source stringclasses 1
value | snapshot stringclasses 3
values | text stringlengths 264 621k | size_before_bytes int64 269 624k | size_after_bytes int64 185 235k | compression_ratio float64 0 0.01 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
warc | 201704 | Leaving Baghdad
President Barack Obama's plan to draw down U.S. forces below fifty thousand troops by August 2010-and to get to zero by the end of 2011-confirms he will not make Baghdad another U.S. outpost. This will not be another Japan or South Korea.
Many of the leading advocates of the war in Iraq can't be pleased. They saw post-Saddam Iraq as a crucial base for U.S. military power. Writing in the
Weekly Standard in May 2003, Tom Donnelly of the American Enterprise Institute maintained that U.S. interests at stake in Iraq had increased following Saddam Hussein's ouster. Donnelly called for a "quasi-permanent American garrison in Iraq" to protect these interests. When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asserted that the Pentagon was not planning to keep permanent bases in Iraq, Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations exclaimed, "If they're not, they should be." Indeed, Boot implored USA Today readers to "get used to U.S. troops being deployed [in Iraq] for years, possibly decades, to come."
It could be argued that such a sufficient space of time has elapsed that America's interests in the region are secure. It seems more likely that the expectations that Iraqis would welcome a permanent U.S. military presence in their country were unrealistic at the outset.
They grew even more unrealistic as Americans turned decisively against the war. Those people who believed that Obama would quickly end the war might be disappointed that the bulk of troop withdrawals will not begin for nearly a year, and that there will be a very sizable U.S. military presence for nearly three years-but they shouldn't be surprised. Obama always qualified his call for ending the Iraq War by stipulating that he would leave behind a residual force. Now we know how large that residual force will be, and how long it will remain.
In truth, however, we've known the end date for several months. The status of forces agreement (SOFA) concluded by the Maliki government and the outgoing Bush administration stipulated that all U.S. military personnel would leave Iraq by a date certain. Obama and his national-security team are merely adhering to that deadline.
The United States and Iraq could negotiate a new SOFA, but that seems highly unlikely. Responding to a question from David Gregory on NBC's Meet the Press, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stressed that changes to the SOFA would not constitute a renegotiation, but rather "a completely new negotiation" on an entirely new agreement, a scenario that he dismissed as "completely hypothetical." And when Gregory pointed to earlier suggestions that U.S. forces might need to remain in Iraq "at least until 2015," Gates explained that he had made such remarks "before the SOFA was signed . . . And before we made a commitment to be out of there by 2011."
Implausible predictions about the benefits that would flow from the Iraq War, including the belief that Washington would be able to use Iraq as a staging ground for future operations in the region, helped to mobilize public support for the venture in late 2002, but that support proved short-lived. Senator John McCain's inability or unwillingness to appreciate the depths of public opposition-including his refusal to contemplate anything other than an open-ended mission-helped to ensure his defeat last November.
Democrats in Congress were unable to force an end to the war, but Americans have Iraqi lawmakers to thank for setting the parameters for the Obama plan. If Obama keeps to his stated course, and if Iraqis hold us to the promises that we have made, Americans can be confident that the war will come to an end-just not nearly as quickly as the vast majority of us had wished.
Christopher Preble is director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and the author of
The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free (Cornell University Press, April 2009). | 3,967 | 2,030 | 0.000496 |
warc | 201704 | A synaptic nidogen: Developmental regulation and role of nidogen-2 at the neuromuscular junction 3:24 DOI: 10.1186/1749-8104-3-24
© Fox et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2008
Received: 05 June 2008 Accepted: 25 September 2008 Published: 25 September 2008 Abstract Background
The skeletal neuromuscular junction is a useful model for elucidating mechanisms that regulate synaptogenesis. Developmentally important intercellular interactions at the neuromuscular junction are mediated by the synaptic portion of a basal lamina that completely ensheaths each muscle fiber. Basal laminas in general are composed of four main types of glycosylated proteins: laminins, collagens IV, heparan sulfate proteoglycans and nidogens (entactins). The portion of the muscle fiber basal lamina that passes between the motor nerve terminal and postsynaptic membrane has been shown to bear distinct isoforms of the first three of these. For laminins and collagens IV, the proteins are deposited by the muscle; a synaptic proteoglycan, z-agrin, is deposited by the nerve. In each case, the synaptic isoform plays key roles in organizing the neuromuscular junction. Here, we analyze the fourth family, composed of nidogen-1 and -2.
Results
In adult muscle, nidogen-1 is present throughout muscle fiber basal lamina, while nidogen-2 is concentrated at synapses. Nidogen-2 is initially present throughout muscle basal lamina, but is lost from extrasynaptic regions during the first three postnatal weeks. Neuromuscular junctions in mutant mice lacking nidogen-2 appear normal at birth, but become topologically abnormal as they mature. Synaptic laminins, collagens IV and heparan sulfate proteoglycans persist in the absence of nidogen-2, suggesting the phenotype is not secondary to a general defect in the integrity of synaptic basal lamina. Further genetic studies suggest that synaptic localization of each of the four families of synaptic basal lamina components is independent of the other three.
Conclusion
All four core components of the basal lamina have synaptically enriched isoforms. Together, they form a highly specialized synaptic cleft material. Individually, they play distinct roles in the formation, maturation and maintenance of the neuromuscular junction.
Background
The formation, maturation and maintenance of chemical synapses require multiple interactions between pre- and postsynaptic elements. Many of these interactions are mediated by membrane- or matrix-associated proteins that occupy the narrow cleft separating the pre- and postsynaptic membranes [1–3]. At the skeletal neuromuscular junction (NMJ), where such interactions have been analyzed in detail, a basal lamina (BL) passing between the motor nerve terminal and the postsynaptic membrane comprises the cleft material of this synapse. As expected from this arrangement, several of the molecules required for the formation, maturation and maintenance of the NMJ are BL components [4, 5].
Members of four families of proteins are present in BLs throughout the body: laminins, collagens IV, heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs), and nidogens/entactins (referred to here as nidogens) [6]. Synaptic and extrasynaptic portions of the muscle fiber BL are known to bear distinct isoforms of the first three of these [4, 5]. Laminins are large heterotrimers composed of α,β, and γ subunits. The major laminin in extrasynaptic BL is the α2β1γ1 heterotrimer, called laminin 211. In contrast, synaptic BL is rich in β2 but poor in β1 laminins, and contains, along with α2, the α4 and α5 subunits, both present at low levels extrasynaptically. Thus, synaptic BL contains laminins 221, 421, and 521 [7–10]. Collagens IV are trimers assembled from a set of six α chains. All muscle BL contains the α1 and α2 chains, likely in an [α1(IV)]
2[α2(IV)] 1 trimer, whereas the α3–6 chains are selectively associated with synaptic BL, presumably in [α3(IV)][α4(IV)][α5(IV)] and [α5(IV)] 2[α6(IV)] 1 trimers [8, 11, 12]. The HSPG perlecan is present in both synaptic and extrasynaptic BL, whereas another HSPG, agrin, is concentrated in the synaptic BL [13–15]. Importantly, studies of targeted mutant mice have shown that synaptic isoforms of all three families act as muscle-derived (laminins and collagens IV) or nerve-derived (agrin) synaptic organizers in vivo. Laminin β2 promotes the maturation of motor nerve terminals [16, 17], laminin α4 regulates the precise apposition of pre- and postsynaptic specializations [18], and together laminins α4 and α5 promote the maturation of postsynaptic specializations [19]. Synaptic collagen chains are required for nerve terminal maintenance [12], and agrin is a critical stabilizer of postsynaptic differentiation [20–25].
In contrast to this wealth of knowledge about laminins, collagens IV and HSPGs, little is known about localization or roles of nidogens at the neuromuscular synapse. In
Caenorhabditis elegans, the lone nidogen gene is necessary for the formation of the NMJ, although the protein is not synaptically enriched [26]. Unlike invertebrate genomes, two nidogen genes are present in mammals, encoding nidogen-1 and nidogen-2 [27–30]. In many tissues, mammalian nidogens are colocalized in BLs [31–33], and genetic studies suggest that they play largely redundant roles. Few phenotypes have been observed in targeted mutants lacking either nidogen-1 or nidogen-2, whereas double mutants lacking both nidogens die perinatally with defects in lung, heart and limb development [32–36]. Moreover, expression of nidogen-2 is dramatically increased in nidogen-1 mutants [32], supporting the notion that nidogens are capable of compensating for each other. In contrast, we show here that nidogen-2 is selectively associated with synaptic BL in muscle and is required for the maturation and maintenance of the adult NMJ. Synaptic laminins, collagens IV and heparan sulfate proteoglycans persist in the absence of nidogen-2, suggesting that its role extends beyond maintaining the integrity of the BL. Finally, we provide genetic evidence that synaptic localization of each of the four families of BL components is independent of the other three. Taken together with the work cited above, these results show that all four families of BL components have synapse-specific isoforms and synapse-specific functions. Results and discussion Selective association of nidogen-2 with neuromuscular synapses
As shown previously [32], nidogen-1 was associated with surfaces of adult muscle fibers whereas little if any nidogen-2 was detectable on most of the muscle fiber surface (Figure 1C, D). Nidogen-2 was, however, present on many small structures associated with muscle fibers. Most of these were capillaries that lie between muscle fibers (see below) but a minority resembled synaptic sites in size, shape and position. We therefore double-labelled muscle sections with nidogen antibodies plus a fluorescent derivative of α-bungarotoxin, which binds specifically to the acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) concentrated in the postsynaptic membrane at the NMJ. This demonstrated that synaptic sites did indeed contain nidogen-2 (Figure 1E).
en face-sectioned NMJs, allowing us to distinguish three distinct domains in BL near synaptic sites: synaptic BL, which occupies the synaptic cleft; extrasynaptic BL, in directly adjoining stretches of the muscle fiber surface; and Schwann cell BL, atop Schwann cell processes that themselves cap nerve terminals (Figure 2A). Nidogen-1 was present in all three of these domains, whereas nidogen-2 was present in both synaptic and Schwann cell BLs but absent from extrasynaptic BL (Figures 2B–D).
On the basis of these findings, we investigated the relationship between nidogen-2 and the antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody, 9H6, described by Chiu and Ko [38]. 9H6 selectively stains NMJs in rat and binds a carbohydrate-dependent epitope on a nidogen-1-like antigen. This antibody was described prior to the discovery of nidogen-2, so it seemed possible that it recognized nidogen-2. Because 9H6 fails to cross-react with mouse tissue, we stained rat muscle with anti-nidogen-2. In rats, as in mice, nidogen-2 was present at NMJs and in capillaries (data not shown), whereas 9H6 stained only NMJs [38]. Other differences in staining pattern are discussed below. Moreover, on immunoblots, 9H6 recognizes a protein with a molecular weight of 150 kDa [38], which is the expected size of mammalian nidogen-1 and considerably smaller than nidogen-2 (Figure 1A, B). These differences argue that the 9H6-antigen is not nidogen-2. Thus, synaptic BL may contain both a synapse-specific isoform of nidogen (nidogen-2) and a unique, glycosylated form of nidogen-1.
Synaptic BL can be deposited by muscles fibers, motor nerve terminals or Schwann cells [4, 5, 39]. Both muscle and Schwann cells have been reported to express nidogen-2 [40, 41]. To determine whether muscle cells can contribute nidogen-2 to the synaptic cleft, we used a muscle cell line, C2C12. These cells were fused into myotubes on laminin substrata to promote AChR clustering [42]. Nidogen-2 was enriched at these AChR-rich sites even though no non-muscle cells were present in the cultures (Figure 2E). Thus, muscle cells are capable of nidogen-2 synthesis, secretion, and accumulation at synaptic sites.
As noted in the introduction, synaptic isoforms have been demonstrated for three of the families of core BL components – laminins, collagens IV and HSPGs [4, 5]. Our results add the fourth, nidogen, to this list. The presence of synapse-specific isoforms of common BL components provides a molecular explanation for the observations that synaptic and extrasynaptic BLs are structurally similar and physically continuous but functionally distinct.
Differential distribution of nidogens-1 and -2 in peripheral nerve
A few structures within the nerve fascicle were rich in nidogen-2 (arrowheads in Figure 3B). Although some of these may be capillaries, most were not associated with CD31/PECAM-1, an endothelial cell marker ([43] and data not shown). Instead, they are likely to be the BL surrounding non-myelinating Schwann cells and their associated bundle of small-caliber, non-myelinated axons [41]. This localization is consistent with the observation that nidogen-2 is present in the BL of terminal Schwann cells (Figure 2C), which are non-myelinating.
Nidogen-1 and -2 were also differentially distributed in BLs of muscle spindles, sensory organs that respond to muscle stretch. Each spindle contains several specialized intrafusal muscle fibers, all of which are surrounded by a capsule BL. Intrafusal fiber BL was rich in nidogen-1, but poor in nidogen-2, whereas spindle capsule BL was rich in nidogen-2 but poor in nidogen-1 (Figure 3C, D). In contrast, BLs of intramuscular capillaries, venules, and arterioles all contained both nidogen proteins (Figure 3E–H and data not shown). To our knowledge, the spindle capsule is the only BL found to date that bears nidogen-2 but not nidogen-1.
Developmental regulation of nidogens at the synaptic BL
We asked whether the time course with which nidogen-2 became restricted to the NMJ was similar to that of laminins α4 and α5, which are present extrasynaptically at birth but restricted to synaptic BL in adults [9]. In fact, the α4 and α5 laminin chains, like nidogen-2, were present throughout muscle fiber BL in neonates, were present at markedly higher levels synaptically than extrasynaptically by P14, and were largely synapse-specific by P21 (Figure 4G–L). Agrin is lost from extrasynaptic BL with a similar time course [44]. Thus, there may be a coordinated alteration in the composition of muscle fiber BL as development proceeds, similar to, but later than, the initial broad distribution and eventual synaptic concentration of AChRs [39]. In contrast, laminin β2 and synaptic collagen IV chains are synaptically concentrated from their initial appearance during embryogenesis and during the third postnatal week, respectively [9, 12]. Thus, whereas the maturation of extrasynaptic BL may occur in a concerted fashion, the distinctions between synaptic and extrasynaptic BLs arise in a series of multiple steps.
Nidogen-2 is necessary for maturation and maintenance of the NMJ
To test whether defects in NMJ morphology were secondary to muscle damage, we searched for muscle fiber degeneration in nidogen-2-deficient muscle. In healthy muscle, myonuclei are concentrated in the periphery of muscle fibers. In fibers that have undergone degeneration and regeneration, however, myonuclei are centrally located [46]. Less than 4% of mutant muscle fibers contained central nuclei (data not shown), whereas up to 80% of NMJs were abnormal (see below). Thus, defects in synaptic structure in nidogen-2-deficient mice were not the result of degenerating muscle fibers.
How might nidogen-2 promote maturation or enhance maintenance of the NMJ? Nidogens are capable of binding various cell surface receptors that are both present in pre- or postsynaptic membranes and necessary for synaptogenesis; these include integrins and leukocyte-common antigen related (LAR) receptor tyrosine phosphatase [3, 37, 39, 47]. Therefore, one possible explanation for the defects in nidogen-2-deficient NMJs is that nidogen-2 exerts direct effects by binding receptors on either the motor nerve terminal or the postsynaptic apparatus. To test this idea, we used assays previously applied to identify and characterize other synaptic organizing molecules. For presynaptic differentiation, we applied soluble recombinant nidogen-1 or -2 to cultured chick motor neurons, and grew motoneurons on substrates coated with a mixture of recombinant nidogen and laminin-111. In both cases, we assayed the ability of nidogen to promote clustering of synaptic vesicles into aggregates such as those found in nerve terminals [48, 49]. We also asked whether nidogens affected the length or branching of motor neurites. Neither nidogen-1 nor -2 detectably affected motor neurons under these conditions. For postsynaptic differentiation, we assayed the aggregation of AChRs in cultured myotubes [14, 20, 42]. In these assays, nidogen appeared to be detrimental to the health of the myotubes, so it was not possible to gauge their synaptic effects. Thus, these
in vitro studies provide no evidence for a direct effect of nidogen on nerve or muscle, although we cannot draw definitive conclusions from them.
A third possibility is that nidogen-2 selectively binds and presents a matrix-associated synaptic organizing molecule to nerve or muscle. Indeed, several bioactive matrix molecules have been reported to bind with much higher affinity to nidogen-2 than nidogen-1, including tropoelastin, collagen XIII and collagen XVIII/endostatin [37, 51–53]. Interestingly, we have found that mice with a targeted mutation of the collagen XIII gene have neuromuscular defects [54], and recent studies have shown that collagen XVIII is critical for motor axon growth and NMJ formation in
C. elegans and zebrafish [26, 55, 56]. We therefore used immunohistochemical methods to ask whether synaptic localization of collagens XIII and XVIII are perturbed in nid2 -/- mice. Collagen XIII was concentrated at NMJs in control muscle, as reported previously [54, 57] and this concentration persisted in the absence of nidogen-2, although we cannot rule out the possibility that its level may be modestly affected (data not shown). In both control and nid2 -/- muscles, collagen XVIII was undetectable in synaptic BL, although it was associated with the BL of terminal Schwann cells (data not shown). Thus, the mechanisms by which nidogen-2 contributes to synaptic maturation and maintenance remain to be determined. Intermuscular differences in the role of nidogen-2
Muscles, and the NMJs within them, differ from each other in many respects [60] and it is not clear whether any documented factors explain the intermuscular differences we have observed. It is intriguing that NMJs more dependent on the presence of nidogen-2 are found in constantly active muscles (that is, diaphragm muscle controls respiration and soleus muscle controls lower limb posture), whereas fewer defects are observed in young, phasically active muscles (tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus). Another distinction is between two categories of muscles described by Pun
et al. [58]. Called 'fast synapsing' or 'fasyn' and 'delayed synapsing' or 'desyn,' they were initially distinguished by the tempo and pattern of NMJ formation within them during embryogenesis. They were subsequently shown to differ in their sensitivity to nerve injury and neurological disease [58, 61, 62]. Interestingly, the two muscles we examined that were most severely affected, diaphragm and soleus, are both 'delayed synapsing' muscles, whereas the two muscles less affected in nid2 -/- mice, tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus, are 'fast synapsing' muscles [58]. Independent localization of synaptic BL components
Biochemical studies have shown that interactions among three main structural components, laminins, collagens IV, and nidogens, are involved in BL assembly [63, 64]. Moreover, all three of these components bind to HSPGs [4, 63]. Our results have shown that specific isoforms of all four components are colocalized in synaptic BL. One might therefore presume that interactions among synaptic isoforms would mediate assembly of this specialized domain. Yet, we found that nidogen-2 is dispensable for the synaptic localization of synaptic laminins, collagens IV and agrin (Figure 7). We therefore considered the alternative possibility, that other synaptic BL components might be required for synaptic localization of nidogen-2. To test this idea, we examined the distribution of nidogen-2 in four mutants lacking synaptic laminin chains (β2, α4, α5, or both α4 and α5) and in collagen α5(IV) mutants, which lack all four synaptic collagen IV chains (α3–6) [12]. It was not possible to assess nidogen-2 in agrin mutants since these mice die at birth [21], prior to the synaptic restriction of nidogen-2.
Enrichment of laminins, collagens IV, nidogen 2 and agrin in synaptic basal lamina of mutant mice
Enrichment in synaptic basal lamina
Laminin
Collagen IV
Mouse mutants
α4
α5
β2
α3
α4
α5
α6
Nidogen 2
Agrin
Conclusion
We report here that nidogen-2 is selectively associated with synaptic BL at the NMJ and required for maturation or maintenance of this synapse. Combined with previous studies on laminins, collagens IV and HSPGs, these findings establish that each of the four major families of BL components has isoforms that are enriched in synaptic BL and required for synaptogenesis: laminins α4, α5, and β2, collagens α3–6(IV), agrin [7–9, 11, 12, 15] (reviewed in [4, 5, 39], and nidogen-2. It remains unclear whether nidogen-2 interacts directly with receptors embedded in synaptic membranes or whether it acts by concentrating and presenting other synaptogenic factors. In
C. elegans it has been proposed that nidogen exerts it synaptic organizing activity through a receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase present in presynaptic terminals [47]. We are currently testing the possibility that one or more members of this large family may be present at the NMJ. Importantly, synaptic functions of nidogen-2 cannot be fully compensated for by nidogen-1, so receptors or ligands mediating this effect are likely to selectively bind nidogen-2.
Our studies also provide the foundation for analyzing assembly of the synaptic cleft. Biochemical evidence has suggested that laminins, collagens IV, and nidogens are all necessary for BL assembly: laminins for initial BL formation; collagens IV for BL stabilization and maintenance; and nidogens for cross-linking laminin and collagen IV networks [36, 66–68]. At the NMJ, however, the synaptic localization of each class of BL component appears to be independent of the others. Although it is possible that multiple, redundant interactions stabilize the synaptic cleft when a single component is removed, a more attractive idea is that synaptic laminins, collagens IV, HSPGs and nidogen are all localized by interactions with components of pre- or postsynaptic membranes. Previous studies have defined sites important for synaptic localization of laminin β2 and suggested that the receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK may be a localizing receptor for laminins or acetylcholinesterase [69–71]. Further analysis of how synaptic BL components are localized may provide a good model for understanding how the much less accessible synaptic cleft of central synapses is organized.
Materials and methods Animals
Targeted mutant and transgenic mice used in this study have been described previously. They are: nidogen-2 mutants (
nid2 -/-) [31], laminin β2 mutants ( lamb2 -/-) [16], laminin α4 mutants ( lama4 -/-) [18], collagen α5(IV) mutants ( col4a5 -/ Y) [72], obtained from Jackson Laboratories, Bar Harbor, ME, USA), conditional laminin α5 mutants ( lama5 ) [73], and mice that express Cre selectively in skeletal muscle (HSA-Cre) [74]. Mutants lacking laminin α5 selectively in skeletal muscle were generated by crossing flox/ flox lama5 and HAS-Cre mice; we refer to the flox/ flox lama5 ;HSA-Cre mice as flox/ flox lama5 . Mice lacking both laminin α4 and α5 ( M/ M lama4 -/- ; lama5 ) were generated by crossing M/ M lama4 -/- ;lama5 ; HSA-Cre males and females. All mutants and transgenics were maintained on a C57/B6 background. In most cases, littermates of mutants were used as controls. CD1 mice were obtained from Charles River Laboratories, Inc. (Wilmington, MA, USA). All analyses conformed to NIH guidelines and were carried out under an animal protocol approved by the Harvard University Standing Committee on the Use of Animals in Research and Teaching. flox/+ Antibodies
Antibodies used in this study
Antigen
Isotype
Source
Dilution
Reference
Nidogen-1
Rabbit IgG
Abcam, Inc.
1:2000
Figure 1
Nidogen-2
Rabbit IgG
Abcam, Inc.
1:2000
Figure 1
znp-1 (Synaptotagmin 2)
Mouse IgG2a
Zebrafish International Resource Center
1:200
Collagen α3(IV)
Rat IgG
Gift of Y Sado (Shigei Medical Research Institute, Okayuma)
1:100
[78]
Collagen α4(IV)
Rat IgG
Gift of Y Sado
1:100
[78]
Collagen α5(IV)
Rabbit IgG
Generated in our lab
1: 2000
[11]
Collagen α6(IV)
Rat IgG
Gift of Y Sado
1:25
[78]
Laminin β2
Rabbit IgG
Gift of T Sasaki and R Timpl (Max Plank Institute, Munich)
1:1000
[79]
Laminin α4
Rabbit IgG
Kind gift of T Sasaki and R Timpl
1:1000
[80]
Laminin α5
Rabbit IgG
Generated in our lab
1:2000
[81]
Agrin
Rabbit IgG
Gift of Z Hall (UCSF)
1:300
[82]
Western blotting
Full-length human nidogen-1 and -2 fusion proteins were purchased from R&D Systems (Minneapolis, MN, USA). Recombinant proteins (250 ng) were denatured by boiling in Laemmli buffer and separated by SDS-PAGE. Electrophoretically separated proteins were transferred to Immuno-Blot PVDF membrane (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) in Tris-Glycine buffer (25 mM Tris, 190 mM glycine, pH 8.4)/20% methanol at 300 mA for 2 hours. Immunoblotted proteins were detected as previously described [75].
Immunostaining
Mice were perfused with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and tibialis muscles were dissected. Tissue was immediately frozen in OCT on dry ice and 4 μm sections were cut on a cryostat. Sections were collected on gelatin-coated slides and allowed to air-dry for 15 minutes before tissue was fixed by incubating in ice-cold acetone for 10 minutes. For collagen IV antibodies, tissue was treated for 10 minutes in a 1:1 mix of 1 M KCl and 1 M HCl following fixation [12]. Sections were washed several times in PBS to remove any residual acid. After fixation, tissue was incubated with blocking buffer (5% non-fat milk in PBS with 0.2% Triton-X100 in PBS) for 30 minutes. Primary antibodies, diluted in blocking buffer, were incubated on the sections for 12 hours at 4°C, then sections were washed several times with PBS. Secondary antibodies, diluted in blocking buffer, were then incubated on the slides for 1 hour at room temperature. For controls, primary antibody incubation was omitted from the immunostaining protocol described above. Sections were washed thoroughly with PBS, cover-slipped with VectaShield, and visualized on an Olympus FV1000 scanning confocal microscope (Olympus America Inc., Melville, NY, USA).
Cell culture
C2C12 cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA) were cultured as previously described by Kummer
et al. [42]. Myotubes were fixed with ice-cold acetone and stained as described above. Abbreviations AchR:
acetylcholine receptor
BL:
basal lamina
HSPG:
heparan sulfate proteoglycan
NMJ:
neuromuscular junction
P:
postnatal day
PBS:
phosphate-buffered saline.
Declarations Acknowledgements
We thank members of the Sanes' lab for comments regarding experimental design. This work was supported by NIH/NINDS (JRS).
Authors’ Affiliations References Fox MA, Umemori H: Seeking long-term relationship: axon and target communicate to organize synaptic differentiation. J Neurochem. 2006, 97: 1215-1231. 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2006.03834.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Craig AM, Graf ER, Linhoff MW: How to build a central synapse: clues from cell culture. Trends Neurosci. 2006, 29: 8-20. 10.1016/j.tins.2005.11.002.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Scheiffele P: Cell-cell signaling during synapse formation in the CNS. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2003, 26: 485-508. 10.1146/annurev.neuro.26.043002.094940.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sanes JR: The basement membrane/basal lamina of skeletal muscle. J Biol Chem. 2003, 278: 12601-12604. 10.1074/jbc.R200027200.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Patton BL: Basal lamina and the organization of neuromuscular synapses. J Neurocytol. 2003, 32: 883-903. 10.1023/B:NEUR.0000020630.74955.19.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Erickson AC, Couchman JR: Still more complexity in mammalian basement membranes. J Histochem Cytochem. 2000, 48: 1291-1306.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Hunter DD, Shah V, Merlie JP, Sanes JR: A laminin-like adhesive protein concentrated in the synaptic cleft of the neuromuscular junction. Nature. 1989, 338: 229-234. 10.1038/338229a0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sanes JR, Engvall E, Butkowski R, Hunter DD: Molecular heterogeneity of basal laminae: isoforms of laminin and collagen IV at the neuromuscular junction and elsewhere. J Cell Biol. 1990, 111: 1685-1699. 10.1083/jcb.111.4.1685.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Patton BL, Miner JH, Chiu AY, Sanes JR: Distribution and function of laminins in the neuromuscular system of developing, adult, and mutant mice. J Cell Biol. 1997, 139: 1507-1521. 10.1083/jcb.139.6.1507.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Aumailley M, Bruckner-Tuderman L, Carter WG, Deutzmann R, Edgar D, Ekblom P, Engel J, Engvall E, Hohenester E, Jones JC: A simplified laminin nomenclature. Matrix Biol. 2005, 24: 326-332. 10.1016/j.matbio.2005.05.006.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miner JH, Sanes JR: Collagen IV alpha 3, alpha 4, and alpha 5 chains in rodent basal laminae: sequence, distribution, association with laminins, and developmental switches. J Cell Biol. 1994, 127: 879-891. 10.1083/jcb.127.3.879.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fox MA, Sanes JR, Borza DB, Eswarakumar VP, Fassler R, Hudson BG, John SW, Ninomiya Y, Pedchenko V, Pfaff SL: Distinct target-derived signals organize formation, maturation, and maintenance of motor nerve terminals. Cell. 2007, 129: 179-193. 10.1016/j.cell.2007.02.035.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Eldridge CF, Sanes JR, Chiu AY, Bunge RP, Cornbrooks CJ: Basal lamina-associated heparan sulphate proteoglycan in the rat PNS: characterization and localization using monoclonal antibodies. J Neurocytol. 1986, 15: 37-51. 10.1007/BF02057903.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fallon JR, Nitkin RM, Reist NE, Wallace BG, McMahan UJ: Acetylcholine receptor-aggregating factor is similar to molecules concentrated at neuromuscular junctions. Nature. 1985, 315: 571-574. 10.1038/315571a0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fallon JR, Gelfman CE: Agrin-related molecules are concentrated at acetylcholine receptor clusters in normal and aneural developing muscle. J Cell Biol. 1989, 108: 1527-1535. 10.1083/jcb.108.4.1527.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Noakes PG, Gautam M, Mudd J, Sanes JR, Merlie JP: Aberrant differentiation of neuromuscular junctions in mice lacking s-laminin/laminin beta 2. Nature. 1995, 374: 258-262. 10.1038/374258a0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Nishimune H, Sanes JR, Carlson SS: A synaptic laminin-calcium channel interaction organizes active zones in motor nerve terminals. Nature. 2004, 432: 580-587. 10.1038/nature03112.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Patton BL, Cunningham JM, Thyboll J, Kortesmaa J, Westerblad H, Edstrom L, Tryggvason K, Sanes JR: Properly formed but improperly localized synaptic specializations in the absence of laminin alpha4. Nat Neurosci. 2001, 4: 597-604. 10.1038/88414.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Nishimune H, Valdez G, Jarad G, Moulson CL, Müller U, Miner JH, Sanes JR: Laminins promote postsynaptic maturation by an autocrine mechanism at the neuromuscular junction. J Cell Biol. 2008Google Scholar Nitkin RM, Smith MA, Magill C, Fallon JR, Yao YM, Wallace BG, McMahan UJ: Identification of agrin, a synaptic organizing protein from Torpedo electric organ. J Cell Biol. 1987, 105: 2471-2478. 10.1083/jcb.105.6.2471.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Gautam M, Noakes PG, Moscoso L, Rupp F, Scheller RH, Merlie JP, Sanes JR: Defective neuromuscular synaptogenesis in agrin-deficient mutant mice. Cell. 1996, 85: 525-535. 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81253-2.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Lin W, Burgess RW, Dominguez B, Pfaff SL, Sanes JR, Lee KF: Distinct roles of nerve and muscle in postsynaptic differentiation of the neuromuscular synapse. Nature. 2001, 410: 1057-1064. 10.1038/35074025.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Lin W, Dominguez B, Yang J, Aryal P, Brandon EP, Gage FH, Lee KF: Neurotransmitter acetylcholine negatively regulates neuromuscular synapse formation by a Cdk5-dependent mechanism. Neuron. 2005, 46: 569-579. 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.04.002.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Yang X, Arber S, William C, Li L, Tanabe Y, Jessell TM, Birchmeier C, Burden SJ: Patterning of muscle acetylcholine receptor gene expression in the absence of motor innervation. Neuron. 2001, 30: 399-410. 10.1016/S0896-6273(01)00287-2.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Misgeld T, Kummer TT, Lichtman JW, Sanes JR: Agrin promotes synaptic differentiation by counteracting an inhibitory effect of neurotransmitter. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2005, 102: 11088-11093. 10.1073/pnas.0504806102.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Ackley BD, Kang SH, Crew JR, Suh C, Jin Y, Kramer JM: The basement membrane components nidogen and type XVIII collagen regulate organization of neuromuscular junctions in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Neurosci. 2003, 23: 3577-3587.PubMedGoogle Scholar Carlin B, Jaffe R, Bender B, Chung AE: Entactin, a novel basal lamina-associated sulfated glycoprotein. J Biol Chem. 1981, 256: 5209-5214.PubMedGoogle Scholar Timpl R, Dziadek M, Fujiwara S, Nowack H, Wick G: Nidogen: a new, self-aggregating basement membrane protein. Eur J Biochem. 1983, 137: 455-465. 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1983.tb07849.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Kimura N, Toyoshima T, Kojima T, Shimane M: Entactin-2: a new member of basement membrane protein with high homology to entactin/nidogen. Exp Cell Res. 1998, 241: 36-45. 10.1006/excr.1998.4016.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Kohfeldt E, Sasaki T, Gohring W, Timpl R: Nidogen-2: a new basement membrane protein with diverse binding properties. J Mol Biol. 1998, 282: 99-109. 10.1006/jmbi.1998.2004.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miosge N, Kother F, Heinemann S, Kohfeldt E, Herken R, Timpl R: Ultrastructural colocalization of nidogen-1 and nidogen-2 with laminin-1 in murine kidney basement membranes. Histochem Cell Biol. 2000, 113: 115-124. 10.1007/s004180050014.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Murshed M, Smyth N, Miosge N, Karolat J, Krieg T, Paulsson M, Nischt R: The absence of nidogen 1 does not affect murine basement membrane formation. Mol Cell Biol. 2000, 20: 7007-7012. 10.1128/MCB.20.18.7007-7012.2000.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Schymeinsky J, Nedbal S, Miosge N, Poschl E, Rao C, Beier DR, Skarnes WC, Timpl R, Bader BL: Gene structure and functional analysis of the mouse nidogen-2 gene: nidogen-2 is not essential for basement membrane formation in mice. Mol Cell Biol. 2002, 22: 6820-6830. 10.1128/MCB.22.19.6820-6830.2002.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Dong L, Chen Y, Lewis M, Hsieh JC, Reing J, Chaillet JR, Howell CY, Melhem M, Inoue S, Kuszak JR: Neurologic defects and selective disruption of basement membranes in mice lacking entactin-1/nidogen-1. Lab Invest. 2002, 82: 1617-1630.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Bader BL, Smyth N, Nedbal S, Miosge N, Baranowsky A, Mokkapati S, Murshed M, Nischt R: Compound genetic ablation of nidogen 1 and 2 causes basement membrane defects and perinatal lethality in mice. Mol Cell Biol. 2005, 25: 6846-6856. 10.1128/MCB.25.15.6846-6856.2005.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Bose K, Nischt R, Page A, Bader BL, Paulsson M, Smyth N: Loss of nidogen-1 and -2 results in syndactyly and changes in limb development. J Biol Chem. 2006, 281: 39620-39629. 10.1074/jbc.M607886200.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Ho MS, Bose K, Mokkapati S, Nischt R, Smyth N: Nidogens-extracellular matrix linker molecules. Microsc Res Tech. 2008, 71: 387-395. 10.1002/jemt.20567.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Chiu AY, Ko J: A novel epitope of entactin is present at the mammalian neuromuscular junction. J Neurosci. 1994, 14: 2809-2817.PubMedGoogle Scholar Sanes JR, Lichtman JW: Development of the vertebrate neuromuscular junction. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1999, 22: 389-442. 10.1146/annurev.neuro.22.1.389.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Neu R, Adams S, Munz B: Differential expression of entactin-1/nidogen-1 and entactin-2/nidogen-2 in myogenic differentiation. Differentiation. 2006, 74: 573-582. 10.1111/j.1432-0436.2006.00100.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Lee HK, Seo IA, Park HK, Park YM, Ahn KJ, Yoo YH, Park HT: Nidogen is a prosurvival and promigratory factor for adult Schwann cells. J Neurochem. 2007, 102: 686-698. 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.04580.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Kummer TT, Misgeld T, Lichtman JW, Sanes JR: Nerve-independent formation of a topologically complex postsynaptic apparatus. J Cell Biol. 2004, 164: 1077-1087. 10.1083/jcb.200401115.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Newman PJ, Berndt MC, Gorski J, White GC, Lyman S, Paddock C, Muller WA: PECAM-1 (CD31) cloning and relation to adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily. Science. 1990, 247: 1219-1222. 10.1126/science.1690453.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Hoch W, Ferns M, Campanelli JT, Hall ZW, Scheller RH: Developmental regulation of highly active alternatively spliced forms of agrin. Neuron. 1993, 11: 479-490. 10.1016/0896-6273(93)90152-H.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sanes JR, Lichtman JW: Induction, assembly, maturation and maintenance of a postsynaptic apparatus. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001, 2: 791-805. 10.1038/35097557.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Helliwell TR, Ellis IH, Appleton RE: Myotubular myopathy: morphological, immunohistochemical and clinical variation. Neuromuscul Disord. 1998, 8: 152-161. 10.1016/S0960-8966(98)00010-8.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Ackley BD, Harrington RJ, Hudson ML, Williams L, Kenyon CJ, Chisholm AD, Jin Y: The two isoforms of the Caenorhabditis elegansleukocyte-common antigen related receptor tyrosine phosphatase PTP-3 function independently in axon guidance and synapse formation. J Neurosci. 2005, 25: 7517-7528. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2010-05.2005.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Umemori H, Linhoff MW, Ornitz DM, Sanes JR: FGF22 and its close relatives are presynaptic organizing molecules in the mammalian brain. Cell. 2004, 118: 257-270. 10.1016/j.cell.2004.06.025.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Son YJ, Patton BL, Sanes JR: Induction of presynaptic differentiation in cultured neurons by extracellular matrix components. Eur J Neurosci. 1999, 11: 3457-3467. 10.1046/j.1460-9568.1999.00766.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miosge N, Sasaki T, Timpl R: Evidence of nidogen-2 compensation for nidogen-1 deficiency in transgenic mice. Matrix Biol. 2002, 21: 611-621. 10.1016/S0945-053X(02)00070-7.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miosge N, Sasaki T, Timpl R: Angiogenesis inhibitor endostatin is a distinct component of elastic fibers in vessel walls. Faseb J. 1999, 13: 1743-1750.PubMedGoogle Scholar Tu H, Sasaki T, Snellman A, Gohring W, Pirila P, Timpl R, Pihlajaniemi T: The type XIII collagen ectodomain is a 150-nm rod and capable of binding to fibronectin, nidogen-2, perlecan, and heparin. J Biol Chem. 2002, 277: 23092-23099. 10.1074/jbc.M107583200.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sasaki T, Gohring W, Miosge N, Abrams WR, Rosenbloom J, Timpl R: Tropoelastin binding to fibulins, nidogen-2 and other extracellular matrix proteins. FEBS Lett. 1999, 460: 280-284. 10.1016/S0014-5793(99)01362-9.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fox MA, Latvanlehto A, Hongmin T, Pihlajaniemi T, Sanes JR: Collagen XIII is critical for postsynaptic differentiation and maturation at the NMJ. Program No. 30.9. 2006, Atlanta, GA: Society for Neuroscience, Abstract ViewerGoogle Scholar Ackley BD, Crew JR, Elamaa H, Pihlajaniemi T, Kuo CJ, Kramer JM: The NC1/endostatin domain of Caenorhabditis eleganstype XVIII collagen affects cell migration and axon guidance. J Cell Biol. 2001, 152: 1219-1232. 10.1083/jcb.152.6.1219.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Schneider VA, Granato M: The myotomal diwanka (lh3) glycosyltransferase and type XVIII collagen are critical for motor growth cone migration. Neuron. 2006, 50: 683-695. 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.04.024.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Hagg P, Vaisanen T, Tuomisto A, Rehn M, Tu H, Huhtala P, Eskelinen S, Pihlajaniemi T: Type XIII collagen: a novel cell adhesion component present in a range of cell-matrix adhesions and in the intercalated discs between cardiac muscle cells. Matrix Biol. 2001, 19: 727-742. 10.1016/S0945-053X(00)00119-0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Pun S, Sigrist M, Santos AF, Ruegg MA, Sanes JR, Jessell TM, Arber S, Caroni P: An intrinsic distinction in neuromuscular junction assembly and maintenance in different skeletal muscles. Neuron. 2002, 34: 357-370. 10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00670-0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Ksiazek I, Burkhardt C, Lin S, Seddik R, Maj M, Bezakova G, Jucker M, Arber S, Caroni P, Sanes JR: Synapse loss in cortex of agrin-deficient mice after genetic rescue of perinatal death. J Neurosci. 2007, 27: 7183-7195. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1609-07.2007.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Donoghue MJ, Sanes JR: All muscles are not created equal. Trends Genet. 1994, 10: 396-401. 10.1016/0168-9525(94)90056-6.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Santos AF, Caroni P: Assembly, plasticity and selective vulnerability to disease of mouse neuromuscular junctions. J Neurocytol. 2003, 32: 849-862. 10.1023/B:NEUR.0000020628.36013.88.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Murray LM, Comley LH, Thomson D, Parkinson N, Talbot K, Gillingwater TH: Selective vulnerability of motor neurons and dissociation of pre- and post-synaptic pathology at the neuromuscular junction in mouse models of spinal muscular atrophy. Hum Mol Genet. 2008, 17: 949-962. 10.1093/hmg/ddm367.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Yurchenco PD, O'Rear JJ: Basal lamina assembly. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 1994, 6: 674-681. 10.1016/0955-0674(94)90093-0.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar McKee KK, Harrison D, Capizzi S, Yurchenco PD: Role of laminin terminal globular domains in basement membrane assembly. J Biol Chem. 2007, 282: 21437-21447. 10.1074/jbc.M702963200.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miner JH, Sanes JR: Molecular and functional defects in kidneys of mice lacking collagen alpha 3(IV): implications for Alport syndrome. J Cell Biol. 1996, 135: 1403-1413. 10.1083/jcb.135.5.1403.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miner JH, Yurchenco PD: Laminin functions in tissue morphogenesis. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 2004, 20: 255-284. 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.20.010403.094555.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Yurchenco PD, Amenta PS, Patton BL: Basement membrane assembly, stability and activities observed through a developmental lens. Matrix Biol. 2004, 22: 521-538. 10.1016/j.matbio.2003.10.006.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Poschl E, Schlotzer-Schrehardt U, Brachvogel B, Saito K, Ninomiya Y, Mayer U: Collagen IV is essential for basement membrane stability but dispensable for initiation of its assembly during early development. Development. 2004, 131: 1619-1628. 10.1242/dev.01037.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Martin PT, Ettinger AJ, Sanes JR: A synaptic localization domain in the synaptic cleft protein laminin beta 2 (s-laminin). Science. 1995, 269: 413-416. 10.1126/science.7618109.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Apel ED, Glass DJ, Moscoso LM, Yancopoulos GD, Sanes JR: Rapsyn is required for MuSK signaling and recruits synaptic components to a MuSK-containing scaffold. Neuron. 1997, 18: 623-635. 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80303-7.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Cartaud A, Strochlic L, Guerra M, Blanchard B, Lambergeon M, Krejci E, Cartaud J, Legay C: MuSK is required for anchoring acetylcholinesterase at the neuromuscular junction. J Cell Biol. 2004, 165: 505-515. 10.1083/jcb.200307164.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Rheault MN, Kren SM, Thielen BK, Mesa HA, Crosson JT, Thomas W, Sado Y, Kashtan CE, Segal Y: Mouse model of X-linked Alport syndrome. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2004, 15: 1466-1474. 10.1097/01.ASN.0000130562.90255.8F.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Nguyen NM, Kelley DG, Schlueter JA, Meyer MJ, Senior RM, Miner JH: Epithelial laminin alpha5 is necessary for distal epithelial cell maturation, VEGF production, and alveolization in the developing murine lung. Dev Biol. 2005, 282: 111-125. 10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.02.031.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Schwander M, Leu M, Stumm M, Dorchies OM, Ruegg UT, Schittny J, Muller U: Beta1 integrins regulate myoblast fusion and sarcomere assembly. Dev Cell. 2003, 4: 673-685. 10.1016/S1534-5807(03)00118-7.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fox MA, Colello RJ, Macklin WB, Fuss B: Phosphodiesterase-Ialpha/autotaxin: a counteradhesive protein expressed by oligodendrocytes during onset of myelination. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2003, 23: 507-519. 10.1016/S1044-7431(03)00073-3.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Fox MA, Sanes JR: Synaptotagmin I and II are present in distinct subsets of central synapses. J Comp Neurol. 2007, 503: 280-296. 10.1002/cne.21381.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Trevarrow B, Marks DL, Kimmel CB: Organization of hindbrain segments in the zebrafish embryo. Neuron. 1990, 4: 669-679. 10.1016/0896-6273(90)90194-K.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Ninomiya Y, Kagawa M, Iyama K, Naito I, Kishiro Y, Seyer JM, Sugimoto M, Oohashi T, Sado Y: Differential expression of two basement membrane collagen genes, COL4A6 and COL4A5, demonstrated by immunofluorescence staining using peptide-specific monoclonal antibodies. J Cell Biol. 1995, 130: 1219-1229. 10.1083/jcb.130.5.1219.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sasaki T, Mann K, Miner JH, Miosge N, Timpl R: Domain IV of mouse laminin beta1 and beta2 chains. Eur J Biochem. 2002, 269: 431-442. 10.1046/j.0014-2956.2001.02663.x.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Talts JF, Sasaki T, Miosge N, Gohring W, Mann K, Mayne R, Timpl R: Structural and functional analysis of the recombinant G domain of the laminin alpha4 chain and its proteolytic processing in tissues. J Biol Chem. 2000, 275: 35192-35199. 10.1074/jbc.M003261200.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Miner JH, Patton BL, Lentz SI, Gilbert DJ, Snider WD, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Sanes JR: The laminin alpha chains: expression, developmental transitions, and chromosomal locations of alpha1-5, identification of heterotrimeric laminins 8–11, and cloning of a novel alpha3 isoform. J Cell Biol. 1997, 137: 685-701. 10.1083/jcb.137.3.685.PubMed CentralView ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Sugiyama J, Bowen DC, Hall ZW: Dystroglycan binds nerve and muscle agrin. Neuron. 1994, 13: 103-115. 10.1016/0896-6273(94)90462-6.View ArticlePubMedGoogle Scholar Copyright
This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | 45,310 | 17,536 | 0.000058 |
warc | 201704 | Silicon nanotubes could increase li-ion battery capacity 10X
In news that could greatly extend the range of electric cars, researchers have shown that replacing the conventional graphite electrodes in lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanotubes can produce a battery that can store ten times more charge. The researchers developed a silicon anode that, aside from extending the range of electric cars, could also make gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles more efficient by allowing them to run in electric mode for longer periods.
The researchers say that, if the new silicon anode can be matched to a cathode with similar storage capacity, the resulting battery should be able to power a car for three or four hours without recharging. This is a marked improvement of six to eight times on today’s technology, which sees the battery in a current, typical hybrid car lasting only 30 minutes.
The silicon anode developed by researchers at Stanford University and Hanyang University in Ansan, Korea, in collaboration with LG Chem, a Korean company responsible for producing the lithium-ion battery used in the Chevy Volt, can store much more energy than graphite electrodes because they absorb higher levels of lithium when the battery is charged. In fact, the silicon can take up to ten times more lithium by weight than graphitic carbon.
But the ability of the silicon to absorb more lithium has a downside. Since it takes up so much lithium, it can increase in volume by as much as four times. This places so much mechanical strain on the brittle material that the silicon anodes tend to crack after only a few charge/discharge cycles. To combat this the researchers turned to nanostructured silicon.
Jaephil Cho, professor of energy engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Korea, and Stanford materials scientist Yi Cui, had made silicon nanowire anodes and nanoporous silicon anodes before teaming up to develop the silicon nanotube anodes that boast better storage capacity than either of those previous nanostructured materials.
The performance of the silicon nanotube anode lies in its shape, which looks like a bunch of hollow straws. This provides more surface area exposed inside and therefore, much more area for the lithium to interact with. Also, because the shape provides extra space for the silicon to expand and contract, there is a reduction in the mechanical strain caused when the battery is charged and discharged.
Cho believes that batteries incorporating the silicon electrodes could be on the market in as little as three years because the process to produce them is simple and the template used is already available commercially. It involves repeatedly immersing an aluminum template in a silicon solution, and then heating it and etching the structure in acid to remove the aluminum. Along with LG Chem, Cho is also working with the template manufacturer to make a template compatible with large-scale manufacturing.
There are, however, other challenges that will need to be overcome before silicon anodes find their way into electric vehicles. Although Cui and Cho have demonstrated their anode’s performance after 200 charges, the technology needs to be proven over hundreds of thousands of charges to become viable for use in vehicles. The problem lies in getting back from silicon all the energy that is put into it – a condition that worsens over time.
Additionally, to receive the full benefits of silicon anodes, they need to be paired with cathodes whose storage capacity is also ten times greater. To match the capacity of the silicon anodes in a working battery for testing their technology the researchers have been using large-volume cathodes made of conventional materials. However, Cui and Cho are working on developing new cathode materials in collaboration with LG Chem.
The team’s research is detailed in the study,
Silicon Nanotube Battery Anodes, which appears in the journal Nano Letters. | 3,997 | 1,794 | 0.000562 |
warc | 201704 | Baby safety tip #1: Follow the instructions doctors and hospitals give you.
I remember people telling us, “You can’t hurt them.” We swaddled our first child in two blankets (thick ones) and turned the heat close to 90 degrees because we figured her temperature should be 98.6, so the room needed to be warm. Not really how it works. Overwrapping baby or wrapping too tightly can prevent air flow and is a risk for overheating. Woombie offers a breathable baby swaddle, and parents swear by it, calling it the safest and most effective baby swaddle. | 566 | 372 | 0.002776 |
warc | 201704 | Fire From Water Free, Clean Fuel From Water Part 1 Most people have heard the old urban myth about the man who ran his car on water. Well, these eyes have seen that myth made flesh - along with many other witnesses, including journalists, physicists and engineers who were all astounded and/or mystified by the scientific ‘miracles’ abounding around Yull Brown, a Hungarian refugee living in suburban Sydney, Australia. A short, balding man peering from behind black-rimmed spectacles, always spreading remarkable ideas in his heavy eastern European accent to those who would listen, Yull fitted the stereotype of a mad scientist perfectly. He wasn’t mad, but he was a scientist in the truer sense of the word – and just a little too clever for his own good. Yull had worked with various gases for many years when he began to discover the unique properties of what he came to call ‘Brown’s Gas’ and some call ‘Hydroxy’. Most people today have heard of the potential of a hydrogen economy. The idea of using hydrogen to fuel vehicles was widely touted in the 1970s as a potential solution to the OPEC oil crisis, but there was no obvious and economically sensible way to split hydrogen and oxygen out of H 2O – water – and store it safely. The designs for ‘alternative’ fuel systems involved huge and dangerous separate pressurised tanks for the two gases, that were far larger and more unwieldy and dangerous than even conventional liquid explosive fuels such as petrol or alcohol. Brown’s Gas is different in many ways. For a start, it’s a mix of hydrogen and oxygen in gaseous form held in the same storage tank - a state that’s normally declared dangerously explosive and illegal. But Brown’s gas is stable in this state. Realising the potential applications, Yull powered a car with the water-derived fuel and drove for over a thousand kilometers with no hiccups – and plenty of witnesses. Things were looking up, with the likelihood that future transportation could be powered by a clean fuel – and one that could be used in today’s engines . At this point it should be noted that the forcible wresting of control of patents is by no means unusual in the history of inventions. Baron Diesel – inventor (and patent holder) of the diesel engine – met his end under mysterious circumstances, as did the inventor (and patent holder) of the automatic clutch. In this light it should come as no surprise that, in the tradition of the urban myth made flesh, Yull Brown was paid a personal visit by two men in black suits driving a black limousine, who were very insistent that he come for a ride with them. Their strong American accents added an air of unusual menace in quiet suburban Sydney during the Cold War. Leaving friends and family gaping in his front garden, they drove Mr Brown on a winding route up the mountains overlooking the city, where they stopped at a lookout and stepped out of the car with him. “Nice view, isn’t it Yull?” one of the men asked from behind his dark glasses. The sunset view of the cityscape stretched away to the sea. Yull agreed it was a lovely view. “Well you know, Yull, that gas you’ve got hold of, it’s very interesting stuff. And you know, it has many, many potential uses. But fuel isn’t one of them, Yull. Our advice to you is, if you want yourself and your family to have a chance to see this view again,” the stranger took in the glorious image with a sweep of his arm, “you’ll forget all about alternative fuels and get on with something else. Do you get my meaning?” Soon afterward, Yull Brown quietly packed up his family and equipment and disappeared. Years later he turned up again with a swag of international patents under his arm for a new welder – that incorporated a Brown’s Gas generator. The welder and generator could be powered with 24 volt DC power – and otherwise used only water and a 5% catalyst (fully recovered) of caustic soda to produce the fuel, er, gas, and the only waste product was water vapour . His worldwide patents covered the secret of economically splitting the gases from water – his apparently conventional electrolysis cell that produced exceptionally unconventional results… http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/2011/02/fire-from-water-part-2-clean-green.html Continues Part 2 -
Part 3 - http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/2006/04/fire-from-water-part-3.html
Part 4 - http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/2006/05/fire-from-water-part-4.html
Part 4 - http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com/2006/05/fire-from-water-part-4.html
by R.Ayana Originally published in the first volume of NEXUS New TimesMagazine – see http://www.nexusmagazine.com images - http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4833482989_48e8829653_b.jpg (author’s)
For further enlightenment use the search box on the upper left @ New Illuminati
And see –
The Her(m)etic Hermit - http://hermetic.blog.com
New Illuminati – http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com
New Illuminati on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Illuminati/320674219559
This material is published under Creative Commons Copyright (unless an individual item is declared otherwise by copyright holder) – reproduction fornon-profit use is permitted & encouraged, if you give attribution to the work & author - and please include a (preferably active) link to the original along with this notice. Feel free to make non-commercial hard (printed) or software copies or mirror sites - you never know how long something will stay glued to the web – but remember attribution! If you like what you see, please send a tiny donation or leave a comment – and thanks for reading this far…
From the New Illuminati – http://nexusilluminati.blogspot.com | 5,894 | 2,810 | 0.000372 |
warc | 201704 | School superintendents in Illinois are getting a chance to weigh in on what could be a huge change in the state’s public school funding formula.
School leaders from Winnebago and Boone counties met with State Senator Andy Manar Monday to talk about the bill he’s sponsoring, "The School Funding Reform Act of 2014.”
“We have to have a broad conversation about how to appropriately account for local property wealth in a greater degree than our school funding formula. That’s not pitting groups against each other, or pitting neighboring school districts against each other, in many cases. But I think it’s an appropriate conversation to have and that’s what Senate Bill 16 is designed to do. “
Manar’s legislation proposes changing the state’s education funding formula so more than ninety percent of the money is distributed to districts based on need: right now, it’s less than half. Districts with more low-income students and lower property values are expected to benefit from the formula change.
Superintendents at Monday’s meeting had a variety of concerns: North Boone superintendent Steve Baule wants to make sure the funding formula includes homeless students.
“Which requires at the federal level, we have a lot of additional services for those children that are not reimbursed by the federal government and state. It would be nice to make sure those issues were accountable in any formula change that we make.”
The education committee that came up with the new formula will continue to collect comments from educators, parents, students, and taxpayers as the bill moves through the State Senate. | 1,685 | 850 | 0.001234 |
warc | 201704 | Baaaaaaa said the sheep, on the way to be ... sheared.
My wife and I have just selected our family's employment benefits for 2008. There were 4 basic health plans, two indemnity and two "health savings accounts" (they used some other name this year). In addition, one could create another 11 variants of one of the four plans. The plans had wildly different pre-tax monthly paycheck deductions (so the true cost varies depending on one's tax bracket). They also have different providers, different deductibles, different out-of-pocket maximums (but are they really maximums?), different networks, and a complex mix of co-pays and percent uncovered for each transaction. Not to mention x-rays and labs. Some costs that might be post-tax dollars can be covered by a pre-tax flexible spending account -- but you must be sure to spend all of it. Then there's a Dependent Care account, but be sure your spouse earns at least as much as what one claims -- or that's lost too. If I had a team of lawyers, statisticians, and software developers, I could create simulations based on our known risk factors and run them against the plans. I would use Monte Carlo methods to create random variations around means, and then produce a probability distribution of likely costs. Oh, wait a minute. It's the insurance companies that have that team. We just have ... a coin toss. I feel like I've just signed a contract with Satan -- or, worse, Sprint Minnesota. I had to sign the contract, but I know it's hopeless. My immortal soul will be stuck in Hell Do the French put up with this kind of stupidity? I like to imagine not. Americans are sheep. | 1,637 | 906 | 0.001107 |
warc | 201704 | The opinion of the court was delivered by: WEINFELD
EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.
Defendant Westinghouse Electric Corporation ("Westinghouse") moves for summary judgment, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in this action brought by plaintiff as subrogee of Public Service Electric and Gas Company of New Jersey ("PSE&G"). The controversy centers about the breakdown of a turbine generator manufactured by Westinghouse for PSE&G and installed at its Hudson generating plant in Jersey City, New Jersey. Plaintiff seeks to recover $475,800 which it paid to PSE&G, pursuant to the terms of an insurance policy issued in favor of PSE&G, for 127 days loss of use of the generator during the period it was out of service. The complaint alleges the breakdown was the result of defendant's breaches of contract, breaches of warranty, or negligent acts or omissions by Westinghouse in the design, manufacture, installation and testing of the generator. Westinghouse contends that it fulfilled its obligation under its contract with PSE&G by making the repairs without charge to PSE&G; further, that in any event, under the express provisions of the contract, it is not liable for consequential damages which plaintiff seeks to recover in this action. The parties agree that in this diversity suit the substantive law of New Jersey applies.
*fn1"
The following essential facts appear from the affidavits submitted on this motion. After preliminary discussions and correspondence which extended over several years, during which PSE&G received an option to purchase subject to cancellation, Westinghouse, by letter dated November 5, 1964, quoted to PSE&G a price of $10,125,687 for a 600 megawatt generator with stated specifications. That letter specified "[standard] conditions of sale as outlined in [Westinghouse's] Price List 1252 dated September 21, 1964 will apply." Price List 1252 was enclosed in the letter. PSE&G, by letter dated November 13, 1964, accepted the proposal. PSE&G, in its letter of acceptance, specifically noted "[standard] conditions of sale as outlined in your Price List 1252 dated September 21, 1964 will apply," and further, "[the] cancellation clause contained in your proposal of April 5, 1961 is hereby eliminated and this shall be a firm contract." (emphasis supplied.)
A further exchange of correspondence resulted in an increase in the unit's size to 620 megawatts, other technical changes and a price increase. Westinghouse, in its letter of January 5, 1965, proposing these changes, noted: "[all] other terms and conditions as stipulated in our letter of November 5, 1964 and your letter of November 13, 1964 remain the same." PSE&G accepted the proposal by letter to Westinghouse dated February 18, 1965, and also stated, "[all] other terms and conditions of the contract remain unchanged."
This exchange of correspondence so clearly defines the contractual relationship of the parties that it borders on the absurd for plaintiff, through its counsel who obviously is without personal knowledge of what transpired between PSE&G and Westinghouse, to argue, as plaintiff does, "that there was no formal contract" between the parties, but merely an option, negotiations and exchange of letters. The day is long past when a red ribbon and seal is required upon documents which contain the terms of the parties' agreements in order to validate such agreements. This agreement was reached after arms length bargaining, emphasized by PSE&G in its letter of November 13, 1964, that "this shall be a firm contract." It is no less firm because the parties did not thereafter sign a formal document containing "whereases" and "the party of the first part" and "the party of the second part."
*fn2"
The attempt by plaintiff to defeat summary judgment upon its claim that there is an issue of fact as to the existence of a contract between plaintiff's subrogor and Westinghouse is so transparent as to require no further discussion in the light of the documentary proof referred to above. The court finds that Westinghouse and PSE&G concluded an agreement, the terms of which are set forth in the exchange of correspondence referred to above.
We turn to the provisions of the agreement to consider the respective contentions of the parties. The agreement of the parties contains warranty and limitation of liability provisions, which if enforceable are sufficient to defeat plaintiff's claims for recovery. Price List 1252 contains a warranty by Westinghouse that the equipment shall be free of defects in workmanship or material, and that Westinghouse would, upon notification, correct any non-conformities that appear within one year after completion of shipment or installation. It further provided:
"This warranty is in lieu of all warranties of merchantability, fitness for purpose, or other warranties, express or implied, except of title and against patent infringement. Correction of nonconformities, in the manner and for the period of time provided above, shall constitute fulfillment of all liabilities of Westinghouse to the purchaser, whether based on contract, negligence or otherwise with respect to, or arising out of such equipment. [emphasis supplied]
Neither party shall be liable for special, indirect, or consequential damages. The remedies of the purchaser set forth herein are exclusive, and the liability of Westinghouse with respect to any contract or sale or anything done in connection therewith, whether in contract, in tort, under any warranty, or otherwise, shall not, except as expressly provided herein, exceed the price of the equipment or part on which such liability is based." [emphasis supplied]
Price List 1252 included by reference the conditions stated in Westinghouse's Installation Services Form 29282B. This provision, applicable to the services of a Westinghouse field engineer in connection with the installation of the unit, provides:
"Westinghouse warrants that the recommendations of the Field Engineer shall accurately reflect the best judgment of a qualified engineer in the premises, but no other warranty or obligation of any kind shall extend thereto or be implied therefrom and Westinghouse shall not be liable for any act or omission of those not its employes nor for any injury, loss, damage, delay, failure to operate, or other thing whatsoever due in whole or in part to any cause other than the failure of its engineering recommendations to fulfill such warranty. The liability of Westinghouse with respect to the Field Engineer's services shall not, in any event, exceed the cost of correcting defects in the apparatus, and Westinghouse shall not be liable for consequential damages." [emphasis supplied]
It is undisputed that Westinghouse made the repairs upon notice to it from defendant and without cost.
*fn3"
Thus, under the clear and unambiguous provisions noted above, plaintiff's claims are foreclosed.
Plaintiff, however, seeks to avert the force of these definitive and unambiguous provisions upon a statement by its attorney that "there is no definite evidence that the so-called exculpatory clauses were ever agreed upon and that specific notice thereof was brought home to plaintiff's subrogor."
*fn4"
To urge, in an effort to create an issue of fact, that these provisions were not "brought home" to PSE&G flies in the face of documentary proof. Plaintiff's subrogor, in its letter of November 13, 1964, specifically identified and referred to Price List 1252 as constituting part of the agreement between the parties. This was an adoption substantially in haec verba of Westinghouse's reference to the list in its letter of November 5, in which the list was enclosed. The salutary purpose of Rule 56 and its requirement that "affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, [and] shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence,"
*fn5"
cannot be aborted by conjectures of plaintiff's attorney, who is without personal knowledge of the facts and is an incompetent witness on the subject.
*fn6"
Lawyers for litigants cannot defeat one's right to summary judgment by "superinducing the idea" that a genuine issue of fact exists when one does not exist.
*fn7"
Significantly, plaintiff has submitted no affidavit from any representative of PSE&G who, with knowledge of the transaction, challenges the integrity of the documents constituting the contract between PSE&G and Westinghouse. To the extent, then, that plaintiff argues that it did not agree to the terms referred to in those documents, its argument is foreclosed by the well-settled principle, tempered only by recent applications of the doctrine of unconscionability, "that affixing a signature to a contract creates a conclusive presumption, except as against fraud, that the signer read, understood, and assented to its terms"
*fn8"
-- or as stated more recently by another court, "in the ... | 8,958 | 3,704 | 0.000272 |
warc | 201704 | The opinion of the court was delivered by: Roanne L. Mann United States Magistrate
ROANNE L. MANN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Discovery disputes in this action have been contentious, protracted, and excessively documented. Even well after the close of discovery, critical issues regarding document production remain unresolved -- most significantly, whether Glenmark's searches of its electronically stored information ("ESI") were conducted properly, and whether Glenmark unjustifiably withheld responsive electronic and paper documents. A resolution of these matters is long overdue, and the Court's patience for the parties' incessant finger-pointing is at an end.
Having reviewed the extensive record and conducted an evidentiary hearing to examine the Glenmark employee responsible for overseeing Glenmark's ESI search and document production, the Court concludes that Glenmark failed to abide by its good-faith discovery obligations in two respects: (1) Glenmark withheld from discovery, without justification, clinical study reports from the PRACS Institute ("PRACS"), the clinical testing agent for Glenmark's Abbreviated New Drug Application ("ANDA") fluticasone lotion; and (2) Glenmark willfully failed to search two important and obvious repositories for responsive ESI, which contained Glenmark's U.S. provisional and utility patent applications. Glenmark's failure to timely produce otherwise discoverable electronic information containing responsive search terms was inexcusable. Thus, for the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that discovery sanctions against Glenmark are warranted, and directs Glenmark to pay a $100,000 fine to plaintiff Nycomed and a $25,000 fine to the Clerk of the Court.
More than a year ago, after the June 5, 2009 deadline for document production, see Order (May 19, 2009), ECF Docket Entry ("D.E.") #73, Nycomed first challenged the adequacy of Glenmark's ESI searches, complaining that the number of responsive documents was "incredibly small" and that Glenmark had failed to produce metadata and the "hit list" of documents yielded by its keyword searches. See Motion to Compel Proper ESI Search (July 2, 2009), D.E. #93. The undersigned magistrate judge granted in part Nycomed's request for relief, directing Glenmark to provide "custodian" and "keyword" metadata for documents it had produced, as well as the hit list containing the results of its ESI searches. See Memorandum and Order (July 13, 2009), D.E. #101.
