-19 interventions?'). The most effective measures were policies banning small gatherings and closing businesses and schools, closely followed by land-border restrictions and national lockdowns. Less-intrusive measures — such as government support for vulnerable populations, and risk-communication strategies — also had an impact. Airport health checks, however, had no discernible benefit.
Other studies have tried to put more precise figures on the effects of lockdown policies, but their findings differ. An analysis of 41 countries in Europe and elsewhere found that stay-at-home orders had a relatively small impact on transmission, reducing R — the average number of people that one person with COVID-19 will go on to infect — by just 13% beyond what could be achieved by closing schools and universities (38%) or limiting gatherings to 10 people or fewer (42%). Yet Bhatt's analysis of 11 countries suggested that stay-at-home orders cut R by 81%, with school closures, public-event bans and other measures being less important. Klimek warns against generalizing about the effectiveness of lockdown policies on the basis of figures such as these. "The effectiveness of each intervention is highly context dependent," he says. What several analyses suggest is that no single intervention can reduce R to below 1 (signifying that infections are declining): multiple measures achieve this by working in concert.
Go hard, go fast
The pre-vaccine period of the pandemic does show that countries that acted harshly and swiftly — the 'go hard, go fast' approach — often fared better than those that waited to implement lockdown policies. China's harsh lockdowns eliminated COVID-19 locally, for a time. Successful countries that learnt from this were "proactive", according to a May 2021 report by the Independent Panel on Pandemic Preparedness & Response, established by the World Health Organization in September 2020 to review the global response. Examples include island nations such as Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, which also benefited from being able to close their borders and take action before many people with the virus arrived.
Others have echoed this. Epidemiologist Edward Knock and other members of the Imperial College COVID-19 response team concluded that nationwide lockdown was the only measure that consistently took R below 1 in England. And the earlier that strict measures were imposed, the better. Knock estimated that had England introduced a nationwide lockdown one week earlier in March 2020, it would have halved deaths during the first wave. A study of government responses in Asia also suggested that a 'go hard, go fast' approach was best.
But harsher lockdowns aren't always more effective by themselves, especially in countries where it is difficult for people to stay at home. Peru is an example. It imposed early and strict lockdown measures, but experienced an excess death rate much higher than did other countries in the region that used less draconian measures. Peru is still held up as evidence that lockdowns don't work — but in fact it struggled to enforce them. The country has a large informal workforce, combined with expensive and inadequate health infrastructure. Despite lockdowns, many Peruvians continued to venture out to shop and to work, and so transmission remained stubbornly high, says Camila Gianella Malca, a public-policy researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima.
The impacts of lockdowns also differed from one pandemic wave to the next. By the time second waves emerged, so much had been learnt about the virus that people's behaviour was quite different. By October 2020, population-wide masking policies had become common. Schools and other settings established physical-distancing measures to keep people apart, and people took more precautions when local transmission increased. Hospitals also learnt quickly how best to treat COVID-19: death rates after the first wave decreased by 20% owing to improved treatment alone.
Together, these changes dampened the extent to which countries benefited from lockdowns. For example, several studies found that school closures during the first wave reduced the spread of COVID-19. Yet Bhatt's analysis suggests that second-wave school closures had a much smaller effect. "We were surprised by that, to be honest," he says.
Only a handful of countries continued to take a 'go hard, go fast' approach after the first wave. Countries that had aimed for elimination — China, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam, for example — saw that it worked and then went harder and faster, according to research by Anna Petherick, a public-policy researcher at the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government and her colleagues, who tracked government policies in more than 180 countries. But in countries where belated first-wave lockdowns had merely lessened transmission, governments became less likely to take early action, tolerating higher case numbers in subsequent waves before ordering lockdowns (see 'Thresholds for lockdown').
Blunt tool?
Some researchers argue that countries could have avoided blunt all-of-society lockdowns, especially after the measures taken early in 2020. Among them is Mark Woolhouse, an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK, who advised the Scottish government during the pandemic. He argues that it might have been possible to avoid the closing of schools and cooping-up of younger people — who were at lower risk of COVID-19 — while focusing efforts on protecting vulnerable and older people as soon as high-risk individuals and settings were identified. "This pandemic was crying out for [a] precision public-health response, because the risks associated with the public-health threat with the virus were so focused on a small minority, and the harms done by things like lockdown were not focused on the same people," he says.
But many researchers have pushed back against the idea that a more targeted approach was ever possible. Klimek says that roughly one-third of the population in wealthy nations was vulnerable because of underlying health conditions, so targeted measures would have been difficult to implement. And the virus has caused not only deaths but also post-infection illnesses such as long COVID — which has emerged as a health burden even for people who had mild disease.
Another targeted option for governments considering how to reopen societies might have been to keep only high-risk locations closed — restaurants and bars, say, or even neighbourhoods with high population mobility, says Serina Chang at Stanford University in California, who worked with colleagues to identify such places using cellphone data. But shutting down neighbourhoods would probably disproportionately affect socially disadvantaged communities. "Fairness is such an important question here," she says.
Benefits versus harms
Woolhouse says there was scant effort to debate the scale of potential harms caused by lockdowns, meaning that policymakers were unable to weigh up costs and benefits properly. Indeed, early on, many countries adopted a 'save lives at any cost' approach, he says.
And lockdown policies did bring costs. Although they delayed outbreaks, saving lives by allowing countries to hang on for vaccines and drugs, they also brought significant social isolation and associated mental-health problems, rising rates of domestic violence and violence against women, cancelled medical appointments and disruption to education for children and university students. And they were often (although not always) accompanied by economic downturns.
But the common refrain that lockdowns involved a choice — saving lives versus livelihoods, or lives versus the economy — is a false dichotomy, says Stuart McDonald, an actuary and founder of the UK-based COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group, a community of specialists who have carried out regular analyses of mortality during the pandemic. If the UK government had not imposed belated lockdowns in 2020, hospital systems would have been overrun, death rates for all kinds of illnesses would have rocketed and economies and livelihoods would have collapsed anyway, he says. One analysis15 up to November 2021 estimated that the United States lost US$65.3 billion a month during lockdowns. But another16 estimated that US lockdowns from early March until the end of July 2020 added between $632.5 billion and $765 billion to the economy, compared with the alternative of no lockdowns. Unsurprisingly, the countries that did best in terms of saving lives and protecting the economy were those that acted fast with strict lockdowns.
What is more, some governments did at least try to consider various harms, McDonald says. In July 2020, for instance, McDonald attended a meeting of the UK government's COVID-19 advisory group to discuss efforts to model the direct and indirect health impacts of lockdowns, measured by the preservation or loss of quality-adjusted life years — QALYs. (This measure gives more weight to younger lives than the lives of older people, who are judged to have lost fewer QALYs if they die.) Fewer deaths from road accidents were tallied as a benefit of lockdown, for instance; QALYs lost owing to delayed cancer diagnoses, or poorer health owing to loss of income, were harms. In August 2020, the report discussed at the meeting was publicly released: it argued that QALYs lost would have been three times higher had there been no mitigation measures, such as lockdowns, in place. (McDonald was not involved in writing it, but contributed to subsequent versions of the report.)
Not all harms can be accounted for in this way. Loss of education because of school closures might indirectly harm children in the long run, potentially decreasing their future earnings and placing them at greater risk of poorer health outcomes. McDonald says that such harms are so far off — decades, in some cases — that they can't readily be factored into a QALY ledger.
Value judgements
Pure economic analyses of whether lockdowns were worth it generally try to estimate the value of lives saved and compare that with the costs of economic downturns. But there is no consensus on how to make this comparison. Tweaks to the value placed on human life in these analyses can alter conclusions about whether lockdowns were worth it, found Lisa Robinson, a public-policy analyst at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her colleagues. If older lives are assigned a lower monetary value than younger ones, for instance, then — because COVID-19 disproportionately affected older people — lockdowns might be judged to have provided less benefit than if all lives are valued equally.
Jonathan Aldred, an economist at the University of Cambridge, UK, says that cost–benefit calculations of this kind are ill-suited to decision-making during an emergency, given the numerous sources of uncertainty. Putting monetary values on everything — from lives lost to the economic hit caused by shop closures — can give the impression that decisions about lockdowns are objective. But, says Aldred, the upshot is that "you're hiding the fact that there are ethical judgements that have been made". Policymakers should instead have a transparent discussion about the ethics of weighing costs and benefits, says Aldred, rather than suggest there is a 'scientific' answer. Without this kind of reckoning, we could be "back to square one" in a future pandemic, he says, with the same contentious debates about whether to close schools and at what harm to other sections of society.
Now that COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for severe disease are widely available, most countries that have taken full advantage of them are unlikely to return to lockdowns. So what have researchers learnt that can inform decisions when another viral pandemic arrives?
One lesson that Klimek takes from lockdown studies is that there was an early window of opportunity when the virus could have been eliminated — as it was, in effect, in countries such as China, Australia and New Zealand. Had harsher measures been adopted sooner, and more widely, the pandemic might have played out very differently. "I think this is the big learning that we need to take away," he says.
The paradox is that a successful early clampdown, or hard and fast action against a virus that turns out to be milder than initial indications suggest, could lead to complaints of overreaction.
A future threat might, of course, also spread in a completely different way from COVID-19. Ethical choices could look very different if the next pandemic is caused by an influenza virus that predominantly affects and is spread by young children.
Lockdowns hold another clear lesson: they exacerbate inequalities that already exist in society. Those already living in poverty and insecurity are hit hardest. Guarding against these unequal impacts requires improved health access and financial safeguards when times are good.
And transparency is key, too: the public needs to know more about how pandemic-control policies are decided, says Tsai. "That makes public-health policymaking seem less capricious," he says, "because it's reactive to both the science and values."
One of Long COVID's Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood
Brain fog isn't like a hangover or depression. It's a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard.
(Update 9/22/2022)
On March 25, 2020, Hannah Davis was texting with two friends when she realized that she couldn't understand one of their messages. In hindsight, that was the first sign that she had COVID-19. It was also her first experience with the phenomenon known as "brain fog," and the moment when her old life contracted into her current one. She once worked in artificial intelligence and analyzed complex systems without hesitation, but now "runs into a mental wall" when faced with tasks as simple as filling out forms. Her memory, once vivid, feels frayed and fleeting. Former mundanities—buying food, making meals, cleaning up—can be agonizingly difficult. Her inner world—what she calls "the extras of thinking, like daydreaming, making plans, imagining"—is gone. The fog "is so encompassing," she told me, "it affects every area of my life." For more than 900 days, while other long-COVID symptoms have waxed and waned, her brain fog has never really lifted.
Of long COVID's many possible symptoms, brain fog "is by far one of the most disabling and destructive," Emma Ladds, a primary-care specialist from the University of Oxford, told me. It's also among the most misunderstood. It wasn't even included in the list of possible COVID symptoms when the coronavirus pandemic first began. But 20 to 30 percent of patients report brain fog three months after their initial infection, as do 65 to 85 percent of the long-haulers who stay sick for much longer. It can afflict people who were never ill enough to need a ventilator—or any hospital care. And it can affect young people in the prime of their mental lives.
Long-haulers with brain fog say that it's like none of the things that people—including many medical professionals—jeeringly compare it to. It is more profound than the clouded thinking that accompanies hangovers, stress, or fatigue. For Davis, it has been distinct from and worse than her experience with ADHD. It is not psychosomatic, and involves real changes to the structure and chemistry of the brain. It is not a mood disorder: "If anyone is saying that this is due to depression and anxiety, they have no basis for that, and data suggest it might be the other direction," Joanna Hellmuth, a neurologist at UC San Francisco, told me.
And despite its nebulous name, brain fog is not an umbrella term for every possible mental problem. At its core, Hellmuth said, it is almost always a disorder of "executive function"—the set of mental abilities that includes focusing attention, holding information in mind, and blocking out distractions. These skills are so foundational that when they crumble, much of a person's cognitive edifice collapses. Anything involving concentration, multitasking, and planning—that is, almost everything important—becomes absurdly arduous. "It raises what are unconscious processes for healthy people to the level of conscious decision making," Fiona Robertson, a writer based in Aberdeen, Scotland, told me.
For example, Robertson's brain often loses focus mid-sentence, leading to what she jokingly calls "so-yeah syndrome": "I forget what I'm saying, tail off, and go, 'So, yeah …'" she said. Brain fog stopped Kristen Tjaden from driving, because she'd forget her destination en route. For more than a year, she couldn't read, either, because making sense of a series of words had become too difficult. Angela Meriquez Vázquez told me it once took her two hours to schedule a meeting over email: She'd check her calendar, but the information would slip in the second it took to bring up her inbox. At her worst, she couldn't unload a dishwasher, because identifying an object, remembering where it should go, and putting it there was too complicated.
Memory suffers, too, but in a different way from degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's. The memories are there, but with executive function malfunctioning, the brain neither chooses the important things to store nor retrieves that information efficiently. Davis, who is part of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, can remember facts from scientific papers, but not events. When she thinks of her loved ones, or her old life, they feel distant. "Moments that affected me don't feel like they're part of me anymore," she said. "It feels like I am a void and I'm living in a void."
Most people with brain fog are not so severely affected, and gradually improve with time. But even when people recover enough to work, they can struggle with minds that are less nimble than before. "We're used to driving a sports car, and now we are left with a jalopy," Vázquez said. In some professions, a jalopy won't cut it. "I've had surgeons who can't go back to surgery, because they need their executive function," Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, a rehabilitation specialist at UT Health San Antonio, told me.
Robertson, meanwhile, was studying theoretical physics in college when she first got sick, and her fog occluded a career path that was once brightly lit. "I used to sparkle, like I could pull these things together and start to see how the universe works," she told me. "I've never been able to access that sensation again, and I miss it, every day, like an ache." That loss of identity was as disruptive as the physical aspects of the disease, which "I always thought I could deal with … if I could just think properly," Robertson said. "This is the thing that's destabilized me most."
Robertson predicted that the pandemic would trigger a wave of cognitive impairment in March 2020. Her brain fog began two decades earlier, likely with a different viral illness, but she developed the same executive-function impairments that long-haulers experience, which then worsened when she got COVID last year. That specific constellation of problems also befalls many people living with HIV, epileptics after seizures, cancer patients experiencing so-called chemo brain, and people with several complex chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia. It's part of the diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS—a condition that Davis and many other long-haulers now have. Brain fog existed well before COVID, affecting many people whose conditions were stigmatized, dismissed, or neglected. "For all of those years, people just treated it like it's not worth researching," Robertson told me. "So many of us were told, Oh, it's just a bit of a depression."
Several clinicians I spoke with argued that the term brain fog makes the condition sound like a temporary inconvenience and deprives patients of the legitimacy that more medicalized language like cognitive impairment would bestow. But Aparna Nair, a historian of disability at the University of Oklahoma, noted that disability communities have used the term for decades, and there are many other reasons behind brain fog's dismissal beyond terminology. (A surfeit of syllables didn't stop fibromyalgia and myalgic encephalomyelitis from being trivialized.)
For example, Hellmuth noted that in her field of cognitive neurology, "virtually all the infrastructure and teaching" centers on degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, in which rogue proteins afflict elderly brains. Few researchers know that viruses can cause cognitive disorders in younger people, so few study their effects. "As a result, no one learns about it in medical school," Hellmuth said. And because "there's not a lot of humility in medicine, people end up blaming patients instead of looking for answers," she said.
People with brain fog also excel at hiding it: None of the long-haulers I've interviewed sounded cognitively impaired. But at times when her speech is obviously sluggish, "nobody except my husband and mother see me," Robertson said. The stigma that long-haulers experience also motivates them to present as normal in social situations or doctor appointments, which compounds the mistaken sense that they're less impaired than they claim—and can be debilitatingly draining. "They'll do what is asked of them when you're testing them, and your results will say they were normal," David Putrino, who leads a long-COVID rehabilitation clinic at Mount Sinai, told me. "It's only if you check in on them two days later that you'll see you've wrecked them for a week."
"We also don't have the right tools for measuring brain fog," Putrino said. Doctors often use the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which was designed to uncover extreme mental problems in elderly people with dementia, and "isn't validated for anyone under age 55," Hellmuth told me. Even a person with severe brain fog can ace it. More sophisticated tests exist, but they still compare people with the population average rather than their previous baseline. "A high-functioning person with a decline in their abilities who falls within the normal range is told they don't have a problem," Hellmuth said.
This pattern exists for many long-COVID symptoms: Doctors order inappropriate or overly simplistic tests, whose negative results are used to discredit patients' genuine symptoms. It doesn't help that brain fog (and long COVID more generally) disproportionately affects women, who have a long history of being labeled as emotional or hysterical by the medical establishment. But every patient with brain fog "tells me the exact same story of executive-function symptoms," Hellmuth said. "If people were making this up, the clinical narrative wouldn't be the same."
Earlier this year, a team of British researchers rendered the invisible nature of brain fog in the stark black-and-white imagery of MRI scans. Gwenaëlle Douaud at the University of Oxford and her colleagues analyzed data from the UK Biobank study, which had regularly scanned the brains of hundreds of volunteers for years prior to the pandemic. When some of those volunteers caught COVID, the team could compare their after scans to the before ones. They found that even mild infections can slightly shrink the brain and reduce the thickness of its neuron-rich gray matter. At their worst, these changes were comparable to a decade of aging. They were especially pronounced in areas such as the parahippocampal gyrus, which is important for encoding and retrieving memories, and the orbitofrontal cortex, which is important for executive function. They were still apparent in people who hadn't been hospitalized. And they were accompanied by cognitive problems.
Although SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID, can enter and infect the central nervous system, it doesn't do so efficiently, persistently, or frequently, Michelle Monje, a neuro-oncologist at Stanford, told me. Instead, she thinks that in most cases the virus harms the brain without directly infecting it. She and her colleagues recently showed that when mice experience mild bouts of COVID, inflammatory chemicals can travel from the lungs to the brain, where they disrupt cells called microglia. Normally, microglia act as groundskeepers, supporting neurons by pruning unnecessary connections and cleaning unwanted debris. When inflamed, their efforts become overenthusiastic and destructive. In their presence, the hippocampus—a region crucial for memory—produces fewer fresh neurons, while many existing neurons lose their insulating coats, so electric signals now course along these cells more slowly. These are the same changes that Monje sees in cancer patients with "chemo fog." And although she and her team did their COVID experiments in mice, they found high levels of the same inflammatory chemicals in long-haulers with brain fog.
Monje suspects that neuro-inflammation is "probably the most common way" that COVID results in brain fog, but that there are likely many such routes. COVID could possibly trigger autoimmune problems in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the nervous system, or reactivate dormant viruses such as Epstein-Barr virus, which has been linked to conditions including ME/CFS and multiple sclerosis. By damaging blood vessels and filling them with small clots, COVID also throttles the brain's blood supply, depriving this most energetically demanding of organs of oxygen and fuel. This oxygen shortfall isn't stark enough to kill neurons or send people to an ICU, but "the brain isn't getting what it needs to fire on all cylinders," Putrino told me. (The severe oxygen deprivation that forces some people with COVID into critical care causes different cognitive problems than what most long-haulers experience.)
None of these explanations is set in stone, but they can collectively make sense of brain fog's features. A lack of oxygen would affect sophisticated and energy-dependent cognitive tasks first, which explains why executive function and language "are the first ones to go," Putrino said. Without insulating coats, neurons work more slowly, which explains why many long-haulers feel that their processing speed is shot: "You're losing the thing that facilitates fast neural connection between brain regions," Monje said. These problems can be exacerbated or mitigated by factors such as sleep and rest, which explains why many people with brain fog have good days and bad days. And although other respiratory viruses can wreak inflammatory havoc on the brain, SARS-CoV-2 does so more potently than, say, influenza, which explains both why people such as Robertson developed brain fog long before the current pandemic and why the symptom is especially prominent among COVID long-haulers.
Perhaps the most important implication of this emerging science is that brain fog is "potentially reversible," Monje said. If the symptom was the work of a persistent brain infection, or the mass death of neurons following severe oxygen starvation, it would be hard to undo. But neuroinflammation isn't destiny. Cancer researchers, for example, have developed drugs that can calm berserk microglia in mice and restore their cognitive abilities; some are being tested in early clinical trials. "I'm hopeful that we'll find the same to be true in COVID," she said.
Biomedical advances might take years to arrive, but long-haulers need help with brain fog now. Absent cures, most approaches to treatment are about helping people manage their symptoms. Sounder sleep, healthy eating, and other generic lifestyle changes can make the condition more tolerable. Breathing and relaxation techniques can help people through bad flare-ups; speech therapy can help those with problems finding words. Some over-the-counter medications such as antihistamines can ease inflammatory symptoms, while stimulants can boost lagging concentration.
"Some people spontaneously recover back to baseline," Hellmuth told me, "but two and a half years on, a lot of patients I see are no better." And between these extremes lies perhaps the largest group of long-haulers—those whose brain fog has improved but not vanished, and who can "maintain a relatively normal life, but only after making serious accommodations," Putrino said. Long recovery periods and a slew of lifehacks make regular living possible, but more slowly and at higher cost.
Kristen Tjaden can read again, albeit for short bursts followed by long rests, but hasn't returned to work. Angela Meriquez Vázquez can work but can't multitask or process meetings in real time. Julia Moore Vogel, who helps lead a large biomedical research program, can muster enough executive function for her job, but "almost everything else in my life I've cut out to make room for that," she told me. "I only leave the house or socialize once a week." And she rarely talks about these problems openly because "in my field, your brain is your currency," she said. "I know my value in many people's eyes will be diminished by knowing that I have these cognitive challenges."
Patients struggle to make peace with how much they've changed and the stigma associated with it, regardless of where they end up. Their desperation to return to normal can be dangerous, especially when combined with cultural norms around pressing on through challenges and post-exertional malaise—severe crashes in which all symptoms worsen after even minor physical or mental exertion. Many long-haulers try to push themselves back to work and instead "push themselves into a crash," Robertson told me. When she tried to force her way to normalcy, she became mostly housebound for a year, needing full-time care. Even now, if she tries to concentrate in the middle of a bad day, "I end up with a physical reaction of exhaustion and pain, like I've run a marathon," she said.
Post-exertional malaise is so common among long-haulers that "exercise as a treatment is inappropriate for people with long COVID," Putrino said. Even brain-training games—which have questionable value but are often mentioned as potential treatments for brain fog—must be very carefully rationed because mental exertion is physical exertion. People with ME/CFS learned this lesson the hard way, and fought hard to get exercise therapy, once commonly prescribed for the condition, to be removed from official guidance in the U.S. and U.K. They've also learned the value of pacing—carefully sensing and managing their energy levels to avoid crashes.
Vogel does this with a wearable that tracks her heart rate, sleep, activity, and stress as a proxy for her energy levels; if they feel low, she forces herself to rest—cognitively as well as physically. Checking social media or responding to emails do not count. In those moments, "you have to accept that you have this medical crisis and the best thing you can do is literally nothing," she said. When stuck in a fog, sometimes the only option is to stand still.
Is the COVID-19 pandemic over?
President Joe Biden said that the pandemic has ended. Here's what scientists say.
After more than two and a half years of COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, many people are yearning for an official nod that marks the pandemic's end. And watching the news last week could have led many to conclude that we've finally reached that point.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a press conference that the end of the pandemic is in sight. A few days later, United States President Joe Biden declared during an interview on 60 Minutes, "The pandemic is over." But he also acknowledged, "We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it."
A pandemic is a disease outbreak spanning several countries that affects many people. The WHO is responsible for declaring when an outbreak has grown into a pandemic and deciding when it stops being a public health emergency of international concern. Worldwide, COVID-19 is still causing nearly 1,600 deaths each day and case numbers haven't plateaued at a low level, leading WHO's chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, to conclude, "It's still a little premature to say that we're over it."
A volunteer disinfects a street in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, on September 3, 2022. The city of Chengdu is under lockdown because of the virus.PHOTOGRAPH BY CFOTO, FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES
In the U.S. the virus is killing between 400 and 500 people daily. "That's still too many," says epidemiologist Jennifer Nuzzo, who is the director of Brown University's Pandemic Center. Others agree with Nuzzo, adding that declaring the end of the pandemic may compromise ongoing testing and vaccination efforts as the highly contagious Omicron BA.5 continues to circulate in the U.S. and many parts of the world, and as cases may rise as more people gather indoors in cooler weather.
Complicating matters, say some epidemiologists, is that there aren't established criteria—an acceptable level of cases and deaths, for example—to use to determine whether the pandemic is over. While it's true that humans are more resistant to SARS-CoV-2—through vaccination and or COVID-19 infection—says Eric Topol, founder and director of Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, "the virus is still ahead of us." To him, the end of the pandemic isn't imminent, and "that's for sure."
What factors tell us when the pandemic is over
While the number of daily deaths is one metric to gauge whether the pandemic is coming to an end, others include case numbers, seasonality of outbreaks, vaccination rates, availability of effective treatments, and the transmissibility of current and new COVID-19 variants. But drawing such conclusions will be complicated, Swaminathan says. "This is a new virus, and we haven't had a global coronavirus pandemic before."
Another confounding element is the lack of data from many countries, she says. Figuring out when the pandemic shifts from its acute phase to an endemic one, meaning that COVID-19 is still around but not causing large outbreaks, might only be able to be determined retrospectively. "We may be able to look back and say it was the summer of 2023, for example, that the world came out of the effects of the pandemic."
A child from Kanishail Primany School in Sylhet, Bangladesh, receives a COVID-19 shot during vaccination program on August 28, 2022.PHOTOGRAPH BY MD RAFAYAT HAQUE KHAN, EYEPIX GROUP/FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES
For Topol, that judgment has to be based on the trajectory of the pandemic. "I look at where we were in summer 2021—we were down to 12,000 [daily] cases in the U.S. and deaths were just over 200," he says. "If we held there," Topol says, he'd be comfortable declaring the pandemic phase over. "But we're nowhere near that." Topol also fears that new variants may cause another wave of cases and hospitalizations enabling the pandemic to drag on.
To Lone Simonsen, an epidemiologist at Roskilde University in Denmark, the seasonality of outbreaks, in addition to fewer deaths, could help indicate when the pandemic might end. If case numbers soar in the summer, when the virus has fewer opportunities to spread, "we're still in the pandemic phase," she says. That was the case in 2021, when cases were driven by the Delta variant and this past summer with Omicron. So, for Simonsen, it's a wait and see.
But Denmark and other European countries with high levels of vaccination scrapped most pandemic mandates and restrictions months ago, as COVID-19 hasn't been causing severe illness or overwhelming hospitals. However, long COVID remains a concern, Simonsen says.
Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security argues that the global pandemic phase is largely over given that hundreds of millions of people have already been infected by the virus, there are vaccines and treatments that can prevent severe illness, and COVID-19 is unlikely to completely disrupt the healthcare system like it once did. "It doesn't mean all of a sudden things go back to 2019. It doesn't mean that COVID-19 disappears, and all action stops," he says. "It means there is going to be a baseline number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths."
What those acceptable levels of hospitalizations and deaths may be is a political decision, says David Heymann, an infectiousdisease epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and former head of WHO's communicable diseases cluster.
Saying it is over when it isn't
Nuzzo and others worry that statements like the pandemic is over may be a disservice.
With the U.S. rolling out an Omicron specific booster, "I'm really worried this is going to send out a signal to millions of Americans who are at the risk of severe illness that they may not need to get boosted," Nuzzo says. "That's really, really unfortunate." (See 6 big questions about the new Omicron-targeting booster answered.)
She is also concerned that such statements may lead to a greater reduction in access to free COVID-19 testing and treatments, especially for those uninsured.
Topol worries that it could also undermine the motivation and funding to ramp up development of better COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, jeopardizing the health of millions who are immunocompromised or at the risk of developing long COVID.
This isn't the right time to make bold assertions about the end of the pandemic, he says. "But it's time to be bold about accelerating to a point where we look to say, we nailed it, we did it."
Could COVID-19 trigger depression?
Experts say yes—but not for the reasons you might expect.
(Update 10/16/2022 )
When Glo Lindenmuth was sick with COVID-19 in December 2021, she was congested and exhausted for about a week; her sense of smell and taste were gone for two weeks. She knew about these symptoms before she caught the virus and wasn't surprised by them. But the sadness and trouble sleeping that kicked in weeks after she recovered from COVID caught her off-guard.
"I had depression as a teenager, but this was much worse," says Lindenmuth, 30, who works in corporate communications in New York City. In addition to suddenly feeling down, she had trouble sleeping and bad dreams. When she was awake, her brain was foggy and bleak thoughts—often about doing something harmful to herself—intruded. And though she was typically bubbly and extroverted, she was overwhelmed with social anxiety. "I'd cancel plans with friends, sleep all day on the weekends, and avoid the majority of calls and texts," she says.
Her symptoms lasted for more than two months.
In the spring, Lindenmuth began feeling a bit better but then another intense wave of depression enveloped her from mid-June to mid-August. That's when she went to see a behavioral psychiatrist who diagnosed her with depression.
It's estimated that millions of people are discovering that even after they think they have bounced back from their COVID-19 illness, they continue to feel down, fatigued, apathetic, anxious, or otherwise emotionally out of sorts.
In a study based on millions of people who used the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health system, "we noticed that we had a nation in distress, due to the mayhem of the pandemic and lockdown," says Ziyad Al-Aly, director of the clinical epidemiology center at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a coauthor of the report. Al-Aly and his colleagues wanted to know whether people who got COVID-19 had a higher risk of mental health problems after symptoms of the illness subsided. "The answer was absolutely yes. People with COVID had it much, much worse."
According to research in the June 2022 issue of the journal CNS Drugs, 35 percent of people reported depressive symptoms after recovering from COVID. And it may not be simply because they lost days or weeks of their regularly scheduled lives to COVID. It may be because they have a little-known phenomenon called post-viral depression, which is likely triggered by inflammatory changes, psychological stress, and other factors.
These symptoms typically "kick in two to three months after the onset of COVID-19 and seem to last several months," says Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatrist and founding director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. "There's no way to predict who will have transient effects or who will have persistent ones."
The scope of the phenomenon
The link between viral illnesses and depression isn't new but has become more widely recognized and understood in recent decades. A study in a 2016 issue of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, for example, found that people who were sick with the flu in the previous 30 to 180 days had a 57 percent higher risk of new onset depression, compared to those who dodged the virus. Post-viral depression also can happen with the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis, and other non-specific viruses, experts say.
Al-Aly's study, published in February 2022 in BMJ, found that people who'd been sick with COVID had a 35 percent higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder and a 39 percent higher risk of experiencing a bout of depression a month after their illness; these surges were accompanied by increased use of antidepressants and benzodiazepines.
This is far from an isolated finding. A study in the April 2022 issue of the Journal of Neurology found that elevated levels of apathy and anxiety were common among COVID survivors who had fatigue eight months after their illness. And in a study in the May 2022 issue of The Lancet, researchers followed the mental-health trajectory of people in six countries in Europe who had been sick with COVID—but weren't hospitalized for it—and found that these individuals had a higher prevalence of depression in the subsequent months, especially if they had been bedridden with the illness.
Mechanisms behind the misery
Exactly how COVID-19 triggers depression isn't fully understood but there are several hypotheses. The SARS-CoV-2 virus may cause more inflammation in the brain and activate microglial cells, immune cells in the central nervous system that produce inflammatory molecules, Al-Aly explains. "Inflammation can affect brain regions that regulate affect and emotions—it can turn them up or turn them down."
Another theory is that the virus can attack the lining of blood vessels, which can compromise the blood and oxygen supply to the brain and disrupt areas that regulate emotion, Al-Aly adds.
A third hypothesis suggests that the virus can disrupt the diversity and equilibrium of the bacteria in the gut—the gut microbiome—which could in turn alter the levels of certain neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that transmit nerve signals throughout the body and brain and are involved in mood regulation, he says. "What's really clear is that the virus's effect on mental health is a biological phenomenon—it's not imagined," Al-Aly says.
That's not to say there aren't psychological elements at play. Prolonged isolation and feelings of loneliness during the illness may contribute to post-COVID depression, says Pravesh Sharma, a psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Sciences in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. When it comes to post-COVID depression, "sometimes people think why me?" Sharma says. "That creates a lot of negative thought and affects how people function in everyday life." These factors can trigger a vicious cycle that traps people in a depressive state.
Compounding the problem, people with post-COVID depression often feel misunderstood. "Their families don't understand why they're not over it because they're not sick anymore," says Dawn Potter, a clinical psychologist who runs support groups for people with long COVID at the Cleveland Clinic. Plus, these "people don't know when their symptoms are going to end or what's going to help, and they're scared. And it's common for people to be afraid of getting COVID again." Some people also worry about the potential long-term effects of COVID infection, which can contribute to their emotional turmoil after being sick, experts say.
Who's vulnerable and why
While research on the issue is scarce because COVID-19 is still relatively new, experts believe that people who have a prior history of depression or anxiety are at higher risk of developing post-COVID depression. "What I'm seeing in my clinical practice is people getting depression after COVID or having it be exacerbated by COVID if they had depression before," says Potter. "It may have been in remission or less severe."
Others who are at higher risk for post-COVID depression, experts say, include people who had high levels of pre-infection stress, medical morbidities—obesity, asthma, hypertension, diabetes, and the like—and more severe illness with COVID-19.
In some instances, depression can occur as part of long COVID syndrome, which can include lingering problems with memory, thinking abilities and concentration, mood changes, fatigue, and organizational abilities such as difficulty managing medication or money. Dyani Lewis, 44, experienced this phenomenon firsthand after getting COVID in March of 2022. Despite having a mild case—"I've had colds worse than this," she says—about a week after the infection passed, she had daily headaches, dizziness that felt like perpetual motion sickness, fatigue, and a lack of motivation. She had been taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for depression since 2019 and her mood symptoms had been well-controlled—until suddenly they weren't.
"I was struggling to complete my work, and I didn't have energy for my kids," says Lewis, a freelance science journalist and mother of two daughters in Melbourne, Australia. "To what extent SARS-CoV-2 directly exacerbated my depression, or just created the circumstances that were ripe for me to feel like shit, I don't know." Lewis is in the process of switching to a new medication for her depression and has started resuming light exercise, to improve her mood and boost her energy.
Experts say they're not seeing clear gender patterns with post-COVID depression. But a study in the January 2022 issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Researchfound that among COVID-19 survivors in Italy who experienced psychiatric symptoms, men had high levels of anxiety and depression at six months and even more severe symptoms at 12 months; women experienced the worst depression shortly after the infection, but by six months the symptoms were much less serious and continued to decline until 12 months. The researchers noted that this may be because men have a stronger pro-inflammatory immune response than women do, which could lead to sustained inflammation in their brains and bodies after COVID infection. Another explanation is that they're less likely to seek professional help for mental health challenges.
Reclaiming a better state of mind
Although some cases of post-COVID depression will resolve naturally over time, there's no reason to sit back and suffer in the meantime. "It's important not to say this is due to COVID and therefore do nothing," Trivedi says, "because it could last longer than you think."
To feel better mentally and emotionally, it helps to engage in regular physical activity or exercise, which has anti-inflammatory properties as well as antidepressant effects, Trivedi says. Seek social support, by connecting with friends and family members and/or support groups in your community. And adopt healthy eating habits such as the Mediterranean diet—which is rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, fish, and olive oil—because research has found that it's associated with a lower risk of developing depression. In addition, a study in a 2019 issue of the journal PLoS One found that a healthy dietary intervention can start to work in as little as three weeks, reducing symptoms of depression.
It's also important to set the stage for better sleep because "sleep problems and depression go hand in hand—it's a bidirectional issue," Potter says. Simply put, poor sleep can affect your mood, and depression can compromise your sleep quality. "If you can start sleeping better, it often helps mood," she says. To that end, she recommends working on your pre-sleep habits, making a concerted effort to dim the lights, avoid digital screens in the evening, and go to bed and wake up at the same time, day after day, to maintain a consistent sleep-wake cycle.
There's no need to stop your feel-better efforts with lifestyle modifications. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, you may benefit from therapy, particularly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—which helps people shift detrimental thought patterns to more helpful ones. Another helpful approach is behavioral activation, a skill that's often incorporated into CBT and involves setting goals that will help you get out and do things that can improve your mood, says Jed Magen, an osteopathic physician specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
With the help of antidepressants, talk therapy, and sharing her experiences with her social network, Lindenmuth started to feel better. Gradually she began exercising more and rediscovered her love of cooking, dancing, and spending time with friends. "Now I'm feeling great, and I have the energy I used to," she says. "I've also regained my creativity as well as a sense of clarity that I haven't had in a long time," Lindenmuth says. "I'm happy to be on the other side of the worst of it."
When it comes to experiencing post-COVID depression and obtaining relief from it, Lindenmuth is in good company. "I would like people to know that post-COVID depression is very, very common and that there's hope—the research is showing that there are ways to treat post-COVID depression, just like there are for other forms of depression," Potter says. "Even though it's not completely understood, we're not reinventing the wheel."
It was never about science or protecting others.
(Update 10/27/2022)
Small admitted that Pfizer never tested whether their jab would prevent transmission because they had to "move at the speed of science to understand what is happening in the market … and we had to do everything at risk" (Billion Photos/Shutterstock)
It was never about data or science; it was about following the top-down script they had from the beginning. And this recent admission by a Pfizer executive proves it would be called out as fraudulent in any other industry. So how have they managed to pull the wool over so many people's eyes?
Small admitted that Pfizer never tested whether their jab would prevent transmission because they had to "move at the speed of science to understand what is happening in the market … and we had to do everything at risk"
February 9, 2021, I published an article that clarified the medical and legal definitions of a "vaccine." In the article, I noted that mRNA COVID-19 jabs did not meet those definitions, in part because they don't prevent infection or spread. In reality, they're experimental gene therapies. In July that year, The New York Times published a hit piece on me citing that February 9 article:1
"The article that appeared online on Feb. 9 began with a seemingly innocuous question about the legal definition of vaccines. Then over its next 3,400 words, it declared coronavirus vaccines were 'a medical fraud' and said the injections did not prevent infections, provide immunity or stop transmission of the disease.
Instead, the article claimed, the shots 'alter your genetic coding, turning you into a viral protein factory that has no off-switch.' Its assertions were easily disprovable …"
Pfizer Moved 'at the Speed of Science'
Fast-forward to early October 2022, and my claims were officially confirmed during a COVID hearing in the European Parliament. Dutch member Rob Roos questioned Pfizer's president of international developed markets, Janine Small, about whether Pfizer had in fact tested and confirmed that their mRNA jab would prevent transmission prior to its rollout.
As noted by Roos, the entire premise behind COVID shot mandates and vaccine passports was that by taking the shot, you would protect others, as it would prevent infection and spread of COVID-19. Small replied:
"No. We had to really move at the speed of science to understand what is happening in the market … and we had to do everything at risk."2
This means the COVID passport was based on a big lie. The only purpose of the COVID passport: forcing people to get vaccinated. I find this shocking — even criminal.
— Rob Roos, MEP
As noted by Roos, "This means the COVID passport was based on a big lie. The only purpose of the COVID passport: forcing people to get vaccinated." Roos added that he found this deception "shocking — even criminal."3
In the video below, biologist and nurse teacher John Campbell, Ph.D., reviews this growing scandal. He points out that U.K. government officials emphatically assured the public that everything that was normally done in clinical trials for a vaccine was done for the COVID shots. Now we're told that was not the case after all.
The question is why? According to Small, these basic trials were not done because they "had to move at the speed of science." But just what does that mean? As noted by Campbell, these are "just words without meaning." It's complete nonsense.
Moreover, what does it mean to "do everything at risk"? Campbell admits he has no idea what that means. I don't either, but were I to venture a guess, I'd guess it means they knowingly skipped certain testing even though they knew the risks of doing so.
Government and Media Promulgated a Blatant Lie
Over the past three years, mainstream media have promulgated the lie that the COVID shots will prevent infection and transmission, telling us that anyone who doesn't get the shot is selfish at best, and at worst, a potential murderer at large. Anyone who refuses poses a serious biomedical threat to society, hence the need for heavy-handedness.
Alas, it was all a lie from the start. The frustrating part is that we've KNOWN for well over two years that the shots were never tested for transmission interruption, yet everyone in government and media insisted they would do just that.
In October 2020, Peter Doshi, associate editor of The BMJ, highlighted the fact that the trials were not designed to reveal whether the vaccines would prevent transmission, which is key if you want to end the pandemic. He wrote:4
"None of the trials currently under way are designed to detect a reduction in any serious outcome such as hospital admissions, use of intensive care, or deaths. Nor are the vaccines being studied to determine whether they can interrupt transmission of the virus."
So, by October 2020, at the latest, it was clear that no studies had been done to determine whether the shots actually prevented transmission, which is a prerequisite for the claim that you'll save the lives of others if you take it.
By then, Moderna had also admitted they were not testing its jab's ability to prevent infection. Tal Zaks, chief medical officer at Moderna, stated that this kind of trial would require testing volunteers twice a week for long periods of time — a strategy he called "operationally untenable."5
So, neither Pfizer nor Moderna had any clue whether their COVID shots would prevent transmission or spread, as that was never tested, yet with the aid of government officials and media, they led the public to believe they would. Below is just one example where Pfizer clearly obfuscated the truth.6 If stopping transmission was their "highest priority," why didn't they test and confirm that their shot was accomplishing this priority?
Similarly, in an Israeli interview7 (below), Bourla stated that "The efficacy of our vaccine in children is 80%." The reporter asked him to clarify, "Are you talking about efficacy to prevent severe disease or to prevent infection?" and Bourla replied, "To prevent infection." How could<|fim_middle|>9 has swept through the global population, so too have reports of sleep disruptions both during an infection and in the weeks and months beyond.
The links between COVID and sleep are still under investigation, but studies show that bacterial and viral infections, in general, interfere with sleep through physical and psychological mechanisms. Recognizing the potential for the virus to upset sleep, experts say, can help people get the care they need.
How sleep and the immune system affect each other
Sleep is intricately entwined with the immune system, a link both well-known and still mysterious. Getting enough rest can help prevent infections, according to evidence and observations going back thousands of years. But infections can also disrupt sleep in complicated ways.
Studies in animals show that viruses and bacteria alter both the amount of time spent sleeping and the kind of sleep, says John Axelsson, director of the Sleep Laboratory at Stockholm University's Stress Research Institute in Sweden. When researchers inject rabbits or rodents with moderate doses of bacteria or viruses, the animals sleep more. They get more non-rapid eye movement sleep, a deep restful state thought to be important for recovery; and they spend less time in dream-filled REM sleep.
Cytokines, a category of molecules that can stimulate or slow down inflammation, appear to play a major role in these patterns, Axelsson says. When healthy animals are sleep deprived, levels of some pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brain rise, causing the animals to sleep more than usual. When scientists block these cytokines, animals don't sleep more—even when they are sleep deprived.
It's harder to do the same kind of research in people, and results are mixed about how sleep changes during illnesses. But studies suggest that, at least to some extent, inflammatory molecules affect sleep in ways comparable to other animals. In studies from the 1990s and early 2000s, researcher Thomas Pollmächer and colleagues injected people with bits of bacterial cell walls, called endotoxins, and found that mild activation of the immune system increased the drive for sleep and enhanced non-REM sleep.
But once the immune system revved up with increased cytokine levels and symptoms of illness, people experienced more disrupted sleep, not typically seen in animals. "The inflammatory system increases the drive for sleeping," Axelsson says. "But at the same time, it then disrupts your sleep if you get a fever."
To see how respiratory infections affect human sleep, Axelsson and colleagues recruited 100 healthy adults to keep a detailed sleep diary after experiencing the first symptoms of a respiratory infection while wearing a sleep-tracking device on their wrists. Of the 100 volunteers, 28 people got sick. Overall, those people spent longer in bed and slept more after their symptoms began, the researchers reported in 2019.
But this wasn't a restful sleep. Infected people had difficulty falling asleep, woke up more, and had a more restless sleep especially when they were most symptomatic. As symptoms eased, sleep improved. Anecdotally, that's the same pattern reported by many people with COVID—a lot of sleep initially followed by insomnia or other disruptions while sickest. The physiological drive to sleep more while getting sick might be adaptive—helping the body fight off the invader, Axelsson says.
Why sleep problems continue after COVID infection
For many people, sleep troubles don't end on Day 10 or when a person tests negative. To gauge how often sleep troubles persist, researchers surveyed more than 650 long COVID patients who visited the Cleveland Clinic's reCOVer Clinic between February 2021 and April 2022. Up to six months after an infection, 41 percent reported sleep disturbances; an additional 7 percent reported disturbances that were severe. Black patients, 12 percent of study participants, were three times more likely to report sleep problems compared with other groups—echoing disparities seen throughout the pandemic, says Cinthia Peña Orbea, a sleep specialist and lead author of the study, which was published in June.
Elsewhere, there have been reports of post-COVID narcolepsy, excessive sleeping, and physically enacting dreams with movements like kicking and talking instead of lying still with typical sleep-induced paralysis, says Monika Haack, a psychoneuroimmunologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, who co-authored a 2019 review of the links between sleep and disease.
Peña Orbea's study suggests that long COVID falls in line with other chronic illnesses for causing sleep issues. About 60 percent of people with HIV and more than 50 percent of people with hepatitis C experience poor sleep as do people with ME/CFS, also called chronic fatigue syndrome. People with inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammation-related diseases—all immune disorders—often suffer from lack of sleep.
Haack is investigating the details of how sleep disruption interacts with the immune system. In a study soon to be published, she and colleagues found that disturbing sleep in 24 healthy people led to the production of more molecules that prolonged inflammation and notably, a suppression of molecules that normally stop that inflammation. Even after three full nights of recovery sleep, inflammation persists, emphasizing the need to preserve good sleep in the first place.
Together, evidence illustrates that sleeplessness can cause or exacerbate many symptoms associated with both acute COVID and long COVID, including depression, fatigue, and brain fog. Those symptoms in turn can make it hard to sleep. "It's always bi-directional," Haack says. Insomnia, sleep apnea, and other disruptions, she says, "all can lower sleep quality, depth, continuity, or regularity, and dampen the immune supporting functions that come with normal sleep."
Developing drugs for COVID-related sleep disorders?
Ultimately, scientists might be able to develop medications that affect levels of cytokines to improve sleep, says James Krueger, an expert on the biochemistry of sleep at Washington State University in Spokane. But it's a challenging task because the relationship between cytokines and sleep are extraordinarily complex. Some pro-inflammatory cytokines enhance sleep at low concentrations but at higher concentrations, they lead to wakefulness and fragmented sleep. There are also anti-inflammatory cytokines that mostly inhibit sleep at low concentrations.
Hundreds of proteins interact to regulate the immune system and other processes, Krueger says. COVID and other infections tweak those interactions. Targeting those molecules remains a work in progress. "For complex behaviors and brain processes such as sleep, some new drugs have been developed over the past few years," he says. "Time will tell if they are better than prior drugs."
How to improve sleep after COVID
Helping people get better rest during and after COVID infections begins with acknowledging the importance of sleep, Haack says. That can include avoiding medications that disturb sleep, such as opioids, and reducing light, noise, and repeated wakeups for people who are hospitalized.
Establishing regular sleep routines with consistent bedtimes and wakeup times are often a part of insomnia care, Axelsson says. It can also help for people to restrict time in bed to increase sleep efficiency and avoid excessive time spent lying awake.
Haack recommends mindfulness apps to reduce stress and anxiety. For her long COVID patients, Peña Orbea has seen cognitive behavioral therapy led to improvements. "With insomnia, the brain is in a hyper-arousal state," she says. "We try to reset that arousal state of mind."
Physical activity and fresh air can help a subset of people who may have stopped going out because of their illness, Axelsson says. But for many with long COVID, exercise can cause serious setbacks, underscoring the need for individualized medical care if sleep problems persist post-COVID.
"Sleep disruption can be quite normal during the acute COVID infection, due to sleep-disrupting symptoms such as pain, coughing, stuffy nose," Haack says. "If sleep disturbances continue to stay beyond the acute symptomatic phase or start to develop as a new symptom, that is the time to seek help."
