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warc | 201704 | Worldwide, governments and societies today are confronted with big challenges like climate change, rapid technological innovations, and economic crises, that raise all kinds of new organizational, policy, and ethical issues. These challenges pose both opportunities and constraints for a multitude of public, non-profit, and private actors. For example, a sudden influx of refugees causes anxiety among citizens and high costs for shelter, but can boost knowledge and economic growth in the long run. Social media and advanced data sharing technologies enable citizens to organize themselves, but also come with potential risks of privacy invasion. The financial crisis has laid bare the fragility of the global economy, but also the important role that governments still play in regulating markets. Such challenges have political, administrative, financial, and policy aspects that need to be handled within a governance perspective.
Visit the website: http://en.mastersinleiden.nl/programmes/public-administration/en/introduction
Course detail
In the midst of all the turmoil, we expect governments to be transparent, effective, and efficient problem solvers. The main question that we ask in the Master of Public Administration is therefore:
How can we address humankind’s most pressing problems from the perspective of governance?
The Master of Public Administration focuses on the management, steering, and coordination of political, administrative, economic, and social actors, as well as the formal and informal regimes and policy processes within which they act towards addressing collective social problems at regional, national, and international levels. A defining hallmark of the master is that governance is studied and taught from a multi-level perspective. This means that there is no single level of governance at which societal challenges can be addressed best. For example, the Ebola disease started as a local governance problem of a few countries but transformed itself rapidly into a global problem due to the disease’s spread by means of modern transportation. Boat refugees, to take another example, who flee their homelands because of local famine or civil wars poses a major challenge for the European Union.
Format
These examples show that for educating future public policy professionals, in order to be able to address these problems in an adequate ways, a holistic rather than a single-level approach is needed. Hence, the various tracks within the Master of Public Administration span the intricacies of multi-level governance by a multitude of public and private actors, all the way to the management of organizations and the behaviour of individual public managers.
Specialisations
- Economics and Governance
- International and European Governance
- Public Management: Linking Politics and Policy
Careers
The combination of academic and professional skills taught in the master’s programme makes Leiden graduates excellent candidates for positions in national and international Public Administration as well as for managerial positions in the private sector. Many of them also find their way to consultancy organisations.
How to apply: http://en.mastersinleiden.nl/arrange/admission
Funding
For information regarding funding, please visit the website: http://prospectivestudents.leiden.edu/scholarships
A bachelor’s degree from a university, equivalent to the level of a Dutch academic bachelor’s degree, or demonstrate to meet the requirements for such a degree. Sufficient command of English (IELTS 7.0, TOEFL 100 (internet-based) or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)). This language requirement does not apply if you have: completed your education in Canada (except Quebec), USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand or Australia, or an International Baccalaureate, or a Dutch VWO-diploma. | 3,860 | 1,854 | 0.000546 |
warc | 201704 | Gastrointestinal 1
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Primary function of gastrointestinal system
Provide cells with nutrients
Where are nutrients contained?
In the food we eat
Nutrients in food needed for
Metabolism, growth, repair
Food entering mouth
Ingestion
Ingested food broken down into absorbable parts
Digestion
Digested food (nutrients) enter bloodstream
Absorption
Undigested food removed from body
Elimination
Muscular tube from mouth to anus
Alimentary canal or gastrointestinal/digestive tract
Process by which bolus moves through alimentary canal
Peristalsis
Alimentary canal includes
Mouth (oral cavity) Pharynx Esophagus Stomach Small intestine Large intestine
Accessory organs of the gastrointestinal system
Salivary glands Liver Gallbladder Pancreas
Function of accessory organs of the gastrointestinal system
Release secretions into GI tract
Other names for alimentary canal
Gastrointestinal tract Digestive tract
Mucous membrane with goblet cells
Mucosa
Protect structures below from acidic secretions
Mucosa
Absorption in small intestine is achieved by
Microvilli of the mucosa
Connective tissue below mucosa
Submucosa
Submucosa contains
Blood vessels and nerves, mucus secreting glands in small intestine
Smooth muscle that contributes to peristalsis
Muscularis
Serous membrane that forms peritoneum in abdominopelvic cavity
Serosa
Number of layers of muscularis in stomach
3
Walls of the GI tract, inner to outer
Mucosa Submucosa Muscularis Serosa
Serous membrane that lines abdominopelvic cavity and folds back to cover most organs in the cavity
Peritoneum
Peritoneum contains
Blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, nerves
Function of peritoneum
Allows organs to slide over each other without friction
Lines abdominopelvic cavity
Parietal peritoneum
Covers organs in cavity
Visceral peritoneum
Subdivisions of peritoneum
Mesentary Mesocolon Greater omentum Lesser omentum
Posterior abdominal wall to small intestine
Mesentery subdivision of peritoneum
Form of mesentery subdivision of peritoneum
Paper thin, vascular, anchors small intestine
Structures of oral cavity
Teeth Tongue Hard palate Soft palate Uvula
Functions of oral cavity
Receives food by ingestion and breaks it into small particles by chewing Mixes food with saliva from salivary glands, which contain enzyme salivary amylase
Mechanical digestion
Chewing
Beginning of chemical digestion occurs
In the oral cavity by salivary amylase
What is partially digested in the oral cavity?
Starches/carbohydrates
Only voluntary part of digestion
Swallowing
Tongue aids in
Chewing, swallowing, sense of taste
Function of teeth
Mastication
How many deciduous teeth?
20
More proper name for baby teeth
Deciduous teeth
Age before adult teeth come in
2-6 years
How many permanent teeth
32
Other names for cuspids
Eye teeth, canines
Three parts or pharynx
Oropharynx Nasopharynx Laryngopharynx
Lump of food that you swallow
Bolus
Swallowing occurs by
Involuntary reflex
Raise to keep food out of nasal cavity
Uvula, soft palate
Raises to seal off oral cavity
Tongue
Covers trachea to keep food out of respiratory tract
Epiglottis
10 inch long muscular tube
Esophagus
Length consists of laryngopharynx to stomach
Esophagus
Hole in diaphragm esophagus passes through
Esophageal hiatus
Functions of esophagus
Lubricates swallowed food Moves food by gravity and peristalsis to stomach
Digestion occurs in esophagus?
No
Upper part of stomach
Fundus
Part of stomach with greater curvature and lesser curvature
Body
Lower part of stomach
Pylorus
Sphincter between esophagus and stomach
Cardiac/esophageal sphincter
Sphincter between stomach and small intestine
Pyloric sphincter
Innermost layer of mucous membrane that lies in folds of the stomach
Rugae
Number of layers of smooth muscle in the stomach
3
Functions of stomach
Storage Mixing of bolus Gastric juice secretion Mucus secretion Secretion of hydrochloric acid
When stomach is functioning as storage, what happens to rugae?
Expand
Chemical digestion in the stomach is achieved by
Gastric juice
Destroys swallowed pathogens
Hydrochloric acids
Digests proteins in stomach
Pepsin
Activates pepsin
Hydrochloric acid
Bolus turns into what in the stomach
Chyme
Highly acidic semi-liquid material
Chyme
Chyme is a mix of
Food and gastric juice
Where does chyme go?
Out of stomach, through pyloric sphincter, to small intestine
Longest section of the GI tract
Small intestine
Length of small intestine
20 feet
Diameter of small intestine
1 inch
Divisions of small intestine
Functions of the small intestine
Secretion of mucous Digestion Absorption
Most digestion occurs in
The small intestine
Lining of small intestine secretes
Enzymes that digest proteins and carbs
Liver and pancreas release their digestive enzymes through
Opening in duodenum
Chemical digestion of starches/carbohydrates to sugar achieved by
Amylase
Chemical digestion of proteins to amino acids achieved by
Peptidase called Trypsin
Chemical digestion of fat to fatty acids and glycerol achieved by
Lipase
Chemical digestion of nucleic acid achieved by
Nuclease
Amylase, peptidase, lipase, and nuclease located in
Small intestine
Amylase breaks down
Carbs
Trypsin breaks down
Amino acids
Peptidase breaks down
Amino acids
Lipase breaks down
Fatty acids and glycerol
Nuclease breaks down
Nucleic acids
Most absorption of digested food and water occurs in
Small intestine
Increase surface area for absorption
Villi and microvilli
Contain blood vessels to absorb digested nutrients
Villi and microvilli
Contain lacteals to absorb digested fat
Villi and microvilli
Large intestine begins where
RLQ
Length of large intestine
5 feet
Diameter of large intestine
2.5 inches
Large intestine appears
Puckered
Large blind-ended pouch at the beginning of the large intestine
Cecum
Ascending colon located in
Right abdomen
Descending colon located in
Left abdomen
Ileocecal valve located
In cecum
Vermiform appendix located
Off the cecum
Order of parts of large intestine
Ileocecal valve into cecum Ascending colon Transverse colon Descending colon Sigmoid colon Rectum Anus
Functions of large intestine
Secrete mucus Reabsorbs water from feces Stores undigested food (feces) Propel solid waste towards rectum Normal flora produce Vitamin K and some B vitamins
Occurs when voluntary sphincter relaxes
Defecation
Digestion occurs in large intestine?
Nope
Digestion occurs in
Oral cavity, stomach, small intestine
Digestion doesn’t occur in
Esophagus, Large intestine
Destroys normal flora, causes diarrhea
Antibiotics
Function of salivary glands
From saliva, empty secretions into mouth through duct
Moistens and lubricates food, secretes enzyme amylase, keeps teeth clean
Functions of saliva
Contains antibodies and enzyme called lysozyme to control bacteria in mouth
Saliva
Parotid glands are located
Near ear
Submandibular or submaxillary glands are located
Lower jaw
Sublingual glands are located
Under tongue
Located in mostly RUQ, is the largest gland in the body, reddish brown in color, very vascular
Liver
Waste products are removed from liver by the
Hepatic vein
Hepatic portal circulation
Look it up again
Modifies fats for use in body
Liver
Stores vitamins, iron
Liver
Forms blood plasma proteins
Liver
Detoxifies or removes harmful substances (alcohol, drugs)
Liver
Gives feces brown color
Bilirubin, byproduct of RBC breakdown
Urea is released from where, travel by what, end where?
Liver, blood, kidney
Glucose is stored in liver as
Glycogen
Function of bile
Contains salts to emulsify fat
Where does bile leave the lobes of the liver?
Through two ducts that merge to form common hepatic duct
BUN tests check for
Kidney function
Anemia overwhelms the
Liver
Muscular sac below liver
Gallbladder
Stores bile which drains down common hepatic duct, then flows upward through cystic duct
Gallbladder
Merges with common hepatic duct to form common bile duct
Cystic duct
These two ducts merge to form common bile duct
Common hepatic duct, Cystic duct
Releases stored bile when chyme enters small intestine
Gallbladder
Accessory organ of GI system that is responsible for fat digestion
Gallbladder (bile from liver)
Long gland that extends from duodenum to spleen
Pancreas
Exocrine secretions leave pancreas through
Pancreatic duct
Pancreatic duct merges to join
Common bile duct
Secretes digestive enzymes and sodium bicarbonate into small intestine to neutralize acidic chyme
Pancreas
Chemical digestion of starches/carbohydrates to sugar, supplied by pancreas
Pancreatic amylase
Chemical digestion of proteins to amino acids, supplied by pancreas
Pancreatic Trypsin
Chemical digestion of fat to fatty acids and glycerol, supplied by pancreas
Pancreatic lipase
Chemical digestion of nucleic acids RNA and DNA, supplied by pancreas
Nuclease
Endocrine function of pancreas
Produces two hormones (insulin and glucagon) that regulate blood sugar
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warc | 201704 | The Federal Trade Commission has charged American Institute for Research and Development, Inc. (AIRD) and its predecessor, American Inventors Corporation (AIC), with running a deceptive invention-promotion scheme that bilked consumers nationwide out of thousands of dollars each over a 20-year time span. The FTC alleged that the Massachusetts firms and their principal officers made a variety of false claims, and failed to disclose key information, in the course of inducing consumers to purchase patenting, marketing and commercialization services. At the FTC's request, a federal district court has issued an order temporarily freezing the assets and requiring the preservation of documents of all but one of the defendants.
AIC and AIRD operate out of a Westfield, Massachusetts, office. Also named as defendants in the FTC complaint detailing the charges are AIC president Ronald Boulerice of Russell, Massachusetts; AIRD president John Samson, who resides in West Hatfield, Massachusetts; and John Hoime, of Westfield, and who was employed by AIC between 1989 and 1994.
"The FTC has targeted several invention promotion schemes in recent years," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "What we repeatedly find are consumers paying thousands of dollars to firms promising to help bring inventions to market, and getting nothing in return. Unfortunately, independent inventors with enthusiasm for their ideas are vulnerable to someone who appears willing to help market their dream. The reality is that independent inventors trying to market an invention face staggering odds."
The FTC expressed concerns about the invention promotion industry in testimony last fall before a Senate subcommittee: "Unfortunately, many, if not most, of these companies ultimately attain little in the way of commercial success or profit for their inventor clients.... Based on its investigations, the Commission estimates that over the years, tens of thousands of independent inventors have been victimized by, and have lost tens of millions of dollars to, ineffective or dishonest companies and individuals offering invention promotion services," the Commission said.
Bernstein urged consumers to protect themselves by keeping the following advice in mind when considering the sales pitch of an invention promotion firm:
Be realistic. Few inventions make it to the marketplace; fewer still are commercially successful. You face staggering odds trying to market an invention. Beware of any firm that charges an up-front fee. Beware of any firm that offers to evaluate your invention, but refuses to disclose details about its review criteria, its system of review, or the qualifications of its evaluators. Beware of any firm that refuses to disclose its success and rejection rates. Beware of any firm that claims special access to manufacturers looking for new products, but refuses to document such claims. If you decide to retain a firm, ask up-front what the total cost of its services will be.
According to the FTC complaint in this case, the defendants have run ads for their services in newspapers and magazines, and also have made in-person and telephone sales presentations. They have offered two basic services:
a "feasibility report" that costs from $250 to $495 and which purportedly evaluates the patentability and marketability of the product; and a "representation agreement" that costs from $5,490 to $11,990 and under which the firms promise to prepare, file and prosecute a patent application, and to promote the idea or product to industry in an effort to secure a licensing agreement for the inventor
.
The complaint challenges the following representations allegedly made by the defendants:
that the patents they seek and obtain have some commercial value when, in fact, in many instances AIC seeks only design patents, which have little or no commercial value, rather than utility patents, which are more valuable and difficult to obtain; that they only select and recommend for further invention promotion services a small percentage of the ideas submitted to them, when, in fact, most if not the vast majority of the ideas submitted, regardless of their merit or marketability potential, are selected and recommended; that their services are likely to result in financial gain for their customers, when, in 20 years of business, perhaps no more than 13 customers have realized any financial gain at all as a result of the defendants' services; and that the money-back guarantee they offered until about two years ago minimizes the risk of purchasing their services, when that is not the case.
In addition, the FTC charged, the defendants often have failed to disclose to customers the distinction between a design patent and a utility patent. A design patent protects only a product's ornamental design or shape, while a utility patent protects a product's utility or mechanical function. The Defendants also systematically failed to disclose when customers' utility patent applications had been rejected; they instead obtained design patents with no significant commercial value, the FTC alleged.
The court order obtained by the FTC is a temporary restraining order that freezes the assets of all but Hoime until after the court can hold a hearing on whether to issue a preliminary injunction extending the temporary order provisions, enjoining defendants from engaging in the misrepresentations alleged, and requiring defendants to make certain affirmative disclosures pending the outcome of the trial in the case. That hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3, 1995.
The FTC investigated this case in coordination with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Boston, and the U.S. Attorney's office in Springfield.
The Commission vote to file the complaint was 5-0. It was filed under a seal order in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, in Springfield, on Oct. 24. The court lifted the seal on the case this afternoon.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has "reason to believe" that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.
An FTC brochure titled "Invention Promotion Firms" offers tips for consumers who are considering trying to patent and commercialize their inventions. Copies of the brochure are available for 50 cents from the Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, Colorado 81009. Copies of the complaint in this case, as well as documents associated with several other FTC cases against invention promotion firms, are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases, consumer brochures, and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web site at: http://www.ftc.gov | 7,147 | 3,223 | 0.000312 |
warc | 201704 | Flogas Britain has been offered the much sought after ‘first-fill’ from the new Isle of Grain LNG terminal in Kent, UK.
The National Grid-owned Isle of Grain facility is the largest LNG terminal in Europe, with a capacity of 15 million tonnes per year and ‘unrivalled’ access to the European gas market.
Next week (11th November) will see Flogas draw 20 tonnes of LNG (the equivalent of 1/3GW of energy) from the plant in its landmark first-fill.
Following this, Flogas will take 60-100 tonnes (1-1.5GW of energy) per day for distribution to major industrial manufacturing sites across the UK.
Flogas regards the privilege of the first-fill as recognition of its importance to the National Grid as its biggest LNG customer, and reward for setting the pace of LNG distribution in the UK.
The company currently leads the field in converting high volume oil burning businesses to LNG, and has designed and developed the largest LNG conversion project ever seen in the UK.
Rob McCord, Head of LNG at Flogas, said, “The Isle of Grain facility is vital to our strategic growth, and to the growth of the LNG sector in the UK. To be offered first-fill is a real honour and one in which we are extremely proud.”
“The future for LNG is very bright in this country, and we’re looking forward to working with National Grid and the Isle of Grain team to ensure that Flogas continue to be at the heart of the UK LNG market.”
Small-scale LNG opportunities
According to the official Grain LNG website, the project is actively exploring innovative ways of meeting the future strategic needs of its customers and, following the significant take-up of the Road Tanker Loading Facility, is also seeking to develop additional small-scale LNG marine distribution services.
Grain LNG is to launch an Open Season process to gauge market interest for the new offering and depending on regulatory and planning approvals, services could be available from late 2016. | 1,995 | 1,033 | 0.000997 |
warc | 201704 | It had been a very tough couple of years. The traditional, comfortable symbols were being lost, and it looked as though life would never be the same. Some people were even asking whether there was any hope that the people of God would survive. After all they had been through, maybe this was the end.
Ezekiel found himself drawn once more to the same quiet cemetery where he had been going to find solitude. This probably was where his own wife had been buried, where his personal hopes and dreams for the future had been painfully laid to rest. He was beginning to wonder if perhaps the future of Israel was being buried here in this strange land. There didnt seem to be much interest in either repentance (for what?) or renewal (of what?) in the life of Israel. Their identity, their way of life, their confidence and their faith had been shattered. What Babylon had done to them was not supposed to happen. After all, they were Gods people and deserved better. Is it possible that the nation could survive this tragedy?
In this cemetery, God asks, Ezekiel, do you see any hope here? (Son of man, can these bones live? Ez. 37:3). Ezekiels grief and despair whispers the way many of us are feeling
Lord, no human being can find hope here, only you can see that. (Lord, you alone know that.)
I can imagine a modern Ezekiel sitting at Ground Zero in New York or Washington, D.C., or in Pennsylvania wondering to himself, How can anything good come from this? We have all wondered that same thing. How we react in the aftermath of tragedy says a lot about to whom we turn when we feel helpless and how we expect the future to be built again.
Today our strong feelings lead to strong and hostile language. People replace hope statements with believe concepts. We often have done this in the past, reaffirming what we believe about God in an attempt to reassure ourselves that the future is secure. If these believe statements truly represent our faith, then it seems to me that we should trust in that God. But persons making such statements often turn to the government and military to make the future livable for them (often by making the future unlivable for others).
Where do we go in times of fear and despair to have our faith strengthened? Where is the source of our hope? After more than 20 years of teaching Biblical Literature, text after text and story after story run through my mind where hope literally springs to life out of the seeming despair and tragedy that struck first Israel and then the new faith community of Jesus.
King David paints a delightful contrast in Psalm 11. There is danger all around and his friends advise him to flee because the situation is hopeless, yet David affirms his steadfast trust in God. He admits that people are shooting at him and that his friends are asking, When all hope is gone, when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Surely David is fighting a lost cause. The moral and theological foundations of society are crumbling under the evil that people do to each other. Where does David find the courage to continue on? His response is indeed comforting: The Lord is in his holy temple the Lord examines the righteous the Lord is righteous and loves justice, and the upright will see Gods face.
For David, the source of hope is forcefully influenced by where you focus. We have heard a great deal about the evil that is being done to us with the frequent implication that there is no logical reason for it but for David, focusing on the evil in the world leads to despair because there is so much of it. When we affirm again our belief that ultimately it is not evil that controls the world but God, then we can see that God is still bringing redemption and healing. The world changes, but God remains.
What dominates our thinking these days? Certainly there are reports of food being dropped for refugees and many stories of people making heroic sacrifices and helping others get through their grief. We even see a slight upswing in religious practices. But overwhelmingly, the focus is on the unjustified evil done unto us and how we who are righteous must punish those terrible people who have done these things.
Does the word of hope from David speak to us as well? Our hope rests in the assurance that God does not run away and hide, that God can be counted upon to be there in our time of grief and pain and that, ultimately, hope rests in God.
If we believe that God is still on the throne, then we have no time to get involved in retaliation and destruction. We struggle with the concern about whether God has left us, when our primary response should be to ask whether we have left God. When we affirm with David that God is still in His temple, then Gods vision for a better world where peace, justice and love dominate calls us to do the things of God. In that way, nothing has changed even though everything has changed.
Return to December | 4,936 | 2,346 | 0.000427 |
warc | 201704 | Abstract
The mechanisms for getting research into policy and practice are receiving increasing attention from health researchers and donors. Participants from the Department for International Development (DFID) funded sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS Research Programme Consortia (RPCs) met at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) on 18th‐19th May 2009. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange learning on communicating research findings for policy and practice. Abstracts from the meeting are attached. A weblink for the meeting is available where the following can be viewed: Full and short meeting reports; Presentations and abstracts from the meeting; and Talking Heads Video clips with participants and useful links. | 756 | 458 | 0.002207 |
warc | 201704 | Schedule 2 share incentive plan (SIP): Supplementary and defined terms: Market value
Under a Schedule 2 SIP, the market value (‘MV’) of the shares must be determined at various times so that the plan limits and plan requirements are adhered to and tax and NICs can be correctly calculated and accounted for.
A company will need to establish the MV of shares being used in a Schedule 2 SIP if there is:
an award of free or matching shares, an acquisition of partnership shares, dividend reinvestment, a participant who ceases employment within five years of an award of free, partnership or matching shares (three years for dividend shares), a withdrawal of free, partnership or matching shares from the plan within five years of award (three years for dividend shares), or an acquisition of shares by the trustees - in order to quantify the corporation tax deduction to be claimed. Date of determination of Market Value
For the purposes of awards or acquisitions of shares under a Schedule 2 SIP, their market value must be determined on:
free shares or matching shares*: the date of award (paragraph 35(2)), partnership shares with no accumulation period*: the acquisition date (paragraph 50(2)), partnership shares with an accumulation period*: the start of the accumulation period or the acquisition date, (following the end of the accumulation period) or the lower of the two values, (depending which option was chosen by the company and specified on the partnership share agreement (paragraph 52(2A)); *For this purpose matching shares and any linked partnership shares awarded by reference to the market value on the date of acquisition (paragraph 50(2) or 52(3)(b)) are treated as one award (paragraph 59(b)), and dividend shares: the value at the date of acquisition (paragraph 66(3)).
In the remainder of this section of guidance, “award date” is taken to include the date of acquisition for partnership and dividend shares.
Paragraph 92(3) of Schedule 2 states that, where the market value of shares has to be determined for the purposes of the SIP Code, “an officer of Revenue & Customs and the trustees [of the plan] may agree that it is to be determined by reference to:
(a) a date or dates, or
(b) to an average of values on a number of dates,
as stated in the agreement”.
In practice, this agreement is reflected in the definition of market value in the plan rules.
Where shares are listed on a recognised stock exchange and the market value is determined in accordance with the guidance included at ETASSUM28180, then it will not be necessary to obtain HMRC agreement on the value. | 2,641 | 1,137 | 0.000894 |
warc | 201704 | Salaried Member: Condition C: Becoming, or ceasing to be, a member part way through the year S863D (8)-(10)
Condition C requires the capital contribution to be compared to the Disguised Salary for the tax year (S863D(2)).
If a member joins part way through the tax year, or is expected to cease to be a member before the end of the year, the capital contribution is proportionally reduced, on a pro rata basis, before it is compared to the Disguised Salary for the tax year.
The reduction is made on the basis of the “excluded days” rule so that the contribution reflects the number of days the individual is expected to be a member of the LLP when the test is carried out. In this context, excluded days are:
the days in the tax year prior to the member joining the LLP, and any days in the tax year after the date which M is expected to cease to be a member.
*Example *
This example looks at where an individual becomes a member part way through the year.
M is appointed a member three months into the tax year. His reward package means that he will be due a fixed amount of £40,000 for the rest of the tax year (this is a Disguised Salary). The terms of his membership mean that he had to make a capital contribution of £12,000.
At first sight, M’s contribution may appear to be at least 25% of his Disguised Salary
(12,000/40,000 x 100 = 30%).
However, he will only be a member for nine months of the current tax year. His capital contribution is, therefore, reduced to reflect the period of the year that he will be a member: 12,000 x (9/12) = £9,000.
When the test is applied using this reduced figure (9,000/40,000 x 100 = 22.5%), Condition C is satisfied.
Extrapolating the example to the subsequent tax year, assuming that all circumstances are expected to remain the same throughout, M’s Disguised Salary for that tax year will be £53,333 (£40,000 x 12/9). The actual capital contribution of £12,000 is compared to this figure at the start of the tax year but, clearly, the same result as in the previous year is produced (12,000/53,333 x 100 = 22.5%). | 2,126 | 951 | 0.001084 |
warc | 201704 | NSS Labs released two test reports of endpoint protection products which reveal new shortcomings in these widely deployed products. They cover multi-vector attacks (malware delivered from the web, email, network file sharing and USB flash drives), memory-only attacks, and anti-evasion techniques.
Key findings from the reports show:
Malware caught via one entry point may not be detected when introduced via another entry point. E.g. malware that is detected via a web download could be missed if downloaded from a USB drive or network file server. Products missed between 10% and 60% of the evasions typically used by cybercriminals. Less than a third of the tested vendors had protection for memory-only malware, leaving a significant evasion gap in their products.
All of the products tested had been certified by multiple organizations. However, traditional antivirus test and certification labs are simply not performing this level of gloves-off testing.
Enterprises basing purchasing decisions off such vendor-funded reports are therefore blind to the holes in their endpoint security defenses.
“IT organizations worldwide have a false sense of security in part due to tests that have been too easy,” said Vik Phatak, CTO, NSS Labs. “Our test results point towards the need for more realistic testing based on what cybercriminals are actually doing to breach corporate defenses.”
The tested products:
AVG Internet Security Business Edition ESET Smart Security Enterprise F-Secure Client Security for Business Kaspersky Business Space Security with Internet Security McAfee Total Protection for Endpoint Norman Endpoint Protection Panda Internet Security (Enterprise) Sophos Endpoint Security and Control Symantec Endpoint Protection Trend Micro OfficeScan Plus IDF Plug-in. | 1,809 | 935 | 0.001087 |
warc | 201704 | Dairy industry given productivity tool boost The University of Ballarat's Centre for eCommerce and Communications (CeCC) is working with Dairy Innovation Australia Limited (DIAL) to create greater efficiencies and improvements in decision making, using dairy industry data.
"We have developed a new spatial application to support the dairy industry’s milk production database, called C-Milk to assist DIAL to calculate where improvements in productivity might be made," Dr Helen Thompson, Director of CeCC, said.
"The online spatial application can visualise dairy production per region and dairy industry location.
"We can aggregate regional production data, allowing for identification of trends and anomalies in dairy production data.
"The application offers users – especially dairy processors and herd improvement companies – the advantage of accessing spatial information from any location, using advanced technology applications together with new broadband initiatives."
The dairy industry in Australia collects enormous quantities of data across all levels of dairy production, from milk quality and yield of individual cows and farms, to meteorological information tracking temperature, rainfall and humidity.
"In 2009, DIAL began to develop an integrated data platform, web application and dynamic query tool to make the data accessible to the industry," Dr Barbara Meurer, Manager, Milk Quality and Biotechnology, said.
"It is the richness and depth of the Victorian dairy industry data that makes it so well-suited to spatial representation.
"The data used in this geospatial prototype consisted of milk, protein and fat production levels for dairy producing regions. Alongside the production data, a random set of 6,000 dairy farms across Australia was generated to bench-test performance."
This collaborative project has been an important milestone for DIAL as it seeks to advance industry productivity, sustainability and competitiveness using innovative technologies.
"CeCC is pleased to have contributed to this important project and believes there is much potential for the industry as it builds capacity into the future," Dr Thompson said.
"The Victorian dairy industry is a substantial contributor to the state’s economy with over 5,000 dairy farms in Victoria accounting for 65 per cent of Australia’s overall milk production," Dr Meurer said.
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warc | 201704 | Hot tea is a great and natural way to soothe a sore throat and make you feel better.
Things You'll Need
First heat up some water. A kettle works best however you can use what ever means available. Once you have your heated water proceed to the next step.
Add about one to two tea spoons of honey to the bottom of your cup. Pour in the hot water and stir to dissolve the honey. The honey is a great way to provide soothing relief.
Now steep your tea. I prefer green tea but a tea infused with peppermint is a great way to combat congestion. You will want to steep the tea for 3 to 5 min. Some other options are white tea, black tea, and red tea. There are many varieties available. Choose the kind that you like the most and don’t be afraid to mix and match.
Now you have some nice hot tea to enjoy. Green tea is full of antioxidants which help to fight free radicals.
Tips
Over steeping can cause your tea to become bitter. | 937 | 540 | 0.00188 |
warc | 201704 | Fresh flowers are often used to garnish cakes. Flowers are an integral part of a couple’s wedding day, and when placed on a cake, they can tie into the theme of the day. Cakes adorned with flower buds and petals bring a fresh vision to spring and summer birthdays. Flowers also provide a gourmet, customized element to any cake. There are a few tips to keep in mind when putting fresh flowers on a cake.
Choose
Talk with a local florist, particularly the one from whom you are buying your flowers. Ask whether or not your flower of choice is edible. Although many flowers can be used, some contain toxic properties that could make you sick. Research each type of flower, foliage and leaves that you want to place on the cake to ensure that it is edible. Popular edible flowers include roses, lavender, sunflowers, pansies and oregano.
Ask your florist or flower distributor about the history of the flowers. Make sure the flowers are grown organically, without pesticides or toxins. Few things can ruin a wedding more than a hall full of sickened guests. Don’t use flowers off the side of the road or from an unfamiliar field. Only use wild or personally-grown flowers if you know the operations and standards of the area around it. Prepare
Snip flower, leaving petals, leaves and buds on the stem until right before you decorate the cake. Store flowers in a sanitized vase filled with clean water. Place more delicate flowers in a shallow bowl with a layer of water. Keep the foliage in a cool environment.
When you’re ready to decorate the cake, a maximum of a few hours before presentation, wash the flowers in a gentle, cool stream of water. Alternatively, fill a bowl with cool water and swish the flowers, leaves or petals around in the water. Place a layer of paper or tea towels on the counter. Set the foliage onto the towels and allow to dry completely. Decorate
If you are creating a spray to waterfall down the side of cake, tie together the flowers with a nontoxic string or tape. Slide leaves or additional foliage around the string to disguise it.
Trim stems from individual buds and tuck them into the corners of the cake, in between tiers. Pluck petals from a bud, such as a rose, and sprinkle them on top of, or around the cake. For a luxurious effect, lay a single bud or handful of petals beside each piece of cake as it is distributed. References and ResourcesForever Wed: Wedding Cake Decorating Using Edible Flowers by Carol Reed-Jones
Baking 911: Decorating 101, Flowers
Martha Stewart: Fresh Flowers | 2,550 | 1,274 | 0.000793 |
warc | 201704 | Personal Statement
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1) focus on eating whole grains & cereals, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables. 2) go for foods providing plenty of protein, calcium & iron.
3) traditionally, breast feeding moms are given a lots of dry fruits, ghee & sugar. These high calory foods were meant to supplement the khichdi diet that moms traditionally follow after birth.
4) try dry fruits without ghee & sugar by putting them in your dalia. This way you will not be loaded with high calories.
I'm married with 2 children's .not doing breastfeeding I am feeling pain in my nipples. please suggest.. My breast are not grown.I look completely flat and seriously embarrassed from this side as it doesn't give me sexy look. I even don't know anything about sex and expectation of male during first wedding night. I m about to get married what should i do to not to dissatisfy my husband from sex expectation.
Trigger thumb is a painful clinical condition in which the terminal phalanx if the thumb gets locked in a state of flexion. Sometimes it is bilateral i. E. Involving both hands. Big toes of the feet are usually not involved. The condition at some stage may become painless. It is more common in diabetics.
Trigger thumb is caused as a result of inflammation of the tunnel of the thumb in which the (flelexor pollicis longus) tendon moves. As a result the tunnel gets narrowed, usually at the metacarpo phalangeal joint and arrests the gliding movement of the tendon. Sometimes there is a nodule formation in the tendon at the same place producing obstruction to the tendon movement.
Treatment
Non steroid anti inflammatory drugs help in reducing pain and swelling. Physiotherapy helps in regaining movements of the joint. Sometimes in local infiltration with steroids gives relief. However long term effects of steroids are not desirable.
Surgical treatment if the medical treatment does not succeed, then surgical release of the tendon should be undertaken. It a one stitch surgery which can be done under local anesthesia with constantly good results.
Congenital trigger thumb some children are born with it. The congenital variety is usually bilateral. In these cases the treatment is surgical only. It should be done early otherwise the terminal phalanx of the child will not grow and remain small in size.
Doc my wife din gt a monthly periods dis month n more over v din hav any sexual intercourse frm past 2 months. Wt is d reason fr dis. I'm a sixteen year-old girl and i've had problems with something white and slightly thick appearing on my underwear on a daily basis. It's been happening for a while now and i'm not sure if it's something everyone goes through or if it's just me. What should I do? please and thank you! My friend is suffering from severe leg pain n left breast pain. why is it so. Is there any tablet to cure the pain? I got married last 1 year and continuing sex with my partner but unfortunately my wife not yet pregnant but during intercourse the sperm automatically comes outside from the vagina. So kindly suggest me any medicine or need any test for better result. I have undergone a scan yesterday. It shows endometrial lining thickness as 15 mm and has pcos does it is an serious issue.
Many people feel hungry throughout the day. They are lethargic until they lay their hands on food. These bouts of hunger go on like a vicious circle and if not resisted it can lead to health issues.
A high: fiber diet can prevent unnecessary hunger: Your diet should be rich in fiber. Body takes a longer span of time to digest fiber rich food. It also makes you feel full for hours together. Having fiber will keep your bowel movements in control and is therefore healthy. Remember to add extra fiber to your bowl of cereals or salad to keep pangs of hunger at bay. Divide one heavy meal into two smaller meals: Eating heavy meals and that too less frequently is really bad for your health. This can make you feel hungry time and again. To control the constant rumbling inside your tummy, you should divide one big meal into two or more smaller meals. For instance, if you were supposed to eat sandwiches, boiled eggs and soup for lunch, you should probably eat sandwiches at noon and eat the soup and eggs any time later in the day. Never be a fast eater: Jumping on your food is the worst way of tackling things. Research studies show how a human brain takes more than twenty minutes to tell your body it is full and satisfied. If you don't wish to overeat throughout the day, you must consume your food slowly. This way the brain takes more time in realizing it is full and thus further time in feeling subsequent hunger. Drink more glasses of water: Every person should drink around three to four liters of water. Drinking water half an hour after a meal can keep your gustatory concerns in check for long. Water keeps you hydrated, helps in digestion and controls unnecessary hunger. Eat a good amount of protein: Protein makes you full in very little time and thus doesn't need to be consumed in great quantities. It will make you feel content for long as your blood sugar levels are in balance through protein consumption. Protein takes time to be digested. After my marriage I had periods twice then I consult the doctor she told me that I had pcod problem then I had daine35 now I want to get pregnant what should I do? I am 23 years old female. I had sex with my boyfriend on december without any protection. I took unwanted 72 tablet within 2 hours. Is this harmful to me in future? Is there any chance of pregnancy? I am 27 yr married female. I have pcos from last 2 years. I want to conceive. My medication is going on but it is almost 2 years tht I am taking medicines. I just want to know are there no chances at all of conceiving during pcos. My wife is feeding my one month baby now a days so what should be her diet? Because we feel he has a stomach sometimes as he cry a lot.
When the immune system of the body reacts against the tissues of its own body, it is called an autoimmune disorder. To put it more dramatically, the body becomes its own enemy. The immune system of your body keeps fighting disease causing germs and bacteria, but in rare cases, the immune system might malfunction and fight its own body causing different disorders. These disorders may be caused due to genetic issues or due to mutations. According to ayurveda, autoimmune disorders are a result of constant unhealthy lifestyle and diet. Ayurveda works at the root cause of the disease where it starts treating the malfunctioning immune system.
Here is how ayurveda treats autoimmune disorders:
Toxin removal: Ayurveda starts working on removing the toxins from the body. According to ayurveda, toxins or ama in the body interfere with the proper functioning of the immune system, which often leads to autoimmune diseases. Usually shunthi, haritaki, pippali, maricha, hingu and saindhav lavan are used to detoxify the body. Metabolism correction: Not only will ayurveda detoxify the body, but it will also correct the metabolism which gets messed up when afflicted with an autoimmune disorder. Neem, guggulu, guduchi, vasa, patola patra and ghrita are used to correct the metabolism. Increase in ojus production: Ojus is the component which helps in the nourishment of the immune system. It is generally received from the food you eat. Due to dysfunctional immune system causing the impairment of metabolism, production of ojas decreases to almost nil. Hence ayurveda increases its production. Guduchi, haridra, manjishtha, amalaki, nirgundi, yashtimadhu and pippali are used to increase ojha production. Immune system correction: Lastly, ayurveda works at correcting the immune system. If the immune system is not corrected, then the above treatment procedure will just be useless. Ghrita, haritaki, bahera, amalaki, ela and dadim are used generally to calm the immune system and rejuvenate it. They help correct the immune system for normal functioning.
Autoimmune disorders may not be easily treated, but that doesn't mean you cannot expect it to cure or witness a miracle. You just need some faith and confidence alongside proper treatment and you are ready to roll. | 9,165 | 4,195 | 0.000239 |
warc | 201704 | NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Financial advisers have long urged clients to avoid taking on large mortgages in retirement, but in today’s unusual market, a mortgage can make sense for retirees in the right circumstances.
The key question: How long will you stay in the home? A longer stay can reduce the risks associated with the loan.
Common wisdom says it’s bad to carry a lot of debt in retirement, and that still holds true for most people. Avoiding debt means avoiding interest charges. And the lower your monthly expenses are, the easier it will be to weather a financial setback.
About two-thirds of homeowners 65 and over carry no mortgage, according to the Census Bureau, while the vast majority of younger homeowners have mortgage debt. Older homeowners have had more time to pay off their mortgages, and even if they still have loans, older homeowners typically owe very little compared to the property’s current value.
All that equity, then, can be used to pay cash when moving to a new home in retirement or it can be tapped for ordinary expenses later, through a home equity loan, cash-out refinancing or reverse mortgage.With all the benefits of owning a home free and clear, why would anyone consider taking out a mortgage?
Two reasons: to keep cash available for other purposes, or to bet that investment returns will more than offset mortgage costs.
For older homeowners with plenty of resources and a willingness to take some chances, both reasons can make sense if mortgage rates are low enough, and today they are very, very low. According to the BankingMyWay.com survey, the 30-year fixed-rate loan averages just 4.35%, the 15-year loan 3.6% and the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage a mere 3%.
A homeowner who pays cash instead of taking out a 30-year mortgage would, by avoiding interest charges, effectively earn an investment return of 4.35%. With five-year certificates of deposit paying an average of just under 1.5%, you could earn more by paying cash for a home than by borrowing and putting your cash into a CD. | 2,062 | 1,046 | 0.000967 |
warc | 201704 | When you first fall in love, every moment you spend with that special someone feels like a lifetime. Even a glance and a smile can seem to last for hours. But as time goes by, let’s face it, relationships change. You have places to go and people to see, children to raise and careers to manage. The rest of the world can start to slip in between you and the one you love. It takes practice to remain deeply connected and truly intimate with someone—but it doesn’t need to take up all of your free time. With the simple practices in this book, you’ll be able to really connect with your special someone in just five minutes a day.
Using simple techniques drawn from mindfulness practice, each of these intimate and fun activities will help you feel closer, more connected, and more deeply in love with your partner. The meditations, affirmations, and observations you’ll find here will foster gratitude, trust, empathy, and loving kindness. Use them to get closer to the one you love, and watch as the benefits of mindfulness grow to fill your relationship with renewed romance, harmony, and joy.
Five Good Minutes is a trademark of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Jeffrey Brantley, MD, is a consulting associate in the department of psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University, and the founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke Integrative Medicine. He has done... Read more
Wendy Millstine, NC, is a freelance writer and certified holistic nutrition consultant who specializes in diet and stress reduction. With Jeffrey Brantley, she is coauthor of the Five Good Minutes® series, Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious... Read more | 1,720 | 918 | 0.001113 |
warc | 201704 | As described in the
Process for Selecting a Site for Canada’s Deep Geological Repository for Used Nuclear Fuel (May 2010) and at the request of the Township of Red Rock to Learn More about the Adaptive Phased Management program and for an initial screening, the NWMO has had a report prepared that outlines the findings from the initial screening.
The purpose of the initial screening in Step 2 of the process is to determine whether, based on readily available information and five screening criteria, there are any obvious conditions that would exclude the Township of Red Rock from further consideration in the site selection process.
The review of readily available information and the application of the five initial screening criteria show that the area examined during this study is unlikely to contain geological formations that would be potentially suitable for hosting a deep geological repository. The various geological formations within the area considered for this screening are either not amenable to site characterization or unlikely to meet the safe containment and isolation function of a deep geological repository. Therefore, the Township of Red Rock is not considered as a suitable candidate for continuing in the NWMO site selection process. | 1,273 | 619 | 0.001628 |
warc | 201704 | Increased bioenergy demand to put pressure on forests
A new study shows that increased demand for biomass for energy in Europe, through intensified use of existing forests, could lead to loss of biodiversity and high competition for wood between sectors, and proposes policies to help preserve biodiversity while also limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, conducted for the European Commission, explores the potential impacts, interactions, and implications for resource efficiency that could come from increased bioenergy demand. It shows that increased demand for bioenergy without better policies will lead to increased pressure on forests both in and outside of Europe. Yet policies to protect the environment could help avoid these problems and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from land use change.
The EU is working on new policies that would limit the region’s future emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. These include both the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive and a new bioenergy policy post 2020. Bioenergy can be produced from all kinds of plant material, including wood and wood by-products. But while sustainability standards already exist for transport biofuels, the EU does not have standards for solid and gaseous biomass used for electricity and heating. The European Commission therefore asked a group of researchers led by IIASA scientists to assess how increasing bioenergy demand would affect forests, the forestry industry, and other sectors that rely on biomass.
“In particular, we wanted to know what are the direct and indirect impacts of increased European bioenergy demand on our natural resources, land use, and on the environment in the EU and globally. We also explored the impacts of increasing bioenergy use on sectors currently using biomass for other purposes, for example the forest-based industries. Then we assessed if environmental protection measures could bring simultaneous benefits to both the environment and the mitigation of climate change,” says IIASA researcher Nicklas Forsell, who led the study.
The study, which relied on the IIASA Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM) and Global Forest Model (G4M), finds that continued increase in bioenergy demand will increase the use of wood for energy production. “Since forest-based industries are already using most of their by-products and residues for energy production, increased demand will increase the harvest of wood and put more pressure on forests,” says Hannes Böttcher, a researcher at the Oeko-Institut who worked on the study.
“Such intensification in the use of forest and land may lead to loss of areas of high biodiversity, such as pristine forests or grazing lands that are home to many threatened species, but also to more greenhouse gas emissions from land use change in countries outside of Europe”, he adds.
“The study shows that an increased demand for bioenergy could affect the existing uses of wood material, by-products, co-products, and waste wood, altering the current balance between material and energy uses. Some of the existing industries are likely to benefit from this change, while others may face a more difficult market situation in the future,” says Catherine Bowyer, senior policy analyst at the Institute for European Environmental Policy.
“Not only do we see that there are winners and losers within the forest-based industries, we also find a risk that wood that could be used for the production of woody materials will in the future instead be used for energy production” says IIASA researcher Anu Korosuo, who also worked on the study.
The study also assessed three potential environmental protection scenarios, which showed that protection could bring benefits across multiple areas. The three scenarios focused on the protection of high biodiversity areas, protecting forests from more intensive use, and protecting other remaining lands from increased use for biomass production. All three scenarios showed clear benefits both for the environment and for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
This means that at the EU level, protecting biodiversity can bring clear synergies, avoiding damage to unused forests and the conversion of other natural land. However, the study also finds risks of so-called “carbon leakage effects,” where policies can simply move emissions from the EU to the rest of the world.
In the study, researchers analysed three countries, Finland, Germany and Italy, in more detail in terms of their current biomass use and availability, as well as their existing national policies affecting the use of biomass resources. Joanne Fitzgerald from EFI says, “This allowed for further investigation of the effects of possible future bioenergy development in different parts of the EU with differing climates and a different emphasis and intensity in their wood use“.
“The study shows that there are clear trade-offs and synergies between sectors (the use of land, forest sector, agriculture sector, and bioenergy production) which needed to be studied together in an integrated systems approach to assess the full scope of impacts.” says Korosuo.
The study was a joint collaboration between IIASA, Oeko-Institut, the European Forest Institute, INDUFOR, and the Institute for European Environmental Policy.
Study “Impacts on Resource Efficiency of Future EU Demand for Bioenergy (ReceBio)” by Oeko-Institut, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), INDUFOR, European Forest Institute (EFI) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)
Contact at Oeko-Institut:
Dr. Hannes Böttcher
Researcher in Energy & Climate Division Oeko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology), Berlin office Phone: +49 30 405085-389 Email: h.boettcher--at--oeko.de Contact at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA):
Nicklas Forsell
Research Scholar Ecosystems Services and Management Phone: +43 2236 807 334 Email: forsell--at--iiasa.ac.at Contact at European Forest Institute (EFI):
Marcus Lindner
Head of Programme Sustainability and Climate Change Unit Phone: +358 10 773 4340 Email: marcus.lindner--at--efi.int Contact at Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP):
Catherine Bowyer
Senior Policy Analyst Agriculture and Land Management Programme Phone: +44 20 7799 2244 Email: cbowyer--at--ieep.eu Contact at INDUFOR:
Matias Pekkanen
Consultant Email: matias.pekkanen--at--indufor.fi
Oeko-Institut is a leading independent European research and consultancy institute working for a sustainable future. Founded in 1977, the institute develops principles and strategies for ways in which the vision of sustainable development can be realised globally, nationally and locally. It has offices in three cities in Germany: Freiburg, Darmstadt and Berlin. | 6,926 | 2,894 | 0.000352 |
warc | 201704 | COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Searching for an identity between its pristine beaches and its reputation for suicide bombings, Sri Lanka is struggling.
A 26-year civil war pitted the Sinhalese government — the ethnic majority — against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations.
The war ended in May 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE and the capture of its leader and founder, Velupillai Prabhakaran, yet many say that this country still has a long way to go to ensure that violence does not re-emerge.
Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the Sri Lankan election earlier this year. Voter turnout was about 70 percent and the election commission gave Rajapaksa 58 percent of the vote against his rival and former friend, Gen. Sarath Fonseka.
Shortly thereafter, Fonseka was charged with planning to overthrow the government, and was put on trial. On Aug. 13, a military court convicted Fonseka of involvement in politics while in service and stripped him of his rank and military honors, according to the Associated Press. Fonseka's sentence of a dishonorable discharge was subject to Rajapaksa's approval. It was unclear how much time in prison Fonseka faces, if any.
Fonseka's lawyer, Rienzie Arsecularatne, denounced the verdict and said the case was heard in his absence during a court vacation. He told the Associated Press that he would appeal the decision. "They fixed the court martial on the days I was not available," Arsecularatne said. "This is not a proper trial. This is a total miscarriage of justice."
With Fonseka's arrest and trial, the opposition coalition became fragmented. This division gave Rajapaksa’s majority coalition, the Sri Lankan Freedom Party, a relatively unobstructed path to gain a majority in the April parliamentary election. However, while Rajapaska’s political alliance won 144 out of the 225 seats, securing the majority, it narrowly failed to win enough seats get a two-thirds majority which would have given them overwhelming power, including the ability to change the country’s constitution.
Although Fonseka immediately challenged the validity of the election results after weeks of violence and even reports of multiple bombings on election day, his challenges have gone unanswered.
The results have larger repercussions for the political future of the country. The Rajapaksa regime has lately been hit with charges of corruption as the president and his brothers have centralized their power to an unprecedented level — holding positions of president, commander and chief of armed forces, defense secretary, senior presidential advisor, and cabinet minister of ports and aviation. Various sources estimate that 70 percent of the country's budget is controlled by one of the brothers.