Despite this relief, Nycomed's concerns regarding the adequacy of Glenmark's ESI searches persisted beyond the close of fact discovery on August 17, 2009, see Order (Feb. 17, 2009), D.E. #30-1, and, on September 19, 2009, Nycomed sought to strike those portions of Glenmark's filings -- including its claim construction positions, defenses, and counterclaims --that related to patent applications that Nycomed argued should have been provided during the ESI search process, but instead were produced after discovery had closed. See Motion to Strike (Sept. 18, 2009) ("9/18/09 Pl. Letter") at 2, 3, D.E. #145; Memorandum in Support (Sept. 29, 2009), D.E. #171. The Court denied the extraordinary relief that Nycomed sought, and instead reopened discovery for the limited purpose of permitting the telephonic deposition of one of Glenmark's formulators concerning the contents of Glenmark's belatedly produced utility and provisional patent applications. See Memorandum and Order (Nov. 12, 2009) ("11/12/09 M&O") at 7--8, D.E. #189.
Nycomed objected to the Court's ruling and filed a motion for reconsideration of that portion of the order denying its motion to strike. See Memorandum in Support of Motion for Reconsideration (Nov. 27, 2009) ("11/27/09 Pl. Mem."), D.E. #203-1. Nycomed reiterated its concerns that Glenmark had not properly conducted its ESI searches, see id. at 15, 16, and Glenmark again denied the allegations as untrue. See Response in Opposition (Dec. 4, 2009) at 8, D.E. #205. At a hearing on the matter on December 17, 2009, the Court once again denied Nycomed's request to strike Glenmark's pleadings, but held that Nycomed was "entitled to some limited discovery concerning the patent applications which were not produced during the discovery period." Transcript of Oral Argument on December 17, 2009 ("12/17/09 Tr.") at 73, D.E. #211.
Not to be outdone, Glenmark filed its own motion for reconsideration of the Court's ruling, and requested clarification of the nature of any additional discovery ordered by the Court, to the extent that such discovery went beyond what was necessary to authenticate Glenmark's belatedly produced patent applications for purposes of admissibility. See Motion for Reconsideration (Jan. 4, 2010) at 12, D.E. #214-1. More filings and accusations from both sides followed, including Nycomed's renewed assertions that a series of email threads obtained from a third-party clinical testing agent, PRACS, constituted "unequivocal proof" that Glenmark had not conducted proper ESI searches and was withholding critical information.
See Letter Concerning Glenmark Reply (Jan. 27, 2010) at 1--2, D.E. #221.
The Court remained troubled by the tone and volume of filings on the issue, and grew uncertain as to the adequacy of Glenmark's ESI production. During a joint conference with a related case brought by Nycomed against Perrigo Pharmaceuticals,*fn1 the Court, at Glenmark's suggestion, directed Glenmark to make a "factual showing," through someone with personal knowledge of the process, regarding the adequacy of Glenmark's ESI search. See Transcript of Civil Conference on February 3, 2010 ("2/3/10 Tr.") at 58--59, D.E. #233. Glenmark's response to that directive -- and both parties' additional filings addressing that response*fn2 --failed to allay the Court's concerns as to why certain documents had not been timely produced.
On May 27, 2010, "[i]n an effort to finally resolve Nycomed's challenges to the adequacy of Glenmark's document production[,]" the Court scheduled an evidentiary hearing for June 2, 2010, and directed Glenmark to produce as a witness Dr. Vijay Soni, the Executive Vice President of IP for Glenmark Generics, Inc., USA, and the Glenmark employee responsible for overseeing its searches. See Order (May 27, 2010), D.E. #322. Dr. Soni appeared on the scheduled date, and was examined by the Court and by counsel. See generally Transcript of Evidentiary Hearing on June 2, 2010 ("6/2/10 Tr."), D.E. #351. Dr. Soni's testimony shed considerable light on the deficiencies in Glenmark's ESI searches, and confirmed that additional relief in the form of sanctions is appropriate to remedy what this Court now considers Glenmark's willful dereliction of its discovery duties.
I. Applicable Legal Standards
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure authorize a party to serve on any other party a request to produce electronically stored information in "the responding party's possession, custody, or control." Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a). A party that has been served with a request for ESI is charged with "find[ing] and disclos[ing] all responsive documents or properly set[ting] forth why the documents are being withheld." Merck Eprova AG v. Gnosis S.P.A., No. 07 Civ. 5898 (RJS), 2010 WL 1631519, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2010). This obligation to conduct a diligent search requires good faith on the part of the responding party and its attorneys, and mandates that they work together "to ensure that both understand how and where electronic documents, records and emails are maintained and to determine how best to locate, review and produce responsive documents." Richard Green (Fine Paintings) v. McClendon, 262 F.R.D. 284, 290 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
When parties and/or their counsel fail in their duty to conduct proper searches of ESI, sanctions may be appropriate, even where the misconduct involves late disclosure, as opposed to spoliation. See Phoenix Four, Inc. v. Strategic Res. Corp., No. 05 Civ. 4837, 2006 WL 1409413, at *5--6, *9 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2006).*fn3 The predicate for such sanctions is Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and/or the Court's inherent authority to manage its own affairs. See 11/12/09 M&O at 3, D.E. #189 (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(c)(1)); Phoenix Four, 2006 WL 1409413, at *3; see also Residential Funding Corp. v. DeGeorge Fin. Corp., 306 F.3d 99, 106--07 (2d Cir. 2002) ("Even in the absence of a discovery order, a court may impose sanctions on a party for misconduct in discovery under its inherent power to manage its own affairs.") (citing DLC Mgmt. Corp. v. Town of Hyde Park, 163 F.3d 124, 135--36 (2d Cir. 1998)). Discovery sanctions serve three purposes: they (1) ensure that a violating party does not benefit from its own failure to comply with discovery; (2) serve as a specific deterrent to achieve compliance with the particular discovery order at issue; and (3) serve as a general deterrent in the case at hand and in other litigation, provided that ... | 9,069 | 4,049 | 0.000249 |
warc | 201704 | Hi Res Version Students from Bayside High School in Queens toured the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) White Plains administrative office in October, kicking off their ‘Green Careers’ internship with Solar One, a New York City not-for-profit school outreach organization. The students are currently working closely with NYPA engineers as they implement a variety of energy efficiency upgrades in public schools and other sites throughout New York City. From left, standing near one of the three solar arrays on the roof of the White Plains building, Paul Parthemore and Dan Esposito, assistant conservation engineers at NYPA, and the four interns, Janet Cortes, Javier Chablal, Joyce Shin, Sun Eui Kim.
Photo Credit: (NYPA)
■The New York Power Authority uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity.
■NYPA is a leader in promoting energy efficiency, new energy technologies and electric transportation initiatives.■It is the nation's largest state public power organization, with 17 generating facilities in various parts of New York State and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines.
■Approximately 80 percent of the electricity it produces is clean renewable hydropower. Its lower-cost power production and electricity purchases support hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the state.■For more information, www.nypa.gov | 1,490 | 827 | 0.001248 |
warc | 201704 | A podcast is a an audio file published on the web. The files are usually downloaded onto computers or portable listening devices such as iPods or other players.
Read more about podcasting from webcontent.gov (INTRO) HOST: Welcome to Diving Deeper where we interview National Ocean Service scientists on the ocean topics and information that are important to you! I’m your host Kate Nielsen.
Today’s question is….What are PCBs?
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are industrial products or chemicals that were in use since the 1920s. These chemicals were banned in the U.S. in 1979 amid suggestions that PCBs could have unintended impacts on human and environmental health.
To help us dive a little deeper into this question, we will talk with Lisa DiPinto on PCBs – what they are and why they matter to us. Lisa is the Southeast Region Branch Chief at the Office of Response and Restoration in the Assessment and Restoration Division. Hi Lisa, welcome to our show.
LISA DIPINTO: Hi Kate, it’s great to be here to talk a little more about a topic that really impacts so many and that it’s definitely near and dear to my heart. I’ve been looking at PCBs and evaluating their effects on the environment since way back in grad school in the 1980s.
(EXPLAINING PCBS) HOST: Lisa, let’s start off with a little more background first on PCBs. Is DDT, another chemical that I think most of us are familiar with, in the same class or category as PCBs?
LISA DIPINTO: Well Kate, DDT and PCBs are actually different chemicals. DDT is a pesticide, where PCBs were developed for a wide range of more industrially oriented applications. But they do have some similarities. They’re both presently banned chemicals and they’re both very persistent, so we’re still finding them both in the environment. From the 1920s until their ban in 1979, there were an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs that were made for things such as microscope oils, electrical insulators, capacitors, to even electric appliances like old TV sets or refrigerators that we can still occasionally find in households today. They were even sprayed on dirt roads to keep the dust down before they really knew what some of the unintended consequences of widespread use of PCBs were.
HOST: Wow. Thanks Lisa. I had no idea that these were some of the many uses for PCBs in the past. Are PCBs only found close to city centers or other populated or industrial areas since it sounds like they were commonly developed for industrial applications?
LISA DIPINTO: Actually no, PCBs aren’t just located near the more populated areas or just near places where they were manufactured and used. Back in the 60s when some of the first research was coming out, traces of PCBs could be detected in people and in animals around the world and not only in heavily populated areas such as New York City, but they were also finding them in remote areas as far out as the Arctic. And these findings of such widespread and persistent contamination contributed to the banning of the chemical in 1979.
HOST: Why do we still study PCBs today if they have been banned since 1979?
LISA DIPINTO: Like so many things in the environment, these chemicals they don’t actually breakdown quickly, therefore they don’t necessarily disappear once they’re banned from use. A lot depends on their chemical makeup – the size, the structure, and the chemical composition of the PCBs all that affects how long it takes them to breakdown in the environment. But it can take years to remove these chemicals from the environment and that’s why we’re still seeing them present decades later.
For an example that people might be familiar with, we’re still finding PCBs in the sediments in contaminated areas such as the Hudson River, long after their industrial use has stopped. These findings have caused many disputes and legal discussions between industry, community groups, and regulatory agencies about what the dangers from these chemicals are and what are the best ways to remove them from the environment.
HOST: Lisa, can we actually see or smell PCBs?
LISA DIPINTO: No, PCBs don’t have a known smell or taste. They’re typically either oily liquids or sometimes solids and they’re colorless or may be a very light yellow in color.
(RESEARCH ON PCBS) HOST: How do PCBs degrade or breakdown in the environment?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, for the process of degrading, a lot depends on the chemical makeup of the PCBs. Because PCBs are actually used as mixtures of individual PCBs, and there are over 200 different configurations with different shapes and sizes to the different, they’re called congeners. The degrading process depends on also where the PCBs are in the environment. Typically, they’re either broken down in the environment by sunlight or by microorganisms. Sunlight plays an important role in the breakdown of PCBs when they’re in the air, in shallow water, and in surface soils. And microorganisms such as bacteria, algae, or fungi biodegrade the PCBs mainly when they’re found in soil or sediments.
Now, how fast this happens, this biodegradation, depends on the number and type of the microorganisms that are present in the environment, the concentration of the PCBs because it has to be just the right amount – it can’t be too high or else it will be toxic to the organisms, whether there are enough nutrients in the environment to feed the microorganisms, and the temperature. So, typically the process of degradation is rather slow and the bottom line is that degradation is limited and their long-term persistence is the key reason that they’re still problematic in the environment today.
HOST: How did PCBs get into the environment in the first place?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, there are lots of different ways that PCBs entered our environment. Back before the ban of the chemicals, PCBs entered the air and the water and the soil during their manufacture and during their use. Typically wastes that contained PCBs from the manufacturing process were placed in dump sites or landfills. There were often some accidental spills and leaks from facilities or transformer fires that could result in PCBs entering the environment.
Today, we’re still seeing PCBs released into the environment from things like poorly maintained hazardous waste sites that contain PCBs. The dump sites that I just mentioned weren’t always designed to contain these hazardous materials, especially over such long timeframes. They’re also released through illegal or improper dumping of wastes such as transformer fluids and disposal of PCB-containing consumer products, things that were produced back when PCB use was legal like some of our household electrical appliances that are now not used anymore, and then put in landfills that were not designed to handle the wastes.
HOST: OK, so there are still some PCBs getting into the environment even today, 30 years after the initial ban. How is it that these chemicals affect humans and animals? Is it just if you come in direct contact with it somehow?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, there’s a lot of chemistry here, but to provide some of the basics. There are certain characteristics of the molecules that affect the way that they’re going to behave in the environment and then therefore how they can affect humans and animals. First of all, PCBs are what we call hydrophobic and that that means that they don’t dissolve readily in water. So, because of this, when PCBs enter the waterways, they want to attach themselves to sediment particles or other particles floating in the water column and then they can drop out and get stored in sediments.
PCBs are also lipophilic and that means they’re attracted to and dissolve in fats and oils, so we also find them in the fat tissue of animals. These features allow PCBs to persist and remain in the environment and in the tissues of animals for really long periods of time and cause more unintended consequences.
People and animals then can become exposed to PCBs through exposure to these chronically contaminated sediments, or from eating contaminated prey, which for humans could be contaminated seafood as an example. And as we know, there’s a number of PCB fish advisories throughout waterways in the United States.
HOST: Lisa, what are some of the health impacts associated with PCBs?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, one of the things that we have noticed about PCBs over time is their ability to bioaccumulate or biomagnify in organisms, which can intensify health impacts associated with these chemicals. As the word implies, bioaccumulation is essentially an accumulation of PCBs over time. So an organism, over its lifespan, is going to be exposed to PCBs through sources such as food or sediments and, let me give you an example to explain.
Because PCBs are hydrophobic, in aquatic environments they’re going to be stored in the sediments because they want to attach themselves to particles. Then, the bottom-feeding critters such as little sediment-dwelling crustaceans - copepods or amphipods they’re called – ingest and accumulate PCBs while feeding. The amount of PCBs that’s ingested every time these small animal feeds is small, but over time, because the PCBs are stored in fat and they degrade very slowly, the PCB levels in the organisms increases. So, when the larger animals or the higher predators eat these smaller animals lower in the food chain, the PCBs similarly will accumulate and increase in concentration, resulting in higher concentrations over time than in the smaller prey species. So essentially as you’re moving up the food chain, the PCB concentrations increase. So by the time you get to the top of the food chain, and like for example something like dolphins or top predator fish that prey on smaller fish, they have the potential for higher PCB concentrations.
In many parts of the United States, there’s advisories and restrictions on the amount of fish that people should eat from contaminated waterways. And this is really an effort to keep us safe as PCBs have been determined to be probable carcinogenic contaminants to humans. You should know that it’s still safe to have fish as part of your diet, but it’s good to be mindful of the recommendations.
HOST: And to build on this more, what are some of the impacts to fish and marine life from this chemical?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, there’ve been many laboratory and field studies that have shown potentially harmful effects from PCBs on things like fish and birds and mammals and other wildlife. Some of these effects include impaired reproductive, endocrine and immune system functions, we’re finding increased lesions and tumors on fish, and sometimes death or mortality.
For example, some of the research I’ve done in the past has looked at the reproductive effects of PCBs on little sediment-dwelling crustaceans or little shrimp-like guys that live in the mud that are called copepods. They’re really cute. Our studies indicate that sediments contaminated with PCBs affect the reproductive capacity of these little guys and they weren’t able to produce as many offspring as those that were living in uncontaminated sediments. So what, people say – who cares about whether or not copepods can reproduce, but really it has implications up the food chain, as they’re a really important source of food for the juvenile fish that come into the marshes to feed. And further these little copepods can be indicators of potential effects on other guys that are living in the mud that are exposed to PCBs and other contaminants that also serve as important prey species.
Similarly, there’ve been studies with various species of fish across the country both endangered and non-endangered that indicate that PCBs can affect things like their immune systems and when they’re exposed to PCBs it makes them more susceptible to diseases that fish that live in uncontaminated areas would be able to fight off so putting them at greater risk.
HOST: Lisa, earlier you mentioned that these chemicals can be found all over the world. Why is it that PCBs can be found in such remote areas if they were developed more for industrial applications?
LISA DIPINTO: Well Kate, that’s a good question and the persistence and the transport of PCBs, is a big part of the issue. The modes of transport of PCBs are complicated, and they can be moved by air, by water, and by sediments. As I mentioned, PCBs don’t dissolve in water and they don’t degrade easily so they’re going to be persistent. PCBs can get vaporized from water or off of tiny particles and then attach themselves to particulates in the air for example like dust. And depending on the particle size they can get transported varying distances, sometimes great distances, by the prevailing winds and then re-deposited on land or in water by particle sedimentation out of the air from rainfall or snowfall that washes these particles out.
PCBs that get into the waterways can also, because they’re hydrophobic, like to attach themselves to the fine particles in the water and then they get transported varying distances from the tides or the currents, or maybe they’ll settle out to the bottom where they may persist a long time in the sediments, they can get buried by other sediments, or they can even get carried around with the movement of bottom sediments through the features of bottom sediment currents. So all these transport mechanisms contribute to PCBs greater distribution all over the world.
HOST: Has the level or amount of PCBs in the environment increased, decreased, or remained the same in the last 30 years?
LISA DIPINTO: Given the complicated transport mechanisms I described earlier, it’s kind of difficult to say across the USA as a whole. But overall, as we address more and more of these PCB-contaminated waste sites and work with the Environmental Protection Agency and our trustee partners at the state, federal, and tribal levels to remove PCBs from the environment, we’ve been successful in reducing the overall amount of PCBs that are posing a threat to the resources at the sites we’re involved with.
HOST: Lisa, with all of these impacts and this consistent transport of PCBs almost 30 years again after its ban, I imagine cleanup is something that many are still focused on. What is involved in cleanup efforts to remove PCBs from the environment?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, there’s a lot of issues with removal of PCBs from the environment. For the areas where we know that PCBs exist in the sediments, some of the main issues are whether it would be better to dredge and remove these contaminated sediments from the waterways and dispose of them in a properly designed and maintained hazardous waste storage facility that would prevent the PCBs from re-entering the environment and affecting animals and humans. Or is it safer to allow the sediments just to remain in place and you can cover them up with clean sediments and allow them to naturally biodegrade by bacteria over time. Or perhaps you could consider placing a cap or a barrier over the contaminated sediments in the environment in place to prevent them from re-entering the environment and exposing organisms. Obviously there are environmental, human health, and financial concerns from all sides.
HOST: OK, so there are many options for cleanup and it’s probably decided on a case-by-case basis.
LISA DIPINTO: Exactly.
(ROLE OF THE NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE IN PCB RESEARCH) HOST: Lisa, what is the role of the National Ocean Service in PCB research?
LISA DIPINTO: There are many offices in the National Ocean Service, and really NOAA for that fact, that are involved in the research of chemical contaminants. In my office, the Office of Response and Restoration which is part of the National Ocean Service, we focus on PCB research that can be applied to specific site assessments on both the cleanup side and the damage assessment side. However we’ve found that much of our research has broader applications, and we’ve developed some projects and products that are used more widely. For example, our watershed-based projects provide a comprehensive evaluation of PCB contamination on a watershed level along with a suite of other contaminants. And they’re these cool mapping projects that resource managers can access online or the public can access online to get a sense of where the particular contaminants are in a particular watershed.
We’ve also developed and published sediment guidelines that help determine whether a certain amount of toxic chemical, such as PCB in the environment, is likely to harm the ecosystem. We’ve also as part of our work conducted a number of site-specific toxicity studies that contribute to the overall understanding of how PCBs affect things like sediment-dwelling organisms and fish
HOST: Lisa, what is the role of NOAA, and specifically your office, in cleanup efforts of PCBs?
LISA DIPINTO: Our Office of Response and Restoration works to protect and restore coastal resources that have been injured by contaminants associated with things like hazardous waste sites and oil spills. The waste site work is of particular relevance to our discussions today as many of these waste sites have PCB-contamination problems. NOAA is a trustee for coastal resources on behalf of the public. So things like marine and estuarine fish, marine mammals like whales and dolphins, and the habitats that support these kinds of resources such as marshes, wetlands, coastal streams, tidally-influenced rivers; are all considered to be NOAA’s trust resources. And then we work with other trustee agencies which include federal and state agencies and tribes to mitigate and restore for adverse effects of contaminants in the environment to these kinds of resources.
On the cleanup side, through our work with the Environmental Protection Agency, we help to ensure that the site cleanups are as protective to NOAA’s trust resources as possible. By ensuring good cleanups on the front end, we feel like we can minimize the residual injuries that might persist longer term as a result of any contamination that’s left behind as a result of the cleanup.
We also are involved in Natural Resource Damage Assessments, where we work in partnership with our federal, state, and tribal co-trustees to conduct environmental assessments and these are designed to determine the magnitude, the type, and the extent of environmental injuries to our resources that have been impacted by contamination such as PCBs. We then, as part of this Natural Resource Damage Assessment process determine what type of and how much restoration is needed to compensate the public for their loss of resources that’s due to the contamination. So our overall goal through this damage assessment process is to get restoration projects implemented that are going to compensate the public for their lost resources.
HOST: These damage assessments and restoration claims sound like they can get pretty complicated and rather expensive. Does the public pay for these?
LISA DIPINTO: Well Kate, that’s one of the neat things about our program. We have statutory authority to pursue these natural resource damage claims under a number of environmental laws. So we are seeking compensation, usually cooperatively but sometimes through litigation, from the companies that are responsible for releasing the contaminants into the environment. And part of the compensation to the public, in addition to paying for or implementing the restoration projects, is paying the trustees, like NOAA, for the costs that are associated with developing the claim. So the public’s really getting a good deal through our damage assessment work.
HOST: Lisa, are there any examples that you can share with us today on the impacts of these efforts to date? How has this cleanup helped local communities?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, we have been and are currently involved with a number of PCB-contaminated waste sites on all coasts including the Great Lakes and all the regions of the U.S. One example I can give to illustrate what we do and to highlight how we help the communities is our Housatonic River site, which originated in Pittsfield, Massachusetts from a General Electric facility. There are PCBs contaminating the Housatonic River from Massachusetts down into Connecticut and at this site there are fishing advisories all along the river that are due to the presence of PCB contamination in the rivers, sediments, soils, and in the groundwater.
And NOAA has been working with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection who are our co-trustee agencies to develop a comprehensive settlement with General Electric that includes river remediation that’s under way now – that’s cleaning up the river from the PCB contamination – and we’ve developed plans that are out for public review for restoration projects that will compensate the public for their natural resource losses. General Electric has paid over $15 million in natural resource damages that will be available for restoration projects in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. And that’s just an example; we’ve got other sites across the United States where we’ve worked to ensure the cleanup gets conducted to the maximum extent possible and that restoration will be conducted to bring back clean fish, clean habitats, and environmental restoration that’s going to compensate the public for their losses.
HOST: Thanks Lisa. Do you have any final closing words for our listeners today?
LISA DIPINTO: Well, first I wanted to just thank you for providing me the opportunity to talk about PCBs and what we’re doing to address some of the environmental issues associated with them. I feel really proud of what our program does and I’m glad to have the opportunity to share it with a larger audience than just the world I work in.
Some of the things I think are worth remembering about PCBs is that even after 30 years of being banned, they remain an environmental concern for humans and wildlife – we’re still finding them in the environment, they’re persistent, and we’re still seeing fish advisories that result from high PCB levels in the fish in many of our waterways.
And I hope that we’ll be able to continue our work with our partner agencies and with industry to cleanup or contain these PCB-contaminated sediments in our waterways in order to reduce the PCB levels in fish and other animals and thereby reduce risks to humans and wildlife, and to restore the public’s resources.
HOST: Thank you Lisa for joining us on today’s episode of Diving Deeper and talking more about PCBs and what these mean in our everyday lives. To learn more about PCBs and similar restoration projects and cleanup efforts by the Office of Response and Restoration, please visit www.darrp.noaa.gov/.
(OUTRO) That’s all for this week’s show. Please tune in on July 1st for our next episode on the dead zone. | 23,392 | 8,793 | 0.000116 |
warc | 201704 | One of my prouder moments as a cook was when, a few years back, I talked my younger brother through the process of making a stir-fry, over the phone. Not being able to taste-test and all, this felt like a big deal to me.
Really though, stir-frying is super easy, so I shouldn’t have been all that surprised. This is convenient, because stir-fry is one of my favorite healthy weeknight meals, they’re always tasty, and you can usually throw one together with ingredients you’ve got on hand.
So now, for anyone else that’s interested, I’ll be talking you guys through the process, but instead of by phone, we’ll go through this by internet. It works out a bit better this way, because you can read through everything ahead of time, look at the photos, and all that good stuff.
Equipment
Traditionally, a wok is what you’d use for stir frying. The curved sides make it easy to flip your veggies and gives you control by providing different temperature zones for cooking, with the bottom being the hottest. If you don’t have one, it’s definitely a worthwhile investment, but you can use a large skillet too. You’ll also need a spatula, for flipping.
Make the Sauce
The sauce goes into your stir-fry at the very end of cooking, but you’ll want to mix it up before getting started, so it’s ready to go when you need it. I always start with a few tablespoons of soy sauce. Tamari works for anyone avoiding gluten and liquid aminos for anyone avoiding soy. You’ll also need an acidic ingredient to balance out the saltiness. Rice vinegar is my go-to for this, but you can use another neutral flavored-vinegar, as well as citrus juice, like lemon or lime. Start with an amount equal to the amount of soy sauce you used.
Those are the only two ingredients I consider absolutely essential to a stir-fry sauce, but most of the time I like to sweeten it up as well. You can use all kinds of sweeteners for this, but brown sugar and maple syrup are two of my favorites. Start with a small amount, maybe a teaspoon or two. Taste-test your sauce and add more of any of the three ingredients as needed until the flavor is balanced.
From there, you can customize your sauce with whatever seasonings you like. You’ll almost certainly want some aromatics, like garlic, freshly grated ginger, and maybe some chili paste or hot sauce. Have a look through your spice cabinet as well. Chinese five-spice and white pepper are a couple of my favorites, but you can experiment to see what you like best. Whatever you do, taste test and add ingredients a bit at a time. The sauce is what will give your final product its flavor, so keep at it until you’re happy with the taste. Don’t worry about making too much – you can freeze whatever you don’t use for later.
Finally, I like to add some cornstarch, so the sauce thickens up during cooking. A teaspoon or so will give you a little bit of thickening, and a tablespoon will result in a very thick sauce. You can use arrowroot for this instead if you prefer.
Cook Your Protein
If you’re just stir-frying veggies you can skip this step, but I always like to include some protein when I’m making a meal of my stir-fry. Tofu, tempeh and seitan all work, and you’ll want to cook these first, before the veggies. The one exception to this might be if you’re going adventurous and using (precooked or canned) beans as your protein, in which case, I’d just throw them in at the end.
You’ll want to use an oil with a high smoke point, like peanut or canola oil, because you’ll be using a lot of heat in the next step. A tablespoon of oil should be plenty to cook up two to four servings of protein. Stir-frying doesn’t work so well for large quantities, so if you’re feeding more than that I’d suggest cooking in batches. Coat the bottom of your wok with oil, place it over medium heat and add your protein, which should be cut into bite-sized pieces. Cook a few minutes on each side until you get some nice browning. Once it’s done, take it out of the wok and let it drain onto a paper towel while you cook your veggies.
Stir-Fry Your Veggies
Now for the fun part! Like I mentioned, you don’t want to stir-fry a ton of food at once. One crown of broccoli, or a couple of cups of chopped up veggies is plenty. Whatever it is, you’ll want it in bite-sized pieces.
Some people will tell you that only one type of veggie should go into a stir-fry. I’m not that much of a purist, but it’s definitely important to separate your veggies by type. Harder veggies, like green beans, take longer to cook, so they go in first, followed by softer veggies that take less time, like zucchini. If you’re totally new to stir-frying, you may want to start with one veggie per batch, until you get an idea of how long things take to cook.
If you already cooked up some protein, you should have some leftover oil in the wok, but you can add a dash more if it seems dry. Turn up the burner to high heat and give the oil a moment to come to temperature. When it starts to shimmer, add your veggies and start flipping. You’ll want to continue flipping, almost constantly, throughout the entire cooking process, and keep at it until they’ve turned bright colors and are tender-crisp and heated throughout. This should take anywhere between two and eight minutes, depending on the types of vegetables you’re using.
Sauce it Up
Once your veggies are cooked, add your protein back into the wok, along with the sauce. Continue flipping until the sauce thickens up and coats everything nicely, just another minute or so.
Serve
Serve your stir-fry over rice, noodles, wrapped up in lettuce leaves, or however you like. Feel free to sprinkle on your favorite stir-fry toppings, like chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, scallions or fresh cilantro.
If you’d like to start with a recipe, or at least check out a few for further guidance, here’s a few of our favorites to try:
Sichuan Green Bean Noodle Stir-Fry – Floating Kitchen
Thai Basil Tofu Stir-Fry – Connoisseurus Veg
Tempeh and Broccoli Stir-Fry – Dietitian Debbie Dishes
Jamaican Jerk Tofu Stir-Fry – Healthy Nibbles & Bits | 6,301 | 2,885 | 0.00036 |
warc | 201704 | Nowadays there is an overwhelming variety of different skin care products who claim to work miracles and bring you back the look of a 20-year old. Without hesitation, macadamia nut oil for skin is one of the best choices, and there are a number of reasons for that.
Contents
Macadamia nut oil benefits for skin
Using macadamia nut oil for skin has a number of benefits due to its composition:
Palmitoleic acid
Under this name goes Omega 7 monounsaturated fatty acid, one of essential fatty acids that are necessary for our well-being. This substance is generally found in adipose tissue and can substitute sebum. When we get older, the amount of sebum in our skin decreases and skin becomes wrinkled and not moisturized enough. Since our skin is a natural protective barrier for our internal organs, it is vital that skin is healthy and strong. Macadamia nut oil is rich in palmitoleic acid and therefore, serves as a perfect moisturizer for our skin, hydrating it and
working as an anti-aging product.
SEE ALSO: All Benefits of Macadamia Nut Oil EFAs
Other essential fatty acids found in macadamia nut oil are Omega 6 and Omega 3, balanced in a perfect ratio 1:1. These EFAs have few important functions in our body. Firstly, essential fatty acids are needed for keeping the skin cell membrane healthy, as membrane is responsible for regulating supply of water in the cell and letting the toxins and waste out. Secondly, by moisturizing skin and supplying it with necessary substances,
EFAs contribute to repairing damaged skin and smoothing it. In addition, essential fatty acids work well as acne treatment.More EFA’s skin benefits are explained on WebMD. Vitamin E
This vitamin is one of the most powerful anti oxidants and has a number of properties that positively affect our skin as well as our overall well-being, as Wikipedia states. It boosts collagen production, which is essential for strength and elasticity of our skin. This results in elimination of wrinkles and skin smoothness. Vitamin E also stimulates blood circulation, thus stimulating the new cells production. As well it has an ability to fight free radicals that may cause serious damage to our health by destroying cells and promoting serious conditions like cancer.
Using macadamia nut oil for skin care
Because of its light texture macadamia oil can be applied directly on skin, as it is absorbed really fast and in addition has a pleasant nutty smell. However, before starting to use it, it is recommended you consult a specialist and find out whether this oil will be beneficial for your skin type. | 2,596 | 1,277 | 0.000789 |
warc | 201704 | Publication: Research - peer-review › Journal article – Annual report year: 2009
Maintaining diversity is important for the performance of evolutionary algorithms. Diversity-preserving mechanisms can enhance global exploration of the search space and enable crossover to find dissimilar individuals for recombination. We focus on the global exploration capabilities of mutation-based algorithms. Using a simple bimodal test function and rigorous runtime analyses, we compare well-known diversity-preserving mechanisms like deterministic crowding, fitness sharing, and others with a plain algorithm without diversification. We show that diversification is necessary for global exploration, but not all mechanisms succeed in finding both optima efficiently. Our theoretical results are accompanied by additional experiments for different population sizes.
Citations Web of Science® Times Cited: 25 Keywords Diversity, Runtime analysis, Fitness sharing, Deterministic crowding, Exploration
Download as:
ID: 5175313 | 1,032 | 579 | 0.001763 |
warc | 201704 | Halberg, Niels; Hermansen, John E.; Kristensen, Ib Sillebak; Eriksen, Jørgen; Tvedegaard, Niels and Petersen, Bjørn Molt (2010) Impact of organic pig production systems on CO2 emission, C sequestration and nitrate pollution.
Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 30 (4), pp. 721-731.
PDF - English
1MB
Summary
Organic rules for grazing and access to outdoor area in pig production may be met in different ways, which express compromises between considerations for animal welfare, feed self-reliance and negative environmental impact such as greeehouse gas emissions and nitrate pollution. This article compares environmental impact of the main organic pig systems in Denmark. Normally sows are kept in huts on grassland and finishing pigs are being raised in stables with access to an outdoor run. One alternative practised is rearing also the fattening pigs on grassland all year round. The third method investigated was a one-unit pen system mainly consisting of a deep litter area under a climate tent and with restricted access to a grazing area. Using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the emissions of greenhouse gasses of the all free range system was estimated to be 3.3 kg CO2-equivalents kg-1 liveweight pig, which was significantly higher than the indoor fattening system and the tent system yeilding 2.9 and 2.8 kg CO2-eq. kg-1 pig respectively. This was 7-22% higher compared with Danish conventional pig production but, due to the integration of grass-clover in the organic crop rotations these had an estimated net soil carbon sequestration. When carbon sequestration was included in the LCA then the organic systems had lower green house gas emissions compared with the conventional pig production. Eutrophication in nitrate equivalents per kg pig was 21-65% higher in the organic pig systems and acidification was 35-45% higher per kg organic pig compared with the conventional system. We conclude that even though the all free range system theoretically has agro-ecological advantages over the indoor fattening system and the tent system due to a larger grass-clover area this potential is difficult to implement in practice due to problems with leaching on sandy soil. Only if forage can contribute a larger proportion of the pigfeed-uptake may the free range system be economically and environmentally competitive. Improvement of nitrogen cycling and efficiency is the most important factor for reducing the overall environmental load from organic pig meat. Presently a system with pig fattening in stables and concrete covered outdoor runs seems to be the best solution from an environmental point of view.
EPrint Type: Journal paper Keywords: Agroecology, Life cycle assessment, Nutrient losses, Organic, Pig production Subjects: Animal husbandry > Production systems > Pigs Research affiliation: Denmark > DARCOF II (2000-2005) > II. 9 (PIGSYS) New systems in organic pig production
Denmark > AU - Aarhus University > AU, DJF - Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Denmark > ICROFS - International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems
Deposited By: Hansen, Grethe ID Code: 16754 Deposited On: 11 Feb 2010 09:01 Last Modified: 11 Apr 2013 13:14 Document Language: English Status: Published Refereed: Peer-reviewed and accepted
Repository Staff Only: item control page | 3,321 | 1,664 | 0.000605 |
warc | 201704 | Macdonald, Janet and Campbell, Anne (2010).
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010, Edited by:, 3-4 May 2010, Aalborg, Denmark .
PDF (Version of Record) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (212Kb)
URL: http://www.networkedlearningconference.org.uk/ Google Scholar: Look up in Google Scholar Abstract
Professional development has long been associated with the provision of events or alternatively of accredited courses, often supplemented by texts or websites. At the same time we are aware that much of what is learnt about university teaching happens 'on the job' as staff try out new approaches, or meet each other for a chat in the corridor. In a distance environment such ad hoc arrangements are less likely to take place particularly for part-time staff, and both online courses and informal communities have a particular role in joining staff who otherwise have little opportunity to meet.
We have been exploring the opportunities for harnessing the potential of peer learning in two online professional development courses at the Open University (UK) both of which are concerned with the adoption of new online tools for teaching and learning. This paper describes a case study of the two initiatives which deliver professional development at scale: some 2000 staff have undertaken the courses to date, including an astonishing 1000 staff over the last 12 months. We discuss some of the lessons we have learnt on the reasons for the widespread success of these initiatives and some of the factors influencing effective engagement on the courses. We have demonstrated the value of a near-synchronous strategy in a small cohort which enhances a sense of presence, while providing sufficient flexibility to accommodate working practices. An experiential approach which gives participants the opportunity to experience first hand the sense of being an online student is valued by many staff who are new to it, and it provides a safe environment in which to try out new techniques and tools and to reflect on what is a pressing concern for many staff. The affective, confidence building aspects of this experience seem to have been important to many participants. At the same time we have also found that a self study route can work for some individuals who value the added flexibility to work on their own. Further work will be needed to establish the extent to which the courses have resulted in new or enhanced working practices. But if we have succeeded in helping staff to develop the confidence to experiment for themselves, then this will have been a worthwhile endeavour.
Item Type: Conference Item Copyright Holders: 2010 Lancaster University Extra Information: Handbook and Abstracts for the Seventh International Conference on Networked Learning 2010
Editors: Lone Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Vivien Hodgson, Chris Jones, Maarten de Laat, David McConnell & Thomas Ryberg
ISBN: 978-1-86220-226-9
Keywords: professional development; teaching in higher education Academic Unit/Department: Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)
Other Departments > Other Departments
Other Departments
Item ID: 25301 Depositing User: Users 772 not found. Date Deposited: 15 Dec 2010 10:00 Last Modified: 06 Oct 2016 12:28 URI: http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/25301 Share this page: Download history for this item
These details should be considered as only a guide to the number of downloads performed manually. Algorithmic methods have been applied in an attempt to remove automated downloads from the displayed statistics but no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy of the figures. | 3,685 | 1,877 | 0.000535 |
warc | 201704 | DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: http://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2012.685177 Google Scholar: Look up in Google Scholar Abstract
Is language something to be ‘overcome’? In this discussion of education policy and research perspectives on bilingual children in England, the authors take as their starting point five questions about language diversity posed in 1973 by Dell Hymes. The authors review the history of mainstream school support for young bilingual learners in England and how policies and practices have contextualised the research agenda by framing bilingual learners in a monolingual curriculum and assessment structure. The authors consider how ethnographic studies in non-statutory, complementary schools and early years settings offer vantage points from which multilingualism is seen as a pedagogical resource rather than a problem. It is hoped that the discussion will prompt readers to consider the ‘problem’ of linguistic diversity in mainstream education wherever they are situated, and to consider what kinds of research methods would provide insights and solutions.
Item Type: Journal Article Copyright Holders: 2013 Taylor & Francis ISSN: 1747-7581 Keywords: early childhood education; educational policy; EAL; ethnography; primary school education; research methodology Academic Unit/Department: Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)
Interdisciplinary Research Centre: Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET)
Education Futures
Item ID: 31511 Depositing User: Rose Drury Date Deposited: 16 Jan 2012 12:36 Last Modified: 04 Oct 2016 11:12 URI: http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/31511 Share this page:
Altmetrics Scopus Citations | 1,831 | 1,024 | 0.000992 |
warc | 201704 | Monopoly is a game that many play. There are many different versions, such as those based on Disney, Star Wars, Star Trek and cartoon characters to name a few. The rules however are the same for every Monopoly game. The object is to be the wealthiest player.
Check to see that you have all the equipment. This includes a board, two dice, tokens, houses and 12 hotels. In addition, there are 16 chances and 16 community chest cards as well as 28 deed cards. Instructions should be in the box also.
Set up the game. Shuffle the cards for Chance and Community Chest and place them face down on the spots where they go on the board. Each person playing gets $1500 in cash: two $500's, two $100's, two $50's, six $20's, five $10's, five $5's, and five $1's. Pick a token and place it on the "Go" space. Roll the dice to see who goes first. The player with the highest number goes first.
Select one person to be the banker. The banker collects the money you pay to the bank, provides change to players and sells the deeds, houses and hotels.
Roll the dice and move your token the required number of spaces. Follow the instructions on the space you land. If you hit chance or community chest, pick a card and do what it says. This could be "Go to Jail," "Go" or a specific property. Alternatively, it may say you have won money or have to pay it. If you land on a property that nobody owns you can buy it. If somebody owns it, you need to pay the player who owns it the amount of rent the deed specifies.
Get out of jail by one of three methods. You can pay $50 on your next turn and get out, you can roll doubles and get out or you can use a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. However, you can only stay in jail for three turns. On the third turn you must pay the $50 to get out.
Land on "Free Parking." Although the official rules of Monopoly say that nothing happens when you land on this space, many people use it to collect money. The way you do this is that whenever you have to pay money to the bank for income taxes, to get out of jail or for any penalties, rather than paying the bank this money it goes into a pot in the middle of the board. When a player lands on "Free Parking," he collects this money.
Buy houses or hotels when you get a monopoly. A monopoly is when you have all the properties of one color. For example, "Boardwalk" and "Park Place" are a monopoly because they are dark blue. You have to buy houses equally. You can't buy two houses and place them both on "Boardwalk." One has to go on "Boardwalk" and the other on "Park Place." After you have bought four houses for each of the properties, you can than buy hotels. You can only put one hotel on each property.
Collect rent from the properties you own. Every time a player lands on a property you own, you collect rent. The amount depends on several things. If you have just one of the color group, you collect the rent that is on the deed. If you own all the properties in the color group, then you collect double the rent that is on the deed. If you have houses or hotels on the property, then you collect the rent that is on the deed for the number of houses you have on the property.
Win the game. When all the other players go bankrupt, you win the game. However, there are other ways to win. You can set a time limit and the player with the most money wins. Alternatively, when the first player goes bankrupt, whoever has the most money wins. If you are playing the game and counting who has the most money, you need to include properties, houses, hotels and get out of jail free cards. | 3,593 | 1,585 | 0.000637 |
warc | 201704 | The opinion of the court was delivered by: Magistrate Judge Carlson
I. Statement of Facts and of the Case
In this case we are now called upon to write the final chapter in the sad coda to a government service career spanning more than three decades. Currently pending before the Court is plaintiff Monica O'Donnell's third motion for sanctions against defendants and their counsel. (Doc. 103) This motion arises out of an extraordinary and troubling circumstance, the unilateral decision of government defense counsel to elect to take a European vacation in May 2011, at a time when counsel was scheduled for a pre-trial conference and trial before this Court, coupled with the wholesale failure of counsel to disclose this scheduling conflict to the Court, opposing counsel and her own supervisors for a span of almost five months.
We have already determined that this fundamental breach of counsel's professional obligations, which occurred after counsel had previously been cited in this case for other professional misconduct, see, O'Donnell v. Department of Corrections, No. 09-1173, 2011 WL 398399 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 4, 2011), warrants some sanction, in the form of an attorney's fee award. See O'Donnell v. Department of Corrections, No. 09-1173, 2011 WL 3163230 (M.D. Pa. July 26, 2011). Because the facts of this matter have been fully discussed, and are fully familiar to the parties, we will not re-state them at length in this opinion. We are compelled, however, to briefly address one belated factual assertion made by defense counsel in the latest filing in this case.
On September 19, 2011, defense counsel filed a brief in this matter which belatedly claimed that these sanctions proceedings were improper because defense counsel had been denied due process, by being denied notice and an opportunity to be heard. (Doc. 183) This is an extraordinary assertion. In fact, there is, perhaps, some unintended irony to this belated claim, since defense counsel provided the Court and the parties in this litigation absolutely no notice of her intention to forego the pre-trial conference and trial preparation in this case in May of 2011, but now complains that she received inadequate notice of these sanctions proceedings, proceedings which stemmed from her wholesale failure to provide any notice of material facts to the Court and opposing counsel.
In any event, this belated claim has no merit. While "the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires a federal court to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard before sanctions are imposed on a litigant or attorney," Martin v. Brown, 63 F.3d 1252, 1262 (3d Cir. 1995), it is clear that the requirements of due process are fully met when, "the party against whom sanctions are being considered [receives notice] of the legal rule on which the sanctions would be based, the reasons for the sanctions, and the form of the potential sanctions." In re Tu Tu Wells Contamination Litigation, 120 F.3d 368, 379 (3d Cir. 1995).*fn1
These due process requirements were fully met in this case. At the outset, counsel had ample notice of the her rights and responsibilities in connection with this sanctions matter, because this was, sadly, the second sanctions proceedings which the Court had been compelled to conduct in this case. See O'Donnell v. Department of Corrections, No. 09-1173, 2011 WL 398399 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 4, 2011). In any event, this Court's orders of May 10 and 12, 2011, plainly gave counsel notice of the basis for this sanctions hearing and an opportunity to be heard. (Docs. 98 and 101) Indeed, those orders set both briefing and hearing schedules for any sanctions motion, thereby ensuring both notice and a full opportunity to be heard for defense counsel. (Id.)
The plaintiff's sanctions motion then provided defense counsel with further notice of these proceedings, and specifically placed counsel on notice that the plaintiff was seeking sanctions both in the form of relief which would effect the outcome of this litigation, as well as financial penalties of up to $2,500. (Docs. 103 and 104)
In fact, the initial response of defense counsel to this sanctions motion utterly belies her current claim that she was denied notice of the allegations against her. Prior to the June 10, 2011, hearing conducted in this case, defense counsel filed several detailed responses to this motion, responses which amply illustrated that counsel was entirely aware of the legal and factual grounds for these proceedings. (Docs. 107, 108, and 111)*fn2
The Court then provided defense counsel a further opportunity to be heard on June 10, 2011, at a hearing conducted by the Court. (Doc. 116) Following this hearing, the Court allowed additional opportunities for factual submissions, (Doc. 117), and briefing of this matter by the parties. (Doc.136.) Indeed, when defense counsel requested further time to reply to aspects of this sanctions petition, (Doc. 182), we granted this request, providing defense counsel additional time to frame a response to this sanctions motions. (Doc. 183) It is only after months of litigation, and after affording defense counsel numerous opportunities to be heard on this matter, that we first learned that counsel believed that she had been denied due process.
We reject this claim. It is clear beyond any reasonable dispute that defense counsel had ample notice of this matter, and was afforded multiple opportunities to be heard. Defense counsel was also on notice from prior sanctions litigation, and from the plaintiff's's motion for sanctions, that financial sanctions of as much as $2,500 might be sought by the plaintiff in this case. Therefore, the due process requirements of notice and an opportunity to be heard were fully satisfied here, the due process claims belatedly advanced by counsel are meritless, and they will be denied.*fn3
Having addressed this threshold factual assertion, and having previously found sanctionable misconduct by defense counsel which warrants a financial penalty in the form of attorney's fees, see O'Donnell v. Department of Corrections, No. 09-1173, 2011 WL 3163230 (M.D. Pa. July 26, 2011), we now turn to the assessment of these fees.
1. Principles Governing Assessment of Fees ... | 6,252 | 2,581 | 0.000389 |
warc | 201704 | The opinion of the court was delivered by: Stengel, J.
The United States brought this action on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") under the Public Health Services Act ("PHSA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 264*fn1 and 271,*fn2 and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ("FDCA"), 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(a),*fn3 343(e)(1) and (i)(1),*fn4 against Mr. Daniel Allgyer, an individual doing business as Rainbow Acres Farm for the sale and distribution of unpasteurized (or "raw") milk. On December 6, 2011, the government filed this motion for summary judgment. For the reasons stated below, I will grant the motion.
On April 19, 2011, the United States filed its Complaint alleging that Mr. Allgyer is the owner and operator of a dairy farm located in Kinzers, Pennsylvania known as Rainbow Acres Farm. Government's Statement of Undisputed Facts at ¶ 3 ("Doc. #22-2") citing Declaration of Kirk D. Sooter, District Director, Philadelphia District Office, FDA ("Sooter Decl.") ¶¶ 5, 15; Exhibit F; Answer to Complaint for Permanent Injunction ("Answer"). As the owner, Mr. Allgyer has authority over all of the manufacturing and distributing done by Rainbow Acres Farm and has engaged in, and continues to engage in, the milking, packaging, labeling, selling, and distributing of unpasteurized cow milk in interstate commerce for human consumption in violation of the PHSA and FDCA. Id. citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 4, 6, 11-12, 15-17, 20, 23-24; Exhibit E*fn6 ; Answer ¶ 3.
From 2009 through 2011, the FDA conducted a two-year undercover investigation into Mr. Allgyer's operations. Id. The bulk of this investigation consisted of placing orders for Rainbow Acres' raw milk online through a Yahoo! group named "grassfedonthehill." Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 4 citing Sooter Decl. ¶ 11; Exhibit E. Buyers were required to join grassfedonthehill to purchase products from defendant. Id. citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 6-7; Exhibit A. The grassfedonthehill website describes grassfedonthehill as a "group . . . created to support and organize the delivery of grass fed (no antibiotics or hormones) Raw Dairy and Meat to the Greater Washington, DC area." Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 4 citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 6-7; Exhibit A. The website also listed delivery locations in Maryland and the greater D.C. area, and warned members to "not share information" about the group with government agencies or doctors. Id. The website identified Mr. Allgyer as grassfedonthehill's farmer. Customers must sign agreements to join the Communities Alliance for Responsible Eco-farming ("CARE") group "in order to protect [the] farm . from the ongoing harassment" by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.*fn7 Id.
Mr. Allgyer states that he is the not owner or in control of the organization grassfedonthehill. Defendant's Response to the Motion for Summary Judgment at 1 ("Response"). However, Rainbow Acres Farm sold its raw milk online through that organization for $6 per gallon and $3.25 per half-gallon. Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 5 citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 6-7; Exhibit A; see also Answer at ¶ 3. Mr. Allgyer also states that he is not the owner or in control of the CARE organization. Response at 1. But Mr. Allgyer signed the CARE Membership Agreement, Sooter Decl. ¶ 8; Exhibit B; Exhibit C, as well as the CARE Membership Contract, Sooter Decl. ¶ 9; Exhibit D, which provide that Mr. Allgyer will enter into a cow share or lease agreement. Farmer Member and Community Member Private Contract at ¶ 5 ("CARE Contract").
Following the purchasing and pick-up instructions on the Rainbow Acres Farm website, the FDA purchased and paid for 23 gallon and half-gallon containers of raw milk, which were tested at an independent laboratory and confirmed to be unpasteurized.*fn8
Doc. # 22-2 at ¶¶ 4-5 citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 11-12; Exhibit E. After securing a warrant, the FDA inspected Rainbow Acres Farm and collected evidence that Mr. Allgyer was engaged in milking cows and packaging the unpasteurized milk in unlabeled containers for delivery out of state.*fn9 Id. citing Sooter Decl. ¶¶ 14-16; Exhibit F.*fn10 Following the inspection, the FDA sent Mr. Allgyer a warning letter dated April 20, 2010, which informed Mr. Allgyer of his various violations enforced by federal law and the possible legal repercussions for failing to adhere to those laws. Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 14; see also Answer at ¶ 2; Response at 5-6.
After receiving the warning letter, Mr. Allgyer posted on the Farm's website stating that the government was trying to "shut [him] down," but that he was going to continue selling raw milk by "leasing" his cows through a private organization.*fn11 Doc. #22-2 at ¶¶ 16-17 citing Sooter Decl. ¶ 20; Exhibit H. On May 6, 2010, grassfedonthehill emailed its members a message stating that, with the change over to the Rawsome Club, Mr. Allgyer was making deliveries on Monday and Thursday by 4:00 p.m. Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 18 citing Sooter Decl. ¶ 22; Exhibit J.
On September 28, 2011, FDA investigators accessed the Rainbow Acres Farm website and found that Mr. Allgyer continues to offer unpasteurized milk for direct human consumption to out-of-state consumers under the name "Rainbow Valley Farms."*fn12 Doc. #22-2 at ¶ 20 citing Sooter Decl. ¶ 24; Exhibit K.
From 1974 to 1982, the FDA collected and evaluated scientific and medical information and data to determine if the outbreak of certain diseases was associated with the consumption of raw milk. The FDA worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"), a branch of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), and encouraged the states to test milk and milk products for bacteria or microorganisms and to report outbreaks of milk-borne disease to the CDC. See Public Citizen v. Heckler, 653 F. Supp. 1229, 1232 (D.D.C. 1986); Oyarzo v. Md. Dep't of Health & Mental Hygiene, 187 Md. App. 264, 278 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2009); Consumers Union v. Alta-Dena Certified Dairy, 4 Cal. App. 4th 963, 6 Cal. Rptr. 2d 193 (1st App. Dist. 1992).
On August 10, 1987, the FDA's final rule on the debate over the regulation of raw milk became effective, codified at 21 C.F.R. § 1240.6. The Rule provides:
No person shall cause to be delivered into interstate commerce or shall sell, otherwise distribute, or hold for sale or other distribution after shipment in interstate commerce any milk or milk product in final package form for direct human consumption unless the product has been pasteurized or is made ... | 6,651 | 2,957 | 0.000351 |
warc | 201704 | United States District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
MEMORANDUM
WILLIAM W. CALDWELL, District Judge.
I.
Introduction
Cyril Smith, an inmate at the United States Prison in Canaan, Pennsylvania, has filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging convictions entered against him in 2007 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A jury convicted Petitioner of eight offenses, and the petition challenges two of them: two counts of killing someone while engaged in a drug-trafficking crime, Counts Two and Six of the superseding indictment. The drug-trafficking crime was a conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine, heroin and cocaine from 1998 to 2002, charged in Count I of the superseding indictment. Petitioner is serving a sentence of life imprisonment. His convictions were affirmed on direct appeal.
United States v. Smith, 348 F.Appx. 636 (2d Cir. 2009)(nonprecedential).
Smith has failed to show that a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention. His § 2241 petition will therefore be summarily dismissed for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts, 28 U.S.C.A. foll. § 2254 (West Supp.).
[1]
II.
Discussion
"A motion to vacate sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 is the means to collaterally challenge a federal conviction or sentence, "
Massey v. United States, 581 F.3d 172, 174 (3d Cir. 2009), and the motion must be presented to the sentencing court. See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a)(providing that a defendant "may move the court which imposed the sentence"). The defendant may only invoke section 2241 when he shows under section 2255's "safety valve" provision in section 2255(e), that the remedy under section 2255 would be "inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention." 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e). "A § 2255 motion is inadequate or ineffective only where the petitioner demonstrates that some limitation of scope or procedure would prevent a § 2255 proceeding from affording him a full hearing and adjudication of his wrongful detention claim." Cradle v. United States ex rel. Miner, 290 F.3d 536, 538 (3d Cir. 2002). "Section 2255 is not inadequate or ineffective merely because the sentencing court does not grant relief, the one-year statute of limitations has expired, or the petitioner is unable to meet the stringent gatekeeping requirements of the amended § 2255." Id. at 539. [2] Rather, the "safety valve" under section 2255 is extremely narrow and has been held to apply only in unusual situations, such as those in which a prisoner has had no prior opportunity to challenge his conviction for conduct later deemed to be non-criminal by an intervening change in law. Okereke v. United States, 307 F.3d 117, 120 (3d Cir. 2002)(citing In re Dorsainvil, 119 F.3d 245, 251 (3d Cir. 1997)). If a defendant improperly challenges his federal conviction or sentence under section 2241, the petition must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Application of Galante, 437 F.2d 1164, 1165 (3d Cir. 1971); Hill v. Williamson, 223 F.Appx. 179, 180 (3d Cir. 2007)(nonprecedential).
Citing
Bryant v. Warden, 738 F.3d 1253 (11th Cir. 2013), Smith argues that he can rely on section 2241 because he claims he is actually innocent of the sentences imposed on Counts Two and Six. Bryant does stand for the proposition that in certain circumstances section 2241 can be used to challenge a sentence, specifically a sentence beyond the statutory maximum. Id. at 1281. However, that case is distinguishable. Although Petitioner frames his 2241 petition as a challenge to his sentences, a review of his arguments reveals he is really challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the convictions. See Doc. 1-1, ECF pp. 1-28. Petitioner thus cannot rely on Byrant to invoke section 2241 even if we were willing to rely on Eleventh Circuit law.
We add that Petitioner did present the arguments he raises here to the sentencing court, the Southern District of New York, by way of a 2255 motion. That court denied relief,
Smith v. United States, No. 05-CR-922, 2011 WL 2207520 (S.D.N.Y. June 6, 2011), reconsideration denied, 2012 WL 1036072 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 27, 2012), and the Second Circuit denied a certificate of appealability. Smith v. United States, No. 12-2027 (2d Cir. Oct. 3, 2012).
Petitioner has requested that if we deny relief, we grant him a certificate of appealability. Petitioner is advised that he needs no certificate of appealability to appeal an order denying a 2241 petition.
See Burkey v. Marberry, 556 F.3d ... | 4,734 | 2,179 | 0.000467 |
warc | 201704 | Families, caregivers, charities and research groups across the United States observe September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. In the U.S., almost 13,000 children under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer every year. The survival rate is an impressive 80%, but that’s not enough. A diagnosis turns the lives of the entire family upside down and the effects of a successful treatment can linger long after the disease has been treated. Childhood Cancer Awareness Month spotlights pediatric cancer, survivor programs, and most importantly, it raises awareness and necessary funds for research and family support. | 626 | 381 | 0.002654 |
warc | 201704 | In the blink of an eye, disasters can alter a family’s normal routine. Neighborhood streets can be closed because of large debris or downed power lines.
In times like this, it is crucial for a family to have a plan to reunite and meet at a safe location.
In observance of National Preparedness Month this September, the Oklahoma State Department of Health encourages families to create a plan for both adults and children to follow.
OSDH also encourages families to have a basic emergency kit consisting of water, snacks, first-aid kit, flashlight, batteries, prescription medicine and important paperwork.
Add a few simple kid-friendly supplies such as books, games, a favorite toy or comfort item and medical items such as infant/child fever reducer to the kit. Those with babies should consider a three-day supply of formula, diapers, antibacterial wipes, non-perishable baby food and sealable plastic bags for soiled items.
Darrell Eberly, OSDH emergency manager, said those with medical conditions and disabilities should consider any unique needs.
“If you have or care for someone with a disability, or access and functional needs, it’s especially important to include needed supplies, equipment and medications as part of your planning efforts,” said Eberly.
“If evacuating from the home is necessary, it is important to take medication and specialty equipment such as hearing aids, oxygen, a wheelchair, diabetic supplies, food for a special diet, and supplies for a service animal.”
OSDH and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer the additional following tips for families preparing for disasters:
Show each family member how and when to turn off the water, gas, and electricity at the main switches. Teach each family member how to use the fire extinguisher, and show them where it’s kept. Practice your plan by quizzing your kids periodically and conduct fire and other emergency drills. Check your emergency supplies throughout the year to replace batteries, food, and water as needed. Plan alternate ways to charge communication and assistive technology devices if there is loss of power. Plan for medication requiring refrigeration. Check with your mobile carrier for options on wireless emergency alerts being delivered to your cell phone or other device.
To access multi-language videos on the subject, visit the OSDH YouTube channel and select the Preparedness playlist.Families may begin preparing for disasters by downloading, printing and completing a family plan by visiting www.ready.gov.
For more tips and information, like the OSDH Emergency Preparedness Response Service page on Facebook. | 2,682 | 1,359 | 0.000749 |
warc | 201704 | Our officials should be accountable for waste
Oregon is a big-hearted state willing to fund a quality education for our precious children, and lifesaving services for the poor, elderly and disabled. We have invested many years of hard work in developing programs to enhance our quality of life, and now we see our hopes, dreams and hard work crumbling before our very eyes.
On the other hand, state government has become increasingly intrusive and confiscatory, weighted down by a bloated Public Employee Retirement System, whose beneficiaries are virtually the only financial backers of a campaign to persuade us to raise our taxes.
Oregonians have a long history of stepping up to the plate to fund bond measures and levies to pay for schools, parks, fire, police and more.
As a reward for our faithfulness, we have seen cost overruns, a $12 billion PERS deficit, $1.4 billion lost in uncollected debt owed to the state, $700,000 wasted by the Oregon Lottery, horrifying waste uncovered in an audit of the Oregon Department of Education, the Department of Human Services faulted for managers awarding bonuses to themselves and awarding millions in contracts without required documentation and reporting requirements, $4.3 million of Oregon Health Plan funds going to those not eligible to receive them, and on and on.
Our government has failed to respect the personal sacrifices we have each made to fund these programs.
We must face the fact that our sluggish economy cannot produce the necessary revenues to fund state government as it exists today. The recession is causing taxpayer wages to shrink rapidly, yet state government is expected to grow about 5 percent Ñ even without the tax hike of Measure 28. This simply means that government is growing faster than our ability to pay for it.
We really have only one shot at preserving the programs we value without heaping additional burdens on our families and businesses, thereby weakening the fragile economy even further. We must cut government waste and institute zero-based budgeting and work to simplify, rather than expand, the state bureaucracy.
A yes vote on Measure 28 will only indicate to our legislators that we can solve any bureaucratic mismanagement by grabbing more money from taxpayers. A no vote, however, will force the political establishment to stand up and face the difficult task ahead.
Jason Williams is executive director of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon. | 2,458 | 1,289 | 0.000781 |
warc | 201704 | How does feminism shake up political science, the study of politics and electoral politics? What difference do feminist political scientists and politicians make to political institutions, policy processes and outcomes? The scholarship and activism of pioneering feminist political scientist Professor Joni Lovenduski helped establish these questions on the political science agenda.
This book addresses key themes in Lovenduski’s seminal work. State-of-the-art chapters by leading scholars cover gender and parties; elected institutions and the state; quotas and recruitment; public opinion and women’s interests. Vignettes by prominent politicians and practitioners, including Dame Anne Begg MP, Baroness Gould, Deborah Mattinson, and the Rt Hon Theresa May, bring the academic analysis to life.
Deeds and Words reveals the impact of feminist interventions on politics in the round. Its groundbreaking assessment of feminist scholarship and politics offers an appraisal of, and fitting tribute to, Lovenduski’s own contribution to gender studies and feminist politics.
' Deeds and Words shows how feminist scholarship has exposed the gender underpinnings of electoral and political institutions – and how it has helped change political science, and politics itself. This well-conceived volume does full justice to the work of renowned scholar Joni Lovenduski, a pioneer in studying women and politics, whose career has been devoted to understanding and promoting the issues and reforms these essays examine.'
Susan J Carroll, Rutgers University
'This fine book traces the evolution of gendered analyses of politics, captures the latest advances in the field, and links the expanding research agenda to the continuing challenges of gendering political life. It is a major contribution.'
Anne Phillips, London School of Economics and Political Science
'For this volume, top-notch scholars and leading practitioners reflect carefully on feminist scholarship in politics and political science, in recognition of Professor Joni Lovenduski, whose seminal work laid the foundations for comparative gender politics. A book that will stay within quick reach on my bookshelf.'
Miki Caul Kittilson, Arizona State University
'This book is tangible evidence of Joni Lovenduski’s powerful impact on the development of gender and politics scholarship. Deeds and Words is not only a heartwarming testament to an outstanding scholar who proved that scientific excellence and social engagement go hand in hand; it will also prove an enduring reference for the topics and issues it addresses.'
Petra Meier, University of Antwerp
'This volume is an impressive tribute to the significance and influence of the scholarship and feminist politics of Professor Joni Lovenduski. It also demonstrates how far feminist political science has come theoretically and empirically within the UK, and globally, under Lovenduski's scrupulous and generous guidance. Edited by two of Lovenduski’s protégées, this work brings together a range of experts, from the academy and the real world of politics, each of whom traverses the intellectual development and practical implications of the subfield’s strands across time and space. The chapters reveal a diverse, compelling and growing body of feminist scholarship that has continuously challenged traditional disciplinary concepts (power, the state, representation), the nature of institutions and interests, and methodological choice, demanding these incorporate a consideration of gender and feminism in all their complexity. The result is a rich and valuable tapestry of what has come to constitute feminist political science, and reflecting Lovenduski’s foundational contribution. Deeds and Words represents an important source of what now must constitute a core subfield of political science.'
Jennifer Curtin, University of Auckland
Review by Elin Bjarnegård in the journal European Political Science (Palgrave), published 5 June 2015
Deeds and Words: Gendering Politics
after Joni Lovenduski is a
Festschrift in honour of Joni Lovenduski’s
pioneering work in the field of
gender and politics. It is a fine tribute to
an influential scholar, who has greatly
contributed to the growth, consolidation
and direction of this sub-discipline.
As emphasized in its title, the book also
seeks to link the words of feminist scholars
to deeds and actual feminist policy
influence, in the spirit of Lovenduski’s own
engagement with practical politics. The
book addresses key themes in Lovenduski’s
seminal work in a series of chapters
written by leading scholars coupled with
vignettes written by practitioners and
politicians.
The themes addressed span the wide
field of gender and politics scholarship in
the United Kingdom and beyond. Broad
chapters such as Vicky Randall’s account
of the long project of gendering political
science and Yvonne Galligan’s systematic
review of the comparative study of politics
and gender in political behaviour, institutional
approaches and policy analyses
provide overviews of the development
of the field across time and space. The
more focussed contributions, such as
Meryl Kenny’s chapter on political recruitment,
Pippa Norris and Mona Lena Krook’s
on electoral gender quotas, and Peter
Allen, Rosie Campbell and Ana Espírito-
Santo’s chapter on women’s political
interests demonstrate more concretely
the theoretical and empirical advances,
and challenges that the field is presently
preoccupied with. The vignettes accompanying
these more focussed chapters
illustrate the real world politics of the
issues at hand and provide relevant illustrations
of the academic puzzles. They are
particularly useful when they explicitly
comment on, or use the same language
as, the preceding chapter. This is the case
in Dame Anne Begg’s account of her personal
experiences being recruited to an
All-Woman shortlist, which she frames in
the terms ‘supply and demand’ also used
to structure Kenny’s chapter (and, indeed,
the literature on recruitment more
broadly). The editors of the book, Rosie
Campbell and Sarah Childs, who look upon Lovenduski as an important mentor
and dear friend, add a personal touch to
the introduction and conclusion. The
result as a whole is a book that is a rare
presentation of not just research, but of
the development of a research field, complete
with the engagement and struggles
it entails – but also shedding light on the
important friendships and networks that
form part of any long-term research
endeavour. As such, it is a true guidebook
to the field of gender and politics.
