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When accounts are placed for collections, an Acknowledgement letter is mailed or emailed to your company and lists all new accounts placed for collections. FDCPA compliant letters are mailed to each debtor to notify them of the assignment.
The Trend Report tracks the collections on a particular month’s placements giving you the ability to follow the returns for those placements, month by month and year by year. The longer the accounts remain with ProCollect, the higher our returns.
The Balance Report segregates all accounts by dollar amount into four ranges: $0 – $500, $501-$1500, $1501-$2500, and over $2500. This report provides insight into the dollar amount your past residents have the ability to pay and helps us fine tune campaigns to increase returns.
To comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) we would like your consent to take photos of your child, and use them in the ways described on the form. If you’re not happy for us to do this, we can accommodate your preferences.
If you have not returned the form could you please kindly return the form by Friday 13th July by clicking on the attachment below.
Samoas and Thin Mints and Tagalongs, oh my! It's time to celebrate those little cookies that make diets shut right up and give you reason to shell out hundreds of dollars to your co-workers' kids each year.
If the world were run properly, we would all be asking politicians and potential life partners, "Thin Mints or Do-si-dos?" because Girl Scout Cookie preferences are just so telling.
But did you know that along with those sweet treats comes an interesting evolution? Turns out, the cookie names we all live and die by vary from state to state, and, at one point in history, girl scouts had to swap cookies for calendars.
Mashable rounded up 10 of the most surprising facts about those boxes of sinful deliciousness. But, be forewarned: You will so strongly be craving cookies by the end of this video that you may start having Thin Mint hallucinations.
Skivenes posted this as part of the hashtag #WhatInstagramMeanstoMe.
JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Jan 4;2(1):e186937. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.6937.
Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Clinical Outcomes for Children During Emergency Department Triage.
Goto T1, Camargo CA Jr1, Faridi MK1, Freishtat RJ2,3,4, Hasegawa K1.
Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's National Health System, Washington, DC.
Department of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC.
Department of Genomics and Precision Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC.
While machine learning approaches may enhance prediction ability, little is known about their utility in emergency department (ED) triage.
To examine the performance of machine learning approaches to predict clinical outcomes and disposition in children in the ED and to compare their performance with conventional triage approaches.
Prognostic study of ED data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2015. A nationally representative sample of 52 037 children aged 18 years or younger who presented to the ED were included. Data analysis was performed in August 2018.
The outcomes were critical care (admission to an intensive care unit and/or in-hospital death) and hospitalization (direct hospital admission or transfer). In the training set (70% random sample), using routinely available triage data as predictors (eg, demographic characteristics and vital signs), we derived 4 machine learning-based models: lasso regression, random forest, gradient-boosted decision tree, and deep neural network. In the test set (the remaining 30% of the sample), we measured the models' prediction performance by computing C statistics, prospective prediction results, and decision curves. These machine learning models were built for each outcome and compared with the reference model using the conventional triage classification information.
Of 52 037 eligible ED visits by children (median [interquartile range] age, 6 [2-14] years; 24 929 [48.0%] female), 163 (0.3%) had the critical care outcome and 2352 (4.5%) had the hospitalization outcome. For the critical care prediction, all machine learning approaches had higher discriminative ability compared with the reference model, although the difference was not statistically significant (eg, C statistics of 0.85 [95% CI, 0.78-0.92] for the deep neural network vs 0.78 [95% CI, 0.71-0.85] for the reference; P = .16), and lower number of undertriaged critically ill children in the conventional triage levels 3 to 5 (urgent to nonurgent). For the hospitalization prediction, all machine learning approaches had significantly higher discrimination ability (eg, C statistic, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.78-0.81] for the deep neural network vs 0.73 [95% CI, 0.71-0.75] for the reference; P < .001) and fewer overtriaged children who did not require inpatient management in the conventional triage levels 1 to 3 (immediate to urgent). The decision curve analysis demonstrated a greater net benefit of machine learning models over ranges of clinical thresholds.