Furthermore, Rajapaksa’s plans for reconciliation in the country are minimal. Instead, he believes that economic development will assuage any hard feelings among the citizenry.
Although Fonseka had promised to collaborate with the Tamil National Alliance to address their demands, a continued Rajapaksa regime could mean a continued denial of war crimes, while crushing dissenting voices, which has reportedly included the disappearances, kidnappings and deaths of dozens of journalists.
For many, the only hope of moving forward towards peace and reconciliation rested with Fonseka's election. With his defeat, many are skeptical that war crimes perpetrators, on both the government and LTTE sides, will be brought to justice or that ex-LTTE fighters will be rehabilitated.
The LTTE army was comprised of both ardent believers who volunteered as well as forcefully conscripted men, women and children made to choose between shooting their families or government soldiers. The government gave most LTTE fighters willing to give up their colleagues immunity.
Tensions remain high with many families still awaiting word on the status of their loved ones who served in the LTTE: Are they alive? Set to be released? Or being treated as criminals?
Another key issue is the 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were forced into camps and separated from their families. One United Nations official spoke to me under conditions of anonymity and described horrific camps that had no potable water or latrines, floating excrement, men sleeping on the ground and 16 women and children packed into shelters designed for six people.
The head of the Law and Trust Society painted a bleak picture of the resettlement challenges IDPs face. While some IDPs have returned home and found their homes intact, many are forced to live in tents where their destroyed houses once stood.
Many do not have the funds to rebuild since the government is not providing compensation for their lost property nor do they have the income to rebuild. Even when they have funds, many have lost their land and housing deeds, thwarting their ability to claim land that is rightfully theirs.
IDPs also face the danger of uncleared land mines. One U.N. official showed me a classified map of areas with uncleared mines, which often correspond to the villages into which IDPs were resettling. Those villagers face significant risks of death and maiming that continue to plague other post-war areas around the globe.
Given these challenging circumstances, Sri Lanka faces an uncertain future as Rajapaksa tries to finally win the peace and move the country ahead in what could be short window of violence-free opportunity. | 5,551 | 2,712 | 0.000374 |
warc | 201704 | Botox typically lasts 3-4 months. If you feel you are experiencing any form of complications since your treatment I strongly urge you to discuss this issue with your physician.
Thank you for your question Melissap43. I have never injected Botox in the legs so I am not sure I can offer you much help. In the face and neck Botox usually lasts three to four months. The dosing in larger muscles is usually higher and perhaps for this reason it lasts longer. I recommend speaking with your doctor and/or a neurologist for specific recommendations. Good luck!
Botox typically wears off after 3 months. If you had a complication with your last injection, I would strongly recommend discussing this with your physician prior to any further injections.
How Long for Botox to Wear Off?
I'd recommend a visit back to your doctor who injected you. Botox wears off in 3-6 months after injection. You may consider visiting a neurologist regarding your symptoms. Best of luck.
How long should it take for Botox to get out of my system?
I am not sure why you had Botox in your legs and what does was used. Botox actually does not stay in the body very long despite the fact that the results can last 3-4 months. At this point, there is absolutely no Botox left in your body after an injection in November 2015. Best.
Stephen Weber MD, FACS Denver Facial Plastic Surgeon
Web reference: http://weberfacialplasticsurgery.com/services/non-surgical/botox-dysport-xeomin-neuromodulators
Botox - how long until it wears off?
Sorry to hear you aren't satisfied with your treatment. After 3 - 4 months, the effects of your treatments should have dissipated by now. I would highly advise to follow up with your physician. Explain the situation and possibly get referred to a specialist or another plastic surgeon. Best of Luck.
How long should it take to get Botox out of my system?
Thank you for your question and I am sorry to hear of your paralysis issues. Botox typically works for 3-4 months in most patients. Since you are going on 7 months I would recommend discussing your results with your injector to obtain an in-person evaluation and potential referral to a specialist. Best wishes.
Web reference: Http://www.nelson-center.com/wrinkle-relaxers.html
Results take 3-4 months to resolve. I suggest you see an expert for treatment options. Best, Dr. Emer.
Web reference: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa6C2fuS-AgOnvBjr6_VSQg
Botox in legs - how soon for the paralysis to wear off?
Thank you for your question about Botox.
This is an unusual situation - and sounds very troubling. Your best advice will come from the doctor who treated you. If your doctor was not a neurologist or plastic surgeon, I suggest you seen one. However, Botox can last up to a year in some people You will know it is wearing off, when the area of paralysis gains strength again.
Always see a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.
Best wishes. Elizabeth Morgan MD PHD FACS
Generally speaking all effects of Botox last 4 months or a little longer. If you are having problems that are long lasting and systemic you should see a board certified neurologist | 3,133 | 1,480 | 0.000681 |
warc | 201704 | As the most anticipated weekend for retail after Christmas – Easter Weekend – arrives, retail intelligence specialist Springboard today forecast footfall across UK high streets, shopping centres and retail parks is set to increase by 4.7% year on year over the long weekend (3 April, 4 April and 6 April).
Easter is two weeks earlier than in 2014 and dissimilarly from last year, falls immediately following a national pay day putting consumers in a strong position of disposable income and tempted to spend over the weekend.
Consumer confidence has grown overall due to lower inflation and with a decline in fuel prices and evidence of pay rises across the country, though still modest, the difference could leave households up to £20 to £30 per month better off.
High streets across the UK are predicted to fare the best over the Easter Weekend, with Springboard forecasting a +6% YOY rise in footfall over the three key shopping days as the fine, yet cool, weather continues. Shopping centres will follow, with footfall expected to increase +4.6% YOY as shoppers start to shop for their spring wardrobes and retail parks will also see minor growth of +1.6% YOY.
Diane Wehrle, Insights Director at Springboard commented; “Last year we saw a significant decline in retail footfall over Easter Weekend (down 6.4% YOY), and though this year we are expecting to see figures regain strength, they will still be overall below the 6.9% YOY growth seen in 2013. The earlier dates for the long weekend traditionally link to positive effects for retailers and with consumer confidence high, we expect shoppers to respond with their feet buoyed by the benefit of a recent pay day.”
Good Friday is set to be the strongest day for footfall with 5.7% YOY growth forecast across retail destinations as shoppers take advantage of the extra day off at the end of the week. It is predicted that Saturday will see further growth of 3.9% YOY and Easter Monday will see the typical bank holiday surge with footfall expected to grow 4.6% YOY. | 2,059 | 1,035 | 0.000984 |
warc | 201704 | Why Baby Boomers are the backbone of the 4G Workplace By Javier-Diez-Aguirre, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Ricoh Europe Ricoh Europe, London, 08 October 2015 – As us marketeers can attest, the newest and shiniest products tend to get the most attention. It’s the same with the multi-generational workforce, as the spotlight now beams brightest on Generation Z (those currently aged 19 years and younger). Yet, while Gen Zs’ expectations are forcing business leaders to consider how the entire staff pool not only co-exists but collaborates more effectively (and rightly so), the role of Baby Boomers is taking on a new dimension. Baby Boomers possess hardened experience, vast knowledge and significant exposure to decades of market and business-led change. Now aged 51 and above, they typically occupy the most senior positions within a company. As chief decision makers they are perfectly placed to identify the obstacles, opportunities and pitfalls on the horizon – and crucially, know how to best negotiate them. While their extensive expertise and business know-how is both acknowledged and respected by younger groups, it is widely believed that Baby Boomers are the least technically minded of the four generations now in employment. And the research we commissioned at Ricoh Europe into the 4G Workplace found some evidence to support this view. They are the least likely to use methods such as emailing or even phoning someone to communicate at work. In fact, only 12 per cent of them prefer communicating via email, compared to 24 per cent of Generation X (those currently aged between 35 and 50). This stands to reason, given how subsequent generations have had increasingly sophisticated digital upbringings. Interestingly, Baby Boomers’ workplace priorities are different, too. With some coming towards the end of their careers and others facing a decade or more in employment, Baby Boomers are more concerned about the future of their job than factors such as company perks, working in an attractive office, or feeling like they are making a difference. In fact, the survey we commissioned found job security as the most cited factor keeping them at their company. In comparison with the other generations, Baby Boomers also put more value on having a high degree of autonomy over having a higher salary. This means that in an era of unprecedented technology-led change, Baby Boomers are ideally placed to ensure a state of stability while permitting new initiatives that are imperative for the future success of the business – namely digitisation and automation programmes. In this respect, they are the gatekeepers of the analogue to digital age. Baby Boomers are the backbone of the 4G Workplace – and their role is much more than that of the elder statesman. The experience they have is priceless; not least when it comes to assessing the implications of introducing subtle and radical change to drive the business forward. The task for businesses now is to adopt truly inclusive and accessible internal platforms, where experiences and ideas can be shared in an instant. This will form the hotbed for more effective collaboration between all generations, while laying the foundations for new and innovative ways of working. | 3,287 | 1,614 | 0.000627 |
warc | 201704 | If you’ve ever been unlucky enough to be near Kieron Gillen and me in the same location at the same time, the chances are at some point you’ll have heard Kieron make a jibe at me about my MMO healing abilities. It normally arrives at some point in the evening. Eventually, enough was enough, and it was time for my revenge. That’s what this is: a revenge piece written to an international audience. I’m proud of that. If you’ve ever played a healer in a game, you’ll understand. It originally appeared in the Escapist, but now is reproduced in full for your eye-based entertainment.
I’m not going to play a healer again.
We, as a people, sue hospitals. The degree of stupidity necessary for such an action should be impossible to grasp, so mind-destroyingly moronic we begin whirring, buzzing and emitting smoke from our circuits. Instead, we’re used to it, even resigned to it. It is in our international character. Ask anyone who’s ever played a healer in an MMO.
My mistake was made entering Paragon City. This was a city of heroes – a place where everyone was a champion. I wanted to be a hero to those heroes. The decision to play nurse was an altruistic one. I could have chosen a healing power that helped just me, gave me that extra edge in the battle. But, instead, I bestowed my purple avatar, the elegant Nitefall, with an ability to drain energy from her enemies and transfer it into those around her.
On my own, this was a boon to my experience. Super-jumping my way through the boroughs, I might spot a low level player struggling against a crowd of vicious bad guys. Never fear, stranger! I’d land nearby, fire off the heal and then leap away before they could know what happened. Heroic. But, see, here’s the thing with this particular power: It was never very reliable. There was a risk. A number of factors could cause things to go wrong: The enemy I’m sapping might die before the process was complete; I might take damage, thus interrupting the action; or the person I’m healing might move too far away to be in my area of effect (AoE). Of course, should I just generously be drive-by-healing, such a failure would go unknown. Put me in the middle of a pack of feisty fighters, and it’s a quite different matter.
Nitefall was never offered as a group’s healer. Warnings were always given – don’t trust my heal, don’t rely on it. Disclaimers shouted at the wind. Irrelevant. If you can heal, you should damn well heal, apparently, and any failure to do so was a disgusting slight against all involved. Nevermind they might have slain the very enemy that was due to save their life. Nevermind they may have flown too high for your AoE to reach. Nevermind you were being barraged by an electric bombardment of mystical lightning, peppered by chains of bullets, thrown through the air by the force of a dozen grenades… You. Failed. To. Heal: Condemnation.
A doctor trains for at least seven years, barely making minimum wage throughout, and saves hundreds and hundreds of lives. No one notices. This is the bare minimum, the very least expected of him. We order a pizza, we expect a pizza to be delivered – no pizza results in angry phone calls and demands of free foodstuffs. Fair enough. We go to the hospital, we expect to get healed – no healing results in angry phone calls and demands of massive amounts of free compensation. Compensation paid for by our own taxes. Our own money. We’ve gone mad.
When you’re the healer of the pack, every death of every companion is now your fault. In City of Heroes, death results in XP debt – a hefty cost. When the blame for the demise is inevitably laid at your feet, such a cost results in impotent resentment. It cannot be made up by another, XP cannot be transferred from the failing doctor to the dead-and-resurrected patient. So, instead, hostility is the out-of-court settlement.
The healer, the generous, caring individual who set out to try to help others, is hated. Cursed. Failure is now supposed, expected, and when it occurs, they have demonstrable proof such an attitude was perfectly reasonable. Nevermind the 37 times you healed them before they ran too far away, nevermind the innumerous top-offs you gave their health bar before it reached even halfway empty. They go unnoticed, unrecognized, forgotten, buried beneath the transferred anger of another debt-developing fatality.
I don’t need that. I don’t need the weight of a responsibility I never offered or earned. I’m there to have fun! It stings that my charitable decision to take on such a beneficial power should result in such an intimidating experience. As yet, we are unable to sue each other within an MMO – I doubt it can be far off. In the meantime, bitterness and public mockery are the payback.
It’s so much easier to blame the healer, than oneself. Sure, they may have been able to prevent your losing, but it was still you who lost. You allowed yourself to get so weak. You put yourself in deathly peril. And the chances are, if you’re one of those people who blames every death on the healer, you’re probably pretty terrible at the game.
I’m not going to play a healer again. Next time, I shall select a heal that boosts my chances. Let the others be damned, look after their own damn selves. There’s no reason for me to put up with the suffering. No cosy, tie-wearing super-consultant job awaits me, making this abuse worthwhile. It’s every superhero for himself! And many shall die as a result of this.
It’s too late for me. But it’s not too late for future generations, our MMO children. And people, I appeal to you, for the sake of the children, it’s time to treat our healers with respect. People sue hospitals out of fear. Fear of their mortality. The failed procedure, the botched operation, the unsuccessful treatment – all reminders of the fragility of our lives, and how desperately we do not wish to lose them. MMOs are not life.
It’s ok to die in a game. Really. And sure, it’s annoying, and certainly, it comes with an imaginary cost. But the person healing, the person who failed to rescue you for whatever reason, is actually a person. You didn’t die, but they
did get insulted. You suffered no real harm, but they did feel the barbs of your words. You’re wounding these people. Mentally destroying them. And you need them. So here’s the plan: the next time you are successfully healed, and each and every time, you thank that person. You tell them that you value their healing touch. And sure, get cross, tell them you’re annoyed – that one moan, that small whinge, will be lost amid a sea of gratitude and praise in their gaming life. | 6,843 | 3,262 | 0.000318 |
warc | 201704 | For buying a new policy call 094444 48899. For customer service call 1860 425 0000.
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Posted by Royal Sundaram on 09 Aug 2010
Thinking of claiming a minor loss from your insurer? Make sure you know about No Claim Bonus, a crucial feature often overlooked in the car insurance policy. It can help you save up to 50% on your renewal premiums.
The car insurance company rewards its policy holders with a No Claim Bonus for the previous claim free year/s. The insured gets a discount of up to 50%* on renewal premium for 5 consecutive claim free years and the same discount continues to apply on every renewal’s premium as long as there is no claim on the policy. In case of a claim on your car insurance policy, the No Claim Bonus resets to zero at the next policy renewal. Given below is the percentage discount that an insured can get for claim free year/s:
*No-claim Bonus Year Discount (%) No claim for previous full year 20 No claim for previous 2 years 25 No claim for previous 3 years 35 No claim for previous 4 years 45 No claim for previous 5 years 50 No Claim Bonus always follows the insured but not the vehicle. An existing No Claim Bonus can be transferred to a new vehicle in case of replacement, depending on the previous vehicle’s insurance validity. Switching to Royal Sundaram’s car insurance lets you transfer the No Claim Bonus benefits if it is effected with in 90 days from previous policy’s expiration date. Note that, you will need to submit the documentary evidence on the NCB entitlement. NCB will remain valid for three years from the date of policy expiration incase if the existing car is sold and not replaced with any other car.
Be wise when you make a claim on your car insurance policy. Banking on your insurance policy for every petty repair and or replacement may not let you enjoy the policy’s benefits to the fullest, instead it will only add to your renewal premium.
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*We won't spam you, promise | 2,144 | 1,035 | 0.000983 |
warc | 201704 | Almost 50% of blacks knew someone killed by gun - poll
The results come from a recent online survey conducted by UK-based YouGov and the Huffington Post, which polled 1,000 Americans over 18 years of age from October 6 – 7.
When asked if they had personally known someone who was killed by another person with a gun, 22 percent of respondents gave a positive answer. The number includes 6 percent of Americans who had a relative that was fatally shot. The statistics also show that 47 percent of blacks knew someone who was killed by a gun, while 18 percent of whites did.
It appears from the poll that white Americans are twice as likely to personally own a gun as black Americans. The results show 28 percent versus 14 percent, respectively, for whites and blacks.
Still, the majority of respondents (58 percent) said that no one in their household owns a gun. Black families appear less likely to keep a gun than white families, with 72 percent of black homes gun-less compared to 54 percent of white homes.
The results showed that 27 percent of Americans (31 percent white and 29 percent black) personally knew someone who committed suicide using a gun.
Overall, however, more than half of Americans (55 percent) agreed that gun violence presents a
“very serious” problem, while another 26 percent consider the issue “somewhat serious.” There was also a gap in statistics between whites and blacks on this issue – 50 percent versus 74 percent.
The survey comes amid intensified debate on gun control in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Oregon. In 2015, the US saw nearly 300 mass shootings and almost 10,000 people killed by guns, according to Mass Shooting Tracker, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people shot. | 1,794 | 890 | 0.001149 |
warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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BACKGROUND Fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23), a novel marker of bone disease in chronic kidney disease (CKD) has been shown to correlate with vascular calcifications. We aimed to describe the effect of the calcium phosphate product (Ca*P) on FGF-23 concentrations in children and young adults without confounding cardiovascular disease. METHODS Pediatric… (More)
BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) refers to a diverse group of chronic gastrointestinal diseases, and gut microbial dysbiosis has been proposed as a modulating factor in its pathogenesis. Several studies have investigated the gut microbial ecology of dogs with IBD but it is yet unclear if this microbial profile can alter the nutrient metabolism of… (More)
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BACKGROUND Our study aimed to assess the presence of different pathogens in ticks collected in two regions in Côte d'Ivoire. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Real-time PCR and standard PCR assays coupled to sequencing were used. Three hundred and seventy eight (378) ticks (170 Amblyomma variegatum, 161 Rhipicepalus microplus, 3 Rhipicephalus senegalensis,… (More)
The following information is missing from the Funding section: This study was supported by UEMOA (P-Z1 – IAD – 002 PAES project number 2100155007376). Copyright: © 2016 Ehounoud et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any… (More)
BACKGROUND Head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis, occur in four divergent mitochondrial clades (A, B, C and D), each having particular geographical distributions. Recent studies suggest that head lice, as is the case of body lice, can act as a vector for louse-borne diseases. Therefore, understanding the genetic diversity of lice worldwide is of critical… (More)
The human head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is subdivided into several significantly divergent mitochondrial haplogroups, each with particular geographical distributions. Historically, they are among the oldest human parasites, representing an excellent marker for tracking older events in human evolutionary history. In this study, ancient DNA analysis… (More)
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warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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BACKGROUND Methylotrophy describes the ability of organisms to grow on reduced organic compounds without carbon-carbon bonds. The genomes of two pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophic bacteria of the Alpha-proteobacterial genus Methylobacterium, the reference species Methylobacterium extorquens strain AM1 and the dichloromethane-degrading strain DM4,… (More)
BACKGROUND Methylotrophic microorganisms are playing a key role in biogeochemical processes - especially the global carbon cycle - and have gained interest for biotechnological purposes. Significant progress was made in the recent years in the biochemistry, genetics, genomics, and physiology of methylotrophic bacteria, showing that methylotrophy is much… (More)
Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is a facultative methylotrophic Alphaproteobacterium and has been subject to intense study under pure methylotrophic as well as pure heterotrophic growth conditions in the past. Here, we investigated the metabolism of M. extorquens AM1 under mixed substrate conditions, i.e., in the presence of methanol plus succinate. We… (More)
Expression of cell phenotypes highly depends on metabolism that supplies matter and energy. To achieve proper utilisation of the different metabolic pathways, metabolism is tightly regulated by a complex regulatory network composed of diverse biological entities (genes, transcripts, proteins, signalling molecules…). The integrated analysis of both… (More)
Fungal plant pathogens are major threats to food security worldwide. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are closely related Ascomycete plant pathogens causing mold diseases on hundreds of plant species. There is no genetic source of complete plant resistance to these broad host range pathogens known to date. Instead, natural plant populations… (More)
Bacterial pathogenicity relies on a proficient metabolism and there is increasing evidence that metabolic adaptation to exploit host resources is a key property of infectious organisms. In many cases, colonization by the pathogen also implies an intensive multiplication and the necessity to produce a large array of virulence factors, which may represent a… (More)
Experimental evolution of the plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, where bacteria were maintained on plant lineages for more than 300 generations, revealed that several independent single mutations in the efpR gene from populations propagated on beans were associated with fitness gain on bean. In the present work, novel allelic efpR variants were isolated… (More)
Fungal plant pathogens produce secreted proteins adapted to function outside fungal cells to facilitate colonization of their hosts. In many cases such as for fungi from the Sclerotiniaceae family the repertoire and function of secreted proteins remains elusive. In the Sclerotiniaceae, whereas Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Botrytis cinerea are cosmopolitan… (More)
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warc | 201704 | Filter Results: Publication Year
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When evaluating the accessibility of a large website, we rely on sampling methods to reduce the cost of evaluation. This may lead to a biased evaluation when the distribution of checkpoint violations in a website is skewed and the selected samples do not provide a good representation of the entire website. To improve sampling quality, stratified sampling… (More)
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warc | 201704 | One in four UK students contract sexually-transmitted infection in first year of university
21 October 2013
The vast majority of student sexual encounters were conducted without condoms and whilst drunk
Results of a survey by a student dating website suggest that a quarter of students contract a sexually-transmitted infection in their first year at university.
The results also suggest that the vast majority of student sexual encounters were conducted without condoms (89%) and whilst drunk. Almost half of those students who had contracted an infection could not remember which sexual partner had infected them. [Huffington Post, 17 October]
Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, commented: "This survey and a wealth of similar evidence shows that self-styled 'safe sex' campaigns, promoted heavily by pro-abortion groups, are a total failure in protecting students and instilling responsibility.
"The people who profit most from this failure are the money-hungry abortion industry, which admits that the single largest group of its customers are women who fell pregnant due to so-called 'contraceptive failure'. Condom- and -pill-pushing simply serves to promote a culture of casual sex which the pro-abortion lobby has helped create through its irresponsible promotion of sexual licence."
Other stories:
Medical student becomes pro-life after seeing baby's limbs torn off in suction abortion [LifeSiteNews.com, 17 October] Abortion activists deface offices of Costa Rican bishops' conference (report in Spanish) [La Nacion, 17 October] Columnist fears link between care crisis and calls for 'mercy killings' [Mail, 21 October] Whistleblower now out of job after exposing neglect at lethal care home [Mail, 20 October] Two huge court victories thwart legalisation of euthanasia in Canada [Peter Saunders, 19 October] Tasmanian euthanasia and assisted suicide bill narrowly defeated [LifeSiteNews.com, 17 October] Population control extremists: Get rid of people causing global warming [LifeNews.com, 20 October] Planned Parenthood to teens: Nothing bad or unhealthy about having a 'big number' of sex partners [LifeSiteNews.com, 18 October] Read how the Holy See speaks out strongly at the United Nations in defence of children born and unborn [John Smeaton, 21 October] Anti-life protester hires prostitutes to throw cake at Belgian archbishop [Protect the Pope, 20 October] The rise of 'Motherism' - prejudice against stay-at-home mums [Telegraph, 19 October] Mother of nine children: "I've been given a gift to have babies" [LifeNews.com, 18 October] | 2,582 | 1,323 | 0.00076 |
warc | 201704 | In Cathedrals of Science, Patrick Coffey describes how chemistry got its modern footing-how thirteen brilliant men and one woman struggled with the laws of the universe and with each other. They wanted to discover how the world worked, but they also wanted credit for making those discoveries, and their personalities often affected how that credit was assigned. Gilbert Lewis, for example, could be reclusive and resentful, and his enmity with Walther Nernst may have cost him the Nobel Prize; Irving Langmuir, gregarious and charming, "rediscovered" Lewis's theory of the chemical bond and received much of the credit for it. Langmuir's personality smoothed his path to the Nobel Prize over Lewis. Coffey deals with moral and societal issues as well. These same scientists were the first to be seen by their countries as military assets. Fritz Haber, dubbed the "father of chemical warfare," pioneered the use of poison gas in World War I-vividly described-and Glenn Seaborg and Harold Urey were leaders in World War II's Manhattan Project; Urey and Linus Pauling worked for nuclear disarmament after the war. Science was not always fair, and many were excluded.The Nazis pushed Jewish scientists like Haber from their posts in the 1930s. Anti-Semitism was also a force in American chemistry, and few women were allowed in; Pauling, for example, used his influence to cut off the funding and block the publications of his rival, Dorothy Wrinch. Cathedrals of Science paints a colorful portrait of the building of modern chemistry from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. | 1,581 | 875 | 0.001147 |
warc | 201704 | The ban on smoking in public places in the Republic of Ireland has significantly improved the health of hospitality workers, according to a new study.
Investigation by Professor Luke Clancy of Trinity College Dublin, showed clear evidence that the ban has cleaned up the air in licensed premises and restaurants, reports
The Times.
“Prior to the smoking ban being introduced, we knew intuitively that it would bring health benefits, but now two years after the ban, we have quantative proof,” he said.
“Our research has shown that particulate matter in the air, which is a feature of some pollution, has decreased by up to 80% in pubs, and workers are breathing better. This is the first time we have measured the pollution and measured the effects.”
Professor Clancy said he and colleagues had measured particles in more than 40 licensed premises before the ban was enforced and a year afterwards to gauge the impact.
He also recruited 81 male bar workers and measured their lung function before the ban and 12 months afterwards. “We found a 30-40% decrease in shortness of breath, coughs and watery eyes. Lung function in the non-smokers also improved,” he said.
By Daniel Thomas
E-mail your comments to Daniel Thomas here. | 1,265 | 688 | 0.001501 |
warc | 201704 | The first 18 days of winter have left Torontonians pummelled, weary and grateful.
It helps to have money to book a hotel room, buy a generator or hire an electrician. But no one is immune to nature’s blasts. Rich and poor experience the same sinking feeling when the lights flicker and die; the same helplessness when water pipes burst; the same ache when fingers and toes turn white with cold. What this winter’s successive blasts did was concentrate all these woes in a short period, giving Torontonians a taste of vulnerability that the poor, homeless and unemployed experience every day.
Lesson one: No one is beyond the reach of adversity. Even the most privileged household is dependent on the urban infrastructure and public workers that cost-cutting politicians and tight-fisted taxpayers so often denigrate. Lesson two: Neighbours do a much better job of making the city livable in the first days of an emergency than do governments or social agencies. Without being asked or organized, people checked on their neighbours; invited them in if they had power, a gas fireplace or a generator; took over warm food if their ovens worked; made sure they weren’t alone and forgotten. This kind of help — unlike the well-intentioned grocery card handout that Premier Kathleen Wynne organized — tapped into Torontonians’ best instincts.
That does not mean government programs are unnecessary. But it is caring friends, neighbours and volunteers who shape a city’s character.
Lesson three: Civic leaders should refrain from congratulating themselves on the fine job they’re doing when residents lack essential services. It’s true that Toronto Hydro employees — and their counterparts from Windsor, Ottawa and Manitoba — worked 16 hours a day to restore power. It is true that they deserved gratitude and praise for giving up their Christmas to get Torontonians reconnected. But the time for public thanks is after the ordeal.
A relieved and appreciative city was ready to join Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines on Dec. 30 when he choked up at a news conference expressing how proud he was of his employees. Until then, it would have been wiser if he, the mayor and other executives had done their back-patting privately.
Lesson four: Petty politics has no place in crisis management. Most councillors knew enough to hold their fire when the city was struggling to get back on its feet. But Karen Stinz, expected to launch a mayoral bid shortly, used the city’s New Year’s levee to impugn Mayor Rob Ford for failing to provide leadership in the ice storm.
In fact, Ford stripped of most of his authority to act in emergencies, did a relatively good job of updating Torontonians on the recovery effort and keeping out of the way of Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, who was calling the shots. By taking a cheap shot at the chastened mayor, Stinz raised more questions about her judgment than his behaviour.
Lesson five: Those in the greatest need should be helped first when a critical piece of infrastructure fails. Too many elderly people and individuals with disabilities were left shivering in the dark, while hydro crews strove to get the maximum number of customers reconnected to the grid in the days following the ice storm.
The next time a major power outage occurs — and there undoubtedly will be a next time, as climate change triggers more weather extremes — emergency responders need to know where vulnerable residents are, whether they need help and how to reach them. City councillors could start compiling lists for their wards right now, tapping into the knowledge of social agencies, charities, community groups and local volunteers.
Most of these lessons are familiar. But as the city heads into what promises to be a tumultuous year, it is important remember that Toronto is bigger than its politicians and more resilient than its infrastructure.
Carol Goar’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. | 4,004 | 2,052 | 0.000499 |
warc | 201704 | Source: Getty
David Willetts wants to “go further” in letting more people study for second degrees on state-backed loans, rolling back Labour’s unpopular decision to block such funding.
Speaking to
Times Higher Education at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester this week, the universities and science minister also said that the sector needed to “recognise the risk” it faces with Labour and its £6,000 fees policy.
In a speech at the conference, Mr Willetts announced that fee loans would be extended to part-time students in engineering, technology and computer science who already have degrees in different disciplines.
This is a small-scale reversal of Labour’s 2008 decision to withdraw funding for students taking equivalent or lower-level qualifications (ELQs) to those they already hold.
In his speech, Mr Willetts framed the move as part of a drive to encourage more women to study engineering subjects.
However, he told
THE that he had been persuaded that “one reason for the part-time slump is the effect of ELQ”.
His comments come in the same week that a report published by the Higher Education Policy Institute suggests that loans have not been offered to enough part-time students to arrest a decline in the numbers taking such courses.
Mr Willetts said he would like to “go further, step by step” and remove the ELQ bar in more subjects. “One could dream of a world where we just get rid of it, but I think we’re not in that territory. But you could do it incrementally,” he added.
The cost of the move in engineering and technology subjects will eventually rise to £23 million a year, the government estimates.
After his speech, Mr Willetts spoke at a fringe event alongside Bill Rammell, the former Labour higher education minister who introduced the ELQ bar.
Mr Rammell, now vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, said that the reform was welcome “at one level”.
But he asked where the money would come from. “If it is coming from restricting access for full-time, first-degree entrants, then I think that is a cause for concern,” Mr Rammell told the event.
But Mr Willetts told
THE: “The part-time loan budget, sadly, is underspent…So we have that room.”
The minister also announced that £200 million of capital funding secured in the most recent spending round – match-funded by universities or company sponsorship – would be allocated for teaching facilities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.
The funding – again aimed at getting more women studying STEM subjects – will be allocated on a competitive basis, with “evidence of commitment to equality and diversity” sought in bids.
Mr Willetts said that “some version of Athena Swan” showing institutional strategies for increasing diversity “will focus minds”, adding that the lack of women in some STEM subjects was “a waste of talent”.
In 2011, Labour unveiled a policy to lower fees to £6,000 if it were in power. Mr Willetts called Labour’s policy “a real threat to the financial viability of our universities” and to standards of student education.
He added: “All my intelligence says there’s a bit of an argument going on within Labour whether to stick with the £6,000 fee policy.”
Asked if he might be moved in a reshuffle, Mr Willetts said: “I think it is bad form for ministers to speculate about their own jobs.” | 3,593 | 1,735 | 0.000619 |
warc | 201704 | The Total Wellbeing Diet offers a special edition of the 12 Week Program for members with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
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A scientifically formulated weight loss program from CSIRO 12 weeks of easy, delicious meal plans that are carbohydrate-controlled Expert weight loss guides including tips on blood glucose control 1000s of delicious, healthy recipes and meal ideas All recipes from the six Total Wellbeing Diet cookbooks Practical exercise plans you can do at home Reminders and tracking tools to keep you on track Easy print shopping lists Connection to Woolworths Online for easy grocery shopping Forums to share the journey with 1000s of other members Ability to synch your Fitbit or Garmin to the website | 2,078 | 946 | 0.001072 |
warc | 201704 | When you’re planning to travel to a foreign country, it’s important to take the safety of your passport into consideration. There are so many stolen passport horror stories, and thieves are often very smart (and experienced) about stealing passports. When traveling, you will need to know the location of your passport at all times and make sure to keep it really safe. This includes your time in an airport, especially after getting off a long flight when you will feel disoriented. The following five tips will help you keep tabs on your passport during your travels.
How to Protect Your Passport and Valuables When Traveling 1. Make a photocopy of your passport before you go
If you’re going to a country where you need to carry your passport around with you (sometimes you need it when buying train tickets, for example), make a photocopy and carry that around instead. Leave your passport in a safe place in your hotel or place of residence.
2. Register your trip
The U.S. State Department allows American citizens to register their trip online before they go. In the event that something happens, the nearest U.S. embassy will know that you’re there already and will be able to better assist you if you lose your passport.
3. Buy an RFID passport shield
Everyone should put one of these on their passport. Modern passports have an electronic chip embedded in them, which means that thieves with electronic readers can steal your identity. Called “RFID skimming,” thieves carry devices that can detect and read the information in your passport at a distance. The shield blocks radio signals from entering your passport. RFID passport holders are inexpensive, small, and easy to find. If you want to go to the next level, Tiganello makes some pretty attractive RFID purses!
4. Don’t put your passport in a vulnerable place
...like your front or back pockets or in an open purse. If you carry a purse, buy one that has a zipper over the top to keep all the contents inside safe. When riding the metro or in a crowded place, keep the purse safely under your arm with the zipper facing in front of you so that it can’t be unzipped from behind. If you’re wearing a backpack, keep the passport as deeply inside as possible and far away from being unzipped. If you put it in your front pockets, make sure that the pocket is tight enough that your passport won’t fall out and that it is out of sight completely. If you’re headed to a country with a reputation for being more dangerous, consider a money belt. It’s not stylish, but it will give you peace of mind.
5. Plan for contingencies
Nothing is worse than losing your passport and then realizing that your visa is about to expire in two days. When planning your trip, make sure that you understand your embassy or consulate’s open days and hours, and that you don’t stay until the last possible day on your visa. Make sure that you have enough money in your bank account for a few extra days in a city, especially if your passport unexpectedly gets stolen in an airport. Also, do some research on your destination countries ahead of time so you understand the frequency of theft in public places and can take good precautions on the ground.
Still need a place to stay? Find your perfect rental on Tripping.com or start searching in these popular countries below!
Greece Argentina Italy Mexico Austria Japan Portugal Thailand Costa Rica Turkey Cyprus Croatia Norway Montenegro Chile Spain Iceland Switzerland Slovenia Germany Albania Brazil Vietnam Peru Have fun traveling, be safe, and take good care of your passport so you can keep traveling! This article was written by Cathy Trainor. Image by Gregory Bourolias. | 3,751 | 1,823 | 0.000561 |
warc | 201704 | <p>Langerhans cells (LCs) are located in the skin (the <a href="https://www.verywell.com/epidermis-anatomy-1069188" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="1">epidermis</a> and the <a href="https://www.verywell.com/what-is-the-dermis-1069315" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="2">dermis</a>) of the respiratory, digestive and urogenital tracts. They can also be found in other tissues, such as lymph nodes, particularly when the condition Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is involved.</p><p>LCs help to protect you by keeping dangerous antigens (any substance that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it) from entering your body.</p><h3>How Langerhans Cells Work</h3><p>Discovered by a 21-year-old German medical student, Paul Langerhans, in 1868, Langerhans cells are present in all layers of the epidermis and are members of the dendritic family. Dendritic cells are immune cells that present antigens to the immune system and are found all throughout the body. LCs are dendritic cells in the skin and since dendritic cells are extremely efficient at alerting the immune system to the presence of pathogens and other foreign materials, the skin is an important barrier to infection.</p><p>LCs were originally thought to be a part of the nervous system and only alert the immune system to antigens. Instead, research has found that LC's dampen the skin's reaction to infection and inflammation in 2 very different ways:</p><ul><li>By protecting your skin from infection.</li><li>By stimulating allergic reactions.</li></ul><p>Langerhans cells send out special agents—immune cells such as T cells and B cells—immediately after sensing any kind of danger in the skin. The immune cells capture trespassers such as bacteria and viruses, and fight off injuries like cuts and scrapes.</p><p>The environment of the skin is constantly monitored by LCs for unsafe situations and the immune cells are sent to bring back information about any foreign invaders. The body then amasses a great force of inflammatory cells to fight off invaders by creating an allergic reaction or forming scar tissue to protect from infection.</p><h3>LCs and Skin Conditions</h3><p>New research suggests that Langerhans cells are able to identify and attack viruses from the surrounding environment, thereby preventing infection. This finding that LCs are involved in immune responses against various diseases could makes them potential targets for <a href="https://www.verywell.com/immunotherapy-overview-514149" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="3">immunotherapy</a>.</p><p>This finding also has the potential to significantly change the understanding of the mechanisms underlying many skin disorders such as:</p><ul><li> <a href="https://www.verywell.com/psoriasis-information-1069493" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="4">Psoriasis</a>: A condition in which skin cells build up and form scales accompanied by some redness, itchiness and dry patches.</li><li> <a href="https://www.verywell.com/what-is-lupus-2249968" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="5">Lupus</a>: An inflammatory disease caused when the immune system attacks its own tissues.</li><li> <a href="https://www.verywell.com/what-is-skin-cancer-3010808" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="6">Skin cancer</a>: The most common form of Cancer in the US, characterized by the abnormal growth of skin cells.</li></ul><p>There may also be the development of topical vaccines administered through the skin (Epicutaneous immunization) that focus on loading LCs directly into the skin with antigens. Research is already looking at vaccines given through barrier-disrupted skin in order to inhibit the growth of <a href="https://www.verywell.com/introduction-to-melanoma-skin-cancer-3010807" data-component="link" data-source="inlineLink" data-type="internalLink" data-ordinal="7">melanoma</a>, a serious type of skin cancer.</p><h3>What is Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH)?</h3><p>Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a group of rare, idiopathic disorders which can cause damage to the skin, bones and other organs. An overload of cells similar to LCs are produced in this disorder, however, LCH cells show a different, hematopoietic (blood cells) origin for the disorder.</p><p><sub>Source:</sub></p><p><sub>Langerhans P. Über die Nerven der menschlichen Haut. <em>Virchows Arch [A]</em>1868; 44: 325–337.</sub></p><p><sub>Seo N., et al. Percutaneous peptide immunization via corneum barrier-disrupted murine skin for experimental tumor immunoprophylaxis.<em>Proc Natl Acad Sci USA</em>2000; 97: 371–376.</sub></p><p><sub>Yagi H., <em>et al</em>. Induction of therapeutically relevant cytotoxic T lymphocytes in humans by percutaneous peptide immunization. <em>Cancer Res</em> 2006; 66: 10136–10144.</sub></p> | 5,178 | 2,177 | 0.000469 |
warc | 201704 | Sale summer dresses online is something that should never be overlooked. Not only can you pick up some amazing bargains, but you will feel good doing it too. The term ‘retail therapy’ is used so often that it has almost lost its true meaning – but it really does feel good to shop.
Buying gifts for ourselves or others genuinely does make us feel better. Shopping is a mood lifter, even if it is only a temporary phenomenon, which can improve our day no end. Buy dresses online and you’ll immediately feel great! But it has to be something specific – grocery shopping doesn’t count and doesn’t make us, for the most part, feel so great. In fact for many, grocery shopping puts us in a worse mood. But clothes shopping, for example, is different. It doesn’t matter whether it is online or in person, shopping and finding that perfect item is a rush. It releases adrenalin, dopamine and endorphins in the body which are mood enhancers. Shopping for summer dresses online, for instance, will make you feel happy. It’s a physical reaction. And it’s not necessarily just the act of buying, or the item itself – it’s the hunt. So some fancifully suggest that it is a trait that takes us back to our cavemen days when we had to hunt to survive. Although our food comes neatly packaged in the supermarket, at least we can still find bargains out there in the world. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it will make you smile – literally. There’s no better feeling than bagging a bargain.
If you want to hunt for bargains online, see Wow That Dress Limited (http://www.wowthatdress.co.uk/); our sale summer dresses online are stunning. We offer excellent customer service, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you need to. You can email on info@wowthatdress.co.uk or call us on 0161 670 3817. | 1,863 | 979 | 0.001073 |
warc | 201704 | Heather Parker is a technically savvy businesswoman. She has her own Heather Parker Photography website, she knows about social media and search-engine optimization; she publishes examples of her work on Yelp.
But she didn’t know about one of the biggest changes happening right now: a massive expansion of Internet address domains beyond the well-known .com, .net, and .org. If she wanted, she could move her website to heatherparker.photography today.
“I didn’t know .photography was something I could register for until now,” Parker said. She’s not going to, because clients likely wouldn’t know what it meant if they saw it on a business card, she added.
That lack of awareness is one challenge facing domain-name expansion and the nonprofit organization behind it, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Another is a rat’s nest of global trademark complications as companies try to protect their brands on hundreds of new Internet domains.
One example: Two Merck pharmaceutical companies, one with rights to use the name in the U.S. and Canada and the other with rights in the rest of the world, are fighting in court over the .merck domain. Another: A UK company called Yoyo.email has registered hundreds of .email subdomains with others’ trademarks, including dunkindonuts.email, budlight.email, sheraton.email, lufthansa.email, eharmony.email, footlocker.email and ebaysupport.email.
But the new domain names are here to stay, and businesses and consumers must adjust to the new reality. ICANN approved hundreds of the 1,930 applications for the new domains, with 417 on the Internet already.
The .com suffix had special meaning for the first generation of Internet users. For children born this century, it’ll be just one fish in the sea.
And there will be plenty more fish coming. Another round of applications likely will open up by 2018, said Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s global domains division. That next round will be one subject of discussion at an ICANN meeting this week in Los Angeles — along with what ICANN should do with the millions of dollars it’s garnered so far from the program.
More fishWhat are some of the other domains? There are brand names like .ibm, .youtube, .axa, and .bmw. There are geographic names like .paris, .budapest, and .berlin. There are business terms like .realtor, .beer, .dentist, .pizza, and .plumbing. There are broad terms like .xyz, .pink, .email, .work, and .website. And there are many that take advantage of ICANN’s expansion beyond the Latin character set: .삼성, which is Korean for Samsung; .ازار, which is Arabic for bazaar; and .移动, which is Chinese for mobile.
As ever, when there’s change on the Internet, there’s someone there to profit from it. Perhaps the highest-profile is a startup called Donuts, backed by more than $100 million from investors to run a new business doling out subdomains to businesses in dozens of categories. It’ll take some time to educate the market, said Dan Schindler, the company’s co-founder and executive vice president of sales and marketing, but eventually businesses will see the new domains simply as a way to instantly signal to customers what they do.
“We view these as better than .com, which is meaningless. They’re short, specific, and meaningful,” Schindler said. The numerous brands embracing the new domains will teach people about the new era, he added. “When you see 3series.bmw and 5series.bmw appear on TV screens and billboards around the world, it’ll drive awareness [a website] doesn’t have to end in .com.”
People have registered more than a million addresses that use Donuts’ top-level domains, the company said Monday, with the millionth being heavenly.coffee. That’s a small fraction of the 1.03 billion website in existence, according to monitoring firm Netcraft, but new domains have been available for just under 12 months.
ICANN expanded the domain-name pool “to provide more choice, competition, and innovation,” Atallah said. The choice and competition is visible today, but the innovation will become more visible when big brands like Apple jump aboard.
“If you’re applying for .apple, the way you use it should be innovative. It’s defining how you present yourself online,” he said, and it comes with an “authenticity factor” that guarantees to customers that they’re at the the right place.
How do domains work?In the Internet’s earliest years, addresses ended with one of seven three-letter abbreviations: .net, .gov, .edu, .mil, .int, .org, and .com. These suffixes are called top-level domains. To be useful, they need to be accompanied by a subdomain before the dot: stanford.edu, redcross.org.
The initial set of top-level domains was joined by country-code domains like .jp for Japan and .za for South Africa. But often the prime virtual real estate ending in .com was taken, and ICANN tried to expand the system with what are now called generic top-level domains (GTLDs).
According to figures from GreenSec Solutions’ NTLDstats site, .xyz is the most used of the new top-level domains. (NTLDstats)
ICANN oversees the master list, but many others are involved. Organizations called registries oversee the supply of subdomains for each domain; for example, Verisign operates the .com registry. Next down the hierarchy are organizations called registrars that actually register the domain names on behalf of the people who want to use them.
Here’s an example of how it works. If Main Street Florist wants to set up business online, they can pay a registrar like GoDaddy to register mainstreet.florist, with prices sometimes less than $20 per year but sometimes more than $100 annually. A portion of that registration fee flows back to the registry — in this case, Donuts, which operates the .florist registry.
Registries pay ICANN for the privilege. Each of the 1,930 new applications to operate one of the new GTLD registries came with a $185,000 application fee, and running the registry costs $25,000 a year on top of that. Atallah said he expects fees to go down when ICANN opens the second round of GTLD applications later this decade.
In this round, costs can go and have gone higher, too: when more than one party wants to operate the same registry, ICANN holds an auction and awards rights to the highest bidder. Right now, 402 domains are under contention with multiple applicants, with the highest demand going for the .app registry. Some of this “string contention” is resolved through private auctions, too, in which case ICANN doesn’t get any extra proceeds from the auction.
String contention can be expensive. Amazon outbid Google, among others, paying $4.6 million for .buy. And a company called Dot Tech acquired rights to .tech for $6.8 million.
“The purpose of .tech is to provide a dedicated online environment for the technology industry, allowing businesses to create user-friendly access to products, services and information instantaneously through accurate search engine classifications,” the company said in its application. It hopes businesses using .tech will become“differentiated online as tech-savvy innovators, product suppliers or service professionals.”
Trademark hurdlesDot Tech is excited, but established brands castigated ICANN’s domain-name expansion plans because of new trademark hassles. Companies are accustomed to buying rights to their name on the .com registry, and maybe a handful of others like .info, .co, and .biz. With hundreds and later thousands of new domains, that’s simply not practical anymore, and that raises the possibility that cybersquatters will register a company’s name on a new domain. They can set a webpage festooned with ads on it or redirect traffic to a different site of their choosing. And of course they can profit when the trademark holder buys the rights to the site.
The domain-name expansion is “an opportunity for brands … but it’s big opportunity for cybersquatters. You’re seeing it time and again,” said David Taylor, a lawyer at Hogan Lovells International who specializes in domain-name issues. “Brands will be put to a higher cost.”
Taylor was a member of a group of experts ICANN convened to try to ease trademark issues. ICANN adopted several of its recommendations. That includes the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) System that’s designed to be cheaper and faster than the earlier Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) when brand holders want to contest another party’s domain-name registration; a “sunrise” period that lets trademark holders be the first to register their own trademarks on new domains; and the Trademark Clearinghouse that gives trademark holders a central place to register their marks for domain-related purposes.
For $150 a year, the clearinghouse will notify trademark holders of domains involving their trademarks and validate their trademarks if they’re registering them during a new domain’s sunrise period. As of Sept. 16, trademark holders registered 32,993 trademarks, and the clearinghouse sent out 111,855 notices of domain-name actions involving those trademarks.
Trademark holders need to be aware of the repercussions of the new domain names, said Peter Van De Wielle, the Trademark Clearinghouse’s marketing manager. “That’s why we’re focusing resources on education,” he said.
Yoyo.email caseThe Yoyo.email case indicates how complicated things can get. The company has been involved with at least 34 URS and UDRP cases involving domain names it’s registered that involve others’ trademarks. Yoyo.email founder Giovanni Laporta said in correpondence with CNET that he’s no cybersquatter — indeed, that he didn’t even know what a cybersquatter was until trademark lawyers came after his business. And he’s now fighting some of those cases in court. Here’s how he described his business:
“Yoyo plans to launch a new email hosting platform, which amongst many other innovative features [has] a certified email service. Yoyo can only guarantee the service if it controls both ends of the email send and receive process. The brand.emails are only used to internally route emails so that all the metadata is captured on our servers. That way … Yoyo can certify that the email was sent and, in some instances, received. Like certified mail, there has to be proof that someone sent a person to someone’s door and put in in the box. The brand.email is just an easy way to route and store the data, invisible to sender and receiver.”
Yoyo won’t involve websites using the domains, and indeed Laporta refused an offer to sell the StuartWeitzman.email domain to shoe and purse seller Stuart Weitzman for $1,000. “Selling any of our <.email> domains will be detrimental to service operation. Selling domain names is not the reason why domain names were registered, so I respectfully have to decline your offer,” he said in a letter to the company’s attorney.
Regardless of Yoyo’s intentions, brand holders have been leery of new domains for years. A presence on the Internet has been an exciting new way to interact directly with customers, but each new service — email, the Web, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, ad networks, app stores, and more — means another area where they have to worry about their reputation. The value of that brand can be immense. Last week, Apple topped Interbrand’s annual survey of brand value, worth an estimated $119 billion.
More feesIn addition to ICANN’s official mechanisms for dealing with trademark worries, companies can pay for more protection. For about $3,000, Donuts will block registrations for five years of particular names across its own registries — but not others’ registries.