The link between deeds and words is an
inspiring and refreshing look at what academia
can accomplish in real world politics,
and perhaps the most important
contribution of the book. It is particularly
successful when it is also integrated into
the scholarly chapters. Two chapters
stand out here: the chapter on the words
and deeds of RNGS by Amy E. Mazur and
Dorothy G. McBride, and the chapter on
the critical mass theory in public and
scholarly debates by Drude Dahlerup.
Mazur and McBride present the work,
methods and findings of the Research
Network on Gender, Politics and the State
(RNGS). They also explicitly link these
findings to concrete policy influence of
different kinds: recommendations for a
stronger women’s policy agency presence
in the US federal government presented
to the Obama administration; participation
in writing reports from a UN Expert
Group Meeting on ‘Equal Participation of
Women and Men in Decision-making Processes’;
and the development of a pamphlet
on how to make gender equality
mechansims work, targeting women’s
policy agency staff (to name a few). Dahlerup’s
contribution points to the complexity
of the interaction between scholarly
words and practical deeds.While the scholarly
discussion about the need for a ‘critical
mass’ in women’s representation has
primarily aimed to highlight the conditions
that women often face when they enter
male-dominated environments in small
numbers, the concept of ‘critical mass’ has
had a life of its own among practitioners.
Quota advocates around the world have
frequently claimed that research has
shown that at least 30 per cent women in
parliament is needed for women to be able
to make a difference. Despite the fact that
research on the critical mass has been
misinterpreted, it has been a very useful
practical tool, leading to a large number of
countries adopting quotas and passing the
30 per cent threshold. Ironically, because
it has already been used to influence policy,
researchers can finally start testing the
critical mass hypothesis.
The advances of the field are, as they
should be, at the forefront of this book.
Such a summary of the progress of a
research field is also an opportunity for
identifying challenges. The highlighted
need for interaction between research
and practice remains a constant challenge
and motivator for feminist researchers.
Another challenge, where perhaps less
has been accomplished, is the bridging
between gendered political science and
‘mainstream’ political science. The growth
and expansion of the field of gender and
politics is impressive and it is by now a
strong and vibrant sub-field of political
science. Many contributors, however,
highlight the fact that the bridge to mainstream
political science is still too much of
a one-way street. Feminist scholarship
builds on challenging traditional concepts
and findings in political science. The chapters
about political institutions (Fiona
Mackay), political parties (Sarah Childs
and Rainbow Murray) and policy (Joyce
Outshoorn and Jennifer Rubin) clearly
show how gendered research builds on
existing mainstream research, demonstrating
that what has been presented as
a general theory has in fact been based on
a male norm. Political institutions, formal
and informal, have gendered cultures with
different consequences for men and
women. Despite this fact, a large part of
mainstream political scientists are yet to
be convinced that explicit and thorough gender analyses are needed for political
research to be relevant.
The challenge for the field of gender and
politics, having now established itself as
an important field of research in its own
right, is now to reach out beyond its own
tightly knit network to other sub-disciplines.
This challenge, too, is in line with
Lovenduski’s idea as cited on Page 87:
‘Finally, I am once again to draw attention
of political scientists to the importance of
gender to the study of politics. I hope this
intervention will not only inform and
extend discussion of the methods that
best achieve equality of women’s representation
and provides research for its
advocates, but also add to the pressure
to incorporate gender into the mainstream
of political science’.
Review in the LSE Review of Books by Muireann O'Dwyer, published December 2014
'Though it is a collection of essays from some of the leading scholars from feminist political science, Deeds and Words is more than a review of the field. While it does indeed offer an excellent overview of the key contributions to feminist political science, and would therefore be a useful read for any students of gender and politics, there are two core arguments present in this volume that make it much more than a textbook. Firstly it shows the need for interaction between research and activism, and secondly it demonstrates the continuing need for the process of bringing gender into the political science mainstream. It is fitting then, that the collection aims to celebrate Joni Lovenduski, a feminist political scientist who contributed so much to those two aims.
In their chapter on “Gender and Political Institutions”, Fiona Mackay, Faith Armitage and Rosa Malley discuss the interaction between feminist political science and new institutionalism. This chapter highlights the potential for developing a distinctively feminist institutionalism – a way of exploring, explaining and testing the gendered nature of institutions, or the “rules of the game”. Feminist institutionalism incorporates study of both formal rules and structures and the informal side of institutions. It shows how both aspects of institutions can be gendered, whether that means rules which exclude or inhibit women’s participation, or informal expectations of behaviour that are built on gendered assumptions. This chapter offers two highly illustrative examples of the feminist institutionalist approach: Armitage’s work on the Office of the Speaker in Westminster and Malley’s comparative study of inclusion at Westminister and the Scottish Parliament. These cases highlight how the application of a gender lens can deepen understandings of the functioning of critical political institutions. As this chapter argues, the feminist institutional approach is one of great potential for feminist political scientists seeking to explore the expressions of power both within and on behalf of political institutions.
Among Lovenduski’s many contributions is her work in the establishment of the Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State – the RNGS. Amy G. Mazur and Dorothy E. McBride discuss this work in their chapter of the same name. This project draws upon many of the approaches within feminist political science, including feminist institutionalism, gender and comparative politics, state feminism and gender and representation. The project is characterised by rigorous empirical work, combining methods both qualitative and quantitative, as well as a commitment to translating the findings from such work into practical, and usable information that can influence policy, activism and politics. The RNGS project produced several influential reports and briefing papers, including a “User’s Guide” for the implementation of gender equality mechanisms which contains concrete advice for the adoption of best practice in this area. The project has also been truly global, with research and dissemination crossing national boundaries, and engaging with national, supranational and international actors. As such, the project exemplifies some of the finest characteristics of Lovenduski’s career – a focus on collaboration, consistent engagement with activism, as well as a commitment to the highest standards of research.
One of the innovations of this book is the inclusion of several “vignettes” – short pieces contributed by policy makers, activists and politicians. These vignettes were contributed by women working within politics – women such as Conservative Party MP Theresa May, Baroness Howe, Labour Party MP Dame Anne Begg and policy activists such as Mary-Ann Stephenson. Stephenson’s vignette discusses her work with the Fawcett society. This is a story that illustrates the need for engagement between feminist political scientists and activists, with each informing and supporting the work of the other. The Fawcett Society relied on empirical work on women’s voting behaviour in order to advance its claims in mainstream political contestation. In particular, it was the work of feminist activists, key amongst them Lovenduski herself, which informed the campaign to make all women shortlists a legal reality. In another vignette, Baroness Howe brings her experience of working with many public bodies, including the Equal Opportunities Commission. By drawing on her extensive experience in public life, Baroness Howe is able to highlight several key moments where feminist research was combined with activism and an opportunity for change to advance anti-discrimination laws.
These vignettes transform the call for interaction between activism and the academy from rhetoric into reality, and offer inspiring examples of where such collaboration generated meaningful change. They offer a strong reminder that research can have profound, and if utilised correctly, hugely beneficial impacts in the real life practice of politics. It is this understanding of the work of feminist political scientists as comprising more than words, but deeds also, that runs through this book, and makes it so much more than a review of an academic field – it transforms into a call to action for feminists within and outside of the academy.
It would have been easy for a book of this type to amount to little more than a celebration. Celebration of Joni Lovenduski’s work is certainly appropriate and deserved, and it is important to recognise how far feminist political science has come in recent decades. But there is a real danger of the project of reviewing the development of the field to encourage complacency. In an era where gender is present as a variable in most political research, and grant applications often require a gender statement as standard, it can be all too tempting to believe that political science has been sufficiently gendered. This book takes care, however, to point out that the work is not nearly finished. The various chapters point out potential avenues for future work, as well as highlighting continued gaps and areas of gender blindness. Further, to look back over the work of recent decades should serve as inspiration to keep working, rather than to sit back. To see the influence that feminist political science has had is to see the influence it can have in the future. In the end, there can be no more fitting tribute to Joni Lovenduski’s work and career than to continue this work.' | 17,866 | 7,171 | 0.000144 |
warc | 201704 | 28-FEB-2013
Europe
European business leaders focus on building resilience, growing their customer base and improving operational effectiveness in the face of continuing economic uncertainty
The PwC economic projections show that Australia, Japan, North America and the more resilient members of the European Union, including Ireland, are anticipated to show gradual signs of recovery over the period.
These European findings have been extracted from the PwC 2013 Global CEO Survey and are launched at the 2013 IBEC CEO Conference today. The study highlights three overriding priorities that CEOs say they intend to focus on:
• First, targeting specific pockets of opportunity for organic growth, avoiding spreading their resources too thinly. For example, more of the CEOs plan to target growth in known markets rather than test new foreign markets;
• Next, maintaining a clear focus on the customer, taking active steps to stimulate demand, loyalty and innovation in their customer base – through mechanisms ranging from digital marketing platforms to collaborative R&D. For example, the number one investment priority is to grow the customer base and the top area for change is customer retention and loyalty strategies; and
• Finally, fine-tuning operational effectiveness by reducing costs without cutting value and collaborating with trusted partners. For example, improving operational effectiveness is a top investment priority for half of the CEOs. A similar proportion report that they will work with fewer trusted partners where the supply chain is concerned.
Ronan Murphy, Senior Partner, PwC Ireland commented: "Our survey shows that CEOs, globally and in Europe, are generally focusing on shorter term challenges; that they expect economic difficulties to continue, and that they are concerned about building resilience into their organisations – both to meet those challenges and seize future opportunities."
In their bid to keep their organisations 'resilient', all CEOs have a greater preference for growth opportunities in known markets (49%). European CEOs, however, report they have a greater preference for doing business in existing foreign markets (23%) compared to their global counterparts (17%). The countries favoured by the Europeans for such growth are the China, the US, Germany, Brazil and Russia. Slightly more of the Europeans are looking to grow through new M&As/joint ventures or strategic alliances compared to their global counterparts.
Speaking about the research results, Danny McCoy, Chief Executive Officer, IBEC, added:
"Weak growth in Europe and a fragile domestic economy remain the big worries for business in 2013. In Ireland business remains positive and we're seeing more companies successfully develop new export markets to off-set sluggish domestic demand. Surging international investment in the sovereign, banks and utilities demonstrates that those outside of Ireland have growing confidence in the Irish recovery. To build on these positive developments, we now need to see the broad European recovery taking hold and consumer confidence returning."
Other key findings include:
• European CEOs say they would cope slightly better if certain unplanned scenarios were to happen such as major social unrest, recession in the US, a cyber attach, a natural disaster or a health crisis. However, 65% of Europeans say that a break-up of the Eurozone would have a negative impact on their businesses compared to 53% globally;
• The top investment priorities are growing the customer base (51%), improving operational effectiveness (51%) and enhancing customer service (39%);
• Significant change is still on the agenda. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of European CEOs indicate that they plan to change their company's strategy over the next year. The areas identified for major changes are customer growth and retention (82%), organisational structure (72%), technology investments/innovation (69%), managing talent (65%) and the approach to risk management (57%).
• In terms of restructuring, more European CEOs are planning to outsource (Europe: 39%; global:31%) and complete a cross-border M&A (Europe:29%; global 26%).
In terms of threats to future business growth prospects, uncertain economic growth is by far the biggest concern for European CEOs (85%). In addition, they are more concerned (than their global counterparts) about the shift in consumer behaviour, the inability to finance growth and exchange rate volatility. Other key concerns are Government's response to the fiscal deficit and debt burden, over-regulation, increasing tax burdens and the availability of key skills. Interestingly, 40% of European CEOs said that the lack of trust in their industry could endanger their company's growth and a quarter (24%) reported supply chain disruption to be a potential threat.
Availability of key skills a concern
Nearly half (47%) of European CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills, their global counterparts are even more concerned (58%). All of the CEOs are looking to Government for help. More European CEOs, however, are turning to their government for such help – 63% say that creating and fostering a skilled workforce should be a government priority, compared to 57% globally.
At the same time, it is disappointing to see that less than a quarter (22%) of European CEOs say that they are prepared to invest and pay to fill the talent gaps in the next 12 months. However, it is reassuring that the top investment priority in the longer term (over the next three years) is creating and fostering a skilled workforce. CEOs remain relatively cautious on plans for increasing headcount for the coming year with a third (34%) of European CEOs planing to increase levels compared to 45% globally. In today's challenging environment, still over a third (36%) of European CEOs are planning to cut headcount in the next twelve months, against 23% globally.
Ronan Murphy concluded: "Resilience combines a short term ability to ride out the immediate impact of shocks, with the flexibility to 'future-proof' the organisation by adapting, over the longer term. Resilience is a quality that's becoming ever more important in today's highly connected world, where previously isolated risks have become both contagious and commonplace. As European businesses ride out the current uncertain period, the question is whether the actions being taken now will equip them to adapt, grow and seize future opportunities."
Contacts Johanna DehaeneHead of Corporate CommunicationsUnited Statesjohanna.dehaene@ie.pwc.com+353 1 792 6547 | 6,665 | 2,982 | 0.000339 |
warc | 201704 | Friday, October 9, 2009
Labels: DONE
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"'The Peace which passeth understanding' is a feeble translation of the content of this word."
- T.S. Eliot
Monday, October 5, 2009 Thursday, September 24, 2009
In Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility,” the second, less censored version of which I will primarily deal with here (1936), the concept of “aura” seems to thread its way in and out of multiple schools of media studies: aura becomes an index of diachronic shifts in “symbolic forms,” a synchronic marker of modern perceptual modes, and a key term in locating medium-specificity. What seems missing from the often one-dimensional treatment of Benjamin’s use of aura (it’s destroyed!) is the presence of a paradoxical investment in its positive potentialities. Tracking some of the modulations in the concept within the Artwork essay will more fully allow us speculate on the potential of aura within the mass media––the presence of which is much more apparent in the recently translated second version of the essay, as opposed to the now famous third version published in Illuminations ed. Arendt. What is accomplished in what Benjamin calls the liberation from industrial drudgery into a fantastic “playspace?” How much stress can we put on his depiction of the cinematic spectator going on “journeys of adventure” (117)? And, a question that I seem to be very personally invested in, can it be possible that vegging out can serve a revolutionary function?
Both Miriam Hansen, in her recent essay “Benjamin’s Aura” (2008) and Samuel Weber use as a common jumping off point the formulation of “aura” that has become most prevalent in critical discussions on Benjamin’s work. In the Artwork essay’s third and fourth sections, Benjamin refers to aura as “the unique appearance of a distance, however near it may be.” In a strange spatiotemporal convergence, spatial proximity to work of art entails a certain apprehension of the temporal distance or historicity, what Benjamin variously calls its “authenticity,” “historical testimony,” “the mark of history,” all of which must be encountered in the presence of “the here and now of the work of art—its unique existence in a particular place” (103). In this configuration of aura as a kind of uniqueness or authenticity, the profusion of reproductive technologies places the aura of the work of art in decline, a decline which Benjamin argues can be said to register new modes of perception in modernity. This is more or less the story we all know about the Artwork essay.
In Samuel Weber’s “Art, Aura, and Media in the Work of Walter Benjamin” (1992), he argues that the indexical relationship between aura’s decline and ephemeral shifts in sense perception sets up a series of binaries that are too often taken at face value, and that often do not hold up within the text: distance and nearness, ritual and politics, painting and cinematography, distraction and concentration, uniqueness and multiplicity, and so on. Weber’s essay performs a tactical collapse of these binaries when he calls into question the differentiation between the uniqueness of an auratic art object and the mass-like existence of a disseminated reproduction. Weber argues that aura is
neveritself, but always constituted in a process of self-detachment as demarcation of the self. The mountain scene, described by Benjamin in the third version of the essay as an “illustration,” and in both versions as illuminating the concept of aura, shows that distance and separation are already marked in the aura of the mountain scene by its shadows. (p.105 of Benjamin) “To follow with the eye—while resting on a summer afternoon—a mountain range on the horizon or a branch that casts its shadow on the beholder is to breathe the aura of those mountains, of that branch.” Weber argues that these shadows can be read as “marking the space within which the relation of subject to object takes place” (86). And, as Weber postulates, the decline of aura is then somewhat of a necessary condition of perception. The narrative of aura’s decline as a detachment from the authentic original “might well turn out to be part and parcel of [aura’s] mode of being. So understood, aura would name the undepictable de-piction of distancing and separation” (87). In this sense, the technological media reveal not a break in aesthetics, but rather an estrangement of a process that was always a necessary condition of aesthetic perception.
Similarly, if we look at the seemingly definitive line on p. 103: “The whole sphere of authenticity eludes technological—and of course not only technological—reproduction.” The problem is that, this section begins by explicitly saying that the work of art has
alwaysbeen reproducible, and towards the middle, that authenticity is itself defined by technological means: “chemical or physical analyses.” Further, after this line that authenticity eludes reproduction, in a footnote that is only included in the third version of the essay, Benjamin writes: “To be sure, a medieval picture of the Madonna at the time it was createdcould not yet be said to be ‘authentic.’ It became ‘authentic’ only during the succeeding centuries, and perhaps most strikingly so during the nineteenth” (as if aura is something cultivated). The diachronic narrative of auratic decline particular to modernity ends up functioning as a natural element of aesthetic perception, a separation of the object from itself.
Because aura is
neverattached to the unique existence of an art object, its existence in the age of technological reproducibility is not precluded, but rather, comes to take on greater political significance with the possibility of its synthetic production. This leads us to a second modulation in the concept of aura that must be tracked: In addition to these false polarizations, the revolutionary or utopian potential of “aura” that Benjamin gives more solid and confident treatment elsewhere (and masterfully tracked in Hansen’s essay) is shot through by reservations and caution throughout the Artwork essay. Hansen argues that this false polarization and attenuation of aura’s potentialities is “deliberately restrictive,” a sort of “sleight-of-hand” in order to protect them from what Benjamin calls the “aestheticizing of political life” under national socialism. Hansen writes: “one strategy of preserving the potentiality of aura, of being able to introduce the concept in the first place, was to place it under erasure, to mark it as constitutively belated and irreversibly moribund.” It was “a fetishistic deflection that would protect, as it were, the vital parts of the concept inasmuch as they were indispensable to the project of reconceptualizing experience in modernity” (356-7).
In an attempt to recover some of Benjamin’s investment in the potentialities of aura in mass media, Hansen complicates this first definition of aura with a perhaps more intuitive understanding of the term “as an elusive phenomenal substance, ether, or halo that surrounds a person or object of perception, encapsulating their individuality and authenticity” (340). Through a long archaeology of Benjamin’s work, Hansen amasses under the heading of this third category many different instances of the term aura that show it not as “an inherent property of persons or objects, but pertaining to the medium of perception, naming a particular structure of vision” (342). These include: aura as the logic of the trace in the clothing seen on subjects in photographic portraits, a sense that is reminiscent of Kracauer’s early essay on “Photography” wherein time uses the raw material of clothing to make an image of itself. Other instances in Benjamin’s work that Hansen aligns under this definition of aura as a perceptual mode include: the aura of the habitual or the everyday (358, 341), aura as resembling Roland Barthes’s notion of the “punctum” or the singular element in a photograph that one finds inexplicably fascinating, that “which pricks me but also bruises me, is poignant to me” (
Camera Lucida27), and aura as a sense of futurity, or a “spark that leaps across time” that “emerges in the field of the beholder’s compulsively searching gaze” (341). Benjamin himself refers to aura as a medium of perception in section IV of the Artwork essay when citing Alois Riegl’s research on the late Roman art industry as a methodological precursor to his own project: “Just as the entire mode of existence of human collectives changes over long historical periods, so too does their mode of perception. The way in which human perception is organized—the medium in which it occurs—is conditioned not only by nature but by history” (104).
But Hansen’s essay makes the crucial distinction that a medium of perception c
annot be conflated with a technological medium—any interpretation of the Artwork essay must keep this division consistently in view. Benjamin’s sense of a medium in which human perception is organized, Hansen writes, “proceeds from an older philosophical usage referring to an in-between substance or agency—such as language, writing, thinking, memory—that mediates and constitutes meaning.” The artwork essay seeks to use historical shifts in “aura” in order to define the perceptual modes specific to modernity. And yet paradoxically, Hansen argues, it is the technologicalmedia—film, photography, radio, and so on—that serve for Benjamin to crystallize what he refers to as “changes in the medium of present-day perception” (104). Herein lies one of the main difficulties in interpreting Benjamin’s Artwork essay. Aura, which is supposed to serve as the index against which the condition of modern sense perception can be registered, is simultaneously used in medium specific definitions of film and photography.
Thus, Benjamin’s synchronic formulation of aura in the mass media places
the technological apparatusand modes of perceptionin a causally ambiguous situation. If genuine aura, as Hansen writes, “contained structural elements that were indispensable to reimagining experience in a collective, secularized and technologically mediated form,” (357) are these potentialities to be located in the formal analysis of film’s physical support or in the social structures that organize themselves around these media?
One possible way we could talk about this coupling of technological apparatus with modes of perception is that it places Benjamin in a difficult relationship with Riegl, who frequently railed against aesthetic materialisms (such as those of Gottfried Semper). Riegl critiques the emphasis on raw materials and technics as asserting an overly deterministic role in the creation of art objects, allowing “‘technique’ to become interchangeable with ‘art’ itself and eventually to replace it. Only the naïve talked about ‘art’; experts spoke in terms of ‘technique’” (
Problems of Stylep. 4). But of course, Benjamin’s evocation of technological material or objects is hardly deterministic: as Hansen points out, for Benjamin the medium-specific difference between photography and film is less one of technological difference, than one of purely aesthetic choice (p. 349). ((that still frames can be sped up, cropped, and so on)) What I mean to say here is that it is not as simple as saying, for example, the personal computer has been invented and our perceptual faculties are now fundamentally altered as a result. Such a schema would leave no room for the political agency or subjective will that is indispensable to Benjamin’s project as a whole.
But, at the other end of the spectrum, I don’t think it’s possible to say that Benjamin’s investment in a revolutionary aura lies solely in the
factof technology’s mass scale. Benjamin does cite a “quantitative shift between the two poles” of production and reception, a sort of democratization of aesthetic production. In section 13 he writes: “Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its axiomatic character. The difference becomes functional. At any moment, the reader is ready to become a writer. As an expert—which he has had to become in any case in a highly specialized work process, even if only in some minor capacity—the reader gains access to authorship” (114). The mass-scale of the media opens up a space for release, from the apparatus of industrial production into that of the film. However, what Benjamin calls the space-for-play or Spielraumthat technology opens up is already, from the moment this essay was written, a space colonized by “film capital” and “fascism”. If aura has always named the endowment of an object with a value not its own, then the concept immediately offers itself up to violent mass mobilization and deadening commodity spectacle.
If you’ll permit me to apply some of Benjamin’s ambiguously subjective language, the question that wants desperately to be answered in the Artwork essay is, what is the nature of aura’s potentiality in the mass media that Benjamin places under erasure? The benefit of how the term is deployed here is that through some deep synthesis of the
materialsand the modeof perception, “aura” is able to name that which is “completely useless for the purposes of fascism,” and that which is “useful for the formation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art” (102). But at the same time, this leaves us with a set of incredibly difficult questions—because the space for play or Spielraumthat the media opens up for us has almost always been a space that fundamentally does not belong to us. And here I can’t help citing Sony’s motto for the Playstation: “live in your world, play in ours.” Benjamin is fundamentally not talking about the technological domination of nature, or a dumbing down of culture, or an opiate for the masses, and I think this is something very difficult to fully wrap our heads around. So, the difficult question remains: at what point were the mass media utopian, and under what conditions could they still be?
Labels: benjamin
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Since its publication in 2003, Jonathan Sterne's
The Audible Pasthas become a staple in the growing field of sound studies. A story about the development of sound-reproduction technologies, Sterne's book was one of the first in a now well-populated list of scholarship across many different disciplines that aims to rigorously examine sound as an historical, analytic, and philosophical category. Recently referencing The Audible Past on his blog, Sterne writes, I guess the main thing to say is that the book was written at a time where there wasn’t a whole pile of other contemporary scholarship on sound that was aware of OTHER scholarship on sound. So there is a lot of effort to think through what it means to talk about sound in the humanities and why that matters. I’m not sure someone starting a sonic project today has to do that kind of work or deal with that kind of problem.
The foundational status of this book may account for some of its slightly awkward moments. Neologisms such as the “Ensoniment” (as opposed to Enlightenment) take some getting used to, and continuous polemics against the “visual bias” in the humanities at times become redundant (and not always because the field of sound studies has since gained so much traction). But the conceptual trajectory of the book as a whole is so well organized, one which makes such a pointed intervention not only in the historiography of sound, but of technology in general, that the reader can easily overlook these faults.
The Audible Pastsurveys the history of––to name only a sample of the devices Sterne deals with in this book––the stethoscope, sound telegraphy, telephone, phonograph, graphophone, gramophone, headsets, recording studios, wax cylinders, and hearing aids. However, Sterne is careful to characterize the scope of his study as “a deliberately speculative history” (27). In the book's introduction, entitled “Hello!”, Sterne acknowledges the massive task facing the historian of sound-reproduction technologies. Rather than aspiring to any claims of exhaustiveness or finality, Sterne writes, “this book uses history as a kind of philosophical laboratory” (27), an approach that requires the book to “continually move between the immediate and the general, the concrete and the abstract” (29). From long forgotten aberrancies such as the ear phonautograph (constructed out of an actual cadaver ear) to modern telephone networks, Sterne seeks to locate amid these various devices a unifying set of cultural practices and beliefs.
This is not at all to say that Sterne's account is a reductive one. Indeed, it is his central set of theoretical concerns or “speculations” that allows this wide range of technologies to serve as a good object of analysis in a cultural history of listening. Sterne writes in the introduction, “This book turns away from attempts to recover and describe people's interior experience of listening––an auditory past––toward the social and cultural grounds of sonic experience. The 'exteriority' of sound is this book's primary object of study” (13). To historicize sound through an account focusing on technology seems, if not all too obvious, then at least problematically determined––wasn't sound a culturally mediated object before sound-reproduction technologies? The Audible Past works in full view of these problems. To say that Sterne's book is too speculative to be a rigorous history, dealing with too great a number of technologies in too singular a manner, is to neglect the problematic placed rightfully at its core. Sterne's account problematizes technology's ability to frame our historically embedded techniques of hearing things, arguing instead for the cultural roots of technology. One must rigorously work through the assumptions of a history of the senses that begins with the advent of a technological incursion into that physiological process if it is to be a good history. Sterne's book does this, and succeeds.
The book's first chapter, “Machines to Hear for Them,” sets up one of the central points that allows Sterne's book to proceed analytically rather than chronologically: the social construction of “transducers, which turn sound into something else and that something else back into sound” (22). Sterne's emphasis on “transducers” falls not only on the technical function of inscribing sound waves or transforming them into electrical current, but also on the development of a physiological theory of hearing. “The objectification and abstraction of hearing and sound, their construction as bounded and coherent objects, was a prior condition for the reconstruction of sound-reproduction technologies” (23). Moving through the history of modern physiology and otology more specifically, as well as Alexander Graham Bell and his colleagues' interaction with these fields, Sterne argues that “the history of sound reproduction is the history of the transformation of the human body as an object of knowledge and practice” (50-51). By the middle of the 19th century, physiologists were conceiving of sound primarily as “the effect of a set of nerves with determinate, instrumental functions.” (61) This is not to rehash an old claim that a tree falling in the woods makes no sound without anyone to hear it, but rather to emphasize that the human ear defines a certain section of physical reverberations in space, and that sound as we know it is necessarily “anthropocentrically defined” (12). With this conceptual apparatus in place by the 19th century, “hearing, in other words is already an instrument” (61).
In the book's second and third chapters, Sterne charts the development of listening practices that grow out of these physiologically-based notions of sound. If sound reproduction required a concept of sound as the effect of a set of nerves and membranes, then it also required a set of specialized practices or techniques that shaped and perfected this instrument of hearing in various social contexts. Sterne argues that specialized listening practices such as stethoscopy and telegraphy helped develop the “audile technique” that will become instrumental in practices that are later disseminated on a mass scale by developing technologies. “From roughly 1810 on, audile technique existed in niches at either end of the growing middle class. It would not become a more general feature of middle-class life until the end of the nineteenth century, when sound reproduction became a mechanical possibility and the middle class itself exploded in size and changed in outlook and orientation” (98-99). Chapter 2 deals with the use of the stethoscope by physicians, and Chapter 3, whose subject matter bleeds into the two sections surrounding it, surveys the practices of telegraph operators and the gradual dissemination of these practices through growing public telephone networks.
By Chapters 4 and 5, Sterne has accumulated enough historical and conceptual material to make his central argument about the evolution of technologies and the development of media, one that is, in my view, extremely valuable for the study of culture and technology beyond the specificity of sound studies. Sterne writes, “techniques of listening do not simply turn sound technologies into media” (177). Rather, it is through a combined network of economic institutions and individual practices that media are constructed. Chapter 4 centers in on Sterne's useful definition of developing media as it took place in sound-reproduction technologies between the 1870s and 1920s:
A medium is a recurring set of contingent social relations and social practices, and contingency is key here. As the larger fields of economic and cultural relations around a technology or technique extend, repeat, and mutate, they become recognizable to users as a medium. A medium is therefore the social basis that allows a set of technologies to stand out as a unified thing with clearly defined functions. (182)
While the book's first sections dealt with the development of social practices, in Chapter 5 Sterne focuses on a specific instance of the industrial or economic side of this dynamic with the commercial rhetoric of sound “fidelity” surrounding reproduction technologies: “Manufacturers and marketers of sound-reproduction technologies felt that they had to convince audiences that the new sound media belonged to the same class of communication as face-to-face speech” (25).
The Audible Pastis painstakingly organized––each of the book's sections is condensed into a series of focused arguments in the introduction which itself could serve as a standalone essay. Additionally, Sterne shows an almost overwhelming penchant for categorization: the three effects of mediate auscultation, the six elements common to medical, telegraphic, and popular listening practices, the four critiques of acousmatic theories of sound, etc. This mania for organization is what makes the book's last two sections somewhat surprising. In the overall conceptual trajectory of the book, which traces actual technosocial practices, a discussion of the Victorian “culture of death and dying” and the aura of “voices form the dead” surrounding the phonograph and graphophone seem a bit out of place, especially when Sterne tells us that ideas bubbling up about permanent archival and perfect technological memory were fundamentally inaccurate: “The first recordings were essentially unplayable after they were removed from the machine. […] If anything, permanence was less a description of the power of a medium than a program for its development” (288-9). Similarly, in the book's conclusion, Sterne launches a wide ranging discussion of the contemporary mania over digital technologies and the hopes invested in the possible futures supposedly enabled by them. Sterne's interest in these two sections seems to be taking him beyond the scope of this book in a way that renders his previously solid conclusions about the evolution of technology more problematic than this book has the space to resolve. While we have surveyed several causal agents––including physiological theories, advertising rhetoric, and social relations––here we move into the utopian imagination of technology's possible futures as itself a causal agent of technological change. This new interest seems to exceed the otherwise rigorous theoretical trajectory of the book.
These reservations aside,
The Audible Pastis a rare thing. Not only is it a comprehensive and well-organized history, but the book is an equally smart media theoretical engagement with questions of technics, the social origins of media, and technological change that should find a wide audience in many different academic fields. Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Hermeneutics and suspicion 7:57 PM
For all you people who wanna know where Eve Sedgwick's "paranoid reading" originated, as well as much of the anxiety around demystifying hermeneutics came from, I'm outlining Ricoeur's opening argument in De l'Interpretation (published in 1965, translated into English in 1970 as Freud and Philosophy, though they were originally given at Yale in 1961), which, combined with a bit of Wahrheit und Methode (1960), and set against the background of the "sciences of man" and the homologies of Lévi-Strauss, as well as the emerging narrative grammars of Greimas, should let you reconstruct the amazing French hermeneutic adventures of the mid- and late-sixties.
The book follows closely Ricoeur's work on evil (in Fallible Man and especially The Symbolism of Evil, with its phenomenology of confession). Ricoeur's first move is to turn to Cassier on das Symbolische in The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (one can read the following meditation on the symbolic as a polemic against Lacan--Lacan at least read it that way--and maybe even the turn in Lacan to the more rigid symbolic in the later Lacan as an increasing attempt to refute Ricoeur). The symbolic is the "mediating function" for the subject, that is, "the common denominator of all the ways of objectivizing, of giving meaning to reality" (10). But Ricoeur has brought this up only to reject its homogeneity, which he says (with reason) is introduced in order to conceive mediation from a Kantian perspective--that is, as an obstacle which we need to address, to deal with, in order to get from the subject to objects, from the subject to reality ("the symbolic, above all, indicates the nonimmediacy of our apprehension of reality," 10). From a late-phenomenological standpoint, this is unacceptable: one has to make room for the ability of this mediation itself to have reality. And so Ricoeur rejects using "the term symbolic for the signifying function in its entirety," because then we "no longer have a word to designate the group of signs whose intentional texture calls for a reading of another meaning in the first, literal, immediate meaning" (11-12). You will recognize that this is the entire problem of hermeneutics itself that gets introduced into language: the notion is that language not only structures our relationship to reality, but at some point is itself real by becoming plurivocal, or capable of more than one reading, and thus calling out for interpretation. Furthermore, this notion of reality displaces the first, which was confined to the relation to objects: what we have are two types of realities now, one which deals with objects, one which involves the use of the plurivocal. The first reality will be governed by the use of language as sign (which can then be interpreted in a Saussurian way, as signifier/signified), and symbol Ricoeur will reserve properly for the second reality:
The book follows closely Ricoeur's work on evil (in Fallible Man and especially The Symbolism of Evil, with its phenomenology of confession). Ricoeur's first move is to turn to Cassier on das Symbolische in The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (one can read the following meditation on the symbolic as a polemic against Lacan--Lacan at least read it that way--and maybe even the turn in Lacan to the more rigid symbolic in the later Lacan as an increasing attempt to refute Ricoeur). The symbolic is the "mediating function" for the subject, that is, "the common denominator of all the ways of objectivizing, of giving meaning to reality" (10). But Ricoeur has brought this up only to reject its homogeneity, which he says (with reason) is introduced in order to conceive mediation from a Kantian perspective--that is, as an obstacle which we need to address, to deal with, in order to get from the subject to objects, from the subject to reality ("the symbolic, above all, indicates the nonimmediacy of our apprehension of reality," 10). From a late-phenomenological standpoint, this is unacceptable: one has to make room for the ability of this mediation itself to have reality. And so Ricoeur rejects using "the term symbolic for the signifying function in its entirety," because then we "no longer have a word to designate the group of signs whose intentional texture calls for a reading of another meaning in the first, literal, immediate meaning" (11-12).
You will recognize that this is the entire problem of hermeneutics itself that gets introduced into language: the notion is that language not only structures our relationship to reality, but at some point is itself real by becoming plurivocal, or capable of more than one reading, and thus calling out for interpretation. Furthermore, this notion of reality displaces the first, which was confined to the relation to objects: what we have are two types of realities now, one which deals with objects, one which involves the use of the plurivocal. The first reality will be governed by the use of language as sign (which can then be interpreted in a Saussurian way, as signifier/signified), and symbol Ricoeur will reserve properly for the second reality:
In every sign a sensory vehicle is the bearer of a signifying function that makes it stand for something else. But I will not say that I interpret the sensory sign when I understand what it says. Interpretation has to do with a more complicated intentional structure: a first meaning is set up which intends something, but this object in turn refers to something else which is intended only through the first object (12).The project of understanding what a sign says is still bound up with Saussure, for Ricoeur, and we cannot extend it into the second domain, which is where, not a signifier and signified, or even signifiers and signifiers are related, but where meanings themselves are related: "superimposed upon the duality of the sensory sign and signification" is "a relation of meaning to meaning" (12-13). Thus despite the structuralist and semiological bracketing of meaning which occurs when we look at the signifiers and their relationship, the problem of meaning can reintroduce itself, indeed must introduce itself, whenever we are considering relations of this "higher degree" (12). What Ricoeur does is allow us some access to a different area altogether, not beholden to the sign, an area, or indeed a reality, that presupposes signs that already have a primary, literal, manifest meaning. Hence I deliberately restrict the notion of symbol to double- or multiple-meaning expressions whose semantic texture is correlative to the work of interpretation that explicates their second or multiple meanings (13).Ricoeur tries to enrich this zone of the symbol with reference to The Symbolism of Evil. There, he called the realm of the symbol the realm of the experience of the "sacred," based on his analysis of how a spot would somehow designate the sinner's situation, would become a stain. Two other experiences are related to this sacred realm: the experience of dreams and the experience of poetry or the poetic image. He then reiterates what he calls a symbol: Symbols occur when language produces signs of composite degree in which the meaning, not satisfied with designating some one thing, designates another meaning attainable only in and through the first intentionality (16).At this point, Ricoeur is tempted by a more narrow, indeed "too narrow" definition: analogy: It is here that we are tempted by another definition which this time risks being too narrow. The definition is suggested to us by some of our examples. It consists in characterizing the bond of meaning to meaning in a symbol as analogy (16-17).So the stain is an analogy of the physical with the existential. But this analogy is not based on a likeness: It is not an argument; far from lending itself to formalization, it is a relation adhering to its terms. I am carried by the first meaning, directed by it, toward the second meaning; the symbolic meaning is constituted in and through the literal meanign which achieves the analogy by giving the analogue. In contrast to a likeness that we could look at from the outside, a symbol is the very movement of the primary meaning intentionally assimilating us to the symbolized, without our being able to intellectually dominate this likeness (17).We're dealing with something like overintentionality, if you conceive intentionality in a strictly phenomenological sense. Interpretation in reading, or as an experience, then becomes something like the reverse of the reduction: we're lead by the grasp of one essence into another, plane of essences, an "architecture of meaning" or "texture" (18). In short, a text--even Scripture. But I mentioned that this notion of analogy was too narrow: This correction of the notion of analogy does not suffice to cover the whole field of hermeneutics. I would consider rather that analogy is but one of the relations involved between manifest and latent meaning (17).Other relations are being invented, indeed invented precisely by... psychoanalysis. I dwell so long on the problem of symbol and analogy because the payoff is huge: we begin to see psychoanalysis--and not only that, but the Nietzschian interpretation of metaphysics and the Marxist view of capitalism--as one particular option within the larger hermeneutic problematic and alongside the simpler construal of this problematic as the analogical relation between two meanings: Psychoanalysis, as we shall see, has uncovered a variety of processes of elaboration that are operative between the apparent and latent meaning. The dream work is singularly more complex than the classical way of analogy; so too Nietzsche and Marx have denounced a multitude of ruses and falsifications of meaning. Our entire hermeneutic problem, as we shall state in the next chapter, proceeds from this twofold possibility of an "innocent" analogical relationship or a "cunning" distortion (17).I dwell so long on all this, because, as you see, we here have the hermeneutics of suspicion. But this all is bound up in a general difficulty that Ricoeur feels in hermeneutics itself at this moment: The difficulty--it initiated my research in the first place--is this: there is no general hermeneutics, no universal cannon for exegesis, but only disparate and opposed theories concerning the rules of interpretation. The hermeneutic field... is at variance with itself (27).How? Through its tradition, which has two poles. At one end, we have the Aristotelian problem of semantics, which understands the sentence as "saying something of something," or declaring something about a being, understood already as meaningful and needing clarification or rather elucidation, proclamation. Such a stance recognizes that "real meanings are indirect" because "I attain things only by attributing a meaning to a meaning" (23). Clarification primarily revolves around circumscribing the possibility for error, for attributing meaning in a false way. On the other end, we have the sentence as Scripture, introduced by the Christian community (there is a notable absence of the Rabbinical tradition in Ricoeur's account) and then as text (via the "book of nature"), as something articulated according to specific forms (like allegory and indeed analogy), which must be understood in themselves to allow the sentence to be understood. In this view, the truth and falsity of a sentence becomes something like lying, and the process of unfolding meaning is an attempt to get past lying and to the authoritative version of something. Eventually, this second sense gets taken up into a new sense with the introduction of the problem of representation and Kant: the lying which interposes itself between me and the text is now seen as illusion, as mystification. So: According to the one pole, hermeneutics is understood as the manifestation and restoration of a meaning addressed to me in the manner of a message, a proclamation, or as is sometimes said, a kerygma; according to the other pole, it is understood as a demystification, as a reduction as of illusion. Psychoanalysis, at least on a first reading, aligns itself with the second understanding of hermeneutics (27).This brings us to the problem that concerns us now, which is a mix of these two poles and an understanding of them all in terms of the concept of representation, Vorstellung: The situation in which language today finds itself comprises this double possibility, this double solicitation and urgency: on the one hand, purify discourse of its excrescences, liquidate the idols, go from drunkenness to sobriety, realize our state of poverty once and for all; on the other hand, use the most "nihilistic," destructive, iconoclastic movement so as to let speak what once, what each time, was said, when meaning appeared anew, when meaning was at its fullest (27).The distinction between a hermeneutics of suspicion and a more restorative hermeneutics then is explicitly introduced and identified with the first injunction: Hermeneutics seems to me to be animated by this double motivation: willingness to suspect, willingness to listen; vow of rigor, vow of obedience. In our time we have not finished doing away with idols and we have barely begun to listen to symbols (27).Ricoeur draws some powerful consequences from this: what really opposes the hermeneutics of suspicion, is faith. "The contrary of suspicion, I will say blunty is faith... faith that has undergone criticism... postcritical faith" (28). This is linked with phenomenology itself, which seeks, in respecting the object, through the reduction, a "second naivete." By disengaging the noetic from the noematic, the intention from its correlate, one recalls and restores the object, by showing it to be the implicit object that speaks to me, that responds to my thinking. One sees what Ricoeur is getting at: Is not the expectation of being spoken to what motivates the concern for the object? Implied in this expectation is a confidence in language: the belief that language, which bears symbols, is not so much spoken by men as spoken to men (29-30).On the other hand, the hermeneutic of suspicion, begins by doubting whether there is an object and whether this object could be the place of transformation of intentionality into kerygma, manifestation, proclamation. This hermeneutics is not an explication of the object, but a tearing off of masks, an interpretation that reduces disguises (30).Fundamentally, there is a belief in the restorative hermeneutics that the the word is already, to some extent, authentic, because my relationship to it is not in question. This phenomenology/faith/hermeneutics "puts the accent on the object, then underscores the fullness of the symbol" (32). We see in short, that it relies on what Ricoeur has already defined as intrinsic to the symbol: the fact that it is the articulation of a second meaning, a leading of the one into the other. Phenomenology follows this movement, because it does not see the point in thinking that the opposite maneuvers--putting the accent on the subject, and doubting the connection between the manifest and latent, or first and second meanings--are necessary to lead one to a better interpretation. For what is grasped? In fact, everything is actually the about the replacement of both the object and the subject in the act of interpreation: [Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud] clear the horizon for a more authentic word, for a new reign of Truth, not only by means of a "destructive" critique, but by the invention of an art of interpreting... Beginning with them, understanding is hermeneutics: henceforward, to seek meaning is no longer to spell out the consciousness of meaning (33).The way this is possible is to align the hermeneutic with the work of the authority that codes it: What all three attempted, in different ways, was to make their "conscious" methods of decyphering coincide with the "unconscious" work of ciphering (34).They all feel immensely the weight of the representational problematic, and take it extremely seriously. But for Ricoeur, this is questionable, because by taking it too seriously we forget representation itself is representation "of something." Thus, we begin to think that we can just change old representations with new ones, stolen from their source, their point of emergence, and decoded, and thereby produce new meaning: but this transforms hermeneutics into the mere process of destroying all that has already been said, and replacing it with something that has nothing to say, because it is too busy asserting that, in uncovering the process of the production of representation reality has been revealed: One first finds himself a slave, he understands his slavery, he rediscovers himself free within understood necessity... does not this discipline of the real, this ascesis of the necessary lack the grace of imagination, the upsurge of the possible? (35-6).The point is not immediately that we should endorse a restorative hermeneutics. It is rather that we should not think the willingness to listen only comes from a willingness to suspect.
Labels: Ricoeur
Monday, September 14, 2009 Lukács and montage 10:01 AM
In "Realism in the Balance" (1938) we see Lukács interpreting Bloch as elevating the mimetic factor of montage to the level of truth: for Bloch, montage mirrors--or simply, as mirroring, presents--reality. But this is simply inserting "reality" into abstraction, for Lukács, in order to believe that surrealists are realists. The true realism is going beyond empty formalism which supposedly presents, or rather just is the real (montage shows, in its form, reality), to create an experience of the real itself, or consciousness of totality by an increasing sense of the relation of independent objects. Speaking of Bloch on Joyce and Mann, Lukács says:
In the minds of the heroes of both writers we find a vivid evocation of the disintegration, the discontinuities, the ruptures and the "crevices" which Bloch very rightly thinks typical of the state of mind of many people living in the age of imperialism. Bloch's mistake lies merely in the fact that he identifies this state of mind directly and unreservedly with reality itself. He equates the highly distorted image created in this state of mind with the thing itself, instead of objectively unraveling the essence, the origins and the mediations of the distortions by comparing it with reality.Unless one reads this with Lukács readings of Hegel in the background, it will appear extremely conservative. One has to see that this "state of mind" which does so much work here is not something psychological, but rather consciousness. As such, it reflects reality, it is not itself reality: reality is the truth of consciousness, not consciousness itself. Taken as itself, it separates itself from what it reflects as well as the entire process of speculative reflection. It is therefore Bloch who, in Lukács view of things, actually relies on psychology, because he cannot see that consciousness only has a relationship to reality when it is conceived in terms of its relation to the totality, or to its truth (which includes both its reflection and its process of reflection). Thus any expression of a "state of mind" is seen as reality. Also, we must see "reality itself" here as something like "unarticulated" reality, something that has not yet been objectively unraveled but which disturbs each attempt to convert consciousness into a psychology, into a substance without spirit, that has its object only opposed to itself and reflects this object only by understanding it. Reality is not some pre-existing thing here that Lukács is saying Bloch misses, simply because a surrealist montage doesn't itself express reality. Bloch misses this because of the way he conceives this expression, this reflection--because it is for Bloch not mediated by the totality. Its relation to the totality is to present it immediately as truth that is real. Thus Lukács can go on to claim: -"Realism in the Balance," in Aesthetics and Politics Great realism, therefore, does not portray an immediately obvious aspect of reality. -"Realism in the Balance," in Aesthetics and Politics | 46,299 | 17,565 | 0.000059 |
warc | 201704 | The Internet has given rise to new opportunities for the public sector to improve efficiency and better serve constituents in the form of e-government. But with a rapidly growing user base globally and an increasing reliance on the Internet, digital tools are also exposing the public sector to new risks.An accessible primer, Cybersecurity: Public Sector Threats and Responses focuses on the convergence of globalization, connectivity, and the migration of public sector functions online. It identifies the challenges you need to be aware of and examines emerging trends and strategies from around the world. | 611 | 374 | 0.002683 |
warc | 201704 | The holiday season is supposed to be a time of enjoyment, relaxation and love between family and friends. But it only takes one accident to turn your holiday celebration into a holiday disaster. Here are a few essential tips to ensure your holidays go off without a hitch:
Tip 1 - Keep Your Overnight Guests Comfortable
There's nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating than a hot shower -- especially during colder weather. Be sure to set your water heater to a comfortable temperature if you're having guests stay overnight. Many water heaters sold in America have a factory setting of 140 degrees, but dropping down to 120 degrees will still provide a warm shower. Reduced water heater temperatures will help you avoid scalded guests and higher utility bills.
Tip 2 - Clear Your Driveways and Walkways
Slick or poorly lit walkways can be hazardous to grandparents, older aunts and uncles and young children. Remove snow and treat icy conditions before your company arrives. It's also important to provide adequate lighting. Security lights and solar-powered lamps lining your walkways will help you eliminate dangerous conditions.
Tip 3 - Decorate Responsibly
Holiday decorations can quickly turn a celebration into a disaster. Here are some helpful tips to ensure you are decorating wisely around the house:
Avoid flammable decorations: Paper, lace and fabric decorations look beautiful, but they can pose a threat to your home. Opt for non-flammable and flame-retardant options to keep your home safe. Never leave candles burning: Candles make the holidays special, but they can also pose a serious threat. In fact, there are almost 11,000 candle-related fires each year, resulting in 150 deaths and 1,200 injuries. Never leave candles burning overnight and keep them out of reach of children or pets. Water your tree: Your Christmas tree can also pose a threat. A lack of water can dry out your tree, resulting in a serious fire hazard. Be sure your tree has adequate amounts of water during the holidays. Tip 4 - Kennel Your Dog
Find a safe place for your dog if it doesn't do well with visitors or small children. The CDC notes that 4.5 million Americans suffer from dog bites each year. Small children are particularly susceptible because they don't always know not to make sudden movements or poke fingers and hands at dogs' faces.
Tip 5 - Be Smart in the Kitchen
There are two things to take into consideration when preparing for a holiday meal. First, be sure to safely prepare your food. Always cook chicken and turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This will destroy all bacteria and foodborne illnesses and prevent your guests from getting sick. Second, never leave your kitchen unattended while in use. The American Red Cross found that cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and related injuries.
Tip 6 - Prevent Drunk Driving
If you have spare bedrooms, offer the additional space to guests. You can also prevent over indulgence by limiting the amount of alcohol served during your holiday gatherings.
Conclusion
There are many other ways to ensure that your holidays are safe and fun, but these are just a few of the essential tips that will prevent a holiday disaster.
Andrea Davis is the editor for HomeAdvisor, which helps homeowners find home improvement professionals in their area at no charge to ensure the best service in the shortest amount of time. | 3,428 | 1,690 | 0.000595 |
warc | 201704 | By:Declan Tobin
Cell phone safety is a topic widely debated around the world. Millions of dollars is being spent ever year to find out the dangers in using cell phones “if any” The research is to determine whether or not there is a dangerous exposure to radiofrequency energy which could result in cancer.
You may have heard some cell phone manufacturers playing down the exposure as minimal and that the traces of radiofrequency energy exposed from cell phones could not be proven as a health hazard. You will also have heard some cancer research or pharmaceutical companies campaigning for all cell phone manufacturers to issue a warning to all cell phone users regarding the dangerous levels of radiofrequency. We see this type of warning on cigarette boxes.
As cell phones are relatively new we will know exactly how much if any damage they are causing as the years go by, however it is agreed by all that cell phones do give of exposure to radiofrequency and for that reason alone you should take some precautions.
You can eliminate the exposure to your body at a very inexpensive cost. Wearing an earpiece has become very popular and using car kits will reduce the time the cell phone is against your ear. The car kit is also essential for safe driving and in many states and other countries it is against the law to drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time.
Cell phones and children
Apart from the expense aspect children should have limited access to cellular phones. While the debate is going back and forth from cell phone manufacturers and cancer research groups it is best to play it safe. Some countries such as the United Kingdom have recommended that children be limited in using cell phones but this is advertised as a precaution only with no medical evidence supporting the case for cancerous side affects. Children’s brains are still growing and now many countries have advertised precaution only.
The IEC (The International Electrotechnical Commission) in Switzerland has issued guidelines for cell phone manufacturers to measure the amount of radiation that their individual phones release. Medical conventions are held ever year all over the world to try and establish a healthy outcome to all the debates.
Are the cell phone manufacturers making changes?
The cell manufacturers are certainly spending millions on research to provide evidence that radiation levels from cell phones are not harmful. They are bringing out phones that limit radiation but the fact remains that all cell phones currently on the market today omit some radiations. Let’s face it, no cell phone manufacturer is going to come out and tell you that their product may be harmful. If there is no harmful side affects why are cell phone manufacturers constantly trying to bring out new cell phones that omit less radiation? Come to your own conclusion.
Overview:
Radiation from cellular phones is harmful if enough is administered into the body but the debate remains on how much is omitted from the cell phone and if that level is a danger. What is evident is the fact that since the introduction of cell phones tumor related cancerous diseases have increased. Neurologists in Ireland have expressed concerns over the growing number of neurological patients treated there since the spread of mobiles.
You need to be sensible and limit your exposure. As mentioned before headsets, earpiece and car kits are all ways to avoid dangerous exposure to radiation. It may take many years to come before we see the real results of cell radiation exposure. Look after your children now and do not regret what could be evident in ten or twenty years. Encourage children to send SMS text instead of constantly chatting on the phone.
We all use cell phones and some more than others, they are reliable, convenient and a technological master piece but with all master pieces “handle with care”.
About The Author
Declan Tobin is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of Prepaid phone plans which includes Cell prepaid plans, Carriers, and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information for all of your phone interests and needs. Visit http://www.no1-in-cell-phones.com for more information and reviews on cell phones.
Article Source: http://www.redsofts.com/articles/ | 4,411 | 2,016 | 0.000501 |
warc | 201704 | Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The 20 “Top Paid Apps” at the Apple iPhone Lifestyle section contained:
1. Bikini Blast
2. Bible Shaker
4. sexybytes
9. Sexy Spin
18. Bikini Girls 2
19. Sexy Bikini
Tough to NOT root for them pigs and their damn flu.
Monday, March 23, 2009
It’s not “liberal at 20 or no heart, conservative at 30 or no brain.”
To the folks about to "go Gant" -- go ahead, make my day!
LOL!
The government wants to raise your (well, actually, most of the Galters out there would not see a tax increase anyhow...but those little intrusions of reality into the creaky mechanisms of gray matter are too complex anyhow--poor dears!) taxes by...what?...3%, and your response is to do something unspeakable with teabags?
That should be fun to watch!
Even more hilarious when the wingnuts don't spend a couple of minutes with http://www.urbandictionary.com/ to figure out their chosen term isn't...uh...quite suitable. And when they actually did find out, well, then they blamed the mean ole liberal media (and Harry Reid) for being so mean to their widdle, innocent selves.
*snort*
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Make it sound like people are all going Galt out there.
What a Rand-y mess.
The "financial" system turned out to be a systemic scam; the bailout is just the second leg in the scam's execution. As long as there are sheep to be fleeced, the fleecing will commence.
Of course, it will all happen because action will have to be taken.
It's an emergency.
Run for the hills!
And don't look at the books!!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Mumon's Comments:
Should there be any who is able to step forward from the top of the 100 foot pole and hurl one's whole body into the entire universe, this person may call oneself a Buddha. Nevertheless, how can one step forward from the top of the 100 foot pole? Know thyself!
Should one be content and settle on top of the 100,000 foot pole,
One will harm the third eye,
And will even misread the marks on the scale.
Should one throw oneself and be able to renounce one's life,
Like one blind person leading all other blind persons,
One will be in absolute freedom (unattached from the eyes).
Saturday, March 14, 2009 Training the Cat
Part I
I will promise and am resolved to tell nothing but the truth of events as they occurred to me to have happened in the early parts of the empire. We had the cat as a pet mostly, furry reminder of what is best in our humanity even when challenged. In the union cat contract I saw nothing prohibiting my furball his requisite ganjaweed rations should it come to that. At the heart of darkness it always comes to that. My little one, my pretty one. My orange tiger-striped, tiger-hearted cat: here is the line in the sand: no little fur prints anywhere in the perimeter of the kitchen. And around the perimeter, another one, for more protection, because it will always come to that—more protection, more lucre acquired during nights when my pretty conscience sleep the sleep of poppies. Don’t ever let it wake up. My pretty my pretty cat. So fully integrated. So fully engaged. So filled with the theater and the ballet and the very pretty calligraphic signs. This is the cat I ordered and this is the cat that was delivered.
Part II
In Flanders Fields the poppies do bloom … we hold firm to that hope.
Part III
which means some kind of Zukunft was at work here. The Zu bothered noone none because at current governmental statistical anal suss the Zu would never get here—the long tail having got in the way. Part of the Kunft was still out there, still being shilled at prewar records. Not that anyone was keeping score, when the layoffs and downsizing and outsourcing and downtrending trendspotters saw evidence of the semantic web growing in heretofore dust farming conditions—some, so they said—saw the light. Moments later the Zu projected as predicted
hail on the fifth. It was good theatre it was. Popcorn was needed and Momcorn too, for balance—the maternal instinct having appeared on the scene just before the virgin being tied to the tracks. The audience went wilder. For my own protection and in order to serve you better, we will close down this performance now.
Part IV
A scientific paper reports that
Collective behavior based on self-organization has been shown in group-living animals from insects to vertebrates. In this experimental study, we show collective decision-making by mixed groups of cockroaches and socially integrated autonomous robots. Even when in the minority, robots can modulate the collective decision-making process and produce a global pattern not observed in their absence. These results demonstrate the possibility of using intelligent autonomous devices to study and control self-organized behavioral patterns in group-living animals.
Part V
After a week with the Roomba, the cat is nowhere.
Part VI
Training the cat to like the Roomba has not been a success. Even simple tasks like lighting a fire have been inordinarily difficult. I can manage, after a while, to light a lampe in case the lights go out, but it sends black pollution into my room. I’m sure KatKat does not approve. The fresh, plump raisins assuage my guilty conscience.
Part VII
KatKat winks at me across the room. I wink back. We’re the pussy sisters. We hang out in damp dark heavily hooded hoods. We read the signs. We’re down to four or five now.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Nearly ten years into the 21st century, the major industrialized countries of the world find themselves bankrupt or near bankrupt, and pouring more money than imaginable into massive sinkholes formerly known as banking, automotive, and real estate sectors. One necessary outflow from this bankruptcy is that the standard model of (higher) education will produce fewer and fewer good results as it fails to map the profound demographic, energy, cultural, technological and financial cycles which will dominate life in the United States for many years to come. As educators we need to be prepared to transmit radically different values to our students, or we will fail them in ways too dangerous, immoral, and irresponsible to contemplate.
...
to be continued...
The situation is grim. The U.S. is, in the best case scenario, entering an economic depression that will be far worse than both the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Panic of 1873. At worst, the U.S. will collapse altogether.
Just as global oil production peaked, our economy evolved into a morbid hypertrophy, and the chief manifestation of it id the suburban sprawl-building fiesta now climaxing in the real estate bust. By the early 21st century, when so much American manufacturing had been swapped out to Asia, there id no business left except sprawl-building, a manifold tragedy which wrecked the banks that financed it, and left the ordinary people mortgaged to it with ruinous liabilities. That economy is now in its death throes. The "normality" it represents to so many Americans is gone and can not be brought back, no matter how wistfully we watch it recede.
We have arrived at a moment when a lot of people have a hard time imagining the future. This includes especially the mainstream media, which has reached a state of zombification parallel to that of the banks. But even in the blogosphere, with its thousands of voices unconstrained by risk-adverse advertisers or meddling managing editors, the view forward dims as a dark and ominous fog rolls over the landscape of possibilities. A mood of ominous watching and waiting pervades the land, its cities and towns, and everyone waits for the next numbers to come out, the next shoe to drop, all the while many of the movers-and-shakers pin their hopes on the chance that Mr. Obama's stimulus bill will allow them to commence building a new freeway from sea to shining sea
The primary question that haunts the republic as we wait for new TARP (the son of TARP, TARP II), "bad banks," economic stimulus packages, infrastructure renewal roll-outs, and other policy life-lines thrown out in near-desperate hopefulness to pull brand America out of a ditch is will any of this work, or are we just throwing money we do not have at money we did not have.
Many believe housing prices will continue to crash and have way to go. Housing inventory is continuing to climb as housing starts continue to bubble away to nothing. There is no denying we are most definitely in deflationary times at this moment.
Rents are falling all across America. Chrysler's desperate plan to keep factory workers working is to ask strapped dealers who have no business to buy more cars for their lot inventory. Retailers are still showing "60 to 80% Off" on signs posted in their windows with many of these retailers, i.e. Zales, Gap, Macy’s, to name just a few, closing hundreds of unprofitable stores and turning the countryside way stations of commerce into "Ghost Malls.” The banks themselves, and banking in general as we have known it for most of our lives, is now burnt crumbs at the bottom of our toasters: bread, gone one step deader.
How this all shakes out will be interesting to see. But one thing is for sure: this is not a time to be making large purchases of cars, homes, boats or any other consumer durables when you do not know if you will have a job, or whether there will be enough gas at cheap enough prices to continue the escape ever outward from the decaying core of cities.
All the structural and macro economic change aside, it is the over-arching economics at work: 1) each of us finally waking up and rejecting the consumer label as an insult to our humanity and damaging to the fabric of the Republic , 2) beginning to see everything we spend on as an energy exchange, and 3) taking the blinders off to the entire production/distribution cycle and making decisions based on more criteria than price, convenience and attributes.
We have to, so to speak, get to place mentally where we can face the kinds of change that are now necessary and unavoidable. We are not there yet. It is not clear whether the elected new national leadership knows just how severe the required changes will really be. Surely the public would be shocked to grasp what is in store. Probably the worst thing we can do now would be to mount a campaign to stay where we are, lost in raptures of happy motoring and blue-light-special shopping.
Belief in any system--and in this case this means the concept of belief in the economic system--is like oil to a combustion engine. Without belief in the credibility of the system, the economy seizes up and dies. It is that simple. If a system lacks credibility, if people do not believe in it, then they will not participate in that system. Now in some cases, if things have not gone too far, trust can be reestablished and with that trust a belief in the system might grow--and the engine can be saved. But once trust has eroded beyond the point of repair, there is no chance of resuscitation. Either the system has to be thrown out and a new system has to take its place, or the citizens of the system have to be compelled by force and repression to accept the old way of doing things. This is where we stand.
Belief in the credibility of our economy has been summarily destroyed. It is entirely possible, that credit contraction, derivatives unwind, liquidations, bankruptcies, foreclosures and layoffs are enough to take us down for the count. These factors are now participating in a self-reinforcing and absolutely vicious feedback loop, which can implode the economy and government finances within the next several months. The delicate global infrastructure that is so highly dependent on the smooth functioning of both physical and financial transactions is being thrown into global and local disarray. As an analogy: you could throw sand into a Dutch windmill's gear cogs without too much degradation, but try that with a modern sealed precision reduction drive, and it is destroyed. Our economies have evolved during previously relatively quiescent decades into a fatally sophisticated system that depends on stability in the key economic powerhouses.
That stability is long gone, and the resets of the Alt-A's and the Option ARMS, beginning in 2009, will might likely finish off what the sub-primes kicked off on their own. Let us not forget the looming fiascoes in securitized commercial real estate, student loan, credit card, and auto loan debt. Furthermore, the hundreds of trillions in casino-style derivatives bets riding on all these bad investments can only serve to supercharge the coming mega-implosion.
Of course, the above factors will not be operating in a vacuum. The reactions by various peoples and governments in response to all this will include national debt defaults, hyperinflationary "counterfeiting", trade barriers, predatory devaluations, riots, martial law and, possibly and ultimately, big wars.
The governments of all major countries stem mightily against this incoming tsunami of bad economic reality. Money, all of a sudden no object (as it is “other people’s money” as always), is being thrown into the maws of cash-starved banks and institutions that act like banks (AIG comes to mind). Yet, the wheels of economic engines are not turning.
The bailout money allocated so far has disappeared without so much of a trace or an uptick in market activity or confidence. This alone should give one pause for thought and worry. As banks hoard this bailout money, and excess reserves mount in the financial system, there will be great potential for a rapid expansion of the money supply once banks start lending again. Look out for the cheap money to rush into another asset bubble: this time most likely in green tech.
Blowing up one bubble after the next (internet > real estate > green tech?) is devastating to any constant growth or confidence in markets. The continual boom/bust cycles accelerate toward the ultimate mega-crash from which there is no recovery.
Let us look at the solutions put forth thus far, and let us not fool ourselves: deficit spending on dead end infrastructure like the highways, and related plans for hybrid vehicles are efforts to sustain the unsustainable. So, we need trains running into the cities, where so many of the populace work. Really? What are those workers producing? There are few, if any inner city factories. We have shipped our manufacturing base to other countries. What is left of our manufacturing base survives on life support. Half of Detroit already looks like a post-apocalyptic Mad Max scenario—blight as far as the eye can see.
What was good for GM is bad for America. There is talk about our need for high speed trains. Where would they go, and to what end? Haven’t we yet learned that there is no reason to get anywhere in a hurry? There is not a single person on earth that needs to get anywhere in a hurry, unless they need to get to a hospital for surgery, and then a high speed train is most certainly not the way to go.
Our current financial and economic recession is only a symptom of a more fundamental condition.Unless we address these more fundamental concerns, the symptom will never be altered in a lasting way. Overall there is much gloom, disappointment and fear, yet here and there, in tiny marginal pockets, there is also an odd kind of optimism surrounding an energetic debate about how to build a sustainable, liveable, stable future, or as Homi Bhabha said a long time ago: ”In every emergency, there is also an emergence." | 15,640 | 7,478 | 0.000135 |
warc | 201704 | Whether you’re just starting a restaurant, or you’ve been around a long while, it’s always good to take a look at the front of your house and evaluate it’s effectiveness.
In today’s article, we look at the best practice for setting up the front of the house so you are meeting customers’ needs and sending them off with a terrific experience.
First, though, let’s talk a bit about the front of house.
There are two terms used when describing a restaurant: back of house and front of house. The back of house is where your chef, cooks, dishwashers and support staff work, usually in the kitchen area.
The front of house includes the area where your diners eat and where your waiters, waitresses and hosts work. Your front of house includes your entry and waiting areas and your dining room. It’s anywhere your customers might be found.
Your front of house staff interacts with diners. Hosts and waitstaff are often referred to as “being on the floor,” since they are your restaurant’s front line.
Now let’s look at the best practice for setting up front of house.