Machine learning-based triage had better discrimination ability to predict clinical outcomes and disposition, with reduction in undertriaging critically ill children and overtriaging children who are less ill.
Advocates for government accountability were alarmed to learn Gov. Jared Polis was undecided on whether to veto a bill to expand police transparency in Colorado.
But Polis spokeswoman Maria De Cambra set the record straight late Wednesday.
The signing is slated for 10:50 a.m. Friday at the Capitol, and it will be open to media, De Cambra said.
Polis is allowed to wait 10 days to sign bills, which gives him until Saturday in this case. In an earlier call Wednesday, De Cambra had said that the governor was still undecided.
The bill — HB-1119, sponsored by Democratic Denver Rep. James Coleman — would require Colorado law enforcement agencies to open the files on completed internal investigations into a wide range of police interactions with citizens, including alleged incidents of excessive force.
This would mean the public, media, lawyers and any other interested parties would, through open records requests, get a glimpse at how Colorado cops police themselves. As it stands, the Denver Police Department is the only Colorado law enforcement agency that consistently releases comprehensive information following internal investigations.
The bill passed the House and Senate and has been sitting on the governor’s desk for about a week, awaiting the final signature needed to make HB-1119 state law.
Upon learning Polis was not necessarily on board with the bill, the Colorado Press Association — one of the primary backers of the bill — sent out an email to its members that called the situation “urgent” and implored journalists and editorial boards to speak out now in support of HB-1119.
Media in the state have heralded the bill as a key step toward transparency from an institution that shrouds much of its accountability system in secrecy. The Denver Post’s Noelle Phillips testified in support of HB-1119 this year.
The effort’s other supporters include the ACLU and Colorado Common Cause, the libertarian Independence Institute and media groups such as the Colorado Broadcasters Association and the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition. Colorado Independent Editor Susan Greene testified last year in support of a version of the bill.
If it were ever possible to cram all the glittering boy-meets-girl, high-school-love-story stereotypes into one movie, A Cinderella Story does it in spades. The 2004 movie stars Hilary Duff, whose father dies in an earthquake, forcing her to work in a diner for her evil stepmother who keeps her from chasing her college dreams. She meets a boy (Chad Michael Murray) online, but he’s in the cool crowd and she doesn’t fit in (even though she’s beautiful and smart). They agree to meet on the school dance floor, where she wears a mask barely covering her eyes so he magically can’t tell who she really is (even though you can see her entire face). Duff’s performance in the movie snagged her a Razzie nomination in 2005 for Worst Actress. Did anyone expect anything more?
Rank up to six of the week’s #1’s, then compare the two in the top and bottom position. We call it Love It Hate It for the weeks of Oct 11 and Oct 18, 2017.
As promised, I’m still running behind, so I’ve combined another two weeks of Love It Hate It. Here’s hoping that the first of the year will see a bit of slack in my schedule (only one planned travel week) and that there will be enough #1 issues to support a once a week review.
For the weeks of Oct 11th & 18th, there wasn’t a lot that interested me, so I’m thinking for the future I might start looking at things I typically wouldn’t pick up. To be honest, that’s the best way to find gems in the massive rubble that often makes up #1 comics. For now, let’s see what the past two weeks had to offer.
I’m not really sure how I managed to overlook this book when it came out, but I’m glad my friend Ashlie at the comic book store made sure she put it in my hands, literally. There is much to appreciate and like about this comic.
Writer James Tynion IV is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I know his work from the re-release of Detective Comics last year when he brought Batwoman back into a serious comic. And he did it well. Tynion IV knows how to include queer characters into comics without that diversity being all about the queer characters.
It’s true that many comic book fans want more diversity, but then publishers get it in their heads that the book itself needs to be all about that diversity, and that’s just not right. Those books, as we’ve seen time and time again, just won’t sale. The story needs to come first, and yes, the diverse characters have to be considered when creating that story, but that’s where it should end.