Is COVID-19 Even Real?
Severe COVID could cause markers of old age in the brain
Key genes that are active in the brains of older people are also active in the brains of people who developed serious COVID-19.
Severe COVID-19 is linked to changes in the brain that mirror those seen in old age, according to an analysis of dozens of post-mortem brain samples.
The analysis revealed brain changes in gene activity that were more extensive in people who had severe SARS-CoV-2 infections than in uninfected people who had been in an intensive care unit (ICU) or had been put on ventilators to assist their breathing — treatments used in many people with serious COVID-19.
The study, published on 5 December in Nature Aging, joins a bevy of publications cataloguing the effects of COVID-19 on the brain. "It opens a plethora of questions that are important, not only for understanding the disease, but to prepare society for what the consequences of the pandemic might be," says neuropathologist Marianna Bugiani at Amsterdam University Medical Centers. "And these consequences might not be clear for years."
COVID on the brain
Maria Mavrikaki, a neurobiologist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, embarked on the study about two years ago, after seeing a preprint, later published as a paper, that described cognitive decline after COVID-19. She decided to follow up to see whether she could find changes in the brain that might trigger the effects.What triggers severe COVID? Infected immune cells hold clues
She and her colleagues studied samples taken from the frontal cortex — a region of the brain closely tied to cognition — of 21 people who had severe COVID-19 when they died and one person with an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection at death. The team compared these with samples from 22 people with no known history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Another control group comprised nine people who had no known history of infection but had spent time on a ventilator or in an ICU — interventions that can cause serious side effects.
The team found that genes associated with inflammation and stress were more active in the brains of people who had had severe COVID-19 than in the brains of people in the control group. Conversely, genes linked to cognition and the formation of connections between brain cells were less active.
The scientists also analysed brain tissue from 20 further uninfected people: 10 who were 38 years old or younger at death, and 10 who were 71 or older. A comparison revealed that people in the older group had brain changes that were similar to those seen in people with severe COVID-19.
The work is preliminary and will need to be confirmed using complementary approaches, says Daniel Martins-de-Souza, head of proteomics at the University of Campinas in Brazil. But it is an informative study, he says, and such research could ultimately guide treatment for people who have lingering cognitive difficulties after COVID-19.
Inflammatory effect
Mavrikaki suspects that COVID-19's effects on gene activity are caused indirectly, by inflammation, rather than by viral infiltration of the brain. Supporting this interpretation, she and her colleagues found that exposing laboratory-cultured neurons to proteins that promote inflammation affected the activity of a subset of the aging-related genes.
But it's possible that this response might also be triggered by other infections, she says. And the study could not fully control for obesity or other conditions that might both increase a person's chances of developing severe COVID-19 and generate an inflammatory state that affects gene expression in the brain.
Another key question is whether the changes in gene expression are associated only with severe cases of COVID-19, or if milder disease can also cause them, says Bugiani. In March, a study of hundreds of brain images collected by the UK Biobank found that even mild disease could cause changes in the brain, including damage to the regions involved in smell and taste.
It will take time to determine whether the changes observed in the study are transient or are there to stay, Bugiani says. "The duration of the pandemic has now been long enough to see these things, but not long enough to establish if they are permanent," she says. "We don't yet know what their real consequences will be."
Why does COVID-19 cause brain fog? Scientists may finally have an answer.
Nearly 40 percent of long COVID patients suffer from the disorienting condition. Destroyed connections between brain cells may be to blame.
When scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden infected brain organoids—pinhead-size bits of brain tissue grown in the lab—with the virus that causes COVID, they found that it accelerated the destruction of connections between neurons called synapses.
The discovery adds to the growing understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 enters the central nervous system and causes disease. In the last two years, scientists have documented long-lasting neural and behavioral problems in COVID-19 patients. One such condition, known as brain fog, causes disorientation, memory loss, chronic headache, and numbness, and it affects nearly 40 percent of long COVID patients.
Carl Sellgren, a psychiatrist and cellular biologist, and his team at the Karolinska Institute decided to use the organoids to try to learn what SARS-CoV-2 does to brain and whether it might help explain the neurological symptoms.
Their research has led them to conclude that destroying too many connections between neurons, or over-pruning, may be causing brain fog in long COVID patients. "This could be one of the many reasons—probably—why we are observing a range of neurological symptoms, even after the infection is long gone," says Samudyata, a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institute who led the study and goes by one name.
Ana Osório Oliveira, a co-author and neuroscientist in Sellgren's lab, says, "It was quite striking that very small amounts of the virus could quite rapidly spread in the organoids and eliminate an excessive number of synapses." The research was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
"This study fits in nicely with ours and several others," says Madeline Lancaster, a neurobiologist at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, U.K. Using brain organoids, Lancaster's research has revealed that SARS-CoV-2 damages the protective barrier of the brain. When this barrier is breached, pathogens, aberrant immune cells, and inflammatory compounds, can enter the cerebrospinal fluid and the brain.
Pruning connections between neurons is essential for learning
The brain is made of a dense and dynamic network of nerve cells that communicate through synapses that change as humans learn. "Synapses are essentially how cells talk to each other and how information is passed from one part of the brain to another," Lancaster says.
Synapses are responsible for all the functions of the brain, from memory to controlling movement to feeling emotions—and they are constantly remodeled. "That's how we learn," she says.
The junctions between neurons that talk to each other frequently have more knob-shaped ends that produce neurotransmitters—chemicals that transmit signals to other neurons—which then travel across gaps between neurons known as a synaptic cleft. Conversely, neurons that that communicate less, or not at all, have fewer synapses because they are removed, or pruned, by immune cells called microglia. Microglia make up to 17 percent of the cell population in some parts of human brain and perform housekeeping duties by migrating through the brain eating dead cells and scavenging weak synapses.
Although synaptic pruning is most active in developing brains such as in fetuses and infants, it continues in healthy brains throughout life and is necessary for encoding new memories and erasing the ones the brain no longer needs. Synaptic pruning is also critical for the brain to recover from an injury; strengthening synapses as the lost skills are relearned and removing those that no longer function.
Using brain organoids to study neural damage
Studying a direct link between COVID-19 and cognitive dysfunction, such as brain fog, is difficult in living brains. That is why studies are often limited to cadavers of COVID-19 patients. But brain organoids, called mini-brains, allow scientists to see in real time how SARS-CoV-2 affects living tissue.
Using brain organoids, Oliveira and her colleagues found that the virus itself was not directly pruning the synaptic connections but was activating the microglia.
"We found that following infection by SARS-CoV-2, somehow the microglia become immunoreactive, and eat more of the synapses than normal," Samudyata says.
The study is important because it clearly shows the quantitative differences in the microglial activity after COVID-19 and its effect on synapses, says Ayush Batra, a neurologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
But too much synapse pruning can be detrimental and has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia, as well as neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
If the excessive elimination of synapses that occurs in brain organoids after SARS-CoV-2 infection also occurs in people, it may destroy vital connections and explain why some with COVID-19 suffer from long-term neurological symptoms.
"Too much synapse elimination would be expected to affect a person's ability to form new memories, or to remember existing ones, and could help explain the sluggish brain functions seen in brain fog," Lancaster says.
This is consistent with studies done at the U.S. National Institutes of Health that have found antibodies produced in response to SARS-CoV-2 can attack the cells lining the brain's blood vessels, causing damage and inflammation—which activates microglia—even if the virus doesn't directly enter the brain. That may explain why, as Batra's team has shown, some long COVID patients not sick enough to be hospitalized continue to experience neurologic symptoms beyond a year after initial infection.
Is the loss of synapses causing brain shrinkage?
A U.K. study has also shown that even mild COVID-19 can shrink the brain through loss of gray matter—the outermost layer of the brain that is made up of cell bodies and is vital for controlling movement, memory, and emotions—causing physical changes equivalent to a decade of aging. "We are still unclear what may contribute, in general, to a loss of gray matter volume or thickness observed using MRI," says Gwenaëlle Douaud, a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford who led the study.
While synapse elimination, as shown in Samudyata's study, could account for a small percentage of the change in the gray matter, says Douaud, more studies combining imaging with tissue sections are required to determine the other factors that lead to brain shrinkage.
Hyperactive microglia may cause problems in other ways. The current study also shows that the pattern of genes turned on and off by the microglia in brain organoids after SARS-CoV-2 infection mimicked gene activity seen in neurodegenerative disorders. This may explain why there is a three times higher risk of developing neurological or psychiatric conditions within six months after COVID-19 compared with those who were not infected. In adults aged over 65, the risk of developing dementia after a COVID-19 infection is almost twice that from other respiratory infections.
However, scientists caution that much more research is needed to understand the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the brain. As organoids resemble immature cells—like those in a fetal or post-natal state—this limits extrapolation of the results to mature adult brain cells.
"While these data are exciting and indicate a role for proinflammatory microglia in the disease mechanisms underlying long COVID, more studies are required to validate these findings and build on them," says Oliver Harschnitz, group leader in the Neurogenomics Research Centre at Human Technopole Institute in Milan, Italy.
It's also not known whether long COVID has irreversible effects on the brain. So as the pace of holiday and indoor winter activities picks up, Samudyata advises taking preventative measures and staying up to date on vaccinations to minimize the chance of getting COVID over and over. While it isn't clear how the virus exerts detrimental effects on the brain, it's evident that it does cause damage.
How do you know if you have long COVID?
There is no single diagnostic test for it, and no medical consensus about what symptoms it encompasses. Experts weigh in on what you can do if you still feel sick.
A few days after Michele Hart tested negative following a COVID infection in June 2022, she started participating in virtual meetings for her job. But after each call, she crawled back into bed to rest. When she returned home from a three-day work trip, more than a week after her negative test, she spent the entire weekend in bed recovering. An avid runner and hiker, she had stopped doing both because she was tired and, she thought, possibly depressed. She wondered if she would ever feel well again.
"One of the things I found myself doing after that initial 10 days was, at least once a day, Googling something like, 'When will I be better?'" says Hart, 45, a product specialist for a school curriculum company. The answers were frustrating: "Hang in there. Some people have it like this. Some people have it like that."
A long COVID patient began her day waiting in the exam room for the first of four doctor appointments. An active athlete, since having long COVID she gets fatigued more easily. She had to reteach herself how to dribble a basketball.PHOTOGRAPH BY JACKIE MOLLOY
COVID symptoms often don't end when people test negative, which usually happens after about 10 days. Symptoms can last for weeks, months, or more. In one of the latest studies on lingering symptoms, researchers in Scotland surveyed more than 31,000 people who'd had symptomatic infections and found that 42 percent reported they had not fully recovered between six and 18 months after their infection began.
But when do ongoing COVID symptoms officially become long COVID, and how can someone know if they have a chronic condition or symptoms that will go away eventually?
Those are tricky questions without satisfying answers, says Michael VanElzakker, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Long COVID, while an active area of research, is not a clearly defined condition with specific medical criteria. There is no single diagnostic test to confirm it and no easy way to explain what is causing symptoms. Many studies are ongoing, but answers are still a work in progress.
"A core question still remains," VanElzakker says. "Why do some people seem to fully recover, and some don't?"
What is long COVID?
There is still no medical consensus about what the condition should be called, which symptoms it encompasses, how long a person must be sick before being diagnosed with it, or exactly how many people experience it.
Symptoms need to persist for at least three months after a probable or confirmed COVID infection to meet the World Health Organization's definition of a post-COVID condition. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers four weeks long enough to suspect long COVID, which is also called post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), long-haul COVID, chronic COVID, and other names.
After multiple large studies it still isn't clear how many people are suffering from long-term symptoms, which are wide ranging. A study conducted in Germany identified 96 potential symptoms and found many of them in people who'd had prior infections. For young people, the most common symptoms included fatigue, cough, throat and chest pain, headache, fever, abdominal pain, anxiety, and depression. For adults, frequent ongoing symptoms included changes to smell and taste, fever, trouble breathing, coughing, throat and chest pain, hair loss, fatigue, exhaustion, and headache.
The Scottish study considered 26 persistent symptoms, including headaches, loss of taste and smell, tiredness, heart palpitations, constipation, breathlessness, joint pain, dizziness, and depression. But complicating the issue of diagnosis was that people who hadn't tested positive for COVID also experienced many of those same symptoms.
While 42 percent of people in the Scottish study had some lingering symptoms, an additional 6 percent said they hadn't recovered at all. German researchers found that adults, kids, and adolescents with a prior COVID infection were about 30 percent more likely than people without a positive COVID test to report a new condition more than three months after their infection. About 14 percent of more than 41,000 of people who responded to a CDC survey in October reported having persistent symptoms at least three months after a COVID infection.
Across studies, it looks like somewhere between one in five and one in 20 people end up with long COVID symptoms, says David Putrino, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. To him, the exact number is less important than the reality of the implications. "If any of those are true, it's an enormous number," he says. "My clinic already has a six-month waitlist crammed out the door. None of us are sleeping. We're all just treating 24/7."
Will I get better?
Also unclear is the prognosis for people with lingering symptoms. Most patients who visit Mount Sinai's Center for Post-COVID Care show some improvement within the first three months of rehab even if they experience setbacks or don't feel fully recovered, Putrino says. But about 10 percent don't improve.
Some might ultimately meet the criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome, known shorthand as ME/CFS, a chronic condition that can be caused by viral infections. About 10 percent of people with severe cases of Epstein-Barr go on to develop ME/CFS, VanElzakker says. He suspects this will happen to a subset of long COVID patients.
On the flip side are people with lingering issues that ultimately go away, says VanElzakker, who lost patches of hair from his beard for several months after his own bouts with the virus. "Simply because someone doesn't feel better after three weeks," he says, "doesn't mean they're never going to get better."
What is causing it?
For people with ongoing symptoms, there are many potential causes, experts say, and understanding them can help guide treatment. One active area of research suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, might stick around in some people's bodies, driving inflammation and symptoms long after rapid COVID tests come up negative. In a study of 44 people who died from or with COVID in 2020 and 2021, researchers found evidence of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in organs including the brain, heart, and intestines that had persisted for as long as seven months, even in people who were asymptomatic. The virus replicated within tissues for up to three months in some people, the study found.
Viral reservoirs are hard to detect in living patients because they don't show up in blood tests, VanElzakker says. He has co-founded a nonprofit called Polybio to investigate infection-associated chronic conditions like long COVID. The organization is funding research to collect gut samples from long COVID patients, and another that will collect lung tissue. He suspects that identifying where the virus ends up settling could explain the wide range of long COVID symptoms. If reservoirs get established in the gut, they could cause ongoing diarrhea, for example. In the lungs, they could cause coughing and shortness of breath.
As researchers compile evidence for viral reservoirs and other possible causes of long-term symptoms, the work is starting to guide treatment that recognizes the importance of individualized care, Putrino says. A patient with lingering symptoms from severe pneumonia and intubation, for instance, might benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation that pushes them to exert themselves. But the same kind of rehab can be disastrous for someone with post-exertional malaise who meets the criteria for ME/CFS. Antivirals might end up helping people with persistent reservoirs of COVID, but it doesn't make sense to give these drugs to everyone with long COVID.
"Our job now is to understand who's who in this big broad diagnostic catchall," Putrino says, "so that we can start to engage in precision medicine."
What should I do if I still feel sick?
If symptoms persist beyond four weeks, it's probably time to talk with your doctor about checking your heart and lungs and running other basic tests, Putrino says. If you get to 12 weeks, he recommends a more aggressive approach with a physician or high-quality clinic that is familiar with long COVID.
Because the pandemic has been such a difficult time in so many ways, a careful check of both physical and mental health can start to distinguish between the mix of problems people might be experiencing right now, says Lucinda Bateman, medical director of the Bateman Horn Center, a nonprofit focused on research into ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and related conditions.
Some health issues that started after a COVID infection may be related to the severe stress of living through a pandemic or to missed medical appointments due to lockdowns, clinic closures, and overbooked doctors.
For people who have been to general practitioners and specialists and still don't have an answer, clinicians knowledgeable about ME/CFS could be helpful. They might look for signs of mast cell activation, a type of hyper-inflammation, Bateman says. Or they might consider dysautonomia, which is dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system that can be detected by looking for a drop in blood pressure or spike in heart rate when standing up. These conditions are tricky to diagnose because they can affect multiple systems and produce symptoms throughout the body, but distinctions can make a difference in medical guidance.
People don't usually get diagnosed with ME/CFS until they have been sick for between two and five years presumably, Bateman says, because doctors have not been taught about the illness. One hope is that, with an emerging cohort of long COVID patients, clinicians might be able to catch cases earlier and prevent them from progressing—by, for example, limiting physical and even cognitive activity during recovery for some people. "We're a culture of high-achieving and of pushing through pain, and that's the wrong advice for some conditions," she says, "particularly for post-viral conditions that relapse with activity."
As for Hart, her turning point came on the Fourth of July, after about a month of being sick, when she went to a concert and found that she was able to dance. There were ups and down for a couple of weeks after that, but now, six months later, she is back to full speed. "I couldn't do anything for like six weeks," she says. "But then I was fine."
Omicron variant XBB.1.5 is the most contagious yet
A highly contagious subvariant of Omicron called XBB.1.5 is now the dominant strain spreading in the United States. Early data suggests it's more evasive than other variants, efficiently dodging previously acquired immunity and raising concerns among public health officials about a possible winter wave.
In December alone, XBB.1.5 grew from causing fewer than 1 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide to more than 40 percent, rapidly out-competing other variants. In northeastern states it caused more than 75 percent of all cases for the week beginning December 25, although there is no data yet to indicate whether it causes more severe disease.
"It is the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet," said Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead for COVID-19 response at the World Health Organization, during a news conference. Scientists estimate that someone infected with XBB.1.5 can cause 60 percent more infections than a person infected with its parent strains.
XBB.1.5 was first detected in New York and Connecticut in late October but has since been detected in at least 29 other countries. While it accounts for less than 5 percent of current cases worldwide, it seems to be doubling within eight to 15 days, making it the fastest-spreading SARS-CoV-2 variant to date. In fact, XBB.1.5 might be far more widespread, according to Kerkhove, since it's difficult to tell as genomic sequencing efforts for monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 have declined around the world.
Where did XBB.1.5 come from?
XBB.1.5 descended from variant XBB.1, which arose from XBB—the fusion of two Omicron BA.2 variants. Its grandparental strain, XBB, and its parental strain XBB.1—responsible for a surge of COVID-19 cases in parts of Asia in October and November 2022—were able to evade immunity conferred by previous infections and the bivalent boosters that were specifically designed to block Omicron variants, according to a report published in Nature in December. In Singapore, XBB subvariants caused a large number of breakthrough infections and reinfections, although hospitalization rates remained low.
How is the new variant different?
The XBB.1.5 variant features a new mutation at the 486 position of the spike, which is the protein the virus uses to bind to the ACE2 receptor protein on cells in the human respiratory tract. Mathematical models predicted that a change in the spike protein at this position would allow a variant to escape previous antibodies. Those predictions seem to be correct.
"The mutation brings higher ACE2 binding while maintaining XBB.1's extremely high immune evasion capability," says Yunlong Cao, of Peking University in China, based on his preliminary research exploring the enhanced contagiousness of XBB.1.5, which is not yet peer reviewed.
Cao's preliminary research also shows that some monoclonal antibody therapies, such as Evusheld and Bebtelovimab, do not block XBB.1.5, although Sotrovimab provided weak protection.
Does the bivalent booster protect against XBB.1.5?
It's too early to know how the current bivalent booster—which targets previous Omicron strains BA.4 and BA.5, as well as the original coronavirus would protect against XBB.1.5. However, recent research on the parental strains of XBB.1.5 led by Mehul Suthar, an immunologist at Emory University School of Medicine, shows that people who got the bivalent booster, as well as those who were recently infected with an Omicron variant, had slightly higher levels of protective antibodies.
"Bivalent boosters seem to be working the way they are supposed to," says Suthar, by shifting our immunity towards Omicron variants. He speculates that the bivalent booster would provide some protection against XBB.1.5, based on its similarity to other Omicron variants. But his research also suggests that even the bivalent booster may not block XBB.1.5 breakthrough infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that bivalent boosters reduced COVID-19 hospitalizations by more than 90 percent through November, which is the latest data available. This means even if the boosters may not prevent infections, they may still save lives.
"It is difficult to say anything about pathogenicity of XBB.1.5 yet," says Kei Sato, a virologist at the University of Tokyo, since there are no data yet. However, Sato's preliminary work, not yet peer reviewed, on parent strain XBB has shown that the virus attaches more tightly to human cells than other Omicron variants, such as BA.2.75 and BA.2, which suggests it might cause more severe disease. But when hamsters were infected with XBB, the disease symptoms were no worse than those caused by BA.2.75. "We do not have any ideas explaining this discrepancy yet," says Sato.
Will XBB.1.5 drag out the pandemic?
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have risen by 17 percent in the last week, according to the latest CDC data, leading scientists to worry that even without causing more serious disease, a highly contagious XBB.1.5 could worsen the course of the now three-year-long pandemic. Large number of COVID-19 cases can still overwhelm hospitals, where resources are already stretched thin with the high number of RSV and flu respiratory infections.
People ages 65 and older are the most vulnerable to the complications due to COVID-19. Yet, just slightly more than a third of these Americans have received the bivalent booster, leaving them vulnerable to XBB.1.5. When it comes to the U.S. population, nearly 85 percent of those eligible have not received the bivalent shot.
"When infections are high, many people will be affected," says Marc Veldhoen, an immunologist at the Institute of Molecular Medicine in Lisbon, Portugal. "More infections hold more risk, more likelihood of symptoms, and unfortunately, high circulation means many vulnerable [people] will be infected and we will see more people in hospitals."
CDC Investigating Possible Link Between COVID Vaccine and Increased Risk of Stroke
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has gently dipped its official toe into concerns that there could be a link between COVID-19 vaccines and strokes.
A statement released Friday by the CDC concerning the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine said the possibility exists of a link between the bivalent form of the vaccine and stroke, all the while insisting that Americans should be vaccinated.
So what is a bivalent vaccine? "The bivalent COVID-19 vaccines include a component of the original virus strain to provide broad protection against COVID-19 and a component of the omicron variant to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant," the FDA says on its website.
The FDA said the bivalent Pfizer vaccine is used as a booster for those who have had their initial vaccinations.
The CDC release said that the U.S. government has "safety monitoring systems" in place to detect "possible safety signals for vaccines."
In this case, the release said, the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink prompted agencies to launch an investigation into Pfizer-BioNTech's bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.
The issue, it said, is "a safety concern for ischemic stroke in people ages 65 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent."
"Rapid-response investigation of the signal in the VSD raised a question of whether people 65 and older who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent were more likely to have an ischemic stroke in the 21 days following vaccination compared with days 22-44 following vaccination," the CDC release said.
The release said no such issue had been found with the Moderna bivalent vaccine. It cautioned that "these safety systems detect signals that could be due to factors other than the vaccine itself" and said no other monitoring system had raised the alarm.
Are you worried about the possible side effects of the COVID vaccine?Yes No
The agency added that various studies using Medicaid and Veterans Affairs databases have shown no such concern, nor has research in other countries.
"Although the totality of the data currently suggests that it is very unlikely that the signal in VSD represents a true clinical risk, we believe it is important to share this information with the public," the CDC said, adding that "no change in vaccination practice is recommended."
Pfizer offered a statement in reply to the CDC, according to Fox News.
"Pfizer and BioNTech have been made aware of limited reports of ischemic stroke that have been observed in the CDC Vaccine Safety DataLink (VSD) database in people 65 and older following vaccination with the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech."
"Neither Pfizer and BioNTech nor the CDC or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have observed similar findings across numerous other monitoring systems in the U.S. and globally and there is no evidence to conclude that ischemic stroke is associated with the use of the companies' COVID-19 vaccines," the statement said.
"Compared to published incidence rates of ischemic stroke in this older population, the companies to date have observed a lower number of reported ischemic strokes following the vaccination with the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent vaccine."
Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News medical contributor, said the CDC's release is not proof of a link between the vaccine and strokes.
"This is not proof. This is that they see there may be a link here, and they want to investigate it, and they're trying to be transparent," he said.
Republican Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers called for the CDC and FDA to "rapidly investigate, in an open and transparent manner, whether or not the vaccine may have contributed to the reported strokes," according to Politico.
"If there's one lesson that the CDC and FDA should have taken away from the pandemic, it's the importance of providing honest, clear, precise, and timely information to the American people about the potential risks and benefits of COVID-19 interventions, including vaccination," she said.
COVID-19 Leads to an Alarming Rise in Heart Attacks
nationalgeographic.com, "COVID rebounds aren't definitively linked to Paxlovid—here's what we know: Rising numbers of people are getting sick again within days of testing negative. But the reasons why are murky, including unclear links to antiviral drugs." By Meryl Davids Landau; dailywire.com, "Doctors Sue Biden Admin, Big Tech Over COVID Censorship."; dpbh.nv.gov, "At least 69 athletes collapse in one month, many dead
The reports of athletes who suddenly collapse have been increasing noticeably lately. Heart
problems such as heart inflammation are often the cause – one of the known life-threatening side effects of Covid vaccines, which even the manufacturers themselves warn against." By Bruce Foster; nationalgeographic.com, "COVID-19 took a unique toll on undocumented immigrants: The pandemic compounded barriers to accessing medical care—and many continue to delay or forgo treatment." By Priyanka Runwal; nature.com, "What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns: Restrictions on social contact stemmed disease spread, but weighing up the ultimate costs and benefits of lockdown measures is a challenge." By Dyani Lewis; theatlantic.com, "One of Long COVID's Worst Symptoms Is Also Its Most Misunderstood: Brain fog isn't like a hangover or depression. It's a disorder of executive function that makes basic cognitive tasks absurdly hard." By Ed Yong; nationalgeographic.com, "Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? President Joe Biden said that the pandemic has ended. Here's what scientists say." By Priyanka Runwal; nationalgeographic.com, "Could COVID-19 trigger depression? Experts say yes—but not for the reasons you might expect." By Stacey Colino;
theepochtimes.com, "'Speed of Science' — A Scandal Beyond Your Wildest Nightmare: It was never about science or protecting others." By Joseph Mercola; nationalgeographic.com, "COVID-19 can interfere with your period in many ways. Here's how. Physicians failed to warn women about the expected temporary disruptions to their periods after the vaccine, and the more significant issues after a severe bout of COVID-19." BY MERYL DAVIDS LANDAU; nationalgeographic.com, "COVID-19 can ruin your sleep in many different ways—here's why." By Emily Sohn; "The Most Dangerous Book Ever OPublished: Deadly Deception Exposed!" By Soren Roest Korsgard, Jerry Day, Dr. Paul Crqaig Roberts, James Corbett, Dr. Gideon Polya, John Remington Graham, and D. Reiner Fuellmich; nationalgeographic.com, "Why does COVID-19 cause brain fog? Scientists may finally have an answer. Nearly 40 percent of long COVID patients suffer from the disorienting condition. Destroyed connections between brain cells may be to blame." BY SANJAY MISHRA;
nature.com, "Severe COVID could cause markers of old age in the brain: Key genes that are active in the brains of older people are also active in the brains of people who developed serious COVID-19." by Heidi Ledford; nationalgeographic.com, "How do you know if you have long COVID? There is no single diagnostic test for it, and no medical consensus about what symptoms it encompasses. Experts weigh in on what you can do if you still feel sick." By Emily Sohn; nationalgeographic.com, "Omicron variant XBB.1.5 is the most contagious yet." By Sanjay Mishra; westernjournal.com, "CDC Investigating Possible Link Between COVID Vaccine and Increased Risk of Stroke." By Jack Davis; People, December 26, 2022. "COVID-19 Leads to an Alarming Rise in Heart Attacks." By Vanesa Etiens;
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Fibroid Tumors–Hormonal or Environmental Causes?
What Does Having Transgender Surgery Mean to the Recipient? | he say that when preventing infection has never been tested? Is that not evidence of fraud, caught on camera?
As I stated in February 2021, the shots are a medical fraud. A true vaccine prevents infection; COVID shots don't. Hence, they've also been fraudulently marketed. Governments around the world enabled this marketing fraud and media promulgated it.
As a result of mandating COVID shots and vaccine passports based on a blatant lie, millions have suffered potentially permanent harm and/or have died. Millions have also lost their jobs, forfeited careers and missed out on educational opportunities. This all happened because we DIDN'T follow the science.
Massive Conflicts of Interest Have Been Allowed
Why did government agencies go along with what was, to anyone with a microgram of critical thinking skills, an apparent fraud? Probably, because they're in on it. As reported by investigative journalist Paul Thacker, the same PR company that serves Moderna and Pfizer also staffs the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Viral Diseases team:8
"Early last month [September 2022], CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky endorsed recommendations by the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
'This recommendation followed a comprehensive scientific evaluation and robust scientific discussion,' Dr. Walensky said in a statement. 'If you are eligible, there is no bad time to get your COVID-19 booster and I strongly encourage you to receive it' …
[The] PR firm Weber Shandwick, which has long represented Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies and began providing public relations support to Moderna sometime in 2020.
In an odd case of synchronicity — and let's be honest, a whiff of undue influence — Weber Shandwick employees are also embedded at the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), the CDC group that implements vaccine programs and oversees the work of ACIP [CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] …
The CDC has refused to respond to questions explaining this apparent conflict … '[It] is irresponsible of CDC to issue a PR contract to Weber Shandwick, knowing that the firm also works for Moderna and Pfizer,' emailed Public Citizen's Craig Holman. 'It raises legitimate questions of whose interests Weber Shandwick will put first — their private sector clients or the public's interest at NCIRD.'"
Incidentally, Weber Shandwick was in 2016 found to have ghostwritten a drug study for Forest Pharmaceuticals — another unethical practice that has undermined the foundation of medical science for decades.
One PR Company, One Consistent Message
Weber Shandwick's responsibilities at the CDC include but are not limited to "generating story ideas, distributing articles and conducting outreach to news, media and entertainment organizations" to boost vaccination rates.9 The company provides similar services to Moderna.
For example, it helped generate 7,000 news articles internationally after Moderna applied for emergency use authorization (EUA) for its jab.
In June 2022, Moderna announced a "cross-discipline team drawing on talent and expertise from Weber Shandwick" would "drive the brand's narrative globally," and "support Moderna in activating and engaging key internal and external audiences, including employees, consumers, health care providers, vaccine recipients and policymakers."10
Considering the primary COVID jab makers have the same PR company as the CDC, is it any wonder that the messaging has been so consistently one-sided? As noted by Doshi in a recent interview on German television,11 mainstream media have consistently ignored COVID jab data and have "not done a good job in providing balanced coverage" about the shots.
"We're not getting the information we need to make better choices and to have a more informed understanding of risk and benefit," he told the interviewer, adding:12
"It was very unfortunate that from the beginning, what was presented to us by public health officials was a picture of great certainty … but the reality was that there were extremely important unknowns.
We entered a situation where essentially the stakes became too high to later present that uncertainty to people. I think that's what set us off on the wrong foot. Public officials should have been a lot more forthright about the gaps in our knowledge."
Reanalysis of Trial Data Confirms COVID Shot Dangers
In late September 2022, Doshi published a risk-benefit analysis focused on serious adverse events observed in Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID trials. Reanalysis of the data showed 1 in 800 who get a COVID shot suffers a serious injury. As detailed in Doshi's paper:13
"Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were associated with an excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest of 10.1 and 15.1 per 10,000 vaccinated over placebo baselines of 17.6 and 42.2 respectively.
Combined, the mRNA vaccines were associated with an excess risk of serious adverse events of special interest of 12.5 per 10,000 vaccinated; risk ratio 1.43.
The Pfizer trial exhibited a 36 % higher risk of serious adverse events in the vaccine group … The Moderna trial exhibited a 6 % higher risk of serious adverse events in the vaccine group … Combined, there was a 16 % higher risk of serious adverse events in mRNA vaccine recipients …"
Doshi and his coauthors also concluded that the increase in adverse events from the shots surpassed the reduction in risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19. So, in short, the shots confer more harm than good.
Sen. Rand Paul Promises Investigation
A spokesperson for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., replied to an inquiry by Thacker stating, "[T]hat CDC had a contract with the same PR firm representing the manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine raises serious concerns," adding that "these conflicts of interest will be thoroughly investigated" by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) — which oversees the CDC — sometime next year.
After the November midterms, Paul will be next in line as the top Republican on this committee. It's well worth noting that, at bare minimum, this kind of conflict of interest should have been disclosed by both parties. At best, it should have been avoided altogether. The CDC did neither. It didn't disclose its relationship with the PR firm and it didn't prevent the conflict of interest from developing in the first place.
What Was the COVID Jab Push All About?
The rational take-home from all this is that the massive push to inject the global population with these experimental jabs was never about following science and protecting others.
It was always about promoting a false, invented narrative designed to allow for the implementation of a top-down directive to inject every person on the planet with a novel mRNA technology. This, in turn, brings up two central questions:
•Who's at the top? — We don't yet know. All we can say for sure is that they have a very powerful and global influence — powerful enough that government officials have willingly lied and sacrificed their own populations in an incredibly risky medical experiment.
•Why is injecting everyone with mRNA technology so important to the anonymous decision-makers? — Again, we don't know, but it's quite clear that there's a reason for it, that it's supposed to accomplish something.
As detailed in previous articles, the only rational reason for why the CDC is allowing COVID jab EUA's for young children is because they're assisting drug makers in their effort to obtain liability shielding by getting the shots onto the childhood vaccination schedule.
ACIP is poised to add COVID shots to the childhood vaccination schedule any day now,14 and once on the childhood schedule, vaccine makers will not be liable for injuries and deaths occurring from their shots, whether they occur in children or adults.
Also, remember that even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer's Comirnaty COVID shot, Comirnaty was never released to the public. The Pfizer shot being given is still under EUA.
Why was Comirnaty never released? Probably because once the shot has full FDA approval, liability kicks in. It appears they're trying to avoid liability by getting the EUA shot on the childhood schedule before Comirnaty is rolled out and starts injuring and killing people.
Now, if they're concerned about liability, that means they know the shot is dangerous. And if they know it's dangerous (which all available data clearly show it is), then why do they want every person on the planet to get it?
Following this line of questioning to its logical conclusion leads us to the shocking conclusion that even though we don't know the reasons why, the injuries and deaths from these jabs could be intentional?
Vaccine Makers Continue to Spread Lies
Despite Small's unequivocally clear admission that Pfizer has not tested its COVID shot to ascertain whether it prevents transmission, Pfizer's CEO still does not shy away from insinuating as much. Here's what he tweeted out October 12, 2022.15 He's not saying the shot has been confirmed to prevent COVID, but he insinuates that it does by saying the FDA authorized it for the prevention of COVID. This is also known as lying by omission.
Meanwhile, so-called fact checkers are trying to salvage Pfizer's reputation by saying the company never actually stated the shot would stop transmission.16 That may be so, but government officials and media DID claim it would prevent both infection and spread, and Pfizer never corrected them, even as people were being fired and ostracized from society for not taking the jab.
If they were truly on the up-and-up, Pfizer officials would have clarified that the shot had not been tested to confirm it would prevent transmission, and until that was known, mandates and passports had no basis. Pfizer didn't do that. Instead, they went along with it.
In conclusion, there's no reason to trust government ever again, at least not in the U.S., which stands alone in pushing the jab on toddlers. (The reason for that, as mentioned earlier, is probably to get the jabs onto the childhood vaccination schedule, which will shield the vaccine makers from financial liability for harms.)
As noted by GB News host Neil Oliver in the video above, the very basis for COVID mandates or vaccine passports — that everyone had to get jabbed for the greater good, to protect others and help end the pandemic — was a deliberate lie from the start.
Many of us realized this early on, but our voices were drowned out as government, Big Tech and media pulled out all the stops, censoring anyone who told the truth. And all who have participated in this grand deception remain unrepentant to this day.
In a recent Twitter thread, a Twitter user named Daniel Hadas lays out an excellent description of what the last three years were really about:17
"The debate over whether, when, and to what extent lies were told about COVID vaccines preventing transmission misses a central point: No matter what the trial data showed, the vaccines were ALWAYS going to be pushed on entire populations, by fair means or foul.
Very early on, the COVID response was locked into a specific narrative. The world would lock down and stay safe, while brave scientists hammered away at a vaccine … You may recall that, in the first months of COVID, there was a lot of breathless talk about whether there would EVER be a vaccine.
This was all nonsense … Our authorities would not have adopted the strategy of lockdown-till-vaccine unless they were certain a vaccine could and would be made …
The purpose of sowing fear that there might never be a vaccine was to increase gratitude and enthusiasm when one came along. Indeed, every part of the early COVID response can be understood as (in part) pre-release marketing for the vaccine …
That's why COVID risks for the young were wildly amplified. That's why there was unending obfuscation of the central role of infection-conferred immunity both in protecting individuals and in ending the pandemic.
The plan was that the vaccine would be met by a perfectly primed population: immunologically naive, desperate to be released from lockdowns, terrified of COVID, eager to do the right thing, i.e. protect others through taking the shots.
Once so much effort had gone into priming, it is UNIMAGINABLE that authorities would have pivoted to telling us … 'Well, actually, the vaccine's safety profile is only so-so, efficacy is murky, and most people don't need to worry about COVID anyway. So best most of you not take this … Sorry about the lockdowns.'
That was not in the script. So it was inevitable that the vaccine be pushed on everyone, and inevitable that the best arguments for universal vaccination would be used. Those arguments were: COVID is super-dangerous for YOU. Distrust in this vaccine is distrust in science. Refusing to get vaccinated is immoral, because you will infect others.
The veracity of these claims didn't matter: they were in the script, and it was too late to deviate … Accordingly, the stage was also set for vaccine mandates.
None of this is conspiratorial. It is descriptive … Clarifying the details won't alter the essence of the picture — The COVID response was determined by a script of vaccine salvation, and societies' investment in that script was too deep for mere realities to divert its execution."
The primary questions that still remain unanswered are: Why was this script created? What are its intended consequences? And, who created it? As mentioned earlier, the evidence suggests harm is an intended outcome — harm to our economy, our social order, our health, our life span and reproductive capacity.
As for "why," we can just look at what has been accomplished so far.
Originally published October 24, 2022 on Mercola.com
1 New York Times July 24, 2021 (Archived)
2 News.com.au October 12, 2022
3 Twitter Rob Roos October 11, 2022
4, 5 The BMJ 2020;371:m4037
6 Twitter Pfizer January 13, 2021
7 Twitter Dr. Eli David October 18, 2022
8, 9, 10 Disinformation Chronicle October 11, 2022
11, 12 Maryanne Demasi Substack October 17, 2022
13 Vaccine September 22, 2022; 40(40): 5798-5805
14 Steve Kirsch Substack October 17, 2022
15 Twitter Dr. Eli David October 13, 2022
16 Twitter Lewis U October 14, 2022
17 Twitter Daniel Hadas October 15, 2022
COVID-19 can interfere with your period in many ways. Here's how.
Physicians failed to warn women about the expected temporary disruptions to their periods after the vaccine, and the more significant issues after a severe bout of COVID-19.
Raven La Fae, a 31-year-old artist in Calgary, Canada, has always been able to predict her menstrual period almost to the day—arriving every 28 days and lasting for five. But after contracting COVID-19, that's no longer the case.
La Fae's bout with the disease felled her for two miserable weeks. Her menstrual cycle landed during that time, so she wasn't surprised. What stunned her was how long it lasted—10 days.
"My period has been funky ever since," La Fae laments, and when she contracted COVID again, it became even less predictable. While the days between her cycles have mostly returned to baseline, bleeding lengths have not, lasting up to 13 days a month.
From the beginning of the pandemic, women worldwide began noticing changes to their menstrual cycles. In some cases, this happened after contracting the virus; in others, after receiving a vaccine. With so many women recording their cycles in period-tracking apps, researchers have been able to more easily document the phenomenon.
Physicians were taken off guard. La Fae's healthcare provider, after determining her hormones were normal, said she couldn't explain it. Women complained their doctors dismissed their hunch the virus might be linked to disrupted cycles.
"When COVID started we were worried about people dying, so other things were overlooked," admits Hugh Taylor, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale Medicine. In retrospect, Taylor says, women should have been alerted to this possibility. "We see irregular menstrual cycles with other acute infections, so it isn't surprising it happens here."
Poor messaging
Without research or reassurance from physicians, women were alarmed by the deviations in their periods, Taylor says, and for good reason: "We've been warning people for years that changes in a period might be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance, or even cancer."
When girls and women noticed unexpected shifts in their cycle after receiving a COVID shot, some second-guessed their decision to get a vaccine, says Candace Tingen, a program director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which has awarded $1.67 million to five research institutions to study the issue.
Tingen points out that her institute has long emphasized the importance of menstrual cycles to health. "We talk about it as a fifth vital sign," she says (the other four being body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and respiration).
Most concerning to younger women was whether these changes could reduce fertility, Taylor says. It wasn't until January that a study of 2,000 American couples published in the American Journal of Epidemiology resolved the question. Women trying to conceive who'd had the virus saw no decrease in fertility. Similarly, the COVID shot had no impact on conception rates.
Both virus and vaccine may temporarily alter menstruation
Scientists are still figuring out how many women have seen their menstrual cycles change, but it's clear the numbers are substantial. In a study of 127 women of childbearing-age in Arizona who had contracted COVID, 16 percent reported some alteration; most common were irregular cycles or longer gaps between bleeds. These shifts were more likely in those whose infection involved more symptoms or was more severe (but not to the point of hospitalization).
In this study, women also had increases in the premenstrual syndrome symptoms of mood changes and fatigue. "We think of the menstrual period as an acute event that occurs for a few days, but hormones are changing throughout the entire cycle," explains Leslie Farland, an epidemiology professor at the University of Arizona and the study's principal investigator.
Researchers in other countries report even greater percentages of women suffered changes to their periods after contracting COVID. A United Kingdom survey found nearly half the women reported alterations, primarily in cycle length and increased PMS, as did 47 percent of women from Jordan and Iraq, according to another study from the Middle East.
A study on the vaccine's effect funded by the National Institutes of Health published in January tracked 4,000 women from the U.S. who used one period tracking app. It found cycles shifted after the first shot, but only by an average of less than a day. Those whose second shot fell in the same cycle shifted by about two days, though in either case the length of bleeding wasn't altered, says Alison Edelman, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Oregon Health and Science University and the study's principal investigator. A second study by Edelman, of nearly 20,000 women in North America and Europe using the same app reported similar findings in September.
These slight changes occurred with all brands of the vaccines, and in most cases, they disappeared the following cycle. Still, 10 percent of the women saw their period shift by more than a week after either dose. However, these women were also back to normal soon after.
How does coronavirus change a period?
Exactly how the coronavirus or vaccine affects the menstrual cycle isn't clear.
One hypothesis posits that COVID-19 may affect what's known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. To begin each monthly cycle, the hypothalamus gland signals the pituitary gland to secrete two hormones that together release an egg from the ovaries.
It's possible the coronavirus affects the hypothalamus directly, Taylor says, but the body may also proactively decrease the activity of these glands if the virus is detected. "This has evolutionary advantages, because you don't want to get pregnant when you're fighting off a physical stressor, which could be an illness or malnutrition or the like," he explains.
Alternatively, the immune system engaged in fighting the virus could alter the normal inflammatory response of the uterine lining (endometrium) during the cycle, researchers recently suggested in the International Journal of Epidemiology.This may be why people who experienced a more intense bout of COVID—indicating a higher viral load and more immune activity—have higher rates of menstrual changes, as the University of Arizona study found.
That was the case for Annette Gillaspie, a 41-year-old registered nurse in Hillsboro, Oregon, who contracted COVID and was extremely ill for more than two weeks. She now has long COVID symptoms, including a fluctuating heart rate and fatigue so extreme a shower can send her to bed for days. Her periods are so unusually long and heavy—gushing for almost two weeks some months—that Gillaspie had a hormonal intrauterine device inserted. So far, it hasn't reduced her bleeding, and if she doesn't improve within a few months, she'll likely have a hysterectomy.
Vaccines trigger more minor shifts
Vaccines trigger the body's immune system response, albeit a smaller one than the disease, so the same mechanisms could be involved in their temporary menstrual cycle disruptions, Tingen says.
Disseminating this reassuring information to women so they know to expect this possible side effect is an important public health task, Tingen says.
Anyone whose cycle remains significantly altered for several months, however, should check with their healthcare provider, Taylor says. "My suspicion is that people on the cusp of a medical condition—thyroid abnormalities, hormonal irregularities, bleeding from fibroids—might be pushed over the edge" by the coronavirus or COVID vaccine.
Edelman hopes this will be a teaching moment for her profession. "Menstrual health has been woefully understudied, not just in vaccine trials but in almost every area of research," she says. "Yet half the population will, does, or has menstruated, and this routine biological function has meaning for the individual and for science."
COVID-19 can ruin your sleep in many different ways—here's why
Scientists are learning more about the havoc that viruses and bacteria wreak on sleep. Here's what you need to know about seeking care for insomnia.
Six weeks after a mild case of COVID-19 early in the pandemic, Erika Thornes started waking up every night between 2 and 3 a.m. Unable to fall back asleep, she would listen to podcasts, read, and scroll through Twitter before finally dozing off by 4 or 5 a.m. That was more than two years ago and Thornes, a mother to three teenagers in San Diego, still struggles to sleep through the night every now and then.
A similar thing happened to her husband during a recent COVID infection. He was suddenly waking up at 3 a.m. every night. His sleep improved when he stopped testing positive, but the symptom was extreme while it lasted. "He was quite shocked," she says. "He knew I was waking up, but I don't think he quite understood the severity of 'awake.'"
Nightmares. Days without sleep. Waking in a panic in the middle of the night. Sleeping for 18 hours a day. As COVID-1 | 5,005 |
The new dystopian craze set forth by none other than The Hunger Games has made a new television show emerge, that I'm happy to say shows promise. The NBC television drama, Revolution depicts a world much like ours—one completely dependent on electricity. The only difference is that due to a small group of rebels, the electricity has gone out, and no one really knows why. The world is ruled by fear, and more specifically by a militia who has stockpiled supplies.
Revolution's concept is truly intriguing and fascinating. A massive milita is run by a despot who, in addition to being a less than merciless leader, brands his soldiers. A group of survivors, however, is very determined to get to the bottom of the lack-of-electricity situation.
At this point in the series,<|fim_middle|> Burke), who, according to their dying father's wishes holds the secret to unraveling the mystery of the chaotic world they live in.
Meanwhile, the group is being hunted down by Captain Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito of Breaking Bad fame), determined to keep the Monroe Republic (the new militia under despotic rule) up and running, and keep the rebels, who want to bring back the now-collapsed United States from returning.
Much occurs in only the first few episodes. What I find the most interesting is that outside of a despot named Monroe and a lack of electricity, the world seems to be in pretty good shape. Sure, there are rebels that want to bring back America, and the world is a little disorderly. But, humanity has found a way to make it work. This dystopian society is one rung away from being normal. The world we live in now has its problems, and I think Abrams and company could make some very intriguing comparisons between our world and this new electricity lacking fictional world they've created.
There's plenty of intrigue right now for this show, and what I'm watching for now is what the producers and writers do with it. Revolution has the potential to become another Lost franchise, but only if they play their cards right. | we don't really know much of the characters. We know that two teens named Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) and her brother Danny (Graham Rogers) are most likely the integral cogs in the story. In J.J. Abrams-esque fashion (this is one of his projects), we don't really know the whole story. There's a mystery.
Much like The Hunger Games, there is a firecracker teen who seems to get it done, no matter what the cost—that's Charlie. The helpless one is the brother, who is an asthmatic. A former Google employee, Aaron (Zak Orth) tags along for fun. The teen duo, along with their former father's girlfriend (Anna Lise Phillips) and Aaron try to find their sarcastic and witty uncle Miles (Billy | 163 |
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Successfully negotiated and secured annual contracts in 2015/20<|fim_middle|> major accounts with a total annual spend of $2M.