Another startup, BrandShield, scours new Net domains and other online areas for trademark problems and then ranks them for clients. It costs $1,000 a year for small companies but goes up for those with a bigger online presence.
“Our algorithms automatically prioritize the level of risk to give you a rank so you can focus on the ones that really create damage,” said Yoav Keren, chief executive of BrandShield.
For her part, photographer Parker isn’t racing either to embrace the new domains or to mount new defenses.
“I know people will squat on these new domain names and there will be speculation. I’m not too worried about it,” she said. “If it ain’t, broke don’t fix it.”
In the long run, ICANN expects the pain and uncertainty will be worth it — especially for companies that set up their own branded domains.
“When you are in a general space, everything goes. When you are in a specific space, you can present yourself differently,” Atallah said. “You have the ability to control your destiny.”
RELATED STORIES | 13,245 | 5,920 | 0.000177 |
warc | 201704 | OverviewThe International Law Practice Manual provides accessible guidance on a range of international legal materials, which illustrates how they can be used to enhance outcomes for Australian legal practitioners, judges and other professionals working in both the public and private sectors. Consideration of Australia’s obligations under international law is rapidly increasing in policy-making and legal process, yet many lawyers and other professionals remain unaware of what international legal materials are available and how to use them effectively. As judges increasingly draw upon international law to interpret Australian legislation or support their reasoning, so too must lawyers refer to it in their applications or legal advice to clients. Furthermore, government agencies may be required to comply with those conventions which have been ratified by Australia and have a competent understanding of various international instruments. The Manual will equip lawyers with a sound understanding and working knowledge of how international law interacts with Australian law. It is written in plain English and in a highly accessible format. Practical tools include detailed checklists, flowcharts, sample precedents, illustrative examples, lists of all treaties to which Australia is a party, and reference to Australian case law in which international legal materials have been considered. The text is concise, comprehensive and clear. This must-have book will help practitioners to formulate effective strategies in a range of different contexts, including drafting written submissions, using international law in oral arguments, engaging with international and Australian institutions, and in specialised areas like international trade and investment, human rights, environmental law and extradition. How this book will help you The Manual will assist practitioners when: interpreting questions of Australian law, including where legislation refers to an international convention, and when developing the common law; construing a treaty or international instrument; contrasting the Australian legal position with the approach taken by other States; strengthening written submissions made to and oral advocacy before numerous audiences such as Australian courts, international institutions, Australian government departments and parliamentary enquiries; addressing international trade and investment matters e.g. investor protection, the dumping of goods by foreign competitors into Australian markets, intellectual property, to trade negotiations, trade disputes and other issues; facilitating cross-border transactions e.g. incorporating provisions from commercial conventions into contracts; dealing with specific international legal topics e.g. maritime law, environmental protection, child protection, extradition and mutual criminal assistance; commencing a human rights claim before an international body or when interpreting Australian legislation using a human rights charter; undertaking international dispute settlement e.g. domestic and international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution before the World Trade Organisation; drafting international agreements e.g. preparing clauses on territorial or boundary issues; developing government policy e.g. law enforcement cooperation, military law and contributing to national reports submitted for review by international organisations; undertaking various steps in the litigation process e.g. crucial procedural questions such as proving foreign law in an Australian court, serving documents on a foreign party, commencing an action against a foreign State or State agency and overcoming questions of jurisdictional immunity; researching points of international law from a wide array of helpful and readily-accessible sources. This title provides a unique, centralised point of reference for all sources of international legal materials for barristers, solicitors, in-house counsel, and government lawyers in Australia. It will also be of considerable benefit to lawyers working outside the jurisdiction who seek to obtain a thorough appreciation of the Australian legal position. Others professionals will find it to be of assistance wherever international law is relevant to their work. The International Law Practice Manual will significantly assist the reader’s ability to win litigation, enhance persuasive advice given to clients, minimise legal obligations, protect or extend market share or influence law-making wherever international law or the Australian legal position is relevant. | 4,636 | 1,998 | 0.000507 |
warc | 201704 | The House Game and Fisheries Committee is responsible for reviewing legislative proposals that impact hunters and anglers in the Commonwealth. The committee also receives and reviews annual reports from both the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.
During the 2011-12 session, the committee worked on several bills that are now law, including:
Enhancements to the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, which is designed to help get more young people involved in hunting activities.
Improving access to military-specific hunting licenses by allowing them to be sold by all licensing agents rather than just at commission offices and county treasurers’ offices. Removing the requirement that sportsmen and sportswomen must wear back tags while hunting (Pennsylvania was one of only two states that still had the requirement). Offering multi-year fishing licenses and permits.
According to the most recent study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, participation in wildlife-related recreation (hunting, fishing and wildlife watching) nationwide increased from 87.5 million people in 2006 to more than 91 million in 2011. More than 1.1 million anglers and 775,000 hunters to took the waterways and the woods of the Commonwealth, spending nearly $1.6 billion in 2011. Pennsylvania also ranks in the top five in the nation for the most in-state hunters.
“Hunting and fishing are long-standing traditions for many Pennsylvania families, including my own,” Causer said. “It is my goal to ensure those traditions continue.”
This assignment is Causer’s first as a committee chairman. He has served as representative for the 67th legislative district since 2003. During the prior legislative session, he was a member of the House Appropriations, Health, and Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness committees. He also served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Parks and Forests within the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. | 2,012 | 1,044 | 0.000976 |
warc | 201704 | Intelligent Life on Earth Posted 18 Feb 2007 at 20:38 UTC by ncm
Here we all sit with these huge brains we're so proud of. Using them, we
can throw a rock to knock down a bird. We can invent mathematics, and
organza, and politics, and hard questions. Meanwhile, the lowly starfish
creeps along the ocean floor, eon upon eon, nibbling, nibbling. It has
no brain. It has no head to put one in.
All these centuries we thought starfish wandered aimlessly, a sort
of aquatic Roomba. We thought so right up until somebody made time-lapse
movies, and found that starfish have an active social life, and
dominance contests, and are such deadly hunters that when one comes
around the snails all flee as fast as each one's little head/foot can
carry it. (Bugs hunt, too, but starfish
have no brain.)
So, what is it about a brain? It's all these nerve cells wired together
(although the wires are nerve cells, too). If you're in a hurry, you
really have no choice but to stuff all your nerve cells into as nearly
the same place as you can manage, because it takes so long to get a
message from one to the next. If you're in a hurry, you have to
keep them all working at the same time, and each one doing just one
thing. After all, every millisecond counts.
But suppose you're not in a hurry. Suppose the same survival pressures
drive you to evolve ever more elaborate structure, but days or months
drift lazily by in your struggle to best your neighbors and prey. Where
would you keep your nerve cells: all in one vulnerable spot, or spread
out more or less evenly? Would they be on all the time, burning
calories? Maybe they could be doing something else when they weren't
called upon to think. Maybe they could be muscle cells, too, or bone
cells, or taste buds, or all three and more.
How many would you need? When you're in a hurry, obviously, as many as
you can afford. (Nerve cells are expensive to feed.) When you're not in a
hurry, you can do the same amount of processing with many fewer, just
more slowly. Each clump (if indeed they clump) of cells acting as nerves
might worry at all stages of a problem, instead of handing off each
intermediate result to some other ganglion.
What about the wiring? When you're in a hurry, nothing will do but to
wire each bit as directly it can be to every other bit that might need
to hear from it. When you're not in a hurry, a lot less wiring can do
the same job.
The point is, suppose a slow creature was thinking big, slow thoughts.
How would you find which bits were doing the thinking? How would you
recognize that you had found them? How would you even know to look? We
have no idea what use a great Sequoia tree might have for intelligence.
If it had, we might never notice (not being trees), nor spot any
anatomical feature big or small that seemed meant for thinking with.
Search for intelligent life in the universe? We've hardly begun here.
By your definition, might a city said to be intelligent? What about a country? It seems to me that there has to be more to "intelligence" (and its friend consciousness) than mere information transfer between physical artifacts. As something of a materialist, it bothers me to no end that I have absolutely no clue on what that might be.
Life, posted 19 Feb 2007 at 00:38 UTC by ncm » (Master)
Might a sufficiently well-organized beehive be intelligent? I'm
prepared to let the aggregate-entities question slip, and concentrate on
actual organisms. Purposeful behavior and logical reasoning can be
faked, but absent somebody to do the faking, I'll happily concede
consciousness wherever I find them.
There's a fungus underlying an entire forest, somewhere, that I'd like
to question at some length. I hope my great-grandchildren would be able
to understand the answers, and carry on the conversation.
one common thread so as to kick off evolution/natural selection on both ends without
destroying the original bodies or any single point of contact.
To give a lower real life example, i am totally absorbed, not in the least feel offended by this
article 'OOP Concept
explained: Polymorphism (Technology)'
Of course, the last part of it doesn't make much sense other than illustrating a psycho mal-
function.
//now we loop through the holes and fuck them all with the same Penis
Penis p = new Man().Penis;
foreach(Hole h in holes) {
p.Fuck(h);
}
Non-programmers on another site can pin-point the weakest part of the exercise intuitively
as one wise man wrote:
The recharge time must be considered for P to fill H after TakeALoad (). This waiting loop
should be implemented somewhere:
public Recharge (P h) {
while(!P.isRecharged) {
this.desire ++;
}
(goto F*k)
}
Straight from my text book, expert's example is astounishingly similar that I can plug right in
our discussion:
Abstract Classes:
If a derived class does not implement all the methods of an interface, then it must be
declared abstract.
abstract class Hole {
protected $plumage;
protected $migratory;
abstract public function __construct();
abstract public function fsck();
abstract public function sing();
abstract public function eat();
abstract public function setPlumage($plumage);
abstract public function getPlumage();
abstract public function setMigratory($migratory);
abstract public function getMigratory();
Private Methods Can't be Abstract
methods identified as abstract cannot be private; they must be either public or protected.
The reason is that an abstract private method is a contradiction in terms. Because an abstract
class has undefined methods it cannot be instantiated ( it only exists to be the parent of a
derived class). A class with abstract private methods could never be implemented because
private methods cannot be inherited. The same reasoning would apply to a final abstract
methods.
Note: recall that a final method cannot be changed in a derived class. An abstract method
cannot be final because it must be overridden - i.e., changed.
How does a pure abstract class, with no defined methods, differ from an interface? An
interface may not have data members or a constructor.
Interface or Pure Abstract Class?
there are only syntactic differences between interfaces and pure abstract classes, but when
should you use one rather than the other? In general, it's probably better to use an interface
than a pure abstract class because of the flexibility of interfaces. PHP doesn't allow multiple
inheritance for classes; a child class may have only one parent class. However, you can
implement any number of interfaces.
It makes more sense to use abstract classes when there is a mix of concrete and abstract
methods. You can provide an implementation where identical, derived class behavior is
expected, and you can provide an abstract method where behavior will differ. You could, of
course, ignore methods for which you expect the behavior of derived classes to diverge, but
by declaring a method abstract you ensure that it will be implemented in any derived class
Still my question to the original author of 'OOP explained' is this:
but can you explain to me, why Hole is declared an abstract class but seldom
do prgrammers think of the need to add an abstract layer for the Penis class?
Someone immediately throws in an abstract class Phallus: Penis extends Phallus.
If we realized that in a more classical sense: Clitoris extends Phallus as well. Now we may be
look at the graduate level material...
Other worth noting point of view :
There are other types of polymorphism. In particular the compile time polymorphism [ as
opposed to runtime ]. C++ Templates that let programmer 'write dick function that will not
only work with any hole but don't spend a lot of time fumbling to get it in the right hole
during the main event...
I beg your pardon if you consider this digression a bit far stretching to link it with 'the
intelligent life on earth'. I hope to grasp OOP concept at a new substantial level of
sophistication so as to gain a true understanding about programming.
Failure, posted 19 Feb 2007 at 02:52 UTC by ncm » (Master) robogato
: Maybe the above indicates the articles
revival experiment is a failure, absent some way to discard off-topic posts.
ncm
: It seems to me that we need to know what we're
looking for before we can attempt to find it. Although tempting to apply
the same criteria for recognizing intelligence that Potter Stewart used
for pornography ("I know it when I see it"), my suspicion is that one
won't have much luck finding slow-talking fungal floors without a
detailed account of how intelligence is constituted by the unintelligent
(?) matter we see around us. Then again, I've always been a bit of a
bottom-up sort of person.
Not so hard, posted 19 Feb 2007 at 06:31 UTC by ncm » (Master) wlach
: Natural selection comes to the rescue. The only
things that are going to
become
intelligent are those that are
subject to natural selection. They need a capacity to act to improve
their survivability or reproduction. They need to live in a challenging
but more or less predictable environment where intelligence can make a
difference. They need sensory capacity to be able to know when to act
and what are the effects of their actions. They need lots and lots of
time to evolve in. Most of all, they need a lucky confluence of
circumstances: among the vertebrates only humans managed it, and not
through virtuous living.
Recognizing a creature's capacity to act might take some imagination.
It was only recently recognized that trees release ketones into the air
when attacked by beetles, which leads nearby trees step up their
defenses. Redwoods drop branches on smaller neighboring trees, crushing
them. Truffles feed chemicals into the roots of oaks they draw
nutriment from.
Slow creatures' primary sensory apparatus might be unfamiliar. Varying
magnetic fields and air pressure might be more meaningful than light and
sound (which those both are, really). An aspen forest (which is a
single organism) could be, in effect, a long-wave radio telescope. If
aspens happened to have developed intelligence they might know a lot
more astronomy than we do. That truffle could be farming oaks, very
carefully and deliberately.
Can you think of a way to test whether a slow organism is intelligent
within a single human lifetime? To assume it's not is no more
scientific than to assume it is.
The first paragraph in this article is the best poem I read this morning in my RSS feed, and I get a user-selected poetry feed as part of that. I was confused when I looked at the source title. ;)
i'm currently writing this up.
intelligence is a positive-feedback loop of multiple orders of differentiation on information.
it doesn't matter if that intelligence is implemented in a brain or in a tree - it's still fucking intelligence, and it's intelligence of an order and magnitude of simplicity so extreme that ironically we don't have the intelligence to spot it.
which is why i am so pissed off at genetic modifications. it's truly fucking with the intelligence of nature (differentiation - natural selection - of information - DNA - applied over absolutely aeons) that created it.
we are already seeing the fuckups made by the dickheads who started the genetic modifications to soya being magnified by 'differentiation' i.e. the dna gets unpacked by pollenisation and the difference between the "original" dna and the "bastardised" version gets 'zipped up' and doesn't quite fit - and the differences get massively amplified.
now we have gut bacteria incorporating that bastardised dna into its own.
and - this is the best bit: those stupid dickhead drug companies are incorporating their toxic chemicals into the DNA of plants. cross-pollenise that across the world and you'll end up poisoning and killing anyone who eats plants.
i look forward to the solution of having to clean up after drug
companies genetic modification experiments get out-of-hand.
europe and asia having to do high altitude
flyovers over the united states, napalming the entire country to the bedrock,
and turning the entire united states continent into a desert, in order to
save the rest of the planet.
the only way to get rid of the toxic DNA is either nuclear weapons
or napalm.
and napalm can at least be targetted and doesn't have so much lasting
effects.
anyone disagree? anyone got any alternative solutions, other than to
kill the directors of drugs companies? | 12,574 | 5,835 | 0.000174 |
warc | 201704 | INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IN PADDY
Among the food grains paddy occupies fore most status in human food requirements. Paddy is grown under different agro-climatic (Upland, Low land &Rained) conditions and the crop is damaged by more then 100 sp of insect pests. This pest causes enormous grain yield losses, which may vary from 20-50% if not protected, India losses 30% yield in rice every year. It is most important staple food of about 65% of Indian population.
IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
IPM is a system that in the context of the associated environment and the population dynamics of pest species, utilizes all suitable techniques and methods in as compatible a manner as possible and maintains the pest populations at level below those causing economic injury.
WHY IPM?
To minimize the indiscriminate and judicious use of chemicals, insecticides and pesticides, It was realized later that many chemicals were not biologically degradable and they not only persisted in the environment but also become concentrated through the food chains. IPM has been formulated as principle of plant protection in over all crop protection programmes under the National Agriculture policy of the Govt. of India.
IPM Strategy for paddy
[[Cultural Practices]] [[Mechanical practices]] [[Biological Control Practices]] [[Chemical control measures]]
Economic Threshold Level (ETL)
It is the pest density at which control measures should de applied to prevent an increasing pest population from reaching the economic injury level.
[[Economic Threshold Level (ETL) of Paddy Insect Pests]] Major Pest of Paddy and its Management
More than two dozens of insect pest have been recorded to infest rice crop. These pests do not appear regularly and cause varying degree of losses to rice in different stages in different parts of the country. Management of the pests are given below.
[[Yellow stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas Walker)]] [[Rice Plant Hopper (Nelaparvata lugens Stal.)]] [[Gundy Bug (Leptocorisa acuta Fab.)]] [[Rice Leaf folder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guen.)]] [[Rice Hispa (Dicladispa armigera Oliv.)]] [[Rice Grasshoppers (Hieroglyphus banian Fab.)]] [[Paddy Root Weevil (Echinocnemus oryzae Marshall)]] [[Rice Caseworm (Nymphula depunctalis Guenee)]] [[Rice Gall Midge (Orseolia oryzae Wood-Mason)]] [[Mole Cricket (Scapteriscus borellia Giglio-Tos)]] [[Whorl Maggot (Hydrellia philippina Fer.)]] [[Rodent]]
Submitted by Awaneesh on Tue, 16/02/2010 - 15:48
Posted in
0 | 2,490 | 1,351 | 0.000745 |
warc | 201704 | Everything You Need To Know About Digital Signage
Digital signage is a form of electronic display that shows television programs, menus, advertising and other information. These signs can […]
Digital signage is a form of electronic display that shows television programs, menus, advertising and other information. These signs can be found in both public and private environments including hotel lobbies, shopping centres, retail stores, corporate buildings, restaurants and in general public space, a good example would be New York City.
These signs are most commonly controlled by personal computers or servers, through the use of company or public-domain software programs.
Here are the five most common reasons why digital signage is used: Number One – Public Information: this reports news, weather and local information such as area map and key location points (fire stations, police departments and hospitals). Number Two – Internal Information: Found in companies, these display corporate messages, health and safety news, company layout and other applicable news items. Number Three – Menu Information: Situated in bars and restaurants, this signage contains information on the food and beverage items in stock, prices, specials, photos and ingredients used. Number Four – Advertising: This is used in a way to relate to the location to the signage or using these screens for general advertising of your products. Number Five – Enhancing The Environment: These interactive screens use a ‘dynamic wayfinding’ tool that allows tourists to view locations of the places of interest. For instance it will show you where the local museums, restaurant’s, theme parks and other tourist attractions are located.
What content is displayed on the digital sign?
The content in the context of digital signage refers to anything on the screen, whether it is images, wording, videos or audio. The content design is typically done through a specialist agency or in-house team that continuously focus on creating new and unique advertising ideas for the products and services offered by the company.
Here are three reasons why retailers need to use digital signage:
Customer Education Window Placement Dynamic Experience Number One – Customer Education Educating your customers is the most difficult part of your business. You need to show them how to use the product and why they need the product, including a variety of benefits they will experience.
A digital sign is a far better way to educate your customers than an aggressive salesperson. The reason is the digital sign subtly shows why you need the product, while a salesperson is deemed more focused on making a sale for to meet quota’s.
Number Two – Window Placement This is the ideal way to draw new clients into your shop or show existing customers new products in stock. This type of advertising needs to draw customers in with a funny picture or other means to ensure the person stops and focuses on the screen. Once the person is focused on the screen, you are able to then show them products that may interest them. The key is to get customers to stop and notice your sign. Ensure that it is colourful, informative and non-threatening. Number Three – Dynamic Experience By adding real-time digital signage in your store, you are able to give the customer a more enjoyable and engaging type of experience. Keep the customer engaged and they will forget about the long line at the till. When you create this unique shopping experience, it will build customer loyalty and thus increase sales figures.
In conclusion, digital signage is the future of marketing. Ensure that you make use of it in your company; it will improve your customer’s shopping experience and help draw in new customers.
I am Greg Jones, a shop owner and sign manufacturers users. Since I opened my sports store I have moved all my marketing onto digital signage and my revenues have increased by nearly fifty percent. In my spare time, I love nothing more that hiking the hiking or bike trails in the area or if pushed for time squeezing in a gym session before heading home to my family. | 4,198 | 1,872 | 0.000545 |
warc | 201704 | The Year of Mercy will be coming to a close next month. Was it everything you planned for? Were you able to take advantage of the special graces it offered in the ways you hoped?
If the answer is “no” and you’re a mother, the Faces of Mercy Catholic Conference 4 Moms may be just what you need. This free, on-line conference will be made available the weekend of October 20-23 and includes four days of presentations from popular Catholic authors and speakers that focus on God’s mercy for mothers, and how mothers can be the “face of mercy” to others. The presentations — which run about 20 minutes long — can be accessed anytime during the conference and are also available as MP3 downloads.
Conference organizer Tami Kiser, a writer, blogger, mother of 10 and grandmother of five, knows how difficult it can be to find time for prayer, study, and the various kids of “self-improvement” projects a Catholic woman may want to undertake. She says the great thing about the Faces of Mercy conference is that it’s completely flexible — no need to get a babysitter. The talks can be accessed whenever a mom has a few quiet minutes to herself, or even while she’s folding laundry, running errands, or running on the treadmill. “More than getting household tasks done, however, is the fruit that will come when moms listen to the powerful messages inspired by this Year of Mercy,” explains Kiser.
To identify the best presenters for this conference, Kiser says she prayed, “Come, Holy Spirit!” and also researched popular speakers who had messages about mercy and/or mothers. “Honestly, I believe the Blessed Mother dropped them into my lap as this conference is under her patronage,” she says.
Kiser wants mothers to live with more mercy in their lives. “Our world desperately needs mercy. The best place to start is in ourselves and in our homes. I want moms to know the mercy of God and then in turn to be the “face of mercy” to others.”
Kiser believes that once we experience and understand the mercy of God, we can begin to live this mercy out in our own lives.
“If moms can live that mercy to their spouses, children, family, neighbors, and friends we can begin to change the world,” Kiser says. “A simple example is the new-found kindness that I have for my spouse, even when he’s grumpy and it’s undeserved. He then goes to a business meeting with a changed heart. His work associates go home from the meeting to their spouses in a joyful mood. These wives then are more loving and attentive to their children. It all starts with a simple act of mercy! Let’s all take more mercy and tenderness into the new year.”
For more information or to sign up for the conference go to www.CatholicConference4Moms.com . | 2,869 | 1,406 | 0.000753 |
warc | 201704 | Zyrtec and Pregnancy Although Zyrtec (cetirizine) appears to be safe to take during pregnancy, the full risks are not yet known. In animal studies, high doses of the drug did not cause any problems. However, Zyrtec has not been studied adequately in pregnant women. Be sure to let your healthcare provider know if you are taking Zyrtec and pregnancy occurs. Taking Zyrtec While Pregnant: An OverviewZyrtec ®(cetirizine hydrochloride) is an antihistamine approved to treat allergies and hives. It is available without a prescription. Zyrtec appears to be safe for use during pregnancy, although the full risks are not currently known. The labeling of Zyrtec products contains a warning that pregnant women should consult their healthcare providers before taking the drug. Zyrtec and Pregnancy Category BThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category B is given to medicines that have not been studied extensively in pregnant humans but that do not appear to cause harm to the fetus in animal studies. It is also given to medications that cause apparent problems in pregnant animals but have been shown to be safe in human studies.
Zyrtec was given a pregnancy Category B classification because even at high dosages, the drug did not cause any problems when given to pregnant animals. There is no reason to expect that Zyrtec will cause problems during pregnancy. However, the drug has not been adequately studied in pregnant women, so the full risks are not known.
While animal studies did not suggest problems with Zyrtec, these studies could not completely rule out the possibility of problems. Therefore, a pregnancy Category B medicine should be given to a pregnant woman only if her healthcare provider believes that the benefits to the woman outweigh any possible risks to the unborn child. | 1,937 | 856 | 0.001174 |
warc | 201704 | Having The Sex Talk with Your Child
Six years ago, when I was the mom of a kindergartner, the principal announced one morning during a school-wide assembly that the fifth grade boys would be watching a special movie that day. All of the parents around me tittered and one dad even muttered, “Watch out, fifth grade girls.” I then realized that she was talking about the “facts of life” video and distinctly remember feeling relieved that we still had many more years before my son saw it. Many more years until we had to have “The Talk” with him.
Well, guess who’s now in the fifth grade?
When Sam came home a few months ago with a note telling us that the school would soon show the kids the maturation video (and giving us the chance to opt out), it immediately propelled my husband and me into action because we realized that Sam knew nothing about sex.
Nothing. Or at least nothing that he’d learned from us.
You see, we’d taken the parental tactic of just following his lead on what he wanted to know about sex and when. We hadn’t intentionally kept him in the dark, but besides the usual “what are boys and girls’ private parts called?” discussion, he’d never once asked us anything about reproduction. And it certainly wasn’t a subject I was eager to bring up on my own accord. “Hey, Sam! Once you finish that mac ‘n cheese, let me tell you all about the wonders of sperm! FYI, they’re super fast swimmers!”
Anyway, because we wanted him to hear about reproduction from us before he heard about it from a generic school video, we finally had The Sex Talk with him. A long talk. A couple of talks, in fact. And throughout the process, we all learned a few things about the best way to handle discussing sex at this age and stage.
So today I’m passing along a few tips and tricks for talking to your preteen about sex. Even if they’ve known about the birds and bees since preschool.
My preteen still hasn’t asked about sex, so can I just wait a little while longer to have The Talk? Like, when he’s 50?
Simply put, “no.” It’s always better that they hear it from you first and hear it correctly and at this age, you can’t wait any longer. Quite a few kids in the fourth or fifth grade already know about sex, but by sixth grade, almost all of them know the 411. And therefore the odds of your child hearing wrong or disturbing information about sex are high because kids definitely talk about it. A lot. For example, Audrey, the Town Crier of our neighborhood, once memorably ran up to a group of 10 nine-year-old boys playing whiffle ball and spilled the beans on how babies are made. In graphic detail. Her mom was fielding angry phone calls about the incident for weeks afterwards. And those boys’ parents were left scrambling to give their boys the right information as soon as they could.
But chances are, if you have a girl, you’ve already had the puberty talk, so this is just the next step. If you have a boy, you may have had the puberty talk already, too, but if not, start with that then continue on to The Big Sex Talk.
Why do I still have to have The Talk at home if our school is showing them a video about it?
Because the sex talk definitely isn’t something that should be outsourced. But also because the video, which varies by the school and should be previewed by you if the staff allows it, probably won’t explain things as thoroughly or sensitively as you can. For example, the video my son Sam saw showed a graphic about erections, then said that boys get them “many times a day, whenever they’re excited!” And if that scant explanation doesn’t scare a kid into never acting happy again, I don’t know what will.
OK, but why do I still have to have The Talk with my kid if I have informational sex books for him to read?
There’s nothing wrong with books and there are many good ones, but they should be used as a supplement to a parent’s talk, not as a substitution. This is just something that needs a human touch. Regarding the books, some experts advise just leaving them around the house in the hopes that a child will pick them up when you’re not looking, but other experts (whom I agree with) instead suggest picking out a couple of good ones and handing them to your child in their room so they realize how important they are. You don’t have to make them read the books, but they’ll know they can refer to them whenever they want.
Should my husband have The Talk with our son and I have The Talk with our daughter? What should I do if I’m a single mom with a son?
This is obviously a personal decision based on your comfort level and what you expect your child’s comfort level to be. Most parents I know go with the “if you share the same equipment, you have the sex talk” rule. I would have been fine talking to my son about sex, but I knew he’d feel more comfortable hearing it from his father. (I know I would have been mortified if my dad had talked about sex with me.)
If you’re a single mom with a son, or a single dad with a daughter, and/or don’t want to have The Talk yourself, find a trusted relative or close friend of the same gender to do it for you. But let your child know they can always ask you questions, too.
So, I just have to have The Talk once, then I’m dunzo?
Nice try. But no. As every adult knows, sex (and love) are very involved, complex subjects and there’s no way they can be covered in one simple conversation. Start with the basics, of course, but be sure to let your child know that they can always come to you with any other issues that may come up.
That said, we all know that kids keep a lot to themselves, so it’s also a good idea to regularly check in with them when they have their guard down, like maybe when you’re both in the car. Ask them if any questions have come up since your last talk and you’ll probably be surprised by what they say. Like when a friend of mine’s 9-year-old daughter recently asked what a “blow job” was because the kids at school had been laughing about the word. (I know, OMG, but it’s happening.)
Our family is very open about sex, is it okay if our child is, too?
Well, remember what I said about Audrey the Town Crier spilling the beans to 10 shocked boys in our neighborhood? Learning about sex obviously doesn’t always happen in a bubble, but most parents still want some control over what their kid hears, when they hear it and from who. Meaning, once you have The Talk with your child, let them know to keep it to themselves. Which, if they’re like most kids, shouldn’t be too hard. After my husband had his talk with Sam, he told him not to tell anyone else, especially his younger brother. Sam’s response? “Don’t worry. I don’t want to talk about it to ANYONE EVER EVER EVER.”
Besides the basic biology of sex, is there anything else we need to cover?
Well, yes. But not right away. There’s a whole slew of other things that go way beyond “when a mommy and daddy love each other very much” and the basic workings of intercourse. Things like romantic love, for example. Your preteen needs to know that love is not the same as sexual involvement.
Per the book “From Diapers to Dating” when dealing with preteens who may be starting to “date” someone soon, “parents need to talk about abstinence…preteen children need to know what you think about teens’ having sexual intercourse and the behaviors you expect of them.” I know that may seem a little overboard when you’re dealing with an 11 or 12-year-old, but it’s a talk (or two) you should be prepared to give well before that train leaves the station.
It’s also important to remember that telling your child about abstinence doesn’t mean you don’t also have to cover things like contraception, AIDS and STDs, which many experts believe all kids should be informed of by age 12 or the start of middle school. Heady stuff, to be sure, but it’s better they learn it from you than from someone with wrong information.
Other topics that you should try to cover in your continuing talks with your preteen can include sexual orientation, your religious views on sex and various ethical, moral and legal issues that arise. “Should kids wait until marriage?” “How do I know if I’m gay?” “What’s wrong with dating an older boy?” The questions and issues regarding sex are varied and sometimes difficult, and while they’re not always easy to answer, it’s important that you listen to your child and try your best to advise them.
So what’s the most important take-away about having The Talk?
It’s exactly what I just said above: there’s not just one Talk, but many Talks. If you try to be as open, honest and straight forward with your child as possible, they’ll grow up with a healthy attitude about sex. And that’s a good thing for everyone.
Especially Audrey The Town Crier.
If you’ve already had The Talk with your child, what’s your best piece of advice? | 9,333 | 4,190 | 0.000253 |
warc | 201704 | The government's plans to massively ramp up surveillance of Brits' Internet activity could severely hinder the UK's tech sector due to a lack of clarity on costs, MPs and peers have warned.
Objections to the collection and storing of so-called Internet connection records (ICRs) have also been raised by members sitting on the cross-party science and technology committee. Among other things, politicos on the panel are concerned about the vague definitions used by the Home Office in its draft Investigatory Powers Bill (aka the Snooper's Charter). “There remain questions about the feasibility of collecting and storing ICRs, including concerns about ensuring security for the records from hackers," said the committee's chair, Tory MP Nicola Balckwood.
She added: "The bill was intended to provide clarity to the industry, but the current draft contains very broad and ambiguous definitions of ICRs, which are confusing communications providers. This must be put right for the bill to achieve its stated security goals.”
MPs and peers held a one-off evidence session in November last year, where they examined potential technology issues relating to the government's proposed Investigatory Powers Bill. They heard from a range of witnesses, including academics, telecoms experts, and ex-GCHQ chief David Omand—who not only defended Whitehall's latest bid for more online surveillance powers, but said he would have gone further and demanded a full "weblog" of Brits' Internet activity. By "weblog" he means a full log of someone's activity online.
However, the committee said on Monday morning that the bill, in its current form, was peppered with "poorly defined" terms, which needed to be refined to give communications providers in the UK clarity about how such legislation would work in real-world scenarios.
“The government must work with industry to improve estimates of all of the compliance costs associated with the measures in the draft bill," the panel added.
The Home Office has repeatedly argued that its proposed law needed to remain "technology neutral" in order that it can stand the test of time, but such claims have been blasted by network operators who say that the lack of clarity on the face of the bill could lead to surveillance powers being easily extended.
Theresa May's department also submitted written evidence to the committee in an apparent move to clear up confusion about some of the more contentious definitions in the draft bill.
However, the Home Office has failed to convince parliamentarians on the science and technology committee. Blackwood said: "there are still many unanswered questions about how this legislation will work in the fast evolving world of communications technology."
In particular, the panel not only highlighted concerns about definitions in the proposed law, but it also flagged up a lack of clarity on spooks' hacking into equipment, codes of practice, and end-to-end encryption. "It is essential that the integrity and security of legitimate online transactions is maintained if we are to trust in, and benefit from, the opportunities of an increasingly digital economy. The government needs to do more to allay unfounded concerns that encryption will no longer be possible," Blackwood said.
Ars sought comment from the Home Office on this story. Security minister John Hayes said:
We are mindful of the need for legislation to provide law enforcement and the security and intelligence agencies with the powers they need to deal with the serious threats to our country in the modern age, subject to strict safeguards and world-leading oversight arrangements.
The government will introduce its final proposals to Parliament in the Spring with a view to the bill becoming law before the end of the year.
I welcome the full, open and frank consideration of the powers at the heart of this legislation so vital to our national interest.
The Home Office also reiterated that the bill would not weaken encryption, or lead to back doors being inserted into tech products. "We are not asking or requiring companies to weaken encryption but to retain the ability to remove electronic protection," May's department said.
A separate committee of MPs and peers have been examining the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, to determine whether they think the government's demands for greater surveillance powers can be deemed proportionate to the threats British citizens face from terrorism and serious crime. It will report its findings no later than February 11. | 4,567 | 2,120 | 0.000477 |
warc | 201704 | CHAMPAIGN — To those on either coast, it may seem an anomaly that the world`s leading supercomputer mecca rises out of the cornfields of central Illinois.
But transforming the University of Illinois campus into the Supercomputer Capital of the world was not such a great leap for the high-technology gurus who have kept the university`s engineering school on technology`s cutting edge for years.
Turning that rural college town into another Silicon Valley or Mass. Hwy. 128, however, remains in many ways a much greater challenge--and a definite goal on the minds of state and university officials.
Admittedly, Urbana lacks most of the amenities of the San Francisco Bay or Boston areas, but proponents of the concept hope such mundane issues no longer matter. They point to what the Downstate area does have going for it:
The high-tech history being made here daily, four hours south of Chicago.
Probably the area`s biggest lures are David Kuck (pronounced Cook) and Larry Smarr, among the world`s brightest luminaries in supercomputing, not to mention the supercomputer: A Cray X-MP-24, soon to be replaced by a Cray X-MP- 48.
The U. of I. became one of four universities to get a supercomputer as part of a $44 million National Science Foundation grant made in 1985. The Cray X-MP-24 has two central processing units, with 4 million words of memory. It can do up to 100 million calculations a second. The X-MP-48 has four processors and 8 million words of memory.
The U. of I. also has two supercomputer centers: Kuck`s Center for Supercomputing Research and Development for work on the next generation of supercomputers and Smarr`s national Center for Supercomputing Applications, to expand the availability and uses of current models.
In addition, there`s the Engineering Research Center for Compound Semiconductor Microelectronics, doing leading-edge research into the next generation of semiconductor materials.
That gives rise to speculation that ``Gallium Arsenide Prairie`` would be an appropriate, if not catchy, nickname for commercial development that springs up.
So, according to Who`s Who in Technology, the university is home to the second largest collection of scientists and engineers in the nation. Only American Telephone & Telegraph employs more.
``Five years ago, everybody working here was depressed and looking for ways to leave. Now I can`t keep up with the letters from people who want to come to work at the lab,`` said Greg Stillman, director of the
microelectronics laboratory.
Clearly, the Champaign-Urbana area has become techie heaven. But whether the excitement can be transferred into the cold hard cash of industrial and commercial development remains to be seen.
To many, the dreams of state and university officials are not so strange; what is unusual is that the U. of I. didn`t spin off high-tech start-ups the way Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology did years ago.
``When you look at our tradition as one of the top three engineering colleges, we`re way undercompanied and we seem to be the one glaring exception to the rule that top schools attract business centers,`` said Kuck.
Kuck, however, is the exception to that exception. His KAI (Kuck & Associates Inc.), the company he founded in 1979 to develop supercomputer software, has doubled its work force to 16 in the last nine months.
Kuck hinted that he has been talking to several large companies and the university about another venture that would concentrate on software applications for the supercomputer, but he is not ready to make an
announcement.
The reasons Urbana didn`t develop the way San Jose and Cambridge did vary from ``the lack of a great man`` theory to the area`s unexciting geography and climate. But some focus on the university.
``At one time, the university had rather restrictive policies when it came to patents and licensing. Companies felt we were impossible to deal with. We`ve had to change all that to meet the demands of today`s top faculty,``
said Sarah Wasserman, assistant vice chancellor for research.
``There has been an evolution in intellectual property policies, and we feel the word is getting out that we are not intractable. Now the university is even willing to to work with students and faculty to help them through the process of getting a patent.``
Though Kuck grouses that sometimes the university`s ``implementation doesn`t match its theories,`` he said the attitude, especially in the engineering school, toward commercial development has improved dramatically in recent years.
``The university and state still have a long way to come in coordinating efforts in regard to recruiting companies and providing incentives for graduate students to stick around. But the university is more open-minded, and government is interested,`` he said.
``For the first time, we`re seeing local mayors, chambers of commerce and the university all sitting around talking about it.`` | 4,972 | 2,423 | 0.000415 |
warc | 201704 | Lake Forest city hall is shown here. (Tribune photo, Michael Holtz)
Despite having a healthy financial outlook for the current fiscal year, Lake Forest officials say the city could be facing budget shortfalls in the next five years.
Lake Forest Director of Finance Elizabeth Holleb briefed the city council recently about the state of the city's budget, and said that, while there is nothing to worry about in the city's immediate fiscal future, officials might want to start exploring options for increasing revenue.
She said that by fiscal year 2018, the city could have a budget deficit of about $700,000.
If revenues stay at their projected levels and city costs continue to rise, city officials should consider budget adjustments she said.
A large factor playing into a possible deficit will be funding personnel costs like pensions and insurance, she said.
Holleb's presentation was part of an annual update by city staff on the city's five-year financial planning.
Holleb said the city has done much to reduce employee costs, including by eliminating some positions, but the city was now reaching a point where budget cuts wouldn't make up for the increased costs facing the city.
City Manager Bob Kiely said it would be wise for officials to start having conversations about finding alternative revenue sources instead of discussing where the budget can be cut.
"That's where we really have to get a sense from council," he said. "At what point do we stop focusing on the expenditure side and focus on the revenue side?"
Mayor Donald Schoenheider said the city has been in a good position financially, but with rising costs and uncertainty over what could happen at the state level regarding matters including pensions, city official will need to look forward and consider bringing in more money.
"It's not a question of it, it's a question of when," he said. "It's not a situation that's going to get better with time, and we need to be cognizant and proactive."
Holleb said there have been preliminary conversations among city staff members about possible budget solutions, and the finance department will work with the City Council to determine which ones are the best.
One potential option would be to create a tiered water usage bill that would charge those who use above a certain amount of water an increased cost.
Officials said the idea was original brought to city staff by Director of Public Works Michael Thomas to discourage excess water usage in the summer.
kjacobson@tribune.com | 2,526 | 1,241 | 0.000814 |
warc | 201704 | Those in government may be spending most of their concern on disposing of hazardous waste--but some others are more interested in not producing that kind of waste in the first place.
In San Francisco, Debra Lynn Dadd has produced a book, "Non-Toxic and Natural" (J.P. Tarcher), listing "safe" substitutes for chemical products commonly used within the home. She began searching for the substitutes after finding she was allergic to chemical products, said Dadd. "Five years ago I couldn't even get out of bed, I was so sick," she said. Now that her own home is chemical free, she feels good again and can tolerate those chemicals she encounters in other environments, Dadd reported.
Some of her suggestions:
- Avoid building things with particleboard; it is held together with a formaldehyde-based resin, and some of the board even carries a warning label.
- Replace scouring powders that include chlorine with baking soda, borax or dry table salt. Or buy Bon Ami, which does not have the chemical.
- Instead of using caustic drain cleaners, try cleaning a drain with a plunger. If that doesn't work, make a cleaner with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup salt and 1/4 cup cream of tartar. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture down the drain, followed by 1 cup of boiling water. Rinse with cold water.
Substitutes for pest control substances are the specialty of the nonprofit Bio-Integral Resource Center, or BIRC, in Berkeley. BIRC executive director Sheila Daar said the organization issues publications that include a quarterly, "Common Sense Pest Control." Some of their ideas can be used by the homeowner; sometimes a specific professional treatment is recommended. A few of their ideas:
- For cockroaches: First, put out some traps, purchased at the store, to find out just how serious a problem you've got. Caulk cracks where the roaches reside and make sure that garbage that attracts them is disposed of completely. Then place boric acid, an inert powder that is deadly to roaches but relatively safe to humans and animals, in out-of-the-way spots, such as under the stove and refrigerator.
- For snails: For a lemon tree, for instance, buy a strip of copper a couple of inches wide and put a band of metal around the trunk. The copper repels snails, which will retreat back down the trunk. This technique also works around raised flower beds. The copper strips are available from some electrical suppliers.For other areas, make a fence from a strip of window screen; fray the top edge and bend the screen away from the planted area. Snails will climb the screen but fall off when they hit the frayed edge.
- Termites: An entire bulletin was issued on this subject. It included suggestions on using nematodes, worms that can be purchased to fight subterranean termites, and offered information on a new electrical gun technique that is now being used in some cases to replace "bagging" to fumigate homes. The gun needs to be handled by a professional, said Daar.
A free publications catalogue is available by sending a self-addressed envelope with 37 cents in stamps to BIRC, P.O. Box 7414, Berkeley, 94707. | 3,120 | 1,634 | 0.000616 |
warc | 201704 | By Dr. Mercola
Most people, including many physicians, do not realize that 80 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive tract, making a healthy gut a major focal point if you want to achieve optimal health.
The root of many health problems is related to an imbalance of intestinal bacteria, and this foundation of good health is laid even while in utero.
Without a well-functioning gastrointestinal (GI) tract, a newborn baby will be more vulnerable to pathogens, allergens, and a number of immune-related diseases, so getting an infant's gut up and running efficiently is crucial. Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant would be wise to address their own gut health as early as possible to give their child the best start possible in this regard.
That said, it's never too late to address your or your child's gut, and most people would likely benefit from doing so.
The bacteria located in your GI tract play a crucial role in the development and operation of the mucosal immune system in your digestive tract. They also aid in the production of antibodies to pathogens.
Friendly bacteria even train your immune system to distinguish between pathogens and non-harmful antigens, and to respond appropriately. This important function prevents your immune system from overreacting to non-harmful antigens, which is the genesis of allergies.
But probiotics perform such a wide variety of functions, they're really critical regardless of what ails you. And because adding probiotics to your diet is so easy, by way of cultured foods and/or supplements, it's a step I highly encourage you to take.
How To Reduce Your Child's Risk of Allergies
Babies gets their first "inoculation" of gut flora from mother's birth canal during childbirth. If the flora is abnormal, the baby's flora will also be abnormal; whatever organisms live in the mother's vagina end up coating the baby's body and lining his or her intestinal tract.
According to a recent analysis of previous clinical trials
1, women who take probiotics—i.e. healthy bacteria—during pregnancy reduce their child's risk of developing allergies. Unfriendly flora can also predispose babies to Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), of which allergies are just one potential outcome.
Other health problems associated with GAPS include autism, learning disabilities, and a number of other psychological, neurological, digestive, and immunological, problems. As reported in the featured Reuters article
2:
"Since allergies and asthma both spring from hypersensitive immune responses, several trials have set out to assess the effect of probiotic supplements on those conditions...
[The] team analyzed the results of 25 trials of supplements given during pregnancy or within the first year of a child's life. All of the studies compared mothers and babies randomly assigned to take probiotics with those given placebo supplements.
Participants were given probiotic doses daily, and in some cases more than daily, for a few months to a year. The trials tracked whether kids went on to test positive for common allergies - such as peanut or pollen allergies...
Babies who were exposed to probiotics in the womb and received supplements after birth had a 12 percent lower risk of allergies in the following months and years than kids in the comparison groups. But allergy risk was not reduced when babies were started on probiotics after birth only." How Allergies Are Related to Poor Gut Health
A condition known as "leaky gut" occurs when gaps develop between the cells (enterocytes) that make up the membrane lining your intestinal wall. These tiny gaps allow substances, such as undigested food, bacteria and metabolic wastes, that should be confined to your digestive tract to escape into your bloodstream -- hence the term leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut syndrome can be a contributing factor to allergies, which can help explain why children with healthier gut flora have a reduced risk of developing allergies. Even more significantly, pathogenic microbes in the baby's digestive tract can damage the integrity of his or her gut wall. This can allow all sorts of toxins and microbes to flood his or her bloodstream, which can then enter his or her brain and disrupt its development.
Breastfeeding helps protect your baby from this abnormal gut flora, which is why breastfeeding is so crucial to your child's health. No infant formulas can do this.
Leaky gut is also associated with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, as well as celiac disease. The condition Once the integrity of your intestinal lining is compromised, and there is a flow of toxic substances "leaking out" into your bloodstream, your body experiences significant increases in inflammation.
"Healing and sealing" your gut has been shown to help alleviate allergy symptoms. The key lies in altering your diet to eliminate offending foods, such as grains and processed foods, and introduce healthier ones that will support a proper balance of bacteria in your gut. To restore gut health, and prevent leaky gut from occurring, eating traditionally fermented foods is essential.
Fermented Foods Can Help a Baby Avoid MAJOR Health Problems
Providing abundant probiotics in the form of fermented foods is one of the most powerful ways to restore a baby's beneficial gut flora. Oftentimes, a commercial probiotic supplement won't even be needed.
Raw organic grass-fed yogurt is well tolerated by most infants and children. It's best to make your own yogurt at home from raw organic milk, and start with a very tiny amount. Once yogurt is well tolerated, then start introducing kefir. If you have any problems with dairy, you can substitute vegetables fermented with yogurt culture or kefir culture. Avoid commercial yogurt from the grocery store, as these are laden with sugars that feed pathogenic bacteria—the exact opposite of what you're looking for.
To learn more about introducing fermented foods to your newborn, I recommend picking up a copy of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's book,
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, which has a large recipe section for fermenting your own foods at home and using them to benefit all members of your family. If you have a baby with a severe condition, then the addition of a high-quality probiotic supplement might be needed. 3
There have been more probiotic studies involving adults than those with children, and even fewer with infants. Unfortunately, precious little research has been devoted to the study of probiotics for neonates, especially extremely low birth weight neonates (ELBW), but scientific studies thus far are very promising. One study in particular, published in
BMC Medicine in 2011 by the Department of Neonatal Pediatrics in Nepean Hospital along with several other Australian hospitals, brings us closer to important evidence-based guidelines for the use of probiotics with preterm neonates. For more details on this, please see my previous article on the use of probiotics for neonates. 4
That said, probiotics have been shown to provide a number of benefits to infants and children. For example, daily supplements of probiotic foods may reduce a child's risk of eczema by 58 percent, according to one study. Another study found that a daily dose of
Lactobacillus reuteri can help improve colic. Probiotic Proves Beneficial for Non-Gut Inflammatory Disorders as Well
Other recent studies confirm the importance of your gut health for health problems such as psoriasis and chronic fatigue syndrome. One such study, published in the journal
Gut Microbes, is interesting in that it's the first study showing how a single probiotic strain can influence your systemic immune system. As reported by Medical News Today 5:
"The mucosal immune system protects the internal mucosal surfaces of the body such as the gastrointestinal, urogenital and respiratory tracts. These internal surfaces act as a barrier to the outside world for the internal tissues of the body, which are then further protected by the systemic immune system. There is some convincing evidence that probiotics, or gut-friendly bacteria, influence the development and maintenance not only of the microbial balance inside the gut and the mucosal immune system but also the systemic immune response."
The probiotic used in the study is called
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624. Three separate randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials were included in the study, which assessed the effects of the probiotic on one gastrointestinal and two non-gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders. Twenty-two of the patients enrolled in the study were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, 26 were diagnosed with psoriasis, an inflammatory skin condition, and 48 patients had chronic fatigue syndrome.