The front of your house can make or break your restaurant. Your dining room is vital to your brand image.
Without a superb atmosphere, your customers won’t fully appreciate your food.
When designing or remodeling the front of house, you want to balance ambiance with function. Consider the seating, wait stations and waiting areas in your plan. You’ll want to reflect on your brand and your restaurant’s theme so you can carry the concept throughout the front of house.
In addition, the space needs to run with great efficiency. This helps you serve guests quicker and with ease.
When considering the basics of your front of house design, you want to think about the following:
According to Restaurant Development + Design, your “entrance reflects the hospitality the staff will deliver once diners take their seats.”
This is why it’s a great idea to think strategically about stocking the front of house. Remember – this area is the one that your customers see the first time they open your door. Two of the most important things to consider here are style and efficiency.
Go outside and walk in your restaurant as you were walking in for the first time. What do you see? Does it reflect the concept of your restaurant? Is it neat and tidy or disorganized?
Ask yourself if your host or hostess has everything they need to do their job to the best of their ability. Do they have the proper equipment and setup?
Here are some things to think about when it comes to your waiting area or entryway:
It’s best practice to set up your front of house server stations in the most unobtrusive way possible. None of your diners want to eat in the vicinity of an overcrowded, unorganized, dirty server station.
They do need to be placed throughout your dining area, and try and keep only three servers per station. Make sure they are always neat and tidy and not places of distraction. Ideas for stocking these include:
Great customer service helps your restaurant stand out in the crowd. Your hostess and wait staff are an integral part of your front of house.
If your restaurant doesn’t have good customer service, your success may be limited. A key to your success is training your front of house staff to provide excellent customer service.
Not everyone is cut out to work in a restaurant, most especially in the front of the house. Your wait staff must be quick-thinking, creative, organized, friendly, able to multitask and able to handle complaints with grace.
The goal of your host, hostess, bartender, waiter and waitress is to provide you customers with the best possible experience, so that they want to come back again and again.
The front of house staff is your liaison or intermediary between the kitchen and your customers.
Train these folks in the art of customer service so they have the skills necessary to handle happy customers, unhappy customers, a dinnertime rush and the slow times. Help them plan for any eventuality.
Here are a few tips on training your front of house staff:
The front of house is arguably the most important part of your restaurant, especially because that’s where you’ll find your customers.
Front of house includes the entry and waiting areas, bar, dining room and even your restrooms. In the front of the house, you want to pay attention to the design of your space and the training of your staff to provide excellent customer service.
Once you understand how the front of house works and do everything you can to fine tune it, you’ll be well-poised for success. (tweet this)
Have you recently revamped your front of house? Did you make changes to the dining area? What changes did you implement with your front of house staff? Share your comments below – we’d love to hear them. | 4,938 | 2,100 | 0.000492 |
warc | 201704 | Realty Safety and Security The Problem: Every day, agents interact with strangers and put themselves at risk. Men and women are put in isolated situations. The nature of showing real estate makes agents vulnerable to attack. Every year the statistics speak for themselves. Agents are faced with unspeakable crimes resulting in fatalities. We do not want to believe that crime can happen to us, but most people are unprepared for an attack. What would you do if you were confronted by a predator? The Solution: To increase security and reduce liability, learn the essentials of Realty Security. It takes only a few hours, and agents will find the process fun and light-hearted. We provide you with the fundamentals of safety and the strategies for security to help you make smarter time, money and life-saving decisions. You Learn How To: Devise an effective, ongoing office security plan. Learn who your prospect is and how to identify predators. Create constant communication – make it known where you’ll be, when and with whom. Hold a safe open house; not everyone’s here to buy. Plan distress codes: green, yellow, and red are the good, the bad and the ugly! Conduct personal marketing that does not make you a target. Implement a buddy system– two heads are better than one. Set up a dress code for safety and success. Trust your intuition- it’s a person’s best friend. Auto security and take predators “for a ride.” Control your self-defense with Self-Offense. 11 tips for Real-Estate Agents Safety by Robert L Siciliano ©We have all heard about the real estate agent who has become a crime statistic. Most of you figure it won’t happen to you. You're right: chances are, it won't. However Real Estate is considered by security experts and law enforcement to be a high-risk profession. Agents are mobile, usually work alone, frequently interact with strangers, and visit unoccupied properties. Be suspect of everyone. There isn’t any benefit in being paranoid; however, being a little guarded can keep you from getting into a vulnerable situation. Don’t just be wary of a man showing up unaccompanied. Expect them to show up in a nice car, well dressed, maybe with a wife and kids tagging along. They might have a business card saying they are a doctor or a lawyer. Don’t let your guard down. It might not be till the second or third meeting that they decide to make their move. They like to gain your trust so you feel comfortable carrying cash and jewelry, and then they decide it’s safe to move in. ID and pre-qualify at your first meeting. Whether you are at your office or meeting at a property, get some form of identification. Also, it is to your benefit that a potential client buying a home is pre-qualified. Someone who is pre-qualified by a lender and meets you at the office is less likely to be a predator. Open a file with all their identification, including information such as a license plate and employer contact information. Stay in communication with the office. Before showing a property, make it known to your co-workers, a spouse or a friend where you are going and when you will be back. Have them call you at a designated time to check on you. Have them set an alarm on their cell-phone as a reminder. A system where you call in has its advantages too. Have a designated in-out file. Use a clip board, cork board, email or voicemail system that everyone has access to. Have a plan for safe open houses. Take a friend, and bring a cell phone. Spend a few minutes considering all the vulnerable points within the home and how you would escape if necessary. When someone walks in, say, "I'd be happy to show you the benefits of this home! In a few minutes my partner Rocco will be along to assist me." When a couple shows, require them to stay together. Often, they split up, and while one has your attention, the other raids jewelry boxes and medicine cabinets for narcotics. In high crime areas, consider hiring an off-duty police officer to watch the property during a showing. Use predetermined code words to alert your office of distress. Utilize green, yellow, and red, a traffic light, for levels of distress. For example, say to your caller: "it's in the green folder", letting your caller know you are fine. Or "it's in the yellow folder", alerting your caller that the situation is shaky and you might need assistance. Use an acronym for help such as Have Emily Leave the Papers at 35 Cherry Street. Conduct safe personal marketing. To a stalker, your photo on a sign or in print is a personal ad. He determines if you have the 'look' he is seeking. Keep photos professional opposed to overly “attractive”. Home phone numbers and addresses give a predator everything he needs to stalk his prey. Use P.O. Boxes and voicemail systems. Keep your personal phone number unlisted. Implement a buddy system. Whenever possible, bring along a co-worker. There is strength in numbers. Predators thrive on isolation. By paring up, you reduce the chances of being attacked. Dress for safety and success. Don't wear expensive jewelry. A $3-5 thousand-dollar diamond buys a lot of drugs. Dress professionally instead of provocatively. Scarves and loose fitting 'flowy' styles of dress can give attackers something to grab onto. Wear shoes you can run and kick in and won't hinder fighting back. Don't take predators for a ride. Driving your client to a showing is a great time to determine your client’s needs and move along the sale. Don't allow the client to ride in your car if you don't know who they are. Properly identify them. Make sure this is a client, and not a predator. Make sure you have taken the necessary precautions ahead of time before you are put in an isolated situation. If they make you feel uneasy, let them follow you and bring along a buddy. If they do get in your car and make attempts to control you, put your seatbelt on and ram a parked car. Pay attention to your intuition. Trust your gut, and don't discount any troubling feelings you might have about your new client. If anything seems wrong, then it IS wrong. Cancel if necessary. When the hair on the back of your neck stands on end, your sixth sense is signaling you, so pay attention. This feeling is a survival mechanism and you should use it. Know how to defend yourself. You are worth fighting for. We don’t think about hurting others because we have been conditioned not to. However there might be a time when it is necessary to defend yourself. Go for the eyes, throat, groin and the instep of the foot. Fighting from the ground is an advantage that few people realize they have. Kicking the knees and groin is very effective from the ground. Scream, gouge, bite, and fight with whatever you have. Have pepper-spray in your hand or a coat pocket. Have a ball point pen ready to jab. In previous studies, 80 percent of women who fought back in an attack situation have gotten away. You have more power than you think. Similar Posts from the Security Blog Personal Safety When Selling a Home Two real estate agents were killed in separate incidents in Ohio in the past two weeks. “Police have confirmed the suspects in this week’s murder of a Youngstown OH realtor are not connected with the murder of a realtor in Ravenna OH the day after.” “Meeting new clients, showing properties, holding open houses, letting strangers get into Home Security Tips When Selling Your House Selling a home is a big task requiring lots of time and effort. Most people use a professional real estate agent to help them sell (which I recommend), but many today are doing it themselves. When opening your home to strangers the risks to your families’ personal security increase dramatically. First and foremost recognize Watch Out For Caller ID Spoofing Caller ID spoofing is the practice of causing the telephone network to display a number on the recipient’s caller ID display which is not that of the actual originating caller. Similar to e-mail spoofing which can make it appear that a message came from any e-mail address the sender chooses, caller ID spoofing can make 9 Ways to sell your House safely Selling your house can spell a lot of trouble whether you do it yourself or hire a real estate agent. Agents have little training on safety and security and home owners even less so. Here are safety tips. Prior to a showing, get information on the potential buyer. Google their names to see what comes up. Are you Mentally Prepared for a Predator A bear in the wild that wants to protect its young from another predator isn’t worried about manners. This is how people should feel when in circumstances that don’t feel right. The bear has a gut instinct not to let its young near a predator. A woman who feels funny about getting into an elevator with | 8,887 | 4,114 | 0.000247 |
warc | 201704 | Abstract
Limited resources in the environment prevent individuals from simultaneously maximizing all life-history traits, resulting in trade-offs. In particular, the cost of reproduction is well known to negatively affect energy investment in growth and maintenance. Here, we investigated these trade-offs during contrasting periods of high versus low fish size and body condition (before/after 2008) in the Gulf of Lions. Female reproductive allocation and performance in anchovy (
Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine ( Sardina pilchardus) were examined based on morphometric historical data from the 1970s and from 2003 to 2015. Additionally, potential maternal effects on egg quantity and quality were examined in 2014/2015. After 2008, the gonadosomatic index increased for sardine and remained steady for anchovy, while a strong decline in mean length at first maturity indicated earlier maturation for both species. Regarding maternal effects, for both species egg quantity was positively linked to fish size but not to fish lipid reserves, while the egg quality was positively related to lipid reserves. Atresia prevalence and intensity were rather low regardless of fish condition and size. Finally, estimations of total annual numbers of eggs spawned indicated a sharp decrease for sardine since 2008 but a slight increase for anchovy during the last 5 years. This study revealed a biased allocation towards reproduction in small pelagic fish when confronted with a really low body condition. This highlights that fish can maintain high reproductive investment potentially at the cost of other traits which might explain the present disappearance of old and large individuals in the Gulf of Lions. 1. Introduction
Reproduction and maintenance require important and often conflicting energy investments in all animal species [1,2]. Further, additional constraints such as limited resources or physiological constraints might also limit the energy available to be allocated, preventing simultaneous maximization of all life-history traits and bringing out trade-offs [3,4]. In particular, the main trade-off involves the cost of reproduction [3], represented by negative correlations between the current reproductive effort and both maintenance and future reproduction [5]. In a situation of food shortage and low individual energy reserves, this might lead to extreme choices, such as either temporarily stopping reproduction (skipping of breeding event) or maintaining reproduction at the cost of survival [6].
Such energy allocation trade-offs are known to be affected by the environment, whether social [7] or physical [8], but also by parent's phenotype [9]. In particular, parent size or condition may strongly affect individuals' resolution of the trade-off (e.g. birds [10], mammals [11] and fish [12]), resulting in an effect of parental phenotype on reproductive output (e.g. increase of female relative fecundity with increasing body size in fish [13], turtles [14] or
Daphnia [15]). This is generally known as the maternal effect, i.e. when the phenotype of an organism is influenced not only by its own genes and the environment, but also by the characteristics of its mother, which might increase or decrease the chance of survival for the offspring. In addition, studies on diverse species have demonstrated that young females may not produce eggs of the same quality [15,16] or as many eggs as older females per unit of maternal biomass (i.e. relative fecundity, [17]). Besides a decrease in size and age, a drop in body condition might also influence reproduction. Condition is commonly considered as the quantity of nutrient reserves and a proxy of fitness [18], determining the survival and reproductive capacity of individuals and populations. Indeed, energy is usually the main limiting factor preventing individuals from maximizing life-history traits [19–21]. Some studies have shown that a better body condition of the females may allow the allocation of energy surplus to reproduction (increasing reproductive outputs in quantity and quality), thereby influencing population growth [22–24]. By contrast, species have been observed to reduce their reproductive potential (e.g. birds [25] or fish [26]) or skip the spawning period (e.g. turtle [27] or fish [28]) in situation of low reserves. Those contrasted findings usually fit the life-history predictions that species with slower life-history paces should allocate more into survival and future reproduction, while short-lived species should dedicate most of their energy towards reproduction [3].
Small pelagic fish are relatively short-lived species, known to commonly face strong variations in abundance and biomass [29]. In particular, anchovy and sardine are important forage fish, which form a key component of the pelagic ecosystems [30,31], and constitute the prey of numerous predators (e.g. tuna, marine mammals and seabirds). Small pelagic fish also support the most important fisheries in the world and employ a significant number of people [32]. The ratio of biomass to abundance (i.e. the mean population weight) of the anchovy (
Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine ( Sardina pilchardus) populations in the Gulf of Lions (northwestern Mediterranean Sea) has dramatically decreased since 2008, while a pronounced increase in both abundance and biomass of another small pelagic fish species, namely sprat ( Sprattus sprattus) has occurred simultaneously [33]. The decline went along with a marked decrease in size, age and condition as well as changing diet for both species [33]. This raised several questions regarding (i) the resolution of the reproduction versus maintenance trade-off in a situation of low energetic reserves and (ii) the effects on anchovy and sardine reproductive capacities and ultimately population dynamics.
Anchovy and sardine share the Gulf of Lions as an important spawning area, but their spawning characteristics and habitats are clearly differentiated [34]. On the one hand, anchovy reproduces during late spring and summer when water temperatures reach values between 17°C and 23°C and is an income breeder [34,35]. On the other hand, sardine is mainly known as a capital breeder reproducing in cold water (temperatures ranging between 12°C and 14°C) from December to March [36,37]. Despite their opposite reproductive strategies, the two species are batch spawners (i.e. they release eggs in batches over a protracted spawning season, [38,39]). While the trade-off between somatic and reproductive functions has been long considered [3,5,19,40], especially in the context of the slow–fast life-history gradient, these two species thus offer a unique opportunity to investigate the cost of reproduction in a situation of food shortage in two species sharing very similar characteristics but for their capital versus income breeding strategies.
The main purpose of this study was, on the one hand, to investigate the trade-off between the different life-history traits and, on the other hand, to assess how small pelagic fish reproductive outputs fluctuated. To do so, we used length at first maturity (
L 50), the gonadosomatic index (GSI) and reproductive period durations as indices of reproductive investment. We investigated their temporal changes between 2003 and 2015, a period in which drastic changes in body condition were observed, and compared them to values in the 1970s. In a second step, biometry and gonad analyses were performed over one spawning season, to investigate the effect of adult size and condition on the reproductive output (quantity and quality of eggs) of both species, i.e. the maternal effects. This helped reconstructing an index of the number of eggs spawned by the two populations from 2003 to 2016 and understanding whether the current situation of small and low-condition fish hampered the reproductive potential of the population. Sampling effort and analyses were limited to females as their reproductive capacity is the main driver of the population dynamics, caused by the high cost of egg production relative to the energy needed for producing sperm [41,42]. All these parameters are frequently considered for fisheries research and management, but are rarely reported simultaneously over a long-term period for multiple species. Linking fish condition to reproductive capacity could greatly aid the understanding of the population dynamics of sardine and anchovy. In turn, such understanding could benefit the management of their fisheries. 2. Material and methods 2.1. Fish sampling
A total of 8887 female anchovies was sampled from 2003 to 2015. Female sardines (
N = 10 541) were caught between 1971 and 1978 ( N = 2192) and between 2004 and 2016 ( N = 8259). Samples were randomly collected in trawls of scientific surveys (PELMED & MEDITS, from 2003 onwards) by successively dividing the total anchovy catch until the quantity necessary for analyses was reached or obtained from commercial trawlers operating in the Gulf of Lions during all years. All morphometric analyses were conducted following the same methodology so that data from different years, periods, etc., would be comparable. Briefly, total body length ( L T, to the nearest millimetre), body mass ( M, to the nearest 0.1 g), eviscerated body mass ( M E, to the nearest 0.1 g), sex and gonad mass ( M G, to the nearest 0.1 g) were recorded for each individual. Maturity stages were determined by visual examination of the gonads, using a six-stage key in which stage 1 indicates immature individuals, stages 2–4 illustrate three steps of increasing development of gonads, stage 5 shows the spawning capable individuals and stage 6 features the post-spawning period [43]. Fish at stage 2 and above were considered to be adults, forming the putative spawning population. Fish in stages 3–5 were assumed to be showing reproductive activity. An additional analysis was performed on 108 sardines sampled during the 2014–2015 winter and 126 anchovies collected during the 2015 summer. Individuals were either dissected onboard (PELMED) or placed in plastic bags filled with ice to be transported to the laboratory (trawlers), where they were immediately dissected. One gonad was fixed in 4% buffered formaldehyde for histological processing and oocyte quantity and quality estimation, as recommended by Rakka & Ganias [44]. A piece of muscle was also removed and frozen at −80°C for further lipid content determination. 2.2. Historical changes in reproductive patterns
First, we investigated the duration and timing of reproduction along the studied years, using the monthly percentage of mature individuals (stage 5) that were determined as spawning capable from the ICES visual key [43]. A lack of data in some months for some of the years prevented accurate yearly representations. As fish population changes have been progressive [33,45], data were thus pooled into two equal time periods (2008–2011 and 2012–2015) to increase sample sizes and representativeness (
n ≥ 50 in any given month). These breeding cycles were then compared to previously published data from 1965 [46]. Additionally, data on the mean breeding stage of sardines collected in 1959 [47] were also used for comparative purposes.
In order to confirm these results, a second approach to assess breeding phenology is presented by using GSI (see below) seasonality in the 1970s and between 2002 and 2015 for sardine and between 2003 and 2015 for anchovy.
Two measures were used to describe small pelagic fish reproductive investment. The GSI was calculated using the following formula:where
M G is the gonad weight and M E the fish eviscerated weight. The use of this index was validated by confirming the isometric relationship between gonad weight and fish eviscerated weight, preventing us from misleading interpretation.
Length at first maturity (
L 50), i.e. body length at which 50% of the individuals were mature, was estimated per spawning season between 2003 and 2015 for anchovy and from 1971 to 1976 and 2003 to 2016 for sardine. To do so, annual maturity ogives were created per species, plotting the proportion of mature individuals relative to fish length during the spawning season. Generalized Linear Models (GLM) with a binomial error distribution and a logit link were used to approximate the ogive, with the proportion of mature fish ( m) as the dependent variable and the length classes ( L C, 0.5 cm) as the independent variable. The models had the general form:where a and b are the intercept and slope of the ogive, respectively. L 50 for each year was derived from the estimated parameters: 2.3. Fish muscle lipid content
Fish condition was estimated by muscle lipid content for anchovy and sardine collected during their spawning season, respectively, in the 2015 summer and the 2014–2015 winter. Liver was not investigated here as its weight was too small in comparison with the weight of other organs (less than 1%), and these two species are renowned for storing lipids in the muscle [12]. Roughly 0.1 g of muscle was sampled in order to extract lipids using a solvent mixture (chloroform–methanol 2 : 1, v/v), as described by Folch
et al. [48] and analysed by flame ionization detection on an Iatroscan [49]. For the purpose of this study, only total lipid content obtained by summation of individual lipid classes is presented. 2.4. Reproductive capacity 2.4.1. Histological determination and follicular atresia
These analyses were made only on samples from the 2015 summer (anchovy) and the 2014–2015 winter (sardine). After fixation, one gonad was cut transversely along its midsection and embedded in paraffin before being sliced into 5–10 µm sections and stained with both haematoxylin-eosin and Mallory's trichrome stains. The latter staining method highlights the zona radiata and its continuity and facilitates the detection of degenerating oocytes which will not be spawned, i.e. atretic oocytes [50].
Histological analyses allowed us to select individuals used in fecundity and egg quality analyses. First, we used the terminology employed by Brown-Peterson
et al. [51] to histologically describe the developmental stage of the oocytes; immature (fish that have not reached sexual maturity), regenerating (mature but reproductively inactive individuals), developing (fish with gametes that are beginning to develop), spawning capable (fish with advanced gametes that are ready for spawning), actively spawning (oocytes in migratory nucleus or hydration stage) or regressing (massive atresia which indicates the end of the reproductive cycle). Only fish in the actively spawning stage were retained for later analyses on egg quality, whereas both spawning capable and actively spawning stages were kept for estimations of batch fecundity (BF). To avoid underestimations of BF, histological analyses were used to check for the presence of postovulatory follicles, which reveal if spawning had already started. Egg quality analyses were performed with hydrated oocytes. For the experimental part of this study, 108 female sardines were analysed, including 41 individuals classified as spawning capable and 30 individuals with hydrated eggs. Of the 126 female anchovy, 45 individuals held gonads with hydrated oocytes and 40 were retained as spawning capable individuals (figure 1).
In a second step, histological analyses were also performed to study atresia. Atresia were quantified with two different measures: the prevalence of atresia (
P a), calculated as the proportion of females with α-atretic oocytes, and the relative intensity of atresia ( I a), determined for females exhibiting atretic oocytes as the number of α-atretic oocytes divided by the total number of vitellogenic oocytes. Three different gonad areas were analysed for both indices and the mean of the three areas was used as the relative intensity of atresia. 2.4.2. Fecundity and egg quality
To assess fecundity, subsamples of the central part of the ovary were weighed before being washed to separate the oocytes from the connective tissue [52]. Anchovy and sardine are batch spawners, so their fecundity was estimated in terms of BF, defined as the number of eggs spawned per batch [53]. Three sieves with a mesh size ranging from 600 to 250 µm were used to sort the oocytes by size. Oocyte size distribution followed a bimodal distribution and eggs belonging to the next batch were counted based on their size as defined in [39,54] for anchovy. Counting of oocytes was performed with an image analysis system (Image-Pro Plus 5.1; http://www.mediacy.com). The BF was estimated with the following formula:where
M G is the gonad weight after fixation, O is the number of oocytes counted in the subsample of the ovary and S W is the subsample weight. In addition, the relative batch fecundity (RBF) was computed as the BF divided by the eviscerated weight of the fish (g) and was formerly validated following the same procedure as for the GSI.
Oocyte quality, another proxy of reproductive success [55], was assessed by estimating the mean oocyte dry mass for each fish, obtained by drying two replicates of 100 hydrated oocytes for 24 h at 110°C.
2.4.3. Estimation of the number of eggs spawned by the populations
An estimation of the total population egg production for each year and species was calculated by combining (i) the number of fish per length class in the population, (ii) maturity ogives, (iii) length-dependent BF, and (iv) the number of spawning events (or batches) per length class during the spawning season in the same formula:With
nli the number of fish in length class l, i Mthe percentage of mature individuals in length class li l, BF i the BF for length class li land spawning duration/batch period i the number of spawning events for length class li l. i
Here
nli was obtained from PELMED acoustic surveys, which took place during summer (i.e. the reproductive period of anchovy). However, as sardines reproduce between December and March, size structure information needed to be corrected for this species. Therefore, the theoretical sizes of sardine in winter were estimated from their sizes of the preceding summer recorded during PELMED, using a growth correction formula. Given that small pelagic fish grow mainly during summer, seasonal growth variability was accounted for using Somers' model based on 2003–2014 otolith data [56,57]. Adult mortality was assumed to be size independent between summer and the beginning of winter, as mortality was assumed to occur mostly in the first weeks of life or during overwintering. Mwas obtained from annual maturity ogives (see Historical changes in reproductive patterns), while BF li was inferred from fecundity analyses (see Fecundity and egg quality). li
The number of spawning events was obtained by combining the spawning duration (obtained from annual reproduction cycles depending on the studied period; see Historical changes in reproductive patterns) and the between-batches period. The latter was size dependent and obtained for sardine from [58]: individuals smaller than 13 cm spawn every 17 days, those ranging between 13 and 16 cm spawn every 12.25 days and those greater than 16 cm spawn every 7.81 days. Regarding anchovy, the spawning frequency changes with age and was derived from dynamic energy budget (DEB) modelling [59,60]. This number of batches from DEB modelling is close to direct observations [59]. Age was transformed into size using mean length at age [33]. Owing to the size decrease during the last decade, separate values were determined before and after 2008. Therefore, age 1 anchovy spawning every 5.26 days corresponds to a size range between 11.5 and 13 cm before 2008, and between 10 and 11.5 cm after 2008. Age 2 individuals spawning every 4.35 days fall into a size range of 13–15 cm before 2008, and 11.5–14.5 cm after 2008. Age 3 anchovy spawning every 4.17 days has a size superior to 15.5 cm before 2008 and 14.5 cm after 2008 [33]. Egg quality was not included in this simulation because of the difficulties to link morphometric to biochemical condition measurements during the reproductive period [49].
2.5. Data analyses
We conducted linear regression analyses between total muscle lipid content and both egg quantity and quality. The coefficient of determination (
R 2) was used to estimate the proportion of variability explained and the strength of the relationship between the different variables tested. Similarly, linear regressions were also carried out per species between the intensity of atresia and the muscle lipid content and fish length. GLMs with a binomial error distribution were conducted to investigate the relationships between fish length or condition and atresia prevalence. For all relationships and metrics (e.g. GSI, RBF), residuals were tested for normality and homogeneity of variance, and transformed if necessary.
GSI annual cycles (period 1973–1978 plus 2002–2015 for sardine and 2004–2015 for anchovy) were used to generate GSI anomalies calculated as the difference between the observed GSI of each fish for a given month, and the mean GSI of that month over the entire dataset. Then, in order to investigate interannual variation in GSI, the analyses were restricted to the spawning months where at least 25% of the population was spawning (as defined in the results on breeding phenology). For both species, GSI interannual variability and differences between time periods were tested using one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA and pairwise post-hoc tests).
For the calculation of the number of eggs spawned annually per species, 1000 simulations were performed in order to incorporate the uncertainties derived from fecundity and maturity at length as well as spawning duration. Parameters for which an estimation of the associated uncertainty was available (i.e.
Mli, BF ) were randomly drawn from a uniform distribution whose range was defined by the 95% confidence interval calculated from the size–maturity and size–BF GLM results. Spawning duration was also randomly drawn according to the range inferred from results of the reproduction annual cycles. All statistical analyses were performed with R v. 3.0.2 (R Development Core Team, 2013). Values are indicated as mean ± s.e. and all statistical tests were performed at a significance level of 0.05. li 3. Results 3.1. Historical perspective of reproductive patterns
Based on the percentage of spawning capable individuals, anchovy spawning season lasted longer (five months) and started earlier (between April and August, figure 2
a) during the two recent time periods (2008–2011 and 2012–2015) than in 1965 or 2005–2006 (three or four months between May–June and August; figure 2 a). The GSI also indicated that anchovy reproduction in recent years was limited to the April–August period (figure 2 c). By contrast, sardine spawning season remained relatively stable over the different time periods, lasting five months from November to March (figure 2 b). Nonetheless, small variations were registered in 2008–2011, when the season started slightly earlier, as about 25% of the population was already spawning in October. Also, a small part of the population (approx. 10–15%) was still spawning in April during the two recent periods (2008–2011 and 2012–2015). The sardine spawning season also lasted from October to March in the 1970s and 2002–2015, according to annual GSI cycle (figure 2 d).
Length at maturity (
L 50) estimated for the spawning seasons 2002–2015 using yearly GLMs showed strong interannual variations (figure 3). Results for anchovy indicated that L 50 first increased from 2003 to 2007, then strongly declined in 2008 and at last stabilized around 9.3 cm. For sardine, a major downward shift in L 50 was observed during the late 2000s, from 12.1 cm during 2002–2008 to 9.6 cm after 2009.
Anchovy GSI anomalies exhibited significant variations between years (
p < 0.001, figure 4), with an alternation of negative and positive anomalies, and a slight increase between the two periods (2004–2005 versus 2008–2015, p < 0.01). Sardine GSI anomalies also significantly fluctuated between years ( p < 0.001, figure 4). In the 1970s, GSI anomalies fluctuated around small positive values without any temporal trend. By contrast, during the more recent period a clear significant rise (linear model, p < 0.001) in GSI anomalies values appeared, from strong negative values in 2008/2009 (mean = −0.81/−0.99) to the highest values in the series in 2015 (mean = 1.73). 3.2. Effects of size and condition on batch fecundity and atresia
Female anchovy egg numbers ranged from 1492 to 9406 eggs per batch, whereas sardine ovaries had between 537 and 4486 eggs per batch. Both species exhibited a significant and positive relationship between gonad fresh weight and BF (egg number:
n = 85, R 2 = 0.61, p < 0.001 for anchovy and n = 71, R 2 = 0.34, p < 0.001 for sardine). BF was also positively related to the total length of fish ( n = 85, R 2 = 0.53, p < 0.001 for anchovy and n = 71, R 2 = 0.38, p < 0.001 for sardine; figure 5) as was the relative BF, although not significantly for anchovy ( n = 85, R 2 = 0.05, p = 0.07 for anchovy and n = 71, R 2 = 0.10, p = 0.03 for sardine). On the contrary, neither BF ( n = 85, p = 0.07 for anchovy and n = 71, p = 0.24 for sardine) nor RBF ( n = 85, p = 0.67 for anchovy and n = 71, p = 0.12 for sardine) was related to muscle lipid content. Anchovy ovaries with atretic oocytes had a low prevalence (prevalence of atresia, P a = 17.8 and 22.5; table 1) and intensity (relative intensity of atresia, R Ia = 13.1 and 16.9; table 1), for both spawning capable and actively spawning stages. Similar observations were made for sardine, with atresia prevalence ranging from 29.3% for spawning capable individuals to 6.7% for actively spawning individuals (table 1). Intensity of atresia was slightly lower than for anchovy, with values from 13.5% for spawning capable individuals to 3.4% for actively spawning individuals (table 1). No significant relationship between prevalence or intensity of atresia and both fish condition and length was found for either species (table 1). 3.3. Effects of size and condition on egg quality
Mean egg dry mass was established for hydrated females only, and estimated at 0.052 (±0.016) and 0.039 (±0.006) mg per egg for anchovy and sardine, respectively. For both species, this index of egg quality was positively correlated with fish muscle lipid content, but more strongly for anchovy (
n = 45, R 2 = 0.71, p < 0.001; figure 6) than for sardine ( n = 30, R 2 = 0.59, p < 0.001; figure 6). No relationship was found between egg quality and fish size for either species ( n = 45, p = 0.10 and n = 30, p = 0.21 for anchovy and sardine, respectively). 3.4. Number of eggs spawned by small pelagic fish
To calculate the annual total number of eggs produced per population, anchovy spawning season ranged from three to five months, based on previous results. Simulations for sardine were realized for a spawning season duration set to five or six months. Anchovy egg number production showed large interannual fluctuations with a low egg number between 2004 and 2008 (between 4.63 × 10
14 and 6.18 × 10 14 eggs, figure 7) while the number of eggs produced between 2009 and 2015 was about twice higher (8.81 × 10 14 to 1.45 × 10 15 eggs; figure 7). From 2004 to 2006, the number of sardine eggs increased and was high (between 7.02 × 10 14 and 1.47 × 10 15 eggs for 2004–2006) but declined by one third until 2008 to then remain steady at low level (between 5.58 × 10 14 and 5.28 × 10 14 eggs for the 2008–2016 period; figure 7). 4. Discussion
Reproduction is costly, leading to a trade-off between reproductive investment, survival and growth [61]. The part of ingested energy remaining after allocation to metabolic process is allocated to both somatic growth and reproductive investments, which are hence in mutual competition. Recently, an increase of trophic overlap between small pelagic fish species was observed in the Gulf of Lions at the same time as a decrease in fish body condition [33,62], supporting the hypothesis that food resources could be currently more limiting than in the past [45,62]. In such context of food shortage, one might wonder how the trade-off between reproduction and growth or maintenance has been dealt with in both species, especially in light of their fast life-history pace as well as their opposite breeding strategies. To investigate reproductive allocation, we used a combination of three measurements: (i) the length of the breeding season, (ii) the age or size at which they first reproduce, and (iii) the weight of the gonad relative to the individual total weight.
First, the spawning period seems to have been slightly extended compared to previous studies from the 1960s [46,47]. In particular, anchovy starts reproducing a bit earlier, now starting at the end of April instead of in May. These changes could be the result of physiological adjustments to increasing sea temperatures and changing environment. Anchovy spawning was shown to be induced by temperatures higher than 17°C [34], so that advanced warming water [63] could promote earlier gonad maturation. As the reproductive performance is known to increase with age (constraint [64], restraint [5] and selection [65] hypotheses), especially in terms of breeding duration [61,66], spawning period was expected to be shorter for younger females than older ones [67,68]. Surprisingly, none of our studied species displayed a shorter spawning period despite a rejuvenation of the population, suggesting high reproductive investment for both species.
Furthermore, our results suggest a decrease in length at first maturity of both species. Sardine length at maturity was high during the 1970s and early 2000s, but has decreased strongly after 2009. An abrupt change in size at first maturity from 2007 to 2008 has also been observed in anchovy, which have matured at extremely small size since 2012. Surprisingly, the decline in
L 50 did not happen progressively [69], but very fast around 2008 in both species, confirming the high plasticity of their reproductive characteristics as already observed for other short-lived species, such as Daphnia [70], fish [71] or toad [72]. Under unfavourable environmental condition (reduced growth), organisms should adjust size at maturity to maximize fitness [73]. For instance, growth reduction often leads to earlier reproduction at a smaller size [74] in short-lived species. Similarly, under reduced adult survival, selection should favour genotypes capable of reproducing earlier, at a smaller size and with a higher reproductive effort [75]. Accordingly, sardine reproductive effort (as measured through the GSI) showed a strong increase during the last 7 years, anchovy GSI increasing as well though less strongly. Such increase in reproductive effort might be a response to the decreasing proportion of large females, which usually produce more eggs. Moreover, the gradual increase over the last years in sardine GSI (and also but more slowly so for anchovy) may reflect the progressive increase in the number of individuals able to invest highly in reproduction, supporting the idea that there was a selection favouring this phenotype.
Our results thus indicate that when confronted by low energy resources, small pelagic fish seem to increase reproductive allocation. This might be an important source of demographic changes as well as fishing pressure. As Van Beveren
et al. [76] underlined the relatively low exploitation of both species during the study period in the study area, we do not think that fishing could be the main factor that has induced the observed changes in the studied indices. However, fishing can act as a covariable, and its impact might be difficult to differentiate from environmental ones. Fishing activities can largely affect the condition and reproductive potential of exploited fish in complex ways such as reducing the food availability or inducing physiological stress (reviewed by Lampert [15]), and therefore we cannot fully discard that fishing activities in the area targeting anchovy and sardine, despite being moderate, can play a role on the observed changes. Therefore, further investigations are needed to consider the fishing pressure on the condition and reproductive potential of small pelagic fish populations. By devoting more energy per individual to reproduction, small pelagic fish seem to favour their reproductive output over somatic growth under unfavourable conditions. These results support life-history theory, as short-lived species are expected to favour reproduction over survival [3], as previously shown in a large number of fish species (e.g. in vendace [71] or herring [77]). Contrary to longer-lived species able to safeguard their own survival by ceasing to breed at any time (e.g. amphibian [78] and reptile [79]), such a strategy could greatly affect other small pelagic life-history traits and explain the recent reduction of growth rates and sardine adult survival highlighted by Van Beveren et al. [33]. This might even be further amplified by the fact that the survival cost of reproduction is known to be higher in individuals maturing at smaller size and earlier age [80].
Despite similarities, our results also highlighted differences between the two species. Indeed, the increase in anchovy GSI values was much lower than sardine's one. This has to be put in relation with the steeper decline in growth and condition in sardines compared to anchovies, as well as the adult overmortality which only occurred in sardines [33]. Such results could come from their reproductive strategies, anchovy being an income breeder and sardine mainly a capital breeder [35,36]. If we assume that growth is mainly realized during spring and summer [81], when planktonic resources are more important, anchovy strategy allows them to take advantage of higher resource availability to invest in both somatic growth and reproduction. By contrast, sardine has to store energy and incur costs due to accumulating fat store and maintaining storage compound to then spend this capital during winter [82]. Following breeding at the end of winter, sardine reserves should thus be exhausted making them more vulnerable to lower food availability (whether due to a general decrease in prey quantity or quality). Together with really low energy stores, high reproductive investment at a period at which food is scarce could deeply lower the survival and prevent the majority of sardine from surviving past their first reproductive season, explaining the observed disappearance of large sardine since 2008 in the Gulf of Lions [31]. Nevertheless, some sardine populations were shown to feed during the spawning period while some anchovies rely on somatic reserves for part of their reproduction [42], smoothing off the income versus capital strategy opposition. Even if strict income or capital strategy might not happen all the time in the Gulf of Lions, our results still suggest potential differences in the effect of reproductive investment on other life-history traits depending on breeding strategies (income/capital), which would merit further investigation.
Results also suggest significant preovulatory maternal condition effects on the egg quantity and quality of sardine and anchovy. Reproductive features are similar to numerous species of birds [83],
Daphnia [15], snakes [84] or turtles [14]. As the number of eggs increases linearly with fish size for both species and the RBF also increases with body length for sardine, reproductive capacity can therefore be assumed to be higher in large individuals. This emphasizes the hypothesis that the reproductive potential of a species is highly dependent on large individuals (i.e. dependent on the age structure of the population, e.g. [85]) as previously reported for many taxa (e.g. [86]). However, contrasting with several other species, e.g. birds [25] or reptiles [22], anchovy and sardine females in better condition did not produce more eggs relative to their weight than females in a poorer condition. On the contrary, egg quality did depend on female lipid content, so that maternal condition may be relevant for the survival of egg and larvae. Indeed, Riveiro et al. [87] demonstrated the link between larval survival in hatching condition and the egg quality underlining its importance in larvae survival rate and in short-term fish recruitment. Consequently, we may reasonably think that later years' egg quality of sardine and anchovy was affected by the decrease of adult body condition [33]. While a positive size effect had been previously detected on egg quality in cod [88] but also in turtles [14] or birds [89], none of our species displayed such relationship. Moreover, the occurrence and intensity of atresia were not related to fish condition or size in either of the two species, despite maternal condition being know to rule oocytes resorption mechanism depending on fat quantity in several species, e.g. in insects [90] or fish [91]. This could be due to the really low level of atresia observed in these indeterminate fecundity species, for which atresia occurs almost only in the regression phase.
In the light of the current small pelagic fish situation in the Gulf of Lions, characterized by small sardine and anchovy in poor condition [33,54], our results indicate that the individual reproductive potential could be strongly affected both in terms of quantity and quality. However, earlier maturation could potentially lead to a higher number of breeders and compensate at the population level for the decrease in individual reproductive capacity, as described in other short-lived species such as
Daphnia [92] or insects [93]. Indeed, the back-calculated yearly population egg number production values indicated that anchovy egg production has been slightly higher since 2009 and thus not affected by low resource levels and smaller fish dominance. On the contrary, the change in L 50 was not sufficient to counteract the more pronounced disappearance of large and old individuals in sardines. Indeed, the model highlighted an estimated fourfold reduction of the sardine egg number in the Gulf of Lions between years when large sardines dominated (i.e. 2005–2006) and when small sardines dominated (i.e. since 2008). As sardine and anchovy condition has decreased since 2007 and influences egg quality, we suggest that along with egg number reduction, egg quality also decreased. This enhances the idea of a stronger degradation of sardine reproductive capacities paralleling the decline in the lipid reserves of the stock compared to anchovy. Nevertheless, no data were currently available to obtain an accurate estimation of recruitment for both species, leaving as a challenge for future studies to test whether egg number and quality might explain a significant part of recruitment variability of small pelagic fish.
Long-lived species are able to prioritize their energy allocation between life-history traits and usually favour their own condition over their propagules' condition [3]. For example, fish [42] as well as birds [94] or reptiles [95] are able to skip or delay breeding under poor environmental condition to attempt to maximize fitness by allocating resources optimally among growth, maintenance and future reproduction. In contrast, short-lived anchovy and sardine clearly guided the trade-offs between reproduction and survival towards a maintenance (if not an increase) of their reproductive investment even during a poor condition period in the Gulf of Lions. According to the costs associated with reproduction, females favouring reproduction led to a reduced growth and a reduction in survival and might explain the current lack of large old small pelagic fish in the Gulf of Lions. Even if reproduction was prioritized, egg quantity and quality decreased between 2006 and 2015 for sardine. While the effect of decreasing sardine egg production on its recruitment could not be investigated in this study, these findings brought to light strong evidence on the need to consider fish reproductive and condition characteristics together. Both are essential to understand forage fish fluctuations and evaluate the long-term sustainability of the forage fish stocks.
Ethics
No ethics or research permit was required for this study but this research complies with the guidelines for research projects at Ifremer, France. Authors declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were performed.
Data accessibility Authors' contribution
Declaration of authorship: P.B., M.M., J.L., C.F. and C.S. conceived and designed the experiments. P.B., E.V.B., V.M. and C.S. conducted fieldwork. P.B., E.V.B., V.M., C.F. and C.S. performed the experiments. P.B., V.M. and C.S. analysed the data. P.B., M.M., J.L., J.M.F., F.M. and C.S. wrote the manuscript; other authors contributed to its revision and provided editorial advice.
Competing interest
We have no competing interests.
Funding
This research was partly funded through the EcoPelGol project (Study of the Pelagic ecosystem in the Gulf of Lions), financed by France Filière Pêche (FFP). P.B. acknowledges doctoral fellowship support from the French Ministère de l'Education Nationale, de la Recherche et de la Technologie.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the captain and the crew of RV
L'Europe, as well as all the scientists onboard for their assistance during PELMED surveys. PELMED surveys are co-financed by Europe through the Data Collection Framework. The authors express their thanks to the three anonymous reviewers who helped to greatly improve the manuscript. The authors also express their thanks to Estefania Torreblanca and Aurélie Garcia for their precious laboratory help. Received March 21, 2016. Accepted September 5, 2016. © 2016 The Authors.
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. | 42,636 | 16,001 | 0.000063 |
warc | 201704 | The mountains that form Santa Barbara’s backdrop run east and west, which is unusual for California coastal ranges, while the Pacific lies to the south. Thanks to these quirks of geography, the area enjoys a particularly temperate climate, never too hot during the dry summers, never too cold in winters that may be rainy. This Mediterranean-like weather pattern creates a long growing season wherein many kinds of plants from around the world can flourish. The happy result for visitors is a profusion of unusual and gorgeous Santa Barbara gardens.
In the 19th century, landscapers and botanists here often imported rare and exotic specimens from South America, Australia, and Europe, and some of their estates have formed the basis of world-class horticultural gems that have been refined and developed further by private homeowners and philanthropists.
Many sites comprise a variety of Southern California environments — expansive meadows, interesting canyons, cactus gardens, quiet woodlands, even examples of redwoods or sequoias. Still other gardens are the work of imaginative landscape designers, illustrating the elegance of Japanese gardens, for example, or the dramatic planting of a single species or color of flora.
Santa Barbara is home to prize rose gardens, estates that evoke the Victorian age, and venues that hark back to Spanish-Moorish styles, which complement Santa Barbara’s distinctive architecture. In addition, there are also nature preserves with trails that allow visitors to experience the region’s native flora in its original setting. | 1,590 | 877 | 0.001158 |
warc | 201704 | Society for Philosophy and Technology
Sustainability and Common-pool Resources: Alternatives to Tragedy
Stanley R. Carpenter, School of Public Policy, Georgia Tech ABSTRACT
The paradox that individually rational actions collectively can lead to irrational outcomes is exemplified in human appropriation of a class of goods known as "common-pool resources"("CPR"): natural or humanly created resource systems which are large enough to make it costly to exclude potential beneficiaries. Appropriations of common-pool resources for private use tend toward abusive practices that lead to the loss of the resource in question: the tragedy of the commons. Prescriptions for escape from tragedy have involved two institutions, each applied largely in isolation from the other: private markets (the "hidden hand") and government coercion (Leviathan). Yet examples exist of local institutions that have utilized mixtures of public and private practices and have survived for hundreds of years.
Two problems further exacerbate efforts to avoid the tragic nature of common- pool resource use. One, given the current level of knowledge, the role of the resource is not recognized for what it is. It is, thus, in a fundamental, epistemological sense invisible. Two, if the resource is recognized, it may not be considered scarce, thus placing it outside the scrutiny of economic theory. Both types of error are addressed by the emerging field of ecological economics.
This paper discusses common pool resources, locates the ambiguities that make their identification difficult, and argues that avoidance of a CPR loss is inadequately addressed by sharply separated market and state institutions. When the resource is recognized for what it is, a common-pool good, which is subject to overexploitation, it may be possible to identify creative combinations of public and private institutions that can combine to save that resource. Disparate examples of self-organized enterprises, public/private utilities, and "green" taxes, to name a few, provide empirical content for developing theories of self-organized collective action.
INTRODUCTION
For human life to persist and flourish into the indefinite future, technological practices must utilize resources in sustainable ways. Not only is such not the case at present, but programs that would lead to sustainable resource use are hampered by failures to appreciate the full range of resources that do figure in human survival. Economic theories which define what is to count as a resource can significantly distort the problem of measuring resource consumption in two crucial ways. First, the selective focus of economic theory can completely fail to recognize a resource where one exists. Second, economic categories can be too broad, lumping together resources that need to be distinguished, or in those cases where distinctions are made between types of resources, failing to draw the distinctions at the correct point. Both errors directly effect technological designs. Technologies that mistakenly treat certain resources as unlimited public goods or, even worse, fail to recognize specific natural processes as valuable resources, can contribute, by inadvertence, to the depletion and even destruction of those resources. Additionally, technologies which lump together humanly created capital such as food processing plants or refineries, with natural capital, such as fish stocks or mineral deposits, can lead to the unsustainable appropriation of resources.
In this paper I discuss these two types of errors: failures of resource recognition and failures of resource discrimination, both in the context of a familiar problem in resource use, the problem of resources. Identifying these errors can lead to a better description of the scope of the common-pool resource (CPR) problem. A second error can then be addressed, the contention that CPR problems lead inevitably to "the tragedy of the commons" (Hardin 1968). Based on empirical research—both case studies and game theoretic laboratory experiments with human subjects—the deterministic nature of CPR appropriation can be challenged (Ostrom et al. 1995). This will not, however, lead to a sanguine assurance that CPR problems can always be avoided, that escape from tragedy is always possible. Rather, the identification of specific cases, some having succeeded for hundreds of years, where communities of people have devised schemes for avoiding the destruction of a common-pool resource, may provide some insight into sustainable resource use. In the end, however, it will be claimed that sustainable solutions to CPR problems are likely to display a wide variety of hybrid combinations of market and public practices.
TERMINOLOGY
A vocabulary has evolved for designating different types of resources (Ostrom 1995, 7). We will follow these stipulations throughout the discussion. "Exclusion" refers to the degree to which access to a resource can be restricted. "Subtractability" deals with whether or not one person's appropriation of a resource reduces the availability of that resource for others. These two properties of a resource, exclusion and subtractability, lead to the generation of a two by two typology of resources, as follows:
Table 1
RESOURCE TYPOLOGY
LOW SUBTRACTABILITY
HIGH SUBTRACTABILITY
DIFFICULT EXCLUSION
PUBLIC GOODS
COMMON POOL RESOURCES (CPR)
EASY EXCLUSION
TOLL OR CLUB GOODS
PRIVATE GOODS
Resources, access to which is easily controlled, are of two types, "private" goods and "toll" or "club" goods. Access to private goods are controlled by the familiar institutions of private property. Access to toll or club goods is limited by the levying of tolls or the existence of membership restrictions.
On the other hand, access to two other types of resources cannot easily be denied. These include public goods, sometimes called "free goods," such as air and water, or public information systems, such as emergency radio broadcasts or scenic vistas. Other resources from which access is not easily restricted are called CPRs. These include fish grounds, groundwater basins, public parks or commons, etc.
The boundary between public goods and CPRs is not fixed. This is due to the other property crosscutting the four types of goods introduced, the property of subtractability. Public goods are considered low in subtractability. One person's use will not appreciably limit use by another. If one person listens to the emergency broadcast program, another's use of it most likely is not diminished. A CPR, on the other hand, is by definition high in subtractability, one person's use limits another's. On common land, the grass eaten by the animals of herder A is unavailable for the animals of herder B. The system sensitivity between public goods and CPRs exists because a grazing field that is very large, supporting very few herders and grazing animals, has almost no subtractability vis-à-vis each herder. The commons is effectively a public good. It is when the commons is appropriated by many herders and/or many animals that it becomes unequivocally a CPR. Difficulty of exclusion, combined with high subtractability, can lead to the CPR dilemma Hardin calls the "tragedy of the commons."
Toll goods or club goods are considered low in subtractability. One person's use of the club only slightly affects another club member's access. Private goods are highly subtractable, since by definition what someone privatizes is not there for others.
FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE A RESOURCE - VALUING NATURE
Public goods do not easily lend themselves to valuation according to standard economic theories. In fact, they run the risk of not appearing in economic assessments at all. A recent article in the journal
Natureby a group of economists and ecologists attempts to assign monetary values to various services which are performed by earth's ecosystems but which are "not fully captured in commercial markets or adequately quantified in terms comparable with economic services and manufactured capital�." (Costanza et al. 1997, 253). An overall conservative estimate of seventeen ecological system services and natural capital stocks puts their value at between $16 and $54 trillion per year. By comparison, the gross national product of all the goods and services produced by all nations during one year is $18 trillion. Consider, for example, the services provided by pollinators for plant reproduction. How much are honeybees and other pollinators worth? Their services are estimated to amount to $117 million per year. Table 2 summarizes the estimated contributions of each of the seventeen categories.
Table 2
ESTIMATED MONETARY VALUE OF SELECTED GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (Costanza et al. 1997, 253)
ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
DESCRIPTION
$billion/yr
GAS REGULATION
Carbon dioxide/ oxygen balance, ozone for ultraviolet protection
1,341
CLIMATE REGULATION
Greenhouse gas regulation
684
DISTURBANCE REGULATION
Storm protection, flood control, drought recovery
1,779
WATER REGULATION
Provision of water for irrigation, mills or transportation
1,115
WATER SUPPLY
Provision of water by watersheds, reservoirs and aquifers
1,692
EROSION CONTROL AND SEDIMENT RETENTION
Prevention of soil loss by wind, runoff, etc.; storage of silt in lakes and wetlands
576
SOIL FORMATION
Weathering of rock and accumulation of organic material
53
NUTRIENT CYCLING
Nitrogen fixation
17,075
WASTE TREATMENT
Pollution control, detoxification
2,227
POLLINATION
Pollinators for plant reproduction
117
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
Predator control of prey species
417
REFUGES
Nurseries, habitat for migratory species
124
FOOD PRODUCTION
Production of fish, game, crops, nuts and fruits by hunting, fishing, gathering or subsistence farming
1,386
RAW MATERIALS
Production of lumber, fuel or fodder
721
GENETIC RESOURCES
Medicines, resistance genes for crops, ornamental plant species, pets
79
RECREATION
Ecotourism, sports fishing, other outdoor recreation
815
CULTURAL
Esthetic, artistic, educational, spiritual and/or scientific
3,015
∑ $33,268
FAILURES TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN TYPES OF RESOURCES
Failure to identify and evaluate these important contributors to human welfare becomes a doubly critical error when it is realized that such systems can themselves be harmed by anthropogenic activities. The impacts of human activities on these services has the effect of shifting them from the category of a public good, with low subtractability, to a CPR, which is highly subtractable. The seriousness of this change in status, however, is obscured when the original ecosystem service was economically invisible. Thus, not only did the transition to an additional CPR from a free good actually occur, it did not even appear on an economic balance sheet. One of the difficulties in addressing a CPR problem is the uncertainty in assessing the extent and rate of loss of the resource. To this must thus be added the uncertainty that the loss will be detected at all.
Compounding failures of resource recognition are failures of accurate resource discrimination. For example, consider the relationship between natural capital and man-made capital. Man-made capital consists of human technologies, factories, financial institutions and other social inventions that facilitate human appropriation of the resources of the globe. Natural capital, on the other hand, is the stock that produces the flow of renewable and nonrenewable resources of the globe that supply the inputs to the man-made systems of capital. Standard neoclassical economics, however, treats these two types of capital as highly substitutable. Daly characterizes this claim of intersubstitutability as an outmoded relic of a world where man-made capital was insignificantly small in scale compared with natural capital. Now man-made capital has become so vast in scale that it is itself limited by the decreasing supply of natural capital. The relation between natural capital and man-made capital, he argues, must be seen as complementary. "[W]hat good," Daly asks, "is a saw mill without a forest? a refinery without petroleum deposits? a fishing boat without populations of fish? Beyond some point in the accumulation of man-made capital it is clear that the limiting factor on production will be remaining natural capital. For example, the limiting factor determining the fish catch is the reproductive capacity of fish populations, not the number of fishing boats; for gasoline the limiting factor is petroleum deposits, not refinery capacity; and for many types of wood it is remaining forests, not saw mill capacity" (1992, 25-6). Mischaracterization of the relationship between natural and man-made capital thus obscures a clear recognition of the seriousness of declining natural resources.
Natural capital may be privately owned, as in the case of a forest, or a CPR, as is the case with most fishing grounds. Even privatization, however, is no guarantee against the destruction of the privately owned resource. When a private forest is treated as income rather than capital, the cruel economic fact is that if the forest regeneration rate is less than the going rate of money, it is economically rational to "cut and run," investing the proceeds at the favorable financial rate. Failure to regard the privately held forest ecosystem as natural capital—while not amounting to a destruction of a CPR— is a destruction of nature's services nevertheless (Clark 1977).
COMMON-POOL RESOURCES AND THE "TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS"
"The tragedy of the commons constitutes perhaps the most powerful bias against sustainable development" (Clark 1991, 323). Designation of certain CPRs with the metaphor "tragedy" is in near universal parlance since Hardin coined it three decades ago (Hardin 1968). The phenomenon, minus the attention getting symbolism, was clearly identified fourteen years earlier in Gordon's article, "The Economic Theory of a Common-Property Resource: The Fishery" (Gordon 1954). Much earlier Aristotle wrote "what is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it. Everyone thinks chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the common interest" (
Politics2.3).
The tragedy of the commons has been called a social dilemma because strategies that are individually rational collectively can produce irrational results. Hardin cited an obscure pamphlet, written in 1833 by an amateur mathematician, William Forster Lloyd, describing a group of herders using common land. Lloyd showed how each herder would regard it as in his own best interest to maximize his individual gain by adding animals to the commons. While any losses that would occur would be borne by all of the herders, the gain would be his. Since other herders would reason similarly, the only outcome of the process would be the destruction of the commons itself. Hardin chose the term "tragedy" to capture what he mistakenly believed to be the remorseless, deterministic, and destructive nature of the process as a whole.
Adopting Hardin's metaphor, others have cited examples of the tragedy everywhere, from those of air and water pollution, the extinction of marine species, to Mafia activities, drug racketeering and international terrorism. Hundreds of articles have been written on the subject. Hardin's primary application of the phrase was to the problem of world population. He argued that the common-pool of good will among peoples of the world which tolerated and often actively encouraged the "freedom to breed" would inevitably create a threat to the survival of the human species (Hardin 1968, 1243).
Yearly reports from organizations such as the Worldwatch Institute or the World Resources Institute, which document the decline in the earth's ecosystems, depletion of both non-renewable resources and regenerative capacities of renewable resources, reinforce a fatalistic pessimism. Yet, it is possible to challenge the accepted characterization of common pool resource use. There are, for example, long-enduring, self-organized resource institutions, the youngest of which has functioned sustainably for more than one hundred years, the oldest more than one thousand years.
In Törbel, Switzerland and the villages of Hirano, Nagaike, and Yamanoka, Japan, hybrid systems of private and communally owned institutions have used mountain meadows and forest products for hundreds of years. In Spain, in the region of Valencia, and in the Philippine Islands there are examples of irrigation systems have been maintained for similar lengths of time (Ostrom 1990). For the past 140 years the Menominee Tribe has inhabited Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. During that period it has practiced sustainable forestry, even as the forests outside the reservation were depleted. Today there is more standing saw timber volume (1.7 billion board feet) than there was in 1854 (estimated at 1.2 billion board feet). During this same period over 2.25 billion board feet have been harvested from the same acreage (Menominee Forest Homepage).
The variety of institutional arrangements that are embodied in both successful and unsuccessful instances of CPR use is staggering. While the study of institutions of collective action appears to be in the formative stages, significant strides have been made. On the basis of mathematical game theory, laboratory simulation games, as well as detailed field analyses of cases such as those mentioned above (Ostrom, 1995), the elements of a framework for analysis of CPRs may well emerge.
THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS AND THE PRISONER'S DILEMMA GAME
Hardin's description of herders on a common has been conceptualized as a well known dilemma in mathematical game theory known as the "Prisoner's Dilemma." The properties of the prisoner's dilemma simulate the "locked in," inexorable quality by which Hardin characterized the tragic exploitation of the commons resource. Specifically, the prisoner's dilemma is characterized as a two person, non-cooperative game with full information. This means that both players—prisoners in this case—have full knowledge of the payoff matrix that mathematically describes the game of which they are a part.
Briefly, two prisoners, A & B, suspected of robbery are put into separate cells, with no opportunity to communicate, and are urged to confess. If both confess, they will each get a four year sentence; if both deny, based on circumstantial evidence, they will each get a two year sentence. If one confesses and the other denies, the confessor goes free, and the other gets a five year sentence. The payoff matrix of which each prisoner is aware is as follows:
Table 3
PAYOFF MATRIX-PRISONER'S DILEMMA
ACTION
PAYOFF
Prisoner A
Prisoner B
Prisoner A
Prisoner B
Cooperate (don't confess)
Cooperate (don't confess)
-2 (R)
-2 (R)
Cooperate (don't confess)
Defect # (confess)
-5 (S)
0 (T)
Defect # (confess)
Cooperate (don't confess)
0 (T)
-5 (S)
Defect # (confess)
Defect # (confess)
-4 (P)
-4 (P)
R= Reward for mutual cooperation
S= Sucker's payoff
T= Temptation to defect
P= Punishment for mutual defection )
"In summary, the Prisoner's Dilemma model postulates a condition in which the rational action of each individual is not to cooperate, that is, to defect, yet, if both parties act rationally, each party's reward is less than it would have been if both acted irrationally and cooperated" (Felkins 1997, 5).
Translating this dilemma into a CPR game, namely, Hardin's pasture commons, we have a two herder grazing game in which the cooperative strategy is for each herder to have half of the total grazing animals. The commons has an upper limit, L, to the number of animals it can sustain. Accordingly, the cooperate strategy is for each herder always to keep her number of animals to L/2. The defect strategy is to exceed that number. If both cooperate, they each receive, say, 10 units of profit. If both defect, they destroy the commons and receive no profit. If one cooperates and the other defects , the defector gets the profit from additional animals minus the lowered productivity per animal of the commons. The cooperator, on the other hand, suffers the sucker's fate of lower productivity without the compensating profit of additional animals.
The tragedy of the commons and the free rider problem
Because both public goods and CPRs are low in the property of exclusion they are susceptible to a problem familiar to students of public policy, the "free rider problem." When it is difficult to exclude any one person from a perceived good there is always the temptation to "free ride," even though that public good may cost something to provide. National defense is often cited as a public good provided both to taxpayers and non-taxpayers alike, although the latter receive the benefit at no cost, they ride free. In the case of the commons, the abuser is free riding on the careful behavior of the conscientious herder. The free rider problem and the commons dilemma share the property that while individual self-interested rationality appears to support behavior common to the collective good, such behavior is only possible as long as that collective good exists. If all ride free there is nothing to ride on!
PROPOSED ESCAPE ROUTES FROM TRAGEDY
It is necessary to remind ourselves that formalized games such as the prisoner's dilemma and Hardin's commons examples are mathematical models mapped onto a real world problem: the dilemma of CPR use. The fact that it is possible to identify both instances of successful long term management of CPRs as well as cases of failure points to the hazard of confusing the model with the empirical situation. It can be argued that Hardin is guilty of such confusion in characterizing the tragedy of the commons dilemma as a situation with "no technical solution" (Hardin 1968, 1,243). He identifies tic-tac-toe as another game with the same "no-win" game theoretic property.
The non-technical escapes from tragedy that Hardin does identify constitute a single dichotomous pair: private and public social institutions. On the one hand, the endangered resource is saved by privatization; on the other, by limiting access to the resource through the exercise of coercive state power. Exclusive application of either privatization—the hidden hand approach—or state coercion—Leviathan—is problematic.
THE HIDDEN HAND: PRIVATIZATION
"[T]he only way to avoid the tragedy of the commons in natural resources and wildlife is to end the common-property system by creating a system of private property rights" (Sinn 1984 cited by Ostrom 1990, 12). It is when the commons is privatized, divided into parcels, fenced off, the argument goes, that individual responsibility is created. No longer faced with the threat of loss of resource, each herder can now be in full control of the pasture. There will be no temptation to overgraze since the entire private enterprise would be threatened by such irrational action. While it is no doubt the case that privatization can, in some instances, induce responsible resource use, there are a number of reasons why privatization is no panacea to the CPR allocation problem.
The "No Market" Argument. In order for a market to exist in any particular resource, the resource must be identified as such. But as already discussed, major natural systems, such as the earth's hydrological or gas cycles, are not part of market systems in the same way that, for instance, land is. Some of nature's services are simply not recognized at all. Others that are acknowledged are regarded as free or public goods, but not scarce in the sense required for privatization.
The Difficulty of Privatization Argument. While forest ecosystems, scenic areas, mineral and metal deposits, landfills, etc., can have recognizable boundaries, ocean fish, air pollutants, the jet stream, the hydrologic and gaseous atmospheric systems are non-stationery or fugitive. Groundwater basins or oil fields fall between these extremes. Thus, while elaborate systems of privatization have evolved for dealing with some of the resources necessary for human survival, none exist for many others. The fugitive nature of many of these renders them unlikely candidates for privatization.
The Equity Argument. Even if privatization of CPRs were completely attainable, a fundamental ethical problem would remain. Whose property would these resources be? Given that currently the top five hundred corporations control twenty-five percent of the gross world product and do it while employing 0.01 percent of the world's population (Hawken 1993, 91-2), one can guess at the answer. Braithwaite asks us to imagine what would happen if Exxon were to win the bid on the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge with its oil reserves beneath a complex ecosystem. "By handing the Refuge to Exxon we simply exchange one principle, wildlife preservation, for another, oil extraction. The oil extraction will very likely be successful because that is what Exxon does" (Braithwaite 1994).
In what sense could such a process be considered fair? That the USA would be the beneficiary of the bidding game points to an additional resource issue. An issue of international justice is raised by the fact that CPRs are not homogeneously distributed across the globe. Beitz observes that John Rawls develops an analogy between the distribution of natural talents among members of a society and the distribution of natural resources among nations of the earth. In both cases, Rawls assumes initial distributions to be morally arbitrary. Just as the right to develop one's own talents is considered by Rawls to be properly within one's own control, so too does he consider the development of natural resources by any given nation to be a matter to be decided by that nation alone. Beitz questions this analogy. Development of one's talents does not limit others from developing their talents as well. But development of resources by any given nation, in a world of scarcity, could indeed limit the development plans of other nations. Appropriation of resources by those nations blessed with resources, possibly critical resources, could very well leave others worse off. Accordingly, parties to an international original position "would know that resources are unevenly distributed with respect to population, that adequate access to resources is a prerequisite for successful operation of (domestic) cooperative schemes, and that resources are scarce" (Beitz 1988, 34). The result of this awareness "behind the veil of ignorance" would yield consensus that resource redistribution principles should be developed which would enable each society to individually develop just institutions and economies capable of meeting its member's needs (Carpenter 1997). It is most unlikely that redistribution would occur with privatization, since the initial distribution of resources of a private market is irrelevant to its efficient functioning. Redistribution would impose an inefficient and thus unacceptable aberration.
The Future Discounting Argument. As noted above, privatization, is no guarantee against the destruction of a privately owned resource. When a privately held resource is treated as income rather than capital, it can be economically rational to liquidate it and invest the proceeds at the favorable financial rate. If a privately held resource, say, a hardwood forest, can sustain a harvest rate of 2% or 3% annually, with normal rates of return on investment in the neighborhood of 10%, the "optimal" strategy in straight economic terms may be simply to "cut and run," wiping out the resource and investing the proceeds elsewhere. A related complication in dealing with conservation of resources for use in the future is known as "risk discounting." If a given biological resource is available now but uncertain in the future, given the possibility of unknown biological insults, its immediate harvesting can be seen as the rational thing to do.
Clark points out that the wealthy typically use lower time discounting rates than the poor. Put another way, waiting until later to cash in a resource looks less desirable to the person concerned with survival today than it does to the person with money in the bank. Unfortunately, the same principle applies to persons and nations alike. "Tropical deforestation feeds the pulp mills of Japanese, European and American firms enhancing their wealth, but leads to ever increasing poverty and desperation in the Amazon, the Philippines and Thailand" (Clark 1991, 325). Particularly in situations which discount the future heavily, and in the face of unavoidable uncertainty as to what the future will bring, there are no guarantees that privatization will present an escape route from overexploitative resource use (Clark 1977; Daly & Cobb 1989, 410).