Account list includes Boeing, Les Schwab, Seattle Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders FC, Car Toys, and Whole Foods.
Major contributor to National Accounts team goal in winning "Unit of the Quarter" Award for Q2 in 2012.
Surpassed quarterly sales goals in selling customized print and deliver insert program, direct mail and commercial print products to newly acquired local accounts.
Increased print insert revenue over 50% by establishing 10 new active accounts within first three months from local franchises including Denny's, Gold's Gym, and Grocery Outlet.
Key contributor to Target Marketing team goal to win "Unit of the Quarter" Award/Q3 of 2011.
Achieved and exceeded sales targets for a $30M title and escrow company by selling title insurance and escrow services to real estate brokers, agents and mortgage lenders.
Leveraged strong interpersonal communication skills to connect products and services to meet diverse client needs.
Achieved 30% increase in title business from current customer base by analyzing account history trends and assessing opportunities.
Key player in quarterly marketing meetings with King County sales team to brainstorm, design and implement effective marketing campaigns which increased market share by as much as 10%.
Earned recognition for contributing over $1M in annual sales revenue in 2007.
Achieved and surpassed sales and profit contribution targets in selling print and digital display ads for the 5th highest ranked H&L Magazine.
Developed and grew long-term relationships with targeted customers which included real estate brokers, agents, builders, and mortgage lenders.
Consistently met and exceeded annual sales goals by as much as 20% by identifying customer's needs and matching those with an array of products and services.
Increased customer base by more than 10% in less than a year.
Identified and acquired new business through consistent cold calls, routine office visits and group presentations.
Developed a sales action plan to target both existing and new customers.
Successfully sold and launched new ancillary products to supplement the magazine and grow the bottom line.
Spearheaded the development of new highly profitable supplementary products.
Worked closely with design, production and accounting to ensure a successful launch.
Received awards for "Over 10% Sales Growth" and " Most Pages Sold - Ever!" in 1994.
Most Pages Published" in the Homes & Land Publishing system from 1994 to 2004.
Where can I find a THE SEATTLE TIMES Digital Account Executive/Regional and Key Accounts resume example in Renton, Washington ?
This is an actual resume example of a Digital Account Executive/Regional and Key Accounts who works in the Account Management Industry. LiveCareer has 47604 Account Management resumes in its database. LiveCareer's Resume Directory contains real resumes created by subscribers using LiveCareer's Resume Builder. | 16 with agency and client for BECU and Seattle Sounders FC worth over $600K.
Efficiently manage 20+ active accounts each month with an annual billing of $1M+.
Awarded $90K Chase Bank campaign after successfully building, selling and managing initial $125K campaign. Worked with both internal partners and outside vendors to optimize both campaigns to ensure the best performance.
Excel in sales and management of targeted digital marketing solutions for both regional and key accounts with a total annual revenue of $1M+.
Key accounts include BECU, Puget Sound Energy, Washington's Lottery, Alaska Airlines, Seattle Sounders FC and Seahawks.
Specialize in the following verticals: Financial, Travel, Political, and Films. Work with regional and national agencies.
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<|fim_middle|> has capacity to read a ton of diagnostic issues with nearly any vehicle. This device is really an all-in-one tool designed to help the DIY'er (we all are right?) quickly find the issue with his (or her) car and find the correct way to fix it. Viewing the SRS and ABS data is also very helpful if you happen to have one of those codes present.
Don't like to wait? The scanner's live data system will help you get the information much faster (no more waiting 30 seconds for the refresh:) ). This product is also furnished with a backup system, which may be turned when testing your battery or if your car wont start. Easy to use. If you're like me, then you want to spend your time working on your truck and not reading the user manual!
Support for OBD1 is not as wide as I had hoped. If you need a scanner for OBD1, make sure you vehicle is supported and possibly look at other scan tools. Our friends from Canada might not be able to enjoy this scan tool as much as us in the United States. The Innova 3160 is created to match the United States territory laws, which means that it may not be compatible with Canada's vastly emission laws for example.
Overall, if you are looking for a simple, easy to use scan tool that supports ABS and SRS, then I would highly recommend the Innova 3160. The Live Data is a great feature for us who are more impatient than others… but I honestly don't think it's worth the extra price compared to the Innova 3150. | If you are looking for a simple, rugged, easy to use scan tool that reads and clears ABS, SRS and DTC's , then I would highly recommend the Innova 3160. The Live Data is a great feature for us who are more impatient than others… but I honestly don't think it's worth the extra price compared to the Innova 3150.
Quick author note: Hey all! Mike here with ScannerAnswers to bring you OBD2 code reader review. Today we're looking at the INNOVA 3160 Review. If you are looking into this scan tool, then I'd recommend also reading our Innova 3150 review. The Innova 3150 vs the 3160 have one big difference – The 3160 can show live data and gives you the option to playback and record this data. The 3150 only allows freeze frame data. So if you don't need the live data feature, save yourself same cash and pick up the Innova 3150.
For people looking for an excellent scan tool that can perform a mixture of different functions, and if your budget is $$$ , the Innova 3160 will be the perfect solution. This is certainly not the cheapest model on the market today, however, it comes with multiple features and accessories that add a little to the price. One of the main features setting this code reader apart from cheaper models is the ability to read & clear ABS and SRS codes. There is also an upgrade that lets you use the OBD1 feature… but we were unable to test this. This tool can be used for both home or professional use. The 3160 by Innova OBD2 code scanner is at the very top of its class regarding reliability and convenience.
Shows live data and lets you record it to play it back – Read and erase check-engine lights as well as SRS and ABS lights – Required tool for DIY'ers to save money and fix your own car!
Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) is the industry's manner of saying "air bags." Whenever you start your engine, the computer performs a check of the airbag system. If it identifies an error, an alert light turn on and it's likely that the airbags will not deploy in case of a collision. With the Innova 3160 you will have the ability to identify the problem and find a solution. Although air bag repair is always best fixed by a professional person, it really does help to have a tool which can direct you in the right direction.
One more essential safety-related feature on the Innova 3160 is the power to diagnose the Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) codes. During the drive, the ABS always helps you to keep the car stable and in control during the emergency moves. Just as before the Innova 3160 assists you to find the root of an issue and also fix the issue. At a minimum, it can help you identify whether a big repair to the ABS is required. As outlined by Innova, the ABS and SRS functions will be able to work on all 1996 or newer Ford, GM, Chrysler and Honda vehicles.
Pretty self explanatory, but this feature is pretty handy if you need real time data.
See 20 pieces of important information on the screen at one time.
Innova 3160 works with any car, light truck, SUV minivan or hybrid produced since 1996 (OBD2) – American, Asian and European.
Screen shows DTCs and their definition in English, but also in French and Spanish (this can be selected via the menu command).
The 9-button format along with Hot Keys will make this tool very easy to use and you will not waste much time to learn how it works. You will have quick access to every important information, among them: DTCs, OBD2 live data, freeze frame and erase functions.
Red-Yellow-Green Emission Readiness show if the vehicle is able to pass an emissions test.
Freeze frame is showing the engine conditions like fuel trim or engine coolant temp.
Graph along with record live data values are here to help you with your diagnosis.
Includes access to CanOBD2.com RepairSolutions which provides you with trouble code definitions, a complete diagnostic report, possible causes, repair costs and much more.
This OBD2 scan tool | 924 |
<|fim_middle|> your 10th there is something for everyone and something new to experience every time .
Related Post "30 Elegant St.helena Wineries Map" | – home page st helena st helena is napa valley s main street with amazing restaurants luxurious resorts and the best wine in the world e experience st helena ca home as the birthplace of napa valley's mercial wine industry appellation st helena ash buzzes with innovation collaboration and distinction .
– napa valley winery map plan your wine country vacation with our napa valley winery map to locate wineries view appellations and towns and find the napa valley wine train route download the plete napa valley winery map or visit the wel e center to your free copy napa valley wine country maps napavalley explore napa valley and the wineries that make this region legendary to view the full map or the printable pdf version napa valley wineries pare 2019 s best wineries napa valley is a famous destination for winery tours wineries and wine tastings here are the very best napa valley wineries including local favorites napa valley wineries & maps napa valley wineries there are currently more than 400 wineries in napa valley if it is your first visit or | 231 |
Het Mauersberger-Museum in een museum in Großrückerswalde in de Duitse deelstaat Saksen. Het bevindt zich in het dorp Mauersberg in de gemeente Großrückerswalde en is gewijd aan de broers en cantors Rudolf en Erhard Mauersberger, twee vooraanstaande kerkmusici van de 20e<|fim_middle|> getoond. Op de bovenverdieping zijn wisselende exposities te zien.
Naast de vertoning van voorwerpen uit de levens van beide musici, worden er muzikale workshops gegeven en worden er concerten georganiseerd.
Zie ook
Lijst van muziekmusea
Lijst van musea in Duitsland
Muziekmuseum in Duitsland
Museum in Saksen
Museumwoning in Duitsland
Geboortehuis | eeuw.
Rudolf was Kreuzkantor in Dresden (tot 1971) en Erhard Thomaskantor in Leipzig (tot 1972). Het Mauersberger-Museum werd in 1973 ter herinnering aan hun werk en leven opgericht in het huis waar ze beide zijn geboren. De grondlegger van het museum is de stichting van Rudolf Mauersberger.
In het museum worden allerlei originele voorwerpen getoond, zoals een maquette met een winterlandschap van Mauersberg anno 1926 met een grootte van 15 m². Dit is een van de maquettes die Rudolf zelf maakte. Enkele van de andere die ook te zien zijn, zijn van de Kreuzkirche in Dresden en andere kerken. Ook zijn er veel uitgesneden figuren tentoongesteld en zijn veel documenten en brieven bewaard gebleven die worden | 215 |
Rachel Zar
In Defense of Addams
Last night, The Addams Family musical opened on Broadway, starring Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane. We've been waiting for this event at Dance Teacher ever since Bebe talked to us about creating<|fim_middle|> top of my head: When Morticia pauses amidst singing her big number, "Just Around the Corner" to ask the audience, "Get it? Death is just around the coroner?" When Alice asks Morticia what the one thing that everyone needs but few people have (clearly referring to love) and Morticia responds, "Healthcare?" And, again, pretty much everything that Grandma says. | the role of Morticia and how her dance training has influenced her career. (Check out the interview here.) Unfortunately, the reviewers have not been kind. I've always been a sucker for musicals, but, I must admit, I really loved it! All in all, that opening-night audience had a ton of fun. These were my ten favorite aspects of the hilariously morbid musical:
1. The opening pose: When the curtain parted, and the awkwardly creepy Addams Family was revealed standing motionless among gravestones, the audience went wild, and I got the shivers. Infusing the opening number, "When You're an Addams" with the classic Addams Family snaps, was truly picture perfect.
2. The dress: There are very few people that could pull off Morticia Addams' comically tight dress "cut down to Venezuela." Actually, Bebe Neuwirth may be the only one. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to walk, let alone dance, in that creation, but Neuwirth was truly morticious from black-wigged head to pointy toe.
3. Grandma: This character may have offered nothing but comic relief, but she offered oh so much of it. Jackie Hoffman's transformation into hunched over, 103-year old Grandma was truly amazing. That woman could not open her mouth without the audience dying of laughter. All she had to do was stand there, always making a strange new face, and you couldn't help but chuckle.
4. The monster under Pugsley's bed: This and other creepy crawlies hidden throughout the house were not only humorous, but awesomely executed. The puppetry by Basil Twist was truly phenomenal, and when the full extent of the squid in the basement was finally revealed, it was hard to believe that "calamari" wasn't going to jump right into the audience.
5. The songs still stuck in my head: "Full Disclosure" will be there for a while, and that's fine with me. Loved the silly little choreography that went along with it, too. Also, "Let's not Talk About Anything Else But Love," especially with Grandma's added sound effects.
6. Pugsley: I'm always blown away by kids who can dominate a Broadway stage on their own. During eleven-year-old Adam Riegler's big solo number, "What If," you would've thought he'd had decades of onstage experience. Bravo little guy!
7. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth: Obviously, but it had to be said, these two are Broadway royalty for a reason. They have an unbelievable presence on stage that is totally magical.
8. The Addams Ancestors: While unlikely that Gomez and Uncle Fester are descendants of a troupe of lithe, gorgeous dancers, it was worth suspending my disbelief to see this group, all-in-white strutting their stuff to Sergio Trujillo's choreography. In "Tango de Amor", I must admit, they even stole the stage from Morticia and Gomez.
9. The set: "Their house is a museum, where people come to see 'em." The staircases and moving furniture added the perfect amount of creepy glamour. Every set change left me breathless. Even the curtain was impressive, always moving to perfectly frame the action.
10. The snappy one-liners: Reminiscent of the original Addams Family comics, certain lines deserved endless laughs. Off the | 716 |
Marketers flaunt their social media numbers as validation that their budgets are producing results while the "friends" are there just in case you're going to offer a discount, coupon or freebie. Folks on the Internet just want information on a product or service when they're in the market for it...not before, not after. A fire hose of messages doesn't improve your odds and make it awful easy to click away. Remember whose social media it really is...mine!
Sometimes to understand how far technology has taken us, where we're going you have<|fim_middle|> you don't upgrade...now! But sometimes it's fun and interesting to think about what you had and you might even realize it wasn't all bad! Yesterday got you to today and tomorrow is...well tomorrow.
It's easy to look at a youngster with a disability and feel sympathy but Colin Brown looked and saw something else...hope and happiness. The Aussie filmmaker wanted to show others in his country and around the world that the youngsters who took part in the McIntyre Centre equestrian program could use their abilities to be as normal as anyone. They bonded with the horses and enjoyed themselves during their time in the saddle like anyone else. Brown's film has helped spread the word on how people - even youngsters - can rise above obstacles and enjoy life. The film has helped attract volunteers and much needed funds to continue and expand the program. | to stop and remember what you had. Tomorrow's wishlist of technology is mind-boggling and folks are doing their damndest to convince you you'll be left in the dust if | 37 |
Andi, Jake Together Again for Ellie's 7<|fim_middle|> Dantes Had Her First Haircut!
Just like in the past, the ex-couple put their differences aside to celebrate their precious child.
Andi, Jake together again for Ellie's 7th birthday!
On December 1, Andi Eigenmann and Jake Ejercito got together for their child's 7th birthday party!
"Team Ellie" family entered the party hand-in-hand.
The two, who co-parent daughter Ellie Eigenmann, threw a gymnastics-themed party and were both game to wear matching jackets with the words, "Team Ellie" printed at the back. The birthday girl wore a glittered gymnast's attire under a jacket that read, "Ellie 7," like a sports jersey.
Cherie Gil is Ellie's grand aunt.
Ellie with her Tito Jacob Ejercito.
The birthday girl blowing candles on her cake!
Ellie's extended family members from both sides were also in full attendance for her birthday. Among those spotted on photos posted on Instagram were Jake's siblings Jerika Ejercito and Jacob Ejercito, as well as Andi's relatives Cherie Gil, Gabby Eigenmann, and Ryan Eigenmann.
Gabby made a special call-out for Andi and Jake on Instagram for finally being on the same page for their daughter.
Ellie turned 7 last November 23, and both her parents posted birthday messages for her on their respective Instagram accounts.
Zia Dantes gets her first haircut!
Following their much-awaited gender reveal, Team Dantes has posted another video on their Youtube channel, this time featuring daughter Zia Dantes's first haircut. Can you believe that she just had her first-ever haircut, at age 3?
In the video, the mom and daughter duo are shown being playful in the car as they make their way to Symmetria Salon. Its owner Celeste Tuviera has been Marian Rivera's hair stylist for years, so she's the natural choice to cut Zia's hair. The little girl wants bangs, like her Mom's.
During Marian and Zia's play in the car, the soon-to-be ate suddenly stopped to hug her mom. "I don't want you to get hurt," the little girl said. "You don't want me to get hurt? Why?" Marian replied. "Because I love you," Zia said. "Aww. I love you more," the preggo momma replied. "I know," Zia replied.
Dad Dingdong Dantes was also present for her daughter's milestone. If it were up to him, he would rather that Zia wore her hair long, but acknowledged that the little girl is an ate now and is starting to make decisions for herself. Following Pinoy beliefs that the child will inherit the intelligence of whoever cuts his/her hair first, dad Dingdong did the ceremonial "first cut" of Zia's hair, as shown in the video.
Zia was so excited to have her first haircut (maybe only second to her excitement over being an ate), and she loves her new bangs!
It's not her first pregnancy or childbirth, but LJ Reyes is feeling nervous about labor and delivery the second time around. It has been eight years since she gave birth to her son, Aki.
"Sabi nga nila five years... kunwari five years ang agwat parang first pregnancy daw uli yun sa katawan ng babae," the actress told Pep.ph. LJ said she wasn't afraid when she was about to give birth to Aki. But now, however, she feels a bit afraid "kasi aware ka na sa pain, aware ka sa possible na mga puwedeng mangyari sa 'yo medically, ganyan," the preggo mom explained.
The excitement in meeting her daughter Summer Ayanna, however, is greater than her fear. "We are very excited, kahit si Aki, very excited," LJ stressed. "Kahit na merong konting fear lang na parang sana… may mga wishes ka na like kunwari, sana normal pa rin, ganyan. Sana walang maging problema, pero mas excited kami kesa dun sa mga fear," she added.
LJ admits she's not fully prepared yet to go through childbirth again in January 2019. She and partner Paolo Contis have been busy, but the mama-to-be has been practicing her breathing to prepare for labor and childbirth.
On December 2, Chesca and Doug Kramer threw a Winter Wonderland-themed party for daughter Scarlett's seventh birthday at The Blue Leaf Events Pavilion in Bonifacio Global City. Doug serenaded the birthday girl, and when Scarlett revealed her birthday wish: "I wish that mommy will have a baby!"
"My baby luvie has dreamt of this birthday for so long! And look how beautiful she is! Happy birthday Scarlett!" wrote mom Chesca on her Instagram. Scarlett been looking forward to her 7th birthday party ever since her Ate Kendra Kramer had hers two years ago.
Doug also shared that she gave Scarlett a promise ring, just as he gave Kendra one when she turned seven. A promise ring is a symbol of a promise between two people.
"I want you to remember how I treat you, the time I give you, how I respect you as a girl. How I encourage to build your relationship with God, and how much I unconditionally love you," Doug shared on Instagram. "Please remember to stay obedient, to love God, and to never easily give away your love just to anyone. You deserve nothing but the best. Happy birthday Scarlett! Papa loves you so much," he added.
LOOK: Kylie Padilla and Aljur Abrenica prenup shots!
Aljur Abrenica and Kylie Padilla are set to say their "I do!" to each other very soon, it seems. The two have shared snaps from their vintage-themed pre-nuptial photo and video shoot on social media.
Kylie also thanked the team behind their #mejodarkprenup. Aljur and her dad Robin Padilla reposted Kylie's post, giving thanks to the creatives behind the concept.
"Nasa iyo, anak ko, and malalim kong paggalang at paghanga. Saludo ako sa pag-ibig at pagsuko mo sa magiging asawa mo. Masyado akong nasasabik sa araw ng aking pinakahihintay," Robin wrote referring to Kylie and Aljur's wedding day.
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year to Make Babies Is Upon Us!
16 Screen-Free Tabletop Games That Develop Reading and Life Skills! | th; Zia | 4 |
Construction Principles
© Marcus Bredt
The Clou with the Mesh
The common kitchen sieve served as the inspiration for the innovative method of constructing grid shells – by fashioning the mesh into a rhomboid shape, a net with quadrangular mesh can be formed so as to adapt to any surface gemetry. When combined with a diagonal cable net, the net becomes an ideal membrane shell, and when covered with glass panes becomes a light and transparent roof. This is an alternative to a triangular mesh surface structure. In both cases the load-bearing and glass layers are merged with one another, as the glass planes lie directly on the net´s slats, making the usual secondary structure unnecessary.
An Elegant Sweep
Slender, filigree footbridges nestle into the landscape or are moulded out of it. Their aesthetic quality can best be understood and experienced while walking across them. They vibrate slightly under a load or begin to move dramatically in order to open or close. They are delicate in detail, while while remaining appropriate to human scale, and are both robust and easy to maintain. They also convey the full pleasure of design: Design<|fim_middle|> the flow of forces.
Light-weight structures
Moveable Structures
Simple Bridges
previous theme
back to themes
next theme | ing a pedestrian bridge is always more than merely rendering a service and every poorly-designed 'eyesore' is a missed opportunity.
Crisscross
Cable nets are both space-forming and load-bearing structures, whose diverse forms are not primarily the result of pure creative will, but rather the product of strict physical principles.
Stiff, Since Braced
A bicycle's spoked wheel consists of a thin rim, spokes, and a central hub. By itself, the rim would turn into an oval if subjected to the slightest of loads, but due to the addition of thin spokes it becomes surprisingly stiff both along its plane as well as transverse to it. Spokes are prestressed in order to keep them under tension, and this allows for the transfer of the load between the rim and the hub through the sole use of highly efficient tensile members. The positive side effect of this is that the rim becomes a compression ring, which leads to an overall increase in stability.
A looped cable roof is the transformation of the spoked wheel, which is primarily loaded along its plane into a structure with vertical load dispersal. It combines the characteristics of both cable and membrane structures: A wide-meshed, primary load-bearing structure of cables stretches between the roof's closed, self-anchoring tension and compression rings, while a prestressed membrane, the secondary load-bearing structure, is stretched between the cables.
Braced Connections
A vertical cable net with quadrangular meshes, stretched in a frame like a tennis racket, can bear horizontal wind loads of almost any magnitude. The higher the prestressing of the net is, the smaller the deformation and the greater the cable forces are. This structural type is ideally suited to the creation of seamlessly transparent glass façades.
Folds and Seams
Textile membrane roofs span great distances, are light-weight and translucent, vibrant and adaptable, and are even used as retractable roofs. They combine load-bearing and protective functions in one. Masts and guying cables define the high and low points, thus producing the required surface curvature. Because of the interdependence of external shape and inner forces, membrane structures cannot be designed at will. Instead, their form is the result of a search for, and determination of, an equilibrium. . Instead, their form is the result of a search for, and determination of, an equilibrium.
Light and Airy
Nothing could be lighter—the allure of air-inflated roofs, which are airy and light, and yet protective, lies in the elegant appearance of air-inflated cushions and their economic use due to a low overall weight. This last aspect also means they are easy to dismantle and re-erect, and can be used on a seasonal basis or according to weather conditions.
Curved and Inverted
A girder that is curved in plan view—a circular ring girder—only needs to have a hinged support along a single line to keep it from flipping downward. If it has bearings on the inside edge, the line load causes ring tension on the upper side and ring compression on the lower side of the slab, whereas it is the other way round for a line support on the outer edge. The efficient form of a curved arch in plan view is manifested in the principle of inversion: The arch is shaped the same as a hanging cable.
Poured into Shape
Sweeping, rounded forms, similar to the rounded shape of a fork in a tree's branches, are characteristic of cast steel components. The flowing forms avoid damaging concentrations of stress and notch effects. Cast steel enables the production of complex, individual, steel tube joints and allows for an optimal adjustment to | 734 |
La saison NBA 1964-1965 est la de la NBA (la en comptant les trois saisons de BAA). Elle se termine sur la victoire des Celtics de Boston face aux Los Angeles Lakers 4 victoires à 1 lors des Finales NBA. C'est le consécutif des Celtics.
Faits notables
Le All-Star Game 1965 s'est déroulé au Kiel Auditorium, à Saint-Louis, où les All-Star de l'Est ont battu les All-Star de l'Ouest 124-123. Jerry Lucas (Cincinnati Royals) a été élu Most Valuable Player.
Le commissioner Maurice Podoloff, qui dirigeait la ligue depuis son lancement en 1946 sous le nom de BAA, se retire. Walter Kennedy lui succède.
Dans le chassé-croisé qui les occupent, Bill Russell re<|fim_middle|> Boston
Jerry Lucas, Cincinnati Royals
All-NBA Second Team :
Bob Pettit, Saint-Louis Hawks
Gus Johnson, Baltimore Bullets
Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 76ers
Sam Jones, Celtics de Boston
Hal Greer, Philadelphia 76ers
NBA All-Rookie Team :
Jim Barnes, Knicks de New York
Willis Reed, Knicks de New York
Wali Jones, Baltimore Bullets
Howard Komives, Knicks de New York
Joe Caldwell, Detroit Pistons
Lucious Jackson, Philadelphia 76ers
Notes et références
Liens externes
NBA
NBA
NBA
NBA | chipe à Wilt Chamberlain le record du plus grand nombre de titres de meilleur rebondeur NBA avec un cinquième titre en poche.
Classement final
C - Champions NBA
Play-offs
Leaders de la saison régulière
Récompenses individuelles
NBA Most Valuable Player : Bill Russell, Celtics de Boston
NBA Rookie of the Year : Willis Reed, Knicks de New York
NBA Coach of the Year : Red Auerbach, Celtics de Boston
All-NBA First Team :
Elgin Baylor, Los Angeles Lakers
Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals
Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers
Bill Russell, Celtics de | 134 |
Body of Work: Weta Digital on the art of face replacement
By Ian FailesPosted on June 26, 2020 June 29, 2020
2D, 3D and everything in between.
The befores & afters 'Body of Work' series is all about showcasing a particular kind of effect from a single visual effects studio over the years. This newest piece highlights the work of Weta Digital and face replacements.
Over decades, now, Weta Digital has been one of the major innovators in photoreal digital humans. Certainly, those kinds of effects are something the VFX studio uses to a high degree in face replacements, but the body of work discussed here – featuring films including Furious 7, Rampage, Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – goes even further into 2D replacements, digi-doubles for stunts, replacements where actors have been injured or are unavailable, and even hair replacement.
Read on to hear directly from Weta Digital crew-members Scott Chambers, Sean Walker, Erik Winquist, Ken McGaugh and Martin Hill as they discuss their particular experiences with face replacement VFX.
Scott Chambers, compositing supervisor
The biggest challenge on Gemini Man was making a completely photoreal version of Will Smith that was valid for him physically in his teens and early twenties, while still honoring the global audience's collective memory of how he has looked over the years. This was predominantly through his performances on 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' and his early feature film roles. This was incredibly difficult, but also key to selling the believability.
The on-set capture set-up for Will Smith. © 2019 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Weta Digital's final digital character. © 2019 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
There were two major hurdles we had to face. Firstly, the fact that he would have had a substantial amount of make up on, for today's standards. Secondly, the majority of Will's performances in his younger years that we remember are comedy moments, with the genre-specific exaggerated facial expressions that naturally came with it.
In Gemini Man, the tone, pacing and gravitas called for a slower, more intense and refined acting style. Present day Will performed these elements so well – it was a stark departure from audiences' memories of young Will's performances. We had to take creative licences to stay absolutely true to the intent of the performance and the scene, but at the same time, make sure we were injecting subtle nuances that we saw in past performances from his younger days.
The scene where Junior confronts Verris in his office was one of my favourites. This is a contained scene that focused on a heated discussion between a father and son – a real turning point in the film. On top of recognising the importance of pulling off the right mood within this scene, there were no visual distractions to take you away from the emotional connection between the two characters. Will's performance ranged from angry to hurt to betrayed to a semblance of acceptance. Through painstaking attention to detail we were able to preserve the performance and transfer it to our digital Junior.
Weta Digital has a lot of experience working on hero-character worthy digital characters and this project called upon all of that experience. The success came from the sum of multiple departments, artists and technicians working collaboratively to create what can only be achieved with a team that is cohesive and gels incredibly well together. All departments had a part in bringing this movie milestone to screen. It was the culture of collaboration and achieved excellence, time after time, that enabled our success.
The goal for face replacement work on Iron Man 3 was to be as invisible as possible. An interesting production dilemma on that show was Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) broke his ankle while performing a stunt, as Sean Walker discusses also, below. Interestingly, the actual take was a great stunt to begin with, so it is used in the film. It cuts out just before we see the foot twist! As a result, the shooting crew had to get creative and ponder how to complete the film with Robert unable to move freely. One solution was to use a stand-in for scenes that required quite a bit of movement, so our challenge in this case was to seamlessly graft a digital version of Robert Downey Jr.'s head onto a completely different actor.
With this approach, we had to make adjustments to any movement that may feel like the head is detached, or is pivoting around unnaturally. This is a unique problem that comes with combining two physicalities. The camera team did a rock solid job of match-moving the stand-in's head – the departments of Animation and Models took this challenge on and they provided realistic and specific nuances that matched Robert Downey Jr. Then, the Lighting and Compositing teams expertly integrated the digital head into the scene, in the hope of not presenting it as VFX work, with the end goal to keep the audience in the moment and to let the story progress unhindered.
In particular, our teams for Modelling, Groom and Shaders were key to the success of achieving Robert Downey Jr.'s digital self on film as completely photo-real. We started with a scan of his face and costume measurements. Then we found our own reference of him in various recent movies that we could confirm likeness on to build his base head geometry. From there it was on to Textures, Shaders and Creatures to add some hair in the areas of a moustache, goatee, eyebrows and head hair. The hair in particular was important to get right because Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark has quite a distinctive look!
"Interestingly, the actual take was a great stunt to begin with, so it is used in the film. It cuts out just before we see the foot twist!" – Scott Chambers
We used Weta's proprietary hair creating, simulation and manipulation tools to achieve this – 'Barbershop/Wig' (groom) and 'Figaro' (hair simulation). Barbershop/Wig is a highly customizable tool that helps us to achieve real world grooming implements and accessories – imagine real tools such as hair gel, scissors, brushes, and even blow driers. With the tool Barbershop/Wig, we are able to modify the whole hair in one go. This could be in clumps or even a single hair. On this show, we could dial in the right density, distribution and feel to the different hair regions on Robert Downey Jr.'s face. Barbershop/Wig is so versatile that it is also used for peach fuzz (those very fine hairs on skin) and tiny strand textures on clothing, such as velvet. Barbershop/Wig was integral to making our digital Robert Downey Jr. believable. It was the amount of experience and development over the years accumulated in providing this effect with minimum fuss but with a maximum result, to get to the point of creating this realistic aesthetic. It was a pleasure for the Lighting and Compositing teams to pick up and run with such a well thought out and artistically great asset.
Although perhaps not one of the flashiest of VFX shots, there was one key shot of a stand in moving quickly with Robert Downey Jr.'s digital grafted head. This was very successful I thought – a hard one to achieve the full 100% accuracy of detail, due to the profile nature of the performance and the subtle lighting and atmospheric conditions present in the plate.
The Hobbit was peppered with many small and subtle features, but paired with intricate face, body, hair replacements. As always, we wanted the audience to never question or even see this work and be distracted from the story. Shooting was a mixture of location work and studio sets. When the crew enters Rivendell, we see a common challenge we would come across in lighting and compositing.
Original plate of Martin Freeman. ™ & © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
Final shot, which includes the hair replacement. ™ & © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
The filming was positioned from a low angle, this prevented us from keeping hair detail because the keying would have been impossible. We were fortunate that we could keep Martin Freeman's face as it was shot in the plate, but we needed to augment his hair with a CG replacement due to the space lights behind his head overexposing all the fine hair detail. Replacing hair required a very accurate camera and match move of Martin's head plus perfect lighting and integration to match the plate hair.
Our groom tools were very advanced at the time, as it was built to hold up with full frame as we worked on the shot. We had a hero Bilbo digi-double, so we were confident the hair would work for us if we could track, light, render and composite it in. We ended up with a seamless transition that didn't distract from Bilbos face and enabled us to see Rivendell in all its splendour through the characters eyes. This was one of my favourite shots to work on.
The Hobbit trilogy was made up of a diverse ensemble of cast members. Their characters were called upon to handle a gamut of performances; these performances were contained but also physically demanding and, at times, sometimes dangerous in terms of stunts and horse riding work. In order to create a safe film set for the actors, stunt performers were used on screen. Like any ordinary stunt practice, they were dressed as the actor they were doubling with. The hair and makeup was designed to be as identical as they can be to their character – but the likeness will never be 100% granted even with this attempt.
Original plate with stunt performer. ™ & © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
Final shot with Hugo Weaving face replacement. ™ & © 2012 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
This is where we stepped in – in this example we can see Elrond played by Hugo Weaving. His face has been grafted on to the stunt performer that is riding a horse at high speed on the stage. Even though we have a robust asset building, animation, lighting and rendering pipeline, sometimes taking a simpler approach can achieve a great result in half the time. For this shot we took a still image of Hugo Weaving in character from another shot. The lighting and expressions were not a complete match, but with house-built colour matching and correction tools, we 're-photographed' Hugo with the lighting from the stunt performers face. We also found a mismatch between the physical dimensions of the two, so we adjusted scales in X and Y in selective areas to better match the head, neck and shoulder areas. Motion blur, focus and sensor noise were crafted in to match the original plate, providing a seamless graft that the audience members wouldn't expect.
Sean Walker, sequence VFX supervisor
For Iron Man 3 we had a couple of challenges when it came to face replacements. On top of a hectic schedule and a few script changes late in to production, as Scott mentions, Robert Downey Jr. broke his ankle midway through shooting the third act battle. To his credit, it was a pretty cool stunt. You can also see the determination in his face as he powered through the pain when he returned to shooting. However, while usually only a few shots are needed for a face replacement to cover stunt work, here we needed to go a bit further. Shots that wouldn't usually require a double now needed one, along with a face replacement. As we had many shots that involved a fully digital Tony Stark, we were able to help out by rendering and integrating a digital face on to a body double for the shots Robert wasn't able to perform. As the double's hair was noticeably different in certain shots, we often ended up fully replacing the head.
While we managed to keep the beginning of the stunt where Robert Downey Jr. broke his ankle (the jump itself), the camera angle that involved the landing could not be used. For that we filmed a stunt double and generated a face replacement, Scott goes into finer detail about this. I was glad we were able to keep the stunt at least halfway with Robert, and just subtly adding in his likeness where needed. Using a face replacement as a subtle effect is super satisfying, but we also try and use as much of our actor's performance as possible.
"Being able to generate realistic, fully digital faces that we have complete control over gives us incredible flexibility." – Sean Walker
The other main challenge was a big script re-write that came late in the schedule that involved revealing Killian (Guy Pearce), still alive, and the Mandarin! Additional photography was shot with Guy on a greenscreen, and we were to integrate him in to our environment. One of the big issues here was that Guy was committed to shooting another film at this point and had grown a considerable amount of facial hair. Effort was made to glue it down but it didn't help very much in the end. We decided that as we already had a digital version of Killian, we would replace Guy entirely with a digital version, carefully matching his performance, and adding the 'Extremis' effect on top.
It was a beautiful effect, and it told the story Marvel wanted to tell. We got it done in a relatively short amount of time thanks to having amazing artists and the technology needed to support them. I also heard that Guy Pearce didn't realise we had used the fully digital version of himself until he was told after it screened, which is a testament to what we accomplished.
Our creature work and digital double work is some of the best in the world. There are many techniques to creating face replacements, but most of them have short comings. Being able to generate realistic, fully digital faces that we have complete control over gives us incredible flexibility. One of the main reasons I feel we are such a great pairing with studios like Marvel, is we are able to help them make these kinds of changes without fear of losing the story that they really want to tell.
For Fantastic Four we were tasked with creating the digital effect for Reed Richards, a super hero with the ability to stretch and contort his body as if it were made of rubber. As much of Reed's powers involved something that couldn't be replicated practically, we created a fully digital double with all the technology and controls to manipulate his body like putty.
We wanted to keep as much of Miles Teller's performance as possible, but as his body was performing very unnatural feats, we ended up tracking his face on to our digital body, much in the same way we'd replace a face on a stunt double. We still had Miles act out as much of the action as possible to give us the lighting and motion reference needed to integrate his digital body, as well as the facial performance that we would later integrate in to the shot.
From ghastly monsters to realistic digital doubles, we have lots of experience in this area. This effect required something in the middle. We didn't want to lose the humanity of Reed in the process, but still had to have him move and deform in some pretty horrific ways. Weta's experience with both meant we had the technology and the artists to pull this off.
Reed Richards as Fernando. ™ and © 2015 Marvel & Subs © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox.
Now back in Reed form. ™ and © 2015 Marvel & Subs © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox.
One of my favorite moments featuring face replacements in this project was the transition from Fernando to Reed. Reed being able to manipulate his body like rubber meant he was able to morph his face in to the likeness of another person. This used to be done in 2D, by morphing two faces to line up to each other and then fading between the two. Here, we decided to have a fully digital 3D transition. We did this by scanning and creating digital versions of both actors, and then tracked these digital actors to both actors' facial motion.
From there, we were able to transition from a live action Fernando to a fully digital version of himself, geometrically blend to the digital version of Reed, and then transition to Reed's live action performance. Only the face from each actor was used which we tracked on to our digital head, before and after the morph. The rest of the head, hair and neck was entirely digital – you can see this in the images attached. This allowed us to control exactly how the transition would happen. We went through a few iterations where bones would pop in and out of place, but as the result was quite frightening, we ended up going with a more subtle effect.
Erik Winquist, VFX supervisor
A number of years ago, we would see face replacements predominantly used in the instance when it was typically a dangerous stunt where the stunt person was moving quickly. This was often masked in motion blur and was a reasonably good match for the actor they were doubling. So face replacements were just that; we could take footage shot of the actor in question, or even photographs, and simply<|fim_middle|> Then we would break it down into camera angles and lighting directions, creating a large navigable library of reference. It was a huge time saver. From that we could essentially validate our work by match-moving these various shots and build up a faux FACS session where we could go through all of the poses and make sure all of our facial poses were on character. That was really important not to make anything up. Around 30 of these 'shots' were taken all the way through the pipeline, rendering and comp, to make sure our animation, face shapes and shading were completely true to the footage.
Paying such honest attention to matching Paul's performance in character paid dividends later, as for some shots, we used parts of these performances or poses directly. We found out quite a way into the production that we had underestimated this character step, Once we'd created a digital double that looked real, and had Paul's likeness and expressions, we realized that it didn't necessarily act like the Brian O'Conner that Paul had played. We actually went back and removed face shapes and poses that were taken from media footage and other films that were not in character.
Similar to the Rhianna shoot, we had multiple witness reference cameras to keep faithful to the motion and timing of the actors on set (sometimes played by Paul's brothers Caleb and Cody), one of the most important things is to keep the head and face motion natural to the body, since the two are so closely linked. It's tempting sometimes when you have complete control of the head, to change the timing of a head turn, but it quickly looks unnatural and you pick up on it. Even something as subtle as changing the timing of dialogue can look wrong and robotic, as you express and communicate with your whole body.
One of the things about Furious 7 was that we were doing these full emoting, with dialogue, digi-double heads. We knew we were going to be pushing boundaries and we needed to evolve the tech a lot during the project. There were some shots where we were shooting safety versions of the shots, because when I was looking through the lens I was thinking they were very close-up shots of a very nuanced performance and that we'd need to get a safety from a longer lens, wider, further back, or maybe a little bit more obscured in some way, just in case we can't pull it off. What was interesting during that process was, by the end of the development time on the show, we were using all the close-up plates on all the shots. It was just really pleasing to have the digi-double at the level where you wanted to take the hard option.
One of my favorite shots is the tower chase. James Wan really wanted this to be a moment where you saw in Paul's eyes an expression that he decided that living this action-filled life was no longer for him and he wanted to call it a day. James wanted that from just a look. We put a lot of work into, well, how would Paul playing that respond? The look in there is quite subtle, but I think it's really successful in showing a nuanced performance.
Tag: body of work Weta Digital
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Next post: Framestore demos deepfakes in a great 'back to basics' explanation | patch the face in Compositing. The motion blur and lighting often helped mask the trick. These days, it's common to be asked to replace a stunt person's whole head with that of a digital asset. And it's no longer just fast moving or wide angle stunt shots. With increasing frequency, we're finding ourselves replacing heads in close-ups or shots of actors delivering dialogue.
The shots that Weta Digital delivered on Rampage were primarily Creature and FX work, but there were a handful of examples from our Chicago sequences at the end of the film where we needed to do head replacements (or complete digital doubles) for Dwayne Johnson's character. Many of these were of the dangerous stunt variety. For example, his character was required to jump out a window, fall a few stories and tumble to a stop just inches from camera. The wide shot in this case was in slow motion and the final shot is a close-up, so fairly unforgiving territory.
But another example was just down to something as mundane as actor availability. In a one-off setup, his character needed to get out of a helicopter which had just landed in an intersection, exchange a line with Naomie Harris's character, and run off down the street. This was a second unit setup which was shot in downtown Atlanta, but Dwayne had a full schedule shooting with main unit back at the studios, so the decision was made that his stunt double would perform the shot and we'd do a head replacement with Dwayne delivering the dialogue in post. The filmmakers later photographed Dwayne delivering that dialogue from an array of cameras for our reference, but because of lighting and the nature of the shot, it was ultimately more practical to replicate that performance with a digital asset.
I quite liked the above mentioned shot (where Johnson's character gets out of the helicopter and runs down the street) because it's just…not at all the kind of shot you'd expect to find a face replacement in. There was no dangerous stunt happening, so there's no reason for anyone watching to expect an effect happening in front of their eyes. We strive for all of our work to be seamless and look like it was just captured by a camera there on the day, but with some of the work that we do, impossible things are happening on screen. Even when the animation is completely plausible and we nail the integration, something in the back of your mind still knows that the A-list actor didn't really perform that.. it would have been way too dangerous. So if we can execute a "mundane" shot like this (if you can call a Blackhawk helicopter landing in an intersection mundane) without the audience knowing any better, that's a fun test to pass.
"We strive for all of our work to be seamless and look like it was just captured by a camera there on the day." – Erik Winquist
Weta Digital was ideally positioned to take the approach we took on these shots because we already had a recent, high fidelity digital asset of Dwayne Johnson in our arsenal. A year or two earlier, Martin Hill and his team here had created this as part of the work we delivered on a comedy called Central Intelligence, in which we had to make a younger, heavier version of his character for some hilarious flashback scenes. Dwayne hadn't visibly aged since that work was done, and our digital asset had a complete facial animation rig. Additionally, Central Intelligence and Rampage were both from the same studio, so obtaining permission to re-use that asset was pretty straight forward.
Because we had all of that momentum coming in to the process, our asset dev was then about matching his character's look in our scenes with regard to dirt, sweat, and blood that the make-up team had established in the live action footage. Having this asset available to us meant that we could make efficient use of it in cases where the budget might have otherwise required a plate-based approach, which always limits your chances for success.
Since Rampage, we've been able to further leverage that digital Dwayne Johnson asset on more recent projects like Jumanji: The Next Level and the upcoming Jungle Cruise. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Ken McGaugh, VFX supervisor
Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets and Jumanji: The Next Level
I worked on some face replacement work in Valerian and Jumanji: The Next Level. For the scene in Valerian where we first meet Rhianna's Bubble character, she is performing a shape-shifting cabaret dance. Many of the dance moves were actually performed by a professional dancer whose face we had to replace with Rhianna's. For many of the action shots in Jumanji: The Next Level, Dwayne Johnson's character Dr. Bravestone was shot with a stunt performer whose whole head would need to be replaced with a CG version of Dwayne Johnson's head.
The biggest challenge in both circumstances was the difference in proportions between the stunt/dance performer and the actor. Everybody is different, and those differences become very apparent when there is a mis-match. Humans are very adept at noticing subtle mis-matches and minimising them often involves a lot of trial and error – this is something that we face in cinema and post-production on a daily basis. Even when you get the proportions believable, it often doesn't feel right because the performer's body movements can be subtly different to the actor's. There is no easy solution to that other than creative editing.
Weta Digital has a tremendous amount of experience doing digital facial performances and photorealistic lighting, shading, and integration. These are all the first requirements for doing believable face replacements. Beyond that, there is quite a bit of artistry required to overcome the uncanny valley, and that is where Weta's vast experience specifically doing face replacements shines.
There is a shot in Jumanji: The Next Level where Dwayne Johnson's stunt double is sprinting while the camera tracks back with him. So his face is relatively stationary in frame through the whole shot so there were no cheats that could be employed. Even with very good element of Dwayne Johnson giving a facial performance in the same lighting we had to resort to a full digital head replacement. It was a tedious exercise in getting the proportions to work believably, but in the end it looked great.
Martin Hill, VFX supervisor
Face replacements is a pretty broad term and can vary in technique and complexity. I'm going to look at 5 films I've supervised at Weta Digital and look at face replacements from simplest to most complex – Game of Thrones, Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Valerian, Central Intelligence and Furious 7.
Some of the most satisfying face replacements are the straightforward cases, like when a stunt performer is required as the actor can't physically perform the action for the shot. With a bit of planning on set these can done quite efficiently. Costume, hair and makeup can take you a long way towards finishing the shot, and with frenetic action and strategic camera placement, you can minimize and sometimes avoid VFX altogether. However, most of the time the director wants the actor's face and performance in the shot, so we get to work because there's no hiding it!
An effective method for more simple face replacements is to have the actor repeat the performance of the stunt performer in the set lighting, with their face relative to the camera without performing the body move. Ideally this would be photographed with the face full frame to capture more fidelity than in the hero plate. It's rare to have the time on stage to get the performance timing correct especially as you don't know which take of the stunt will be the select, so the face performance is often recreated afterwards from multiple takes.
"Some of the most satisfying face replacements are the straightforward cases." – Martin Hill
Taking the face performance and tracking it onto the body can be done either by match-moving the head with rough geometry and projecting the hero face performance on, or by using optical flow to stabilize both performances and applying the inverse stabilization from the stunt performance to the hero, in order to make it stick into place. This can be softened so you don't apply too much of the high frequency details of the stunt performance, but maintain the overall head rotations, which is very useful especially when you're trying to retain the hair from the stunt plate.
For a key sequence in Game of Thrones we had to go a bit further. Due to the stunt performance in the harness not quite having the energy the filmmakers wanted, we ended up replacing the body with full CG for this shot, however we still used the face replacement technique here to have Bella Ramsey's facial performance, and to avoid building a full CG face puppet of her for one shot. Incidentally we did full CG take over for Crum, the giant holding Lyanna, in the same way, projecting the plate onto the geometry of the CG.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Similar techniques were used for Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Jennifer did a lot of her own stunts in the Lizard Mutant sequence, but some of the fight beats were too rough, and after the stunt was shot with her double (Renee Moneymaker) she replayed the stunt with the stunt actor playing the Mutant at 3/4 speed, with a bit less violence.
The stunt performer in the original plate. ™ and © 2015 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
Final shot featuring Weta Digital face replacement. ™ and © 2015 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
This gave us options whether to use the stunt plate or speed up Jennifer's plate. In the end we went with the former, match-moving both plates and inverting the projection from the Jennifer plate and projecting onto the Renee plate. Some frames that were particularly sharp were then lifted directly and tracked in 2d, to keep some very clear photography of Jennifer in the final shot.
If you don't have a bespoke head performance from the actor for a shot, it's entirely possible to use a take or a still from a different shot or from reference photography, and project it on in the same way. This requires more grading for lighting line-up to be done in this case. It's fantastic how efficient these techniques can be with a skilled compositor, in this case Tobias Weisner creating the hybrid performance with a convincing face replacement relatively quickly, and completely works in the frenetic sequence.
Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets
Moving a step up in complexity – for the film Valerian and the City of Thousand Planets – we had a different set of challenges with the face replacement for the cabaret scene where Rhianna's character performs some acrobatics. Rhianna could not perform all of the dance and acrobatic moves and Olympic Gymnast Emilie Livingston was brought in. Instantly this is a more difficult sell, we're not hiding in a fast-paced action scene but have stage lights and a very clear view of the performers face. The motions that Emilie brought were difficult for Rhianna to replicate the timing of, and the sharp stage lights meant reprojections with the head at a slightly different angle threw the lighting off.