The levels of inflammation markers in 35 healthy volunteers were used as baseline references. The three biomarkers assessed were C-reactive protein (CRP) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). At the outset of the trials, all patients, whether their disorder was related to gastrointestinal inflammation or not, had significantly elevated levels of all three of these biomarkers. During the trial period, which lasted between six and eight weeks, each patient received either the probiotic or a placebo. At the end of each of the three separate trials, the researchers found that:
All three patient groups who received
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 had significantly lower levels of CRP compared to those who received a placebo Patients with ulcerative colitis psoriasis patients had lower TNF-a
Those with ulcerative colitis and chronic fatigue syndrome had reductions in IL-6
According to the researchers, these reductions in inflammatory biomarkers typically count as remission, and are indicative of a reduced risk of relapse. A similar study published in 2009
6 found that Bifidobacterium infantis was the only probiotic strain out of 13 tested capable of improving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Probiotics Helps Improve Periodontal Disease, and More
In related news, another double-blind, placebo-controlled study
7 found that the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis improved the efficacy of standard treatment for chronic periodontitis (scaling and root planing) by 53 percent. According to the featured article 8:
"By the end of the 12 week long study 53 per cent fewer sites (surfaces on a teeth) in patients with deep dental pockets and supplemented by Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis was in need for surgery, compared to the placebo group... After the intervention period it was also concluded that 67 percent of the patients in the placebo group fell into the high-risk category for disease progression, while the corresponding figure for patients supplemented by Lactobacillus reuteri Prodentis was only 27 percent."
Probiotics have also been found to influence the activity of hundreds of genes, helping them to express in a positive, disease-fighting manner. Researchers have documented beneficial probiotic effects in a wide variety of disorders, including
9, 10:
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Constipation and diarrhea
Colon cancer
Eradication of
H. pylori infection, which is associated with ulcers Vaginal infections
Strengthened immune response
Eczema
Rheumatoid arthritis
Cirrhosis of the liver
Hepatic encephalopathy
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems
Fermented Vegetables—An Ideal Source of Probiotics
The advent of processed foods dramatically altered the human diet, and we're now reaping the results in the form of rapidly rising chronic health problems. I believe the shunning of traditionally fermented foods has a lot to do with this. The culturing process actually produces the beneficial microbes that we now realize are so crucial for health, and when eaten daily, they help maintain a healthy balance of intestinal microbes. Fermented foods are also some of the best chelators and detox agents available, meaning they can help rid your body of a wide variety of toxins, including heavy metals. The best way to ensure optimal gut flora is to regularly consume traditionally fermented foods. Healthy options include:
Lassi (an Indian yogurt drink, traditionally enjoyed before dinner)
Various pickled fermentations of cabbage sauerkraut,, turnips, eggplant, cucumbers, onions, squash, and carrots
Tempeh
Traditionally fermented raw milk such as kefir or yogurt, but NOT commercial versions, which typically do not have live cultures and are loaded with sugars that feed pathogenic bacteria
Natto (fermented soy)
Kimchee
When choosing fermented foods, steer clear of pasteurized versions, as pasteurization will destroy many of the naturally occurring probiotics. This
includes most of the "probiotic" yogurts you find in every grocery store these days; since they're pasteurized, they will be associated with all of the problems of pasteurized milk products. They also typically contain added sugars, high fructose corn syrup, artificial coloring, or artificial sweeteners, all of which will only worsen your health.
When you first start out, you'll want to start small, adding as little as half a tablespoon of fermented vegetables to each meal, and gradually working your way up to about a quarter to half a cup (2 to 4 oz) of fermented vegetables or other cultured food with one to three meals per day. Since cultured foods are efficient detoxifiers, you may experience detox symptoms, or a "healing crisis," if you introduce too many at once. If you do not regularly consume the traditionally fermented foods above, a high-quality probiotic supplement may provide similar benefits.
Learn to Make Your Own Fermented Vegetables
Fermented vegetables are easy to make on your own. It's also the most cost-effective way to get high amounts of healthful probiotics in your diet. To learn how, review the following interview with Caroline Barringer, a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) and an expert in the preparation of the foods prescribed in Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Nutritional Program.
Although you can use the native bacteria on cabbage and other vegetables, it is typically easier to get consistent results by using a starter culture. Caroline prepares hundreds of quarts of fermented vegetables a week and has found that she gets great results by using three to four high quality probiotic capsules to jump start the fermentation process.
Download Interview Transcript Remember: Your Gut, Brain and Primary Immune Defense Are All Connected...
You'd be wise to remember that the vast majority of your immune system is located in your digestive system, making a healthy gut a major focal point if you want to maintain optimal health. Furthermore, as discussed in a number of other recent articles, your gut is quite literally your second brain, as it originates from the same type of tissue. Your gut and your brain actually work in tandem, each influencing the other. This is why your intestinal health can have such a profound influence on your mental health, and vice versa.
This also helps explain the link between neurological disorders (including ADHD and autism) and gastrointestinal dysfunction. For example, gluten intolerance is frequently a feature of autism, and many autistic children will improve when following a strict gluten-free diet. However, even more importantly, establishing normal gut flora within the first 20 days or so of life plays a crucial role in appropriate maturation of your baby's immune system.
Babies who develop abnormal gut flora are left with compromised immune systems, and besides raising your child's risk of allergies and other disorders discussed above, it may even be a
crucial factor when it comes to vaccine-induced damage. As explained by Dr. Campbell-McBride, vaccinations were originally developed for children with healthy immune systems, and children with abnormal gut flora and therefore compromised immunity are not suitable candidates for our current vaccine schedule as they're more prone to being harmed. To learn more about this, please see this previous article.
To sum it all up, regardless of your age, three very positive changes occur when your good-to-bad intestinal bacteria ratio is brought into balance:
Digestive problems diminish or disappear
Your body begins to use all the good food and nutritional supplements you feed it
Your immune system de-stresses and is better equipped to fight off disease of all kinds, contributing to a longer and healthier life | 16,738 | 6,940 | 0.000145 |
warc | 201704 | The value of the Brooklyn Nets nearly doubled in the past year (from $780 million to $1.5 billion), according to Forbes, after a nearly 50% increase in the value a year earlier.
And that's from a team that's losing nearly $100 million a year--the only team to lose money last year--thanks to enormous contracts aimed to lure players.
Part of that is due simply to the league's well-positioned luck, since the Nets actually went down a notch, from the fifth most-valuable team to the sixth.
As Forbes reports:
What do you get when you combine a massive new $24 billion television contract, a nearly six-year bull market in equities creating tremendous wealth, and cheap credit? You get a massive rise in sports franchise values, with the NBA serving as ground zero for the current boom. The average NBA team is now worth $1.1 billion, 74% more than last year. It is the biggest one-year gain since Forbes began valuing teams in the four major U.S. sports leagues in 1998.The shared league revenue contributes $298 million of the value of the Nets today, up hugely from $141 million, which itself was way down from $292 million a year earlier.
The New York/Brooklyn market contributes $543 million of value, a huge jump from last year's $297 million. The building ("stadium," though actually an arena) contributes $512 million, again up hugely from $257 million. And the Brooklyn Nets brand rose significantly, to $154 million from $91 million.
Maybe it doesn't matter that they lose money?
How much are they worth? The Nets present an even trickier valuation proposition. Mikhail Prokhorov paid $365 million in 2010 for 80% of the team and 45% of the operating rights to its home arena, Barclays Center. The club lost an NBA-record $99 million last season thanks to $206 million in player costs from salaries, benefits and $91 million luxury tax bill, another NBA record. The Barclays Center was the busiest arena in North America in 2013 and the first half of 2014, but the new owners would be on the hook for(Emphasis added) $50 million annually in bond payments, plus another $15 million to operate the building. Even so, the Nets will be valued like a trophy asset, as the rare sports property put up for auction in the biggest market in the U.S. We value the Nets and the operating lease to Barclays at $1.5 billion, sixth among NBA franchises.
Prokhorov can sell the Nets
withoutselling his share of the arena. Paying $1.5 billion or more for a business losing $100 million a year doesn’t make a lot of economic sense. But in addition to joining an ultra-exclusive club, new NBA owners also benefit from hefty tax breaks. Owners can deduct the value of the intangible assets in the deal over 15 years after a transaction. This deduction can offset earnings for the NBA franchise or other businesses the owner may control. This part of the U.S. tax code applies to all business and not just sports. But the NBA and sports teams reap significant benefits because 90% or more of the purchase price can typically be deemed an intangible asset with a sports team. It is a major factor as hedge fund titans and billionaires swirl around the Nets in the coming months. On the Nets
The Forbes page on the Brooklyn Nets states:
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov hired investment bank Evercore Partners in January to sell his majority interest in the Nets. Forest City Ratner Companies enlisted Evercore last year to sell its 20% stake in the team. The team is bleeding red ink due to its high payroll, enormous debt and low local television deal.(Emphasis added) Some of the Nets losses should be alleviated when the NHL's New York Islanders move into the Barclays Center for the 2015-16 season. The Nets' luxury tax bill last season was a record $90.6 million leading to the biggest operating loss in NBA history.
I have no idea why the Nets losses would be alleviated once the Islanders move in. It may be that Prokhorov's revenues from his stake in the
arenawould rise.
(Here's an odd Crain's piece that draws on last year's valuation of the Nets but extrapolates from the seemingly overinflated $2 billion price paid for the Los Angeles Clippers, and suggests the nets would be worth more.)
The most valuable teams
Via NetsDaily | 4,257 | 2,059 | 0.000489 |
warc | 201704 | Uptake of Radiolabeled and Colloidal Gold–Labeled Chyle Chylomicrons and Chylomicron Remnants by Rat Platelets In Vitro Jump to Abstract Abstract This study examined the uptake of chyle chylomicrons (CMs) and chylomicron remnants (CMRs) by rat platelets in vitro. CMs and CMRs were doubly labeled with [ 3H]arachidonate ([ 3H]-20:4) and [ 14C]cholesterol and were incubated with platelets for up to 4 hours. A significant uptake (binding and/or internalization) of CMs by the platelets occurred, as indicated by the parallel increase of [ 3H]20:4 and [ 14C]cholesterol in platelets with incubation time. Addition of unlabeled CMs, VLDLs, LDLs, and HDLs decreased the uptake of labeled CMs. The competition experiments suggested that there is both a saturable binding and a nonspecific uptake of CMs. During incubation with CMs, the proportion of [ 3H]20:4 in phospholipids decreased and that in 1,2-x-diacylglycerol increased. The data indicated that a phospholipase C–mediated degradation of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine occurred, whereas [ 3H]20:4 in triglyceride and 14C in cholesteryl ester did not change. Electron microscopic studies after incubation with colloidal gold–labeled CMs (CM-Au’s) demonstrated an accumulation of CM-Au particles in the open canalicular system of the platelets. Some CM-Au particles were localized in cytoplasmic vacuoles that were not stained by ruthenium red. Some CM-Au’s or free gold particles were in vacuoles that showed acid phosphatase activity, indicating that some true endocytosis of CM occurred. The uptake of [ 3H]-20:4– and [ 14C]cholesterol-labeled CMRs was low compared with the uptake of CMs. After incubation with colloidal gold–labeled CMRs (CMR-Au’s), only a few platelets contained CMR-Au in their open canalicular systems, and no CMR-Au particles were seen in the cytoplasm or in acid phosphatase–positive vacuoles. Rat platelets can thus interact with CMs by a process that leads to a sequestration in the open canalicular system and endocytosis and a net degradation of CM phospholipids. The conversion of CMs to CMRs counteracts this interaction. Received November 30, 1994. Accepted March 29, 1995.
Platelets can take up or bind the different lipoprotein classes, ie, LDLs, HDLs, and VLDLs, although they do not express the apo BE receptor.
1 2 3 4 Binding of LDLs and HDLs was found to be independent of the state of platelet activation and was saturable. 4 Electron microscopic examination of the interaction of colloidal gold–labeled HDLs with platelets indicates that HDLs become closely associated with the surface open canalicular system and endocytic vesicles. 3 The interaction of platelets with the lipoproteins may influence platelet activity, with LDLs enhancing and apo E–containing HDLs attenuating agonist-stimulated platelet activation. 5 6 Chylomicrons (CMs) isolated from normolipidemic individuals after a fatty meal or from type V hyperlipoproteinemia patients inhibit platelet activation. 7 8 There are, however, only a few studies on the interaction between platelets and CMs or chylomicron remnants (CMRs), 7 8 although a role for the postprandial lipoproteins has been postulated in the development of cardiovascular diseases. 9 10 11 Whether any significant uptake of CMRs by platelets occurs in vivo by means of an apo E–mediated binding to LDL receptor–related protein (LRP), which has a key function in the rapid clearance of CMRs by the liver, 12 13 or through some other mechanism is not known. If such an uptake occurs it may be a source of arachidonic acid (AA) (20:4, n-6) for the platelets, since AA accumulates in CMR acylglycerols because of the partial resistance of this fatty acid to lipoprotein lipase. 14 Recent studies have demonstrated that platelets not only bind and sequester [ 3H]cholesteryl ester–labeled liposomes in the open canalicular system, but also that liposomes are transferred to acid phosphatase– and esterase-containing vacuoles and degraded. 15 This indicates that a true endocytosis of liposomes occurs in platelets.
The present experiments were designed to study in vitro whether rat platelets take up and degrade chyle CMs and CMRs. In a biochemical study, [
3H]arachidonic acid ([ 3H]20:4)– and [ 14C]cholesterol– doubly labeled CMs ([ 3H, 14C]CMs) and CMRs ([ 3H, 14C]CMRs) were used. In a morphological study we examined by electron microscopy the uptake of colloidal gold–labeled CMs and CMRs by platelets. Cytochemical staining procedures using ruthenium red as a marker for the surface coat of plasma membranes 16 and β-glycerophosphate as a substrate to detect acid phosphatase activity were used to see whether engulfed CMs and CMRs were transferred to lysosomal structures in platelets. Methods Materials
[
3H]20:4 (100.0 Ci/mmol, [5,6,8,9,11,12,14,15- 3H(N)]-20:4, NET-298) and [ 14C]cholesterol (51.4 mCi/mmol, [4- 14C]-cholesterol, NEC-018) were obtained from Du Pont NEN Research Products. Intralipid (20% [wt/vol]) was obtained from Kabi Vitrum AB. Tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl 4), potassium phosphotungstate, agar 100 resin, lead citrate, uranyl acetate, and ruthenium red were purchased from Link Nordiska. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates (silica gel DG) were from Riedel-deHaën. Enzymatic kits for triglycerides (TGs) and total cholesterol determination (Triglycerides GPO-PAP and Cholesterol-PAP) were from Boehringer Mannheim GmbH. Human albumin (fraction V) and other reagents were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (Møllegaard Ltd) weighing 250 to 350 g were housed in mesh stainless steel cages at a constant room temperature (22°C) with a 12-hour light-dark cycle and were provided standard rodent chow (ALTROMIN NR. 324, Altromin Spezialfutter-werke, GmbH) and water ad libitum for 5 days before initiation of the experiments. All the animal work was conducted in compliance with the recommendations of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and approved by the Lund University Medical Faculty Animal Care Committee. Preparation of Chyle CMs and CMRs
The mesenteric lymph ducts of rats (weighing 250 to 280 g) were cannulated and a gastric fistula was inserted in each.
17 Twenty-four hours after surgery, 2 mL Intralipid was infused through the gastric fistula for 1 hour. The chyle was collected for 6 hours on ice in the presence of Na 2EDTA (2 mmol/L). CMs were floated by ultracentrifugation at 25 000 rpm for 2 hours at 4°C using a Beckman SW 40 Ti swing-out rotor after the chyle was adjusted to d=1.063 kg/L and layered under EDTA/saline ( d=1.006 kg/L: 188 mmol/L NaCl, 1 mmol/L Na 2EDTA). The particles with Svedberg’s flotation rate of more than 400 were harvested from the top layer of the tubes and then resuspended in EDTA/saline and filtered through a 0.45-μm Millipore filter. CMRs were prepared by injecting 2 mL of the CMs (approximately 10 mg TG/mL) into eviscerated rats (weighing 250 to 300 g) through the right jugular vein. 18 The blood was collected by aortic puncture after the CMs were allowed to circulate for 30 minutes. Acid-citrate-dextrose solution (ACD: 2.2 g trisodium citrate, 0.8 g citric acid, and 2.45 g dextrose in 100 mL distilled water; blood:ACD, 6:1 [vol/vol]) was used as the anticoagulant. After the blood cells were removed by centrifugation at 3000 g for 30 minutes, the plasma was adjusted to d=1.063 kg/L, layered under EDTA/saline, and then ultracentrifuged at 32 000 rpm for 18 hours at 4°C using a Beckman SW 40 Ti swing-out rotor. The CM and CMR suspensions were adjusted to 10 mg TG/mL CMs and 0.5 mg TG/mL CMRs respectively, stored at 4°C under nitrogen, and used within 2 weeks. For preparing [ 3H]20:4– and [ 14C]cholesterol-doubly labeled CMs and CMRs or [ 3H]20:4–labeled CMs ([ 3H]20:4-CM), 50 μCi [ 3H]20:4 and 50 μCi [ 14C]cholesterol or 50 μCi [ 3H]20:4, respectively, were dried under nitrogen and mixed with 2 mL Intralipid. The procedures for the preparation of labeled CMs and CMRs were the same as those described above for unlabeled CMs and CMRs. Platelet Isolation
Rat blood was drawn into plastic syringes containing ACD solution (blood:ACD, 6:1 [vol/vol]). Platelet-rich plasma was separated and pooled after centrifugation at 200
g for 15 minutes at room temperature and was then centrifuged at 150 g for 15 minutes to remove residual erythrocytes and leukocytes. Platelet pellets were washed twice with Tyrode’s buffer A ([mmol/L] NaH 2PO 4 0.02, NaCl 136, KCl 2.68, NaHCO 3 11.9, and glucose 5.4, pH 6.5) and then resuspended in Tyrode’s buffer B (Tyrode’s buffer A containing 2.0 mmol/L CaCl 2 and 1.0 mmol/L MgCl 2, pH 7.35). Incubation of Rat Platelets With [ 3H, 14C]CMs, [ 3H, 14C]CMRs, or [ 3H]20:4-CMs
For determining the uptake and degradation of radiolabeled CMs or CMRs by platelets, 0.9 mL of platelet suspension (2.7×10
9 cells) and 0.1 mL of [ 3H, 14C]CMs (about 1 mg TG) or 0.1 mL of [ 3H, 14C]CMRs (about 50 μg TG), respectively, were incubated for 5, 30, 60, 120, and 240 minutes at 37°C under gentle shaking. After incubation, the platelet pellets and the medium were separated by centrifugation at 3000 g for 15 minutes. The platelet pellets were washed twice with cold Tyrode’s buffer A. To determine the effects of unlabeled CMs, VLDLs, LDLs, HDLs, and human albumin on the uptake of labeled CMs, 0.5 mL of platelet suspension (1.2×10 9 cells) was incubated with 20 μL of labeled CMs (about 200 μg TG) and different amounts of unlabeled CMs, VLDLs, LDLs, HDLs, or human albumin. At the end of incubation, the platelet pellets were recovered by centrifugation at 3000 g for 15 minutes and washed once with cold Tyrode’s buffer A. Aliquots were taken for determination of total radioactivity by use of a Packard 460 CD liquid scintillation system. In another series of experiments, 0.9 mL of platelet suspension (about 2.7×10 9 cells) was incubated with 0.1 mL of [ 3H]20:4-CMs (about 1 mg TG) for 5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes. After incubation the platelet pellets were separated and washed twice with cold Tyrode’s buffer A. The total lipids in the platelets and in the medium were extracted for determination of the distribution of [ 3H]20:4 in neutral lipids and phospholipid subclasses in platelets and in medium by TLC. Preparation of Colloidal Gold
Colloidal gold was prepared by the reduction of HAuCl
4 with trisodium citrate. 19 In brief, 100 mL 0.01% freshly prepared HAuCl 4 solution was heated to boiling and 3.2 mL 1% sodium citrate was poured rapidly into the boiling solution. After 5 minutes of boiling, the solution obtains a brilliant red color, indicating the formation of gold particles. The solution (pH 5.5) contained about 10 12 particles per milliliter, with a particle diameter of 19±1.8 nm (mean±SEM). Colloidal gold was viewed on a Formvar-coated grid, without staining, in a JEOL JEM-100 CX electron microscope at 60 kV. Conjugation of Colloidal Gold to CMs and CMRs
To determine the optimal concentration of CMs or CMRs in relation to the amount of stabilized gold particles, a series of CM and CMR solutions with increasing concentration of lipoproteins were prepared and mixed with 0.5 mL of colloidal gold solution. Five minutes later, 0.1 mL 10% NaCl was added and rapidly mixed. The best concentration of CMs and CMRs for conjugation with colloidal gold was 10% more than the minimum amount of CMs or CMRs that prevented the flocculation of gold particles by NaCl. Conjugates were made by the method of Handley et al
20 with slight modifications. In brief, 5 mL colloidal gold solution (pH 5.5) was rapidly mixed with 0.5 mL freshly dialyzed and diluted CMs (2.5 mg TG/mL) or CMRs (64 μg TG/mL) in 50 mmol/L EDTA (pH 5.8). After 20 minutes, the conjugates thus formed were separated by centrifugation at 5000 rpm for 30 minutes at 4°C. The top layer and precipitates were discharged, and the conjugates (supernatants) were collected and then concentrated by a concentrator (Centricon-30, Amicon Inc), stored at 4°C, and used within 48 hours. The conjugates were routinely examined by negative-staining electron microscopy before use. The stability of the CMs and CMRs conjugated to colloidal gold (CM-Au and CMR-Au, respectively) were determined by subjecting the conjugates to pH extremes of 4.0 (adjusted with 100 mmol/L acetic acid) or 9.0 (adjusted with 200 mmol/L Na 2CO 3) for 24 hours at 4°C and then viewing them by electron microscopy with negative staining. Negative Staining of CMs, CMRs, CM-Au’s, and CMR-Au’s
Following the method of Forte and Nordhausen,
21 a 5-μL sample of diluted CMs (1.5 to 2 mg TG/mL) or CMRs (10 to 50 μg TG/mL) was applied to the freshly glow-discharged Formvar-coated grids for 15 to 20 seconds. Excess sample was then removed by blotting paper. A droplet of 2% potassium phosphotungstate with 0.2% sucrose (pH 7.3) was immediately added. After 10 minutes, excess stain was removed with blotting paper, and the grid was air dried and viewed in the electron microscope at 60 kV. Incubation of Platelets With CM-Au’s or CMR-Au’s
Platelets were incubated in Tyrode’s buffer B in the presence of an excess of CM-Au’s or CMR-Au’s for 1 hour at 4°C. Unbound CM-Au or CMR-Au conjugates were removed by washing with Tyrode’s buffer A and resuspended in Tyrode’s buffer B. Some samples were subsequently fixed at 4°C with 2.5% glutaraldehyde. Other samples were incubated at 37°C after the incubation at 4°C. After 10, 30, 60, and 90 minutes, samples were obtained and fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in sodium cacodylate buffer (100 mmol/L, pH 7.3) for 30 minutes. Part of the samples were postfixed in 1% osmium tetroxide at 4°C for 1 hour and were then dehydrated in graded ethanol solutions, impregnated in propylene oxide, and embedded in agar 100 resin. Thin (60-nm) sections were stained with lead citrate and uranyl acetate and observed in the electron microscope.
Cytochemistry
Some prefixed samples were stained with ruthenium red following the method of Luft.
16 In brief, the samples were postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide in cacodylate buffer (100 mmol/L, pH 7.3) containing 0.1% ruthenium red for 3 hours at room temperature and were dehydrated and embedded as described above. Thin sections (about 70 nm) without electron staining were used for electron microscopic observations. Acid phosphatase activity was detected following the method of Robinson and Karnovsky 22 with the modifications described by Menard et al. 23 In brief, the prefixed samples were washed three times in cacodylate buffer and twice in acetate buffer (100 mmol/L, pH 5.0). Cytochemical reactions were carried out in freshly prepared acetate buffer (100 mmol/L, pH 5.0, filtered through a 0.22-μm Millipore filter) with 2 mmol/L β-glycerophosphate, 2 mmol/L CeCl 3, 5% sucrose, and 0.0001% Triton X-100 at 37°C with constant gentle shaking for 90 minutes. The medium was replaced once with freshly prepared medium during incubation. As controls, platelets were incubated in medium without substrate. After incubation, the platelets were washed twice in acetate buffer and then twice in cacodylate buffer containing 5% sucrose. The cells were refixed in 2.5% glutaraldehyde-cacodylate buffer for 1 hour at room temperature and washed overnight at 4°C in the same buffer. Postfixation was made with 1% osmium tetroxide–cacodylate buffer for 1 hour, and the samples were dehydrated and embedded as described above. The thin sections (about 70 nm), either stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate or unstained, were examined by electron microscopy. Separation of VLDL, LDL, and HDL
VLDLs (
d<1.006 kg/L), LDLs ( d=1.006 to 1.063 kg/L), and HDLs ( d=1.063 to 1.210 kg/L) were isolated by sequential flotation. 24 Stock solution ( d=1.35 kg/L, 1354 g/L KBr and 153 g/L NaCl) was used for density adjustment. In brief, 24 mL plasma obtained from fasting rats was layered under EDTA/saline ( d=1.006 kg/L: 188 mmol/L NaCl, 1 mmol/L Na 2EDTA) and centrifuged at 37 000 rpm for 18 hours at 10°C in a Beckman L5-65 ultracentrifuge with an SW 40 Ti swing-out rotor. The top layer containing VLDLs was collected. LDLs were obtained after adjustment of the infranatant to d=1.063 kg/L by addition of stock solution and centrifugation at 32 000 rpm for 24 hours at 10°C. Preparation of HDLs was carried out after removal of the LDL fraction and adjustment of the density to 1.21 kg/L by addition of stock solution and centrifugation at 38 000 rpm for 48 hours at 10°C. All lipoprotein fractions were extensively dialyzed against saline (150 mmol/L NaCl, 1 mmol/L Na 2EDTA, pH 8.6) and stored at 4°C before using. Separation of Lipid Subclasses
To determine degradation of [
3H, 14C]CM, [ 3H]20:4-CM, and [ 3H, 14C]CMR lipids by platelets, total lipids of platelets and medium were extracted according to the method of Bligh and Dyer 25 using chloroform:methanol (1:1, vol/vol) containing 0.005% butylated hydroxytoluene. Cholesteryl ester (CE), TG, free fatty acid (FFA), 1,2-x- and 1,3-x-diacylglycerol (1,2-x-DG and 1,3-x-DG), monoacylglycerol (MG), and phospholipids (PLs) were separated by TLC plates that were developed in light petroleum/diethyl ether/acetic acid (80:20:1, vol/vol/vol). Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, lysophosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, phosphatidic acid, and cardiolipin were separated by TLC plates that were developed in chloroform/methanol/acetic acid/water (100:80:12:1.2, vol/vol/vol/vol). The lipid spots were visualized by iodine vapor and scraped into scintillation counting vials. One milliliter of methanol:water (1:1, vol/vol) and 9 mL of toluene:Instagel (1:1, vol/vol) were added and radioactivity was determined in a Packard 460 CD liquid scintillation system, with computerized external standard used for quench correction. Chemical Analysis
The concentrations of TG and total cholesterol in lipoprotein fractions were determined by the respective enzymatic assay methods using Boehringer test-combination kits according to the manufacturer’s protocols. The protein content of lipoproteins was determined by use of the procedure of Lowry et al.
26 Statistical Analysis
Values are reported as mean±SEM. One-way ANOVA followed by unpaired Student’s
t test was used for statistical analysis. A probability value of less than .05 in a two-tailed test was considered significant. All experiments were performed at least in triplicate. Results Characterization of CMs, CMRs, CM-Au’s, and CMR-Au’s
The TG concentrations of prepared CMs and CMRs were, respectively, 7.90 to 11.09 mmol/L and 0.34 to 0.56 mmol/L, and the concentrations of total cholesterol were 1.16 to 1.55 mmol/L and 0.91 to 1.40 mmol/L, indicating that 90% to 96% of the CM TG was hydrolyzed during formation of the CMRs. The TG concentration of CMs was about 20-fold higher than that in CMRs, whereas the amounts of CM and CMR cholesterol added were similar during incubation with platelets. The number of lipoprotein particles were thus similar in the incubations with CMs and CMRs. In [
3H]20:4- and [ 14C]cholesterol-radiolabeled CMs, 72% of [ 3H]20:4 was in TG, 23% in PL, and the remaining part in CE, DG, MG, and FFA. Seventy-five percent of the [ 14C]cholesterol was in CE and 23% in free cholesterol (Table 1⇓). In the CMRs, 81% of the [ 3H]20:4 was in TG, 7.3% in 1,2-x-DG, and only 5% in PL. Ninety percent of the [ 14C]cholesterol was in CE and 9% in free cholesterol (Table 2⇓). Negative staining showed that the CM (Fig 1A⇓) and CMR (Fig 1B⇓) particles appear spherical. CMs have a particle diameter range of 40 to 180 nm, and the range for CMRs is 18 to 80 nm. CM-Au’s or CMR-Au’s remain as individual particles, with the gold particles bound to the surface of the CMs (Fig 1C⇓) or CMRs (Fig 1D⇓). Exposure to pH 4 and pH 9 environments did not dissociate the conjugate. Uptake of Labeled CMs and CMRs by Rat Platelets In Vitro
When washed rat platelets were incubated with doubly labeled [
3H, 14C]CMs or [ 3H, 14C]CMRs for up to 240 minutes, the percentage of [ 3H]20:4 and [ 14C]cholesterol in platelets increased with time (Fig 2⇓). In the CMs there was a parallel uptake of [ 3H]20:4 and [ 14C]cholesterol by the platelets. At all time intervals the percent uptake of both [ 3H]20:4 and [ 14C]cholesterol during incubations with CMs was much higher than during incubation with CMRs. Increasing the mass of unlabeled CMs significantly decreased the percent uptake of [ 3H, 14C]CMs (Fig 3⇓), indicating that the CMs were taken up by a saturable process. The specificity of the interaction between CMs and platelets was studied by adding increasing amounts of other lipoprotein classes. The uptake of labeled CMs by the platelets was inhibited by VLDL, LDL, and HDL, whereas human serum albumin did not affect the uptake. Addition of VLDL and LDL (100 μg/mL) reduced the uptake of CMs by 50%, whereas HDL (about 100 μg/mL) reduced the uptake by 65% (Fig 4⇓). Degradation of 3H- and 14C-Labeled CM and CMR Lipids During Incubation With Platelets
The percent distribution of [
3H]20:4 and [ 14C]cholesterol in added CMs and in platelets and medium after 120 minutes of incubation is shown in Table 1⇑. In both platelets and medium more of the [ 3H]20:4 was in 1,2-x-DG and 1,3-x-DG and in MG and less in PL than in the added CMs. The percentage of [ 3H]20:4 in platelets was higher in TG and FFA and lower in CE and PL than in the medium. The percentage of [ 3H]20:4 in TG of medium plus platelets did, however, not differ from that of the added CMs. The data thus indicated that there was a net hydrolysis of PL, with formation of partial acylglycerols during incubation, whereas a degradation of [ 3H]20:4-TG could not be demonstrated. More of the [ 14C]cholesterol in platelets was in unesterified cholesterol and less in CE compared with the medium. However, the percentage of [ 14C]cholesterol in CE in medium exceeded that in the added CMs, indicating that a transfer of unesterified [ 14C]cholesterol from the CMs to the platelets had occurred, and the total [ 14C]CE radioactivity did not decrease during the incubation. In the [ 3H, 14C]CMRs, more of the [ 3H]20:4 was in 1,2-x-DG and less in PL in the added lipoproteins than in the incubation of the platelets with [ 3H, 14C]CMs. After incubation of the platelets with [ 3H, 14C]CMRs (Table 2⇑), the percentages of [ 3H]20:4 in FFA, 1,2-x-DG, MG, and PL were higher and the percentage in TG was lower in platelets than in the medium. There was, however, little or no change in the distribution of total [ 3H]20:4 (platelets plus medium) during incubation, indicating that some transfer of [ 3H]20:4-PL and [ 3H]20:4-DG from CMRs to platelets, rather than any significant net degradation of PL or TG, occurred. When the distributions of [ 3H]20:4 in the medium and in the added CMRs were compared, more [ 3H]20:4 was seen to be in 1,3-x-DG and less in 1,2-x-DG in the medium than in CMRs, probably because of an isomerization of 1,2-x-DG during the incubation. More of the [ 14C]cholesterol was in unesterified cholesterol and less was in CE in the platelets than in the medium. The ratio of [ 14C]CE to unesterified [ 14C]cholesterol was higher in medium than in platelets. However, the distribution of [ 14C]cholesterol between free cholesterol and CE in cells plus medium remained unchanged. There was thus no evidence for any net hydrolysis of [ 14C]CE during the incubations. In another series of experiments we determined the degradation of [ 3H]20:4-CMs in platelets that were incubated for 5, 10, 30, and 60 minutes (Tables 3 through 6⇓⇓⇓⇓). Table 3⇓ shows the percentage distribution of [ 3H]20:4 in platelets that were incubated with [ 3H]20:4-CMs for different times; the [ 3H]20:4 contents in CE and DG were increased with time, and there was a slight decrease of [ 3H]20:4 in TG. There was no significant change in neutral lipids in the medium at different time intervals, except that the [ 3H]20:4 in PL was decreased with incubation time (Table 4⇓). The [ 3H]20:4 in platelet PL subclasses and that remaining in the medium PL subclasses was different after different incubation times. As shown in Table 5⇓, there were increases of [ 3H]20:4 in platelet phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidic acid, and cardiolipin and a decrease of [ 3H]20:4 in phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine. The [ 3H]20:4 contents in medium PL subclasses were also changed after incubation (Table 6⇓); there was an obvious decrease of [ 3H]20:4 in phosphatidylethanolamine and there were some increases in phosphatidylserine, lysophosphatidylcholine, sphyngomyelin, phosphatidic acid, and cardiolipin. The possibility that metabolites of [ 3H]20:4, eg eicosanoids, may migrate as phosphatidic acid and cardiolipin was not excluded. The 3H in these PL fractions may thus have been overestimated. Incubation of Platelets With CM-Au’s or CMR-Au’s
After incubation of platelets with CM-Au’s at 4°C for 1 hour, the morphology of platelets was similar to that of control platelets. Round and homogeneous CM particles of varying sizes, labeled by colloidal gold, were found to adhere to the surface of some of the platelets, but minimal internalization of CM-Au’s was observed. When the platelets were incubated at 37°C for 10 to 60 minutes, more CM-Au particles were bound to platelets (Fig 5⇓), and many CM-Au particles were observed in the open canalicular system of the platelets. This accumulation was accompanied by a slight tendency towards irregularity in cell shape and dilation of the open canalicular system (Fig 6⇓). Some CM-Au particles were also observed in the cytoplasm of platelets (Fig 7⇓). In 14.5% to 22.6% of the total number of platelets, the open canalicular system was filled with CM-Au particles after 30 minutes (Table 7⇓). In electron microscopic cytochemistry, both the membranes of whole platelets and the open canalicular system were stained as layers of electron-dense deposits after treatment with ruthenium red. The ruthenium red–stained surface coat appeared granular, and the open canalicular system was stained in a way similar to that of the external membranes. Many CM-Au particles were found in the open canalicular system (Fig 8A⇓ and Table 7⇓), and some were found in cytoplasmic vesicles that were not stained with ruthenium red (Fig 8B⇓ and Table 7⇓). After 30 minutes, some CM-Au particles or free gold particles were found in the vacuoles that showed acid phosphatase activity (Fig 9⇓ and Table 7⇓). After platelets had been incubated with CMR-Au’s at 4°C and then for another 10 minutes at 37°C, CMR-Au particles were only occasionally found in platelets. After 30 minutes, some platelets were very active and appeared irregular in shape with long pseudopodia. Some CMR-Au particles were bound to the surface of the cell and pseudopodia (Fig 10A⇓). A few platelets had taken up CMR-Au particles, which were found entirely in the open canalicular system (Fig 10B⇓). As shown in Table 7⇓, 28% to 35% of examined platelet profiles contained CM-Au particles after incubation with CM-Au’s. Of the total amount of CM-Au particles in platelets, 71% were in the open canalicular system, 11% in the cytoplasm, and 18% on the platelet surface (Table 8⇓). Only 8% to 9% of the examined profiles contained CMR-Au particles after incubation with CMR-Au’s. No profiles contained CMR-Au particles or free gold particles in the cytoplasm or in acid phosphatase–positive vacuoles (Table 7⇓).
Discussion
The present study shows that rat platelets take up (bind and/or internalize) CMs more efficiently than CMRs in vitro. The conversion of chyle CMs to CMRs thus counteracts rather than favors the interaction with platelets. This rapid hepatic uptake of CMRs is probably mediated by the LRP,
27 a multifunctional receptor that binds apo E, CMRs, β-VLDL, protease-antiprotease complexes, and lipoprotein lipase, 12 28 29 30 31 and by the LDL receptor, which recognizes apo E with high affinity. 32 33 Earlier studies have shown that platelets do express high-affinity binding sites for LDL, but these appear to be different from the apo BE receptor. 2 34 LRP has so far not been demonstrated in platelets. The low uptake of CMRs and the lack of a net degradation of CMR [ 14C]CE and [ 3H]20:4-TG during the incubation observed in this study support the idea that no significant apo BE– or LRP-mediated endocytosis of CMRs occurs in platelets. Furthermore, in vivo experiments in normal rats with radioactive CMs have failed to show any significant uptake of CMRs by platelets (N.X., MD, and Å.N., MD, PhD, unpublished data, 1994).
Unlabeled CMs, VLDLs, LDLs, and HDLs competed with labeled CMs for uptake by platelets (Figs 3⇑ and 4⇑). At a concentration of 100 μg protein of either VLDL, LDL, or HDL, 40% to 50% inhibition was seen. Only a slight increase in inhibition was seen at higher concentrations (Figs 3⇑ and 4⇑). Koller et al
4 demonstrated a rapid binding of HDL 3s to platelets and found the process to be independent of divalent cations and insensitive to temperature. VLDLs also bind to the platelet membranes, the binding being nonspecific and nonsaturable. 4 Furthermore, platelets may take up lipid emulsions and phosphatidylcholine liposomes 15 35 as well as a wide variety of foreign particulate material, such as latex spherules, 36 37 viruses, and bacteria, 38 39 40 that may be either sequestered in the open canalicular system or endocytosed and subjected to lysosomal degradation. In our experiments, Intralipid inhibited the uptake of CMs, but high concentrations were required (data not shown). Our data thus indicate that the uptake of CMs occurs both by saturable binding sites, which may be common for several lipoprotein classes, and by nonspecific mechanisms for particulate uptake.
During incubation of CMs labeled with [
3H]20:4, there was a decrease in the 3H of total PLs, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidylethanolamine and an increase in the percentage of [ 3H]20:4 in DG (Tables 1⇑, 5⇑, and 6⇑). CM PLs may thus be exposed to platelet phospholipase C, 41 which has been found both in the platelet cytosol and plasma membranes. 42 43 In the CMRs the percentages of PL and DG radioactivity in platelets were higher than in the medium, but it was not possible to conclude whether a hydrolysis and a reesterification of [ 3H]20:4 or only a transfer of radioactive PL and DG from CMRs to platelets occurred (Table 2⇑). There was no net hydrolysis of [ 14C]CE or [ 3H]20:4-TG (Tables 1⇑ and 2⇑).
The origin of the platelet AA pools necessary for eicosanoid formation
44 45 46 is not known. Because platelets are unable to synthesize AA from the precursor, linoleic acid (18:2, n-6), 47 the incorporation of AA into platelet PLs must be either an integral part of platelet formation in bone marrow cells, ie, megakaryocytes, which contain high levels of AA and actively incorporate exogenous AA into PLs in vitro, 48 49 or the result of transfer from plasma lipoproteins and/or FFA in blood circulation. Our study shows that in vitro platelets may acquire AA from CM PLs. Moreover, 1,2-DxG, a compound that may activate protein kinase C, is formed. The interesting possibility that this process may influence the activity state of platelets after a high-fat meal needs further investigation. The possibility remains, however, that it is an in vitro phenomenon that does not occur in vivo because of the rapid hydrolysis of CM TG and the rapid transfer of CM PLs to HDLs during CM metabolism.
The morphological study demonstrated that CMs were bound to platelets and sequestered in the open canalicular system, but some were internalized (Figs 7 through 9⇑⇑⇑). The use of the electron-dense tracer ruthenium red, which can detect the membrane of the open canalicular system,
16 shows that some CM particles appeared in the cytoplasm without being surrounded by a ruthenium red–positive membrane (Fig 8B⇑). Some CM-Au particles and free colloidal gold particles were found in connection to structures that exhibited a positive acid phosphatase reaction, suggesting that there was a transfer of CM material to lysosomal structures (Fig 9⇑). Most of the CM-Au’s were, however, in the open canalicular system, only 11% being in the cytoplasm (Table 8⇑). When platelets were incubated with liposomes containing labeled CE, 15 both a sequestration in the open canalicular system and a significant lysosomal degradation of CE occurred. The absence of the net degradation of TG and CE and the small proportion of CM-Au’s found in acid phosphate–positive structures in this study indicate that the lysosomal degradation of CMs is a slow process. In the incubations with CMRs, only a few platelets contained CMR-Au particles in the open canalicular system, and no evidence for internalization of particles was seen. The visual evidence thus supported the biochemical observations and demonstrated that platelets interact with CMRs less effectively than with CMs. No evidence for an endocytic catabolism of CMRs mediated by lipoprotein receptors or other ligands was thus observed.
In summary, the study thus shows that platelets are able to interact with chyle CMs by a mechanism that leads to a significant sequestration of CMs in the open canalicular system, to some internalization of CMs, and to a phospholipase C–mediated degradation of CM PLs. Although the rapid conversion of CMs to CMRs by lipoprotein lipase may normally counteract this interaction, older studies showed that lipid particles appeared in platelets after infusion of Intralipid or after a high-fat meal,
35 50 suggesting that some uptake of TG-rich lipoproteins and artificial lipid emulsion particles may actually occur also in vivo. Acknowledgments
This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Medical Research Council (Nr-3969), the Medical Faculty, University of Lund, The Albert Påhlsson Foundation, the Nutrition Foundation of the Swedish Margarine Industry, the Crafoord Foundation, and the Anna and Sven-Erik Lundgren Foundation.
References ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ Koller E, Koller F, Doleschel W. Specific binding sites on human platelets for plasma lipoprotein. Z Physiol Chem .1982;363:395-405. ↵ ↵ Desai K, Bruckdorfer KR, Hutton RA, Owen JS. Binding of apo E rich high density lipoprotein particles by saturable sites on human blood platelets inhibits agonist-induced platelet aggregation. J Lipid Res .1989;30:813-840. ↵ ↵ ↵ Lippel K, Tyroler H, Eder H, Gotto A, Vahouny G. Relationship of hypertriglyceridemia to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis .1981;1:406-417. ↵ Zilversmit DB. Atherogenesis: a postprandial phenomenon. Circulation .1979;60:473-485. ↵ ↵ ↵ Beisiegel U, Weber W, Bengtsson-Olivecrona G. Lipoprotein lipase enhances the binding of chylomicrons to low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A .1991;88:8342-8346. ↵ Nilsson Å, Landin B, Schotz MC. Hydrolysis of chylomicron arachidonate and linoleate ester bonds by lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase. J Lipid Res .1987;28:510-517. ↵ Male R, Vannier WE, Baldeschwieler JD. Phagocytosis of liposomes by human platelets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A .1992;89:9191-9195. ↵ ↵ Warshaw AL. A simplified method of cannulating the intestinal lymphatic of the rat. Gut .1972;13:66-67. ↵ Sherrill BC, Dietschy JM. Characterization of the sinusoidal transport process responsible for uptake of chylomicrons by the liver. J Biol Chem .1978;253:1859-1867. ↵ ↵ Handley DA, Arbeeny CM, Witte LD, Chien S. Colloidal gold-low density lipoprotein conjugates as membrane receptor probes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A .1981;78:368-371. ↵ ↵ Robinson JM, Karnovsky MJ. Ultrastructural localization of several phosphatases with cerium. J Histochem Cytochem .1983;31:1197-1208. ↵ ↵ Havel RJ, Eder HS, Bragdon JH. The distribution and chemical composition of ultracentrifugally separated lipoprotein in human serum. J Clin Invest .1955;34:1345-1353. ↵ Bligh EG, Dyer WJ. A rapid method for total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol .1959;37:911-918. ↵ Lowry OH, Rosebrough NJ, Farr AL, Randall RJ. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem .1951;193:265-275. ↵ ↵ Brown MS, Herz J, Kowal RC, Goodstein JL. The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein: double agent or decoy? Curr Opin Lipidol .1991;2:65-72. ↵ Kowal RC, Herz J, Goldstein JL, Esser V, Brown MS. Low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein mediates uptake of cholesteryl esters derived from apoprotein E-enriched lipoproteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A .1989;86:5810-5814. ↵ Kowal RC, Herz J, Weisgraber KH, Mahley RW, Brown MS, Goldstein JL. Opposing effects of apolipoproteins E and C on lipoprotein binding to low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein. J Biol Chem .1990;265:10771-10779. ↵ Nykjær A, Bengtsson-Olivecrona G, Lookene A, Moestrup SK, Petersen CM, Weber W, Beisiegel U, Gliemann J. The α 2-macroglobulin receptor/low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein binds lipoprotein lipase and β-migrating very low density lipoprotein associated with the lipase. J Biol Chem .1993;268:15048-15055. ↵ Windler EET, Greeve J, Daerr WH, Greten H. Binding of rat chylomicrons and their remnants to the hepatic low-density-lipoprotein receptor and its role in remnant removal. Biochem J .1988;252:553-561. ↵ Windler E, Chao Y-S, Havel RJ. Regulation of the hepatic uptake of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in rat. J Biol Chem .1980;255:8303-8307. ↵ Aviram M, Lees AM, Lees RS. Low density lipoproteins in human platelets. Clin Res .1980;28:384A. Abstract. ↵ ↵ ↵ Lewis JC, Maldonado JE, Mann KG. Phagocytosis in human platelets: localization of acid phosphatase-positive phagosomes following latex uptake. Blood .1976;47:833-840. ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ Takamura H, Narita H, Park HJ, Tanaka K, Mutsuura T, Kito M. Differential hydrolysis of phospholipid molecular species during activation of human platelet with thrombin and collagen. J Biol Chem .1987;262:2262-2269. ↵ ↵ ↵ ↵ Nordøy A. Plasma and platelet lipids in man. Haemostasis .1973;74:103-117. | 39,061 | 14,147 | 0.000073 |
warc | 201704 | Getting Aggressive A version of this article appears in the June 9 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology.
The new right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is giving defense industry executives reasons to smile.
Modi, who had promised during his campaign to establish an efficient acquisition system, quickly tasked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with leading the defense ministry on an interim basis, a decision that industry believes will expedite weapons programs. And in a move that could allow India to bolster its defense manufacturing sector and ease coproduction with global companies, the BJP government is proposing to lift the cap on foreign direct investment (FDI).
In the near term, all eyes are focused on two key stalled weapons programs, the acquisition of 126medium-multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) and 197 light-utility helicopters (LUH). “There is a perception that the acquisition process has slowed down in the last few years,” says Jaitley, a seasoned politician and corporate lawyer. “Expediting them would be a top priority.”
An official from, which manufactures Rafale, tells Aviation Week, “We are expecting the deal to be signed anytime now.”
Even so, the new government remains vigilant after a series of failed defense deals and corruption allegations that have left the military short of crucial equipment.
In addition to the still-unsigned deal for MMRCA Rafale, the(IAF) is also still waiting for a decision on a $3 billion proposal to acquire 56 transport aircraft to replace the air force’s antiquated HS748s. After the cancellation of the helicopter deal, the government also put on hold the proposed acquisition of the LUH to replace the vintage Cheetah/Chetak fleets that undertake patrol, reconnaissance and casualty evacuation missions in forward locations and high-altitude areas.
The air force, which is technically supposed to have 42 fighter squadrons, has only 34, each consisting of 20 aircraft. And six of those squadrons are based on the aging MiG-21 fighters, which are on the verge of being phased out.
“Delay, indecision and lack of clarity in defense procurement have gone to seriously erode the combat fitness of the services. For instance, even as IAF continues to be handicapped by the problem of squadron depletion, the deal to acquire the MMRCA could never be finalized—even two years after the aircraft emerged a winner in the closely contested tender,” says Radhakrishna Rao, visiting fellow at the think tank Vivekananda International Foundation. “Incidentally, while IAF has sufficient heavier Su-30 MKI combat aircraft and the lighter Mirage-2000 and MiG-21 Bs in its fleet, it is lacking in medium-range multirole fighters.”
Similarly, the proposal for the acquisition of 197 light observation helicopters for the Indian defense forces and the Indian navy’s plan to acquire 16 multirole helicopters have been in limbo for more than a decade now, Rao adds.
is in negotiations for six Transport aircraft for the air force and has been standing by to compete for the Cheetah/Chetak replacement. “This is the third time the [request for proposals] has been issued for the same procurement, the first being in November 2003,” says Yves Guillaume, president of Airbus India.
Andis awaiting approvals for projects including the purchase of 22 Apache attack helicopters worth about $1.6 billion and 15 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters worth about $1 billion. “Timely decisions will rekindle economic growth and strengthen India’s defense services,” says Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India.