The Social Capital Argument. "A competitive market�the epitome of private institutions�is itself a public good" (Ostrom 1990, 15). Advocates of privatization as a way to avoid overexploiting CPRs ignore the fact that the institution of private property is itself a good made possible by the common laws, traditions, and precedents that flow from the body politic itself. Protections and obligations of private property holdings are under constant renegotiation. What it means to be a landowner�what color, sex, ethnic origin, etc., such a person must be�as well as what one can do with property�dispose of chemicals on it, provide a habitat for dangerous or diseased animals, for example�all are subject to continuously renegotiated concepts of private ownership. Rights to property, along with access to courts for redress of grievances against threats to those rights, amounts to a public good.
Arthur Okun observes that a social and political system of democratic rights is required both to meliorate the inequalities generated by an unfettered market, and to provide the civilized "level playing field" on which the games of the market take place. "There is a place for the market, and the market must be kept in its place," he observed in the Godkin lectures (Okun 1975, 119). Thus the social and political nexus of support for privatization amounts, itself, to a type of social capital, a common-pool of cultural and political value. A market not kept in its place can lead to what Hardin has dubbed the "Double C-Double P Game: Communized Costs; Privatized Profits" (Cited by Clark 1991, 322).
Beyond the usual abuse of CPRs represented by air, water and land pollution, organized crime, drug rackets and terrorism also trade on the common pool of public trust that exists in a civilized society. Clark cites a recently exposed racket in which PCBs (toxic chemicals) were mixed with regular gasoline, trucked to Canada, and sold to unsuspecting motorists. The Mafia were said to be implicated in this and similar waste "disposal" businesses (Clark 1991, 323).
Consider the case of the 1987 Montreal Protocol banning the use of CFCs, linked to the destruction of the upper atmospheric ozone layer. (One pound of R-12 CFC can destroy 70,000 pounds of ozone.) Ultimately signed by 140 nations, this example of international cooperation is often cited as proof that nations are capable of joint action addressing extreme environmental problems. Yet, after the ban had been in effect for only three years, a black market had developed; $1.5 billion worth of the chemical were smuggled back into this country. Huge profits have accrued to the international outlaws, and the costs are shared by all.
A less apparent example, however, involves suburban housing developers who can build large numbers of houses cheaply, leading to traffic congestion, overcrowded schools, drainage problems, all of which affect the neighbors in inconvenience and higher taxes. The profits go to the developers, the community bears the costs. "Slap suits," whereby the developers, with deep pockets, use threats of expensive court costs to tie up the neighborhoods fighting a planned expansion, amount to abuses of the court of common law, itself publicly supported for the enforcement of property rights.
In sum, privatization, while an important social invention, should not be promoted as a panacea for dealing with CPRs. Since the orderly functioning of systems of private property depend on the common pool of social capital: laws, traditions, organized forms of protection, it should not be surprising that escapes from the tragedy of the commons must involve additional types of collective action.
COERCION: LEVIATHAN
Recognizing the impossibility of privatizing all scarce resources, Hardin coined the phrase "mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon" to encapsulate the only alternative that would avoid the tragedy of the commons. It was quickly noted by commentators on Hardin�s article that his solution was pure Hobbes. Thomas Hobbes�s "state of nature" is the inevitable result of the persistent condition in which all humans find themselves, a scarcity of resources necessary for survival. Desirous of the same things, which are unfortunately in short supply, humans must pit themselves against one another in lives of struggle that are nasty, poor, short, brutish and solitary. "Hereby it is manifest that, during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man" (Hobbes 1958, 106). To create that common power, Hobbes reasons that humans are willing to engage each other in a contract game, ceding individual power to an all powerful sovereign or commonwealth. Hobbes likens this coercive power to a "great Leviathan."
According to Locke, the "zero sum game" of scarce resources, which Hobbes said necessitated Leviathan, could be avoided by reinterpreting the problem of scarcity. Locke defined the institution of property as requiring both natural resources and human labor. Even as each person appropriated from the global commons, "...there was still enough and as good left; and more than the yet unprovided could use" (Ophuls 1977, 144). In other words, Locke has formulated what Daly characterizes as the root metaphor of "empty earth economics" (Daly 1992, 23-37). Scarcity is a local problem. There is always someplace else to go to obtain raw material to mix with human labor and give value to; there is always a somewhere to "throw things to" when the value from that resource has been extracted. Locke�s concept of property combined with Adam Smith�s promotion of the unfettered market, both identifying human labor as the engine of progress and the creator of value, effectively enshrined the logic of the commons in American political institutions and mores. "Our problem is not so much that our institutions no longer work the way they should�they work only too well even now in permitting the continued ruthless exploitation of the environment�but the assumptions about the carrying capacity of the commons which supported these institutions are no long true" (Ophuls 1973, 222).
In terms of territory, there is no longer an unclaimed "somewhere else" to go. The situation is more Hobbesian than Lockean. Attempts to arrive at rational resource allocations require "full earth economics." If anything, the situation is more extreme than Hobbes� own characterization. One can be certain that CPRs already identified herein as nature�s services�hydrologic cycles and water purification, atmospheric gas regulation, photosynthesis, pollination�have only recently become better recognized, though inadequately valued, as scarce resources.
Today, while the term "sustainability" is ubiquitous, there is very little reference to "steady-state economies" or "stable-state societies." A quarter of a century ago, proposals to limit population growth by licensing of parenthood, or to restrict the extraction of virgin material resources by systems of depletion quotas encountered firestorms of criticism as being worse than anything Hobbes had envisaged. But the absence of such ideas in today�s political discourse does not suggest the root problems are any less severe. Ironically, the collapse of the centrally planned economies that were held under the Soviet thumb have moved the industrial economies of the world and the "wannabes" away from the norms of steady-state economies including frugality, stewardship, and sufficiency. The good life on earth is much more likely to be viewed as an endless round of consumption, described by Boulding as a "cowboy economy" than as living on a spaceship where production, consumption and disposal must be in balance (Boulding 1977, 121-32).
BEYOND EITHER MARKETS OR STATE COERCION
The dichotomy of private market and public coercion suggests a hard and fast division between markets and governments. Today this is a monumentally misleading distinction. By one recent estimate $500 billion in government subsidies worldwide are shunted into private enterprises such as logging, mining, fishing, and motor car production (Roodman 1996). Many of these subsidies contribute to the degradation of the global commons. If more rational approaches to appropriation of CPRs are to occur, they no doubt will involve creative alternatives to these subsidies that retain the private enterprise/public regulation distinction. Hawken describes one possible approach. Suppose, continuing Hardin�s pasture example, a pasture utility were set up which operated independent of the practices of the herders. Assume that it would be managed to maximize incomes from grazing fees. Herders would pay to graze and the utility would attempt to maximize income to the constituencies of the utility. The utility would have the incentive to maximize return to these shareholders and would have every reason to see that the commons was not degraded. The arrangement would contain elements of both public and private involvement.
Through the creative efforts of Lovins over the past two decades some electric power utilities have been persuaded to adopted the "negawatt" concept. Lovins developed detailed utility calculations that demonstrated that utility companies�by providing customers with insulation for their walls and even exchanging old inefficient refrigerators with new high efficiency ones, instead of building another power plant�could meet demand and keep customers happy while providing utility shareholders with good returns. Hawken speculates that "[t]hese utilities are probably the first corporate bodies that have invented a means to increase profitability by not growing, a paradox made possible by the fact that electricity derived from conservation costs only one-fifth to one-tenth as much as electricity that comes out of a new power plant" (Hawken 1993, 192).
Hawken applies the utility concept to the threatened salmon industry of the Pacific Northwest. "To support the utility there would be a fee on salmon landed on the Pacific Coast. Those revenues would go directly to the central Salmon Utility�whose sole purpose would be to increase the stock of salmon" (Hawken 1993, 193). Because the utility would be limited as a monopoly to a fixed profit (10 to 12 percent annually) it would have an incentive to invest heavily in restoration. This would be a positive feedback situation, increasing the CPR while keeping the investors happy.
In addition to new forms of public utilities, CPR problems should be addressed by tax policies which insure that revenues are generated by taxing "bads" rather than "goods" or "illth" rather than "wealth." Such is the main function of "green taxes." Annual fees would include severance taxes on virgin resources as well as taxes on emissions, fuels, products, wastes, etc. The idea is not to generate more revenue�ideally the alternatives would be revenue neutral vis-à-vis current revenues�but by a gradual process extending over several years, to shift taxes from income and payroll to pollution, environmental degradation, and nonrenewable energy consumption (Hawken 1993, 171). Such tax policy would provide positive reinforcement for practices such as low energy transportation, telecommuting while slowing CPR depletion.
Additionally, tax policies which discriminate between revenues generated from mitigation of prior commerce that is harmful to the environment and revenues stemming from prudent, sustainable enterprise will help to frame human technologies in more rational terms.
One type of epistemological error, cited at the beginning of this paper involves the failure to recognize that something is a resource at all. As a corrective, new indicators must gain common parlance analogous to GNP and GDP. We have discussed how the commingling of humanly created capital with natural capital leads directly to mistakenly treating natural capital as income and to unsustainable depletion of CPRs. Daly and Cobb propose an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) to replace GDP and apply it to the years 1950 to 1986. Included in the index are the factors of income distribution (conventionally considered a non-economic equity issue), net capital growth (which excludes human capital), resource depletion (they reject the intersubstitutability of resource loss and newly created alternatives), energy output ratio (the increase expense of energy exploration, extraction, processing as reserves decline), and environmental damage. Their conclusion: since the late 1970s economic welfare has been deteriorating. Major contributing factors to the decline include growing income inequality, exhaustion of resources, and the failure to invest adequately to sustain the economy of the future (Daly & Cobb 1989, 455).
Despite the creative proposals that might lead to rational CPR policies involving green taxes, carbon taxes, "nega-watts" or "nega-barrels," significant obstacles block progress. In the first place, the major corporations routinely resist change. In the US, the National Association of Manufacturers is on record against all forms of eco-taxes or green fees. The forest product giant Weyerhauser opposes any taxes on virgin timber. Because the economic power of transnationals is so great, this resistance seem virtually insurmountable. In the second place, the worldwide push toward international free trade, stemming from industry influenced government policies, has the effect of stifling local initiatives toward responsible environmental action. In fact, local, state or national statutes can be overridden by nonelected, international commissions, the most obvious and important example being the World Trade Organization, called by one critic "�a global parliament composed of unelected bureaucrats with the power to amend its own charter without referral to national legislative bodies" (Korten 1995, 176-77). International free trade allows the major industrial countries to continue to externalize the negative costs of business by locating plants in developing countries with weak environmental laws thus fully realizing the principle "communized costs; privatized profits." Perhaps the true win/win nature of green taxes will eventually be grudgingly accepted by these giant enterprises, but that time has not yet come.
CONCLUSION
Appropriations of CPRs for private use tend toward abusive practices that lead to the loss of the resource in question. While this rule of thumb holds in many cases, there are exceptions. Examples of local institutions that have utilized mixtures of public and private practices and have survived for hundreds of years exist and have been referred to herein. When the focus of interest is broadened to national and global scales, and when the resource is fugitive, successful examples are much harder to find.
Two problems further exacerbate efforts to avoid the tragic nature of CPR use. One, resources may not even be recognized for what they are. The levels of knowledge of science may be such that the role of the resource is not recognized; in a fundamental epistemological sense, the resource is invisible. Or, if the resource is recognized, it is considered to be in such abundance that it does not suffer from scarcity and thus does not appear in economic equations. Both types of error have been discussed.
When the resource is recognized for what it is, a common-pool good subject to overexploitation, it may be possible to identify creative combinations of public and private institutions that can combine to save that resource. A sampling of possible policy options have been identified above that aim to avoid the untenable extremes of privatization of resources or absolute state coercion.
REFERENCES
Beitz, C. 1988. International distributive justice. In
Problems of international justice, edited by S. Luper-Foy. Boulder: Westview Press.
Boulding, Kenneth E. 1977. Commons and community: The idea of a public. In
Managing the Common,edited by Garrett Hardin and John Baden. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Braithwaite, Tannis. 1994. The sins of our systems: Private and public failure to save our commons, http://communicopia.bc.ca/library/
Carpenter, Stanley. 1997. Ethics and sustainability. In Vol.4 of
International Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics.San Diego: Academic Press, Inc.
Clark, Colin. 1977. The economics of overexploitation. In
Managing the Commons,edited by Garrett Hardin and John Baden, 82-95. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company.
���. 1991. Economic biases against sustainable development. In
Ecological economics: The science and management of sustainability,edited by Robert Costanza. New York: Columbia University Press.
Costanza, Robert et al. 1997. The value of the world�s ecosystem services and natural capital.
Nature387 (May):253-60.
Daly, Herman E. 1992. From empty-world economics to full-world economics: Recognizing an historical turning point in economic development. In
Population, technology, and lifestyle: The transition to sustainability,edited by R. Goodland, H.E. Daly, and Salah El Serafy. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Daly, Herman E. And John B. Cobb, Jr. 1989.
For the common good: Redirecting the economy toward community, the environment, and a sustainable future. Boston: Beacon Press.
Felkins, Leon. 1997. A rational justification for ethical behavior. http://www.ios.com/~leonf/common/moral3.html.
Gordon, H. Scott. 1954. The economic theory of a common-property resource: The fishery.
The Journal of Political Economy62 (April): 124.
Hardin, Garrett. 1968. The tragedy of the commons.
Science162: 1243-8.
Hawken, Paul. 1993.
The ecology of commerce: A declaration of sustainability.New York: Harper Business.
Hobbes, Thomas. 1958.
Leviathan: Parts one and two.Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc.
Korten, David C. 1995.
When corporations rule the world.West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, Inc.
Okun, Arthur. 1975.
Equality and efficiency: The big tradeoff.Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.
Ophuls, William. 1973. Leviathan or oblivion? In
Toward a steady-state economy,edited by Herman E. Daly. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company.
���. 1977.
Ecology and the politics of scarcity.San Francisco: W.H.Freeman and Company.
Ostrom, Elinor. 1990.
Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ostrom, Elinor et al. 1995. Analyzing long-enduring, self-organized, and self-governing CPRs. In
Rules, games, & common-pool resources.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Roodman, David M. 1996. Paying the piper: Subsidies, politics, and the environment.
Worldwatch Paper 133, Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
���. 1997. Getting the signals straight: Tax reform to protect the environment and the economy.
Worldwatch Paper 134.Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute.
Sinn, H.W. 1984. Common property resources, storage facilities and ownership structures: A Cournot model of the oil market.
Economica51: 235-52. | 48,395 | 19,961 | 0.000051 |
warc | 201704 | Once the ionization process begins and plasma forms, a path is not created instantaneously. In fact, there are usually many separate paths of ionized air stemming from the cloud. These paths are typically referred to as
step leaders.
The step leaders propagate toward the earth in stages, which do not have to result in a straight line to the earth. The air may not ionize equally in all directions. Dust or impurities (any object) in the air may cause the air to break down more easily in one direction, giving a better chance that the step leader will reach the earth faster in that direction. Also, the shape of the electric field can greatly affect the ionization path. This shape depends on the location of the charged particles, which in this case are located at the bottom of the cloud and the earth's surface. If the cloud is parallel to the earth's surface, and the area is small enough that the curvature of the earth is negligible, the two charge locations will behave as two charged parallel plates. The lines of force (
electric flux) generated by the charge separation will be perpendicular to the cloud and earth. Flux lines always radiate perpendicularly from the charge surface before moving toward their destination (opposite charge location). Given this knowledge, we can say that if the lower surface of the cloud is not straight, the flux lines will not be uniform. Try this: Draw two points on opposite ends of a basketball. Next, draw a line on the basketball that connects the two points. The curvature of the line is analogous to the flux lines in a non-uniform electric field. The lack of uniform force can cause the step leaders to follow a path that is not a straight line to the earth.
Considering these possibilities, it becomes obvious that there are various factors that affect the direction of the step leader. We are taught that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; but in the case of electric fields, the lines of force (flux lines) may not follow the shortest distance, as the shortest distance does not always represent the path of least resistance.
So now we have an electrically charged cloud with ever-growing step leaders stretching out toward the earth in stages. These leaders are faintly illuminated in a purplish glow and may sprout other leaders in areas where the original leaders bend or turn. Once begun, the leader will remain until the current flows, regardless of whether or not it is the leader that reaches the ground first. The leader basically has two possibilities: continue to grow in stages of growing plasma or wait patiently in its present plasma condition until another leader hits a target.
The leader that reaches the earth first reaps the rewards of the journey by providing a conductive path between the cloud and the earth. This leader is not the lightning strike; it only
maps out the course that the strike will follow. The strike is the sudden, massive, flow of electrical current moving from the cloud to the ground.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we have to consider what is happening with the surface of the earth and objects on the surface. We'll look at positive streamers and what happens when these streamers meet step leaders in the next section. | 3,261 | 1,435 | 0.000699 |
warc | 201704 | A common problem is the misunderstanding of statistics, especially probability theory, which can sometimes produce counter-intuitive results. A well-known example of this is the answer to the question "how many people do you need in a room in order to get a 50% chance that two of them will have the same birthday?" The answer is 23; and what's more, you only need 35 for the probability to rise to 85%. Most people find this amazing (I did too, despite some limited experience of probability theory). One reason for misunderstanding statistics is the clustering tendency of random events. If you toss a coin and it comes up heads five times in succession, you might think this is remarkable, but it is in fact inevitable if you keep tossing the coin long enough: the "50/50" rule only applies over a long series.
As a result of this lack of understanding, people experience coincidences which are well within normal probabilities and wrongly believe that something remarkable has happened, or even that they can't really be coincidences at all but must have some greater significance. This is exacerbated by the fact that humans have an inbuilt tendency to seek patterns in events, to the extent of seeing them where they don't exist.
A lack of contrary information can lead to unwarranted beliefs. For example, a selection board which interviews candidates for an academic or training scheme may believe that they are doing a good job, because the majority of their choices perform well. But they have no way of knowing how well the people they rejected would have performed, given the chance. In fact, research into the selection process has shown that "decisions based on objective criteria alone are at least as effective as those influenced by subjective impressions formed in an interview".
We are often misled by information we receive second hand, because of the tendency to "sharpen and level", as the author puts it. By this he means that in relaying a news item, for instance, we tend to emphasise the points which we consider to be important (or which we believe) and downplay or omit other aspects. So if a carefully-written report comes to a tentative conclusion which we agree with, but wraps this around with qualifications and caveats, we tend just to relay the conclusions, making the results appear far more definite than the report's authors intended. As people "sharpen" different aspects of information to suit their beliefs, so we get a rapid polarisation of opinions on controversial issues. Even worse, some organisations deliberately "sharpen and level" because they want to turn public opinion in their favour [popular news media and politicians are of course notorious for presenting such selectively slanted information, especially during election campaigns, but so do many organisations with agendas]. Most "urban legends" probably develop as a result of an extreme version of this, with the key points pulled out and exaggerated.
This sharpening effect is exacerbated by the fact that if we hold certain beliefs, we are likely to discuss them only with people who agree with us, and only to read supportive publications. Our beliefs are thereby rarely challenged but instead are constantly reinforced, so we tend to end up with the view that our beliefs are naturally and obviously right. Anyone who disagrees with them must therefore be entirely mistaken and possibly downright stupid if not malevolent. This polarisation is obvious today in politics and in debates about other controversial issues. In reality, of course, situations are rarely as polarised as this: we exaggerate differences.
A major reason for many misplaced beliefs is that notable events stick in our minds, whereas we are much less likely to remember when something did not happen. This can distort our understanding of the likelihood of particular events. For example, it is commonly believed that a previously infertile couple is much more likely to conceive after they have adopted a child. A careful analysis of a mass of birth and adoption statistics shows that there is no truth in this at all; there is no such effect. People believe that there is because if a couple does conceive after adoption it is a notable event likely to be commented on and remembered. Conversely, no-one remembers the couples who did not conceive after adoption, or those who eventually conceived without adoption (who may well not have publicised their fertility problems).
A related issue is that if we hold certain beliefs, we are much more likely to seize on and remember any events which appear to confirm those beliefs, while dismissing and quickly forgetting any contrary evidence. Even if we do spend time examining contrary evidence, it is usually only to attack it aggressively and try to find fault with it, while we accept at face value anything which appears to support our beliefs.
A major explanation for our beliefs is that we tend to believe what we would like to be true. An obvious example is life after death. It would be wonderful if our personalities and intelligence survived in some way after death, which accounts for some of the most powerfully-held human beliefs: most people
want to believe this. More generally, there is a yearning for order and purpose in life, a wish to believe that there is more to it than meets the eye. Many find the concept that we are here (individually and collectively) only by random chance in a vast and uncaring universe simply unacceptable. They feel that it makes them, and life itself, pointless and worthless, so they instinctively reject it, leading them to dismiss, for instance, the overwhelming evidence for evolution in favour of beliefs which have no evidential support at all. really
A belief in extra-sensory perception is also widespread (and a very common theme of SFF) but, as the author points out, no evidence for it has ever survived any objective analysis. Some promoters of the idea claim that trying to measure it prevents it from working, which sceptics might regard as a self-serving way of avoiding the need to provide any proof. There are various reasons for a belief in ESP, including a long history of plausible fraudsters and a very biased coverage in relevant news media, books and magazines (the vast majority of which uncritically support the idea), but the basic reason is probably that it's something that we would love to be true – for us to have such impressive and useful powers. I suspect that a belief in an alien origin of UFOs falls into the same category.
A similar example concerns alternative medicine in general, and faith healing in particular. For people (especially if seriously ill) who have not been helped by conventional medicine, there is a powerful motivation to believe anyone who offers a potential cure. Examples of "cures" are seized upon as proof, ignoring the fact that the body has a potent self-repairing system and that many ailments clear up by themselves given time. Alternative medicine also often relies on plausible (but false) similarities. The classic case is the enthusiasm in some parts of the world for medicines incorporating ground-up rhino horn to use as a kind of alternative Viagra – simply because it's long and hard and stands up all the time. More controversially (because it concerns our culture's popular beliefs rather than another's) the author points out that homeopathy falls into the same category; there is no validated evidence that it works, and no logical reason why it should [it makes the rhino horn notion look relatively sensible].
We have a remarkable capacity for self-delusion when it suits us. A survey of one million US high school seniors showed that 70% believed that they were above average in leadership ability, and only 2% that they were below average [much the same results occur in surveys which invite people to rate their own driving ability].
A final point: the perception of human fallibility in understanding is not exactly new. The book includes a couple of quotes from Francis Bacon, the 16th/17th century philosopher:
"The human understanding supposes a greater degree of order and equality in things than it really finds; and although many things in nature be sui generis and most irregular, will yet invest parallels and conjugates and relatives where no such thing is." Which is to say in simpler modern language, that we tend to see patterns and relationships where none exist.
and:
"…all superstition is much the same whether it be that of astrology, dreams, omens, retributive judgment, or the like…[in that] the deluded believers observe events which are fulfilled, but neglect or pass over their failure, though it be much more common."
In this review I have only had space to provide a very superficial summary of a few highlights, but Gilovich's book is packed full of examples and detailed explanations, so if this kind of thing intrigues you, go and find a copy! | 8,995 | 4,119 | 0.000244 |
warc | 201704 | By Dave Lavinsky / Forbes.
To grow your business, you need a marketing plan. The right marketing plan identifies everything from 1) who your target customers are to 2) how you will reach them, to 3) how you will retain your customers so they repeatedly buy from you.
Done properly, your marketing plan will be the roadmap you follow to get unlimited customers and dramatically improve the success of your organization. To help you succeed, use this proven marketing plan template, and the information below details the 15 key sections you must include in your marketing plan.
Section 1: Executive Summary
Complete your Executive Summary last, and, as the name implies, this section merely summarizes each of the other sections of your marketing plan.
Your Executive Summary will be helpful in giving yourself and other constituents (e.g., employees, advisors, etc.) an overview of your plan.
Section 2: Target Customers
This section describes the customers you are targeting. It defines their demographic profile (e.g., age, gender), psychographic profile (e.g., their interests) and their precise wants and needs as they relate to the products and/or services you offer.
Being able to more clearly identify your target customers will help you both pinpoint your advertising (and get a higher return on investment) and better “speak the language” of prospective customers.
Subscribe now: Forbes’ Entrepreneur Newsletter All the trials and triumphs of starting up – delivered right to your inbox. Section 3: Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Having a strong unique selling proposition (USP) is of critical importance as it distinguishes your company from competitors.
The hallmark of several great companies is their USP. For example, FedEx’s USP of “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” is well-known and resonates strongly with customers who desire reliability and quick delivery.
Section 4: Pricing & Positioning Strategy
Your pricing and positioning strategy must be aligned. For example, if you want your company to be known as the premier brand in your industry, having too low a price might dissuade customers from purchasing.
In this section of your marketing plan, detail the positioning you desire and how your pricing will support it.
Section 5: Distribution Plan
Your distribution plan details how customers will buy from you. For example, will customers purchase directly from you on your website? Will they buy from distributors or other retailers? And so on.
Think through different ways in which you might be able to reach customers and document them in this section of your marketing plan.
Click “next page” below for sections 6 to 10 of your marketing plan or or here for the proven marketing plan template.
Section 6: Your Offers
Offers are special deals you put together to secure more new customers and drive past customers back to you.
Offers may include free trials, money-back guarantees, packages (e.g., combining different products and/or services) and discount offers. While your business doesn’t necessarily require offers, using them will generally cause your customer base to grow more rapidly.
Section 7: Marketing Materials
Your marketing materials are the collateral you use to promote your business to current and prospective customers. Among others, they include your website, print brochures, business cards, and catalogs.
Identify which marketing materials you have completed and which you need created or re-done in this section of your plan.
Section 8: Promotions Strategy
The promotions section is one of the most important sections of your marketing plan and details how you will reach new customers.
There are numerous promotional tactics, such as television ads, trade show marketing, press releases, online advertising, and event marketing.
In this section of your marketing plan, consider each of these alternatives and decide which ones will most effectively allow you to reach your target customers.
Section 9: Online Marketing Strategy
Like it or not, most customers go online these days to find and/or review new products and/or services to purchase. As such, having the right online marketing strategy can help you secure new customers and gain competitive advantage.
The four key components to your online marketing strategy are as follows:
Keyword Strategy: identify what keywords you would like to optimize your website for. Search Engine Optimization Strategy: document updates you will make to your website so it shows up more prominently for your top keywords. Paid Online Advertising Strategy: write down the online advertising programs will you use to reach target customers. Social Media Strategy:document how you will use social media websites to attract customers. Section 10: Conversion Strategy
Conversion strategies refer to the techniques you employ to turn prospective customers into paying customers.
For example, improving your sales scripts can boost conversions. Likewise increasing your social proof (e.g., showing testimonials of past clients who were satisfied with your company) will nearly always boost conversions and sales.
In this section of your plan, document which conversion-boosting strategies you will use.
Section 11: Joint Ventures & Partnerships
Joint ventures and partnerships are agreements you forge with other organizations to help reach new customers or better monetize existing customers. For example, if you sold replacement guitar strings, it could be quite lucrative to partner with a guitar manufacturer who had a list of thousands of customers to whom it sold guitars (and who probably need replacement strings in the future).
Think about what customers buy before, during and/or after they buy from your company. Many of the companies who sell these products and/or services could be good partners. Document such companies in this section of your marketing plan and then reach out to try to secure them.
Section 12: Referral Strategy
A strong customer referral program could revolutionize your success. For example, if every one of your customers referred one new customer, your customer base would constantly grow.
However, rarely will you get such growth unless you have a formalized referral strategy. For example, you need to determine when you will ask customers for referrals, what if anything you will give them as a reward, etc. Think through the best referral strategy for your organization and document it.
Section 13: Strategy for Increasing Transaction Prices
While your primary goal when conversing with prospective customers is often to secure the sale, it is also important to pay attention to the transaction price.
The transaction price, or amount customers pay when they buy from you, can dictate your success. For example, if your average customer transaction is $100 but your competitor’s average customer transaction is $150, they will generate more revenues, and probably profits, per customer. As a result, they will be able to outspend you on advertising, and continue to gain market share at your expense.
In this section of your plan, think about ways to increase your transaction prices such as by increasing prices, creating product or service bundles/packages, and so on.
Section 14: Retention Strategy
Too many organizations spend too much time and energy trying to secure new customers versus investing in getting existing customers to buy more often.
By using retention strategies such as a monthly newsletter or customer loyalty program, you can increase revenues and profits by getting customers to purchase from you more frequently over time.
Identify and document ways you can better retain customers here.
Section 15: Financial Projections
The final part of your marketing plan is to create financial projections. In your projections, include all the information documented in your marketing plan.
For example, include the promotional expenses you expect to incur and what your expected results will be in terms of new customers, sales and profits. Likewise include your expected results from your new retention strategy. And so on.
While your financial projections will never be 100% accurate, use them to identify which promotional expenses and other strategies should give you the highest return on investment. Also, by completing your financial projections, you will set goals (e.g., your goals for your referral program) for which your company should strive.
Completing each of the 15 sections of your marketing plan is real work. But, once your marketing plan is complete, it will be worth it, as your sales and profits should soar. To save you time, I have developed this marketing plan template that can be completed quickly and easily. | 8,810 | 3,615 | 0.00028 |
warc | 201704 | The golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker 1857) is one of the most distributed Nuisance Invasive Species (NIS) in South America, and a threat of great concern for the industry of the area. In this study, we carried out toxicity tests made with a Neem's oil solution with L. fortunei larvae and benthonic adults (7, 13 and 19 ± 1 mm). Tests with non-target species (Daphnia magna, Lactuca sativa and Cnesterodon decemmculatus) were also made with the aim to evaluate the potential toxicity of the Neem's solution in the environment. The LC100 of Neem's solution obtained for larvae was 500 μl/L, a value much higher than the one obtained for D. magna and C. decemmaculatus. Thus, we recommend that it should not be used in open waters. However, since the adults were killed in 72 h and the larvae in 24 h, this product can be used in closed systems, in man-made facilities.
Información general
Fecha de publicación:2012
Idioma del documento:Inglés
Revista:Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias; vol. 84, no. 4
Institución de origen:Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo | 1,113 | 662 | 0.001563 |
warc | 201704 | In the day after the presidential election U.S. equities markets declined by 2.5% and did not rebound by the end of the week. Hundreds of commentators have pointed to the Wall Street's disdain for President Obama as the root cause of this decline. Slightly more astute commentators have pointed to the impending fiscal cliff as the cause of the market drop. The trouble is that both of these events should have been priced in to the market already. The polling data strongly pointed to a solid Electoral College victory for the president and the fiscal cliff situation needed to be dealt with before year-end regardless of who won the election.
Troubles in Europe
The more direct cause of a softening stock market is almost definitely the continuing weak economic data from Europe. Greek unemployment continues to rise and every indication is that France is slipping (or has already slipped) into recession. Making matters worse, the Japanese economy continues to sputter.
The worst news for the global economy is not all of this negative data, but the continued bickering by European policymakers. Despite a vote providing short term resolution to the brinksmanship over the need for austerity measures in order to extend the Greek bailout, Greece still requires additional financing to meet its debt obligations. Meanwhile, indications are that Spain remains unwilling to be bailed out under the planned conditions. Adding to the political tensions are emerging stories that the strict conditions placed on a potential Spanish bailout are in part due to pressure by German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.
In addition to the political squabbles over bailout conditions in mainland Europe, the British government has recently shown opposition to a unified eurozone banking supervisor. Although a singular supervisor could reduce regulatory and compliance costs while also instilling greater consumer confidence, the British government fears that regulations heavily designed by Germany could infringe on the dominance of London as Europe's main banking center. Like so much else in the eurozone, this regulatory delay highlights the tense nature of policymaking between countries with long histories of conflict.
The Fiscal Precipice
While all of these details about the woes in Europe are important and are having an immediate impact on markets, the fiscal cliff remains important. Make no mistake about it, if Congress and the president can't agree to a plan, the fiscal cliff could and likely would trigger a recession in the United States. However, this situation is unlikely.
Both the president and Republican Congressional leaders have showed signs of willingness to work together (although not compromise) to avoid the fiscal cliff. Regardless of ideology or moral beliefs about long term debt, the data indicates that markets expect the cliff to be averted. Although the equity markets have dropped in recent days, bond and currency markets have shown great faith in the U.S. government; both the dollar and demand for Treasury bonds are up. While some of this is a reaction to European woes, the data still points to faith in the long term stability of the U.S. government, regardless of the fiscal cliff.
Investment Strategy
Despite incessant yammering about the market reaction to the election and fears about the fiscal cliff, the data points to Europe as a bigger drag on the economy. However, just as Europe has been and continues to be a drag, the Chinese economic outlook appears to be improving. That said, since the Chinese government targets growth and missing a growth target would be cause for loss of credibility just as they experience a leadership change, it is unlikely that Chinese officials would admit to missing growth estimates. So, the seemingly brighter Chinese economic picture should be viewed with healthy skepticism. This means that investors should continue to minimize their exposure to Europe and hedge on the possibility of inflated Chinese growth numbers by avoiding energy and manufacturing investments reliant on growing domestic Chinese demand. Perhaps most important, investors should avoid the media's doomsday predictions about the fiscal cliff and instead watch the Treasury and currency markets to gauge investor reaction about the likelihood of a fiscal compromise.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. | 4,647 | 2,142 | 0.000468 |
warc | 201704 | Oil and gas exploration is not going to slow down any time soon. Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR), which offers contract drilling services, can easily capitalize on this demand.
Nabors, registered in Bermuda and headquartered in Barbados, is the largest land and platform oil, gas and geothermal drilling contractor in the world, with a 20-24% market share. As of March 2006, Nabors operates in the US, Canada, the Middle East, Australia, South America and Africa by owning or operating a fleet of 3 barge rigs, 19 jack-ups, 28 marine vessels, 43 platforms, 588 land drilling rigs and 781 land workover rigs. Nabors is the largest rig owner and operator in the US. Nabors has operations in a lot of international markets and is very diversified geographically, thereby diluting the impact of geopolitical events.
A large portion -- a little more than 90% -- of Nabors' revenue comes from contract drilling services, while the remainder comes from other services like oil field management, engineering, transportation and logistics services.
For the past five years, Nabors shares have appreciated 150% while Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) shares have appreciated 50%. Since NBR listed in February 1991, its shares have appreciated 650% while XOM has appreciated 400%. Nabors is included in the S&P 500. In August, Nabors announced plans to repurchase $500 million worth of common shares. Nabors shares, on September 15, closed at 30.06, near a 52-week low, providing a good buying opportunity. With a trailing 12-month [TTM] P/E of 11 and a forward P/E of 7, the shares are very attractive. Taking TTM values and comparing them to its peers, Nabors' P/E is lower, P/S is lower, EPS is higher, sales growth is higher and ROI is lower. In 2004, revenue was $2.39 billion and in 2005 revenue was $3.55 billion. Analysts' average estimates of revenue for 2006 and 2007 are $4.88 billion and $5.95 billion, respectively. Nabors' balance sheet shows strong cash flow, revenue and growth, indicating financial strength. Nabors has a strong management capable of taking the company through ups and downs.
In the first quarter of 2006, day rates for American land drilling rose by $1,475 per day to $18,695 and cash margins rose by almost $1,000 a day to about $9,600. This was a record high. In the second quarter of 2006, day rates rose by $1,491 per day to $20,186 and cash margins rose by $1,257 per day to $10,858, again a record high. Most of the existing contracts were negotiated in 2005. Some of the contracts expire before the end of 2006, and many more will expire in 2007. When the contracts are renegotiated, there is a high probability that Nabors will be able to demand longer contracts and higher day rates, which would boost revenues without a significant increase in costs and also decrease earnings volatility. Over the long term, demand for contract drilling is expected to increase in the US as well as abroad. With rig supply limited, day rates for drilling are expected to increase, especially in international regions where Nabors will have more pricing power.
Demand for oil and gas is increasing all over the world, and drilling has been relatively shallow so far. In the case of natural gas, reserves below 15,000 feet of the earth’s surface remain largely untapped. Future exploration will concentrate on drilling wells below this level. To maintain the current natural gas production of 18.5 Tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet), more than 15,000 wells must be drilled (a conservative estimate). In the US alone, proven conventional gas resources are estimated at 192 Tcf. Of these resources, only 1% of them are deep wells. As of June 2006, the US Department of Energy (DoE) estimates that US onshore and offshore deep reservoirs hold 169-187 Tcf of gas resources. The DoE also estimates that for ultra-deep wells, drilling the last 10% of the well alone will consume 50% of the total cost. As deeper and more complex wells are drilled, total expenditure on rigs will also increase. All of this creates an advantage for Nabors.
Oil and gas exploration is not going to slow down any time soon, especially natural gas. Companies are trying to figure out future energy supplies and are spending a lot of capital on these goals. As reserves drop below normal levels, drillers have to drill deeper holes. Nabors, which offers contract drilling services, can easily capitalize on this demand. It is not easy to change drilling contractors and if Nabors has enough pricing power, which it has, it can command higher rates.
Oil and gas prices have come down from their recent peaks. But they still are high. If prices keep dropping, they will pull down the entire oil and gas sector, resulting in reduction in contract drilling day rates. But if they remain high for the next couple of years, Nabors stands to benefit, providing a strong upside.
The bottom line is that exposure to international markets, new contracts and a bullish natural gas sector provide a huge growth opportunity for Nabors. If this trend continues, Nabors stock will not stay in this price range for long. On the other hand, high drilling costs may lead producers to reduce capital expenditures on new drilling, which would hurt Nabors’ growth rate and cause the stock to remain stagnant.
NBR 1-year chart: Disclosure: Author has no position in the securities mentioned in this article. | 5,376 | 2,528 | 0.000397 |
warc | 201704 | This 24-week program will provide students, even those with little or no experience, with the necessary skills to seek employment in the trades as an apprentice electrician.
The program teaches aspects of residential, commercial and industrial wiring with a focus on residential. The curriculum follows the Industry Training Authority (ITA), BC Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development guidelines for the first year of the "in class" component of the electrical apprenticeship, which includes installation of electrical equipment in compliance with the Canadian Electrical Code.
Students engage in a variety of classroom, laboratory, and shop activities. Students learn theoretical principals of electricity in the classroom, test their knowledge in the laboratory, and apply their knowledge in the shop where they design, install and construct electrical power, lighting and control systems in compliance with provincial and national codes.
Students earn credit for the Level One technical training component of the electrical apprenticeship as well as advance credit for 350 work-based hours of the practical on-the-job component of an apprenticeship.
Graduates of the Electrical Foundation Program at Selkirk College typically find employment as electrical apprentices engaged in the installation and maintenance of electrical power, lighting, heating, control, alarm, data and communication systems in residential, commercial and industrial settings as well as numerous other related fields.
Learn Vital Industry Standards Canadian Electrical Code Regulations and Standards Circuit concepts and basics Control circuit installation Low voltage distributions systems installation Read and interpret drawings and manuals Safe work practices Test equipment usage
The program addresses the need to cultivate relevant skills such as teamwork, effective communications, problem solving, quality of workmanship and the ability to adapt to ever evolving workplace conditions.
A complete set of tools will be provided 'on loan' to each student with a deposit of $100.00
Youth Train in Trades (ACE IT) High School Transition Program
This program qualifies for high school transitions. A program that is designed to help secondary school students get a head-start on their trades careers, while earning graduation credit, the BC Industry Training Authority (ITA) Youth Train in Trades (formerly known as Accelerated Credit Enrolment in Industry Training (ACE IT)) program is a perfect way to learn more about the industry.
Speak with your high school guidance counsellor to learn more or get in touch with our ITT Admin Assistant by email or phone: 1.866.301.6601 ext. 13221. | 2,701 | 1,296 | 0.000776 |
warc | 201704 | Female checking out belly fat in looking glass. Photo Credit score Westend61/Westend61/Getty Pictures You may go through pressure to get excellent grades or perhaps to easily fit in socially. This anxiety plays a part in belly fat. Anxiety causes you to pump out a hormonal agent called cortisol, which promotes fat to down payment in your abdomen. Right after looking over this article if you nonetheless wish to get far more information regarding Lean Belly Breakthrough then pay a visit to my web site at www.rickydiabetesdestroyed.com/lean-belly-breakthrough. Look at if your course fill is definitely way too mind-boggling or maybe if you placed excessive stress on anyone to finally get excellent grades. Talk with your mother and father about getting ways to aid you decrease pressure, possibly by lightening your load or locating an extracurricular activity that literally brings you happiness.
You might deal with many different pressures in your fifties: kids in university, ageing mother and father and also modifications in your profession. Persistent tension results in the secretion of cortisol, a hormonal that produces you hunger for higher-excess fat, great-sugar food items. The cortisol also encourages body fat to compromise in your middle. Try to embrace anxiety-lowering methods, like yoga exercises and meditating. A little study published inside a 2012 issue of Menopause discovered that women older than 50 who added yoga for their weekly routine lost much more belly fat, and also experienced upgrades in a myriad of other well being markers, than others who failed to. Uncover Lean Belly Breakthrough Method Summary - Is Bruce Krahn And Dr. Heinrick Lean Belly Breakthrough Process Efficient writers Bruce Krahn & Doctor. Heinrick produced brand name real excess weight-loss method named Lean Belly Breakthrough the program aid gentlemen and women to burn one lb of belly extra fat per day by using a two min ritual. Lean Belly Breakthrough System this amazing diet program provides a overall whole body improvement, with outcomes you can easily see inside a single day time, and is established to protect yourself from cardiac arrest and also diabetic issues although reversing and getting rid of any manifestation of body weight or age group connected well being problems producing you fall a pound daily of 100 % pure belly excess fat while cleansing your arterial blood vessels, getting rid of sort 2 diabetes and in addition repairing your strength , strength, suppleness of your skin as well as joints, and in addition even your sex is alarming to listen for however in a few minutes you're also proceeding to locate the two revealing skin capabilities that you are able to see the instant you seem inside the mirror which could immediately tell you if you are at risk of possessing a fatal cardiac event. I suggest you to definitely do not take any action prior to reading report about the way to burn stomach fat naturally Bruce includes a skill of achieving have confidence in of other individuals even should there be a huge length also as a computer screen between them. I trusted him my own entire body, my wellness and my lifestyle basically as my weight problems was currently threatening my heart features. Now, immediately after 2 months, I appreciate Bruce and also appreciate Our god for letting me get a palm with a backup of Lean Belly Breakthrough when I was desperate in the means to correct a lot of my own overall health difficulties. Give thanks to you in order to get my body weight direct straight back to regular as well as my center again for the extremely top rated gear! Appreciate you a lot! Although your doc may request you to suck in and also breathe out via your torso during a actual examination, these kinds of shallow inhaling won't do you just about any very good when you're trying to burn body weight quickly. In accordance with Pam Grout, breath mentor and author of "Boost Your Metabolism," inhale might be the step to sustainable as well as long-sustained fat reduction. Grout, who instructs men and women why you ought to alter their breath designs to burn bodyweight, claims clientele record losing a pound each day. When a customer seems to lose extra fat, authorized dietitian and also individual workout Jim White-colored will commonly propose they keep a food record. This really produces a person far more conscious of what furthermore to how a lot they're eating also as stops mindless munching,” says Bright white. Meals diaries also aid people identify places where they might make changes which will assist them burn bodyweight and also in .. Food items diaries can also help people find out habits that lead to eating too much.” | 4,727 | 2,348 | 0.000427 |
warc | 201704 | Learn how to determine whether a Web site is offering a competitive advantage
Despite the fact that numerous online ventures have recently fallen by the wayside, companies still realize that the Web plays an integral role in conducting business. They recognize the importance of measuring and analyzing the information gathered from their sites so they can find new ways to balance online and offline efforts. In this innovative book, leading Internet marketing expert Jim Sterne uncovers the latest tools and techniques that will help you determine if and how your Web site is adding value to your company. He clearly shows you how to use the range of available metrics to improve your Web marketing strategies. Incorporating his vast experience with clients such as Eastman Kodak, Ericsson, Sears Roebuck, and IBM, Sterne exposes the key issues facing corporate sites today. He then explains the role of Web metrics, detailing the criteria to follow in order to build a successful site and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Web Metrics provides you with everything you'll need to know to measure your online business strategy, including: * Types of Web metrics tools, services, techniques, and standards for Web measurement * Ways to fully integrate Web metrics with the customer experience * Details on how to use metrics to meet specific business goals The companion Web site includes links to online tools, resources, and white papers. "...A great book which actually manages to make a boring subject worth reading about..." ( Internet News Bulletin, 18 September 2002)
"...if the book had been published earlier, perhaps there would have been less fallout from the dot.com bubble bursting..." (www. Suchmaschinen Optimierung (German), 17 September 2002)
"...innovative...provides you with everything you need to know to measure your online business strategy..." (www. Software Pro, 18 September 2002)
"...a useful book...useful to anyone in web development..." (
Computer Bulletin, May 2003)
"...if you have lots of money and lots of staff, I would recommend you get this book..." (
Cvu, June 2003)
"...the content is solid and valuable...a book worth buying..." (
Performance Measurement and Metrics, August 03) | 2,256 | 1,140 | 0.000886 |
warc | 201704 | Q&A: Extreme Skier & Consultant Alison Gannett
Alison Gannett, a world champion extreme skier and climate change activist, has always had her hands full. But after a knee injury resulting from overshooting a cliff landing at the 1999 X-Games, the now 46-year-old returned to her roots as an environmental activist and climate change consultant.
She also began integrating her love for the mountains through her foundation Save Our Snow, whose mission is to educate people on global warming's impacts on glacial recession, as well as her women's adventure camps KEEN Rippin Chix.
As someone whose goal is to reduce her carbon footprint to two tons a year (versus the U.S. per capita average of 20 tons) Colorado-based Gannett takes her public role as a citizen athlete personally — from maintaining the homestead where she and her family live to the way she now skis.
In the second of our Q&A series with athletes committed to the environment, Alison Gannett shares stories of her past inspirations and future aspirations with SIERRA.
SIERRA: When did you start skiing, and how has it influenced your environmental and social outlook?
AG: I started skiing at 1 1/2 in my driveway in Massachusetts, and then at the massive 800-vertical of Crotched Mountain, New Hampshire. My dad managed the 800-foot hill, and almost all kids went there after school everyday, as we lived in the boonies and there was nothing else to do. My mom took us camping for all our vacations, and I really learned to love the outdoors and wanted to take care of it.
Was there a particular moment or adventure that led you to be more involved in the environmental movement or to start SOS?
When I was nine, I started getting really upset about my dad's styrofoam coffee cup use; after that, I just got worse through college. Now my friends call me the environmental alarmist.
I started my first environmental business designing homes and doing energy audits and solar design in 1991, and have since founded four non-profits, including Save Our Snow. I've been fighting to make the world a better place twice as long as I have been a professional extreme skier.
Who inspired your work?
Both my mom and grandmother were really strong women, teaching me to "expand my horizons" and fight persistently for what was right. I would also say that when I worked with Al Gore, I figured out that I didn't want to be that kind of person that was not walking the walk.
What role do you believe athletes should play in environmental or social justice movements?
People really look up to athletes and examine their lives closely, and many kids emulate what we do or don't do. Therefore, it is important that you live an examined life, and work to leave a legacy for future generations.
While jumping off cliffs is super cool, inspiring people to make changes in their lives to consume less or live a more sustainable life is way cooler.
With SOS, I've been traveling the globe coaching businesses on how to calculate and reduce their carbon footprint while also saving money, with special help from KEEN Footwear, Elemental Herbs, and Climate Ride.
SOS has now expanded into helping schools, teachers, staff, janitors and students work together to do the same at their local schools.
Since I now grow and raise almost all my own food at our farm, we also teach kids and adults how they can make small or large changes in their food and beverage choices that create more local jobs for farmers, reduce their carbon footprint and increase soil carbon sequestration.
SOS is also involved in helping folks choose clean energy, fighting against the high carbon footprint of gas drilling and/or fracking for natural gas. In general, SOS helps people make simple choices everyday to make a difference.
Have you faced any setbacks or challenges while pursuing your environmental work? What challenges do you see up ahead?
I think the biggest challenge is that we are a generally lazy consumptive society that is protected from the impacts that our choices really make on lives of others. If we saw how cows in low-cost feedlots were raised — wading in manure pit, eating genetically-modified corn that they were allergic to — we wouldn't choose to buy that beef.
If we saw the impacts of non-organic cotton — that kids are being born with out limbs from chemical exposure — we might change our purchase decisions.
If people knew that "free-range" eggs were raised in windowless warehouses, we would support local farmers like myself that raise them on grass pasture. I believe people are good, but they are getting shielded and deceived by big agriculture and fake green marketing.
What other ways do you spend your time when not on the mountain or participating in SOS?
I run four non-profits, including Save Our Snow, The Office of Resource Efficiency, Local Farms First, North Fork Fracking, and KEEN Rippin Chix surf, bike and steep-skiing camps. [My husband] Jason and I run Holy Terror Farm, growing, raising and preserving all our own food.
How could you see your sport itself becoming "greener?"
Skiing is not a very green sport, as the gear has a high carbon footprint, as does travel and running ski areas. I try to do the best I can by utilizing more public transportation, and my friend Tom hand-builds my skis out of repurposed materials. I hike and ski right off my farm as much as I can and buy items with lifetime guarantees, such as Patagonia or Osprey, or with more sustainable, organic or beyond-organic ingredients.
Most of all, I try to live simply and work towards a more sustainable life each year. This summer, we hope to get a permit to distill our own fuel and Applejack.
--Images courtesy of Alison Gannett Benita Hussain is a freelance writer and editor whose work has also appeared in GOOD, Women's Adventure Magazine and Matador Sports, among others. With degrees from Cornell University and Fordham Law School, she's also a part-time lawyer and yoga teacher that surfs, climbs and travels to do both. Twitter: @hussainity. | 6,065 | 2,997 | 0.000337 |
warc | 201704 | Presentation on theme: "Unit 3.00 ServSafe. Which is NOT an acceptable chemical sanitizer? A. Ammonia B. Chlorine C. Iodine D. Quaternary ammonium A."— Presentation transcript:
1Unit 3.00 ServSafe
2Which is NOT an acceptable chemical sanitizer? A. Ammonia B. Chlorine C. Iodine D. Quaternary ammonium A
3Which is NOT required at a hand washing station? A. Hand sanitizer B. Hand washing sign C. Hot and cold running water D. Waste container A
4In what area is a hand washing station required? A. Cleaning supply closet B. Dish washing C. Dry storage D. Receiving B
5Which is the proper order for cleaning and sanitizing in a three-compartment sink? A. Scrape, rinse, wash, sanitize, and air dry B. Scrape, soak, wash, rinse, air dry, and sanitize C. Scrape, soak, wash, rinse, sanitize, and air dry D. Scrape, soak, wash, sanitize, rinse, and air dry C
6A hand washing station MUST be equipped with: A. Electric hand dryer. B. Hand sanitizer. C. Hot and cold running water. D. Liquid soap. C
7Which agency inspects a school cafeteria for food safety? A. EPA B. FDA C. Local health department D. CDC C
8Which is NOT necessary for dry storage areas? A. Cracks in floors and walls repaired. B. Doors leading to the exterior of the building self-closing. C. Storage bins placed on the floor. D. The area free of exposed sewer lines C
9What step is necessary to insure the proper strength of a sanitizing solution? A. Compare the color of the solution to another solution B. Test the solution with a sanitizer test kit C. Try the solution on a test area D. Use hot water to make the solution B
10What information is NOT found on the Material Safety Data Sheet? A. Building safety codes B. First aid information C. Guidelines for safe storage D. Manufacturerâ’s address A
11Which affects the effectiveness of a sanitizer cleaning process? A. Air temperature B. Hard water C. Soft water DWater temperature b
12What is the FDA Food Code? A. Inspection practices for meat processing plants. B. Maximum standards required to insure food safety. C. Minimum standards required to insure food safety. D. Voluntary guidelines for food safety C
13Which statement about dry storage areas is TRUE? A. Doors should be self-closing. B. Leaks don’t have to be repaired. C. Shelves should be placed at least 12 inches above the floor. D. The temperature of the room should be held at 90ºF. A
14Which is NOT an appropriate response to a CRITICAL violation? A. Take 30 days to correct the violation B. Correct the violation within 48 hours C. Determine the cause of the violation D. Discuss the violation with the health inspector A
15Which DOES NOT affect the cleaning process? A. Agitation B. Cleaning agent C. Soft water D. Water temperature C
16Which is NOT a purpose of a routine food inspection? A. Educate workers about food safety B. Evaluate the quality of the food C. Evaluate whether a restaurant is meeting sanitation standards D. Protect the public’s health B
17Which cleaner is appropriate best for use to remove mineral deposits? A. Abrasives B. Acids C. Detergent D. Solvents B
18Who is responsible for food safety in a food service establishment? A. CDC B. B. FDA C. C. Local health department D. D. Owner D
19Which procedure should be used to sanitize a food preparation area? A. Spray with sanitizer and wipe dry B. Wash and dry C. Wash, rinse, wipe with sanitizer, and air dry D. Wash, spray with sanitizer, and wipe dry C
20A hand washing station is NOT required in what area? A. Dry storage B. Food preparation C. Service D. Dish washing A
21Which is an acceptable use of non- potable water? A. Air conditioning B. Cleaning C. Dish washing D. Hand washing A
22Which situation will NOT result in immediate closure of a food establishment? A. Backup of sewage B. Crack in the storeroom wall C. Loss of refrigeration D. Rodent infestation B
23At what temperature should the rinse water in a low-temperature dish machine be? A. 140° F B. 125° F C. 100° F D. 110° F B | 4,038 | 1,759 | 0.00058 |
warc | 201704 | Presentation on theme: "ESSENTIALS OF OIL Samuel Asumadu-Sarkodie The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction (An extract)"— Presentation transcript:
1ESSENTIALS OF OIL Samuel Asumadu-Sarkodie Falola, Toyin (2005) The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction (An extract)
2Outline Part 1: Origin – How do oil and gas form? Part 2: Exploration and Production – How do we find oil and gas and how is it produced? Part 3: Politics – Why are oil and gas important?
3Introduction ‘Energy has become the currency of political and economic power, the determinant of the hierarchy of nations, a new maker, even, for success and material advancement. Access to energy has thus emerged as the over-riding imperative of the twenty-first century’. Paul Robert, 2004.
4Origin (1): Chemistry Crude Oil Hydrocarbon en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Octane_molecule_3D_model.png en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Petroleum.JPG Oil and gas are made of a mixture of different hydrocarbons. As the name suggests these are large molecules made up of hydrogen atoms attached to a backbone of carbon.
5Origin (2): Plankton cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=93510 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Copepod.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ceratium_hirundinella.jpg Most oil and gas starts life as microscopic plants and animals that live in the ocean. Plant planktonAnimal plankton 10,000 of these bugs would fit on a pinhead!
7Origin (4): On the sea bed upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/04/Plankton.jpg When the plankton dies it rains down on sea bed to form an organic mush Sea bed en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nerr0328.jpg If there are any animals on the sea bed these will feed on the organic particles
9Origin (6): Cooking As Black Shale is buried, it is heated. Kerogen Gas Oil Organic matter is first changed by the increase in temperature into kerogen, which is a solid form of hydrocarbon Around 90°C, it is changed into a liquid state, which we call oil Around 150°C, it is changed into a gas A rock that has produced oil and gas in this way is known as a Source Rock
10Origin (7): Migration Hot oil and gas is less dense than the source rock in which it occurs Oil and gas migrate upwards up through the rock in much the same way that the air bubbles of an underwater diver rise to the surface The rising oil and gas eventually gets trapped in pockets in the rock called reservoirs Rising oil
13Exploration and Production (1): Oil Traps Some rocks are permeable and allow oil and gas to freely pass through them Other rocks are impermeable and block the upward passage of oil and gas Where oil and gas rises up into a dome (or anticline) capped by impermeable rocks it can’t escape. This is one type of an Oil Trap. Impermeable Permeable Dome Trap
14Exploration and Production (2): Reservoir Rocks Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5innl The permeable strata in an oil trap is known as the Reservoir Rock Reservoir rocks have lots of interconnected holes called pores. These absorb the oil and gas like a sponge This is a highly magnified picture of a sandy reservoir rock (water-filled pores are shown in blue) As oil migrates it fills up the pores (oil-filled pores shown in black)
15Exploration and Production (3): Seismic Surveys Earth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inpjEarth Science World Image Bank Image #h5inor Seismic surveys are used to locate likely rock structures underground in which oil and gas might be found Shock waves are fired into the ground. These bounce off layers of rock and reveal any structural domes that might contain oil Drill here!
16Exploration and Production (4): Drilling the well Once an oil or gas prospect has been identified, a hole is drilled to assess the potential The cost of drilling is very great. On an offshore rig, it may cost $10,000 for each metre drilled. A company incurs vast losses for every “dry hole” drilled en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_platform.jpg
18Exploration and Production (6): Transport United States Geological Survey Once extracted oil and gas must be sent to a refinery for processing Pipelines transport most of the world’s oil from well to refinery Massive Oil Tankers also play an important role in distribution Trans-Alaskan Pipeline
19Exploration and Production (7): At the Refinery Before it can be used crude oil must be refined. Hydrocarbons can be separated using distillation, which produces different fractions (or types) of oil and gas Oil refinery Distillation Plant en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anacortes_Refinery_31911.JPG en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crude_Oil_Distillation.png Jet fuel Car fuel Road tar
20Exploration and Production (8): Early History en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Abraham_Gesner.gif en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oilfields_California.jpg Abraham Gesner ( ) Californian oil gusher The modern era of oil usage began in 1846 when Gesner perfected the art of paraffin distillation. This triggered a massive worldwide boom in oil production. California was centre of activity in the early 1900s, famous for its gushers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lucas_gusher.jpg
21Exploration and Production (9): The Situation Today USGS Global oil and gas occurrences are now well understood (provinces shown in green). Only Antarctica and the Arctic remain unexplored.
22Politics (1): Fuel source 84% of crude oil is refined into fuel, principally for cars and planes Demand is ever increasing, especially due to growth of Chinese economy blogs.sun.com/richb/resource/NBC_at_the_Pump.jpg
23Politics (2): Other uses The remaining 16% of crude oil is used for a range of purposes shown above as well as synthetic fibres, dyes and detergents Fertilizers and Pesticides Food additives Plastic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CD-R.jpg CDs and DVDs en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lilit.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Konservering.jpg
24Politics (3): Main Producers - OPEC en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Opec_Organization_of_the_Petroleum_Exporting_Countries_countries.PNG Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a group of 13 countries that produce 36% of the world’s oil, or 32 million barrels of oil per day. The biggest producer is Saudi Arabia, but Iran, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Venezuela are also major suppliers
25Politics (4): Other Producers Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) produces 24% of all oil, or 21 million barrels per day. The USA is the biggest single producer in OECD but Mexico, Canada and the UK are also major suppliers Outside OECD, the states of the former Soviet Union are also major producers supplying a further 15% of global output en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OECD-memberstates.png
26Politics (5): Supply and Demand In 2007, global consumption grew by 1.2 million barrels per day. OPEC and OECD nations can only raise production by a further 2.5 million barrels per day so a squeeze is on the cards en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:OilConsumptionpercapita.png USA uses 24% of global supply but China shows the biggest year-to-year increase in usage Oil consumption per person (darker reds indicate higher usage)
27Politics (6): Peak Oil en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert_peak_oil_plot.svg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hubbert.jpg Hubbert ( ) Era of energy crisis In 1956, Hubbert predicted that global oil production would peak around the Year 2000 and trigger an Energy Crisis with power blackouts and rising costs of energy and fuel
28Politics (7): Rising Oil Prices en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Oil_Prices_Medium_Term.png $139 by June 2008 Oil prices have been steadily rising for several years and in June 2008 stand at a record high of $139 per barrel. Is the rise due to a squeeze in availability (peak oil) or are other political or economic factors to blame?
29Politics (8): Global Warming Oil and Gas emit 15-30% less CO 2 than coal per watt of energy produced. Renewable energy is clean but not yet viable as fuel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Coal_anthracite.jpg en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Windpark_Galicia.jpgen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bluebbl.gif OIL
30Conclusion The complexity of oil production process, political instability, economic expansion and its complicated network of contracts and agreements has become a global challenge in the oil industry yet, the blessings associated with oil far outweighs its curses.
31References 1. Falola, Toyin (2005) The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction 2.Earth4567.comOil and Gas: Talks: Your Planet EarthEarth4567.com,. (2015). Oil and Gas: Talks: Your Planet Earth. Retrieved 25 February 2015, from | 8,607 | 3,813 | 0.000265 |
warc | 201704 | Presentation on theme: "The Appreciative Inquiry Pack. Introduction To clarify when they have performed brilliantly in this area in the past. To clarify the principles they followed."— Presentation transcript:
1The Appreciative Inquiry Pack
2Introduction To clarify when they have performed brilliantly in this area in the past. To clarify the principles they followed to perform brilliantly. To clarify how they can follow these principles - plus add other elements - to perform brilliantly in the future. Appreciative Inquiry is a positive model for helping people, teams and organisations to develop. It invites people to focus on a specific topic they want to explore and then: This pack provides an introduction to AI. You can discover more at:
3David Cooperrider began developing Appreciative Inquiry in the early 1980s. He was joined by other pioneers, such as Diana Whitney. At that time David was completing his doctorate by doing organisational development work at The Cleveland Clinic. He began with ‘traditional change management’ questions, looking at ‘deficits’ and ‘gaps’ in performance. Then something happened. Impressed by the co-operation and innovation he found, David changed tack. He focused more on people’s strengths and professional high points. He became fascinated by studying people, teams and organisations at their best. Background
4David CooperriderDiana Whitney
5David asked the Clinic’s Chairman, Dr William Kiser, if he could focus totally on this positive approach and was encouraged to go ahead. David and his project supervisor, Suresh Srivastva, would later write: “Human systems grow in the direction of what people study.” Or, as others put it: “What we focus on, we become.” If we study success, for example, we are more likely to feel optimistic, rather than if we study failure. Certainly we can learn from studying how people overcome setbacks. But that is different from digesting a daily diet of failure.
6What we focus on, we become. Systems - people, families, teams, organisations and societies - are strongly affected by the things they choose to study.
7People like the AI approach. They find that revisiting their successes inspires them to build an even better future. This worked at the Cleveland Clinic. The staff loved learning from their past successes and wanted to follow these principles in the future. People translated these into tackling specific challenges and produced concrete results. Diana Whitney worked with David on developing AI. They then co-authored the first book on the topic. This was called Appreciative Inquiry: A positive revolution in change. Since then there have been many other books on the topic. These have often focused on how the approach is translated into action.
8
9AI studies humanity at its best. It invites people to clarify when they have performed brilliantly - as individuals, teams and organisations. They can then follow these principles more in the future. AI adopts an organic approach. It asks people to develop, rather than to ‘change’. (Although the outcome may in fact be positive change.) People believe in the approach. AI shows that they have already done what works. They simply have to do it more – plus maybe adding other elements – in the future. This inspires them to follow the good habits. AI has a track record of delivering success. Let’s look at some of the principles behind AI.
10Principles
11The AI approach starts by people defining the topic they want to explore. For example: How can we provide great customer service? How can we develop resilience? How can we communicate well inside our organisation? How can we raise morale in the business? How can we achieve peak performance? People then follow the 4D cycle that goes through the stages of Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. (Some people call this last stage Delivery.)
12Discovery Dream Design Delivery (Destiny) Appreciative Inquiry: The ‘4D’ Cycle You start by defining the topic to be explored. You then focus on the following steps:
13The starting point when tackling any challenge is to formulate certain questions. If possible, it is vital to frame these in a positive way. This helps: To define the direction in which people can channel their energy. To define the real results they want to achieve. “But you can’t frame every challenge in a positive way?” somebody may say. Some situations are difficult to reframe, but this can be the starting point of the process. The art of Appreciative Inquiry revolves around the art of asking questions
14Many AI practitioners, for example, help people to reframe things by using ‘Flip Questions’. They flip the energy towards a framing a positive goal. If a person is continually describing what is wrong, for example, the AI practitioner will ask: “So what do you want to happen? What is your picture of success?” Sometimes a person – or group – may resist this approach. They may want to keep describing what is wrong, but this can be depressing and debilitating People will ultimately need to define their picture of success. Flip Questions encourage them to channel their energy in this direction.
15The ‘Definition’ process is one that some people see as the ‘Fifth D’ in the AI framework. It comes before focusing on Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. Defining the topic is the process that AI calls ‘Affirmative Topic Choice.’ Creative people often frame their challenges in a positive way. They move from saying: “How can I stop feeling bad?” to: “How can I start feeling good?” “How can we stop arguing?” to: “How can we, as far as possible, find a ‘win-win’?” Defining The Topic
16“How can reduce sexual harassment?” to: “How can we encourage women and men to work together successfully?” David was actually confronted by this final topic. One day he received a phone call from a consultant who was helping a company to tackle sexual harassment. During the previous two years the employees had been attending training designed to eliminate this issue. The levels of sexual harassment were actually increasing, however, as were the lawsuits against the company. The consultant in charge of the gender and diversity training asked David:
17"How would you take an appreciative approach to sexual harassment?" David asked about the real results to achieve. The reply was: "We want to dramatically cut the incidence of sexual harassment. We want to solve this huge problem." Going deeper, he asked what this would look like. The consultant said: “What we really want is to see the development of a new century organisation - a model of high quality cross-gender relationship in the work place!”