This meant we knew we were going to need a full CG head replacement. To get all our face shapes, prior to shooting we scanned Rhianna at ICT on the Light Stage X for a Full FACS set which also involved extra poses not in the standard set. As the choreography hadn't been created yet for the dances, we used poses from some of Rhianna's music videos as inspiration – it was quite surreal in the Lightstage, showing Rhianna "Diamonds" back to her! Having these among scans really helped the facial team nail the very specific looks that Rhianna gives during performances, rather than having to reconstruct them from base poses and reference.
Rhianna had many costume, hair and makeup changes which meant that during shooting, there were a number of full scans for costume texture and make up in 4DMax's photogrammetry scanning setup at Cite du Cinema. Then we created the same number of textured and shaded models each with a bespoke hair model. This is obviously more involved than reprojection methods, so for each set up we also filmed Rhianna in the same costume and makeup on set. Reprojection worked for some shots with less motion, and if it didn't perfectly work then it still served as fantastic reference for the digital head rendering.
"It was quite surreal in the Lightstage, showing Rhianna 'Diamonds' back to her!" – Martin Hill
Technically, the challenge we faced was to ensure the head replacement didn't look stiff; it needed to flow with the dancing. To make sure the neck/head match-moves were perfect, we used 4 operated witness cameras running at 48fps, and another 4 fixed machine vision cameras that also covered the Hero Camera's position to validate the camera track. These match-moves were used for both the digital head and projection versions. As well as the head replacements we also had to morph her from each costume into the next and then into a gelatinous amorphous alien creature, but that's another story!
The show I supervised at Weta before Valerian was Central Intelligence which involved a very different kind of choreography. We needed to turn Dwayne Johnson into a 400-pound high school kid and make him dance in the locker room showers. This had a number of challenges, the filmmakers had cast Sione Kelepi, a dancing sensation on Vine, as the body double. For this show we had a hybrid reprojection and CG approach.
Stand-in performer Sione Kelepi and the digi-double elements of Dwayne Johnson. © 2015 Warner Bros Ent. All rights reserved
Final Weta Digital face replacement. © 2015 Warner Bros Ent. All rights reserved.
Since we were so close up on the character, we knew reprojections weren't going to cut it. Dwayne and Sione had very different head shapes since Sione's was wider, Dwayne's taller. Placing Dwayne's face on Sione's head either gave the impression of a very small face, or no forehead. We sculpted our character Robbie, adding a lot of weight to the Dwayne scans, but still trying to maintain Dwayne's features. We then then match-moved Sione's head, re-projected the plate and warped it to our character Robbie's head model constrained to the matchmove – this was a great saving, as it meant we could use all the plate hair and ears (which had water droplets in, and would have been another task to create digitally) so all we needed to recreate in CG was the face.
The performance was partially based on Dwayne, who recorded the head performance based on Sione's timing after the fact with a face camera on. As our models Dwayne and the Robbie character were on the same topology we created a Dwayne Digi Double head from scans again at ICT's Light stage X, which we could validate against the reference, and then transferred it to the Robbie model. We also needed to do a lot of de-aging augmentation to the textures.
Dwayne and Siones' character had to be able to sing, my second surreal ICT moment was asking Dwayne to perform En Vogue's "Never gonna get it", in the Light Stage X, he was a very good sport and did two takes of the whole song!
The most advanced face replacement work I've supervised was Furious 7, where we had the task of creating a digital Paul Walker for around 300 shots after he tragically passed away. The majority of the work was full 3D head replacement, but there was a few reprojection shots taking footage from other films and re-projecting them in. The last shot of Paul is with this technique as the director James Wan was adamant to get as much of Paul into that shot as possible. Even that shot was around 70% CG for the head, as the source plate was shot on film, at night with mercury vapour lights which are very green and don't leave a lot of colour complexity in the skin. It was at about half the resolution we needed and featured a significantly younger Paul.
For the rest of the shots, we had to create a digi double head, capable of full performance, and dialogue. It was a particularly challenging CG build. Normally you have access to information like scans and texture reference from the actual actor and none of that was available. One of the first things we did was contact the family – they were very amenable and helpful in the process. Paul's brothers, Caleb and Cody, let us scan them and run then through the USC ICT Light Stage process. That gave us the next best thing in terms of their skin quality, their wrinkles, their pores, their skin tone. That was really useful to get something that as close as we could get to Paul.
For the model build we took the reference we had, including some stills from the sixth film – these were taken to build a stunt digital double asset and we used those to get to the ground truth of Paul's face in terms of its structure. Then we went through a process of augmenting the textures from Caleb and Cody, and building up the texture layers for our skin shading models which had to be re-written and improved for the show. This included adding vascular constriction, for example, when Paul is screwing up his brow his procerus is firing and the blood rushes into some areas and out of others. The skin colour changes as he moves. That was a very important detail that really brought life to the face. We'd also add in all the delays for the blood rushing back in. Conversely, we added exertion, so he'd look more flushed during action sequences, and a tiredness dial for when that was appropriate.
"We put a lot of work into, well, how would Paul playing that respond?" – Martin Hill
We then built up a reference library from all of Paul's films from the last five years, and whatever else we could get access to – this included media and publicity photos, and footage that didn't make it into the films from the studio. | 3,745 |
Delivering modern services for local people in Brent
The Brent Partnership brings together four partners, with the aim of delivering private and affordable housing, sharing teaching space, and improving hospital and university services and facilities.
One Public Estate
Region: London
Theme: Health and social care (in<|fim_middle|> over the next 15 years. This solution is further enhanced via the introduction of an innovative combination of water and air sourced heat pumps and a battery energy storage system, which will help create a smart grid from which the local community will benefit, together with a range of Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS).
The new spine road will start construction in November 2021.
Network Homes have entered a joint venture with developer Vistry and will commence work on homes in 2022.
The new hospital energy centre will go live in October 2022.
The S106 for the masterplan will be signed locking in further improvements for the local area including the upgrading of council amenities for the playfields.
The outcomes (including cost savings/income generated if applicable)
Northwick Park is forecast to deliver the following outcomes over the next 10 Years:
£35.7 million in capital receipts
£551,000 in reduced running costs
land released for circa 1,500 new homes
250 jobs created
It will also deliver better, more integrated public services and facilities including parking, joint use of teaching facilities, joint sports and social facilities and act as a catalyst for private sector investment in the area.
Links to relevant documents
The Northwick Park-OPE Programme
Shaping Brent's Future Together
Draft Local Plan-North-West
More case studies about One Public Estate
Cumbria Chief Executives Group: Carlisle Sands
Staffordshire OPE Steering Group: Codsall Community Hub
Creating a new residential and community heart for Stocking Farm, Leicester
More case studies in this topic | OPE), Housing (in OPE), Integrated Public Services, Regeneration
To bring together four landowning public sector organisations with different aims and governance structures.
To unite around common themes and make Northwick Park a landmark destination.
To deliver capital receipts, reduce running costs and generate revenue streams for public sector partners.
To improve service delivery, unlock land for development, create jobs, deliver new homes and reduce carbon emissions.
The vision is for the four partners, the London Borough of Brent, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, The University of Westminster and Network Homes Ltd to work together to create an ambitious and ground-breaking strategy for the Northwick Park estate.
The project will bring together stakeholders, such as Transport for London, Network Rail, The London Borough of Harrow and The Greater London Authority. The four partners have signed a collaboration agreement, setting out the principles of joint working and governance along with the individual aims of the partners.
Over three funding rounds since 2017, One Public Estate (OPE) has awarded £530,500 to the Brent Partnership's Northwick Park project to bring together these partners and help achieve this ambition.
The London Borough of Brent have also now been successful in a bid for £9.9 million Housing Infrastructure Funding (HIF) for the project, to support the delivery of a new spine road needed to bring forward the development. A land transfer has taken place between Network Homes and the Hospital Trust, realising a capital receipt for the NHS Trust.
Consultants have been commissioned using OPE funding to develop the masterplan and infrastructure proposals. Planning permission has now been granted for the overall masterplan, the first phase of housing (circa 650 homes with 40 per cent affordable) and the new spine road.
As part of the project, the hospital trust have built an energy centre which will reduce carbon emissions at Northwick Park Hospital by over 2,500 tonnes annually and deliver a minimum guaranteed saving of £25.5 million | 410 |
Ams' attendance down slightly this season | Tri-City Herald
Ams' attendance<|fim_middle|> Tri-City has accomplished overall with making improvements to the building and maintaining a fan base is commendable. They do an exceptional job of promoting the franchise, and they have a competitive team -- a championship caliber team. We are pleased to see the turnaround of the franchise and the success they've had the last few seasons.
"We are excited with the success of Portland, and there are better days ahead for Seattle (which moved to Kent last season)," Robison continued.
The Americans lead not only the U.S. Division and Western Conference, but they also have the best record in the WHL. Having a competitive team and giving back to the community are key factors, Sandy said.
"We understand on-ice performance is important, but we also give back in the community, and I believe that's where the bond is formed," Sandy said. "That has been the genesis of our success."
-- Annie Fowler: 509-582-1574; afowler@tricityherald.com
Flu shots the Americans way at Kadlec
He was a Tri-City Americans star. He's now taking his talents to the NHL
By Jeff Morrow Special to the Herald
The National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche drafted Tri-City American player Sasha Matala in the 2019 draft. The Western Hockey League star was one of 28 WHL players selected in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
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It didn't go as hoped for the Tri-City Americans, but three stars were sent off in style
WHL commissioner likes what he sees in Toyota Center improvements
Americans' win extends playoff series with Everett
Final high school basketball games set for Sunday in Yakima at SWX All-Star Classic | down slightly this season
By Annie Fowler, Herald staff writer
KENNEWICK — There were nights not so long ago when the number of "orange fans" at Toyota Center outnumbered the actual fans.
Not anymore.
From 2002-03 -- the last season the Tri-City Americans did not make the playoffs -- to now, the team has seen an increase of 62 percent in attendance.
During that woeful 2002-03 campaign, the Americans drew 98,462 fans -- the second lowest total in team history. During the past six seasons, attendance has increased each season, with 159,264 fans filling the seats in 2008-09.
Those attendance numbers are a far cry from the Chilliwack Bruins -- who are down a league-high 20 percent -- and Red Deer, which is down 18.5 percent.
Portland, which spent the last three seasons in the basement of the U.S. Division with a combined total of 47 wins, has seen the most growth in attendance at 22.5 percent, followed by Brandon at 18 percent -- but the Wheat Kings' numbers are a little skewed.
As the host of the Memorial Cup, fans with season tickets get first dibs on tickets for the championship event. According to the Brandon Sun, 90 percent of Brandon season ticket-holders also are Memorial Cup ticket-holders. There are less than 100 single seats available for the Memorial Cup event.
"In many cases we are not surprised by the drop in attendance, but it is a concern," said Western Hockey League commissioner Ron Robison. "The economy has been a challenge for everyone. There was a slow start to the season, but we have a lot of great races in both conferences. We anticipate a great stretch run. It will be a real exciting race for the Scotty Munro (trophy for best overall record) and the race for the final (playoff) spot in the East."
Chilliwack's decline is due in large part to the American Hockey League team, the Abbotsford Heat (affiliate of the Calgary Flames), just 20 minutes down the road in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
"We forecasted that," Robison said of Chilliwack. "The Fraser Valley market, with the introduction of an AHL team, took away the fan base from Abbotsford. Chilliwack is more competitive than it has been and that has helped. They need to focus on getting a fan base development within Chilliwack and not the Fraser Valley."
Robison said the U.S. Division markets have more competition for fans than their Canadian counterparts, and that can reflect in the attendance numbers. But he noted that the Americans have done a good job of drawing fans.
"The U.S. markets are similar to Tri-City with communities having an emphasis on football and other sports," Robison said. "But what | 611 |
Read Ridge Online
Authors: Em Petrova
BOOK: Ridge
Grab the popcorn—someone is about to get slapped or kicked on this episode of Rope 'n Ride.
The season finale of the Calhouns' rodeo reality show ends with Ridge being stood up by the woman he loves and humiliated on national TV. If that isn't bad enough, an old knee injury has him wincing every time he gets on the back of a bronco, making it difficult to put winning scores up on the board. But he's determined to shake off his streak of bad luck—and all these marriage proposals from fans pouring in now that the show has aired.
Kashley grew up with the Calhouns, playing hide and seek in the cornfields while their fathers talked ranching. And she's been in love with Ridge…well, forever. He's never noticed and she's too shy to make any attempts, but when she sees him struggling after his breakup, coming to his aid is a no-brainer. Which lands her on a whirlwind tour of rodeos, where she's falling more for him while struggling to rein in his self-destructive behavior.
The cameras love to catch Ridge losing his cool, his family is riding him to cut it out and he can't keep his eyes—or every other body part off Kashley. Then a secret is revealed that has him going after her ex even as his own ex pops into his life again. Between the drama, his old injury and Wranglers that fit too tight after being around the woman he shouldn't toy with, Ridge is fed up. Plus, he couldn't be in love again so soon, right?
Rope 'n Ride Series Book 3
Copyright<|fim_middle|>oooeee, that was a hell of a lot harder. Anna couldn't be put into a box. She had so many layers, and well, he couldn't wait for her to get here
so they could get on to the night of hot sex.
He fidgeted on the hard metal café chair and nudged the growing bulge in his jeans. A single thought of Anna had him growing hard, and that wasn't going to go away. Ever.
The small-town café was the perfect place to pop the question. She was going to love the twinkle lights setting the mood and the big moon hanging like a silver medallion on the dusky Tulsa horizon.
Ridge pushed his hat back on his head to look at the sky and check the time. He didn't need a watch to know that she was late. When he'd asked her to meet him at seven, he'd chosen the time with a thought in mind. At seven he normally finished up chores on his family's ranch, and he'd be able to go inside the house he intended to build for the two of them, look at his bride and remember that at this time of day, she'd become his.
Glancing around, he noted the quiet descending on the city. The sky grew velvetier. He wet his dry lips for the dozenth time. He could sure use a drink, but the café waiter had a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for them.
He finally pulled out his cell. He checked his messages, but there were none from Anna. She was an hour late.
He thumbed a text.
Is everything okay? Hope you didn't get a flat tire.
Keeping his tone light was difficult with a sharp, heavy rock of worry in his gut. She was often late, making sure her hair was just right or her notorious high heels matched her bag. But not usually this late.
Once at a family barbecue, his sister Wynonna had commented about Anna being late, and when she'd showed up looking like a star, her blonde hair waving down her back perfectly and a pair of expensive sunglasses perched atop her head like a headband, Wynonna had made a face and flounced off to whisper something to his oldest brother Buck.
Jealous. She's jealous of Anna.
Sure, his family hadn't really warmed up to her the way they had Buck's wife Channing or Ryder's wife Joy. But they hadn't been around Anna very long—they didn't know her like Ridge knew her.
He pushed out a sigh. Leaned his elbows on the table. Sat back and looked around again. Texted Anna and when he got no response, he called her. By nine o'clock he was grinding his teeth, and that rock in his gut had morphed into a boulder.
He rested his head in his hands, scrubbing his fingers through his hair as he realized she wasn't coming. She must have known his intention to propose—hell, the paparazzi had probably leaked it. With him being one of the stars of the
Rope 'n Ride
reality show, nothing was private unless he kept it inside his head.
But he'd gone to the jeweler's twice with cameras on his tail.
She knew.
And she hadn't come because she didn't want to hear the question he'd longed to ask.
The camera panned away from Ridge until he was a small dot in a big, empty outdoor café swallowed in darkness.
Now Ridge's gaze fixed on the flatscreen that had become one of Satan's own inventions, set in his living room to torture him with last seasons' episodes.
Ridge smacked Wynonna upside the head.
"Owww! What'd ya do that—" She twisted on the big sofa to look at who'd struck her. When her gaze met Ridge's, her lips opened in a big O.
"Turn that shit off." He didn't need to relive his humiliation daily, and as often as the TV network aired the show—and last season's finale featuring the worst moment of Ridge's life—he'd witnessed it several times. Wynonna had a habit of watching the show all the Calhouns starred in.
"Sorry, Ridge." She switched off the TV and unfolded her long legs from the sofa. She got up and faced him. Flat-footed, she was six feet of redheaded sass and could look him right in the eyes.
He twisted away from the sympathy he saw there. "Don't speak."
She didn't—she scooted around the sofa and put her arms around him. "I'm really sorry, Ridge."
Okay, she didn't speak right away.
"Shut up, twerp." He hated the slight hitch in his tone that only she or one of his four brothers would hear. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he squeezed her for a brief second before letting her go. "We got chores to do, or are you exempt now that you're a big star?"
She raised her head and gave him her biggest white-toothed smile. She ate up the attention the cameras gave, especially when she was in the arena, seated on the back of her horse, racing barrels and breaking records. She was known as the Rodeo Reality Queen, and lately had started acting like one.
He smacked her ass—hard. She howled and jerked away from him. "Get your ass to the barn. You've got stalls to clean, and we aren't doing it for you."
She wrinkled her nose, but he knew it wasn't because she had to shovel manure. She was a cowgirl through and through. She just didn't like being told what to do.
He gave her his nicest smile. It felt weird, the way his mouth twitched up, when he hadn't smiled in months. Changing tactics with Wynonna was the key to harmony in the Calhoun household. The brothers had learned this when Wynonna was just a toddler and refused to eat her vegetables, hold hands when crossing a parking lot, or get her teeth brushed.
"I wondered if you'd have a look at Fury while you're in the barn. I thought I noticed him favoring the right foreleg when I had him riding today."
Wynonna perked up. She was good at treating animals and people alike. She might have been a vet or a doctor if she hadn't gotten stars in her eyes at the sight of a pair of pink rhinestone boots at the age of three.
"I'll check him. But you know you ride that horse hard lately, Ridge."
Oh Christ, she had the sympathy eyes again. "There's a reason my horse's name is Fury. He needs to gallop off his emotions."
"Or you do," she muttered under her breath.
He rolled his eyes. "Lane's gonna be pissed if I don't hurry up and help him with the cattle. Let me know what you think about Fury's leg."
As he left the house, he stomped down the urge to explode—punch holes into walls and splinter doors off their hinges. Fuck the
show for making his heartache a public moment. Hell, he'd already showed up on Top Sad Moments of the Year, alongside big celebrity breakups.
They were exploiting Anna's bone-crushing rejection, and he was getting paid to let them. If he'd known then what he did now, he never would have signed the contract. He'd be happily riding broncs for extra cash when he wasn't raising beef on the ranch their daddy had built.
Except this knee isn't giving me a good run.
He lengthened his strides, trying to stretch his knee. The old injury had started flaring up again, and right when he was at the top of his game. He'd come in fourth in the nation in bareback bronc riding last year.
The new season was just getting rolling, and he elevated his knee with ice as often as he could—out of sight of his interfering family, that was. The last thing he needed was more damn sympathy.
In the corral, he swung onto one of the best workhorses they had, wondering why Lane hadn't nabbed it. With the best disposition around cattle, the horse was fought over pretty often around here.
Ridge clicked his tongue and flicked the reins. He headed along the valley where all the bred cows were grazing. The Calhouns kept their pregnant livestock close to home at night, and Lane was already waiting at the edge of the field, sitting straight in his saddle.
Ridge spurred his horse faster. It was getting to be that time of night when he got antsiest. His hope that 7:00 p.m. became something to look forward to had turned into an hour of hell, and usually ended in him taking a flask of whiskey and a bag of ice for his knee to bed.
Lane nudged his hat back as Ridge reached his side. He reined up, avoiding his brother's gaze. Lane and Wynonna shared the same elongated eye shapes, both of them reminding him of a cat. Right now it was damned unnerving to see his brother wearing the same expression he'd just seen on Wynonna's face.
"Stop looking at me that way." Lane had probably purposely left the good mount behind to appease Ridge.
"What way? Let's get this done."
They took off, separating enough to drive the cattle into a small group. As they got running toward their bedtime pen, Ridge issued a low groan.
"You can stop throwing looks at me. It's been months since…since, the
Are you and Wynonna in cahoots today or something?"
Lane's brow creased. "Wynonna? I've hardly said a word to her. Why?"
Ridge shook his head and moved his horse away from Lane's to get some breathing room. The whole ranch felt like a jail. At every corner he was ambushed by his brothers, sister, ranch hands, and worst of all, he couldn't set foot into the kitchen without his ma giving him worried eyes.
No wonder Fury might have a strained foreleg. He
been riding a lot. But it was the only way to escape his family and the burning anger inside him. At least when the breeze was blowing straight at his face and there was no sound but the beat of hooves, Ridge could forget about everything.
"Ridge Calhoun's ridin' again." Momma's statement didn't surprise Kashley, but she still got up from the kitchen table where she was hulling strawberries for a batch of jam.
As soon as she looked out the window, her breath caught. Ridge, flying across the land, his head bent low, his horse's mane and tail streaming in the wind. Kashley should turn away before her momma remarked on it, but it didn't matter.
The whole family knew she'd been in love with Ridge since second grade.
Though he was galloping hundreds of yards off, she knew his powerful thighs bulged as he gripped the horse, and the roll of his body in the saddle was erotic as hell. That rise and fall, rise and fall… God, all she could think about when she saw him in the saddle were those powerful roped arms of his surrounding her as he—
"He's riding a lot these days." Momma's voice broke through Kashley's sexual haze.
She watched Ridge until he dropped out of sight. Then she sank into the kitchen chair again and took up the paring knife. A small sigh was on her lips, but she didn't dare give her mother more fodder to tease her with.
"I suspect he's struggling since the..." she searched for a word and said, "breakup."
It sliced Kashley up that the woman Ridge had been about to propose to hadn't shown up. The humiliation he had to be feeling must be monumental for a man as proud as Ridge. Not to mention having all those siblings around. Though the Calhouns weren't a cruel bunch, they still liked to tease and joke.
"You haven't been over there to speak with him since it happened?" her momma asked as she dumped a pint of vibrant red berries into a bowl and started mashing them the old-fashioned way—with the bottom of a stout drinking glass. Juices squeezed up around the glass, and Kashley's stomach growled.
She popped a berry into her mouth and chewed. Around the fruit, she said, "No. I don't think he'd welcome me showing up to talk through his disappointment, Momma."
Her mother's wide smile could always get to her. When she was little, Kashley thought she was the most beautiful woman on earth. Maybe even an angel come down to watch over her. With pale blonde hair piled on her head and clear blue eyes, she could be.
Kashley had inherited the thick blonde waves and one of the blue eyes. Yep, somehow she'd ended up with one warm brown eye, like a mutt. There was a medical term for people with two different colored eyes, and Kashley hated explaining it, so she just called it a genetic fluke.
For a while, she'd taken to wearing one brown contact, but the colors never really matched up. And she hated having the gritty lens in her eye. She'd take the dust or heck, even manure, before that annoyance.
"You and Ridge are friends. You wouldn't be going over there to discuss his disappointment. You'd be offering a normal conversation. I'm sure with all the camera crew and his family probably walking on eggshells around him, he'd welcome a little easy talk."
Easy talk wasn't all she'd give Ridge. When it came to him, she was plain
If he wanted, he could have her in all 400 positions of the Kama Sutra. Or had she read somewhere that the ancient text had more positions than were humanly possible to try? It didn't matter—she'd go the distance with Ridge.
"I don't know, Momma."
Short Stories: Five Decades by Irwin Shaw
Touch of a Thief by Mia Marlowe
This is a Book for Parents of Gay Kids: A Question & Answer Guide to Everyday Life by Dannielle Owens-Reid, Kristin Russo
Encounters 1: The Spiral Slayers by Rusty Williamson
Darkest Days: A Southern Zombie Tale by Layton, James J.
When The Fur Flies by Kelliea Ashley
House Party by Patrick Dennis
Bright Before Sunrise by Schmidt, Tiffany
The Shards of Serenity by Yusuf Blanton
Manhunt in the Wild West by Jessica Andersen | Em Petrova 2016
Ebook Edition
Cover design by Bookin' It Designs
Electronic book publication September 2016
Rope 'n Ride Series Book 3
Ridge fingered the circle of metal in his pocket, running his fingertip around the sliver until it reached the big stone—a two-carat halo diamond set in platinum and sized perfectly for one petite blonde bombshell.
She was gonna flip over this ring. He could nearly hear her squeals of
yes, yes, yes
He leaned back in this chair and smiled to himself. If he were to describe his relationship with Anna over the past four months he'd known her, he'd use the words exciting and adventure.
Describing the woman he was about to ask to marry him, though… Wh | 165 |
EarthLabs for Educators > Climate Detectives > Climate Detectives Challenge
Climate Detectives: An Earth Systems Science Challenge
Students go aboard the Joides Resolution on a journey to several drilling sites in the Gulf of Alaska. Source: IODP
In the summer of 2013, diverse team of scientists on board the JOIDES Resolution sailed to the Gulf of Alaska to collect sediments to investigate Earth's past climate and study the connection between climate and tectonic activity. Led by co-chief scientists Sean Gulick (UTIG) and John Jaeger (U. of Florida), IODP Expedition 341used sediment cores to answer questions about Earth's history. Students will join the expedition and analyze the science data that expedition scientists collect.
In this Challenge, every effort has been made to have students experience what it's like to join a scientific expedition and work collaboratively to do an investigation that focuses on uncovering clues to past climate change. They travel along with a group of scientists who extracted sediment cores from several locations along the south coast of Alaska in the summer<|fim_middle|> Ice
Lab 4: Climate Clues from Sand and Mud
Lab 5: (Geologic) Timing Is Everything!
Lab 6: Analyzing Sediment Cores
EarthLabs for Students
Last Modified: November 08, 2016 | Accessibility | About this Site | Printing | Shortcut: https://serc.carleton.edu/109303 | Privacy | Terms of Use | of 2013. Students conduct hands-on lab activities, watch videos, analyze the actual data from the expedition, consult maps and graphs, explore online interactives, all of which will help them gather evidence to determine when major climate events occurred in the past, and how these events connect with changes in climate today, and in the future.
Students are given the following scenario:
You are a young scientist with a passion for understanding how the Earth's climate has changed over the past 7 million years. To help with your research you will board the JOIDES Resolution to spend a summer at sea in the Gulf of Alaska collecting sediments from beneath the ocean floor with an international team of scientists and crew. You and the members of your team will submit a report that addresses the following questions:
What is the present geologic setting in this region?
How have environmental conditions in in the Gulf of Alaska changed during the time when the sediments in this core were deposited?
What does the presence of types of diatoms (plants) and their abundance in the core reveal about the timing of the cycles of the advance and retreat of glaciers and ice sheets?
What is the timeline represented by this section of sediment core?
To address the challenge, students should be divided into teams of 5.
Each team will elect a chief-scientist, someone who can pull all the information together and tell the groups' story. The chief-scientist will collect the findings of team members and lead the preparation of the final report. Other team members include an engineer, a sedimentologist, a paleomagnetist, and a paleontologist. Each will be responsible for gathering data and evidence within their disciplines and contribute their findings to the groups' final report.
To meet the Challenge, students need to develop background knowledge in several key areas. Over a two-week span, they will conduct a number of investigations and work along side Joides Resolution scientists to learn:
How scientists from many different countries and with different expertise collaborate as a team to examine a science problem.
How sedimentary cores are retrieved from beneath the seafloor.
What kinds of information can be extracted from the features of sediment cores to give clues to climate change.
About the different types of data, including proxy data, used to detect changes in Earth's climate.
Methods used to determine when changes in climate occurred in sediment cores.
Challenge Presentation Criteria
Each student must hand in an individual typed report (4 - 5 pages) with figures/ drawings. Their report should contain:
An overview of the Challenge.
Description of your contribution to the project.
Detailed answer to the Challenge question that required of their special expertise with methodology, data, analysis and diagrams.
A summary of their group's findings.
The chief scientists report should contain these elements, but focus on the integration of the findings of all the experts and how this information is used to address the challenge questions.
Final Research Symposium
The chief scientist of each group will give a 10-minute presentation (no more than 10 PPT slides) that compiles the data and results of the group. The final report should contain the following elements:
1. Physical model of a coring device
2. A map showing location of (a) the drill hole from which the sediment core was retrieved and, (b) key geologic features and structures present, and any other information you feel is pertinent.
3. A summary of your group's findings (answers to all the challenge questions).
4. Concluding remarks
5. Acknowledgements/references
NOTE: You can choose to share the criteria to meet the Challenge with students at the beginning of the module. You can summarize them from this page or refer students to the Challenge requirements that are set forth in Lab 6F: Putting the Data Together.
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Teach the Earth Portal
EarthLabs for Educators
Climate Series Intro
Climate and the Cryosphere
Climate and the Biosphere
Climate and the Carbon Cycle
Climate Detectives
Lab Overviews
Climate Detectives Challenge
Lab 1: Preparing for the Voyage
Lab 2: Coring Is Not Boring!
Lab 3: Mountains of | 847 |
Artists and Scholars
Quote Board
Prompted
Alumni Council News
Back Talk
Stories of Good in the World
Sally Campbell Galman '96, a professor of child and family studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has earned significant acclaim for her arts-based social science research. This spring, her "Look for the Helpers" series of cartoons that ran in her hometown newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, has brought her sharp insights to a wider audience.
Visit her website, or
Follow her on Instagram at @sallyanncampbell.
Campbell Galman's newspaper cartoons are a familiar sight for many Grinnellians. Her popular comic, "Stating the Obvious," ran in The Scarlet & Black for years. It was published as a 1996 book collection, titled<|fim_middle|> used to purchase new outdoor play equipment for the College preschool. Cartoons even played a role in her admission to Grinnell: "I sent cartoons in lieu of college essays," she says.
The three cartoons here are excerpted from the larger "Helpers" series, which has attracted worldwide attention. Campbell Galman says it is gratifying to see that the work is resonating. "Robert Louis Stevenson wrote that we are obligated to share our courage with others, even if we ourselves feel fear," she says. "I put out there the reassurance I would want to see."
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Grinnell College Home | Obviously, the proceeds from which were | 7 |
The Origins of the Crusades
http://medieval-wars.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_origins_of_the_crusades
The origins of the Crusades in general and the First Crusade in particular have been widely debated by scholars and historians.
Europe Before the Crusades
Early in the Middle Ages, after the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Christianity had spread through much of Europe and the Middle East. However, from the 8th Century on, the spread of Christianity was slowed by the rise of Islam under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate and eventually spread from what is now Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Peninsula to Spain and parts of France.
Meanwhile, in Western Europe, the Spanish Reconquista was already underway. While the Reconquista did have an ideological component, it cannot be considered a crusade or a holy war.
In Eastern Europe, the Christians had been in schism with the west since 1054. It is believed that the Crusades were seen as a way to strengthen the power of the Catholic Church in the region by helping to prop up the Byzantine Empire. This is felt by some historians to be a possible catalyst for the First Crusade because the Byzantines were at war with the Seljuk Turks of the Ottoman Empire over Anatolia and the Levant. It is believed that the Byzantines saw themselves as being surrounded by enemies, the Turks on one side and the Normans on the other.
Western Europe had only recently begun to stabilize after the Christianization of the Saxons, Vikings and Magyars. However, this led to another problem. There were now large numbers of professional warriors with nothing to do, but fight<|fim_middle|> the Crusades," an entry on Wordsmith | amongst themselves. As a result, both for a way to keep the peace in Europe and for reasons of political expedience, Popes began to look for ways to utilize these soldiers in the name of Christendom.
The Historiography of the Crusades
According to the Erdman Theory, which was developed by German historian Carl Erdman, the origins of the Crusades can be directly linked to Papal reform movements, such as the one described above. The Erdman Theory states that the real purpose of the Crusades was to prop up the crumbling Byzantine Empire, which was slowly losing territory to the Ottoman Empire.
This suggests that the principle goal of the Crusades was to protect the eastern borders of the Christian world. The liberation of Jerusalem was a secondary priority.
More recently, historians have begun to examine the role that the rise of Islam played in the events leading up to the beginning of the Crusades. The idea of the Crusades as a response to the expansion of Islam goes back the 12th Century when William of Tyre began his chronicle of the Siege of Jerusalem by recounting the first Arab invasions several centuries early, as well as the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Bethlehem in 1009 and the attacks on German pilgrims in the Great German Pilgrimage in 1065.
These were recent events that Pope Urban II would use to stir up piety and support among lay Christians at the Council of Clermont in 1095.
Works CitedD. Nicolle, The First Crusade 1096–99: Conquest of the Holy Land, 21
D. Nicolle, The First Crusade 1096–99: Conquest of the Holy Land, 32
Peter M. Holt, The Age of the Crusades: The Near East from the Eleventh Century to 1517 (Longman, 1986), pp. 11, 14–15
The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986), pp. 5–8
The copyright of the article The Origins of the Crusades in Medieval Wars is owned by Terry Long. Permission to republish The Origins of the Crusades in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
You're currently reading "The Origins of | 500 |
Nokia Commercial with AArrow Spinner!
AArrow Columbus at McDonald's Grand Opening!
McDonald's hired a sign spinner for their grand opening in Gahanna, Ohio last Sunday! Nate<|fim_middle|> Phoenix by Arizona Storytellers. Laramie, World Sign Spinning Champion of 2011, started off as a sign spinner and is now a SPINstructor himself who teaches new sign spinners basics and tricks. | Hengstebeck spun for three hours right outside of their new store to attract more customers and get the word out. Even though it was quite windy, Nate rocked it!
AArrow has partnered with ARAMARK Higher Education to promote their Sun Devil Dining restaurants! The campaign started on August 13, as all the new students moved into their new dorms and has continued since. AArrow is promoting for several different Sun Devil Dining restaurants, including Burger King's "Whopper Wednesdays" at the Memorial Union on the ASU campus.
Check out this segment on Laramie Rosenfeld training new sign spinners in | 128 |
There was a huge contrast between how Boonen appeared after Thursday's stage finish and his downbeat self after abandoning on Friday afternoon. The Belgian rider had had a rough night during which he couldn't sleep. On Friday morning, he threw up, yet still started the stage.
"We had a few guys right there: Levi, Haimar, Markel and<|fim_middle|> anyone suspected we suspect of a concussion, no matter what doubt we have otherwise, to err on the side of caution (and LIFE). But when these guys sitting out just one day means the entire 20 day, 2,200 mile tour for these guys. The team docs, or staff, or whoever is making the call must be as absolute certain as possible there is a concussion, especially considering some of these guys' accidents (Horner) don't permit them to tell for themselves. | of course Chris. He was the worst. When I got there, he was lying in a ditch and was very shaken. It was obvious he'd hit very hard. He finished the stage and I think basically he's OK physically … But we're taking him to the hospital to have a scan. He doesn't really know where he is right now or what happened. We'll see what the results are but I fear the worst.
That description is very concerning, but wait until you see THIS VIDEO (must take the jump, can't embed), Horner has no idea about anything. This would definitely be a situation for immediate DQ if anyone had any sense about concussions.
Professional cycling has been plagued by head injuries this season, and during the Tour de France, no fewer than three riders have suffered concussions in just one week of racing: Tom Boonen (Quickstep) and Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) have dropped out of the race, while it is still to be determined if Chris Horner will continue after finishing stage 7 in a daze.
The latest spate of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) – the medical term for a concussion – and the fact that both Horner and Boonen soldiered on despite being obviously affected in terms of cognitive ability, has raised the issue of who should be the one to determine whether a rider can keep racing after landing on his head.
"I think the race doctors should be the ones with the authority to make these decisions," Steffen said, but in his team's case, it is the staff who are tasked with making that difficult call.
Riders who continue to compete with TBI's not only risk causing themselves or others to crash due to reduced attention, but they also slow the healing progress by raising their heart rates and risk permanent damage should they crash again.
Steffen, who has worked in emergency medicine, came up with his own protocol for evaluating head injuries after attending a conference on concussions in sport in Zurich a few years ago. The team's main lead-out man Julian Dean suffered a delayed reaction to a knock he took to the head in the Volta a Catalunya this year, and ever since then the team has carried a step-by-step guide to assessing head injuries.
Just playing devils advocate here. These men are very strong willed men, and who wouldn't be strong willed to get on a bike and ride over mountains for the better part of two weeks everyday, so getting a legitimate answer from them is probably non existent. That being said cycling has an advantage that no other sport has and that is the use of race radios. Why not use that to your advantage if time is an issue (If some one is laying on the ground with obvious TBI symptoms they should be removed such as Brajkovic and Horner). You (team doctor) can remain in constant contact with the rider and they have the ability to have that rider return to the team car at will (If they already crashed they are only racing for tomorrow in most cases due to lost time) and follow up with the rider thus allowing time to make a proper diagnosis. What other sport allows that much leeway of contact while the event is being contested. Again, just playing devils advocate.
I can sort of understand what you're saying Kurt. Cycling is different in the sense that there's no "sitting out this game/match and we'll see how your symptoms are tomorrow/over the weekend and then begin progressive RTP, if warranted" We're taught to take out/keep out | 721 |
I have been wanting to write this for years. Since my planned walk for today has been, upset, by the actions of others, today seemed as good a day as any.
I started letterboxing without realising I had. At my senior school I joined the A.T.C. (Air Training Corps), and during 1973-4 we had a long weekend camp at Okehampton Battle Camp.
One of the activities for the weekend was a hike on Dartmoor. The exact location has been blurred with the passage of time. However, I do remember sitting by the side of a dusty track as an army lorry drove up to deliver our lunch. This consisted of small amounts of said dust and moor grass incorporated into curly-edged sandwiches.
Whilst we were sat eating, I remember someone brought us a 'Book' to sign and a rubber stamp. Back then, I did not have the inclination to take a copy of the stamp. Today I would have bitten their hand off the get at the inky piece of treasure.
I did not encounter 'letterboxing' again for a few more years. I remember visiting Cuckoo Rock with my youngest brother, probably in the very early 80's. This time I took a copy of the stamp, but, over time, I have misplaced/lost it.
My 'real' introduction to letterboxing came when I joined my brother, the infamous 'Dennis the Menace' on a letterbox hike. My initiation took place in the Western Beacon area on 23rd February 1985. We collected stamps called; The Beast / Main Head / Surprise Box / Dartmoor Flora / Hobajon's Cross / Wacka Tor / Old Hill / Uncle Ab's House / Three Barrows / Mabel The Mini etc.
I was hooked, not just with the collecting aspect but what my brother had introduced me to. A freedom<|fim_middle|> then, we had to walk a long way, usually with heavy backpacks, just to get one new box. Each letterbox collected was truly earned.
We often would camp out in areas, over a weekend, to save having to catch buses to and from the moor each time. Some of these camps were really memorable, in ways that I shall not mention here, but those of you who know Dennis, will know what I mean.
Camping out was a whole new experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the heightened instincts brought on by being in a tent, in the middle of the moors, in the black of night. Good memories.
My first 'solo' outing was on a day when the brother failed to get the bus. So I decided to walk out on my own. Not being completely confident with a map and compass, I wondered why the boxes on Shavercombe Tor were not found when following the clues. After a thorough search of the tor I eventually found a box. Not at all what I expected - a Hen Tor box? I soon realised my error and sat down and studied the map to understand where I went wrong. I did not leave the tor until I felt confident to continue. A valuable lesson learnt. I remember writing a poem of that day, something that I continue to do when something inspires me.
In the decades that followed, my brother's health deteriorated, and other walking friends found new interests. I found myself walking alone more often and missing the company of others.
I began to take an interest in the Boundary Stones on Dartmoor and included them in my walks. This interest has, in recent years, taken up a lot of my time and curtailed my excursions to the moor.
I often reflect on the 'old days' of letterboxing. I remember at one Meet in Princetown a group of 5 or 8 of us trekked up to North Hessary Tor, in the dark, just to get a 'new' box.
I miss the 'banter' of the meet, the mickey takes and the good humoured 'one-upmanship'. I miss the camping out at meet weekend, and the brother's 'end-of-meet' entertainment. I miss the atmosphere that being in Princetown added to the meet.
I do like to try and help promote letterboxing. Recently I had some of the best letterboxing days that I have had in a long while. I assisted a group of American letterboxers on their trips to Dartmoor. I hadn't been letterboxing with such a large group since probably the late 80's early 90's. Some great days were had with some truly amazing friends.
Today, with WOM clues traded as currency, and modern letterboxes bearing hardly a resemblance to earlier 'boxes. I wonder where the hobby is headed. I used to love stopping at a letterbox for lunch and reading through the dry, well kept, Visitors' Book. Today, Visitors Books are less inviting to pick up, the smell of sodden, rotting paper acting as a good deterrent.
I still get the same enjoyment from letterboxing, each find still gives a good sense of achievement, especially when you have to work for that find.
The beauty and vastness of Dartmoor will always call me, and, for as long as I am able, will answer that call.
Last edited by trekkernod on Sat May 23, 2015 8:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
That was a fun read. Isn't it odd that such a hobby (which sounds weird when first heard of) is so addictive?
A very good read thankyou, I do miss being in the pub with Dennis, and all the others that used to use the Plume as a second home! | , a place free from the monotony of everyday living, a place to escape to. I shall forever be indebted to Dennis for introducing me to the wonders of Dartmoor.
We had many enjoyable 'letterboxing' days / hikes over the years. There was none of this getting 50 boxes in one grid square. Back | 67 |
Home » Experiential, Mobile »
Spotted! Ubisoft turns your phone into a sword
How the company used mobile tech and social community building to promote a new game to a mass audience.
By Josh Kolm
Ubisoft Canada is getting Canadians engaged with its latest game by letting them use their phone as a weapon to fight for their communities.
For Honor is a game developed by Ubisoft's Montreal studio that allows players to take control of a member of a faction – knights, samurai and vikings – and do battle with players from other factions.
Ubisoft hosted "The Battle for Canada" on Feb. 11, encouraging people to pledge allegiance to one of those factions. Using a custom app, faction members could then use their phone like a virtual sword, swinging it to earn points for their faction depending on the range, speed and force of their "strikes" (as measured by the phone's motion<|fim_middle|> Ubisoft Canada, says mobile-led campaigns are important to the company for the simple reason that it's the best way to reach its audience on the platform they already use most.
And while using a phone's motion sensors for a campaign isn't exactly a first, using them in this way aligns not just with the gameplay of For Honor, but creates a fun execution that adds to the campaign's shareability.
"Our fans are early adopters, so they want to be surprised," Bousquet says. "They don't want to see the same thing over and over, especially if you want them to share it and be part of the content they share through their carefully managed feeds."
Ubisoft divides its target audience between dedicated "hardcore" gamers and more of a mass audience. While the hardcore would already have high awareness of the game through the gaming press and events like E3, a more mass audience wouldn't be as familiar with a game like For Honour, which is not part of an existing franchise with years of brand equity.
Using accessible mobile technology is an easy way to reach these less-familiar fans, Bousquet says, and taking a community-based approach in the weeks leading up to "The Battle for Canada" – recruiting people over social by aligning the values of the factions with personal values of users – made the concept more relevant to them by making them feel like they had something to fight for when the time for the interactive, virtual fight came around.
Ubisoft worked with Bleublancrouge and North Strategic on the campaign.
Bleublancrouge, For Honor, Lucile Bousquet, North Strategic, Spotted, Toronto, Ubisoft, Ubisoft Canada, Yonge-Dundas Square
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The execution was amplified through a livestream on Facebook and YouTube, with the battle's progress tracked through an online map and a video screen at Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square displaying the name and faction of the top-scoring warriors.
Lucile Bousquet, senior director of marketing and communication at | 63 |
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Web 2.0 – This Time For Sure? Someone Wake Up Thomas Edison!
Web 2.0 – Social Media – Media in General – This time for sure?
When I hear the Clarion Call for Web 2.0 and Social Media for Social Learning – it's deja vu all over again. I was graduated from college with a degree in Radio-TV-Film and wanted to be into Educational TV – but you know – I took the first job offered – with my current employer of my part-time college job – at Wickes Lumber. Into the Training Services department – part of HR. Moved from Lawrence KS – to Saginaw MI – in July of 1979.
They – Wickes – were migrating from the old educational technology of Slide-Strips with Audio — to — to the latest educational technology of Video (VHS – Beta had recently lost/or it was obvious to most – it was the 2-hour length to capture a full movie – versus Beta with its superior quality). And I was a newly minted graduate with that degree. So they asked me to be a Training Developer in the Development organization versus the Video department. Go figure.
I'd been in the U.S. Navy for 3 years by then – so I rolled with that punch. And now – look at my landing – or continuous roll….
But/so – I am wary. That wasn't the only cycle of "The Technology Will Save Us!"
And I lived near enough to Missouri for 10 years to demand: Show Me!
Something I remember from back then in the late 1970s and early 1980s from – Thomas Edison. A pretty smart guy.
That's Tom and George Eastman (think: Eastman-Kodak)…below in the photo…
From http://www.cambridge.com/
What's wrong with technology-centered approaches? A review of educational technologies of the twentieth century shows that the technology-centered approach generally fails to lead to lasting improvements in education (Cuban, 1986). For example, when the motion picture was invented in the early 20th century hopes were high that this visual technology would improve education. In 1922, the famous inventor Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks" (cited in Cuban, 1986, p. 9). Like current claims for the power of visual media, Edison proclaimed that "it is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture" (cited in Cuban, 1986, p. 11). In spite of the grand predictions, a review of educational technology reveals that "most teachers used films infrequently in their classrooms" (Cuban, 1986, p. 17). From our vantage point beyond the close the 20th century it is clear that the predicted educational revolution in which movies would replace books has failed to materialize.
Consider another disappointing example that may remind you of current claims for the educational potential of the World Wide Web. In 1932, Benjamin Darrow, founder of the Ohio School of the Air, proclaimed that radio could "bring the world to the classroom, to make universally available the services of the finest teachers, the inspiration of the greatest leaders…" (cited in Cuban, 1986, p. 19). His colleague, William Levenson, the director of<|fim_middle|>…consider the most widely acclaimed technological accomplishment of the 20th century – computers. The technology that supports computers is different from film, radio, and television, but the grand promises to revolutionize education are the same. Like current claims for the mind-enhancing power of computer technology, during the 1960s computer tutoring machines were predicted to eventually replace teachers. The first large-scale implementation occurred under the banner of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in which computers presented short frames, solicited a response from the learner, and provided feedback to the learner. In spite of a large financial investment to support CAI, sound evaluations showed that the two largest computer-based systems in the 1970s – PLATO and TICCIT – failed to produce better learning than traditional teacher-lead instruction (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1996).
What can we learn from the humbling history of the 20th century's great educational technologies?
For more see:
http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521838733&ss=exc
My thought: "Healthy skepticism. It's healthy!" Show Me – Show me the Data!
And as the late Claude Lineberry commented: Data is plural. | the Ohio School of the Air predicted in 1945 that a "radio receiver will be as common in the classroom as the blackboard" and "radio instruction will be integrated into school life" (cited in Cuban, 1986, p. 19). As we rush to wire our schools and homes for access to the educational content of the Internet, it is humbling to recognize what happened to a similarly motivated movement for radio: "Radio has not been accepted as a full-fledged member of the educational community" (Cuban, 1986, p. 24).
…consider the sad history of educational television – a technology that combined the visual power of the motion picture with the worldwide coverage of radio. By the 1950s, educational television was touted as a way to create a "continental classroom" that would provide access to "richer education at less cost" (Cuban, 1986, p. 33). Yet, a review shows that teachers used television infrequently, if at all (Cuban, 1986).
| 234 |
Runner carries<|fim_middle|> is a bit of a death trap." | girlfriend for entire race - then pops question at finish line
Chris Hepworth, 28, asked Tanisha Prince to marry him after the 380-metre run in Dorking, Surrey
Tom Horton
Chris carried Tanisha the distance - then dropped on one knee to propose (Image: PA)
One fella really knew how to sweep his other half off her feet at the UK Wife Carrying Race yesterday.
Winner Chris Hepworth, 28, lugged girlfriend Tanisha Prince 380 metres to claim the trophy beer keg – then got down on one knee to pop the question.
Delighted Tanisha accepted and race organiser Rob McCaffrey said: "That is a first for the wife carrying race. Really glad you put a ring on it."
Chris said Tanisha had been an "amazing wife to carry" but he now wants to go on to the world championships in Finland as a proper married couple.