All of these high-priority acquisitions will require extensive budgetary support. But that is lacking. Even with a 10% increase in defense spending in 2014, the allotted amount for weapons purchases grew by just 3.2%.
Despite the potential for budget difficulties to continue to hamper investments in new programs, defense officials hope that the interim defense minister can use his dual role to the military’s advantage. “The finance minister himself holding the defense portfolio will help in allocating adequate funds for modernization programs and quicker approvals of pending projects,” says a defense ministry official.
Allaying concerns over how he will handle two huge ministries, Jaitley, the “caretaker” defense minister assures: “I will be coming to the Ministry of Defense every day to clear the backlog and take decisions.”
Jaitley will have experienced backup. Deputy Defense Minister Rao Inderjit Singh had been the junior minister for defense production from 2004-09.
In addition to speeding procurements, the fledgling government is proposing a blockbuster shift in policy: removing the 26% cap on Foreign Direct Investment in the defense sector. The change is designed to reduce India’s reliance on other defense suppliers—Russia, the U.S., Israel and France—for imports. And it opens the door to more coproduction arrangements with foreign companies that can build India’s ability to eventually manufacture its own products.
Defense production was opened up fully for the Indian private sector in 2001, but FDI remained capped at 26%. The trade ministry, as part of its national strategy for local defense production, is likely to give a major boost to high-tech and high value-added defense exports through incentives in the upcoming Foreign Trade Policy for 2014-19 in August.
“Arms imports worth billions of dollars could have been avoided had this happened earlier. The FDI reform will open the floodgates of investment in India’s defense industry,” says Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defense at global consultancy KPMG. “Our vision is to have a best-in-class fighter jet being designed, developed, assembled in and exported from India by 2020.”
A final decision on the FDI proposal is expected later this summer. | 6,066 | 2,930 | 0.000352 |
warc | 201704 | For six years the Dutch photographer Willeke Duijvekam followed the lives of Mandy and Eva, documenting their inner and outer attempts to align their sex assignments at birth with their gender identity — both girls were born as boys.
“Willeke Duijvekam reveals how for both girls the radical transformation into self-confident young women was chiefly an internal process. Her subdued photographs show how Mandy and Eva are absorbed in their everyday activities, or in their own thoughts. They are two remarkably normal girls — the one more vivacious, the other quieter — who do nothing other than live according to the dictates of their feelings.” (Source)
Duijvekam presents this series as an ingenious photo book, Mandy and Eva. The best designs enhance the subject matter, bringing new interpretations and depth to the work without taking over the narrative. In Duijvekam’s book, the subtle photos of the two transgender girls are incorporated into an interleaved book. In the video of the book, the pages are separate but related, each girl always present in the other’s spreads, advancing and retreating at the turn of a page. It is a masterful match of form and content. The book progresses backward through time, reversing the expected progression and reinforcing that these are two girls. The bodies that they were born into are much less important than the bodies in which they have become themselves.
“In my work I am guided by what moves and surprises me. … Ideas for projects are constantly unfolding and possibilities reveal themselves around every corner. The trick is to be open enough to recognize them the moment they appear and driven enough to pursue them. Diversity is what draws me to the people I meet, but at the same time I’m fascinated by our similarities.”
Toronto based photographer Wynne Neilly‘s self-portrait project, “Female to ‘Male'” documents the artist’s exploration into his gender identity. Neilly documented his journey from female to “male” with weekly photographs, vocal audio recordings, and other objects that represent a particular part or moment of the transition. As a trans identified queer artist who has photographed all types of people within the queer community, Neilly never had intimate access to another person’s physical transition. Once he knew he was going to start taking hormones, he decided to fully document the experience using a cheap instant camera.
With regard to the quotations used around “male”, Neilly maintains that his trans identity is a continual evolution: “I very strongly identify with being trans. My trans identity is not binary in the ways that society probably expects it to be. When heteronormative or mainstream society imagines a female born body transiting to a body that is perceived as masculine, there is an automatic reading of that person being “female to male” or FTM. This FTM experience might be very relatable and true for many trans people, but it is also completely wrong for others. I don’t identify as being male at all. Putting it in quotations challenges what it means to be a trans masculine individual. Having “male” in the title acts to eliminate some of the stigma behind thinking there is only one way to transition, and there is only one type of trans experience.” (via huffington post)
Photographer SD Holman uses her talent as a portrait photographer to capture women who fall outside of the traditional gender binary. In her series “BUTCH: Not Like the Other Girls,” masculine women are not oddity or other. These are photos of women who identify as butch captured by a butch woman—they are women defining themselves. In this way, Butch has much in common with the current social campaigns stripping women of makeup, enhancements, and retouching and declaring them more beautiful without the artifice. This is part of Holman’s intent with the show—to use the Butch identity as an example of one of the classifications through which women are objectified. The difference though is the hate and fear that Butch women have faced as transgressors of societal constructs of femininity. Holman says:
“Butches and all gender variant folk walk in a world that is really hostile to them, so we tend to look inward. I was inspired to show their beauty by my wife Catherine, a femme who loved butches, and encouraged me to do this when I started talking about it.”
The rich diversity of butch women is evidenced here. Just as there isn’t one way to be a woman, Butch includes women of all shapes and colors and styles. The fluidity of gender is apparent in each photo.
Holman is an artist. Her portraits are classically beautiful, with their artful lighting and dramatic contrasts. The subjects mostly gaze through the lens to the viewer, unapologetic and authentic. There is no contrivance in these images, no sense of willful provocation nor is there any sense of apology. Author Amy Bloom writes, “Intimacy is being seen and known as the person you truly are.” These photos are intimate and groundbreaking, brave and matter-of-fact, beautiful and handsome. | 5,256 | 2,522 | 0.000412 |
warc | 201704 | Millennials more likely to use mobiles when shopping
We all know that technology is changing the way we shop through the ability to buy more of our needs online.
But a new study of millennial shoppers by point of sale technology specialist Merchant Warehouse shows that this particular generation has higher expectations from the shopping experience and is more likely to use mobiles in the process.
Nearly three-quarters of millennials read reviews on their mobiles, and half of people in this demographic use their mobile device to check into stores in order to earn rewards. The rise of price matching websites has also led to them being more likely to check prices whilst out shopping.
Some 44 percent also say they scan QR codes in store to learn more about products and manufacturers.
Retailers though don't seem to be taking advantage of the opportunities this shift in habits offers. Half of retailers say that their mobile marketing efforts aren't targeted. Coupons play a big part, around half of millennial consumers indicated that they would visit a store if they were offered a 20 percent discount. One-quarter of respondents would need a 50 percent discount as an incentive to visit a store.
Loyalty programs are important too. Three-quarters of shoppers would consider switching to a different retailer if they were offered real-time promotions through a mobile application or website. Again retailers are missing the boat, only 27 percent offer mobile coupons and less than 12 percent of retailers offer daily deals through a discount website.
You can read more about the results of the survey in the infographic below. | 1,644 | 828 | 0.001214 |
warc | 201704 | I think one way people can get involved in the decreasing energy use from the biggest polluter in their lives, their homes (thought I was going to say cars didn't you? ), is to create a a central system where everything in the house can be controlled. It's a known tendency for us to enjoy controlling things in our lives from one place....ipod for all our music, lights and blinds and speakers from one place, entertainment system that controls TV, DVD, gaming, etc... Why not have the same degree of control over our homes. It would not be terribly advanced technology to monitor the heating, windows, insulation, and electricity that's on in the house for one central place that tracks usages over time as well as up to the minute cost analysis. If people could see in real time how much energy they're using, and how much money a 5 or 10 degrees on the thermostat it costing them, they would automatically adjust to find the best of both worlds, energy/cost efficiency and comfort. There was something about this in the New York Times today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/technology/10energy.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=washington+energy+cost&oref=slogin It's not the only solution, and it certainly isn't enough by itself. But it's a start. | 1,242 | 723 | 0.001385 |
warc | 201704 | Every year, the folks at Slate publish a talking points guide to help readers win the contentious debates that so often pock our Thanksgiving dinners. This year, Slate Political Correspondent John Dickerson instead pleads for peace.
"This year we’re going to give the argument settler a rest. There is too much bickering and fighting in the political conversation already. The supply is short of patience, consideration, fellow-feeling, and independent thought that once cushioned heated debate and distinguished spirited exchanges from schoolyard bullying. This is my little plea for peace. Let’s get through Thanksgiving without a row this year."
That's a valiant goal, though perhaps a little too starry-eyed to be realistic. All it takes is one bitter uncle to begin lobbing assaults on climate change for all hell to break loose. Your college-aged cousin begins accusing Republicans of being cavemen. Dumb Aunt Margaret argues vociferously that vaccines cause autism. Avuncular goodwill turns to avuncular spite (he's probably drinking more than Martinelli's at this point). And what's supposed to be a celebration of thankfulness transforms into an ugly, unintellectual wrestling match to mask the subtext of prickling family strife.
So what does Dickerson suggest instead? He acknowledges that debate can be important for many families, though recommends that the tone and content of the arguments be shifted toward topics people feel less passionate about:
"In some families the annual sparring serves a useful social purpose. Political conversation takes the place of silence, or better yet, takes the place of disputes over old grudges that would fill the silence. Some families are made up of pugilists who cannot be appealed to with calls for an armistice. They simply must debate something."
Dickerson offers a sort of 'Mad Libs' solution. He provides several talking points -- some silly, others more whimsically philosophical -- to spur conversation in a direction to not lead to the dark depths to which your typical yearly debates plunge. These range from:
Would you rather play the world's instruments expertly or speak the world's languages fluently?
to
If you could demolish one building with no casualties, which would it be?
to
If all music were replaced by the works of one of the following artists, which would be better: Billy Joel or Beethoven?
The point is to give people who must debate a series of prearranged topics to fill the time without opening the door to anger.
(Then again, on second thought, some families have members who would go to the wall for Billy Joel, so...)
Either way, the point here is that the Thanksgiving table is not the place to make your fellow family members suffer because you're an indignant blowhard. If your political arguments are making at least one person around the turkey feel awkward, that's one person way too many. Rein in your impulses and instead think up a good reason why learning to play tuba would be more useful than speaking Esperanto.
Read more at Slate
Photo credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock | 3,113 | 1,613 | 0.000626 |
warc | 201704 | On Naming, Effort, and Our First Bad Review
I was trolling the blogosphere the other day, and came across...our book's first bad review. It was bound to happen. I'm actually pretty amazed that it took so long. If the bad review had been about our writing, I would have had to fight my own typical demons - but it wasn't. And if the bad review had been about, well, the usual criticisms of ESP - the scorekeeping, the exact 50/50 split, the impossibility - I'd be ready with plenty of easy evidence to the contrary. But it wasn't. In fact, the beef in this particular review was different. It was this:
"So why didn't I like the book, apart from being hard to please? I suppose it's the danger that equality may become just another parenting lifestyle. The family meetings, the book, the lifestyle , seems like, no matter how worthwhile the results, it can't help but take the focus off the changes that would make the ability to parent equally something we could take for granted."
If I'm interpreting things correctly, this reviewer is bothered by the very idea that there is a book (never mind this whole website) that treats gender equal parenting as a specific lifestyle worthy of having a name, an approach, a set of goals. It rubs her the wrong way, just as, perhaps, one might wish that we didn't need to declare ourselves to be Democrats or Republicans or Independents (or other less common named political types). Can't we just all vote for 'good governing'? Can't we all just parenting as equals without having to make a big deal about it? And worst still is the fear that by naming our ideal of parenting equality, we are then exposing its opposite - in all those
otherlifestyles.
I get this reviewer's worries on many levels. Back when we were just beginning to write the first pages of our book, it was gently suggested by others that we make Equally Shared Parenting (in capitals) a registered trademark. Bleh. It didn't take us more than a few seconds to decline. We didn't want to own this way of life! It isn't a commodity, to be sold to the consumer (despite the fact that a book is of course a purchased item). Our mission has always been to share it with others, pool the collected wisdom of so many who have already made it their own, and inspire those who wish to walk in this direction. So I know that feeling of not wanting equally shared parenting to be packaged up for the shelf of lifestyle choices.
But the problem with not naming it, and not explaining it or dissecting it or sharing how one might embrace it, is that for the most part, very few couples are in fact living as equal parents. It is naive to think that equally shared parenting (by any name or unnamed) will simply happen - especially in a social, workplace, and financial culture that so powerfully and stealthily pulls us towards continued inequality. It isn't easy, even for Marc and me, to maintain our equality over time; it takes remarkable consciousness.
Another thing this reviewer seems to be saying is that our book might take the spotlight away from the necessary cultural or workplaces changes that would make equal parenting an easy option. By focusing, as our messages does, on the role of the individual couple in creating and owning a life of equality and balance, we aren't beating the drum of so many others out there who are fighting for family-friendly governmental or corporate change. Ah, but on this criticism I will wholeheartedly object. I firmly believe that all lasting change happens from more than one angle. Yes, we could all use outside forces helping us find well-paying jobs with flexible schedules and high quality childcare options. But if we don't also work alongside these causes to create their demand, and walk the talk in our own homes as we set up who does the dishes and whose career takes precedence, we've lost the war. Marc and I are huge advocates for external change, and even huger supporters of an examined life.
Our bad-review writer concludes that "For equality to be real, it needs to be a given, effortless, not something we "work on" in the way we work on improving our recycling or turning off the phone more. It has to be built into the infrastructure of our lives." Effortless? Oh, no my dear. Even love isn't effortless - quite the opposite. It is instead worth every bit of effort. As for building it into the infrastructure of our lives - yes, exactly. Here I wonder if she actually read our book. Making equality a foundation of our lives is one of its key principles.
All in all, I'm really glad I found this review. It has given me a lot to ponder and I appreciate so much of what the author describes. I would love more than anything to know that the time has come when our book, or any book tackling gender equality, need not be written. That time is not today, and probably not in my lifetime. Perhaps someday when I'm long dead, someone will pick up a copy of our book and laugh about the old days when such a idea was ever novel. I hope he or she will be able to hear me laughing right along! | 5,070 | 2,483 | 0.000404 |
warc | 201704 | Smoothie Bars: Deception and Misconceptions http://caloriecount.about.com/smoothie-bars-deception-misconceptions-b550417?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_20120121&utm_term=continue1
The first time I’d experienced a gym with a smoothie bar, I really did think I was in heaven. You mean I can workout, shower, and get this healthy drink on my way out so I don’t feel hungry or have to rush home to cook a meal? Sign me up! According to Global Industry Analysts, Inc, juice and smoothie bars are estimated to become a $10 billion industry by 2015. The problem is the misconception that smoothies are healthy is leading many people to overindulgence. Some of them are cups with more sugar and calories than milkshakes from a drive-thru restaurant. While all smoothies are not created equal, be sure you know what you’re ordering before you waltz into one of these seemingly healthy eating establishments.
Sweetening Fruit? Most smoothies start with the fruit. Fruit is sweet. But is it sweet enough? A quick glance at Smoothie King’s website reveals a not-so-healthy admission: “Many of our nutritional smoothies are sweetened with turbinado and honey. By making it skinny and leaving out the turbinado, you’ll save calories and carbs.” Really – there are 100 empty calories in almost every smoothie and I’m supposed to ask it be taken out to “make it skinny”? Okay, but what about calorie counts? A quick glance of their menu of 20 oz. offerings doesn’t include one smoothie that’s less than 200 calories – not even in the kid-size 12 oz serving. Wait, I lied, there’s one called The Gladiator, but its 180-calorie listing doesn’t factor in the two servings of fruit or juice you add to the drink to make it a smoothie. Getting the amount of a day’s worth of sugar in a 20 oz. cup is one thing, but the fact that they have even larger sizes of 32 oz. and 40 oz. is a bit sour. Two Servings of What?
Hop on over to
Jamba Juice and along with your smoothie, you get the option of a “ boost.” Nice touch for those looking for protein or more vitamins and minerals than the fruit in the smoothie itself; which brings me to my next point. Other than fruit, what exactly is in the ingredient list of their “Classic” Smoothies? Sherbet or sorbet, like the kind you find in the ice cream aisle. Yes, juice and sherbet or sorbet is in every one of their “Classic” line of smoothies. So you know, sorbet and sherbet is typically fruit, sugar, and water or milk. Opt for the “All Fruit” Smoothies and the sorbet and sherbet are gone, but you’re still looking at “peach juice blend” or “pineapple juice blend” in the ingredients. While I do not know if these "blends" are fresh-squeezed, it’s safe to say that juice is not 'all fruit.' Make Your Own
Both Jamba Juice and Smoothie King dub one or more of their smoothies as meal substitutes or replacements. So if you think of a smoothie as a snack, not a meal, make your own. Even at home, the calorie count of a smoothie can add up quickly with multiple servings of fruit, so use a measuring cup to control portion size. Half a banana offers the sweetness of sugar and adds that much desired softness. If you add yogurt, go for plain, not flavored, yogurt. Typically, flavored yogurt has added sugar. Adding extract instead, be it vanilla, almond, chocolate, or even coconut, adds flavor without empty calories. Be sure frozen fruit isn’t sweetened to save calories and keep ice cubes on hand if you’re blending fresh fruit to make it chilled. Adding a serving of protein powder is also an option, just be aware of the usual addition of 100+ calories from one serving. If you must add a liquid, and low-fat milk or water isn't desirable, think of unsweetened almond or hazelnut milk or even coconut water as an option.
Whether from a juice bar or a grocery store, your idea of a nutritious smoothie may only be a mirage. If you’re not making them yourself, or really controlling what the employees are putting in them at your favorite smoothie place, think of them as more of a treat rather than a daily nutritious meal. The fact that most won’t have a variety of whole fruit, vegetables, healthy fat and a lean protein is proof that it shouldn’t be replacing too many of your meals. | 4,439 | 2,133 | 0.00049 |
warc | 201704 | Summer is officially here and whether we are driving our vehicles for work or leisure, gasoline prices continue to take a bite out of our bank accounts. While transportation is a necessity, paying high gasoline prices is not.
Enter the electric vehicle. The future has arrived, and the electric vehicle, whether all-electric or hybrid-electric, offers a less expensive, more environmentally friendly transportation option.
I recently got to look at the sporty CPS Energy electric vehicle when it made a stop at Brackenridge High School. I was impressed. CPS Energy is embracing this technology with a network of over 120 charging stations located all around town. This should motivate more drivers to consider the electric option. San Antonio joins green cities like Austin, San Diego, Amsterdam and Paris in making the use of electric vehicles practical for its citizens.
CPS Energy isn’t just endorsing electric vehicles, it’s driving them. They currently have 12 electric vehicles in their fleet that are being driven by CPS meter readers.
Depending on the size of your current gasoline-powered vehicle, you are spending anywhere from $50 to $100 or more each time you fill up. The price of a charge for an all-electric vehicle is appealing. You can purchase a charging card for $30 that is good for six months. Do the math: that’s five bucks a month if you charged exclusively at charging stations.
For convenience, a charging station in your home will cost more money, but still result in significant savings compared to all-gasoline fuel.
You can learn more about CPS Energy’s support of electric vehicles at CPSEnergy.com. | 1,657 | 863 | 0.001179 |
warc | 201704 | 31 May 2011
Two articles have been published this week in Science Express, the rapid online version of the journal Science, on the mechanics of the rupture event of the M=9.0 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake in Japan earlier this year. Both shed some light on the reasons why the earthquake was so immensely damaging. In the first, Simons
et al. (2011) (NB link is a pdf, as the two below) have investigated the magnitude of the slip on the fault. The results are startling – in places the fault is thought to have displaced by as much as 50 metres or more. Meanwhile, Sato et al. (2011) measured the displacement of the seafloor during the earthquake, using five seafloor reference stations installed some years before the earthquake. Again, the results are surprising in terms of magnitude of displacement, with one of the stations moving 24 metres horizontally and 3 metres vertically. Finally Ide et al. (2011) examined the rate of slip on the fault. This paper is accompanied by a very nice press release that explains the implications of the results. Interestingly, this work suggests a smaller total slip component than Simons et al. (2011) (maximum of about 30 metres, which is still very large indeed), but the most interesting aspect is the late stage, very high strain rate, slip event that occurred close the sea floor on the eastern margin of the fault. This is illustrated beautifully by the animation of slip rate (unfortunately it is too large for me to embed!). It could well be that it was this very rapid slip event that was responsible for the large tsunami that created such significant damage in eastern Japan.
Meanwhile, the remains of Typhoon Songda struck the earthquake-affected areas over the last 24 hours, brining heavy rainfall. The first heavy rainfall event after an earthquake is a high risk period for any seismic event in a mountainous area. In Japan this problem is accentuated by the unusual intensity and magnitude of tropical cyclone precipitation. Early news reports suggest that the impact has been quite large, even though in typhoon terms this is a comparatively small event. The Japan Times reports at least some flooding, whilst Xinhua (the Chinese state news agency) reports extensive flood and landslide damage:
Heavy rain has flooded the already-devastated Miyagi area of northern Japan, hindering its reconstruction after a massive earthquake and tsunami in March. Torrential rains brought by typhoon Songda across the country caused landslides and floods, leaving at least 13 people dead and many more missing. Roads have been swept away in at least 200 places and some 19 bridges were damaged. Authorities in the Northeast of Tokyo urged more than 400,000 residents to evacuate their homes Friday following the flooding of a river. In some areas in the North, 54mm of rain fell in just 12 hours. Up to 1,000 troops have been supporting rescue missions and strengthening flood protection. Songda were downgraded to a tropical storm in the southwest of Japan late on Sunday, but strong winds and rain continue to batter the north.
A Google translation of an article in Japanese at Yomiuri Online suggests that there may have been extensive landslide damage (I have tried to turn this into intelligible English):
In Midorigaoka landslide damage was confirmed in 189 households out of 190 total units, of which 69 houses were completely destroyed. Nearly 1 meter of road subsidence occurred. The city issued an evacuation advisory to 104 households.
I am sure that more information will emerge about these impacts over the next few days. The key point may well be the very high vulnerability of this area to a direct hit from a full strength typhoon later in the summer. Such an event would be associated with very high levels of hazard. As an aside, this issue is a key focus of the “When the Shaking Stops” research programme at the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at Durham. We post updates on this research on the IHRR blog. | 3,997 | 1,982 | 0.000508 |
warc | 201704 | I’ve been too busy to contribute much to the laws of physics discussion, and now I’m about to hop on a plane to bluegrass country. But I am sincerely seeking the best way to make this point clear, so one more quick try. And I do appreciate the back-and-forth thus far; sometimes frustrating, but certainly very useful to me.
If you were to ask a contemporary scientist why a table is solid, they would give you an explanation that comes down to the properties of the molecules of which it is made, which in turn reflect a combination of the size of the atoms as determined by quantum mechanics, and the electrostatic interaction between those atoms. If you were to ask why the Sun shines, you would get a story in terms of protons and neutrons fusing and releasing energy. If you were to ask what happens when a person flexes a muscle, you would hear about signals sent through nerves by the transmission of ions across electromagnetic potentials and various chemical interactions.
And so on with innumerable other questions about how everyday phenomena work. In every single case, the basic underlying story (if that happens to be what you’re interested in, and again there are plenty of other interesting things out there) would involve the particles of the Standard Model, interacting through electromagnetism, gravity, and the nuclear forces, according to the principles of quantum mechanics and general relativity.
One hundred years ago, you would not have heard that story, because it hadn’t yet been put together.
But — here’s the important part — one thousand years from now, you will still hear precisely that same story.
There might be new layers underneath, but it won’t be necessary to refer to them to give a sufficient answer to the original question. There will certainly be much greater understanding of the collective behavior of these underlying particles and forces, which is where most of the great work in modern science is being done. And hopefully there will be a deeper story about why we have the laws we do, how gravity and quantum mechanics play together, how best to interpret quantum mechanics, and so on.
What there won’t be is some dramatic paradigm shift that says “Oops, sorry about those electrons and protons and neutrons, we found that they don’t really exist. Now it’s zylbots all the way down.” Nor will we have discovered new fundamental particles and forces that are crucial to telling the story of everyday phenomena. If those existed, we would have found them by now. The view of electrons and protons and neutrons interacting through the Standard Model and gravity will stay with us forever — added to and better understood, but never replaced or drastically modified.
I’m not actually
trying to say something controversial. I think it is pretty unambiguously correct, once I actually say it clearly. But it’s something I think is not as widely appreciated as it really should be. | 3,013 | 1,452 | 0.00071 |
warc | 201704 | Passive television viewing has affected the culture of an entire generation, reducing families to individuals living together under one roof!
What did we do with our evenings when there was no cable television? Difficult to imagine, but prior to the advent of TV, evenings were family bonding time when you got to hear about each other’s day, go for an evening walk, sit out late evening in the garden with a jug of lemonade, or just roll around the grass with your puppy trying to lick your face! You would drop in on neighbours or receive visitors at your home.
Those were long, never-ending evenings when you talked, laughed, fought, made up or even just stood around on the terrace counting the stars and trying to spot one you could identify for the kids. You had time for a game of tennis or badminton, or even some carom board or card games with the family.
But today, once home, most people make a beeline for the remote that transports each individual into a world of his own, depending on TV to engage our minds and our fickle attention span. Most homes have more than two television sets to accommodate varied interests! TV is not just our evening entertainment, but our entire evening engagement. This one activity has changed the culture of an entire generation, and today the TV schedule dictates the family’s activities!
TV in fact is one of the easiest addictions to slip into without even realizing what we are letting ourselves in for. And it can be a harmful affliction. Watching television is an easy escape from life; it is an effective way of forgetting your troubles rather than dealing with them head-on! Also, television encourages us to rest our minds and senses and let the sound and images just wash over us – neither a creative nor intelligent activity at all! TV addicts aren’t called ‘couch potatoes’ for nothing! Weight gain and aggression are obvious by-products of passive TV watching over long hours. Other activities such as socializing, reading, conversing or exercising are far more productive, aiding the development of mind and body.
A mother of two complains of how frustrated she feels with the lack of communication at home. When she is done watching her serials, she finds her husband glued to the News while the children are laughing out loud in their room along with pre-recorded cues in English sitcoms!
An author friend, much celebrated for her first book, was struggling to finish her second. In a bid to bring some discipline to her writing schedule, one of the first things she did was ban television from her life! “This is the most insidious and intrusive of media,” she complained. “You tend to leave the contraption on, especially if you live alone, and before you know it, you are hooked for hours. And there goes your noble plan of devoting time to work!”
At this rate we are fast catching up with the Americans, 49 percent of whom admit they watch too much television! The average American today, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co, watches “more than four hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube!” The TAM report for the last four weeks states that the urban Indian male watches television for an average 3.2 hours daily, while women watch it for an average of 3.6 hours every day.
As per IRS Q1 (all-India data), 41 percent Indians do not watch TV as yet. Of the rest 59 pc that do watch, 15 percent watch TV for an average one hour a day on weekdays; 22 percent watch it for 1-2 hours daily on weekdays, while the remaining 12 percent watch it for 2-3 hours daily on weekdays. According to Nielson cross-platform Q1 report, TV viewership increased by 22 minutes per month per person over the last one year.
An overdose of television may work very well for the elderly. Think about your grandma and grandpa. Not many years ago their days trudged by in weary monotony, totally dependent for their breaks and entertainment on visits by children and grandchildren and maybe a stroll in the nearby park where they met up with some old cronies. Now they have a date to keep with Gopi Bahu (
Saathiya) at 7 pm, with Anandi ( Balika Badhu) at 8 pm, Akshara and Naitik ( Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai) at 9.30 pm and then with Ram and Priya ( Bade Achche Lagte Hain) at 10 pm. Not surprising then that globally adults (50-64) make up the largest segment (25 percent) of television-viewing audience.
However those of us in our productive years – children and young professionals or even older people who want to do more than just wait out their old age – it is essential to refocus those staring, dazed eyes, discipline our habits and gain an upper hand over this insidious enemy within our bedrooms! It is indeed essential to define and limit TV viewing time for not just our children, but for ourselves too, so as to be able to get on with what we really want to get on with!
How about imposing one No-TV Day each week at home? | 5,077 | 2,506 | 0.000406 |
warc | 201704 | How do you bandage the wounds you can’t see? | The Times of Israel ‘The entire population of Israel is feeling anxiety, experts say, but a small and growing number will have lasting trauma’
A widespread anxiety complex among Israelis and Palestinians cannot be all that surprising given present circumstances. And, with so many similar ones having occurred throughout the past, these also must have made several hefty contributions towards such a state of mind.
But what then to do about it?
First, define the problem. What is its basic nature?
It is, in essence, an involuntary reaction, an automatic response to a situation over which little individual control can be exercised and where no expectation of ever properly finalising the matter really exists. Only by constant vigilance and, inevitably, with even more violent confrontation to come, is the status quo to be retained, this being the one option that is familiar, even if never a comfort to all but the most hostile of mindsets.
Second, address the problem. What can be its remedy?
Another automatic response, perhaps? A compensating mechanism whereby some measure of positive and even personal input adapts conditions so that a marked effect on outcomes is more easily achieved. Instead of a purely reactive approach to the situation, a more dynamic interpretation is placed upon it and a result very much in contrast to all those previously encountered is then found to be readily forthcoming.
www.laxiankey.com – ‘ for those of us with better things to do.’ | 1,562 | 878 | 0.001168 |
warc | 201704 | VIP protocol: Thanks for the extra sleep! Over the last few years, Pakistanis have become accustomed to measures that are routinely taken to ensure security for VIPs of the land. Of these measures, blocking roads to ensure safe and free flow of traffic for our VIPs while the general public is stuck in huge traffic jams for hours has now become an accepted part of our culture.
This indignity, inflicted on us in the name of providing foolproof security to senior political and military figures, has no roots in Pakistan’s original culture. It has been imposed on the citizenry, much like inflation, corruption, unemployment and poverty. However, this imposed culture does have some redeeming features which should be freely acknowledged.
Firstly, being stuck in a traffic jam caused by VIP movements has resulted in a sharp rise in the income of beggars, who take full advantage of the situation and make a killing by going to each vehicle by turn, begging them to spare some change.
Secondly, this phenomenon has provided the citizens with the opportunity to take long naps while sitting in their vehicles and waiting for the traffic to clear up. This free-of-charge ‘service’ is provided to all without discrimination as people from every caste, creed, religion and ethnicity can make use of it.
Thirdly, those who enjoy taking long drives can cherish the opportunity to indulge in their favourite activity as many of the U-turns are blocked, compelling them to travel a couple of extra miles in order to reach their destinations.
It is indeed strange that despite all the ‘benefits’ that this imposed culture brings with it, people all over the country and especially those of the capital Islamabad, who probably get to enjoy these ‘services’ more than those of any other city are constantly appealing to the concerned authorities to relieve them of the ‘joy’ they go through every time a VIP is on the road.
Read more by Shazia here.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune. | 2,125 | 1,109 | 0.000925 |
warc | 201704 | The researchers gathered 11 test subjects, put them in a germ-free compartment and then collected 312 samples of the air surrounding them.
They also gathered air samples from unoccupied compartments as well.
After sequencing the DNA of the bacteria contained within the air samples, the researchers found that they could identify most of the 11 test subjects in only four hours just by a distinctive combination of microbes in the air.
The scientists were able to detect the presence of commonly carried strains of bacteria such as
Streptococcus, Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium around all of the test subjects. But they found that each of their subjects gave off different combinations of the bacteria that made the individual’s “microbial cloud” unique.
“We expected that we would be able to detect the human microbiome in the air around a person, but we were surprised to find that we could identify most of the occupants just by sampling their microbial cloud,” said lead author James F. Meadow, in a press release.
The researchers said that their study revealed a distinct difference in the samples taken from the compartments occupied by the test subjects and those from an unoccupied unit.
The findings were published in the September 22, 2015 edition of the journal
PeerJ.
The researchers believe that their findings could provide insight and an understanding of the mechanics behind the spread of contagious disease within buildings or other closed spaces.
They also say that the methods used to make their findings could be used some day in forensic studies. For example, investigators might be able to learn the identity those who were at specific location or determine if a suspect had been at the scene of a crime he or she is accused of. | 1,794 | 878 | 0.001163 |
warc | 201704 | - by New Deal democrat
I came across the below graph showing that relationship of average household net worth with average debt vs. the personal savings rate from the NY Fed last week (h/t The Conversable Economist):
The important point was that the relationship has changed since the Great Recession. Even though there has been a big increase in average household net worth thanks in particular to the rebound in house prices, the personal savings rate remains elevated compared with its prior history.
This is evidence of something President Obama said during a recent interview, namely, that "Some people are still recovering from the trauma of what happened in 2007-2008,”
That traumatic fundamental change in behavior, a new parsimony, is also apparent in the ratios of household debt to disposable personal income:
The Great Recession caused households to deleverage away a 30 year rise in obligations in just 5 years, and there is no sign of debt levels increasing even now.
A similarly dramatic reversal appears when we measure household (and business) debt against GDP:
Household, business, and non-financial debt all rose as a share of GDP for at least 50 years (!) before abruptly reversing course during the Great Recession -- and as of the last measure, both household debt and non-financial debt were still declining.
For those of you not old enough to remember, in the 1960s and 70s, as both inflation and interest rates almost relentlessly increased, the mantra was to take out debt now, at lower interest rates, and pay it back with cheaper dollars, i.e., pay back today's debt with tomorrow's inflated dollars. In the 1980s and 90s, ever more debt could be financed at the same monthly payments, as interest rates on the payments decreased.
Despite even lower interest rates since 2008, however, households have actually been reducing debt. This is a new behavior, and I believe it is fair to say that it has been induced by trauma. Further, just as the generation scarred by the market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression remained savers for the rest of their lives, I expect the generation that has learned this behavior to remain parsimonious for a long time to come. If anything, debt levels compared with GDP will probably continue to decrease until the post-Millennial generation that does not remember the Great Recession becomes the dominant cohort several decades from now. | 2,420 | 1,225 | 0.000822 |
warc | 201704 | I awoke this morning in my Birmingham, Mich., hotel room to the dulcet tones of my old friend Jamie Samuelsen (I used to
babysit the guy!) talking about the interminable Les-Miles-Michigan saga on his WDFN radio sports call-in show.
Then he moved on to an article in Tuesday’s Detroit Free Press about how the Red Wings can’t seem to sell out Joe Louis Arena these days, even though they have the best record in the NHL.
I know, I know, Jamie started out, everybody’s going to say it’s the tough economy. But the Tigers set attendance records this year, so that can’t be it. After which pretty much every caller proceeded to say, Hey, money’s tight (and Tigers tickets don’t cost as much).
The economy of metropolitan Detroit has been in downturn mode for a while. Michigan’s unemployment rate, at 7.7%, is by far the highest in the country (and no, it’s not that unemployment is always high there; in 2000 it was below the national average, at 3.7%). It’s not the 1980s all over again or anything (Michigan unemployment hit 16.9% in November 1982), but it does look an awful lot like a recession. So now that the rest of the country may be on the verge of tipping into one of those, too, what can one learn from a 24-hour visit to Detroit?
Well, first, that there may be tough times ahead for second-tier sports like hockey. Soccer, too, I’m afraid.
Second, the people I dealt with in stores, my hotel, etc. were bend-over-backwards nice. Not just regular Michigan nice, but on a new level. So those who still have money to spend should expect excellent service over the next couple of years.
Finally, and more seriously, a recession or even just a slowdown brings major government money problems. The Detroit papers have been full for months now with stories about school funding cuts, budget battles in Lansing, and the like (not so much today, actually; there was a some really juicy murder-trial testimony from a German au pair that took up all the space). Expect to start reading similar bad news soon from Sacramento, Tallahassee–and Washington, D.C., where the big gains in federal income tax receipts over the past couple of years seem to have plateaued and are likely to plunge if the economy really does shift into reverse. | 2,303 | 1,258 | 0.000819 |
warc | 201704 | By: Lisa Winkle
The Valley Economic Development Center (VEDC) is one of the largest non-profit business development organizations in California, offering direct micro and small business loans, as well as, SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans. VEDC has over 36 years of experience in providing affordable business assistance services, direct financial assistance, entrepreneurial training, and economic development to individuals and businesses in metro Los Angeles. VEDC has recently expanded to provide lending services throughout the entire state of California, Nevada and in the city of Chicago.
Historically, VEDC has assisted more than 95,000 businesses in creating and retaining over 25,000 jobs, opening over 1,700 new businesses, and graduating nearly 3,000 individuals from the Entrepreneurial Training Program. VEDC has also provided more than $340,000,000 in direct and guaranteed lending to small businesses. Seventy-five percent of their clientele have been low to moderate income, as well as over 45% minority and 55% women owned entrepreneurs.
VEDC’s mission is to create and sustain jobs and businesses by providing high-quality small business development services. They endeavor to reach this objective by giving under-served communities and low to moderate income residents the tools to build assets and raise economic standards by assisting with job creation and workforce development, as well as creating and growing new businesses.
Last year, VEDC accomplished the following notable successes in organizational performance:
Lent $15.1 million to 280 small and micro businesses
Supported the direct creation of 654 jobs
Supported the direct creation of 101 new businesses
Served more than 4,000 clients
VEDC’s purpose is to guide small businesses in achieving business growth and sustainability. Their interest is to get loan funds in the hands of borrowers so that businesses can be created, maintained and/or expanded. By providing proper entrepreneurial training and access to capital services, they increase the rate of successful businesses as well as job creation. VEDC is acutely aware that job creation and self-employment positively impact low to moderate-income individuals and communities.
They continue to meet their goals by creating economic opportunities in underserved areas across the nation for those who want to improve their financial standards and build stronger communities.
For more information contact Lisa Winkle at (818) 907-9977, or visit www.vedc.com. | 2,512 | 1,205 | 0.000838 |
warc | 201704 | A large number of South Africans say they are fed-up with the Zuma administration, that they could do anything to see that the elephant in the house is thrown out. But the interesting thing is, SA kids still have good feelings about Zuma and would want him to remain in office.
A popular SABC1 TV show,
Cutting Edge, on Thursday, had a very interesting episode with SA kids in two primary schools in Johannesburg where the anchor visited Grade 3 learners to investigate how well they are informed about politics in South Africa.
There, a number of questions were asked including how they feel about some of the well known politicians in the country, especially President Jacob Zuma and EFF commander, Julius Malema.
When asked about what they knew about Malema, the kid’s answers show they don’t seem to like him. In fact, one of the kids said Malema was always fighting and rude and that he always fought for votes in parliament with Zuma.
The SA Kids knew Zuma is the president of South Africa and some chorused they liked him because he was always giving them “thousands and thousands” of child grants.
The kids however talked more about Nelson Mandela with some of them believing he is still SA president. They knew he went to prison for 27 years and died at the age of 96 (instead of 95).
On the other hand, the SA kids who went to a private school in the suburbs seemed to know a bit more about politics in the country as some of the kids made remarkable statements about the President Jacob Zuma and his controversial Nkandla home.
According to
The Citizen, a white kid described Nkandla as the biggest house in the country and that it belonged to the president. He also said it was wrong for the president to own a big house because he could not afford it and he used the taxpayers’ money to build it.
The show noted that what children know about South African politics depends greatly on the role their parents play in their education. It also concluded that the educational background of parents played a role in how much their children knew about the world.
Parents were therefore encouraged to be involved in their children’s extramural activities, and to take them to educational places such as zoos and libraries as this would help them gain better understanding of issues around them and the world at large. | 2,365 | 1,172 | 0.000869 |
warc | 201704 | Minimize risks of retirement
By Linda Stern
WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!) - Retirement is full of risks. There's the risk of sickness and needing expensive care, or of running out of money or of being divorced or widowed.
The problem with many retirement plans is that they try to treat all of these risks with a single solution -- save more money or buy an annuity.
"There are multiple risks in retirement, and it's wise to insure against each of them, to the extent insurance vehicles are available and affordable," says Frank Todisco of the American Academy of Actuaries.
Here are some of the risks that can occur in retirement and some ways to insure against them.
-- You may not have enough money to afford your lifestyle. This is the first risk everyone talks about. The best way to prepare for it is to save. You can also protect yourself against this risk by delaying retirement and the start date of your Social Security benefits.
Cultivate the skills and contacts that could net you part-time income after retirement. Do the lifestyle analysis necessary so that you know how much of your current way of living you could give up. Sometimes the only 'insurance' you need is the flexibility to know you could downsize and still enjoy life.
-- To address the need for extensive healthcare there is long-term care insurance. Policies have improved from their early days, and premiums now are tax deductible. But shop carefully. Some policies cover only nursing home costs. Others also cover care at assisted living facilities and at home. Most policies require you to have some physical or cognitive problem that makes it necessary for you to get help with the activities of daily living. Policies also have different rules about how long they will pay, how much they will pay, and whether their benefits will rise with inflation.
-- Long-term care insurance will not pay your rent every month if you live to be 98 and are still healthy and somewhat self-sufficient. To insure that you'll not run out of money over a long, long life, many advisers are starting to recommend a product called "longevity insurance."
Continued... | 2,144 | 1,110 | 0.000908 |
warc | 201704 | After years of organizing, Los Angeles carwash workers successfully negotiated contracts with three carwashes and gained workplace rights most workers should be able to take for granted: sick leave, access to health care, workplace safety, lunch breaks, living wages and respect.
The carwash workers were successful, in large part, through the strength of community-labor partnerships: the United Steelworkers teamed up with the Community Labor Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), faith-based groups such as Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and low-income immigrant rights organizations such as the Wage Justice Center and Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance.
Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of Los Angeles County Federation of Labor:
There’s a whole network of organizations that believe in unionization, believe in workers’ rights that are coming together with the CLEAN Carwash workers across ethnic lines and really backing each other up.
In this video, Miguel, a carwash worker of 18 years, sees the power of community-labor partnerships in his experience organizing for workplace rights. Scroll down or click here to watch.
Learn more about the CLEAN Car Wash Campaign at www.cleancarwashla.org. | 1,251 | 691 | 0.001467 |
warc | 201704 | While most homeowners are generally aware of the benefits of good carpet maintenance including regular vaccuuming and semi-annua deep cleaning treatments, few understand how much damage the particles removed could do to a carpet if left unchecked.
Particles trapped in the fibers of the carpet can behave like sandpaper during foot traffic, scratching against the fibers and causing them to fray or break down entirely. This can cause a quality carpet to look ratty or matted just a few years into its lifespan. Regular maintenance can greatly extend the life of your carpet, so if you're looking to give your home a polished look as well as extend the life of your carpets, call Ray Carpet Cleaners right now. | 713 | 419 | 0.002397 |
warc | 201704 | Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!
In one of the gaming podcasts I listened to, the hosts (there were several of them) unanimously declared that railroading in RPGs is flat-out horrible. No exceptions! (Railroading, for those of you who are unaware of the term, means that you are shoehorned into a particular path.) Do I agree with that assessment? As someone who's been on both sides of the table (as a player and as a GM), my honest answer is that it depends on the situation. The important question for me isn't whether players have freedom or not but whether they're having fun or not. Allow me to elaborate. (I'd like to make a disclaimer that this applies to tabletop RPGs in the vein of Dungeons & Dragons rather than the more story-oriented RPGs where players might take turns acting as GMs.)
For me, there are three kinds of "railroads" so to speak. The firsts and most obvious one is the linear railroad: there is only one path, you cannot veer off that course (well, you can, except it's game over). One example of this is the haunted house session: you have players and the plot revolves around them entering the haunted house. As the GM, you will make sure players will enter the haunted house and this might take the form of the weather (typically a storm), geography (there's no other shelter in sight), or some supernatural element (in
Ravenloft, this could be the Mists). Nothing the players do will prevent them from not entering the haunted house except perhaps death. The second railroad is what I'd like to call the illusion of freedom. Using the same haunted house premise, you still have a haunted house except it's located in a ghost town. The players have a choice where they want to stay for the night, whether it's the tavern, a ruined keep, or a simple house. The catch is that no matter what option the players pick, that will be where the haunting takes place. The third is absolute freedom. You might have a ghost town and there's a different scenario in each building. The tavern might lead to an underground cult of deranged cultists, the ruined keep a fortress housing an ancient demon, and the simple house simply being a modest haven.
Back to the question on whether to railroad or not to railroad, there are several factors to take into consideration. For me, when I play RPGs, it's not necessarily to tell a good story (I have my writing for that) but rather to simply play a game that I'll enjoy. I can very much imagine playing a linear railroad adventure or an illusion of freedom adventure and still enjoy the game. I mean when I'm playing a game module, a published adventure, or a tournament, I am making an assumption that most likely it's going to be a railroad of some sort. As a player, I've accepted that fact and I go with the flow of my GM. That's not to say the game can't take a life of its own--a GM running a published adventure might skip some inappropriate encounters or add new ones, but if I'm say, participating in a tournament, I think it's honestly too much to ask if I went north when the adventure is clearly hinting for us to go south. And don't misunderstand me, there will be situations when the GM has to improvise or simply go with what the party is intending but that's not always possible, especially if the GM intends to be faithful to the game module or published adventure. An important element I think is to set expectations so that players can go along with their GM's intent and vice versa.
Theoretically, the ideal situation for players is to have an absolute freedom scenario. Now if you're that kind of GM who's used to running such games, good for you. However, some GMs need lots of prep time and "preparing" for the absolute freedom scenario simply takes too much time. Worse, all that planning might be redundant. For example, if you prepared ten options for the players, it's very much possible that by choosing one option, the players lose out on the other nine options (i.e. in a modern campaign, it might be a question of which country to invade/scout/rescue first when the aliens are currently launching an invasion). The GM's preparation for the nine other possible outcomes is wasted unless he or she plans to run them for another gaming group.
Here's one factor that governs the world. Sometimes, it's not about what's true but rather how people perceive it. And when it comes to games, it boils down to execution. For example, as far as players are concerned, I don't see any real difference between the illusion of freedom and absolute freedom game. Players believe that they've made a choice and there are repercussions for their choices. They don't have to know that this is what you really planned for them (or didn't plan for them as the case may be). It only becomes a factor on how you narrate your choice. For example, in the ghost town scenario, you can run either the illusion of freedom (the haunted house scene) or the absolute freedom scene (different events depending on which building they enter). I am operating under the assumption here that either scene takes up the entire game session. Whether the players receive the haunted house scene or something else is entirely irrelevant because they're operating under the assumption that the building they entered determined the outcome of their adventure. It becomes noticeable that you were railroading them only if you had a definite floor plan to the adventure, such as tavern having a labyrinth the size of a mansion, or a mansion simply having just two rooms. This is I think where GM improvisation comes in. If the original site of the adventure was this huge keep and your players ended up staying the night in the tavern, you can't transform the tavern into a castle but the tavern might have an underground passage that leads to such an adventure locale. On the other hand, you might have this really elaborate flowchart accounting for each encounter yet if poorly executed, might give the appearance of a railroad even if it really was an absolute freedom campaign. For example, you planned that goblins were staying in the tavern, orcs in the simple houses, and troglodytes in the keep. If players simply wandered in each of those locations and don't investigate (or you don't leave substantial clues as to why those creatures are there), it might seem to the players that you're simply throwing random encounters--even if in fact you had planned for freedom of choice on their part. So at the end of the day, it boils down to perception, unless you're the type of GM that shows to his or her players your notes after each session.
I think what's important to remember is that "freedom" isn't about having unlimited potential. At the end of the day, everyone simply has one decision to act upon. Of course there will be exceptions but for most people's games, they will only be going through an adventure once. One last example I have is the original
I6: Ravenloftadventure module. What set it apart for its time was that it had a random method of generating the plot points: who was the real villain, what the villain's motivations were, and how to stop the villain. That random element however is honestly meaningless unless a) you've played the adventure more than once or b) you're someone who's read the adventure before. I 6: Ravenloft'sstrengths I think is aside from the solid adventure that it is, is the fact that it has replayability. You could run or play the game three times and get entirely different results. But again, most gamers, or at least your own gaming group, isn't going to run into that scenario often. Most RPGs are designed to be played once after all and so players don't necessarily need all these choices. Now I'm not advocating that you use the railroad method to your games. What I'm saying is, sometimes, you must ask yourself: is this planning all worth the effort? Or better yet, are my players enjoying this? | 7,964 | 3,540 | 0.000283 |
warc | 201704 | Download the Report in PDF Format.
Return to the Table of Contents
Central to any evaluation of the costs and benefits of immigration is immigrant use of government-provided services. One of the most contentious issues surrounding the immigration debate is immigrant use of means-tested programs. Partly out of concern for immigrant use of welfare programs, Congress curtailed welfare eligibility for some recent legal immigrants as part of its overhaul of the welfare system in 1996. Even with the changes made in 1996, most immigrants continue to be eligible for these programs because the changes primarily affected recent arrivals. Moreover, immigrants can retain welfare eligibility by naturalizing. Even if the immigrant himself is not eligible because of legal status (illegals are barred from using most programs) or length of residence in the country (one of the conditions of welfare reform), immigrant families can still receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children, whose welfare eligibility is the same as any other native-born American. Also, in many cases state governments have chosen to provide benefits to otherwise ineligible immigrants. Therefore, changes made by Congress in the rules governing welfare use by newly arrived immigrants may not have had as large an effect on long-term welfare use by Mexican immigrants as policy makers may have thought.