Here, Tynion IV creates a queer comic about ending diversity once and for all. His main character, Doctor Cyrus Crane, who is a geneticist and just happens to be gay and married, makes the ultimate sacrifice to see his dream come true. It seems somewhat ironic that a diverse character with a marginalized identity wishes to end diversity once and for all. This story is a must read.
As I’ve mentioned before, and I’m sure I’ll mention again, art and the words to talk about art often elude me. I can talk about color and layout and panels, and etc., but I often feel there are terms I should know that I just don’t. Suffice it to say that the art by Eric Donovan (Illustrator) and Dee Cunniffe (Colorist) is quite amazing. Don’t take my word for it though. Here is a sample from a two page spread.
My photo clearly does not do the image justice. This is why you should check this one out for yourself. The panel layouts go beyond the typical reading of left to right with nice clean borders, and the use of black for borders fits perfectly with the overall feel of the comic. I really do love this comic.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. Quite frankly, it’s a bit hard to put it in the “hate” category. However, of the eight books I read for this review, it definitely was my least favorite.
When I dislike a book, it almost always boils down to the story being told. That’s the case with this book as well. Peter Milligan’s (W) story just doesn’t have enough to hook me for this one. We have a kid, who ends up having a new kind of lobotomy in hopes of curing his insanity. He then turns to helping others by performing lobotomies in his hotel and eating the removed parts of his patients/victims brains. The results are not always what he’d hoped.
The problem is that I don’t get it. I don’t know why he does it, I don’t know why he eats the sections of brain he removes, I don’t know if it gives him some sort of power, I just don’t know!!! And for me, not knowing usually means I’m done with the book.
It’s a book I won’t pick up again, and for that reason, it moves into the Hate category for this review.
What a difference a day makes in the mountains. Yesterday we awoke to snow and got a couple of inches before the temperature got above freezing and the ground snow melted while it was still snowing and blowing horizontally. I think it got up to about 40ºf yesterday and dropped to 22ºf last night. I fear there will be no fruit in our orchard this year. Unfortunately, all 5 apple trees, both peaches and both Asian pears were already blooming. The garden seems to have survived and the chickens didn’t even notice.
Today is bright and sunny, the wind has calmed and it is 62ºf. Much too nice a day to stay inside, yet too iffy, especially at night to do any garden work, so I tied on the sneakers, grabbed my trekking poles and hiked away from the house while the kids were having quiet time and Jim was sitting in the loft, still recovering from another bout of bronchitis. I decided to take a hike that I had not previously taken, down the gravel road, took a right and hiked up the cow paths to a ridge we see from the paved road when we go up the mountain. The views from there were fabulous.
A shot east and the steeple of the church half way up to our house. A shot west up the valley. And a shot south toward the highway we can hear trucks on, but not see from our house, to a house that has been built in the hollow over the ridge. I got my 10,000+ steps, climbed the equivalent of 77 flights of steps, enjoyed the bright sunny day for well over an hour and a half. The fresh spring air was delightful.
While hiking along the cow paths, I spotted many tiny violets blooming in the woods.
After coming back down from the ridge and crossing the road, I climbed the hill above our house and walked back around that hill and returned to the road and the walk home.
Soon those cow pastures between the woods will be too tall to walk and I will have to stick to the woods and roads.
Tomorrow is another beautiful day and after a late morning appointment, I plan to try another trail that I have never hiked before it gets too overgrown as well.
This month is flying and so much yet to do. We still don’t have a tree. Maybe next week. As I was going to bed down the chooks last evening, and to collect 5 very cold eggs, I was being gently pelted by small frozen pellets. Our table sits in front of the French doors to the back deck and we watched during dinner as the stained wood was coated and turned white. We weren’t really expecting much in the way of bad weather last night, the Nor’easter that was pounding up the coast to New England wasn’t going to hit Virginia too hard and we were catching only the westerly edge of wind and moisture, chilled by our winter temperatures. Awakening this morning with it still heavily overcast, the cedars, pines, and other firs looked like they had been sugar coated.