Runners go the distance - and Chris said Tanisha had been an "amazing wife to carry" (Image: PA)
It's fun all the way in the wacky race - but for Chris and Tanisha it was a life-changing event after they won and Chris proposed (Image: PA)
Kerry Katona admits she was a bad wife who took drugs
Tanisha, 28, revealed his carry-on with the proposal was almost scuppered, saying: "He woke up with bad ribs and I was trying to persuade him not to run."
Chris had to climb over hay bales, go up a hill and have buckets of water chucked in his face in the bizarre race, introduced by the Vikings in 793AD.
James Parker, who was carrying Megan Clarkson in Dorking, Surrey, said: "The footing was a bit slippery, there were a few holes in the ground. It | 384 |
Former standout CCA volleyball player remains connected to program
Former CCA volleyball standout Kalie Wood now plays at Columbia University.
(Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin)
By Gideon Rubin
Sept. 1, 2017 4:30 PM PT
When Kalie Wood struggled early on in her Canyon Crest Academy volleyball career she went to coaches for help.
They tossed her a yoga mat.
"(CCA Volleyball coach Ariel Haas) rolled up a yoga mat and put it under my arms and said 'You are not allowed to drop this yoga mat and you're going to pass this ball,' and he videotaped me at the same time," Wood said.
The unconventional move paid off. Wood went on to be a standout libero. She now plays at Columbia University in New York City.
And she wants to give back.
She's among several current and former CCA players who've remained connected to a program that many current and former players say emphasizes useful life and social skills along with the high-level volleyball.
They've taken on ambassadorship roles this summer that points to loyalty running deep in the program.
Earlier this summer Wood helped coach an inaugural CCA indoor volleyball camp for middle schoolers and those entering ninths grade.
"I think this is one way of presenting Canyon Crest as a community that doesn't just end after you graduate," Wood said.
"I had a lot of really strong mentors throughout high school who showed me what it means to be a student athlete in all senses and work hard on and off the court, so this is my way of kind of giving back in a sense, because I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't have good leadership and good mentorship from the girls who came before me."
Wood was also among several CCA alumni who wrote letters to the current players emphasizing what they believe to be some of the program's core values. Ravens coaches named an award after her for those demonstrating her trademark leadership and passion for the game.
Wood was the inaugural winner in 2015. Whitley Ballard was named the award winner last year.
"It's meant to remind the current kids and to teach the new kids about how we do things, and to maintain our culture of the standards that we adhere to," Haas said, noting the effort, behavior and emphasis on getting his players to believe that they're playing for something bigger than themselves.
Haas said he got the letter-writing idea from reading about a Florida golf academy run by David Leadbetter that incorporates sports psychology.
"I don't give them any instructions," he said. "I just tell them what the point of the letter is, and they go forward and write it."
He didn't have to. Those who benefited from a program<|fim_middle|> instructional props.
"I'll do whatever it takes," Haas said. "I'll bring a rolling chair into practice, put yoga mats under your arm, tape your arms together. Whatever works. Sometimes it's not good enough to just hear what you're doing wrong or even see what you're doing wrong. Sometimes you need to feel it, so I made that up."
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Holiday Classic adjusted on fly to keep field viable | that emphasizes team-building and emotional development along with volleyball skills were eager to share their experience.
"Culture is so crucial to having a successful team and setting the standard early, that you've got to do a lot of work building a team culture with kids that didn't know each other and have never played with one another and to understand what each one is about and what each one is striving for and how to behave is a crucial element to a team's success," Haas said.
Wood's letter was read to the team by her younger sister Gracie, an incoming CCA freshman.
"Kalie mentioned a lot about Haas and other coaches pushing us really hard mentally and physically and that it's not just about volleyball," Gracie Wood said. "It's about our mental state and being mentally tough. "It's a lot about enjoying the experience because it goes by really fast, especially for her."
Gracie said that in just a few weeks of practice she's noticed a difference in her Ravens coaches' approach compared to previous experiences.
"So far it's been a lot of mental work, a lot of visualization," she said. "I'm not used to this because it's different from my club team, we never did this type of stuff. I kind of enjoy it. I think a lot of schools would just focus on the volleyball aspect, they wouldn't t focus on playing as a team or knowing your limits and pushing past your limits, Haas and Rachel, both coaches emphasize that."
A lot schools probably also wouldn't roll out yoga mats in passing drills.
"I do remember that," Haas said. "We needed to simplify her (passing) motion and change her technique a little bit, and that was the best way to give her some tactile feedback to make the change quickly."
Haas insists he won't hesitate to roll out more unconventional | 375 |
Most of us camped at the junction 1.7 miles in from Kelbaker Rd. and left for the roadhead shortly after 8:00 a.m. On the way in we were met by those who camped closer to the trailhead. Twenty five climbers did the summit on a beautiful desert day in shirtsleeve weather. We had a leisurely stay on the summit drinking Champagne, enjoying the<|fim_middle|> lead the trip.
Those attending other than the leaders were my son John Gnagy, Mirna Roach. Julie Rush, Jack Wickel, Neal Scott, Gary Craig, Igor and Suzanne Mamedalin, Larry and Barbie Tidball, Pete Yamagata, Dave and Elaine Baldwin, Patty Kline. Carol Snyder, Steve Nardi, Scot Jamison, Mary Motherall, Fred Smith, Dennis Richards, Mark Bender, and Maris and Anna Valkass. | view, snacking, and taking pictures, including group shots of the 10 list finishers and group shots of 24 of the participants. The other member of the party, Pete Yamagata, had to take pictures for everyone else and missed being in the group shots. Thanks Pete for taking so many great pictures. Patty Kline presented me with a DPS list finisher pin. What a nice surprise. Thank you Patty.
When the Champagne was gone we moved the party down to an excellent campsite to where we were able to get all the vehicles including those with 2WD. The happy hour, outstanding food, and campfire lasted well into the night.
Thanks to all those who were able to come and help me celebrate, and special thanks to all those who provided all the excellent food, and thanks to Greg Roach for helping | 172 |
Can Healthcare and Social Media team up?
From blog.curemd.com - November 14, 2013 8:25 AM
The healthcare industry has undoubtedly benefited a lot from patient-to-patient and patient-to-provider social media interactions. The ability of social media websites to effectively and transparently communicate information in real time presents a wide range of opportunities for the healthcare industry. Most of the healthcare providers use at least one of the social media websites and frequently share information about their products, innovations, updates and the like.
According to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, 60% of 485 physicians surveyed said that using social media helped them improve the quality of patient care.
On the other hand, patients are also using social media to interact with healthcare providers and educate themselves. A recent Pew Research Center study found that 1 in 3 American adults use the internet to figure out a medical issue. Patients also feel more comfortable and valued as a customer of the practice which is using digital health communications.
However, while social media has its benefits of spreading awareness amongst the public in real time, this can sometimes become a cause of huge concern. Recently, many patient data leaks have occurred through the social media, both willingly and unwillingly. Since information on these platforms spreads like wildfire, it can cause considerable damage in a very less amount of time.
A report published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine highlights that 79% of medical professionals are concerned about maintaining patient confidentiality on social networks.
Can healthcare and social media team up for the long run? Despite the risks, it seems that it is possible. However, practices need to make sure that they implement the following methods in order to socialize safely.
Identify what constitutes a legal record
Practices need to clearly establish what constitutes a legal record. Sometimes, social media experts or support staff can inadvertently share something which might contain sensitive information and become a security violation and a matter of interest for HIPAA.
Know regulatory responsibilities
Practices need to understand what their legal regulatory requirements are as far as patient records are concerned. Clear guidelines need to be established to ensure records are properly archived, retrieved and stored.
Create retention and destruction schedules
Research firm Gartner says the thumb rule for blog posts, tweets and other social media interaction is, "if it exists, it is discoverable". Practices need to make sure that critical records and patient information is kept secure. Furthermore, they also need to address all records that have been distributed both physically and electronically.
Train and educate employees
Make sure regular training sessions for all staff members are conducted about their social media responsibilities. Have an expert address each one of the social media websites separately and the potential security risks it may pose. Employees also need to be trained what information about the company can be shared and what not.
Track your path
Recording social media interaction path is of crucial importance. If a practice has been spending time to promote the brand on various social media websites, make sure it is using a good metric tool to measure the effectiveness of the efforts. Generally, these websites havetheir in-built analysis tools which can help channel the efforts in the areas which are most beneficial to the business.
Social Media is changing the face of not only the healthcare industry in particular, but also of Information Technology in general. Practices, physicians and healthcare are reaping the benefits of their online presence but a lot of room for improvement still exists.
Using Social Media To Increase Awareness Of Medical Specialties Among Physicians
From www.forbes.com - November 13, 2013 2:58 PM
As the use of social media to communicate has grown exponentially over the past several years, so has its use in areas of business, technology and essentially every aspect of our daily lives.
Physicians are no exception, as they have rapidly adopted social media as a platform to provide education and awareness of emerging technologies and new advances within a given specialty.
In fact, the growing trend of FOAM, or free open access meducation, has significantly transformed how medical information is shared and transferred among emergency medicine physicians. The progressive concept of a "flipped classroom" model along with the notion of "asynchronous learning" have changed the way some physicians now approach medical education. Dissemination of podcasts and online lectures via Twitter, Facebook FB +0.88%, along with other file sharing applications, now facilitate the rapid transfer and sharing of medical advances which can potentially save lives and improve medical care.
As an example, it has been noted that interest in the medical sub-specialty of nephrology has been declining among medical students and residents over the past decade or so.
So Dr. Kenar Jhaveri and Dr. Hitesh Shah, physicians at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, decided to explore the reasons for this decline in interest and explore ways to revive interest in the field of nephrology.
Drs. Jhaveri and Shah presented data at the American Society of Nephrology's Kidney Week 2013 in Atlanta, GA to identify what exposure medical students and residents have in their training to nephrology, and if that exposure accurately represents what a nephrologists truly does on a daily basis. An additional goal was to identify creative ways to teach nephrology – one medium being social media.
When social media is used in an educational fashion, it can help to share knowledge and increase awareness, further creating interest in a specific field of medicine.
In a presentation November 9 at the American Society of Nephrology's Kidney Week 2013 in Atlanta, GA, Jhaveri outlined the largest educational social media campaign to date performed in organized medicine, "NephMadness". By developing a gaming model involving various blogs and Twitter, Jhaveri indicated that the initiative was successful in attracting people to interact and learn about nephrology. This comes at a time when interest in nephrology is declining, especially among medical students and residents.
In March to April 2013, Jhaveri created an online educational tournament referred to as NephMadness consisting of 64 nephrology achievements. The concept was to simulate the NCAA men'sDivision 1 Basketball Tournament. Jhaveri re-captured the language, structure, and traditions of the basketball tournament to generate interest in his tournament of nephrology.
Sixty-four nephrology achievements and concepts were organized in brackets on the initial day. Educational material and descriptions of all 64 achievements were divided across 8 blog posts and spanned 11,534 words. The achievements were divided into 8 groups: programs, drugs, research techniques, discoveries, learning tools, equations/lab values, diagnostics, and studies.
Over the next month, the field of 64 was narrowed until a winner was declared. While the first two rounds were scripted by the editors, subsequent narrowing was decided by the users through online voting. NephMadness generated 34 separate blog posts. Forty percent, (14/34) were posted from blogs other than eAJKD.
Twitter was the main source of interactivity in which 77 individuals tweeted about the initiative 473 times and generated 519,323 impressions using the hashtag, #NephMadness.
NephMadness represents the first educational social media campaign performed of this magnitude and breadth in organized medicine. Based on initial feedback, the campaign performed well in increasing awareness an interest in the specialty of nephrology. As evidence, online traffic to the original blog set a record.
Dr. Mitchell Fogel, a practicing nephrologist, and Chairman and Vice President, Department of Medicine at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT, feels that such a social media campaign conducted by these researchers can change the way medical residents and students view the field of nephrology, especially during a period in which interest in nephrology is certainly declining.
"Residents and students often see nephrologists as working hard…harder than other physicians, and having more challenging clinical problems with higher stress levels, with the perception that compensation is not sufficiently attractive to overcome these barriers.", said Fogel.
He feels that most residents may not understand exactly what a typical day may hold in store, with their view of nephrology often unbalanced or biased.
"Often medical residents and students see us taking care of the sickest patients in the hospital who have the highest number of co-morbidities, with a high level of complexity of care. What they do not see are the high number of patients leading full productive lives in outpatient dialysis units, along with an office practice where the primary focus is keeping patients off dialysis."
"A significant amount of discouragement is related to the unbalanced educational experience and exposure that residents and students have in these[nephrology] rotations", added Fogel.
Looking towards the future, Fogel sees exciting advances in both "early detection diagnosis of kidney disease–both acute and chronic- with the expectation that earlier identification will lead to more successful treatments. New therapeutic regimens are being developed and tested, with improved scientific quality of trials".
"Ultimately this will lead to better patient care, with increased attention on quality of life issues for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) whom require dialysis, ' he added.
"Social media can be effective at increasing public awareness of kidney disease, and for young medical trainees may help to bring contemporary issues to light", concluded Fogel.
The use of such interactive games and social media campaigns could increase interest in nephrology and potentially lead to a reversal in recently observed trends of declining interest. In a broader sense, utilizing such interactive online social media campaigns certainly has the potential to raise awareness, and may lead to increases in revival of interest in additional medical subspecialties.
What Strategies Can a Pharma Marketer Use to Reach Doctors?
From pharma.about.com - November 13, 2013 7:56 AM
As the ones who write the scripts, physicians are the most important audience in pharmaceutical sales. Government regulations that place a heavy emphasis on disclosure and industry self-policing efforts, such as the PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals, have required changes in how pharmaceutical companies market products to physicians. But those are not the only factors. Physician reliance on Internet technology for information and communicating is also forcing pharmaceutical companies to re-tool their marketing strategies.
Traditional Marketing
Physicians generally value free drug samples and are willing to meet with sales representatives to get them, unless their medical network bans free samples. The industry finds samples the most effective marketing tool and spends billions annually distributing free drug samples.
Critics of the practice say drug samples steer physicians to prescribe new, higher cost medications when generics or lower priced brand drugs are available. "Once therapy has been initiated, patients and their insurers are likely to continue to pay for the new, costly drugs," according to research by thePew Charitable Trust Prescription Project.
Gifting of things such as meals, travel expenses, books, and speaking fees is a traditional marketing tool under heavy fire. Some state governments have banned all gifts to physicians, which can be confusing to marketers wanting to provide something as basic as an ice cream cone at a national medical convention. That image certainly illustrates how complicated it has become, and sales representatives need to be familiar with the laws and regulations in each state.
Pharmaceutical company representative often develop working relationships with key opinion leaders or "thought leaders" who influence other physicians through their professional status.
Emerging Tactics
Physicians have been among the earliest of the early adopters of mobile technology, beginning with beepers and pagers, and then PDAs, smart phones, tablet PCs and other handhelds that make patient records and reference materials portable.
With so many physicians already married to their electronic devices, apps for the iPad and Smartphone seem a ripe niche for pharmaceutical companies. "Healthcare is a mobile profession and lends itself to these devices," stated Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, a market research company. The global healthcare sector invested $8.2 billion in handheld devices and related applications in 2009, according to Kalorama.
Social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and hundreds of smaller niche sites allow physicians to organize professional online communities for collaboration.
Physicians Interactive (PI), based in Marlborough, Mass., claims to have developed "the largest network of online and mobile healthcare professional relationships in the United States, reaching more than 875,000 physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals in all major specialties." PI serves its pharma clients through development of mobile and online clinical resources for healthcare professionals.
Sermo, a free online MD-only community, claims 115,000 members, or 20 percent of all U.S. physicians. Daniel Palestrant, MD, the site's founder and CEO, says 10 of the top 12 pharmaceutical companies are Sermo clients who "are engaging physicians through our social media offerings built specifically to increase brand awareness." Sponsoring companies are able to follow physician discussions such as their reactions to different components of the health reform law, promote their brand and engage with physician members, according to Sermo.
Marketing consultant Richard Meyer observes that the role of the traditional sales rep who constantly seeks face time with doctors is "fading." Meyer and other industry watchers say pharmas need to re-tool their marketing efforts and bring more "medical communication specialists" on staff to engage with physicians online. These medical communicators could provide value-added services that help physicians sort through information clutter while facilitating links with clinical trials, journals, and knowledge opinion leaders.
Taking the Pulse of Social Media, Healthcare & Canadians
From cyhealthcommunications.wordpress.com - November 12, 2013 3:21 PM
(by Colleen Young)
malek's curator insight, November 15, 2013 8:57 AM
Internet empowered patients to discuss their medications, side effects and alternatives, usually based on a quality search.
Healthcare Social Media | Benefits and Challenges
ver the past several years the focus on social media within the health and pharmaceutical industries has largely been on the opportunities and benefits the array of channels provide to these organizations to deliver enhanced care. From strategic patient insights to competitive intelligence, many leading pharmaceutical companies are empowering their brands with a deeper understanding of patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals. However, with these opportunities for growth also come risks of damage to brands.
An increasing number of pharmaceutical and health organizations are also realizing, often through their own experiences of crisis, that a myriad of threats are emerging from social media, squarely targeting their brands. Immediate real-time detection of these growing risks and threats are quickly becoming a crucial component to protecting reputations and revenues of their brands.
Reviewing the Risks
While the spectrum of social risks and threats is enormous and growing at an incredible rate, several are becoming more common in the pharmaceutical and health industries. Here is a review of five threats health and pharmaceutical companies should be focused on detecting and mitigating:
Employee Misconduct: The risks in this realm can be enormous and vary from organizational, ethical and even criminal in nature. Among the issues threatening enterprises are Corporate Integrity Agreement/policy violations, falsifying records, partner issues, sexual misconduct, inappropriate promotion, product or payer functions, corporate abuse, HCP interaction issues and even sabotage, all of which can deliver massive damages to the organization. Many of these issues often present from all corners of the open social universe, and hence, can be detected for advanced warning.
IP Breaches: With the convenience and widespread access and reach of social media, cases of employees - from researchers to sales reps – intentionally or inadvertently revealing sensitive information is on the rise. These breaches can reveal strategic intelligence or even be regulatory violations, all of which can pose major threats to the welfare of the enterprise.
Legal Threats: An array of legal liabilities can emerge from all corners of the open social universe, particularly with patients and caregivers related to treatment use or abuse. Having line-of-sight to these threats is of paramount importance to address, diffuse or even mitigate the issues as quickly as possible.
Patient Perceptions: Understanding patient, caregiver and HCP perceptions related to a treatment's cost, side effects and resulting quality of life level is becoming increasingly important to pharmaceutical companies. Regardless of accuracy, negative perceptions can quickly spread, greatly impacting the market positioning and value of a brand. Gaining accurate, ongoing analysis of these social perceptions is vital to preserving the brand's market position and value.
Drug Counterfeiting: Pharmaceutical companies are facing a growing worldwide epidemic when it comes to counterfeiting drugs. Some brands are starting to use innovative social intelligence and threat detection solutions to help identify and track related instances to protect patients and preserve intellectual property.
Off-Label Usage: Some pharmaceutical companies are starting to track the open social universe for off-label usage of their brands with a focus on identifying potential regulatory or legal threats to the organization.
Brandjacking: The cases of incidents where the social or online accounts of brands are impersonated or taken over altogether are on the rise. These incidents can deliver immediate, significant damage since the perpetrators can disseminate false information or release damaging statements with massive reach and instant credibility given that the information appears to be coming from the brand itself.
Achieving Social Security
In today's "Age of Social Media," protecting the brand, and ultimately the reputation and revenue of the enterprise, has never been more critical or challenging. And as social media extends the reach and accelerates the exposure of these threats the resulting damages can been massive and difficult to diffuse without the ability to detect them in real-time.
However, the intelligence from social media can also be a major ally to health and pharmaceutical companies, delivering advance warning of threats, for immediate response. In many cases, real-time threat detection can provide the time needed to mitigate or even diffuse the issue, allowing for the strategic response to stop it from becoming an all-out crisis.
XM Consult Ltd.'s curator insight, November 16, 2014 5:03 PM
brand protection today is a cost factor. Companies tend to reduce their efforts in fighting piracy by cutting budgets. From a short term perspective this might be understandable the long term effects can be dramatic. Once the purchase and usage of a counterfeit brand becomes normal for a specific group of people it´s extremely difficult to change or even stop a trend. The involved costs will be a lot higher later to have some effects.
Some companies may also play the "marketshare" game and say "I prefer seeing my brand consumed even if its fake rather that the genuine version of the competition". This may work for some goods, for counterfeit drugs this is deadly. My advice would be to invest more in the first phase and conduct a very aggressive Anti-Piracy approach rather than doing the minimum and that for a long time.
Google's Helpouts could be the company's secret weapon to take on healthcare
From gigaom.com - November 11, 2013 3:16 PM
Are you in over your head with a home improvement project, or with a tricky recipe? Do you really need someone more knowledgeable to take a look, right now? Google hopes that you'll turn to its new real-time advice platform dubbed Helpouts in these kinds of situations. Helpouts offer users the ability to search for and connect with experts via video chats — and one day, you may even use it to talk to your doctor.
Google first announced Helpouts in July, and will launch this week with 1,000 pre-screened experts from a variety of fields, including cooking, home improvement, technology and fashion and beauty. The service will launch in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, but a Google spokesperson told me that the company hopes to eventually make Helpouts available everywhere.
Helpouts is powered by Google's Hangouts video chat platform, and as such uses the same<|fim_middle|> Stanford, Dvorak said.
Dvorak talked about data analytics in the back end of the EHR, not just to help doctors with population management, but also to help patients with the choices they have to make about their own care.
In a system Dvorak demoed, a patient could track the outcomes from a treatment decision against historical results from other patients.
"So if I see I'm behind other people who made this choice, maybe I should have made a different choice," he said.
One seldom-discussed avenue for interoperability is connecting patient EHRs to other patients' EHRs in the system. Dvorak said that when patients are asked to complete a medical history, studies have shown they are 50 to 60 percent accurate about their parents' health and only 20 to 30 percent accurate about their grandparents.
But as EHRs become more established, most patients' parents and grandparents have medical records of their own. Epic is working on a system where families can opt in to share their medical history with one another in order to give children a more complete picture of their genetic disease background.
Finally, Dvorak spoke about the perennial hot topic with EHRs — integration. He said the company is working on new ways to make the EHR as open as possible while still being safe and secure.
As new payment models take hold, Dvorak said, accountable care won't just mean holding doctors accountable for patient care, but also keeping patients accountable to their responsibilities in their own care. And that can be done by building as much engagement as possible into the EHR system.
"The biggest thing that needs to change is accountability for the patients," he said. "We have to find a way to engage patients at a deeper level. And this is especially important when you're at risk financially for that patient."
Infographic: How Healthcare Professionals Prefer to Communicate
From hin.com - November 10, 2013 12:10 PM
Social Media by the Numbers: How Social Media Impacts Healthcare
How Social Media Impacts Healthcare and How Physicians Interact with Patients
Top 5 reasons dentists should get social
From www.dentalproductsreport.com - November 9, 2013 12:36 PM
Are you using social media to promote your dental practice? If not, here are 5 reasons you should be.
1. Your patients are into social media
Social media is a great way to connect with current and potential patients outside of your practice. Many of your patients are already on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, sharing and posting with their friends—so you should be there interacting and sharing practice updates, too.
2. It's a great marketing tool
Just finished a successful, complex cosmetic case? Share before-and-after photos on Facebook and tag the patient (with permission of course). Tweet about special promotions. Use social media as another marketing tool to get the word out about the great things you're doing at your practice.
3. You can interact with your community on a different level
Social media is all about engagement and connecting. It gives you the opportunity to share practice updates and photos, as well as interact with patients and community members. It also enables patients to share those updates with their friends and followers, expanding your reach.
4. It's cost-effective
Not only does social media put you in front of your patients outside of the office, it does it for free!
5. Use it as a leadership opportunity
If you're serious about using social media to your advantage, someone has to manage it. A static Facebook page or Twitter account won't do you much good. Assign social media management to someone in your office. It's a great leadership opportunity for a team member who has an interest in marketing and patient engagement.
How Your Physicians Should Be Using Social Media
From www.fathomdelivers.com - November 9, 2013 1:25 AM
Here at the Greystone Healthcare Internet Conference, many of the discussions have revolved around utilizing social media in healthcare. One interesting perspective is to mobilize your physicians to utilize social media as a channel to communicate with their patients. To address this, the keynote speaker on Day One was Dr. Natasha Berger, whose engaging presentation demonstrated not only the value of social media in healthcare, but that she individually is a shining light for the whole healthcare industry.
Let's start with the challenges facing your hospital's physicians. According to Dr. Berger, these doctors are unsure:
a) How to spread healthcare information to their patients and the public at large,
b) How to truly take care of a patient when you see them so rarely,
c) How to manage a patient's condition when your visit is only 20 minutes long,
d) How to cope with the fact that Facebook, WebMD, and Dr. Oz are the most popular sources for health information.
Today's physician needs to understand that social media is not just about sharing funny cat videos. Instead, social media is one more tool for taking care of patients, reaches them where they are, and speaks in an informal yet powerful way. Moreover, 40% of social media users say a social media presence would influence their choice of doctor or hospital – so this is critical to your hospital's growth.
Dr. Berger also argued that social media makes a doctor's office more efficient. First, it decreases the number of phone calls to your practice. Second, you don't have to do all the work yourself: social media is also a great channel for spreading the voices and insights of other brilliant physicians around the country. Third, using QR codes and shortlinks in the waiting rooms, Dr. Berger allows patients to educate themselves while they're waiting to be seen. Fourth, social media and her blog allow patients to learn when they are ready to hear; as you can imagine, a busy doctor's office isn't always the best place to deeply educate that patient on their condition. This takes the boring, rote lectures out of the equation; now, Dr. Berger's conversations are more focused and tailored to that individual family and their questions.
I found it especially interesting how Dr. Berger has used social media and the Web for far more than just simple communication. She used it as a bully-pulpit, publicly complaining to Fisher-Price about the safety of one of their products. She uses it to build trust with potential patients, long before they actually come into the office. Because Facebook has become a universal language that we all read and enjoy, as a result of Dr. Berger's efforts, parents can now better communicate with their kids.
So how can your hospital engage doctors in social media? You'll have to demonstrate how social media will help them do their jobs better, more efficiently, and more effectively. In addition, you can help promote and share that doctor's talents on a national scale. How is your hospital using social media? How are you tracking the results?
Friending Patients on Social Media - Case Studies
From www.aamc.org - November 8, 2013 11:58 AM
Competitive Collaboration: the Impact of Social Media on Medicine
The era of participatory medicine describes the shift from illness to wellness with patients at the centre, taking greater responsibility for management of thei
Why I recommend LinkedIn to physicians
From www.kevinmd.com - November 13, 2013 11:53 AM
When I talk to physicians about dipping their toes into the social media waters, I advise starting with LinkedIn. Spend about 45 minutes or so and create a LinkedIn profile, which is essentially a digital translation of your CV. LinkedIn profiles get ranked highestamong the social media platforms, and can push down the influence of negative news stories or physician rating sites.
Howard Luks is a social media thought leader, and whose opinion I respect tremendously. He wrote an insightful piece explaining why LinkedIn may not be right for doctors:
As a physician on LinkedIn, not only do you have a virtual "please sell to me" sign on your forehead, most will perceive their presence on LinkedIn as a huge waste of time. Unless you are an aspiring entrepreneur, etc you will find that the connections you make on LinkedIn are weak at best. In addition, while your patients are looking you up online, for the most part they are not looking at your LinkedIn profile.
He goes on to suggest doctors spend their time on physician rating sites like Vitals or Healthgrades, Google+, or Yelp.
When it comes to establishing an online reputation, there are essentially two ways of doing it.
"claiming" a profile on an existing physician rating site
creating your own online presence, either with a website or through a social media platform
While I generally recommend the second approach of proactively defining yourself with social media, the first option of utilizing existing sites is viable.
First, much of the information in Vitals or Healthgrades is inaccurate, and can lead to the so-called Google Maps problem, where Google may use the information on these sites.
Second, physicians can leverage the high search engine visibility that these sites generally garner.
The downside of this approach is that these sites are for-profit and generally don't have physicians' best interests at heart. Their physician profile pages are littered with ads, which can subtly imply a physician's endorsement.
Also, consider the terms of service of one of these sites, which are heavily skewed against the doctor:
You acknowledge that your Physician-Provided Material may be used without restriction for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without any compensation or obligation to you.
Because of those reasons, I prefer doctors create social media profiles instead, where they have more control over how their online identity is controlled and presented.
Howard also recommends Google+ and Google Places for Business. However, there is more friction in taking this approach, namely the cumbersome way Google verifies your business address. If this can be overcome, this does indeed have the highest search engine impact, as seen below:
But any friction whatsoever prevents the majority of physicians from defining themselves online. From talking to doctors across the country, many are petrified of taking even minimal steps to be visible online.
Which brings us back to LinkedIn.
While it isn't perfect for the reasons Howard mentioned, LinkedIn is a low-threat, low-resource, high-yield action.
I acknowledge that there are tradeoffs involved, and after considering those, continue to recommend it as a reasonable first step to establish a physician's online reputation.
Glória Ribeiro's curator insight, November 13, 2013 6:15 PM
Interessante...
Providers wade warily into online patient groups, hope for benefits
From searchhealthit.techtarget.com - November 13, 2013 2:29 AM
Online patient groups -- where, for example, people with diabetes meet to support each other's efforts to maintain their proper insulin levels and overall health, or patients with similar behavioral health diagnoses offer one other encouragement and share successful coping strategies -- come in many flavors, but they come at a price.
The current model of care just doesn't allow us to focus on what really seems to be changing the cost dynamic -- behavior change.
Jason Cunningham,medical director, West County Health Centers
Some are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or other profit-motivated vendors, who may drop marketing materials into the feed. Some independent groups, such as PatientsLikeMe, offer social network-like user experiences, but they can be a little more public-facing than some patients wish. And sometimes they share data with pharmas, too, as per its user agreement and general mission to affect new clinical treatments via crowd-sourcing of symptom data more nimbly than traditional clinical trials.
Another problem is there aren't any outcomes research on the effectiveness of these online wellness communities, Jeff Benabio, M.D., Kaiser Permanente dermatologist and physician director of health innovation told SearchHealthIT. He argued against the online groups in a debate session during Partners HealthCare Connected Health Symposium 2012.
"There's significant harm that's harbored within these communities in misformation -- well-meaning, but misinformation, and conflicts of interest," Benabio said. "So there's no protection for the patients ... no one's watching the store; we can't endorse them."
New model: Provider-hosted online wellness groupsA new model of online patient groups is emerging, however; one that hopes to counter the patient protection argument. In this model, the group is hosted by an outside vendor and moderated by a patient's care provider, which can set the agenda, exclude advertising and sketchy health information, as well as lock down privacy and security for HIPAA compliance. Patients can appear as anonymous (or pseudonymous) to their group peers, but the provider knows who's who in the back end for treatment purposes, and for documenting education material a patient consumes and course completion.
These groups aren't free, however. The provider must pay for them, since commercial sponsors don't. Because they're in their infancy, the outcomes still aren't well-known. But one resource-strapped federally qualified health center (FQHC), the West County Health Centers network of Guerneville, Calif., is wagering some of its chips on online patient groups.
The idea is that the groups, hosted by vendor WellFX, will work as a de facto population health management tool by inspiring West County's patients with diabetes, substance abuse and obesity problems, and behavioral health diagnoses to check with each other. Greater communication and improved home care tactics might keep patients healthier between what the provider hopes ultimately will be less-frequent episodes of care. That could quickly translate to cost savings, considering 40% of the clinic group's 13,000 patients are either completely unfunded or underinsured.
"We are, like everybody else is, rethinking our care delivery model in a significant way," said Jason Cunningham, D.O., West County medical director, who is overseeing the rollout of the first WellFX groups. "The current model of reimbursement, the current model of care, just doesn't allow us to focus on what really seems to be changing the cost dynamic -- behavior change. In primary care, with diabetes and heart failure and addiction and depression and mental illness, the 15- or 20-minute visit where we're dictating the conversation ... it's just not the right model for patient care."
WellFX activity isn't yet connected to the provider's electronic health record (EHR) system, and Cunningham said it can't yet be directly used to document any particular accountable care organization (ACO) or meaningful use measure, yet. But he believes the investment will ultimately pay off in fewer unfunded visits and Medicaid claims by helping create an overall healthier patient base. The groups may also contribute to better outcomes in several Medicare and Medicaid medical home pilot projects in which West County is enrolled.
So far the health centers have created patient groups for diabetes, chronic pain, anxiety and overall wellness. They serve as online continuations of in-person groups at West County when those have concluded. For example, patients show up from 8 weeks to 10 weeks for addiction groups at the clinic in person, and continue it online afterwards in WellFX. Providers don't address patients within WellFX; West County so far has confined those communications to its online patient portal.
"A lot of groups where we recognize that the secret sauce is patients engaging with each other -- we do a little bit of educating, but the patients engage with each other very candidly about what they need to be doing and lessons learned," Cunningham said
Health care and social media benefits: Improving patient engagement in 2013
From searchhealthit.techtarget.com - November 12, 2013 1:26 PM
Hospitals have historically been reluctant to engage in health care social media initiatives. Potential patient privacy risks, in some cases, turn organizations off from sharing information with their patients over social networks. But some IT professionals think hospitals need to overcome these concerns in 2013 to take advantage of social media benefits and opportunities.
Ed Bennett, director of Web and communications technology at the University of Maryland Medical System, said many hospitals today still block doctors and nurses from sites like Facebook and Twitter while on the hospital's network. They do this to prevent privacy breaches, but Bennett feels these concerns are overblown. Providers should improve access next year as they start to realize this.
"I think that's going to be the big area that needs the most attention over the next year," Bennett said. "The trends in other industries show that organizations are unblocking social media. My perception is that health care blocks [social media] more than [other industries]."
Kim Kardashian may have 17 million followers, but there are other folks that are a little bit more influential for the right reasons.
Charles Boicey, informatics solutions architect at the University of California, Irvine, Medical Center
He added that doctors and hospitals can use social media to protect their reputations on online review sites, get credible information out to patients and get involved in patient conversations. While these are things organizations have traditionally been reluctant to get involved in, it is possible to do them in a way that "protects your organization and protects privacy," Bennett said.
Patients continue to turn to the Internet for health information in increasing numbers. A 2012 survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, found that 88% of people who care for loved ones and have access to the Internet look for answers to their questions online. A study from Pricewaterhouse Coopers found that 24% of patients post information about their health experiences to social networking sites. Up to 60% of respondents said they would trust online information posted by physicians.
It's up to hospitals and physicians to meet this demand for social information sharing, said Charles Boicey, informatics solutions architect at the University of California Irvine Medical Center, and co-creator of MappyHealth, an online application that tracks posts to social media sites to predict and follow potential disease outbreaks.
Boicey said social networks offer an opportunity for providers to educate and engage with patients. There is a lot of health information on the Internet, but it isn't always vetted by qualified medical professionals. The quality of these sites increases when doctors become more active online. This can help patients learn more about their own health.
"As more and more credible people use social media, the data is becoming more credible," Boicey said. "Kim Kardashian may have 17 million followers, but there are other folks that are a little bit more influential for the right reasons."
Social media shouldn't be the only thing hospitals try in order to improve patient engagementin their own care, Boicey added. But when used alongside patient portals and follow-up contacts it can be an effective way to activate individuals and get them more interested in their health.
Just because there are potential benefits to engaging patients via social media platforms doesn't mean providers should delve headlong into the world of Facebook and Twitter. Both Boicey and Bennett said policies governing how doctors interact with patients online should be clearly spelled out to mitigate HIPAA violation risks, among other reasons. Every health care organization that starts social media initiatives should give thought to this policy before encouraging large-scale involvement.
Bennett said he believes the number of patients using social media for health purposes will continue to increase in 2013. This provides organizations with an opportunity to reach new patients and engage existing ones. What is less clear, Bennett said, is whether hospitals and doctors will take advantage of this opportunity.
Social Shweta's curator insight, November 13, 2013 3:56 AM
HCSM role in patient engagement #hcsm #patientengage
Easing the pain of clinical trial recruitment: using social intelligence to find the patients you need
From www.paconsulting.com - November 12, 2013 12:50 AM
Clinical trials will always be an essential part of medical research and new drug development. As competition for new medical interventions grows, so does the number of trials. There are currently some 150,000 studies taking place worldwide.
For pharmaceutical companies, the cost of clinical trials is significant. According to EFPIA, clinical studies represent approximately 60% of a product's total development costs, with challenges around patient recruitment constituting a large proportion of this cost. Thousands of volunteers are required for each study and time taken to enrol is on the critical path of all trials. Enrolment is inevitably slower than planned and uptake low. Studies suggest that less than 5% of adults with cancer, for example, would participate in a study. In addition, the drop-out rate is high, with the British Medical Journal reporting non-completion rates up to 20%. Because of this, finding, targeting and keeping the required number of patients can delay a new product's time-to-market by months, which represents revenue-loss running to tens of millions of dollars.
Social intelligence offers a fast and inexpensive way to increase patient participation in trials.
Through sophisticated analysis of the online activity of billions of social media users, clinical study sponsors can find the patients they need to take part in trials – and at a much lower cost than traditional methods. Furthermore, by developing a better understanding of what motivates the patients, they can be influenced to participate without contravening ethical standards.
Finding the right patients
Recently we worked with the Medical Research Network, a specialist clinical consultancy, to help a global biopharmaceutical firm design an effective recruitment strategy. Recruitment was falling behind in the programme and for commercial reasons there was a real need to recruit patients fast – within five weeks.
Using PA's social intelligence methodology, we analysed the vast quantity of social media data – over 170 billion online conversations linked to the study indication – and then filtered and segmented the information to get a picture of the potential patient base. To meet the exact protocol requirements, we also researched how the data linked the indication to multiple factors – such as pre-existing medical conditions, concomitant treatment, etc. We were able to provide a global estimate of 120 million potential patients, broken down by country.
Motivating patients to come forward
After identifying the patient hotspots, we needed to encourage patients to apply to take part in the trial. Since approaching the patients directly would be time-consuming, and would potentially make them uncomfortable, we sought instead to find out which sites influenced them, and ensured that the study details were visible on these channels.
Our analysis revealed that these 120 million patients were most strongly influenced by just 10 key influencers, who were most active on Twitter. It was therefore relatively straightforward to approach these influencers and publicise the clinical trials.
Enriching the trial
Due to its high accuracy, social intelligence can be used to define very specifically the health profile of potential trial patients. In turn, this can provide valuable insight into the efficacy of a study drug within the different patient profile groups. You can, for example, use social intelligence to determine whether potential patients suffer from concomitant diseases or other issues – such as HIV or drug addiction – and then use this information to understand when and how the approved drug should best be prescribed.
Maintaining ethical standards
Using only consented and publicly available data, social intelligence does not contravene the correct ethical approach to recruiting patients. It does not misuse confidential information and does not jeopardise the privacy of individual patients. After we developed the findings of our recent work, we then worked with the ethics committee to produce the recruitment document in the approved process.
The detailed and sophisticated searching that social intelligence offers allows clinical study sponsors to find a higher density of potential trial participants than by other means. And while effective recruitment of patients will always be an issue in the clinical research process, there is no reason why patients should remain unaware and unmotivated to take part when there are new ways to reach out to them. As more and more people use social media as part of their daily lives – especially as a key way to find and share information about their health – social intelligence will only grow in effectiveness.
Alexia Flores's curator insight, November 29, 2013 11:10 AM
Los ensayos clinicos suponen la importante cifra de 60% de los costes del desarrollo de un fármaco.En esta noticia se habla un método de análisis de la actividad social de billones de usuarios de internet que revolucionaría y facilitaría enormemente el proceso de ensayos clínicos, haciendo más sencillo el reclutamiento de pacientes interesados a participar en el estudio (claro está sin oponerse a ninguno de los principios éticos que rigen los ensayos).
Internet is a force for change in pharma sales in Belgium
From www.pmlive.com - November 11, 2013 2:35 PM
The Belgian pharma industry still boasts a large sales force compared to countries such as the Netherlands. However, as health authorities in Belgium put more pressure on cash strapped pharma companies, particularly in relation to generics, and doctors have less time for face to face meetings, this sales model is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
In tandem with this, there has been a marked change in the way that doctors consume news and other information in Belgium. Printed journals are in decline and more than 85 per cent of doctors now use the online doctor community, MediQuality, which is part of Networks in Health, as their key information source.
Pierre de Nayer, co-founder and managing director of Citobi, a CRM applications (software & services) company that acquired MediQuality in 2007, explained: "In recent years, doctors have radically changed the way they like to seek information. They don't want to spend time reading detailed articles anymore. They like to have quick snapshots, with a global perspective. They are now "2.0." minded and digital is the new norm.
"Pharma companies are already beginning to capitalise on this change. As the sales rep model becomes increasingly unsustainable in Belgium, fewer pharma products are launched and sales and marketing budgets are cut, we predict that the internet will play a greater role in the way that the pharma industry engages with doctors in the future."
The transformative power of digital partnerships
From www.hsj.co.uk - November 11, 2013 7:32 AM
I have lived with the long term chronic incurable conditionCrohn's disease since I was 12. After more than 20 surgeries and intestinal failure, just two years ago at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford I became only the 11th person in the UK to undergo a small bowel transplant.
'When Facebook mounted its organ donor campaign, there was a 21 per cent rise in 24 hours of people signing up for organ donation'
In the lead up to the transplant I turned to the world's busiest doctor − Google − for information. But there was very little online and so, with no real plan other than to keep family and friends informed, I started a blog.
My blog was my first interaction with digital technology in healthcare. Two years on and it now has 85,000 followers due to the incredible partnership I have been able to form with my transplant team.
The team used the blog to track exactly what was happening to me. It was not just about what the machines and blood results said: it was more about how was I coping mentally. Was the pain really under control? Did I really understand what I was taking the medications for? What was the impact on my family?
The site was passed to medical students and then it started to be read by patients and their families globally. Four patients have now had successful bowel transplants as a result of it and associated articles, one within a month of making contact with me.
Tweet campaigns
On World IBD Day I conducted my first retweet campaign, which reached 2 million tweets. From there the first online community was built with a fellow Crohn's patient, and within 24 hours we had over 500 patients join the Facebook group Bowel Disease One Global Family. This was the true power of peer to peer interaction. Aside from your doctor, the next best people to discuss your health issues with are undoubtedly fellow patients.
'With patients coming from all parts of the country it makes complete sense to connect via Skype'
Twitter reported that tweets relating to healthcare have increased by 51 per cent in 2012 and health trends are now being able to be predicted on Twitter in the way Google predicted flu trends. When Facebook mounted its organ donor campaign, there was a 21 per cent rise in 24 hours of people signing up for organ donation.
However, the biggest benefit of tweets is to help deliver patient engagement. The first tweetchat that I established was the Sunday morning #IBDCHAT, aimed at bowel disease patients. I now have the privilege of being the patient lead on the chat #nhssm (Social Media in the NHS), which is now one of the largest healthcare chats in the UK.
What makes #nhssm so unique is that it regularly attracts a mix of healthcare professionals, patients and people from all aspects of the healthcare system, delivering on true interaction and engagement. If anyone was ever in doubt as to the growth and value of twitter in terms of true patient engagement, then you only have to look at the Symplur Healthcare Hashtag Project. There are over 3,000 Twitter chats − every one involving and often moderated or started by patients.
Power of texts
Before my transplant I engaged with healthcare professionals in a very traditional way. It was usually face to face, occasionally by phone and extremely occasionally by email. At Oxford it was directly via email. I then asked if I could text them and suddenly I was engaging in almost daily text messaging with the transplant nursing team, the dietician and the surgeon.
To this day we text regularly. I get test results sent to my phone and when I had an issue with my stoma I was able to take a picture on my mobile phone and send it to my surgeon for immediate feedback.
'It takes brave clinicians and management to meet patient leaders halfway'
The way healthcare will be delivered has to change. With the courage and support of the transplant team we now interact using email, text, Twitter and new Skype clinics. With patients coming from all parts of the country it makes complete sense to connect via Skype. The patient can convey all their issues, show any problems with wounds or lines etc and the clinical team can assess what treatment, if any, is needed. This prevents patients having to make unnecessary trips to hospital and enables the medical team to complete a full round in an hour. It will undoubtedly reduce the number of patients who have to come in to hospitals or GP surgeries, saving time and money.
The number of health related mobile apps is also growing massively, with an estimated 40,000 released and a market value of $718m to $1.3bn between 2011 and 2012. The NHS has its own apps library. However, the biggest drop off in using health apps occurs when patients have to continually input data. No surprise there and I think that those who argue differently perhaps haven't talked to patients.
Life changing app
On waking up from my transplant the first thing I remember was feeling my stomach and touching my stoma bag. I was quickly taught how to change the bag when full. However, what I wasn't taught was how to stop the leaks, how to prevent the bag overflowing especially at night and how to cope with daily life having lost the sensation of knowing when I was going to have output.
Then there was the issue of my transplant team wanting to know the volume of my output and the timing of it. So there I was, emptying my own waste into a jug so that I could measure it, then noting down the reading on a self-made spreadsheet before cleaning up. There had to be a better way.
'Patients are powerful people. We deserve a seat at the table where decisions are made'
I worked out that if I could measure the bag as it filled and send that information to another device, then I could create an alert alarm to let me know when the bag was filling. The product that started life in my hospital bed has turned in to a sensor, embracing Bluetooth technology and a free mobile app.
Now every patient can connect this to their bag, set alarms so that their mobile will go off when the bag hits the pre-determined levels and the time of output and volume is automatically captured. It is sent to a cloud-based system and the patient has the choice to let their clinician have access to that information. The patient enters their details once and that is it: Ostom-i Alert was born.
I truly believe that patients are powerful people. We deserve a seat at the table where decisions are made. If "no decision about me without me" is to truly be put in to practice, then healthcare has to be a true partnership, a true collaboration between healthcare professionals and patients. It means patients have to also take responsibility for their care.
In my opinion the biggest change in healthcare is that thepower has shifted towards the patient. We are ready to engage, form partnerships, assist on policy and make decisions. It takes brave clinicians and management to meet us halfway.
6 Ways Physicians Can Leverage Social Media
From www.poweryourpractice.com - November 10, 2013 3:38 PM
A unique perspective emerged from last week's Connecting Healthcare + Social Media Conference in New York when Mike Sevilla, MD, family physician and blogger at Family Medicine Rocks, took the stage to present his own social media story. He also had a lot to say about why physicians need to be on social media.
"I'm in a group of four family docs and a practitioner, and yes, I do social media," said Sevilla. "What do I write about, and what's my point? What I wanted to do was bring the reader into the exam room with me…I wanted to let the reader know how difficult it is to take care of patients in this broken healthcare system. It wasn't the blogging – it was the interaction – and, eventually, it will be patients who drive physicians and providers to use social media."
Sevilla talked through six areas in which physicians can utilize social media:
1. To tell your story. Whatever specialty you're in, said Sevilla, having a social media presence, and even a blog presence, is all about having a voice. "What you'll hear today is, social media is about telling stories," he said, adding that having an online outlet allows current and prospective patients to hear directly from you. "Not only can you tell your story, you can clarify other people's story, which may be the wrong story," he said. "I say all the time, we let people tell the story of family medicine and it's the wrong story."
2. To find a community. Providers and physicians have online communities, said Sevilla, and joining one of them is something he highly recommends. Sevilla referenced his own community of family physicians as an example. "It's a family medicine revolution, but we collaborate across the country and we find passionate people. We say, 'What's cool in your community that we can talk about? How can I share this with people in my community, and how does family medicine have some of the solutions to handle the broken healthcare system?'"