Mexican Use of Means-Tested Programs Remains High Even After Welfare Reform. Figure 12 reports use of means-tested programs for households headed by natives, all immigrants, and Mexican immigrants. Despite welfare reform and a strong economy in the latter half of the 1990s, the figure shows that immigrants in general and Mexican households in particular use every major means-tested program at higher rates than natives. While use of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) by Mexican households is only slightly higher than that of natives, their use of TANF/general assistance, food stamps, Medicaid, and the subsidized school lunch program is dramatically higher than households headed by natives. All of these programs are very large in size. In 1999, more than $300 billion was spent on the means-tested programs listed in Figure 12. Even the school lunch program, the smallest of the programs listed in the figure, costs more than $5 billion annually.
Not only do immigrants use welfare programs at higher rates than natives, their use of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is also substantially higher than that of natives. With an annual cost of $32 billion, the EITC is the nation’s largest means-tested cash assistance program for workers with low incomes. Persons receiving the EITC pay no federal income tax and instead receive cash assistance from the government based on their earnings and family size.
The values for the EITC in Figure 12 and all subsequent figures almost certainly overstate program use by both immigrants and natives, because unlike the other programs listed in the figure, the Census Bureau assigns use of the credit to respondents based on their income and family characteristics, not based on their response to a specific question on the survey. All persons who file a return should receive the EITC; the IRS will process it automatically if you qualify. However, persons whose employment is not reported to the IRS (that is, they work under the table) or who do not file an income tax return will not receive the credit. Reasearch indicates that in most years, roughly 85 percent of those eligible for the EITC do receive it. Moreover, even if a person does not receive the credit, the fact that they are eligible means that they have no federal income tax liability. It is also important to note that residing in the country illegally does not necessarily preclude use of the credit.
Figure 13 reports the average payment received by households using means-tested programs. With the exception of SSI, Figure 13 shows that the percentage of Mexican households using cash assistance programs and food stamps is somewhat larger on average than that of natives who use these programs. This is because payments for public assistance, food stamps, and the EITC typically reflect the number of people in the households. Because Mexican households are larger on average (primarily because of higher fertility), the size of their average payment is also larger. This means that not only are Mexican households more likely to use means-tested programs, the size of the payment they receive is larger on average.
Mexican Use of Means-Tested Programs Over Time. As we have seen, income among Mexican immigrants rises the longer they live in the country. This improvement in income over time does result in a modest decline in their use of means-tested programs. Figure 14 reports the percentage of households using at least one major welfare program or the Earned Income Tax Credit for households headed by Mexican households based on how long the household head has lived in the country. The figure shows that Mexican households use means-tested programs at double the rate of natives, even when they have lived in the United States for many years.
While the poverty and income figures show significant progress over time, a somewhat different picture exists with regard to welfare use. While the rise in income that occurs over time should reduce welfare use, it may also be the case that Mexican immigrants become more familiar with the welfare system the longer they live in the United States. This increased awareness of welfare may offset, at least in part, a reduction in welfare use that should come with higher incomes. The fact that welfare does not drop dramatically over time is troubling because it indicates that even after having lived in the country for many decades, many Mexicans immigrants are still not self-sufficient.
Use of Means Tested Programs by Working Mexicans. While it is commonly believed that most people who use means-tested programs do not work, low-income workers or their children are eligible for most means-tested programs. In fact, some programs, such as the EITC, can only be used by those who work. Moreover, many individuals use welfare programs while they are looking for employment. These individuals show up in the CPS as having worked and as having been on welfare during the same calendar year. Thus, work and use of means-tested programs are not in any way mutually exclusive.
Most households, immigrant or native, have at least one adult in the household who works. Based on the 2000 CPS, 92 percent of households headed by a Mexican immigrant had at least one person 18 years of age and older who worked during 1999. For households headed by natives, 80 percent had at least one adult worker. Figure 15 reports use of means-tested programs for households headed by Mexican immigrants and natives in which at least one person works. The results show that among working households, use of means-tested programs by Mexican immigrants is dramatically higher than that of natives. Thus, high rates of welfare use by Mexican immigrants are not the result of a lack of work. Rather it stems from the fact that a large share of Mexican households have low-incomes and unstable employment histories and thus use a great deal of public services. This, of course, should come as no surprise given the very low skill level of a large share of Mexican immigrants.
The heavy use of welfare by working Mexican immigrants suggests that a guestworker program may create significant fiscal costs. Because the modern American economy offers very limited opportunities for workers with little education, it may simply not be possible to allow large numbers of unskilled people into the country without increasing the number of people using the nation’s welfare system. Of course, the guestworker program envisioned by some of its advocates would likely place severe restrictions on use of means-tested programs by the guestworkers. However, as we will see in the next section, although illegal aliens also are barred from using welfare programs, illegal aliens often make use of such programs, mainly by receiving benefits on behalf of their native-born children.
Use of Means-Tested Programs by Legal and Illegal Immigrants. Using the same method to distinguish illegal aliens as before, Figure 16 reports estimated welfare use for households headed by legal and illegal Mexican immigrants. Not surprisingly, Figure 16 shows that almost without exception, use of means-tested programs is higher for households headed by legal Mexican immigrants than for those headed by illegal Mexican immigrants. For many programs, in fact, use rates for legal Mexican immigrants are more than twice that of native-headed households. However, the results also indicate that illegal immigration imposes significant costs on public coffers. Whereas 14.8 percent of native households use at least one of the five major welfare programs, among households headed by an illegal alien from Mexico the figure is 24.9 percent. Illegal immigrants from Mexico primarily receive welfare benefits on behalf of their American-born children. Overall, the results in Figure 16 indicate that whether legal or illegal, immigrants from Mexico make heavy use of means-tested programs. The findings in Figure 16 also suggest that one possible unintended consequence of legalizing Mexican illegals already in the country would be to substantially increase their use of means-tested programs.
Use of means-tested programs by illegal immigrants from Mexico points to a fundamental problem that would almost certainly exist with any guestworker program. Even if guestworkers are made technically ineligible for means-tested programs, it seems almost certain that they would make use of them anyway by receiving benefits on behalf of their native-born children. After all, the findings in Figure 16 indicate that despite an outright ban on their use, illegals from Mexico actually use such programs at higher rates than natives in many cases. Any guestworker program would bring in large numbers of immigrants from Mexico with very low skill levels and resulting low incomes. Their low incomes coupled with their children’s eligibility would mean very significant costs to taxpayers even if the guestworkers themselves are successfully barred from using such programs. | 10,397 | 3,894 | 0.000258 |
warc | 201704 | New Data Show that the Emergence of a Mass Market for LEDs in Europe Will Occur Several Years Sooner than Originally Predicted
Highly-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) technology can provide quality artificial lighting services at a lower energy cost and with fewer environmental impacts. LED lamps that offer these benefits have historically come at a high price. Over time, however, the cost of LED lamps has declined as a result of technological innovation, government regulation, and market demand.
The following study by CLASP, the Danish Energy Agency, and Energy Piano examines the current and future market for LED lighting products in Europe, providing new information on the evolution of LED lamps prices as well new energy savings estimates associated with lighting-related policy decisions under consideration by the European Commission. This study was carried out to inform a pending European Commission decision on whether or not to implement a two-year delay to Stage 6 of regulation EC No 244/2009 – the planned phase-out of inefficient, D-Class halogen lamps in Europe.
This study finds that LED lamps from quality suppliers in Europe are declining in price, and improving in efficiency, far faster than had been predicted by technical and industry experts.
The study finds that LED price points in today’s market are 5-11 years ahead of expert forecasts, and that LED lamps in Europe have become so affordable that some lamps are expected to pay for themselves in energy savings in as little as one year.
The accelerated development of LED price and energy performance in Europe means that efficient lighting options are already available to replace many halogen applications. Therefore, delaying the phase-out of D-Class halogen lamps is not necessary to ensure consumer access to efficient lighting products. Furthermore, this study finds that implementing Stage 6 would actually diminish the energy and cost savings that might accrue to European consumers if the Commission continued to implement their original regulatory schedule. Delaying the phase-out of D-Class halogens would slow the uptake of LED lamps in Europe, resulting in 33 TWh of lost electricity savings over a ten year period from 2016 through 2026. These savings represent approximately €6.6 billion Euro in higher electricity bills.
Finally, this study finds that the shape, size, and light quality of LED lamps are comparable to inefficient lighting products that LEDs might replace, and that a potential incompatibility between LEDs and dimmer controls is actually a limited problem. The study concludes that the on-going reduction in LED lamp prices will soon enable mass market penetration across Europe.
Learn More: Follow the Policymaking Process: | 2,770 | 1,326 | 0.000761 |
warc | 201704 | Duke Energy says that meeting the South’s energy needs will take a big rate hike, with more hikes to come in the future. Duke University, on the other hand, says Duke Energy’s viewpoint amounts to a myth that should be discarded. (Please note that I refuse to make a corny joke about the two entities duking it out.)
The southern energy behemoth has spent much time lately telling everyone that the region has no viable alternatives to the status quo of coal-fired plants and nuclear reactors. An extensive study, conducted by the Nicholas Institute at Duke University and the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy, says that’s a load of bull. Not in those precise terms, of course, but in so many words.
Thanks to BlueNC for making us aware of the study. Here is a link to the entire report, called “Myths and facts about electricity in the U.S. South,” which thoroughly shoots down Duke Energy’s poor-mouthing, its refusal to pursue more renewable resources in the South, its claims about the supposedly high price of renewables, and its commitment to the energy status quo (despite seemingly endless b.s. about how green the company has become).
Six myths debunked in the study:
Myth 1: Energy efficiency and renewable energy by themselves cannot meet the South’s growing electricity demand. Myth 2: The South does not have sufficient renewable energy resources to meet a Federal Renewable Electricity Standard. Myth 3: Renewable energy cannot be promoted without escalating electricity rates. Myth 4: Energy efficiency and renewable energy policies are not compatible. Myth 5: Cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy policies are sufficient to retire existing coal plants and reduce air pollution. Myth 6: Power resource decisions have little impact on water resources.
As you can see from that list, the report contains valuable information — and thinking — about the region’s energy needs. This is the kind of study that, if it becomes well-known among the citizens of N.C., could conceivably convince Duke Energy to change its future plans, not to mention the rate structures the company wants to see stay in place (those current rate structures
do allow for nice corporate bonuses). Check it out and you’ll be well-armed the next time a Duke Energy defender tells you the state, and the region, can’t possibly invest more heavily in renewable energy sources.
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warc | 201704 | George Soros just wrapped up his presentation at Davos, where he said that the current crisis has the potential to be worse than the 30s and that the banking system still needs $1.5 trillion to be rescued. How will government come up with this cash? Money creation. In other words, some degree of significant inflation is the price to pay to prevent a total banking system collapse.
It sounds like Soros is in favor of the gigantic good bank/bad bank model that's been floated, and he noted that he personally would prefer to invest in the good bank. Really.
From Fortune:
Bank bailout could cost $4 trillion
Banks don't have enough capital to fix their problems, which means the Obama administration may need a lot more money to clean up the financial mess.
The cost of the bank bailout is likely to be much higher than $700 billion.
While the Obama administration hasn't asked Congress for more money yet, some experts warn that government spending on support for struggling financial services companies will ultimately reach into the trillions of dollars.
The first half of the controversial $700 billion program to help banks has already been spent -- mostly on buying up preferred shares of troubled banks.
Part of the remaining $350 billion may be used to purchase troubled assets from bank balance sheets and place them in what Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chief Sheila Bair has dubbed an "aggregator bank."
And while taxpayers will surely recover some of that sum eventually, more money is likely to be needed in order for the bank rescue to work.
"The amount of working capital you'd expect the government to take into this would be around $3 trillion to $4 trillion," said Simon Johnson, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and author of its Baseline Scenario financial crisis blog.
Johnson, who until last year was the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said that banks will need more rounds of capital from the government because their cushion against losses is too thin. He also said that there is a need to get rid of some of the toxic assets weighing on financial institutions before they can recover.With that in mind, he thinks that the net cost to U.S. taxpayers for a broadened bailout would be about $1 trillion to $2 trillion, or between 5% and 10% of U.S. gross domestic product....MORE | 2,379 | 1,229 | 0.00082 |
warc | 201704 | A few days ago,
The Huffington Post provided its readers with a BLS pie chart that depicted the daily schedule of the average college student. Apparently, we are barely grooming, sleeping 8+ hours, and living “pretty awesome” lives.
I am definitely not challenging the awesome comment. I spent yesterday lounging on my front porch, catching some rays while doing my homework. In the words of a very drugged out 8-year-old: Is this real life?
At the same time, though, The Government’s statistics are far from true concerning the lives of my friends and I. The day I meet a student that sleeps 8.4 hours nightly, I will lock them in a room until they share all their snoozing secrets with me.
Inresponse to the pie chart, we at
really good at college, we feel they shed a more accurate light on the average student’s day.
Breaking it Down Sleeping – 6 hours If I could get about six hours of sleep a night, I would be able to pat way less Benefit Boi-ing on top of the dark circles haunting my eyes. 8.4 hours would be like a dream… too bad I’m too busy not sleeping to be able to live it. Facebook Creepin’ – 3 hours Sad but true. Hanging Out With Friends (AKA, Group Facebook Creepin’) – 2 hours Sadder but truer. Watching Bravo Marathons – 3 hours I discovered the Real Housewives of Atlanta as a sophomore. Soon, Bravo acted as some sort of black hole, pulling me in and never letting me see the light of day/productivity again. Considering Working Out – 1 hour It takes a long time and a lot of internal debate to determine whether your afternoon free time would be better spent on a treadmill or on a couch with Facebook and The Real Housewives. Working Out – 30 minutes Because that’s all the time you have left after brooding about it for an hour. Work (including commute time) – 3 hours Typically, students with jobs work more than 3 hours a day. But, since they’re not working every day, this number is more of a weekly average. Procrastination/homework time can and do overlap here, especially if you’re blessed with one of those ideal campus jobs. Class – 3 hours Yes, you know.. That thing we’re all here for… an education. Class should take up a good portion of a student’s day. That is, if they actually go. Studying/Reading – 2 hours On a good day. Complaining About How Tired You Are – 1 hours “I am so tired, you don’t even understand!” [Chugs Diet Coke.] Complaining About How Stressed You Are – 1 hours “I am so stressed, you don’t even understand!” Of course, we’d all be less stressed if we spent last time whining about it. For some this means relaxing meals (and three trips to the fro yo machine) with friends in the cafeteria. And for others it’s pounding a few Hot Pockets before chugging beers to the beat of Ke$ha. Whatev. Eating/Drinking – 2 hours How do you spend your day? | 2,981 | 1,513 | 0.000703 |
warc | 201704 | And never doing anything about sealing the border is the biggest mistake of all.
Check it out: While debating the amnesty provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, then-Senator Alan Simpson (R–WY) stated on the floor of the Senate that “this is it. This is a generous Nation responding; instead of going hunting for you and going through the anguish of that in the cities and communities of America, this is it. It is one time.”
Twenty-seven years later and the verdict is in—Simpson and other amnesty proponents were flat out wrong, and amnesty only made illegal immigration into an even bigger problem.
Now the Senate is considering doing the same thing it did in 1986 by bringing forward another comprehensive immigration reform bill. The bill takes the same approach as the IRCA, but Senators are hoping that it will somehow turn out better this time. Contrary to their hopes, doing the same thing as the past will not result in a better outcome, but only encourage additional illegal immigration, mistreat those who followed the rules, and cost current citizens trillions in new costs.
In 1986, the IRCA provided millions of illegal immigrants with temporary legal status. After a year and a half, they could apply to become legal permanent residents (LPRs), and then citizens five years later. Indeed, nearly 2.7 million people eventually became LPRs under the bill.Continue reading on blog.heritage.org | 1,462 | 793 | 0.001284 |
warc | 201704 | Yao Ming has a body mass index of 27, which is the same as Cal Ripken and Tom Brady, but less than Dr. Phil whose BMI is 29. All of these are more than Franklin Delano Roosevelt whose BMI was 23.6. These are among the billions and billions of facts collected for future use at Factual. Whether it’s the fertility rate of a country, the ratings of a restaurant, or the insurance preferences of health care professionals, it’s all sitting in Factual’s databases. Behind the scenes, Factual staff are said to be busy at work making lists of the facts and checking them twice or more to verify updates and duplicates. While facts may be all around us, the Factual facts, by virtue of being collected all in one place are thought to be more reliable, useful and easier to analyze. Didn’t someone say everything is connected?
So what to do with such a massive collection of facts? Factual envisions businesses paying for access to these sets of data, which are conveniently called “datasets,” in order to develop apps, create marketing campaigns or perhaps memorize them for trivia challenges. For example, there is a dataset of the meetings of 12,000 support groups in the U.S. A cursory glance at the first ten pages of this dataset shows the first four pages to be overwhelmingly Sex Addicts Anonymous groups, while the following six pages are mostly Gambler Anonymous groups – who would have guessed? Of course, it isn’t always clear what any given business would do with such a dataset but it’s there just waiting for the next innovative mind. Whether it’s a list of endocrinologists, vegan products, water contaminants or the nutritional contents of items at Trader Joes’s it’s already in a convenient format for developers.
Related articles API Strategy Lessons from Factual’s Upgrade of its Mobile/Local APIs(programmableweb.com) | 1,900 | 1,030 | 0.001007 |
warc | 201704 | For a lot of people in Monterey County, maintaining sewers and pipes drains is normally considered as trivial work. Nonetheless, if you totally ignore your sewers and pipes, then it can cause issues, most probably pricey ones. A great deal of people think that they can address these drainage problems on their own, but it only aggravates the circumstance.
You can have correct pipe and sewer maintenance conducted for your California house by employing experts to conduct the work. California's drainage professionals have a lot of skills and experience in drain and sewer cleansing. Also, they carry the correct tools for the job, which is most likely the greatest perk of choosing them. With the suitable mix of experience, skills, and resources, you'll have an appropriately-working drainage system readily.
With set up sewer and drain cleaning, you will prevent any notable clogs in your drainage system from developing. This can conserve you from extremely pricey mends later. Certainly, you could have to shell out for the cleaning services now, however think of the finances you'll be conserving ultimately if your drainage stays trouble in the years to come.
Anywhere you may stay in Monterey County, whether you're in the beautiful Carmel or the seaside city of Pacific Grove, competent and experienced professionals in plumbing Carmel citizens want are just a telephone call away. Have them clean your drains and sewers a minimum of once a year.
While specialists in plumbing Pacific Grove CA residents go to are sprucing up your pipes and sewers, they will also be examining them for any existing or possible problem. Through this, you can tell if your drainage system is functioning perfectly or if a maintenance job is essential. Should the expert local plumber experience any concerns, you have to care for them immediately. Have the local plumber supply you with an estimate for the replacement and see exactly how quickly he can get it accomplished.
There are a great deal of assorted wildlife in Monterey County, so don't be surprised if your drainage gets congested with dead animals. For sanitary reasons, it's better to let experts in plumbing Seaside CA citizens count on to manage it. Find out how sewer cleaning is performed on ehow.com/way_5795810_sewer-cleaning.html.
The Value of Cleaning Your Drain and Sewer Frequently
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warc | 201704 | Serve God Save the Planetby Dr. Matthew Sleeth. This was a good introductory book for people who may not already know some of the issues surrounding Creation Care. It is also a good practical guide for people who want to get started in conservation practices at home but don't know where to begin. Sleeth covers both the biblical need for Creation Care and why we should care, he gives examples and also shows how he has changed his own life to live more sustainably. Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potentialby Gordon T. Smith. This book is affirming and empowering. Smith talks about what it means to align your calling with your vocation, but not forget that calling is also about your life outside of work. A nice relief from books that strictly focus on the working life, Smith covers a wide range life aspects and how that related to your potential and calling, or vocation.
Mmm, coffee and a good book is how I like to spend my Saturday mornings.
Books on my list to read:
Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for our Planetby Jonathan Merritt. I bought this book off Amazon recently, where it retails new for less than $15. The description says: Imagine God recycling bottles and planting trees. In this book by faith and culture writer Merritt, God is honored as the ultimate environmentalist who restores and loves His own creation. Evangelical Christians are less supportive of environmental causes than other groups, a statistic that Merritt attributes to misinformation and politics that hamper understanding. Through a compilation of scripture, statistics, and his own anecdotes, Merritt explains that creation care is a shared moral obligation—not a political viewpoint or a film by Al Gore. The world is God's apologetic about Himself; it is the Christian's job to maintain its beauty and complexity. Merritt arms the reader with Bible verses commanding care for creation; resources and suggestions for green living are given in the appendixes. Himself a convert to the idea of God as green, Merritt is sure to appeal to the hearts of even the most polarized Christians. His guide could be turned into relevant sermon material and should be mandatory reading for churchgoers. The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Bookby Dr. Matthew Sleeth. I bought this one recently as well. It has very high reviews. The description says: From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is filled with instructions on how we can demonstrate our love for the Creator by caring for the earth. Sleeth leads us on a highly creative journey through Scripture, visiting some of the most important characters in the Bible and discovering what they can teach us about issues such as stewardship, caring for our neighbors, climate change, and pollution. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden teach us the importance of physical work in relation to discovering fulfillment and a sense of human purpose, the prophet Daniel calls us to question our dietary habits, and the story of Noah addresses key issues for life on earth: how do we relate to the Creator, to others in the human community, and to the rest of the natural world? With passion and faith, Sleeth provides a new green lens through which we can read the Bible to discover answers to our biggest questions about the environment and how to care for it. Sustainability on Campus: Stories and Strategies for Change, edited by Peggy Barlett and Geoffrey Chase. I picked this one up at the recent AASHE conference in Denver. The description says: These personal narratives of greening college campuses offer inspiration, motivation, and practical advice. Written by faculty, staff, administrators, and a student, from varying perspectives and reflecting divergent experiences, these stories also map the growing strength of a national movement toward environmental responsibility on campus. Environmental awareness on college and university campuses began with the celebratory consciousness-raising of Earth Day, 1970. Since then environmental action on campus has been both global (in research and policy formation) and local (in efforts to make specific environmental improvements on campuses). The stories in this book show that achieving environmental sustainability is not a matter of applying the formulas of risk management or engineering technology but part of what the editors call "the messy reality of participatory engagement in cultural transformation." The authors of Sustainability on Campusreport from a diverse group of institutions ranging from two-year community colleges to famous research universities. They tell of environmental stewardship on campus, curriculum changes, green building design, working with local communities, and system-wide initiatives. Their chronicles include the early mistakes and successes of the Green Task Force at Illinois Wesleyan, the history of an innovative interdisciplinary graduate curriculum at the University of California at Berkeley, the planning and construction of a green Environmental Studies building at Oberlin College, the joint efforts of local businesses and students at Allegheny College to promote eco-tourism in northwest Pennsylvania, a donor-initiated multi-university consortium in South Carolina, and the implementation of sustainability requirements for all students at Oakland Community College in Detroit.
What books are on your list? Do you have a book to recommend to me? | 5,446 | 2,651 | 0.000378 |
warc | 201704 | Piecemeal ‘Jobs Bill’ Can Still Be Dangerous
Ernest Istook /
If something is too big to swallow, you cut it into bite-sized pieces. But that won’t improve the taste—unless you jettison any stinky stuff.
Likewise, the notion of splitting-up President Obama’s Senate-rejected 326-page “jobs bill” won’t improve any of the proposals.
It’s good that the break-up would prevent the classic congressional strategy of blending the good and the bad together into one piece of legislation. That strategy expects that Congressmen will hold their noses and vote for a package when they’re not given a choice to remove the worst parts.
But backup strategies are already in motion and they carry dangers as well.
Even segmented versions of Obama’s $447-billion plan can be used to squeeze in those worst parts. That’s because it’s almost impossible to get both the House and the Senate to enact identical versions of a bill, thus requiring a conference committee to “work out the differences”—which sometimes includes adding distasteful details.
Congressional leaders select the conference committee members, so it becomes an opportunity for leaders to buy votes, such as Senate leader Harry Reid did with the infamous “Cornhusker Kickback” and “Louisiana Purchase” provisions in Obamacare. (Technically, those didn’t happen in a conference committee, but the technique was the same.)
Rumors are already afoot that, in order to get support from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Reid may relieve the oil and gas industry from punishing provisions in the bill. If so, what other Senators might want to get in on the action?
In fact, the more separate bills that are created, the more vehicles exist for political games. Splitting up the bill is already acceptable to Obama, who said in Pittsburgh. “If they don’t pass the whole package, we’re going to break it up into constituent parts,”
The threat that Washington may enact this “Son of Stimulus” legislation has not been removed by a single vote in the Senate. As Heritage Foundation President Dr. Ed Feulner often notes, “In politics, there are no permanent victories and no permanent defeats.” | 2,284 | 1,200 | 0.000895 |
warc | 201704 | Some time ago I realized that I was a bit tired of the dryness of academic writing, and I wanted to write something different and fun (at least for me).
After some contemplation I decided to combine my passion for the kitchen with my passion for my research and write a guide for the kitchen from the perspective of decision making and human irrationality. I was excited. I even found a name for the project–Dining Without Crumbs: The Art of Eating Over the Kitchen Sink.
Excited, I sat down and wrote a book proposal. When I finished, I gave it to MIT press and e-mailed it to a few literary agents. As it turned out, no one was very excited about the idea of a social scientist writing a guide to the kitchen. Eventually I got good advice from Susan Arellano, a literary agent that was representing my good friend Greg Berns. She told me that no one would publish my guide to the kitchen because I didn’t have the reputation as having any expertise in this domain (not to mention the fact that I really didn’t have any expertise), and that if I really wanted to publish this book, I should first write a book about my research, and once that first book was published, the odds of my kitchen guide getting published would be much better.
If this was the price I had to pay for publishing my kitchen guide, “So be it,” I thought, and almost immediately started writing a book about my research. Somewhat unexpectedly, I found writing about my research engaging and fun; I always looked forward to getting back to my computer and continuing work on it. About a year later with the approval of Claire Wachtel, my editor at HarperCollins, Predictably Irrational went to press, and so it is time to focus on my main objective and get serious about my kitchen guide.
And this is why I wrote Predictably Irrational.
Irrationally yours,
Dan | 1,866 | 948 | 0.001074 |
warc | 201704 | § 1133 Exemptions.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent:
(1) A licensed dentist or dental hygienist serving in any branch of the United States Armed Services, Veterans' Administration or Public Health Service from discharging the dentist's or dental hygienist's official duties;
(2) A licensed physician or surgeon from extracting teeth or treating pathological conditions of the mouth, teeth or oral tissues, or from radiographing such tissues, unless such person practices dentistry as a specialty;
(3) A lawful practitioner of dentistry in another state, the District of Columbia or a territory of the United States from making a clinical demonstration for educational purposes before a dental society, convention, association of dentists or dental college or performing duties in connection with a specific case on which the practitioner may have been called to this State by a legally qualified practitioner of dentistry of this State.
(4) A practitioner of dentistry who maintains a lawful dental license to practice in another state, the District of Columbia or a territory of the United States from making a clinical demonstration in connection with the lawful research and development of dental product or dental products manufactured by a dental manufacturer complying with guidelines set forth by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(5) A person not currently licensed as a dentist under this chapter from owning or operating a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization as described in §§ 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. §§ 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1), and 170(b)(1)(A)(iii)) so long as such person is not otherwise practicing dentistry.
§ 1134 Penalty.
A person not currently licensed as a dentist or dental hygienist under this chapter who engages in the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene or uses in connection with that person's name, or otherwise assumes or uses, any title or description conveying, or tending to convey, the impression that the person is qualified to practice dentistry or dental hygiene shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon the first offense, the person shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 for each offense. For a second or subsequent conviction, the fine shall be not less than $1,000 nor more than $2,000 for each offense. Justice of the Peace Courts shall have jurisdiction over all violations of this section.
§ 1135 Certain unlawful acts; supervision by dentists.
(a) No person shall repair, construct, adjust or alter any appliance, denture or dental restoration except under the authorization and responsibility of a licensed practitioner of dentistry as defined by this chapter.
(b) Dentists may have direct supervision of dental assistants.
§ 1136 Prescriptions for dentists.
Pharmacists licensed by this State may fill prescriptions of dentists licensed by this State for any drug necessary in the practice of dentistry, dental surgery or oral surgery.
§ 1137 Prescription requirements.
No written prescription shall be prescribed if it does not contain the following information clearly written, clearly hand printed, electronically printed, or typed:
(1) The name, address and phone number of the prescriber;
(2) The name and strength of the drug prescribed;
(3) The quantity of the drug prescribed;
(4) The directions for use of the drug;
(5) Date of issue.
§ 1138 Accreditation of facilities where invasive procedures are performed.
No person licensed under this chapter shall perform any invasive procedure, as defined in § 122(3)y. of Title 16, in a facility unless such facility is accredited or licensed in accordance with § 122(3)z. of Title 16. For purposes of this section, the terms "facility" and "invasive medical procedure" shall have the meanings set forth in § 122(3)y. of Title 16.
§§ 1151 -1159. [Reserved.] | 3,967 | 1,699 | 0.000604 |
warc | 201704 | Dead-End Passions.
So if you (like me) grew up with dreams of becoming an art-star or rock-and-roll-hero, you have most likely found yourself in a series of unfulfilling jobs for a significant period of your life. By the very definition of the term, a bohemian is likely to reject the conventional assumptions of his/her society. There's a fundamental belief that everything can be commodified and its value set in terms of US currency. If an activity doesn't lend itself to this type of valuation, then its worth is necessarily minimized. We are taught that the strength of our nation depends on our participation as active consumers. We are told that we can only be truly fulfilled by the status and comfort conferred on us by the pursuit of materialism. These are ideas that are actively challenged by participants and followers of the arts. In fact many artists and musicians invert the priorities of their fellow countrymen.
Still, everyone has to meet the basic requirements of life. If we can't find anyone to pay for the art we make, we must find another method of acquiring the money necessary for food, shelter and clothing. As we become self-sufficient and examine the available options, we feel discouraged and limited. Powers points out that many bohemes gravitate to whatever consumer endpoint most closely approximates their individual passions. So if one aspires to be a musician, he/she often finds him/herself working as a cashier at the local 'Record Mart'. Would-be authors become clerks at the bookselling superstores. A visual artist might similarly attain employment at an art supply chain. While these folks certainly don't gain the satisfaction of getting to sell their own work, at least they can console themselves by being in the presence of the mass product of their chosen medium.
Unfortunately the cynicism produced by this kind of situation can be soul-crushing. Imagine the avant-garde jazz guitar player who spends his time stocking the shelves with the best-selling CD's of Michael Bolton or Toby Keith. Watch his deep frustration as he directs the next consumer to the new Kenny G. album. See him frown as he listens once again to the hottest Brittany Spears hit on the store's stereo system. He wastes all of his vast reserves of music expertise, while he waits for the 2% of customers who either have decent tastes or an open-minded attitude toward recommendations. His job is to pander to the lowest common denominator, and suppress his urges to display the contempt that he naturally feels. The same thing applies at the Barnes and Noble. How can the boheme not despise humanity when the majority asks for the latest Grisham novel?
How do you suppose the 'cultured proletariat' (Powers' term) maintains its sanity under such conditions? How do they protest the system? They regain their humanity through 'slacking'. They take long breaks, linger in the stockroom, engage in free-form conversations about aesthetics with their co-workers, make fun of the drone-like shoppers, and give out deep discounts to their friends. They may even lift some of their favorite products. It is easy to justify such minor scams when you are a minimum wage slave. The disenchantment is shared with co-workers, and the resulting community bands together- united in 'silent protest' to subvert the corporate machine. The rub is that management expects such behavior, and even budgets for it. The money lost is written off as 'shrinkage'. The corporation passes the expense on to the customers, and it actually ends up costing less than paying employees a decent wage. Every once in awhile they make an example out of someone to make sure the indiscretions don't get out of hand. And another worker has become a sacrifice to the bottom-line. | 3,767 | 1,961 | 0.000511 |
warc | 201704 | Increasing Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes — United States and Puerto Rico, 1995–2010
CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
In 2010, an estimated 18.8 million persons in the United States had diagnosed diabetes mellitus and another 7.0 million had undiagnosed diabetes (
1). Since 1990, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in the United States has risen sharply ( 2,3) among all age groups, both sexes, and all racial/ethnic groups for which data are available.
More information can be found here. | 519 | 325 | 0.003175 |
warc | 201704 | Publication Date
6-29-2000
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between human resource practices, employee quit rates, and organizational performance by drawing on a unique nationally representative sample of 354 customer service and sales establishments in the telecommunications industry. Multivariate analyses show that quit rates are lower and sales growth is higher in establishments that emphasize high skills, employee participation in decision-making and in teams, and HR incentives such as high relative pay and employment security. Quit rates partially mediate the relationship between human resource practices and sales growth. These relationships also are moderated by the customer segment that frontline employees serve. | 747 | 418 | 0.002408 |
warc | 201704 | Title Date of this Version
2013
Citation
Published in
Applied and Environmental Microbiology (July 2013) 79:13, p. 3933-3942. DOI:10.1128/AEM.00431-13 Abstract
Microbial solar cells (MSCs) are microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that generate their own oxidant and/or fuel through photosynthetic reactions. Here, we present electrochemical analyses and biofilm 16S rRNA gene profiling of biocathodes of sediment/seawaterbased MSCs inoculated from the biocathode of a previously described sediment/seawater-based MSC. Electrochemical analyses indicate that for these second-generation MSC biocathodes, catalytic activity diminishes over time if illumination is provided during growth, whereas it remains relatively stable if growth occurs in the dark. For both illuminated and dark MSC biocathodes, cyclic voltammetry reveals a catalytic-current–potential dependency consistent with heterogeneous electron transfer mediated by an insoluble microbial redox cofactor, which was conserved following enrichment of the dark MSC biocathode using a three-electrode configuration. 16S rRNA gene profiling showed
Gammaproteobacteria, most closely related to Marinobacter spp., predominated in the enriched biocathode. The enriched biocathode biofilm is easily cultured on graphite cathodes, forms a multimicrobe-thick biofilm (up to 8.2 μm), and does not lose catalytic activity after exchanges of the reactor medium. Moreover, the consortium can be grown on cathodes with only inorganic carbon provided as the carbon source, which may be exploited for proposed bioelectrochemical systems for electrosynthesis of organic carbon from carbon dioxide. These results support a scheme where two distinct communities of organisms develop within MSC biocathodes: one that is photosynthetically active and one that catalyzes reduction of O 2 by the cathode, where the former partially inhibits the latter. The relationship between the two communities must be further explored to fully realize the potential for MSC applications. | 2,020 | 1,059 | 0.000953 |
warc | 201704 | It’s almost turkey day (except for the vegetarians and people who don’t celebrate this incredible holiday). The best thing about Thanksgiving besides the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and the raw food I always bring to the table, is the though of giving thanks.
If you are single and ready for love, giving thanks and appreciating things in your life help you love yourself and in the end find the love you want.
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” ― Lucille Ball
Lucy said it best didn’t she? If you don’t love yourself, how in the world can anyone love you back? You start with gratitude. Thanks. It is thanksgiving in 2 days, but I like to give thanks EVERY day! Don’t give up on love!
How to Love Yourself in 3 steps. They might not happen overnight, but trust me, these steps will work.
You might be thinking… “I don’t know anything about this! I hate myself right now. I’ve got nothing good going on in my life. I need to lose 20 pounds (ok maybe 40), I hate my job AND my cat died. Have trouble letting go of the past?
Ok there is a lot of negativity going on it that sentence, and a lot of people talk to themselves like that every single day. Geez, no wonder you’re having trouble in the love department. There are a few steps to learn
how to love yourself again. You have to forgive yourself You have to change your habits You have to be diligent so your habits become beliefs.
I talk to clients who are desperately looking for love, but don’t feel good enough, attractive enough or people tell them they are too negative. The statement above is pretty darn negative; do you want to be around someone like that?
If you had a friend that talked to you the way you talk to yourself, would you still be their friend? Probably not.
I you are negative on the inside, people will see it on the outside and it will push them away.
What is even worse is PRETENDING that everything is just grand, and your feelings don’t match up with what you are saying. So what can you do?
There are 3 ways to get yourself away from the nasty talk in your head.
Take your attention away from that “problem” area Focus on something different Reverse what you are saying to yourself.
If you think your hips are too big, and it’s really BIG issue for you, and you don’t think you can love them right this second… it’s better for you to take the focus off of what you are not loving and focus on something different.
Find something that you DO appreciate. If you are really down in the dumps, if you start simple this is how to love yourself, starting the easy way. When you love yourself it makes flirting WAY more fun!
You just have to have to be a physical trait either. It can be something internal or something external
I am blessed to have such an amazing family I am so happy to eat mashed potatoes, and I didn’t even have to make them. I appreciate the sun is shining today. I’m amazed at the light bulb turning on when I flip the switch. I have running water and I really like modern conveniences.
Once you get good at that then you can move onto something in yourself.
Find something. Anything that you DO love in yourself.
I have really nice skin. My eyes are very interesting to look at. My arms are just the right size, no monkey arms here people! I am appreciated at my office, nobody can do things just like I do there, and I am thankful to have today off!
Keep at it! You
will learn how to love yourself again if you keep practicing Thanks every day and just not on Thanksgiving. They only take a few minutes a day. If you get stuck in a traffic jam, you can take a moment to appreciate things slowing down a little. You can be amazed at the flock of birds flying by in perfect harmony.
Then you can look yourself in the rear-view mirror and say, “I am so lucky to be alive. I really appreciate the fact that I have my car to get me where I need to go. I appreciate myself in every little way that I can come up with. My eyes really are beautiful. In fact, I love what I can see in there. And I’m even really starting love myself. | 4,281 | 2,001 | 0.000518 |
warc | 201704 | We began using Behavior Balance DMG during my daughters first few months of first grade. She had previously struggled with concentration, completing a task and sleeping. After one month on Behavior Balance DMG she is reading and solving math problems on a higher level than her class. She has no difficulty falling asleep.
K Schultz
Dear Dr. Kendall, I have a four-year-old son diagnosed with moderate Autism. We have tried numerous options over the past two years in treating his autism with various nutritional supplements, diets, therapies, etc… . I had come across information regarding DMG and decided to give it a try, not knowing the proper dosage amount for a child with Autism, I started giving him on 125mg daily in which I did see some direct eye contact establish but nothing significant and was told by a medical professional to try TMG. I stopped TMG due to the adverse effect. I then decided to place him back on DMG but at a much higher dosage after coming across your recommended dosing for individuals with Autism. He currently is taking 900mg a day in divided doses and has made remarkable progress over the past three months since reintroducing DMG into his daily routine. My son has been non verbal since nineteen months of age, when he lost the fifteen words he had in his vocabulary as well as all of the developmental milestones he accomplished, after receiving his last series of childhood vaccinations, but thanks to DMG he is now experiencing once again expressive language, direct eye contact, improved motor skills both fine and gross motor. DMG has played a key role in my son\’s ability to communicate and function on daily basis, thank you for helping him regain some of his abilities to lead a better way of life.
Sincerely,
Laurey Tedeschi
Dear Dr. Kendall,
For the past 6 weeks, I have had a sciatic condition on the right side of my leg. The pain started at my hip and went all the way down to my toes. Getting out of bed in the morning was the worse. Exercising and even walking up stairs was becoming difficult and caused me to limp. As this was my first bout with pain of this degree, I was unsure how to treat it. After reading Building Wellness with DMG, I began taking 1000 mg of DMG daily and within 3 days, the pain was totally gone! I can now move freely and have gone back to sit-ups before my workouts as this was impossible without the DMG! This book could not have come out at a better time. Thank you!
Karen S.
Williston, VT
I just wanted to know where I can sign up for the fan club…. I think this is a wonderful and written in down to earth book so anyone can understand. I plan on purchasing several to hand out including my ADHD son’s Doctor. I also think I want to submit one to the school’s library so they will stop pushing Strattera or Consorta or all those wonderful things and start looking for something that is not going to harm in the long run.