All fog and frosting and totally enchanting. After feeding pups and me breakfast, it was chicken chore time and on my way back from giving them their morning portion of grains and kitchen scraps, a glance in the same general direction showed a beautiful mountain phenomenon.
The clouds breaking up but clinging to the hollows in the mountains, producing a floating ridge. The sun will quickly melt the frosting on the trees, but it made for a beautiful holiday scene.
Last night I knitted until my hands were cramped, but met my yesterday’s goal of getting the body of grandson’s sweater finished. Today’s goal is the hood and a desperately needed bath. It has picked up dog hair and dust as it has been lugged around the house and in the car in an effort to get it completed.
The hood is a simple 9″ long stockinette rectangle the width of the neckline plus a few stitches. It should be done in a couple of hours then stitching up the seam to close the rectangle into a hood, stitch up the underarms and a quick wash.
The missing gift that is in the mail was near here according to tracking, perhaps to arrive today, so the box of Christmas that must be mailed away should be ready by tomorrow.
Back to the knitting goal. Must get on it.
Wow, a gorgeous day and not to be wasted indoors. Jim wanted a roadtrip to buy a riding jacket that is more appropriate for the warm days. His vintage look leather jacket is fine with the vents open up to about 70ºf but he came home last Sunday and I thought he was going to pass out. He had struggled with the bike on our gravel road and driveway and basically walked it downhill the .4 miles and was so overheated it was dangerous. To make our trip, we checked out various rides he could do or had done that keep him off of the Interstate which is so heavy with semi trucks that it is dangerous. Between the driving and the shopping we were gone for nearly 5 hours and I saw some beautiful countryside that I had never seen before.
My mother grew up in this part of the country and I often heard stories about the counties and towns, but had never seen them. I had my camera, but didn’t think to take a single photo. Near the last part of the drive, we rode for 45 miles along a beautiful creek lined with cabins and homes.
When we got home, I went over to check on the chickens, collect eggs, and give them a treat of wild mustard greens and discovered an empty coop.
For the past several evenings, there have been 3 or 4 of the chicks out at dusk, but the rest remained steadfastly indoors. Today they are all outside, merrily pecking at the grass or dust bathing in the shade.
The littles totally being ignored by the adults, much to my delight. They still segregate at night and so I am leaving the partition in place for a few more days. We are due for a couple of days of rain, so there may be more in coop time, especially for them. On Friday, they will be 9 weeks old and I think the partition will come down. I’m still at a quandry about Cogburn. I really want a self sustaining flock, but since he only has 3 hens in with him now, he is wearing them out and their backs have almost no feathers on them. They make “saddles” to protect them, but I don’t want to go that route. If I remove him, there won’t be any coop chicks unless I am able to quickly get some Buff Orpington fertilized eggs quickly when a hen goes broody. I really don’t want to do the heat lamp brooder bit again, though I know that I will have to for the meat chickens. Maybe I should just accept that is the way it will be every few years as we replace the older hens. If we had electricity out there that would run the heat lamp, I would just build a brooder coop with separate run, but we don’t.
At least, this time, I have successfully raised and introduced 10 chicks to the mix with no fatalities.
The snow pack is thinning. Our neighbor that hays our fields for the bulk of the hay came down after dark Saturday night with his behemoth tractor with climate control cab and plowed out our driveway. As he was the one who constructed it for us a couple of summers ago, he knows generally where it is under the snow. This allowed us to bring both vehicles back down to the house. To change things up a bit, this morning we drove into the university town to a little local diner for breakfast. The nearest parking is across Main Street and slightly uphill and though the access was cleared, the parking spaces have been trod by many feet in the past half week and between each parking space is an ice slick. Both of us had slides, fortunately with no fall just trying to get out of the car and to the cleared walkway.