3. To express opinions and commentary. During the mid-2000s, said Sevilla, doctors were more open to discussing patients in their blogging and social media forums – something that didn't bode well for a few in particular. One doctor, Sevilla said, even continued to blog during a malpractice suit. "So the lessons are easy: Don't blog during your malpractice trial," he joked. It was during that time period, however, that Sevilla "switched" his own blogging endeavors and began to talk about news events and his point of view as a family physician. "And then I started dabbling in other things like podcasts, YouTube videos," he said. "Why? Because I'm geeky and I was interested. And of course, I failed at some points, and then, as the years went on, good things started to happen."
4. To discover what you're passionate about. About a year ago, Sevilla "rebranded" himself from Doctor Anonymous to the blogger behind Family Medicine Rocks. "And what do I talk about now? Things I'm passionate about, and how family medicine has the solutions to fix the broken healthcare system," he said. Since his rebranding, Sevilla has ventured out into audio podcasts, videos and more, all while sticking to what he feels most strongly about. Wondering where to start, or how to discover your niche? "Whenever you see someone giving a presentation, or anything like that," he said. "It could be about gardening, even. It's whatever you're passionate about."
5. To conduct social media marketing. One perk of being on social media that's seemingly a given? "Social media marketing," said Sevilla. "So if you're a hospital system, or whatever, this is free marketing." Tweeting, Facebooking, blogging and more are some of the easiest ways to connect with people. "This is marketing," he said. "Ten years ago, people asked how much does it cost for print, etc. This [costs] zero."
6. To manage your online reputation and streamline your practice. Online reputation management, Sevilla said, is a key reason to at least consider creating an online/social media presence. "I say [to physicians and providers], go to the computer, turn it on, [search] your name, and what do you get? A lot are surprised their first link isn't when whey were named physician of the year – it's a physician-rating site called HealthGrades, and when they read it, they're shocked that patients are talking about them and they didn't know it." Social media is a powerful tool, Sevilla added, and providers and physicians need know not only about how to use it, but also how to use it to their advantage. "Especially primary docs," he said. "If there are things you talk about 15 times a day, take a flip cam, record it and say 'Hey, here's the short answer. For the long answer, go to the website.' This is why physicians should do this."
Are your health care social media policies ready for a HIPAA audit?
Health care social media is emerging as a preferred method of communication between some patients -- especially younger ones -- and their providers, but without privacy and security plans in place, the use of such tools might make doctors and hospitals run afoul of federal compliance laws.
Public sites such as Facebook, Google Groups, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogging sites carry with them many potential HIPAA compliance problems, despite their upside to potentially drive patient engagement, one of the overarching themes of meaningful use stage 2.
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How do you know if business associates are HIPAA compliant? Answer this, and other HIPAA questions on the Health IT Exchange.
Yet despite its risks, social media can create that necessary patient engagement in the form of patient support groups, direct patient messaging of practitioners and marketing opportunities, said Jim Sheldon-Dean, principal for Charlotte, Vt.-based consultancy Lewis Creek Systems in a webinar sponsored by compliance vendor MetricStream.
Furthermore, HIPAA requires practitioners to make a best effort in respecting their patients' preferences for communication, so it's important to at least consider using these channels.
Using these tools can be complicated by the potential for HIPAA audits under a program recently launched by the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The bottom line? If you're a health care provider sticking your toe in thesocial media pool, manage all these compliance matters by creating policies that can stand up to the auditors' scrutiny.
"Are you able to withstand an audit if the feds decide it's time?" said Sheldon-Dean, who added that HIPAA audits typically come with a three-week notice, which isn't enough time to craft a social media policy and execute it. That means health care providers need to start creating policies now. "Can you justify what you're doing, are you prepared to say, 'Yes, [we were] in compliance as we did this, we knew what we were doing, and what we're doing is compliant practice.' You have to be able to defend yourself."
Sheldon-Dean offered some best practice ideas for physician offices and hospitals to organize their approach to social media health care -- and write a policy with HIPAA compliance in mind:
Define your purpose for using social media, and assign roles to employees for marketing, patient interaction and professional support. Employees who are not assigned social media roles should understand they are not authorized to unilaterally represent the organization on social media sites. How will your organization handle breaking news, and who will do it? Write it into your policy.
If social media is used for any treatment purposes, devise a mechanism to track use of patient data and retain it in the patient's medical record.
All employees should understand in the policy what is appropriate and inappropriate sharing of protected health information. While that might be obvious for many cases (don't share patient information on personal sites), define appropriateness for less-obvious cases (such as physician-to-physician consults).
Spell out in your policy when it is and isn't appropriate to use social media for treatment purposes -- and create an approval process for doing so (i.e., staffers should not be allowed to use their judgment and do it on their own, but instead they need to vet it through a HIPAA-conversant authority who approves). After that, put in place a monitoring process to track and retain the treatment process.
Make social media channels part of your HIPAA risk analysis. Accepting reasonable risks for the use of social media is fine; justify it in the documentation. Prepare an action plan in case of breaches.
Written policies should be concise, cover general categories of content such as blogs and wikis, define the difference between personal use and business activity, define responsibilities for official representatives of your organization, and provide examples of dos and don'ts.
Once the policy is in place, establish regular reviews and update it. Train employees on it, don't just hand it out. Finally, document the evolution of the social media policy -- its updates, the whys behind them, and how staffers were alerted to those updates.
Intergrating social media into healthcare systems practice
From www.slideshare.net - November 9, 2013 3:29 PM
Integrating Social Media into Healthcare Systems Practice MAJ Mike Moore (@MikeMooreDO) Family Medicine Resident Madigan Army Medical Center Ver 2.0 12 Oct 13
Should Healthcare Organizations Use Social Media?
From www.csc.com - November 9, 2013 7:14 AM
Social media is the process of people using online tools and platforms to share content and information. It is drastically changing the way we communicate and you should not underestimate its ability to work for or against your organization. It's an integral tool for marketing and customer service relations in any industry, so social media in healthcare is no different.
Globally, healthcare organizations and healthcare professionals are already using social media as an important tool to connect consumers and providers as well as to inform product development. The experience of early adopters demonstrates that an effective social media strategy can be used to accomplish healthcare goals in four broad areas: communications, information sharing, clinical outcomes and speed of innovation.
In considering what to do with and about social media, healthcare organizations cannot afford to take a "wait-and-see" approach or you may soon find yourself playing catch up with competitors. Even if you do not currently have an active social media presence, your employees and customers are already using social media and may be sharing information about you
At minimum, organizations need a "protective" policy and an outreach program to educate employees and customers about appropriate social media use. More broadly, organizations should develop an overarching social media strategy that leverages social media in healthcare marketing to help influence customers and accomplish strategic healthcare goals.
Recommendations for effective social media use in healthcare marketing:1. Don't take a "wait-and-see approach." Although some believe social media is a passing fad, we believe it is here to stay and the sooner your organization develops an active presence and social media strategy, the less distance you will have to make up later.2. Establish a social media policy. At minimum, this will help protect against security, privacy or ethics breaches by your employees or customers. You should also offer staff education. Training and outreach are necessary to ensure that staff fully comprehends and is able to carry out the policy.3. Follow your customers. Listen to what others are saying about your organization, your product(s) and your brand(s). Monitor the social media activities of others in your market, and use social media to listen to what others are saying about your competition.4. Consider starting where many organizations start. You can use social media to enhance marketing, branding, recruitment, reputation management, customer relations and customer service. However, educate yourself first on what is allowable under existing laws in your country.5. Start small and monitor outcomes. You don't have to develop a full-blown social media strategy now, but eventually you will need one. Ask what your organization should be doing now to anticipate a more widespread use of social media in healthcare to help accomplish key healthcare goals. Then expand your social media activities into new areas of value.6. Recruit social media managers internally. Distribute responsibilities among staff that know your organization, are Internet-savvy and are excited about using social media in healthcare to benefit your organization. Keep social media content accurate and current
Moses B. Tambason's curator insight, November 9, 2013 3:06 PM
Yes.in fact more people are running to charity tube to post free videos and watch free videos than posting on you tube. Try posting at charity tube and you will never leave. http://www.africatube.net/ More visitors and more video views. Don't take our word for it, try it. Post one same video on youtube and put it on http://www.africatube.net/ and return ater five hours and compare the viewers rate and decide for yourself. Create your very own group or forum and control who watch it and invite everyone to watch the video. Above all, post video in English or in any language and viewers can watch video description in their own language. Try it and let us know your experience. Above all it is absolutely free like youtube
Patients, families find comfort and help by sharing stories via social media
From network.socialmedia.mayoclinic.org - November 8, 2013 3:43 PM
It was hard to miss one recurring theme at the Health Care Social Media Summit, which began Wednesday, Oct. 23, in Rochester and wraps up today: The patient experience is at the center of health care social media efforts. And if it isn't, it should be.
Social media has given a voice to patients who want to talk about their illnesses and health care experiences. "It allows everyone to be a journalist," says Lee Aase, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media. Aase hosted a panel of presenters who were at the summit specifically to share their inspiring stories and talk about why patients blog, Facebook, tweet and pin about their experiences. Each of the presenters had a unique story to tell and was there "on the house" after winning a scholarship essay contest.
Annie Mitchell — the power of "story" and patient "voice"
Annie Mitchell became convinced of the power of stories and the patient voice in social media during her daughter's battles with juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare and debilitating disease affecting the muscles and skin. Her experience led her to a role as director of social media for the Cure JM Foundation, with the goal of helping to educate others about juvenile myositis, raise funds for research, and empower other patients and their caregivers through community connections and resources.
"In 2007, life knocked the wind out of me," Mitchell says. Her daughter, Grace, was diagnosed with juvenile myosistisas a 10-year-old, and over several months, Mitchell watched as the disease took a toll on her daughter. "We had to climb the Mount Everest of learning about the condition — alone."
Mitchell says she began to share the family's medical journey on Facebook. And in the process, she says, "I was able to move from powerlessness to advocacy." Eventually, she found the Cure JM Foundation. "We were no longer alone," she says. The experience led her to approach the foundation and suggest that they create a Facebook page of their own for patients with juvenile myositis and their families. Connecting with others, she said, had helped her family "through terrifying and lonely time."
The foundation brought Mitchell aboard to start the Facebook page and other social media efforts. Since that time, she has helped the organization win two grant contests bringing in $300,000 to put toward research and advocacy by activating and engaging the community through social media. Mayo's Ann Reed, M.D., is a member of the all-volunteer organization's medical advisory committee.
Teri Robert — Finding hope and purpose through education, advocacy
Faced with disabling chronic migraines and failed attempts at medical intervention, Teri Robert took to the Internet looking for answers. She was not impressed with what she found — inconsistency, difficulty separating accurate from inaccurate information. That experience led her to become a patient educator and advocate in the area of migraine disease and other headache disorders. Her passion is for helping patients, building awareness, fighting stigma, and engaging and educating the public.
"Patients who learn to stand for themselves and others have more hope and sense of purpose, and increased sense of self-worth," Robert says. Not only that, she says, but "studies show that an educated patient is more involved and in treatment and we have better outcomes."
That's important in the world of migraine, in particular, she says, because "one of the biggest things we fight in the world of headache medicine is stigma and lack of understanding." One key antidote is patients partnering in treatment with doctors in an "atmosphere of mutual respect," she says.
Social media can help by providing tools to reach patients who are hopeless and isolated, teach patients to ask the right questions of doctors and support them in the process, and teaching patients to advocate for themselves. "The doctor isn't the only professional in the room," she says. "Who is the professional in terms of your body?"
Pamela Tom — A nonprofit organization of one
Pamela Tom is the founder of HPVANDME.ORG, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building awareness about human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and HPV oropharyngeal cancer. She founded the organization after her husband was treated for HPV throat cancer in 2012.
"My husband went to doctor after feeling lump in his throat," Tom says. After being told it was it was simply post-nasal drip, he returned home. But it got worse. Return trips to the doctor's office didn't offer a better answer, she says, and soon her husband was barley able to eat. So they visited an ENT specialist, where they learned he had cancer.
Surgery wasn't an option, so her husband underwent seven weeks of radiation and chemotherapy. Her husband is an optimist, Tom says, and dutifully went through treatment. But she "had a million questions." So she went online and found that the information available was dense and hard to sift through, even though she says as an experienced reporter, she was used to digging into detailed information to find answers.
That led her to try to find a better path for other patients and their family members. "I wanted to build an awareness campaign that was more user-friendly that people could get through and share," Tom says. So she registered as a 501c3 nonprofit and began a crowd-funding campaign on IndieGoo to raise funds to launch a news and information website.
Tom says she works on the cause at night and on weekends "because somebody has to." Why? By 2020, the number of cases of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer in middle-age non-smoking men will surpass the number of cases of cervical cancer, she says. And it's difficult to get people to be vaccinated, even though the cure for the condition is just that simple. | technology also used for Hangouts, including Google's VP8 video codec. However, the company decided to turn Helpouts into a stand-alone offering rather than a feature within Hangouts, and also launch a separate Android app. Representatives said Monday that they'd like to launch on as many devices and platforms as possible down the road, but Apple's policy to take a cut out of e-commerce facilitated through apps running on iOS would make it difficult for Google to bring the service to iPhones and iPads in its current form.
Google is currently only admitting pre-screened providers, but may open the platform up further in the future. Providers can set their own price for these one-on-one chats and charge either by the minute, through a flat fee, or decide to make their services available for free. Google takes a 20 percent cut out of those fees, which are collected through Google Wallet, with one notable exception: Providers of health-related Helpouts initially don't have to give Google a cut at all. Google representatives said during a press briefing Monday that the company was evaluating other pricing models for the health sector.
Speaking of healthcare, Helpouts are HIPAA compliant, meaning that the company adheres by privacy regulations in place to protect patient data. Google has already signed up the relatively small One Medical Group as a health care provider to offer advice through the system, but the real killer app could be to make Helpouts available to a large HMO. (Google Ventures led a $30 million funding round in One Medical back in March.) Health care providers like Kaiser already rely on phone-based remote consultations — adding video to that has the potential to prevent a lot of unnecessary emergency room visits, as well as catch symptoms that need in-person attention sooner.
Google VP of Engineering Udi Manber didn't want to commit to any future features, but he did mention that Google intends to build APIs for Helpouts that could one day power a whole set of applications powered by Helpouts. And once those apps become available, I'd bet that we are going to hear a whole lot more about Google's plans to take on healthcare.
What do HCPs do online, and why?
From engagementstrategy.com - November 11, 2013 12:25 PM
In an article on engagementstrategy.com, Paul Grant outlined his model of the drivers for engagement in social media. Since the article was published, Creation Pinpoint studies have highlighted a range of Healthcare Professional (HCP) behaviours on public social media. In this post, using the topic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as an example, I will outline some of the most commonly-seen behaviours, giving an insight into what may be important for HCPs online.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a term used to describe chronic lung conditions including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. According to the the European Respiratory Society, along with lung cancer, these diseases represent a leading cause of mortality in Europe, and incidence is predicted to rise. Respiratory health is therefore an important area of research and development for many pharmaceutical companies.
Four drivers for HCP engagement on public social media
Four overlapping drivers for HCP engagement on public social media are proposed here:
Creating news – activities such as broadcasting information that may be of interest to others
Consuming news – staying in touch with new developments in the field
Caring for patients – learning new ways to help patients, beyond the latest drugs
Collaborating, building networks – being involved in an community free of boundaries
"Creating" news
The following word cloud demonstrates the most mentioned topics during the study period. ERS2013, the annual congress of the European Respiratory Society, is prominent, as the hashtag ERS2013 was tweeted and re-tweeted multiple times.
That conference hashtags exist, and that they are used shows that these offline events have an important mirror image in the online world. The most common behaviour seen at conferences is the tweeting of nuggets of information, which is essentially the "creation" of content that is predicted to be of interest to others. Doctors may also use conferences to add the "in real life" dimension to networks they have created with colleagues online.
Caring for patients
The following tweet, from the Twitter account of the PROactiveCOPD project (which is looking at developing a patient-reported outcome for physical activity in COPD) was re-tweeted by 3 HCPs. PROactiveCOPD also appears in the topic cloud above, suggesting further discussion around the topic of physical activity in COPD.
Resources and tips that could help the patients a HCP cares for, as well as advice from colleagues, can be important online assets for HCPs. These resources and tips may go beyond the latest drug therapies.
Another aspect of caring for patients that was not seen in this study, but that has been observed in small measures elsewhere, is direct HCP-patient interaction online. This does not generally reach large volumes, since it can be a complex area for HCPs to navigate – a doctor needs to be clear about a patient's medical history and the details of their complaint before suggesting a course of action, and examinations and tests may also be required. There is also scope for a patient to misinterpret information given online. Some HCPs state clearly on their social media profiles that they do not provide medical advice online.
Consuming news and staying ahead
HCPs make use of the instant nature of media such as Twitter to keep informed of the latest news and study results before it reaches journals and other professional publications. Below is an example of a link to a study that was re-tweeted 33 times, and 'favourited' 9 times, showing how important new clinical information is to HCPs online.
Collaborating and sharing
The online space is unique as it removes hierarchical and geographical boundaries. The Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAMMed) movement capitalises on this. As described on the FOAM web page,
"FOAM is the movement that has spontaneously emerged from the exploding collection of constantly evolving, collaborative and interactive open access medical education resources being distributed on the web with one objective — to make the world a better place. FOAM is independent of platform or media — it includes blogs, podcasts, tweets, Google hangouts, online videos, text documents, photographs, facebook groups, and a whole lot more."
FOAM appears in the topic cloud above, as the hashtag was used to "label" tweets that were considered to be related to FOAM.
This behaviour shows that HCPs are interested in collaborating and sharing online – as demonstrated in the diagram above, this driver overlaps with others, in that collaboration and sharing activities are involved in learning to provide better care for patients, and in creating news. Collaboration also offers the added benefit of being part of a community.
This article has highlighted some potential drivers for HCP involvement in public social media, based on what we have observed in Creation Pinpoint studies. Being aware of what is important for online HCPs can help pharmaceutical companies to better tailor their engagement initiatives.
Epic: Patient engagement is the "last mile" for EHRs
From mobihealthnews.com - November 11, 2013 1:19 AM
Patient engagement was a major theme of the Partners Connected Health Symposium, and that theme came to a head Thursday with a talk from Epic President Carl Dvorak, who contends that for electronic health records like Epic, engagement with the patients is "the last mile," the home stretch EHR vendors are currently embarking on.
Everything Epic does to innovate, Dvorak said, he assumes will soon become standard for EHR systems, just like car stereos were once a feature you had to purchase separately and now are just assumed to be part of a new car.
"Today's leaves become tomorrow's branches," he said.
Dvorak talked about a number of patient engagement tools that are already available through Epic and its MyChart patient-facing app, but also previewed some new pieces the company is working on.
Scheduling appointments, for instance, is a key functionality for a patient-interfacing EHR. But beyond just allowing a patient to schedule a visit, Dvorak wants to use the power of mobile to offer wait-listed patients quicker appointments if one opens up, as a push notification on the patient's app.
Another point Dvorak stressed was communicating with the patient in a variety of ways, whether that means offering multiple languages or offering multiple contact points. At Epic, he said, they are integrating the contact methods so patients can flow seamlessly from one into another.
"We can step up a text to an interactive chat, and if it seems significant we can move it into a phone call, or a video visit, or bring them in," he said.
An early pilot of video visits via MyChart started a few weeks ago at | 1,835 |
Greeks receive media training from two experts
Ben Mikesell
Campus Filler
By Larmie Sanyon
Published Apr 13, 2017 7:40 pm Last updated Apr 14, 2017 12:19 am
IU's Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association invited experts Carrie Ritchie, social business manager at IBM, and April Toler, a news and media specialist from IU Office of University Communications, to their annual Greek Media Training Workshop in efforts to help students in greek life with their social media etiquette.
"Uninformed people are not aware of the impact social media posts can have, whether it is negative or positive," said junior Nicholas Mpistolarides, IFC's vice president of communications who helped organize the event.
Mpistolarides said most of the information revolved around crisis management. For example, Mpistolarides said one exercise had participants deal with a hypothetical situation involving an inappropriate social media post.
Freshman Noah Kleiman attended the workshop and said he learned a lot about managing social media crises. Kleiman is a brother of Delta Chi and was one of the two representatives from his chapter.
He said most crises only need one person in charge of public relations because otherwise there would be too many ideas being passed around and very little done to resolve the issue.
"You don't need a hundred people commenting on a crisis," Kleiman said
Kleiman said sites like Facebook and Twitter have become more than a tool for socializing because they<|fim_middle|> presence.
One suggestion the speakers offered was a weekly post directly aimed at alumni. Kleiman said Delta Chi could post an old photo or video for "Throwback Thursday" to help alumni feel more involved in fraternity operations.
Mpistolarides and Kleiman said they wanted to not only improve alumni relations but also media relations. They said it upsets them that most news outlets only focus on the negative aspects of greek life but also said it was the greek community's fault for not promoting the positives. Toler said she offered advice to attendants on how to approach interactions with the media.
"Be prepared," Toler said. "Know the goal of the interview, give interviews in a quiet space where you are not distracted, speak with passion and clarity."
Kleiman said he now knows more than ever the importance of a good media presence. He said he wants to use community and service to help reform the image of not just his fraternity, but all greeks.
"Community and service is key for every fraternity," Kleiman said. | are increasingly being used in a professional capacity.
Kleiman said he found the advice helpful because it was geared toward helping the fraternity and the individuals.
"Don't saturate your social media with bad photos," Kleiman said. "At the end of the day, you are going to want a job, and recruiters don't like to see that. If you do something wrong make sure you take it down and apologize."
A good portion of the workshop was allocated to alumni relations. Kleiman and Mpistolarides said the speakers emphasized the importance of using social media to attract more alumni. Kleiman said Delta Chi and other fraternities need to take advantage of the fact that recent college graduates have an extensive social media | 144 |
Why Didn't You Tell Us You Were Great<|fim_middle|> his employer in the book? "Because Princeton has never professed any attachment to myself," McMaster tartly replied.
"Left Princeton, Thank God forever," McMaster told his diary in June 1883 as he headed to Penn and a 37-year career as dean of American historians.
Source URL: https://paw.princeton.edu/article/why-didn%E2%80%99t-you-tell-us-you-were-great | ?
By W. Barksdale Maynard '88
That Was Then: February 1879
John Bach McMaster, third from left, with other history professors at Penn, about nine years after he left Princeton.
From the Collections of the University of Pennsylvania Archives
As spring semester began in 1879, John Bach McMaster, a young civil engineering professor, had a secret: He recently had started to write a history of the United States in his room in Witherspoon Hall. There was little else to do in his free time — nobody ever paid attention to the obscure little man, least of all his fellow teachers.
Awakened by the Nassau Hall bell each morning, McMaster proceeded to "comb my flowing mane in a glass that does full justice to the richness of my Teutonic loveliness," he wrote to his mother. He was jesting — in fact, his bald head resembled, he once confessed, "a watermelon on a stalk."
Nothing suited him here. "Teaching lunk-heads to survey farms, and rivers, and railroads is not so much fun as it looks," he lamented. Freshmen were "spry, slick, funny little boys" who spat tobacco during lectures in Dickinson Hall. Ever droll, McMaster warned them that "a student who expectorates on the floor must not expect-to-rate high in his class."
Autocratic Scottish president James McCosh ("the old gentleman") stressed piety, but the hypocritical faculty were "money worshipping" and "too small- and narrow-minded to see over the wall of mud that shuts them in." McMaster dared not hint that he was writing a book that wasn't about engineering.
The first of eight volumes of his History of the People of the United States appeared in 1883 and became a smash hit — running through four editions in three months. It helped pioneer the field of social history, with newspapers combed for details of everyday life. McMaster was suddenly a household name.
"Well, Mr. McMaster, why did na ye tell us that ye were a great mon!" the flabbergasted McCosh exclaimed. And why hadn't he given credit to | 447 |
Loyola College is a Catholic Regional Co-educational Secondary College in the Ignatian tradition, which opened in 1980 to serve the Catholic parishes of the north east in the Archdiocese of Melbourne.
Our College philosophy is based on the teachings of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of priests and brothers more widely known as the Jesuits. Our College is a Jesuit Companion school and is a member of the worldwide network of Jesuit schools.
As a Catholic College we focus on the importance of belonging to the local and global communities and we strongly promote student involvement in Social Justice Projects and activities which promote the Ignatian philosophy of Christian service to others through action. Our College is outward looking and has a strong international focus.
In the Ignatian spirit we aim to educate the whole person. This is achieved through offering a broad curriculum which allows our students to pursue both academic and vocational pathways. At the same time we encourage our students to explore their many gifts and talents through our varied Co-Curriculum<|fim_middle|> appreciate what our College has to offer those young people entrusted to our care.
I look forward to welcoming you as a member of the Loyola College community in the near future. | Program activities.
Parental involvement and engagement in the life of the College are strongly encouraged and are viewed as essential in the educational partnership established between families and the College.
As you peruse our website I hope you will come to | 45 |
Synod Process Seeks Religious Diversity, Catholic Bishop in South Africa Says
Bishop Sylvester David, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: Courtesy Photo
By Silas Isenjia
Cape Town, 12 November, 2021 / 9:15 pm (ACI Africa).
Embracing religious diversity as the people of God is one way of journeying together through the ongoing Synodal process, the Auxiliary Bishop of South Africa's Cape Town Archdiocese has said.
In his Friday, November 12 reflection, Bishop Sylvester David notes that the ongoing<|fim_middle|>, "That in itself ought not to be a problem as we can and should agree to disagree, but not abandon the dialogue and the working together."
He underscores the need for the people of God to work together in such projects as alleviating hunger, caring for the neighbor, and "working for a better society."
In his November 12 reflection, Bishop David makes reference to the Saint of the day, St. Josaphat the Martyr, whom he says lost his life during the time of schisms because he worked for unity among the followers of Christ.
"(Saint) Josaphat is an important symbol in today's Church as we strive for unity in diversity… He was subjected to mob violence and lost his life," the Auxiliary Bishop of South Africa's Cape Town Archdiocese says.
More in Africa
He further makes reference to the Ecumenical gathering at the end of October to celebrate the joint declaration on the Doctrine of Justification signed by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Federation on 31st October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, and says that it was a reminder on the importance of Christian unity, which is an element of Synodality.
"This gathering was a sharp reminder to us that the disunity among Christians is perhaps the biggest betrayal of Jesus. It goes against everything he lived for, died and rose for, and sent the Holy Spirit for," the South African Bishop says in his reflection.
He further reflects on the Gospel of St. John, which he says articulates the need for unity and emphasizes the notion of Synodality that seeks to incorporate all people as the people of God.
"May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one," Bishop David says, quoting a passage from the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 17.
Synod Process,
Bishop Sylvester David,
Religious Diversity,
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Initiate Synodality Conversation from Family, Catholic Bishop in South Africa Says
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A Catholic Bishop in South Africa has called up on the people of God in the country to continue observing... | Synod on Synodality stands out particularly for the way it encourages conversations among people of different religious beliefs.
He says that religion is meant to lead people to God and not to be used to cause division and hatred among the people of God.
"As with all wars, where hatred replaces dialogue there can be no winners; only losers; and our religious systems collapse because they fail to foster unity. But when we are prepared to lose ourselves for Christ's sake, we will achieve eternal life," Bishop David says.
He adds, "The Synod process which we have engaged in ought to empower us to appreciate the diversity that exists among us."
Suggesting ways in which the Synodal process can be executed across people of different faiths, the South African Bishop says, "There are a few avenues we could follow. We could learn about the belief systems of the various groups. We can pray and enter into dialogue."
"We will find that there is a lot more that we have in common than the features which separate us. Not all dialogue ends with perfect accord," the member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) further says, and continues | 233 |
Online access to government data is not meeting the needs or expectations of the general public, a survey conducted by data aggregator Socrata found. The results of the survey, which polled members of the public, government agency employees and open data developers, were published Dec. 15.
The survey collected data from a national swath of the American public, government employees from federal, state and local levels, and data developers who publish the released information on their own sites. The survey does not offer conclusions regarding the state of specific agencies or governments, but the authors see the survey as a tool for the government to use towards creating a better system.
Socrata initiated the survey to find out the state of the open government movement to determine the amount of public participation and government compliance, and the public perception of the movement. The study found that there is a public mandate that government data should be open and available online, and that government employees generally agree.
Saf Rabah, who oversaw the project and managed the different phases of the survey, said that Socrata conducted the survey to give a voice to the major transparency stakeholders including: the public, those in charge of the information (government employees) and those who publish that information (online<|fim_middle|>% of government employees endorsing this idea. The study also found that the general public vastly prefers online access to records and the option of browsing online. However, the survey found that only 23.8% of governments have launched a data site.
Sites generally upload content for citizens to download, but that's not how they want it, Rabah said. The study suggests that the general public do not want to simply download files. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they would prefer to be able to browse and interact with the information online. Only 16% preferred to download information.
Government employees expressed a need for better technology to help extract information and then export it for consumption. The most important need that data developers expressed was to have the relevant data.
The survey's authors hope that government agencies use the survey to compare themselves to other agencies and see how they compare in terms of accessibility and openness, Rabah said. They also hope the study will provide insight as to how openness and transparency can be better achieved by seeing what the public wants and in what ways that information can best be transmitted.
Socrata developed the survey in partnership with open government advocates Sunlight Foundation, Personal Democracy Forum, GovLoop, Code for America and David Eaves. | data developers). Socrata wanted to be able to share with government agencies what information is most needed and most valued by constituents, Rabah said.
The survey asked how the public preferred to access the information and what types of information they most preferred to access, including public safety data, financial information, census and legislative information.
The study found that there is an overwhelming belief that open records should be available online, with 92.6 | 88 |
Tag Archives: Cementimental
November 2017 – upcoming London jazz/experimental gigs – Jazz in the Round with Arun Ghosh and Eddie Parker (27th); noise and costume chaos in 'Beyond the Mask' with Flange Zoo, Isn'tses, Pranic Attack and Madonna Vagina (25th)
As if Monday 27th wasn't crowded enough already, up pops an interesting jazz gig…
Jazz In The Round presents:
Jazz In The Round: Arun Ghosh + Eddie Parker (solo) + tbc
The Cockpit Theatre, Gateforth Street, Lisson Grove, London, NW8 8EH, England
Monday 27th November 2017, 7.00pm – information here and here
British-Asian jazz clarinettist, keyboard player and composer Arun Ghosh (perhaps best known for Arkestra Makara, the pan-Asian chamber-jazz orchestra which made a colourful cross-continental splash at the London Olympics five years ago) is making his Jazz In The Round debut. He'll be leading a new band featuring saxophonists Idris Rahman and Chris Williams, guitarist Shirley Tetteh, bass player Liran Donin and drummer Dave Walsh.
The concert showcases his newest release, 'But Where Are You Really From?' – a keyboard-heavy album of rolling multi-cultural twenty-first century jazz-rock which not only touches lightly on the likes of Yusef Lateef, early '70s Miles Davis grooves and Punjabi music but also on A.R. Rahman, David Axelrod, Soft Machine and Egg as well as pulling in touches of kletzmer, hip hop and northern English brass bands (Arun was raised in Manchester). Part-pastoral and part-stirring, it's a slow-cooking hot-pot of a record.
In the middle of the bill there's a rare solo spot from Eddie Parker. Perhaps best known as the brilliant flautist for Loose Tubes, he's also got years of group-leading work under his belt as well as a history of large-scale compositions, community music and dazzling guest spots. For more on what I've said about Eddie in the past, click here: but on this occasion, it's just him and his flutes: no group work, no cunning arrangement, just the chance to see an undersung instrumental master bouncing on his heels, throughly self-reliant. Should be exceptional.
There's another act yet to be confirmed (in what Jazz In The Round call "jazz lucky dip"), but it's worth going along for these two alone. From the 7pm doors time, rooting us to past and present, there'll be the usual Jazz FM DJ sets from event presenter Jez Nelson and his decks colleague Chris Phillips.
IKLECTIK presents:
'Beyond the Mask': Flange Zoo + Isn'tses + Pranic Attack + Madonna Vagina
IKLECTIK, Old Paradise Yard, 20 Carlisle Lane, Waterloo, London, SE1 7LG, England
Saturday 25th November 2017, 6.30pm – information here and here
If you're in the mood for a more unruly kind of improvisation, something odder and wilder is stirring in Waterloo a few days earlier and providing "a night of otherworldly misrule, noise and musicality by artists with specially-made masks and costumes, bringing live art, animation, installation and lighting to your senses."
Ready to romp are human-insectoid modular-electronic/vocal duo Pranic Attack (with their "giant life force swarm of sonic, non-Newtonian synthesis" and "cacophonous cocoon of stroboscopic ear worm sequences"); Isn'tses (who mythscape "paganism, political anger, intergalactic heroism and pop-culture parodies" via self-built synths, noise boxes, circuit-bent toys and mangled vocals amidst luminous props and costumes) and "mythical musical animal" troop Flange Zoo (playing dub-echo psych-political rants and noise-stews on theremin, recorder, free drumkit, custom didgeridoo and stylophone; plus anything else which they can ram through their bevy of effects pedals).
Lurking variously behind these masks and personae and the sonic messy-play are rainbow-rap electronicist Janine A'Bear, dark-drone crooner Listen Lisse, Merkaba Macabre's Steven McInerney, Tim Drage of Cementimental and multimedia artists Miyuki Kasahara and Calum F. Kerr (plus at least one member of The International Wind Up Toy Orchestra). The evening's completed by a colourful, textural live-art performance from yet another mask-and-costumerie enthusiast, Paola de Ramos (under her own "Madonna Vagina" persona, which might be referencing the blessed Christian virgin-mother-goddess or La Ciccone: she's cheeky enough be referencing both).
FLANGE ZOO
All of this is happening at 7.30pm, with a 'Behind the Mask/ Recreate your Face' workshop and a display of original masks from the artists, drawings, interactive installations starting an hour earlier. Bring your own alter-egos in for fine-tuning.
Tags: Arun Ghosh, Calum F. Kerr, Cementimental, Eddie Parker, Flange Zoo, IKLECTIK Art Lab (promoters), Isn'tses, Janine A'Bear, Listen Lisse, Miyuki Kasahara, Paola de Ramos (Madonna Vagina), Pranic Attack, Steven McInerney (Merkaba Macabre), The Cockpit Theatre (venue) - Lisson Grove - London, The International Wind Up Toy Orchestra
Categories 2017 music, acoustic music, ambient music, ceremonial music, chaos music, circuit bending, cross-cultural music, crossover, dance, DIY music, DJ sets, drone music, electronic, experimental music, freaktronica, hip hop, improvisation, instrumental music, interactive performances, jazz, jazz fusion, New Music, noise, outsider music, performance art, political music, salon events, sampledelia, sound collage, soundscapes
July 2016 – upcoming London gigs – improvisation running rampant at the Classwar Karaoke mini-festival (16th & 17th)
Minesweeper Collective presents:
Classwar Karaoke Mini Festival
A secret location in Greenwich, London, England
Saturday 16 & Sunday 17th July 2016, time t.b.c. – information
Experimental music and short-film label Classwar Karaoke celebrates its eighth year of existence and collective-based "unambiguous meritocracy" by assembling a host of improvisers and audio-visualisers for the third in its series of underground mini-festivals. The event will be embedded somewhere deep in the London Borough of Greenwich along with the laser-limned meridian line, the maritime history and the stand-up comedy. We're told we can "expect such things as improv, free jazz, avant-rock, jokes, theatre, noise, audio-visuals, absurdism, spoken word."
The first of the two days features a sixteen-strong lineup of Murmurists, the project which coalesces around the work – if not precisely the leadership – of Anthony Donovan (composer, musician, poet, filmmaker and Classwar Karaoke founder). Murmurists date back to 1991 and use varied lineups to realize Anthony's compositions in live situations. Over the years, these have moved from being small and predominantly improvisational line-ups to becoming larger and more meticulously-directed ensembles which employ graphic scores and timing instructions to deliver Anthony's written material. Latterday Murmurist ensembles – both on and off record – use speech, narrative and foley work (spontaneous live sound effects) as key components alongside the musical ones; while live performances employ film projections and dance.
On this occasion, Murmurists are as follows:
Anthony Donovan (on voice, bass and film work)
dancer-vocalists Rebecca Bogue, Carolyn Roy and Jane Munro
foley performers/vocalists Annie Dee (Destroyevsky) and Michael Clough
percussionists/vocalists/electronics operators Lawrence Casserley (a frequent Evan Parker/Bob Cobbing collaborator) and David Cunliffe (Spidey Agutter, Igor's Roomy Labcoat and Coffin Boffin)
Geoff Leigh on flute/soprano sax/voice (best known as an early Henry Cow member, but also for Ex-Wise-Heads, The Artaud Beats, Black Sheep, and many others)
Mark Browne on soprano sax/percussion/ voice (a three-and-a-half-decade veteran of multiple projects and collaborations including Cockpit Improvised Music, Conspiracy, The Fanatics Of Disaster and The Fastidious Amateurs Of Grief)
K.T.Reeder on trombone and voice
Martin Archer on bass clarinet/recorder/voice
Tim Drage (a.k.a. Cementimental) on electronics
Black Howler and Union Furnace duo Anthony and Rosie Osborne (saxophone/keyboards/voice)
percussionist/vocalist Walt Shaw
The large Murmurist group will be supported by small-group improv work from various Murmurists members – lineups to be drawn from a hat.
The second day of the festival, July 17th, features a wider lineup of individual projects.
Lewisham-based improvising trio LOFE describe themselves thus, in lapping wordplay: "driving beats, driven words. jewel carriageway chords. It's got that biodynamic, organic whole grain texture and that lively lambic yeasty rhythm. It hits 260°C, when it's baking." The man who's probably guilty of scribbling that account is their performance-poet/fractal-rapper vocalist Zolan Quobble (a Deptford Urban Free Festival founder who's also voiced One True Dog, Rabbidog and Dodmen). Other involved parties are bass guitarist Elwell (a multi-instrumentalist whom at various times has played with Brain of Morbius, Bert Shaft Orchestra, One True Dog, Foul Geese and South East London Music Collective) and one-man keyboard-and-Ableton orchestra NikTheDeks (see also NakeDBeatZ Radio, Furby-Core, Gabber-Karaoke and others)
Warrior Squares is a Hastings-based free improvising electronic/acoustic four piece comprising Geoff Leigh (flute, sax, voice, electronics) James Weaver (electronics, guitar), Paul Gardner (iPad, percussion) and Nick Weekes (bass, sticks, found items).
Adam Bohman improvises sounds from "stuff we ignore – toast racks, clothes pegs, styrofoam, upholstery springs, you name it" as well as making tape collages (read some more about him here).
Harmergeddon is the duo of audio-visual performance artists Nathan and Fae Harmer, who since 2010 have been creating performance material from mongrelised data sources, physical oddments and information detritus (mangled VHS cassettes, bar code check outs, etc), crossing it over from one format to another. They build instruments and performances from "the unwanted, unheard and unseen… rebuilt from the ground up with whatever comes to hand" and present "sound pieces and visuals improvised as a feedback loop between gesture and combined consciousness." A Harmergeddon performance is usually a collation of profound industrial drones, haunting sounds, voice snatches and found-object noises with lights which interact with signal sources or body movements, plus abstractions on TV screens. (See below.)
Jeffersubstanshall Helicopter is most probably another version of whoever's behind Oblivian Substanshall, the anti-novelist/performance poet/absurdist contributor to various Klasswar and Deptford events of the past. With those pseudonymic hat-tilts to both the Bonzo Dog Band and West Coast psychedelia, expect some late-'60s-inspired counterculture/cut-up lunacy. Here's something of what he did under the original moniker:
Phil Durrant & Kev Hopper will provide a duo performance from two very different and complementary masters of a musical continuum stretching from avant-garde to pop and dance. A classical music graduate who plays violin, synth, electronics and (increasingly) state-of-the-art software instruments, Phil has been composing, improvising and performing since 1977 over a career that's spanned over sixty albums, almost as many collaborations and probably thousands of improvised gigs. His work has included being the third leg of an influential trio with John Butcher and John Russell, sundry ensembles (including Secret Measures, Quatuor Accorde, Lunge, Beinhaltung, Assumed Possibilities and the international electronic orchestra Mimeo), 1990s house/breakbeat work with Fabio, Grooverider and Shut Up And Dance, and exploits into dance-theatre music, site-specific installations and sound design. Kev first came to attention as the fretless bassist whose rubberband playing style anchored early '90s popsurdists Stump. Subsequent adventures have involved various avant-garde improviser lineups, albums of musical saw playing, and most recent the delightful improv-rock quartet Prescott. He and Phil previously played together in '90s improvising quartet Ticklish.
Tags: Adam Bohman, Annie Dee (Destroyevsky), Anthony Donovan, Anthony Osborne, Bert Shaft Orchestra, Black Howler, Brain of Morbius, Carolyn Roy, Cementimental, Classwar Karaoke (record label), Coffin Boffin, David Cunliffe, Dodmen, Foul Geese, Geoff Leigh, Harmergeddon, Igor's Roomy Labcoat, James Weaver, Jane Munro, K.T.Reeder, Kev Hopper, Lawrence Casserley, LOFE, Mark Browne, Martin Archer, Michael Clough, Murmurists, Nick Weekes, NikTheDeks, Oblivian Substanshall (Jeffersubstanshall Helicopter), One True Dog, Paul Gardner, Phil Durrant, Prescott, Rabbidog, Rebecca Bogue, Rosie Osborne, South East London Music Collective, Spidey Agutter, Ticklish, Union Furnace, Walt Shaw, Warrior Squares, Zolan Quobble
Categories 2016 music, anti-music, dance, dance performances, DIY music, drone music, electro-acoustic music, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, festivals, free jazz, improvisation, instrumental music, interactive performances, jazz, musique concrete, noise, outsider music, performance art, plunderphonics, poetry, previews, punk jazz, RIO (Rock In Opposition), skronk, sound collage, spoken word
More London gigs, second week of October – electro-industrial (Necro Deathmort/DeadFader/Cementimental), intercontinental at Café Oto (Maurice Louca/John Bence/Sam Shalabi), fringe jazz (The Geordie Approach/A Sweet Niche), noise-rock (Hey Colossus/Lower Slaughter/Kogumaza), acoustic/alt.country at Daylight Music (Applewood Road/Holly Macve/Arborist) and the Fidelio Trio with Beethoven, Ravel and a Benjamin Dwyer premiere
More gigs for the coming week…
Firstly, Baba Yaga's Hut are running an evening at Corsica Studios, which takes in the London date of an electro-industrial tour.
Necro Deathmort + Deadfader + Cementimental (Baba Yaga's Hut @ Corsica Studios, 4-5 Elephant Road, London, SE17 1LB, UK, Monday 5th October 2015, 8.00pm) – £6.00
As if Necro Deathmort's name didn't tell you enough about them, over an eight year career they've released albums called 'This Beat Is Necrotronic' and 'Music Of Bleak Origin' (although more recent albums have seen a shift towards a less morbid and more science-fictional outlook. Dark electronica festival veterans with a drone, doom and noise approach, the project entangles electronic instrumentalist AJ Cookson (The Montauk Project, Medes, Sol Invicto) with Matthew Rozeik (guitarist from post-metal/post-prog band Astrohenge). Their music rises from gurgling boneyard beats, medical-equipment breakdowns, squishy miasmas and faux-sax drones towards something ruined and regal – a grand deathbed vision.
Sharing Necro Deathmort's current tour is Berlin-based dubstep/noise/electro fusilladeer DeadFader – memorably described as "chainsaw-step" by Baked Goods Distribution (who went on to rave about how the project coughs up "the most seismic grooves imaginable" and that the music "sinks its teeth into your arm and refuses to let go"). I can't top that as a description right now – have a listen below and see if you agree with it.
Joining Necro Deathmort and DeadFader for the London date are Cementimental. Everything I can dig up about these guys is a barking blur of ludicrous disinformation: almost the only lucid facts coughed up from their promotional flotsam is that they're led by a "noisician" called Dr. Age (or Tim Drage, who may or may not have a daytime/surface job in cute Lego animations) and have been doing "harsh noise, circuit-bending, rough music since 2000AD". The Dr. is supported by a cast of obscure and possibly imaginary characters – a guitarist called Toru, a part-time turntablist, a man called Mrs Columbo (who handles the incoherent screaming), and "additionalists" called Murray the Eel and Sir Concord Discount (the latter's a "rock goblin"). Maybe this makes Centimental sound like the joke band on the bill, and there's plenty of humour in what they do (a couple of early tracks were called Too Long and Merzbow It Ain't, while a more recent one's called Commendable Amputation Of An Excessive Gargoyle), but the fact remains that they've been going for nearly half again as long as their gigmates. Draw your own conclusions.
Up-to-date info here, tickets here.
On the Thursday, there's a Cafe Oto convening of music from Cairo, Bristol and Montreal, running in parallel to events in Egypt and Lebanon and covering a broad variety of influences and outcomes.
Maurice Louca + John Bence + Sam Shalabi (Café Oto, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London, E8 3DL, UK, October 8th 2015, 8.00pm) – £12.00/£14.00
Cafe Oto, in collaboration with Thirtythree Thirtythree and Nawa Recordings, bring you the second edition of the five-part event series entitled 'Labyrinths' (or 'Mātāhāt' in Arabic) and based in London, Cairo and Beirut over October and November.
Maurice Louca is an Egyptian musician and composer born in Cairo where he lives and works. As well as being the co-founder of the bands Bikya, Alif and Dwarves Of East Agouza, he lends his sound to numerous projects, composing for theatre, film and contemporary art. Inspired by many influences, from psychedelic to Egyptian shaabi, his second album 'Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot)', released on Nawa Recordings in November 2014, shattered the confines of musical and cultural labelling and was dubbed by many as a game-changer for the region's bustling independent music scene. Amidst his collaborations and inconspicuous touring across Europe and the Arab world in the last few years, Louca has sought a richer and much more complex sound. 'Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan', the fruit of such intense reinvention and a departure from his first solo album 'Garraya', is a work that leaves ample space for fluidity and improvisation, paving the way for unique live renderings.
From a family background rich in classical pedigree and firmly embedded in Bristol's forward-facing electronic music<|fim_middle|>ro Deathmort, New York City (USA), Nottingham (England), Peter Fribbins, Petter Frost Fadnes, Sam Shalabi, Shalabi Effect, Shiver, Shudder Pulps, Sol Invicto, Stavanger Kitchen Orchestra, Ståle Birkeland, Stroud (England), The Fidelio Trio, The Geordie Approach, The Jazz Market (event), The Montauk Project, Thomas Wilbye, TrioVD, Watford (England)
Categories 2015 music, 21st century classical music, acoustic pop, alternative country, alternative folk, alternative pop, alternative rock, ambient music, Americana, chamber pop, circuit bending, classical (Western art music), Classical music, country-and-western, cross-cultural music, crossover, darkwave, drone music, dub, dubstep, electro-acoustic music, electronic, electronica, experimental music, experimental/avant-garde rock, folk music, folk-pop, free jazz, garage rock, hardcore, IDM, improvisation, industrial music, industrial rock, instrumental music, jazz, jazz fusion, jazz punk, musique concrete, noise, noise rock, post-hardcore, power electronics, previews, psychedelic rock, punk jazz, punk rock, rock, Romantic music, sampledelia, singer-songwriter, sound collage, soundscapes, space rock, turntablism | culture, John Bence has pooled a breadth of influence scarcely credible for a composer only entering his second decade, and now he is starting to put his inspiration into live and recorded motion. As a producer he is already thinking ten steps ahead, often incorporating voice or home recorded percussion into his cyclical technique of scoring, recording, manipulating, re-scoring and re-recording in waves, creating heady, intoxicating ripples of harmony and noise. An obscure snippet of dub-plate drone under a previous moniker was enough for Nicolas Jaar, who instantly approached him about a release on his Other People label. Six months on, 'Disquiet' was released – a masterful hybrid of classical and electronic clocking in at a tantalising ten minutes. More, much more, is coming. Mercurial, elusive and of seemingly limitless imagination, John Bence is rising to the surface.