18Though this wording was somewhat awkward, it clarified a positive picture of success. So eventually the questions posed to people during the following Discovery stage were along the lines of: “When have women and men have worked together successfully in the company? What did they do right then? How can we follow those principles in the future?” The company introduced a small pilot programme on this theme. This exceeded everybody’s expectations. Hundreds of pairs and teams nominated themselves to provide stories illustrating men and women working together successfully. This led to producing tangible results and achieving the picture of success.
19Imagine you are working with a team that wants to use AI. The first step will be to define the topic. For example, people may want: To tackle a specific challenge. To explore a specific topic. To achieve a specific goal. Here are some things to bear in mind when defining the topic. Doing this properly provides the framework within which people can channel their positive energy. They then then move on to the 4D framework.
20*Start by asking: “What is the challenge we want to tackle?” “What is the theme we want to explore?” “How can we frame the question in a positive way? What are the real results we want to achieve? What is the picture of success?” If appropriate, people can define the challenge, topic or specific results they want to achieve in terms of: “How to …?” Defining The Question
21Discovery
22Let’s imagine you have defined the topic to explore. The Discovery phase now taps into the positive core – the life-giving forces of a team, organisation or community. AI invites people to clarify what works. It asks them to describe times when they have performed well in the area they are exploring. It aims to ‘discover’ the stories, strengths and successful principles already within the system. AI practitioners apply this approach in teams, in organisations or literally across thousands of people when tackling community issues. The latter approach is sometimes called an AI Summit. Here is a framework you can use during the Discovery stage and, if appropriate, to present these findings back to the team.
23Looking back, invite people to ask: “When have we done good work in this area? When have we tackled similar challenges successfully?” Invite them to do the following things. Describe specific situations when they have performed well when dealing with similar situations. Ask: “What did we do right then? What were the principles we followed? What were the practical things people did to translate these into specific actions?” Describe the specific things they did right - the principles they followed - to do successful work. Discovery
24Discovery Presentation When … When … When … The specific examples we focused on were:
25They … For example … They … For example … They … For example … The principles people followed - and the specific things they did to translate these into action - were :
26Discovery
27People can ask: “Looking at the topic we want to explore, when have we tackled similar challenges successfully? When have we performed brilliantly?” People can then ask: “What did we do right then? What were the principles we followed? What were the specific things that people actually did to translate these into principles into action?” People prepare their presentation. This to cover the themes highlighted on the next slides. People can focus on the specific topic they want to explore. They can then go through the following stages. It is useful if they bring their stories and experiences to life by giving specific examples. Introduction
28Discovery Presentation When … When … When … The specific examples we focused on were:
29They … For example … They … For example … They … For example … The principles people followed - and the specific things they did to translate these into action - were:
30Dream
31People can make sure the dream is stimulating and stretching. They can make sure the goals is within the scope of what they can control in the situation. People can make sure they are serious about achieving the dream. They can clarify the pluses and minuses involved - for all stakeholders - and make sure they are prepared to accept the whole package. People can draw a picture - or representation - of them achieving the dream. They can put this in a place where they can see it each day. People can focus on how they can follow the principles they believe in - because they know these work - and express these in a dream. Introduction
32Dream Presentation To … To … To … The dream we want to achieve - the picture of success - is:
33Dream - The Picture of Success Here is a picture - a visual representation - of the actual things that will be happening when we achieve the dream.
34Design
35“What are the key strategies we can follow to give ourselves the greatest chance of success? How can we implement these strategies successfully? “What are people’s strengths? How can we build on and co- ordinate these strengths to achieve the goal? How can we compensate for any weaknesses? “What is the road map - the specific action plan - for achieving the goal? Who needs to deliver what and by when? What will be the actual things that will be happening that will show we have achieve the dream?” People will have their own approach to clarifying their strategies for achieving the dream. Here are some of the questions they may ask when creating their plan. Introduction
36Design Presentation The key strategies we can follow to achieve the dream are:
37The specific kinds of support that people will need to deliver success is :
38The specific action plan - including the milestones along the way - for achieving the dream is :
39Delivery (Destiny) People can be encouraged to update others about their contributions towards achieving the dream. They can, for example, make the following presentations each month.
40The Past Month. The specific things we have delivered in the past month towards achieving the dream have been:
41The Next Month. The specific things we aim to deliver in the next month towards achieving the dream are :
42The Challenges. The specific challenges we face and our plans for tackling these challenges are:
43The Support. The specific kinds of support we would like to help uses to deliver success are:
44The Other Topics. The specific other topics we would like to explore regarding how to deliver the dream are:
45Conclusion This pack has provided a brief introduction to AI. You can discover more about the work at the following sites. * The Appreciative Inquiry Commons. * David Cooperrider. * Diana Whitney and the Corporation for Positive Change. | 13,886 | 5,250 | 0.000198 |
warc | 201704 | Presentation on theme: "Chemical Equations and Reactions Describing Chemical Reactions."— Presentation transcript:
1Chemical Equations and Reactions Describing Chemical Reactions
2What are some signs that a chemical reaction is occurring?
3Indications of a Chemical Reaction In a chemical reaction, one or more substances are changed into one or more NEW substances. Indications of a chemical reaction include signs that a new substance has formed.
4Indications of a Chemical Reaction 1. Evolution of heat and/or light
5Indications of a Chemical Reaction 2. Production of a gas Vinegar + baking soda
6Indications of a Chemical Reaction 3. Formation of a precipitate (NH 4 ) 2 S (aq) + Cd(NO 3 ) 2 (aq)
7Indications of a Chemical Reaction 4. Color Change Phenolphthalein + NaOH
8
9
10
11Writing Chemical Equations Solid sodium oxide is added to water at room temperature and forms sodium hydroxide (dissolved in water). Write the word equation: Sodium oxide + water sodium hydroxide Write the formula equation: Na 2 O (s) + H 2 O (l) 2 NaOH (aq)
12Write formula equations for each of the following chemical reactions. 1.Hydrogen peroxide in an aqueous solution decomposes to produce oxygen and water. 2.Solid copper metal reacts with aqueous silver nitrate to produce solid silver metal and aqueous copper (II) nitrate. 3.Solid zinc metal reacts with aqueous copper (II) sulfate to produce copper metal and aqueous zinc sulfate.
13Translating Chemical Equations PbCl 2 (aq) + Na 2 CrO 4 (aq) PbCrO 4 (s) + 2 NaCl (aq) Write a sentence explaining the above reaction: Aqueous solutions of lead (II) chloride and sodium chromate react to form a precipitate of lead(II) chromate and aqueous sodium chloride.
14Translate the following into sentences: 1.2 ZnO (s) + C (s) 2 Zn (s) + CO 2 (g) 2.Na 2 O (s) + 2 CO 2 (g) + H 2 O (g) 2 NaHCO 3 (s)
15Write and balance equations for each of the following reactions: 1.Calcium metal reacts with water to form aqueous calcium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. 2.Nitrogen dioxide gas reacts with water to form nitric acid and nitrogen monoxide gas. 3.Potassium chlorate decomposes to form potassium chloride and oxygen.
16Classification of Reactions Today’s objective: Classify reactions according to five general types: Synthesis Decomposition Single replacement Double replacement Combustion
17Synthesis 1.Iron corrodes in the presence of oxygen forming iron (III) oxide. 2.Ammonia is formed by the combination of nitrogen and hydrogen at high temperatures and pressure. General Form: Description: Burning Magnesium video
18Decomposition 3.The electrolysis of water results in the formation of hydrogen and oxygen. 4.When heated, sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide. General Form: Description: Decomposition of HgO
19Single Replacement 5.When Magnesium is added to an aqueous solution of copper (II) chloride, a precipitate of copper is formed along with a solution of magnesium chloride 6.Sodium reacts violently with water, resulting in the formation of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. General Form: Description: Thermite Reaction
20Double Replacement 7.When aqueous solutions of potassium iodide and lead (II) nitrate are mixed, a solid precipitate forms: lead (II) iodide. 8.Hydrochloric acid is neutralized by addition of a base (sodium hydroxide) resulting in the formation of water and a salt. General Form: Description: Potassium iodide + lead (II) nitrate
21Combustion 9.Ethanol (C 2 H 5 OH) burns in oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water. 10.Welders use acetylene (C 2 H 2 ) torches. The flame is produced as acetylene burns in the presence of oxygen. General Form: Description: Burning Gasoline and Ethanol
22
23Using the Activity Series Zn (s) + H 2 O (l) no reaction Sn + O 2 SnO 2 Cd + Pb(NO 3 ) 2 Cd(NO 3 ) 2 + Pb Cu + HCl no reaction
24Will the following reactions occur? MgCl 2 (aq) + Zn (s) Al (s) + H 2 O (g) Cd (s) + O 2 (g) I 2 (s) + KF | 3,975 | 1,618 | 0.000624 |
warc | 201704 | SPRINGFIELD, IL (KMOX) – A new campaign from the Illinois Secretary of State’s office aims to help people from getting ripped off when making investment decisions.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White says he is mounting a campaign called “Avoid the Scam;” the idea is to encourage people to be careful about to whom they entrust money to invest.
“You see what happens is that when they paint that rosy picture about how much you can earn from investing with me and how much money I can put into your bank account,” White says, “their eyes get big and they let down their guard, and they let people take advantage of them.”
He says investment scams appear to be on the rise, possibly because of the poor economy.
“”With the economy being the way that it is, I think you would probably find more scammers out there now than ever before,” White says.
The new website has information about questions people should ask before investing, as well as resources to see if a specific broker is registered or has a disciplinary record.
White says his office’s Securities Department handled more than 400 cases of investment fraud last year, with Illinois courts ordering $33 million in repayments.
“Nine times of out of 10, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it is,” he says.
People can visit the website at avoidthescam.net. | 1,401 | 765 | 0.001386 |
warc | 201704 | Taking a peek at some moving average levels on shares of Appen Limited (APX.AX), the 200-day is at 2.68, the 50-day is 2.79, and the 7-day is sitting at 2.88. Moving averages can help identify trends and price reversals. They may also be used to help spot support and resistance levels. Moving averages are considered to be lagging indicators meaning that they confirm trends. A certain stock may be considered to be on an uptrend if trading above a moving average and the average is sloping upward. On the other side, a stock may be considered to be in a downtrend if trading below the moving average and sloping downward.
Some traders may find the Williams Percent Range or Williams %R as a useful technical indicator. Presently, Appen Limited (APX.AX)’s Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R is resting at -51.16. Values can range from 0 to -100. A reading between -80 to -100 may be typically viewed as strong oversold territory. A value between 0 to -20 would represent a strong overbought condition. As a momentum indicator, the Williams R% may be used with other technicals to help define a specific trend.
When completing stock analysis, investors and traders may opt to review other technical levels. Appen Limited (APX.AX) currently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of 76.03. Investors and traders may use this indicator to help spot price reversals, price extremes, and the strength of a trend. Many investors will use the CCI in conjunction with other indicators when evaluating a trade. The CCI may be used to spot if a stock is entering overbought (+100) and oversold (-100) territory.
The Average Directional Index or ADX is often considered to be an important tool for technical trading or investing. The ADX is a technical indicator developed by J. Welles Wilder used to determine the strength of a trend. The ADX is often used along with the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) to identify the direction of the trend. Presently, the 14-day ADX for Appen Limited (APX.AX) is resting at 24.13. Generally speaking, an ADX value from 0-25 would indicate an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would indicate a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would signal a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would indicate an extremely strong trend.
Traders may also be paying close attention to RSI levels on shares of Appen Limited (APX.AX). The current 14-day RSI is presently sitting at 56.56, the 7-day is 58.35, and the 3-day is38.02. The RSI, or Relative Strength Index is a popular oscillating indicator among traders and investors. The RSI operates in a range-bound area with values between 0 and 100. When the RSI line moves up, the stock may be experiencing strength. The opposite is the case when the RSI line is heading lower. Different time periods may be used when using the RSI indicator. The RSI may be more volatile using a shorter period of time. Many traders keep an eye on the 30 and 70 marks on the RSI scale. A move above 70 is widely considered to show the stock as overbought, and a move below 30 would indicate that the stock may be oversold. Traders may use these levels to help identify stock price reversals. | 3,206 | 1,425 | 0.000704 |
warc | 201704 | This article describes GALATEAS LangLog, a system performing Search Log Analysis. LangLog illustrates how NLP technologies can be a powerful support tool for market research even when the source of information is a collection of queries each one consisting of few words. We push the standard Search Log Analysis forward taking into account the semantics of the queries. The main innovation of LangLog is the implementation of two highly customizable components that cluster and classify the queries in the log. ...
Firewall Log Review and Analysis After the decision has been made to log events from your firewall, the next step is determining what you should be looking for in the logs and how you should properly perform log analysis
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Number "e" (Natural Log) to Approximately 1 Million Places, by Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Number "e" (Natural Log) to Approximately 1 Million Places Author: Robert Nemiroff Jerry Bonnell
It is not our goal, either, to demonstrate complete usecases for SALSA. For example, while we demonstrateone application of SALSA for failure diagnosis, we donot claim that this failure-diagnosis technique is com-plete nor perfect. It is merely illustrative of the typesof useful analyses that SALSA can support.Finally, while we can support an online version ofSALSA that would analyze log entries generated as thesystem executes, the goal of this paper is not to describesuch an online log-analysis technique or its runtime over-heads.
Statistical methods require very large corpus with high quality. But building large and faultless annotated corpus is a very difficult job. This paper proposes an efficient m e t h o d to construct part-of-speech tagged corpus. A rulebased error correction m e t h o d is proposed to find and correct errors semi-automatically by user-defined rules. We also make use of user's correction log to reflect feedback. Experiments were carried out to show the efficiency of error correction process of this workbench. The result shows that about 63.2 % of tagging errors can be corrected. ...
Syntactic analysis of search queries is important for a variety of information-retrieval tasks; however, the lack of annotated data makes training query analysis models difficult. We propose a simple, efficient procedure in which part-of-speech tags are transferred from retrieval-result snippets to queries at training time.
We present IlluMe, a software tool pack which creates a personalized ambient using the music and lighting. IlluMe includes an emotion analysis software, the small space ambient lighting, and a multimedia controller. The software analyzes emotional changes from instant message logs and corresponds the detected emotion to the best sound and light settings.
Chapter 10 - Time-series analysis. This chapter introduces time series as a concept, and the basic autoregressive process makes it easy to see where the correlation of the error terms can be a problem; discuss the factors affecting the choice between a linear trend and a log-linear trend model for a time series incorporating a trend;....
When I rst started using OpenBSD sometime in 1999, it certainly wasn'tbecause I wanted to write a book about it. All I needed was a stable serverfor my home network, something I could congure and forget about. I triedall obvious suspects: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and four or ve differentLinux distributions, My choice was OpenBSD, because it installedwithout problems, was easy to congure, and did not have the infuriatingproblems with NFS that plagued me on Linux at that time.
Although the Standard & Poor's 500 is the most commonly used measure of the performance ofthe U. S. stock market, it is sometimes argued that, because this index is so heavily populatedwith high quality, large capitalization stocks, it may not be an appropriate benchmark with whichto compare a mutual fund which may be invested in lower quality, smaller capitalization stocks.The obvious refutation: If one can obtain a higher return by investing in...
These are the things we’re going to cover. In essence, we’re going to cover a series of tools and howthey are logging the traffic they generate.If you work within a Computer Incident Response Team or as an Intrusion Detection analyst, it isvery important to understand the logs you are working with. They are the key to solve the puzzle.
Tuyển tập báo cáo các nghiên cứu khoa học quốc tế ngành hóa học dành cho các bạn yêu hóa học tham khảo đề tài: Computer-aided diagnosis of renal obstruction: utility of log-linear modeling versus standard ROC and kappa analysis
The responses.properties and global.properties files are protected by access controls on the$VCLOUD _ HOME/etc folder and the files themselves. Do not change the permissions on the files or folder as itmay either give too much access, reducing security, or restrict access too much, stopping the VMware vCloudDirector software from working. In order for the access controls to properly work, physical and logical access tothe VMware vCloud Director servers must be strictly limited to those with a need to log in and only with theminimal levels of access required.
Reports on Computer Systems TechnologyThe Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation’s measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of concept implementations, and technical analysis to advance the development and productive use of information technology.
Many studies of system logs treatthem as sources of failure events. Log analysis of systemerrors typically involves classifying log messages basedon the preset severity level of the reported error, and ontokens and their positions in the text of the message [14][11]. More sophisticated analysis has included the studyof the statistical properties of reported failure events tolocalize and predict faults [15] [11] [9] and mining pat-terns from multiple log events [8].
Widespread thermal anomalies in 1997–1998,due primarily to regional effects of the El Nin˜ o–SouthernOscillation and possibly augmented by globalwarming, caused severe coral bleaching worldwide.Corals in all habitats alongthe Belizean barrier reefbleached as a result of elevated sea temperatures in thesummer and fall of 1998, and in fore-reef habitats of theouter barrier reef and offshore platforms they showedsigns of recovery in 1999. In contrast, coral populationson reefs in the central shelf lagoon died off catastrophically.
Despite its importance, prior work on eventcausality extraction in context in the NLP litera-ture is relatively sparse. In (Girju, 2003), the au-thor used noun-verb-noun lexico-syntactic patternsto learn that “mosquitoes cause malaria”, where thecause and effect mentions are nominals and not nec-essarily event evoking words. In (Sun et al., 2007),the authors focused on detecting causality betweensearch query pairs in temporal query logs.
First we must determine what is important. Do we need all log data from every critical systemin order to perform security, response, and audit? Will we need all that data at lightning speed?(Most likely, we will not.) How much data can the network and collection tool actually handleunder load? What is the threshold before networks bottleneck and/or the SIEM is renderedunusable, not unlike a denial of service (DOS)? These are variables that every organizationmust consider as they hold SIEM to standards that best suit their operational goals....
Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí lâm nghiệp đề tài:"Analysis of log shape and internal knots in twenty Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stems based on visual scanning and computer aided reconstruction" | 8,425 | 4,085 | 0.000254 |
warc | 201704 | In the middle of economic crises, is not easy to cooperate, either to make business and certainly you can’t afford the practice of selecting clients. As it been said, extreme times, dictates extreme measures. The problems are many, but the main one is that, the most of the times, the involving parties are not always on a parity or have the same strength. Usually, one part is, usually, in more stronger bargaining position, dictating either roles, rules and behaviors not common in the trade practices or outputs unequal to the level of the bargain between the two parties.
What you will read in this post:
When is it Bad to Selecting Clients
Discrimination is a bad practice and especially so, in the business area. It is, in short words, bad business! But many people do it (
consciously or unconsciously), and many companies selecting clients, based on, seemingly, perfectly logical arguments, of the type: we have to maintain our level of services and an extra client is one too many we have to accommodate only the clients we can handle we should set up standards for servicing the clients that we should never violate them we don’t have the necessary resources, skills, manpower, etc <…>
when actually they would like to say that:
we don’t think that you can keep up with our requirements we know, after a small search, that you are notorious of missing the deadlines we have heard that you don’t provide the necessary focus, resources, manpower in the projects you handle we know that you are understaffed, poorly organized for this type of project, with minimal resources to allocate, -<…>
It is always bad business to selecting clients when having all the necessary resources available for the work you have been asking to do, but it is especially bad business, when:
there is no obvious reason for the contrary, and this creates bad impressions to 3rd parties ( among other things) you have the necessary skills, knowledge, expertise, manpower for a successful cooperation and still refuse to cooperate with a certain client your cooperation with this client is based on false pretenses or miscommunication you priorities ( personal, business, time restrains, or other), prevent you from fully commit in this client and you don’t state it to the other party previous cooperation with these particular clients demonstrate errors in cooperation, understanding, resource allocation, deadlines, payments, project description, and specifications, or any vital component on doing your job and you continue to cooperate with this client your strategic goals and objectives are not matched or are incompatible with this specific client (*and that you should communicate it to the client, in the best possible way) and you accept his offer for cooperation.
The best policy, usually, is to select whom you going to cooperate with, based on the real intricacies, facts and demands of your business, without fall in a subjective, financial or business biases! Mind you, that the less rewarding jobs, sometimes yield high-impact results in the long run and present the most rewarding business challenges! For that reason, you should always be mindful for your business selections.
Today’s Business Prerogatives
Today is not easy to choose, what business you would like to do and with whom.
My argument is that especially in these situations you should always do business, that would produce win-win results rather that you be involved in a situation with clear win-lose characteristics ( Or is it? risking or even jeopardizing your relative positioning and authority in your field, the one you have built, after a long time and with a lot of effort!).
Moreover, I believe that in such difficult, business and financial, situations you should assume jobs with relative low or not
ROI ( Return of Investment) ONLY if they are accompanied with the required ( by you) prerequisites and standards for doing a certain work! ( and no, I don’t necessary mean, the required fee, but this is still a necessity and an always pleasant incentive for every person and business!). I strongly argue, that due to the lack of resources, clients or jobs in the business ecosystem you are not obliged to: Violate your strategic plans and objectives. Altered your normal working habits, ethics and behaviors Leave behind the jobs or works of other clients Left projects are central for you or/and your company Diminish or obliterate you usual changing fees or the payment periods Invest in the keeping of this one client Absorb the costs of this one job
All the above indicate a bad deal in the business lingo (something can be verified by an ROI analysis). Would you argue that if this the only one deal available, you should take it, in order to have some kind of work and not left idle your resources? That is a capital error, and especially in the present conditions of work. In today’s competitive market, you gain by following and further your strategic goals and objectives and not by compromising your business value and position in the name of some short-term payments. In the long run, a company might survive with these small money doses, but never again would be prospered, due to the:
lack of focus due to the diversification in doing a lot of different things in different areas lack of innovation because of the assumptions that priority is the work-at-hand! loose of the established working ethics and habits due to the “ we can make indifferent works and still survive” attitude and focus blurring lost of, any, competitive advantage lack of investment in human capital, since you press your people to perform in different working situations injection of indifference in the work ethics due to the mass production attitude of “ survival with any cost“ general handling and prioritization of the economic and financial situation against to an integrated approach, that would encompass all the collateral creative & innovative dimensions of the company ( diminishing thus the any strategic advantages of the given company) predominance of the economic & financial sector against innovation, engineering, ingenuity, human capital, etc What you should do?
Based on the above, the selecting clients clause is, as everything in this world, dependent on some basic conditions and is bounded to certain limitations. Otherwise, when practicing it, you are on the verge of be accused as snob or elitist, eclectic, idiosyncratic, or simply, as a “
without a decent business sense and mind, a one who is rejecting perfectly good business for a whim” kind of type. Not very flattering characterization for a person or business.
So, in order to see with what kind of clients or customers you dealing with, first you should:
Have a business !!! (i.e. to derive resources, money, or something else from this occupation or transaction) Start with “Why“ Have more than one (>1) clients/customers Have some central vision and plan for your business and its future Have some resources or you can reassure some alternative resources Have evaluate carefully your strengths against the market realities and you have decide on your overall strategy Have a unique sales position, view, proposition, idea, methodology, production scheme, product, service, etc Have a status, a presence, experience, knowledge and skills unmatched to anyone in the market.
and then, evaluate carefully, your policy for your clients. After that evaluation, you might need to reconsider your overall strategy and the ways you do business! But, only after that step, the people would characterize you as an authentic person or company or someone who actually knows what he/she doing, and only then you can be regarded as a thought leader in your sector.
Do you think you can maintain your position in the market in the dare time? Do you think, is a good practice to be versatile or to stick in your strategic objectives? Do you afford, of selecting clients, or not? | 8,027 | 3,523 | 0.000288 |
warc | 201704 | Middle-aged Midwestern farmers did their part during WWI by dropping significant chunks of their food off with local U.S. government food officials that transported the food to the Allied Cause in exchange for Liberty bonds. A liberty bond was exactly what you think it is–a low-interest bond that was created by the United States government to facilitate borrowing to fund the war effort.
It was heavily marketed as a patriotic duty, with movie stars like Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford rallying the public to delay gratification and accept as any bonds in lieu of cash as was possible to survive, and Liberty bond posters decked the local churches and government halls.
By the time the Allies had secured armistices from Austria-Hungary and Germany in November 1918, many Nebraska farmers were looking to unload their Liberty bonds. It wasn’t just for the liquidity purpose of getting their hands on cash that they wished they would have had in years prior. It was also an economically intelligent decision to discard of Liberty bonds because their interest rates significantly trailed the wildly high inflation rate at the end of the war.
Liberty bonds were sold in four increments in 1917 and 1918. Depending on which of the four bond installments you owned, you were collecting: 3.5%, 3%, 4.5%, or 4.25% interest on your investment. In 1917, the U.S. inflation rate rose to 17.4% and then hit an all-time high for the United States of 18% in 1918 (an aside: most people wouldn’t intuitively guess this, but the excessive creation and use of U.S. currency during WWI gave America the highest annual inflation rate of nearly 10% that it would ever see, and the “Roaring 20s” actually experienced modest deflation contrary to the flapper image because most Americans still lived on farms and the price of corn lost more than half its value during 1921-1929).
Now, imagine yourself being a post-WWI Midwestern farmer. After five of scarce living, you are beginning a return to normalcy. You’re chuck full of liberty bonds from the war effort, and you almost certainly want to sell them as quickly as possible. And yet, you also realize something–this is an opportunity for your family to finally get a little something for yourselves. The years of living lean on the farm have created a windfall of sorts, as the pending sale of liberty bonds have created an opportunity for you to have more cash on hand than you need in immediate working capital for the farm–your once-in-a-lifetime chance to make an investment that could generate some passive income for your family to help things along.
Now, imagine the other side of the coin. In 1919 America, there are no federal laws for stock promoters. Federal securities law, and the birth of the SEC, didn’t come until the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash when President Roosevelt ushered in the Securities Act of 1933 and The Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Before that, any regulation of securities was the purview of state blue-sky laws which were exceptionally relaxed compared to the federal requirements that would come in days after.
With light oversight of the securities markets, and many Midwestern farmers lacking the sophistication and resources to perform due diligence on potential investments, scammy stock promoters hit the scene to scoop up liberty bonds in exchange for shares of dubious insurance and bank corporations that were created as a guise to separate honest farmers from their acquired bond surplus during the Great War.
In Nebraska, stock promoters fastened onto a corporation called the “National American Fire Insurance Company” to peddle $100 share certificates to farmers in exchange for their liberty bonds. I say “fastened onto” because a corporation by that name had been formed in 1800, and had become defunct with no assets, and stock promoters bought out that name as a way to add gravitas to their developing scam. Because most of the liberty bonds didn’t become fully redeemable until the 1921-1923 period depending on which of the four installments you owned, many Midwestern farmers were eager to shed their bonds that were getting pummelled by inflation and also an ownership interest in a corporation that could enable their family to lay the groundwork for dreams of better days ahead.
William Ahmanson, a well-known insurance agent in the rural communities of Nebraska, was named the head of the National American Fire Insurance. He, too, was fooled by the scammers.
But you should always keep in mind what a share of a corporation is. It is a residual claim on the assets of a corporation that entitle you to a proportional share of the profit after all the contract and tort claimants have been paid their due. When a corporation is initially formed, and that IPO stock is sold, you are actually providing start-up capital for the corporation to build up “residue” for shareholders.
Perhaps driven by pride, William Ahmanson decided to build National American Fire Insurance into something respectable even though it was a corporation born of sinful nothingness. The Nebraska farmers, feeling duped, would hide their NAFI stock certificates away in their bedroom drawers–ashamed that they had been fooled by a group of sweet-talking city slickers at a time when they were most naive.
And yet, something unusual started to happen in the coming decades. Ahmanson had gradually grown the profits from $0 with no capital into $29 per share by the mid-1950s. He and his son Howard were shrewd insurance operators, and were quite pleased with themselves for turning the fraud around into a respectable business.
But you must also remember that there was no easy way to figure out a company’s earnings–you couldn’t just hop on google, enter a few keystrokes, and figure out what NAFI was earnings. There were some Nebraska laws that required filing earnings, debt, and cash information, but you would have to pay $15.32 for a Moody’s Manual or visit a library in the city to check this information out. And by the time NAFI had grown into something respectable, many Nebraska farmers had already given up on the stock and didn’t stay-up-to-date on a stock that had come to represent a dashed hope. If it didn’t produce tangible profits in the first decade of its existence, why would it suddenly produce something in decades two and three?
Although the Ahmanson family was never dishonest, they also desired to benefit from their information asymmetry advantage over the farmers that had paid $100 per share for stock they believed to be worthless.
Hayden Ahmanson, the younger brother of Howard Ahmanson, had begun offering farmers $30 in cash for each share of NAFI they had bought in the post-WWI exuberance of Allied victory and bond surplus. This open offer of $30 per share cash enabled the Ahmanson family–which consisted of the now retired William Ahmanson and his two sons Howard and Hayden–to accumulate 70% of the outstanding National American Fire Insurance stock.
Hmmm…1960s Nebraska…who do you think owned a Moody’s Manual that signalled National American Fire Insurance was earning $29 per share and had a most recent sale price of $30 per share? Yep, you better believe it was Warren Buffett.
And yet, Warren Buffett had four problems that prevented him from acting upon his valuable piece of new knowledge: (1) The Ahmanson family owned 70% of the stock, meaning only 30% of the float was available for trade; (2) the remaining 30% of available float was scattered throughout the state in physical certificates frittered away in some farmer’s hiding spot; (3) the shareholder list wasn’t accessible to Buffett; and (4) any contact with these farmers would have to be done on the sly to avoid detection by the Ahmanson family which could trigger a bidding war or development of a corporate strategy designed to box out Buffett.
With these limitations in mind, Warren Buffett tried to reverse engineer the shareholder list by looking at the records of directors and shareholders of record from the original issuance in 1919, figuring that there hadn’t been much turnover in the past forty years and an address look-up could help him find the geographical hot spots in the state where most of the NAFI stock was sold.
Dan Monen, Warren Buffett’s appointed proxy, was hired by Buffett to drive around the state and do the investigative work to locate the old farmers sitting on stock. When Monen found farmers, most of them had been already propositioned by the Ahmanson family for $30 per share, and weren’t too interested in Monen’s cash offering price of $35 per share. If $30 didn’t interest you in the years prior, $35 probably wasn’t going to get you to part. Buffett acquired only five shares of stock through this $35 offering price method.
Even as a young man, Warren Buffett knew about the psychological influence of anchoring bias–once we get that initial point in our mind, it anchors itself there and serves as a reference point from which we measure everything. The Nebraska farmers had paid $100 per share for the stock in 1919. No one wants to take a nominal loss. Even though an inflation adjusted equivalent would have been much higher, the farmers quickly sold to Buffett as soon as he began offering $100 per share in cash.
Eventually, Monen’s door-to-door pitch with $100 induced farmers to part with 2,000 shares of National American Fire Insurance Stock, which was 10% of the company’s 20,000 share capitalization. By the time Buffett had finished accumulating it, the Ahmanson family owned around 14,000 shares, Buffett owned around 2,000 shares, and the remaining farmers that couldn’t be located or refused to part with their stock owned 4,000 shares. Even at a price of $100 per share, Buffett was able to get his hands on the stock for 3.44x earnings. The stock quickly tripled in value thereafter.
I tell you this story because it is easy to forget what a privilege it is to buy ownership interests digitally in this day and age. If you wanted to acquire ownership in a local firm back in the day, you had to put in the leg work. Because stock markets are impersonal, it is easy to forget that companies have a fixed number of shares and require a buyer and seller on each side of a transaction.
When Exxon has a ten-day trading volume of 13 million shares, the liquidity is so enormous that all you have to do is come up with $50 and put a buy order through Computershare for a $0 fee (actually, when you buy stock of Exxon through computershare, you are effectively engaging in an IPO-type transaction in which Exxon is creating a new share and you are giving $83 to the corporation…but if you bought it through a discount broker, you would get matched up with a seller and have to pay $83 for the share plus $8-$10 in fees. On that, my recommendation is that you try and keep transaction costs below 1% so invest in $800-$1,000 increments when you $8 to $10 in fees).
If you wanted to purchase shares of a small company until recently, you would have to actually track down a human being, haggle over the price, and get the stock certificate signed over to you. Want to own the local battery or local clothing company? Then find someone willing to sell their ownership interest.
And with transaction fees so low now, and the sources of market participation so great, you don’t have to be like the Nebraska farmer saving up for their one-time high liquidity event in which to make an investment.
In the scheme of human history, it has never been easier to become a passive investor in corporate activity. We really are spoiled rotten. Up until the past two or three decades, it has always been arduous. It has always involved leg work. It has always involved finding people on the other side, or paying hundreds of dollars in commissions to make a trade through an actual honest-to-God stockbroker who contacted stockbrokers in other cities to find willing sellers on the other side. The magic of innovation is frequently lost as it becomes increasingly ordinary over time. Don’t disregard this blessing–it has taken over two centuries of innovation to get us to a point where we can become part-owners in a business that sells nearly any kind of good or service, and you should feel inspired to feel gratitude and act upon it after you reflect upon the difficulties of past generations to do something that we now cavalierly take for granted. | 12,637 | 5,508 | 0.000185 |
warc | 201704 | Last week, I penned a piece for
The Diplomat where I outlined in broad strokes several potential economic policy outcomes that could have been results of the Third Plenum of the Central Committee of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC). On the menu were items as diverse as reform in interest rate ceilings, deposit insurance, capital controls, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and the hukou housing permit system. If one had to draw an overarching theme for this Third Plenum – what Xi Jinping’s key dilemma would be – it would be delivering market-friendly reform to the center and periphery of China while maintaining the Party’s position in Beijing. Xinhua, in its summary of the post-Third Plenum reforms, put it simpler: "The core issue is properly handling the relationship between the government and markets."
So what are the results of the Third Plenum, how did investors and observers react, and was the meeting a success for Xi Jinping, who was expected to fully consolidate his power and position as the PRC’s President?
The core physical result of the meeting was a rather vague communiqué issued by the Communist Party on the results of the meeting. According to Chris Buckley over at
Sinosphere, the initial reports "gave only a sketchy summary of what was discussed, saying that the 200 or so central and provincial officials who attended endorsed broad proposals to seek more balanced and equitable growth through more market competition and improved government. The summary said the planned changes would include taxation reforms, integrating urban and rural society, improved government services, and building a more effective legal system.” Enjoying this article?Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.
An ancillary aspect of the CPC’s communiqué was the notion of equality and fairness in China’s economy. According to
Xinhua, "the CPC pledged to clear barriers in the market and improve the efficiency and fairness in the allocation of resources. It will also create fair, open and transparent market rules and improve the market price mechanism.” No specifics were provided on how precisely the “market price mechanism” can or will be improved.
One of the more concrete outcomes – at least administratively – was the announcement that the CPC will set up a central leading team for “comprehensively deepening reform.” The team will be a successor to the National Development and Reform Commission (which was merged with the economic reform commission).
China Daily further clarified the role of the group, “Part of the new group's duties, apart from economic reform, is to plan and carry out reform on modernizing China's 'governance system' and 'governance capability’.” Caixin, in its coverage of the reforms, expressed optimism that the reforms will create a more favorable climate for China’s entrepreneurs and family business endeavors.
The Third Plenum’s outcomes are also significant in what they explicitly omit. As was long expected by observers and analysts, Xi Jinping did not go on the offensive against the increasingly stagnating state-owned enterprises.The CPC’s decisive turn towards a market-based economy will necessitate action in this area sooner or later; it could perhaps be that the Central Committee favors a gradualist approach towards the state-owned enterprises, and may even handle their reform on a case-by-case basis. This could be a manageable task for Beijing given that there exist around 120 large SOEs.
Investors were thoroughly let down by the results of the Plenum; global stocks dipped, from Europe to the United States. Neil MacKinnon, a global macro strategist interviewed by
ABC News, said that "While the general approach is market-oriented, the absence of clear details is slightly disappointing.” In essence, the Third Plenum told investors what they mostly already knew about the challenges facing China’s economy and the measures needed to ameliorate the situation. The move towards further market-oriented reforms is thus largely uninteresting to investors without specific details.
Shortly before the conclusion of the Plenum, my colleague Zachary Keck wrote an article for
The Diplomat explaining why negotiating reform between Beijing and the rest of China wouldn’t be easy, for a variety of reasons. These challenges will endure as China embarks on the next step in its grand opening up to the world. Minxin Pei, noted China expert and contributor to The Diplomat, writes that expectations of concrete and detailed reform emerging from the Third Plenum are “sanguine and naive” given that they overestimate the level of control Xi and his colleagues in Beijing truly posses over local governments and regional party bosses. Despite its historically centralized nature, Chinese technocracy isn’t immune from the vagaries of institutional politics.
In assessing whether this Third Plenum succeeded, China watchers must be careful not to miss the forest for the trees. Despite the disappointing lack of details, the rhetorical outcomes of the Third Plenum nonetheless reassuringly signal that the world’s second largest economy is embracing liberal reform that can only be beneficial for China’s 1.35 billion people and the world economy in the long-term. Economic reform, particularly in Communist China since Deng Xiaoping’s days, has seldom occurred overnight. The vision set forth at this Third Plenum will likely come to fruition over a gradual process of reform over the next decade.
Ankit Panda is Associate Editor of The Diplomat. He tweets at @nktpnd. | 5,733 | 2,732 | 0.000378 |
warc | 201704 | Since 2007, Louisiana coastal experts have claimed they can prevent the state’s bottom third from sinking into the Gulf of Mexico based on this assertion: The Mississippi River carries enough sand and sediment not just to repair some of the damage but actually begin rebuilding wetlands.
Now they finally may have the research to prove it.
Preliminary findings from the first comprehensive study in more than 50 years on the amount of material the river hauls south of New Orleans appear to support the land-building conclusions in the 2012 Master Plan, researchers said in several recent interviews.
Among the key findings from the continuing Louisiana Coastal Area Hydrodynamic and Delta Management Study:
Enough sand and sediment move through the river to meet the land-building projections for sediment diversions and dredge-and-fill projects in the 2012 plan. The proposed sites for sediment diversions are in the right locations to achieve the projected results. Sediment loads in the river have stabilized over the past two decades after steady declines. Deposits of sediment at critical locations are deep enough to supply dredge-and-fill marsh-building projects. Effects expected from climate change and coastal subsidence will not prevent the river from delivering enough material for the projects to meet goals.
Bren Haase, heading the project for the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said while those findings are encouraging, more data collection and analysis are needed to refine conclusions of what the river carries and how to effectively capture it for rebuilding wetlands.
“Sediment is flowing down river continuously as if it were on a conveyor belt,” he said. “Our focus is on finding strategies like sediment diversions and dredging to efficiently harvest that sediment as it goes by on the conveyor belt.”
All of south Louisiana rests on deltas built by the Mississippi River. But almost 2,000 square miles of its coastal landscape has converted to open water in the last 80 years due to river levees that have starved the deltas of sediment, as well as erosion caused by thousands of miles of canals dredged for oil, gas and shipping. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has projected at current rates of subsidence and sea level rise, the entire southeast corner of the state will be part of the Gulf by the end of the century.
The 2012 Master Plan drew national attention and buoyed the spirits of coastal advocates with the claim the state could be gaining more land than it was losing if its $50 billion suite of projects was implemented by 2060. But skeptics of the plan quickly pointed out some of the information used in those models dated from the 1960s.
Current data would have been available had Congress funded a study it authorized in 2004. But the money didn’t come until 2011.
Since then, the Army Corps of Engineers has partnered with the coastal authority on the $25 million research effort, which includes projecting the effect projects would have on their receiving basins.
Past studies had shown sediment load dropping steadily over the past few decades as farming conservation methods have reduced soil runoff into the Mississippi River drainage. But Hasse said the new study shows the river is back to a form not seen in centuries.
“We hear a lot of talk about sediment load in the river but found that sediment loads have stabilized in the lower river since those declines,” Haase said. “The surprising thing is, it looks like it’s stabilized at a level not seen since European settlement came to the river,” based on soil borings.
The river also appears to carry enough water to move large enough loads of sand and sediment needed to rebuild the sinking basins south of New Orleans. That became a concern after 2011 research found the Mississippi loses 54 percent of its volume between the Old River Control Structure north of Baton Rouge and its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico.
“The water volume flow down the river has been stable since about 2000 and is projected to remain stable,” said Ehab Meselhe of The Water Institute of the Gulf, which is working for the coastal authority on the research.
“We’re encouraged but we still have a lot of questions that have to be answered.” — Ehab Meselhe, The Water Institute of the Gulf
Meselhe said those results included running numerous scenarios for subsidence, as well as various levels of sea level rise and rainfall projected by climate change models.
And the researchers said nature provided unexpected help with the 2011 river flood. The Bonnet Carre Spillway opening provided a real-world test for the accuracy of the models being used to predict the effects withdrawing large volumes of water from the river will have on shipping as well as sediment transport.
“We did model periods right before, during and right after the flood and a couple years after the flood, and that gave us a lot of confidence this model can give us reliable information on how diversion openings might impact the river,” Hasse said.
But they still have plenty of work to do, he said.
“We’re encouraged but we still have a lot of questions that have to be answered,” he said.
Even those answers might not be the final approval for sediment diversions. Kyle Graham, head of the coastal authority, has said the agency was still determining a cost-benefit analysis for the diversions.
The key question: Will the projected benefits in storm surge reduction and fisheries production gained by wetlands restoration outweigh the costs in construction and operation of the diversions, any possible added flood risk to surrounding communities, as well as any disruption to current fishing industries.
Some fishing groups oppose the diversions because they are concerned reduction in salinity levels caused by the river water could displace their target species.
Graham said the first decision of that kind likely will come this fall when research is final on the impacts of the planned Myrtle Grove diversion in Plaquemines Parish. | 6,166 | 2,729 | 0.000375 |
warc | 201704 | I’m in the conference room of the Galapagos Science Center overlooking the harbor of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos. There is a lot of commotion around a new addition to the habors fishing fleet: a rundown small ship from Manta (on the central coast of Ecuador) that was apprehended yesterday by the Galapagos National Park and the Ecuadorian Navy.
According to the GNP and verified by an employee of the GSC, 357 sharks were found on the ship: 286 bigeye thresher, 22 blue sharks, 40 Galapagos sharks, 6 hammerhead sharks, 2 tiger sharks, and 1 mako shark (primarily pelagic species).
The boat was using longlining (illegal in the GNP) to catch sharks and swordfish near the small island of Genovesa. The 30 fisherman apprehended are in jail awaiting a hearing.
Surprisingly, whole (but gutted) bodies of the sharks were on board, ie, they were not finned at sea. And Ironically, this happened on the same day as the New York Times ran a great op-ed about the critical importance of top predators.
According to the GNP, this is the largest shark seizure in the park’s history. As sad as it is, I am really encouraged that the park now has the capacity to detect and apprehend illegal fishers in the marine reserve. Kudos to them. | 1,287 | 728 | 0.001391 |
warc | 201704 | Title Loans In Sacramento
Is A Title Loans In Sacramento The Proper Solution In Your Case? See This To Find Out!
Very few people know everything they ought to about Title Loans In Sacramento. While Title Loans In Sacramento really have high interest rates, they can be useful in emergency situations. Read this article for suggestions about using Title Loans In Sacramento wisely as needed.
Payday lenders know their way around usury laws. They’ll charge fees that add up to the loan’s interest. That can induce mortgage rates to total over ten times a normal loan rate.
To avoid excessive fees, research prices before you take out a Title Loans In Sacramento. There may be several businesses in your area that provide Title Loans In Sacramento, and a few of those companies may offer better mortgage rates as opposed to others. By checking around, you might be able to spend less after it is time to repay the loan.
Research options and rates to acheive an excellent rate of interest. One can find Title Loans In Sacramento companies you can visit, but you can also get some online. They all are inside it for the investment and would like your online business so some may offer better deals as opposed to others. Some lending services will offer a considerable discount to applicants who definitely are borrowing for the first time. The greater amount of options you examine prior to deciding at a lender, the better off you’ll be.
Consider shopping online to get a Title Loans In Sacramento, in the event you must take one out. There are plenty of websites which provide them. Should you need one, you may be already tight on money, so just why waste gas driving around attempting to find one is open? You actually have a choice of carrying it out all from a desk.
Fees that are related to Title Loans In Sacramento include many forms of fees. You need to study the interest amount, penalty fees just in case you will find application and processing fees. These fees vary between different lenders, so make sure you consider different lenders prior to signing any agreements.
Before taking out a Title Loans In Sacramento, be sure to understand the repayment terms. These loans carry high interest rates and stiff penalties, along with the rates and penalties only increase when you are late making a payment. Do not remove a loan before fully reviewing and learning the terms to avoid these issues.
Don’t consult Title Loans In Sacramento firms that don’t produce the mortgage rates straightforward. Without this information, you most likely are vulnerable to being scammed.
Direct loans tend to be safer than indirect loans when borrowing. By using an indirect route, you will need to pay more in fees since the lender is paying himself something, too.
You can get a Title Loans In Sacramento office on every corner these days. Title Loans In Sacramento help you borrow money without the hassle of a credit check. Additionally they needs to be repaid inside of a short period of time. Considering that the duration of these kinds of loan is really so low, the interest the fact that loan company charges is quite high. In certain cases where the need for funds is dire, though, Title Loans In Sacramento may be the ideal solution.
A better alternative to a Title Loans In Sacramento would be to start your own personal emergency savings account. Placed in a bit money from each paycheck till you have an excellent amount, for example $500.00 or possibly even longer. As opposed to building up the top-interest fees a Title Loans In Sacramento can incur, you can have your own Title Loans In Sacramento right to your bank. If you want to make use of the money, begin saving again at once in the event you need emergency funds in the future.
Do not use the services of a Title Loans In Sacramento company until you have exhausted each of your other choices. Any time you do remove the loan, be sure to will probably have money available to pay back the loan after it is due, otherwise you might end up paying extremely high interest and fees.
Ensure that you keep a close eye with your credit report. Endeavor to check it at the least yearly. There might be irregularities that, can severely damage your credit. Having bad credit will negatively impact your mortgage rates on your Title Loans In Sacramento. The greater your credit, the bottom your rate of interest.
Make sure you stay updated with any rule changes with regards to your Title Loans In Sacramento lender. Legislation is invariably being passed that changes how lenders can operate so be sure to understand any rule changes and ways in which they affect you and the loan prior to signing a legal contract.
For anyone who is considering a Title Loans In Sacramento, have good credit and might spare a couple of days, consider looking instead to your social lending option. This can be a process which pairs borrowers and lenders together based from their requirements. The rates are usually much less expensive than the usual Title Loans In Sacramento, but it does take a couple of days to finalize the approach.
Title Loans In Sacramento are usually not federally regulated. Therefore, the principles, fees and mortgage rates vary between states. New York, Arizona and also other states have outlawed Title Loans In Sacramento so that you need to ensure one of these simple loans is even a possibility on your behalf. You should also calculate the quantity you have got to repay before accepting a Title Loans In Sacramento.
Title Loans In Sacramento are typically due within 14 days of taking out the loan. You may be given a decision to either visit the office to grab the check you wrote and spend the money for loan off or permit the Title Loans In Sacramento office to submit the check you wrote for your bank for payment.
When taking out a Title Loans In Sacramento, it is vital that you shop around. You do not want to blindly believe an advertisement, simply because you are usually not acquiring the entire story. Speak with people who have taken out this style of loan, or read a number of the company reviews over the internet.
You might need to think about Title Loans In Sacramento if the emergency has come up therefore you can’t get money anywhere else. As long as you will not come up with a habit of it, Title Loans In Sacramento might be a viable choice for you. | 6,400 | 2,703 | 0.000373 |
warc | 201704 | Good morning, everyone!
While I was away, I didn't post my weekly columns, so I thought I'd get caught up by running them now. Here's the first one, slightly out of date now, about the death of John Hughes. It ran two weeks ago in our newspapers. When I was 16 I played the Molly Ringwald role in my high school’s version of The Breakfast Club. And I cheered along with all my friends when Ferris Bueller led Chicago in a raucous rendition of Twist ‘n Shout. John Hughes’ movies were a big part of my teen years. John Hughes died earlier this month, by all accounts a bitter man. His movies seem born of that bitterness, although ironically he seemed bitter mostly towards his own generation. In every movie he wrote, the Baby Boomers were the bad guys. They jetted off to Europe leaving a child home alone. They forgot birthdays, cared about money more than kids, and worked so hard they had no clue what their children were actually up to. They had failed at their primary responsibilities. Hughes was right; the Baby Boomers blew it. Not every individual Baby Boomer, of course! I’m rather fond of my in-laws, and I just returned from a five-day trip with my mother. But the generation as a whole messed up; and my generation, and our children, are still paying for it. The Baby Boomers’ parents had lived through such hardship in the Great Depression and World War II that they wanted to spare their children pain. And when the economy boomed, they showered their kids with excess. Their kids started thinking they were the centre of the universe. The Baby Boomers thus bought the lie that has stalked our society since, poisoning everything from marriage to the workplace: “You deserve to be happy”. And then there’s the corollary: If you aren’t happy, ditch it. Do we deserve to be happy? I’m not so sure. I think when you spend your life trying to be happy, you’ll always find things that make you miserable. When you spend your life trying to make it meaningful, and trying to live out real values, you’ll find real joy and peace. There’s a big difference. Baby Boomers, though, put their own happiness above their responsibilities. They divorced in huge numbers. They left their children, or simply ignored them by working so much. As a generation, they changed the moral fabric of our culture, erasing ideas of loyalty, honour, and commitment in favour of self-interest. John Hughes portrayed it well, but there was a problem. He may have criticized, but he never offered a real solution. Like many of his other movies, The Breakfast Club ends with the teens sticking together, but never shows how they will break the cycle their disinterested parents started. And in the end, that makes Hughes’ movies rather dark. What’s to stop these kids from turning into their parents? In the years since, isn’t that what we have done? We’re focused on careers, or having fun, and maybe we see our children on the weekends. Others of us are lone rangers, even if we’d rather not be. We can’t find anyone interested in real commitment. We have fewer children, fewer long-term relationships, and fewer bank accounts that are in the black. Some of us are obviously doing well, but when you look at the demographic big picture, our generation is lost. Perhaps we need a different prophet. We don’t need to know what the problem is; we can already see it. But how do we get back to those values our grandparents and great-grandparents had? My generation needs to do more than just criticize our parents. We need to make real changes, and that’s going to take putting family first again, rediscovering faith, rejecting rampant greed, and living up to our commitments. It’s a big task, but if we embrace it on wholeheartedly, perhaps the next generation won’t need its own John Hughes to chronicle all the things we did wrong. Here's what I took out of it. Originally I had written in the second last paragraph that one of the signs that our generation was blowing it was that our birth rate was so low. While family size is actually increasing (when families do have kids, they have more), fewer people are having children in the first place, lowering our birth rate. In other words, what is driving down the birth rate is not that people are having fewer children; it is that many women are having none at all. We have abandoned the idea that fulfillment can be found in family, or that there is anything intrinsically good about being a parent. I took it out because I know people who have chosen not to have children, and I felt that would be hurtful. But on a small scale, in this blog, I just want to throw it out there. Having children changes you for the better. Little things don't bother you nearly as much. You become less selfish. Life is richer. I wish people could see this. It reminds me of a TV interview I did a few years ago on "Are Kids Worth It?". What do you think?
Labels: fertility, parenting, social issues | 5,043 | 2,418 | 0.000424 |
warc | 201704 | AT&T Inc. announced plans to add 105 alternative-fuel vehicles to the corporate fleet of its operating companies. The vehicles, which will roll out in more than 30 cities across the United States beginning in June 2008, will help the company reduce its impact on the environment and its dependence on imported oil.
After carefully evaluating several alternative-fuel technologies, AT&T will deploy three types of alternative-fuel vehicles. The vehicles will be embedded into AT&T's workforce as operational components of its fleet. AT&T will measure and track fuel efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, operating costs, performance, and driver satisfaction of each vehicle.
The alternative-fuel vehicles consist of 25 compressed natural gas (CNG) vans, 65 electric hybrid original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vehicles — Ford Escapes and Toyota Priuses — and 15 electric hybrid conversion work trucks. The vehicles, which will be deployed in cities in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Texas, join four Ford Escape hybrids that were deployed in California in late 2007.
AT&T estimates its use of these alternative-fueled and more fuel-efficient vehicles will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 124 metric tons and conserve nearly 34,395 gallons of fuel annually.
The CNG vans are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 30 percent compared with traditional gasoline vans. The electric hybrid OEM vehicles are expected to offer a 39 percent improvement in fuel economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 29 percent. The electric hybrid conversion work trucks are expected to offer a 38 percent improvement in fuel economy compared with similar gasoline-powered vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent. | 1,798 | 839 | 0.001203 |
warc | 201704 | “My clothes are softer and the sheets are white again with half as much detergent. I also appreciate the reduced spotting in my dishwasher.”
Hildred Huysoon, Placitas Let Magnets Remove your Hard Water Scale MAGTEC - Magnetic Hard Water Treatment - Albuquerque, New Mexico What We Do
Since 2000, MagTec has been offering a safe, healthy alternative for the treatment of hard water.
Utilizing physical water treatment systems, powerful magnets modify minerals and water molecules and how they interact with each other. This cost-effective green method delivers impressive results for many homeowners in the Albuquerque, NM area and across the US.
“The first week, the deposits on the shower head started to come off and within a month were completely gone.”
Lloyd and Debbie Trujillo, Albuquerque
"Sudsing and taste are much better. Measured chlorine level before and after and the level went way down. Water used to be yellow but now it’s not. Happy with the “Dad-gum-things."
J. C. Las Vegas, NV
“My skin felt silky immediately. I by-passed my salt water conditioner and am glad to get rid of the sodium.”
V. E. Augusta, KS
"Clothes are great. Still a little residue on glasses but getting better. Watering plants and orchids are thriving."
Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Southington, OH
“We like the fact that there is no waste like that associated with traditional water softening systems.”
Theresa and Ron Martinez, Placitas Eco-friendly hard water treatment
MagTec proudly uses GMX for their permanent magnet water treatment equipment. The company is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico where hard water, water conservation and protecting the environment are all a way of life. | 1,739 | 973 | 0.001071 |
warc | 201704 | ISLAMABAD: Fulfilling a longstanding demand of protesting doctors, President Asif Ali Zardari promulgated a new ordinance on Wednesday, paving the way for legal sanction to renew career structures and incentives for medical professionals while retaining their status as public servants.
The ordinance, titled “Career Structure for Health Personnel” (CSHP) 2011 for doctors and paramedical staff, will address the issues of service structure, regularisation of contracts and salaries. The ordinance will come into force retrospectively from July 2011.
Presidential Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told reporters that the ordinance was applicable to doctors under the federal government’s domain. However, he added that provinces could also adopt it as a model since health has now been devolved to provinces after the 18th Amendment.
“The new career structure has been prepared in consultation with all stakeholders and on the basis of unanimous consensus of the medical community and that is what makes it unique,” Babar said.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Sajid Abbasi, president Young Doctors Association at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, while welcoming the issuance of ordinance said they are going to convene a central executive committee meeting to decide whether to call off the ongoing strike and protest or not.
The ordinance is applicable to all health personnel serving in federal health institutions and related organisations under the jurisdiction of the federal government. It will come into force immediately and will be deemed to have taken into effect from July 1, 2011.
The new legislation envisages replacing the current Basic Pay Scale System (BPS-1 to 22) with the Special Health Personnel Pay Scale (HPS-1 to 13) and will be applicable to all categories of medical practitioners including paramedics and support services personnel.
Babar said that entry into this scheme will be optional for existing employees but all fresh appointments will be made under the new scheme.
According to the new ordinance, monetary benefits under the new scheme, including pay, pension, perks and privileges, will exceed those in the current one.
Another notable feature of the new career structure are the health allowances, which currently begin from Rs2,000 a month and will go as high as Rs45,000 a month. The health allowance will be as follows: HPS-1 to 2 (Rs2,000), HPS-3 to 5 (Rs3,000), HPS-6 (Rs4,000), HPS-7 (Rs5,000), HPS-8 (Rs7,000), HPS-9 (Rs10,000), HPS-10 (Rs20,000), HPS-11 (Rs30,000), HPS-12 (Rs40,000) and HPS-13 (Rs45,000).
The new enactment links career growth of health professionals with improvements in professional skills, continuing education, professional experience, research papers and performance laid down by the relevant regulatory bodies from time to time. All matters essentially relating to their service will be governed by the rules prescribed under the CSHP.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25 th, 2011. | 3,004 | 1,470 | 0.000689 |
warc | 201704 | BPA Lies
A new study on pet food found that dogs consuming a canned food lined with BPA – for just two weeks – absorbed the hormone altering drug into their system at alarming levels. One of the two foods tested, lied to the researchers and to TruthaboutPetFood.com.
A recently published pet food BPA study from multiple researchers at the University of Missouri found BPA – a commonly used chemical in the plastic lining of canned foods (human and pet) – in the blood and fecal samples of dogs after consuming one of two canned pet foods for only two weeks.
“Two-week feeding of either canned dog food brand increased BPA levels in dogs.”
BPA is an
“endocrine disruptor chemical”. From the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an ‘endocrine disruptor chemical’ is: “Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that may interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects.”
The University of Missouri study collected blood and fecal samples of each dog prior to the study and after the two week period. Their results…
Pre-samples = 0.7 ng/mL
Post-samples = 2.2 ng/mL
In just two weeks, the dogs levels of
“circulating BPA” increased three times that of levels prior to the study.
Dogs in the study were pets, in homes. Each family that participated agreed to using no plastic serving utensils and bowls (that could contain BPA) and agreed to limit or eliminate treats that were packaged in plastic. All of the dogs previous to the study consumed a kibble diet.
What two dog foods were used in this study? As common with scientific studies, we don’t know. But…we have clues with this one. The University of Missouri study stated pet food number one was chosen because the manufacturer openly admitted to researchers that BPA is included in the can lining (assuming it was an anonymous inquiry). Pet food number two was chosen because the manufacturer told researchers and TruthaboutPetFood.com their can
did not include BPA in the lining. The study included a link to a 2010 post on this website ‘Which Pet Foods have BPA free cans?’
From that 2010 TAPF post we have the following list of pet food manufacturers that claimed their pet food cans are BPA free…
Chicken Soup
Merrick Weruva Blue Buffalo Canidae/Felidae Petropics Nutro Purina Iams/Eukanuba Fromm
So…we don’t know who pet food number one was (the pet food that admitted to BPA in the can lining), but we can assume that researchers chose pet food number two from the list above.
What did the study find?
The study found all dogs contained high levels of BPA after just two weeks of consuming either food.
Analysis of the can linings showed both pet foods contained BPA and levels were “not significantly different”. In other words, the pet food that admitted to having BPA in the can lining tested to contain about the same level of BPA as the pet food that claimed their cans
did not contain BPA.
Analysis of the actual pet food (within the can) of both dog foods also showed no significant difference; pet food number one and pet food number two contained about the same level of BPA in the actual food.
And because analysis found similar levels in the BPA concentrations in the can lining and foods of pet food one and pet food two, the researchers also found all dogs involved contained
“ similar internal concentrations of BPA … on Diets A and B”.
So we are left with…a pet food company that directly lied to researchers at University of Missouri, directly lied to TAPF, and more than likely has lied to thousands of consumers about a very serious issue – BPA.
What can consumers do?
There is no easy answer to this question. When pet food manufacturers learn what consumers do not want in their pet food (in this case BPA in the can lining), some of these companies will lie. There is little we can do about it, unless there is sound evidence of a lie (sound evidence would be test results).
If someone out there wins the lottery, they could start a pet food testing fund (and a legal defense fund because certainly those that are caught lying will fight back). But until this happens, we are left with having to trust our pet food manufacturer is telling us the truth.
Pet food manufacturers should be held accountable for their claims of BPA free, and regulatory authorities should enforce those claims just as they do other claims…such as human grade or Salmonella free raw pet food. Consumers certainly deserve some back-up from regulatory on the BPA issue…and yes, I will be asking them for that at the upcoming AAFCO meeting.
To read the abstract of the University of Missouri study, click here. To purchase the full report, same link.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
What’s in Your Pet’s Food? Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 4,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
The 2017 List Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here The List of pet foods I would not give my own pets. The Other List Click Here Have you read Buyer Beware? Click Here Cooking pet food made easy, Dinner PAWsible Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here | 5,493 | 2,435 | 0.000428 |
warc | 201704 | Four Children Die Linked to a Commonly Used Pet Food Fumigant
In a lawsuit brought against Mars Petcare we learned about a commonly used fumigant used on food/pet food ingredients – aluminum phosphide. This same fumigant was recently responsible for the deaths of four children. How dangerous is aluminum phosphide to our pets?
In Amarillo Texas on New Years Day 2017, someone used a chemical fumigant (aluminum phosphide) under a house. Four children in that house died the next day.
“When Aluminum Phosphide is mixed with water or any moisture, it produces a toxic Phosphine gas, which is what took the lives of these occupants. One resident of the east Amarillo home was trying to kill mice and placed the pesticide underneath their home, then applied water. They were already getting an odor and they were trying to suppress the vapors.”
Aluminum phosphide is directly linked to pet food (and human food). Thanks to bits and pieces learned from a lawsuit filed against Mars Petcare, we know that aluminum phosphide is commonly used to fumigate pet food ingredients. The 2012 lawsuit claimed phoshine gases
“were allowed to accumulate and disburse into the Mars plant at unsafe levels.”
An anonymous employee of the pet food plant stated “
We know there was stuff coming in that was fumigated and was not listed as being fumigated that went straight into making pet food.” In other words, this anonymous employee claimed that a deadly fumigate was added directly into the pet food.
A statement made by Mars Petcare to KOAM TV seems to confirm that it is common practice for aluminum phosphide to be added into pet food. Julie Lawless (interesting last name) of Mars Petcare provided KOAM TV with a statement, declaring
“Our products are tested by various state and federal agencies for phosphine.”
Why would Mars Petcare products (food and treats) be tested by state and federal agencies for phosphine?
I can only think of one reason…my guess is that it is common practice for Mars Petcare and other pet food manufacturers to fumigate pet food ingredients with aluminum phosphide. State and federal agencies know that some of these fumigates end up in the pet food and they test for toxic levels.
This is beyond concerning.
How many times have you or someone you know opened up a new bag of pet food reporting it had an odd smell? Is that odd smell a fumigate that was added directly into the pet food – sealed up in the bag? Do we need to wear a hazmat suit each time we open a new bag of pet food to protect us from a toxic gas? Is your pet going to be exposed to a toxic gas while consuming the food?
What we don’t know about the manufacturing of pet food is concerning. What we don’t know about the fumigation of ingredients and the effects of those fumigants on our pets (and the employees making the pet food) is quite concerning. Until it is public information – what fumigants are used, if it is common practice for some of the fumigants to go into the pet food, the results from the pet foods those state and federal agencies tested – how can veterinarians even treat a pet that become ill?
Come clean Big Pet Food…tell us everything. We deserve to know.
I will be asking state authorities and FDA about this issue at the upcoming AAFCO meeting. If I learn more, it will be provided to all. Until we learn more, I would encourage consumers that open a bag or can of pet food that has an off smell to seal the bag/can and remove it from your home. Report the off odor to FDA (you can do that by
clicking here) and to your State Department of Agriculture (you can find your state authority by clicking here). Ask them to test the pet food for phosphine and ask for a copy of the results.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
What’s in Your Pet’s Food? Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 4,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
The 2017 List Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here The List of pet foods I would not give my own pets. The Other List Click Here Have you read Buyer Beware? Click Here Cooking pet food made easy, Dinner PAWsible Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here | 4,409 | 1,962 | 0.000525 |
warc | 201704 | I've been at this game for nearly a quarter century, and have, perhaps, paid a due or three, but I am scarcely less annoyed than Jane when the impatience of my younger colleagues is dismissed with the notion that you need to be wait your turn and "pay your dues".
Experience rarely yields wisdom. It certainly doesn't necessarily make one more capable at anything. And we're at a point in our profession where the change we are undergoing is so dramatic that experience can actually be, in some ways, a drawback. Nonetheless, experience can, sometimes, provide a bit of perspective. With that in mind, here are some observations and, perhaps, a bit of advice:
1) This has nothing to do with a particular culture of librarianship. There is nothing peculiar to
librarians that makes our organizations especially change resistant or unwelcoming to the ideas of people who are new to the field. This is about human nature and the dynamics of organizations. I defy you to show me any mature industry or field of endeavor in which more than a small percentage of the organizations within that sector truly foster a culture of innovation, mentoring and risk-taking from top to bottom and from side to side. Drucker started writing about this stuff in the thirties. The reason that this is important is that it means that if your goal is to change the "culture of librarianship" you are choosing the wrong battle and you are doomed to lose.
2) The notion that "millennials" are somehow intrinsically more risk-taking, eager for change, and impatient with the slow movement of the organization, while "boomers" are congenitally risk-averse, overly cautious, and unwilling to allow their younger colleagues to advance too quickly is bullshit. It pains me to have to point out that it was the boomer generation that marched and chanted and actually believed that we could overthrow the capitalistic system altogether -- preferably within the next three weeks, back in 1968. (We thought, of course, that we invented rebellion, being entirely clueless about what our grandparents had done in the twenties). The more difficult truth is that a significant portion of young people in
all generations are eager for greater social change and impatient with their elders-- but then they turn into the elders! Most of the radical rebels from the sixties & early seventies turned into the cautious, maintain status-quo managers of the 90's and 00's -- and it will happen to the millennials as well. Your challenge, if you really want to be a change agent in the long haul, is to manage to maintain that idealism, energy and impatience throughout a long career. Most people don't.