Yesterday as the roads seem to be mostly cleared, we took a jaunt 2000 more feet up our mountain to see more snow.
If you ever watched “Dirty Dancing,” this is the “lodge” in the movie, also know as Mountain Lake Lodge, a hotel with adjacent cabins. Though it is closed this time of year, except for special weekend events, it is still beautiful.
The elevation there is about 4400 feet and the ridge has trees frosted generally from frozen fog that forms.
The property on the near edge of this valley belonged to my grandfather’s family, though when we bought our farm, I had no idea that it was literally walking distance away. My hubby teases that I did know, but I had never even been to this county or seen that area at the time.
As we were going up to see the lake and the hotel in the snow, we saw this. It is not our car, there was no one in it, but this is a lesson on why you don’t drive a 2 wheel drive vehicle on snowy, icy mountain roads. The only thing keeping this car from tumbling on down the mountain side is the tree behind it that it hit as it slid over the embankment. Hopefully, no one was hurt. It will take a thaw and a creative, daredevil tow truck driver to get that one out.
That is the mountain on which the red car, the hotel, and our home are located.
Fortunately, this snow did not take out our power, so all of the prep we did for it does not have to be done again for the ice storm due tonight that more than likely will steal all of the conveniences from us for at least a day or two.
Facial implants are designed to augment, reconstruct, or rejuvenate your facial contours. They are available in a wide range of sizes and styles and restore contour and/or proportion to your face. Facial implants can be used to augment your chin and jaw, to provide the sculpted cheekbones that you desire, or to supplement the tear trough area. Chin is one of the most essential feature which gives a balance to the face and creates a major part of one’s profile. People often look in the mirror and focuses on the nose, ears, sagging jowls or wrinkles, but few of them also observes their chins with the same discerning eye. he chin augmentation surgery primarily focuses on correcting the problem of double chin along with damaged chin which is the result of an accident.
Chin Reduction Surgery :Also known as cosmetic chin surgery, it aims at removing the surplus fat by making incisions and also by molding the bone of the chin.
Double Chin Plastic Surgery :The surgery undertakes the different causes of double chin like fatty tissues and the surplus skin is first treated and removed. The other preferable technique in which a tiny incision is made in order to remove the surplus fat is known as Tumescent Liposuction.
Genioplasty :The oscillating bone saw is used in order to remove a particular section of the jaw. The metal screws and metal plates are used to keep the bones in a proper place so as to give a new look to the patient.
Cleft Chin Surgery :Chin cleft surgery is a surgical enhancement of the cheek and chin that brings additional beauty to the face. It can also correct facial asymmetries and congenital defects. It does not require extensive incisions and involves lower chances of infections and discomfort.
You should be able to return to work and other normal activities within a week.
You should recline in a face-up position at a 45-degree angle for at least one week.
Stitches are removed in five to ten days; sutures placed inside the mouth will dissolve in a similar period of time.
You may be restricted to a soft diet for up to ten days.
After four to six weeks, vigorous physical activity can be resumed.
Non-Surgical Chin Enhancement is a safe, non-invasive alternative to traditional chin enhancement. The procedure involves injecting a filler such as Radiesse or Artefill into precise areas of the chin in order to increase the length, width or projection of the chin. Non Surgical Chin Enhancement is a 10 minute office procedure that involves no anesthesia and very little pain, redness or downtime. Most patients go back to work the next day. Non-surgical chin enhancement avoids the basic risks of surgery. There is no solid implant, so therefore no risk of movement or infection. Radiesse and Artefill do not move after they are injected (they become part of the skin) and infections are unheard of with injection of Radiesse or Artefill into this area of the face.
Orthognathic surgery is a corrective jaw surgery that straightens or realigns your jaw, and corrects related skeletal deformities that a patient may need. This type of surgery, done by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon (OMS) in a hospital setting which involves straightening and realigning the jaws using surgical plates or templates, screws and wires. The procedure aims at improving a person’s ability to speak, chew and breathe. This surgery can bring a dramatic improvement in the patient’s appearance.