Sam Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian composer and improviser living between Montreal, Quebec and Cairo, Egypt. Beginning in punk rock in the late 70s, his work has evolved into a fusion of experimental, modern Arabic music that incorporates traditional Arabic, shaabi, noise, classical, text, free improvisation and jazz. He has released five solo albums (including 'On Hashish'- a musical mediation on German writer Walter Benjamin; 'Osama', an audio collage on Arabophobia in the wake of 9/11; and his most recent 'Music for Arabs'), five albums with Shalabi Effect (a free improvisation quartet that bridges western psychedelic music and Arabic Maqam scales) and three albums with Land Of Kush (an experimental 30-member orchestra for which he composes). He has appeared on over sixty albums and toured Europe, North America and North Africa. Recent projects include the release of the sixth Shalabi Effect album, a duo album with Stefan Christoff, two albums on the Italian label Sagittarius with Beirut, Turkish and Egyptian musicians and a tour in the eastern U.S with Alvarius B (playing solo oud). He is also releasing 'Isis and Osiris' (a new composition for oud and electronics) on Nashazphone as well as releasing an album with The Dwarves Of East Agouza (a Cairo based trio with Maurice Louca and Alan Bishop) while currently working on his sixth solo album.
Tickets and up-to-date information are here and here.
"More accomplished musicians have a loud argument about what 'jazz' even is these days," say Chaos Theory Promotions. Their Jazz Market evenings continue to provide space for such arguments, and here's another one…
The Geordie Approach + A Sweet Niche (Chaos Theory Promotions present The Jazz Market @ The Sebright Arms, 33-35 Coate Street, London, E2 9AG, UK, Friday 9th October 2015, 8.00pm) – £5.00/£7.00
The Geordie Approach is possibly the oldest secret from three internationally renowned musicians who've been working together for over ten years. It features acclaimed Leeds guitarist and producer Chris Sharkey (Acoustic Ladyland/Shiver/TrioVD), and Norwegian musicians Petter Frost Fadnes and Ståle Birkeland, best known for playing sax and bass respectively in Stavanger Kitchen Orchestra. This uncompromising and experimental trio pursues music within loose improvisational structures, adding a surprisingly broad range of flavours to their overall sound world. The trio has a reputation for adapting and utilizing their performance space in an extremely effective and engaging manner. Birkeland, Frost Fadnes and Sharkey produce musical elements that often are contradictory in shape, moving between melody and noise, ambient grooves and abstract textures. They have performed across Europe, Japan and the UK in churches, art galleries, improvisation clubs, squats, abandoned tobacco houses, jazz festivals, concert halls and flamenco clubs. Each performance is a unique experience.
We hail the return of jazz punk trio A Sweet Niche to The Jazz Market after a seriously impressive performance in 2013. Band composers Keir Cooper and Oliver Sellwood (on guitar and saxophone respectively) explore an aesthetic of intricate rhythms & song-structures within a punchy energetic rock band format. The nature of their collaboration is unique; Keir is an award-winning non-academy artist and Oliver is an award-winning PhD composer and academic. Despite their two tangential angles of experience, they have a shared musical vocabulary honed over nearly two decades. With new album 'EJECT' on the way in 2016 (and the recent addition of Big Beat Manifesto drummer Tim Doyle to the band), it's high time we pulled these performers out of the murky underworld they reside in.
Tickets are available from here, and up-to-date information is here.
There's another Baba Yaga's Hut evening on the same night as the Oto gig, this time concentrating on various noise-rock angles (from the reformatting of classic rock to the restructuring of sound to the straightforward joy of a gibbering hardcore racket.) See below.
Hey Colossus + Lower Slaughter + Kogumaza (Baba Yaga's Hut @ Electrowerkz, The Islington Metal Works, 7 Torrens Street, Angel, Islington, London, EC1V 1NQ, UK, 9th October 2015, 8.00pm) – £9.00
Variously from Somerset, Watford and London, six-piece Hey Colossus https://www.facebook.com/heycolossus have spent a decade gradually becoming alt.rock darlings thanks to their journey through assorted doomy noise rock avenues. Their current recipe involves slowing down and narcotising their alleged classic rock influences (Fleetwood Mac is one of those cited) via psychedelic echo and a certain post-rock dourness. It works well too – much of the time they sound like a guttering Led Zeppelin on strong cough mixture, or feed crunching brass-riff processionals and Stoogesque whomps through an amber-toned 'Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' filter.
I suspect that the concept of supergroups doesn't fit into noiserock and post-hardcore. Nonetheless, Brighton's Lower Slaughter does sort of fit into that category, uniting people better known for other bands (bass player Barney Wakefield for Shudder Pulps, guitarist Jon Wood for "harsh party music" outfit Fat Bicth, Max Levy for vertiginously nervy singing in King Of Cats) and welding them together into a noisy, queasy-confident, raw-scream whole.
Creating hypnotic drones and grooves via two guitars and tom-centric drumming, Nottingham quartet Kogumaza have their feet in sludge metal and in post-rock; but while the latter's become an increasing predictable and conservative genre Kogumaza have set out to reclaim some of its earlier, more inventive ideas (such as the lapping sonics of Seefeel) via their fourth member, live sound mixer Mark Spivey, who brings in dub-inspired approaches and old tape-looping techology to further manipulate and displace the band's sound both live and on record. Fond of collaborations and split releases, they've also been known to bring in an unexpected banjo (although they probably won't tonight).
And finally, from all of this noise to something acoustic for a Saturday noontime…
Daylight Music 202: Applewood Road, Holly Macve + Arborist (Union Chapel, Compton Terrace, Islington, London, N1 2UN, UK – Saturday 10th October 2015, 12.00pm-2.00pm) – free entry, suggested donation £5.00
An early afternoon of songwriter-folk, America and alternative country from one of 'Misfit City's favourite free/pay-what-you-like events:
Applewood Road is an Australian/American alliance of three solo songwriters – Amy Speace, Amber Rubarth (also known as one half of The Paper Raincoat) and Emily Barker (also known for her work with the-low-country and The Red Clay Halo). In September 2014, they all met for the first time in a cafe in East Nashville. Two hours later they had written the song they called Applewood Road. They booked studio time at Nashville's super-cool analogue studio Welcome To 1979, and the following week recorded the song live to tape, with just double bass as accompaniment. So excited were they by the song, they decided to expand the idea in to a whole album. Six months later they reconvened in Nashville to write, rehearse and record songs to make up a full album, with the project and album all called 'Applewood Road'. This is their first show in the UK, with the debut Applewood Road album due for an early 2016 release on Gearbox Records.
Bella Union label boss Simon Raymonde says, of Holly Macve, "little is known of Holly other than she is a 20 year old from Yorkshire who appeared out of nowhere in Brighton late last year. I had a tip-off to go to a basement bar where she was playing. In a room full of beery boys chatting across all the music beforehand, the minute Holly opened her mouth the room fell silent. Hers is a rare gift." Simon signed her shortly afterwards. The label has yet to release anything formally, but Holly herself has posted a demo track onto Soundcloud (see below), and she's already won support slots with Ben Howard and Mercury Rev on the strength of what she's offering.
Having previously worked as a songwriter around France, London and Dublin, Mark McCambridge played his first show as Arborist in February 2013, opening for James Yorkston in Belfast. A solo tour of Ireland followed before impressive performances led to notable support slots alongside Low, Cat Power, Echo & The Bunnymen and Alasdair Roberts. In May 2015 Arborist released the country-tinged 'Twisted Arrow'. Recorded during dark winter nights in Belfast and in Dayton, Ohio (and featuring vocal harmonies by Kim Deal). A debut album is due this coming winter.
Not finally, in fact – there's a chance to squeeze in a last-minute classical addition, since it's always a shame to miss a premiere.
The Fidelio Trio @ The London Chamber Music Series (Hall One, Kings Place, 90 York Way, Kings Cross, London, N1 9AG, UK, Sunday 11th October 2015, 6.30pm) – £9.50 to £29.50
The celebrated Fidelio Trio – Mary Dullea (piano), Adi Tal (cello), Darragh Morgan (violin) – perform Beethoven's hugely popular 'Ghost Trio', with its iconic eerie slow movement, and also Ravel's remarkably imaginative and colourful 'Piano Trio', premiered 100 years ago this year in Paris in 1915.
In between comes the premiere of Irish composer Benjamin Dwyer's 'Nocturnal', inspired by Benjamin Britten's famous own 'Nocturnal after John Dowland (for solo guitar)', and drawing upon a theme from Britten's opera 'Gloriana', as well as a madrigal by English early seventeenth-century composer Thomas Wilbye. There will be a free pre-concert talk at 5.15pm in the St Pancras Room at Kings Place, in which composer and LCM Series director Peter Fribbins interviews Benjamin Dwyer about his new work and his interest in the music of Benjamin Britten.
More information here and tickets here.
More October gig previews coming up shortly…
Tags: A Sweet Niche, A.J. Cookson, Acoustic Ladyland, Adi Tal, Applewood Road, Arborist, Arctic Circle (promoter), Astrohenge, Australia, Baba Yaga's Hut (event/promoter), Belfast, Benjamin Britten, Benjamin Dwyer, Berlin (Germany), Brighton (England), Bristol (England), Cairo (Egypt), Cementimental, Chaos Theory (event/promoter), Chris Sharkey, Darragh Morgan, Daylight Music (event), DeadFader, Electrowerkz (event), Fat Bicth, Hey Colossus, Holly Macve, John Bence, King Of Cats, Kogumaza, Land Of Kush, London (England), Lower Slaughter, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mary Dullea, Matthew Rozeik, Maurice Louca, Maurice Ravel, Medes, Montreal (Canada), Nashville (USA), Nec | 2,647 |
U.S.S. Albacore
Once the future of underwater combat, this old sub is now open for visitors to muck around in.
U.S.S. Albacore InAweofGod'sCreation/CC BY 2.0
U.S.S. Albacore U.S. Navy (Public Domain)
The U.S.S. Albacore launching in 1953 U.S. Navy (Public Domain)
Interior Periscope Greg Boggis (Used with Permission)
Sail of U.S.S. Albacore Greg Boggis (Used with Permission)
Historic Engineerig Plaque Greg Boggis (Used with Permission)
U.S.S. Albacore Greg Boggis (Used with Permission)
Mess Hall & Recreation Room Greg Boggis
U.S.S. Redfish Greg Boggis
U.S.S. Cobbler Greg Boggis
U.S.S. Tusk Greg Boggis
Top Places in Portsmouth
Graves of the Smuttynose Murder Victims
Earth Eagle Brewings
Isle of Shoals Humpbacks
Now a free exploration museum that allows visitors to sit at its helm and haphazardly spin its knobs and dials, the U.S.S. Albacore was once the speediest sub in the sea, a Cold War vessel full of naval secrets.
The U.S.S. Albacore is currently beached on solid ground in Albacore Park, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has been since 1985. Retired since 1972, the 200 foot submarine spent the better part of two decades acting as a research sub during<|fim_middle|> site of a decommissioned military communications base. | the Cold War race for the perfect underwater warship. Along with experiments in sonar, radar, code-breaking, and a variety of coatings for the hull, even the hull itself was an experimental tear-drop shape made of high-strength steel. It was a study in hydrodynamics and a success in maximum speed.
How fast could the Albacore go? The Navy isn't telling, but it was found that its blimp-like shape was so stealthy and sleek it could operate at the same maximum speed as its predecessor, but with half the horsepower. While some of her operations were publicized, much of what the sub could do was kept classified. After an eventful 20 years of exciting submarine action, she was decommissioned in 1972 after repeated diesel engine failures. Standing true to her proud motto, "Praenuntius Futuri' (Forerunner of the Future) the U.S.S. Albacore's trial runs shaped every submarine used in today's U.S. Navy roster.
After being decommissioned, the Albacore was welcomed back to Portsmouth, the city that built her. Her 300 tons of steel were being transported to her awaiting display location when her portly girth got stuck in the mud of Portsmouth Harbor. Without the means to move her any further, the Albacore remained there, and the Albacore Park was brought to her.
Along with the free-range exploration of the inside of the sub with audio options to learn more about her (unclassified) adventures, the Albacore is surrounded by a memorial garden that serves as a tribute to the brave submariners who have lost their lives at sea.
*From Interstate 95 North or South, take exit seven. At the bottom of the exit ramps, follow the signs for downtown Portsmouth. The entrance to Albacore Park is about a quarter of a mile on your right as you head toward downtown Portsmouth.Traveling north or south on the Route 1 By-Pass, there is a stop light at Albacore's bow. Turn off the by-pass and turn left into the Park's entrance.*Directions copied from U.S.S. Albacore website.
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Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 03801
Museum of Dumb Guy Stuff
One of the few brewers in the U.S. experimenting with hop-free beers.
One of 100 "Whaling Wall" murals painted in 13 different countries by a renowned marine life artist.
This small museum is an eccentric shrine to boyhood in the 1960s.
Final resting place of the two women killed on a small island off the coast of New Hampshire.
Kaliningrad, Russia
Fort No. 5 "Friedrich Wilhelm III"
This monument commemorates the soldiers who fought for 16 hours straight to penetrate this concrete fort.
Lonsky Prison National Memorial Museum
This museum explores the tumultuous history of Lviv under Nazi and Soviet occupation.
Bunker Valentin Memorial
Constructed by forced laborers, this submarine pen is now a museum and war memorial.
Cold War Museum
This museum sits on the | 756 |
HomeFEATURESAlibaba increases its reach into New Zealand
Alibaba increases its reach into New Zealand
Chinese online retailer Alibaba Group is one of the largest most inclusive online retailers in the world. Now, the behemouth is preparing itself to include the wider Australasia marketplace. We spoke to New Zealand and Australian managing director of Alibaba Group, Maggie Zhou, about how Kiwi businesses can benefit from getting involved with the platform.
The Chinese market can be difficult to penetrate for our smaller Kiwi retailers. But as the Chinese market far surpasses our own in terms of population and buying power, it is worth it for retailers to look into expanding. The Chinese market is huge and is multiple markets within one country, so getting involved or knowing where to start can be, unsurprisingly, intimidating.
By the numbers, Alibaba is the largest ecommerce company in the world (bigger than Amazon and eBay combined) and it's also the most comprehensive directory that connects suppliers (mostly from Asia) with buyers from all over the world.
New Zealand and Australian managing director of Alibaba Group, Maggie Zhou, says Alibaba supplies various platforms where businesses can target consumers directly, or, source their own raw material for production purposes, all while offering support and advice with transactions.
"What I've said before is that Alibaba works as an ecosystem. It comes down to the different stages, if they have a different demand for what they want – we have different ways to suit them… Businesses can also work with us by direct sourcing or we can buy directly and help those brands to promote in our platforms."
Zhou says New Zealand's presence is already strong within the global marketplace, with more than 400 New Zealand brands already on the platform. The perception of New Zealand's clean image apparently is a draw card for consumers after a more 'pure' product.
"New Zealand is seen as much cleaner, greener and safer. That's the image for New Zealand<|fim_middle|> properly the first time | , it is a pure space. So, the Chinese consumer already has that perception of New Zealand products. It is amazing, many Chinese consumers haven't stepped outside of China, but they can experience all these fresh New Zealand products because of the platform."
Zhou says there aren't any restrictions on what businesses can use the platform, but says skin care products and those with a 'natural' ethos will ultimately do better with resonating with the Chinese consumer.
The group's vision is to build the operating infrastructure needed to enable local businesses to expand globally, but according to Zhou, retailers still need to do their work and know the market before expanding.
"I think for first-time retailers coming in, they need to understand the Chinese Market really well. So, the smart way is to work with those third-party service providers, but that doesn't mean they don't need to do anything themselves."
Maggie Zhou addressed around 300 Kiwi and Chinese business leaders at the ASB Lantern Forum last month organised by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Auckland's economic development agency.
Zhou spoke about the huge opportunities China's ecommerce platform brings to Kiwi exporters. While in New Zealand, Zhou and the Alibaba group also promoted the platform, as well as signing up more Kiwi businesses to Alipay, Alibaba's own payment system.
Alipay is the dominant mobile payment service in China, and New Zealand retailers allowing its use alongside Visa or Mastercard means easier buying for Chinese tourists.
As the retail giant takes steps ahead of Amazon to penetrate the New Zealand market, retailers who are reluctant to join may see competitors jump ahead into the Chinese Market.
What is important for retailers to note is that the platform is not just a load and sell page. Businesses are still required to know the market and can use third parties to better understand the platform. Zhou says retailers need to analyse trends, and when it comes to the Chinese consumer, trends come hard and fast but can be strongly capitalised upon.
"If [businesses] know what the Chinese consumer likes they can even customise their products in the market. You can target culture in a big way. For example, around the Chinese Festivals, [Chinese customers] want to see their parents and visit their families, so they want good, fancier, more souvenir like packaging for the products. And that is a big learning curve for New Zealand and Australia who often don't think about that packaging."
Ecommerce, although still a fraction of global retail spending, is growing at a faster rate. Zhou highlights that getting involved with the platform early can give retailers a head start to cater their offerings and websites to suit the growth in mobile shopping.
"We have a growing base of active mobile users using our platform. I think that ecommerce is always a great channel for businesses. For those who don't know their market 100 percent, that ecommerce site will help you with that data and know your consumer… You can use that big data and build a better experience for you and your consumers. And those new technologies coming in and giving you new opportunities, and therefore you can create better competition within the market."
For retailers looking to get involved with the platform and extended their market reach, Zhou recommends, looking outward of your business for advice from someone who better knows the cultural expectations of the foreign marketplace.
"We also suggest that those businesses have Chinese staff, who know the companies' strategy well and then can be a good bridge between their own business and the third party, or even our platforms. And even then, you can deliver the right message to partners. Once people sell throughout our platform, we'd direct source and help them to do that. The other way would be to get some capable people, or some local merchandisers or partners."
Knowing your market is no new requirement for retailers, but coming into a foreign market can be intimidating for businesses. Zhou says the best option is to find the right platform within Alibaba and utilise the advice they can provide.
"This will make [businesses] more capable for their market. Along with this, they need to find the right product, know the audience or the target consumer and what they're looking for and adjust yourself towards it. You also need to monitor that channel well and keep up with the proper price points for that market."
The news of Amazon coming to our shores created an uncertainty for New Zealand retailers seeing first-hand the evolvement of the retail landscape. The arrival of Alibaba cause less of a concern thanks to our already strong relationship with China, according to Pam Ford, ATEED's acting General Manager Business, Innovation and Skills.
"China is one of the world's fastest-growing economies and its vast population and growing middle class represent huge potential. Maggie Zhou spoke of there being 600 million Chinese in rural areas alone and platforms such as Alibaba present a great opportunity for our exporters, along with Chinese consumers increasingly looking for quality, safe, design-led products which our country has a reputation for providing."
The value of New Zealand's trading relationship with China has almost tripled over the past decade. China is New Zealand's second largest overall trading partner. Two-way trade between both countries reached more than $24 billion dollars in the year ending 30 June 2017.
Ford, who has a strong knowledge of the relationship between the two countries, says there shouldn't be a worry about international competition taking away from our own national retailers.
"On the contrary, the rapid evolution of cross-border e-commerce means that it's easier for our exporters to take advantage of these platforms and reach millions of potential customers."
Ford says Alibaba presents an excellent opportunity for many Kiwi exporters, along with Chinese consumers who are increasingly looking for quality, safe, design-led products which our country has a reputation for providing.
Along with the signed partnership between NZ Tourism and Alibaba in 2016, Ford says there is a range of Chinese programmes available to companies wanting to take advantage of these channels.
"Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), as Auckland's economic growth agency, is part of the Tripartite Economic Alliance. This historic alliance, formed in 2014, is between Auckland, Guangzhou (China) and Los Angeles (U.S.A.). The alliance focuses on increasing trade and investment between the three cities and their regions – and provides a gateway to Southern China and the West Coast of America."
Ford echos Zhou's advice to retailers looking to get involved within the Chinese market for the first time, and that is getting to know the marketplace by, "understanding it first-hand, meeting with potential customers and learning selling techniques."
There is a strong relationship already between our two countries, with cultures combining in fashion, food, and business now more strongly than ever. Alibaba gives retailers that opportunity to reach out and strengthen their consumer base as well as that relationship.
Exert of a Maori fashion show held in China.
An example of the groups retail influence would be Chinese Singles' Day, which is a shopping holiday.
It's been popularized as a 'global shopping festival' by Alibaba, and gets bigger every year. For the day in 2017 which fell on Novemember 11, Alibaba reported that US$25.3 billion of gross merchandise volume was settled during the event.
The US$25.3 billion GMV earnings represents an increase of 39 percent compared to 2016, when it raked in US$17.8 billion.
The event that Alibaba has developed Singles' Day into since 2009, when just 27 merchants participated, is now staggering.
Alibaba's global shopping festival took two minutes and one second to break US$1 billion in gross merchandise volume. Within the first hour, Alibaba's payments system Alipay processed 256,000 payment transactions per second at peak, and more than 60 brands each generated more than RMB100 million (US$15.1 million). These included international brands like Apple and L'Oreal.
L'Oréal fills the latest position of New Zealand manager
How to get your signage done | 1,653 |
I have actually been consumed with landing web page building contractors recently as you distinguish my newest blog posts over the last number of months.
I have actually been utilizing it for even more than a month on a client task of mine, as well as I am beginning to believe of it as LeadPages on steroids.
With its capability to create complete sales funnels and also its very easy to utilize and also effective editor, ClickFunnels offers a clear difficulty to LeadPages' location as the best touchdown web page contractor.
That's not to state that it's perfect, as well as in this online coupon printable 80 Clickfunnels review I'm mosting likely to show you exactly how I've been using it and exactly how it as compares to Leadpages and SamCart.
By revealing you the strengths and also weak points of each, I wish it will help you make the best decision for which one to adopt in your very own service.
ClickFunnels is now a fairly fully grown solution created by Russell Brunson as well as his team. It's now been up and running for greater than 3 years at the time of this testimonial.
As a quick apart, I discovered ClickFunnels via Russell's brand-new book DotCom Keys: The Underground Playbook for Growing Your Firm Online. If you intend to find out the best ways to sell products, then I highly advise it.
Unlike rival products which permit you develop solitary standalone web pages, ClickFunnels is about developing different kinds of marketing funnels.
A funnel is generally a series of pages your site visitors undergo to get to a particular goal and also it may resemble this.
An easy Lead Capture Funnel might include 2 web pages which collects a visitor's e-mail address and after that sends them to a Thanks web page when authorizing up.
Or you can have more sophisticated sales funnels which are composed of several web pages which offer to a visitor via each step of the funnel.
Optin/Lead Capture Funnels– Utilized to catch e-mail addresses of your visitors and also expand your newsletter.
Sales Web Page Funnels– Produce this to market services and products, with the ability to include any type of upsells/downsells to your sales process.
Subscription Websites– Generate a persisting income by developing a full blown membership website.
ClickFunnels comes with its own distinct set of layouts for every of the various funnel kinds it enables you to create.
Or you could begin from scrape as well as develop web pages directly using the ClickFunnels editor.
It enables you to quickly place together different web pages in your channel with a very easy factor and click interface.
ClickFunnels provides you fairly a bit of adaptability in developing your web pages. As an example, you could easily move components around and put them where you want, which is something the Leadpages editor does not permit.
I was quickly thrilled by the ClickFunnels on-boarding procedure. They do a truly smart thing where they provide you a cost-free ClickFunnels t-shirt just for enjoying the intro training videos.
It takes about 10 mins, and also the the training video clips do offer you an excellent summary of how ClickFunnels functions.
Developing your initial channel is simple. Click the Add Funnels button and also you are required to a screen showing all the funnel types readily available.
If you are unclear with exactly what each channel does, there's an ingrained video clip you could see which discusses just how it works.
Choose the Funnel you desire and also click the Develop Funnel switch. You will be asked to offer your channel a name.
Pages can be gotten rid of from the channel by floating as well as clicking the gigantic 'X' alongside the web page.
For each web page in your funnel, you could pick from the readily available templates. Each theme is skillfully created and also there is a great option to select from. Plus, more are being added constantly.
If you don't see a theme that matches your present vision, I've located that it's just as easy to begin from scrape. This could be done by picking any theme then quickly deleting each of the sections on the page.
The fundamental structure block of a ClickFunnels web page is an area. A common channel may have a header area, an over the fold web content area and also a footer area.
A long type sales page might likewise have an area for highlighting particular features or a section for reviews.
Areas are then further split into column rows. You could choose from a single column to approximately 6 columns as well as any type of number in between.
Standard widgets include Heading, Image, Text, Button, Input forms and Video aspects.
As you mouseover any area, row or element, it will obtain highlighted and also clicking slide in the contextual editor from the right-hand man side where you can change its residential properties.
Background shades, margins, typefaces, alignment can all be transformed in addition to aspect specific homes like a details picture url for the Photo element.
It's all rather intuitive to utilize when you've played around with things a bit.
I have actually been rather amazed by the editor as it strikes a great balance between versatility and convenience of usage.
if you do not utilize any one of those services, then I recommend making use of the Red stripe integration given that it is free to signup for and also use.
I didn't have any kind of experience with Red stripe till I examined it with ClickFunnels, yet I located that it's a very straightforward means to take charge card payments.
As soon as you have actually developed your Red stripe account, simply comply with the straightforward directions to connect it to your ClickFunnels account as well as you're good to go.
Whenever anyone undergoes the Order Web page kind of your funnel, it will immediately be made use of to accumulate payment from your consumer.
Along with assisting you produce each of the web pages in your sales funnel, ClickFunnels also assists you track how each web page in your funnel executes.
On top of each page, you could see in real-time the total number of site visitors for every web page in the funnel, the amount of visitors clicked on the following switch of the web page, and the conversion price.
Establishing up a brand-new split examinations is fairly very easy. The very best method is to clone an existing page and afterwards modify it from there.
However, ClickFunnels does not have a whole lot of advanced split testing features that I have actually seen applied in various other items like Thrive Leads.
For example, there doesn't seem to be a means to immediately revolve your split examinations. And also I would enjoy to see ClickFunnels pick a "winning" split test after a statistically significant quantity of information has actually been accumulated.
When it wased initially released, ClickFunnels was all about producing … well funnels. But Russell had even bigger passions for the product which's exactly how Actionetics and Backpack happened.
With Actionetics, you could see everybody who has decided right into your listings through your ClickFunnels in the Get in touch with Profiles web page.
What's cool is that each of your leads is provided an Activity Score, which is based on recency, frequency, financial worth and also social ratings. It basically gives you a concept of which leads are more probable to purchase from you.
You could use Actionetics to send email programs and also the email building contractor allows you to design nice looking emails. And Activity Funnels are Actionetics method of creating autoresponders with some minimal advertising automation features.
While some of its attributes are fascinating, Actionetics still can't complete with a full fledged e-mail company like ActiveCampaign, Drip or ConvertKit. Directly, I just prefer a standalone service where I'm not tied right into an all-in-one service.
One of the most effective ways to boost the sales of your product is to have an excellent associate program that draws in some leading affiliates.
That's just what Backpack could do for you. It's essentialy a full associate platform for ClickFunnels that you could affix to any of your created funnels.
Inside Knapsack, you could include whatever you require for affiliates to advertise your item including affiliate links, email swipe copy, and banner advertisements. You can also arrangement your associate payouts and see how well each of your affiliates is performing.
There's even support for Second tier compensations which is an incredibly powerful motivation.
Over time, ClickFunnels has actually advanced their prices plans. In the beginning, they had 3 different rates rates, yet its currently been combined right into 2.
The least expensive ClickFunnels strategy is $97 a month. On this strategy you obtain access to all the channel development devices, however you are limited to developing 20 funnels, 100 web pages and also 20,000 site visitors. Regrettably, you do not get access to Actionetics and also Backpack with this strategy.
For that, you'll require to select the Etison Suite strategy. It includes whatever, consisting of Actionetics and also Knapsack. You likewise obtain endless funnels, web pages as well as visitors. Nonetheless, this will run you $297 a month which is quite steep.
Both plans additionally have a 14 day complimentary test so you can test points out before you acquire.
If you are reading this review, you are most likely wondering exactly how ClickFunnels as compares to LeadPages.
At this existing point, LeadPages is the leading leader in this landing web page home builder area.
You could conveniently see that is utilizing LeadPages because their templates are so recognizable. Because it is so well understood, a lot of the top marketing experts are utilizing the solution.
Russell is tailoring ClickFunnels to become his flagship product, so what you see now is simply a taste of what the item is going to resemble in the future.
The toughness of ClickFunnels is it's simple to use editor. It is far much more flexible compared to the LeadPages editor although Leadpages has overtaken their new drag and decline editor.
Limiting flexibility is not always a bad point. Since it makes creating web pages fast! And also that's where LeadPages truly shines.
The most efficient technique for expanding your e-mail checklist today is making use of material upgrades. By creating targeted lead magnets to your most popular posts you could get optin conversion prices that far exceed your typical popup.
However, some people want more control to develop pages to their specific requirements. That's the power that ClickFunnels offers you. The price of the power is included intricacy. ClickFunnels absolutely has a higher knowing contour compared to LeadPages.
The various other primary benefit is that ClickFunnels develops full sales funnels for you. And all your statistics via each phase of your channel are tracked.
With LeadPages, you can only develop solitary web pages. So creating that preliminary sales web page is easy.
Which method you go must depend upon the needs of your business.
If you do not mind the discovering curve and desire an all-in-one remedy to sell your personal item and also have the ability to tailor every action of your funnels then ClickFunnels is certainly worth an appearance.
In the end, I would simply advise checking out ClickFunnels to see how you like it. They offer a 14 day totally free test, so you can examine out all the features as well as see just how it helps you.
I have been obsessed with touchdown web page contractors lately as you tell from my newest messages over the last number of months.
I've been utilizing it for even more than a month on a customer job of mine, as well as I am beginning to think about it as LeadPages on steroids.
With its capability to create complete sales funnels as well as its very easy to utilize and effective editor, ClickFunnels provides a clear challenge to LeadPages' area as the very best touchdown page builder.
That's not to state that it's excellent, and in this online coupon printable 80 Clickfunnels review I'm mosting likely to show you just how I've been utilizing it as well as how it as compares to Leadpages and also SamCart.
By revealing you the staminas as well as weaknesses of each, I hope it will aid you make the most effective choice for which one to adopt in your personal organisation.
ClickFunnels is currently a rather mature service developed by Russell Brunson and also his group. It's now been up and running for more than 3 years at the time of this review.
As a fast aside, I learnt more about ClickFunnels through Russell's brand-new book DotCom Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Expanding Your Firm Online. If you wish to learn the best ways to sell items, then I extremely suggest it.
Unlike rival items which allow you produce solitary standalone pages, ClickFunnels is about building various sorts of marketing funnels.
A funnel is basically a series of pages your visitors undergo to get to a certain objective as well as it might resemble this.
A basic Lead Capture Funnel could consist of 2 web pages which accumulates a site visitor's e-mail address and afterwards sends them to a Thanks web page when signing up.
Or you could have a lot more advanced sales funnels which are composed of several web pages which market to a visitor via each action of the channel.
Sales Web Page Funnels– Create this to sell products as well as services, with the capacity to include any type of upsells/downsells to your sales process.
ClickFunnels features its own unique set of design templates for each of the various channel kinds it allows you to produce.
Or you can begin from scrape and develop web pages directly making use of the ClickFunnels editor.
It allows you to easily create various pages in your channel through a simple factor and click user interface.
ClickFunnels provides you a fair bit of versatility in creating your web pages. As an example, you can quickly move components around and place them where you desire, which is something the Leadpages editor does not permit.
I was promptly thrilled by the ClickFunnels on-boarding procedure. They do a really clever thing where they supply you a free ClickFunnels t-shirt simply for enjoying the intro training videos.
It takes about 10 minutes, as well as the the training videos do offer you an excellent summary of how ClickFunnels works.
Creating your very first channel is very easy. Click the Add Funnels button and also you are taken to a display revealing all the funnel kinds readily available.
If you are uncertain with just what each funnel does, there's an ingrained video clip you can see which explains just how it works.
Select the Funnel you desire as well as click the Develop Funnel switch. You will certainly be asked to offer your funnel a name.
Pages can be eliminated from the channel by floating and clicking the gigantic 'X' alongside the web page.
For every web page in your channel, you can pick from the available themes. Each design template is skillfully designed as well as there is a great selection to pick from. And also, more are being included all the time.
If you do not see a layout that matches your present vision, I've located that it's equally as very easy to go back to square one. This can be done by picking any type of layout and after that quickly deleting each of the sections on the page.
The standard building block of a ClickFunnels page is an area<|fim_middle|> to see exactly how you like it. They offer a 2 Week free test, so you can evaluate out all the functions as well as see exactly how it benefits you. | . A typical channel may have a header section, an over the fold material section and a footer section.
A lengthy kind sales page could likewise have a section for highlighting details attributes or an area for testimonials.
Areas are then more divided right into column rows. You can choose from a single column to approximately 6 columns as well as any type of number in between.
Fundamental widgets include Headline, Picture, Text, Button, Input kinds and Video aspects.
As you mouseover any kind of section, row or component, it will get highlighted as well as clicking slide in the contextual editor from the ideal hand side where you can alter its residential properties.
History shades, margins, fonts, alignment can all be transformed as well as element specific residential properties like a specific photo link for the Image element.
I've been fairly pleased by the editor as it strikes a nice balance between versatility as well as simplicity of usage.
If you are marketing a product, then you desire to integrate with a repayment processor.
if you do not utilize any of those solutions, after that I suggest using the Stripe integration because it is cost-free to signup for as well as utilize.
I really did not have any kind of experience with Red stripe up until I evaluated it with ClickFunnels, but I located that it's a very straightforward means to take charge card settlements.
When you have actually produced your Stripe account, just comply with the straightforward instructions to connect it to your ClickFunnels account and also you're ready.
Whenever any individual goes through the Order Web page kind of your channel, it will immediately be used to gather payment from your consumer.
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If you click in the Split Examination tab, you could see the stats of all your existing split examinations. Plus you will see the button to produce a New Split Test.
Establishing a brand-new split tests is rather easy. The very best method is to clone an existing web page and afterwards modify it from there.
Sadly, ClickFunnels does not have a great deal of innovative split screening showcases that I have actually seen applied in other items like Thrive Leads.
For example, there does not appear to be a means to instantly turn your split tests. And I would love to see ClickFunnels pick a "winning" divided test after a statistically substantial amount of information has been accumulated.
When it was very first launched, ClickFunnels was all regarding developing … well funnels. Yet Russell had even bigger aspirations for the item which's exactly how Actionetics and Knapsack came about.
With Actionetics, you can see everybody who has opted into your lists via your ClickFunnels in the Contact Profiles page.
Just what's cool is that each of your leads is given an Action Score, which is based upon recency, regularity, monetary worth and also social ratings. It primarily gives you a concept which leads are more probable to buy from you.
You can utilize Actionetics to send out e-mail programs and also the email home builder permits you to design nice looking e-mails. And Activity Funnels are Actionetics method of producing autoresponders with some restricted advertising automation attributes.
While several of its functions are interesting, Actionetics still cannot take on a complete fledged email provider like ActiveCampaign, Drip or ConvertKit. Personally, I simply prefer a standalone solution where I'm not connected right into an all-in-one option.
One of the finest means to improve the sales of your product is to have a terrific affiliate program that brings in some leading associates.
That's what Knapsack can do for you. It's essentialy a full associate system for ClickFunnels that you can affix to any of your created funnels.
Inside Knapsack, you could include every little thing you need for associates to advertise your product consisting of affiliate web links, e-mail swipe copy, and also banner ads. You can also configuration your associate payments as well as see exactly how well each of your affiliates is executing.
There's even sustain for Second tier payments which is an incredibly effective reward.
With time, ClickFunnels has actually advanced their rates plans. In the beginning, they had 3 various pricing tiers, yet its currently been consolidated right into 2.
The most affordable ClickFunnels strategy is $97 a month. On this strategy you get access to all the channel creation tools, yet you are limited to producing 20 funnels, 100 web pages as well as 20,000 visitors. Unfortunately, you don't obtain access to Actionetics and Backpack with this plan.
For that, you'll should pick the Etison Suite plan. It consists of whatever, including Actionetics as well as Backpack. You also obtain unrestricted funnels, web pages as well as site visitors. Nevertheless, this will run you $297 a month which is rather steep.
Both plans likewise have a 2 Week totally free test so you could examine points out prior to you buy.
If you read this review, you are most likely questioning how ClickFunnels as compares to LeadPages.
At this present point in time, LeadPages is the dominant leader in this landing page building contractor room.
You could conveniently see who is using LeadPages because their templates are so well-known. Since it is so well recognized, several of the top marketers are utilizing the service.
Russell is gearing ClickFunnels to become his front runner product, so just what you see now is simply a taste of exactly what the product is mosting likely to resemble in the future.
The stamina of ClickFunnels is it's simple to utilize editor. It is far more versatile compared to the LeadPages editor although Leadpages has actually captured up with their brand-new drag and also drop editor.
Restricting adaptability is not necessarily a bad thing. Since it makes building pages quickly! Which's where LeadPages truly shines.
The most effective method for growing your email listing today is utilizing material upgrades. By creating targeted lead magnets to your most preferred blog posts you could obtain optin conversion rates that far exceed your standard popup.
Nonetheless, some individuals want more control to produce pages to their precise specs. That's the power that ClickFunnels provides you. The cost of the power is included complexity. ClickFunnels absolutely has a higher understanding contour than LeadPages.
The other major advantage is that ClickFunnels produces full sales funnels for you. And all your statistics with each stage of your funnel are tracked.
With LeadPages, you can only develop solitary pages. So creating that first sales page is straightforward.
But exactly what regarding adding on an order kind? Upsells as well as downsells? LeadPages can't do that, while ClickFunnels can.
If you do not mind the discovering contour and want an all-in-one service to market your own item and also have the ability to personalize every step of your funnels after that ClickFunnels is absolutely worth an appearance.
In the end, I would certainly simply advise attempting out ClickFunnels | 1,506 |
We are a top 100 apprenticeship employer
How we supported National Apprenticeship Week 2018
Invotra proudly took part in the 11th National Apprenticeship Week (NAW 2018) from 5 to 9 March 2018 which had the theme 'Apprenticeships Work'. During the week our current and previous apprentices represented Inv<|fim_middle|> on his journey as an apprentice. Andrew has been so successful in his career that he has been recognised, not only regionally but nationally as the National Apprentice of the Year, at the SME National Business Awards for his work in accessibility. | otra in celebrating the success of apprenticeships and encouraging others to choose apprenticeships. If you have any questions about these events, or any feedback for us, get in touch through our social media outlets tagging us at #invotra and #NAW2018.
Our apprenticeship 'bites' below are available to help you get an understanding of exactly what an apprenticeship can offer both an apprentice and an employer. You can also read more about how our apprentices thrive in our 'Meet our Apprentices' page.
Newcastle Salon: Apprentices Work - 5th March 4pm to 6pm @ The Core, Newcastle
As part of National Apprenticeship Week, Invotra, in conjunction with Digital Leaders, hosted a salon in Newcastle which discussed the growing importance of apprenticeships in the development and retraining of skilled people in the North East digital workforce.
The salon was lead by a host of discussants, including Alison Galvin, HR Director at Invotra. They discussed how apprenticeships are making a real difference to the lives of apprentices by investing in their future and in return, how apprentices are helping employers to develop a skilled, qualified workforce to build a stronger economy.
Webinar: Apprenticeships Work for Me - Friday 9th March @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
This webinar was led by Ross Blythe, an apprenticeship account manager at Invotra who talks about the exciting new challenges and objectives he faces as an apprentice, focusing on how beneficial apprenticeships can be to your overall character both in and out of the work environment.
The webinar consists of a 30-minute presentation followed by a 30 minute interactive Q&A.
See the webinar recording here.
Apprenticeship 'bites'
Our experience as apprentice employers, as current apprentices and as ex-apprentices has allowed us to offer advice and guidance to other companies and individuals considering taking part in the apprenticeship scheme themselves. We have put together a few 'bite-size' videos to answer some key questions you may have about apprentices.
If you'd like to know even more, our YouTube channel contains longer apprenticeship videos, or our apprenticeship case studies offers an insight into life as an Invotra apprentice and the opportunities this brings.
Apprenticeships are at the very heart of Invotra. Most who are in an apprenticeships scheme know university isn't for them; the thought of racking up a lifetime debt from a course that they may not even pass doesn't sit well. Some are never the academic type and despite the promise of freshers week and other social events, university life is not for them.
Hear from Ross Blythe, Apprentice Account Manager on his experience as an Invotra apprentice.
Opportunities to learn about and understand the huge variety of options out there, apart from studying at university, are not always available. It's amazing to think that a £2.8bn government backed foundation is scarcely advertised to both secondary school and college students, not providing the necessary knowledge and tools for young people to find other paths to university.
To help you understand the career options available listen to Jamie Garrett, our Key Accounts Manager explain how his experiences as an apprentice at Invotra has helped shape his career.
Last but by no means least, hear from Andrew Doyle, our Accessibility Product Manager | 685 |
Eastside wrestling<|fim_middle|> 126 lb. division, while Tay Whitner from JL Mann placed third in the 220 lb. division.
Alex Brown from Eastside finished fourth in the 145 lb. division, while Kanon Hawkins from Mauldin earned fourth place in the 195 lb. division.
Eastside's Jack Beehler finished fifth in the 182 lb. division. Hillcrest's Nick Moore took home a seventh place finish in the 138 pound division. Berea's Eddie Nguyen finished eighth in the 106 lb. division. Greenville's Tyler Alexander placed seventh in the 182 lb. division. | fourth in Southern Slam
Jacob Wilson
The Eastside Eagles wrestling team finished fourth out of more than 30 teams in the Steadman Hawkins Southern Slam Invitational held at Eastside High School on Friday and Saturday.
"This tournament is tougher than the state tournaments that these kids will compete in," said Eastside coach Jack Kosmicki. "There are guys that become state champions or that will win state championships that barely place in this tournament.
"Over 300 wrestlers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia competed. Anybody that finishes in the top-8 of this tournament should take pride in that accomplishment. "
Eastside freshman Jordie White captured first place with a 6-3 victory in the 106 lb. division championship match.
"I was nervous coming into the tournament," said White. "I just kept pushing.
It was great competition all the way through."
"Jordie came into the tournament unranked," Kosmicki said. "I think he is the first freshman we've had to win his weight class in this tournament. It was a great accomplishment."
Junior DeShawn Sullivan chalked up an 8-2 victory in the 220 lb. division championship match.
"DeShawn is a gifted athlete," said Kosmicki. "We have just been waiting for him to hit his stride and find his style. Finishing that well will be great for his confidence moving forward."
Berea senior Auston Hall captured first place with an 11-6 victory in the 138 lb. division final.
"He is the toughest kid that I have ever coached," said Berea coach Marquise Camp. "He works really hard, and it is paying off.
He is everything you want in a wrestler. He is very coachable. He leads by example. He is the first person to practice and the last person to leave. A kid like him doesn't come around very often."
Eastside senior Zane Mitchell finished third in the | 415 |
Pennisteum purpureum Sehumach - 1 habit of flowering<|fim_middle|> root system allows it to tolerate drought on deeper alluvial soils in areas with rainfall down to 900 mm. It cannot stand flooding or waterlogging. Although mainly summer-growing, young shoots are produced in winter, protected from frost by its height.
Capricorn variety was selected for superior yields of dense foliage, while being late flowering, and palatable to stock.
Bana grass is a strong stemmed variety commonly grown in a single row around horticultural crops as a wind break in southern Queensland. | plant; 2 spikelet surrounded by bristles.
Elephant grass (Napier grass) is probably the most productive grass under high levels of nitrogen fertiliser. It produces broad leaves on thick, cane-like stems up to 3.5 metres high, has short stout underground stems, and these spread to form a stool up to 1 m across.
Elephant grass has been used mainly as green chop for dairy cows, but is a favourite grass for cut-and-carry systems in developing countries. If effectively grazed and slashed occasionally, it can be kept in a dense leafy state, not growing much above 1.2 m. Because seed is of poor quality, elephant grass is planted vegetatively using stem pieces with four or five nodes on 1 metre squares.
It was grown mainly on deep loam or scrub soils in high rainfall coastal districts or on tablelands, but its large | 182 |
NYSSPE Platinum Sustaining Member Atlantic Testing Adds a New Service
May 25, 2017 By Anthony Fasano Leave a Comment
NYSSPE Platinum Sustaining Member, Atlantic Testing (ATL) is excited to announce they now offer full petrographic analysis of concrete, rock and soil and analysis of air void systems within concrete.
Petrographic analysis is an important tool used to evaluate and identify properties of rocks, soils, and building materials. Analysis of concrete can help determine problems affecting its strength and durability. Analysis of rock and soils can assist with source evaluation.
Concrete and Aggregate Examinations:
ASTM C856 – Standard Practice for Petrographic Examination of Hardened Concrete
ASTM C457 – Standard Test Method for Microsopical Determination of Parameters of the Air-Void System in Hardened Concrete
ASTM C295 – Standard Guide for Petrographic Examination of Aggregates for Concrete
To find out more about becoming an NYSSPE Sustaining Member, click here.
Filed Under: SM News
McLaren Engineering Group Completes Study for Possible Gondola in Albany
November 18, 2016 By nysspe Leave a Comment
McLaren Engineering Group has completed a technical feasibility study for a Gondola in the Capital District. McLaren Engineering Group and its partners have completed a technical feasibility study for an aerial gondola that would connect the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station to downtown Albany, providing a new, reliable and efficient transportation option for commuters, visitors and tourists. The project team found that a Capital District Gondola is technically feasible and constructible with minimal impacts, and has strong support from local stakeholders.
The study, which was launched in July 2016 focused on a one-mile long operating corridor that would begin at the Amtrak Station and across the Hudson River to a station on South Pearl Street near the city's arena; Times Union Center. The gondola would then continue to the Empire State Plaza.
"The findings to<|fim_middle|> engineering, transportation design and planning (bridge and roadway), structural engineering, building design, trail design, traffic design, protective coatings, survey and mapping, and construction inspection. Please visit their website at gpinet.com to learn more about GPI.
Patrick A. Kenneally, PE
Senior Vice President | Branch Manager | 518.453.9431, x206
Heather L. Pace
Director of Marketing | 518.453.9431, x210 | date have exceeded our expectations. A new gondola system can be built that will connect the 825,000 people arriving and departing each year at the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station to three important destinations: downtown Albany, the Albany Capital Center and the Empire State Plaza," said Peter Melewski, P.E., National Director of Strategic Planning, McLaren Engineering Group. "Building off these initial findings, our project team will continue to work closely with stakeholders to secure funding, continue ridership and rider cost analysis, advance the design, and obtain necessary reviews and approvals." [Read more…]
Filed Under: Legislative News, NYSSPE News, SM News
McLaren Engineering Group Launches Gondola Study to Connect Albany's Downtown with Albany–Rensselaer Train Station
July 8, 2016 By nysspe Leave a Comment
"Innovative, vital multi-modal transportation link will provide
the Capital Region with economic, tourism and environmental benefits."
Albany, NY — July 7, 2016 –New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) Sustaining Member McLaren Engineering Group announced today the launch of a transportation feasibility study for an aerial gondola that would connect the Albany-Rensselaer Train Station to downtown Albany – providing a new, reliable and efficient transportation option for commuters, visitors and tourists.
The study will be managed out of McLaren's downtown Albany office by Peter Melewski, National Director of Strategic Planning. Currently, McLaren is self-funding the study and assembling a team to execute it. The team includes Doppelmayr, the world's leading manufacturer of ropeway technologies for gondolas, which has a nearby Ballston Spa, NY, office.
"The gondola will provide a much-needed transportation link across the river for commuters, visitors and tourists," says Malcolm McLaren, President and CEO, McLaren Engineering Group. "The Albany train station, Amtrak's 9th busiest, is physically isolated from the capitol and downtown businesses. An aerial gondola system will provide a unique, cost-effective transportation mode that will benefit the entire region."