Laurie Rodgers | 2,960 | 1,569 | 0.000646 |
warc | 201704 | 1 Socio- German-South African Year of Science Deutsch-Südafrikanisches Jahr der Wissenschaft Ecological Novelty Frontiers in Sustainability Research funded by:
2 Contents Foreword 3 Opening Session Keynote Speech: Ecological Novelty: The Ecology of the Anthropocene, Dr. Christoph Kueffer 4 Discussion 5 Session 1 Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers 6 Novel Ecosystems in the North: A Boreal Tipping Point and then?, Prof. Martin Wilmking 6 Novel Ecosystems in South Africa: Geographic Extent, Value and Conser vation Implications, Prof. Mathieu Rouget 7 How does Ecological Novelty Challenge the Idea of Resilience and Sustainability?, Prof. Anke Jentsch 8 Novelty and Tree Health, Prof. Bernard Slippers 10 Discussion 11 Session 2 Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems 13 Towards Sustainable Healthcare Systems: South Africa, Prof. Aletta Schutte 13 Of Broken Hearts: Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa a Clarion Call for Action, Prof. Philimon Gona 14 Health and the Environment, Dr. Caradee Wright 16 Discussion 17 Session 3 Socio-Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change 18 Heat Waves, Bats and Birds: Ecological Conservation Implications of Catastrophic Morbidity Events, Prof. Andrew McKechnie 18 Re-thinking Global Environmental Law and Governance in the Anthropocene, Prof. Louis Kotzé 19 Integrated Socio-Ecological Research of Tropical Coastlines, Prof. Hildegard Westphal 20 Discussion 22 Session 4 Green Utopia and Geo-/Climate Engineering 23 Concepts of Adaptation in Architecture and Arts, Prof. Friedrich von Borries 23 Discussion 24 Session 5 Agricultural Food Production vis-à-vis Sustainability including Distribution Challenges 25 Research in Sustainable Meat Production, Prof. Voster Muchenje 25 Linking Knowledge with Action for Sustainable Development, Prof. Aldo Stroebel 26 Legal Relevance of Collaborative Environmental Governance for the Pursuit of Food Security in South Africa, Prof. Alida Anél du Plessis 28 Sustainability Post Harvest: Ecological Consideration of Activities after Food Harvest, Prof. John Muyonga 29 Discussion 31 Session 6 Sustainable Energy 32 Sustainable Energy Storage: New Materials and Methods, Prof. Rapela Regina Maphanga 32 Sustainability: Energy & Materials Development in the Automotive Industry as an Example, Prof. Jörg Müssig 33 Green IT Devices, Prof. Mathias Kläui 35 Discussion 36 Summary of Results 37 Panel Discussion 39 List of Speakers 42 Young and Senior Academies 44 Publishing Details 45 2
3 Foreword The significance of sustainability is gathering momentum in a wide range of scientific contexts reaching from health, food and climate change to energy issues. The concept of ecological novelty has achieved a significant status in debates over the earth s future. How is this concept applied in various disciplines of science? How can science contribute to solving problems that could prove crucial to life on our planet? How can science, politics and society interact to promote essential changes? And is there a particular role for young scientists to play? These and other questions were at the centre of a twoday symposium on Socio-ecological Novelty Frontiers in Sustainability Research jointly held in Berlin on 18 and 19 March 2013 by the South African Young Academy of Science, the Junge Akademie, the Global Young Academy, the Academy of Science of South Africa and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Most of the speakers at the symposium were members or alumni of the three young academies. The event was rounded off by the public panel discussion Bridging Two Hemispheres Policy Advice and Sustainability Research in Germany and South Africa held at the Französische Friedrichstadtkirche in Berlin on 19 March This conference proceedings report contains a summary of the presentations and discussions amongst the young scientists during the symposium and panel discussion. Some articles are contributions by scientists from neither Germany nor South Africa. These scientists, the majority of whom are members of the Global Young Academy, were invited to the meeting to stimulate and enrich the discussions based on their special expertise. The symposium and the panel discussion took place in the context of the German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013, which was initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST). The central aim of this bilateral year was to strengthen scientific cooperation between Germany and South Africa. The German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013 offered an excellent opportunity to collaborate and extend networks and relations amongst young scientists. As a result, cooperation between the participating academies will be continued. Special thanks goes to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation (DFG) for providing the funding for organising the academies symposium and panel discussion in Berlin. 3
4 Opening Session Keynote Speech: Ecological Novelty: The Ecology of the Anthropocene Dr. Christoph Kueffer, ETH Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology, Switzerland Introduction Ecological Novelty requires an interdisciplinary approach in which both social and ecological processes need to be integrated. Ecological Novelty bridges disciplines and feeds into society. According to Dr. Kueffer, scientists should expect the unexpected, apply a pragmatic, experimental approach and observe interdisciplinarity in research. Ecological Novelty can be defined as the wide range of ecological changes that are happening or will happen in the near future and the resulting new ecologies. The principles of historic reference, ecosystems services, resilience, and ultimate boundaries can be applied in addressing Ecological Novelty, depending on the respective concept. Underlying the concept of Ecological Novelty is the key notion of a man-made planet, which, for instance, applies to the transition that Manhattan, in New York, USA has undergone from a forest-clad island to an urban skyscraper landscape. Changes in the Anthropocene are recent, rapid, accelerating, substantial and manifold (Kueffer 2013a, 2013b). Such changes include the vanishing of big fruit-eaters in many areas as well as widespread increases in nitrogen deposition, leading in turn to changes in vegetation. According to Dr. Kueffer, given that such developments are happening across the board, they render nature reserves, a core element of nature conservation, insufficient. Case Study: The Seychelles The Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, exemplify the application of pragmatic approaches and adaptive management to cope with changes (Kueffer et al. 2013). The islands origin dates back to the old Gondwana continent over 65 million years ago. Their original inhabitants include giant tortoises and the coco de mer plants with their huge seed pods. Humans entered the islands about 250 years ago, bringing dogs, cats and rats with them and deforesting the area within just a hundred years. Today, the ecology of the Seychelles has changed almost completely, and now consists of four distinct anthropogenic ecozones (Kueffer & Kaiser-Bunbury 2013). First, there are the lowlands, with hotels, residential areas and gardens, but also with palm plantations dating back to colonial times. Plants growing in weed-covered areas are mostly alien. The second ecozone comprises areas at middle elevation consisting of abandoned forest plantations originally intended to fight erosion and produce timber. The third ecozone is now dominated by forests of cinnamon spice trees, but also contains most of the Seychelles remaining endemic vegetation. These forests form mostly part of protected areas. Finally, tiny remnants of the islands original vegetation exist as part of mountain cloud and palm forests. References Ecological Novelty: The Ecology of the Anthropocene : Kueffer, C. 2013a. Ökologische Neuartigkeit: die Öko logie des Anthropozäns. ZiF-Mitteilungen 1/2013, Kueffer, C. 2013b. Ecological Novelty: towards an interdisciplinary understanding of ecological change in the Anthropocene. In: Greschke, H.M. & J. Tischler (eds.) The challenges of global climate change. Locally-grounded interdisciplinary approaches. Berlin: Springer, in press Kueffer, C. & Kaiser-Bunbury, C Reconciling conflicting perspectives for biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, in press Kueffer, C., Beaver, K., Mougal, J Management of novel ecosystems in the Seychelles. In: R.J. Hobbs, E. Higgs & C. Hall (eds.). Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order. Wiley-Blackwell, pp
5 Opening Session: Ecological Novelty: The Ecology of the Anthropocene In the Seychelles, new approaches adapted to the specific characteristics and needs of each of these four different ecozones are being applied to conserve nature based on bringing in humans (Kueffer & Kaiser-Bunbury 2013). In situ parks have been created that are visited by birds coming down from the highlands to use them as restaurants. In the second ecozone, sustainable forestry might be practised to keep alien creepers at bay. In the third ecozone, small patches of native vegetation are planted within cinnamon forests, which serve as a barrier to other and often more problematic alien species. But higher up in the mountains, intensive care is required to preserve the native species against cinnamon and other aliens. The ecosystem of small offshore islands has undergone a radical change. However, in recent years, some of these islands have been transformed into nature reserves and biodiversity reserves. These islands are at once in an endemic, novel and artificial state. The case of the Seychelles demonstrates that flexibility and the adaptation to Ecological Novelty are of major importance. Historic reference is appropriate in the case of the Seychelles mountain cloud forests. Such systems should be preserved in their present location, but they are not self-sustaining. For example, cloud cover could lift in the course of climate change. In contrast, applying resilience as the guiding principle, small offshore islands could be coupled to ecotourism to provide funding for conservation. Discussion The discussion addressed more general topics in the context of Ecological Novelty, evolutionary patterns versus Ecological Novelty patterns, models used in laboratories versus the real world and social systems versus ecological systems. Dr. Kueffer mentioned a publication by Hairston and coauthors, who in the 1960s addressed the very basic issue in ecology of whether large herbivores were controlled by predators or by the availability of resources. They concluded that the predators had to be in control. However, the examples they showed were of landscapes in which all the top predators had already been erased by humans. Here, the scientists were using anthropogenic landscapes as a model for natural processes without necessarily being aware of doing so. However, according to Prof. Kassen, an evolutionary biologist who has also done work on predators and how they are involved in governing diversification, their role is context-dependent. If there are very few resources for the prey, then the predators play an immense role in governing diversification. But if there is an abundance of resources, their role will differ. Although they reduce prey density, they do not change the dynamics of diversity. While Dr. Kueffer insisted on the significance of considering novelty in ecological theory, Prof. Kassen maintained that there are no new evolutionary principles. While the selective forces at work might be very new and need to be clearly determined, the principles underlying the processes are always the same, even though they need to be seen in the light of the respective stresses. Prof. Slippers inquired about the general use of model systems and, in particular, the development of model novel ecosystems to study fundamental questions. Prof. Kassen maintained that there is an urgent need for new models and also for a greater degree of ecological realism in these models. Only a handful of model systems, such as those based on E. coli, are currently being used in the laboratory. Prof. Jentsch inquired whether there could be any predictability of adaptation in the face of novel systems. Prof. Kassen noted that the laboratory situation involving microbes was not the same as e.g. that of the Seychelles. The rules might be the same, but different stochastic effects applied. Prof. Jentsch then contrasted social systems with ecological systems. In an ecological system, individuals can be replaced without this necessarily having an effect on the system s stability, which will not be the case in a social system. If thousands of individuals have died and are replaced by novel migrants, the system s stability will not be maintained. The new individuals play a different role. According to Prof. Jentsch, this example shows that different rules have to be applied to social and ecological systems. 5
6 Session 1 Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers Chair: Prof. Anke Jentsch, University of Bayreuth, Department of Disturbance Ecology, Germany Novel Ecosystems in the North: A Boreal Tipping Point and then? Prof. Martin Wilmking, University of Greifswald, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Germany When considering changes in ecosystems, a distinction has to be made between historic, hybrid and novel ecosystems. A historic ecosystem is the natural ecosystem that either currently exists or is known to have existed in the past. A hybrid ecosystem retains characteristics of the historic system, but species composition and function reach beyond the historic range of variability. In a novel ecosystem, species composition and function have been completely transformed from the historic system. Three different scenarios may occur when a system moves from one state to another. First, given large external changes, a system may switch at some point, but the change will be almost linear. This is the case that ecologists are usually confronted with. Second, a relatively stable system might be forced towards a new state but initially retain its ability to buffer changes. Acid entering a lake is an example of such a case. The system would first stay in its original state, but at some point, referred to as the critical threshold, there might be a change. This has been termed a bifurcation across a non-catastrophic threshold. In the third scenario, the system is buffered against a small force for a long time, but by internal oscillations or further changes in condition, such as warming or nitrogen deposition, it may switch to a new state. However, if the conditions are ameliorated, aimed at returning to the previous state, the system will merely stabilise in its new state. The term used to describe this scenario is bifurcation across a catastrophic threshold. There could be a shift of state in the Earth s atmosphere. A catastrophic bifurcation could be reached by changes in the Earth s surface. Changes in terrestrial ecosystems might reach a global threshold after which a completely different stage is attained. The boreal forest ecosystems of the North represent the largest terrestrial biome. While they contain only a few tree species (about eight in Alaska, for example), huge amounts of carbon are stored, with percent of the Earth s carbon contained in the boreal system itself and more than 30 percent captured as soil carbon. Sometimes the soil is permanently frozen. Fire acts as a very natural disturbance factor. Huge fires may occur every 80 to 100 years in Siberia and every 160 years in Alaska, representing a perfectly normal feature of the ecosystem. Radical changes in the biome could have global consequences. The tipping point regarding permafrost and the tundra in such an area is reached when temperatures attain zero degrees Celsius and the permafrost starts to melt. As massive collapses of soil occur, the carbon stored is disturbed. Projections of June temperature levels in Alaska suggest a significant rise over the next 50 to 100 years. The climate in the interior, especially in the east, would be warmer and drier, and would differ considerably from that in the western parts of Alaska. In the fires in Alaska, the mature white spruce burns, and this starts a sequence of events that is repeated as a 160-year cycle. After the fires, forest growth starts with the aspen, a deciduous tree. White spruce then grows References Novel Ecosystems in the North: A Boreal Tipping Point and then? : Chapin, F.S., III et al Resilience of Alaska s boreal forest to climatic change. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 40(7): Johnstone J. et al Fire, climate change, and forest resilience in interior Alaska. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 40: Scheffer M, et al Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature 413(6856): Scheffer M et al Early warnings of critical transitions. Nature 461:
7 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers in the shade provided by the aspen. The white spruce reaches canopy and gradually takes over after about 100 years. ground could further melt permafrost. This would enable more CO 2 and methane to escape, with hemispheric and even global consequences. But new climate conditions could lead to different successional trajectories, with fires already returning after 60 to 80 years, not giving the white spruce enough time to reach canopy, resulting in a possible disappearance of these trees from the system on the southern slopes of mountain ranges. Climate change may result in very different permafrost conditions, with permafrost shrinking but still remaining in many areas. Developments could give rise to historic, hybrid and novel systems existing side by side, with dark needle trees still attaining canopy in the north, broad-leaf and a small number of dark needle trees growing in hybrid systems on the upper slopes of the mountains, and novel systems developing further down consisting of boreal steppe devoid of any trees. In turn, this might then imply a very low carbon storage capacity as well as rapid changes in reflectivity on the southern slopes. There would be no tree canopy to buffer sunlight, and the large amounts of heat entering the Such developments are comparable to the non-catastrophic threshold condition, and could perhaps be reversible. The Pleistocene mammoth steppe in the interior of the area when the land bridge between North America and Asia still existed is a historical analogy in Alaska to that scenario. However, this steppe was due to drier conditions, and permafrost was abundant as well. While hybrid and novel ecosystems would certainly emerge in such a scenario, some historic systems will also remain. Transitions would likely be non-linear, and perhaps even catastrophic. Spatial differentiation between historic, hybrid and novel ecosystems could buffer planetary consequences, and the possible planetary effects of such a hemispheric phenomenon are yet to be determined. Regarding Alaska, it is expected that forests will undergo significant functional and structural changes within the coming decades that have had no precedent within the last 6,000 years. Novel Ecosystems in South Africa: Geographic Extent, Value and Conser vation Implications Prof. Mathieu Rouget, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Research Chair in Land Use Planning and Management, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Novel ecology has been at the centre of many debates in recent times, also resulting in a shift in the focus of conservation. Novel ecosystems account for more than 40 percent of the world s ecosystems (Hobbs et al. 2009). Such systems emerge when habitats are seriously modified. As a habitat moves e.g. from an uncultivated condition to intensive agriculture, soil may be degraded, and invasive species may enter the system. Abandoned agricultural areas may then appear as novel ecosystems. South Africa covers around one million square kilometres, and it comprises a wide range of different landscapes, such as grassland systems, thickets and deserts. It also has a huge biodiversity (Mittermeier et al. 2005). In the Cape Region alone, there are around 8,000 plant species, compared to 1,000 to 2,000 in Europe. However, over the last few decades, the country has also seen rapid economic development. The total extent and value of the country s novel ecosystems is unclear. Alien tree species such as the eucalyptus have invaded regions where they never used to grow. Such species may take a lot of water out of an ecosystem, reducing both water quantity and quality (van Wilgen et al. 2008). There may also be changes in the fire regime. Cases have been recorded of towns being burnt down by fires, and crime incidence appears to be higher in areas affected by invasive species, too. On the other hand, alien species may serve as a source of energy by providing firewood and they can also act as bee floral resources. Alien species, moreover, are of potential use in agriculture, a sector that depends on trees. South Africa s National Biodiversity Assessment 2011 reveals that some of the country s areas are critically endangered, notably the wetlands, with almost 50 percent of this ecosystem type at risk (Driver et al. 2012). On the other 7
8 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers hand, only ten percent of terrestrial ecosystems are under a critical threat. Most of the terrestrial systems are still in a natural condition. Compared to Germany and Finland, for example, abiotic conditions have had a much lower impact in terms of historical versus altered biotic composition in South Africa. All in all, only very few systems have been transformed, and the human footprint versus biodiversity is relatively low on a world scale. Nevertheless, natural areas in South Africa are not necessarily in a stable condition, and better management and conservation are needed. According to Prof. Rouget, emphasis in scientific literature on the significance of novel ecosystems in conserving biodiversity should not result in existing historic ecosystems being neglected at local level. In South Africa, novel ecosystems are usually not critical regarding the maintenance of biodiversity, and ecosystem services as well as the overall system are still relatively intact (Scholes & Biggs, 2005). Overall policy implications for South Africa include recognising natural ecosystems as the best option for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Novel ecosystems play a significant role in urban environments such as Cape Town or Durban, where their value has yet to be further assessed. Moreover, a more general assessment, based albeit on more local research, is needed of the extent and importance of novel ecosystems throughout South Africa. How does Ecological Novelty Challenge the Idea of Resilience and Sustainability? Prof. Anke Jentsch, University of Bayreuth, Department of Disturbance Ecology, Germany Resilience is a key aspect in connecting Ecological Novelty to sustainability (Brand & Jax 2007) and it provides common ground for actors and scientists who are ready to overcome the notion that ecosystems ought to be kept in their original state. While possible changes in species composition are accepted, certain functions need to be sustained to support ecosystem services. Five definitions of resilience can be considered in the debate on novel ecology. In physics and ecology, resilience is understood as the rate and speed of return to a pre-existence system, so that a more resilient system would be one that recovers faster (Holling 1973). In disturbance ecology, the term focuses on the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed by the system (White and Jentsch 2001). Systems that are resilient are able to return to their pre-existing dynamics. Sociology concentrates on the actors, on the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses as a result of social, political and environmental change (Adger 2000). Communities that can come to terms e.g. with a novel ecology are resilient. Ecosystem service-related resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to maintain desired ecosystem services in the face of fluctuating environments (Folke et al. 2002). Finally, the sustainability-related definition of resilience focuses on the maintenance of natural capital and flexibility in the long run (Ott and Doering 2004). As long as a novel ecosystem does not reduce choices and options and the power of diversity, it is sustainable. Hence, resilience is seen as the ability of self-organisation and adaptation in the face of disturbance. Certain influences can drive a system away from its reference dynamics, but after a time, it may return to these dynamics without having retained its species composition. In the debate on resilience, a fundamental approach taken is to ascertain whether, despite novel members in the community, a system can come back to providing its original ecoservices. References Novel Ecosystems in South Africa: Geographic Extent, Value and Conservation Implications : Driver, A., Sink, K.J., Nel, J.N. et al. (2012). National Biodiversity Assessment 2011: An assessment of South Africa s biodiversity and ecosystems. Synthesis Report. Pretoria. Hobbs, R. J., Higgs, E., & Harris, J. A. (2009). Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24(11), Mittermeier, R.A., Hoffmann, M., Pilgrim, J.D., Brooks, T.B., Mittermeier, C.G., Lamoreux, J.L. & Fonseca, G. (ed.) (2005). Hotspots revisited: Earth s biologically richest and most endangered ecoregions. Cemex, Mexico City. Scholes, R. J., & Biggs, R. (2005). A biodiversity intactness index. Nature, 434(7029), Van Wilgen, B. W., Reyers, B., Le Maitre, D. C., Richardson, D. M., & Schonegevel, L. (2008). A biome-scale assessment of the impact of invasive alien plants on ecosystem services in South Africa. Journal of Environmental Management, 89(4),
9 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers Rapid changes such as those occurring in the climate or the introduction of invasive species point to an unclear picture of the future. A position has to be found regarding whether novel ecology is still in line with the traditional notions of sustainability and resilience, or whether these concepts are becoming redundant in the light of emerging Ecological Novelty. Functional resilience has become a central theme in experimental biodiversity research, obviating the need to retain biodiversity patterns observed in the past as a basis. Rather, a functional approach can be adopted, and novel contexts can be related to ecosystem services. Prof. Jentsch presented two case studies that she is involved in examining the invasion of nitrogen-fixing species into the ecosystem. Issues addressed in research here include identifying the implications of such an invasion for biodiversity patterns, ecosystem services and the people concerned and establishing whether invasive species can alter a system towards a tipping point and whether the system will then have reached a new state from which it can no longer return to the previous one (Jentsch 2013). In lowland parts of Ethiopia, moist riparian areas have traditionally been used by nomads tending their livestock. Now, large numbers of these people have been driven out of their cultural identity by a process of species invasion. Around 20 years ago, the prosopis, also known as the devil tree, started taking over the river valleys (Ayanu et al. in review). Scientists are now trying to analyse the impact of this tree on the people living in the area with the aid of scientific data and questionnaires. They seek to assess whether it can be incorporated into local livelihoods, and how the negative effects appearing now can be associated with long-term effects. In most of these areas, the prosopis impact is seen as negative. However, people are chopping it for charcoal, and to a degree, there has been a shift from a nomadic to a sedentary life among the inhabitants. Lupine species are also active as ecosystem engineers, especially in Iceland, where the Nootka lupine was introduced by foresters 70 years ago to improve slope stability and soil nutrient status. Now it is a pest in almost all areas of the island and is even invading the country s small remaining forests. In Germany s Biosphere Reserve Rhön, the garden lupine is causing concern because it is largely spreading into meadows in conservation areas. Prof. Jentsch and her team are attempting to establish where the limits to invasion are, and what possible invasion filters exist. The researchers are combining biodiversity experiments with climate change and invasive species research to assess the interaction of various drivers of change and identify possible buffers (Jentsch 2013). Ecosystem engineers often play a crucial role when ecosystems change. They interact with other organisms in an ecosystem but also alter its physical environment. Such alterations may be irreversible. For example, nitrogen-fixing species charge the soil with nitrogen (Arfin Khan accepted with revisions). Even if these species are driven out, changes to the physical environment may persist. Modifications brought about by invasive species may lead to a stable system with reference to the original dynamics, or they may result in an alternative regime that cannot shift back to the original dynamics. References How does Ecological Novelty challenge the Idea of Resilience and Sustainability? : Adger, W. N Social and ecological resilience: are they related? Progress in Human Geography 24 (3): Arfin Khan MAS, Grant K, Beierkuhnlein C, Kreyling J, Jentsch A (accepted with revisions): Facilitative legume effect on productivity of neighboring species decreases under annually recurrent drought but not under heavy rain spells in temperate grassland. Plant and Soil. Ayanu Y, Jentsch A, Müller-Mahn D, Rettberg S, Romankiewicz C, Koellner C (accepted with major revision): Ecosystem engineer unleashed Prosopis juliflora causing threats to ecosystem services. Regional Environmental Change. Brand, F. S., and K. Jax Focusing the meaning(s) of resilience: resilience as a descriptive concept and a boundary object. Ecology and Society 12(1): 23. Folke, C., S. Carpenter, T. Elmqvist, L. Gunderson, C. S. Holling, B. Walker, J. Bengtsson, F. Berkes, J. Colding, K. Danell, M. Falkenmark, L. Gordon, R. Kasperson, N. Kautsky, A. Kinzig, S. Levin, K.-G. Mäler, F. Moberg, L. Ohlsson, P. Olsson, E. Ostrom, W. Reid, J. Rockström, H. Savenije, and U. Svedin Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. Scientific Background Paper on Resilience for the process of The World Summit on Sustainable Development on behalf of The Environmental Advisory Council to the Swedish Government. Holling, C. S Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 4:1-23. Jentsch A (2013): Hidden secrets of ecology biodiversity experiments, climate change research and invasion ecology join up to assess European gradients of resilience in the face of climate extremes. Pan European Networks: Science and Technology 08:1. Ott, K., and R. Döring Theorie und Praxis starker Nachhaltigkeit. Metropolis, Marburg, Germany. White PS, Jentsch A (2001): The search for generality in studies of disturbance and ecosystem dynamics. Progress in Botany 63:
10 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers Prof. Jentsch stressed that a definition of Ecological Novelty is needed clarifying whether or not it is asso ciated with irreversibility. If it is, it will be much harder for society to embrace Ecological Novelty because there is no way back, as would be the case with sustainability or resilience, terms that always relate to historical concepts. Novelty and Tree Health Prof. Bernard Slippers, University of Pretoria, Department of Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, South Africa South Africa, a country with slightly fewer inhabitants than Germany but nearly three times as big, has only very little closed canopy forest. Almost all of South Africa s wood comes from non-native plantations. Protecting these resources is important for the country, and Prof. Slippers works in both areas. The concept of Novel Ecology is well-recognised in tree health. Novel association between pathogens and trees that they work on are drivers of change in terms of tree health. This also holds more generally for plants as new hosts and new areas come into play and existing disease systems change. Developments among chestnut trees in North America provide an example of novel host-pathogen interactions. Chestnuts used to cover a big range in the east of the USA. But about 100 years ago, a fungus arrived from chestnut trees in Asia. It infected the North American trees, which had no resistance to this fungus, and the tree species was virtually removed from the forest. The only surviving remnants are shrubby and no longer grow to tree proportions. In an attempt to reintroduce the large North American chestnut, these shrubs are now being crossbred with the Asian chestnut. Similarly, the pinewood nematode, a native of North America, has entered Japan and other parts of the world and is having a devastating impact on the pine trees there. Novel pathogen-vector associations may also develop. The Sirex woodwasp relies on certain types of fungi that the female has to introduce into pinewood with its larvae for them to survive. The offspring then carry the fungus. A European species of the Sirex woodwasp has spread to South Africa, where pine trees are grown commercially. The wasp has a disastrous effect on its new hosts, which are killed off within about three months. This animal has been introduced in South Africa several times and around the world, and with different strains of the fungus. It has also spread to North America, which is already populated by another Sirex species. Analyses of the populations of fungi have revealed that the two wasp species have mutually adopted their original fungus species, so that the Sirex wasps from Europe are no longer carrying what they originally came with, and vice versa. A few years ago, pines in Chile began to develop characteristic bands on their needles. The needles then started dying off. First, a thousand hectares of these pines were killed off, and today, up to 60,000 hectares have been severely affected. The novel aspect involved here is that the cause of the disease is a fungus-like organism which is known to grow on the roots of a very few conifer species, but never on their needles. A native host jump may have occurred here, or alternatively an introduction from another region. Examples of novel pathogens include hybrids of introduced fungus species that attack trees along river systems. Also, in Germany, alder trees are succumbing to a hybrid of two pathogens neither of which is as aggressive on these trees as an individual species. To illustrate the impacts of changing environments on pathogens, Prof. Slippers took the example of changes in pine forests in British Columbia, Canada, over the last century. Management changes have led to more uniform forests, with less age diversity. Also, climate change conditions are better for mountain pine beetle survival, which infests pines, and also introduces a fungus. A severe outbreak of infection started in the late 1990s and has been growing unabated to unprecedented levels, with 16 million hectares of pine killed (compared to Germany s total forest cover of eleven million hectares). Another aspect is organisms that live in healthy trees. For example, in a certain group of fungi, the Botryosphaeriaceae or sac fungi, which are found in all trees, a disease system only occurs if the plants are under stress. Only a few species of these fungi were originally known, but with the advent of molecular tools, up to 23 different species have been detected in Eucalyptus trees. This diversity could be due to cross-infection between related trees, such as the Eucalyptus and the Syzygium, which 10
11 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers grow in close proximity, or the mango and the Maroela. The next step will be to look at endophyte communities, at the microbiomes inside the plants. Thousands of new endophyte types are being discovered with the new molecular tools. Not only is there a huge diversity of species, but species also differ vastly according to environments. There has been a massive increase in reports of fungal pathogen introductions as well as a rapid growth of novel interactions in Europe. This could also be due to a better ability to detect developments. Another aspect is the speed at which changes are happening. A tiny wasp that lays eggs on young Eucalyptus tissue can cause it to develop galls, reducing the Eucalyptus tree to a shrub. This species was not known until it was detected in Israel in Now it has spread to wherever Eucalyptus grows. These little insects are not capable of flying across such distances. Rather, they are moved with plant material. The scale of changes is also formidable. A predominantly clonal fungus in South Africa has been shown to be represented by several different types, and thus must have been introduced several times. Prof. Slippers expressed mounting concern regarding the future of forests. Economic value tends to outweigh considering the consequences of moving these fungi and other pests around. A sense of inability to control the moving of fungi e.g. through quarantine has emerged, for just one to five percent of all containers can be realistically inspected. A group of forest pathologists and forest entomologists have therefore proposed the phasing out of all trade in plants and plant parts, given the rate of spread of such pests. Discussion The discussion focused largely on the human perspective in the context of Socio-Ecological Novelty. Dr. Wright raised the general issue of whether Socio-Ecological Novelty assumed the principle that developments should always result in a social benefit. Prof. Wilmking argued that in studying an ecosystem, the human perspective need not always be considered. His research area in Alaska, for example, was so remote that firefighters were not deployed to tackle forest fires. Prof. Stroebel countered that if the same principles of research were applied in a more densely populated area, the social implications would be of direct relevance. One should always seek to extrapolate what the impacts on society might be like. Prof. Jentsch agreed that the discussion about Ecological Novelty was an anthropocentric one focusing on benefits for or threats to human beings. However, many case studies in the natural sciences were independent of value-driven questions, with scientists trying to understand the mechanisms and assess Ecological Novelty versus previous identities without putting value to them. Prof. Muchenje returned to the issue of research implications differing according to locations or circumstances. This applied e.g. to genetic diversity regarding animal science, where considerably more genetic variation occurred in developing countries compared to developed countries and more untapped resources were to be found. Prof. Muyonga emphasised that changes were taking place all over the world, and that differences between regions were often only in terms of scale. He therefore questioned whether a uniform definition of Ecological Novelty was appropriate. Taking up the issue of the global versus the local scale, Dr. Klepp stressed the need for open debate on what the future should look like and local participation in this debate. Only agreement among local people on how to manage the future could really ensure social resilience. Prof. Jentsch suggested that novel ecosystems could be mapped, also to establish differences between the North and the South. Here, Prof. Kassen added, model systems could be used for novel ecosystems to raise predictability and enable forecasting. On the topic of invasive species, Prof. Muyonga suggested that manipulating pathogens might be an option in dealing with invasive species, although Prof. Slippers warned that great care had to be taken with such an approach. Prof. Kassen added that the adaptation of pathogens to stresses had to be taken into account. Referring to South Africa, Dr. Wright considered a Novel Ecology approach to areas such as water or waste, which related closely to environmental issues. Prof. Rouget stressed the importance of not neglecting historic ecosystems in the country. 11
12 Session 1: Novel Ecosystems, Biological Invasion, Ecosystem Engineers References Novelty and Tree Health : Anderson, P. K., Cunningham, A. a, Patel, N. G., Morales, F. J., Epstein, P. R., & Daszak, P. (2004). Emerging infectious diseases of plants: pathogen pollution, climate change and agrotechnology drivers. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19, Bertheau, C., Brockerhoff, E. G., Roux-Morabito, G., Lieutier, F., & Jactel, H. (2010). Novel insect-tree associations resulting from accidental and intentional biological invasions : A meta-analysis of effects on insect fitness. Ecology Letters, 13, Bihon, W., Burgess, T., Slippers, B., Wingfield, M. J., & Wingfield, B. D. (2012). High levels of genetic diversity and cryptic recombination is widespread in introduced Diplodia pinea populations. Australasian Plant Pathology, 41, Bihon, W., Slippers, B., Burgess, T., Wingfield, M. J., & Wingfield, B. D. (2012). Diverse sources of infection and cryptic recombination revealed in South African Diplodia pinea populations. Fungal Biology, 116, Boissin, E., Hurley, B., Wingfield, M. J., Vasaitis, R., Stenlid, J., Davis, C., Slippers, B. (2012). Retracing the routes of introduction of invasive species: the case of the Sirex noctilio woodwasp. Molecular Ecology, 21, Brasier, C. M., & Buck, K. W. (2001). Rapid evolutionary changes in a globally invading fungal pathogen (Dutch Elm Disease). Biological Invasions, 3, Brasier, C. M., Kirk, S. A., Delcan, J., Cooke, D. E. L., Jung, T., & Man In t Veld, W. A. (2004). Phytophthora alni sp. nov. and its variants: designation of emerging heteroploid hybrid pathogens spreading on Alnus trees. Mycological Research, 108, Dittrich-Schroder, G., Wingfield, M. J., Hurley, B. P., & Slippers, B. (2012). Diversity in Eucalyptus susceptibility to the gall-forming wasp Leptocybe invasa. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 14, Durán, a., Gryzenhout, M., Slippers, B., Ahumada, R., Rotella, a., Flores, F., Wingfield, M. J. (2008). Phytophthora pinifolia sp. nov. associated with a serious needle disease of Pinus radiata in Chile. Plant Pathology, 57, Durán, A., Gryzenhout, M., Drenth, A., Slippers, B., Ahumada, R., Wingfield, B. D., & Wingfield, M. J. (2010). AFLP analysis reveals a clonal population of Phytophthora pinifolia in Chile. Fungal biology, 114, Engering, A., Hogerwerf, L., & Slingenbergh, J. (2013). Pathogen host environment interplay and disease emergence. Emerging Microbes and Infections, 2, e5. Fisher, M. C., Henk, D. a, Briggs, C. J., Brownstein, J. S., Madoff, L. C., McCraw, S. L., & Gurr, S. J. (2012). Emerging fungal threats to animal, plant and ecosystem health. Nature, 484, Garnas, J. R., Hurley, B. P., Slippers, B., & Wingfield, M. J. (2012). Biological control of forest plantation pests in an interconnected world requires greater international focus. International Journal of Pest Management, 58, Gayathri Samarasekera, G. D. N., Bartell, N. V, Lindgren, B. S., Cooke, J. E. K., Davis, C. S., James, P. M. A., Murray, B. W. (2012). Spatial genetic structure of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak in western Canada: historical patterns and contemporary dispersal. Molecular Ecology, 21, Giraud, T., Gladieux, P., & Gavrilets, S. (2010). Linking the emergence of fungal plant diseases with ecological speciation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25, Hurley, B. P., Slippers, B., & Wingfield, M. J. (2007). A comparison of control results for the alien invasive woodwasp, Sirex noctilio, in the southern hemisphere. Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 9, Hunter, G. C., van der Merwe, N. A., Burgess, T. I., Carnegie, A. J., Wingfield, B. D., Crous, P. W., & Wingfield, M. J. (2008). Global movement and population biology of Mycosphaerella nubilosa infecting leaves of cold-tolerant Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens. Plant Pathology, 57, Jacobs, K., Bergdahl, D. R., Wingfield, M. J., Halik, S., Seifert, K. A., Bright, D. E., Wingfield, B. D. (2004). Leptographium wingfieldii introduced into North America and found associated with exotic Tomicus piniperda and native bark beetles. Mycological Research, 108, Kurz, W. A., Dymond, C. C., Stinson, G., Rampley, G. J., Neilson, E. T., Carroll, A. L., Safranyik, L. (2008). Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change. Nature, 452, Langenfeld, A., Prado, S., Nay, B., Cruaud, C., Lacoste, S., Bury, E., Dupont, J. (2013). Geographic locality greatly influences fungal endophyte communities in Cephalotaxus harringtonia. Fungal Biology, 117, Liebhold, A. M., Brockerhoff, E. G., Garrett, L. J., Parke, J. L., & Britton, K. O. (2012). Live plant imports: the major pathway for forest insect and pathogen invasions of the US. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, Nagel, J. H., Gryzenhout, M., Slippers, B., & Wingfield, M. J. (2013). Characterization of Phytophthora hybrids from ITS clade 6 associated with riparian ecosystems in South Africa and Australia. Fungal Biology, 117, Nyeko, P., Mutitu, K. E., Otieno, B. O., Ngae, G. N., & Day, R. K. (2010). Variations in Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) population intensity and infestation on Eucalyptus germplasms in Uganda and Kenya. International Journal of Pest Management, 56, Perez, C. A., Wingfield, M. J., Slippers, B., Altier, N. A., & Blanchette, R. A. (2010). Endophytic and canker-associated Botryosphaeriaceae occurring on non-native Eucalyptus and native Myrtaceae trees in Uruguay. Fungal Diversity, 41, Pavlic, D., Slippers, B., Coutinho, T. A., & Wingfield, M. J. (2007). Botryosphaeriaceae occurring on native Syzygium cordatum in South Africa and their potential threat to Eucalyptus. Plant Pathology, 56, Pavlic, D., Slippers, B., Coutinho, T. A, & Wingfield, M. J. (2009). Multiple gene genealogies and phenotypic data reveal cryptic species of the Botryosphaeriaceae: a case study on the Neofusicoccum parvum/n. ribis complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 51, Piškur, B., Pavlic, D., Slippers, B., Ogris, N., Maresi, G., Wingfield, M. J., & Jurc, D. (2011). Diversity and pathogenicity of Botryosphaeriaceae on declining Ostrya carpinifolia in Slovenia and Italy following extreme weather conditions. European Journal of Forest Research, 130, Santini, A., Ghelardini, L., De Pace, C., Desprez-Loustau, M. L., Capretti, P., Chandelier, A., Stenlid, J. (2013). Biogeographical patterns and determinants of invasion by forest pathogens in Europe. New Phytologist, 197, Slippers, B., & Wingfield, M. J. (2007). Botryosphaeriaceae as endophytes and latent pathogens of woody plants: diversity, ecology and impact. Fungal Biology Reviews, 21, Slippers, B., Burgess, T., Pavlic, D., Ahumada, R., Maleme, H., Mohali, S., Rodas, C., Wingfield, M. J. (2009). A diverse assemblage of Botryosphaeriaceae infect Eucalyptus in native and non-native environments. Southern Forests, 71, Slippers, B., Stenlid, J., & Wingfield, M. J. (2005). Emerging pathogens: fungal host jumps following anthropogenic introduction. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20, Wingfield, M. J. (2003). Increasing threat of diseases to exotic plantation forests in the Southern Hemisphere: lessons from Cryphonectria canker. Australasian Plant Pathology, 32, Wingfield, M. J., Slippers, B., & Wingfield, B. D. (2010). Novel associations between pathogens, insects and tree species threaten world forests. New Zealand Journal of Forestry Science, 40(suppl.), S95 S103. Wingfield, M., Slippers, B., Hurley, B., Coutinho, T., Wingfield, B., & Roux, J. (2008). Eucalypt pests and diseases: growing threats to plantation productivity. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science, 70, Wingfield, M. J., Roux, J., Slippers, B., Hurley, B. P., Garnas, J., Myburg, A. A., & Wingfield, B. D. (2012). Established and new technologies reduce increasing pest and pathogen threats to Eucalypt plantations. Forestry Ecology and Management, 301, The Montesclaros Declaration. 12
13 Session 2 Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems Chair: Dr. Caradee Wright, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Natural Resources and Environment Unit, South Africa Towards Sustainable Healthcare Systems: South Africa Prof. Aletta Schutte, North-West University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hypertension in Africa Research Team (HART), South Africa As Prof. Schutte highlighted using data from a recent Lancet report, South Africa is faced with the challenge of having to address a quadruple burden of disease: infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), maternal, infant and child mortality, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension or diabetes, and injury and violence. In South Africa, HIV prevalence is 23 times the global average (carrying 17 percent of HIV infected people in the world), and its TB infection rate is among the highest in the world. The co-infection rate between HIV and TB is 73 percent. Maternal, peri-natal and neonatal mortality rates are much higher than those of countries of similar socioeconomic status. They are ascribed to HIV as the main contributor, but are also due to non-aids and other preventable causes. NCDs such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and lung diseases contributed to 28 percent of the total burden of disease in Importantly, these diseases are mostly driven by risk factors such as alcohol, smoking, poor diet, or lack of exercise. Road accidents, but particularly also violence against women and children, are driven largely by alcohol consumption and social factors such as poverty and unemployment. Prof. Schutte emphasised the significant and broadening divide between socio-economic classes in South Africa that is very clearly reflected by the present healthcare system. Public healthcare accounts for 84 percent of the population, and private healthcare for just 16 percent. The National Treasurer s Fiscal Review 2011 states that 49.2 percent (R122.4 billion) of GDP was spent on public healthcare and 48.5 percent (R120.8 billion) on private healthcare, with donors and NGOs contributing a total of 2.3 percent (R5.3 billion). In 2011, the South African Government approved the National Health Insurance (NHI), which is supposed to insure universal healthcare access to all residents regardless of their income. It is to be implemented over the next 14 years. Payment towards the NHI scheme will be compulsory for higher income earners and employers and will be collected by the South African Revenue Services. However, higher income individuals will still have the option to additionally pay for and belong to private medical funds. Although there is much criticism and concern regarding the NHI in terms of sustainability, upgrading of poor infrastructure and various other financial challenges (including a relatively small percentage of South Africans carrying the financial burden), the NHI document specifically References Towards Sustainable Healthcare Systems: South Africa : Coovadia H, Jewkes R, Barron, P, Sanders D, McIntyre D. The health and health system of South Africa: historical roots of current public health challenges. Lancet 2009; 374: Fourie CMT, Van Rooyen JM, Kruger A, Schutte AE. Lipid abnormalities in a never-treated HIV-1 subtype C-infected African population. Lipids 2010; 45: Poulter NR. Current and projected prevalence of arterial hypertension in sub-saharan Africa by sex, age and habitat: an estimate from population studies. J Hypertens 2011; 29: Schutte AE, Schutte R, Huisman HW, Van Rooyen JM, Fourie CMT, Malan NT, Malan L, Mels CMC, Smith W, Moss SJ, Towers GW, Kruger HS, Wentzel-Viljoen E, Vorster HH, Kruger A. Are behavioural risk factors to be blamed for the conversion from optimal blood pressure to hypertensive status in Black South Africans? A 5-year prospective study. Int J Epidemiol 2012; 14: Sliwa K, Wilkinson D, Hansen C, Ntyintyane L, Tibazarwa, Becker A, Stewart S. Spectrum of heart disease and risk factors in a black urban population in South Africa (the Heart of Soweto Study): a cohort study. Lancet 2008; 371:
14 Session 2: Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems states that there will be a strong and sustained focus on the provision of health promotion and prevention services at the community and household level. Prevention is especially important when considering the immense amount of public spending on treatment. For example, HIV/AIDS treatment costs are expected to rise by $5.3 billion each year. Another important aspect, pointed out by Prof. Schutte, is the interplay between infectious and non-communicable diseases. Anti-retroviral treatment is very effective to treat HIV/AIDS, but the main side-effect is increasing the risk for NCDs, such as metabolic syndrome (i.e. an unfavourable cholesterol profile, obesity). Aside from treatment, untreated HIV-infected individuals also have an increased inflammatory profile, resulting in an increased risk for NCDs. Apart from the interplay between infections and NCDs, highly significant threats are arising from NCDs such as hypertension and diabetes to the South African Healthcare System, with two thirds of black South Africans presenting multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). This is also reflected by the high stroke mortality rates. Regarding treatment, statistics based on 1998 data indicate that only 19 percent of the hypertension population were treated and that if all were treated, the cost would be increasing from a current $29.7 million to $283 million a year. The figures for people suffering from hypertension in England are: 11 percent treated successfully, treatment unsuccessful with 16 percent, and 73 percent unaware and untreated. The ineffective treatment of hypertension is therefore a global phenomenon. The major factors driving the surge in high blood pressure levels in South Africa in recent years are a high intake of alcohol, a high percentage of smokers, and an elevated waist circumference. All this information indicates the importance of moving the emphasis from treatment to prevention, which is also an objective for the new South African NHI. Approaches towards such a shift include safer sex practices, although there is also the challenge of changing the behaviour of children in particular, e.g. in terms of healthy eating and avoiding unhealthy foods, and that of preventing the development of unhealthy habits such as smoking, alcohol intake and drug use. If South Africa does not succeed in changing healthcare practices and lifestyle, the alternative will be to tolerate hypertension, knowing it would have been largely preventable, Prof. Schutte maintained. Of Broken Hearts: Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa a Clarion Call for Action Prof. Philimon Gona, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Department of Biostatistics and Health Services Research, USA Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the main causes of death in industrialised countries, and are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in sub-saharan Africa. However, despite the high level of awareness in developed countries, the level of CVD control is still poor. Furthermore, CVDs are more common in urban settlements, possibly because of the gradual adoption of unhealthy lifestyles. Sub-Saharan Africa is said to be at an early stage of epidemiological transition from communicable diseases like TB to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart diseases or cancer. Blood pressure is the measurement of force applied to artery walls. Left untreated, chronic high blood pressure, or hypertension, increases the risk of stroke and eye damage, blood vessel damage (arteriosclerosis), heart attack or heart failure and kidney failure, and early death. A haemorrhagic stroke occurs when a cerebral artery is blocked or ruptured. In 2000, one billion people or around 26 percent of the adult world population had hypertension. There were 333 million cases in developed countries, and 639 million in developing countries. Overall, the disease was projected to affect 1.56 billion people by The rates of hypertension vary by geographic regions, and are as low as 3.4 percent in men and 6.8 percent in woman in rural India, and as high as 68.9 percent in men and 72.5 percent in women in Poland. Hypertension affects 76 million, or 34 percent, of US adults, with rates 14
15 Session 2: Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems being higher among people of a lower economic status. African American adults have among the highest rates of hypertension in the world, at 44 percent. African-Americans are more likely to develop hypertension. Genetic research suggests that people of African ancestry seem to be more sensitive to salt. The burden of HIV is falling thanks to success in treatment and universal access or antiretrovirals. Of 53 million deaths that occurred in 2010, one in four deaths was from heart disease or stroke, compared to 1.5 million AIDS-related deaths. Prof. Gona hence argued for a shift in health priorities, i.e. by integrating universal screening and treatment of hypertension as part of routine care. Four cross-sectional household surveys on the prevalence of hypertension in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia in found it among 19 percent of the population in rural Nigeria, 21 percent in rural Kenya, 24 percent in urban Tanzania and 38 percent in urban Namibia. In the Heart of Soweto Study in South Africa, 56 percent of those surveyed were found to have CVD risk factors and 44 percent hypertension risk factors, while 59 percent had several risk factors and only 13 percent had no identifiable risk factors at all. A Lancet survey looked at disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 causes and for 187 countries from 1990 to DALYs are the sum of years of life lost and years lived with disabilities. One result of the survey was that among the top five causes of global DALYs, ischemic heart disease and stroke climbed from fourth and fifth position to first and third position respectively from 1990 to Another was that hypertension had risen from fourth to first position in the same period. The Framingham Heart Study of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Initiative and Boston University in the USA, started in 1948 and still on going, which Prof. Gona has also worked on, aims to identify common factors that contribute to CVD, to follow participants without CVD or past heart attack or stroke, and to understand the natural history of CVD. Major findings include changes in blood pressure level coinciding with improvements in hypertension control as well as hypertension increasing the risk of CVD. Prof. Gona maintained that risk prediction models such as the one developed at the Framingham Heart Study are urgently needed in Southern Africa. References Of Broken Hearts: Cardiovascular Diseases in Africa a Clarion Call for Action : Addo J, Amoah AG, Koram KA. The changing patterns of hypertension in Ghana: a study of four rural communities in the Ga District. National Diabetes Management and Research Centre, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu, Ghana. Goma FM, Nzala SH, Babaniyi O, Songolo P, Zyaambo C, Rudatsikira E, Siziya S, Muula AS. Prevalence of hypertension and its correlates in Lusaka urban district of Zambia: a population based survey. Int Arch Med Oct 5; 4:34. Gona P, Van Dyke RB, Williams PL, Dankner WM, Chernoff MC, Nachman SA, Seage GR 3rd. Incidence of opportunistic and other infections in HIV-infected children in the HAART era. JAMA Jul 19; 296(3): Gortmaker SL, Hughes M, Cervia J, Brady M, Johnson GM, Seage GR 3rd, Song LY, Dankner WM, Oleske JM; Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 219 Team. Effect of combination therapy including protease inhibitors on mortality among children and adolescents infected with HIV-1. N Engl J Med Nov 22; 345(21): Hendriks ME, Wit FW, Roos MT, Brewster LM, Akande TM, de Beer IH, Mfinanga SG, Kahwa AM, Gatongi P, Van Rooy G, Janssens W, Lammers J, Kramer B, Bonfrer I, Gaeb E, van der Gaag J, Rinke de Wit TF, Lange JM, Schultsz C. Hypertension in sub-saharan Africa: cross-sectional surveys in four rural and urban communities. Int Arch Med Oct 5; 4:34. Ingelsson E, Gona P, Larson MG, Lloyd-Jones DM, Kannel WB, Vasan RS, Levy D. Arch Altered blood pressure progression in the community and its relation to clinical events.intern Med Jul 14;168(13): Murray CJ, Vos T, Lozano R, Naghavi M, Flaxman AD, Michaud C, Ezzati M, Shibuya K, Salomon JA, Abdalla S, Aboyans V, Abraham J, Ackerman I, Aggarwal R Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study Lancet Dec 15; 380(9859): Nachman SA, Chernoff M, Gona P, Van Dyke RB, Dankner WM, Seage GR 3rd, Oleske J, Williams PL; PACTG 219C Team. Incidence of noninfectious conditions in perinatally HIV-infected children and adolescents in the HAART era. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med Feb; 163(2): Oladapo OO, Salako L, Sodiq O, Shoyinka K, Adedapo K, Falase AO. A prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors among a rural Yoruba southwestern Nigerian population: a population-based survey. Cardiovasc J Afr Jan-Feb; 21(1): Onwubere BJ, Ejim EC, Okafor CI, Emehel A, Mbah AU, Onyia U, Mendis S. Pattern of Blood Pressure Indices among the Residents of a Rural Community in South East Nigeria. Int J Hypertens. 2011; 2011: Sliwa K, Wilkinson D, Hansen C, Ntyintyane L, Tibazarwa K, Becker A, Stewart S. Lancet Mar 15; 371(9616): Spectrum of heart disease and risk factors in a black urban population in South Africa (the Heart of Soweto Study): a cohort study. Tesfaye F, Byass P, Wall S. Population based prevalence of high blood pressure among adults in Addis Ababa: uncovering a silent epidemic. BMC Cardiovasc Disord Aug 23; 9:39. Wang TJ, Gona P, Larson MG, Levy D, Benjamin EJ, Tofler GH, Jacques PF, Meigs JB, Rifai N, Selhub J, Robins SJ, Newton-Cheh C, Vasan RS. Multiple biomarkers and the risk of incident hypertension. Hypertension Mar; 49(3): Epub 2007 Jan 22. Wang TJ, Gona P, Larson MG, Tofler GH, Levy D, Newton-Cheh C, Jacques PF, Rifai N, Selhub J, Robins SJ, Benjamin EJ, D Agostino RB, Vasan RS. Multiple biomarkers for the prediction of first major cardiovascular events and death. N Engl J Med Dec 21; 355(25):
16 Session 2: Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems Health and the Environment Dr. Caradee Wright, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Natural Resources and Environment Unit, South Africa Dr. Wright s presentation focused on the interplay between the natural environment and human beings and the challenges that environmental health practitioners face in South Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental health comprises those aspects of human health and diseases that are determined by factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health. There are various examples of interaction between humans and nature and its possible outcomes. Planting vegetables in contaminated soil may lead to a loss of crops and hence malnutrition. Settlements may contaminate the environment with their own waste. Eating crops grown in such an environment can cause complaints such as diarrhoea. Exposure to the sun s ultraviolet rays may trigger skin cancer. Environmental health is an integral part of primary health care and is aimed at promoting wellness and preventing diseases. It focuses especially on controlling environmental factors that negatively impact on human health. It has close ties to sustainability, implying e.g. healthy, green environments to sustain a long life of individuals and communities. Environmental health has a number of different layers, starting with the health outcomes of poor environmental conditions. These may be e.g. food or vector-borne diseases, poor respiratory health, but also psychological health. The next layer concerns people s basic needs, such as improving housing, solid waste management or drinking water quality. Then there is the wide area of assessing and monitoring risks, e.g. in chemical safety or with regard to radiation exposure. The institutional layer comprises e.g. training and human capital development and health and hygiene education, but also legislative issues. For example, South Africa has no environmental health policy, and the area s institutional framework is weak. The next layer concerns issues such as the role of environmental health practitioners, where traditional medicine comes in, or the need for vaccines. Finally, there are the fields of environmental health and vulnerability research and of population monitoring and surveillance. Here, Dr. Wright emphasises that much of the data available in South Africa is still from Also, there has been a ten-year gap in the national cancer registry. According to the WHO Global Health Observatory, 23 percent of the global disease burden is attributable to the environment. Exposure to indoor smoke from cooking causes two million deaths a year, and 88 percent of diarrhoeal deaths are due to unsafe water, inappropriate sanitation and lack of hygiene. Thirteen million deaths are due to preventable environmental causes, and preventing environmental risks could save four million lives a year, predominantly in developing countries among children below the age of 15 years. According to a 2004 survey, the percentage of deaths and disability-adjusted life years attributable to the environment is particularly high in Africa and South and East Asia. The health impacts of environmental hazards run across more than 80 diseases and types of injury, and include both communicable and non-communicable diseases. They can be found in developing as well as in developed countries. At the top of the list is diarrhoea, because of water conditions, followed by lower respiratory infections owing to air pollution, unintentional occupational injuries and the vector-borne disease of malaria. Well targeted, sustainable interventions can help prevent environmental risk. Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals includes the target of reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. However, im- References Health and the Environment : Global Health Observatory (GHO), World Health Organization, United Nations, Millennium Development Goals, 16