Advanced techniques alongwith fully equipped latest medical facilities makes India affordable destination for chin implant surgery. India costs a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in western countries.
Espresso Machine Buying Guide - How to choose?
Adjustable pressure. Espresso is highly dependent on the pressure at which water is pushed through the grounds. Semi-automatic machines with nine bars of pressure or more are best for extracting the right amount of flavor from fresh coffee grounds. Some semi-automatic machines may have too much pressure or too little pressure for optimal brewing, you need to be able to dial it up or down.
Stainless-steel housing. Because espresso is made with steam and pressure, it can be hard on less-durable materials. Espresso machines with plastic housings won't hold up as well as stainless-steel machines. Stainless steel also offers more protection against corrosion than other materials.
A movable steam arm. Rotating, articulating steam arms provide users with more control over the amount and consistency of froth. They should also be long enough and adjustable enough to comfortably fit a container under them.
Removable water tank. An espresso maker with a removable water tank is easier to fill and clean. Some machines can weigh up to 30 pounds or more; without a removable water tank, you need a pitcher or other container to add water.
A cup warmer. Aficionados say a warm cup is essential for maintaining the temperature of freshly brewed espresso. You can always rinse your cup to in hot water to warm it, but an included cup warmer is a nice extra.
Adaptability for coffee pods. An espresso machine that accepts coffee pods isn't essential if you use fresh grounds, but it's handy if you're in a hurry. This can save some time in the brewing process.
Do you mind a learning curve? Semi-automatic and manual machines require some practice and finesse to get brewing right. Some require a lot. The good news is that there are videos, forums and helpful experts all over the Internet at coffee specialty sites; the bad news is that some people never figure it out to their satisfaction and end up trading in their espresso machines and going back to Starbucks or buying a super automatic machine.
Are you impatient? In general, making espresso is not a quick proposition. You have to grind the beans, heat the water (or wait for it to heat), wait for the immersion and extraction processes, etc. It can take 15 minutes or more before you actually end up with a beverage. For some, that's a soothing, satisfying process. For others, it's just that much time out of their lives they'll never get back. Again, for the latter, we recommend either pods or a super automatic machine.
Should you buy an espresso machine or a coffee maker? The difference between regular coffee and espresso is the brewing method. Both processes require ground beans and a pressure system to squeeze water through the grounds to extract flavor. However, espresso is, at its core, a "shot" of very strong coffee; not more than about 1.5 ounces. It's not exactly a cup of coffee. If you prefer a true coffee, to sip or to keep going back to the carafe for more, see our report on coffee makers. If you drink coffee throughout the day and like a fresh cup each time, without the additional "cooking" that comes with a glass carafe sitting on a heating element, you'll want to check out our report on single cup coffee makers.
Will you use your espresso machine every day? Espresso makers designed for home use can be bulky, and will require a permanent spot on the countertop. Measure the dimensions of your cabinets and the space beneath to be sure your machine will fit. If you want an espresso maker for occasional use, look for a model that can be conveniently stored when not in use.
Top-rated espresso machines cost hundreds -- sometimes thousands -- of dollars, more than what many are willing to spend on a kitchen appliance of this type. However, if you visit a local coffee shop every morning for an espresso or latte, you're likely shelling out at least that much per year anyway.
In budgeting for an espresso machine, be sure you include any other accessories you will need in addition to whatever machine you buy. Unless you buy a machine with a built-in grinder, or one that exclusively uses espresso pods, you'll need to invest in a top-quality burr grinder, which can run you from $100 to $300. (See our report on coffee grinders for our recommendations). In addition, you may need a frother, a stainless steel frothing mug, tamper, etc. Some machines come with these accessories, but they don't work as well as some aftermarket versions, so you may want to upgrade. Some machines don't include them at all. Be sure you add up the extras to figure out your total cost outlay.

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