Filed Under: SM News Tagged With: McLaren Engineering Group
McLaren Engineering and Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects partner with Fields to create state-of-the-art Residential and Retail project
April 29, 2016 By nysspe Leave a Comment
Fields Construction Company, McLaren Engineering Group and Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects announced that construction has commenced at 207 Van Vorst Street in Jersey City, New Jersey. Situated adjacent to St. Peter's Prep high school and within walking distance of NJ Transit's PATH and light rail lines, the development will feature two 15-story buildings featuring 408 residences and approximately 14,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
The project, which is being developed by Fields Development Group, was designed by architectural firm Marchetto Higgins Stieve. McLaren Engineering Group is providing structural engineering design and construction support for the project. "The latest among a multitude of multifamily buildings that we are constructing in Jersey City, 207 Van Vorst is a great example of the type of challenging project that Fields Construction excels at completing," Fields Construction Principal Jim Caulfield said. "We're excited to expand upon our hard-earned reputation here on New Jersey's Gold Coast, where we're building structures for many of the market's premier developers."
Filed Under: NYSSPE News, SM News Tagged With: mclaren engineering, NYSSPE
NYSSPE Sustaining Member News: Michael Stella and Henry V. Labarba, P.E. join GPI
March 12, 2015 By nysspe Leave a Comment
Albany, NY – GPI/Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., an engineering and construction services firm, is pleased to announce Mr. Michael Stella has joined the firm as a Civil Engineer in the Albany, NY office. Mike is a recent retiree of NYSDOT and has over 20+ years of diversified experience in transportation planning, design, construction, project management and implementation.
Michael currently resides in Saratoga Springs, NY.
GPI is also pleased to announce Mr. Henry (Hank) V. LaBarba, P.E. has joined the firm as a Civil Engineer in the Civil/Highway Dept. in the Albany, NY office. Hank is a Professional Engineer with a majority of his career as owner of HV LaBarba & Associates out of Albany and he maintains 33+ years of diversified professional experience in in planning and design of water and sewer systems, and environmental engineering.
GPI is a multi-discipline engineering firm with 1,100+ employees providing comprehensive professional design, planning, and construction inspection to all levels of government and industry from branch offices throughout the eastern United States, since 1966. GPI is included among the "Engineering News Record" top 100 national design firms, with specialties in civil and site | 1,044 |
I also sampled everything in the medicine cabinet for comparison. - Lindsey Kuper [entries|archive|friends|userinfo]
I also sampled everything in the medicine cabinet for comparison. [Jan. 16th, 2009|09:14 pm]
[ Tags | programming ]
The new semester began this past Monday. Between classes, homework, AI-ing, and choir rehearsal, it really seems to be cutting into my blogging-breathlessly-about-Python time.
A couple weeks ago, Tony idealisms suggested that one way to whip my Python into shape might be to do some Project Euler problems, so I decided to try a few. When I sat down to start doing them, I wasn't feeling particularly confident. But when I read the first problem, "Find the sum of all the multiples of 3 or 5 that are below 1000", I astonished myself by barely even having to think about it:
print sum(filter(lambda x : x % 3 = 0 or x % 5 = 0, range(1, 1000))
One line. 20 seconds to write.1 And it worked!
I decided to double-check the answer by solving the same problem in Scheme. Oughta be a snap to port this one trivial line of code ov -- oh, wait, in Scheme I don't have range. And I don't have sum. And, oops, I always forget that % is spelled "R-E-M-A-I-N-D-E-R", and hmm, filter doesn't seem to be in the R5RS, although, oh, good, Chez Scheme has it, and I could use reduce instead of sum, except Chez doesn't have reduce -- although both filter and reduce are in SRFI-1, so I can use them in PLT by sticking a (require srfi/1) at the top of my file, which I am guaranteed to misspell as "sfri" the first time, but you can't use require in Chez, and, and, and, and.
Let me be clear: I love Scheme. It is my favorite programming language. But it's a batteries-not-included sort of programming language. In Scheme you get to make your own batteries. Here's what I wrote:
(define problem-1
(lambda (n)
(letrec ((kernel (lambda (x acc)
(cond [(= x 0) (display acc) (newline)]
[(or (= (remainder x 3) 0)
(= (remainder x 5) 0))
(kernel (- x 1) (+ acc x))]
[else (kernel (- x 1) acc)]))))
(kernel (- n 1) 0))))
(problem-1 1000)
So it's a single, monolithic procedure that does the summing, filtering, and ranging all at once. Well, what's wrong with that? It's probably more efficient! To me, though, the more interesting point is that as a moderately experienced Schemer, doing it that way actually felt more right than implementing each of the helpers which would have enabled me to write something like (sum (filter (lambda ...) (range 1 1000)))). I'm<|fim_middle|>[0] == 0:
is_prime = False
if is_prime:
primes.append([n, n * n])
From: lindseykuper
Oof! Thanks, Seamus. Clearly, I didn't bother to test it much beyond "not giving me 9 and 15" (and apparently I just got lucky that it gave me the right answer for the Euler problem). I'll play with it some more. I'm interested in figuring out precisely why it is wrong.
Here is a script that computes primes in rather too many ways: http://www.pastie.org/363603
run it with no arguments for the usage.
-ow is currently the fastest. on my laptop it'll crank out the millionth prime in about five minutes. -q is the most complicated, but to little avail: it's slower than everything but the naive approach. not sure if i've got the energy to find a data structure that will allow it to reach its full potential.
From: billings
Where are you getting the wheel stuff from?
Also: http://www.pastie.org/363716
Priority queue helps a lot but still gets whipped by the simple prime-only division method.
the wheel stuff is basically an extension of "primes are always odd, so i can add two every time instead of one", for "primes are always p % 2 == 1 and p % 3 == 3," etc for 2, 3, 5, 7. it's the sequence of intervals of all the numbers starting with 11 that aren't % 0 for 2-7.
I have no idea how to solve y = x / ln(x) in terms of y
I am a failure as a human being | not sure how I should feel about that. I would have guessed that a lack of libraries would slow me down as a programmer, but I wouldn't have thought that it would have such a pronounced effect on my actual coding style. But it does. If something I want isn't immediately available, my subconscious knee-jerk reaction isn't to implement it myself -- it's to think, "Oh, then I must not be supposed to use it!" and to look for a workaround.
I moved on to Euler problem 2: "Find the sum of all the even-valued terms in the Fibonacci sequence which do not exceed four million." I had it in Python in about five minutes. Then I went to check my answer by doing it in Scheme. And it dawned on me that I didn't want to.
You guys, a Fibonacci problem. In Scheme. That I didn't want to do. I actually called Alex oniugnip to tell him I was having a crisis of faith. I am entirely serious. That's what I did.
After talking to Alex, though, since I was on a roll and didn't want to think about my crisis of faith, I moved on to Euler 3. "What is the largest prime factor of the number 600851475143?" Now we're talkin'! Hey, I bet I can use one of those crazy generator things! Better find out what that's all about, huh?
Then I hit a brick wall. I stared and stared at Guido's example of a generator in the Python tutorial, but it didn't seem apropos -- it seemed like, well, like the sort of thing that I could do just as easily without a generator, anyway. More to the point, though, I couldn't figure out how to generate an infinite stream! And I'm not just talking about the primes -- I'm saying I couldn't figure out how to do any infinite stream.
I went and got my SICP off the shelf and flipped it open to section 3.5.2. Oh, yes. A stream of the integers. A stream of the integers not divisible by 7. A stream of the Fibonacci numbers. And -- yes! -- a beautiful sieve of Eratosthenes! And, you know, it's SICP , so it's a hardened little pearl of a program, wrapped around a grain of sand they introduced back 20 or 50 or 100 pages ago, and moreover, you've been able to do this kind of thing in Scheme since before Python was ever thought of, because Scheme can be anything you want it to be!2
But I called Alex back, and Alex put Mark on, and I said, "How do I generate the integers?" and Mark explained, and I did like he said, and wait, what? It just goes back to where it left off when you call next()? Nah, too easy. But -- but -- it worked! And then I did it for the not-divisible-by-sevens, and for the Fibonacci numbers, and I'm just not believing it and I'm not believing it and no way. No. Way. This is cheating. It's cheating it's cheating it's cheating it's cheating it's cheating it's cheating it's cheating
def sieve():
yield i
n = i + 1
for k in range (2, i):
if n % k == 0:
n = n + 1
i = n
"Python is cheating!" I told Will and Dan after class on Tuesday. They laughed.
And fewer to read.
Actually, maybe what I want to say is: The only thing that Scheme can't be is a language that can't be everything.
From: conform
cheating? maybe... your function tells me that 27 and 35 are prime.
also: somewhat faster:
def smart_sieve():
yield 2
primes = [2]
n += 1
for k in range(len(primes)):
if n % primes[k] == 0:
primes.append(n)
yield primes[i]
i += 1
From: pmb
Woo pythoooon!
Also, something that blew my mind about generating primes:
"The Genuine Sieve of Eratosthenes" - http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~oneill/papers/Sieve-JFP.pdf
From: stereotype441
Re: Woo pythoooon!
From: dlakelan
I remember programming a seive of eratosthenes at Chases' house in Pascal ca. 1991. Pretty sure with a little help from you we got it to do the first hundred thousand primes in less than 1 second on a 33mhz or so Mac LC
The real sieve is a thing of beauty.
The fastest really simple sieve I've come up with:
primes = []
is_prime = True
for p in primes:
if n < p[1]:
if n % p | 1,037 |
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Daytona 500 leaves tough act to follow
By JENNA FRYERAssociated Press
Feb 26, 2014 at 8:22 PM Feb 26, 2014 at 8:28 PM
When the race finally resumed — some six hours after the Daytona 500 was brought to a water-logged halt — fans that made it to the finish were treated to one of the most intense races in memory.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the race finally resumed — some six hours after the Daytona 500 was brought to a water-logged halt — fans that made it to the finish were treated to one of the most intense races in memory.
As NASCAR heads West for a two-race swing through Phoenix and Las Vegas, the challenge is to somehow duplicate all that energy from the Daytona 500. There are 36 events left this year, and NASCAR would have very few problems if they are half as exciting as the 500.
"It was electric, man," winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't know what the hell was going on or why it was like that. I wish I knew, because that's what NASCAR wants to bottle and sell."
NASCAR spent much of last year working on a new rules package to improve the on-track action at 1.5-mile tracks, and the first test won't come until March 9 at Las Vegas.
First up is this Sunday's race at Phoenix, a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval in the desert that will give teams a far better indicator than Daytona of how prepared they are for the season.
But there will be new eyes watching, partly because of Earnhardt's victory and partly because of the sheer competitiveness of Daytona, and they'll be expecting a similar show.
"I know everybody thinks it's the greatest race they ever saw because Dale Jr. won it," Earnhardt said. "Taking that out of the equation, I think it<|fim_middle|>wind winner's media tour to show his humor, and has already hosted his first Twitter chat. His account was established by JR Motorsports in 2008 just in case he ever wanted to use Twitter. It gradually added followers, even though the account was dormant, and a Twitter official said this week Earnhardt had 215,106 the day before the Daytona 500.
That number had gone up to 216,320 by midnight on Sunday, and had swelled to 416,219 a mere 24 hours later.
Now two days after that tweet, Earnhardt has passed the half-million mark and is rapidly closing in on six-time champion Jimmie Johnson's mark 548,000 followers. Next up on the list? Danica Patrick, who last weekend became the first driver in NASCAR or IndyCar to reach 1 million followers.
"I just felt like I was going to join Twitter sooner or later and just didn't know when," Earnhardt said. "It's becoming such a big part of our lives and such big part of exposure to our partners. I'm having fun with it. I thought it would be after an event like winning the championship or the Daytona 500 — it felt natural (Sunday night) to go ahead and kick it off. We had 200,000 followers without one tweet. I figured they'd been waiting around for something."
DEJECTED DENNY
Denny Hamlin could spend a lot of time second-guessing what he could have done differently in the closing laps of the Daytona 500.
He won two races during Speedweeks and was going for the trifecta with a victory in the "Great American Race." But when he climbed back into his car after the lengthy rain delay, his radio communication was intermittent at best. He told his spotter he could only hear him on the backstretch, and there were times he could hear nothing at all.
Since drivers rely on spotters to navigate traffic, Hamlin was hamstrung, particularly in the final two-lap sprint to the finish when he made his charge through the field. He wound up second but had trouble finding much joy in the result.
"Any other year I probably would have been jumping up and down," he said. "Me not being able to drive to my ability because I was being conservative, that's not a way to race."
But Hamlin, who missed four full races and most of a fifth with a fractured vertebra last season, can't dwell on Daytona. After a strong start to 2014 to help him forget about the worst season of his career, he moves now to Phoenix to see if the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team really has any momentum.
"Phoenix will be a true gauge to see where our program is at," he said. "Daytona gives us a lift after running well, but it's up to us to prove that our cars have the speed and handling needed to excel at a shorter track like Phoenix and as we get into the bulk of tracks on the schedule." | really was an exciting race and one of the most exciting Daytona 500s I've ever been in and one of the most intense races I've ever been in.
"It felt so different than any other race I'd ever been in. The intensity level was at a max. Races usually have a lull in the middle, don't get going 'til the end when it's time to put money on the line, people start picking up the intensity. We sustained it from the time we started, restarted, all the way to the end. I couldn't believe it."
The race had 42 lead changes, and 37 of them came after the rain delay. Drivers ran three-wide when the situation called for single-file or maybe side-by-side racing. They seemed to treat every lap as if it was the last.
There's no one reason to credit for the aggression, but a likely contributor was that no one was sure if it would rain again. Should the sky suddenly open up, the race would have ended and the winner would have been the leader on that lap.
NASCAR Chairman Brian France famously declared last September that he expected drivers to give 100 percent on every lap, and the Daytona 500 was evidence that everyone in the field is capable of meeting that demand.
"I think everyone raced a hard, 500-mile race. I never saw a lull in the action from where I was sitting," said third-place finisher Brad Keselowski. "I couldn't be more pleased as both a participant and naturally a fan of the sport with how the 500 went from a competitive standpoint."
Now it's up to the drivers to deliver a similar product going forward.
TWEETING FOOL
So reluctant to get involved in social media, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is suddenly a tweeting fool.
He joked with Michael Waltrip that he'd consider joining Twitter if he won the Daytona 500, and followed through with that promise with his first tweet early Monday.
Earnhardt has since proven to be an expert at selfies, used photos of his whirl | 429 |
Fuller Craft Museum exhibit celebrates botanist John Bartram's legacy
By Jody Feinberg/The Patriot Ledger
Jan 28, 2017 at 7:00 AM Jan 28, 2017 at 8:30 AM
"Bartram's Boxes Remix," an intriguing exhibit at Fuller Craft Museum, reveals the historical relevance of America's first botanist and international plant trader and the inspiration he provides for artists who work with wood.
After a storm felled 13 trees at the home of a famed 18th-century botanist, artists turned destruction into creation.
This transformation is the heart of "Bartram's Boxes Remix," an intriguing exhibit at Fuller Craft Museum that reveals the historical relevance of America's first botanist and international plant trader and the inspiration he provides for artists who work with wood.
"John Bartram was an important figure, and artists have honored him in creative ways," said Michael McMillan, associate curator at Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, which is the sixth venue for the exhibit. It which was organized by The Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia and Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, a National Historic Landmark that preserves his home and the oldest surviving botanical garden in the United States.
Bartram (1699<|fim_middle|> chunks from a boxwood tree into 50 small seed boxes, with complex patterns on their surfaces. Some are miniature domed and columned buildings.
In her whimsical approach, Hilary Pfeifer made a "Walking Stick for William Bartram" (John's son who traveled with his father and made illustrations of their findings) decorated with carved flowers and birds.
The biggest piece of wood salvaged is a 5-foot-high slab of tulip poplar. In "Bartram Monolith," Tom Rauschke set the wood vertically and added six windows, into which he carved the moon and sun, flying eagles and a poplar tree with leaves and roots and seeds, made of black walnut, ebony, hickory and other woods.
It's a tree of life, a celebration of the legacy of John Bartram.
Jody Feinberg is at jfeinberg@ledger.com. Follow her on Twitter @JodyF_Ledger. | -1777), who had a passion for nature and scientific inquiry, collected seeds and plants from around the country and shipped them in wooden boxes to clients in England, who were eager for information about "the New World."
Prominent British clients and scholars sought his plants, and King George III appointed him "royal botanist" in 1765. Until Bartram's trade, England had no magnolias, azaleas, rhododendrons, sugar maples, sumacs and many other plants that give beauty to American landscapes.
In response to a call to create interpretations of the 1728 garden and shipping boxes, 40 artists created more than three dozen figurative and literal works, many of them using pieces from the 13 types of trees downed in 2010.
As if to highlight the unfolding of nature, artists Dixie Biggs and Ray Jones made a walnut, cherry and boxwood rounded chest (resembling a seed casing), whose two front panels open to reveal a panel carved with leaves, which in turn lifts to expose shelves of carved seeds, nuts and pods. Japanese in style, "Arca Botanicum" is elegant and beautiful.
In the "Barrel Thingy," a woodworker, a metal worker and a glass artist collaborated to create an ash and walnut shipping barrel, similar in shape to 17th-century ones, with an interior column of colorful glass panes and topped with a bronze leafy plant. It's a compressed version of the seed trade.
Responding to the challenges of 17th-century shipping, artists Neil Donovan and John Vahanian made the sculpture "Precarious Crossing." On a stump from Bartram's Garden, they connected intersecting disks and a wisteria vine, which support a tilted boat whose end is filled with boxes.
In recognition of Bartram's skill as a cataloguer and researcher, artists Beth Feldman Brandt and Claire Owen created three book-like boxes, including "Storms Box," which contains a book made of dyed paper, a scroll and honey locust sphere and seed.
A singularly beautiful object is a tulipwood vase by Rob Fleming carved with the white flowers of the Franklin Tree, a Georgia tree now extinct in the wild but preserved in Bartram's Garden. It is named after Benjamin Franklin, Bartram's friend and a fellow co-founder of the American Philosophical Society.
In an exquisite presentation, Satoshi Fujinuma made a stacked bento-style box and filled its four compartments with intricate, tiny carvings of seeds and pods. In "New Japanese Species for Bartram," the artist said he presented a gift to Bartram.
Using a lathe he programmed with his own software, Garrett turned | 565 |
To tell you<|fim_middle|> you do. I'm so grateful for our regular breakfast dates and larger-than-life conversations, the way you're constantly teaching me new things and helping me grow as a person. Thank you for all of the years you spent videotaping my dance recitals, entertaining my wildest hopes and dreams, and guiding me in my journey of faith. You've always been my biggest supporter and voice of reason, the one person who can instantly melt away my troubles with a single hug.
I adore your boyish nature, adventurous spirit, and positive outlook on life. I like when we make fun of each other, and how we can't argue without laughing. I love that you chose to call me Emmy before I was even born, despite Mom's insisting that Emily be my "real" name. I get a kick out of the way you try to cheat at Scrabble but let me win when we Indian wrestle. I think it's funny that this blog post will embarrass the heck out of you. And I love that every good memory we share—even those from the early Cinderella stages of my life—seems like ten minutes ago.
Thank you, Daddy, for everything. | the truth, Dad, I'm convinced that there's nobody in the world who gets me quite like | 20 |
Every hole-in-one this year | Best of 2021
Every ace caught on camera this year.
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Welcome to the Official YouTube channel of the DP World Tour. Every week you can find extended tournament highlights and individual player highlights from the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood. This is also the home of the 14 Club Challenge<|fim_middle|>Previous: Tiger Woods' longest hole-outs of his career (excluding majors)
Next: Kyler Murray insists Cardinals don't need crazy changes | Pro Football Talk | NBC Sports
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Scroll down to discover their small bathroom design tips for maximizing space without sacrificing style.
1. Build shelving in<|fim_middle|> pops of personality in the decor, like this cheeky art print from Minted framed in a large mat for a more custom look. | unexpected places. "Adding a large shelf in the shower provides a designated place to store products so they don't end up cluttered on the floor or inside the tub," says Alana. A small basket holds stray loofas, while a piece of framed artwork and a hanging planter adds a decorative touch.
2. Create the illusion of more space. A large mirror across one wall breathes new life into the compact quarters. To create a natural sense of flow, the design duo opted for bright white tiles all over the bathroom. Plus, a low standing tub maximizes square footage (and makes it easy for the homeowners to bathe their new baby).
3. Opt for a light color palette. Bright whites, cool-toned marble and brushed bronze give the bathroom a cohesive, yet sophisticated look. To keep the space from feeling too spare, Alana and Jordy added | 177 |
As a leader in the provision of quality websites to the small/medium accommodation sector we aim to deliver a modern professional online look for your Bed & Breakfast/Guest House.
A flexible design that can be updated and managed as an when needed.
While our Base Site offer might provide you with all you need, you might like to consider some of our add-on solutions. These solutions will allow you to get the most out of your site to help your business grow and remain strong.
Add up to 5 extra pages to your site to provide potential customers with more information.
manage all of your bookings more effectively on-line.
Offer discount coupons that can be redeemed with online bookings.
It's likely that your guests will come from all over the world and English<|fim_middle|> your conversion rate by making your site multi-lingual, then everyone can judge just how great your home is.
Fill in the form and one of our team will be in touch to discuss your needs and get your project started. | might not be their primary language. In fact they might understand very little. Make life easier for them and help improve | 23 |
Looking to de-stress from the chaotic humdrum of the daily routine? Then Residence La Casaccia in Campiglia Marittima is the ideal location for you: a relaxing rural retreat immersed in the lush green vegetation typical of the Tuscan countryside. The establishment features an outdoor swimming pool and a play area for children. It offers the possibility to eat 'al fresco' in the large, well-maintained garden. A barbecue is at the disposal of guests. The establishment has a variety of apartments to choose from: 6 one-room apartments, 8 two-room apartments and 1 three-room apartment.
La Casaccia is just 3 km from the Gulf of Baratti and is in an excellent position for those who love the sea. Discover all the services offered, including mountain bike rental and excursions in the surrounding countryside.
Property Surrounded by greenery and close to the sea, this Tuscan farmhouse (rustic and cozy) offers 15 apartments (one-room, two-room and three-room).
View View of the grounds and the hills.
Outdoors Barbecue, seasonal outdoor swimming pool, sun terrace, extensive grounds.
Amusement Table tennis, hiking, cycling, bike rental, playground, entertainment for kids, beaches in the vicinity (3 km away).
Food, restaurant, bar Apartments have cooking facilities: 2-room and 3-room have kitchen.
Internet & media Free Wi-Fi in all communal areas, flat<|fim_middle|> From 08:00 to 10:30.
Children and additional beds Cot for children (up to 2 years of age) free; children above that age or an adult pay € 40.00 per night in the spare bed.
Pets Animals are allowed upon request. Small charge may be applied.
Accepted cards VISA, MASTERCARD, Diners Club, CARTASI, BANCOMAT.
Important to note! Reception open from 08:00-10:30 and from 16:00-20:00. | -screen TV.
Parking Free parking space per apartment.
Amenities Heating and air conditioning, accessible to guests with disabilities.
Other services Bar: for breakfast and aperitifs. Possibility to request a picnic lunch. Meeting/banquet facilities available, fax/photocopying, The residence also provides discounted rates for a nearby restaurant. Provides pass to park at the beach in Rimigliano (3 km away).
Check-out | 87 |
The latest version of Scanbox includes a panel to allow uses to perform 1p optogenetics with 2p imaging. The panel provides an interface to the ThorLabs DC2200 dual channel controller, but can also be used with the simpler T-cube driver. You can use the LED of your preference. We have been working both with mounted LEDs with T-cube driver, and mounted LEDs and the Solis LEDs wit the DC2200 controller. We use a gated PMT from Hamamatsu to protect the PMT during LED stimulation, and the timing diagram below shows its basic characteristics.
The first important note is that the maximum shutter time is 10ms. The second is that a dead time is needed between the LED control signal turning off and the PMT shutter signal turning the PMT back on. The reason is that the PMT shutter is extremely fast, with switching times less than 400ns. On the other hand, it can a bit longer for the LED to completely turn off after the control signal to the driver is switched off. Thus, in<|fim_middle|> automatic detection of this condition in the future. | order to prevent damage to the PMT, we need to turn the LED off first and switch the PMT on some time later. We call this dead time the margin. We call the amount of time the LED is on the width of the stimulation pulse. Because of the timing limitations we need to have margin+width<10ms. The size of the margin can be determined experimentally: increase its value until you don't see any saturated lines.
Scanbox generates a control signal for the LED and the PMT shutter that is synchronized to the beginning of a frame. The signal that controls the LED goes to the LED driver used, while the signal that controls the shutter, must be connected to the PMT gate. The signals are generated by means of an external Arduino pulse generator. The board also receives a copy of the CAM0 signal, wihch indicates the begining of each frame.
Once the configuration file is ready, when you start Scanbox, an Optogenetics panel will be available with the following controls: The fields at the bottom control the parameters for the pulse generator. The are the width, margin, and number of pulses to be delivered (all positive integers). Width and margin are in units of msec. The settings shown above, for example, mean that every time an LED stimulus is requested, the software will generate 8ms of stimulation with 2ms deadtime, and the pulse will appear in 4 consecutive imaging frames.
The parameters within the blue box control the mode and settings of the DC2200 controller. If you are using this controller you must set its mode to one that can be triggered externally and connect the LED signal to the SMA connector in the back of the unit. A full description of the parameters can be found in the DC2200 manual. Each of the different lines provide the parameters for different modes (CC: Continuous Current, CB: Continuous Brightness, Pulse: Pulse mode, IMOD: Internal modulation, TTL: External TTL enable).
The Arduino stimulus generator can be triggered manually by hitting the "Trigger" button or, once the parameters are set, it can be triggered via a network command ("e"). I will also add network commands to change the parameters of the pulses and the DC2200 driver remotely soon.
If you want to keep a time-stamp of the times at which the pulses occured, you may want to connect the TTL signal controlling the LED to the TTL0 or TTL1 event lines. This is not entirely necessary, as it is clear on which frames the stimulus occured due to the blanking of PMT in these cases. So the actual frames can be recovered from the imaging sequences as well.
When you use sbxaligntool for these experiments select a manual ROI and pick a region which does not overlap with the stimulation band. I will add some | 579 |
To become a corporate sponsor, please submit the corporate sponsorship form, which can be found via this PDF. For more information about corporate sponsorships, please contact Kristy Haise at kristyhaise@gmail.com.
To become a family sponsor, please submit the family sponsorship form, which can be found via this PDF. For more information about family sponsorships, please contact Kelly Barrett at kmsbarrett@gmail.com.
Money must be received by the EFLS before your company is listed as a sponsor.
Foundation of Little Silver, Inc., also known as Education Foundation of Little Silver (EFLS), is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with tax ID 22-3420375.
THE SPONSORSHIP DEADLINE FOR 2018-2019 IS FEBRUARY 22, 2019.
Below are the sponsorship levels offered. Each sponsorship level includes tickets to the event<|fim_middle|>. | , as well as the VIP Party immediately preceding the event.
We appreciate your generosity and partnership!
Education Foundation of Little Silver (EFLS) is ever grateful to the local businesses and families who support its cause through sponsorship. EFLS sponsors are critical to the success of our annual fundraiser. Last year, their generous gifts and contributions helped the EFLS raise over $100,000 to enhance and maintain technology in our schools. In appreciation, all sponsorship levels have specific benefits and will receive recognition at the event and advertising via several media outlets. Most importantly, as a sponsor, you will help ensure that our children have access to the technology they need to succeed in our schools and beyond | 142 |
Bartlett Elementary School, nestled in a suburb of the greater Memphis, Tennessee area, has a long-standing tradition of academic excellence dating back to the early 1900s. Recent grant funding from Tennessee Arts Commission Arts 360 has done wonders to elevate teaching and learning at this traditional environment to a new, competitive standard.
Art specialist at BES, Allison Swanger, describes the goal of these quarterly themes as a way to "challenge teachers to create multiple art integrated lessons throughout the year," while creating a "sense of unity." For example, the first quarterly theme of the year related to "International Dot Day," celebrated on September 15t. This day is a global celebration of creativity, inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' book, "The Dot." Students were asked to make a simple mark on a page, and use their imagination to transform the dot into something new. Some teachers used the exercise to simply introduce the idea of artistic expression in the classroom, while others found ways to connect the activity to academic subject matter on which they were already working. The second quarterly theme combined patriotic signs and symbols from literature and Social Studies with a Pop Art focus in Visual Art. Teachers were able to make stronger connections between artistic techniques and academic ideas in quarter two than they had in quarter one. Some classes attached written components to their display, adding depth and justification to student work.
As the BES faculty engages in the third quarterly theme, combining Black History Month with signs and symbols, confidence is at an all-time high. Loft notes, "Our communication is getting better," while Swanger affirms, "Teachers are developing ways to make learning fun." When Arts Integration is implemented successfully, the relationship between academic understanding and artistic output is symbiotic. BES<|fim_middle|> to map reading, sign language, and the history of the American civil rights movement can connect to quilt codes used along the Underground Railroad. An engaging faculty meeting/ arts workshop, in which teachers formed cooperative groups and designed their own "quilt code" using scrap paper, gave way to laughter, experimentation, and innovative ideas for the next hallway display."I believe most teachers go into teaching to have fun," smiles Taylor, "They imagine engaging, creative lessons, yet with all of their daily tasks and duties, many shift to teaching content in the most timely way they know how. When we offer a thematic lesson, strategy, or tool for their tool box, then they can see how they can do both." With increased confidence in arts integrated teaching, BES is not only showcasing beautiful work, but also demonstrating effective teaching and learning. Intertwining arts practices with reading, math, language arts, science and history content, helps provide students with beautiful new ways to exhibit greatness. | fine arts and general educators are coming together to design ways in which grade level book and novel studies related | 20 |
Ex-coach charged for providing alcohol to a minor
By Woodbury Newsroom on Jun 27, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
A former assistant wrestling coach for Woodbury High School was charged last week with furnishing alcohol to a minor.
The gross misdemeanor charge filed by St. Paul city prosecutors against David Brock Albrecht, 21, stems from a Feb. 29 incident. Albrecht allegedly offered beer to members of the wrestling team during their stay at a downtown hotel for a state tournament.
According to the criminal<|fim_middle|>.
After the incident, school officials said Albrecht would not be returning to the team as a coach.
Last season was Albrecht's first as an assistant coach for the WHS wrestling team. His position was considered part-time and was funded by the wrestling booster program. Albrecht was a former member of the wrestling team and in 2005 finished second in his weight class in the state tournament.
Explore related topics:NewsNewsWoodburyalbrechtWrestlingchargedBeerMinors
Alleged assault at Park Place Storage leaves woman bloodied10 hours ago | complaint, Albrecht entered a hotel room at the Crown Plaza Riverfront shared by the wrestlers. Albrecht, who was accompanied by two 17-year-old females, brought a case of beer to the room and offered it to a wrestler and the girls. The females declined. The wrestler accepted the beer but did not drink it, the complaint states.
Albrecht consumed several beers during his stay in the room and offered alcohol to four other wrestlers who entered the room a short time later. The assistant coach was the only one in the room who was of drinking age, the complaint stated.
After drinking several beers over several hours, the assistant coach fell asleep in the room at 3 a.m. and left later that morning.
According to school district officials who conducted their own investigation, the students reported the incident immediately to Woodbury head wrestling coach Josh McLay. The incident was then reported to Woodbury police, who forwarded the investigation onto St. Paul police | 195 |
Well, it may be the second day of spring, but most schools in the region are closed, including the rarely closed New York City Public Schools. Some districts are running out of snow days, and the novelty of hunkering down while the weather outside is frightful is wearing very thin. To make it worse, many of us have had our power out during prior storms and know that this may happen again later today. We've got some ideas on how to make the<|fim_middle|>Hot cocoa may be required when everyone comes back inside, and that's a great thing.
Together with your kids, make sure your elderly or disabled neighbors are okay and help dig them out, if needed. While you are at it, check to see that they don't need other assistance.
Have fun, stay safe, and think about warmer weather! | best of what is, hopefully, the last blast of winter weather.
Set up young children with their own "office", complete with a work table, paper, a pretend phone, and some "work" to do -- coloring, working on puzzles, reading.
Use timers to help children understand that you will be available to them "later" and that they need to wait until the timer goes off to interrupt you (absent an emergency). This works best with shorter periods for younger kids, but shorter periods strung together can still allow some work to be done.
For older children and teens, this is a good time for them to do their own schoolwork, or to work on projects they might not otherwise have time to do.
Cut yourself some slack if you need to use videos or other screen time to allow you to do what you need. An hour or two of cartoons will not impact your child's development.
Safety requires extra supervision when the house is dark, so put any work away.
Use flashlights, not candles. Hopefully, you have stocked up on flashlights and batteries.
This is a great time for old fashioned books and board games.
Once the snow has stopped, heading outside can be fun. Make sure there are no trees or limbs in the area that might be stressed or damaged, so that you can all play outside safely.
Children old enough to handle a shovel can help dig out, but only on sidewalks and driveways. Clearing off cars in the street can be dangerous, as plows and other cars go by.
Make sure that no one stays out too long or gets too cold.
| 325 |
'God willing, we can rebuild,' Mr. Q's owners say after devastating fire
LEVARSE: Penn State, college football receive pivotal benchmarks for return to normalcy
DEREK LEVARSE
(Wilkes-Barre) Times-Leader (TNS)
The convoys to State College would have started picking up Friday. But the lots surrounding Beaver Stadium will be empty on Saturday.
With the Blue-White Game and its weekend activities canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, Penn State shifted the festivities online, encouraging virtual tailgates with the university streaming a game to watch and Nittany Lions coaches set to drop in on video calls with fans.
The question that remains is how long will it take for in-person tailgates and live games to resume in Happy Valley? The Lions are scheduled to open their season at home on Sept. 5, but there still are few answers with the country in its second month of lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
But some clues started to form this week for Penn State and college football fans in general.
Commissioners weigh in: Perhaps the most significant development came Wednesday when the commissioners of various conferences spoke with Vice President Mike Pence and stressed that college football wouldn't be able to start up in 2020 without campuses being open.
In other words, there's no chance that players would return to prepare for a season if it wasn't deemed safe for the student body at large to be back.
For Penn State in particular, the university went to remote learning last month for the rest of the spring semester. And on Thursday, the announcement came that it would continue through both of the school's two summer sessions of classes, with the caveat that improving conditions could open things back up before the fall.
"While the plan calls for online instruction for Summer Session II, the university is preparing in case health dynamics shift and students could safely return to campuses for in-person instruction," Penn State said in a statement. "Any such decisions and related processes for welcoming students back will be made based on guidance from government and health authorities and include careful planning focused first and foremost on the health and well-being of students, faculty and staff. More information will be shared as the situation continues to evolve."
Typically, the Lions would have their entire roster, including incoming freshmen, on campus by July to start classes ahead of training camp at the start of August. That may not be an option in the current environment.
Planning for multiple scenarios: Lions coach James Franklin and his staff have been trying to plan for multiple scenarios.
"We had already worked on about six different (practice) models," Franklin said. "So, if we were able to get back in a month, if we were able to get back in six weeks, if we were able to get back in two months, if we were able to get back in, whatever the time period was. We started kind of breaking it out. What's this going to look like from a football perspective for us?"
Franklin and athletic director Sandy Barbour met last month with their athletic trainers and sports scientists and determined about two months of preparation would be needed for players to be able to play a season, ramping up from workouts to practices to games.
The main concern, Barbour said, is injury prevention and not asking players to do too much too soon.
"For football, we think that 60-day window is about right," Barbour said.
More virtual instruction: While the physical aspect is a top issue, the NCAA took a step on Thursday to helping along teams' mental preparation. Starting next week, coaches will be allowed to double their virtual instruction time with players, going from four to eight hours of "nonphysical countable activities" per week through at least the end of May.
That includes "film review, chalk talks and team meetings," the NCAA said in a statement, adding that the period could be extended after a review in mid-May.
"This change not only allows coaches to continue to educate their student-athletes but also fosters the connectivity that comes with team-based activities," council chair M. Grace Calhoun said in a statement. "Regular, individual check-ins between student-athletes and coaches remain permissible and are encouraged."
Fauci gives positive news: Sports in general also got some some positive news this week as the public face of the country's medical response endorsed the idea of resuming play<|fim_middle|> world, we could lock these things down in the next couple of months and get back to things that are similar to what they've been in the past," Franklin said. "If this goes into the fall, with the revenue that football brings in, that's a whole new conversation.
"Penn State, our administration, understands the impact this has on the community. This is a major challenge. Number one is health and safety, and number two is financial responsibility for our community and university and state." | under certain conditions.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, laid out the plan for sports to return — possibly as soon as this summer — Wednesday on the Snapchat show "Good Luck America."
"There's a way of doing that," said Fauci, who has been the national face of the pandemic response, frequently appearing at the president's daily briefings. "Nobody comes to the stadiums. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well-surveilled, but have them tested like every week, and make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their families, and just let them play the season out."
College sports a different animal, compared to pro sports: It's a start, but it's a model for pro sports rather than the college game.
College athletes are not paid and do not have a union to collectively bargain the conditions of a return to the field. And while playing games without fans is an option being considered by pro leagues, Barbour said she didn't foresee it happening with college football.
In all, it makes for a tough sell for Penn State's season to start on time. But gradually, the overall picture is beginning to clear.
"In a perfect | 257 |
One's astrological chart describes his/her unique constitutional makeup. From this, a medical astrologer can identify<|fim_middle|> continuous adjustment and change. We each tend to experience periods of excess or deficiency of our constitutional element, which require adjustment of diet, lifestyle or even supplementation. | issues he/she is most likely to experience, as well as recommend a specific diet of what they can do to regain and maintain optimum health well-being. Astrology identifies four basic constitutional types: fire, earth, air and water.
The fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, and are considered to possess the most energy and vitality of all the signs. The air signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, are considered the second most vital, though more reactive to external stimuli. The water signs, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, are more changeable and emotionally reactive. The earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, and possess great steadiness and endurance, though not the vital spark of fire or air.
The maintenance of health is a process of | 160 |
Located a staggering 700 kilometers from the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, this park lies in the far northeast corner of the Santa Cruz department and borders Brazil. The Park contains an amazing array of wildlife and plants, some are them unique to Bolivia. This incredibly remote and inaccessible park offers visitors the chance to see what may be the most pristine Amazonian jungle left in the world. The camp "Flor de Oro", located in the northern section of the park along the Iténez river, is only accessible by small aircraft, and is the place where visitors can launch off for incredible jungle tours. It is a perfect place to linger and enjoy birdwatching or take a river trips to see the remarkable pink river dolphins. In the rainy season (November to May) the magnificent Ahlfeld and Arco Iris waterfalls make a stunning visit.
At 7:30 a.m. you will be picked up from your hotel to be taken to the air field or airport. There we will board a small single-engine airplane which will take us to Noel Kemp<|fim_middle|>The return trip to Flor de Oro is somewhat shorter than the way up stream. Once in Flor de Oro we have lunch and rest. In the afeter noon it is possible to have some more trekking along Itenez river.
Before breakfast is the time to be more in tune with the wildlife's movements and have more possibilities of observing some mammals or birds that we have not seen yet. We would have an early walk on one of the trails close to Flor de Oro. This walk will last approximately 1 ½ hours and will go through some paths near the airstrip. Or if the conditions allow it, We could have an early boat ride to visit the first bay close to Flor de Oro. Or we could have a combination of both, a boat ride and a short walk. Return to Flor de Oro for breakfast and we get ready to return to Santa Cruz.
Lunch and short rest, return to Santa Cruz where someone from the company will met you to take you to your hotel. End of our services. | ff National Park - northern side. We will arrive to "Flor de Oro" in about 3 hours flight. (We recommend you to use the toilette before boarding) During this time we will have the opportunity to appreciate from up-high the city of Santa Cruz. And after flying for the first 30 minutes towards the north-east we will be able to appreciate the devastation inflicted to the forest by the agriculture fields, meanly of Soy Beans and Sunflower. Later we will be flying over the town of Concepcion which is part of the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitania. Flying for some more time we start seeing how the exuberant green carpet gets thicker, to soon enter the virgin jungle of the park. Some more time on the way and will start watching the awesome Caparu plateau. On our way to Flor De Oro and flying on the plateau we appreciate from the plane the impressing waved landscape and the different vegetations of this flat mountain while we get closer to the waterfalls "Arcoiris" y "Ahlfeld". Once at the Arcoiris waterfall we will fly a loop to have better views of the waterfall, so pictures can be taken easier. And in about two minutes we will be at the Anlfeld waterfall here the pilot will do the same.
Lunch at Flor de Oro and after a short rest we will take a approximately 1 ½ hour walk on one of the camp's paths. At night, after dinner we will have the opportunity of taking a night excursion on motor boat with a spotlight for about an hour in the Itenez River and some of its bays. During this boat ride we will have the opportunity to see up close different kinds of birds while they sleep in the lower parts of the trees in the river banks. During this ride we will also have the opportunity to see caimans and nocturnal snakes on tree branches. (There is NO guarantee of finding and watching animals!).
Arrival to Ahlfeld camp. Settle in cabins or in campinng. This will be our sub base camp for all our excursions. After lunch we cross the Pauserna river to start a walk through a path which leads us parallel to the River. The path is covered by a very relaxing canopy forest. This walk is approximately 30 minutes and goes towards a natural pool formed by the Ahlfeld Falls. Here we will have a special and spectacular view of this famous waterfalls. From the botton we have a spectacular view of the waterfall from different angles. We will enjoy this place and take a swim but NOT to close to the falls. We must take notice and pay attention to all existing signs and indications of caution. We must be aware of the presence of Sting Rays in the water as well as the presence of other animals which are not very probable but surely possible. After this, we return to Ahfled camp for dinner and rest to be ready for the next day. Tonight a ahort nocturnal walk is possible if the guests desire to do so.
After breakfast, we will set out on a path parallel to the Pauserna River towards the top part of the Ahlfeld Fall. Here is where the waterfall begins. The view from here is more impressive. Even though the view is not as extensive as the one from the botton it is somehow creepy. CAUTION: Do not get too close to the edges since the rocks are very SLIPPERY.
the Pauserna River... We must walk very carefully. We will keep going upward on the path through the jungle whose vegetation keeps changing until at the top we reach the Caparú Plateau where the forest's vegetation becomes low. We walk for approximately 30 more minutes on the plateau until we get to the point where we get a magnificent view of Arcoiris Falls. It is here where we stop for refreshments and lunch sandwiches, meanwhile we watch the immense place. The action of the water falling down creates a notable evaporation of liquids, part of the natural cycle which must be watched, appreciated and meditated upon. Depending on the rain season, some streams become rivers which turn into other impressive waterfalls; smaller but yet closer and accessible to the visitor who may swim and get a massage by the fall of the water.
Breakfast and if the guests prefer we can cross the Pauserna River on boat to enjoy the site of a approximately 30 meters high waterfall which forms other smaller falls and from which you can get some wonderful massages for the whole body.
Something exhilarating before beginning the return to the Flor de Oro Camp.
| 935 |
Mary Kay Owens is Executive Director of the Institute for Healthcare Innovation Strategies and President and CEO of Intelligent Health<|fim_middle|> and effective leadership skills to implement processes and build systems to manage medically complex patient populations. | Analytics and Southeastern Consultants.
It is a great honor to continue to serve the AIMM organization in a new leadership role. As President, I will focus my efforts on continuing the mission to support wide-spread adoption of team-based medication management services into the care of high-risk patients suffering from multiple chronic health conditions and to demonstrate the value of these services.
Pharmacists providing medication management services are integral to coordination of care with multiple prescribers and treating providers, especially in those patients with chronic conditions. Uncoordinated care costs the US healthcare system over $240B each year. The findings from a recent program that utilized pharmacists, case managers, and providers working together to reduce avoidable hospital, ED and duplicative services by coordinating care and improving medication use, achieved a savings of approximately $500 per member per month.
The cornerstone of the program involved the application of analytical methods using claims data to identify and stratify patients with uncoordinated care which was contributing to unnecessary hospital, ED and other costs for the plan. A targeted approach allowed for maximizing personnel resources and greater savings for the plan. Pharmacists conducted interventions with patients and prescribers to optimize drug therapy, improve adherence and achieve improved care coordination resulting in overall savings validated by rigorous claims analysis.
It was very rewarding to be a part of designing and implementing this program and it solidified for me that as pharmacists providing medication management services, we must be able to demonstrate both the economic and clinical value of those services to payers and providers.
As AIMM President, I am excited to support the organization's initiatives. AIMM's partnerships with stakeholders and organizations promote and teach team based care delivery systems how to effectively streamline medication management into primary health care services. AIMM provides organizations with performance improvement resources, one-on-one coaching | 363 |
Ignore the dim lighting and the<|fim_middle|> | weird reflectiony line at the top. It's Grady's perfect little 2-year old silhouette and I love it.
It took a long time to make. Almost two hours (my attention span is limited. Two hours is a really long time nowadays.) But I'm so glad I spent the time capturing the last remnants of baby Grady before he completely turns into Big Boy Grady who wrinkles his nose and furrows his brow and says, "hmmmmm, I don't fink so!" when I ask him if it's time for bed.
I saw this frame on the clearance table at Michael's last week and I'd seen DIY silhouette art tutorials floating around on the web so I figured I'd give it a go. First I took a picture of Grady's profile against a light background (while he was watching television so he'd be motionless.) I actually took about a dozen photos so I could chose one where his lips weren't pursed or his head wasn't tilted - you want a natural, relaxed profile.
Next I opened the photo up in my photo editing software and jacked the contrast way up. Then I sized it to the frame and printed the picture on regular paper.
I taped the picture onto a window and then taped regular ol' waxed paper on top of it (you could use tracing paper if you're feeling fancy.) Then I used a pencil to (carefully! Take your time!) trace the outline of Grady's profile onto the waxed paper.
Next I taped the waxed paper onto a sheet of black cardstock (just the edges, though) and used the surgeon-y looking craft knife I also bought at Michael's to cut out the silhouette. This step took forever. I feel like maybe I bought the wrong kind of knife because I ended up just using scissors for most of it. My only advice for this step is: go slow. Make tiny cuts. You can always cut more away, you can't add it back if you cut too much.
My final step was to paste the black silhouette on my beigey-grey cardstock and then slap the whole thing in the frame.
This project wasn't easy but it wasn't difficult. It was mostly just time consuming and kind of annoying. It took a lot of patience (not something I have an abundance of right now) but like I said, I'm so glad I tackled this project. I hung the picture on our bedroom wall and every time Grady sees it he says, "that's Grady! That's Grady!" It's perfect. | 520 |
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College Search: Database | 33 |
Having begun my career in the corporate world I am well aware of how important branding, optics and<|fim_middle|>ina is also a great resource when it comes to sourcing suppliers, venues and coming up with those 'unique' ideas that can make a good event a great event. Her creative abilities and being able to 'think outside of the box' are a valuable resource to any production team. I can't say enough about Gina and what a pleasure it is to work with her and I look forward of having the opportunity of working with her again soon. | perception are to a company. Gina Humilde Events can assist you in planning your corporate Christmas parties and galas, help you plan engaging retreats or incentive trips and also aid in corporate fundraising events. We are happy to provide hourly consultation packages to expedite your logistics, design or planning to throw "shareable" events that embodies the heart of your brand.
It is my pleasure to have the opportunity of saying a few words about a very capable and experienced young lady, Gina Humilde. Gina has worked on several projects for The ExperLink Group including a Corporate Fund Raiser for the past 3 years. It is a complex event that has many moving parts and Gina has been an invaluable addition to our team. She has worked on the project as an Associate Producer responsible for many key components including coordinating assignments for 40 on site staff on the event day. Gina has a great sense of humour, always has a smile on her face and gives a 110% to whatever she is asked to do. Gina has been an integral part of the success of this event that has raised over $1,000,000 for our client to distribute to various charities including Kids Help Phone, Children's Wish and The Canadian Breast Cancer Society.
G | 255 |
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