With that as context, here's my advice:
1) The corollary to number 1 above is that change happens one library at a time. If you're on the leading edge of comfort with change, you need to put yourself into an organization whose interests are aligned with yours. If the predominant viewpoint in your library is "you've got to wait ten years until you've paid your dues," you are not likely to change that. (If there are just a few people who feel that way, don't worry about it -- just ignore 'em). Start looking for an organization where you're going to have more freedom and get more support, and set your sights there for your next career move. Those organizations are out there. There are many great and wonderfully innovative and exciting libraries of all types. When you're early in your career, don't fuss yourself with trying to turn your library into one of those. Your focus should be on getting your precious self into one of those libraries where you've got good mentors and the leadership that will help you grow and experiment and have fun.
2) In the meantime, be specific about the changes that you think you can effect in the organization that you're a part of. Identify the people in the organization who have the power to change things, and figure out why the change that you think is necessary is going to help them solve one of
their problems. That's the only way to sell it. Let them take credit for the idea, if that's what it takes. And look outside of the organization for satisfaction as well -- you may find that you can have a greater impact there. Five Weeks To A Social Library was a stunning achievement, and its ripple effects will be felt for a very long time.
3) As your career progresses, don't allow yourself to become complacent. It'll sneak up on you. One day you find yourself a department head with several eager young librarians reporting to you, with lots of exciting ideas -- but now, if one of their ideas blows up, it's your neck on the line. Can you discipline yourself enough to be willing to give them the same kind of freedom and opportunities you're craving now? Or will it look very different from that perspective?
4) Be patient. I know, I know, that sounds like "paying your dues," but I don't mean it that way. Change never happens unless there are people who are continually pushing, but sometimes change takes a long time. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. If you're
really in it for the long haul, you have to be willing to stick to it. One of the things that I really wanted us to be able to do when I got here was get more formally aligned with the medical school curriculum -- at that time we did a variety of orientations and occasional in-class presentations, but it was all ad hoc, dependent on the particular interests of a particular instructor at the time. I worked on building relationships within the medical school, on understanding what they perceived as the major problems and issues. The goal was building trust and a greater awareness and appreciation for our expertise and range. It took ten years before the door I was looking for appeared -- and then it was easy to open it and walk in because we were prepared and ready for it. Now we're not just formally involved in the curriculum, we have librarians leading a significant part of a complete revamping of the curriculum. The important thing in this context is that I didn't know if we would ever get there. Sometimes you just have to keep planting those seeds without knowing if the thing you're looking for will ever sprout.
Back to point 1 above -- libraries have been changing steadily for centuries, it's just hard to see that when you're relatively new. Even the most authoritarian, hidebound, do-it-like-we've-always-done-it library is far more progressive and open than its counterpart of twenty-five and fifty years ago. But the majority of libraries (the majority of organizations) will always be in the middle of the pack, waiting to see what the leading edge organizations are doing before they're willing to take those same steps. Fortunately, there are always organizations and librarians that are doing amazing and wonderful things. And in our world of blogs and instant networked communication, it is much easier to figure out which libraries those are. Students have much greater opportunities for getting the lay of the land than their predecessors of even a decade before. Rather than being frustrated about being unable to change an organization that is in the middle of the pack, set your sights on going to work for one of those innovative, exciting places. That's where you'll get the support, experience and energy that you need.
A final note -- when I'm at a conference, hanging out in the bar with the library directors that I tend to associate with, we're likely to be sharing strategies about how we can get our organizations to move faster, to be more innovative, to be more hospitable to new ideas. And we'll be fussing about how we can get the best & brightest to come work for us. We will never be in the majority, and that's okay. If we were, I think I'd start to worry that I was losing my edge. | 7,843 | 3,573 | 0.000281 |
warc | 201704 | World Wetlands Day – February 2
2nd February each year is World Wetlands Day. This day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. These activities include seminars, nature walks, festivals, launches of new policies, announcement of new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, radio interviews and wetland rehabilitation.
They purify and replenish our water, and provide the fish and rice that feed billions. Wetlands act as a natural sponge against flooding and drought, and protect our coastlines. They burst with biodiversity, and are a vital means of storing carbon
Unfortunately, these benefits are not widely known. Often viewed as wasteland, 64% of our wetlands have disappeared since 1900. About World Wetlands Day
Wetlands are found near the sea or inland and can be seasonal – they are water logged only during parts of the year, or perennial. They play a crucial role in the ecosystem by:
Preventing flooding by absorbing water. Ensuring that the soil provides a unique breeding ground for vegetation that feed fish. Giving shelter to animals. Purifying water by removing sediment.
The international theme for World Wetlands Day 2015 is Wetlands for Our Future.
Wetlands offer substantial economic, social and environmental values which, if managed sustainably, will provide benefits to future generations. Raising awareness and understanding of wetland values and services is essential for ensuring their wise use and conservation.
Young people of today will be the future leaders and decision makers of tomorrow, so it’s important they take an interest in environmental issues. For World Wetlands Day 2015, teens and young people, in particular, are being asked to spread the word about wetlands and their vital importance for future life on earth. | 2,183 | 1,095 | 0.000924 |
warc | 201704 | The New English Garden - in pictures
The New English Garden is a new book surveying the most significant gardens in England today. Below is a selection of some of the 25 gardens picked by garden writer and historian Tim Richardson. Photographs by Andrew Lawson
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2013/sep/27/english-gardens#/?picture=418366569&index=9
The hot borders at Packwood House, Warwickshire, designed by Mick Evans.Photograph: Andrew Lawson
The grass garden at Bury Court in Hampshire, designed by Christopher Bradley-Hole.Photograph: Andrew Lawson
James Alexander-Sinclair's terrace borders at Cottesbrooke Hall in Northamptonshire. Photograph: Andrew Lawson
The walled garden at Scampston Hall, Yorkshire, designed by Piet Oudolf.Photograph: Andrew Lawson
The lower parterre at Trentham near Stoke-on-Trent in autumn, with Piet Oudolf's flanking plantings in the foreground and Tom Stuart-Smith's beyond. Photograph: Andrew Lawson
Redesigning gardens: when old favourites become new again
Timeless English gardens are always changing, says author Tim Richardson.
By Tim Richardson7:00AM BST 20 Sep 2013/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenstovisit/10319694/Redesigning-gardens-when-old-favourites-become-new-again.html
Entitling a book The New English Garden (my latest) was always going to be somewhat controversial. But I stand by the premise that all 25 gardens in it have been "made or remade" over the past 10 to 15 years. Gardens naturally regenerate themselves, of course, and gardening is a notoriously and gloriously unstable practice.
Which is not to say everything has to be swept away in order for "newness" to reign. An established structure, especially hedges and old brick walls, is gold dust to any garden maker. Great Dixter is perhaps the best example; Christopher Lloyd always insisted on recognition of the topiary and hedge system his father installed with help from Edwin Lutyens, and which provided the frame for his own horticultural exploits.
Some of the most fascinating elements of the gardens I selected are features retained from a previous era, remodelled to suit the tone of the new garden.
The 'Italian' sunken garden
This classic Arts and Crafts feature from the early 20th century can be found at scores of English gardens, often in a slightly dilapidated state. In its heyday the sunken garden was a glamorous spot for whiling away the pre-dinner hour with a cocktail. Today's gardeners have been exploring the horticultural possibilities of the space. At Packwood in Warwickshire, the sunken garden has been given a new identity with dramatic Mediterranean and South African exotic-themed plantings – kniphofias, euphorbias, eryngiums and succulent echeverias and sedums. Poppies and white verbascums dotted about complement the unbuttoned feel of what was originally conceived as a romantic but "formal" feature.
Dan Pearson has taken a similarly irreverent approach at Armscote Manor in Oxfordshire, where an enclosed Twenties sunken pool garden is now pleasingly overrun by Rosa rugosa, reinforced by the more delicate varieties 'Roseraie de l'Hay' and 'Blanc de Blanc'. Purple and white verbascums surge between them and balls of clipped evergreens in informal groups add a different note, reinstating a sense of structure while also undermining the original fearful symmetry.
The herbaceous border
The prime showcase of the gardener's art throughout the 20th century has gone through a sea-change over the past 15 years, as naturalistic planting styles have become more popular.
At a garden such as Cottesbrooke in Northamptonshire, the main double border exhibits none of the "pictorial" qualities of the classic Arts and Crafts border, with a beginning, middle and end, and perhaps even a clear development in terms of colour. Instead, James Alexander-Sinclair offers a more immersive experience, with multiple repeat plantings of tall perennials including sanguisorba and white corncockles threading through. Tom Stuart-Smith aims for something similar in his gardens, such as Mount St John in Yorkshire, or the revamped Trentham in Staffordshire, where favoured plants include thalictrum, phlomis, eremurus, eupatorium and veronicastrum (you know you are in a modern garden if you spy lots of these). He likes to think of his gardens as a continuum, surging and receding like music.
The rock garden
The rock garden has fallen from favour in recent years. The idea of a mountainside in suburbia evidently proved too kitschy even for English sensibilities. But there is life in alpine or rock gardening because the plants are so beautiful.
Keith Wiley was the moving spirit behind the acclaimed Garden House at Buckland Monachorum in Devon for many years, and in 2004 began his own garden, Wildside, just down the lane. His energy and ambition are extraordinary, the new garden consisting of several acres which he first reformed by extensive use of a mini-digger, very much in the mountain-moving spirit of Edwardian rock gardening.
The resultant ridges, berms and pool areas create a good habitat for many of his favourite plants, which he has arrayed naturalistically in swathes and large unruly groupings. Troops of kniphofias, crocosmia and agapanthus provide a flavour of the Cape while erythroniums, asters and eragrostis grasses drift on through unhindered. Rock on, Keith!
Kitchen Garden
Growing "edibles" (as young gardeners now like to dub vegetables) is all the rage of course, but at larger properties it is now all but impossible for owners to keep a garden in High Victorian style. There are a handful of astonishing exceptions, notably West Dean in Sussex, but many owners choose to update the look of the traditional walled garden. One fine example is Daylesford Manor in Gloucestershire, where Rupert Golby's floral interventions, jaunty topiaries and clever fruit supports in woven hazel and willow create an atmosphere of fun-loving fecundity. This is a large scale kitchen garden which nevertheless feels like a garden in its own right, not a service area.
Piet Oudolf pushes the idea even farther at Scampston Hall in Yorkshire, where he has turned the old walled garden into a compartmented extravaganza, with his trademark perennials-and-grasses plantings at the heart of it all. Flower colour is by no means anathema in old kitchen gardens, of course, since up to a quarter of the space would traditionally have been used for growing flowers for the house.
'The New English Garden' by Tim Richardson (Frances Lincoln, £40), is available from Telegraph Books (0844 871 1514) at £36 + £1.35 p&p. | 6,652 | 3,299 | 0.000306 |
warc | 201704 | By Chloe King
The Alexander Technique is best known for its ability to provide a method for purging unwanted and harmful tension within the body. Although there are many definitions for “Alexander Techniques”; basically it’s the aforementioned definition. It is a clever way or method of dealing with body problems and similar endeavors. With this, every day, movement is modified slowly to increase ease, balance, and freedom of movement, support and of course coordination. It said that when one has fully actualized this method; it actually increases energy for daily activities. The method is similar to yoga since it trains the mind and body; it is not a medical treatment of some sort.
The pitfalls of wearing high-heeled shoes can be summarized in one word, “injuries.” The Alexander Technique develops the mind to fight of the pitfalls of wearing high-heeled shoes with simple steps. Such are not drastic and it is even the simplest way ward off unwanted tension. The Alexander Technique is general and can almost be applied to any human endeavor from the simplest to the most complicated.
A high-heeled shoe places most of the weight in the toe of the wearer in which the natural balance is distorted. Having an upright balance, it is not upheld. Hence, women tend to put extra effort in the forefoot in order for them to sustain the position and not fall forward. This entails the lower back is working twice than the usual to sustain the balance when wearing high-heeled shoes. An exaggerated arch can lead to severe back pains and the like. Sometime the body pain goes beyond the back since everything is connected to each other.
The stress and tension that the body is given to is diffused to the different parts of the body since everything it interconnected. From the stress and pressure in the forefoot, it travels to the ankles, the calves, the back, and the neck. The back creates warrants much effort to make the body in a stable position and not fall forward; it creates an unusual arch position to create stability when wearing heels. Respiration is affected with this kind of posture since breathing is harder, at the same time the neck is placed under pressure to create the much-needed balance.
The muscles of the body create unwanted tugs and pulls in order to maintain the upright position when wearing heels. The natural posture is negated with an artificial one to make the body work as if it is in its natural position.
Although there are perils when wearing high-heeled shoes, woman should not be afraid of it as long as proper measures are taken. Heels should not be worn on a daily basis since it really puts the body in severe stress. From time to time, flats and heels should be worn alternately in order to help the body adjust.
The Alexander Technique necessitates individuals to switch from flats to high-heeled shoes, which trains the mind to use the latter sparingly. Also, the body needs to adjust when wearing high-heeled shoes; gradually reducing the heel length and the time wearing it will do the trick. With this, the body is learning how to respond with the stress that is being made by high-heeled shoes at a reasonable pace.
Article kindly provided by UberArticles.com
Topics:
Health and Fitness |
Comments Off Article Citation
MLA Style Citation:
King, Chloe "Techniques For Wearing High Heels."
Techniques For Wearing High Heels. 23 Jun. 2010. uberarticles.com. 14 Sep 2014 <http://uberarticles.com/health-and-fitness/techniques-for-wearing-high-heels/>.
APA Style Citation:
King, C (2010, June 23).
Techniques For Wearing High Heels.Retrieved September 14, 2014, from http://uberarticles.com/health-and-fitness/techniques-for-wearing-high-heels/
Chicago Style Citation:
King, Chloe "Techniques For Wearing High Heels"
uberarticles.com. http://uberarticles.com/health-and-fitness/techniques-for-wearing-high-heels/ Reprint Rights
Comments are closed.
Disclaimer
Uber Articles and its partner sites cannot be held responsible for either the content nor the originality of any articles. If you believe the article has been stolen from you without your permission, please contact us and we will remove it immediately. If you have a problem with the accuracy or otherwise of the content of an article, please contact the author, not us! Also, please remember that any opinions and ideas presented in any of the articles are those of the author and cannot be taken to represent the opinions of Uber Articles. All articles are provided for informational purposes only. None of them should be relied upon for medical, psychological, financial, legal, or other professional advice. If you need professional advice, see a professional. We cannot be held responsible for any use or misuse you make of the articles, nor can we be held responsible for any claims for earnings, cures, or other results that the article might make. | 4,921 | 2,095 | 0.000483 |
warc | 201704 | "It was incredibly exciting to see these animals for the first time. It was exciting and startling, actually, how well they were preserved," researcher Edward Stanley said, as quoted by Reuters.
He added that the reptile’s entire body, including its eyes and scales, is preserved in “superb detail.” Usually, reptiles’ bodies decay quickly.
"We can pretty much see how the animals looked when they were alive," Professor Juan Diego Daza, who led the research, said.
The lizard is thought to have been an infant reptile, living in a tropical forest in territory that is now Myanmar, Southeast Asia.
However, its journey ended when it became trapped in sticky resin.
Other animals trapped in the amber, are a gecko and an arctic lizard, although those are not as ancient as the 99-million-year-old reptile. XX What might this amazing discovery lead to?
It could help us learn more about the "lost ecosystem, the lost world" the creatures lived in. Researchers could also find out more about the animals’ modern relatives.
"It's kind of a missing link," the professor said, as cited by Reuters.
The research was published on Friday in Science Advances journal. | 1,200 | 692 | 0.001499 |
warc | 201704 | Smith, Alan and Robinson, Alan (1996)
Education for Mutual Understanding: The Initial Statutory Years. Department of Education for Northern Ireland. Centre for the Study of Conflict, University of Ulster. 107 pp. [Research report (external)]
HTML - Published Version
182kB
Abstract
The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 introduced Education for Mutual Understanding (EMU), and the related theme of Cultural Heritage, as part of the curriculum for all grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland. The statutory provisions relating to these educational themes came into operation in respect of all pupils in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 and in the first year of Key Stage 4 from 1 August 1992. The former Northern Ireland Curriculum Council produced guidance material to support the definition that, Education for Mutual Understanding is about self-respect, and respect for others, and the improvement of relationships between people of differing cultural traditions. (NICC, 1990) The objectives state that as an integral part of their education the themes should enable pupils. to learn to respect and value themselves and others; to appreciate the interdependence of people within society; to know about and understand what is shared as well as what is different about their cultural traditions; and to appreciate how conflict may be handled in non-violent ways. (NICC, 1990) There is no direct assessment of individual pupils concerning EMU and Cultural Heritage. In 1992 a Statutory Order conjoined the objectives of EMU and Cultural Heritage thereby emphasising the close relationship between them. The Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order, 1989 also places a statutory responsibility on school governors to report annually to parents on steps taken to promote EMU. Although the themes are a mandatory feature of the curriculum, cross community contact with pupils from other schools remains an optional strategy which teachers are encouraged to use. Schools can apply for financial support from the Cross Community Contact Scheme administered by the Community Relations Branch of the Department of Education for Northern Ireland. A number of voluntary and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also offer various forms of support to schools (FOCUS, 1995). EMU: Perceptions and Policy The period between the introduction of legislation and the inclusion of EMU in the curriculum provided an opportunity to consider the implications of EMU's transition from a voluntary activity to a statutory requirement. A research project based in the Centre for the Study of Conflict at the University of Ulster investigated how the introduction of EMU was perceived by individuals within various domains of the education system and was published as a report, EMU: Perceptions and Policy (Smith and Robinson, 1992). This initial research confirmed that the inclusion of EMU in the statutory curriculum had been largely unanticipated with less than a third of schools having a policy in place. It also became clear that teachers' perceptions of the theme and its purpose were diverse and varied and not restricted to community relations issues in Northern Ireland alone. Teachers also identified more universal aspects, such as gender relations, human rights and ethnic diversity in a European and international context as deriving naturally from the aims of EMU. In the short term, however, a survey Indicated that most schools would rely heavily on a strategy which concentrates on generating more contact between Catholic and Protestant pupils from different schools. This is reflected in the number of schools involved in Department of Education, Cross Community Contact Scheme which has grown steadily since its introduction in 1987. In 1987 only 13% of primary and 24% of second-level schools were involved. In 1991 this had risen to 23% of primary and 39% of secondary. By 1994 42% of primary and 59% of second level schools were involved in cross community contact through the Scheme (see Chapter 4). The first phase of the evaluation had therefore established some base lines in terms of perceptions of EMU within the system, levels of cross-community contact and views on strategies for implementation. Recommendations from the research highlighted the need: to clarify the conceptual framework for EMU; · to promote better co-ordination concerning EMU within and between the various domains of the education system: · to give more priority to teacher education and training in EMU; to clarify long term strategies for the evaluation of EMU.
Item Type: Research report (external) Keywords: education mutual understanding northern ireland Faculties and Schools: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Education
Faculty of Social Sciences
Research Institutes and Groups: Institute for Research in Social Sciences > Education
Institute for Research in Social Sciences
ID Code: 19239 Deposited By: Professor Alan Smith Deposited On: 08 Aug 2011 09:29 Last Modified: 08 Aug 2011 09:29
Repository Staff Only: item control page | 5,049 | 2,221 | 0.000452 |
warc | 201704 | Longleaf forests once covered 92 million acres from Texas to Maryland to Florida. These grand old-growth pines were the “alpha tree” of the largest forest ecosystem in North America and have come to define the southern forest. But a complex web of factors has reduced those forests so that longleaf is now found only on 3 million acres. Fortunately, longleaf forests are once again spreading across the South. Blending a compelling narrative by writers Bill Finch, Rhett Johnson, and John C. Hall with Beth Maynor Young’s breathtaking photography,
Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See: A New Vision of North America’s Richest Forest invites readers to experience the astounding beauty and significance of the majestic longleaf ecosystem.
In a new book trailer, the authors share their impressions of the book’s significance. Amazed by the final product, they explain what the Longleaf forest once meant to the South and what it could one day mean again. Filmed in the serenity of a longleaf forest, the book trailer not only introduces audiences to the authors, but also provides a glimpse at the book’s sublime photography.
Bill Finch is senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation and executive director of the Mobile Botanical Gardens. Beth Maynor Young is a conservation photographer and a conservation realtor. Rhett Johnson is cofounder and president of the Longleaf Alliance, Inc. John C. Hall is curator of the Black Belt Museum at the University of West Alabama. Young and Hall are coauthors ofHeadwaters: A Journey on Alabama Rivers . | 1,569 | 825 | 0.00124 |
warc | 201704 | NOTICE: The opinions posted here are subject to formal revision. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Virginia Court of Appeals. SHOUSTARI v. ZAMANI
COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Elder, Annunziata and Agee Argued at Alexandria, Virginia Record No. 0399-02-4 RAZIEH SHOUSTARI v. ALI A. ZAMANI OPINION BY JUDGE G. STEVEN AGEE DECEMBER 31, 2002
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY
Gaylord L. Finch, Jr., Judge
Patrick G. Merkle for appellant.
No brief for appellee.
Razieh Shoustari (“Shoustari”) appeals a decision of the Fairfax County Circuit Court denying her an award of spousal support. We find no error in the decision of the trial court and, therefore, affirm its decree for the reasons stated below.
I. BACKGROUND
Shoustari and Ali A. Zamani (“Zamani”) participated in a marriage ceremony in Tehran, Iran on May 18, 1996. At the time of the ceremony Zamani was married to another woman.
When Shoustari discovered Zamani’s other marriage, she requested the Fairfax County Circuit Court in her bill of complaint to enter a decree of annulment based “on grounds of void marriage.” Zamani admitted in his answer that he was married to another woman and that his marriage to Shoustari was void.
Pursuant to Code ??20-89.1, the trial court entered the requested decree providing the marriage entered into by the parties “is hereby declared a nullity and is determined to be void ab initio.” The trial court also denied Shoustari’s request for spousal support on the ground that spousal support may not be awarded in the case of a void marriage. Shoustari appeals the decision as to the denial of spousal support.
II. ANALYSIS
Zamani was married to another woman at the time he married Shoustari. The parties agreed with the court’s decree that the Zamani/Shoustari marriage was a bigamous marriage and therefore void under the plain language of Code ??20-43. “All marriages which are prohibited by law on account of either of the parties having a former wife or husband then living shall be absolutely void, without any decree of divorce, or other legal process.” Code ??20-43.
As no marriage existed between the parties, Shoustari acquired no legal rights thereby. As we plainly held in Kleinfield v. Veruki, 7 Va. App. 183, 372 S.E.2d 407 (1988), this means there is no right to a spousal support award.
[A] bigamous marriage is void and it confers no legal rights to the parties. It is “contrary to the laws of Virginia and public policy.” Only “upon decreeing the dissolution of a marriage” do the courts of Virginia have jurisdiction to award spousal support or equitable distribution. Code
???20-107.1 and 20-107.3. Since the marriage .?.?. was void and, thus, there was no marriage, the trial court had no authority to award spousal support or make an equitable distribution award. There is no authority for the parties by their actions outside of the law to invest the courts with power to treat a relationship as a lawful marriage.
Kleinfield, 7 Va. App. at 190, 372 S.E.2d at 411 (citations omitted) (emphasis added).
Shoustari argues that the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision in Henderson v. Henderson, 187 Va. 121, 46 S.E.2d 10 (1948), should lead to a different result. We disagree. Henderson addressed only child support in the context of children of a void marriage and did not consider spousal support in any manner.
She also argues that the doctrine of equitable estoppel creates an independent right of spousal support. Shoustari did not plead equitable estoppel as a ground for the award of spousal support in the trial court. The record contains no reference to any argument related to equitable estoppel being made to the trial court. We are therefore barred from considering such an argument for the first time on appeal by Rule 5A:18. See Ohree v. Commonwealth, 26 Va. App. 299, 308, 494 S.E.2d 484, 488 (1998) (“The Court of Appeals will not consider an argument on appeal which was not presented to the trial court.”).
[1]
Finally, Shoustari contends that the authority of the trial court to act under Code ???20-107.1, 20-107.2 and 20-107.3 upon the “dissolution of a marriage” implies a right of spousal support in this case. Again, we disagree. As Kleinfield clearly provides, there was never a marriage at law between the parties. 7 Va. App. at 190, 372 S.E.2d at 411. Accordingly, there is no “marriage” for the court to dissolve under any of the foregoing statutes. Further, Code ??20-43 unequivocally provides that a bigamous marriage, as in the case at bar, “shall be absolutely void without any decree of divorce or other legal process.”
As Shoustari has no basis at law to claim spousal support from Zamani, the decision of the trial court denying a spousal support award is affirmed.
Affirmed.
FOOTNOTES: [1] Shoustari’s equitable estoppel argument is without basis in the statute or case law. The creation of such an independent ground for award of spousal support is a matter of policy which is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government. The General Assembly has made no such provision. See Wood v. Bd. of Supervisors of Halifax Cty., 236 Va. 104, 115, 372 S.E.2d 611, 618 (1988) (“[I]t is the responsibility of the legislature, not the judiciary, to formulate public policy, to strike the appropriate balance between competing interests, and to devise standards for implementation.”). | 5,570 | 2,512 | 0.000411 |
warc | 201704 | NOTICE: The opinions posted here are subject to formal revision. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Supreme Court of Virginia. COOPER INDUSTRIES, INC.,et al. v. MELENDEZ
November 3, 2000
Record No. 992957
Present: All the Justices
COOPER INDUSTRIES, INC., ET AL.
v.
ANDRES MELENDEZ
OPINION BY JUSTICE CYNTHIA D. KINSER
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK
Johnny E. Morrison, Judge
In this product liability case, we address
issues concerning proximate causation, misuse of a product, the statute of repose, and a trial courts discretion to send a jury back for further deliberations when a juror expresses disagreement with the verdict during a poll of the jury. Because we find no error, we will affirm the judgment of the circuit court, which was in accordance with a jury verdict in favor of the injured plaintiff.
MATERIAL PROCEEDINGS
This product liability action arose out of an
explosion of an industrial circuit breaker, known as a K-Don 600 amp circuit breaker, located in Vault 21 of Pier 23 at the Norfolk Naval Base on June 1, 1994. The explosion occurred as Andres Melendez, Jr., a civil employee of the Navys Public Works Center, his supervisor, and a co-worker were "racking" or installing the circuit breaker in an energized switchgear. [1] As a result of the explosion, Melendez and his supervisor were seriously burned, and the co-worker was killed.
Melendez filed a motion for judgment in the
circuit court alleging negligence, breach of implied warranty, and strict liability against Cooper Industries, Inc., Arrow Hart, Inc., and Crouse-Hinds Co. (collectively Cooper), the manufacturer of the switchgear at issue in this case. [2] In its grounds of defense, Cooper raised an affirmative defense that Melendezs action was barred by the applicable statute of repose, Code ? 8.01-250. Over Melendezs objection that the plea in bar involved disputed factual questions to be resolved by a jury, the circuit court conducted an evidentiary hearing and concluded that the statute of repose does not apply. Because one of Coopers witnesses, Robert L. Smith, could not be present for that proceeding, the court agreed to reconsider the issue after hearing Smiths testimony at trial.
Following several days of trial, a jury
returned a verdict in favor of Melendez in the amount of $5,000,000. After the court announced the verdict, Cooper requested a poll of the jurors. During that poll, one juror responded "No" when asked if that was his verdict. The court then instructed the jurors, "Well, ladies and gentleman, youre going to have to return to your jury room at this point. I had instructed you previously that your verdict must be unanimous." At that point, the foreperson of the jury stated, "It was unanimous, Your Honor, when we was [sic] in that jury room." Thereupon, the court stated, "Ladies and gentleman, step back into your jury room, please." Cooper immediately moved for a mistrial. After approximately two minutes, the jury returned to the courtroom with the same verdict as the original. The court polled the jurors again, and this time, each juror, including the one who initially answered "No," responded "Yes, your Honor" to the question, "Is that your verdict?"
Following the trial, Cooper renewed its motion
for a mistrial based on the result of the first jury poll and also moved to set aside the jury verdict on numerous grounds, including the issue regarding the statute of repose. After considering briefs and argument on both motions, the circuit court denied the motions and entered judgment in favor of Melendez in accordance with the jury verdict. [3]
In a letter opinion, the court explained its
reasons for concluding, once again, that the statute of repose does not apply. Rejecting Coopers comparison of the switchgear and circuit breaker at issue in this case to an electric panel box used in a private residence, the court concluded that the switchgear and circuit breaker are "equipment or machinery" within the purview of Code ? 8.01-250 and not ordinary building materials. The court described the switchgear, which is designed to hold 10 circuit breakers, as a "metal cabinet . . . 86" in height, 89" wide, and 52" deep." The court further stated that the circuit breaker "measure[d] 20.5" in height, 26.5" deep, and . . . 14" wide."
Continuing, the court advised the parties that
it had considered an owners manual and instructions regarding the installation and use of the circuit breaker in question, a shop drawing prepared by Cooper depicting the switchgear, and the Navys contract specifications for the equipment. [4] The court noted that the detailed instructions included in the owners manual probably would not have been provided for ordinary building materials. The court further reasoned that the Navys specifications, such as the direction to put nameplates on the equipment showing, among other things, the manufacturers name; to supply "a switchgear with drawout (removable) circuit breakers"; to provide equipment that is "established standard tested products of the manufacturer, thoroughly coordinated and integrated by the manufacturer [with] the ratings of all equipment and components . . . guaranteed and published by the manufacturer"; and "[t]o factory test and certify the primary and secondary (circuit breaker portion) switchgear sections" tended to remove the items in question from the category of ordinary building materials.
We awarded Cooper this appeal on the following
assignments of error: (1) that the circuit court erred in refusing to set aside the jury verdict because Melendez did not establish a causal connection between the alleged breach of warranty and his injuries; (2) that the court erred in refusing to set aside the verdict because both Melendez and the Navy misused the electrical gear; (3) that the court erred in deciding that the statute of repose does not bar Melendezs action to recover for his bodily injuries; (4) that the circuit court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial when a juror responded "No" during the poll of the jury because the responses showed that the verdict was not unanimous; and (5) that the court erred in denying Coopers motion for a mistrial because the courts instructions to the jury after the poll "in essence required unanimity."
FACTS
In accordance with well-established principles,
we recite the facts in the light most favorable to Melendez, the prevailing party at trial. Rice v. Charles, 260 Va. 157, 161, 532 S.E.2d 318, 320 (2000). "The verdict of the jury in favor of [Melendez], upon which the trial court entered judgment, settles all conflicts of testimony in [his] favor and entitles [him] to all just inferences deducible therefrom. Fortified by the jurys verdict and the judgment of the court, [he] occupies the most favored position known to the law." Pugsleyv. Privette, 220 Va. 892, 901, 263 S.E.2d 69, 76 (1980)
(citing
Tri-State Coach Corp. v. Walsh, 188 Va. 299, 303,
49 S.E.2d 363, 365 (1948)).
In the late 1970s, the Navy undertook a
renovation of its piers, including Pier 23, at its naval base in Norfolk. With the advent of a nuclear-powered Navy, the existing electrical services on the piers were not adequate to meet the electrical demands of the changing fleet. That renovation took place 17 years before the explosion at issue in this case.
Pier 23, where the explosion occurred,
originally contained three electrical vaults referred to as "Vaults 1, 2, and 3." During the renovation, three additional vaults were added, and the switchgear in each of the existing vaults was upgraded to match the switchgear being installed in the new vaults. Those new vaults were numbered 20, 21, and 22. Vault 21 contained the circuit breaker that exploded.
The top of Pier 23 is a deck where trucks and
machinery can be driven and on which people can walk. One of the Navys goals during the renovation was to remove any obstructions on the deck in order to accommodate the traffic on the pier needed to supply and maintain ships and submarines. Thus, according to Coopers witness, Robert L. Smith, a retired electrical engineer who prepared the design drawings of the electrical system for the renovation project, the plan was to remove switchgear from the top of the piers deck and place it underneath the pier. [5]
A switchgear, such at the one located in Vault
21, is a large metal enclosure that contains many component parts, including circuit breakers. Electrical power flows into the switchgear through a circuit breaker and goes out via a large cable on top of the pier to a submarine docked at the pier. One end of the cable is plugged into a receptacle located in a box, called a "turtle back," that sits on the deck, and the other end is connected to the submarine. The purpose of this system is to enable a submarine to be moored at the pier and draw electrical power from the shore instead of having to run its engines and generators to supply electrical power.
Coopers expert witness, Roger Bledsoe,
agreed as to the purpose of the electrical system. He testified at the hearing on the statute of repose that the switchgear in this case was to provide electrical power "from the land" to a submarine docked at the pier. When asked whether the switchgear and circuit breaker served any function with regard to the pier, Bledsoe responded, "Thats what it sounds like. It sounds like its through the ship."
John Kuzmack qualified as an expert on the
subject of circuit breakers at the hearing on the statute of repose. He had previously worked for the manufacturer of the ITE K-Don circuit breaker at issue in this case. Kuzmack testified that a K-Don circuit breaker serves the same basic function as a circuit breaker used in a house, except that the K-Don breaker is significantly larger. The circuit breaker at issue was a finished product, tested at the factory before it left the manufacturer. Although the circuit breaker and switchgear were normally shipped in separate containers to the site where they would be used, the circuit breaker had only to be plugged into a compatible switchgear upon its arrival at that site.
The manufacturer of the K-Don circuit breaker
did not, however, select a specific breaker for its ultimate use. According to Kuzmack, original equipment manufacturers, such as Cooper, selected K-Don circuit breakers and other component parts to use in assembling their respective switchgear, which in his words was "an assembled product." The ITE K-Don circuit breaker could be used in different manufacturers switchgear provided a cradle compatible to the K-Don breaker had been installed in the switchgear.
Kuzmack also testified that ITE, the
manufacturer of the K-Don circuit breaker, provided an instruction bulletin that was placed in the carton with each breaker. According to Frederick C. Teufel, who had also worked for the manufacturer of the K-Don circuit breakers for many years, the instruction booklet advised customers to tell ITE if a circuit breaker was going to be exposed to unusual service conditions. [6] Based on a shop order, Teufel identified the circuit breaker involved in the explosion as having been manufactured by ITE. He further stated that the circuit breakers listed on the shop order had no special requirements, thus implying that they were not to be used in unusual service conditions.
The vaults that housed the switchgear and
circuit breakers under the piers after the renovation were specially designed because of the unusual service conditions in which the switchgear and circuit breakers would be used. According to Smith, the special design of the vaults included walls and a floor that were monolithically cast, completely waterproof, and set in place with cranes. In other words, the vaults were designed to provide an indoor environment. Thus, Smiths design specifications provided for indoor switchgear and circuit breakers for use in the vaults.
According to a Materials List prepared by
Cooper, it supplied switchgear and ITE K-Don circuit breakers to the Navy for the renovation project, including the switchgear and circuit breaker at issue in this case. Although the Navys specifications allowed circuit breakers other than those manufactured by ITE, Cooper utilized the ITE K-Don circuit breaker. As required by the Navys contract specifications, those circuit breakers were "draw-out" breakers, meaning that they were designed to be "racked" or installed in an energized switchgear.
Coopers Materials List also contained
items such as strip heaters and humidistats, which, according to Melendezs expert witness Helmut Brosz, indicated Coopers awareness of the unusual service conditions in which the switchgear and circuit breakers would be used by the Navy in the piers. Thus, Brosz opined that Cooper should have advised the manufacturer of the circuit breakers about the unusual service conditions in which the breakers would be used and that Cooper violated industry standards by failing to do so.
In addition to providing information to the
circuit breaker manufacturer, Brosz testified that the switchgear assembly manufacturer, in this case Cooper, also should have communicated to the end user, i.e., the Navy and its workers, that because of the unusual service conditions, special tests should be carried out from time to time. However, Brosz stated that Cooper did not provide any instruction manual for the switchgear assembly with regard to the unusual service conditions and the need for special maintenance and testing. Thus, Brosz opined that the switchgear assembly, as sold to the Navy without such a manual, was an unreasonably dangerous product and defective for use in the piers.
In 1993, the Navy commenced a project to
overhaul and retrofit the circuit breakers at its naval base in Norfolk, including those in Pier 23. Westinghouse performed the retrofit for the Navy, which included putting a new digital line tripping system on the circuit breakers and then testing the breakers. During the project, the circuit breakers were removed from the switchgear and stored in a building on the naval base where Westinghouse performed the retrofit. While the circuit breakers were being retrofitted, preventive maintenance was performed on the piers, switchgear, and vaults.
Robert Shematek, an employee of Westinghouse
during the retrofitting project, testified that Westinghouse conducted some instructional classes "for just about everyone who worked" for the Navy with regard to the new tripping system and maintenance of the circuit breakers. However, the record does not contain evidence that Melendez attended any of those classes. Shematek stated that the instructions given during the classes, as well as those contained in a booklet titled "Westinghouse Digitrip Retrofit System," included a warning not to install the circuit breakers in an energized switchgear. Shematek also stated that he gave a similar oral warning to Melendezs supervisor, Larry Dean Agee. However, Agee denied having received such a warning from either Westinghouse or Shematek. Shematek also testified that he told Agee that Westinghouse would not permit Shematek to go down into the vaults because the conditions in them were unsafe. However, Shematek admitted that Westinghouse had a general policy against his going into confined spaces "with live gear."
Agee testified that, on the day of the
explosion, the circuit breaker that later exploded was moved from the storage building where Westinghouse had retrofitted and tested it to Pier 23. [7] The preventive maintenance and testing on Vault 21 had previously been completed, and Pier 23 had been energized for more than 24 hours. Part of the maintenance work had been to dry out the vaults and switchgear. Agee admitted that Pier 23 was one of the piers having the greatest problem with water infiltration in the vaults. He specifically remembered seeing condensation and water on the switchgear in Vault 21.
Because the vaults had been subjected to
moisture and other adverse conditions for over a year during the retrofit project, Shematek questioned whether they had been properly dried out. Shematek testified that, despite such concerns, Agee stated that he was going to do whatever was necessary to get Pier 23 back in service within two weeks as requested by the Navy. However, Agee disputed making such a statement to Shematek.
Once the circuit breaker arrived at Pier 23, it
was lowered into Vault 21 through a manhole, using a rope and winch. Melendez, Agee, and another co-worker were in the vault to receive the circuit breaker, take off the rope, and install the breaker in the switchgear. After the circuit breaker was slid into its cubicle and "racked in," it exploded, sending out a fireball. Melendez testified that he saw his co-worker with flames all over his body and then realized that he was also on fire.
After the explosion, the Navy hired Brosz,
through an engineering firm, to investigate the accident. Brosz was on the site within two days after the explosion. When he went down into Vault 21 on Pier 23, Brosz found "an electrical switchgear that was covered in soot, and . . . evidence of electrical arcing at the bottom right-hand circuit breaker . . . ." He testified that the cause of the explosion was the absorption of moisture by the glass fiber reinforced polyester insulation (GFRP) used in the K-Don circuit breakers. The moisture caused the insulation to degrade over a period of several years. The degradation, meaning that the insulation had lost its insulating power, in turn precipitated a short-circuit, arcing, and the explosion. Brosz could find no other cause for the explosion, and specifically stated that Melendez did not do anything wrong on the day of the accident. Brosz testified that the circuit breaker was designed to be installed in an energized switchgear and that Melendez had followed the practice used by electricians at the naval base. However, Brosz acknowledged that, if the switchgear had not been energized when Melendez installed the circuit breaker, the explosion would not have occurred.
Coopers expert witness, Bledsoe, could
not determine the cause of the explosion. He did agree that the K-Don circuit breaker was designed to be installed in an energized switchgear and that he had done so "[p]lenty of times."
ANALYSIS
A.
Proximate Causation andMisuse
Cooper argues that Melendez failed to prove
"that anything Cooper did or failed to do was the proximate cause of his injuries" because Melendezs expert witness, Brosz, admitted that the accident would not have occurred if Melendez had not installed the circuit breaker in an energized switchgear. Continuing, Cooper points out that Melendez and his co-workers had installed 20 to 30 circuit breakers in switchgears that were not energized without any incident, and that only when he and his supervisor decided to "detour" the rules did the explosion ensue.
Acknowledging that the issues of proximate
causation and misuse are related in this case, Cooper also asserts that Melendezs decision to install the breaker in an energized switchgear constituted a misuse of the circuit breaker. Additionally with regard to the issue of misuse, Cooper contends that the switchgear and circuit breakers were intended for indoor use but that the Navy allowed moisture to accumulate in the vaults, thereby subjecting the switchgear and breakers to outdoor conditions. It was this moisture that caused the GFRP insulation to degrade, which in turn precipitated the short-circuit, arcing, and explosion. Thus, Cooper argues that both Melendez and the Navy misused the switchgear and circuit breakers, and that such misuse bars Melendezs breach of warranty claim.
A proximate cause of an event is that
"act or omission which, in natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by an efficient intervening cause, produces the event, and without which that event would not have occurred." Sugarland Run Homeowners Assn v.Halfmann, 260 Va. 366, 372, ___ S.E.2d ___, ___, (2000)
(quoting
Beale v. Jones, 210 Va. 519, 522, 171 S.E.2d 851,
853 (1970)). Generally, the question of proximate cause is an
issue of fact to be resolved by a jury.
Jenkins v. Payne,
251 Va. 122, 128, 465 S.E.2d 795, 799 (1996).
As Cooper argues, proximate cause and misuse
are related in this case. There cannot be a recovery against a manufacturer in a product liability case for breach of an implied warranty when there has been an unforeseen misuse of the article. Featherall v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 219 Va. 949, 964, 252 S.E.2d 358, 367 (1979); Layne-Atlantic Co. v.Koppers Co., 214 Va. 467, 473, 201 S.E.2d 609, 614 (1974).
In the present case, the court instructed the
jury that Melendez had the burden of proof to establish that, if Cooper breached an implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, such breach was a proximate cause of the accident. The court also instructed the jury that Melendez could not recover from Cooper for a breach of warranty if "the product was misused in a way that was not reasonably foreseeable by [Cooper], and . . . that the misuse was the proximate cause of [Melendezs] injuries." (Emphasis added.) Because these instructions were not the subject of an assignment of error, they are now the law of this case. [8] See King v. Sowers, 252 Va. 71, 77, 471 S.E.2d 481, 484 (1996). Thus, Melendez had to prove only that Coopers alleged breach of warranty was a proximate cause of the explosion; whereas, Cooper had to prove that any misuse was the proximate cause.
As we previously stated, the jury verdict for
Melendez resolved all conflicts in the evidence in his favor and entitled him to all just inferences fairly deducible from the evidence. Pugsley, 220 Va. at 901, 263 S.E.2d at 76. Applying these principles, we conclude that the issues of proximate causation and misuse were questions to be decided by the jury and that there is sufficient evidence to support the verdict in favor of Melendez with regard to those issues.
First, Melendez established through
Broszs testimony that the explosion was caused by the degradation of the insulation used in the circuit breaker. The insulation degraded because it absorbed moisture. Cooper selected the K-Don circuit breaker knowing that it would be used by the Navy in unusual service conditions, yet the evidence showed that Cooper did not share its knowledge with the manufacturer of the circuit breaker, nor did it warn the Navy that the insulation in the circuit breakers could degrade if exposed to moisture. Although Cooper argues that the Navy allowed the vaults and switchgear to be exposed to outdoor conditions during the year that the circuit breakers were being retrofitted, Agee testified that Vault 21 had been dried out and tested before it was energized, approximately 24 hours prior to the explosion.
Next, no one disputed the fact that the K-Don
circuit breaker was known as a "draw-out" breaker, meaning that it was designed to be installed in an energized switchgear. In fact, many of the witnesses had performed such an operation themselves. Thus, installation of the circuit breaker in an energized switchgear was certainly a foreseeable use and not a misuse. Although Cooper argues that Melendez ignored instructions from Westinghouse that the circuit breakers should not be installed in an energized switchgear, and that the explosion would not have occurred if he had followed those instructions after the retrofit project, Brosz testified that Melendez did nothing wrong and followed the installation procedure used at the naval base for many years.
Furthermore, the evidence was in conflict with
regard to whether Melendezs supervisor received such instructions from either Westinghouse or Shematek. Based on Shemateks admission that the manual titled "Westinghouse Digitrip Retrofit System" contained instructions regarding how to install the new digital line tripping system that Westinghouse had placed on the circuit breakers and was not an instruction manual for the use of the circuit breakers, the jury could have concluded that the manual did not pertain to the task being performed by Melendez. Shematek also admitted that he was not aware of any warning in the ITE instruction manual that the breakers should not be installed in an energized switchgear.
Finally, Cooper argues that Agee decided to
"detour," i.e., deviate from, one of the procedures in the preventive maintenance checklist by installing the circuit breaker in an energized switchgear. However, Melendez correctly points out that the preventive maintenance checklist did not address the situation that existed on the day of the explosion. During the retrofit of the circuit breakers, a new cable had also been installed on Pier 23. In order to keep that cable dry and prevent it from exploding, Agee decided to energize the cable. Additionally, if the vault had not been energized, then the very equipment designed to keep it dry, such as the heaters and humidifiers, would not have been operating.
Thus, we conclude that the circuit court did
not err in refusing to set aside the jury verdict either on the ground that Melendez did not prove that Coopers breach of warranty was a proximate cause of his injuries or on the ground that the Navy and Melendez misused the circuit breaker. The facts with regard to both of these issues were disputed and thus subject to being resolved by the jury. "The role of a jury is to settle questions of fact." Supinger v. Stakes, 255 Va. 198, 203, 495 S.E.2d 813, 815 (1998). The jury, as reflected by its verdict, resolved those disputed facts in favor of Melendez and, on review, we will not set aside those findings unless they are clearly erroneous or without evidence to support them. See Code ? 8.01-680. When a jurys verdict depends on the weight to be given to credible evidence, that verdict cannot be disturbed. Walrod v. Matthews, 210 Va. 382, 392, 171 S.E.2d 180, 187 (1969).
B.
Statute of Repose
The dispositive question with regard to this
issue is whether the switchgear and its component parts, including the circuit breakers, are ordinary building materials or "equipment" within the meaning of Code ? 8.01-250, a statute of repose. [9] See Hess v. Snyder Hunt Corp., 240 Va. 49, 52, 392 S.E.2d 817, 819 (1990) (referring to Code ? 8.01-250 as a statute of repose). That section provides, in pertinent part, that no action shall be brought to recover for bodily injury "arising out of the defective and unsafe condition of an improvement to real property . . . against any person performing or furnishing the design, planning, surveying, supervision of construction, or construction of such improvement to real property more than five years after the performance of furnishing of such services and construction." However, the statute further provides that the five-year limitation "shall not apply to the manufacturer or supplier of any equipment or machinery . . . installed in a structure upon real property."
Based upon the legislative history of Code
? 8.01-250, this Court, in Cape Henry Towers, Inc. v.National Gypsum Co., 229 Va. 596, 602, 331 S.E.2d 476, 480
(1985), concluded that this section "perpetuate[s] a
distinction between . . . those who furnish ordinary
building materials, which are incorporated into construction work
outside the control of their manufacturers or suppliers, at the
direction of architects, designers, and contractors, and,
. . . those who furnish machinery or equipment."
The five-year limitation in Code ? 8.01-250 protects the
former category but not the latter one.
Id.
We have utilized that distinction on three
occasions to determine into which category certain materials or articles fell. First, in Cape Henry Towers, the materials at issue were exterior panels of a building. Id. at 598, 331 S.E.2d at 478. Holding that the panels were ordinary building materials, this Court pointed out that machinery and equipment, unlike ordinary building materials, "are subject to close quality control at the factory and may be made subject to independent manufacturers warranties, voidable if the equipment is not installed and used in strict compliance with the manufacturers instructions." Id. at 602, 331 S.E.2d at 480.
Next, in
Grice v. Hungerford MechanicalCorp., 236 Va. 305, 306, 374 S.E.2d 17, 17 (1988), the
question was whether an electrical panel box and its component
parts were ordinary building materials or equipment. The
defendant, who was an electrical subcontractor, had bought the
electrical panel box and its several component parts on separate
occasions.
Id., 374 S.E.2d at 18. The subcontractor then
assembled and installed the unit as part of an electrical system
in a house pursuant to its contract with the general contractor.
Id.
Additionally, the quality and quantity of the component parts, as
well as the instructions for assembling and installing the
electrical panel box as a unit in a building, were provided by an
architect or other design professional.
Id.at 309, 374
S.E.2d at 19. The manufacturer did not send any such
instructions.
Id.Thus, this Court concluded that the
electrical panel box and its component parts were ordinary
building materials within the purview of Code ? 8.01-250.
Id.
The third case was
Luebbers v. Fort WaynePlastics, Inc., 255 Va. 368, 498 S.E.2d 911 (1998). There,
the items at issue were various structural component materials
for in-ground swimming pools, such as steel panels, braces, and
vinyl liners.
Id.at 370, 498 S.E.2d at 911. A distributor
purchased these component parts in bulk from the manufacturer and
held them for resale to swimming pool contractors as parts of
swimming pool kits.
Id., 498 S.E.2d at 912. In concluding
that the steel panels, braces, and vinyl liners were ordinary
building materials rather than equipment within the meaning of
Code ? 8.01-250, this Court emphasized the following facts:
(1) the component parts at issue were interchangeable with other
component materials in swimming pool construction; (2)
distributors purchased the materials in bulk from the
manufacturer; (3) the manufacturer of the materials did not
oversee construction of the swimming pools, but merely warranted
the steel panels from defects of workmanship and the vinyl liners
from defective welding; and (4) although the manufacturer sold
specification guides and installation manuals as general guides,
the manuals did not address the construction of the specific
swimming pool involved in the case.
Id.at 372, 498 S.E.2d
at 913. We concluded that the swimming pool materials were
"fungible components" of the pool, and that they
"[i]ndividually . . . served no function other
than as generic materials to be included in the larger whole and
[were] indistinguishable . . . from the wall panels
. . . addressed in
Cape Henry Towers." Id.
Relying on these cases, Cooper argues that the
switchgear and circuit breakers were generic items that were "incorporated into the construction of the pier" and were "essential to the existence of the piers," similar to the exterior panels in Cape Henry Towers and the electrical panel box in Grice. Continuing, Cooper describes the switchgear and circuit breakers as fungible items because the Navys specifications authorized the use of several brands of switchgears and circuit breakers in the renovation project, and because the K-Don breakers themselves were interchangeable. Thus, during the retrofit project, the Navy and Westinghouse did not have to designate out of which switchgear cubicle a particular circuit breaker had been removed.
Cooper also points out that the Navy conceived
the pier renovation project in the 1970s; the Navys agent designed the project; the Navys subcontractor performed the electrical work; and the Navys officer in charge of construction supervised the project. According to Cooper, it only supplied switchgears without any special warranties and was not present at the piers during the renovation. Finally, Cooper compares the switchgear to the electrical panel box in Grice because it serves the same basic purpose, although a switchgear is admittedly much larger than an electrical panel box used in a residential dwelling.
Well-established principles guide the
resolution of this issue. "[A] plea in bar is a defensive pleading that reduces the litigation to a single issue," KrogerCo. v. Appalachian Power Co., 244 Va. 560, 562, 422 S.E.2d
757, 758 (1992), "which, if proven, creates a bar to the
plaintiffs right of recovery."
Tomlin v. McKenzie,
251 Va. 478, 480, 468 S.E.2d 882, 884 (1996). The party asserting
a plea in bar carries the burden of proof.
Id.In the
present case, the circuit court, over Melendezs objection,
heard the evidence regarding the plea in bar and decided the
issue rather than submitting it to the jury. "When the trial
court hears the evidence
ore tenus, its findings
are entitled to the weight accorded a jury verdict, and these
findings should not be disturbed by an appellate court unless
they are plainly wrong or without evidence to support them."
Bottoms v. Bottoms, 249 Va. 410, 414, 457 S.E.2d 102,
104-05 (1995).
Using these principles, we are not persuaded by
Coopers arguments because they are premised on a mischaracterization of the switchgear and circuit breakers as "essential to the existence of the piers." The switchgear and circuit breakers were not part of the electrical system of Pier 23; instead, they comprised the electrical system for submarines docked at the pier so that the submarines could receive electrical power from the shore rather than having to operate their engines and generators. The vaults that housed the switchgear and circuit breakers were located underneath the deck of the pier, and the switchgear was actually placed on rails six inches above the floor of the vault.
Unlike the collection of unassembled parts in
Grice, the switchgear and circuit breakers were each self-contained and fully assembled by their respective manufacturers. Cooper manufactured the switchgear, and in doing so, specified in its Materials List the use of K-Don circuit breakers. When the circuit breakers left the manufacturer, they had been tested at the factory and needed only to be placed in a switchgear that contained a compatible cradle. ITE supplied an instruction manual with each circuit breaker, and the Navy required that the switchgear and circuit breaker bear a nameplate containing certain information, including the manufacturers name. As the circuit court noted, the Navy also required that the equipment "be established standard tested products of the manufacturer, thoroughly coordinated and integrated by the manufacturer."
Contrary to Coopers arguments, the
switchgear and circuit breakers were not fungible or generic materials. While the Navy specifications would have permitted the use of circuit breakers from different manufacturers, once Cooper specified the ITE K-Don breaker, another manufacturers breaker could not have been used in Coopers switchgear unless the cradle had also been changed. In the words of Coopers expert witness, Bledsoe, the cradle and circuit breaker were "mated component[s]" of the switchgear assembly. Bledsoe also admitted that Cooper assembled the switchgear and, in doing so, selected the component parts, including the circuit breakers, though they were shipped in separate containers to the end user. Thus, we conclude that the circuit court did not err in finding that the switchgear and circuit breakers are "equipment" as contemplated by Code ? 8.01-250. [10] Contrary to Coopers argument, the court did not base its decision solely on the size of the switchgear and circuit breaker.
C.
Jury Poll
Because one juror answered "No" in
open court during the poll of the jury, Cooper contends that there was not a unanimous verdict. Thus, Cooper argues that the circuit court should have immediately declared a mistrial rather then sending the jury back for further deliberations. In other words, Cooper asks this Court to create a bright-line rule that a trial court must declare a mistrial in a civil case when a juror answers "No" during the courts poll of the jury. Such a bright-line rule would, according to Cooper, preserve the sanctity of the jury room and insure that jurors are not subjected to "outside influences," as Cooper suggests happened in this case. Cooper also believes that the absence of a rule for civil trials, similar to Rule 3A:17 applicable to criminal trials, [11] is an authoritative indication that a jury in a civil case should not be allowed to deliberate further when a juror expresses disagreement with the verdict during the polling of the jury.
In discussing this issue, it is important to
emphasize that the circuit court did not record and enter judgment upon a verdict that was not unanimous. Instead, the court directed the jury to continue its deliberations when one juror answered that the verdict that had been published in open court was not his verdict. Shortly thereafter, the jury returned with a verdict that was unanimous as reflected by the courts second poll of the jurors. We agree that a verdict cannot be accepted and recorded if it is not unanimous, and that a jurors assent in open court when the verdict is published is controlling. Thus, since the circuit court did not accept a verdict that was not unanimous, the cases cited by Cooper for the proposition that the only verdict that counts is the one published and affirmed in open court are not relevant to the issue in this case. See e.g., Reed v. Kinnik, 132 A.2d 208, 210 (Pa. 1957); Sanders v. Charleston Consol.Ry. & Lighting Co., 151 S.E. 438, 447 (S.C. 1930).
Instead, the issue we must address is whether
it is within a trial courts exercise of discretion to direct a jury to deliberate further when a juror answers "No" during the poll of the jury or whether the court must always declare a mistrial in that situation. We conclude that a trial court is empowered, in the exercise of its discretion, either to direct a jury to continue its deliberations or to declare a mistrial. "There can be no question of the right of a juror, when polled, to dissent from a verdict to which he [or she] has agreed in the jury room, and when this happens, the jury should either be discharged or returned to their room for further deliberation." Bruce v. Chestnut Farms-ChevyChase Dairy, 126 F.2d 224, 225 (D.C. Cir. 1942); accord Patterson v. Rossignol, 245 A.2d 852, 855 (Me. 1968); Botta, 126 A.2d 32, 40-41 (N.J. Super. 1956); v. Brunner
v. Brunner
Norburn, 141 S.E.2d 877, 880 (N.C. 1965); v. Mackie
v. Mackie
State ex rel., 156 N.W. 946, 946 (Wis. 1916). We find Volkman v. Waltermath
Volkman v. Waltermath
no reason to create the bright-line rule urged by Cooper, nor are
we persuaded that such a rule is warranted merely because we do
not have a rule of civil procedure similar to Rule 3A:17.
In the present case, we conclude that the
circuit court did not abuse its discretion by returning the jury to its room for further deliberations. Some of the "outside influences" that Cooper asserts were brought to bear upon the jury in this case are Coopers characterizations of the reactions of Melendez and others in the courtroom when the verdict was announced and one juror then answered "No." However, the circuit court stated that it did not recall all the events as having occurred exactly as described by Coopers counsel. For instance, counsel for Cooper described the juror who answered "No" as "very emotional and resisting" when he came out of the jury room the second time. In response, the court stated, "I dont know about resisting." Later, when counsel asserted that some of the jurors started yelling when the juror answered "No," the court stated that it remembered tension, but not any yelling by the jurors. In sum, many of Coopers contentions with regard to these "outside influences" are not supported by the record in this case.
The circuit court was in a better position than
this Court to observe the demeanor of the jurors when they returned to the courtroom and during each poll. We believe that a trial court has the same ability and opportunity to observe a jurors demeanor during a poll of the jury as it does during voir dire. In that latter situation, we have said, "[b]ecause the trial judge has the opportunity, which we lack, to observe and evaluate the apparent sincerity, conscientiousness, intelligence, and demeanor of prospective jurors first hand, the trial courts exercise of judicial discretion in deciding challenges for cause will not be disturbed on appeal, unless manifest error appears in the record." Popev. Commonwealth, 234 Va. 114, 123-24, 360 S.E.2d 352, 358
(1987). We conclude that the same standard applies to a poll of
the jury and a trial courts decision, based on that poll,
either to declare a mistrial or to direct the jury to deliberate
further. In the present case, the circuit court did not abuse its
discretion when it directed the jurors to return to the jury room
for further deliberations rather than declaring a mistrial.
Cooper also argues that the circuit
courts instructions to the jury immediately after the juror answered "No" were coercive and prevented the jurors from freely making their own decision. However, Cooper did not at that time object to the content of the courts instructions to the jury. It moved for a mistrial solely on the basis that the verdict was not unanimous, that the court therefore had to declare a mistrial, and that the jury had been subjected to "outside influences" in the courtroom. Therefore, we will not consider this argument on appeal. [12] Rule 5:25.
CONCLUSION
We recognize that the explosion in this case
occurred 17 years after Cooper supplied the Navy with the switchgear that utilized the K-Don circuit breaker that exploded. That fact alone, however, does not absolve Cooper of its liability for Melendezs injuries. Thus, for the reasons stated with regard to each of Coopers assignments of error, we will affirm the judgment of the circuit court. Affirmed. FOOTNOTES: [1] The Public Works Center had responsibility for all utilities and maintenance at the naval base. [2] Arrow Hart actually manufactured the switchgear. However, Cooper is the successor in interest to Arrow Hart and Crouse-Hinds. Accordingly, we will use the name "Cooper" in this opinion even though certain references in the record are to Arrow Hart.
Melendez named several other defendants in the
motion for judgment, including Gould Electronics, Inc. and I.T.E. Imperial Corp. (collectively ITE), manufacturers of the circuit breaker; Glastic Corporation, manufacturer of insulation used in the switchgear and circuit breaker; and Westinghouse Electric Corporation, the company that retrofitted circuit breakers for the Navy. However, these defendants settled with Melendez before trial. Thus, Cooper was the only defendant at trial.
Melendez also nonsuited his negligence and
strict liability claims, leaving only the claim for breach of implied warranty for trial. [3] In its judgment order, the court set off the sum that Melendez had received in settlement from other defendants against the amount of the jury verdict. See n. 2, supra. [4]The court stated that it was considering the instruction manual solely for the fact that such a manual existed because there had been other issues during the trial regarding the manual. [5] At the time of the renovation, Smith worked for an engineering firm that had contracted with the Navy to provide the design plans and specifications for the renovation project. [6] Helmut Gunther Brosz, Melendezs witness who was qualified at trial as an expert in the field of electrical engineering and equipment failures, defined the term "[u]nusual service condition" as "those conditions which involve any humidity, salt fog, dripping water, unusual gases, high temperatures . . . ." [7] According to a test sheet supplied by Westinghouse, the circuit breaker at issue was tested on August 11, 1993. [8] regarding whether those instructions are a correct statement of the law in this Commonwealth. [9] A statute of repose differs from a statute of limitations in that the time limitation in a statute of repose commences to run from the occurrence of an event unrelated to the accrual of a cause of action. School Bd. ofthe City of Norfolk v. U.S. Gypsum, 234 Va. 32, 37, 360
S.E.2d 325, 327 (1987). The limitation period in a statute of
limitations generally begins to run when the cause of action
accrues.
Id., 360 S.E.2d at 327-28. [10] the several cases cited by Cooper from other jurisdictions because the relevant statutes at issue in those cases are significantly different from Code ? 8.01-250. For example, in Hilliard v. Lummus Co., Inc., 834 F.2d 1352, 1354 (7 th Cir. 1987); Mullis v. Southern Co. Serv., Inc., 296 S.E.2d 579, 583-84 (Ga. 1982); Neofotistos v. Metrick Electric Co.,Inc., 577 N.E.2d 511 (Ill. App. Ct. 1991); and Kleist v., 571 N.E.2d 819, 820 (Ill. App. Metrick Electric Co., Inc.
Metrick Electric Co., Inc.
Ct. 1991), the respective courts addressed whether a particular
item was an improvement to real estate, not whether the item was
ordinary building materials or equipment.
[11] Rule 3A:17(d) provides that a jury may be directed to retire for further deliberations if, upon the poll, all jurors do not agree. [12] Although we do not consider the merits of this assignment of error, we believe that when a trial court directs a jury to continue its deliberations in a situation like the one presented in this case, the court should instruct the jurors that they should not surrender their individual consciences for the mere purpose of reaching a verdict. | 46,136 | 16,673 | 0.00006 |
warc | 201704 | Dole Food Company, Inc. (DOLE) is the world’s largest producer and distributor of fresh fruit and vegetables, including an expanded line of value-added products. The company operates three different business segments, with fresh fruit bringing in the lion’s share of revenues (68% in 2010), as vegetables and packaged foods comprise 15% and 17% of sales, respectively. More than half of Dole’s sales are generated outside the United States, with roughly one-third of revenues derived from the company’s top 10 customers. Its patrons consist primarily of leading global and regional mass merchandisers and supermarkets in Asia, Europe, and North America.
The outlook for Dole Food Company appears solid. This is because the underlying dynamics of the $675 billion fresh produce industry have it poised for long-term growth, since demand for these goods has outpaced overall population expansion. Moreover, the cultural shift toward healthier dietary habits has been accelerating; retailers have increased the square footage dedicated to such items; and a diverse variation of products continues to provide healthy momentum. Medical communities also have furthered their efforts to convince consumers to switch-off less nutritious food sources, and partake in preservative-free items instead. This, too, should augur well for Dole’s top and bottom lines going forward.
Despite the positive long-term trends, Dole Food Company has struggled with recent global turmoil, as have many food distribution businesses. Pricing levels in Asia have been hurt by a difficult operating environment, but should improve as efforts to repair lost infrastructure begin to take hold. Furthermore, continued unrest across sections of the Middle East temporarily closed key Iranian markets, causing supply levels to climb quickly, which disrupted the company’s distribution chain and pricing initiatives. Still, it is likely that as Middle-East tensions begin to ease, order will be restored to central commerce locations. This will likely lead to firmer demand, which ought to help alleviate some of Dole’s recent price troubles in the region.
The company also has been taking steps to reduce overall costs and bolster its margins. In Latin America, for example, it has closed high-cost, company-owned farms, renegotiated several existing labor contracts, and improved the terms of various grower covenants. These maneuvers should bear fruit over the next year, as Dole will need to trim these problematic expenses in order to regain its previous profitability.
Longer term, the fresh produce giant is seeking to expand market share via new product lines, such as fruit bowls in 100% juice and health-focused frozen snack items. Although it faces stiff competition, primarily from produce-kingpin
Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. (FDP) and Chiquita Brands International (CQB), Dole remains well positioned, with a number 1 or 2 market share rank in core territories of Europe, Japan, Latin America, and the United States.
Although Dole’s shares have long-term appeal, they are not well suited for risk-averse accounts. The company generally faces sharp shifts in short-term demand and supply levels, due to the fresh produce industry’s highly volatile nature. Still, growth opportunities and a foray into new product lines should provide support for solid sales and earnings advances over the long haul, which make this particular stock an intriguing option in the food distribution and production segment.
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned. | 3,650 | 1,831 | 0.000555 |
warc | 201704 | Wallets? Money? Credit cards? Who needs them? Pretty soon everything we pay for will be done electronically, without needing anything but a phone. The company that first broke ground in this arena has just announced its largest fundraising round to date.
Square has closed its Series D financing around, the electronic payment service announced Monday.
The round, which was previous rumored to be closing in July, totaled $200 million from investors that included Citi Ventures, Rizvi Traverse Management, and Starbucks Coffee Company.