17 Session 2: Health, Mindsets, Sustainable Health Systems plemented interventions as well as community health effects and behaviour change have to be continuously monitored. South Africa needs to address traditional environmental health issues relating to basic needs, such as water quality, modern issues like air and water pollution, resulting from industrialisation, and emerging global issues including climate change and sustainability. Specific concerns include rapid urbanisation, poverty, food security and inequality. Looking at health, environment and sustainability, Dr. Wright noted that appropriate developments have to be achieved in all sectors for a sustainable improvement in health. Healthcare reform must include medical care services, public health and environmental health services. Changes in attitudes and taking ownership are particularly important aspects in improving health. People have to be motivated for a shift in mindset from I am a subject to I am a citizen and How can I help myself and my environment?. Dr. Wright concluded that while the link between environmental health and disease has been fairly well established and improvements in environmental hygiene have contributed to better health, prevention does require a certain amount of psychology. Improving the environment may be less complicated than changing people s behaviour. Discussion Prof. Schutte noted that prevention appeared as a key issue in all three presentations. Topics relating to the Socio-Ecological Novelty approach could include finding new preventive measures and identifying good predictive factors. Prof. Schutte also mentioned abuse of antibiotics and resistance to antiretroviral drugs in this context. Prof. Muyonga took up changes in biodiversity resulting in plants disappearing that were rich in health-promoting phytochemicals, which in turn led to less diversified diets. More diversification here could perhaps make some of the conditions that Prof. Schutte had referred to more manageable. Also on the issue of diets, Dr. Wright told the meeting about a leafy vegetable in Mozambique that formed part of staple diets but was no longer resilient to climate change and was being replaced by another leafy plant that was not so nutritious. This could cause people to move to fast food as a supplement to the new plant. On the issue of links between environmental issues and disease, Prof. Schutte pointed out that in areas where DDT was used to combat malaria, there were more cases of hypertension among pregnant women exposed to the pesticide. Dr. Wright referred to especially high levels of cancer and other NCDs in informal rural settlements with high levels of environmental pollution. Taking up the issue of healthcare, Prof. du Plessis mentioned regional problems spilling over borders in connection with the issue of healthcare. There was a large influx of illegal immigrants in South Africa. They had the same needs as South African citizens e.g. in terms of healthcare, but they were not contributing to the tax base. Overall, this demonstrated how socio-political factors across borders could impact on a country s ability to address environmental health aspects. Also with regard to South Africa, Prof. Schutte noted that the huge numbers of HIV patients were putting such pressure on the country s health system that other chronic diseases of lifestyle were being ignored. Meanwhile, Prof. Gona emphasised, numbers of HIV cases were being dwarfed by the number of NCD patients. 17
18 Session 3 Socio-Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change Chair: Dr. Silja Klepp, University of Bremen, artec Sustainability Research Center, Germany Heat Waves, Bats and Birds: Ecological Conservation Implications of Catastrophic Morbidity Events Prof. Andrew McKechnie, University of Pretoria, Department of Zoology and Entomology, South Africa Animals can survive in temperatures much higher than their own body temperature thanks to evaporative cooling. Heat is dissipated by evaporation, which allows an organism to keep its body temperature far lower than that of its environment. Evaporative water rates plotted as a function of environmental temperature for the verdin, a small bird living in the Sonora Desert in Arizona, USA, show that as soon as the temperature of the environment exceeds body temperature, there are massive increases in the rate at which water evaporates, either across the skin or via the respiratory system, through panting. The verdin can maintain a body temperature ten degrees Celsius lower than that of the air on an intensely hot day in the Sonora Desert. As the temperature reaches about 45 degrees Celsius, the bird might be losing 5-7 percent of its body mass each hour. However, intense heat waves can overwhelm the capacities of birds. While smaller species can dissipate heat faster, they also die earlier. During an extreme heat wave in Western Australia in January 2009, huge flocks of wild budgies seeking shade tried to reach overlander roadhouse sheds 200 miles north of Perth. Thousands of them never made it to the sheds and succumbed to the heat. Mortality occurred over a matter of hours, when temperatures spiked, although the birds might already have been dehydrated. In January 2009, around 3,500 flying foxes, a bat species, were killed by a heat wave in New South Wales, in Eastern Australia, as temperatures soared above 42 degrees Celsius. In all, more than 30,000 of these animals were killed in heat waves between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Extreme heat events with disastrous consequences for wildlife have also been reported from India and South Africa, where several thousand ostriches were killed by extreme temperature levels in However, under climate change, maximum temperatures are increasing world-wide. Some examples indicate what impact such temperature rises could have on arid zone ecosystems. In Yuma, Arizona, Prof. McKechnie plotted the number of days per year on which temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius between the 1980s and last year. There was a clear trend towards more very hot days. Charts for places in Central Australia show a similar tendency for the number of very hot days to rise. The November 2011 Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on future changes in extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes or heat waves suggests that there will be more record hot weather not only in an upward shift in temperature distribution but if there is increased temperature variability as well. Also, what used to be the 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-5 to 1-in-2 year event by the end of the 21st century. And a 1-in-20 year extreme daily maximum temperature is expected to be two to five degrees Celsius higher by the end of the century. References Heat Waves, Bats and Birds: Ecological Conservation Implications of Catastrophic Morbidity Events : McKechnie, A.E., Hockey, P.A.R. and B.O. Wolf Feeling the heat: Australian landbirds and climate change. Emu, 2012, 112, i-vii. McKechnie, A.E. and B.O. Wolf Climate Change increases the likelihood of catastrophic avian mortality events during extreme heat waves. Biology Letters (2010) 6,
19 Session 3: Socio-Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change On 8 January 2013, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology had to add two new colours to its maximum temperature forecasting scale to accommodate temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius. But there have since been more record-breaking heat waves in Australia. According to a PricewaterHouse Coopers report, heat events have killed more people than any other natural hazard experienced in Australia over the past 200 years, and the number of deaths associated with such events is predicted to rise dramatically during the next decades. As temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius, even minor further increases have severe consequences for small birds, and within a three-degree band, their water requirements may double. Survival times in such extreme conditions are expected to get shorter as extreme temperatures rise in the future. Extreme heat events, however short, represent very important bottlenecks in terms of survival and reproduction for terrestrial vertebrates. Even single heat waves can have massive consequences for the future viability of threatened species. In South Africa, Prof. McKechnie s team seek to find out whether large animals are more vulnerable to heat stress than smaller ones. They are also examining the African fruit bat to determine the most effective forms of evaporation. It is suspected that respiratory evaporation is a much less effective way of avoiding heat stress than cutaneous evaporation. Prof. McKechnie s research is a subset of work being done on the impact of climate change on birds in hot environments by scientists at universities in New Mexico (USA) and Australia and his own team in Pretoria. Re-thinking Global Environmental Law and Governance in the Anthropocene Prof. Louis Kotzé, North-West University, Faculty of Law, South Africa Prof. Kotzé s presentation identified considerations that environmental lawyers will have to reflect on if global environmental law and governance are to better respond to the numerous challenges and complexities of the Anthropocene epoch. The Anthropocene denotes a new time in geological history in which the biophysical factors introduced into the biosphere by human beings have begun to change the physical parameters that determine the functioning of all Earth system processes (Crutzen and Stoermer 2000; Crutzen 2002). People are changing the course of nature. The Anthropocene follows the Holocene, which provided extraordinarily good living conditions that enabled the development of modern society with its seven billion people (Swyngedouw 2011; Zalasiewicz et al. 2008). Characteristics of the Anthropocene include increased emissions of greenhouse gasses, climate change, changing water cycles and widespread species extinction. However, the arising socio-political challenges are equally severe. Some examples of emerging sociopolitical stresses resulting from climate change are rising sea levels, the displacement of people and armed conflict over scarce natural resources. 1 In this context, the concept of the Anthropocene serves as a common denominator to facilitate an understanding of a new, human-dominated environment. It has a strong human focus referring to people being the primary cause of global ecological crisis, but also the only victims that are in a position to take action (Kotzé 2013). In the Anthropocene, people have to reassess their centrality in the human-environment relationship and question anthropocentrism as an attitude presenting humans as the centre of the world, enjoying hegemony over other species and functioning as masters of a nature serving their needs. Prof. Kotzé suggested that ecocentrism could serve as a counterpoint to anthropocentrism and could offer a reformative potential (Kotzé 2013). Similarly, sustainability as the sole guiding principle of all social, legal and political interventions that seek to mediate the human-environment interface has to be reviewed 1 UNEP, GEO5-Global Environment Outlook: Environment for the Future We Want (2012), 5 <www.unep.org/geo/pdfs/geo5/geo5_report_full_en.pdf> (accessed 4 September 2012). 19
20 Session 3: Socio-Ecological Resilience and Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change (see generally: Kotzé 2012). Broadly interpreted, the concept suggests that it does not aim for a singular, steady state, but for the best possible dynamic for dwelling in the world taking into account the needs of the economy, society and the environment. Prof. Kotzé warned against promises that the concept of sustainability offers of sufficient resources in a time of ecological crisis. Rather, he called for a paradigm shift towards either discarding or reimagining sustainability as the failing fulcrum of global environmental law and governance. The Anthropocene offers a unique opportunity to formulate a more consistent and uniform understanding of the global. It highlights the interconnectedness of the environment, posing new challenges for law and governance. Current environmental law and governance responses to the global ecological crisis will be inadequate in the face of these challenges. In a holistic approach bearing in mind the aspect of the global, reformative considerations that environmental lawyers could take into account when re-imagining the place and role of global environmental law and governance in the Anthropocene include no longer regarding state and government as the chief actors but becoming global, and ascribing a greater role to nonstate actors, in particular non-governmental organisations. Various aspects such as vagaries of state sovereignty need considering. The Anthropocene requires a new ethic and vision of sustainability that is not based on environment versus development but on simultaneously maintaining natural and human capital (Kotzé 2013). Integrated Socio-Ecological Research of Tropical Coastlines Prof. Hildegard Westphal, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Department of Biogeochemistry, Germany The marine biome covers two thirds of the planet and is not only important for the global climate, but also provides a high share of protein that human beings consume. In the tropics, coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic, with high population density, population dynamics, and societal change meeting with ecosystem aspects such as sea level rise and ocean acidification (e.g. Burke et al. 2011). Scientists examining these systems have to focus on the local perspective and engage in dialogue with stakeholders (ICSU 2010), also with a view to empowering people in developing countries and building capacity. Identifying the aims and desires of the stakeholders is of crucial importance in this context (see Westphal 2013). Services provided by coastal ecosystems include local aspects such as protection against erosion or storms, and filtering sediment and pollution from the land-side. They offer resources for local use and trade and enable tourism. They sustain biodiversity. At the global level, they support the carbon and nutrient cycles (e.g. Buddemeier et al. 2004). While these ecosystem services are fundamental for coastal societies, the societies themselves also affect the ecosystems. For example, pressure is put on an ecosystem by dynamite fishing, which may provide food for the local population but can destroy reefs for several hundred years, or by fishing juveniles and thus jeopardising fish stocks. Land use change, e.g. conversion of peat swamp forests References Re-thinking Global Environmental Law and Governance in the Anthropocene : Crutzen, Paul J., The Effects of Industrial and Agricultural Practices on Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate during the Anthropocene (2002) 37 Journal of Environmental Science and Health 423. Crutzen, Paul J. and Eugene F. Stoermer, The Anthropocene (2000) 41 Global Change Newsletter 17. Kotzé, Louis J., Om Globale Omgewingsreg en Regulering in die Antroposeen te Herbedink (1) LitNet Kotzé, Louis J., Global Environmental Governance, Law and Regulation for the 21st Century (Edward Elgar 2012). Swyngedouw, Erik, Whose Environment? The End of Nature, Climate Change and the Process of Post-Politicization (2011) XIV Ambiente & Sociedade Campinas 69. UNEP, GEO5-Global Environment Outlook: Environment for the Future We Want (2012), 5 <www.unep.org/geo/pdfs/geo5/geo5_report_full_en.pdf> (accessed 4 September 2012). Zalasiewicz, Jan et al, Are We Now Living in the Anthropocene? (2008) 18(2) Geological Society of America Today 4. 20
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warc | 201704 | 1 The Price of Payment Delay K. van der Vliet, M.J. Reindorp, J.C. Fransoo Beta Working Paper series 440 BETA publicatie WP 440 (working paper) ISBN ISSN NUR 804 Eindhoven December 2013
2 The Price of Payment Delay K. van der Vliet, M.J. Reindorp, J.C. Fransoo School of Industrial Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands Abstract Reverse factoring a financial arrangement where a corporation facilitates early payment of its trade credit obligations to suppliers is increasingly popular in industry. Many firms use the scheme to induce their suppliers to grant them more lenient payment terms. By means of a periodic review base stock model that includes alternative sources of financing, we explore the following question: what extensions of payment terms allow the supplier to benefit from reverse factoring? We obtain solutions by means of simulation optimization. We find that an extension of payment terms induces a non-linear financing cost for the supplier, beyond the opportunity cost of carrying additional receivables. Furthermore, we find that the size of the payment term extension that a supplier can accommodate depends on demand uncertainty and the cost structure of the supplier. Overall, our results show that the financial implications of an extension of payment terms needs careful assessment in stochastic settings. Keywords: Supply chain management, Supply chain finance, Reverse factoring, Payment delays, Simulation 1. Introduction Trade credit is a short-term loan between firms that is linked both in terms of timing and value to the exchange of goods between them (Ferris, 1981). It is regarded as a common component of physical and service related transactions in the supply chain (Seifert et al., 2013). Recent estimates suggest that around 80-90% of the world trade is facilitated on trade credit (Williams, 2008). In the manufacturing sector, accounts receivable make up 20-25% of the total assets of firms (Mian & Smith, 1992; Fewings, 1992). The role of trade credit in our economy is extensive, and it has consequently been the topic of investigation of many studies (see Seifert et al., 2013, for an extensive review). These studies link the provision of trade credit to information asymmetry, transaction costs, hedging, moral hazard, quality assurance, and many other motives and market phenomena. December 20, 2013
3 Regardless of the motive, the provision of trade credit is considered to be an investment on the microeconomic level. Its terms should therefore account for risk and opportunity cost of tying up capital in an asset, i.e., the receivable. Conventionally, financial management practices regard the provider s cost of capital as the basis for the opportunity cost (see, e.g., Brealey et al., 2011), but recent developments challenge this perspective. Indeed, the revelation of information on the risk of a specific asset can be the basis for improved financing offers, which reflect the risk of the asset concerned as opposed to that of the firm in general. Pfohl & Gomm (2009) illustrate the concept of inter-company financing transactions, which they term Supply Chain Finance (SCF). The term SCF is also increasingly used by banks to denote to a range of payables financing or early payment services (Casterman, 2013). Reverse factoring is the prime example of such a service; it has received considerable recent interest from the business and research community (Tanrisever et al., 2012; Wuttke et al., 2013). Reverse factoring is essentially a development of conventional factoring arrangements. In the latter, a firm independently sells one or more of its receivables to a financier - the factor - against a premium. In reverse factoring, the firm s client is also involved: the client makes an explicit payment guarantee to the factor (Klapper, 2006). This guarantee entails that the factor can offer the transaction with financing cost as low as when the client itself would apply for funds. Tanrisever et al. (2012) explain how reverse factoring entails a mitigation of information asymmetries in the capital market and thus allows for reduction of deadweight costs of borrowing. Investment grade firms, due to their credit worthiness and transparency, may therefore use reverse factoring to substantially improve the cost of credit for their suppliers. The introduction of industry standards for reverse factoring and related services suggests that this a growing market for both intermediaries of credit and technology (Casterman, 2013). According to Hurtrez & Salvadori (2010), recent technological advances allow the service to be offered efficiently, and challenging economic conditions have accelerated adoption. Specifically, the crisis of 2008 increased the spread of short-term capital costs between large corporations and their SME suppliers; in some cases, the latter even saw their access to short-term capital cut. A study initiated by the Bank of England concludes that reverse factoring offers significant opportunities to rejuvenate lending to SME firms (Association of Corporate Treasurers, 2010). Nonetheless, many buyers also see reverse factoring as a means to reduce their own working capital costs: by offering competitively priced early payment options, 2
4 they induce their suppliers to offer longer payment terms 1. From a survey among executives, Seifert & Seifert (2011) find that buyers managed to reduce net working capital by 13% on average through reverse factoring. While literature suggests that payment terms can be reconfigured in a collaborative spirit, the approach of some buyers appears to neglect this perspective. For instance, Milne (2009) reports that a large corporation introduced reverse factoring as a sweetener to an unpopular decision to move its payment terms to suppliers from 45 to 90 days. Wuttke et al. (2013) cites an executive of a major chemical firm: We would say to our supplier, we will extend payment terms anyway. It is up to you to take our SCF 2 offer or leave it. These findings, together with Aberdeen s survey findings that 17% of its respondents experienced pressure from trading partners to adopt supply chain finance, suggests that some members in these arrangements may doubt the chosen (re)configuration of contractual terms (Pezza, 2011). Adjusting payment terms in the supply chain on the basis of a change in financing rates presumes an ability to assess the overall impact on financing costs for individual firms. Several studies make this assessment by considering the cost of capital and the (expected) funding tied up in receivables and/or payables (Randall & Farris, 2009; Hofmann & Kotzab, 2010). These studies posit that the configuration of trade credit can be made independently from operations. Others show, however, that lot-size or inventory decisions interact with the receipt and/or provision of trade credit (Gupta & Wang, 2009; Protopappa-Sieke & Seifert, 2010; Song & Tong, 2011). Following this latter group, we explore here the trade-off between the benefit of reverse factoring, i.e., cheaper financing rates, and the cost of extending payment terms. We examine this trade-off in a stochastic inventory setting. Beginning with a discrete time infinite horizon base stock inventory model of a supplier firm, we incorporate financial dimensions in the state description. Initially, we assume that the firm has only access to conventional short-term financing sources; subsequently, we extend this with the option to sell receivables through reverse factoring. In accordance with different scenarios for the opportunity cost of carrying receiv- 1 Despite agreeing to longer contractual payment terms, the supplier can use reverse factoring to obtain early payment cheaply. The trade-off between longer and cheaper forms the core this study. 2 Practitioners often use the general term Supply Chain Finance (SCF) to refer to reverse factoring in particular. 3
5 ables compared to the cost of factoring, we consider two discounting 3 policies for reverse factoring: manual or automatic discounting. Manual discounting is used when the opportunity cost of receivables is lower than the factoring cost, while auto discounting is used when the opportunity cost is equal to or higher than the factoring cost. In all cases our objective is the minimization of average cost per period, defined as the the sum of inventory and financing costs. Within the operations management literature, our work contributes first of all to the relatively young research line in the area of supply chain finance (Pfohl & Gomm, 2009; Randall & Farris, 2009; Wuttke et al., 2013). In particular, we complement the work of Tanrisever et al. (2012) by examining the conditions under which reverse factoring is economically viable in a multi-period setting. We find that manual and auto discounting are to be treated as different type of systems with different accompanying trade-offs. While auto discounting allows for making a trade-off independent of inventory operations, manual discounting involves a more complex trade-off which is conditioned on demand uncertainty and the supplier firm s cost structure. These parameters affect the discounting cost, but they also impact the expected amount of receivables that needs to be carried; the overall impact on the payment term decision may consequently be difficult to predict. Furthermore, we show that the ability to extend payment terms in an economically justified fashion with manual discounting may be restricted to settings where the opportunity cost of holding receivables is low. In an extensive numerical study, we find a maximum opportunity cost of 0.5% per year for most of our settings. This corresponds to the short-term borrowing cost of investment-grade firms, which are unlikely to be the supplier in a reverse factoring arrangement. We contribute also to an emerging research area that considers interactions between inventory and financing in multi-period stochastic setting (Maddah et al., 2004; Gupta & Wang, 2009; Babich, 2010; Protopappa-Sieke & Seifert, 2010; Song & Tong, 2011; Luo & Shang, 2013). Our experiments suggest that that the optimal cash retention level to finance a base stock operation increases asymptotically in the payment term. The value of cash retention is therefore decreasing in the payment term. Viewing a payment term as lead time, this finding conforms with the intuition of Goldberg et al. (2012), that when the lead time is very large, the system is subject to so much randomness between an occurrence of an event and its manifestation that being smarter provides 3 We use the term discounting to denote the activity of selling receivables. This term, commonly used in practice, is derived from the use of discount factors as a way to determine the present value of future - possibly risky - cash flows. 4
6 almost no benefit. The remainder of this research article is structured as follows. In section 2 we discuss our research questions and the literature relevant to our problem. In section 3, we describe the models we implement in our simulations. In section 4, we discuss the design of our experiments. In section 5, we present the results from the experiments. In section 6, we summarize our findings and draw final conclusions. 2. Research Questions and Literature The cost of trade credit is conventionally determined as the expected value of outstanding receivables, multiplied first by the number of days outstanding and then by firm s weighted average cost of capital (Brealey et al., 2011). This approach implies that the cost of a payment term extension is independent of variability in the demand for the firm s goods. We investigate the limitations of this convention, by modelling the firm s financial flows in a stochastic inventory setting. We hypothesise that variability in demand will influence the amount of financing necessitated by a extension of payment terms. It is well known from stochastic inventory theory that longer replenishment lead times require higher levels of safety stock, in order to hedge against intervening demand uncertainty (Zipkin, 2000). Viewing a payment term as lead time, we expect that a firm s financial position is exposed to more variability when extending payment terms. Additional delay in payment entails the possibility of incurring more cash outlays and receipts between the moment of selling goods and collecting payment. As cash flow uncertainty is associated with the need to borrow money and/or hold more cash (Opler et al., 1999), we expect that financing cost increases as function of the payment term, regardless of the opportunity cost of receivables. We thus formulate a first research question: (RQ 1) What impact does extending payment terms have on the cost of managing a stochastic inventory operation? The presumption that the financing needed to support physical flows is a linear function of payment terms suggests that differences in the cost of shortterm credit can be exploited in a rather straightforward fashion. Firms would benefit as long as the multiplier of the initial payment term is no greater than the inverse of the multiplier of the initial financing rate. If the initial financing rate were halved, for instance, the initial payment term could be doubled. Several studies illustrate the potential savings from adjusting payment terms in accordance with this view (Randall & Farris, 2009; Hofmann & Kotzab, 2010; 5
7 Wuttke et al., 2013). In contrast, by considering explicitly the effect that demand uncertainty has on financial flows in a single period model, Tanrisever et al. (2012) find that this inverse-proportional relationship will generally underestimate the cost of an extension of payment terms. We explore this finding in a multi-period setting, where firms conduct transactions in an ongoing manner. Moreover, we incorporate facets from the practical application of reverse factoring. Specifically, firms in our model have two ways accessing their receivables: manual or auto discounting. In manual discounting 4 a firm can choose the moment to discount its receivables; in auto discounting the discounting is effected as soon as the receivable is available. The very existence of manual discounting suggests that some firms may assess the opportunity cost rate of receivables as equal to or lower than the available discount rate. Buzacott & Zhang (2004) shows that in a multi-period production setting it is not always optimal to borrow up to the loan limit. Bank overdrafts work on the same principle: firms borrow money only when they need it, and are charged interest only on the amount they borrow. If opportunity cost would be higher than the discount rate, however, firms should choose auto discounting. These considerations lead to our second research question: (RQ 2) What payment term extension would allow a supplier to benefit from reverse factoring? Specifically, what is the maximum payment term extension when the receivables holding cost is: (a) zero? (b) equal to cost of factoring? (c) positive but lower than the cost of factoring? Looking further to relevant literature, we note first the relation of our study to the growing body of research the interface of operations and finance. Work in this area generally aims to identify conditions under which a tighter integration of the two disciplines creates value or allows improved risk management (Birge et al., 2007). Imperfections in capital markets are often assumed, since an interaction between investment and financing decisions is only then possible (Modigliani & Miller, 1958). Here we proceed on the basis that there is 4 That reverse factoring in principle allows suppliers to use manual discounting is often not explicit in the marketing literature of finance providers. Our conversations with practitioners confirm that manual discounting is also always available. The Trade Facilitation Implementation Guide of the UNECE states that a supplier can discount an invoice or wait until the end of the agreed payment term: 6
8 information asymmetry between financial intermediaries and firms; the mitigation of this asymmetry by reverse factoring gives rise to the option to exploit cheaper credit. Specifically, the payment guarantee from the buyer to the factor entails that the supplier can discount receivables at a cheaper rate than would otherwise be possible. Three other research topics are particularly relevant to our study: inventory incorporating payment schemes, trade credit policy, and cash management. For inventory theorists, even in deterministic settings, payment schemes undermine the conventional assumption that funding needs are related to the average physical inventory level. Beranek (1967) was one of the first to address this issue and studied the implications of alternative payment practices on the economic lot size decision. Haley & Higgins (1973); Goyal (1985); Rachamadugu (1989) further enrich this stream. Kim & Chung (1990) proposes a model to combine the lot-size decision and the discount offered to customers for paying early. Schiff & Lieber (1974) use control theory to study the relationship between inventory and accounts receivable policy. More recently, scholars have explored the significance of payment schemes by means of stochastic inventory models. For instance, Maddah et al. (2004) investigate the effect of receiving trade credit in a periodic review (s, S) inventory model. Gupta & Wang (2009) show that a base-stock inventory policy continues to be optimal when a supplier gives trade credit, but requires adaptation of the base stock parameter. Protopappa-Sieke & Seifert (2010) develop a model to determine the optimal order quantity under working capital restrictions and payment delays. Song & Tong (2011) provide a new accounting framework that allows for evaluating key financial metrics under various inventory policies and payment schemes in serial supply chains. Luo & Shang (2013)) illustrate the value of cash pooling in multi-divisional supply chains. Most research on trade credit itself is to be found in the economics literature. Given the existence of financial intermediaries, scholars have been interested to explain the role of trade credit (see Seifert et al., 2013, for an extensive review of this literature). In addition to this economic perspective, there is normative literature that explores the optimal credit policy to customers. Most of these studies consider the trade-off between lost sales when the policy is too tight and credit losses when policy is too easy. As one of the first, Davis (1966) presents the decision to grant credit as a trade-off between the marginal revenue and cost. Bierman & Hausman (1970) and Mehta (1970) formulate the credit decision respectively in a (finite) multi-period and an infinite horizon framework. Fewings (1992) obtains closed-form solution for the value of granting credit and an upper bound on the acceptable default risk. Another series illustrates the nuances of correctly evaluating a credit policy 7
9 (Oh, 1976; Atkins & Kim, 1977; Dyl, 1977; Walia, 1977; Kim & Atkins, 1978; Weston & Tuan, 1980). Nonetheless, this literature invariably assumes that inventory policy and/or procurement does not interfere with the trade credit decision. Cash management is concerned with how firms (should) manage their cash. The economics literature identifies four capital market frictions as possible motives for holding cash (Bates et al., 2009): (1) transaction costs, (2) precaution to adverse shocks and/or costly access to capital markets, (3) taxes, and (4) agency problems. Many models for optimal cash management exist, of which the ones by Baumol (1952) and Miller & Orr (1966) are considered to be seminal. Both models propose cash control policies to balance liquidity with the foregone opportunity of holding cash. While the interaction between cash flow uncertainty and cash management has been studied already, the interaction between a stochastic inventory control, cash management, and trade credit combined is still relatively unexplored terrain. The work of (Song & Tong, 2011) is to our best knowledge the only work in this area. Similarly to us, they assume a cash retention policy based on a single parameter. 3. Models We consider a periodic review inventory model of a firm selling to a creditworthy buyer that offers reverse factoring. Periods are indexed by the variable t. At the end of each period, the supplier firm will receive a stochastic demand D t 0 from the buyer. In order to have its products ready before demand is revealed, the supplier orders stock at start of each period. We assume that inventory is controlled by a base stock policy of I units. The supplier buys stock at price c per unit and sells it at price p > c per unit. The ordered items are delivered immediately prior to the end of the period and the supplier pays for them upon delivery. Once demand is revealed, if it cannot be fully met from inventory, the unmet portion is back-ordered until the next period. Each backlogged unit entails a penalty cost b. For each unsold unit, the supplier incurs a storage cost h < b. The supplier grants the buyer a payment term of k N + periods. The payment term starts to count from the moment that a demanded unit is met from inventory. Once revenue from prior demands are collected and costs are paid, the supplier may at the end of each period release cash to shareholders. The cash management policy releases any cash above a threshold level T 0. In the initial version of our the model, the supplier meets periodic expenses with cash retained from previous periods or by borrowing from a bank. Borrowing only occurs to the extent that cash is insufficent. We assume unlimited 8
10 borrowing capacity. The model can impose a credit limit, but this forces much of our focus to lie on default events instead of purely on the change in financing needs that results from a payment period extension. In every period the supplier receives the money from the sales realised k periods ago. The supplier s total payment periodic payment is P t, which includes a fixed cost f and variable expenses for the replenishment of its stock, inventory (holding and shortage) costs, and interest for debt outstanding during the period t. The annual interest charge for bank borrowing is β% per monetary unit per period. As cash retained in the firm could have been invested elsewhere by the owner, an opportunity cost of α% per period is assessed on each monetary unit retained. While in a perfect capital market α = β, we assume that capital market frictions may entail α < β or α > β (Myers & Majluf, 1984). Furthermore, analogous to the opportunity cost of cash, an opportunity cost of η% per year is assessed on each monetary unit of accounts receivable that result from the payment term. We assume η < α as the risk of investing in an account receivable is lower than the risk of investing in the firm itself. Indeed, while settlement of the account receivable is due after a known delay, the timing of cash dividends from the firm depends on demand and realised profits, and is consequently uncertain. Figure 1: The sequence of events within a single period. The system state at the start of period t is S t = (x t, m t, r t ). The scalar x t represents the inventory position and the scalar m t represents the cash position. A tangible cash balance or a bank overdraft is represented by m t > 0 or m t < 0 respectively. The k-dimensional vector r t with components r t,i for i = 1, 2,..., k represents the outstanding accounts receivable, i.e., the payments 9
11 to be collected at the end of periods t, t+1,..., t+k 1. The vector S t conveys all information needed to implement the ordering and cash retention policies in period t: how many units needed to reach base stock, the associated cash payment and the amount of cash that will be received. Figure 1 summarises the sequence of events in a period. At the start of period S t is observed (1) and the order is placed (2). At the end of the period, cash is collected from the oldest accounts receivable and the position of others is decremented (3). Money is borrowed if needed (4), the units ordered are received (5) and the cash payment is made (6). If policy allows, cash is be released from the firm (7). Finally, demand is received and met to the extent that inventory allows. This creates a new account receivable (9). Since the initial version of our model includes only a conventional source of short-term financing, bank borrowing, we henceforth refer to this as the conventional financing model (CF). The mathematical formulation of this model is given in Section 3.1 below. In Section 3.2 we describe extensions to CF that model the application of reverse factoring. These extensions represent, respectively, the manual discounting model (MD), where discounting occurs as soon cash deficits arise (Section 3.2.1), and the auto discounting model (AD), where discounting is always applied as soon as possible (Section 3.2.2) Conventional financing model (CF) where The transition equations for inventory, cash, and receivables are as follows: x t+1 = I D t (1) { (( xt ) r t+1,i = + + I D t )p i = k (2) r t,i+1 i = 1,..., k 1 { T mt + r m t+1 = t,1 P t T (3) m t + r t,1 P t m t + r t,1 P t < T P t (I, x t, m t ) = f + (I x t )c + h(x t ) + + b( x t ) + + β( m t ) +, (a) + = max{0, a}, and a b = min{a, b}. 10
12 For a specific joint base stock and cash management policy Z = (I, T ), we define G CF (Z) to be the long-run average cost per period. 1 G CF (Z) = lim t t h(x t ) + + b( x t ) + + β(p t (I, x t, m t ) m t r t,1 ) + t=1 i=k + α((m t + r t,1 P t (I, x t, m t )) T ) + + η r t,i. (4) This includes direct costs for inventory and borrowing and opportunity costs assessed on cash management and receivables. We wish to find the policy Z = (I, T ) that minimises G CF (Z). Note that the cash management cost is linked to uncertainty in the match between incoming and outgoing cash flows. If demand were constant, the firm would always be able to match these flows and would not need to borrow money and/or retain cash. Furthermore, note that there is an interaction between the base stock level I and the cash retention level T. The replenishment cost in period t depends on I and D t 1, the demand of the preceding period. The cash available to meet the replenishment cost depends on T and the size of the met demand in period t k. Even when the payment term is only one period a deficit can arise, since backlogged demand is included in the immediate replenishment cost but revenue is delayed Reverse factoring model extensions Reverse factoring allows a firm to advance receipt of cash from receivables through discounting. The scalar 0 < γ < 1 is the discount rate applicable when advancing cash from a receivable that is due in one period. Following the discussion above we set γ < β, so reverse factoring is preferred over borrowing cash for one period. The static k-dimensional vector γ with components γ j represents the rates applicable for discounting receivables that are otherwise due j periods from the beginning of current period. We set γ 1 = 0 since the receivable r t,1 is due anyway at the end of period t. For j > 1 we set γ j = γ j 1 +γ. The discount factor 1 γ j is applied to the receivable amount at the moment the receivable is discounted. As the discount percentage increases in the time remaining until a receivable is due, the firm discounts receivables in order of increasing maturity, i.e., the younger ones first. If the firm discounts all receivables but still needs more cash, conventional borrowing is used. The sequence of events with reverse factoring is the same as in Figure 1, except that at (4) the firm discounts receivables as needed and available, before resorting to borrowing. i=1 11
13 Next we discuss the further model extensions that accommodate the two ways of applying reverse factoring: manual discounting or auto discounting Manual discounting (MD) We assume that receivables can be partially discounted, in order close exactly the cash deficit that may arise in a period. In practice the factor may require that the full value of a receivable must be discounted, which would reduce the value of reverse factoring mechanism. With manual discounting, the transition equations for receivables (2) and cash (3) are changed as follows. { (( xt ) + + I D t )p i = k r t+1,i = (5) (1 ϕ t,i )r t,i+1 otherwise where ϕ t,i = (1 γ n)r t,i+1 (P t m t n=i n=1 (1 γ n)r t,n ) + (1 γ n )r t,i+1 is the fraction of r t,i+1 that needs to be discounted to meet the cash need. T m t + r t,1 P t > T m t + r t,1 P t 0 m t + r t,1 P t T m t+1 = 0 m t + n=k n=1 (1 γ n)r t,n P t 0 m t + n=k n=1 (1 γ n)r t,n P t otherwise. (6) The there are four possible outcomes for the cash position that are captured by the respective cases in (6): (a) After paying P t and without discounting any receivables, the firm s cash position exceeds T. Excess cash is released to shareholders and the cash position returns to T. (b) After paying P t and without discounting any receivables, the firm s cash position is non-negative, but less then or equal to T. No cash is released to shareholders. (c) The firm must discount some receivables to meet P t. Receivables are discounted so that the cash position is equal to zero. No cash is released to shareholders. (d) Even after discounting all receivables, the firm has insufficient cash to meet P t. Borrowing occurs, so the cash position is negative. No cash is released to shareholders. 12
14 Again we wish to find the policy Z = (I, T ) that minimises the long run average cost per period, but the new objective function G MD (Z) includes factoring as well as conventional borrowing: 1 G MD (Z) = lim t t h(x t ) + + b( x t ) + + β(p t (I, x t, m t ) m t r t,1 ) + t=1 + α((m t + r t,1 P t (I, x t, m t )) T ) + + k (γ i ϕ t,i + η(1 ϕ t,i ))r t,i. (7) Auto discounting (AD) In this setting the supplier discounts the full value of any receivable as soon as it is possible to do so. Due to sequence of events (Figure 1), holding costs for receivables are still incurred for one period. With auto discounting, the transition equations for receivables(2) and cash (3) are changed as follows. i=1 r t+1,i = { (( xt ) + + I D t )p i = k 0 i = i,.., k 1 (8) { T mt + (1 γ m t+1 = k )r t,k P t > T m t + (1 γ k )r t,k P t otherwise. (9) We aim to find the policy Z = (I, T ) that minimises the long run average cost per period, as defined by the objective function G AD (Z): 1 G AD (Z) = lim t t h(x t ) + + b( x t ) + + β(p t (I, x t, m t ) m t γ k r t,k ) + + t=1 α((m t + γ k r t,k P t (I, x t, m t )) T ) + + (η + γ k )r t,k. (10) 4. Algorithm and Experimental Design The objective function of a base stock policy in a pure inventory setting is convex (Porteus, 2002), but the inclusion of cash and receivables in the state description of our model precludes a comparable analytic insight. Besides the increased size of the state space, the interaction between the base stock parameter and cash retention parameter complicates analysis. In an initial exploration of the solution space by means of simulation, we find the objective function to exhibit convexity in both decision variables for all system configurations (CF, MD and AD) and a range of parameter values. Specifically, in all cases 13
15 we find a unique policy Z that yields globally minimal average cost, and no policy that yields a local extreme point. Based on this insight, we utilize a 3-stage algorithm in our subsequent simulation experiments, in order to find the globally optimal policy efficiently. In this section we describe first this algorithm; see also Algorithm 1. Afterwards we describe in detail the design of our experiments. The results of the experiments are given in Section Solution Algorithm In its first two stages, the algorithm determines a truncated search interval, [I l, I u ] [T l, T u ], through iterative gradient estimations in each policy dimension. In the third stage, stochastic approximation is used to find the optimal policy. Stochastic approximation is an iterative scheme that attempts to find a zero of the gradient of the objective function. It has been widely studied since the pioneering works of Robbins & Monro (1951) and Kiefer & Wolfowitz (1952) (Fu, 2006; Broadie et al., 2009). We use a multidimensional version of the Kiefer-Wolfowitz algorithm, which was first introduced by Blum (1954). As algorithms of this type are prone to poor finite-time performance, we make two improvements to reach faster convergence, following the proposals of Broadie et al. (2009). First, we use different tuning sequences in each dimension, in order to adapt better to the different convexity characteristics of each. Second, to avoid long oscillatory periods, we check in each iteration whether the next policy would be located within the truncated search interval; if it goes outside, the tuning sequence is amended to ensure that the next policy policy lies again within the search interval Experimental design and parameter settings We answer our research questions by means of four sets of simulation experiments: Experiment 1 and Experiment 2(a) - Experiment 2(c), corresponding to the numbering of the research questions in Section 2. In each experiment, we explore 3 3 basic settings: all combinations of three possible levels for the expected net profit margin, ω = (µ D (p c) f)/µ D p, and three possible levels for operating leverage, ψ = f/(µ D c + f). Operating leverage is a measure of the relationship between fixed cost and total cost for a firm (Brealey et al., 2011). The specific values of p, c and f that underlie the nine basic settings are shown in Table 1. In all experiments we take demand to be log-normally distributed with mean µ D = 10 and coefficient of variation c.v. = µ D /σ D equal to either 0.25 or Full detail of demand and cost parameters for each experiment appears in Table 2. In all experiments, one period corresponds to one week. Table 2 14
16 Algorithm 1 Stochastic approximation algorithm for determination of Z Step 0: Choose algorithm parameters initial step sizes a k 0 for k = 1, 2; default values a 1 0 = 1, a 2 0 = 2; initial policy Z 0 = (I 0, T 0 ); default value Z 0 = (µ D, 0); stopping condition υ; default value υ = ; Step 1: Localise [I l, I u ], the search interval for the base stock parameter Set Z n = (µ D + na 1 0, 0) for n N +. Evalute iteratively the gradient estimation G (n) = ( G(Z n+1 ) G(Z n ))/a 1 0. In each iteration, increase the number of replications dynamically until the confidence interval of the estimation, [ G LB, G UB ], indicates a statistically significant direction, i.e., G LB (n) > 0 or G UB (n) < 0. If G UB (n) < 0, then {n} {n + 1}; if G LB (n) > 0, store values as indicated below and move to step 2. initial policy for step 2: {Z 0 } {Z n }; base stock search interval for step 3: [I l, I u ] = [I n a 1 0, I n + a 1 0]. Step 2: Localise [T l, T u ], the search interval for the cash retention parameter Starting at policy Z 0, evaluate iteratively the gradient G (n) with Z n = (I 0, 0 + na 2 0) until G LB (n) > 0 or G UB (n) < 0. If G UB (n) < 0, then {n} {n + 1}; if G LB (n) > 0 store values as indicated below and move to step 3. the initial policy for step 3: {Z 0 } {Z n }; the cash retention search interval [T l, T u ] = [T n a 2 0, T n + a 2 0]. Step 3: Determine the joint optimal policy: Z Set {a k 0} {0.1a k 0}, {τ k } {0.1a k 0}, and {λ k } {0} for k = 1, 2. Evaluate G = ( G(I 0 + a 1 0, T 0 ) G(Z 0 ))/a 1 0 and set {θ 1 } {1/ G 1 }. Evaluate G = ( G(I 0, T 0 + a 2 0) G(Z 0 ))/a 2 0 and set {θ 2 } {1/ G 2 }. Use the following recursion to calculate Z n+1 : ( G(Z Z n+1 = Z n a 1 n + c 1 n) G(Z n ) G(Z n, a 2 n + c 2 n) G(Z ) n ) n, where c n with c k n = τ k /n 1 4 c 1 n for k = 1, 2 is the sequence of finite difference widths, a n with a k n = θ k /(n + λ k ) for k = 1, 2 is the sequence of step sizes. In each iteration, check: if G(Z n+1 ) G(Z n ) < υ, return Z n+1 and terminate search; if I n+1 < I l or I n+1 > I u, adapt λ 1 such that I l I n+1 I u ; if T n+1 < T l or T n+1 > T u, adapt λ 2 such that T l T n+1 T u. c 2 n 15
17 ψ\ω , 9, 0 10, 8, 0 10, 7, , 6.3, 27 10, 5.6, 24 10, 4.9, , 3.6, 54 10, 3.2, 48 10, 2.8, 42 Table 1: Values of unit selling price p, unit cost c, and total fixed cost f underlying the experimental settings of net profit margin ω and operating leverage ψ. Experiment 1 2(a) 2(b) 2(c) Scenario CF η=0% CF η=0% vs. MD η=0% CF η=8% vs. AD η=γ% CF η>0% vs. MD η>0% µ D c.v. 0.25, , , h b 0.1,0.2, α 4%,8%,12% 8% 8% 8% β 8% 8% 8% 8% η 0% 0% 8% 0.5%,1%,2%,4% k 1-10 n.a. n.a. n.a. k 0 n.a. 2,4 2,4 2,4 k e n.a. 2-12, , ,4-14 Table 2: Demand and cost parameter settings. 16
18 shows annual financing rates, which are converted to weekly rates under the assumption of simple interest. The next paragraphs describe explicitly our four experiments. Although we determine the optimal policy Z for every experimental instance, we are generally most interested to compare policies or the performance of the system across different payment terms. Consequently, in order to facilitate the presentation, we use Z (k) = (I (k), T (k)) to denote the optimal policy for payment term k, and we rewrite the objective functions as G (.) (k), supressing the immediate dependence on Z. Experiment 1: The impact of payment terms with conventional financing and no opportunity cost of holding receivables. Here we explore how payment terms impact total financing cost for the supplier firm when the opportunity cost of receivables is neglected, i.e., η = 0%. In addition to the experimental settings shown in Table 1, we test the sensitivity of our findings to changes in other factors: the relative magnitude of inventory backlog cost b to inventory holding cost h, and the relative magnitude of cash opportunity cost α to conventional financing cost β. Experiment 2(a): Maximum payment term extension with no opportunity cost of holding receivables. We explore the trade-off between cheaper credit and extended payment terms in reverse factoring when there is no opportunity cost of holding a receivable, i.e., η = 0%. For each initial payment term k 0, we determine Z (k 0 ) when only conventional financing at rate β is used. Then, with reverse factoring at rate γ β also available, we determine the maximum extended payment term k e k 0 such that G MD (k e ) G CF (k 0 ). Experiment 2(b): Maximum payment term extension with greatest opportunity cost of holding receivables. We set the opportunity cost of holding receivables equal to the cost of factoring, η = γ, but otherwise explore the same trade-off as in Experiment 2(a). Accordingly, we seek the maximum extended payment term k e k 0 for which G AD (k e ) G CF (k 0 ). Experiment 2(c): Maximum payment term extension with intermediate opportunity cost of holding receivables. Again we explore the same basic trade-off as in Experiment 2(a), but now the opportunity cost of holding receivables is less than reverse factoring rate, 0 < η < γ. We determine the maximum extended payment term k e k 0 such that G MD (k e ) G CF (k 0 ). In all experiments we let the system start with zero cash, zero inventory, and zero receivables. We begin to assess performance after a warm-up of
19 periods, which is determined based on Welch s procedure (Welch, 1983; Law & Kelton, 2000). We calculate 95% confidence intervals from 30 independent replications, each with total run-length of 20,000 periods (including warmup). Relative relative error is approximately 0.5% (Law & Kelton, 2000). After some initial global calibration, we were able to locate the optimal policy and cost for each setting on a ordinary personal computer within two or three minutes. 5. Numerical results Here we present and discuss the results from each experiment. Section 5.1 covers Experiment 1, the impact of a payment term extension on the firm s financing cost, and the accompanying sensitivity analysis for changes in inventory and cash management cost parameters. Sections cover respectively Experiments 2(a) - 2(c), the trade-off between payment term extension and reverse factoring for the three different scenarios of opportunity cost of holding receivables The impact of payment terms with conventional financing and no opportunity cost of holding receivables. In all configurations of this experiment, we observe the following general relationship between financing cost and payment term: The optimal financing cost G CF (k) increases asymptotically in the payment term k. Figure 2a illustrates this finding. While the optimal cash retention level T (k) increases asymptotically, the optimal base stock level I (k) decreases slightly or remains constant. Changes in the base stock level occur because a backlog event delays the receipt of cash, which may entail a financing need. The relative impact of this is greater when the payment term is short, as the base stock then tends to be higher. Despite changes in the base stock level, changes in inventory cost appear statistically insignificant across the different payment term settings. The increase in cost from a payment term extension can thus be entirely attributed to greater variability in cashflow. As there is no opportunity cost for holding receivables in this experiment (η = 0), we conclude that a payment term extension entails greater financial costs than such opportunity costs alone. The apparent concavity of the objective function implies that the relative cost of extending payment terms decreases with the pre-existing payment term. This makes intuitive sense. In a system with arbitrarily long payment terms, the incoming and outgoing cashflows become essentially independent. Additional delay in cash receipts resulting from a payment term extension should 18
20 have negligible impact. The optimal cash retention level thus increases asymptotically. Being smarter with cash provides little benefit when payment terms are very long. This same argument has already been used to explain the asymptotic optimality of constant-order policies for lost sales inventory models with large lead times (Goldberg et al., 2012). Since we set α = β in this experiment, the cash retention level is the result of a trade-off that minimises the amount of capital needed for running the base stock operation. According to conventional finance literature, capital market frictions form the main motivation to retain and/or optimise cash (Myers & Majluf, 1984; Bates et al., 2009). Frictions can cause α β. In the last part of this section we therefore present a sensitivity study on the impact of these frictions. (a) G CF (k) with fixed parameters c.v. = 0.25, ω = 0.2, ψ = 0.3 (b) T (k) with c.v. = 0.25, ω = 0.2, and varing levels of operating leverage ψ. Figure 2: The impact of trade credit on system cost and cash retention Turning to the basic parameters that define our experimental scenarios, we examine their effect on the relative cost of a payment term extension. Specifically, if G CF (k) is the cost of an initial payment term k, then G(k) (G CF (k + 1) G CF (k))/g CF (k) is the relative cost of extending the payment term by one week. The results of Experiment 1 then support the following assertion: The firm s relative cost of a payment term extension G(k) is increasing in the coefficient of variation for demand, but decreasing in the initial payment term k, the net profit margin ω, and the operating leverage ψ. Sample paths show that a higher demand uncertainty causes higher uncertainty in the incoming and outgoing cash flows, exacerbating the impact of the payment term extension. The cash deficits or excesses accumulated will each tend to be greater in magnitude. A lower net profit margin or a lower operating 19
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Dental services could be expensive, thus it is vital to be definite that the dental office receives the family’s assurance. Call the insurer to acquire a list of favored dentist Inglewood from the supplier. This list would help narrow downcast the selections since preferred providers would save cash on out-of-pocket expenditures like deductibles or else co-pays.
In a way, these are several of significant issues to consider recognizing whether a clinic is proficient of delivering world-class conduct or else not. Without taking them into thought, one must not visit a dental clinic as this method, risks could be too many. So, patients are counseled against rushing fast and visiting any plus every clinic demanding to proposal world-class conduct to its patients. There is a technique to find the finest dental clinic in your town in addition to you must follow that. On balance, long-lasting treatment is likely only while correct clinic is visited. | 3,467 | 1,631 | 0.000617 |
warc | 201704 | Collective bargaining agreements are a core factor in the employment relationships among participants in the aerospace industry. In unionized facilities these agreements govern many aspects of day-to-day interaction as well as important processes such as promotion, job rotation, and employee development. In non-unionized firms bargaining agreements do not physically exist, but their impact on the shaping workplace conditions is still felt. Contract language and bargaining agreements result from reactions and strategic initiatives often in response to actual or anticipated instability reflected in the cyclical nature of the industry. Therefore the LARA project undertook a study of the existing contract language in order to understand the role of collective bargaining with respect to instability in the aerospace industry. | 833 | 451 | 0.002223 |
warc | 201704 | Sex, Power and Consent: Youth Culture and the Unwritten Rules
I have been always interested in the problems, points of view, and so much more in the lives of young people; I also decided at the ripe age of twenty that at some point in my life I was going to be a lecturer!
Despite educating teenagers (and being taught by them) for the last twenty years and more, I have not lost my enthusiasm for knowing and guiding them from the perspective of what youngsters of eighteen to twenty consider an ‘old’ wise woman!
How do young people live their lives these days? Do they have the same problems that I had when I was eighteen? So much has changed in the last twenty to thirty years. We are bombarded by a sex-crazed culture, sex-everywhere phenomena. When we switch the TV on, we are faced with sex or violence in movies, shows, talks etc. In the words of Anastasia Powell, the author of
Sex, Power and Consent: “contemporary Western Culture has been described as the age of raunch, generation sex, and generation SLUT (Sexually Liberated Urban Teens)."
Being part of such a cultural make-up, what are the views of young people on sex and love these days? Do they have more sex, more sexual relationships than my so-called liberated generation of the late 1970s? Do the youth talk openly about sex? Do they equate sex with love? How long do their relationships last when they are still teenagers? What is it that they want from relationships at the tender age of eighteen to twenty?
Powell’s indisputably needed and thorough book provides most answers to my questions. Her research and interviews with 117 teens and young adults of diverse sexualities in Victoria, Australia, provides readers with a wealth of knowledge about young people of today. She limited her research to one country but unquestionably, it is the representative study of Western youth.
Her book would be of interest to young and not-so-young readers as the author answers many questions that trouble Generation Y (born in or after 1982). It explores issues surrounding youth sex within popular culture, sexuality education and sexual violence prevention. It also clearly presents unwritten rules and the gendered power relationships which have not changed as drastically as I had always thought it had over the last twenty to thirty years. I was surprised to read that despite the apparent sexual freedom, the rates of sexual assault continue to rise with ninety-nine percent of offenders being male and ninety-two percent of sexual assault victims being women (according to Victoria Police data from 2008-2009).
The book also provides practical strategies for young people and for those who work with them towards the prevention of sexual violence. This very well-researched and written study would also be a useful reading for young women who feel pressured into unwanted sex. It might help them to be more aware of their choices, which is always welcome.
Written by:Anna Hamling, December 14th 2010 | 3,005 | 1,499 | 0.000674 |
warc | 201704 | English 101: Examining the Struggles Young Children Face When Learning to Read and Write
Have you ever heard that English is one of the hardest languages to learn?
It is true; particularly when it comes to reading and writing. Written English is tricky and, at times, seems to lack any sort of sense. As a child, I remember enjoying mnemonics like, “i before e, except after c” and then becoming frustrated for incorrectly spelling words like “weird” or “brief,” which have the same vowel sound, but for some reason are spelled differently. These types of complexities and inconsistencies make learning English a challenge, even for children who consider it their first language.
There are many explanations for this conundrum, one of which lies within the vowels. While other languages have five vowel sounds corresponding to five vowel letters, the English language has between 14 and 20 vowel sounds that we spell with the same five letters.
English also has a tendency to borrow words and spelling patterns from other languages, creating even more confusion for young children and English language learners. There is a quote that I ran into on a mindless meander through the internet that really struck a chord with me. James Nicoll, a Canadian book reviewer, wrote that “on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary. Think of words like “tortilla,” or “fiancé.” We have taken many words from other languages and incorporated them into mainstream English, often times contradicting the grammatical rules that we thought to be true.
In addition to the complexities of the language, some children have difficulty with both phonological awareness and phonemic awareness.
Phonological awareness is the knowledge of the sound system and the rules around how we combine those sounds to form words. For example, /d/ and /r/ can be combined in words, such as “draw,” but /d/ and /l/ cannot. Can you think of any words that combine the letters /d/ and /l/ side-by-side? I can’t.
Phonemic awareness is knowledge about sound-to-letter correspondence, or knowing that “eee” corresponds to “ee,” “y,” and “ea.” Difficulty at this level often affects a child’s ability to learn how to read and write, and the confusion can cause a lack of confidence in the child. TheWired for Reading
℠program provided at Encompass’ North Bend pediatric therapy clinic can help. | 2,579 | 1,270 | 0.000833 |
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