In August, Square announced a new partnership with Starbucks, in which Starbucks would start accepting Square payments in 7,000 locations across the nation later this year. In addition to this Square compatibility, Starbucks also announced that it would be invest $25 million in the startup, as part of its fourth round of funding, and president and CEO Howard Schultz would be joining Square’s board.
This latest funding brings Square’s valuation to $3.25 billion, according to AllThingsD, though a spokesperson from Square would not confirm this to VatorNews.
There was no word on what Square plans to do with the money it raised, beyond saying “growing revenue and workforce precedes the company's plans for international expansion later this year.”
The company also announced that it is now processing $8 billion in payments, up from $1 billion a year ago.
This is by far Square’s largest fund raising round yet, and bring the total raised to more than $340 million.
San Francisco-based Square had previously raised a $10 million Series A round in 2009, led by Khosla Ventures; a $27.5 Series B round in January 2011, from Sequoia Capital and existing investors; and a $100 million Series C round in June 2011, led by Kleiner Perkins, which led to the company being valued at $1 billion. The company also received $3 million from Sir Richard Branson in December of last year.
The electronic payment market
Electronic payment is a fast growing market. A report from earlier this year found that a vast majority, around 65%, of experts agreed that Smartphone payments would be mainstream by the end of this decade.
Gartner predicts that by 2016, mobile payments will reach $617 billion worldwide, up from $105 billion last year. By that point, Gartner forecasts that smartphones will account for two-thirds of all phones. Mobile payments this year are expected to reach $171.5 billion, up 60% over last year.
Square was one of the first mobile payment services, founded back in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, creator of Twitter. It uses an a square shaped dongle that allows users in the United States to accept credit cards through their iOS and Android mobile phones by swiping the card on the Square device. The device mobilized, digitalized, and simplified credit card transactions.
Since then, Square has been rolling out new apps, services and deals with millions of individuals, restaurants, and retail locations that want to reduce hardware costs and join the techno-savvy paperless revolution. One of these apps was Square Register, which the credit features to accept cash payments, let merchants create list menu items, and track the history of customers' purchases.
It also offers Pay With Square, which allows customers to set up tabs at restaurants, and pay with their names. Users are able to set up their phone as a beacon and simply state their name to a cashier that looks for it on their device and confirms with picture verification.
(Image source: http://thomastechtalk.bangordailynews.com) | 3,581 | 1,768 | 0.000572 |
warc | 201704 | Female workers at the Lâm Thao Fertiliser and Chemical Company.— VNA/VNS Photo Trung Kiên Viet Nam News
HÀ NỘI — The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement offers opportunities and better working environments for female entrepreneurs and workers, but also poses several challenges for them, participants heard in Hà Nội this week.
Speaking at an international conference entitled “Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – Opportunities and Challenges to businesswomen and female entrepreneurs and labourers,” Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà, president of Việt Nam Women’s Union (VWU) said that the number of businesses owned by women account for only 25 per cent of the total nationwide, most of which operate on a small scale.
Women face more difficulties than men in realising business ideas as well as attracting resources, she said.
VWU has launched a series of activities to support women in the context of global integration. The support includes influencing policy, offering training in entrepreneurship and business administration, suggesting how to approach financial and credit resources, in addition to developing a network of female entrepreneurs, and providing apprentice training for female workers in rural areas, Hà said.
According to Đinh Thị Thu Hà, director of Hà Căn Trading Limited Company and vice president of the Female Entrepreneur Association of Thái Bình Province, female workers can enjoy the economic value chain and need to be equipped with labour knowledge and necessary skills to lift themselves out of poverty.
To survive and develop in international integration, businesses must have knowledge in terms of legal systems, improving their products’ quality, how to create unique products, make profits and create employment for workers, she said. — VNS | 1,904 | 1,003 | 0.001075 |
warc | 201704 | By Elizabeth Brown and Carl Safina
A few years ago, some scientists at the University of British Columbia were thinking about how climate change would affect fish. Climate change results from the collection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from our burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, gas), which causes the earth to warm. The scientists wondered out loud if warming could affect fish growth. Warmer waters hold less oxygen than cold water. And, as the water warms, fish need more oxygen to perform daily activities, like feeding. They asked how these competing factors would affect fish size: Would a fish be able to grow large as warmer water causes oxygen concentration to drop even as the fish’s oxygen needs increase?
And so, they set up a model to look at how predicted rises in ocean temperatures will change fish body size and fish distributions between the years 2000 to 2050. They input information on distribution, growth rates, temperature preferences, etc. for over 600 marine fish species (including groupers, cods, flounders, salmon, and other commercial species).
The model confirmed the scientists’ predictions: warming will limit the size fish grow to. This means SHRINKING fishes! By 2050, warming will shrink the average maximum body weight of fishes by 14-24% globally – a fairly large amount! Most of the shrinkage will happen in tropical and mid-latitude regions. Fish will also shift their distributions towards the poles. So, smaller tropical fish will displace larger fish found at higher latitudes. Warming has already affected some fish species. In the North Sea, for example, increasing ocean temperatures have reduced the body size of haddock.
2000
2050
What will shrinking fish mean for marine ecosystems? Smaller fish produce less offspring than larger fish. So, we will have less productive fish populations. Also, because body size determines predator-prey relationships, it will change marine food webs. Bigger fish can consume bigger prey. And, they have fewer predators than small fish.
Our fisheries will suffer too. Fishermen will catch smaller fish. This will in turn reduce the global fish supply. This adds to the problems our fisheries face from overfishing, pollution, and habitat degradation.
To make matters worse, climate change could affect fish species in other ways too. In addition to warming, climate change makes our oceans more acidic. Other scientists found that ‘ocean acidification,’ could reduce the survival of fish eggs and larvae and impair a fish’s ability to detect predators.
The message is clear: climate change threatens marine fishes and the stability of our global fisheries. This underlines yet another reason we must urgently reduce carbon emissions and utilize clean energy to power our future. Further, fishery managers must develop management strategies that incorporate the effects of a changing environment. | 2,926 | 1,447 | 0.000701 |
warc | 201704 | Comcast users outside two as-yet-unnamed markets will have unlimited data usage during the testing of Comcast's new data pricing model.
Comcast customers finally have something to be thankful for. The largest cable ISP in the United States is switching its 250GB monthly data cap for a tiered model with a higher cap and a method to purchase extra data.
Comcast has long been accused of trying to force the internet into being a secondary service to its cable television business. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is among the critics who accuse Comcast of using the data caps to protect its cable television business from the threat of free or cheaper alternatives online, such as Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube.
Comcast executive VP David L. Cohen said in a conference call with reporters that a cap which causes users to be denied service if they exceed it sends the wrong message, especially since it only affects a “small percentage” of their customers, though the company declined to elaborate on what that percentage is. He continued, saying that they “want to send a signal to customers that our network is robust and has tremendous capacity. We don’t want customers to have a sense that [they] can’t use this app on the internet.”
Comcast is preparing two trials in different markets. Both trials will impose a 300GB cap with a $10 charge per 50GB beyond that, but one trial will increase the cap with faster tiers of internet service. “This will effectively offer unlimited use of service,” bragged Cohen. “Customers can buy and use as much data as they like.”
Cohen then admitted that Comcast doesn’t want its users to think the network has unlimited capacity. The cap is being raised a mere 50GB and the company is committing considerable time and effort into monitoring customer usage for an early warning and automated billing system. This comes at a time when more and more people are ditching cable television in favor of online video. This trend will cause data usage to continue to grow over time, as video streams consume a lot of bandwidth. A feature-length HD movie can use more than 3.5GB of bandwidth, for instance.
The dirty little secret is that this trend is actually a good thing for Comcast. The price of moving data across networks continues to fall, and Comcast is paying a smaller and smaller percentage to move data into and out of its networks. This begs the question of why Comcast is even bothering to keep a cap, which they declined to explain in a clear manner. This leaves two possibilities: either Comcast is truly having an issue with a small percentage of its userbase using too much bandwidth and are looking for a less draconian (read: PR nightmare) system that cuts users off of the network, or they are laying the foundation of a future where they stand to rake in exorbitant profits from a large percentage of users regularly passing their data cap and having to pay for extra data.
Comcast may also be attempting to draw attention away from their new XBox service, which allows their customers to stream the company’s cable offerings through their Xbox using the IP protocol. Critics complain that this violates the FCC net neutrality rules, since the data cap doesn’t apply to this service, but Comcast claims that they’re in the clear because it isn’t “technically” competing with online video services because they’ve allocated a new slice of their cable pipeline to the product.
Until the trials finish, Comcast customers will have no data caps, though local traffic congestion measures, where speeds are throttled for heavy data users when local networks become congested, will remain in effect, so customers should download to their hearts’ content. | 3,798 | 1,814 | 0.000567 |
warc | 201704 | The intersection of mindfulness, neuroscience
Belfast — "When the Iron Bird Flies," a documentary about the meeting of neuroscience and Tibetan Buddhism with Anam Thubten, the Dalai Lama, Sharon Salzberg and many others, will be screened Saturday, May 4, at 6:30 p.m. in the Abbott Room of Belfast Free Library, 106 High St.
Dr. Richard Davidson has studied the effects of meditation on the brains of Tibetan Buddhist practitioners for years. When he first began his studies, the idea that the brain can change in response to experience was not generally recognized by the scientific community. That has all changed, and now the concept of neuroplasticity is meeting the Buddhist concept of transformation through the practice of mindfulness. This film explores in depth how scientific and Buddhist thought can work together to help us create a saner, more compassionate 21st-century world.
Discussion will follow. There is a suggested donation of $5 to 10 to pay for the costs of screening, but no one will be turned away. For more information, contact: Katia Ancona at katia@relaxationcopilot.com or 323-5393. The screening will serve to introduce Thubten, who will give a public talk Monday, May 20, at 7 p.m. at Belfast’s Unitarian Universalist Church.
Courier Publications’ A&E Editor Dagney C. Ernest can be reached at (207) 594-4401, ext. 115 or dernest@courierpublicationsllc.com. | 1,411 | 823 | 0.001235 |
warc | 201704 | Harvey Keeps Its Focus on the Long Term
While many window and door companies have cut back on their operations in recent years, Harvey Building Products has bucked the trend. A long-time leader in the New England market, the regular
Window & Door Top 100 manufacturer moved into a brand new window and door plant in New Hampshire in 2007 that was twice the size of its previous facility. It also branched out of its home territory, adding new distribution facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2008.
“We’re not immune to current market conditions, but we’re more focused on our people, our customers and our products,” says Tom Bigony, co-chairman and CEO. As a privately held company, and one that has remained fairly conservative and stayed out of debt, he notes, Harvey can afford to keep its eye on the longer term. “We don’t have to worry about the price of our stock on a day-to-day basis or the latest quarterly sales figures. We don’t have to answer to outsiders and run our business on that basis.”
“It’s a challenge maintaining that core business,” admits Erik Jarnryd, co-chairman and CEO, describing the current business climate. But Harvey has long followed a path of “defined growth,” he states. It has steadily added operations since its start in 1961 and is not stopping with the current downturn.
Branching Out Based in Waltham, Mass., Harvey is a fairly unique hybrid, manufacturing windows, doors, and patio enclosures, as well as distributing a wide variety of building products through its numerous locations in the Northeast. The company primarily sold siding and other aluminum remodeling products in the beginning, with a consistent focus on serving professional customers, including dealers, contractors and builders. It established its new construction division in 1985, manufacturing both wood and vinyl windows, and now operates three plants. With steady expansion over the years, the company now has more than 30 facilities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine and New York. As for the recent moves into New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Jarnryd notes, “We have no choice, we’re basically saturated here,” referring to Harvey’s New England base.
While Harvey didn’t specifically choose to branch out beyond its home turf in these current market conditions, James Barreira, executive vice president and general manager, points out that the timing does have advantages. “We’re very systematic, when it comes to new markets,” he states, noting that the company first enters an area with its window and door lines. The company’s goal with all its operations is that “no one in that market can offer better service.” Barreira notes that with business slower than usual, Harvey can come into a new territory and “really overservice” new customers as it builds up the infrastructure needed, “setting the foundation” for when times get better.
A key part of that foundation, Bigony states, is extremely strong relationships with its customers. “We want their local warehouse to be their lifeline,” he explains. Whether it’s a specialty dealer that buys 1,000 windows a year or a remodeler that may buy $15,000 worth of building products over an entire year, “we want them to know the inside sales staff, to get along, to know they’re going to be there to help.”
That includes strong support on the sales and delivery side of the equation, and quick response when it comes to field service, he continues. “You need to be easy to do business with,” Bigony says, but the company also goes a step further to foster its relationships with its professional customers. One way it does that is through incentive programs for its customers. The company is well known for its “glamour” trips, he notes, and these have included destinations ranging from Hawaii and other tropical resorts to European cities such as Stockholm and Saint Petersburg. “We don’t just give them a ticket. We get to know them on these trips,” he continues, emphasizing that the trips are all about long-term relationship building. “Customers become friends with us, and with each other,” he continues, pointing to couples who say they’ve become best friends as they’ve traveled together over 15 or 20 years.
More recently, Harvey has looked to support its professional customers with the addition of product showrooms at many of its locations. The company opened its first one in 2003, and has also introduced standalone showrooms since that time. Featuring a full range of products—including the company’s own windows and doors as well as building products from many of its other suppliers—the showrooms are used by customers to show homeowners various offerings and options. They also include areas with tables and chairs where customers can sit down with homeowners and work out the details of a project.
Higher profile The company also has stepped up efforts to raise consumer awareness of the Harvey name and bring homeowners into the showrooms itself. It recently changed its name from Harvey Industries to Harvey Building Products, a move designed simply to make it more immediately evident what the company offers. The change is important, according to Matt Samson, VP of marketing, as Harvey expands into to new areas where it is less well known, but also for communicating with the general public in areas where it is established.
The change in name and desire to bring homeowners into its showrooms do not represent a change in the way it goes to market, Samson emphasizes, however. The company remains committed to its long term approach of selling through professional customers. Homeowners that come into its showrooms on their own to look at windows, doors or other products are referred to contractors among Harvey’s existing customer base. “The showrooms are staffed with people that can provide advice on design options. They’ll talk about good, better and best, but they don’t talk about price,” Jarnryd adds. Homeowners are told that information comes from the contractor or dealer, and that approach to date has worked successfully.
While some in Harvey’s professional customer base may have been a bit apprehensive that the company might have wanted to start competing directly with them initially when the showrooms were first launched, Barriera recalls, most understood the reasons for doing it and the value it could offer them. The whole home improvement category was seeing increased brand awareness, he notes, pointing to the emergence of big boxes. Harvey saw the showrooms as a way to establish its own expertise and the expertise of its professional customers in the field.
Harvey customers have responded positively and are putting the facilities to use. "My partner and I are now able to conveniently meet with customers to show them windows, doors, roofing, siding, flooring, rail systems and more," reports Chick Beaulieu, principal at Chick Beaulieu Inc., a general remodeling company based in Nashua, N.H. "We've been able to sign a quote with customers after demonstrating various products while visiting. On the whole, the facility is a great selling tool for contractors, enabling customers to see and use the proposed products." "We use the Harvey showroom as if it were our own, knowing that the staff will take care of each customer we send there," says Jim Shields, owner of Northshore Window & Siding, Somerville, Mass.
In addition to homeowners sent in by their contractors, or coming in with them, about half the traffic coming into Harvey showrooms at this point is homeowners that come in, Samson reports. Because of that, in addition to providing a service to its professional customers, the showrooms have become a valuable lead generation tool for them as well, as Harvey forwards those homeowner names to its existing customers. It continues to expand its support efforts now on that front, he continues, pointing to Harvey’s recently revamped Web site that has also been upgraded to speak to general consumers and provide a new lead generation tool for Harvey customers.
While Harvey has seen a flurry of activity on the distribution side of its business over the past year, the company’s manufacturing operations have not been ignored. As noted, it recently moved into a new 375,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Londonderry, N.H., that provides the company capacity for further growth. The company manufactures wood and vinyl windows and patio room products at the state-of-the-art facility, as well as pre-hanging doors. It recently launched a new product line as well—the Tribute vinyl window—designed to offer higher performance levels than its previous products as well as a more attractive new look.
The company’s manufacturing operations have evolved over the years, Bigony states, implementing the latest in production control systems, automated equipment, lean concepts, and quality control procedures that have enabled the company to receive ISO certification. However, Harvey’s biggest asset on the manufacturing front, he emphasizes, is its people. “Most of these employees have been with Harvey for years,” he states, pointing to the factory floor. They also bring in their friends and relatives to work for the company, he notes, because “they know we value them, and we’re going to treat them right.”
Harvey moved into a brand new manufacturing plant in New Hampshire in 2007.
That approach to its workers, which includes such tokens as free turkeys annually at Thanksgiving, Bigony adds, is another example of the company’s long term perspective. Given the fact that it operates in a region known for a generally tight labor supply, Harvey’s reputation as a good employer that values its workers pays off in particular in the good times. Right now, times are lean, Bigony says, but management continues to let workers know they are valued and that “we’re in this for the long haul.”
That message is carried throughout Harvey’s manufacturing and distribution operations. “We’re all one company, all working together,” Bigony says, speaking of the two sides of Harvey. That may require an extra effort now, and company officials admit the current expansion efforts may not pay off immediately, given the current economic environment, but they express confidence in the long term. “It may take awhile, but the market will come back,” Jarnryd states. “Harvey’s been through downturns before,” adds Bigony, “and we’ve come out stronger in the end. “ | 10,874 | 4,679 | 0.000223 |
warc | 201704 | UPDATE: The Mississippi State Department of Health says the boil water alert for this area has been lifted. Click this link to see tips on what to do after a boil water advisory is lifted.
RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) — The Mississippi State Department of Health has issued a boil water notice for more than 2,900 customers who receive their water from the Central Rankin Water Association.
MSDH said this affects 2,922 customers. MSDH issued a State Imposed Boil-Water Alert after water sampling showed the presence of E. coli. bacteria.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency sets drinking water standards and has determined that the presence of E. coli is a serious health concern.
Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause short-term effects such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms.They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children and people with severely compromised immune systems.
The presence of these bacteria in water generally results from a problem with the treatment process or pipes which distribute the water.
Health officials strongly recommend that all water be boiled vigorously for one minute before it is consumed. This precaution will last at least two full days and water system officials will be immediately notified when the boil water alert is lifted. | 1,459 | 798 | 0.001264 |
warc | 201704 | Abstract
Groundwaters in Finland are soft and acidic, and the main substances that require treatment are iron and manganese. Iron removal is usually relatively easy by oxidizing dissolved iron into an undissolved form either by aeration or chemical oxidization and removing the formed precipitate by sand filtration, for example. If the raw water contains high amounts of organic matter, problems may arise when using the traditional methods for iron removal. In Finland it is quite common that groundwater contains both high levels of iron and humus. The groundwater of Kukkala intake plant in Liminka has been found problematic due to the high level of organic matter and therefore this research studied the removal of iron from this water by means of oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and filtration. Iron was oxidized with hydrogen peroxide and when the dosage reached 3 mg l
−1, all iron was in trivalent form, which means that nearly all of it was in undissolved form, i.e. in fractions greater than 0.45 μm. Oxidized iron particles were, however, very fine and they could not be removed by sand/anthracite filtration. However sand/anthracite filtration was able to remove iron well without the feed of oxidation chemicals, and the iron was then led to the filter in bivalent dissolved form, thus the filter operated as an adsorption filter. Adsorption groundwater groundwater treatment iron water treatment © IWA Publishing 2004 | 1,453 | 728 | 0.001392 |
warc | 201704 | Gout is a disorder that involves faulty metabolism of uric acid. As a result, it causes arthritis or inflammation of the joints of the smaller bones of the feet, along with accumulation of chalkstones, and episodes of short-term pain.
According to National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, gout can cause symptoms, such as pain, swelling, redness, heat, and joint stiffness. Also, a person is more inclined to have the musculoskeletal disorder if he has relatives with the disease, weighs more than ideal, drinks too much alcohol, has been exposed to lead, has had an organ transplant, and eats food sources that contain purine. Some medications like levodopa, cyclosporine, aspirin, and diuretics also contribute to the development of the disorder.
In line with gout management, the following are some meal recipes one can prepare.
Curried Carrot, Sweet Potato, and Ginger Soup
Carrots, potatoes, and ginger are three food choices that contain low purine levels, thus a curried meal including the three of them will be a friendly one for a person with gout. According to Health, the ingredients for the dish include three cups or half-inch peeled sweet potato (cubed), one and a half cups or one-fourth inch peeled carrots (sliced), a tablespoon of curry powder, half cup of chopped shallots, two teaspoons of curry powder, and three cups of fat-free and less-sodium chicken broth. According to the publication, vegetable stock can be used instead of chicken broth, since the latter has more purine content.
To prepare, oil is heated in a large saucepan over medium to high heat. Then, the shallots are added and are sauteed for three minutes or until tender. After that, the carrots, potatoes, ginger, and curry are added and are cooked for two minutes. Next, the broth or stock is also added and is brought to a boil. Then, the pan is covered and the heat is reduced and simmered for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Once done, salt is added. As per the publication, half of the soup is poured in a food processor and is pulsed until smooth. The procedure is also done with the remaining soup.
Tomato and Cucumber Sandwich
Vegetables like tomatoes and cucumber are also food choices that are not harmful to a person with gout. Experts found out that vegetables contain alkaline, which means they are capable of neutralizing the acidic effects of increased uric acid levels. According to Healthy Eating, Usually, these vegetables are seen in sandwiches; thus, tomato and cucumber sandwich is a qualified meal for gout.
According to Veg Recipes of India, the recipe ingredients include eight to ten slices of whole wheat or brown or white sandwich bread, one tomato (thinly sliced), one cucumber (thinly sliced), black pepper or pepper powder, cumin powder, butter, and salt.
To prepare, the sliced tomatoes and cucumber are set aside while the edges of the bread are cut, with butter being applied evenly on the breads and kept aside. After spreading butter on the bread, the slices of tomato and cucumber are arranged on top. Then, add the pepper powder, salt and cumin powder. Salt may not be added if the butter applied is already salted or if the sandwiches are set to be taken during picnic or travel, since it promotes moisture. Once done, another slice of buttered bread is placed to cover the tomato and cucumber slices. The sandwiches can be served with potato wafers and tomato sauce.
Overall, gout is a condition that could adversely impact one’s health, including the activities of daily living. Thus, meals that help lower the uric acid should help manage the disease process. This way, the person’s optimum level of function will also be achieved. | 3,728 | 1,734 | 0.00058 |
warc | 201704 | 251 Main St
Westport, CT 06880
369 Main Street
West Haven, CT 06516
255 Cherry Street
Milford, CT 06460
Alliger, Jason D D.D.S.
276 Highland Ave Waterbury, CT, 06708-3022
Russo, John M D.D.S.
300 Hebron Ave # 210 Glastonbury, CT, 06033-2192
Jiang, Jin D.D.S.
366 Middle Tpke W Manchester, CT, 06040-3824
Ungar, Martin J D.D.S.
1 Torrington Office Plz # 306 Torrington, CT, 06790-3855
The appearance of your teeth is heavily impacted by the position of the surrounding gum tissue. In a normal situation, two teeth that are side by side in your mouth have contact with each other. Below this contact, the area is filled in with gum tissue in the shape of a triangle. This triangular-shaped gum tissue is called the papilla. It is not uncommon to have an empty space in the area where the papilla is supposed to be. If this occurs, the result is perceived as a black space.
They are caused by a loss of the gum tissue itself or by the shape and/or position of the teeth. For any black space that is present, the first thing that needs to be done is to diagnose what caused it to occur. Once this is done, the restorative dentistry treatment choice can be made. The best decision will be the most conservative treatment that corrects the black space.
One of the most common causes of loss of gum tissue is due to the gum disease known as periodontitis. This gum disease acts on the supporting bone around the teeth, causing a loss of bone. This loss of bony support causes the papilla to slump and flatten, creating a black space between the teeth. The first step in treating the resulting black space in this situation is to treat the cause. Once the gum disease is under control, the black spaces can then be addressed with restorative dentistry.
To remove the black spaces, the teeth need to have restorations placed that will change the shape of the teeth and fill in this space. The type of restorative dentistry can vary depending on whether or not there are any other problems with the teeth. The simplest and most conservative restoration is composite, a tooth-colored filling material. It can be bonded directly on the tooth in the area of the black space. Since it is placed only in the affected area, the situation where this is used requires that the overall appearance of the tooth is acceptable and does not need to be changed.
If the overall appearance of the tooth needs to be altered, then a different type of restorative dentistry needs to be used. The choice is either a dental veneer or a dental crown. The choice between the two depends on both the appearance and the structural changes that need to be done. Usually, to correct a black space, both teeth on either side need to be restored. In doing this, the symmetry between the teeth will remain the same. If you restored just one tooth, you would end up with one tooth being wider than the other. The advantage of using restorative dentistry to correct black spaces is that it usually results in a shorter treatment time.
Another cause of the black space is due to the position of the teeth themselves. One example is teeth that are tilted towards each other. When this occurs, the area for your gum tissue to fill becomes too large for the amount of tissue you have. This same concept may occur with certain types of tooth shapes. In these instances, the restorative dentistry treatment of choice is to use orthodontics (braces) to align the teeth. The advantage of doing this is that the black space will disappear without having to do any restorations on the teeth.
By Greggory Kinzer, DDS, MSD
Most dentists will agree that the tooth crown is at the heart of general dentistry. They've all studied dental crowns in dental school, and some have done their best work replacing a missing tooth and saving the rest.
Research has given them the wherewithal to achieve virtually ideal restorations. They are natural looking, comfortable and stable in the moist environment of the mouth. Cosmetic dentistry professionals are better equipped now more than ever to build strong, long-lasting and cosmetically superior dental crowns.
A crown (or cap) is a restoration placed over broken teeth or a cracked tooth that cannot sustain a conventional filling. By covering the biting surfaces and sides of the tooth, a dental crown strengthens the damaged tooth by binding together the remaining structures. There are basically three kinds of full-crown restorations that can be placed by your cosmetic dentist, each with pros and cons, depending on your situation.
A gold crown or metal alloy crowns have the longest track record for durability, but some people object to the look of metal.
A full porcelain crown - and its new ceramic cousin - looks wonderful and fits well; however, porcelain crowns are usually best on front teeth where stress is not so great.
Porcelain-fused-to-metal dental crowns are our loyal work-horses for single-tooth restoration - they're very strong.
There are elements of finesse in the creation of any crown. The fit is the thing. The teeth must be prepared with opposing teeth in mind so a good bite won't go bad after the crown is placed. The fit must accommodate adjacent teeth, too. And the "margin," the part of the crown nearest the gum, must fit smoothly to protect the health of gum tissue.
And all this effort is to one end: to save a tooth. | 5,375 | 2,446 | 0.000411 |
warc | 201704 | OH! I keep forgetting to tell you. I had an "A-HA" moment the other day when I was having a phone interview for a magazine. Almost every interview is different, and they all give me something to think about as they ask questions that I really haven't thought about before.
This lady asked me just what the weight loss means for me. I really had to think quite hard to come up with something that reflected just exactly what it means.
The best word I could come up with was " FREEDOM".
I have decided that this one word describes it all so clearly.
*****Freedom from the constraints (both physically AND mentally) of being in a morbidly obese body.*****
Freedom to be the person that you have always believed you can be.
Freedom to act the way you have always wanted to act, without the fear of people looking at the 'fat lady' and wondering what on earth she thinks she is doing. Just today, I bought a soft serve low fat yoghurt and ate it while I wandered around the mall on my own while I was waiting for hubby. Before I would have worried that people would judge me for what I was eating.
Freedom to partake in activities that non-obese people take for granted. Just the other day I went to our Royal Show (big fair) and I could go through the turnstiles just like everyone else. I didn't have to go through the pram/pusher entrance like I did the last time I went.
Freedom to take on the world. Last year hubby and I went for a holiday to the U.S. Hubby had the chance to go to a Microsoft Summit and I was SO happy to be able to share that holiday with him. He wouldn't have gone on his own and before I wouldn't have even attempted such a trip as I would have been too big for the plane seats, too big for the taxi (couldn't fit seatbelts around me), too big for climbing on the back of the truck for the photographic safari... etc... etc... He would have missed out on an incredible opportunity because of my size.
Freedom to live life to the fullest. This one I am still working on, but I constantly amaze myself with the things that I am now willing to do. I just thought I didn't LIKE them before, but it was actually that my size restricted me from doing them. For example, jogging. I used to say that I would NEVER jog, now I love it. Another example is catching public transport. I used to say that it was EASIER to just drive myself, but it is actually easier to catch public transport a lot of the time.
Freedom to eat wherever I like! No more checking out restaurants beforehand to see if the chairs have arms on them. No more worrying about going to friends' houses to eat, just in case they try to get you to sit in those small plastic white chairs.
Freedom to shop for clothes that I LIKE, not just ones that fit. I used to tell myself that clothes shopping was frivolous and only shallow people could find pleasure in such a menial task. Well, now that I can actually FIT into a wide range of clothes, I LOVE clothes shopping. I love just trying clothes on a lot of the time, simply to see that they are fit. I love having to swap clothes for a SMALLER size. I love being able to buy 4 or 5 pieces of clothing (or even more) for the same price I used to have to pay for one. I even love shopping for shoes, because my foot is still big, but not bigger than the regular sizes in stores.
Simply... FREEDOM TO BE ME
I just wanted to let you all know that . FREEDOM AWAITS YOU
Many of you may not have the same problems as those I have mentioned above, and to you I just say "I am SO envious". I used to not believe they were problems for me, but I now see that they were, but I became very good at hiding them, or finding excuses, that had nothing to do with my size, to avoid doing things. I am not saying that YOU do this, but that was something I would use to survive as a morbidly obese adult. I became a master at convincing myself that my weight wasn't a problem for me and the restrictions I had placed upon myself had to be caused by something else. I am still amazed that I believed that for so very long.
Well, that was pretty deep, but I just felt SO enlightened that I wanted to share it with you all.
Take care,
Zelma | 4,173 | 2,003 | 0.000502 |
warc | 201704 | Editorials Reducing Headache Disability in Children and Adolescents Am Fam Physician. 2002 Feb 15;65(4):554-558.
Headache is a frequent, disabling occurrence in children and adolescents. Migraine affects 11 percent of persons between the ages of five and 15, while tension-type headache occurs in 1 percent of persons in this age group.1 Migraine prevalence peaks at 12 years of age, and these headaches affect 19 percent of children who are 12 years of age.1 In a recent survey of U.S. high school students, more than 20 percent of adolescents reported having weekly headaches, with 11 percent of girls and 3.5 percent of boys reporting daily headaches.2 Children with headache lose 7.8 instructional days per school year compared with 3.7 days in children without headache.2
As Dr. Lewis highlights in an article in this issue of American Family Physician,3 a comprehensive treatment approach to headache—medication supplemented by a reduction in psychologic distress and behavior modification—is often valuable. Significant personal stressors (e.g., family separation, moving, death) occur within 12 months of headache onset in 73 percent of adolescents.4 Depressive symptoms are reported by 86 percent of teenagers with daily headache.5 Depressive symptoms and low self-esteem are premorbid predictors of adolescent headache in girls.2
In children with significant school absenteeism, possible contributing psychosocial stressors such as school, family, or relationship problems should be investigated. Migraine occurs more often in children who report feelings of unhappiness, fear of school failure, or fear of a teacher.6 In addition, feeling bullied is associated with frequent headache episodes in children between seven-and-a-half and 10 years of age.7 Frequent school absenteeism is a significant stressor that results in a decrease in academic performance, social interaction with peers, and self-esteem. These factors often aggravate pain perception.8
When treatment begins, resumption of regular routines should also occur. Caregivers should assure that the child or adolescent does the following:
Maintain a regular bedtime. Children should be in bed no later than 10 p.m. If unable to sleep, they can listen to a radio or read a book. Watching television or snacking after bedtime should not be permitted.
Maintain a regular rise time. Allow adequate time to prepare for school. Regular bedtime and rise times should be maintained for all children, including those who are home schooled.
Maintain regular mealtimes.
Maintain a regular homework time and location. Homework should not be done while watching television.
Maintain enjoyable leisure activities. Encourage activities that include socialization and physical activity while limiting computer, video, and television time.
Good school participation, including regular attendance, must be a top priority. School is important for social, emotional, and intellectual development. If a child or adolescent has been unable to attend school, physicians and caregivers should work with the school nurses, guidance counselors, and teachers to facilitate a return to school and to maintain attendance. A return to school can begin with attendance at low-stress classes and lunch period.
If headaches occur during the school day, the child should be allowed to leave the classroom to go to the nurse. The nurse may administer prescribed medication and facilitate pain management techniques such as those described here. Unless the child is vomiting, he or she should return to the classroom after 15 to 20 minutes.
Psychologic skills, such as cognitive training, stress management, relaxation, and biofeedback, are particularly beneficial in children and adolescents.9–12 The following techniques can be as effective as standard medication therapy:11
Cognitive training. Cognitive training helps change negative perceptions of headache and reduces catastrophic thinking, which may increase the occurrence of headaches.
Relaxation techniques. Relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, cue-controlled breathing, and biofeedback should be taught by trained personnel. The use of self-help books and relaxation tapes without professional training is usually not effective.
Exercise instills a feeling of general well being and may reduce chronic headache.13,14 Exercise should include stretching and general aerobic exercise at least three times a week. Physical education classes can count as one day of aerobic exercise. Stretching exercises involving the neck and shoulder girdle should be done twice daily. In addition, flare management techniques (e.g., oscillatory movements, positional distraction, and trigger point compression) can be taught by a physical therapist.
The parents' role in this process is not to get rid of the child's pain, but rather to assure that the child gets up, gets dressed, and gets to school every day unless the child is vomiting. Parents also need to reinforce and encourage participation in normal activities.
The child should be encouraged to focus on positive elements about himself or herself—being a musician, an athlete, a good student, a scout, etc.,—rather than focusing on the headache. The headache should be only a small part of the child's identity. A combination of caregiver support, behavioral techniques, and effective medication can improve headache and its associated disability in most children and adolescents.
REFERENCESshow all references
1. Abu-Arefeh I, Russell G. Prevalence of headache and migraine in schoolchildren.
BMJ. 1994;309:765–9....
2. Rhee H. Prevalence and predictors of headaches in US adolescents.
Headache. 2000;40:528–38.
3. Lewis DW. Headaches in children and adolescents.
Am Fam Physician. 2002;65:625–32,635–6.
4. Kaiser RS, Primavera JP. Failure to mourn as a possible contributory factor to headache onset in adolescence.
Headache. 1993;33:69–72.
5. Kaiser RS. Depression in adolescent headache patients.
Headache. 1992;32:340–4.
6. Anttila P, Metsahonkala L, Helenius H, Sillanpaa M. Predisposing and provoking factors in childhood headache.
Headache. 2000;40:351–6.
7. Williams K, Chambers M, Logan S, Robinson D. Association of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children.
BMJ. 1996;313:17–9.
8. Sullivan MJ, Thorn B, Haythorn-Waite JA, et al. Theoretical perspectives on the relation between catastrophizing and pain.
Clin J Pain. 2001;17:52–64.
9. Hermann C, Blanchard EB, Flor H. Biofeedback treatment for pediatric migraine: prediction of treatment outcome.
J Consult Clin Psychol. 1997;65:611–6.
10. Scharff L, Schor N, Marcus D, Painter M. A controlled study of biofeedback in pediatric migraine patients.
Headache. 1998;38:403.
11. Sartory G, Muller B, Metsch J, Pothmann R. A comparison of psychological and pharmacological treatment of pediatric migraine.
Behav Res Ther. 1998;36:1155–70.
12. Osterhaus SO, Passchier J, van der Helm-Hylkema H, de Jong KT, Orlebeke JF, de Grauw AJ, et al. Effects of behavioral pathophysiological treatment on schoolchildren with migraine in a nonclinical setting: predictors and process variables.
J Pediatr Psychol. 1993;18:697–715.
13. Darling M. The use of exercise as a method of aborting migraine.
Headache. 1991;31:616–8.
14. Lockett DM, Campbell JF. The effects of aerobic exercise on migraine.
Headache. 1992;32:50–4.
Copyright © 2002 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact afpserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.
Want to use this article elsewhere? Get Permissions | 8,072 | 3,674 | 0.000277 |
warc | 201704 | FROM THE EDITOR Solo Practice: Can It Survive?
The environment is tougher than ever. Proactive revenue management and direct pay models provide opportunities for small practices.
Fam Pract Manag. 2014 May-June;21(3):4.
Like the apocryphal misquote of Mark Twain, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” solo private practice has been dying for a long time. We've heard threats of its imminent demise for more than 20 years. Yet has the time finally come? With the ever expanding plethora of regulatory requirements and restrictions, the daily struggle of having one's bills constantly challenged by insurers, and the move toward “value-based” medicine, one has to wonder if physicians can still go it alone.
We are seeing four main responses to this dilemma. The first is to throw in the towel and become employed by a hospital or health care system. This appears to be the most popular response. The second is to join a large group practice in the hope that a bigger group of physicians with more resources and market clout will be able to do reasonably well while maintaining some autonomy. The third is to transition to an alternate model of care, such as concierge practice or direct primary care practice. The fourth option is to hunker down, keep at it, and hope the storm will pass.
In this issue, two of our four feature articles deal with the issue of getting paid. Reimbursement is a problem for all health care providers but a particularly onerous one for the resource-limited solo physician. With the recent rise in the number of high-deductible health plans, patients are increasingly failing to pay their bills. This obviously hurts our practices. The article by Ciletti discusses how you can try to immunize your practice from unpaid bills.
The retainer-based practice model (concierge practices and some direct primary care practices fall into this category) is controversial. Twiddy's article describes a retainer-based practice in which the physician has a very small panel (350 patients), provides 45-minute appointments, and charges an annual retainer fee ranging from $1,200 to $2,400, depending on the degree of access the patient desires.
Other models of direct primary care exist (see the FPM direct primary care topic collection). Some involve no retainer fees but instead use standard visit charges billed directly to the patient and collected at the time of service, leaving the patient, rather than the physician, dealing with the insurance company.
By design, it would appear, retainer-based practices are a niche product, one that will seem affordable only to a small subset of the populace. Unless the retainer fees drop dramatically, it is highly unlikely that we'll see these types of practices on every corner.
On the other hand, the growing number of relatively healthy patients with high-deductible plans may be attracted to direct primary care practices that offer clear, standardized, reasonable cash prices for their services. Only time will tell if the model gains traction.
I would be very interested in hearing from our solo-practice readers regarding what choices they are making and why.
Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact fpmserv@aafp.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.
Want to use this article elsewhere? Get Permissions
More in FPM
Related Articles Editor's Collections Related Topic Searches
MOST RECENT ISSUE
Jan-Feb 2017
Access the latest issue of
Family Practice Management | 3,921 | 1,998 | 0.000506 |
warc | 201704 | Page tools: Print PagePrint All RSS Search this Product DATA INTERPRETATION 6 A previous Survey of Voluntary Work was conducted in June 1995 as a supplementary topic to the Monthly Population Survey (MPS). The two survey methodologies differ and results from the 1995 survey have been recalculated to achieve greater comparability (see Technical Note 2: Reprocessing of 1995 Data). 7 Volunteers may work for more than one organisation and may undertake more than one type of activity for each organisation. During the interview, volunteers were asked to provide information on their work in the previous 12 months for up to three organisations. If they had worked for more than three organisations, questions about the types of organisations and activities undertaken were restricted to the three organisations for which they had worked the most hours. In tables showing type of organisation, a volunteer may therefore be counted up to three times. For example, if a volunteer worked for two sport/recreation organisations and one community/welfare organisation, that volunteer would be counted twice under sport/recreation and once under community/welfare. In tables showing type of voluntary activity, a volunteer may be counted multiple times through undertaking several types of activity for one organisation, one type of activity for up to three organisations or several activities for up to three organisations. 8 The survey provided an estimate of 4.4 million volunteers. In aggregate they had 6.5 million involvements with organisations, undertook 15.7 million activities and contributed 704.1 million hours of voluntary work. Where volunteer involvement or activity rates are shown in tables, the denominator used is total volunteers. SYDNEY 2000 OLYMPIC VOLUNTEERS 9 During the survey development phase it was recognised that the expected large volunteer work force for the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games could impact on the survey results and affect comparability with the 1995 results. Any voluntary work for the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games or for the Olympic Road Transport Authority has been excluded from the survey estimates. RELATED PUBLICATIONS 10 Other ABS publications which may be of interest include: How Australians Use Their Time, 199 7 (Cat. no. 4153.0) Unpaid Work and the Australian Economy,1997 (Cat. no. 5240.0) Involvement in Sport, Australia, 1997 (Cat. no. 6285.0) Work in Selected Culture/Leisure Activities, Australia, 1998-99 (Cat. no. 6281.0)
Document Selection
These documents will be presented in a new window. | 2,578 | 1,217 | 0.000823 |
warc | 201704 | It seems corporate America is more concerned about recruiting and retaining talented employees than it is about the lifestyle choices those employees make outside of work.
Charlotte Observer reported that more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100 companies are now offering health benefits to same-sex couples, even as national debate on the issue rages on.
According to a recent survey conducted by Robert Half Management, 1,400 CFOs, ranked "recruiting and retaining qualified staff" as the third top priority for success in 2005, just behind "growing revenue" and "controlling expenses," the Observer reported.
Duke Energy, a conservative utility based in the South, found that offering domestic partner benefits "has been shown to aid in both attracting and retaining employees," Duke Chairman and CEO Paul Anderson said in a news release last week.
The company, which employs more than 22,000 people internationally, is in hot competition to woo MBAs and other professionals, many of whom are seeking a corporate culture that embraces diversity, regardless of their sexual orientation, the Observer reported.
"There's a business need" for offering domestic-partner benefits, Steve Graybill, a Charlotte health-care consultant with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, told the Observer. "Duke didn't do it just to do it."
Trending
The trend is not new among Charlotte's larger banks, which have offered domestic partner benefits for years.
NationsBank, now Bank of America Corp., adopted the policy in 1998, the same year it acquired San Francisco-based BankAmerica. Wachovia Corp., formerly based in Winston-Salem, started offering domestic partner benefits in 2001, before its merger with Charlotte-based First Union that year. As of last week, Duke began offering so-called soft benefits such as bereavement leave, adoption assistance and relocation services to domestic partners. Medical and dental coverage will be offered Jan. 1, the Observer reported.
Despite the fact that offering benefits to domestic partners will increase Duke's annual benefits budget by up to 1.5 percent, the costs will not be passed on to employees, a Duke spokesman told the Observer. | 2,190 | 1,129 | 0.000895 |
warc | 201704 | Fastest weight loss program
8 Apr 2011 Dr Mike Moreno says dieters can expect weight-loss of 10-12lb in just you at your goal weight through a program of eating that lets you enjoy Its average rating of moderately effective for long-term weight loss reflects the Experts appreciated, among other aspects of the program, the value of the
Working on weight loss Then you probably want results -- fast. Let me save you some time: skip the fad diets. Their results don39t last. And you have healthier
6 Apr 2007 Fat Loss via Better Science and Simplicity It is possible to lose 20 lbs. of bodyfat in Of course, if people would stop thinking of weight loss in terms of caloric .. the metaboliq program and tracking my progress on my website This simple 3 step weight loss plan is proven to bring fast results, supported by many studies. Losing 5-10 pounds in the first week is common Vegetarian diets and weight loss go hand it hand. It is the healthiest and the fastest way to shed pounds. This vegetarian diet program has become famous
17-day diet: Dr Mike Moreno promises a quick fix to drop pounds fast
3 Jan 2014 If you are looking to kick start a new weight loss routine or conquer a diet .. Really could use more information on staying on the program for Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness refers to a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose
But you also know that most diets and quick weight-loss plans. Those assigned to an Internet-based weight maintenance program sustained their weight loss 14 Feb 2014 You want to shed weight for an upcom-ing event. Do you (a) accept A New Weight Loss Device Literally Zaps Away Your . 07 . By following all the program39s advice on nutrition and training I39ve already lost 24lbs of fat | 1,814 | 995 | 0.001009 |
warc | 201704 | Texas home warranty calls on the rise
The amount of money paid out in claims in Texas during 1999 also rose dramatically, according to the TWA. Approx-imately $62 million was saved by Texas consumers on repairs and replacement last year, well over three times what was paid out in claims during 1995.
“The dramatically increasing use of residential service contracts by individual Texas homeowners reflects a growing understanding of the coverages and provisions of our product and the value-added benefits they provide,” said Sharon Harrison, TWA president and owner of Nation’s Preferred Home Warranty.
Harrison added that there is a growing awareness among consumers that there is a high likelihood (in over 60% of sales) of an average of two major items in the home failing during the first year of ownership. TWA figures showed that nearly two service calls are made per household per year with the average claim in 1999 being $112.98.
Harrison added some other reasons for the surge in service calls. “We have an average of 300 families moving to the Dallas area every month,” she said. “We are also seeing an increase in the number of renewable warranties, which people keep after a home has been sold, for example.”
She said she works with four contractors in the Dallas area and guarantees them a yearly income.
“I pay technicians for each house for an entire year, not per call,” she added. “So every month they get a check from me, even in slow times.”
Harrison also noted that the consolidation trend in the hvacr industry has drained the availability of experienced technicians, driving up the cost of contractor-supplied warranties. | 1,710 | 880 | 0.001181 |
warc | 201704 | The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation on Tuesday announced an agreement with UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to offer generic HIV antiretroviral drugs to more than 100 developing nations at steeply discounted prices. The agreement extends a deal reached last year between the groups to offer the cheap generic drugs to 16 poor countries. A triple-drug generic regimen will be provided to the developing nations by Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla, Matrix Laboratories, and Hetero Drugs--all of India--and Aspen Pharmacare in South Africa at a cost as low as $140 per person per year. The discounted generic versions of patented brand-name drugs will be available to any nation that receives aid from the World Bank, UNICEF, or the global fund. The price of the generic anti-HIV drugs is one third to one half the cost of the most steeply discounted brand-name drug regimen available in developing nations.
"With these agreements, we are one step closer to making sure future generations can live without the scourge of AIDS," Clinton said in a statement. "We are hopeful that developing countries and those who support them in the fight against AIDS will take full advantage of this agreement and act quickly to do all they can to help in this fight."
Clinton's foundation has previously negotiated price discounts on HIV viral-load and T-cell diagnostic tests for developing nations. The tests, including machines, training, chemicals, and maintenance, are offered to poor countries at a discount of up to 80% from normal market prices.
The governments of each country participating in the generic drug program will be responsible for purchasing the drugs directly or outsourcing the task to procurement agencies, including UNICEF. Some countries, like South Africa and China, will use their own funds to buy the anti-HIV medications, while most of the other poor nations will use grants and donations to purchase the drugs. All participating countries will be required to establish secure drug distribution channels to prevent the cheap medications from being reimported to and sold in Western nations.
The announcement comes on the heels of news last week from an international AIDS meeting in Botswana that the Bush administration continues to oppose using U.S. international AIDS funds to purchase generic anti-HIV medications until studies can be done to prove the drugs meet Food and Drug Administration standards. The World Health Organization has already studied the drugs and approved their efficacy and safety. U.S. officials have questioned whether the WHO drug screening process is thorough enough and claim they want to ensure that the drugs will not contribute to the development of drug-resistant HIV strains through widespread or improper distribution and use of the medications.
AIDS activists praised the news of the Clinton Foundation-brokered agreement and offered criticism of Bush's ongoing opposition to generic anti-HIV medications. "The historic Clinton Foundation drug pricing and distribution deal is a powerful slap to President Bush's arrogant attempts to limit the use of generic AIDS medicines to suit the whims of his pharmaceutical backers," said Paul Davis of Health GAP in a press release. "The Clinton approach represents the direction Bush administration policy should take if the White House is serious about fighting AIDS."
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry supports the use of generic anti-HIV medications in developing nations. | 3,553 | 1,673 | 0.0006 |
warc | 201704 | Japan’s Inpex has locked in a record $US20 billion worth of project financing for its huge Ichthys liquefied natural gas project in Darwin.
The deal comes as legal challenges mount for almost $US4.7 billion of United States-backed funding of similar plants under construction in Queensland.
Inpex’s debt package comprises $US5.8 billion in direct loans from export credit agencies, and $US4.8 billion in loans from 24 commercial banks, believed to include $US2.45 billion from Australian lenders.
As reported in
The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column,
Inpex’s and Ichthys partner Total’s success with the debt package comes as funding provided by the US Export-Import Bank for LNG ventures in Queensland led by BG Group and Origin Energy is thrown into doubt because of a legal challenge.
The Centre for Biological Diversity said on Tuesday that it would expand its legal action lodged last week against funding for Origin’s Australia Pacific LNG venture to include BG’s Queensland Curtis LNG project.
Sarah Uhlemann, a spokeswoman for the group, said the existing complaint would be amended in mid-February to include QCLNG.
She said the Endangered Species Act required the group to provide 60 days’ notice before it filed suit and it filed its QCLNG notice letter last week.
The US Export-Import Bank provided $US1.8 billion of project debt for QCLNG in November, Ms Uhlemann said. It also provided $US2.866 billion of funds for the APLNG venture earlier in the year. “Our primary focus for the litigation is on the impacts to marine species and the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, as US law provides us a better opportunity to address those impacts," she said.
Last week’s lawsuit, filed on December 13 in the Northern District of California, asserts violations of the US Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, which implements US obligations under the World Heritage Convention. The groups said the project, partly owned by US major ConocoPhillips, would threaten sea turtles, dugongs and other protected marine species, as well as the great Barrier Reef. They said APLNG “doesn’t meet US standards".
Ms Uhlemann said the groups were also concerned about the impact of fracking at the thousands of coal seam gas wells that will be drilled to supply gas for the LNG plants.
Unlike the Queensland plants, Inpex’s project involves tapping conventional gas offshore. The US bank isn’t among the several ECAs supporting the project.
The funding includes $US5 billion from Japan Bank for International Cooperation, while Australia’s Export Finance and Insurance Corporation is also a direct lender as is Korea’s ECA. ECAs are also insuring or guaranteeing $US5.4 billion of commercial loans, while Inpex and Total are issuing sponsor loans for $US4 billion in total.
Inpex described the completion of the financing deal as “a major milestone" for the venture, which would contribute to Japan’s security of energy supply and diversification of energy sources.
Despite the huge cost of the project and the risk of blowouts throughout the red-hot LNG construction sector in Australia, Ichthys LNG is regarded as an attractive target for lenders, partly because of indirect backing from the Japanese government, which owns a stake in Inpex.
LNG from the plant will be shipped to Japan and Taiwan.
The Australian Financial Review | 3,484 | 1,682 | 0.000614 |
warc | 201704 | In the first part of this piece, we looked at how easy it was to get an apartment to rent in Congo Pointe Noire, in this concluding part we talk cost implications and rental dynamics from Congo’s commercial hub. Standardized Cost
An average air-conditioned one bedroom with hall, kitchen, toilet and bathroom plus fitted water heater costs maximum 150,000 CFA ($260) per month.
Back home, you could buy power (prepaid credits) weekly, tariffs are over the roof in the wake of power crisis known as "dumsor" for that Congo is ahead of us by miles.
The amount is rather on the high side for most locals who mostly live in structures that are not up to those that expatriates easily rent here.
The poverty statistics is estimated at 74.8% in rural areas, compared with 32.3% in urban areas, according to the 2011 Congolese household survey (Enquête Congolaise auprès desménages, ECOM).
Fatimata is all smiles when the time is up to pay for the rent. This is because she shares a two bedroom apartment with a colleague, so they have to split the 250,000 CFA ($ 435) cost. But she is not exactly happy that she has to share especially a common washroom, sitting area and kitchen with her co-tenant.
Depending on where the house is, a client could use water for free as Emmanuel attests, “We have a tank in our home, it’s filled every weekend and it’s free,” he says with a smile.
The power situation is slightly different though but also relatively cheaper because bills are brought after every a month and half sometimes in two months here in Congo and they are very affordable compared to the situation in Ghana.
“Back home, you could buy power (prepaid credits) weekly, tariffs are over the roof in the wake of power crisis known as “dumsor” for that Congo is ahead of us by miles,“ Emmanuel further attested.
Cheap ‘Caution’ instead of huge ‘Rent Advance’
Once a price is agreed, a client pays the agent a month’s rent as agency fees. So in the case of a one bedroom for instance, the client pays 150,000 CFA ($ 260) to the agent. Then a two month advance to the landlord i.e. 300,000 CFA ($ 520) as “Caution”.
Subsequently, a person is expected to pay his monthly rent at the beginning of the month for as long as he occupies the apartment, increases could be discussed but they are rare.
Caution is an investment deposit of sort that the client is entitled to reclaim when quitting the apartment. The condition being that there are no damages during their stay. That money goes into repairs with the remainder paid back.
Emmanuel totally loves the module. Fatimata tells us it’s a largely Francophone rental system.
The Ghanaian system as Emmanuel explains is one where the client and landlord agree on a month’s fee but the problem is, the client must pay at least a 24-month equivalent of the agreed sum at a go.
With that, the tenant stays till the expiry of the duration then has to cough up same to renew the tenancy. More often than not, landlords revise upwards their fees after each expiration. But as is the case in Congo, tenants take care of their utility bills.
Abraham Maslow in his famous ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ placed shelter in level two (Safety Needs), second to biological and physiological needs. A testament that a roof over one’s head is important and dignifying, more so in the case of corporate executives like Fatimata and Emmanuel who have the financial muscle to pay and live comfortably.
Shaban Abdur Rahman Alfa Africanews web journalist Congo’s commercial hub of Pointe Noire. | 3,650 | 1,800 | 0.000579 |
warc | 201704 | Bloat Free Pastures
Feb 24, 2012
Are your Legume Pastures Cattle Friendly?
Legumes can capture nitrogen from the air and use it for their own growth as well as for the benefit of other plants around them. The bacteria that inhabit root nodules trigger a chemical reaction to convert nitrogen gas into a form that is easily used by the plant and put back into the soil.
"Sunken Crown" Alfalfa varieties are by far the most widely used forage legumes. However, other legumes such as Red & White Clovers can also provide significant benefits. And all of the following legumes can increase soil fertility:
Alfalfa
White clover (best legume for Pigs and Lambs)
Red clover (Frost seed in March)
Bird's-foot trefoil (non-bloating) hard to establish and short lived
Grazing Legume Pastures
Intensive Rotational grazing (
quick in & quick out), is practiced to retain legume leaf area for continued photosynthesis and plant growth. Livestock are rotated into a new section of a field before entire plants are grazed down. This type of grazing management allows for optimum returns as it benefits both the cattle and the pasture.
Legumes must have appropriate rest to recover and re-grow. This rest period will help maintain the health and sustainability of the pasture. For example, once cattle are removed from an alfalfa pasture, the pasture should rest for 28 to 35 days before re-grazing. Of course that rest period may be much longer depending on rainfall and heating degree day’s.
Continuous stocking may be sufficient to maintain a grazing animal, but the practice does not optimize either animal or pasture productivity. This type of management has lower input costs, but it also results in lower rates of gain, since animals spend more time searching for forages. In addition, legumes will not tolerate continuous grazing, and the plants will not survive if they are not given enough time to recover and re-grow. And it is strongly recommended that you select a "Sunken Crown" variety of Alfalfa so that the plant’s are not damaged by cattle hoof impact. In Northern regions the sunken crown varieties will also give the stands a better winter survival rate. Frothy Bloat
Producers have found that feeding/grazing legumes can sometimes cause frothy bloat in cattle. The condition results from the quick degradation and fermentation of plant material in the rumen especially when first introduced to lush green pastures for the first time in the spring. The fermentation gases produced in the animal accumulate and become trapped in a thick foam. The foam prevents the animal from being able to burp up the gases, and this factor may lead to the animal's death.
High Bloat Risk Factors
Forage maturity is the most significant contributing factor in pasture bloat. Your knowledge of plant growth and maturity stages can go a long way toward preventing bloat.
The highest risk of bloat occurs when legumes are in the pre-bud or vegetative stage. As the plant matures, the risk of bloat declines. Studies have found bloat to be twice as likely to occur when plants are grazed at a height of 8 to 10 inches rather than at a height of 20 to 30 inches. If immature plants are wet from morning dew or rain, there is also an increased risk of bloat since the water tends to speed up the rate of digestion.
In the fall, there is an increased potential for bloat after a frost because plant cells burst and become readily digestible. Soil type also seems to play a role in the incidence of pasture bloat. It is possible to determine when the bloat risk is high. However, a visual evaluation of a pasture containing legumes does not give a concrete prediction of bloat potential. Therefore, producers should also rely on good management practices to reduce the risk of legume bloat such as regulating the amount of time you allow your cattle to graze legume filled pastures in the spring.
We will turn them out for ½ hour a day for the first week while still giving them dry hay to help their rumen transition to all fresh grass/legumes. The second week, allow them one hour in the morning and another hour in the late afternoon. By the 3
rd week, they should be good to go out on pasture all day but still allowing them plenty of dry hay so they can regulate their dry matter intake until their manure is of an acceptable consistency and not shooting out of them like a fire hose!! | 4,411 | 2,101 | 0.00048 |
warc | 201704 | Rapid Relief from Itchy Lichen Planus Rash Relieves persistent itch, blisters, and pain Speeds the healing of sores FDA-registered remedy Improvement in 24 hours for even stubborn symptoms* 90-day, risk-free guarantee
Spend $60 and we will thank you by providing free standard shipping on your order.* You are welcome to combine this offer with any other discount or coupon.
*This offer includes free USPS ground shipping to the US, free Royal Mail for UK/EU customers and free USPS 1st Class Intl Air Mail for international customers. You do not need to enter a promotion code to take advantage of this offer. The shipping fee is automatically deducted at checkout.
Promotion is for free shipping only; the value of the free shipping may not be applied to your purchase of an expedited shipping option, such as FedEx next day.
Terrasil Itch, Rash & Pain Relief Ointment is an advanced all-in-one skin relief system in a jar. This powerful new FDA-registered formula combines the latest science with the finest organic and natural ingredients for superior results.
Terrasil Itch, Rash & Pain ointment features a powerful anesthetic (pain-relieving) ingredient, as well as a soothing skin protectant. Together, they rapidly relieve pain and protect skin against infection.
Terrasil is the only itch, rash, and pain product available that uses patented Activated Minerals, a unique blend of Volcanic Clay (Bentonite), Zinc Oxide and Magnesium Oxide. This technology was developed to facilitate faster, directed delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients to significantly enhance their performance. In addition to their drug delivery properties, each of the ingredients that comprise Activated Minerals have specific skin care benefits.
Aidance provides skincare solutions to customers in 150 countries and we’re pleased to share their positive feedback. Although we offer a 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee, less than 3% of customers request refunds. (Statistic is based on the average return rate for all products over a seven-year period.)
Lichen Planus causes firm, shiny, itchy red bumps that develop in clusters on the skin, in the mouth, or both. Most commonly, symptoms appear on the wrists, lower back, ankles. They can also present on the genitals. In some cases, lichen planus bumps appear to have thin white lines, or Wickham's striae, running through them. Surrounding the affected area, skin may be thick, scaly or rough. If symptoms present on the genitals, the bumps can look more like blisters or small sores and are typically painful. Oral lichen planus produces tiny white dots and lines on the inside of the cheeks, tongue or gums. This may be accompanied by inflammation, redness, painful sores or peeling gums. In rare cases, lichen planus affects the fingernails or toenails, causing a brittle nailbed with grooves, ridges or splits. Left untreated, this can result in the nail breaking off temporarily or permanently.
There is no widely agreed upon cause for lichen planus. It may be triggered by the use of certain medications such as antimalarials, and is more common in those with hepatitis C. Lichen planus symptoms affect all ages but are most common in middle-aged adults, sometimes reoccurring over multiple years. They are extremely persistent, often taking 2 years or longer to clear. There is no 100% cure for this condition, although lichen planus treatments can help soothe symptoms. If you experience symptoms resembling those associated with lichen planus, do not attempt to self-diagnose. Seek advice from a medical professional for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Terrasil Itch, Rash & Pain Relief eliminates itch and discomfort with an all-natural formulation that heals damaged skin.
*Results may vary.
Looking for answers?
Aidance has you covered, from A-Z!
Visit our Skin Health FAQs section for more information on skin conditions, exclusive guides, and more. More Info | 3,930 | 1,984 | 0.000507 |
warc | 201704 | Many times, when considering the concept of speaking or teaching within the context of the meeting of the church, believers focus on the exhortation of Paul to Timothy: “Preach the word!” We have our modern definitions of preaching – too many to mention here – and our modern methods of preaching – again, too many to mention. But, I’ve read very few studies from a scriptural perspective into how believers actually spoke to one another or taught one another when the church gathered together.
There are two Greek verbs that are usually translated “preach” in English translations of the New Testament:
κηρύσσω ( kerusso) which means “to announce or proclaim aloud” and εὐαγγελίζομαι ( euangelizomai) which means “to bring or announce good news”. Interestingly, in spite of the fact that these verbs and the nouns associated with them are used many times in the New Testament, there are very few occurrences (if any) where the specified audience consists of believers.
So, what verbs are used in Scripture to indicate the type of speech that occurs when believers meet together? Well, primarily, the biblical authors simply use the verbs that mean “to speak” or “to say”:
λέγω ( lego), λαλέω ( laleo), etc. These verbs indicate that verbal communication was happening, but they do not reveal much about the method of communication.
However, there is another very interesting verb that is also used often in the context of believers speaking to one another when the church meets, and that is the verb
διαλέγομαι ( dialegomai). This verb means something like “to converse, discuss, argue, esp. of instructional discourse that frequently includes exchange of opinions”.
In Acts 19:8, Paul “reasoned” (ESV) (
διαλέγομαι – dialegomai) with the Jews in the synagogues, but in Acts 19:9, after he left the synagogue, he continued “reasoning” (ESV) ( διαλέγομαι – dialegomai) with the disciples who followed him to the hall of Tyrannus.
In Acts 20:7-10, Paul “talked” (ESV) (
διαλέγομαι – dialegomai) with the believers in Troas on the first day of the week. This is the time when Paul continued speaking until midnight and the young man fell out of the window. But, what we don’t generally see from our English translation is that Paul’s “speech” could also be called a “discussion”.
There are other instances in the NT where the verb
διαλέγομαι ( dialegomai) is used to describe Paul or another believer “discussing” or “arguing” with nonbelievers. In these instances, the verb is almost always translated “reason”, “argue”, or “discuss”.
I wonder what would happen today if those who teach and speak to believers when the church meets used methods of discussion and dialog instead of the normal monologue method… | 3,338 | 1,428 | 0.000863 |
warc | 201704 | [A] few basic convictions have generally characterized Old Testament theology. First, it must have a historical base. Second, it must explain what the Old Testament itself claims, not what preconceived historical or theological systems impose upon the biblical material. Third, when part of Christians theology, as this book attempts to be, Old Testament theology must in some way address its relationship to the New Testament. Fourth, by joining with the New Testament to form biblical theology, Old Testament theology offers material that systematic theologians can divide into categories and topics for discussion. Fifth, by stating what the Old Testament says about God’s nature and will, Old Testament theology moves beyond description of truth into prescription for action. After all, if interpreters agree that the Old Testament teaches that God commands certain behavior, it seems evident that a description has discovered a norm. One may obey the normative command or not, but the fact that a norm has been uncovered remains unchanged. (Paul R. House,
Old Testament Theology(Downers Grove: IVP, 1998), p. 53) | 1,125 | 600 | 0.001679 |
warc | 201704 | A controversial British Columbia mine northeast of Ketchikan has gained some key permits needed for construction.
But the KSM project still needs other government approvals – and large investments – before mining can begin. Also, a company with nearby claims says it must also grant approval.
Spokesman Brent Murphy says the new permits allow construction of two roads from a central B.C. highway to the mine complex, about 20 miles from the Alaska border.
“Right now, we’re relying on helicopters, which are a very expensive way to access a project. So these are significant for us because it will allow us to start building an alternative means of accessing the project,” he says.
Road construction is expected to cost more than $200 million.
Murphy says work could begin in about a year, if remaining permits are approved.
But first, mine owner Seabridge Gold must find investors for the $5.3-billion project.
“That construction could start, should we have a partner in hand. And we remain hopeful that we will have a joint venture agreement in the very near future,” he says.
The permits, granted in late September, cover air and water discharges from the project’s construction camps.
Seabridge says they also cover rights of way needed to build a pair of 15-mile tunnels connecting the ore body and the processing facility.
But Teuton Resources Corporation, which has mineral claims in the tunnel area, disagrees.
In a press release, it says full construction permits require an agreement covering ore of value found during drilling. Teuton says no such agreement has been reached.
KSM has already won key environmental approval from the British Columbia government. It’s awaiting similar action from Canada’s federal government.
Some Alaska tribal, fisheries and conservation groups want the KSM to undergo more environmental scrutiny. They say the mine could damage salmon runs on B.C. rivers that flow through Alaska or enter the ocean nearby.
Critics also say the mine is of no value to Alaska, since all the work will be done in British Columbia.
They’ve been lobbying for what’s called a panel review, which would involve further examination of mine plans.
KSM’s Murphy says that would push back construction, which would increase costs.
“It would add a significant amount of delay into the process, obviously, for our final environmental approval. And the time delay on this could be anywhere from 18 to 24 months,” he says.
Murphy was in Juneau Oct. 3 to meet with government regulators and business leaders. He was interviewed after a presentation to the Juneau chapter of the Alaska Miners Association. | 2,713 | 1,335 | 0.000776 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.